June 2, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



901 



the Straits, has not only proved to be one of the great- 

 est importance to the colony in giving it entire poss- 

 c sion of the Straits, but has also added many thousands 

 of pounds to the Queensland revenue. The 60 or 70 

 b>ats engaged in the beohede-mer trade, sailing oKt of 

 Cooktown, cannot clear out with h mded spirits as 

 formerly. Th>; customs receipts at Thursday I'land 

 have been swelled to an amount which makes this a 

 first-class port. The protection policy is so fully carried 

 out that a echooner which sailed up from Sydney 

 the other day was charged £7 10s ad valorem 

 duty for the fixed pump on board connected 

 v>ith the diving-gear. This is as much part 

 of the vessel as the sails and ropes. But the 

 revenue of Thursday Island is principally derived from 

 the duties on strong licjuors, and the sooner there is a 

 falling-off in this respect the grfater will be the direct 

 aud indirect moral and material benefit to all concerned 

 in Torres Straits. 



Afar off I survey the stations in Torres Straits, but, 

 " boycotted " as I am I cannot visit them. It makes 

 me mad to s^e the boats come sailing in and out whilst 

 I am detained on dry land. The only craft for hire 

 belongs to Jasper, the Malay, and his charges are 

 exorbitant. Mac should have a boat of his own for 

 the benefit of visitors. There is one small station on 

 Thursday Island itself which I am enabled to visit. 

 This belongs to Captain Edward Parkyns, lineal 

 descendant of the Saxons who found the boily of Rufus 

 the Red in the New Forest, a Winchester boy 

 and grand old veteran. His hair and beard are 

 silvered, but he is hale and hearty as men half his 

 years. Not at all of the "Father William" type is this 

 Hampshire skipper. He never led such a stupid, 

 inane lite. He receives me heartily, and answers all 

 my questions. He has been a long time in the Straits, 

 and knows the pearl-fisheries from their commence- 

 ment ; has now four boats, and 28 men employed. As 

 usual on all the stations, the nationalities are mixed — 

 all sorts of Malays and all sorts of Kanakas. The 

 Loyalty Island boys are the best ; those from Mare 

 preferred. Rotomah boys were the best in the old days, 

 but they cannot be got now.. Wages average £2 10s, 

 a month, but the divers also get paid according 

 to the take, and earn very large sums. Grog is the 

 only thing which prevents boats being worked pro- 

 fitably. Each boat should get at least seven tons 

 of shell a year to leave a margin over expenses. 

 Price in Sydney over £130 to i.'140 a ton. Thus 

 Captain Parkyns. The only gentleman who has the 

 courtesy to reply to ray letters is Mr. Pearson, the 

 Manager for Captain Tucker, of Sydney, who owns 

 Goode Island. Thia station is situated three miles 

 from Thursday Island, north by west. There are 

 five dwelling-houses on the island, and five large 

 stores. A sea-wall runs in front of these. There is 

 a wharf 350 feet long from the shore to deep water, 

 and a patent boat-slip, which can take up a vessel 

 of 30 tons. Two large paddocks for sheep are securely 

 fenced. Thirty thousand coconuts have been planted 

 ou the island, and the planting is still going on at 

 the rate of 250 a month. Seventeen boats and one 

 tender are employed in connexion with this station. 

 Ouce a fortnight the tender goes out to the boats 

 fishing on the reefs and collects the shell : 140 men 

 of various nationalties are employed. Mr. Pearson 

 pref'-rs the Malay and Manilla men. The take of 

 pearl shell per year is about IGO tons, value in Sydney 

 about £140 a ton. Mr. Pearson says :—" Annexation 

 will not affect us at all in the Straits. New Guinea 

 natives will not work away from home, although I 

 believe they will work well ou their own coast. 

 Some have been tried iu the fisheries, but the ex- 

 periment did not succeed." 



Wlien one reads of the improvements carried out 

 by private enterprize on Goode Island, and sees that 



on Thursday Island absolutely nothing has been done 

 for the public good, one is apt to query the benefit 

 derived from the sway of the Queensland Govern- 

 ment in Torres Straits. I have given one sample of 

 a station, but ou the surrounding islands the stires 

 and habitations are, I am informed, all of a superior 

 order. The storing, sorting, and packing of the pearl- 

 shell is the principal work on a station, which other- 

 wise acts as a warehouse for provisions and grog. At 

 most of the stations, stone or wooden wharfs have been 

 constructed, and in some instances tramways and slips 

 have been built. It is estimated that 170 boats are 

 employed in the pearl-shell fishery in the Straits. 

 I am told " the vessels in use are propably the finest 

 and best found and fitt'd of their kind afloat ; they 

 range fi-om 10 to 30 tons capacity, are excellently built, 

 carefully equipped, splendidly handled, and are a credit 

 to the colonies." Sydney caijital is mostly employed 

 in the pearl-fishery. The tax paid to the Queensland 

 Government for occupation of each station is £5 a year, 

 £C-> a year for each boat, and £1 a year for each diver. 

 This, with the indirect contributions to the revenue 

 through the consumption of spirits, &c., proves that 

 the pearl- fishery pays its fair proportion of Queensland 

 taxation. There is a difficulty now in obtaining good sites 

 for stations. All the best islands are occupied, and on 

 many there is a great want of water. Goud anchorage 

 and landing-places are required, and ifiost of these are 

 pre-empted. It is held to be essential that a station 

 should he within easy distance of the fishing-grounds 

 and of Thursday Island, so that the boats can be readily 

 reached by tenders and the shell be despatched to 

 the port. I think it possible that a small steamer 

 visiting all the fishing-grounds would be an improve- 

 ment on the present system. 



There is no mistaking the importance of the pearl- 

 fishing industry in Torres Straits. It gives employ, 

 ment to some 1,200 persons, and supports the com- 

 merce of Thursday Island. The teche-de-mer boats 

 between 60 and 70 in number, mainly belong to 

 Cooktown. The Chinese merchants there buy up 

 this fish, and give a better price than can be ob- 

 tained on consignments sent to Singapore. It is some 

 years since the practice of diving for pearl-shell was 

 abandoned. The resources of science have simplified . 

 the mode of operation. Diving-dresses and air-pumps 

 are now employed, which means that increased 

 capital has to be expended. The cost of working a 

 pearl-fishing station now is double what it was ten 

 years ago. There are more stations aud more boats 

 employed, yet the take of shell is no larger than 

 it was years back. This means that some men made 

 very large fortunes iu the early days, and that some 

 are losing money now, for with the present appliances 

 there ought to be a large increase in the returns. I 

 read that " the shell can now be traced from the shal- 

 low waters of the shores, where formerly it was only 

 possible to recover it by swimmers, to the deep 

 waters of the Straits. The bulk of the pearl shell is 

 now recovered from 13 to 15 fathoms of water. The 

 area of distribution has been found to be very extens- 

 ive. Pearl-shell has been traced all along the Now 

 Gainea coast, across the Straits aud the Arafura .Sea 

 and eastward from New Guinea to New Britain and 

 and the Solomon." There should be promise of a 

 permanent and lucrative future for the trade ; but 

 all the old station-holders grumble. It is certain 

 that now-a-days a great deal of capital has to be 

 expended, and that the returns do no more than re- 

 compense the time and tact necessary in supervision. 

 There are no rapid fortunes made as in the days 

 wheu shell was worth £200 a ton and expenses were 

 slight, naked divers fetching up the spoil from the 

 deep, risking their lives at every plunge. Now the 

 divers walk along the bottom iu the latest dress 

 ugly enough to scare away all sharks and devil-Uah. 



