The Atimaono plantation was born: this estate was named Terre Eugénie, in tribute to the wife of Emperor Napoleon III. The governor of Tahiti, Count Emile de la Roncière, seized the opportunity for development in the south of the island and ordered the construction of a carriage road between Papeete and Atimaono.
Initially, two hundred Polynesians were hired, as well as 94 Rarotongans (Cook Islands), for contracts ranging from one to two years.
Everything was favorable for the success of the enterprise.
But more workers were needed. In 1864, mostly European agricultural operators were granted permission to bring to Tahiti 1000 Chinese laborers on contracts lasting 5 to 7 years. The first 325 immigrants arrived on May 25, 1865 (the first of three waves of immigration of Chinese nationals who would settle in Tahiti until 1929).
The plantation was a booming business: a thousand hectares of cotton, one hundred and fifty hectares of coffee, and fifty hectares of endemic sugar cane (tō) were cultivated. By 1869, Atimaono employed up to 1,500 agricultural workers.
Sources: The chronological data in this article are mostly from the website www.tahitiheritage.pf.
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