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APPENDICES

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Appendix I: Italian coolie ships, by flag, ownership, captain and consignee.

Departing Date of Coolies Coolies


n. Owner Consignee Ship name T.r. Flag Captain Date of arrival Deaths Destination Notes
from departure embarked arrived

1 Denegri* W.M Robinet Santiago 300 Peruvian Loutano Rosa Macao 10 June 1854 58 ? ? Peru
2 Denegri* Santiago Peruvian Macao August 1855 ? ? ? Peru
Revolt, 8 March 1857, ship sank, crew escapes on
3 Denegri Carmen 343 Peruvian Luigi Camogli Swatow 1 March 1857 - 260 260 0 no, Peru
lifeboats
4 Giuseppe Rocca 750 Italian Lavagna Macao 28 June 1858 300 ? Peru?
5 Bollo Teresa 189 Chilean Bollo Hong Kong 17 February 1859 ? ? ? Peru Gio Andrea Bollo (father), most likely
Canevaro y This ship may have performed another passage in
6 Canevaro Empresa 446 Peruvian Stefano Garavagno November 1861 ? ? 273 Peru
Cía the previous year
7 Bollo Teresa Chilean Bollo Macao 24 October 1861 ? ? ? Peru
Dagnino e
8 Canevaro Empresa 446 Peruvian Stefano Garavagno Macao 29 May 1862 July 1862 ? ? 299 Peru
Hijos
9 Bollo Teresa 240 Chilean Bollo Macao 12 January 1863 23 May 1863 132 2 130 Peru
Canevaro y
10 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Peruvian Stefano Garavagno Macao 9 December 1863 25 February 1864 700 118 582 Peru
Cía
11 Bollo Teresa 240 Peruvian Bollo Macao 21 December 1863 29 April 1864 218 90 128 Peru
Canevaro y
12 Larco, Francesco Perseverancia 648 Peruvian Alberto Tetens Macao 31 December 1863 6 April 1864 400 129 271 Peru
Cía
Bianchi e
13 Bollo Clotilde 357 Peruvian Sebastiano Bollo Macao 17 January 1864 1 May 1864 220 102 218 Peru
Profumo
14 Castagnola?* Figari e Hijos Lima 328 Peruvian Gio. Batta Castagnola Macao 7 April 1864 22 September 1864 184 32 152 Peru
Coolies transferred on the British steamer Argo at
15 Denegri e Figari Figari e Hijos Mandarina 258 Peruvian F.S. Rossi Macao 13 May 1864 152 6 146 Peru
Honolulu
Canevaro y
16 Canevaro Napoleone Canevaro 1215 Peruvian Raffaele Demoro Macao 8 June 1864 September 1864 300 10 290 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
17 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Peruvian Landabaso Macao 11 August 1864 14 December 1864 603 65 537 Peru
Cía
Dagnino e
18 Aurora 668 Peruvian J. Uril Macao 12 November 1864 24 February 1865 377 10 367 Peru
Hijos
19 Bollo Teresa 240 Peruvian J. Serafino Macao 24 December 1864 10 April 1865 143 2 141 Peru
20 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Italian Alberto Nattini Macao 2 January 1865 10 April 1865 395 3 392 Peru
21 Bollo Etienne y co Clotilde 367 Italian Bollo Macao 8 January 1865 23 April 1865 220 2 218 Peru
22 Valente, Andrea Avon 1086 Italian G. Falcone Macao 24 January 1865 543 21 522 Cuba
23 Valente, Andrea Queen of England 1169 Italian R. Fortunati* Macao 12 February 1865 584 24 560 Cuba
24 Bianchi Colombo 775 Italian Stefano Chiappara Macao 6 March 1865 17 June 1865 495 68 427 Peru Directly from Genoa
Canevaro y
25 Canevaro Napoleone Canevaro 1327 Italian Raffaele Demoro Macao 10 March 1865 23 June 1865 641 39 602 Peru
Cía
26 Castagnola Figari e Hijos Lima 328 Italian Gio. Batta Castagnola Macao 19 March 1865 19 July 1865 200 77 133 Peru
27 Bianchi D. Josè 796 Italian J. Gervasoni Macao 14 May 1865 21 December 1865 505 244 261 Peru
Canevaro y
28 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Italian Landabaso Macao 31 May 1865 22 September 1865 632 49 583 Peru
Cía
29 Fray Bentos 618 Hamburg Gio. Batta Castagnola Hong Kong 300 Vancouver Unclear destination
30 R.Pratolongo R.Pratolongo Rocco Pratolongo 890 Italian L. Profumo Macao 23 June 1865 13 October 1865 503 247 256 Peru
Canevaro y
31 Falcon 462 Peruvian Sullivan Macao 20 July 1865 30 October 1865 249 31 218 Peru
Cía
32 R.Pratolongo Liguria 843 Italian A. Pezzolo Macao 30 July 1865 3 February 1866 513* ? 72 Peru 54 coolies left at Thaiti

320
Canevaro y
33 Aurora 668 Peruvian G. Hill Macao 6 August 1865 18 November 1865 399 10 389 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
34 Dea del mar 794 Italian Giacomo Ansaldo Macao 8 September 1865 21 January 1866 612* (506?) 344 268 Peru Revolt
Cía
35 Canevaro Cia. Maritima Rosina 487 Italian Fermann Macao 14 December 1865 14 April 1866 370 102 268 Peru
36 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Italian Stefano Nattini Macao 17 December 1865 413 8 405 Peru
37 R.Pratolongo Karl Hamburg 27 April 1866 200 3 197 Peru
Canevaro y
38 Canevaro Italia 986 Italian Oate Macao 6 January 1866 486 ? ? Cuba
Cía
Canevaro y
39 Canevaro Catalina 309 Italian Francesco Demoro Macao 17 February 1866 29 May 1866 193 4 189 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y Revolt, ship took fire and sank. Possibly a handful
40 Canevaro Napoleone Canevaro 1215 Italian Raffaele Demoro Macao 8 March 1866 663* (562?) 663* - Peru
Cía of survivors
41 Cia Maritima Uncowah 988 Italian Rosciano Macao 10 April 1866 29 June 1866 572 116 456 Peru
42 Bollo* Estienne y co Amalia 344 Italian Giovanni Bollo Macao 10 April 1866 26 August 1866 241 92 149 Peru
Canevaro y
43 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1206 Italian Cavessa Macao 10 April 1866 698 ? Cuba
Cía
44 Chiarella Bianchi Colombo 775 Italian Stefano Chiappara Macao 20 April 1866 11 September 1866 370 6 364 Peru
Dagnino e
45 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Italian Landabaso Macao 10 May 1866 17 August 1866 634 131 503 Peru
Hijos
46 Hurtado Lima 328 Italian A. Munhart* Macao 31 May 1866 22 October 1866 148 7 141 Peru
47 Bollo Molfino Teresa 1094 Italian Sebastiano Bollo Macao 3 June 1866 2 October 1866 631 116 497 Peru
48 Cia Maritima Asia 820 Italian Timosci Macao 9 June 1866 1 November 1866 500 103 397 Peru
49 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 471 Italian Gio Batta Castagnola Macao 20 June 1866 9 November 1866 360 9 351 Peru
50 R.Pratolongo Marcone Rocco Pratolongo 860 Italian L.Profumo Macao 21 June 1866 20 October 1866 455 7 448 Peru
51 Cia Maritima America 1454 Italian Evans Macao 10 November 1866 6 March 1867 622 38 584 Peru
Canevaro y
52 Aurora 660 Italian W.C. Linscott Macao 14 December 1866 6 April 1867 272 13 259 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
53 Canevaro Hong Kong French Canton 23 January 1866 260 ? Cuba Revolt, ship returns to China
Cía
Canevaro y
54 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Spanish Yribar Macao 4 January 1867 16 April 1867 314 314 Cuba
Cía
Canevaro y
55 Marie Laure 393 French E. Auril Macao 5 May 1867 285 Peru
Cía
56 R.Pratolongo R.Pratolongo Rocco Pratolongo 890 Italian L. Profumo Macao 9 July 1867 7 October 1867 403* 96* 307 Peru
57 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Italian Alberto Nattini Macao 5 July 1867 6 November 1867 364 18 346 Peru
Canevaro y Other 241 coolies in precarious healt transborded at
59 Johanna 1326 Austrian Landabaso Macao 21 July 1867 2 December 1867 619 90 288 Peru
Cía Paita on the British ship Panama

