1839.] GOVERNMENT. 269 



Nominally, the government of Van Diemen's Land is sub- 

 ordinate to that of New South Wales ; but, in fact, the local 

 government is administered, independent of the parent colony, 

 by the lieutenant governor, with the assistance of the execu- 

 tive and legislative councils. The former is composed of the 

 lieutenant governor, chief justice, colonial secretary, treas- 

 urer, and the officer commanding the forces on the island; 

 and the latter consists of the members of the executive 

 council, ex officio, and ten or fifteen other persons appointed 

 by the sovereign. Special acts may be passed by the gov- 

 ernor and council ; but the common law of England, and the 

 acts of the British parliament, are supreme. In other re- 

 spects, the civil affairs of the colony are administered in a 

 similar manner with those of New South Wales. The 

 administration of justice, and the mode of discipline adopted 

 with the convicts, are also similar. 



The public revenue, mainly derived from the sales of the 

 public lands, amounted, in 1840, to upwards of one hundred 

 and eighty-five thousand pounds sterling; its annual increase 

 being about forty per cent. The annual expenditure, includ- 

 ing over ten thousand pounds appropriated to the support of 

 public schools, fell a little short of that amount. 



In 1838, the number of natives on the island was only 

 one hundred and thirty. The aboriginal race had been 

 gradually disappearing; but frequent bloody encounters hav- 

 ing taken place between the few that were still left and the 

 settlers, they were nearly all caught and sent to Flinders' 

 Island, in Bass' Straits, where they are maintained at the 

 expense of the colonial government. They are, probably, an 

 off-shoot of the Papuan race of the Eastern Archipelago, and 

 are sunk in the lowest depths of degradation, being at the 

 very bottom of the scale of civilization, and seeming almost 

 to defy the efforts of the missionaries to cultivate their minds 

 or Christianize their hearts. Their habits, modes of life, and 

 superstitions, are similar to those of the Australians. 



Hobarton, or Hobart Town, on the south-east, and Laun- 

 ceston, on the northern shore, are the only important towns 



