Encl. in No. 36.
1
No. 36.
94
CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO
21. The planters are under all circumstances highly pleased with them, and unsatisfactorily as the experiment has begun, so far as the passage hither is con- cerned, I think I am justified in predicting that once placed here, under judicious arrangements, they will become the most valuable class of labourers ever yet introduced into British Guiana.
Right Hon. Sir John S. Pakington, Bart. &c.
&c.
(No. 15.)
&c.
No. 36.
I have, &c.
(Signed) HENRY BARKLY.
COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor BARKLY to the Duke of NEWCASTLE.
MY LORD DUKE,
Government House, February 8, 1853.
(Received March 9, 1853.)
1. Is reporting the arrival of the "Glentanner" and "Lord Elgin,” with Chinese immigrants in my Despatch of 24th ultimo, No. 8, I mentioned my intention of appointing a special Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the great mortality which had occurred on board the latter ship.
2. I have now the honour to transmit the Report of the Commission which I constituted of three gentlemen whom I thought likely to throw light upon the subject, viz. the Hon. Mr. Vander Gon Netscher, a member of the Court of Policy, and not long since a lieutenant in the Dutch navy, in which capacity he spent I believe nine years on the Java station, and became acquainted with the habits of the Chinese and the navigation of the seas in that part of the world; Dr. Blair, the surgeon-general, who from the length of time he has been in charge of the Colonial Hospital, is most experienced in regard to the diseases to which immigrants in tropical countries are liable; and Mr. Butts, inspector-general of police, who several years ago was sent as immigration agent for this colony to the coast of Africa, and was accompanied on his return by a large body of Kroomen.
S. It will be seen that the Commissioners attribute the deplorable loss of life on this occasion, first, to the unsuitableness of the vessel for such a voyage, and, second, to the neglect of the rules laid down in the Imperial Passengers' Act, and that they suggest regulations for the carriage of Chinese in future, much in accordance with those which I have already recommended with the sanction of the Health Officer of the port.
4. They conclude by stating that they see no sufficient ground for refusing to pay the bounty on the number of immigrants landed alive in the colony-a conclusion which at first sight seemed to me somewhat at variance with the premises; but as some allowance no doubt is due on account of the novelty of the experiment-as all that humanity could dictate would appear to have been done by the captain to alleviate the sufferings of his passengers, a second surgeon having been employed from Java to the Cape during the desperate illness from which both the surgeon in charge and himself suffered, and as it was well understood that even if the shipowners received the bounty they would sustain a loss of some 1,500. from the voyage-I felt myself justified in complying with this part of the Report, and ordering payment to be made
5. Had I declined to do so indeed, the further question raised by the Health Officer would have had to be determined; namely, whether the Colonial Immi- gration Agent having received at the depot and located the survivors, payment of the bounty advertised by the colony would not have been compellable by law in respect to them.
6. Humanity would, of course, forbid any dispute on such a subject whilst immigrants were still cooped on board ship after a long voyage; but it adds, I think, an additional reason to those which I adduced in my former Despatch, why the open bounty competition should at once be put an end to, and the vessels engaged, as for coolie immigration, under charterparties containing stringent securities for due fulfilment of all the requirements of the "Passengers'
EMIGRATION OF CHINESE COOLIES.
95
Act," which could be enforced by subsequent legal proceedings whether the immigrants had been accepted or not.
I have, &c. (Signed) HENRY BARKLY.
To his Grace the Duke of Newcastle,
&c. &c.
&c.
Enclosure in No. 36.
To his Excellency Henry Barkly, Esq., Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of British Guiana, Vice Admiral and Ordinary of the same, &e de de
SIR,
WE the undersigned, having by your Excellency's command been constituted as a "Board" for the purpose of inquiring into and reporting upon the causes of the great mortality which occurred amongst the Chinese immigrants embarked on board the "Lord Elgin" on her recent voyage from Amoy to this colony, from such written and oral evidence as might be available, have now the honour to report that--
1. We have visited the barque in question and measure the accommodation for imuni- grants therein, and have ascertained from evidence that the ship was very crank.
2. We have inspected part of the provisions shipped at Amoy for the immigrants and
left on board.
3. We have examined the charts which point out the vessel's track on the voyage in question, and perused the very incomplete ship's journal, as well as the encloser table of diseases and deaths enclosed No. 1, and the memorandum enclosed, No. 2, from Dr. David Shier, the medical officer on board,
4. We have both verbally and in writing put a variety of questions to the surgeon, the captain, and some of the men on board, with respect to the issues and quality of the provisions during the voyage, and received from the captain a written reply as per enclosure No. 3, but from Dr. Shier we have as yet received no written communication but what is referred to in paragraph No. 3.
5. We have ascertained that the voyage from Amoy, 25 north latitude, to Singapore 1°30′ north latitude, occupied 62 days (from 23d July to the 23d September), during which time four Chinese only died.
6. The voyage from Singapore to Anjar, a port in the Strait of Sunda, on the Java shores, 6 south latitude, occupied 23 days (from the 26th September till the 19th October), during which time five Chinese died, four from anasarea and one from cenemia, which, with the four mentioned in the last paragraph, make only nine deaths during the 88 days; just the half of the 177 days voyage to Demerara.
7. Twenty-four hours before reaching Port Anjar, the barque struck on "Browers" Bank, a hard shoal close to Anjar on the Java shore, but she got off without making water.
On the 24th October, three days after leaving Anjar, at a distance from that place of about 260 English miles, it was discovered that the vessel had sprung a leak, and made con- siderable water. Thereupon the ship was observed to be "steaming considerably," arising from the fermentation of the cargo of rice below the passengers' deck, which fermentation, according to the evidence of Dr. Shier, filled the vessel with sulphurated hydrogen gas to such an extent that every thing painted became discoloured and black, and even some of the medicines in stoppered bottles were decomposed, circumstances to which Dr. Shier mainly attributes the increased sickness and mortality among the passengers. The rice in the undermost layers of the hold, being wet, continued fermenting and infesting the vessel with its deully exhalations; and notwithstanding the rice, biscuits, salt fish, &c. given to the Chinese were, as far as the Board can ascertain, sufficient in quantity and good in quality, and that, as appears from the logbook and Dr. Shier's testimony, portions of sugar, lime-juice, and garlick were issue, sickness, in the form of anasarca and dysentery, with much scorbutic eruption and debility, increased among the immigrants, in so much that in the 16 days of the voyage from Anjar to the Cape" there were 41 deaths, and during the 39 days passage from the "Cape" to Demerara, where the vessel arrived on the 17th January 1853, 19 leaths, making altogether 69 deaths from among the 151 Chinese immigrants shipped at Amoy.
8. The vessel's stay at Singapore, Anjar, and the Cape of Good Hope was very short, only two days at the former and three days at the latter of these places. The captain has furnished the "Board" with a list of supplies purchased for the Chinese at those places, as well as at Anjar, sec enclosure No. 4, and also a list of articles for their use taken on board at Ampy, as per enclosure No. 5,
9. Dr. Shier not having as yet furnished his written report in reply to the applications of the Board," we are left, as regards the water, to his verbaal statement on this head, from which we gather that the Singapore water was indifferent, and the Anjar water good, but that before arriving at the Cape the Anjar water had been all used, which compelled the captain to fall back on the Singapore water for use, until the ship arrived at the Cape, where the water shipped was of good quality.
M 4
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO