( 289 ) 



THE PEARL FISHERIES OF AUSTRALIA.^! 



By G. W. Griffin, 

 U.S. Consul, Sydney, N.S. Wales, 



The pearl-shell fisheries of Torres Strait belong to the colony 

 of Queensland, and are situated 1500 miles from Brisbane, and 

 more than 2000 miles from Sydney. Torres Strait is about 

 eighty miles in width, and separates Queensland from the island 

 of New Guinea. The navigation of the Strait, although said to 

 be safe and practicable, is in fact very difiScult, on account of the 

 innumerable islands, reefs, and shoals scattered about. The chief 

 places at which the fisheries are conducted are Wai Weer, Albany 

 Island, Jervis Island, Endeavour Strait, Fi'idaj' Island, Prince of 

 Wales Islands, and Possession Island. 



Wages of the Men. — A good diver can earn from sixty to 

 one hundred and fifty dollars per month. He usually signs 

 shii^ping articles for a period not exceeding three years, at a fixed 

 sum per month and an interest in the catch or lay. Mr. Ba3'ne, 

 of Sydney, the owner of an important station at Prince of Wales 

 Islands, who for many years has been engaged in peai'l-shell 

 fishing, states that several divers in his employ have earned as 

 much as three hundred dollars per month. The divers and crews 

 are composed of South Sea Islanders, Malays, and a few Chinese 

 and Lascars. The diver is the captain of the boat, and the other 

 men obey his orders. The duties of the tender consist in waiting 

 on the diver, helping him to dress, and looking after him while in 

 the water. The pay of the tender is from ten to twelve dollars 

 per month, with a small interest in the catch, generally from one- 

 sixtieth to one-eightieth part of the value of the shells. Each of 

 the vessels generally has one diver and four tenders, who compose 

 the crew. The tenders are engaged on regular shipping articles, 

 and are paid off like any other merchant seamen. Mr. Henry M. 

 Chester, the resident magistrate at Thursday Island, says, in a 

 recent report on the fisheries, that the natives are never over- 

 worked, and that they are always well fed and kindly treated. 

 He further says that payment is usually made them in blankets, 

 clothing, knives, hatchets, and beads, and that whenever they are 



- Reprinted from the 'Bulletin U.S. Fish Commission,' vol. vi. (1887), 

 pp. 433—435. 



