Equids across the Indian Ocean, c. 1800–1918

Abstract

ABSTRACT Equids were the main animals transported across the Indian Ocean in this period. Prior to the spread of the internal combustion engine, warfare, agricultural estates, and urban transport drove demand. British India, cut off from overland sources by the Afghans, was the main market, followed by islands with large plantation sectors, notably Mauritius, Réunion, and Java. Australia and South America were the chief suppliers, with few coming from the West. Although first-hand accounts by humans who accompanied animals on their maritime journeys are surprisingly rare, much evidence survives. Harsh conditions, akin to the ‘middle passage’ of enslaved Africans, resulted from military emergencies, marketing deadlines, pressures to compress costs, taking chances, and personal defects among the personnel on ships. However, the monetary value of working equids on arrival depended on their survival and physical state, and some humans were kindly disposed towards the creatures in their care. Although journeys were always a stressful and trying experience for animals, rates of morbidity and mortality slowly fell. The provision of food, water, straw, ventilation, light, and bodily and veterinary care gradually improved. And the early 1880s witnessed two major innovations, better loading and unloading facilities, and the introduction of specially equipped steamers.