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Bass Strait Rivalry

Maker Geoffrey Chapman Ingleton (Australian, 1908 - 1998)

Datec 1936

Object number00015637

NameEtching

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 273 x 333 x 21 mm, 600 g

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionThis engraving depicts the three-masted sealer CHARLES of Boston undergoing a refit at a small beach in the Kent group of Islands in the Bass Strait in 1803. The ship is careened and its cargo has been removed and placed on the beach. Sydney crew from the colonial schooner GOVERNOR KING are shown running the gauntlet and lead to their boat, in which they were later taken away and marooned.History"The island of Van Dieman, the south-west coast of New Holland, and the southern parts of New Zealand, produce seals of all kinds in quantities at present almost innumerable. Their stations on rocks or in bays have remain'd unmolested since the Creation. The beach is incumber'd with their quantities, and those who visit their haunts have less trouble in killing them than the servants of the victualling office have who kill hogs in a pen with mallets" Sir Joseph Banks, 1806. Sir Joseph Banks and the survivors of the SYDNEY COVE wreck in 1797 reported of large colonies of seals in the Bass Strait. In 1800, Govenor King permitted colonists to catch seals on Furneaux' Island, and by 1803 five of the leading merchants in Sydney - Robert Campbell, John Palmer, Henry Kable, James Underwood and Simeon Lord - were engaged in sealing. However it was not just colonial entrepreneurs who began sealing in Bass Strait - an influx of British and American sealers, and to a lesser extent Indian and Mauritian, came to Australia waters in the early 1800s. At this time, a ship load of seal skins could sell for £10,000 in England, and even more in China, and American ships were already regularly visiting Australian ports hunting whales. After a clash between Australian and American sealers in 1803, and rising concerns of the international competition, Governor King forbade American ship building in Bass Strait in May 1804. In August, King ordered that Sydney was not to be a depot for foreign sealers, and that no foreign vessels were to be given clearance for sealing. Despite the regulations, American sealers continued to operate in Bass Strait, ignoring the instructions of local sealers to move on. By 1807, the lucrative and relatively unregulated industry had attracted around 200 sealers in Bass Strait alone. Sealers lived on the offshore islands of Furneaux and Kent, as well as the rocky and remote outcrops of the mainland - their camps lasting for as long as the seals did. The abundance of seals at breeding colonies along the coast ensured the animals were easy to hunt, and once numbers dwindled, the sealers moved on to the next colony. By 1810, the number of seals in Bass Strait had drastically decreased, and many sealers moved on to the southern islands of New Zealand. Sealing in Bass Strait continued slowly until 1832 when it was simply no longer profitable, and ceased. Rivalry between American and local sealers in the plentiful grounds of the Bass Strait led to many clashes, and one such incident is depicted in this etching by Geoffrey Ingleton. In 1803 the American vessel CHARLES of Boston under Captain Percival, was careened at a small beach in the Kent Group of Islands in the Bass Strait. All the cargo was removed and placed above the high-water mark in order to carry out the refit. While the ship's 30-strong crew were undertaking the repairs, the colonial schooner GOVENOR KING appeared. Captain Moody and his small crew of nine men fought with the Americans over alleged sealing rights in the area, and threatened to take the cargo on the shore. The Americans - greatly outnumbering the Sydney crew - beat them and marooned them on a small island, until Moody agreed to leave the area. The GOVENOR KING hastily left and arrived in Sydney on Boxing Day 1803 with 37 tons of oil, 700 seal skins and loud complaints about the American sealers. SignificanceThis engraving illustrates the lucrative sealing industry in Bass Strait in the early 19th century, which drew hundreds of British and American ships to Australian waters causing conflict with locals over sealing rights.