60 Nicola Larco Cia Maritima Galileo 1076 Italian Splivalo Macao 23 July 1867 13 December 1867 413 111 302 Peru

Canevaro y
61 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1206 Italian Raffaele Demoro Macao 22 September 1867 3 March 1868 663 205 458 Peru
Cía
62 Nicola Larco Cia Maritima Uncowah 988 Italian Rosciano Macao 21 October 1867 29 January 1868 498 7 491 Peru
Canevaro y
63 Blanche 533 French Buttot Macao 15 November 1867 8 March 1868 311 27 284 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
64 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1394 Italian Macao 20 September 1867 590 4 586 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
65 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Spanish Yribar Macao 9 January 1868 316 Cuba
Cía
Canevaro y
66 Aurora 668 Salvadorean García y García Macao 11 January 1868 14 April 1868 400 8 392 Peru
Cía
67 Bollo Teresa 1091 Italian Sebastiano Bollo Macao 3 February 1868 293 ? - no, Peru Revolt, ship turns back to China
68 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Italian A. Bollo* Macao 13 March 1868 3 July 1868 320 4 318 Peru
69 R.Pratolongo R.Pratolongo Rocco Pratolongo 890 Italian L. Profumo Macao 27 May 1868 29 September 1868 464 21 443 Peru

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Canevaro y
70 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Salvadorean A. Astorquia Macao 1 July 1868 555 Peru
Cía
71 Figari Hurtado Providenza 660 Spanish A. Nattini Macao 23 July 1868 23 December 1868 382 6 376 Peru
72 Nicola Larco Cia Maritima Uncowah 988 Salvadorean Rosciano Macao 31 August 1868 1 January 1869 499 21 478 Peru
Canevaro y
73 Aurora 668 Salvadorean García y García Macao 24 November 1868 19 March 1869 419 39 380 Cuba
Cía
Canevaro y
74 G.Fraschieri Italia 1086 Italian Zolueta Macao 26 March 1869 520 ? ? Cuba
Cía
Canevaro y
75 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Salvadorean A. Astorquia Macao 17 June 1869 19 September 1869 586 19 567 Peru
Cía
76 Cia Maritima Callao 1552 Salvadorean L. Lavarello Macao 19 June 1869 1 November 1869 653 31 622 Peru
77 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Salvadorean Raimondo Mota Macao 7 July 1869 23 October 1869 352 8 343 Peru
78 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Salvadorean Vidaurrazaga Macao 2 August 1869 24 November 1869 386 8 378 Peru
Canevaro y
79 Joardain 440 French L. Arnardeau Macao 2 October 1869 16 January 1870 242 4 238 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
80 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1026 Salvadorean Raffaele Demoro Macao 3 October 1869 15 January 1870 721 27 694 Peru
Cía
81 Nicola Larco Cia Maritima Uncowah 988 Salvadorean Rosciano Macao 1 March 1870 536 3 533 Peru
Canevaro y
82 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Salvadorean A. Astorquia Macao 12 February 1870 26 April 1870 662 12 650 Peru
Cía
83 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Salvadorean Raimondo Mota Macao 28 February 1870 4 June 1870 353 30 323 Peru
Canevaro y
84 G. Fraschieri Italia 1086 Italian Vidaurrazaga Macao 19 March 1870 527 ? - No, Cuba Hits reef; Shipwreck at Anjer
Cía
85 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Salvadorean Vidaurrazaga Macao 7 May 1870 29 August 1870 416 4 410 Peru
86 Cia Maritima Callao 1552 Salvadorean L. Lavarello Macao 26 May 1870 5 September 1870 671 22 549 Peru
Canevaro y
87 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1026 Salvadorean Raffaele Demoro Macao 4 July 1870 10 December 1870 705 22 583 Peru
Cía
Revolt, coast of Australia, 112 survivors shipped to
88 Nicola Larco Cia Maritima Uncowah 988 Salvadorean Rosciano Macao 14 October 1870 537 425 - No, Peru
Java
89 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Salvadorean Raimondo Mota Macao 20 October 1870 21 January 1871 365 2 362 Peru
Canevaro y
90 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Salvadorean A. Astorquia Macao 7 November 1870 25 January 1871 661 9 652 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
91 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Peruvian Yribar Macao 20 December 1870 10 April 1871 313 14 299 Peru
Cía
92 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Salvadorean Vidaurrazaga Macao 26 December 1870 11 April 1871 416 10 406 Peru
93 Cia Maritima Callao 1552 Salvadorean L. Lavarello Macao 14 January 1871 7 April 1871 691 29 662 Peru
94 Figari e Hijos Peru 690 Salvadorean A. Basgoite Macao 20 January 1871 28 April 1871 580 30 350 Peru
Canevaro y
95 Villa de Granada 471 French M. Chansel Macao 15 February 1871 253 83 170 Peru
Cía
96 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Peruvian Raimondo Mota Macao 28 April 1871 16 August 1871 372 12 360 Peru
Canevaro y
97 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1206 Peruvian Raffaele Demoro Macao 19 June 1871 2 November 1871 733 8 725 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
98 Mille Jonnes 735 French J. Menard Macao 8 October 1871 21 January 1872 432 39 393 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
99 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Peruvian Yribar Macao 12 October 1871 21 January 1872 314 8 306 Peru
Cía
100 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Peruvian Vidaurrazaga Macao 15 October 1871 24 January 1872 420 5 415 Peru
101 Figari e Hijos Peru 690 Peruvian A. Basgoite Macao 5 November 1871 12 February 1872 404 10 394 Peru
Canevaro y
102 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Peruvian A. Astorquia Macao 29 July 1871 632 ? - no, Peru Typhoon, the ship returns to Macao
Cía
103 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 553 Peruvian C.A. de Mesquita Macao 6 January 1872 12 April 1872 371 6 565 Peru
Canevaro y
104 Johanna Willem 494 Dutch Bakker Macao 31 January 1872 16 May 1872 260 13 247 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
105 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1208 Peruvian Venturini Macao 18 February 1872 11 May 1872 739 192 547 Peru
Cía

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Canevaro y
106 Canevaro Emigrante 899 Portuguese Do Santos Macao 26 February 1872 11 June 1872 499 107 392 Peru
Cía
107 Cia Maritima America 1454 Peruvian G. de Gregorio Macao 17 March 1872 13 June 1872 690 105 585 Peru
Canevaro y
108 Antares 401 French G. Nolte Macao 21 March 1872 20 June 1872 263 82 181 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
109 Inrust 836 Dutch A.L. Haffman Macao 8 May 1872 28 September 1872 455 45 410 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
110 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Peruvian A. Astorquia Macao 15 May 1872 31 August 1872 650 57 593 Peru
Cía
111 Figari e Hijos Peru 690 Peruvian A. Basgoite Macao 17 May 1872 27 September 1872 406 54 352 Peru
Canevaro y
112 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Peruvian Yribar Macao 22 May 1872 12 September 1872 314 37 277 Peru
Cía
113 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Peruvian Vidaurrazaga Macao 12 June 1872 23 September 1872 422 10 412 Peru
Canevaro y
114 Radama 550 French F. Maumus Macao 21 June 1872 28 September 1872 305 4 301 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
115 N.Orange 763 Dutch W.C. Phapp Macao 29 June 1872 29 October 1872 396 44 352 Peru
Cía
Canevaro y
116 Bengali (Belgolar?) 759 French B. Noge Macao 22 July 1872 15 December 1872 375 39 336 Peru
Cía
117 Figari Figari e Hijos Fray Bentos 561 Peruvian Raimondo Mota Macao 2 August 1872 16 December 1872 366 21 345 Peru
Lloyd Italiano di
118 Glensannox 1251 Italian Domenico Copello Macao 17 November 1872 30 January 1873 683 31 652 Costa Rica Attempt to establish a new coolie route
Genova
Canevaro y
119 Blanche Marie 462 French C. Balais Macao 25 November 1872 1 April 1873 315 40 275 Peru
Cía
120 Figari e Hijos* Peru 690 Peruvian A. Basgoite Macao 28 February 1873 June 1873 406 99 307 Peru
Canevaro y
121 Canevaro Hong Kong 470 Peruvian D. Borainca Macao 20 March 1873 August 1873 316 21 295 Peru
Cía
122 Figari Figari e Hijos Providenza 660 Peruvian I. Yzaurieta Macao 5 May 1873 4 September 1873 422 37 385 Peru
Canevaro y
123 Canevaro Emigrante 965 Peruvian P. Boeto Macao 28 May 1873 26 October 1873 502 75 427 Peru
Cía
124 Bressani Guillermo 328 Peruvian J.B.Taboaga Macao 28 July 1873 10 January 1874 223 32 191 Peru
Canevaro y
125 Canevaro Camillo Cavour 1326 Peruvian Yribar Macao 6 August 1873 7 November 1873 683 22 661 Peru
Cía
Lloyd Italiano di
126 Glensannox 1251 Italian Domenico Copello Macao 24 September 1873 730 ? ? Cuba
Genova
Canevaro y
127 Canevaro Luisa Canevaro 1206 Peruvian Venturini Macao 11 January 1874 4 April 1874 759 3 756 Peru
Cía
128 Figari Figari e Hijos Nuova Providenza 947 Peruvian Vidaurrazaga Macao 11 January 1874 1 May 1874 524 11 513 Peru

N.B. I have underlined the names of people of ships of Italian nationality; asterisks indicate uncertainty.

