The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-25
COOLIES OF TRINIDAD.
rom the New York sun.

tween the Southern Cross and the
coolies of Trinidad, said the young
botanist, yet the one always reminds
me of the other, because it was in
starting out early one morning to see
the coolies of Trinidad make one of
the most interesting parts of that in
teresting country. There are some
thousands of them on the island, and
they stand alone, never mixing with
the negroes, Chinese or any other resi-
dents of the island. This isolation is
purely from choice, not because they
are afraid of losing caste; they are all
of low caste to begin with, and what
ever standing they have had at home,
they lost it by leaving their native
country. An American can look at
these people from an entirely unpreju-
diced standpoint if anybody can, and
make one wonder to see these men of
lowest caste, what the higher castles
can be like. Every one of them is as
dignified as-wen, as preacher. You
never hear them jabbering and chat
tering in the streets or at work, as
some of their fellow laborers do. They
have little to say, and when they talk
it is in low and musical tones. They
are erect in carriage, prompt in execu-
ton, and mind their own business
strictly. Never seeking quarrel, they
are always able to take care of them
selves. A slender coolie of one hundred
and twenty pounds, when driven to it,
will grid up his loins and thrash a two
UNDERGROUND negro with ease. A
New Yorker cannot help admiring such
people. 1O|
Speaking Of slender coolie, they
are all slender. Generally they are
tall, but on their arrival in Trinidad
they are almost skeletons That this
home is shown by the way they make
muscle after they have been year or
two on the island. But they never
grow fat; or if they do the fat ones all
escaped me, and was SO much inter
ested in them that I took pains to be
among them frequently. Their waists
are particularly small, and their ribs
stand out prominently, but there is
plenty of muscle on them, even when
they first come fros Hindostan. They
are dark in skin. but not one of the
thousands saw could by any possibil-
ity be mistaken for a negro. And i
think they must be the most graceful
people in the world. Hard labor does
not seem to interfere with their grace
of form and movement When they
stand it is in a graceful posture, with
ont n n a < ~fl-
ing an attitude When they squat
down land they never sit} they do it
gracefully. Even when they are en-
gagged at that most ungraceful labor of
digging holes in cane field with a
heavy West Indian hoe, every move
ment is study for an artist. \ great
many of them have very intelligent
faces.
These are the men I am talking
about-the field laborers. The women
did not seem to me to be equally adj
mirable in appearance They are all
modest in demeanor, of whatever age;
but when q woman has passed twenty
five her only handsome points are her
shining eyes and her coal-6lack hair.
They mature too early to preserve
their beauty long; and as to modest
demeanor, il rather behooves woman
to act modestly when she has hus-
band who would think nothing of cut
ting her windpipe. The women are
generally clad in long gowns OF thin
stuff. particularly when they appear
in the streets; bat in their own villages
and In their little homes are frequently
seen with nothing on but the native
.'lungee.- long, narrow cloth which
they wind about themselves so skill
fully that they can make OF il mere
breech-clout or a garment that covers
the entire body, head and feet in
Guided, Il they so desire IL the has-
bands are terribly ready 70 slaughter
their wives, II must lie said for them
that they are equally careless OF their
own lives When coolie IS abused
by his master ne sometimes aSenges
himself with knife or club; but be Is
far more likely to retire to the seelu-
sion of a caueSeld and stick knife
into his own body. committing suicide
because he had been nl-treated
The long gown worn by the women
is not their native dress, but a conees-
sion TO western custom The wouaAn's
native dress IS short waist, or bodice.
generally made OF bright-colored stuff
and highly ornamented. and short /
and scant skirt TIE lower part OF
the bodice does not meet the SKIRT !
band by several inches. and IA the IN
teryal fe.o o. tawuy sk.n y saoyn-