ARRIVAL OF GIRMITIYA
Part 13: Bure to Breach Street bars and British bungalows
THE arrival of indentured labourers from India in the second half of the 1800s had a lasting influence on the early towns of Levuka and Suva. According to historical records, Fiji's seaports and island anchorages bustled with activities and movements between 1879 and 1916.
This was because during the time some 42 ships made 87 accumulated trips here, carrying Indian indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent to Fiji.
It is said that on January 28, 1879, the first ship, a specially fitted 1600-ton vessel left Calcutta on a sea journey that lasted over three and a half months. 522 indentured labourers were on board.
On May 14, 1879, the ship reached Levuka, then a British port town in the eastern part of Fiji.
Four years earlier, Fijian chiefs had ceded the country to Queen Victoria of England. It had been 10 years since Fiji's first newspaper, The Fiji
Times, was born.
Captain McLachlan and his ship, the Leonidas, which sailed from Calcutta, arrived at the port on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 14.
Since it was getting dark, Captain McLachlan decided against entering an unfamiliar harbour, full of sharp coral reefs.
"On the next morning communication was had with the ship, and the unfortunate vessel was found to be in a pest-stricken condition," The Fiji
Times of May 17, 1879, noted.
At the time, berthing in the harbour close to port was difficult, which was actually one of the reasons why Fiji's capital was shifted to Suva.
"Eventually, after the ship had sailed for some time up and down outside the port, she was piloted in by means of the pilot boat," this newspaper said.
The Leonidas sailed up the harbour, passed Vagadaci on the northern end of Levuka, and touched the reef somewhere near Waitovu Village.
With the help of rising tide, the ship floated off and dropped anchor in Waitovu passage, as far away from the shore where she could be safe from running aground.
As soon as communication was made with the ship, it was discovered that passengers on board had been exposed to cholera and smallpox. They got it from one of the Leonidas crew and as a result 11 coolies had died of cholera and six of dysentery, before the ship reached Fiji.
Levuka had no quarantine facilities at the time. Nevertheless, every precaution was observed by authorities to prevent any chance of the two diseases spreading to the local population.
Still raw on authorities' minds was the measles epidemic of the early 1870s that killed roughly a third of the indigenous Fijian population. That deadly outbreak was brought to Fiji by chief Cakobau and his sons, after they visited Australia. In an effort to contain the diseases, The Fiji
Times noted that authorities let four police boats surround the Leonidas at suitable distances from the ship.
The schooner Elizabeth sailed down from Nasova at the southern end of town and anchored off Waitovu. It acted as a guard ship to allow boat crew members to be relieved every four hours.
Responding to the situation, Dr McGregor, the chief medical officer of the Colony, devised "a very ingenious method of effectually preventing the contagion being conveyed to the shore" during the process of sending stores and letters to the ship.
"A staging has been erected on the outer reef, with a moving platform. Stores necessary to the ship are placed on this platform at low tide and taken off by the ship' s boat," The
Fiji Times said.
"The whole staging is then demolished and allowed to float until the next low tide; when it is re-erected.
All letters received were placed in a carbolic acid bottle, and fumigated before delivery.
Later communication with the vessel found out there were 373 male and 149 female coolies on board. Two buffaloes were also on the ship.
"It is sincerely to be hoped that all officers of the Government will, under the trying and unfortunate circumstances, be at their post and duty and that any and every assistance will be rendered by one and all to prevent any contagion reaching these shores," The Fiji Times added.
When cholera and dysentery broke out while the Leonidas was at sea, containing the diseases in such a confined space was a challenge. The
surgeon superintendent on board could not effectively isolate infected passengers.
And because the old capital had no quarantine facility, British authorities decided to set up a crude one on Yanuca Lailai, an uninhabited 72acre volcanic isle between Ovalau and Moturiki, known to travellers of today as Lost Island.
The island became Fiji's first quarantine station and passengers on the Leonidas remained there for almost three months before they were sent to their respective plantation.
Armed guards were placed between Ovalau and Yanuca Lailai to ensure there was no physical contact between Leonidas' passengers and new arrivals.
"On several occasions warning shots had to be fired to prevent seamen trying to return to the
Leonidas after dropping off their passengers," Wikipedia noted.
"Fifteen of the new arrivals died on the island from dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid leaving only 463 survivors to be released into the general population on August 9, 1879."
Lodging spaces for the Indian labourers became a challenge. Accommodation facilities could only cater for 350 people.
"To accommodate the extra 150 people, the Governor levied the people of Moturiki and Ovalau and by May 20, only two days after the order had been given. 700 Fijian men were sent to Yanuca Lailai to construct twenty more Fijian bure," Professor Brij V. Lal noted in Chalo Jahaji: On a Journey Through Indenture in Fiji.
The extra shelters were built using forest trees and other materials that were collected and shipped to the island.
Professor Brij Lal further noted the builders worked with "extraordinary activity" and completed the task in within three days. They built lodgements, a hospital, a storehouse and quarters for the depot keeper. Later thirty more houses were built for married couples and those with families.
Passengers of the Leonidas were transferred from ship to Yanuca Lailai some 12 days after they first arrived in Fiji and since the isle was 10 miles from Ovalau, the transfer of all passengers took three days.
"The migrants remained in quarantine until August 15. The survivors, after a period of convalescence, were brought back to Levuka for allocation among the planters….," Professor Brij Lal continued.
"Only one planter, J. Hill of Rabi offered to take a total of 52 men, 25 women and 29 children. Some were taken as domestic servants but by far the greatest number, 189 men and 97 women had to be employed by the government itself on public works."
Today, very few people in Levuka are descendants of indentured labourers. Nevertheless, those who do remain in the old town live together harmoniously with other ethnic groupings. Hindus have a temple at Waitovu which was built in the 1940s.
A few run their shops in town, some work at the Pacific Fishing Company, some are taxi drivers, some a self-employed and some are civil servants.
Those who belong to the Islamic faith also have a place of worship which was built in Waitovu in 1945. According to the book Levuka: Living
Heritage, as at 2001, there were only 10 Muslim families and eight Gujarati families remaining in Levuka.
Initially, ships that sailed from India during the 1800s, brought indentured labourers from Calcutta. However, by 1903 all ships except two also brought labourers from Madras.
During the indentured system, a total of 60, 965 passengers left India but 60, 553 set foot alive on Fiji soil. A total of 45, 439 boarded ships from Calcutta and 15, 114 from Madras. Duration of travel took, roughly 10 weeks while steamers took a month.
History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.