North-west Australian Fishery. 149
are
complied with, and he adjudicates on the spot. This post requires great
tact and ability, and the Western Australian Government may be
congratulated upon the selections they have made to fill it. The cost
of a pearling licence is nominal, but the colony derives considerable
revenue from an export duty of £4. per ton on the shell raised.
This system works satisfactorily on both sides, except in one respect.
When the licence is issued, the magistrate retains the ship's papers
until the end of the season, and the return of the ship, as security
for the due payment of the duty on the shells. In the case of vessels
working Australian aborigines for divers this is reasonable, but in the
case of those who, like ourselves, employ Malay divers from the Dutch
islands, it works badly, especially if, as is often the case,
"beri-beri" breaks out amongst the divers : should the ship for
instance, be working in Roebuck Bay, instead of being able to sail at
once for Kcepang to return the men to their homes, she must first go to
Cossack to pay the duty, and obtain possession of her papers before she
can sail for a foreign port. This involves an extra distance of about
700 miles, besides the delay in Cossack, and if, as is often the case,
baffling winds or calms are met with, many valuable lives are lost, and
the employer has to pay wages and keep the men during the extra time.
He is already under a heavy guarantee to
