Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora(1846-1874)

43.95
1 mutiny
Total
54
17,008
13,235
22.18
1866
1
444
432
22.82
Source: Author's compilation
Total
66
27,231
21,448
21.24
The first opposition to indentured Chinese emigration occurred in 1852 when the recruitment of large numbers of men created a strong reaction from the locals. This resulted in five mutinies and a riot, with ships having to divert to Namoa (Swatow).
Amoy continued to be a loading port, primarily for Cuba, until 1860, and again in 1869, but, although there were
320
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Source: Author's compilation
then
Comfortable with the arrangement, the
the Cubans continued to use Swatow until 1860 with one break only, in 1859. In all, 45 shipments were made to Cuba, carrying a total of 18,581 Chinese, which was 67% of the total number of coolies shipped from there.
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
321
Peru began using Swatow in 1854, and shipped 24% of the total of 27,231 men in the 15 ships which departed for Callao. Even though Swatow became a Treaty Port in 1858, Britain did not directly use that port again after the transgressions in 1853 (i.e. British ships using Swatow when it was not a Treaty port).
Cumsingmoon
Like Namoa, Cumsingmoon, 20 miles to the north of Macao, was not a port but an opium anchorage. Remote from official surveillance, it was a convenient place to load desperate paupers from the area. Between 1849 and 1854, 16 ships loaded 4,945 destitute men, all for Peru.
Table 11.4 Shipments from Cumsingmoon, 1849-1854
became synonymous with the killing fields of the Chincha guano islands.
Canton (Whampoa)
Canton was the prize Treaty Port. But the shallow river waters of Canton did not allow ships of any significant draft to reach it. Whampoa, some six miles from Canton, was the anchorage which serviced the Provincial capital.
Table 11.5 Shipments from Whampoa, 1852-1873
No.
No.
No. of Shipments
Embarked Landed
1852
2
259
256
% Died
1.16
Notes
1853
1
350
voyage aborted
1855
3
1,540
1,436
6.75
No. of Shipments
No.
Embarked
No. Landed
1856
3
1,084
961
11.35
1 dismasted
% Died
Notes
1857
1
770
723
6.10
1849
1
75
75
0.00
1859
2
1,180
1,073
9.07
1850
5
1,400
669
52.21
2 dismasted
1860
6
2,112
1,869
11.51
3 mutinies
1851
1
350
1 mutiny
1861
9
2,981
2,875
3.56
1 mutiny
1852
3
925
547
40.86
1 abandoned
1862
1
326
324
0.61
1853
5
1,870
1,541
17.59
1 mutiny
1863
2
930
905
2.69
1854
1
325
278
14.46
1 mutiny
1864
2
590
582
1.36
Total
16
4,945
3,110
37.11
1865
10
3,279
3,000
8.51
2 mutinies
1866
8
2,416
2,047
15.27
3 mutinies
1872
1
510
499
2.16
1873
1
388
388
0.00
Total Source: Author's compilation
52
18,715
16,938
9.50
Source: Author's compilation
Two of the five ships which departed Cumsingmoon in 1850 failed to reach their destination, one (the Albert) suffering a mutiny and the other (Manuelita) having to abandon her voyage after being dismasted. Another ship was also dismasted but managed to make Manila, where her passengers were transferred to another vessel (Orixa) for the rest of the voyage. Only four died in the process with 176 men eventually sent to Chincha. The mortality rate for the voyage was 48.89%. The first vessel bound for Chincha (Lady Montague) suffered 45.23% mortality after a 129-day voyage. In 1851, the Victory was unable to complete the voyage because of a mutiny.
