T A S 



81 



T A S 



thick busnes, and 1he hi;h shores present in many places 

 columns of basalt, the tops of which are covered with a 

 layer of good soil, and overgrown with trees. There is no 

 harbour for ships on the coast, except at the mouth of 

 Emu river, where small vessels find good anchorage in 

 Emu Bay. Boats may enter Parish's Harbour, not far 

 from Emu Bay to the west, and Pebbly Bay, west of 

 Rocky Cape, a rather elevated rocky mass projecting into 

 the sea. 



Circular Head is a tongue of land projecting into the sea 

 to the distance of about seven miles from the mainland. 

 Its northern portion is an undulating table-land resting on 

 basalt columns, whose surface is covered with bushes and 

 small trees, and affords good pasture-ground. The highest 

 psirt of it is 450 feet above the sea-level. This table-land 

 is about five miles long from north to south, and somewhat 

 more than two miles across in the widest part. It is united 

 to the mainland by a low sandy isthmus nearly three miles 

 lon<; and about one mile wide. On each side of the isthmus 

 is a tongue of land, which advances four or five miles into 

 the sea, and forms two harbours, called East and West Bay, 

 which have sufficient depth for small vessels. The advan- 

 tages afforded by these two harbours, and the pasture- 

 ground on Circular Head, have induced the Van Diemen's 

 Land Company to fix their chief establishment here. The 

 coast from Circular Head to Cape Grim is low and sandy. 

 In some places there are swamps overgrown with tea-trees. 

 It is lined by numerous shoals, and though there are several 

 coves at the embouchures of the rivers, none of them has 

 sufficient depth of water for a boat. 



North of this coast-line are the Hunter Islands, a group 

 consisting of three larger and several smaller islands. 

 Robliin Island, the nearest to the mainland, is divided 

 from it by a narrow strait, Robbin Channel, which is full 

 of shoals, but has good anchoring-ground near the eastern 

 entrance. The island is about 7 miles long from east to 

 west, and 5 miles wide on an average. The eastern portion, 

 embracing about two-thirds of the whole, is low, and has 

 a sandy soil, covered with bushes and small trees : it has 

 also pasture-ground. The western district is a rocky ridsre, 

 covered with heath. Three-Hummock Island is about 

 the same size, but it is hilly, and chiefly covered with 

 bushes, low trees, or grass. On its eastern side is a cove, 

 with indifferent anchorage. West of Three-Hummock 

 Island is Barren Island, which is the largest of the group, 

 being 15 miles long, and on an average 4 miles wide. It 

 is likewise rocky in its whole extent, but less elevated 

 than Three-Hummock Island : in fertility it seems to re- 

 semble it very much. On the western shores are numerous 

 reefs, which render the access to the island difficult and 

 almost impossible. Towards the southern end of that 

 coa^t however there is a cove, which is accessible to boats. 

 The strait between Barren Island and Three-Hummock 

 is called Peron Channel : it is well protected by the sur- 

 rounding islands, and has good anchorage at several 

 places, so that it may be considered the best liarbour at 

 the western entrance of Bass Strait. The basin, surrounded 

 by the three large islands of this group, is called Boulanger 

 Bay. It is well protected, but veiy dangerous, being full 

 of shoals and small low islands, especially towards the 

 north-western district of Tasmania. 



Si/ifnn> mill Soil. As the first European settlement on 

 Tasmania was established only forty years ago, it can be 

 no matter of surpri.-c that the country is imperfectly ex- 

 plored. Nearly one-half of the island is almost unknown, 

 namely, nearly two-thirds of that portion which is south 

 nt' 12 ; , and one-third of that which is north of that pa- 

 rallel. 



The t'/ii'.r/ /ri;f M'iiinlnii>-lli><;iii, south of 42, oc- 

 cupies the southern and western districts of the island, 

 and reaches ninth-east to the banks of the river Derwent. 

