842 
THE TROPICAL 
BampleR in a box near by I find lliat each capsule con- 
tains about forty Reeds. The leaves are beart-sliaped 
and pointed, and the bloesom.s, which ray spcoimen 
does not show, are large and of a peach-blossoui 
colour, and grow in loose clnsters at the ends of the 
branches, Tbeshrnb, for sncIi the nnotto tree really is, 
rarely exceeds eight ir ten feet in height. The tree 
is very pretty when the capsules are ripe, the vivid 
red colour of the oluslors of pods or capsnles con- 
trasting very beautifully with the rich, dark green 
leaves. The oolonr of my preserved specimens baa 
changed somewhat, being now nearer a chocolate 
brown. The seeds are gathered from the pods, put 
un in bags and exported in largo quantities from 
Jaraaios. In some cases the natives obtain the anotto 
pure by rubbing oft the pulpy pellicle which covers 
the seed. In this esse the pnlp is pressed into square 
cakes and wrapped in the leaves of the tree itself. 
While at St. Ann's Usy, my host, Mr. A. D. Jscobs, 
took me out and ebowed roe, piled up near the water’s 
edge, several cords of logs each about eight inches in 
IhicknesB and about four feet long. “That,” said Mr. 
Jacobs, “ ia quassia wood.” This tree, known in the 
West Indies as Piermna, qnassia being the name given 
to it by the Matooiia, grows almost everywhere in 
Jamaica principally quite near the coast, so ciittii.g it 
Bod transporting it to points of shipment ate com- 
paratively easy. It ia a very lofty troo, and very beau- 
tifnl as well. This is the species from which the 
quassia cops and qussia chips, so well known to us, 
ace obtained. Qrowing up at a higher altitude, and 
at some distance from the cuast, I found another species 
of quassia. This one is known to boitmetn hh Simamha. 
It is n shrub ten or fifteen feet high, and bears beauti- 
ful bright red flowers. This viood is very hitler and 
very much stronger than the other ; and being scarcer, 
at a greater distance from the coast, and superior ss 
a drng, it has a greater oorameroial value.— fViaimn- 
emtied Journal, March III. 
TAMIL COOLIE LABOUR. 
TO TBH KniTOB OV THE “ RTHXITR TIMES,” 
Sir,— As a probable employer of a very large force 
of Tamil or Kting labour over here in tbe near future, 
I trust you will allow me space to recoad a protest 
against the action of the Madras Governmmt in plbbing, 
as it dooH, every impediment in the way of planters 
importing free Tamil labour into the Siratia and in 
saddling this Oniony with a bnrden, in tho shape of the 
exciting Indian Immigration Ordinance, the iindmlbted 
working of wbich cripples extended agricnlturnl ojiera- 
tions here. The whole question is one which I am 
aware has been thoroughly threshed out and dealt 
with by far abler pens then mine, so, without attempt- 
ing to oritloise the Ordinance at any length, 1 shall 
merely endeavour, by a atatemeut of what I myself 
have aeon of its working, demonstrate bow nearly 
akin to sctnsl slavery is the cnuditiaii of tho unfor- 
tunate Tamil ceolle w ho is despatched over bore under 
the wing of the over-paternal Madras Government 
as oorapared lo that of bis “free” brother. It is my 
firm beliot if this wonderfully rich reuintuls is 
to becoiiii' one of the first if not tho very first Only 
coffee producing conulries of the world, it can only 
he with tbe asslatsiice aud cheortnl co-operation of 
the Tamil co lie. Easily contended, capable of getting 
through an enormous amount of honest work, quiet, 
and amenable to discipline and, above, all a con- 
firmed aHtltr,* I doubt very ranch if there 
is a better all-round agricultural labourer in 
the world than tbe Tamil coolie. Bnt this little 
word roust be spelt with a big }!, be is gifted 
wilh a viry keen and nice appreciation of Justice. 
You may tie hard ou Ii'ra but if jon are at the same 
time lair, bo will even take it in good part when, 
having been ni.wittli gly uniiist to him, you make 
* Surely, this ia only partially; true ? More have 
settled in Mauritius than is desirable; and a good 
many are settling in Trinidad, Bnt in places to near 
home ns Ocylon and the Straits, only a sraall propor- 
tion serifs 7— Ep T.A. 
