8 THtr EARLY TASMANIAX PRESS, ETC. 



temperance can be found scattered about its pages. The 

 article on hopgrowing begins: ''How much more delicious 

 to the parched and thirsty Labourer in the field in Harvest 

 Season would be the cheering and sparkling cup of Ale to 

 the draught of grog ! What sums of money would be left, 

 in the Colony, or applied to other uses, was Ale and Beer 

 the general Beverage ! What excesses would be avoided, 

 and crimes less likely to be committed ! It would be to 

 the interest of every Settler to endeavour to have a Barrel 

 of good Ale in his House, instead of Gallons of Rum." 

 For these reasons, the writer, "Pro Bono Publico," de- 

 tails at length (through six issues of the Gazette) the best 

 methods of cultivating the hop. The article had great 

 effects, and within six or seven years hop gardens and 

 breweries were numerous in the southern part of the island. 

 Similar contributions dealt with the growth of corn, the 

 destruction of pests, the rearing of sheep, etc., and great 

 attention was devoted by the Gazette to fostering the export 

 trade in wool. In short, the Gazette^ though small in size 

 and circulation, strove to exert a powerful influence for 

 material and moral proeress. 



With the growth of the paper came an increase in the 

 number of advertisements, and from the advertisement 

 columns one gets, perhaps, the best picture of the social 

 and economic conditions existing in the settlement. Over 

 all there loomed the shadow of the system ; one can never 

 for a moment forget that the island was, as Henry Mel- 

 ville called it, "a gaol on a large scale" (15). The Go- 

 vernment notices and the court proceedings, the lists of 

 tickets-of-leave and of escaped prisoners, all keep the grim 

 sternness of the life before our eyes. And yet, partlv be- 

 cause of, and partly in spite of. the system, a flourishing 

 little commercial society was arising. The prisoners, the 

 officials, and the troops, had to be fed. clothed, and housed, 

 and the increasing number of free settlers made the de- 

 mand for a variety of commodities comparatively great. 

 Scarcely a month passed without the arrival of some sail- 

 ing shin from the Old Country, brins^ing passengers, mails, 

 and genera] carsfo. One watches the size of the vessels 

 creep up from 200 to 500 tons, and the length of the jour- 

 Tiey diminish from six months to four. American and 

 Dutch boats were frequent visitors, and the Hobart-Sydney 

 trade was growing rapidly, especially in wheat. It is in- 

 teresting to note in passing that one of the best-known ves- 

 sels here was the Liixitania. She was a boat of 250 tons, 

 which did the outward journey from London in four and 

 a half months. She Avas advertised as offering ''superior 

 accommodation for Passengei-s,'' and an advertisement in 



