By Basil Lubbock
From Baird Maritime:
Two of the lesser known trades carried out by sailing ships in the second half of the nineteenth and first two decades of the twentieth centuries were in coolie ships and oil sailers.
The coolie trade commenced in the 1850s after the suppression if the obnoxious slave trade. It involved the relatively humane transport of indentured labourers from, mostly, India and China to Mauritius, Trinidad, Fiji, Cuba, Malaysia, Peru and other places.
The Indian coolie trade appears to have been a cut above the Chinese in terms of care of the human cargo. The trade lasted until about the turn of the century when the world seemed to become a little more civilised.
About the same time a trade developed using large, four masted, iron and steel ships as low cost tankers. They carried kerosene and other refined oils in cans. A massive stevedoring requirement. These were difficult ships to handle and the author describes their problems very well. Mostly they were due to under-manning.
While reasonably fast, crewing and other costs led to their demise. Nevertheless, both trades were full of action and adventure which the author describes very picturesquely.
Ordering Information: