Balata and the Balata Industry. 167 
7,726 live at the mouth of the river below Calabash 
creek, and can hardly be regarded as any part of the 
true river people. Between this and the old Dutch 
settlements which begin about 50 or 60 miles higher up, 
there are no settled residents. A few families are 
found on some of the creeks collecting balata, and some 
Chinese burning charcoal, but these are not established 
settlers. It is the region formerly occupied by the Dutch 
colonists that the present river inhabitants are settled in. 
As I have before mentioned they are the descendants of 
the slaves owned by the proprietors of these estates. 
They numbered according to the last Census 620 people. 
They live on freehold property which, as stated, after 
emancipation some of the freed men combined to acquire, 
or on grants of occupancy rented from Government. 
Their houses are scattered along the banks of the river 
for about 30 or 40 miles. There is an unusual air of 
thrift and prosperity about these dwellings, very different 
from the wretched appearance of the ordinary peasant 
houses on the coast-lands. The inhabitants live by 
working on the woodcutting grants to some extent and 
collecting balata, (though these occupations are largely 
carried on by people who come up under engagement 
from the lower part of the river) and by growing rice 
and ground provisions for local consumption. Rice is 
their principal crop, but it can hardly be described as a 
cultivation. A piece of forest on land possessing the 
moist conditions necessary for the growth of rice, is cut 
down in dry weather and burnt over, and as soon as the 
rains begin the seed is scattered over the ground. 
During the wet season the land is more or less flooded 
the very condition required, and by the return of dry 