AGRICULTURIST. [May 2, 1892. 
reparation; but he will do nothing for you if you 
tire coDsiflteutly unjust, and tbie I unhesitatingly 
assert » man ia bound to bo if, amongst his coolies 
are any Statute IiumigraDtB,or, in other words, natirefl 
of India bronght over under thu protection of Govern- 
ment. 
Fur an adult male the minimum rate of wages in 
the ea^e of an indentured coolie is fixed by the 1 I. 
Ordiuaoo at 14 centa a day for the Ist year stid 16 
ceiitM frr 2nd year; for a womait 10 cents and 12 
cents. Free Ubourers or coolies who have come over 
independent of Oovornmenb aud of contract a made by 
the Indian Immigration Agent, are paid on cstateanp 
to 2'f cents a day for men and women up to 20 cents. 
Ciin^ci|uoeutIy, tlic ridicnlons anomaly of a coolie work- 
ing alongside of another man in no way his superior as 
•» worker, on little move than half the other’* pay is a 
matter of everyday oocurreueo. Can anylbicg be more 
unjust than tnia? and 1 ask would any labourer in tho 
world work under conditions such as these ; and more 
than this, if the unfortunate wretch refuses to work, 
he can be soutouced at the inHtsnoe of his employer 
to 8 months imprisonment, because he contracted, be- 
fore he ever came to the country, when he was little 
more than a savage with the vaguest ideas of what was 
before him, to work for at least 3 years ou about half 
what ho could have got, without biudiog himself down 
in any way, had ho bum only a little wiser aud not 
quite BO wild when ho was drst caught ! The uatiirnl 
question which any one reading the abeve will ask is 
why then not pay the statute Immigrant the 
same wages ns the free labourer and so equalise 
matters Because the contract in the case of 
the former is entered into through the Imigra- 
tiou Agent, before tbe planter sees tbe coolie with 
whom bo is contracting, and before be esn judge of 
his capabilities ks a worker, and also because the 
Urge majority of Statute Immigrants are not only 
worth 25 cents, but sBo arc worth absolutely noth- 
ing at all. As an instance of ibis, a somewhat ex- 
treme instance 1 will allow I know of a case when a 
woman with no less than 8 children snd no husband 
or breadwinniijg frioed, was sent over under a 3 
years agreement tn a daily wage of 10 cents, out of 
which she had not only to keep herself and her 
children, bnt payoff her debt as well ; the result was 
she very toon realized that she had undertaken to do 
wbat was quite imposaible, collapsed altogether, and 
was eveutnally shipped buck to ludia at the expense 
of tho estate tho Manager writing off the whole of 
what he bad co-t hmi as “ Loss by OoaAt Advancof.” 
Now, if the Immigration Agent bad explained fully to 
her fhie nature of contract upon uhich she was 
entering, a'lhe ia supposed to do, be must have known 
she was quite unfit to carry out her orgagenient and 
Khould not have allowed her to oome over lure; if 
he did not do why did he not, He is paid to do 
this amongst other things, and cannot bo exonerated 
from bUme whichever way you look at it. 
Now as a set off sgaiust bis meagre wages, the 
Statute Immigrant is entitled to hufticieut houKO ac- 
commodation, good water, proper sanitary arrangements 
advances of food at wholesale market prices, hospital 
accommodation, medical attendance and medioines 
when he requires them ; but here ngain ho is no 
bettor off than bis “I'reo’* brother, who gets all of 
these things, loo, except hoi-pital arcouimodation, 
and wlien ho ia ill enough to require this, ho 
is sent to tho FiiMic Ilohpital. Now look at the 
other side of the picture; a planter, wore he allowed 
to recruit liis own labour, would send a reliable agent 
to India who would b» roapousible for the money with 
which he W(uild be entiiutcd as coast advances and 
also for the physique of his recruits, each of whom o« 
arrival hero would bo debited with his share of th** 
cost of bringing the gang over t^c. Paid 25 cts. » 
day, he would if lie were a good man, save frotn 
Si to S5 a mouth, very soon liquidate Ida debt, 
ihen be in n position lo remit money to the “coast’’ 
iQ sums calculated to tempt all bin friends to follow 
bis example* But planters can't do this as the sum 
of money entitistcd fo the agfiit might often be ^ 
large one, and as tho latter runs considerable rnk 
