y the planters; it being found that an equal
amount of work can be obtained by this means from a less number of
hands, and that at lower rates of wages than were current in previous
years, the average of which is shown in the following table:--

+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | Number of | Aggregate | Average |
| Years. | Coolies | amount of wages |wages per head|
| | employed. | paid per week. | per week. |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | | L | s. d. |
| 1846 | 47,733 | 33,484 | 14 0 |
| 1847 | 48,314 | 35,338 | 14 9 |
| 1848 | 41,777 | 26,627 | 12 9 |
| 1849 | 45,384 | 27,625 | 12 2 |
| 1850 | 47,912 | 31,664 | 12 3 |
| 1851 | 42,275 | 27,832 | 12 2 |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+

In 1826, to make from 25 to 30,000,000 lbs. of sugar, it required
30,000 laborers (slaves); at the present time, with less than 45,000
(from which number fully 5,000 must be deducted as absent from work
from various causes), 135,000,000 lbs. are produced, or about five
times the quantity under slavery. The coolies are found to be an
intelligent race, who have become inured to the work required, and by
whose labor this small island can produce the fifth part of the
consumption of the United Kingdom, and that with only about 70,000
acres under cane cultivation. About 10,000 male immigrants, introduced
since 1843, are not now working under engagement, but are following
other occupations, and thus become permanent consumers. Some cultivate
land on a small scale, on their own account, but very few plant canes,
as it requires from eighteen to twenty months before they obtain any
return for their labor; but the most important fact established by
this and other official statements is, that only a small number of
immigrants leave the colony at the expiration of their industrial
residence. In the manufacture of sugar from the cane, considerable
improvement has been effected by the introduction of new methods of
boiling and grinding. The vacuum pan and the system of Wetsell are all
tending to economise the cost of production, and to save that loss
which for