British West Indies to remedy the labor shortage that followed Britain's
emancipation of the slaves in 1833. Under laws and regulations of the
Indian and Natal governments, Indians began to arrive in Natal in 1860.
They were contracted to serve employers on stipulated conditions for five
years. At the end ofthat time they were free to branch out on their own, and
after another five years they were entitled either to a free return passage to
India or to a small grant of land in Natal. Since the laws provided that at
least twenty-five women should accompany every hundred men trans-
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