266 GEOLOGY. [1839. 



tioned in connection therewith. This island was originally 

 discovered in 1642, by the Dutch navigator, Tasman ; but 

 it received the name of Van Diemen's Land, which is now 

 justly giving place to that in honor of its first discoverer, 

 after a governor of the Dutch East Indies. It was visited, 

 and partially explored, by Cook, Furneaux, and other navi- 

 gators, but was not known to be an island till 1798, when 

 Bass sailed through the straits to which his name has been 

 given. 



The island is shaped like a heart, and lies between lati- 

 tude 41° 20' and 43° 40' S., and longitude 144° 40' and 148° 

 20' E. It contains about twenty-seven thousand square 

 miles. The population, in 1838, numbered 45,846, of whom 

 18,133 were convicts. -What has been previously said in 

 regard to the free colonists and convicts of New South Wales 

 will apply, with some trifling and unimportant exceptions, to 

 those of Tasmania. 



Geological appearances seem to lead to the conclusion that 

 ibis island, and the main continent of Australia, were once 

 united, though they are now separated by a deep sea, aver- 

 aging one hundred and forty miles in width. Tasmania is 

 much smaller, it is true, and, therefore, there is scarcely 

 room for the same variety of scenery observed in Australia ; 

 yet its outlines, form and appearance, are very different. 

 The shores are bolder and more picturesque ; and the moun- 

 tains rise, not in continuous ranges, as on the Australian 

 Continent, but in isolated peaks, often abruptly, to the 

 height of from three to four thousand feet, — their rough sides 

 deeply indented with furrows, and the jutting crags, and tall 

 cliffs of basalt, on their cloud-capt summits, frowning gloom- 

 ily on the valleys at their feet. The surface of the country 

 - broken and uneven, consisting of elevated table lands, and 

 •rtile valleys, disposed alternately, most of which are fit 

 iriicr for cultivation or pasturage. Sandstone, limestone, 

 md basalt, are the principal rocks. Coal, copper, lead, zinc, 

 and manganese, exist ; and iron ore has been obtained, yield- 

 ing eighty per cent, of metal, in considerable quantities 



