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THE HORRORS lt;F THE ConLIE TRADE.ilt; thk i;i»i i'ui: ui i hi; 4;st.u:/?Sii:,—I perceive a paragraph in your impression of Tuesday, headed 44 Coolie Trade, Shocking Mortality/' stating that 1-7 coolies died out or A80, on a passage from Swatosv to Ilavannah. Allow a few facts to he stated i.nconnection with that trade, hy one who has seen the working of the coolie system in China, at sea. and in llavaiuuiii.J took passage from Swat-ow in November last year, on uoar*d a clipper ship of 1,800 ton - re0i-ter, having '.K{n coolies on board, ;7j of this number being boys from seven to 14 years of age. Wo had a long passage of ISO days through the Chinese sea to Batavia, losiug 22 coolies, and having US sick ; here we obtained a supply of water and proceeded. From Batavia to Ilavannah we were 02 days, and during that time lost IU0 coolies, making a totalof ;o2 deaths on the passage; of this number o7 were suicides by drowning, 2 by poison, 2 from the effects of Hogging, one of the two having received GOO lashes, the remainder dying from fever, scurvy, and a frightful disease causing their legs to mortify and rot, resulting from stagnation of the blood brought on by confinement without exercise. During the first three weeks of the passage, the unfortunate Coolies were allowed on deck 40 at a time, for about half an hour ; after this? and for the remainder of the passage they were on deck during the day, but at night were strictly confined below. This took place in a climate where the thermometer is seldom below IK), and often 120. There was no European doctor on board, no hospital, and no medicines of any worth. The living, the dying, and the dead, were all huddled together in two ill-vcntillated ’tween-dccks. The dead wore frequently brought up in a state of putrefaction. The stench on deck arising from below I cannot compare to anything 1 have ever experienced elsewhere.Tho coolies were confined below in consequence of attempts being made to seize the ship, and regain their liberty shortly after leaving Swatow, and repeated whenever land was in sight, in anticipation of these attempts barricades, gratings on the hatches, muskets, cannon, and enthuses were day and night in use. From these piepara. tions the nature of the 44 Coolie Free Emigration'' may be easily understood.Of the .V.KS coolies landed in Havannah, 200 were in a dying state, and 1 do not think could survive one fortnight ; six were insane, and eleven completely blind. Of the 0:i) men on board at first, I can safely say four-fifths were on board agaiiut their will. It required the united exertions of the crew and officers to prevent their escaping on shore, while the ship was lying in Swatow river. 1 cannot fill up your valuable space with the details of cruelty 1 have witnessed on board coolie ships, but suifice, it to say the horrors of the African slave trade never exceeded that of the so-called 44 Coolie Free Emigration.'1 For this opinion 1 have the authority of persons in Cuba who have had experience in both trades.August 12. J. C.
Newspaper Details
Evening Star
London, Middlesex, GB
Fri, Aug 13, 1858
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 27 Dec 2018
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