Hello Goldnboy
There was a different type Piracy in the Pacific Australasian waters. Much smaller than South America and Caribbean, Mediterranean or Asia.There was no great trading fleets of gold to plunder and piracy evolved very differently.
Australian Piracy loosely evolved into 6 main categories
1. The first pirates were escaped convicts from the penal colony of N.S.W or Tasmania. Some convicts with knowledge of seamanship cut out vessels to make their escape from Australia. Most were ill disciplined and failed due to various reasons. Many died in the attempt others managed to be adopted by tribes on Islands in the Pacific and became the first white beach combers. 1798- 1839
2. The North of Australia through the Torres strait was dangerous to shipping because of a fast current and coral reefs many vessels came to grief and the crews were murdered and ships plundered by the natives from about 1820s to 1870's. Not exactly pirates of the Caribbean stuff. There was an active sandalwood trade in the 1840's and many of these ships crew was massacred around New Caledonia and Melanesian and Micronesia.
3. Melanesia and Polynesia was subject to what historians call blackbirders ( Slavers) from around 1860-1880. These men were not pirates in the traditional sense but pretty close. They raided islands for labour for Sugar cane industry in Queensland and Peruvian slavers who raided Polynesia for workers in Guano mines of Peru.
4. In the south in Bass straits between 1800 and 1840 sealers worked the island. these men some ex convicts was involved in the art of luring ships onto rocks and plundering them. There has been several cases of suspicious activity around the Bass Strait Islands.
5. There are a few examples of pirates fleeing from crimes committed in other countries to Australia and several small time spontaneous acts of piracy or mutiny. But never like the buccaneers of old.
6. And strange enough there is another group of hopeless romantics that saw piracy as fun thing to do. Was they inspired by the Robert Louis Stevenson tales of pirates? Most of these were very naive and impressionable young men. There are a few accounts between 1880-1905 of mutinies and murder on small vessels and young men trying to become pirates. The adventurous life of pirate was too tempting for them. only discovering the harsh realities of a changing word of modern technology was that they could run and not hide. And no one can outrun a telegraph and even the mighty Pacific was not big enough hiding place for them.
So there you see 6 very different categories or era types of practical activities in Australian waters. Very few had anything worth while as of treasure to bury.
But of course there is one or two exceptions to rule.
Hardluck
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