“If I were not convinced that the unhappy Africans are benefited by
the transfer to this colony, I should not so urgently press the
continuance of the countenance of Her Majesty’s Government to that
effect. I have, in my residence on this coast, seen that the Africans
from Sierra Leone are far from being in the civilised state I should
have anticipated; that their condition must, therefore, here be
improved; how much more so then must the pure savage be raised by
being brought amongst his own colour, who are in a high progressive
state of civilisation[7].”
[7] Extract from the Dispatch of Governor Light to Secretary of State,
dated 21 Sept. 1841, Parl. Paper, 1842, p. 85.
“Religious instruction administered at 57 places of public worship.
Each parish has at least two parochial schools under the
superintendence of the minister. Each missionary has a school attached
to his domicile, and nearly all the principal plantations in the
colony, if at a distance from the schools, maintain a school for the
instruction of their labourers’ children, free of expense.
“An annual grant has been made by the colony in aid of the education
of children of the labouring population in the rural districts,
amounting to 13,333 dollars.”
“The average rate of wages for agricultural labourers is about 5-12ths
of a dollar per task; a day’s task is understood to be seven hours,
but is generally performed in four or five hours by an industrious
man; any extra time or labour is paid for additional.”
“House-room, garden ground, medicine, and medical attendance, have
hitherto been granted free; all other requisites are provided by the
labourers themselves[8].”
[8] Parl. Paper, 1842, p. 120. Extract from Report of Committee on
Emigration.