North'Zvest Australian Fishery. 149 



are complied with, and he adjudicates on the spot. 

 This post requires great tact and ability, and the 

 Western Australian Government may be congra- 

 tulated upon the selections they have made to fill 

 it. The cost of a pearling licence is nominal, but 

 the colony derives considerable revenue from an 

 export duty of £\ per ton on the shell raised. This 

 system works satisfactorily on both sides, except in 

 one respect. When the licence is issued, the 

 magistrate retains the ship's papers until the end 

 of the season, and the return of the ship, as security 

 for the due payment of the duty on the shells. 

 In the case of vessels working Australian aborigines 

 for divers this is reasonable, but in the case of 

 those who, like ourselves, employ Malay divers from 

 the Dutch islands, it works badly, especially if, as is 

 often the case, "beri-beri*' breaks out amongst the 

 divers : should the ship for instance, be working \v^ 

 Roebuck Bay, instead of being able to sail at once 

 for Koepang to return the men to their homes, she 

 must first go to Cossack to pay the duty, and obtain 

 possession of her papers before she can sail for a 

 foreign port. This involves an extra distance of 

 about 700 miles, besides the delay in Cossack, and if, 

 as is often the case, baffling winds or calms are met 

 with, many valuable lives are lost, and the employer 

 has to pay wages and keep the men during the extra 

 time. He is already under a heavy guarantee to 



