coolie ‘lines’

"Two young Telegus were interviewed by us in the coolie 'lines'.

They came out in 1915. What attracted them was the promise of 12 annas a day.  They were earning 4 annas a day in India. They told us that they were no better off in thier cost of living in Fiji. In hours of work, their condition was far worse than in India. In Madras their days' work was always over by noon; in Fiji they had to go on up to five or six o'clock in order to complete their task.

In Fiji they were very unhappy because no one in the coolie 'lines' could speak their own language, and they often could not understand the Manager's or the Sardar's orders. They were very anxious to get back to India."

-Excerpt in "Report on Indentured Labour in Fiji, An Independent Enquiry" from February 1916 by C.F. Andrews and W.W. Pearson