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Appendix II: Garibaldi and the coolie trade

As we mentioned in the body of our thesis, the coolie trade was raised for the first
time to the wider attention of the Italian historians during the 1980s. The reason was the
mounting controversy about the possible involvement of Giuseppe Garibaldi in the
traffic during the early 1850s. This debate, however, remained confined in the perimeter
of a purely biographical interest, and failed to raise deeper questions about the historical
context in which Garibaldi’s supposed expedition took place.
The original source for this so-called “black legend” dated back to 1882, when the
novelist Augusto Vittorio Vecchi (later known with the pen name of Jack La Bolina)
recounted in his biography of the General a fortuitous encounter he had in the mid-
1860s with the Italo-Peruvian merchant Pietro Denegri, established coolie trafficker in
Peru. Denegri had effectively employed Garibaldi as captain for his ship Carmen in a
journey to and from China in the years 1852-1853. The content of that ship’s return
cargo, however, was not confirmed by any other source at the time. According to
Vecchi, Denegri had told him in an informal dinner with other guests, that Garibaldi had
been one of his best captains in the coolie trade, because, “m’ha sempre portati i Chinesi
nel numero imbarcato e tutti grassi ed in buon salute; perché li trattava come uomini e
non come bestie”.1
From this fragment Vecchi and others concluded that Garibaldi had indeed carried
coolies to Peru in his return voyage from Canton to Callao in 1853.2 In a bid to debunk
this claim, Philip Cowie, a scholar and biographer of Garibaldi, was the first historian to
actually tackle this problem and conduct a systematical and praiseworthy archival
research. Cowie’s findings were presented in two subsequent interventions in a
conference in Pavia (Italy) in 1982,3 organized by some of the major scholars of East

1
Vittorio Vecchj, La vita e le gesta di Giuseppe Garibaldi narrate da Jack La Bolina (Bologna: Nicola
Zanichelli, 1882), 94–95.
2
For example, among others, Fortini, Audacie sui mari. In 1982 the voice had been reported by Giorgio
Candeloro in an article on La Repubblica, a major Italian national newspaper: “Ma di Garibaldi bisogna
parlare bene?”, La Repubblica, 20 January 1982; According to Candeloro the Carmen “all’andata
trasportava guano […] al ritorno trasportava cinesi per lavorare il guano: la schiavitù in Perù era stata
abolita e il guano non voleva lavorarlo più nessuno. Insomma, un lavoretto un po’ da negriero.” Quoted in
Philip K. Cowie, “Garibaldi in Oriente, Aprile-Settebre 1982: Alcune Precisazioni”, in Garibaldi, Mazzini
e il Risorgimento nel risveglio dell’Asia e dell’Africa, eds. Giorgio Borsa and Paolo Beonio Brocchieri,
(Milano: Franco Angeli, 1984), 429.
3
Whose acts are published as Giorgio Borsa, Paolo Beonio Brocchieri (eds.), Garibaldi, Mazzini e il
Risorgimento nel risveglio dell’Asia e dell’Africa, (Milano: Franco Angeli, 1984). See Cowie’s
interventions “Garibaldi in Oriente, Aprile-Settembre 1852”, and “Garibaldi in Oriente, Aprile-Settembre
1982: Alcune Precisazioni”; See also Cowie, “Nuova luce su Garibaldi in Perù.”

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Asian history of the time (Borsa, Bertuccioli, Brocchieri). He further discussed the issue
several years later in an article on the Rassegna Storica del Risorgimento, 4 and in a
web-based controversy against marginal neo-Borbonic political movements who had
appropriated the “black legend” of the Italian national hero for their obvious political
ends.5
Cowie’s evidences to deny Garibaldi’s connection with the coolie traffic are
relatively weak, but have so far established the historiographical consensus on the
subject. In the next lines we address briefly this issue, despite its only tangential
relevance for the objective of our study. To summarize his various contributions on the
topic, Cowie’s defense of Garibaldi can be articulated in 3 points. The first is a
linguistic remark over the use, in the aforementioned statement of Denegri, of the word
“chinesi”. According to Cowie, it is probable that in his discourse Denegri had spoken
in a mixture of Spanish and Genoese, and used the Spanish word “chinos” instead of the
Italian one. But, Cowie adds, a “chino” in the nineteenth-century Peruvian language
indicated not only a Chinese, but also a category of mestizo—the son of an Indian and a
black. In other words, Cowie concluded, Denegri was speaking to Vecchi of how well
Garibaldi had treated his mixed-blood sailors. 6 This is the weakest of the three
arguments proposed by Cowie. It is true that the two meanings of the word “chino”
overlapped at the time, but the Chinese coolie trade was by far a stronger concern for
Denegri and it is certain that the Italo-Peruvian merchant would have not left his guests
to equivocate the meaning of his words. Why talk about the treatment of irrelevant
mestizo sailors, when the topic every European in Peru wanted to know about was the
infamous coolie trade? And why stress that Garibaldi had returned them in the number
embarked, and “all fat and in good health”, if they were just replaceable sailors, and not
a precious cargo to profit from?
As second and more convincing evidence, Cowie presented the transcription of a
Peruvian parliamentary document, listing the ships which were granted the subsidy of
30$ for the introduction of contract emigrants in the years 1849-1853. The absence of
Denegri’s ship Carmen in this list demonstrate that Denegri had not been licensed to
import coolies under the terms of the so called “ley china” of 1849, but it does not rule

4
Philip K. Cowie, “Contro la tesi di Garibaldi negriero”, Rassegna storica del Risorgimento, LXXXV,
1998.
5
“Garibaldi, negriero: un po’ di luce sull’omertà degli storici”:
http://www.eleaml.org/sud/storia/negriero.html (accessed 05/2014); Cowie’s response on
http://digilander.libero.it/pkcowie/ (accessed 05/2014).
6
Cowie, “Contro la tesi di Garibaldi negriero”.

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out completely the possibility of an unlicensed transportation.
The third document, finally, is a note of the return cargo of the Carmen, taken from
the Peruvian journal El Comercio of 25 January 1853. This note, Cowie observed, did
not signal the presence of coolies, but only a cargo of sundries. 7 Here Cowie proved his
superficial knowledge of the mechanisms of the coolie trade. Never, in fact, the coolies
were listed on the coolie ships as cargo, despite the stipulation of bill of ladings with the
importing companies. On the other hand, the fact they were not signaled as passenger, is
a more convincing clue of Garibaldi’s “innocence”, which Cowie correctly stressed.8
In conclusion, Cowie’s evidences are valuable but they are not sufficient to exclude
with absolute certainty Garibaldi’s participation in the traffic. Yet there are even less
clues to argue in favor of it. Surprisingly, the plainest explanation of Denegri’s
statement to Vecchi has been so far ignored: Denegri might well have fabricated his
anecdote to entertain his guests mixing some elements of reality and fiction; in the end
his objective was to praise Garibaldi, not to harm his reputation.
From Cowie’s narrative of Garibaldi’s voyage, however, we can formulate a number
of questions that remain largely unanswered. The importing firm of Garibaldi’s voyage
was Zaracondegui y Cía, which will be later active in the coolie trade. That does not
seem the case of the Carmen’s contact in Canton, Mr. King and Co, as Cowie rightly
noted; but the Carmen’s long stay in China raise some doubts on the real objectives of
the voyage.9 It is likely that Garibaldi’s voyage was used by Denegri to explore the
practical possibility of entering the coolie trade, which he did with the same Carmen a
few years afterwards. 10 In light of these doubts further exploration of the Peruvian
sources is definitely needed to write off this controversy.

