"A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Age

The Leader article titled, "The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver." Written by George Morrison as part of his series.

Description

George Morrison was a twenty-year-old Australian medical student looking for an adventurous diversion after failing his intermediate exam. He self-styled an assignment to see how the labor trade of Queensland worked in 1882, signing on to sail as an ordinary seaman aboard the Lavinia.Three months later, the ship returned from its "blackbirding" expedition with a new batch of recruits from the New Hebrides and Banks. Morrison wrote an eight-part travelogue for The Leader, and later, provided a more critical view for The Age. 

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Effects and Outcomes

Despite the blunt header on his first story on blackbirding in The Age, calling the ship "a Queensland Slaver," Morrison's report was mild. Yet later, he took up the subject once again in a letter to The Age, this time denouncing the "slave trade" by describing the trickery involved in getting islanders to sign contracts of indenture, the air of intimidation, the fearful death rate, and the complicity of government officials in some of the trade's most questionable aspects. His expose helped lead to increased inspection of the ships and some restructuring of the governmental oversight of the system.

Media History

The reporting was intended for these media types: Newspaper

VIII-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-12-09

Our voyage was drawing to an end. We left the South-west Bay with 75 on board, we never increased that number. It was a barren, uninteresting coast that we now sailed round, with few inhabitants and these the crankiest. They were so timid that they would not venture out of shelter: a motion as we were looking for a market or a pretense to jump ashore sent them away like wild beasts. 

VII-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-12-02

The supposed recruit was put into our boat, and it was found that he merely wished to see the schooner, and had no intention whatever of going to Queensland. When the captain heard of it he was happily in a state past feeling chagrin.

III-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-11-04

 The next morning a crowd of men and women sat on the nearest rocky point and sent over the water the most dismal wailing and howling for the man we had taken the evening before. This, I may say, was a red letter day in my life, for it witnessed the first occasion on which I have sat down to dinner with royalty. 

IV-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-11-11

 We had to land three boys on one of the most dangerous pieces of the island - dangerous by reason of an inherent propensity of the natives to regard a succulent man as the daintiest of luxuries. The recruiter, Bill and the crews were therefore armed to the teeth, and amid a great excitement the boats set off. 

I-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-10-21

"I have shipped as an ordinary seaman, and I am off to see the way in which the labor trade of Queensland is recruited. . ."

II-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-10-28

V-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-11-18

VI-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

1882-11-25

"The Queensland Slave Trade" - George Morrison - The Age

To the Editor of The Age

1883-05-09

 A letter in a contemporary has drawn my attention to the interest taken in Melbourne in the Queensland slave trade. I do not use this word in any claptrap sense, it is the way we always speak of the trade on board the schooners engaged in the trade itself. In one of these schooners I served an apprenticeship; I am, therefore, writing about the labor traffic on the strength of a practical acquaintance with it.

Editorial: "Melbourne, Friday, 18th May, 1883" - Unsigned - The Age

1883-05-18

Take again the Queensland traffic in human flesh. The true character of it has been notorious for years, but where do we read of a Presbyterian synod waiting upon a Premier of Queensland and asking him to stop it?

"Exploration of New Guinea" - George Morrison - The Age

No. VIII

1884-02-09

Heavy rain fell again on the evening of the 25th of September, but the country is so rugged and the hills are so steep that the waters rapidly drained away at the bottom of the spurs. Our horses had now had a good rest, and we are therefore determined upon leaving our camp at the deserted village as soon as possible.