Torres Strait

“ To secure for the semi-civilized natives of Torres Strait the opportunity to develop to a higher social life and self-dependence on improved native lines, avoiding Europeanization as far as possible, and to protect them from contamination and exploitation. ”

“ He made a detailed investigation of the northern coast of the real Australian continent. He sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria. He found the Torres Strait, which he supposed to be a bay between New Guinea and Australia,—for the report of the Torres discovery in 1607 was as yet in the dusty archives of Manila, and had not been given to the world,—and once more he returned by way of the western coast of New Guinea to inform the governor-general that whatever continent he had found produced [Pg 320] nothing which could be of any material profit to the Dutch East India Company. ”

“ Thus, whatever could bear the name of exact, whether in natural history, geography, or navigation, was yet to be learned of a country possessing five hundred leagues of sea-coast; and placed in a climate and neighbourhood, where the richest productions of both the vegetable and mineral kingdoms were known to exist. A voyage which should have had no other view, than the survey of Torres' Strait and the thorough investigation of the North Coast of Terra Australis, could not have been accused of wanting an object worthy of national consideration. ”

“ The knowledge of the existence of such a post would speedily exercise a beneficial influence over our intercourse with the natives of Torres Strait, and induce them to refrain from a repetition of the outrages which they have frequently committed upon Europeans; the little trade in tortoiseshell which might be pushed in the Strait (as has frequently been done before by small vessels from Sydney and even from Hong Kong) would no longer be a dangerous one--and protection would be afforded to the coaling depot for steamers at Port Albany.* ”

“ The Torres Strait is regarded as no less dangerous for its bristling reefs than for the savage inhabitants of its coasts. It separates Queensland from the huge island of Papua, also called New Guinea.
Papua is 400 leagues long by 130 leagues wide, with a surface area of 40,000 geographic leagues. It’s located between latitude 0 degrees 19’ and 10 degrees 2’ south, and between longitude 128 degrees 23’ and 146 degrees 15’. At noon, while the chief officer was taking the sun’s altitude, I spotted the summits of the Arfak Mountains, rising in terraces and ending in sharp peaks. ”

“ An inspection of the Admiralty Chart of Torres Strait between Cape York and the nearest part of New Guinea shows, not only a number of islands of some size, but innumerable islets and reefs studding a sea so shallow that there is only exceptionally a depth of lo fathoms in the channels. A movement of elevation of 60 feet would therefore connect Australia and New Guinea, and a re-elevation of the 80 to 100 feet of subsidence in comparatively recent times which Dr. Jack assigns to the north-east coast, would do more than merely connect the two lands. ”

“ The illustrious navigator, Cook, rediscovered Torres Strait in 1772, and added much to the previous knowledge of the island and its inhabitants. In 1828 the Dutch took possession of the western portion and attempted to make a settlement there, but failed. In 1843 Captain Blackwood, in H.M.S. "Fly," discovered the river, which he named after his ship. Subsequently, Captain Owen Stanley, in the "Rattlesnake," made a rough survey of a great portion of the coast, and in 1873 Captain Moresby, in the "Basilisk," completed our knowledge of the external form and dimensions of New Guinea. ”

“ Characteristic views of the coast and hills of New Guinea, as well as of each island, both from the eastward and westward, will greatly assist him by the immediate certainty of his landfall, and will also materially add to your means of giving proper marks and bearings for avoiding the dangers.
In Torres Strait you will find much to do--not only has a new rock been discovered in the middle of the Endeavour Channel, but the water in its western opening is only four and a half fathoms, and there seems no reason for not believing that Prince of Wales Channel is safer, easier, and more direct. ”

“ Many villages were seen scattered along the coast and on the river banks. The natives, apparently closely resembling the Torres Strait Islanders, appeared to be a savage and warlike race, and refused to have any friendly intercourse with the white men, whose boats they attempted to cut off on various occasions. ”

