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another kind. These colliers were always turned round and loaded very quickly. Sometimes only a matter of a few hours after they arrived the vessel was again ready for sea, which thus gave a tremendous fillip to the employment of natives generally as Lascars, for, the vessels being employed coasting, coasting articles were invariably used, so the men could be engaged or discharged without having to dance attendance at the Shipping Office for every alteration of a member of the crew that occurred; consequently when sailing, if for any reasons any of the original crew were not present at the Health Officer's muster for the Bill of Health, or rejected as medically unfit, newcomers were soon obtained, no questions asked, beyond his being fit and capable of handling a coal shovel! He may be, and probably is, new to the sea. That, however, is a detail to which we would commend the attention of the Calcutta authorities, and remark, incidentally, that they manage these affairs better in Bombay. Besides these immediate and local causes, the war in South Africa and the China Expedition have also been responsible for a considerable increase in the numbers of these men, as larger crews have been required for all ships engaged on the Government work in either case. In Calcutta, the Ghaut Serang (Anglicé Crimp) is ever ready to supply as many as are wanted, and must needs wax fat nowadays, for we have quite recent information from the best possible authority—the Shipping Master of that port, to wit—that they have the greatest difficulty in supplying the demand, although it is quite patent that the villages on the Western seaboard of the Indian peninsula no longer enjoy their whilom monopoly. It may be somewhat difficult to arrive at the exact numbers of these men who happen to be afloat in active service at any one given time, but not at all difficult to arrive at if it were done methodically by arrangements emanating from the principal shipping offices; still, the numbers quoted by the Earl of Dudley and by the Navy League, too, we do not hesitate to state are manifestly and hopelessly wrong. A census of these people would reveal much that is interesting, inasmuch as it would show—if it were honestly carried out—how insiduously the Asiatic ocean labourer is displacing the European at his own game, for be he British, French, German, Italian, Austrian, or any other European nationality, he simply cannot compete with, endure and thrive in the same healthy manner as our Aryan brother. All give way to the Asiatic; and here, be it noted, the British shipowner has no prescriptive rights to their exclusive use, as they are quite willing and just as ready to serve afloat under any flag. The Messageries Maritimes, the
