Pearls and the Pearl Fisheries. 427 



the same colour, etc., are worth a much higher price if sold 

 together than when sold apart. A necklace in which the 

 pearls have been chosen from a great number will be held 

 at double the value of a necklace where the pearls have 

 been picked from a smaller number, even when the indi- 

 vidual value of the pearls is identical in both. In the first 

 place the harmony will be complete, while in the second 

 case the eye will detect a break in the shades in passing 

 from one pearl to another. 



Some mother-of-pearl shells are fished in Torres Straits. 

 It seems that women are there the best divers for the shell. 

 They are more dependable. The pearl-shell oyster is a 

 magnificent mollusc ; weighing three to six pounds, and 

 sometimes ten pounds. Divers come up with one under 

 each arm. They are opened at once, the fish used as food, 

 and the pearls, which are few and small, carefully pre- 

 served. The shells sell at Sydney for ^150 to £i'^o per 

 ton, and a schooner will carry 30 to 40 tons. 



The pearl fisheries of Western Australia seem to become 

 more productive yearly ; the value of shells exported in 

 1872 was ^25,890, against ^12,895 worth exported in the 

 previous year, and the estimated value of pearl shells sent 

 from the colony in 1873, representing the take of the 

 season 1872-73, was about ^50,000. The value of the pearl 

 shell exported in 1874 was 58,928, and of pearls 6000, 

 which is probably much below the mark. The natives are 

 employed as divers, and work for a mere subsistence ; but, 

 owing to the stringent laws existing for the protection of 

 the aborigines, most of the pearling craft — in fact, all who 

 can — employ Malays, whom they bring, under agreement 

 for a term of years, from the Coromandel coast and Java. 

 These men are paid at a rate varying from to £2 

 per month, and are kept free of charge. A diver will 



