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The article discusses the experiences of British plantation manager Henry Bullock during his time managing a sugar estate on the coast of British Guiana, later called Guyana, during the mid-to-late 19th century. It describes his correspondence with his family concerning his experiences, the social conditions and independence movements of indentured plantation workers, and Indian immigrant workers known as coolies.

The article discusses how the diary of ship surgeon Theophilus Richmond chronicles the transportation of Indians as indentured servants for service in the West Indies. Richmond served on the ship "Hesperus," which was chartered by merchant John Gladstone to replace former slaves on British sugar plantations in Guyana with Indian workers from Bengal, India following the emancipation of British slaves. Richmond described his perceptions of different cultures during the ship's stopovers in Mauritius and Calcutta, India and an outbreak of cholera among Indian workers on the ship. Richmond died of yellow fever in Georgetown, Guyana. Allegations of mistreatment of Indian workers are noted. Indians would form a large portion of the population of the West Indies.