“The labour employed may be distributed under three classes. There are, firstly, Malays and Batak tribesmen, who fell heavy timber, do general clearance, and build sheds; then come the Klings from the Madras districts, who occupy themselves with drainage and road-making; and lastly, we have the Chinese for planting, sorting, and preparation of the weed. The planting is conducted on a co-operative system. Coolies have their fields allotted to them, and plant at their own risk under supervision. Their payment depends on the yield. Reckoning from the estimated out-turn of last year’s crop, and that one coolie will raise seven piculs of tobacco in the season, we arrive at the figure 23,000 as representing the total number of Chinese engaged at Deli in tobacco cultivation, to which number 7000 extra hands must be added, employed in pursuits incidental to the industry. 3000 additional Chinese coolies are reported to have been engaged for the coming year. The strength of the Kling community may be taken at about 3000. The Chinamen go into their clearings and begin work during January and February: those not actually in service on the tobacco estates earning money as shopkeepers, pedlars, or gardeners, many of the latter being old hands who, under advances, have taken to planting patches of tobacco on their own account, for which they find a ready sale in Penang. The Klings are also to be met with as drivers of carts and carriages. “An industrious coolie would, on an average, net in the course of a year 100 to 150 Dutch florins, and on this sum he pays to the Dutch Government 2 per cent. by way of income tax. The coolie, however, arrives in the country with a debt of from 100 fl. to 150 fl., and thus as a rule is not clear and able to leave with a balance in hand till the end of the second year. The coolie is engaged for a year, but he generally re-engages, and takes his departure in the beginning of the third year. “The Dutch Government regulations with regard to the maintenance of a medical man by every estate and to the erection of hospitals for sick coolies are stringent; and, on the whole, the coolie-lines, considering their temporary nature, are adequate, so that the lot of the coolie in Deli may be regarded as a favourable one, even when compared with places where he is under British control. “The importing of British Indians, as is well known, is not tolerated, though many have found their way into the country under the stimulus of high wages, the latter running from 7 dol. to 10 dol. a month, according to capacity.” The following report by Consul Eckstein on the export of Sumatran tobacco to the United States, and Dutch dealings in the same in 1882 will be of interest. Consul Eckstein says “it is not quite three years since a few dealers in tobacco and manufacturers of cigars in the United States had first their attention attracted to Sumatra tobacco, with a view of introducing and using it for cigar-wrappers.