crew

Torres Strait pearl-shelling was almost entirely dependent on imported indentured labour from both Asia and the Pacific, the crew of the Combination's Three Cheers fleet being typical – 3 Europeans, 40 Japanese, 23 Filipinos, 12 Malays, 35 South Sea Islanders and 20 New Guineans.40 By the late 1890s, divers were having to go deeper for shell, and the majority were Japanese, who were the very best. Deep water full-dress helmet diving was not only dangerous, but a highly skilled occupation, and it took two or three years to train good men. Source: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21533369.2005.9668351

The Aru Islands Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of 6,426.77 km2 (2,481.39 sq mi). At the 2011 Census the Regency had a population of 84,138;[2] the 2020 Census produced a total of 102,237,[3] and the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 103,860.[4] Some sources regard the archipelago as part of Asia, while others regard it as part of Melanesia. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aru_Islands_Regency

Pearling became the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s and had a massive impact on coastal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It was the only industry ever exempted from the provisions of the White Australia policy because it was the economic pillar supporting the far north with cheap labour from the South Pacific and Asia. Its legacy is a history of mixed populations in the far north that defies the standard historical image of a white Australia. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/pearling

Description of Aru The Aru Islands consist of six main islands separated by narrow channels, which in the absence of a road network are the highways of Aru. Shipping is also protected by a line of small is-lands and reefs along the eastern shores, and one can travel in shel-tered waters. Only on the western shores are the villages exposed to the oceanic swells, and for part of the year these are suppressed by the southeast trade winds. The main commercial center is Dobo, on the west coast, with a population of 5500. The principal shell beds lie on the east coast backcountry (blakang-tanali). Source: www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/sampans-belangs-and-junkos/

Your wonderful capture was seen in Black & White Photos
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