228 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



reefs when the water has receded ; but the finest red and black fish, and tlie pnckly-fish 

 almost exclusively, are obtainetl, by diving during the same low tides, from a depth of two 

 or three fathoms. 



The Beche-de-mer fishery can be profitably conducted with a much smaller outlay of 

 capital than that required for operating with pearls and pearl-shells. The craft employed is 

 much smaller ; no costly diving apparatus is required, nor the hire of skilled divers, tenders, 

 and pumping hands. As previously related, the aborigines from the Queensland mainland are 

 extensively employed in this fishery, undoubtedly one of the few industries in which Australian 

 native labour can be turned to profitable account. The native as a rule does not take kindly 

 to agriculture or to any manual work of a persistent character. To fishing and hunting, 

 however, he is " to the manner born," and there is not an employment that could be devised 

 more to his liking than his attachment, accompanied by his wife and picaninnies, to a liberally- 

 found Beche-de-mer camp, with comfortable quarters, plenty of "tucker" and work which is 

 to him almost his natural recreation. The attachment of the aborigines to fishing pursuits 

 is practically demonstrated by the persistence with which the same families, or individuals, 

 will year after year seek re-engagement at the hands of honest employers. Doubtless, many 

 a tale could be told throwing discredit on their trustworthiness : tales of the massacres of 

 station owners, of boats and stores decamped with, and of the European or Manilla " boss " 

 being marooned on a coral islet, or left to perish on a temporarily exposed reef There is 

 usually, however, an obverse side to these tragic pictures, which shows that the aboriginal was 

 not the initial aggressor. In the earlier days there have undoubtedly been many cases of natives 

 being kidnapped and compelled to work against their will ; of interference with the women ; 

 and of glaring breaches of faith on the part of the employers respecting the wages, in coin or 

 in kind, paid over to the crews on the completion of their engagements. Injustices referable 

 to the last-named category are not altogether unknown now ; but in face of the excellent 

 regulations rigidly enforced by the Queensland Government concerning the engagement, dis- 

 charge, and payment of the aboriginal crews, all these abuses are rapidly becoming mere 

 traditions. 



A monument erected in Cooktown bears testimony to a touching tragedy in a Beche-de- 

 mer camp some ten years ago, in which a wild tribe of aborigines were the aggressors. The 

 camp, in this instance, was established on Lizard Island, and was worked by a man named 

 Watson, who resided there with his wife and child. During his absence one day with all 

 hands, excepting a Chinese gardener, natives from the mainland attacked the camp. Mrs. 

 Watson and the Chinaman bravely defended it, and ultimately caused the blacks to retreat. 

 In the night, fearing that a more serious attack was contemplated, Mrs. Watson, with her infant 

 and the Chinaman, embarked in an old iron ship-tank, all the boats being absent, and floated away 

 in the hope ot being seen and picked up by one of the passing steamers. They ultimately 



