204 THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 
to a considerable extent through the destruction of immature shell has been checked 
in Queensland waters by the enactment of an Act of Parliament framed on the 
recommendation of the writer, prohibiting the taking of pearl-oysters for the market of 
less than certain judiciously prescribed dimensions. Greater hope for the future, however, 
undoubtedly lies in cultivation, and towards the practical demonstration that such 
operations were, though hitherto unaccomplished, perfectly feasible, the writer devoted 
some time and attention in both Queensland and Western Australia. 
Full particulars regarding the modus operandi pursued, and the results arrived 
at in Queensland, being recorded in the author’s “Great Barrier Reef” volume, those 
data will not be recapitulated in detail. It will suffice in the present connection to 
relate that the shell was brought in from the outer grounds and laid down in natural 
lagoons in the Coral reefs of Thursday Island, and that it both throve and multiplied 
under such conditions. The greatest difficulty connected with these operations 
was found to be the transport ‘of. the living pearl shells, which, unlike ordinary 
oysters, were found to be exceedingly impatient of removal from their native 
element. It is absolutely necessary, in fact, that they shall be immersed in pure and 
frequently changed sea water throughout the voyage. As the result of the success 
attending the Thursday Island experiments, certain of the Torres Straits fleet owners 
have carried out similar operations on a practical scale, one of these, due facilities 
being now provided, leasing a large area from the Government between Friday and 
Prince of Wales Islands for the purpose. A photograph of a portion of the area of 
the Coral Reef at Thursday Island, which was the scene of the writer’s first success- 
ful experiments, is reproduced in the upper portion of Plate XX XV. The four corner 
posts of one of the cultivation frames in which the shells were for safety’s sake 
deposited are clearly seen projecting above the surface of the nearer coral pool. 
At high tide the entire area of this reef is covered by from two to three fathoms 
of water, over which there then rushes a deep current of mill-stream-like strength 
and velocity. 
The Archipelago of Islands in Torres Straits undoubtedly presents exceptional 
facilities for the inauguration of Mother-of-Pearl shell cultivation. Not only on account 
of the innumerable sheltered reefs and bays that are there eligible for the purpose, 
but with regard to the fact that this extreme Northern district lies outside the range 
of the devastating hurricanes which during the North-West monsoon are liable to 
visit the more southern tropical zone, and which might cause incalculable damage 
to Pearl-shell beds laid down in shallow waters. 
