ROMANCE OF THE PEARLING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 155, 27 March 1926, Page 22

ROMANCE OF THE PEARLING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA

MOTLEY CROWD THAT SEEK ADVENTURE

It docs not seem to be generally known how high ranks the status of Broome, the chief centre of the Australian pearling industry, although local pride leaves no doubt in the visitor’s mind that three-fourths of the world’s supply of shell conies from there. The town itself is located about 1500 miles north of Perth, and on the western shore of Roebuck Bay. The choice of such a site showed great foresight, since Brome is reallv situated on the lee side of a promontory and is thus sheltered from the fiercest of the weather. There is a phenomenal rise and fall in the tide in the region of 35 feet, and at times the water at low tide is nearly three miles awav from high-tide mark. The town itself has about 1200 white inhabitants, but there are also over 2000 Malays, Japanese, and other Asiatics, who form the crews for working the pearling luggers. There are two distinct quarters, Jap-town and the white quarter, and nearly all the stores are run by Orientals, so the stranger can easily forget he is in Australia, especially as bargaining .is recognised as orthodox.

The pearling industry, (writes Mr. Mitch'ael Terry in the’ “Empire Review”), started there in the early 'fifties, and one of its largest rivals is Thursday Island, but the. quality of M.O.P. 'shell obtained there has not reallv the lustre of the West Australian variety. The beds of shell worked from Broome start about the Nor’west Cape, and are found almost continuously to as far north as Cape Londonderry. The boats used are rigged either as luggers or ketches, and go as far as 30 miles out to sea in their search for fresh beds. Upon a promising patch being located, a buoy is placed to mark the claim, and if the show turns out good, it is wonderful how news gets round the widely scattered fleet. It does not take much to cause a rush to a fresh find, and it’s no uncommon sight to see a dozen luggers within shouting distance of each other. An impression is in existence that the divers do not use any mechanical appliance, but this is quite wrong, as all boats are equipped with some make of diving dress and air supply pump. The depth at which divers can operate is about 30 fathoms, with an engine-driven air-pump, and up to 16 fathoms with a hand-pump. Some boats have pneumatic apparatus for two divers, but one is the usual complement for each boat. In addition, about seven or eight Asiatics form the crew, with the lonely white shell-opener in charge. The whole pearFng fleet consists of about 190 luggers, but when I was there last onlv about 120 were in use, as the industry is suffering from a severe depression, an aftermath of the war. During the boom, shell was sold up to £lOO a ton, but during the war it fell *o £104; now the price has readjusted itself to about £l5O. This means'that it is just possible to pay wages, because an engine pump boat will raise about ten tons of shell per annum, and a band-driven one only about 5 tons. With the high prices tlie shell alone paid operation expenses, and pave a moderate margin. Thus, any pearls found were clear* profit, except for the percentage allowed to the white shell

opener as part of his contract over and above a small weekly wage. The lure of the game attracts all sorts of Britishers roaming the world in search of the unusual, and Indian Army officers or public school boys are to be found rubbing shoulders with Americans, althought, of course, Australians are predominant.

The average lugger has a displacement of between 11 and 16 tons, and a length of 36-42 feet, so there is no loom lor exercise, and, as three months at sea is a regular cruise, it is no wonder that some wild times are had when on shore again. Operations are carried on during most months of the year, but there is a "lay-up” during December and January, when rough weather makes the water too cloudy to see the shell beds, though, I believe, the luggers themselves’would stand nearly any sort of a sea, even though they operate on one of the most dangerous coasts in the world. At other times, spring tides stir up the water. ’ Still weather is necessary for continuous work, and the exceptional clearness of the sea makes it possible to continue uninterrupted v/ork when one would think it was impossible to see a yard beneath the surface. There is some wonderful fishing to be had along any part of the coast, and, at times, especially when anchored near a jetty, the sea is black with multitudes of small fish. Their numbers are so dense that it looks almost possible to walk on them, and, as they plav around the luggers, the Malays catch them The method employed is to have a large circular net with small leaden weights at close intervals along the circumference. On being correctly thrown the nef spreads out and drops on to the water, the weights sink rapidly, and they gather the edges together, and trap hundreds of small fish at one go. These ore cleaned and then hung in strings on the. rigging. When thoroughlv sun-baked and dried, they are very 'like sardines, and, when eaten with rice, form a pleasant cliange from the monotonous tinned food As can be imagined, there are long hours when idleness for the shell-opener is unavoidable, but a means to fill in these times has been found, and it gives h decent return as well. Along much of the coast there exists the hawks-bill tortoise, and the variety of shell obtained from specimens caught in those parts appears to be without a serious rival. Its lightness and wonderful colour puts it a long way ahead of the tliicker and rather coarser shell that comes from other parts, such as the Solomon Islands. . , , These tortoises are caught, either by spearing or shooting, and the large flakes from their “shelly” backs are fashioned into intricate designs, mostly for combs, and then polished This involves about nine processes, and much arduous work, but the high polish eventually obtained makes the effort more than worth while. 1 have brought back combs, and everyone who has seen them is unanimous in giving praise. The jngenuitv displayed by those engaged in making up the shell gives it great personalitv, as all the work is by hand. Toirtoiseshell fans are common in Broome, and the uses to which the shell is put amuse and interest tlie stranger.