the inhabitants, who hurried to the creeks and covered their heads with blankets.
But worse disaster befell a large portion of the fleet in 1887. For two days—the 22nd and 23rd April—a hurricane more terrible than any yet experienced in Western Australia, carried ruin and death to the boats and men off the Ninety-Mile Beach, about 180 miles eastward of Cossack. As on the previous occasion, the day became nearly as dark as night, and rudderless vessels drifted at the pleasure of the storm. The masts snapped, chain cables parted, and the boats were broken on the shore or foundered in deep water or were carried out to sea. One mastless and rudderless schooner drifted nearly 200 miles from land, and when the storm abated the crew was rescued. A Malay floated on the hatch of a foundered lugger for two days, when, suffering intensely and with his breast torn, he was rescued, only to die shortly afterwards. Forty-eight damaged craft managed to put into one bay. The steamers Australind and Otway were chartered by the Government to go out in search of disabled vessels, but were unable to render much assistance other than to supply food to a few men. It is impossible to state the exact loss to life and property. The loss of men is variously given as from 150 to 300, mostly Malays. The captain of the Australind saw many drowned people floating in the sea. Police-Sergeant Payne reported from Roebourne the loss of fourteen white men, 136 coloured men, four schooners, eighteen luggers, and a number of small boats. It was a severe loss to the pearling industry. Inland country was flooded, especially in the Kimberley division.
The areas over which pearl and pearl shell were gathered were very extensive, and stretched from Sharks Bay to the north coast. The returns varied, and were subject to the vagaries of the market and of the climate; some seasons were so unsettled and stormy that there was small opportunity to pursue the search. The more remote the beds became from the coast the greater the expense of pearl gathering. The Blue Book export returns of pearl and pearl shell are:—
| Year. | Shell. | Pearl. | Sharks Bay Shell. |
| 1879 ... | £84,525 ... | £12,000 ... | £1,880 |
| 1880 ... | 36,375 ... | 12,000 ... | 3,335 |
| 1881 ... | 34,912 ... | 12,000 ... | 4,011 |
| 1882 ... | 34,650 ... | 17,500 ... | 2,520 |
| 1883 ... | 30,125 ... | 17,500 ... | 1,891 |
| 1884 ... | 13,812 ... | 10,000 ... | 1,500 |
| 1885 ... | 41,216 ... | 15,000 ... | 2,280 |
| 1886 ... | 98,187 ... | 15,000 ... | 6,777 |
| 1887 ... | 108,375 ... | 15,000 ... | 2,050 |
| 1888 ... | 56,263 ... | 25,000 ... | 3,047 |
The returns are not reliable, particularly in regard to the value of pure pearls exported. In 1886 the export duty on Sharks Bay shell was repealed. In 1889 the duty on other shells was reduced to 40s. a ton, and in 1895 it also was repealed.
The guano deposits were not for some time exploited with the success of 1878. The Lacepede Islands were rapidly worked out, much to the chagrin of the Government. A contract was entered into with the firm of Beaver and Co. to take away from the islands full cargoes in a certain number of vessels, but owing to the only good and available guano having been sold to other persons, six of Beaver and Co.'s vessels were compelled to leave partially loaded or with guano of an inferior quality. The company claimed compensation from the Government for the non-fulfilment of the contract, and were awarded £6,968. A Select Commission of the Council was appointed in 1881, and reported on these claims on 18th August. The Committee was decidedly outspoken, and found the Government to blame. "Your Committee have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the loss which the colony has sustained .... was caused by a total absence of business capacity on the part of the Government, which was responsible for carrying out this contract, and by a want of foresight and care in looking after the interests of the colony, which, if exhibited in a like degree by a private individual, would be characterised by harsher terms than we have cared to apply in this instance."
No exports of guano are chronicled for the years 1881-2, and it was believed by some that the industry was at an end. In 1883, Mr. Charles E. Broadhurst, having obtained a lease of the Abrolhos Islands, began to work the phosphatic guano deposited on portions of the group. Mr. Broadhurst, who was a colonist of considerable enterprise,—denoted in several ways—was led to launch out in this industry by a perusal of Captain Stokes' reports, issued after his Admiralty surveys on the coast in 1840. He soon established permanent works, and since 1883 has exported something over 50,000 tons of guano to Europe, Mauritius, New Zealand, Tasmania, and South Australia. The firm of Broadhurst and McNeil still hold a lease of the Abrolhos, and estimate that from 40,000 to 70,000 tons of the fertiliser are yet left. Mr. F.C. Broadhurst has found many interesting relics of wrecks (referred to in another chapter) consummated on these historical islands. Seabirds, such as sooty terns (wide-awake), noddy terns (noddies), and the square-tailed petrel (mutton birds), frequent the group in countless numbers between the months of August and March inclusive. When they are at rest it is almost impossible to see the ground, and when disturbed and on the wing flickering shadows are cast upon land and water by these feathered denizens.
A regular export trade in guano has been carried on since 1883. The royalty was increased to 13s. per ton in that year, but was reduced to 10s. in 1888. The annual export was:—In 1879, £54,184; 1880, £6,650; 1883, £2,964; 1884, £7,560; 1885, £3,432; 1886, £66,023; 1887, £20,527; and 1880, £12,444. Small quantities of beche-de-mer, obtained on the north-west coast, were exported. 1884, £50; 1885, £130; 1886, £80; 1888, £240.
Sandalwood and the hardwoods afforded improved returns. The timber mills expanded, and an export was made more commensurate with the unlimited opportunities than was previously the case.
| Year. | Sandalwood. | Hardwoods. |
| 1879 ... | £35,000 ... | £69,742 |
| 1880 ... | 51,970 ... | 66,252 |
| 1881 ... | 77,165 ... | 79,277 |
| 1882 ... | 96,050 ... | 93,650 |
| 1883 ... | 56,250 ... | 79,760 |
| 1884 ... | 20,960 ... | 68,936 |
| 1885 ... | 36,216 ... | 67,850 |
| 1886 ... | 27,450 ... | 50,092 |
| 1887 ... | 34,532 ... | 28,384 |
| 1888 ... | 33,525 ... | 42,060 |
Lead and copper yielded decreased returns:—
| Year. | Lead. | Copper. |
| 1879 ... | £33,300 ... | — |
| 1880 ... | 15,368 ... | £120 |
| 1881 ... | 11,204 ... | — |
| 1882 ... | 14,348 ... | — |
| 1883 ... | 7,266 ... | — |
| 1884 ... | 4,872 ... | 1,770 |
| 1885 ... | 3,255 ... | 1,792 |
| 1886 ... | 4,277 ... | 3,735 |
| 1887 ... | 4,710 ... | 345 |
| 1888 ... | 5,320 ... | 1,487 |
Whaling was practically abandoned, after half a century of successful exploitation. The excitement of this industry became a story to be told to interested listeners. The whales moved to more sequestered nooks in the oceans. An export of £4,238 in 1880 was the last return to appear in the Blue Book.
In 1881 an Exhibition was held in Perth under the management of Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny. Exhibits came from various parts of the world, and the proceedings were successful
