The Indian Ocean (50 page)

To call this a new system of slavery is perhaps to paint too black a picture. It is true that conditions on the plantations could be very harsh, but on the other hand skilled labour could do very well. One way to provide a context is to note that the death rate among Indians on the voyages from India to Mauritius was much higher than that of
free white labour going to the settlement colonies of the Americas or Australia, but much lower than on the slave voyages across the Atlantic.
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Unlike slaves, there was a good chance of returning home, as the figures above show. In the case of Burma, a third of the Indian population moved in and out each year. Some 450,000 Indians came to Mauritius between 1834 and 1910, and 157,000 returned home.

Another variant in the category of more or less coerced movement of peoples was the use of Indian troops and police all around and beyond the ocean. They played a crucial role in extending, and maintaining, the British empire. Sikhs were used as police around most of the shores of the ocean. Gurkha mercenaries similarly served from Hong Kong to East Africa. The Indian army took a very large part – even 50 per cent – of the Indian colonial budget. Indians were paid about one-third of what British troops got, and served in Egypt in 1882, the Sudan in 1885, China in 1900, and several times in Burma and East Africa. Indian involvement in World War I was massive: a total of Indian combatants and non-combatants of 44,000 in East Africa, 589,000 in Mesopotamia, 116,000 in Egypt, and 50,000 in Aden and the Gulf.
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An important consequence of the movement of so many people was an increased mobility of disease. In most areas this was not a matter of the virgin soil epidemics which devastated native populations in the Americas and the Pacific, which in turn facilitated European conquest. Most of the ocean, some islands excepted, was part of a common Eurasian disease pool, so that frequently some immunity had been built up. Indeed, if anything it was the newly arrived Europeans who were most threatened by 'Indian Ocean' diseases. However, a vastly increased mobility, along with the development of poverty and slums in the port cities, did lead to much greater outbreaks of common diseases even if they were not new to the areas. Leprosy was a problem in the eighteenth century in the Cape, and may have arrived with the Malay servants and slaves that the Dutch introduced. As communications improved diseases could spread more quickly, no longer so hindered by the vast extent of the ocean which previously had acted to restrict the spread of 'crowd' diseases like cholera, smallpox and plague. A new and very virulent type of epidemic cholera spread out from Bengal several times during the nineteenth century. The first devastating episode was in 1817–22. Its spread was helped by movements of people: hajjis, troops, migrant labour. Cholera reached Java in 1821 and killed 125,000 people, while on the other end of the ocean, in East Africa, there was a particularly serious outbreak in 1865. The hajj was a great transmitter of this disease, and mortality at Mecca itself was often fearsome. In 1865, out of a total of 90,000 pilgrims, 15,000 died. In the 1880s rinderpest was introduced into Ethiopia, probably again from India, and in the next decade spread, with devastating effects, down the East African coast.
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It is now time to set sail again, and look at the actual experience of people travelling over the ocean in the great western steamships. For now I will discuss only westerners; local travel by indigenous people will come later. There are a plethora of quotable accounts. My task was to use enough of them to give this section a whiff of ozone, to inspissate or leaven my dry descriptive prose with a more immediate
maritime experience, yet to avoid overwhelming this chapter with undigested anecdotes and accounts of sea travel.

We can start with an account of a voyage from Kolkata to Europe in 1799. Our traveller took a barge from Kolkata for three days to get to the ship, but was disappointed when he went on board:

We found the ship in the greatest disorder; the crew principally composed of indolent and inexperienced Bengal Lascars, and the cabins small, dark and stinking, especially that allotted to me, the very recollection of which makes me melancholy. The fact was that as Captain Richardson [his patron] and myself were the last who took our passage, all the good apartments had been previously secured by our fellow passengers.... In the next cabin to mine, on one side was a Mr. Grand, a very passionate and delicate gentleman; and on the other side were three children, one of whom, a girl three years old, was very bad tempered, and cried night and day; in short, the inconveniences and distresses which I suffered on board this ship were a great drawback from the pleasures I afterwards experienced in my travels.