“ The Malays who visit the northern coasts of Australia to collect the sea slug, have little inducement to keep up an intercourse with our settlements in Torres Straits, but there can be no doubt of their readiness to enter into commercial intercourse with us, which, if Torres Straits are to be navigated by steamers, would be doubly important. ”

“ I named it Half-way Island. It is scarcely more than a mile in circumference, but appears to be increasing both in elevation and extent. At no very distant period of time, it was one of those banks produced by the washing up of sand and broken coral, of which most reefs afford instances, and those of Torres' Strait a great many. These banks are in different stages of progress: some, like this, are become islands, but not yet habitable; some are above high-water mark, but destitute of vegetation; whilst others are overflowed with every returning tide. ”

“ As it was my intention to take the northerly passage through Torres Strait, I proposed, in my way up the East Coast, to examine Port Macquarie; and, in order that his Excellency the Governor might be informed of the result of our proceedings as soon as possible, Lieutenant Oxley, R.N., the Surveyor-general of the colony, accompanied me in the Lady Nelson, colonial brig. ”

“ We've got as good here in Torres Straits as any in the world! Twenty fathoms, and three minutes under water in the Paumotus? Well, that's not so bad, but we can beat it with a good abo (aboriginal) . Come and see."
I did, and am forced to give the palm to Torres Straits. Our crew was a hotch-potch of mainland aboriginals—Islanders, Malays, and Filipinos—but it was the aboriginal who did the diving, and his performance was every whit as good as, and in some cases better than, that of the Paumotan. ”

“ It cannot be doubted, that the "very large islands" seen by Torres, at the 11th degree of south latitude, were the hills of Cape York; or that his two months of intricate navigation were employed in passing the strait which divides Terra Australis and New Guinea. But the account of this and other discoveries, which Torres himself addressed to the King of Spain, was so kept from the world, that the existence of such a strait was generally unknown, until 1770; when it was again discovered and passed by our great circumnavigator Captain Cook. ”

“ The rest of the island is composed of basalt, which rises to a height of over 500 feet, and is well wooded and fertile—indeed, it is perhaps the most beautiful island in Torres Straits. Save for rocky headlands which separate lovely little coves fringed with white coral sand, the whole coast is skirted with groves of coconut palms and occasional patches of mangroves. The almost impenetrable jungle clothes the hills, except at those spots that have been cleared for “gardens.” Even the tops of the hills are covered with trees. ”

“ All along the land visible rose the great pyramid of earth—ant–heaps— which have such a peculiar aspect amongst the palms and other foliage. it was all very beautiful as we came through the narrow straits and entered the waters of Torres Straits, which separate New Guinea from Australia, and which straits are about eighty miles wide.
The Police Magistrate from Normanton who is on board told me a tale which is not very pleasant. You must understand that the natives are carefully protected by the Government ”

“ They saw our smoke, but the steamer was hidden from them by mist. Then suddenly we shot into view. All the while we had been in the clearest sunshine, the sea glassy and the flying-fish darting about. It was no place for speed. We moved just fast enough to leave the scene undisturbed. And thus we stole into Torres Straits.
Of all the numerous harbors I have entered in the Pacific, none, with the exception of the Inland Sea in Japan, is more picturesque than that at Thursday Island. Shelter, space, and depth, and stillness! One's eyes sweep round this pearly promise with greed for its beauty. ”

“ During this period our boats were employed in making a survey of the Prince of Wales Channel, which is now the route almost invariably used by steamers and sailing ships in passing through Torres Straits. There is a small settlement at Thursday Island consisting of about dozen houses, wooden built, which are occupied by white families and their coloured domestics. There is a police magistrate, whose jurisdiction, as an official of the Queensland government, extends over all the islands in Torres Straits; an officer of customs, through whose hands passes all the trade of the Straits ”

