27 



from tlie Mediterranean to Australia. The conditions favoiu-able 

 to the growth of GoraJlium ruhrum are uot limited to tropical 

 waters and would be more nearly approximated in the neighbour- 

 hood of 3Ioreton Bay or Port Jackson. Some idea of the impor- 

 tance of this article and its consequent worthiness of attention, 

 may be derived from the circumstance that the annual value of 

 this material, as obtained fn.m the Sardinian coast is estimated at 

 £60,000. while that obtained fi"om the coast lines of xllgeria and 

 Tunis are estimated to represent an annual value of £100,000. 

 Coral to the value of 20,000 per annum is also obtained from the 

 Cape de Verde Islands. The industry, as prosecuted in the Medi- 

 terranean alone, is estimated to give employment to over 10,000 

 fishermen. Especial success in the fishery for coral attended some 

 recent experiments made with the aid of diving apparatus, such as is 

 used by the pearl-shell divers in Torres Straits, in place of the j)rim- 

 itive engine formed of wood, in the shape of a cross, and garnished 

 with swabs and tangles, and which is simply lowered and dragged 

 over the surface of the coral ground. A coral of commercial value, 

 which is occasionally collected by the pearl-shell divers in Torres 

 Straits, is the black coral, Antipathes arhorca. This species con- 

 stitutes a special fishery at Jeddah, in the Ked Sea, and commands 

 a ready sale for the manufacture of mouth-pieces for cigars, beads, 

 amtilets and other ornaments. I am informed that the produce 

 of the Jeddah Fishery has greatly diminished within the last few 

 years, and that the discovery^ of any new sources of supply would 

 be gladly welcomed. There is, I consider, every element in 

 favoiu' of the development of a profitable black-coral fishery in 

 North Queensland waters. Like CoraUhtm rtibrinii, this black 

 variety is probably susceptible of artificial cultivation. 



Leaving for awhile the consideration of those forms of corals 

 that possess an universally recognised commercial A'alue, some 

 attention may be directed to that wealth of varieties that enter 

 into the composition, or are intimately associated with the 

 growth, of coral reefs, and are technically known by the title of 

 madrepores or stony corals. It is in this direction more parti- 

 cularly that Thursday Island may be referred to as a paradise 



