Three Aboriginal Divers

The Dolphin was a 24.9-ton cutter, built at Fremantle in 1875 for Edward Higham and Thomas Saw who invested in her as a pearl and coastal tramp. She was registered as No 8 of 1875 in Fremantle and her Official Number was 72472. Her dimensions were 48.39 feet long [14.7 metres] x 15 feet beam [4.57 metres] x 6 draught feet [1.83 metres].

After approximately two years Dolphin was sold to a conglomerate, which included pearling masters Matthew Forrest and Arnot Francisco, two Shark Bay pearlers and three members of the merchant Higham family. The vessel was purchased for use in the Roebuck Bay and surrounding pearling grounds, and some coastal tramp work to carry shell and the usual provisions and passengers to and from the area.

During 1880, Arnot Francisco bought the Dolphin for £500 and secured William Henrietta as her master. He was in staying in a hotel in Fremantle wondering where to find a crew, when he met Donald Simpson, a Fortescue River grazier staying at the same hotel. Dolphin worked with Aboriginal divers and crew members, from the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne. Donald said he would have excess workers after shearing and would make up a crew for the Dolphin.

The two men signed a questionable contract. Donald proved to be evasive and did not produce a crew for the season. When the pearling season started and Arnot had no crew, he filed a complaint in the Civil Court for breach of contract. The Court dealt with the matter in June 1880. After a long and convoluted case, a jury verdict awarded damages of £260 to Arnot. 

Arnot had had enough. In October 1880 he decided to sell the Dolphin. He did not find a buyer, and so he leased the cutter to his brother Alfred at £5 per month. Alfred hired a crew from the Nautilus who had Fortescue and Gascoyne Aboriginal divers at Beagle Bay who had signed an employment contract. 

Alfred was motivated to earn money. He had appeared in the Supreme Court on the same day as Arnot as the defendant in an adultery case. He had conducted an affair aboard the Dolphin with Susan, the wife of Robert Thompson, another pearler. William Henrietta was called as a witness. Alfred was given a penalty of £700. 

On 16 January 1884, Dolphin was on the Roebuck Bay pearl grounds with schooners Myra, Expert and Annie Taylor, working with her Aboriginal divers. Matthew Forrest was master of the Dolphin, and Dudley Brockman was the mate. The other named man aboard was the other European crew member Gerry Owen. There were seven Aboriginal divers, whose names were not published.

In the afternoon the barometer started to fall from 30 down to 28.65. The wind blew and the crew members prepared for a “blow”. Master Forrest ordered the anchors down and they attempted to secure the vessel. 

As the wind strength increased, it became obvious to the boats at anchor that they would not survive the huge seas. Their vessels would sink, and they would all drown on board. The four boats slipped their anchor chains and drove onto the beach, which was about half a mile ahead.

The Dolphin had waves washing completely over the top of her and threatening to sink her. The crew made the difficult decision to jump overboard and attempt the half mile swim to shore, rather than be washed overboard and drown, or drown aboard the boat. 

The crew jumped. They swam as hard as they could against the huge waves. Eventually they reached the surf, and they could not get through the surging white water. They were seen from the shore by the crew of the Gypsy. Two of their Aboriginal divers, Ned and Tinker, swum out into the surf and dragged the crew of the Dolphin onto the beach. 

They lay exhausted for an hour and a half, trying to recover from their ordeal. It was then they realised three of Dolphin’s Aboriginal divers were missing. They were nowhere to be seen, and over time it was clear they had drowned, and were lost without a trace.

The Dolphin’s deck was washed clean by the huge waves, and all her provisions and gear were gone. She ran up onto a sand bank high and dry and was saved from destruction. 

The crew managed to get Dolphin into a creek where she was repaired and refloated. Then she went back to work, sailing to the pearling grounds to meet the rest of the fleet at the Lacepedes. The three schooners were repaired, although Myra did not work again that season.

Dolphin continued to work the pearling seasons, with William Henrietta as her master. She had more adventures. Matthew Forrest went on to master another vessel, taking Dudley Brockman with him as his mate. 

Sadly, on 7 July 1883 at the Ashburton River, Matthew’s Forrest’s nephew John Norman Forrest died aboard the Dolphin. He was the five-month-old son of Matthew’s brother David and his wife Mary Parker.

In September 1887, the Dolphin was despatched to pick up the shipwrecked crew and passengers of the Perth at the Northwest Cape. A few weeks later, she was herself towed into Ashburton by the steamer Bitway. She was repaired and put back to work.

Dolphin made her final voyage on 14 January 1902. She was unceremoniously wrecked at Point Sampson without loss of life.