The plight of the men on the five horror ships made an everlasting impression on the world. Coolie shipping to Peru
322
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Only two ships, carrying 259 Chinese, used the port in 1852. The sole departure in 1853 was aborted and there were no departures in 1854. It was not until 1859 that recruiters began to look to Whampoa seriously as a possible place to load coolies. Strict supervision by the local officials, however, banned holding facilities which had not been approved as depots. This effectively favoured the British Emigration Agency which became the major user of the port until 1866, when the French Maritime Agency re-established a depot there to service Cuban requirements. There were 11 shipments to Peru carrying 4,443 men, and 18 shipments to
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora 323
Cuba with 6,452 Chinese. The British West Indies took the most shipments with 7,452 labourers in 22 shipments.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong was the only port which shipped both indentured and free labour. The first ship leaving Hong Kong for Australia with Chinese on board was recorded in 1847. There were only seven of them however, and it is doubtful whether they went as indentured labourers. Single shipments of two and six men were recorded in the next two years. However, in 1848, the London, making her second trip in two years, carried 149 indentured servants, thus marking Hong Kong's entrance into the role of a "coolie port".
Table 11.6 Indentured Coolie Labour Shipments
from Hong Kong, 1848-1870
152
Frederic suffered a mutiny. Cuban planters were prepared to use Hong Kong as an emigration port with four shipments but after the Chinese Passengers' Act of 1855 came into force, they turned to other load ports. British West Indian planters however had a preference for Hong Kong and
over 14 shipments between 1854 and 1862 took 5,369 men women and children. Between 1865 and 1869 Surinam was the destination for 2,344 coolies in seven shipments.
Macao
Table 11.7 Shipments from Macao, 1851-1874
No. of
Shipments
No. of Agents
No. Embarked
No.
Landed
%
Died
Notes
1851
2
1
813
800
1.60
1852
1
1
250
233
6.80
1853
7
3
2,327
1,885
18.99
1 mutiny
No. of
No.
No.
%
1854
1
1
60
60
0.00
Shipments Embarked
Landed
Died
Notes
1855
5
4
1,955
1,586
18.87
1 mutiny
1848
1
149
149
0.00
1856
7
3
2,608
1,566
39.95
2 mutinies
1854
2
718
267
3.87
1 aborted
1857
16
4
7,855
6,166
21.50
4 mutinies
1855
1
375
375
0.00
1858
19
9
10,000
8,676
13.24
1856
2
635
373
41.26
1 mutiny
1859
15
7
8,477
6,291
25.79
2 mutinies
1857
1
227
172
24.23
1860
22
6
8,931
8,030
10.09
4 mutinies
1859
1
372
372
0.00
1861
10
7
3,953
3,686
6.75
1860
4
1,308
1,289
1.45
1862
6
4
2,111
2,007
4.93
1861
6
2,301
2,200
4.39
1863
19
9
6,663
5,563
16.51
1 shipwreck
1862
4
1,914
1,761
7.99
1 dismasted
1864
33
16
10,784
9,915
8.06
1864
1
337
0
1865
38
13
13,624
11,387
7.37
3 mutinies
numbers landed
1865
5
1,700
755
not all known
1866
63
18
23,563
20,585
12.64
3 mutinies
1866
4
1,087
1,049
3.50
1867
41
13
16,697 14,422
13.63
4 mutinies
1867
1
291
270
7.22
1 mutiny
1868
31
10
12,208
10,959
10.23
4 mutinies
1868
1
252
246
2.38
1 mutiny
1869
20
5
9,136
7,918
13.33
2 mutinies
1869
2
500
405
19.00
1870
30
7
13,412
11,548
13.90
2 mutinies
1870
6
1,151
717
Total
42
13,317
10,400
37.71
21.90
1 mutiny
1871
40
8
17,200 15,093
12.25
1 mutiny
1872
44
6
21,098
19,063
9.65
2 mutinies
Source: Author's compilation
Strict British supervision, however, ensured that Hong Kong was never to become a major port for indentured coolie labour. The only two ships that loaded there for Peru did not reach their destinations. The Topaz was shipwrecked and the
Source: Author's compilation
1873
21
8
13,017 11,658
0.57
1874
4
4
Total
495
2,371
209,113
2,339
181,436
1.35
13.23
324
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
325
Macao became a coolie port in 1851 when a second Peruvian entrepreneur was granted permission to import Chinese labour. Unhappy with the sorry outcomes of the Cumsingmoon shipments, Jos� Sevilla preferred to utilise the nearby port of Macao rather than the troubled port of Amoy.
