Marbiac (Jervis Island), Torres Straits,…

Very rare engraved image of John Bell’s pearling station at Mabuyag (Mabuiag) in the western Torres Strait, northeastern Australia.

Within two years of the beginning of the
pearl rush in early 1870, onshore stations
were established at Mabuyag, which was
first visited by shellers at the end of that
year. Reporting on the pearl shell fisheries in
September 1879, Thomas de Hoghton of HMS
Beagle found Bell’s station still at Mabuyag,
now operating 10 boats and two tenders.

From the original edition of Town and Country Journal.