May 5, 1838

On May 5, 1838, the MV Whitby docked at Plantation Highbury along the Berbice River and 128 Indian natives set foot on the shores of Guyana for the first time.
They were brought to replace the African slaves who had successfully fought to have slavery abolished, forcing the plantation owners to seek alternative forms of labour. However, they did not initially look at the East Indians. Although 128 Indians arrived on the Whitby, 354 arrived on May 5; a total of 239,000 were shipped to Guyana as indentured labourers. Records indicate that 75,000 went back after the indentureship period.

Plenty came back