7
“Efectos venidos per la barca peruana Carmen, procedente de Canton – A Zaracondegui y Cia: 532
quintales de alumbre, 585 idem, idem cera,200 idem idem cola, 6000 cajones idem cobetes, 1086 rollos
idem petate, 4 cajones idem esencia de anis, 30 idem idem, 15000 g[rue]sas bottones concha de perla, 6
juegos idem con 12 juegos mesitas para te, 6 cajones id.,6 silletas poltronas, 22 idem idem, 11
mesas de comer, 500 juegos idem baules, 12 sofas de muelle, 24 roperos de alcanfor, 66 quintales
canela, 849 idem Jarcia, 150,000 cigarros, 6,000 peyayitos de Manila, 425 cajones de té con 12,200
libras, 51 idem con 1,816 panuelos vapor bordados, 12 idem 608 idem idem llanos, 2 idem, 51 docenas
panuelos tafetan,5 idem 129 idem cenidores vapor ,8 idem 250 piezas raso, 2 idem 101 docenas panuelos
pongues,2 idem 26 piezas brocatel,12 idem 402 panuelos de chapa,1 idem 26 libras de seda, 4 idem 104
docenas corbatas de lastrin,4 idem 101 idem idem raso, 12 idem 602 panuelos levantina, 1 idem 25
piezas raso de dos colores, 2 idem 52 idem tafetan, 1 idem 9 raso de panquin.” El Comercio, 25
January 1853, quoted by Cowie, “Contro la tesi di Garibaldi Negriero,” 396.
8
“Garibaldi in Oriente, Aprile-Settembre 1982: Alcune Precisazioni,” 430.
9
“Garibaldi in Oriente, Aprile-Settembre 1982,” 336.
10
We can only speculate about the voice reported by Consul Canevaro that Garibaldi was expected to
conduct a second voyage to China right after his return in Lima: Canevaro to MAE, Lima, 11 March
1853, ASTO, Materie Politiche per Rapporto all’Estero, Consolati Nazionali, Lima 1840-1859.

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Appendix III: Sample of a coolie contract

Contract to board the ship “Providencia”, 1871, consignee Fernando Tuton on behalf
of Figari & Hijos.
Courtesy of Prof. Ricardo La Torre Silva, former director of the Raimondi Museum in Lima.

Transcription:

EMIGRACION CHINA PARA EL PERU

CONTRATA
no. ……
CONVENIO celebrado en MACAO, China, hoy día 11 de octubre del año de Nuestro Señor
de 1871 entre el Sñr. FERNANDO TUTON, a nombre de los Sres. JUAN FIGARI &
HIJOS, de Lima, por una parte; y por la otra de ………. natural del districto do ……….. en
China, edad de ….. años y de oficio

CONSTE, solemnemente por el presente contrato que yo ………. libre y


espontáneamente declaro haber convenido con el Sñr. FERNANDO TUTON en
embarcarme en la Fragata Peruana Providencia con el objeto de translarme al Peru,
obligándome desde mi llegada á ponerme a las órdenes de los espresados Sñr para llenar
cuyo objecto, entraré a servir en clase de cultivador, hortelano, pastor, criado ó trabajador
en jeneral, por espacio de ocho años, contados desde el día en que entre á servir ; durante tal
periodo araré los campos, desmontaré terrenos, cuidaré ganados, atenderé a las huertas, y en
suma haré cualquiera otra clase de trabajos, cuando para ello sea requerido haciéndome útil
además con aquellos conocimientos de mecánico y artesano que pudiera poseer. Menos en
el trabajo de las ISLAS HUANERAS
CONSTE que convengo de mi voluntad, que el mencionado periodo de ocho años,
comenzará á contarse desde el día que entre a servir come se ha dicho, y que tengo
perfectamente entendido; que la palabra mes se tomará y se toma como como significado de
un mes del calendario y que la palabra año se tomará y se toma como significado de doce
de dichos meses.
CONSTE que concluido el dicho periodo de ocho años me será libre el disponer de mi
trabajo, ne pudiendo cualquiera deuda que haya contraído servir de pretexto para prolongar
el tiempo de mi compromiso, debiendo tales deudas ser reclamadas según las leyes del país.
CONSTE que no dispenso los beneficios que las leyes del país me concedan.
CONSTE que durante el referido periodo de ocho años no trabajaré para mi, ni para
ninguna otra persona, sino solo en beneficio de los Sres. JUAN FIGARI & HIJOS, ó a la
persona a quien hubiesen traspasado este Contrato y que no me ausentaré de la casa de estos
sin un permiso por escrito.
CONSTE así mismo que convengo se me descuente un peso fuerte ó su equivalente en
moneda del país todos los meses, del salario, que hemos convenido recibir por mi trabajo
hasta el reembolso total de la suma de ocho pesos que confieso haber recibido aquí del Sñr.
FERNANDO TUTON como por vía de préstamo adelantado sobre mis salarios.
CONSTE que solo tendré una hora para cada una de mis comidas diarias, y que el tiempo
y duración de mi trabajo cada día será el mismo de costumbre del lugar ó pueblo á que se
me destinare.
CONSTE finalmente, para lo que pudiera haber lugar, que me obligo á la observancia de
todas y cada una de las cláusulas arriba espresada, no solo con los Sñrs. JUAN FIGARI &
HIJOS, sus herederos, legatarios, apoderados ó agentes, sino con todas las personas á
quienes fuere traspasado el presente contrato, con arreglo al decreto de 7 de Enero 1859,
para lo cual, los autorizo desde hoy entara y completamente sin que después de hecho esto
pueda ligaries ninguna responsabilidad hacía mi.
CONSTE ASÍ MISMO POR MI PARTE que yo el abajo firmado, FERNANDO TUTON, me
obligo formalmente á que tan pronto como sea posible después de la llegada á su destino
del buque arriba referido, dicho Sñrs. JUAN FIGARI & HIJOS, le pagaran mensualmente
por su trabajo la suma de cuatro pesos fuertes ó su equivalente en moneda corrienda
dándole además alojamiento, suficiente ración de alimento sano.
CONSTE, que durante mi enfermedad se me proporcione en la enfermería la asistencia

327
que mi mal reclame; así como los ausilios, medecinas y facultativos que mis dolencia y
conservación exijan por cualquier tiempo que duren. Y mi salario continuará así mismo,
salvo que mi enfermedad hubiese sido adquirida por mi culpa. Que se me dè dos mudas de
ropa, y una camisa de lana y una frazada anuales además de tres mudas gratis que me darán
el día de mi embarque.
CONSTE, que mi pasaje y manutención desde aquí al Peru será de cuenta de los Sñrs.
JUAN FIGARI & HIJOS, como así mismos cuantos gastos se viere en la necesidad de
hacer el tránsito.
CONSTE, que se concederán al mismo tres días de su año nuevo para cumplir sus
funciónes religiosas.
Y EN CUMPLIIMENTO DE TODO LO ESPUESTO ARRIBA; declaramos ambas
partes que antes de poner nuestra respectiva firma hemos leído por la ultima vez clara y
detendamente todos y cada uno de los empeños á que mutuamente nos obligamos, a fin de
que en ningún tiempo ni en ninguna circunstancia pueda arguirse ignorancia ni haber lugar
á reclamo escepto en el caso de faltar al cumplimento de cualquiera de las condiciones
arriba espressadas, con todas y cada una de las cuales estamos de perfecto acuerdo.
EN PRUEBA de todo lo cual firmamos hoy día de la fecha el presente solemne contrato
de nuestro proprio puño.

…………………………………..
Procurador dos Negócios Sinicos …………………….
Agente

……………..…………………..
O Superintendente da Emigração Chineza

328
Appendix IV: Wages in mid-nineteenth-century China and the Americas

CATEGORY AND PLACE: WAGE PER MONTH

CHINESE COOLIE, CUBA AND PERU $4


CHINESE (HIRED) LABORER, SOUTH CHINA $2-$4
CHINESE LABORER, HONG KONG $4-$6
CHINESE SERVANT OF EUROPEAN, LOWEST GRADE $6
CHINESE HAWKER, SOUTH CHINA (1840S) $5
CHINESE MINOR OFFICIAL, OR SCHOLAR, CANTON
$6-$14
(1880S)
SEAMEN, LOWEST GRADE (1870S) $16-$20
SAILOR ON OPIUM (OR COOLIE) CLIPPER $30-$40
CHINESE INTERPRETER (1850S) $60-$75
CHINESE PLANTATION WORKER, HAWAII (1860S) $4.8
MINER, CALIFORNIA (1850S) $48
RAILROAD WORKER, CALIFORNIA (1860S) $36
LABORER, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA (1860S) $9
JORNALERO, LIMA, (1866) $17 ($0,77 PER DAY)
AGRICULTURAL LABORER (FREE), LIMA, (1877) $1-$2 PER DAY

SOURCE: AUTHOR’S ELABORATION, DATA FROM: CHRISTOPHER MUNN, ANGLO-CHINA:


CHINESE PEOPLE AND BRITISH RULE IN HONG KONG, 1841-1880 (RICHMOND, SURREY:
CURZON PRESS, 2001); MICHAEL WILLIAMS, “DESTINATION QIAOXIANG : PEARL RIVER
DELTA VILLAGES AND PACIFIC PORTS, 1849-1949” (UNPUBLISHED PH.D.
DISSERTATION, THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, 2002); SHANE J. HUNT, “GROWTH
AND GUANO IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY PERU,” IN LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIES:
GROWTH AND THE EXPORT SECTOR, ED. ROBERTO CORTÉS CONDE AND SHANE J. HUNT
(NEW YORK: HOLMES & MEIER, 1985), 255–318.