The grand total of 495 ships which left Macao between 1851 and 1874, inclusive, took 209,113 Chinese coolies away. By 1858, the number of sailings from Macao regularly exceeded the sailings from all of the other ports. In the ten years between 1860 and 1869, 283 ships left Macao for Latin America, compared with 73 between 1851 and 1859, a fourfold increase in the traffic. A further 139 sailed between 1870 and 1874, the last year of the trade. With the exception of four ships to the West Indies in 1858-59 and one ship to Costa Rica in 1872, all were destined for Cuba or Peru.
The peak year was 1866. In that year, eighteen emigration agents recruited 23,563 coolies to leave on 63 ships. There were three mutinies in that frantic year-one ship did not reach its destination because it was burned by the mutineers. The mortality rate for the year (12.64%) is also worth noting, being below the overall average.
In 1871, Cuba indicated that its migration programme would terminate in 1873; and on 27 December 1873, Macao proclaimed an end to emigration from that port. In the last full year of the programme (1873), eight ships took 5,847 labourers to Havana while thirteen ships took another 7,170 to Callao. Only four ships were able to load 2,371 Chinese for Callao in 1874, leaving twelve ships stranded in Macao with no cargoes.
In the 447 departures where lay days can be calculated, the average time was 47 days ranging from 4 to 225 days. The median was 36 days.
Destinations from all ports
Chinese coolies were sought after from a diverse number of places. The main destinations, as already said, were Cuba, Peru and the West Indies. This latter grouping included the French West Indies-to which two sailings were made-and
Dutch Guiana (better known as Surinam), to which nine departures were made.
Table 11.8 Ship arrivals from various ports
w. no. embarked, no. of agents used, no. and % successfully landed
Arrival ports
Amoy
Sending ports
Cuba
Peru
West
Indies
Other
Total
Departures and Arrivals from Various Ports with Number of Agents Used
Amoy
23
4
9
18
54
Cumsingmoon
16
16
Hong Kong
4
2
23
13
42
Macao
266
224
4
1
495
Swatow
45
15
2
4
66
Whampoa
18
11
22
1
52
Other
2
2
3
7
TOTAL departures
358
274
63
37
732
TOTAL Arrivals
348
255
61
37
701
Agents used
44
34
7
Numbers Embarked at Various Ports
8,653
1,291
3,262
3,802
17,008
Cumsingmoon Hong Kong
4,945
4,945
1,237
790
8,549
2,741
13,317
Macao
111,720
95,447
1,261
685
209,113
Swatow
18,581
6,402
759
1,489
27,231
Whampoa
6,452
4,443
7,452
368
18,715
Other
593
562
1,155
146,643
113,911
21,845
9,085
291,484
Numbers Landed from Various Ports
6,659
772
2,589
3,215
13,235
Cumsingmoon Hong Kong
3,110
3,110
920
7,903
1,577
10,400
Macao
97,450
82,131
1,201
654
181,436
Swatow
15,114
4,149
737
1,448
21,448
Whampoa
5,820
4,029
6,721
368
16,938
Other
304
536
840
TOTAL
126,267
94,191
19,687
7,262
86.11
82.69
90.12
79.93
247,407
84.88
Source: Author's compilation
TOTAL
Amoy
% Landed
Note: "Other" refers to Kwangchow, Manila, Panama and Shanghai.
Cuban importers undertook 358 shipments of which 348 were completed. (Table 11.8) They utilised 44 identified and three unidentified emigration agents to recruit 146,643 Chinese
326 Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora 327
coolies, of whom 126,627 were landed. This represents 86.11% of the number engaged.
