Off the Beaten Track

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XVI, Issue 4, 1 October 1927, Page 175

Off the Beaten Track

MATRON'S TRIP TO INDIA. INTERESTING PLACES VISITED. STORY OF HER TRAVELS.

Off the beaten track of the average tourist, Miss Rose Macdonald, Matron of the Napier Hospital, m her eight months' trip to India and the Malay States, came across many places of beauty and interest that it is not always the luck of the ordinary traveller to see. Particularly was she fortunate m coming m close contact with the doings on an Indian tea plantation. There Miss Macdonald gained some knowledge of the conditions under which the Indian coolies worked, and from these observations was able to form the conclusion that the lot of the Indian coolie is quite a happy one. He had to work and work hard, but he received much m return. On the Way. Miss Macdonald's travels from New Zealand, led her first to Sydney, and then around the Australian coast to Perth and on to Colombo. A brief stay was made at Madras, and then the steamer journey was made up the Hugli River to Calcutta. Miss Macdonald had now reached her base from the 600 mile journey to the tea plantation district of Cachar. It was a journey that required many modes of travelling. First a six hours' train journey to Goalanda, and then on the river steamer up the Brahmaputra, branching off on to one of its tributaries, the Barak River, towards Chaudpur. It was time for another train journey, and then a motor drive of 20 miles before the Barak was again reached and the crossing made on a punt, a native propelling the punt across the river by means of a long bamboo. Again, the motor car was set going, but that was finally abandoned for the last few miles to the tea estate to be made up the river m a motor boat. A Wonderful Journey. Miss Macdonald described the 600 mile journey as wonderful, with something new and something fresh always looming up. She had the unique experience of

being the only white woman among several hundred passengers who made the train journey from Calcutta to Goalanda. The stations along the route presented a wonderful sight of bright colours. Always were there hundreds of natives awaiting the train's arrival, offering fruit, cigarettes and drinks for sale. As the train rushed on there was ever a change of picture. Four native villages they travelled through and then came the rice fields. It was just as picturesque from the river steamer, with native villages continually coming into view and mosques and temples looming up m the distance. But what capped everything on that memorable journey was the beautiful sunset on the Brahmaputra River, with the hundreds of firefly s coming above the steam just after dark. Work of the Coolies. "The Indian coolies, on the tea plantation at Lakhipur, my destination," continued Miss Macdonald. "are a very happy and contented lot, and are well looked after. There are about 500 of them, so that they are quite a big community. Quite comfortable huts of clay and grass, with thatched roofs, are provided for them, and the majority are keen on keeping them very clean and having gardens round about. Not only are they given a free house, but are provided with free hospitals and free medical attention. At one time the people were so scared of hospitals that they would not go near them, but now they have learned their benefits and are much more ready to receive treatment. While I was at Lakhipur a start was made with child welfare. The children are to be weighed once a month a*nd the mothers are being helped with a view to seeing that the children are properly looked after. Grows His Own Rice. "Each coolie is given a piece of ground and on that he grows his own rice, usually getting enough to keep him going for

two or three months. When that is eaten up he is provided with rice from the store on the estate. "During the free hours the coolies have plenty of amusement. Besides their pujas to celebrate a marriage or some such event, jugglers and entertainers visit the plantations and occasionally a visit is received from a travelling picture show. This is an unusually big occasion, and people from neighbouring bustees join m with the coolies from the plantation. It is an open air show, the coolies surrounding the screen. It didn't matter to them on what side of the screen they sat so long as they saw the pictures. Work Amongst the Tea. "I was at Lakhipur during the cool season, and owing to it being dark until almost 7 o'clock m the morning the day's work did not start until 8 o'clock. Shortly after 5 o'clock it was dark again. Each coolie always took his brass pot of rice with him out to the fields and m the middle of the day he is supplied with tea. It is the women who do the pruning of the bushes, carrying out their work similar to that of pruning rose bushes. The men's work is of a more strenuous nature. They have to do the deep holing, and repair all the drains before the rain comes. As they come m m the afternoons you will usually notice the women and children bringing m the primings m bundles on their heads. These primings they use for their fires. All the men bring m is what they have been working with. "One day a week is what the workers get off, and that is almost always on the Tuesday. On that day a bazaar is generally held on the plantation garden, when everyone gets m his stores for the week. Most of the selling at these bazaars is done by Nagas and Manipuris, hill tribes of the Mongolian type. It is extraordinary how little money changes hands when these bazaars are held m the villages. Business is mostly done by bartering, goods being exchanged for others. A Coolie and His Cow. "On the plantation the coolies also have their own cows and there are quite a large number of them, These are driven

