KAPIL'S JOURNEY

Previous page          Next page         Back to Homepage

THE ARRIVAL

The ship would have started its long journey by snaking its way upriver to the sea from Calcutta, then into the Bay of Bengal and south to Sri Lanka. From there the ship would have made its way across the Arabian Sea to the Cape of Good Hope. The final stop before Trinidad would be the island of St. Helena, in the Atlantic Ocean.
As the ship neared Trinidad, it would have been towed through the turbulent Bocas straits to the North, to prevent the ship from foundering upon the rocky coastline.*
Upon arrival in Trinidad, the immigrant was lodged at the depot in Nelson Island - one of the five tiny islets near coastal Port-of-Spain, the capital. The Hereford docked there on the 27th December 1894, the fourth and final arrival for the year carrying some 320 men, 165 women, and 83 children. 79 others were sick while 37 never made it to their final destination.*
The immigrant could be kept at Nelson Island for up to 6 weeks, depending on the demand of the planters for labour. The island had capacity for some 700 immigrants at most.* The Protector of Immigrants for Trinidad met the ship when it docked and inspected those who arrived. A medical officer would also inspect the immigrants for signs of ill-health. Fumigation of the immigrants' belongings was carried out. Then finally the report of the Surgeon- Superintendent was received and sent to the Governor of Trinidad.
Nelson Island itself is rather tiny*; and facilities one would imagine would have been similar to the Calcutta depot; cramped and very basic. Mosquitoes and damp would have permeated this island, especially in December, the very tail end of the rainy season. Today Nelson Island is abandoned and derelict; tropical growth having reclaimed the island; only the forgotten and overgrown ruins of this gateway to the new world remain, lost in the jungle of history. For Trinidadians are a people who do not have regard for their past; they are content to exist in the present indifferent to the memories of those who came before them. When Trinidadians speak of their ancestry they do so in the most vague and general of ways; and their main purpose is usually to stir up ethnic or political sentiment.

Previous page          Next page         Back to Homepage

P. Capildeo July 2003.
The author asserts the right of copyright. It is a term of viewing this website that the navigator will not reproduce in any manner or form information contained within. By navigating this website the navigator is deemed to have consented to this term. Reproduction of the verbal or pictorial content of this website from any source without permission from the author infringes copyright law and will be prosecuted.