Peru was less successful. (Table 11.8) From the 274 shipments undertaken, only 255 reached their destination. Peruvian importers employed 34 identified emigration agents (68 shipments did not show the agent employed). They engaged 113,911 Chinese labourers, with 94,191 of them able to walk ashore. The success rate was 82.69%.
West Indian plantation owners differed from their Cuban and Peruvian counterparts in that they had access to Indian labour. Some 144,257 Indians were taken to the British West Indies, 9,783 men women and children to Guadaloupe and 5,553 to Martinique, with a further 2,175 Indians from Pondicherry in 1872. The Dutch Government entered into an agreement with the British Government in 1870 to bring Indians to Surinam. Actual numbers are not known.
West Indian importers differed from the Cubans and Peruvians in another way also, they were state-sponsored. The British government employed five agents to recruit their 18,013 emigrants while France used one company. The Netherlands had one agency in Hong Kong with an unidentified agent for their two shipments from Macao. Two of the 63 shipments carrying 21,845 Chinese to the West Indies did not arrive, leaving 19,687 to disembark. That represented 90.12% of the total recruited from China. (Table 11.8)
Data on the 37 shipments to other destinations is insufficient to draw meaningful comment.
Cuba
Cuba first used Chinese labour in 1847, but it was not until 1852 that allocations were made for controlled importation of Chinese coolies. The demand was cyclical. There were only three shipments in 1854, but this rose sharply to 34 in 1857. After falling to just two shipments in 1862, demand slowly rose before reaching the all-time record of 52 in 1866. Shipments again began to fall after that, reaching a nadir of only two shipments in 1870 with the advent of the Ten Years'
War. Shipments resumed in 1871 and 1872 before falling to eight in 1873, the final year of importations. (Table 11.9)
In the 26 years between 1847 and 1873, 146,643 Chinese were embarked on 358 ships for Havana. The number who landed amounted to 126,267, giving an average mortality rate over the entire period of 13.89%. However 10 ships did not reach their destination, seven because mutinies and three from shipwreck. If we discount the number of men on those ships, the mortality on ships arriving at Havana was 11.56% of those embarked.
Table 11.9 Shipments to Cuba, 1847-1873
of
Ship-
ments
Passengers
Per Ton
Average
Voyage
%
Embarked
ratio
Days
Landed
Died
1847
2
642
0.66
130
594
7.48
1852
8
2,651
0.63
128
1,984
25.16
1853
11
3,842
0.64
142
3,212
16.40
1854
3
1,453
0.73
117
1,416
2.55
1855
10
4,617
0.45
108
4,278
7.34
1856
20
8,239
0.55
142
5,948 27.81
1857
34
14,217
0.52
134
10,880 23.47
1858
25
12,448
0.49
119
10,166 18.33
1859
16
8,995
0.52
123
6,681
25.73
1860
21
8,338
0.44
118
8,046
3.50
1861
10
4,090
0.45
108
3,876 5.23
1862
2
752
0.43
127
730
2.93
1863
9
2,923
0.47
122
2,214
24.26
1864
12
4,469
0.52
112
4,328
3.16
1865
21
6,079
0.55
123
5,655
6.97
1866
52
18,437
0.55
133
16,624
9.83
1867
29
10,849
0.55
126
9,784
9.82
1868
23
8,835
0.55
126
8,084 8.50
1869
12
5,027
0.50
149
3,852 23.37
1870
2
1,064
0.48
121
693 34.87
1871
15
5,706
0.53
122
5,398
5.40
1872
13
7,123
0.56
102
6,518
8.49
1873
8
5,847
0.58
137
5,306 9.25
Total
358
146,643
0.53
122
126,267 13.89
Source: Author's compilation
The number of men embarked on each ship averaged 412, ranging from a low of 113 in 1858 to 1099 in 1873, the final
328
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora 329
year of importations. The number of passengers permitted to be loaded was generally taken as being one passenger per two tons of the vessel. Any factor above 0.5 would have been a breach of the regulations. The load factor on Cuban-bound ships ranged from 0.21 to 1.04. The average was 0.53.
