Although of this number it could not be ascertained precisely how many British Indians were illegally taken to the Straits via Karikal, there could be no doubt that the French were anxious to see the illegal traffic terminated.
One of the most notorious aspects of the illegal emigration from Karikal to the Straits was overcrowding on board ship. In 1881, the German-owned Sentima had on board 4 8 passengers,^ with another 190 awaiting embarkation; when all boarded, she would have had an excess of 72i
1 Nayagam, "Tamil Migrations to Guadeloupe and Martiniaue” , P. 375.
2 ARII 1879-83.
passengers beyond her licensed capacity, and 222^ above what should have been her actual maximum capacity.^ A survey of the Seutima conducted by British consular officials stationed at Karikal revealed that she did not have the required
superficial minimum accommodation for the 600 passengers she
p
was licensed to carry; her actual capacity being 4 5 0.
When the matter was reported to Madras government officials and due investigation was made, they discovered that at the time of licensing the vessel the captain had included the dimensions of the whole saloon and of the officers' cabins as passengers' accommodation.^ According to the officials, not only was this "contrary to the existing practice at British Indian ports, and inconsistent with the spirit and intention of the Native Passengers Act XXV of 1859»" but it was "disallowed and reprobated by express orders" of the government of India.^
Commenting on the labour emigration from Karikal to the Straits, a French official at Karikal described it as a "veritable (slave) traffic in disguise. Passengers who set out for Penang were not really free labourers, who were conscious of what they were going to seek far off, but many of them were caught by any bait and tricked by any greedy and unscrupulous trader." Fischer was aware that these
1 MPP, no. 1025, 29 July 1881. 2 Ibid.
3 MPP, no. 1314, 29 September 1881 4 MPP, no. 1025, 29 July 1881. 5 Ibid
emigrants needed guidance and protection. The only effective course open to him in this regard was to urge the French
authorities to repress the abuses with a firm hand while extending to the Straits-bound emigrants the "same humane and enlightened security" offered to their own recruits. All that was required, he asked them, was to try and
distinguish between those who were bona fide passengers and those who had been inveigled into a contract, and to punish "with exemplary severity" those who induced the latter to impersonate ordinary passengers.
But the system operating at Karikal was hardly capable of doing this. According to an agreement signed between the government of India and the local French authorities on 2 September 186A> which was intended to
control the movements of "interlopers", all persons departing from Karikal were obliged to be furnished with passports.^ The simple system of obtaining one aided the illicit trade. An Indian, no matter who, could present himself at the Karikal Police Court, ask for a passport, pay the required fee, and could go where he liked; "no disagreeable questions were asked as to his antecedents; no enquiries were made as to
2
his future livelihood." It was true that two "intelligent" individuals had to testify to the applicant’s bona fides, but this, Madras officials asserted, was a "mere formality."^ Furthermore, they added, the same two persons would vouch for any number of applicants from any part of Madras Presidency.
1 MPP, vol• 276, 1 May 1875.
Under such a loose system abuse was not difficult, and it would not be in the interest of the Karikal police to check it. It seems an anomaly, however, that British Indian subjects, should thus be permitted to leave India
questioned only by an undoubtedly disinterested junior official of a foreign government. But as a native of Karikal was
said to resemble a British Indian native of Madras Presidency "as much as one pea resembles another",^ it would have been impossible to tell whether an intending emigrant, who no doubt had been thoroughly tutored by the maistry before he applied, was a British or French subject if he positively declared himself the latter.
The facility with which the maistries could induce the average Tamil recruit to say anything when he was
confronted by authority was well known in official circles. Fischer asserted: MThe maistries tutored them to tell the most palpably purposeless falsehoods with the most astounding assurance, and so powerful appears to be the sway the
recruiters exercise over their minds that they not infrequently tell these lies even if it is their evident interest to tell
p
the truth.” To expect, therefore, that the Commissaire de Police would sift the testimony of each of the many persons who applied to him for passports in the course of the busy
day was too much. His duties were said to be Mtoo multifarious
y
and too onerous"/
1 PRAD, no. 4> March 1886. 2 Ibid.
Victualling during the Voyage from NegaPatam
To maximise their profits, those Indian speculators who preferred to pass their recruits legally through the depot took little care for the emigrants’ nutritional needs
on the voyage. Since 1872, the Madras government had authorized the following daily diet for each emigrant while on board
Rice ... 1 lb.
Dal (split-peas soup) or
salt-fish ••• ^ ozs#
Onions, turmeric, chillies or other
curry-stuff ... 2 ozs.
