ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC 205
pearls, and then cast back into the water.1 In 1899 the governor of South Australia interdicted the capture in the waters of that territory of any shell of "Meleagrina margaritifera measuring
less than four inches from the butt or hinge to the opposite edge or
lip." Competent evidence exists that a good-sized pearl has been found
in an oyster measuring one inch in diameter.
The
fishermen of Western Australia rendezvous at Broome, about one thousand
miles by water north of Perth, the nearest railway station. With only
a thousand or so inhabitants, under normal conditions, this is a scene
of great activity, and bears a reputation of being no Sunday-school
when the fishermen are in, with tons of shell and many a pickle bottle
more or less full of pearls. Cossack and Onslow are also important
stations.
In
1905, 340 luggers and 25 schooners were employed in the pearl fisheries
of Western Australia, exclusive of Sharks Bay. Of this number about 85
per cent, hailed from Broome. The schooners ranged in size from 13 to
133 tons, and the luggers were mostly about 12 tons, with a minimum of
3 and a maximum of 14 tons. The total number of fishermen approximated
2900, a medley of races, Japanese, Malays, Chinese, Arabs, native
aboriginals and South Sea Islanders working together more or less
harmoniously. The yield consisted of 1394 tons of mother-of-pearl, with
a declared value of £146,225, and about £50,000 worth of pearls, a
total of £196,255 for the year, which was an increase of £32,286 over
1904.2
The
headquarters for the fishery of the Northern Territory of South
Australia are at Port Darwin. In 1905 this fishery employed forty-nine
sail vessels and two canoes manned by Europeans, and two proas and
twelve canoes manned by Malays. The crews, numbering about 375,
consisted mainly of Malays, Japanese and Filipinos. In 1905, 42 per
cent, were Malays, 24 per cent, were Japanese, and 20 per cent, were
Filipinos. Owing to the low price of pearl shell, the fishery was not
prosecuted actively, and many of the Asiatics left for the pearling
reefs at the Aru Islands. The total value of pearl shells reported
among the exports for that year was £18,526; during the preceding year
it was £28,391. No record is available for the value of the pearls.
The
Queensland pearling fleet has its rendezvous at Port Kennedy, Thursday
Island, which was originally maintained by the British, the Queensland,
and the New South Wales governments as a harbor of refuge for mariners.
Politically this port is important as the strategic key to the northeast of Australia, but its prosperity is almost wholly
1 "Departmental Commission on Pearl Shell 2 "Report on the Fishing Industry for the
and Bèche-de-Mer Fisheries," Brisbane, 1897. Year 1905," Perth, 1906, pp. 4-7.
