December, 1912. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



479 



scattered. These were kept under observation in 

 the pond under similar conditions as the piiihead 

 shells. None of them showed any disposition to 

 shift although they were frequently handled, and 

 when I opened them on the 9th April, the colour of 

 the animal within showed them to he bastard-shells 

 as I suspected. 



5. True pearl-shells arc not found on hard rock 

 bottom, but '■ reef '" or Iiastard-shells are verv 

 commonly so found. I submit that the [)inhead 

 oysters were true pearl- 

 oysters attached to stone 

 for \\ ant of abetter place, 

 and that they shifted in 

 search of one ; whereas 

 the others which pro\cd 

 to be " reef '" shell did 

 not shift. The reef-shells 

 must undoubtedly ha\e 

 come in with the tide- 

 water and they were 

 wideh- separated. I con- 

 tend that if the pinhead 

 oysters came in with the 

 tide inrush of water the}-, 

 too, would not have 

 been found congregated 

 thickly together, but 

 would have been scat- 

 tered more generally over 

 the pond. Consequently, 

 I claim that they were 

 the progen\- of my parent 

 stock in the pond. Dr. 

 Jameson is of a contrar\- 

 opinion, but Mr. Danne- 

 vig is not so. His Report 

 to the Minister on his 

 interviews with me in 

 Melbourne last year, has 

 been laid before the Royal 

 Commission, therefore I 

 may fairly be allowed to 

 quote from it as follows : 



" He (Mr. Haynes) is 

 unable to positively say the ' brood ' were genuine 

 pearl-o}"sters, as they were too small for identifi- 

 cation, but the inference that they were is very 

 strong." 



6. Regarding paragraph two. Dr. Jameson does 

 not think that an)- of the breeding stock which was 

 undoubtedly showing signs of spawning in November, 

 ever discharged any portion of their products, ova or 

 milt, in the pond at all, and that they had not done 

 so even at the end of March, when they were still 

 surcharged, and he is of opinion that the female 

 discharges the whole of her eggs in the course of a 

 few hours. If this is so, her period of preparation — 

 five months — seems a very long one and with all 

 deference to my friend, Dr. Jameson, I venture to 

 doubt it. Moreover, that argument leaves untouched 

 the facts that the pinhead oysters were closely 

 congregated and would not stay on the stones, 



Momt Bello Islands 



Figure 505. 

 A Chart of the Montebello Island 



whereas the \-oung reef-shells were found singly, 

 the total number was very small, and the\- staved 

 where thev were. 



The Montebello ofjerations were closed after the 

 hurricane, partly for want of funds and partly because, 

 in the absence of anv security of tenure and a previous 

 cancelmcnt of the lease in 1906 by the Newton 

 .Moore GovernuH'nt, it was impossible to obtain or 

 even ask for any further support. It has been 

 reserved for a Labour Ministry at last to do justice 

 to the case, and the 

 difficulty of security of 

 rights is now being re- 

 moved. The operations 

 ought soon to be re- 

 sumed, but nothing can 

 be done before the spat- 

 ting season commencing 

 in November, 1913, be- 

 }'ond the woik of [)re- 

 paration and the putting 

 up a new homestead. The 

 problem of rearing the 

 young shells may take 

 as long a time to solve as 

 that of lobsters, in 189iS, 

 in the hands of the 

 United States Fisheries 

 Commission, and a con- 

 Stantcirculation of water 

 b\' artitirial means iiia\' 

 similarK' be requirrd. 

 Seven years ma)- possibly 

 be absorbed before mar- 

 ketable shell can be pro- 

 duced, and the venture 

 turned into acommercial 

 success ; in no case can 

 it be less than four years, 

 and the amount of money 

 required is so consider- 

 able that it will be ex- 

 tremely difficult to find 

 English supporters; but 

 the possibilit)- of finan- 

 cial assistance being accorded b\- the West Australian 

 Government may facilitate matters. It is impossible, 

 howe\-er, to leave Dr. Jameson's challenge unmet. 



One subject onl)- remains to be dealt with here. 

 Dr. Jameson has pointed out that cultivation of 

 pearl shell is directly opposed to the interests of the 

 owners of the pearling fleets now in existence. Mr. 

 Male, the member for Broome, the pearling port, 

 criticised the new Pearling Bill, and amongst other 

 things he maintained that the great North-West 

 pearling groimds were unsuitable for cultivation 

 purposes and he could not think of a single place 

 which was sufficiently protected. 



The chart of the Montebello Islands will show 

 that sheltered ground exists there to an ideal extent 

 that is unequalled, to my knowledge, in any part of 

 the world, and the pearl-shells found there, weighing 

 up to fifteen pounds apiece, are the finest in the 



