X] PEARLS AND SCIENCE 129 



famed for his studies on the Great Barrier reef, 

 urged strongly the system of cultivation of the Aus- 

 tralian mother-of-pearl oyster. He made certain 

 experiments in Western Australia which showed that 

 shells could be transplanted to very considerable 

 distances from their natural habitat. 



In 1906 Saville-Kent formed a company — The 

 Natural Pearl Shell Cultivation Company, Ltd. — for 

 the purpose of cultivating the mother-of-pearl 

 oysters in the Torres Straits. Several thousand large 

 oysters were laid down in the hope that they would 

 provide young spat which would settle on the 

 ground and grow up. Nothing seems to have come 

 out of this work and the lease was abandoned in 

 1909 at the time of Mr Kent's death. 



Earlier still than this, another company was at 

 work in the Torres Straits. This was the "Pilot 

 Cultivation Company." Their purpose (according 

 to Jameson, who visited the Straits in 1900) was to 

 transplant undersized mother-of-pearl oysters by 

 ship to an area in the Straits. The company laid 

 down over 100,000 undersized shell and three years 

 afterwards these were fished up. Many thousands 

 appear to have died, but about 35,000 were taken up, 

 and it is probable that they realised a considerable 

 sum. It is only too probable that this was over- 

 shadowed by the expenses of transplanting and 

 collecting the shell, and experimentation. 



D. 9 



