94 



POET DAVEY IN 1875. 



By the Hon. James Eeid Scott, M.L.C. 



[Eead 13th September, 1875.] 



At the present time Port Davey supplies Hobart Town 

 with the great bulk of the timber known as " Huon Pine " 

 \_Dacrycliu77i Franlclinii], and has done so for several years 

 back. That port may indeed be said to be the chief seat of 

 the pine-getting industry in Tasmania, Macquarie Harbour 

 being deserted, and the Pieman, Picton, and Craycroft, worked 

 to a very limited extent, if at all. The pines obtained on the 

 Forth and Dove Eivers are, I believe, of a different species 

 [Ath'otaxis selaginoides] called "pencil pine," or "King 

 William Pine." From the nature of the Port Davey district, 

 the beds of timber are necessarily of limited extent ; and 

 although occasional supplies have been obtained for more than 

 60 years, and a steady industry has been continuously pro- 

 secuted there for the last 25 years, still circumstances (such 

 as a rise in prices, and consequent influx of piners) might 

 extinguish the trade for a time, until young trees grow up to a 

 size fit for market. I do not apprehend any such result, but 

 I hope that a few personal observations on the locality, its 

 pine industry and forests, etc., during a recent visit, will be 

 interesting, even to those who fully know and appreciate the 

 details and hardships of the occupation of a piner. 



In March last I paid a visit to Port Davey for a second 

 time, having been there about four years previously with 

 Mr. Piguenit, who took some very characteristic sketches of 

 the scenery. Though my main object this time was to 

 have some hunting and fishing, I took the opportunity of 

 going to the actual workings in the pine-forests, the present 

 scenes of labour; and I saw much new to my personal 

 experience, although not altogether unknown to me by report. 

 I therefore make no apology for presenting to your notice the 

 following account of my trip. 



On my former visit my party went and returned by land, 

 along the naturally defined series of valleys and " saddles " 

 or passes, mainly clear of forest, up the course of the Huon, 

 down that of Spring Eiver, and across the Berry Head 

 Eange — an unmistakable route to anyone with knowledge of 

 the localities, though not without its difiiculties in travelling. 

 The road from Victoria to the Craycroft is so overgrown and 

 blocked up, that the journey from Hobart Town to Port 

 Davey by that route could not well be made now under four 

 days, and I would not advise a stranger to attempt it at all. 

 On the second occasion I went and returned by water, going 



