198 Cruise of the "Alert" 



449 tons, and valued at £5 3,021, were exported ; and during the 

 same year pearls to the value of £230. Most of the pearls taken 

 are of poor quality, and are so few as to be comparatively value- 

 less ; although a fairly good one, without a flaw, and about the 

 size of a pea, is said to be worth £5. Coarse ones of extra- 

 ordinary size are sometimes obtained. A proprietor and manager 

 (Captain Tucker), who was considered exceptionally fortunate in 

 obtaining pearls, once showed me the proceeds of nine tons of 

 shell which he had just brought in from the fishing-ground. The 

 pearls were of all sorts and sizes ; one was as big as a large hazel 

 nut, others were like millet seeds. Altogether they were just 

 sufficient to fill a common match-box, in which indeed he carried 

 them. Official statistics regarding the take of pearls are only to 

 a small extent reliable, as many — probably most — never reach 

 the hands of the proprietors, but are retained as perquisites by 

 the Kanaka divers, who dispose of them secretly. 



Most of the shell is sent to Sydney by the steamship Corca, 

 where it is purchased by merchants, who send it to Europe for 

 manufacture. Since the establishment of the Queensland Royal 

 Mail steamers, which traverse Torres Straits, some of the shell has 

 been by them conveyed direct to England, where it is consigned 

 to the manufacturers, to the greater profit of the pearl shelters. 

 Most of the shelling establishments in Torres Straits are the 

 property of companies consisting of two or more capitalists, who 

 for the most part reside in Sydney, and it is indeed a rather odd 

 anomaly that a lucrative industry subject to the jurisdiction of 

 the Queensland government should be worked by capital from 

 New South Wales. 



Much of my time was occupied in giving medical aid to the 

 people of Thursday Island, and to the employe's of the pearl-shell 

 stations. My spare time, as opportunities offered, I spent in 

 exploring the group of islands within reach, viz., Horn Island, 

 Prince of Wales Island, Hammond Island, Fitzroy Island, Goode 

 Island, Thursday Island, Possession Island, West Island, and 



