254 '^^^ ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN TASMANIA. 



Tasmania. If we attempt to estimate the duration of the 

 rise .we may assume that the land rose say 3 feet for every 

 100 years, and the time required for a rise of 1,500 feet 

 would be 50,000 years. We may therefore say that not 

 less than 50,000 years ago a broad isthmus connected 

 present Tasmania with Australia. This isthmus was 

 traversed bv a great stream coming from Victoria and 

 discharging its water in south-westerly direction. 



For the present it is impossible to say for how long 

 this condition of things existed — in particular, how long 

 the river system lasted. The gigantic marsupials which 

 were believed to be restricted to the Australian continent 

 have now — August, 1910 — also been discovered in Tas- 

 mania. While cutting a trench in a marsh near Smithton, 

 in north-west Tasmania, the remains of a large marsupial, 

 probably Diprotodon, were unearthed. These giants had 

 therefore already found their way to what is now the 

 northern coast of Tasmania, but it seems pretty certain 

 that they became extinct before they migrated further 

 south. The problem is a very interesting one; so far 

 none of their remains have been found in cave deposits 

 or in the southern part of Tasmania. Is it probable that 

 these gigantic marsupials represented animals that 

 thrived only in a cold climate, and with the final disap- 

 pearance of the glaciers they became extinct. Is it pos- 

 sible that the gigantic Diprotodon replaced in Australia 

 the gigantic Elephas primigenius of Europe during the 

 glacial period? This problem is of immense interest; but 

 still much work has to be done before we can say any- 

 thing definite. So far it is pretty certain that the gigantic 

 marsupials can only have migrated to Tasmania when 

 this country was connected with the mainland. This 

 migration must have taken place either towards the end 

 of thi glacial period or immediately afterwards, but the 

 animals died out before they had time to spread to the 

 southern portion of Tasmania, and also that they had 

 become extinct before the separation of Tasmania and 

 Australia, viz., before the arrival of man in this island. 

 We have no records that the Tasmanian Aborigines ever 

 came in contact with these gigantic animals, and so far 

 none of their bones have been discovered in the cave 

 deposits near Rocky Cape. 



The time when Tasmania was connected with the 

 mainland by a broad isthmus, across which the Snowy- 