 This river, from its source in Lake St. Clair to its mouth, 

 the well-known part of the island from that 

 which is entirely unknown except the coasts and the dis- 

 in the immediate vicinity ofthc river. These districts 

 are occupied by an apparently continuous moantain-ranire, 

 which extend.-, along the river at a short distance from its 

 banks, and in some' places sends off branches which ad- 

 the nver. This range is sometimes called 

 the \Ve-.lein Mountains by the settlers, but has not yet 

 'iy other name. It begins on the sestuary of the 

 en), opposite tiie entrance of Ralph's Bay, with 

 which is considered to be about 1000 i'eet 

 P. C., No. 1408, 



above the sea. Hence it extends north-west to Mount 

 Wellington, which is a few miles west of Hobait Town, and 

 rises, according to Darwin, 3100 feet above the sea. Far- 

 ther on, the range, which occupies a width of peihaps 20 

 miles, does not seem to contain many summits which rise 

 much above the general level of the range, which level 

 probably is never less than 2000 feet above the sea. The 

 summits, which have been noticed, are Mount Field (near 

 42 40'\ which is estimated at 3000 feet ; and Wyld's Ci aig, 

 or Peak of Teneriffe, about 4500 feet above the sea. The 

 latter is covered with snow for nine months. It is stated that 

 in several places plains of considerable extent occur on the 

 top of the range ; but as the whole of it is covered with 

 an impenetrable forest, it has hitherto been impossible to 

 ascertain this fact. The mountains which surround Lake 

 St. Clair, the source of the river Derwent, appear to be 

 connected with this range, and to constitute its northern 

 extremity. At the southern extremity of the range is a 

 large peninsula, formed by D'Entrecasteaux Channel and 

 the sestuary of the river Huon, the whole of which is 

 covered with high hills, clothed with dense forests to their 

 summits, and broken only in a few places by valleys, which 

 exhibit a great degree of fertility, but in which no settle- 

 ments have yet been made. 



The remainder of this region is only known so far as it 

 has been observed from the sea and a few places from the 

 coast. The most striking feature of this district is a moun- 

 tain-range which rises a few miles from the southern coast, 

 and appears to extend, without interruption, from the 

 eastern part of Port Davey, called Bathurst Harbour, to 

 the vicinity of Port Refuge, at the entrance of D'Entre- 

 caMeaux Channel. Its lower parts are covered with thick 

 forests, but the higher are without wood. Some parts of 

 them appear white, which has suggested the opinion that 

 they are always covered with snow ; but this fact is ques- 

 tioned. The higher parts however are considered to rise to 

 an elevation of 5000 feet above the sea-level. North of this 

 range there are two elevated mountain-masses, a few miles 

 south of 43 S. lat, which are called Harz Mountain and 

 Arthur's Range. The latter is visible from Mount Wel- 

 lington, though more than 50 miles distant. At the back 

 of these masses, north of 43 S. lat., open plains are stated 

 to extend from the banks of the river Huon to the moun- 

 tains which line the western shores. A few open plains of 

 moderate extent are also found near the banks of the 

 Huon, where the river runs eastward ; but farther down 

 the whole country is covered with impenetrable forests. 

 From this river to 42 S. lat. the country is entirely unknown. 

 Several summits have been seen from considerable dis- 

 tances. The most elevated appears to be Frenchman's Cap, 

 east of Macquarrie Harbour, which is covered with snow 

 nearly the whole year : its base is said to be surrounded by 

 woodless, open, and grassy plains of considerable extent. 

 The forests, which cover this region almost without inter- 

 ruption, consist chiefly of different kinds of Eucalyptus, 

 especially Eucalyptus globulus, and different kinds of 

 pines, among which Tasmania and many tree-like ferns arc- 

 frequently met with. 



The Valley of the Lower Derwent extends from Mount 

 Nelson upwards to the confluence of the Derwent with the 

 Ouse (near 42" 35' S. lat.), and is rather more than 50 

 miles long, measured along the bends of the river. The 

 Derwent runs close to the range of high mountains which 

 extend along its western banks ; and the space between 

 the banks of the river and the base of the steep rocky 

 masses hardly ever exceeds a mile in width, and is fre- 

 quently not half so much. The soil of this narrow and 

 comparatively level tract is of great fertility, and a large 

 part of it is under cultivation. On the east of the river 

 the valley extends to the distance of about five miles, where 

 it meets the higher hills that enclose the valleys which lie 

 r east and north. The surface of this part of the 

 valley is level near the banks of the river, and subject to 

 inundations ; but at a short distance from them the ground 

 rises in gentle undulations, on which some low and isolated 

 hills are met with. The soil of this tract appears to be 

 generally of first-rate quality: it produces rich crops of 

 wheat, and is well adapted to orchards. Cultivation is 

 rapidly spreading over this tract. 



A Hilly Region extends east of the Lower Valley of the 

 Derwent. It, extends eastward to the shores of the Pacific, 

 and northward nearly to 42 J5' S. lat. The surface of this 

 tract is a continuous succession of hill and dale. The tm- 



VOL. XXIV. M 



