THE TORRES STRAITS PEARL FISHERIES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2296, 17 December 1875, Page 2

THE TORRES STRAITS PEARL FISHERIES.

The Geelpng Advertiser of Novembet Isth, publishes an interesting letter, dated Octoberlsth, received Irom Mr J. Small, a diver who recently arrived from England* md is now engaged on board" the cutter Peveril, at the .Torres > Straits Pearl Fisheries. He writes :t— ".^th,. respect ,' to 1 the pearl fisheries, 1 therejare In^tfeße Straits about 50 boats employed, averaging about tEree to'ris : eaohVj Tfiirty^ ,()f these carry a diver and apparatus, some two,' andihey belong to various firms ß in Sydney ;and Melbourne. ; Mdst'ioff'ihe boats, have a crewpf fiye«men besiden^he diver, ' the cre ws being' chiefly Sooth j.Sea Islanders, and fine fellows they are in boats,. l can assure youV ;the; craft :I being kept as clean; as a new pin, f indeed^E stranger would take them for gentlemen's yachts'. There are hnndreds/;6f wsn»i3? miles- 1 of 'fishing grounSsi but few shells are being there is^ lindoub tedly '. a' : rlch^fietd , f pjc|' ?n---terptiseV; vesselb 'forming ff;tKe!^a? tibn ' 'fortnU.Doats.'iare^moftrei f Kere ( ;jan4 there under the* leebOhis or that island, and the boats are generally absent; * fortnight at. a When, Jipwrever,;) we leave our ship', we never Jcnow where the search for pearls will take us before we return, a roving commissipnbeing granted us, as it is all free selection, there no ; vested rights, nor is the residence clause ; insisted upon: We let go our anchor in the most likely place, and down goea the diver. The depth of water here is from five to ten fathoms^ and- the scenery at the bottom is splendid, the surface, is tolerably regular, studded here and there^ with coral menumehts of y^ou^!b,i}es^^ ter mixed with the; ..fan tree' and * other vegetation, the colors of which; : ;arj9 beautifully^ displayed .in r the. great .deep* Sometimea, however, I have bM'i»,,,crpsa. blocks of gr anite 'strewn about- indiscrim,T: inately, or piled' up uplike ap^ many^ cairns. Then, again, I have fallen: in witoi cavea and caverns which would have delighted the heart of a hermit, and in these :I have seen some strange looking denizens in the shape of shell fishf 1 Here, as contrasted with the waters inspected on our voyage, we ,;alw.ays, . haveVplenty ,>of company under the water, in the shape of fish, some of which, are very^ pretty, while other ugly brutes' reniipd you of the fictions of ' Verne 'and '; Victor Hugo.' I was enjoying a long walk thrpugh one of the channels a few 'weekß. ago, . v?nen'l waa! very much astonished to stee a^larejalligft- 1 tor in front Pf mcV He mnsVhav^.bee^, over fifteen feet ipng.",|?6w^it. &i tltrpjiea-" sant enough to drop • hiwith ■ Buch' sort; ,of company oh shore j; yon ' f nijiy,;gaeiß '; ipw^ ~l^rtb-irh«ra-iaooting-thß- sba.ljr_nipnster -in^ ]his own particular realm. He, however, did not ; condescend to notice me; no courtesies were interchanged hetween us, and I--well, I did not; resent ,-hia want of common politeness: more tban by f shaking the dust r ? ; or; rather the.; iwater,* off my feet as quickly a3 po s sible, and retiring to the upper regions. Shortly, after this recontre, I dropped in witKaidpther ugly customer—not a veritablei'Beai 1 aerpent, but something very likeidnefS^fe waa walking alpng^pver a, ; smooth. \bottom, when I saw i what appeared: to be .a ; very> Jarge'deadl snake. I spurned/the i reptile with" my" foot when-rnwhew !— he came-at^me jwitih a rush. Fortunately, -my jglasaea "were strong, as it was;at; these) he darted. I drew my knife at him, -but he got clear. I have oftenseeh these^ort of things before, but never had one tackle l''met'-^An-other: diver walked slapped up to a large shark the other day as itwas enjoying a dolcefar niente opposite one of the before mentioned caves ; if. he did. not skedaddle iip to the surface again -it was a caution to snakes^ Such are a -few of ithe- sensaf' ■ tiohs wediyershav,^ toenjpyiißnjialliga^ tprs,, snakes, and" shares , have r, made, f orgetlall tbel t weiity ' ;bpa|^Mu:jy 5 out of the fif iy r I' havp i already Mco^nted > for.. . .The twenty carry-" crews j of " aßout fourteen men ,each>;chiefly natives.^f the islands., in- these - and-^gp^wherb-there is shallow water, say about three to four fathoms. A desiraWe^ spot reached, twelve of the crew dart .Uke .arrows, dpv^n^ throughthe 1 water, cfeavmgil'wiitii' great? rapidity^ and- it is highly ' amiisiiig -to see' scores "of = heads bobbing up and' down, ; These .obtain large quantities^ ; of hapked r shells, they work, say an hour, 'then 'sif "" smokingriheir pipes on deck as contentedly as possible. They s are splendid . divers, and can remain under water^lpng^time.''