VAN dieman's land. 21 1 



On landing, a stranger is greatly struck with the bustle which 

 he witnesses : the crews of the different vessels discharging their 

 cargpes, the warehousemen stowing them away, with the crowd 

 of watermen around him, puts him in mind of a populous sea 

 port in England ; on the old jetty, to tempt you as you land, is 

 the Commercial Inn, which has one of the finest coffee rooms I 

 ever saw. Here a person may enjoy all the products of its 

 ctiisine at a cheap rate, considering the disparity of prices between 

 Van Dieman's Land and England. After crossing over an em- 

 bankment, you arrive at the foot of Macquire Street, which is the 

 aristocratic street of the town ; in it are situated most of the 

 public buildings, viz. the Government house, the Treasury, 

 Court House, Goal, &c., &c., also very many beautiful houses, 

 the residences of the civil officers, merchants, &c. This street is 

 the promenade of the town, and a person who goes to this Island, 

 thinking to find it a wilderness, will be astonished at the gaiety 

 of the scene ; ladies in rich dresses, officers of the army, invalids 

 from the East Indies, with their sable attendants, and dashing equi- 

 pages: and now and then some of the chiefs from New Zealand, 

 with their tattoed faces, give an air of gaiety to the scene, which 

 could scarcely be expected at such a distance from England. In 

 this street is one of the most comfortable inns I ever saw, and 

 witlial most splendidly fitted up; viz. the "Macquire Hotel:" 

 this is the haunt of most of the young bloods of the town, who 

 resort thither to play billiards, whicli practice is carried to a great 

 and sometimes ruinous extent. 



The public buildings are scarcely deserving notice, beyond that 

 they are all erected with ei view to the combination of the " utile 

 cum dulce;" with one vile exception, viz, the Goal. A prison 

 should not be a place of splendour ; but this is a disgrace to a 

 civilized country : the poor debtors, who may remain incarcerated 

 for life, have worse accommodations than felons in England, but 

 there is a project for building a new one, so that I hope this will 

 soon cease to be a stigma on the humanity of the colonial authori- 

 ties. In this street is the St. David's Chapel, a very neat 

 Gothic building, surrounded by a shrubbery: here officiates the 

 Rev. Mr. Bedford, the colonial chaplain, who has been many 

 years in the Island. A curious story is told of this gentleman, 

 on the occasion of erecting a new gallows, some years since, in 

 consequence of the old one not being sufficiently large. The 

 Rev. Gentleman was asked to view one, on seeing which he 

 rubbed his honcU, and with the greatest naivete said, " Ah, bless 