Salt ... "2" oz.
instead of implementing this diet, the speculators imposed their own. One of the worst cases of under-rationing reported by Dr J.T.Veitch, the Colonial Surgeon stationed ai Penang, involved the barque Neelavathatchv. After she
arrived at Penang from Negapatam with a batch of 1/+7 indentured recruits on 28 October 187^-, Veitch inspected the immigrants and reported that the labourers had the ’’appearance of being a half-starved lot and [that] many of them were miserably thin and wanting in that development which would render them serviceable as estate labourers."^
On the basis of the immigrants' testimony, Veitch
concluded that the major contributing factor to their condition was the inadequate food supplied to them on board. The daily allowance had consisted of three coconut shells of boiled rice and about half a pint of water.^ This ’’altogether
1 MPP, vol. 1555, 27 October 1880. 2 MPP, vol. 276, 29 January 1875. 3 Ibid.
insufficient quantity of food,” the Surgeon declared, nwas an act of gross inhumanity". Furthermore, it was a contra vention of article 8 of Act XXV of 1859 on the part of these
speculators to deny emigrants adequate food and water.
Failure to comply with the Act was liable to a maximum fine of twenty rupees (about nine Straits dollars) for every passenger who had thus suffered privation. It has not been ascertained whether any charges were made.
In 18755 the testimony given by three indentured immigrants at the request of the Straits Colonial Surgeon throws interesting light on conditions on board emigrant ships. The translated evidence of Jonas reads:
I came from the Coromandel Coast. I left Negapatam on 6th October [1874]« I don't know the name of the ship. That man
(pointing to Saiboo Kundoo) was the nacoda [captain]; there were more than 140 coolies on board. We received each day about 11 or 12 o'clock three coconut shells of boiled rice; the coconut shell was a little larger than the one now shown me. We also received a tin of water, the size of one now produced. For the first two days and after we sighted Penang we received a little larger tin of water; and if we asked for more the cook beat us. We only received rice and water once a day. We had salt water into which
we squeezed some tamarind. I did not complain to the captain. If I received five coconut shells of rice it would have been sufficient. When I complained to the malim [the ship's officer] he said he had to be careful with the water lest it be calm. For five days there was calm and no rain. Kadersa, the man who shipped us on board at Negapatam put on board for our use large salt fish, ghee, coconuts, dhall [dal], and vegetables. We only get small salt fish, bringall [ auber
gine ], and pumpkins. There was no headman on board but the coolies cooked for us •••• Kadersa did not say how much food we are to have everyday. He said v/e would get what we want on board.
Another indentured immigrant, Yacoob, gave basically similar evidence, and added that the twenty ordinary
passengers "got as much rice as well as other things from the cook as they asked for”.1 His complaint against the "bad and insufficient quantity of food" produced no effect. Furthermore, the captain told him to be content with what he was served. Moreover, Yacoob*s body began to itch, which he said was due to the overcrowding. "There was no room to lie down and we had to take by turn to take our rest." He added he had sailed on "a good number of ships before but had never been treated like this."
Finally, Kessuwayah’s testimony confirmed Jonas*. And in addition, he said that in response to his complaints, the captain told him the vessel was "in calm", and that if no breeze sprang up he would order less rations. **I said
in that case I will certainly die. He said he will throw me into the sea.*' Of the food, Kessuwayah said: "The cooks and free passengers eat up all what Kadersa put for us on board.
In the 1870s, for the voyage by sail from Negapatam to Penang, emigrants were charged $13.00 with ration,^ which was then considered a very high price. The Lieutenant-
Governor of Penang, Colonel A.E.H.Anson, argued on the basis of his investigations that the cost of the passage without ration by sailing ship for ordinary passengers did not exceed $9.00.^ Thus, for subsistence on the voyage, the emigrants
1 Ibid. 2 Ibid.
3 MPP, Appendix A, November 1875. 4 MPP, vol. 276, 1 July 1875.
were charged $4*00 although they were usually deprived of the greater part of the food which this charge entitled them to. Assuming that the vessels took twelve days to
reach Penang, the daily rate of diet would cost each emigrant about thirty-three cents. But as they received only one
meal a day, consisting usually of "rice with a little pumpkin or curry,” Anson reckoned that its actual cost did not amount to more than six cents a day, or about seventy-two cents
for the voyage.1 Here the speculators realized a profit of about $3*00 on each emigrant. This would add three months to the period which the labourers were placed under deductions to repay their debt, which would in most cases be added to the time they would take to work out their contract.
In 1882, one recruiting agent, on instructions from some planters, made a contract with Captain Menzell of the steamship Meenatchy« and it was only then that some improve ment in the immigrants' condition became noticeable. Two main reasons were responsible for this. First, the ship was apparently chosen with great consideration for the emigrants' welfare as its description given by one planter suggests:-
The ship is perfectly ventilated, with eighteen inches ports all round. Besides this there are two large centrifugal air pumps, worked by machinery, to throw
fresh air below, and force out any impure air that might otherwise accumulate in bad weather. In places where, if not looked after, uncleanliness might occur, continuous and copious streams of water are continually flowing, and I can certify that not the cleanest railway station in England is free from impure odors [sic,].