TASMANIA. 



149 



between the 

 two towns 

 when coaches 

 were running, 

 and there are 

 many who, 

 while tho- 

 roughly ap- 

 preciating the 

 quicker transit 

 of the railway, 

 nevertheless 

 sigh for the 

 good old in- 

 vigorating 

 coach-ride, 

 and the rests at the old hostelries — just such 

 as would be found on an English turnpike. 

 The railway had to be constructed along a 

 devious course, and consequently traffic was 

 diverted from the direct road, and from the 

 ancient hamlets to newer settlements, where 

 everything is spick and span. The old resting- 

 places have not yet disappeared, but many of 

 them are decaying, and present striking con- 

 trasts to the new order of things on the rail 

 route. ' For a young country you have an 

 elegant supply of ruins,' was the comment of 

 an American who was driven over this road. 

 He was quite right, but the ruins are revered 

 by all who remember the traffic when it was 

 at its best. They are not signs of national 

 decay, but the result of a change of transit. 