“ The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the coast for 1250 miles, is a wonderland in itself; and how much more marvellous it is when one remembers it is a coral reef and the work of little insects! It has an area of something like 80,000 square miles. Parts of it are within a few miles of the mainland coast, whilst other reefs lie as distant as 150 miles. From Torres Straits to Lady Elliot Island it is 1250 miles long. The islands, islets, rocks, and reefs form a sort of country of themselves ”

“ They are tremendously erratic and very dangerous. Sometimes they run at the rate of seven miles an hour, and against this steamers can make no headway. The Torres Straits indeed, as far as Cairns, are the most dangerous seas in the world. It is, of course, very warm in Thursday Island, but the heat is tempered by the most delightful sea breezes. I could have enjoyed a longer stay than twenty-four hours, but that was the limit of our vessel’s call, and we left next day for Port Moresby, which we reached after a two days’ run. ”

“ In the last lecture I concluded my account of the belief in immortality and worship of the dead, or rather of the elements out of which such a worship might have grown, among the aborigines of Australia. To-day we pass to the consideration of a different people, the islanders of Torres Straits. As you may know, Torres Straits are the broad channel which divides Australia on the south from the great island of New Guinea on the north. ”

“ The entire population, white and coloured, does not exceed a hundred.
Thursday Island owes its importance to being the shipping port for the produce of all the pearl shell fisheries in Torres Straits. ”

“ While the natives of Torres Straits are, or were at the time of their discovery, in the condition which we call savagery, they stand on a far higher level of social and intellectual culture than the rude aborigines of Australia. ”

“ That such a channel exists, and will be discovered when the coast is surveyed, I entertain but little doubt, but the navigation is hazardous, and from the westward must be attempted with great caution. My own proceedings must of course be regulated by the discoveries previously made by Captain Wickham and others, and as this gentleman has orders to survey Torres Straits, the field may be well trodden before I reach it. The rest of the voyage I shall consider as one merely of pleasure, combining such utility as circumstances will permit. ”

“ The inhabitants of Thursday Island, and those belonging to the various pearl shell stations scattered through the group of islands, are dependent for support upon extraneous supplies of provisions. Cattle will not thrive on the islands, owing to the poisonous nature of the grass, and as yet all attempts at growing fruit and vegetables have in most cases proved unsuccessful.
The native inhabitants of the Torres Straits Islands are a small tribe of Papuan origin, who lead a wandering life, and show little inclination to hold intercourse with either white or coloured colonists. ”

“ Arriving in Thursday Island, one of the hottest and quaintest little spots on earth, I was fortunate enough to catch a British India mail boat in the act of starting for Brisbane. I accordingly had my luggage conveyed to her and was soon comfortably installed aboard her. The voyage from Torres Straits, along the Queensland coast, inside the Great Barrier Reef, though it boasts on one hand a rugged and almost continuous line of cliffs marked with such names as Cape Despair and Tribulation, and upon the other twelve hundred miles of treacherous reef, is quite worth undertaking. ”

“ A few of the most wealthy of the Torres Straits islanders own, wholly or in part, craft of that particular type, as these Australian-made vessels are more convenient than their own dug-out canoes. All the natives appear to be good sailors, and they can handle boats of European rig with considerable dexterity.
On our way to the fishing-ground, which was on the extensive and uncharted Orman’s Reef between Mabuiag and the New Guinea coast, the gear was put in order. This consisted of the dugong harpoon and its rope. ”

“ When the Transcontinental Railway is finished to Port Darwin, strong endeavours should be made to develop the Northern Territory, and Port Darwin and the Northern Coast should be fortified and military forces re-established. ”

“ It was by the coral-bound Straits of Torres, reckoned by navigators the most difficult in the world, that the English government determined a few years ago to send an envoy to open communication between the Australian colony and the Dutch possessions of Java and Sumatra. The Hero was the vessel selected for this perilous mission—a voyage of twelve hundred miles through seas studded thickly with reefs and islands of coral, many of which lay just beneath the surface of the waves—hidden pitfalls of death whose yawning jaws threatened instant destruction to the unwary voyager. ”