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The idea generally held and frequently expressed is that this
type of house is the one built by the coolies themselves, and there-
fore must be according to their liking and in every way the most
suitable for them. But this is not a full statement of the facts.
It is true the coolie who is a new-comer builds the primitive type
of hut described; but if asked whether he is accustomed in his own
home to such temporary dwellings he explains that he is not, but
that the lack of material or more frequently the limited time allow-
ed him does not enable him to construct a better house. If his at-
tention is called to the superior residence of the permanently settled
coolies, he usually replies that, as he is never certain how long he may
remain, it is useless to spend his own time and labour on what may
be only the most temporary home. As such, a large proportion of
the garden coolie population is either new or semi-permanent, it thus
happens that the majority are housed in a manner at once primitive
and temporary. It is not our intention to put forward any type
of house as necessary or desirable, the point that seems to us import-
ant is that at the present time there is no recognised obligation upon
the employer in regard to house accommodation for coolies, the type
of house provided very often being the very minimum that can be
offered, and far below in point of comfort, cleanliness, or as a shelter
from the weather, the kind of house which the favourably situated
coolie in the Duars cares to occupy of which one may see examples
here and there on every garden and almost everywhere in the neigh-
bouring villages.
Clearly it is the new coolies who are most likely to suffer from
this condition of things, and as a matter of fact we have seen such
coolies obviously enduring considerable hardship on account of in-
adequate or unsuitable accommodation. We have seen 14 people-
men, women and children-huddled together in a hut of the kind
described, measuring only 16 by 10 feet. We have seen families
of new coolies-up about a month from their country, in huts of the
same kind built level with the ground and subject to flooding with
every heavy fall of rain. In one case where the houses were visited
late at night in company of the manager, cases of cholera having
been reported, the occupants of such houses-men, women and chil-
H 2