329
Appendix V: List of barracoons in Macao, 1868:

Source: O Independente, 23 October 1868:

Relação dos estabelecimentos de Emigracão Chinesa, ora existentes nesta Cidade; dos Agentes a quem
pertencem ; e dos seus empregados:

Estabelecimento Letra A, rua do Hospital, No. Estabelecimento Letra F, Prainha, No. 12,
47, Agente J, A. Tuton. Agente J.A. Tuton.
Empregados. F. B. Mattos, encarregado.
J . B. Corvett, encarregado. J. da Luz, guardião.
A. M. Graça, escrivão. A. Tino, do.
C. Corvett, do. Francisco Filomeno, guarda.
C. M. do Rosario, guarda. F. Ozorio, do.
J. P. Rodrigues, do. A. Luiz, do.
A. A. de Aquino, chiptú. D. da Cruz, chiptú.
Damião Miguel, porteiro.

Estabelecimento Letra B, rua de Santo Antonio, Estabelecimento Letra M, Prainha, No. 16,
No. 10, Agente J. A. Tuton. Agente J.A. Tuton.
Empregados. Empregados.
J. P, de Campos, encarregado. E. Lopes, encarregado.
E. V. A. Xaxier, escrivão, P. Encarnacão, escrivão
J . V. Pereira, do. F. da Cruz, do.
Z. Robarts, guarda. D. Xavier, guardião.
R. Gracias, do. L. Couto, fiel.
P. Gardentornio, do. N. de Souza, guarda.
J . da Cruz, do. J . d’Almeida, do.
Bronu M. Rozario, chiptú. M. Pinto, do.
F. Xavier, chiptú.
Estabelecimento Letra C, praça de Camoes, No. A. Cruz, do.
7, Agente J . A. Tuton.
Empregados.
E. F. Marçal, encarregado. Estabelecimento Letra L, praça de Camoes, No.
D. Tavares, escrivão. 2, Agente J. A. Tuton.
Emerigo de Pinna, do. Empregados.
A. de Souza, guarda. L. G. M. Marques, encarregado.
J. Dias, do. C. A. Sanches, escrivão.
V. Pereira, do. P. da Silva, guarda.
L. Pinto, do. D. da Roza, do.
A. Botelho, chiptú. J. V. de Jesus, chiptú.
J. de Souza, do. C. Carion, do.

Estabelecimento Letra ,D, Covao, No. 9, Agente


J. A. Tuton. Estabelecimento Letra R, Ponta de Rede, No, 30,
Empregados. Agente J. A. Tuton.
F. V. Ribeiro, encarregado. Empregados.
D. C. Barros, escrivão, L. Barretto, encarregado.
R. F. Pereira, chiptú. A. M. Gutierrez, escrivão.
E. Pina, guarda.
Estabelecimento Letra E, Tarrafeiro, No. 9, Luiz Pinto, do.
Agente J. A. Tuton. X. da Silva, do.
Empregados. J. Gomes, guardião.
F. P, Xavier, encarregado. J. de Souza, chiptú.
Cosme Xavier, guarda.
J. B. da Silva, do.
L. do Rozario, chiptú.

330
Estabelecimento Letra G, Ponta de Rede, No, 20, Estabelecimento Letra N, Tarrafeiro, No. 6 e 7,
Agente N. T. Armero. Agente B. Solares.
Empregados. Empregados.
A. G. Marques, encarregado. J. M, Vieira, encarregado.
A. G. Marques, escrivão. A. da Roza, escrivão.
T. Marques, do. J . P. Leite, do.
Damião Botelho, guardião, M. do Rozario, guardião.
L. da Silva, guarda. A. Sequeira, guarda.
A. Rego, do, L. do Rozario, do.
J. M. Batalha, chiptú, F. Fernandes, do,
A. Fernandes, do.
P. do Rozario, chiptú.
Estabelecimento Letra H, Becco de Colonos, No. L. Botelho, do.
2, Agente N. T. Armero.
Empregados Estabelecimento Letra O, Praia Manduco, No.
F. d’Oliveira, encarregado. 34, Agente B. Solares,
C. da Silva, escrivão. Empregados.
J. do Rozario, do. V. Favacho, encarregado.
V. Nogueira, guardião. T. J. do Rozario, guardião.
J. Britto, guarda. F. Moreira, guarda.
R. do Rozario, chiptú. V. da Silva, do.
V. Pereira, do.
F. da Cunha, do.
Estabelecimento Letra I, Tarrafeiro, No. 48, P. Couto, chiptu.
Agente N.T. Armero. J. Rozario, do.
Empregados.
G. Marques, encarregado. Estabelecimento Letra P, Prainha, No. 20.
M. Lopes, escrivão. Agente F. Carricarte.
D. P. Marques, do. Empregados.
F. do Rozario, guardião, G. Tavares, encarregado.
H. Rodrigues, guarda. F. P. Marques, escrivão.
T. Remedios, do. F. N, da Penha, guarda.
C. J. Pereira, chiptú. P. da Rocha, do.
A. Ribeiro, chiptú.
Estabelecimento Letra K, Calçada de Sto.
Agostinho No. 11, Agente N. T. Armem. Estabelecimento Letra Q, Prainha, No. 2,
Empregados. Agente F. Carricarte.
A. G. Bubly, encarregado. Empregados.
M. Victal, escrivão. L. de Azevedo, encarregado.
J. da Silva, do. J . Nunes, escrivao.
J. Cordeiro, guardião. T. Robarts. do.
M. Pereira, guarda. J. M. Robarts. do.
J. de Souza, do. A. de Souza, guarda.
J. Fernandes, do. Cleozostimo, do.
M. da Silva, do. Antonio do.
M. Victal Jr., do. A. Xavier, chiptú.

Em cumprimento ao V. despacho de S. Exa. o Governador lançado no requerimento junto de J. da Silva,


passei a relação supra, tirada do competente livro d’esta repartição, e a elle me reporto.
Superintendencia da Emigração Chineza, Macau, 21 de Outubro de 1868.
— B.S. Fernandes, Superintendente da E. Chineza.

331
Appendix VI: Selected newspaper articles on coolie revolts:

Ship “Carmen”, 1857:

From: The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 May 1857.

SINGAPORE.
We have papers to the 7th of April.

The Straits Times, in a supplement dated 21st March, gives the following particulars of the inhuman
treatment of a gang of Chinese coolies:-A boat arrived at Singapore yesterday morning (it says), having
onboard nine of the crew of the Peruvian ship Carmen, which vessel left Swatow with 200 Chinese
coolies for Callao. During the passage down the China Sea, sometime at night, the Coolies rose en masse,
but were driven down below and the hatches closed. The Chinese coolies secured down below, set fire to
the ship which was soon a mass of flames. The crew took to the boats. One of the boats arrived yesterday,
but the men were so completely exhausted by privation and exposure (having been out nine days without
food) they were unable to work, and were towed into Singapore from Buddoo by a Malay Sampan. Off
Pulo Tingi the boat was attacked by a pirate prahu manned by three men and a boy, who wounded some
of the boat's crew with spears and stones. There were firearms in the boat, but no ammunition, and the
men were too exhausted to fight. This information was received from a gentleman, who communicated
with the Carmen’s boat off Buddoo, early yesterday. The chief officer of the Carmen has communicated
to us the following additional particulars ; -The Peruvian ship Carmen, Captain Louis Camogli, left
Swatow on the 1st March for Callao, with 200 Chinese coolies and the following passengers : Messrs.
Pedro Pereyra, Carlo Masion, José Bioman, N. Rivera, T. Collasos, Atanasis Cárdame, and M. Tisé. On
Sunday, March 8th, when off the Great Natunas, at about 7 or 8 p.m.,the interpreter warned the captain
that the coolies meditated a revolt, and intended to take the ship, upon which, as it was nightfall, the
coolies were forced to go down between decks ; about three hours afterwards the interpreter returned and
requested that they might be set at liberty, and the captain endeavoured to pacify them by asking for
delay, until the following day, when he would place the four ringleaders in irons. Next morning, between
seven and eight o’clock, the coolies proceeded on deck, and remained quiet until the crew went to
breakfast. Some of the coolies, thinking probably to get possession of the ship, and that the crew would
go below to extinguish the fire, went to the fore-part of the ship, and threw a quantity of burning straw
into the hold, which fell amongst the contents of their beds (straw), paper, and fragments of wooden
boxes which it appears they had previously broken up. The crew speedily armed, and the coolies were
forcibly driven down below. The captain first desired the powder in the ship to be thrown overboard, and
then tried to extinguish the fire by closing the hatchways, but in vain ; the flames soon seized on every
part of the ship, affording time only to get out two boats. The captain, officers, and crew, numbering in all
fourteen, with seven passengers, having been able to secure a few arms, but without water or provisions,
quitted the burning ship in the boats, the captain proceeding in the same boat with the chief officer.
Finding there was no sail in the boat the captain got into the other boat, and returned towards the ship, if
possible to secure something that would serve for a sail. At this time some of the coolies had managed to
force the hatchways, and were observed passing up the rigging, but the masts shortly afterwards fell over
into the sea. Just as the boat (in which was the captain) had reached the vessel, the latter went down and
the boat must have been token down with the sinking ship, as nothing was seen of the captain or the
people in the boat, although the mate remained close by for nearly four hours. The greater part of the
coolies must have been suffocated by the smoke -the whole perished, except an interpreter from whom,
the mate subsequently ascertained that it had been arranged by the coolies to take the ship just outside of
Swatow, as was done in the case of the French ship Anais, fourteen of the coolies who were on board that
vessel when cut off being in the Carmen ; but owing to the rough weather most of them were sea-sick. In
the boat with the captain there were of the crew, three Chileans, two Italians, two Greeks, three boys, two
servants, and an old man, a Greek passenger. In the boat with the mate were the Bevon passengers above
mentioned and four of the crew. In the last boat were two baskets of sweet potatoes (the only provisions
they were able to secure) a musket without ammunition, and three swords. The mate’s boat having no
sails, the shirts of those onboard were converted into one, and they made for Singapore, the nearest port
of refuge. Their sufferings and misery were intense. Exposed in an open boat for nine days, without water,
and with no other food than the two baskets of sweet potatoes, and a dolphin which they fortunately
caught, and most eagerly devoured uncooked. In this pitiably exhausted and wretched state they were
cruelly attacked when off Pulo Tingi, by a piratical prahu, manned by three Malays and a boy, who threw
spears, killing one seaman and the passenger Mr. Pedro Pereyra. Others were wounded, but by dint of

