No. 30.
No. 4). March 12, 1853.
120
CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO
and signed by Messrs. Tait and Co. This form was taken from a local ordinance which Captain Hurst had taken from this colony in 1848, when he brought coolies here, and which I believe at that time allowed three adults to every five tons.
I have, &c.
The Hon. William Walker, Government Secretary.
(Signed)
WM. HUMPHRYS,
Immigration Agent.
Clearing Certificate for Emigrants at Amoy.
Name
of
Ship.
Name
of Master.
Tuas
per
Register.
Total No. of statute
adults, exclusive of master, crew, and cabin passengers the ship can legally carry.
Aggregate No, of! superficial feet in |
Sailing the several com- from Fartments for pas Rengers.
Intending
to touch
Bound to
At
Samuel Boddington
J.W. Hursi
669
335
4,152
Amoy.
Demerara.
We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that the foregoing appear to be the burden and dimensions of the above-named vessel, and that having regard as well to space as to ton- nage, the greatest number of passengers she can carry by the Passenger Act, 1849, is 335; and we further certify, that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, she is in all respects seaworthy, and that the provisions, water, and stores actually laden on board have been duly surveyed by us, and are sufficient in quantity, as well for the number of passengers now about to proceed in her as for the crew; and that the same are of proper quality, and in good and sweet condition; and, lastly, that all the directions contained in the Immi gration Ordinance of British Guiana, and also in the Passenger Act, 1849, so far as such Act applies to said vessel, for securing the health and safety of the passengers, have been duly complied with, so far as circumstances will permit.
Dated at Amoy, this twenty-fourth day of November 1852.
No. 39.
(Signed) TAIT AND CO.
COPY of a LETTER from the COLONIAL LAND AND EMIGRATION COMMISSIONERS, to Herman Merivale Esq.
SIR,
Colonial Land and Emigration Office, May 14, 1853. WE beg to acknowledge your letter of the 6th instant, enclosing the copy of a Despatch from the Governor of British Guiana, reporting the arrival in that colony of the ship "Samuel Boddington," with Chinese immigrants.
2. This is a private ship despatched from Amoy, not under any engagement with this Board, or under any Government regulations, but with a view to obtain the colonial bounty of 100 dollars, promised by a proclamation of the 21st of April 1852, to the importers of Chinese immigrants.
3. The conditions under which the bounty is payable are declared by the Ordinance No. 22 of 1851. The immigrants must be agricultural labourers and their families, under the age of 40 years, and not incapacitated from labour by infirmity or disease.
4. The ship is said to have left Amoy on the 23d of November with 352 emigrants on board. The surgeon complain's that a greħt number of them are disabled by diseases of various kinds, and that they were shipped in a disgrace- ful state of destitution. His remonstrances, he says, we met by the answer that he must take those selected for him, or none, and to this he felt himself obliged to submit.
5. The voyage he states to have been a turbulent, and it certainly was a disastrous one-41 deaths are reported. In the opinion of the surgeon these were principally cases of opium eaters, whose systems were unable to hear the deprivation of their accustomed stimulant. One, however, was found dead under circumstances which would lead to the inference that he had been mur- dered. Eleven more persons are unaccounted for, and as several men appear to have attempted suicide by leaping overboard when excited by their quarrels with each other, these men are conjectured to have perished in this way. the statements in the surgeon's journal are to be depended upon, it would
11
EMIGRATION OF CHINESE COOLIES.
121
appear not less probable that they may have been killed. The Governor doubts whether they were ever placed on board. But we observe that on the 18th of February the emigrants were mustered, and the number unaccounted for was then only six. Five, therefore, certainly disappeared during the five weeks which occurred after that date, and it does not seem surprising that six should have disappeared from the same unascertained causes during the previous eight or nine weeks. During part of the voyage serious apprehensions were enter- tained of a mutiny among the emigrants. But it is not clear that these were not imaginary, especially as the surgeon alleges that the ship was considered when at St. Helena to have contrasted favourably with other cooly ships in point of "order, regularity, and perfect cleanliness." Cases are mentioned of other crimes, which will afford matter for serious consideration when this immigration is renewed.
6. The ship arrived at Demerara on the 4th of March, after a voyage of which the length is differently stated at 96, 98, and 101 days, but which is described as "very rapid." And two questions appear to have arisen respecting the payment of bounty: first (owing, we presume, to the surgeon's complaints of bad selection), whether the immigrants were effective agricultural labourers; and secondly, whether any fine should be imposed on the master on account of the unquestionable fact that the numbers placed on board were largely in excess of those allowed by the Passengers Act.
+
7. The first question was settled by a report from two planters nominated to examine the immigrants, which was to the effect that they were well adapted to agricultural purposes.
*
8. The second is referred for the decision of this Board under the following circumstances. The Passengers Act imposes a penalty on the masters of ships carrying more than the allowed number of passengers from any port or place within Her Majesty's possessions to any port or place whatever." The amount of the fine being not more than 57., nor less than 24, on each passenger above the prescribed number. The Samuel Boddington" is said to have carried 10 adults more than she was entitled to carry even under the tonnage check (leaving out of sight the more stringent check of space). But the Governor observes, first, that it was doubtful whether the Passengers Act applies to a voyage from Amoy to British Guiana; and secondly, that it would have been difficult to obtain evidence of the number placed on board. He has, therefore, as a kind of compromise, accepted from the master a bond for 80%, being the minimum penalty on the assumed excess. And he leaves this to be enforced by this Board, if we shall think fit.
9. Mr. Barkly also reports that the surgeon of the ship, Mr. Ely, who is also partner in a commercial firm at Bombay, and who, by his connexion with the opium trade, has become well acquainted with "the less frequented ports and villages on the Chinese coast," considers that the Chinese women are not averse from emigrating, "when the vigilance of the mandarins can be avoided;" and that 600 might be engaged from either of the five ports (including Whampoa and Amoy) which he names. Mr. Ely offers, on the part of his firm, to accom- plish satisfactorily, on suitable conditions, such an importation of Chinese females. And he transmits, through Governor Barkly, an offer to furnish such shipping as this Board may require for Chinese emigration, during six years, with fittings, provisions, and other requisites, at the rate of 201. per statute adult.
10. The practical questions, therefore, which arise on the present papers, are, whether the owners of the "Samael Boddington" shall be compelled to pay the sum specified in the bond of the master; and whether either of the proposals of Mr. Ely shall be accepted.
11. In regard to the fine, we have no hesitation in expressing our opinion that a voyage from China to the West Indies does not. fall (as it was certainly never intended to fall) within the provisions of the Passengers Act. The acknowledg- ment, therefore, in the bond that a penalty has been incurred under that Act, appears to us manifestly erroneous; and although Mr. Ely's statement gives every reason to believe that the selection and shipping of emigrants was extremely ill- conducted by the firm who were charged with its management in China (Messrs. Tait and Co.), yet, as no English law has been broken, we do not think that Government could properly enforce a hond entered solely on the mistaken sup- position that such a law had been broken, and a penalty incurred.
ན་
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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