XXXll 



April 0. — Wind, S.W. Blowinj; and 

 raininff all day. 



April lO: — Wind, S.W. Blowing and 

 raining all day. 



April 11: — Wind, west; cleared atter- 

 uoon. Got photo. Mount Bon wick. 



April 12: — Wind, west. Wet all <lay. 



April 13: — Wind, changed to N.W".. and 

 cleared a little in the afternoon. Got 

 photos in Forth Gorge. 



April 14 : — Fearful weather. Blowing 

 living gale, with rain. Hailstorms during 

 morning. Thunder about midday. After- 

 noon. sn(;w. [fain at night. 



Aipril 1."): — Rained and blew all night. 

 Fearful weather all day. Wind, rain, and 

 sleet. 



April 16: — Fearful night of wind, snow, 

 thunder, and lightning. Everything 

 white. Snowed nearly all day. 



April 17:— Snow about Sin. deep. Damp 

 and misty. 



April 18: — Turned frosty during night, 

 and morning broke clear and bright. 

 Cradle and Barn Bluff looked sublime, 

 snow clad, with early sun streaming on 

 them. Started off with camera to ascend 

 East Pelion. Mr. Andrews assisted me, and 

 we had a fearful struggle in the snoAv 

 through the scrub, up the mountain side. 

 and when we reached the top fo.g came 

 down, and blotted all the landscape out. 

 Came back to hut drenched and dis- 

 gusted. 



April 19: — Dull and threatening. Went 

 with Andrews out to pine scrub, but wea- 

 ther turned wet from the west, and it rain- 

 ed heavily all day. Came back to the 

 huts drenched. 



April 20: — Dull, foggy, and showery. 

 This is now the fifth day over the time 

 packer promised to come for me. Decided 

 to tramp in, and will start to-morrow. 



April 21: — Quiet morning. Wind. S.E., 

 looking fine. Started at 8.15 with H. An- 

 drews for Berriedale Plains. 17 miles. Bid 

 good-bye to friend Bell with a good deal 

 of misgiving. He is all alone, and tucker 

 none too plentiful, and no sign of the 

 packer wit hhis fresh supply. Got to Ber- 

 riedale, easy walk, at about 5 o'clock, and 

 set to work to get in firewood for the night. 

 April 22: — Left Mark Shaw's at ten to 

 9, arriving Gad's Hill station at 11 o'clock. 

 Went down old track into Liena, and 

 camped an hour at Mr. C. Roden's, who 

 kind!}' insisted on dinner. Weather, very 

 bad, wind and rain in torrents. Got into 

 Mole Creek. Mr. Howe's store at 4.15 p.m. 

 tired, but glad I had escaped. 



April 23: — Left by 6 a.m. train. Ban in- 

 to Launceston. and came on to Hobart by 

 afternoon express. 



It onl.y now remains for me. in conclu- 

 sion, to say something regarding the pros- 

 pects of this district as a whole, and the 



condition, both present and prospective, of 

 the means of communication between it. 

 Mole Creek, and also the West Coast. 

 From those who are competent to give an 

 opinion, those who have personally in- 

 spected and prospected the field. I find a 

 general consensus of opinion mo.-t favour- 

 able to its future success as another addi- 

 tion to our copper producing centrps. That, 

 surely, is satisfactory; also we must not 

 lose sight of the valuable coal deposits, 

 already mentioned, which, in a country 

 where timber is not abundant, and every 

 year becoming scarcer, will form an in- 

 valuable substitute, and ma.v. indeed, be 

 largely utilised further afield. Another 

 important factor in the future welfare of 

 this field is the existence of splendid water 

 facilities for the generation of power suit- 

 able for all mining operations. Such a 

 field, so highly favoured b.y Nature, re- 

 quires, to make it a success, a railway, 

 and I suppose that will ultimately come, 

 when results, which always speak louder 

 than words and any amount of writin,g, 

 demand it. At present, howevor. the 

 means of communication is, to put it very 

 mildly indeed, extremely unsatisfactory, 

 and is deserving of the immediate atten- 

 tion of the Government. From Liena to 

 the Barn Bluff copper mine, the distance 

 b.y present track is 42 miles, while, talcing 

 il: as the crow flies it cannot be more than 

 17 miles. Much of Gad's Hill is positive- 

 l.y unsafe for pack and saddle horse traf- 

 fic, and is really a menace, and shuld be 

 immediately remedied. The track along 

 the plains sadly wants attention in a great 

 many places, a bit of corduroy here and 

 there, and in exceptional boggy places, 

 cutting out the turf altogether, and get- 

 ing down to the solid gravel. Then I 

 would strongly urge belter staking of the 

 plains, the stakes not to be so far apart. 

 As it is at present this is a sad deficiency, 

 and who knows but had this been properly 

 arranged, as it most assuredly should be. 

 poor Connelly would not have been lost, 

 and without considering the ir- 

 reparable loss snstained b.y the poor fel- 

 low's relatives, this State would have 

 been saved much expense, and also alarm. 

 Now let us glance at what Government 

 propose doing towards the improvement 

 of this route. It has been ascertained that 

 the distance can be materiall.v shortened, 

 and this is to be accompanied by deviating 

 in a south-westerly direction fi'om Berrie- 

 dale Plains to the Forth Valley, which 

 will be gradually descended, making an 

 easy grade, and ultimatel.y reaching the 

 high ground somewhere near the centre of 

 the mineral area. Ths deviation, it is esti- 

 mated, will effect a reduction in the dis- 

 tance of something like 15 miles, and will 

 also avoid much of the high snowy coun- 

 try which occupies so much of the route of 