332
great exertion, in their furnished and weak condition, they managed to get away and reached Singapore as
above mentioned. The survivors are now in the Sailors’ Home, except two, who, we hear, have been sent
to the hospital to be cured of their wounds.
We have written until our fingers have ached against this inhuman traffic, but apparently without
effect. The trade in human flesh is persevered in regardless of its horrors. How much longer will
civilization allow this disgusting commerce to continue ?

Ship “Napoleone Canevaro”, 1866:

From: “The Loss of the Napoleon Canevero”, The Queenslander, 30 June 1866, p. 9 (transcribed from
the Hongkong Overland Trade Report, 15 April 1866).

At 6 p.m. the interpreter reported to the chief mate that the Chinese cooks had placed poison in the
water intended for the captain and officer's tea. Upon this being reported to the captain, he immediately
ordered the interpreter to find out the parties implicated in the affair. Four of them being discovered, they
were laid across the main hatch gratings, and flogged with small Indian bamboo canes, and whilst these
were undergoing punishment it was discovered that 200 of them had made and signed an agreement to
revolt, and, if possible, capture the ship. The ringleader having been found, he was placed in irons, and
fastened by the cabin door, and twelve of the Cavecillas, who also signed the agreement, were placed in
irons, and it being dark at the time, they were confined in the hospital till the following day. At 10 a.m. of
the 9th, Captain de Moro ordered them to be brought on deck, at which time the storekeeper reported to
the captain that six of them were innocent of the offence of which they stood charged, and, in
consequence of this, the six were released from confinement, and the others ordered to be sent below in
irons. This was accordingly done, the captain at the time not being desirous of inflicting any punishment
till the affair was clearly understood. At 12 noon, latitude 18 80 N., longitude 114 8.,wind moderate, and
barometer indicating favorable weather, the ship's company being employed stowing the starboard bow
anchor and cable. At 4 p.m. the interpreter reported to the chief mate, Mr. A. F. Faw, that the coolies
intended to revolt at 5 o'clock, at which time about fifty were generally allowed on deck to receive the
provisions for the coolies in the between decks. This circumstance was immediately reported to the
captain, who waited until the time arrived, when all the coolies who were on deck were ordered to stand
in line, and the captain, through the interpreter, asked them if it was their intention to revolt, when they all
denied having that intention. Two witnesses were called, who overheard their plans of revolt, and reported
it, but were now unable to single out the principal instigators in the affair. The coolies were then allowed
to draw the provisions for themselves and the others below. At this time eight of the crew were at work in
the between decks stowing away the cable, whilst the remainder were on deck setting light sails, as the
wind was gradually dying away. Four of the crew were always on duty armed without lasses, keeping
guard over the coolies—two at the main hatch, and two down the between decks. The two after main
hatch gratings were tried up, so as to allow of only one person coming up at a time, whilst the rest of the
gratings were secured with padlocks. At a quarter past 5 p.m. the coolies gave a terrific yell, and in a body
made a rush for the main hatch, the eight men below escaping uninjured, whilst the two on guard below
were knocked down, disarmed, and severely bruised, but at length managed to gain the deck. The captain
and officers now being fully aware of the state of affairs, armed themselves with revolvers, and the crew
were also supplied with rifles, pistols, and cutlasses. The captain and officers went immediately to the
main hatchway, and succeeded in closing the hatches, and thus preventing any more gaining the deck, but
not before some fifty or so had already succeeded in getting up on deck. Part of these the chief officer at
once secured, and placed in irons, and, some having gone forward for the purpose of secreting
themselves, these were called upon to surrender, some obeying willingly, and others who offered violence
and resistance were shot. The crew were now engaged endeavoring to prevent the coolies obtaining the
deck, they having already broken up the sleeping benches, into which they had driven spike nails, using
them as weapons, together with four iron spades, several knives, and the two cutlasses taken from the
men on guard, and trying by every possible means to get on deck. The captain now ordered the crew to
cease firing upon the coolies, at which time some thirty of them had been shot, and calling upon them
through the interpreter to surrender when they all declared they would not, using the native word Satter-
talia (or similar word),which means that they would either kill the crew and capture the vessel or die ;
they again made another rush at the hatches, the crew firing upon them, and thus keeping them in check,
when a cry of ' Fire' was raised, and smoke seen to issue from several parts of the vessel aft. The fire-
engine was at once got ready for work, but whilst some of the decklights were being lifted for the purpose
of potting down the hose in the between decks where the fire was, one of the coolies severed the wrist of
the seaman engaged in handing them the hose with the outlast obtained from one of the guards, the
consequents of which was that the man, in less than twenty minutes, died from loss of blood. To all

333
appearance, the object of the coolies in setting fire to the ship was for the purpose of getting the crew
below, they thinking the fire a more serious affair than the revolt, and (had the crew in all probability
would at once go below and endeavor to prevent the fire making any further progress in the vessel, but in
this they were disappointed. A second time they were asked to surrender, and they again replied they
would not. The fire rapidly increasing, the captain ordered breed and water to be placed in the boats, and
the latter to be got ready for immediate use. The cook, assisted by the steward, placed in the gig, which
was hanging on the starboard side of the ship's davits, two barrels of bread and a small keg of water,
containing about six gallons. The cook got into the boat, and whilst the steward was lowering it down, the
tackle rope parted, the boat was capsized, and the cook drowned. The captain now ordered a longboat to
be lowered, and whilst in the act of lowering it the tackle rope of this also parted, and the boat was
swamped. A third boat was lowered with safety, which was immediately filled with some of the crew, and
put off from the ship's side. The ship now being fore and aft one mass of flame, the remainder of the crew
left onboard, which consisted of the captain, first-mate, European doctor, interpreter, supercargo,
storekeeper, chief steward, and one sailor, were compelled to throw themselves overboard, and swim
towards one of the swamped boats, the captain, mate, supercargo, and sailer alone reaching the boat, the
others having perished in the attempt. After being in the water twenty minutes or more, still holding on to
the swamped boat and calling to the crew in the other boat for assistance, they came at length to our
rescue, and we got into the boat, which now contained thirty-one men, the remainder of the crew, nine in
number, having perished. The weather at this time being calm, an attempt was made to bale the water out
of the long-boat, which was swamped, and having succeeded in doing so fifteen men were placed in it.
Having only six oars, two were given to the smallest boat, and the hitter was towed by the large one —
still keeping within a mile of the burning ship. At 9 p.m. the mizenmast fell, and at 10 p.m. the vessel
blew up, the fire having reached that part of the hold in which the 8000boxes of Chinese fire-crackers
were stowed. The count we now steered was west, and a good look out kept for any assistance, the only
provisions in the boats being six pumpkins, which remained fast to the boats after they had been launched
from the ship ; the chief mate serving out about half an ounce twice daily to each man, and the only
drinking water was the salt sea water. We lost sight of the vessel at about 9 a.m. of the 10th, at which time
she had burnt to the water's edge, and after being in the boats for forty-eight hours, with scarcely any food
and no fresh water, a sail was discovered about five miles distance, and, after using every exertion
possible, we succeeded in reaching her. She proved to be the Hamburg barque Madiera, from Hongkong,
bound to Saigon, Captain Pollock receiving us on, board and treating us with every kindness, as the
necessity of the case required. On the 17th March we arrived at Saigon, and were then put on board the
French Admiral's frigate, and on the 27th of March left Saigon in the steamer Far East, Captain Henry
Jones, bound to Hongkong.

