184 The Nutmeg {Torres Strait) Pigeon. [ 7 ±hjan. 



grounds, and in each boat there were usually one or two fowling-pieces, 

 with ample ammunition, and men eager and able to use it, but at the present 

 time a pearling venture is essentially and practically a deep sea voyage 

 occupying nine months of the year, as the boats are worked from large 

 vessels which serve as store depots, and are for weeks together out of sight 

 of land ; they are also manned by Japanese, Javanese, Hindus, and other 

 " Allsorts " of non-sporting tendencies, who, instead of a club and a gun, carry 

 a knife and a net, so that it is evident that from these two large sections 

 of the Torres Strait community the White Pigeon is almost as tabu as 

 the Ibis of classic " pastorals," and with regard to the inhabitants of 

 Thursday Island, the hub of the Strait, their subscription towards the 

 mortality of the Pigeon is small, almost nil, as the botanic endowments 

 of the islands surrounding and adjacent to the town are not favourable 

 to Pigeons' tastes or requirements, and those who would enjoy a day's 

 shooting now and then on the more distant islands cannot afford the loss 

 of time, as it interferes with the chase of more valued game — the almighty 

 dollar. 



I think I may safely say that by the people of Somerset there are more 

 birds shot than by the whole of the other residents of Torres Strait combined, 

 and the bag there last season did not exceed 600 birds. Taking this as a basis, 

 I do not think the assertion that in all Torres Strait the number of Pigeons 

 ( taking the extreme limit) which fall to the gun annually does not exceed 

 1,000 can be veritably contradicted, and this proportion in relation to 

 their vast numbers is infinitesimal, so that those interesting themselves 

 in the subject may feel assured, and lay their minds at rest as to the most 

 superlatively remote possibility of one of the " glories of our avifauna " 

 becoming a rare bird. Probably more Pigeons are killed by the natives 

 during the north-west monsoon than by any other agency, on some of 

 the small, less densely wooded islands, where at night, with torches made 

 of pandanus leaves and gum, they spear a good many, perhaps 30 or 40 

 during a night. The spear is not thrown, but made with a long, light 

 bamboo shaft, and used from underneath, lance fashion. 



I am aware that I have touched on subjects that at first sight may appear 

 to be directly foreign to the one under notice, but on consideration it will 

 be seen that they are, or were, in reality indirectly the most potent basic 

 factors in bringing forward the present correspondence and interest con- 

 cerning the protection of the Torres Strait Pigeon, and possibly they may 

 be received in evidence of the fact that the Pigeon is not slaughtered in the 

 ruthless manner it is supposed to be by southern enthusiasts ; also that 

 the supposed necessity for immediate protection is not as requisite or 

 serious as represented. I have also entered more into detail than I other- 

 wise would have done had not the impression been forced upon me that 

 some of your correspondents were treating on a subject that they evidently 

 were not very well up in, some of them even being in doubt as to whether 

 Carpophaga luctuoso bred in Australia or not. 



Please let it be understood that my remarks throughout this letter refer 

 only to that portion of the peninsula contained in the triangle having as 

 base a line from Cooktown to Normanton, with Cape York as apex, embracing 

 an area of, say, 10,000 square miles, with a coastal boundary of nearly 1,000, 

 and along this great extent of coast line between Normanton and Cape 

 York (600 miles), with the exception of a Moravian mission station on 

 Cullen Point, at mouth of Batavia River, there are not any settlers or 

 inhabitants, other than native. The same may be said of the long line 

 of east coast, over 400 miles, lying between Cape York and Cooktown ; 

 nor are there any police stations near the coast from which supervision 

 could be exercised if required, and the whole immense length* of these 



