1 66 Pearls. 



with often as much as ;^300, and usually spends 

 this large sum, and the proceeds of his bottle of 

 Pearls, in a few weeks of riotous living. 



The owners of boats unfortunately have not 

 pulled together ; they have bid one against another 

 for the services of the men who are able to use 

 the diving dress, and have now to pay them £\o 

 per month wages, and as much as ^40 bonus for 

 every ton of shell raised. The consequence is the 

 men are very independent, and the owners submit 

 to all their whims and vagaries. They refuse to have 

 a white man in their boats, so that they may secure 

 all the Pearls for themselves. The Pearls from 

 here are mostly Baroque^ very few fine spherical 

 Pearls having been produced in the Torres Straits 

 fishery. 



During the year 1883, 206 vessels were licensed, 

 employing about 1^500 men ; and 33 licenses were 

 granted for fishing stations. The yield of Pearl- 

 shell for that year, was 621 tons, being 207 tons 

 less than that of the previous year ; besides this, 

 118 tons of beche-de-mer were exported. The total 

 revenue collected at Thursday Island for the year 

 was ;^ 10,412. The export from West Australia 

 seldom exceeds 250 tons for the six months' diving 

 season. The amount of capital in this industry is 