Ship “Teresa”, 1868:

From: “Fearful Tragedy at Sea”, New York Times, 28 September 1868.

The papers of this morning give the particulars of a scene of wholesale slaughter which occurred on
board an Italian vessel, the Theresa, which has just arrived at Macao.
The Theresa left Macao on the 9th of February with 295 Coolies and a cargo of silk, tea & c. At the
end of sixty-two days she arrived in sight of the shores of New-Zealand. While the crew were occupied in
the forepart of the vessel the Coolies rushed to the cabins and seized the arms lying there. They then
attacked the crew and in about ten minutes a dozen sailors (Italians) were killed, hacked to pieces and
flung into the sea. The second mate, who defended himself bravely, received the contents of a gun fired
close to him by a sailor who was forced by the Coolies to committ the murde. The boatswain’s mate
received nineteen wounds and was put in irons. After eighty days of horrible torutres (nails being driven
into his head) he was killed about forty-eight hours before the vessel arrived off the coast of China.
Now follows the most appalling part of this drama. After having exterminated nearly the whole of the
crew the coolies begans fighting among themselves, and fifty of them were killed. The victorious party
then proceeded to decapitate the dead, whose heads, packed in boxes, were stowed away in the hold. At
the endo of sixty days the stench exhaled by these remains became almost unsupportable. The unforutnate
wife of the Captain, who was confined between decks, suffered dreadfully from it, and was otherwise
subjected to the most cruel treatment.
The majority of the coolies were pirates and were perfectly acquainted with the use of the compass
and with the charts. They compelled the Captain to steer for the port of Tim-Pack. On arriving there the
Theresa was pillaged by them, and the Mandarins aided in stripping the vessel. In this condition the
vessel, abandoned by the pirates, arrived at Macao, having on board the remainder of the crew, consisting
of eight sailors and the wife of the Captain.

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Ship Cayalti, 1868-69:

From: “Piracy and Murder on board the bark Cayalti”,The Mercury (Hobart), 22 March 1869.

PIRACY AND MURDER ON BOARD THE BARK CAYALTI.

The following is the full account of the appalling tragedy on board the bark Cayalti, as written by
Captain Hamilton of the whaling bark Sea Breeze, on board which vessel the only survivor of the crew
took refuge :
On the 30th day of June, 1868, whilst cruising in N.E. Gulf I had two boats along shore looking for
whales. They landed on Crag Island, where they found a stranger with a Chinese
coolie, his servant, and a few natives who wore collecting the eggs of ducks which abound thore.
After hearing a part of their story the first officer brought them on board, as they were in very destitute
and almost starving condition.
On their arrival, and in answer to my enquiry of who he was and how he came on that
island, the stranger narrated to me the following tragic tale of piracy and murder, with the incidents
attending the extraordinary cruise of the vessel, which he left on the 22nd day of May.
At the same time he produced a bill of sale and other papers necessary for the sale and transfer of a
foreign built vessel to the American flag, together .-with the crew-list and Borne few other papers he had
been able to preserve in corroboration of his statements, all bearing the official seal of the American
Consulate of Callao. He informed me that his name was John C. Codina, by birth a native of Barcelona, in
Spain, but a naturalized citizen ; that he had unfortunately lost his other papers, as they had been taken by
the pirates together with all his effects at the time of the murders. By the bill of sale it was manifest that
he was sole owner of a bark called the Cayalti, foreign-built, but then sailing under the American flag.
The vessel sailed from Callao on the 16th day of January, 1868, bound for Pacasmayo (on my chart, San
Pedro), a port some 315 miles to the northward, with a crew of ten men, including captain and officers,
also himself as passenger and supercargo, and his coolie boy as steward. Also, $20,000, part in gold and
silver coin, balance in bills of the Peruvian and Providencia banks of Peru, being his private funds to
purchase rice and a return cargo ; with a small cargo consisting in part of 100 quintals of flour, 100
quintals of sugar, 500 quintals of hoop-iron, a number of cans of sperm and kerosene oil, 100 boxes claret
wine, 20 baskets champagne, 50 boxes candies, 56 bris, ale, and other wines and brandies ; 4 tins (about
100 lbs.) opium for smoking ; a lot of miscellaneous and small articles, including two sugar boilers and
45 Chinese coolies, most all of which belonged to a large and wealthy plantation called the Cayalti, after
which the vessel was named. The coolies had been transferred to the Cayalti from the Italian ship
Providencia which had brought them from China without having landed them, as is very commonly done
on that coast.
On the second morning out of port, between 4 and 5 o’clock, being about daybreak, the steward
having just turned out to prepare breakfast, the Chinese rose, seized and bound him to the foremast; killed
the second mate who had charge of the deck, threw his body overboard ; struck the man at the wheel with
the cook’s axe, severing his left arm from his body, and loft him lying on deck in a hopeless condition, but
not dead. The other two men comprising the watch, being aloft, escaped for the time being, but to share a
worse fate.
The captain and mate being roused by the noise on deck, and the cries of mortal agony of the poor
man at the wheel, tore up the seats from the cabin table, and with them jumped through the cabin
windows into the sea, no doubt thinking they might possibly reach the shore, which was about eighteen
miles distant, and plainly visible ; but with a fiendish cruelty, almost past belief, the murderers lowered a
boat, and with repeated blows, totally disregarding their supplications, killed them in the water in full
view of Mr. Codina, who was alone in the cabin preparing to follow the example of the captain and the
mate, and jump overboard.
After witnessing the death of his companions with what feelings I will not attempt to portray, he
concluded that they would kill him if he did so, and that he might as well die here as there, and so ho
remained on board and in the cabin.
On the return of the boat they seized the remainder of the crew, took them into the waist, tied their
hands behind their backs, lashed them to a hawser, made fast a kedge-anchor of about
400 pounds, and throw them into the sea, six in number, the wounded man included. One of the crew, a
coolie of Mr. Covina’s, joined the pirates, and was not included in the massacre. He was the cause of the
trouble, having seen and helped to place the money on board, and informed the Chinamen of its being
there, and no doubt connived with them in regard to the piracy.
After disposing of the crew in this inhuman and barbarous manner, about 20 of them armed
as they best could with the axes, knives, &c. from the cook’s galley, proceeded to the cabin, and burst