There followed a delay of two weeks while the captain spent time in Kolkata, and then the dangerous passage down to the sea. 'During our passage down we had several narrow escapes. Our vessel drew thirteen feet and a half of water; and we passed over several sands on which there were not six inches more water than we drew. Had the ship touched the ground, as the tide was running out, we should have stuck there, and probably have been lost.' They reached the open sea only one month after our author had left Kolkata, and already water and provisions were running low. When they reached the equator those who had not crossed it before were ducked, but 'When it came to my turn, by the mediation of one of the officers, and a present of some bottles of brandy, I was excused this disagreeable ceremony.'

Not a happy traveller, our author found four problems with his ship:

The first is that to which every ship is liable; viz. the want of good bread, butter, milk, fruit, and vegetables; to which are to be added, stinking water, and washing the mouth with salt water . . . and the difficulty of getting to and from the quarter-gallery, with the danger of being wet, or drowned, while there. To these I should add, the state of suspense and agitation to which a person is constantly exposed, the confinement in one place, and the sickness caused by the motion of the ship.

The second class arose from want of wealth; viz. a small and dark cabin, and the consequent deprivation of air and light; the neglect of servants; the want of a ship cot, on account of the deficiency of room; and the tyranny or rudeness of my neighbours, who ever studied there own conveniences at my expense.

The third class is confined to foreigners, by which, I mean persons who are not Europeans; viz. the difficulty of shaving oneself; the cutting of one's own beard and nails; not having any private place for ablution; the necessity of eating with a knife and fork; and the impossibility of purification. From the latter I suffered much inconvenience; for as it was only customary on board to draw up water in buckets early in the morning, at which time all the crew washed themselves and whatever else they required, I was frequently under the necessity of drawing it up when I wanted it, in one of my own copper vessels; but during the rough weather many of these were lost in the attempt, and I was at last reduced to one ewer. I therefore relinquished the practice of purification, and was consequently incapacitated from the other duties of our religion.

The fourth is confined to ships not belonging to the English; viz. noise and tumult when any business is done; the abusive language made use of while heaving the anchor; the quantity of bilge water allowed to remain in the ship; and the unnecessary destruction of every thing on board. To these may be added, the quantity of stinking salt fish and putrid eggs of which the sea store is composed, and the absurd custom of the crew lying on the wet decks; with a total want of discipline in the sailors, and science in the officers.
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All standard enough, but the third complaint should have given the game away, for indeed this traveller on a Danish ship was an Indian Muslim. But apart from this his observations fit well with a host of other accounts of long voyages before the age of steam. He was unlucky in the matter of food, but this was because he was travelling on the cheap. In 1811 Mrs Graham sailed on a Royal Navy frigate, and the admiral in charge had laid in stores – a lot of stores. 'I found on board stores of every kind, sheep, milch goats, wine, preserves, pickles, fruit, vegetables, in short, everything that could possibly add to the comfort or convenience of a long voyage.'
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She passed the time pleasantly, 'after breakfast I always write or study for three hours, after which I draw, or do needle-work, till dinner-time, when I again read for an hour or two before I take my evening's walk, so that my time will not hang heavy on my hands in fine weather.' A cabin passenger bound for Australia in the late 1830s wrote that 'You will think we do nothing but eat and drink when I tell you that we have hot breakfast at half past eight, meat and new rolls, tea and coffee at twelve, grog and biscuit at half past three, dinner all fresh meat and very good at seven and at nine grog and biscuit.' Should this not be sufficient, one could provide one's own food, and take on fresh supplies when the ship called in at any port.
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In 1845 Emma Roberts published a book which was full of practical advice for the traveller from England to the east: what to take, what to expect, how to behave. It gives a good impression of life on board in the time before steam and Suez. The best cabins were on the poop deck, even though they were noisy, as

the hen-coops are usually placed upon the poop, and though the unfortunate denizens of these prisons may occasionally be quiescent, every movement of the ship causes the feet of the coops to strike against the deck. In bad weather, or during the working of the vessel, the noises made by trampling overhead, ropes dragging, blocks falling etc etc are very sensibly augmented by the cackling, chuckling, and screaming of the poultry....

