Ahmun

The autumn equinox in Robuck Bay brought high spring tides which muddied the water so much that pearl diving was not possible. The masters did not want idle crews, so the divers north of Cape Villaret were catching dugong and turtles. There were four mother boats in the bay that day with their luggers: Duncan McRae’s Dawn, John McRae’s Amy, Wrightson’s Harriet, and Michael Price’s Water Lily.

Water Lily had a Malay crew commanded by Henry Taunton. They were indentured to work for the pearl master for two years. The second diver was Ahmun, the oldest crew member.

Water Lily was registered as number 2 of 1867, and her official number was 52237. At 27.5 tons, she was larger than some other northwest cutters – 48.85 x 14.67 x 6.46 feet [14.89 x 4.47 x 1.97 metres]. There were four of Water Lily’s whaleboats in the water with divers.

Sharks were an unavoidable hazard for divers, and on 12 May vision was limited to a minimum. As the tide ran out Henry gave the order for the divers to spread out to cover more ground. They dropped into the water. That is, all except Ahmun. He had paused to arrange his paan (betel nut chew) before entering the water.

Divers remained under water for a minute or so each time they dived. Ahmun was in the water only a few seconds before he surfaced. Henry was about to yell at him to dive, when he saw that Ahmun’s face was screwed up in pain and fear.

Ahmun shouted “Master, a big shark”, and began swimming back to the whaleboat. It was only 10 yards, and Ahmun was swimming madly, leaving a trail of blood in the water. As he reached the gunwale he sank down below the surface.

Henry and the rowers grabbed Ahmun and pulled him into the whaleboat. A shark had bitten through his rib cage into his torso, and his left breast and side were open. The membrane around the heart was visible, and the crew saw Ahmun’s heart beating.

Ahmun survived for almost five agonising hours. His heart kept beating. The crew watched it in horror. Then it beat slower and then it stopped.

Meanwhile, on the Dawn, another diver was attacked by a shark. One of his legs was taken. Although his crew pulled him into the whaleboat, he died from rapid blood loss.

Ahmun and the other diver were buried on the beach above the waterline. That was the custom in the tropical climate with little to no medical care available, and no way to preserve bodies.

The whaleboats returned to their mother boats, and flags were lowered to half-mast for the sail back to the moorings at Broome. The town saw the flags and knew that a man was lost to each boat with a lowered flag. The masters reported the deaths to the authorities.

After the events of that day divers were scared to dive, so the following dugong and turtle catching trips were started with dynamite to ward off sharks for the remainder of the season. The divers were vigilant about wearing their amulets and tokens when entering the water believing they would keep them safe.