out to the pastures m the morning, but a watch has to be kept on them all day. When they are brought back m the evening they are put m the yards or m the houses. They cannot be left out on account of the wild animals. I was highly amused when I saw the cows m the houses. Of course, a light is always kept going all night, and to look m a window and see a native sleeping m one corner and a cow m the other is a picture." Protecting the Plant. The tea plant, went on Miss Macdonald, began life m a nursery. She visited one of the nurseries and saw the seeds first m the germinating house, and put m the ground. They were then covered with sun grass, and as they began to sprout the sun grass was raised on a frame. This gave the plants the necessary protection from the sun, and there they remained until strong enough, and it took several months to plant out m the open. On each of the plantations there was such a nursery. But not only did the young plants require protection from the sun. Among the tea plants on the plantation other trees were growing. In the cool weather these trees lost their leaves, letting the sun m on to the plants, but m the hot spell, with their leaves on, they formed a protection and kept the sun's rays out. Reminded Her of New Zealand. Miss Macdonald was attracted by the beauties of the country round about Lakhipur. Much of it reminded her of New Zealand. The trees were different, of course, but the general effect was very much the same as m the Dominion. After three and a half months m the Assam country Miss Macdonald's stay came to an end, and the journey homeward commenced, but many miles among beautiful scenery and interesting places had yet to be traversed. A return was made to Calcutta, and then on to Rangoon and Penang, the latter being one of the most beautiful places Miss Macdonald had seen. Wonderful Roads. She could not help but be impressed with the wonderful roads. They were almost as smooth as glass. These roads

were not confined to Penang, but were to be found all over the Malay State. Labour was so cheap that the stones were laid down by hand by the coolies, and then rolled m and tarred. It gave an almost perfect surface and made motoring a joy, there being no dust. Rubber and Tin. Through the States were to be seen miles and miles of rubber plantations. She was fortunate enough to see through one rubber estate, and saw the rubber being tapped from the tree and going through the- different processes until it was ready for the market. On the rubber plantations the general health and life of the worker was much the same as on the tea plantations. The only difference was that the worker was of a lower class, being mostly Tamils who ship m thousands from India. Malay is quite an attraction for the coolies, for there they get higher wages than m India. Most of them come from the southern Indian States.

Highly interesting was the work m the Malay tin mines or the dredges dredging for tin. In the smelting works there was again a change m the labour, being all Chinese, even to the manager, but a peculiar fact was that the watchmen at the gates and offices were Sikhs. The Final Stages. That wonderful old place Malacca was reached at Easter time, where there were to be seen many old ruins of the Portuguese. But the same could be said of almost everywhere m the Malay States. Places of beauty and interesting spots were to be found at almost every place where a stop was made. Reaching Singapore the steamer for the final stages was boarded, and calls en route to New Zealand were made at Batavia, Samarang, and Surabaya. Port Darwin was the hottest place of the whole trip, added Miss Macdonald, and coming down the Queensland coast the Tasman on the reef was passed, a number of other vessels then standing by the vessel m trouble. In all Miss Macdonald spent six weeks travelling through the Malay States. — "Hawkes Bay Herald."