But this was actually good training: 'Without, however, wishing to alarm those per sons whose destinies are fixed in India, it may be said that the noise on ship should be looked upon with some indulgence, it being merely preparatory to the disturbances which must be endured on shore.' One should take a couch to have in one's cabin, 'since, when the ship is rolling, a recumbent attitude is exceedingly desirable.' One should also take a filtering machine for water so as to 'be furnished with a fair portion of wholesome water with which to perform their ablutions, instead of having every sense offended by the wretched stuff so often served out from the casks.' A supply of brandy was advised, to ensure good service from the crew. 'There is, generally speaking, more gaiety on board outward, than homeward bound vessels; few of the former sail without taking passengers visiting India for the first time, and these, buoyant in spirit, and enjoying the freshness of youth, usually endeavour to beguile the tediousness of the voyage by getting up a play or a concert.' She also provided a long list of desirable clothing.
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Frederick Trench left from Chennai on a small French ship bound for Europe. The passage was bearable, but hardly exciting:

The days are passed as usual at sea very dully. Turn out at day light, read, chat and walk a constitutional till breakfast and then at the sound of the cloche de dejeuner descend to the cuddy and sit down before the following cheer – an omelet, a hash or mutton chop, a dish of chopped grilled potatoes, a cheese, and three or four bottles of claret and after breakfast, in compliment to the Anglais, comes a weak cup of tea without milk. To this fare, however incongruous, I have at length accustomed myself and make a hearty meal of it in general. We have dinner at four and the intermediate hours we passed in writing, reading, smoking, chatting, walking and listening to and learning the lingo of those around. Yesterday we came across a huge shoal of porpoises, which remained playing round the ship. Pleasant to have any thing to relieve the harmony of the sea and sky or afford a topic for conversation.
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Food was a constant preoccupation on these long voyages. Mrs Fay's voyage from Mocha to Calicut was unpleasant; she liked none of her fellow passengers, and once the ship nearly had to put back to Mocha so that the captain and one of the passengers could fight a duel. Food soon became scarce, and she learnt to grab it as soon as it appeared. She kept busy by retiring to her cabin and making shirts for her
husband. 'How often since, in this situation have I blessed God, that he has been pleased to endow me with a mind, capable of furnishing its own amusement, in despite of every means used to discompose it.'

It was a case of feast or famine. Mrs Fay in 1786 wrote that 'The table was at first profusely covered; being our Captain's favourite maxim "never to make two wants of one"; Every one foresaw what must be the consequence, but he would not listen to reason.' He announced that the ship was nearing St Helena, where provisions could be had, but then they discovered that they were still off the east coast of Africa:

On examining the state of our water and provisions, after the error was discovered, we were put on an allowance of a quart of water a day, for all purposes; and for nearly a month before we arrived here, we were forced to live on salt provisions; even the poor children and the sick, had no better fare.

There was another problem with food on this ship too, at least for the ladies. Her travelling companion, Mrs Tottingham,

at first took her meals in the Cuddy, but the gentlemen were in general too fond of the bottle to pay us the least attention; after tea, we were never asked to cut in at cards, though they played every evening. Captain Lewis swore so dreadfully, making use of such vulgar oaths and expressions; and became so very rude and boisterous, that Mrs Tottingham withdrew entirely from table, and never left her cabin for the last thirteen weeks; but the Colonel [her husband] took care to send her whatever was necessary; I had no one to perform the like kind office for me, and was therefore forced to venture up among them, or risk starvation below.