to abolish apprenticeship was passed and de facto freedom was achieved. This may have been partially due to the influence of Dr. Jean Baptiste Phillipe's book A Free Mulatto (1824). At the request of Governor Sir George Fitzgerald Hill, on 25 July, "Dr. Jean Baptiste Phillipe the first coloured member of the Council, proposed a resolution to end apprenticeship and this was passed. [...] Full emancipation for all was finally legally granted ahead of schedule on 1 August 1838." Agricultural development and indentured labour The sugarcane plantations which dominated the economy of Trinidad and Tobago in the 19th century gradually gave ground to the cultivation of cacao. Trinidad and Tobago chocolate became a high-priced, much sought-after commodity. The Colonial government opened land to settlers interested in establishing cacao estates. French Creoles (white Trinidadian elites descended from the original French settlers) were being marginalised economically by large English business concerns who were buying up sugar plantations, and this gave them a fresh avenue of economic development. Venezuelan farmers with experience in cacao cultivation were also encouraged to settle in Trinidad and Tobago, where they provided much of the early labour in these estates. Many of the former cocoa-producing areas of Trinidad retain a distinctly Spanish flavour and many of the descendants of the Cocoa panyols (from 'espagnol') remain in these areas including Trinidad and Tobago's most famous cricketer, Brian Lara. In 1844, the British Government allowed the immigration of 2,500 Indian workers as indentured servants, from Calcutta and Madras. According to Williams, this was an effort to provide "an adequate and dependable supply of labour." One third of the cost of passage, including return, was to borne as a public expense. Additional funds were provided for the Office of Protector of Immigrants, medical and police services. Wages were set at $2.40 per month for males, and $1.45 per month for females. In 1899, the working day was fixed at 9 hours. They could buy a plot of land in exchange for return passage. Between 1838 and 1917, 145,000 Indians immigrated to Trinidad. There were also workers brought from China at about the same time: In Trinidad there were, about twenty years ago [i.e. ca.-1886], 4,000 or 5,000 Chinese, but they have decreased to probably about 2,000 or 3,000, [2,200 in 1900]. They used to work in sugar plantations, but are now principally shopkeepers, as well as general merchants, miners and railway