VII] PEARL F1SHP]RIES OF OTHER LANDS 87 



has ranked as one of the primary industries of 

 Western Australia, being practised first at Shark's 

 Bay. It has been pushed further north, and it is 

 stated that the naked diving and the beach-combing 

 of the aborigines financed many a settler in the early 

 years of his pastoral enterprise. 



The Queensland fisheries are carried on along 

 the tropical coasts of that state and in particular in 

 the Torres Strait, where some attempts at pearl 

 oyster cultivation have been made. The Gulf of 

 Carpentaria is another home of the industry. The 

 custom of naked diving appears to be gradually dying 

 or to have already disappeared in Australia, and the 

 diving dress is usually employed. At the same time 

 the divers are largely Malays, Japanese, and Manila- 

 men, although the industry is financed by the Whites. 

 As it has been always believed that it was quite 

 impossible to have any but coloured labour, the 

 industry has enjoyed comparative immunity from 

 the rigorous " white Australia " laws of the Common- 

 wealth. It was decided, however, in 1911 that this 

 industry should conform to the laws of the country 

 and two years' notice was given, so that this year, 

 1913, should see the employment of Europeans as 

 divers. From Western Australia alone, 29,281 cwts. 

 of pearl shell were exported in 1910, the value being 

 £246,068. The value of the pearls discovered brought 

 this sum up to £348,911. 



