Yi Kan stood up instantly and, looking at Lum Kwa, said, ‘You better come too. I may not be able to handle this on my own.’

The Chinese at the depot were restless. They did not understand each other’s dialects – there were Hakka, Cantonese, Hubei, Shantou and Shantung people among them. They had surrounded the depot manager and were creating a commotion. Some were arguing amongst themselves. In a corner, five injured men sat crying, while the armed guards started beating the coolies with sticks, trying to keep them away from the manager. In another corner stood a confused Daffield and Powell.

No sooner had Yi Kan arrived than the coolies pounced on him.

‘We were told that we were to work in the tea gardens at Calcutta,’ they shouted. ‘Now we are being told that we have to travel for three more months, to a place called Assam, infested with wild animals, and without roads.’

‘Who told you all this?’ Yi Kan roared.

‘Isn’t this true?’

‘You have to go to Assam. It’s true. It is written in the agreement. But Assam is not a bad place. You will get much better wages there.’

‘Why have you duped us? Why have you lied and brought us here? We will not go anywhere from Calcutta. Give us the money you have taken from our advance. Send us back to where we came from.’

‘Where is Assam in the first place? What is the route? How far is it?’

Ho Han tried to reason with them.

‘What will you do by going back? We have no right to go back. We have signed an agreement. If we refuse to go, they will punish us. They have spent so much money to bring us here. Do you think they will spend even more to send us back? They will kill us if we say we want to return. What will we do in this unknown place? Who will listen to us?’

The men bagan to nod slowly.

‘Don’t fight. What is the use of fighting? Yi Kan deceived us despite being a Chinese. For men like him we are nothing but commodities. We are coolies. Wherever we are, we have to work. What is the difference whether we work in Assam or Calcutta? No one will spare us, so try to understand. We have to live in amity. We have to look after ourselves.’

The men listened attentively to Ho Han. Their eyes brimmed with tears.

‘Right. Right,’ they nodded.

Lum Kwa came forward, ‘Ho Han is right. You should all have looked at what you signed. If you refuse to go now, you will only end up in trouble. Assam is not like Calcutta. It is full of jungles. I live there now. I have come here only to take you along. There are already some Chinese people in Assam. Some of the locals look just like us. The place is also a lot like the interiors of China. So, stop fighting. Ho Han is right. Wherever you are, you have to work. You have already endured enough hardship. I think you will suffer less in Assam than in your previous place of work. You will be able to live more freely. At the end of your agreement, you can decide for yourself whether you want to go back or continue working there.’