Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-04-15
Fishing For Pearls in Australia.

i Around the northern and western
| coasts OF Australia the mother pearl
shell has been found in great quanti-
ties and it was on these coasts, which
are still uneNplored, aud inhabited
only by natives, that the writer gained
what knowledge he possesses OF pearl
diving as il is followed to-day.
Formerly it was carried on in two
WAYS, by native divers and by dress
divers. \ few years ago the aborigines
were easily induced to sign a contract
/ binding them 10 their employer for
/ the diving season, and i'm remunera-
/ ton for their labor received the usual
pay-food, tobacco. clothing from the
neck 10 the knees. and a blanket.
They lived aboard schooner on the
fishing grounds during the five sum
mer months, diving from small boats
without the aid OF sinker or other APP
pendage. and in water from twenty
TO sixty feet deep. Each boat was in
charge OF "A white man, who scullrd
the boat along and kept his boys
up To the mark Excepting an hour
for dinner, they remained away from
the schooner from sunrise to sunset
4 good native diver, il shells were
moderately plentiful, would get from
sixty to one hundred pairs per day.
\ curious feature among the native
divers is that toward the end OF the
season their long. curly, jet-bhck hair
becomes "A straw color, presumably
through the action OF the salt water
and the sun. aud forms ludicruus
contrast 10 their intensely black faces
and bodies Since bleaching the hair
has become n fad among civilized
nations perhaps the above recipe may
prove useful To some OF my readers
Native divers are not in much re-.
quest at this time, owing TO the shell
being pretty we'll worked out in shal.
low waters. and il has been found by
long, practical experience that naked
native divers can not work with any
degree OF success beyond IA depth of
ten fathoms For this reason it will
be readily understood that as the
greater part OF the shells now found
have To be searched for at "A depth Of
water exceeding ten fathoms, they
can be obtained only by means OF the
weIl-known diving dress.
During three years spent Dn the
coast OF Western Australia ] never
knew an instance where an aborigine
had been broken into work In n
diving dress, their objection TO IL aris-
ing from some superstition. The great
est depth at which pearl-shells were
found in payable quantities when
left, in 1888, was eighteen fatboms.
and the main portion OF the diving
is now done by white men and few
Mongolians
Dress diving is 10y far the most ap-
proved method, "a the diver can re-
main under water an hour or two II
he chooses, can dive mnch deeper
than the natives. and Is able TO work
all the year round. The style Of boat
universally used for this work is the
lugger. which is good sea boat and
easy To handle. II ranges in siZe from
ten to twenty tons, Is filed with air
pumps. aud carries crew Of six men
aud a diver.
The crews are almost entirely Ma
lays, who are brought down from
Singapore by the regular steamer
Anstralind, owned by G.. Bethel 81
London, which runs up and down the
coast and supplies the pearlers with
provisions, etc, and by which the
shells are shipped for the London
market. | should mention here that
arl-fshing means not only fishing
for pearls, but also for the shells In
which they are found, 'he latter being
really the "bresd and butter Of the
diver, and worth from Gl00 10 Gl50
per ton. In ton OF shells there ~
always "A quantity Of seed-pearls,
probably hundred or more; but good
pearls are not TO be reckoned on a.
certainties, as one man may open ten
tons and not find a stone worth fi0.
while another man may take n small
fortune out Of days gathering. The
average weight Of pair ot shells IL
two pounds.