Copy.
Ref. 70/Conf.
CHC
British Vice-Consulate,
FERNANDO POO.
26
9th November, 1928.
Sir,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your
despatch No. F.P. 21, dated 9th ult., and to report as
under:-
1. It is very difficult to form an opinion as to
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conditions of health and labour in Spanish Guinea. I have
never had the opportunity of visiting that portion of this
Colony, and do not anticipate ever being able to do so;
my duties as Bank Manager obliging me to remain in Fernando
Poo throughout my tour.
2. The bulk of labour at present employed in this Island
comes from the Rio Muni territory, and various reports
are current as to the methods employed in recruiting
there. The supply is gradually falling off, partly, I
believe, on account of a falling birth-rate occasioned
by the prolonged absence of a number of the men-folk in
this Island, and also (and principally on account of
the demand for labourers in Spanish Guinea itself. A
number of coffee plantations have been started in the
Rio Muni, and timber concessions are also being worked;
the labourers prefer, of course, to stay in their own country
whenever possible, as I understand that wages are much
the same.
3. As to health, I am informed that although the tsetse
fly is common in districts, the sleeping sickness does
not appear to have spread to anything the extent of its
ravages in Fernando Poo.
H. B. M's Consul-General,
Monrovia.
4.