1824.} 
Diemen’s Land. Pigs and poultry are 
abundant. 
Almost all the good lands in the parts 
that have been surveyed, viz. on the line 
of road between Hobart’s Town and 
George Town, have been allotted and 
granted away by the crown to settlers, 
but it should not be hence inferred that 
those large appropriated tracts are in- 
habited. It is expected, upon com- 
pleting the survey now in progress of 
the north-western quarter of the island, 
that large tracts of finely diversified and 
fertile land will be at the disposal of 
the crown. From what little is already 
known of that quarter, it promises 
better than the north-eastern, in which 
there is a considerable portion of sandy 
sterile land. No swamps. or morasses 
have been discovered, to the absence of 
which may in part be attributed the sa- 
lubrity of the country. 
Only two rivers of any considerable 
magnitude have been as yet explored, 
namely, the Derwent, which discharges 
itself below Hobart’s Town at. Port 
Dalrymple on the south side of the 
island, and the Tamar, on thé east bank 
of which George Town is situated, a 
few miles above the point of its entering 
the sea on the north coast. The Der- 
went is navigable for about twenty-five 
miles, the Tamar for about half that 
distance; these, although affording the 
best harbours in the island, especially 
-the former, are rather shallow, the tides 
only rising about seven or eight feet. 
Besides these, there are many streams 
fit for mill-seats, and an abundance of 
fine springs of water throughout the 
island. 
Hobart’s Town is laid out in streets 
at right angles, and has a neat church ; 
the houses are built of stone and bricks, 
and roofed with tiles or’ wood; the 
bricks and tiles are made in-a rough 
way, and burned by means of’ the brush- 
wood; the lime is often made of shells, 
but. storle-lime may be obtained. It is 
difficult to form an opinion of the ex- 
pense of building a house of these ma- 
terials, though it must be considerable 
in proportion to the accommodation, 
the price of labour being high, viz. a 
dollar per day for common labour, and 
two dollars for mechanical labour. 
George Town is a promising village, 
but does not yet contain more than fifty 
families, if so many. No accurate opi- 
nion can be formed of the population of 
the interior, except by persons in au- 
thority, who can refer to documents, 
and houses being as yet few in the in- 
Original Notes on Van Diemen’s Land. 
215 
terior, they do not catch ‘the eye of 2 
traveller. The reason of this is, that 
the settlers, for some time after they are 
located, live in huts constructed of a 
kind of wood which abounds in the 
country, and is well adapted to form 
these huts and field fences, as it splits 
well. 
The distance between Hobart’s Town 
and George Town is about one hundred 
and fifty miles: the road is in progress 
of being finished as a regular carriage 
way, but is passable at present by gigs, 
and it is said that carriages for burthen 
have made the journey., The best land 
on that line of road is at Launceston, 
which is about forty miles from George 
Town; there is great diversity in the 
face of the country through which this 
road passes, and in some places lakes 
are interspersed. 
A settlement has been formed by 
Government at Port M‘Quarrie on the 
west coast, where the worst descrip- 
tion of convicts is kept in employment 
under superintendents ; the country be- 
tween that settlement and Hobart’s 
‘Town is very little known, and has not 
yet been surveyed. It is not probable 
that Port M‘Quarrie will ever be a con- 
siderable place, -as the port, though spa- 
cious within, is so shallow at the en- 
trance that it admits only small vessels ; 
it is indeed said in its favour, that coals 
have been discovered near it, in great 
abundance and of good quality: but the 
coals found at Sidney in New Holland 
are so easily worked and of so excellent a 
quality, that it is likely they will supply 
Van Diemen’s Land. 
A settlement is also contemplated, if 
not commenced, at Bathurst Bay, on 
the southern coast, to the westward of 
Port Dalrymple. Some allotments have 
also been made of lands at the head of 
Oyster Bay, which lies to the eastward 
of Port Dalrymple, and near the south- 
eastern extremity of the island; but 
Oyster Bay affords no shelter to ship- 
ping; and, the soil not being remark- 
able for goodness, those allotments 
have much disappointed the grantees. 
The principal pursuits, by which the 
settlers subsist and propose to provide 
for their families, are of course agricul- 
ture, and the progressive improvement 
and settlement of their lands. New 
settlers are much assisted by Govern- 
ment, as they receive, on being located, 
a few heads of cattle and sheep, and 
are allowed rations of provisions for 
themselves, their families, and depen- 
dents during the first six months, which 