There was only one sailing route to Cuba and the West Indies. First, down the South China Sea to Anjer, into the Indian Ocean. Ships then crossed either north or south of Mauritius to Cape Town, where supplies could be replenished if required, or directly for St Helena in the South Atlantic. The island of St Helena was an important resupply port for ships heading for the West Indies as well as to North America and all of Europe. The distance to Cuba was about 10,830 miles.
Under the Chinese Passengers' Act ships sailing for the Caribbean were to carry provisions for a voyage of at least 147 days during the season from October to March and for at least 168 days in the off-season between April and September. The average time taken for the 358 voyages was 128 days.
The Carpentaria has been credited with the fastest voyage time of 64 days from Macao to Havana in 1855. The mortality rate on that voyage was 4.61%. The longest voyage was also the last shipment, and did not arrive until 4 March 1874 when the unreliable steamer Rosita y Nene finally arrived after a 320-day voyage. The mortality rate was 14.81% of the 851 who embarked.
Although Spain officially gave eight months notice in 1871, stopping the importation of Chinese labourers as from that same year, shipments continued until October 1873. The last vessel to load at Macao for Havana was the 1,776-ton Belgian 300hp steamer, Nelusko, bringing the largest ever contingent of Chinese on a single ship. Of the 1,099 who were embarked, 1,055 were able to disembark, the 44 deaths amounting to 4% of the whole.
153
Cuban Consignees and their Agents (Table 11.10)
The first merchants to bring in Chinese labourers were Villoldo Wardrop. They recruited 3,153 men on only nine
ships, but problems on the ships resulted in 2,397 only being able to land in Cuba. Pereda was given a similar allocation to Villoldo, and also suffered initial losses. But he persisted, eventually utilising 33 vessels to bring 13,324 men to Cuba. The overall result was that he was able to on-sell the contracts of more than 90% of those men.
Table 11.10 Cuban Consignees and their Principal Agents, 1852-1873
Torices
Active
Consignee Agents
Years
Ship-
ments
Embarked Landed
%
Died
Villoldo
Pereda
Tait
1852-53
9
3,153
de Castro
1852 - 60
33
13,146
2,397
11,834 9.98
23.98
Drake
Morales
Armero
1855 - 57
19
7,838
5,606 28.48
Armero
1858 - 60
10
4,490
3,648 18.75
Ferran
1855-60
55
25,497
20,149 20.98
Colonizadora
de Hoyas
1858 - 58
3
1,596
1,305 18.23
Schimper
Campbell
Laget
1859-60
3
1,566
1,262 19.41
Flotard
1856 - 60
9
5,961
4,902 17.77
Caro
Zangronis
Troncoso
Bustmente
Empresa
Caro
1859 - 67
16
5,774
5,150 10.81
Solares
1859-66
26
8,348
7,573 9.28
de Castro
1860 - 68
22
7,519
7,044
6.32
Garcia
1863-66
3
1,111
1,037 6.66
Noronha
1863-67
21
7,219
6,342 12.15
Calderon
Alianza
Aldama
Tuton
1865 - 73
55
23,508
21,064 10.40
Sagues
1864 - 68
13
4,176
3,889 6.87
Merino
Gilledo
Garcia
1864 - 69
8
2,632
2,429
7.71
Lombillo
Hacendados
Armero
1866 -69
23
9,049
7,875 12.97
Tuton
Abella
Various
1871 - 73
11
6,059
5,684
6.19
1871 - 73
10
4,873
4,409 9.52
1847 - 73
9
358
3,128
2,668 14.71
146,643
126,267 13.89
Source: Author's compilation
Ibanez
Others
Total
The next two merchants to be granted allocations also had varying experiences. From 1855 to 1860, Drake and then his partner, Morales-recruited 12,222 labourers between them, using 29 ships. The mortality rate was a depressing 21.58%. During the same period, Torices was the more aggressive importer. He needed 55 ships to take on 25,495 Chinese coolies, but lost 2,822 of them en route.
