BECHTC-T)F.-ME!l ANT> PEABLRHELL 
FI?!HERIES OF QUEENSLAND. 
In a vf'nTTiinouo report relatine to tlie b^'^hi'-fle-nipr 
anil pearlslKll fl^Viprips of Nortbprn Qupen^'airl, 
enmr'lp'1 in Bsonnis+ion wifVi hi" recni-. t'^nr, PxtTidine' 
ovpr four month", Mr. W. Saville-Kpnt, Oommissintipr 
of F'rV'pHps, srn'ps much I'titerPsMne; anVl vnluaMe 
inf'o-mat'o". I^'Afsv Isa^ Mr. Kpiitwass ■na'seng'er by 
H.IW S. " EnmWer" for Torres Straits, nnr^ opportnnit.v 
WBs tnkpn of the time oempie'l by the officers that 
vesspl in mak'Tiff » svofem'^+ic survpy pf the npiehb^nr. 
hood of t^e " ftiip++a " wrpck, to inveotiffa^e the marine 
fauna ?enpr(>lly of that area. The vnhia^le commercial 
varietv of heche-(5e-mpr known as rpfi-flsh was observed 
in spme pnmhpr^i pii t^e pvposerl repfs copfiptipns to 
the M'd Brother R^cka. Blsok-l'pnpd nporlohell wai 
fVo fonnd there, and on the repfs of A''o'phns TslfiDfl. 
Snpcimpna "f these we'e cnllpcted, taken alive to 
Thnrsday Is'anrl, and laid down on the psnerimentsl 
reoprvp. A onsiderahip cplle^tion of the fl=h of tbis 
dipt-ict Was lik°w''rtp made. whicJi wHl, it is nriti"ipflt"dj 
be fonnd on criticnl px^iminat'on to eor'tain man:^ 
specios mt previpuslv fen^wn to inhnl^it O.T'en*'l'"i'l 
Waters, On arriviner at Thurs-'av Inland liis attention 
was spocia'lv dir^ct.pd towards obtaining completn 
infprmotio" eoncprnine the bpchp-dp-mpr fisheries, 
and towar''q acqnirin"? a persnnil acqna'ntancp with 
a'l of tbe m"re imrortant cpm"ie'-fi 1 renre'^pntatives 
of tbnt ppculjor proup nf thp invertpbra''p snb- kingdom 
var'onslv d'sting-nislipd Hv thepnpnla,'- tiUps of trepans, 
bpcbp-ilp-mev, or 8Pa-sln<T=. To ficcomplieb this lie 
prncppded to Tnd, or War-'inr Is'and, at the north 
pvtrpmitv of tfie Grpat Parrier c^ral re^f. ard wit'^'in 
forty mi'ps of the Npw Gninei eoasf. This island is 
t^f bPadq"nr*'prs of a con<>!<1pra1ile sect'^n of the Torros 
St'ait.a bf chp-do-nier fishine fl<"'t- Thp snecVs of 
bpche-dp-mor co"pcrpd and pxaniin^d at Wa,rrior TslTiid 
wprp what arp diotinfyn'shed in thp marlrpt bv tho ti*lPS 
of biaok-fi'h. red-fisb. teit-fish, nr'pklv-fish. lol'y-fisb, 
and s'nd-fisb. Nonp of tbe 'itp.ratnre accssi'^le in 
Br'sbane his enabled him to dptorm-ne, with Hut one 
sine'e evoppt<on, tbo te^bnical ident'tv of tbpsp 
oornmercial sppcips, and H is a mattpr of somp donbt 
as to whetbpr t^ey bnve as yet b^pn sc'''ntifica"y 
dpser-bpd. T' e lar^pst- sized oommprc'al beclip-de-mpr 
obsPTVpd in Quepnslnnd waters is tbp ordinary pr'cVIy- 
fisb. or pn'pk'v-rpd, wbicb, in its fnllv pxte'^ded state, 
may mpasure 4f^- r rmorpin Ipneth,with an aceompanv- 
ins diameter of 4'n. orS'n.* Eehtppn inciips rpprpsents 
the more o'dinary extended length of black, red, and 
tent fish. In all instances these orjan'sms are ca.pa'-le 
of cordracting' to about one-half of tbcir extpodorl 
length, the bo^v under such cord'tions bein? relatiwf Iv 
thicker. Mr. Kent desc-ibps tlip process by which 
hecbe-dp-mpr arp prppared for tho maWtPt, and tbe 
mpnns h'' which tho fishery is carripd on. A good 
avcrnee take for a fishinpr station workingr with only 
four boats, carrvinc twpnty to twenty-four men, is 
one +on of cured bcche-de-mer per month. The 
cnllpct"on of the brche-de-mpr i.s accnmpH'hpd in 
associ'>tiion with the l^w tides that obtain during tbe 
n»w and full phases of tbe moon, and eisbt or ten 
days are thus le''t in each lunar month whi^h are not 
profita''ly ut'ligpr). Thn crreater port'on of the beehe- 
de-mer is simplv picked offi tbe reefs whpn the water 
h"s r"c«-dpd, but the finest red and black fi^h, and tbe 
pricklv-fish almost exclusively, are obtainf d by diving 
during the fame I07 tides to a depth of two or three 
fa'homa. 