335
open the doors. Mr. Codina, now sole survivor of the crew, was in the cabin, listening
to the cries and pleading of the crow with feelings that can be better imagined than described, being of
course totally unaware of what his own fate might be. When they burst into his cabin, being entirely
defenceless, and with that instinctive love of life natural to all mankind, he dropped on his knees and
implored their mercy. How small must have been his hopes that pity for his imploring attitude would
influence such human fiends.
But he found a friend where he least expected it. His other Coolieboy (whom they had no leased)
stood forth at this time, and on several subsequent occasions when the pirates consulted as to the
expediency of killing him, he advocated his cause, and finally choose to leave the vessel and follow the
fortunes of his master. He proved that he was a friend. He told Mr. C. to tell them where the money and
opium was, and they might not kill him. With a mind relieved, he did so. They took the boxes of coin,
broke them open, and distributed it amongst them, together with all the clothing and other effects of Mr.
C, the captain and other officers.
They now told Mr. C. he must take them and the bark to China; to which he replied, “I cannot do it ; I
am no navigator ; I don’t know where China is. At this one of the ringleaders, who had been a pirate on
the coast of China, replied in substance, “Never mind, I can find it; the sun sets back of China; steer
towards that and we will find it ; I know the coast”, and assumed command. They steered W. about
twenty days; W.N.W about twelve ; N.W. about fifteen, when they lost the trades, and then went any
course, according to the winds and drift of the vessel. There were only six men on board who know
anything about steering and whenever they got tired of sitting not the wheel or get cold, let go and went
below, letting the vessel drift about, enjoying themselves drinking the wines and smoking opium,
apparently not caring “whether school kept or not.” At this time the weather became very cold,
accompanied by hard gales of wind, snow and rain. Taking little or no care of the canvas, they soon lost
all the top gallant and royal-masts, yards and sails, all the rest of the sails becoming much torn from the
continual slating to which they were subjected, none being left but the foretop-mast staysail and spanker.
When about 77 days out, they made land (which I suppose must have been the Kurile Islands) covered
with snow, and were drifting about with them in sight for five or six days, at times close to them, and
eventually arrived in the Ochotsk Sea, where they got into the ice and remained three days. When about
118 days out they found themselves one morning close in shore, with four fathoms water, and ice around.
They came to anchor and remained five days, the natives coming on board over the ice, from whom they
obtained some deer. Bending more sails, they got underway, and remained at sea for three days, coming to
anchor again in another place. Hero Mr. C. obtained permission to go on shore with them in the boat, and
after he got on shore concluded that his lease of life might be longer by remaining and trusting to the
hospitality of the natives than by returning on board, where he hold it by a very slight tenure indeed.
When the beat returned he refused to go in it, and his coolie (or steward) voluntarily remained with him,
he said Mr. C. had been kind to him, he having been with him about four years.
Mr. C. learned through his boy that four of the coolies had been pirates on the coast of China but the
English steamers broke up their haunts. Two others had been fishermen. These took care of the wheel
whenever they choose. They undertook to take the Providencia on the passage from China and one of
them sill had his back sore from the well deserved castigation he received at that time.
Mr. C. estimates his pecuniary loss as exceeding $33,000, as the barque was a good vessel, and cost
$8,000, and he had been to an expense of $5,000 more in coppering, and fitting her with new sails. The
pirates took all of his clothing, watch, papers, &c. The only papers he saved were in the captain’s room.
But he says that the loss of the money was nothing to the anxiety of mind be suffered for over four
months, not knowing but that every hour should be his last ; and even if the pirates did not kill him, what
would become of him after the return of the boat, at come of him ? After the return of the boat, at the time
of Mr. C's leaving, the pirates got under weigh, since which time I have not heard anything of them, and I
have made many enquiries of the natives to the southward on that coast.
I would here state for the benefit of those that have no chart or map of the world at baud, that Crag
Island is situated in the extreme N.E. part of the Ochotsk Sea, in lat. 61 deg. 20' north, long, 161 deg. 30
east ; is about one mile long, less than half mile wide, and is a complete barren rock, very rough and
craggy, from which it takes its name, and is about four miles from the east coast. It is very near 8,900
miles from Callao, which lies in lat. 12 deg. 04 south, long. 77 deg. 13' west, and is one of the most
distant points by water from Callao in the North Pacific Ocean. I think the Cayalti could not have sailed
and drifted less than 10,000 miles. It is a great mystery to me how she ever got there. Taking into
consideration the distance and large number of small islands she would pass, and the different courses she
would have to steer or drift, and the comparatively narrow channel of the gulf for several hundreds miles,
I think it is without a parallel, not forgetting the little care taken of the vessel.
JAMES A. HAMILTON,
Master barque Sea Breeze.

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Ship “Uncowah”, 1870.

Tratto da: “A Holocaust at Sea”, Daily Alta California, 7 February 1871.

A HOLOCAUST AT SEA

The Alta has already published some accounts of the burning of the coolie ship Uncawah, as reported
in Hongkong papers. The following details are from the Straits Times, December 3d 1870:
From the late Java papers we learn of the loss by Fire of the ship Uncawah, from Macao bound to
Callao with coolies, who mutinied at sea and set fire to the ship. The Captain and Crew arrived at Anjer in
the San Salvadorian ship Fray Bentos and a portion of the coolies in the British ship Juanpore. The
particulars that can be gleaned of this sad affair are as follows:
The Uncawah, under San Salvadorian colors, left Macao on the 13th of October for Callao. with 537
coolies. She was under the command of Captain Giuseppe Rosieana, an Italian, whose account is in effect
as follows:
“After having sailed for a couple of days with a fair wind, the coolies began to grumble. Several of
them circulated letters among the coolies, urging them to rise and make themselves masters of the vessel.
On the morning of the 21st October the coolies were, as usual, left on deck to refresh themselves. After
having stayed some time on deck they were ordered to go below, but refused to obey. The coolies
persisted in their refusal, the crew endeavored to force them to go below and a fight ensued between
them. The sailors were provided with weapons, but the Chinese armed themselves with pieces of iron and
wood and laid about with these so effectively that the steward and carpenter were killed and several
sailors wounded. After a struggle lasting half an hour the Chinese were driven to the hold, and, seeing that
there was little hope of obtaining command of the vessel by force, broke everything below and set fire to
the ship. The crew perceiving this became panic stricken, got out a boat and made away from the ship so
hastily that the Captain, who was left behind, was obliged to jump overboard and swim after the boat,
which picked him up. They pulled steadily for five days during which time they were without food, when
they reached the great Natunas Island. They remained four days on the island, after which they were taken
off by the San Salvadorian ship Fray Bentos, Captain Mota, and taken to Anjer, where they arrived on the
9th November.” The fate of the vessel and of the coolies who were thus left on board, is best described in
the following statement made by Captain Haldane, of the British ship Juanpore, who has also reached
Anjer with 112 of the coolies and a Greek sailor, who had been left behind on board the burning vessel by
his shipmates. More that 400 of the coolies must have perished by fire and drowning.

ANJER, Nov. 13th, 1870.


While proceeding down the China Sea, from Shanghae for London, on the 21st of October, in latitude
5 40 north, longitude 109 45 east, a vessel was reported to me to the south-southeast. Shortly after this,
smoke was observed proceeding from her, from which I concluded that she was a steamship, under which
belief I remained until sundown, when fire was distinctly visible enveloping the whole ship. At this time
we were about twelve miles distant from her. As the wind was very light, I despatched Mr. Stewart;
second officer, in charge of the gig, to pull away ahead, in hopes of seeing anything or picking up any of
the survivors. About an hour after this the second officer returned with intelligence that one of the
unfortunate ship’s boats, manned by twenty-five Chinamen and one European, had hailed them stating
that they were a part of the survivors from the burning ship, who had been directed to us by observing our
blue lights and rockets, which were exhibited every hour: but doubting the truth of their statements, he
returned alongside, followed shortly afterward by the Chinese boat.
I requested the European, a Greek, to come on board and drop the boat astern and make fast, not
allowing the Chinaman on board till I was satisfied with this man’s statement. Front him I' was acquainted
with the fact that the burning ship was the Uncawah, from Macao for Callao, with 538 coolies on board,
who had mutinied and set fire to the ship that day, a fierce conflict having taken place between the
officers and with the Chinese, some of them bearing strong evidence of the scene o, slaughter. cutlass and
pistol wounds being on several of them. The Chinese, seeing they were getting defeated, retreated to the
fore-end of the ship and set fire to the vessel. The Captain, officers and crew, seeing that all hopes were
gone, now left the ship in boats. I am also informed that five days after leaving Macao the coolies had
made an attempt to capture the ship but had not succeeded, whereupon about one hundred of them were
put in irons. The said ringleader of the mutiny and the man who set fire to the ship are on board my ship
at present in irons. These are all the fasts I am acquainted with from the only European whom we rescued.
At 2 a.m. on the 22d October I reached the burning ship and hove to about a mile distant, manned the
gig, and taking command, I proceeded in the direction of the ship; but as the water was strewed with
bodies in all directions floating on fragments of the wreck, I stopped to pick up as many as possible,

337
returning twice to the ship to discharge our living cargo. Finding that we had now sixty Chinese onboard,
I proceeded direct for the burning ship in hopes of rescuing some of the crew, but did not find any traces
of them. After surveying the vessel, which was surrounded with wreck to a considerable distance, I
deemed it prudent to return on board and wait till daylight. At 5 a. m. I started again for the burning ship,
which was now nearly burned to the water’s edge, and reaching her, commenced to rescue as many as
possible, which was attended with considerable toil and danger, as there was a heavy swell running, and
the Chinese, seeing deliverance approaching, became frantic, plunging into the water from all quarters,
completely surrounding us and laying hold of the gunwales of the boats, which compelled us to make free
use of the oars to prevent their too quick approach, otherwise the boats would have been upset. At 10 a.m.
I despatched Mr. Barlow, officer in charge of the gig and pinnacle, with instructions to fill both boats and
return as quick as possible to the ship. On his return I mustered all hands, and, finding that we had 112
men on board, decided that no more could be done. At 11 a.m. I filled away to the south, passing dead
bodies, fragments of wreck and various articles of cabin furniture, fully twenty miles from the wreck.
AUGUSTUS M. HALDANE.
Commander of the ship Juanpore, owned by Messrs. I. & J. Brocklebank, of Liverpool.

The master and crew of the ill-fated Uncawah and the 112 coolies saved by the Juanpore were taken
from Anjer to Batavia in the steamer Minister Van Staat Rochussen. Five of the coolies were put in irons,
charged with the murder of the carpenter. The Greek, it said, is also charged with having combined with
the coolies, but the Captain of the Uncawah discredits this.

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