330
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora 331
With import licences then no longer required, various partnerships-not necessarily formalised-emerged. Caro Campbell had a loose arrangement with Schimper, while Troncoso began in 1860 through a partnership with Bustamente. Individuals, such as Aldama, Zangronis and Lombillo had links with planters, and imported in their own right. Each undertook more than 20 sailings carrying in excess of 8,000 Chinese coolies.
Empresa was a consortium established by a group of planters. It later merged with banking interests to become Alianza, the biggest importer of Chinese labour. Between 1863 and 1873, they employed 76 ships to carry 30,727 coolies to Havana. Just over 10% of those died before reaching Cuba.
A new grouping, known as the Hacendados and, seprately, a prominent planter, Ibanez, hastily entered the trade to recruit the last of the Chinese labour to be brought to the island.
Coolies returning from Cuba
Return passages were not offered to immigrants to Cuba. However, in the case of some of the ships dedicated to the Chinese coolie trade, those immigrants who had been able to accumulate their passage money were able to secure return passages at the end of their contracts.
The first ship to bring coolies back directly from Havana arrived in 1865. There were 16 Chinese on the Lombard, which arrived in Macao on 7 October 1865. The next year, 1866, the JAU arrived with 22, and in the same year, 15 came back on the shuttle auxiliary steamer Cataluna. Four ships brought 113 Chinese back from Cuba in 1867. In 1868, two ships brought back 65, and three ships brought 180 men in 1869. Another three ships brought 202 men back in 1870. There were none in 1871. Two final shipments brought just 58 men in 1872.
These were direct shipments. There would have been some who returned by way of the United States. The number of Chinese returning from Cuba has not been fully documented. In a Table dated 3 October 1873 the Comision
.
Central de Colonizacion 154 showed that 130 Chinese had obtained passports to return to China between July and December 1872, and another 135 between January and October 1873. One Chinese had gone to Spain, another to France and one to Mexico, and ten had left for the United States.
Another source 155 identified 14 ships which left Cuba in 1871 for Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, and Tampico with a total on board of 111 Chinese.
Peru
Shipping to Peru commenced in 1849 and continued until 1874. As with Cuba, the demand was cyclical. It had three distinct peaks. The first was in 1855 when 13 shipments were made before the revocation of the "Chinese Law". Twelve shipments only were made between 1856 and 1859, inclusive, a period during which immigration was officially banned.
In anticipation of Chinese again being permitted to be brought to Peru, eight shipments were made in 1860 and seven more in 1861 when it became official again. Only four shipments were made in 1862 but, the next year, the number rose to ten. Following a slump from 1867 to 1869, shipments rose sharply to 29 in 1870 and 31 in 1872. Following the Maria Luz affair (described above), shipments fell back to 13 in 1873, but were expected to rise again when emigration from Macao was stopped.
Between 1849 and 1874, 113,911 Chinese were embarked on 274 ships for Callao. The number known to have landed amounted to 94,191, giving an average mortality rate of 17.31% over the entire period. However, 19 ships did not reach their destination. When the number of men on those ships is discounted, the mortality on ships arriving at Callao was 11.86%. Six other ships did not reach their destination either but were able to transfer some of their passengers to other ships for oncarriage to Callao. Of these 25 voyages, 12 were the result of successful mutinies, two from unsuccessful insurrections, four ships were dismasted and three shipwrecked. Four others, including the Maria Luz, abandoned.
were
332
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora
333
Table 11.11 Shipments to Peru, 1849-1874
Passengers
Average
Ship-
Per Ton
Voyage
%
ments
Embarked

Coolie Ships of the Chinese Diaspora(1846-1874)

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