Kpspectin? tbfi hatbymetrioal or verHcal distribution 
of commercial bpche-de-n fr, red, blacV, and prickly 
fisb are repot td to ccuv at a depth of four or five 
fathoms, and !o'ly-fi«h to hsv" been obsprvcd bv divers 
Bs drep down ng ei ' ! - 11 fatlicms. The deep water 
pxamplps of ttie red ^ti d l)'ack varieties, obtained by 
diving, are of the largest siz", fetch a higher price, 
and Bre recogni8"d by a distinct title in the market. 
Tbe qa"«t;on has been diacussed bv cei t lin < f the 
boatowiK-rs as to wbetlier bpcbe-de-mer might be 
profi'fbly co''ected wiib the aid of diving apparatus 
* H»v-^ se;i sines of Fucb enortnous bize ever been 
foun.l in Ceylori P-^d. 7'. 4, 
after the manneip of pearlshpll. and will probahlv be 
put to a practical test. Tbe southernmost noint II 
wh-ch the beche-de-mer fisheries have so ITt,^ 
profitably worked ,s eastward from MacVa/ Ma„v 
large-sized specif s not yet turned to practical acconnf 
however abound throughout the AnptXn 1 tC ' 
One f.^atwe Pecul.ar to a number of the non-oommPrcini 
varieties IS the babit tbey possess, ^hep hanXd of 
ejecting from the vent^ropelikp masses oPa whi»e cort'onv 
substance that on its first emissiou adheres wi h ex4^e 
tenacitv to every object with which it c^mcs in contact 
It would appear possible tbat a uspful ingredfe^t for 
cement having somewhat the property of caontcho"e 
might be manufactiired from this substance 
money value of the total output cl-^W 
corresponds with, hut is somewhat in oxppcs of t^at 
of the oysters so extensively exported from the sonlhprn 
d-stnot of Qupensland to thP npiehbp„.f,,„ p„ "fi? 
China rPprcsents the ma-Wpt. ^Vrh'^HM Z ^^fZT^ 
of a iew hundredweigbts, all t^c Aus*rab-an bechp.^r- 
mpr IS consigned. B«rHPr fisb puiovs a hi-hpr 
reimtat.op and reab'seg hptter nHc^s th-n is ohtai.W 
for the Prt.ole derived from anv other lo"fllit?on he 
L°ppn!/^' fl^iirishineenooh ofthe 
Queensland becbe-dp-me^ trarl^. was IZ-ZcT/l 
between the years 1881 and 18R.3. when th. .a,np of 
S 000^ The"m:»?°''*^ "PP-ximatpd orcven px t edpa 
*.iU,UUU. ilie most nnvemunerativp po'nMo tbp samn 
industry was represprted bv tb« ^esr 1R87 *h.n tb« 
otal export calue fell to £15 000 Si^of 'that /^^e 
l^n?r tf' ri?° in^pr-ing tpndp^cv wh,Vh is 
apparently still ,n progress, thp i;een«Ps for VortVto>pn 
out for the currPnt vP.r bpin^ i„ I'sf lar's 
numbPr. The retnrns in th's dirpctio. ,ho^ *h» t ,7xTv 
two boats are now UcPusPd from Port T^- T 
b:vf xrouV li^entt^ t;";;tSir^c ^-''-'^ 
n the fij? '^V^ ■ -^-^t enlaced 
as rpcentlv a.- nll^ • IT*""^ T'"'" h-cbe-de-mer, 
follows %flt!S Z'^^'T" ^^"'^ - 
te.t-fisb. White £40 ^pd fi-h T- ^^^^ ^^^^^ 
water. £100 to iliol' .•p;.t"b':'Vf '^^o"::^^^ t,'T 
fash, deep water -PUn. ^l^ , * " " ; ^'lack- 
Cal^donia^ £8o"t'o I o"^o' J:,f J,, ^'j' 
or pnekly-red £30 £40 \and.S ' £,^0' £3«' 
1^0 t^o"f ir^'^ °' prickV-'red, „ow ;paTis?n^ Sni 
i?c^nr^:i£f ^^^^^^ 
^e-rS^pS^Hi----^ 
with the re/ul^har numb':!rf V,:'e:p ^oi!^^^^^^^ 
rmLtter'demrrd"*^' the m':..,!;^ 
associated witi, tl f ! 1 Norfhprn QuPPnslard is 
Of I„To V ^ ®. ''"iP'o.vment of native labourcra 
?articularw"out,^o '''' TorrPs Straits district Lre 
fn w'^ich^'thrboT' by *hesp labo„rers. 
aLa^Ued and^o' Mr ll^e:^ or fr '^1' l"'"' 
on board baive been stn «n v, * ^"""^^ 
as ,0 paralyse tl^I^i^^S:- t\ •rri.;:e'':^':t;-* 
^n.ish^ h^ve the origi, ato^s of these ontrag^s , sra ed 
pnni.sbmPnt, but in ma-iy instancp.s individuals 
for the "uqtv havp'^ ol«n the i„nocpnt have suffen d 
I or in e «u.lty, have ..e-ni ■ ccns ni-al'y att-nm -0 • bur 
unt.l_s ncljn.<ice is administfrert, and thp off ndi, ' 
.ndiVKluais only are m de to pay be pc of h^K 
snch station wculd not only be oa the jine of route 
