PHYSIOGRAPHY OF TASMANIA. 139 



fallen trunks of pines lying partly in the water : fiirtlier 

 evidence of the ravages of fire ! The stupid practice of 

 setting fire to the country by shepherds and others, 

 which obtains in the western wilds of this country, 

 is probably answerable for the desolate state of this 

 islet at present. On nearing it, however, scattered 

 green bushes are seen, chiefly near the margin, and these 

 are the only prominent signs of botanical life until one 

 lands, when the surface is found to be fairly covered with 

 the usual coarse vegetation and low bushes found in all 

 open .tracts of this upland region. 



At about half a mile distant the singular character of 

 the shore becomes apparent, the entire coast-line con- 

 sisting of a raised terrace, rising about 7 feet from the 

 water, and looking as regular and uniform in structure as if 

 it had been built artificially. In looking for a landing- 

 place we were able to examine the structure of this curious 

 terrace, and found the rocks composing it to vary from 

 somewhere about one ton in weight to stones of nearly one 

 cwt. The face forms a regular slope of 35° or steeper in 

 some places with an almost concave profile, and stands on 

 a formation of small rocks below the surface, projecting 

 outwards about four or five feet as a rule, and skirted by 

 a flat bottom of shingle, the water being not more than 

 three feet deep. The water is shallow all round the island, 

 as indeed it is throughout the better part of the great 

 bay at the north of the lake. 



The contour of the west side is circular, the terrace 

 sweeping round in regular curves to the northern and 

 southern sides, which run almost due east to the eastern 

 end, where the terrace is broken by a little cove of shingle, 

 which my son visited, but which I did not, myself, see. 

 The island is about 600 yards long, 250 broad at the 

 widest part, and contains about 30 acres. The shape 

 is roughly given in the accompanying sketch, enlarged from 

 the 1-inch to the mile map of the lake. On landing, we 

 found the group of " tors " we observed in the distance to 

 consist of six or seven mounds of basalt, rising more or less 

 perpendicularly from the surrounding and, in some direc- 

 tions, almost level land, the whole describing a crescent 

 across the centre from west to east. The highest of these 

 eminences was in the centre of the island, and I'ose to a 

 height of 45 feet above the water, and 30 feet from the 

 ground at its base. The others, at a distance of about 30 

 to 50 yards from each other, were smaller, the groups at the 

 west end of the crescent being sub-divided into detached 

 rocks. The class of rock, both in the " tors " and the boul- 



