54 TlMEHRI. 
only 14,768 Creole Coolies, but this was probably not 
corre£t. 
The Blacks at present claim the largest proportion of 
our population. They are given by the Report as being 
41.5 per cent of the total population, and of this V2 per 
cent are African born. They number 115,588, which is 
only 10,125 more tnan tne whole of the East Indians. 
Their number can be divided into 96,282 Creoles, 3,434 
Africans and 15,973 born elsewhere, mostly in the West 
Indian Islands. I may remark that the slave register of 
1 829 and 1 83 1 gave the number of Blacks as 89,468, and at 
that time there were already some free blacks in the colony, 
so that 90,000 may be taken as the black population at the 
time of the union of the Counties. During the sixty years 
that have elapsed, it is recorded that39,839blackshavebeen 
brought from the West Indian Islands and 13,355 blacks 
from Africa, in all a total of 53,194 and yet our black 
population is only 115,588. Further the original 90,000 
blacks were nearly equal as to sex, there being in round 
numbers 48,000 males and 42,000 females. I have not 
found any records of how many of the 53,194 immigrant 
blacks were returned to their homes. The creole 
blacks form 56*6 per cent of the creole population 
and 83*2 per cent of the blacks are Creoles ; the creole 
blacks to the total population being 34*5 per cent. The 
Africans born are, as is natural, rapidly dying out, none 
having been brought to the colony since 1865. It is to 
be regretted that from the manner in which the 1881 
Census was taken, it is impossible to say positively if 
the creole black is increasing. My own opinion is that 
at best he is only holding his own with difficulty. I may 
here express a hope that the next Census will be taken 
