T A S 



TAB 



Teller no iconer arrives at the Ixrttom of one hill than lie 

 cr, often three or four times in the 

 . : I'ii . l:. - me ; IM< - '' ; --' ;i - -, '- ; ' ' - ; -'- ;| 

 height.-', which 



itutc the both': 



iln- n-L'ion from north to south, and 

 . rally of model ate width, tile ' 

 marshes or plains, are comparatively lew. Th- 



:rt of this region appears to be a ridge of high 

 ground which begins mi the north at Table Mouir 

 summit standing near the south :ty of Lake 



Sure. 11, whose i .;a!cd at :isiK) feet. The 



ridge braneliing oft' from it towards the south is of moderate 

 ion, but considerable width, occupying the greater 

 part of the tract between (lie iivci- Clyde aiul Jordan. It 

 terminate* about five miles from the banks of the Dciwciit 

 in Mount Dromedary, the Munmit of whieh is 1HUO feet 

 above the sea-level. . -i the hills sink lower a.- we 



proceed -until, and the suifaee of Ralph'* Peninsula, and of 

 the count r. Pitt's \Vater and North Bay, is only 



undulating. Cultivation in this region is almost exclusively 

 limited to tli,' bottoms of the rivers, where there i.- a 

 strong soil, which produces plentiful crops of wheat and 

 other iriain. The declivity of the hills is sometim 

 steep for cultivation, and they are generally coveicd with 

 thick woods. Bui even where the declivities arc gentle, 

 whieh is most frequc./lv the case, the soil is too dry. 

 These declivities, and afso the upper parts of the hills, 

 where small levels frequently occur, are overgrown with 

 opi-n forests without underwood, under the shade of which 

 there is grass nearly all the year round. These hills aft'ord 



ic fur sheep and cattle. This dc.-i : 



applies to the whole region, except that portion which is 

 north of Norfolk Bay, and which appears not to ha\. 

 explored. That part of it which lies along the Pacific 

 -is only of rocky masses, frequently destitute of woods 

 and bushes, and in other places overgrown with crooked 

 and stunted ti, 



Tlu I'/m'ns are north of the Hilly Region, and 



extend from 42 35' to about 41" 00'. They are sep 

 from the Pacific by a higher tract, called Eastern Tier. 

 This tract begin* on the south near 42 35', where it is about 

 10 miles wide, and extends northward to the valley of the 

 South Ksk, to which it descends with a steep declivity. 11 

 increases in width as it proceeds farther noith, and on tin- 

 banks of the South Ksk it is more than 3() mi:. 

 to west. This region also is entirely unknown, and is a 

 blank on our map.-. \Vc can rind no information respect- 

 ing iU character and cap-Abilities. The heights which 

 i along the sea are very scantily wooded, and do not 

 lit a promising aspect. The plains themselves are 

 divided into the southern and northern plains by a some- 

 what hilly and wooded tract, which crosses them in a dia- 

 gonal direction from south-east to ninth-west, beginning 

 ou the Eastern Tier with the Bine Hills, south-east of Oat- 

 lauds, and passing cast of that township to Table Mount. 

 and the other heights surrounding Lake Son II, and hence 

 to the range of mountains called the \\C-leni Tier or 

 ni Mountains, from the southern extremity of which 

 it is divided by the upper valley of Lake River. Farther 

 u Tier constitutes the northern boundary ol 

 it hem plains. These southern plains arc di-tiutr 

 by nianv large lakes. The most western of these '. 

 that of St. Cluir. the source of tin: Dvrwcnt river, li is 

 about ten miles long and three miles wide on an average, 

 and differs from the laki - <-t in having i;: 



the shape, of an alpine lake and being surrounded by 

 mountains. Ti . a-t of the lake St. Clair is not 



included in the plains, I. . .lomitainous, and con- 



taining several high etweeil the Dcrwcnt on the 



west u the east. Iv. . n to the east ol 



the last -mentioned river that pait "t 'the country which lie- 

 neai the Dement is extremely uneven and hilly, but far- 

 ther north the southern plains begin with the tract that 

 surround* Lake Kcho. This lake is of a round form, but 

 only three mile* in diameter. The shape of this, like 

 all those farther east, shows that they an- not enclosed by 

 tains, but spread out in plains. North of Lake Keho 

 i* Great Lake, the source of the Shannon, one of the largest 

 tributaries of the Derwent. It is said that tin- lake i- -_l 

 milt-along, 10 v, ule, and, owing to its immeron- In am: lien. 75 

 mile-, in circuit ; but our maps (rive it hardly liab 

 dimensions. East of Great Lake we the three Arthur 



lakes, the largest 



Hi mil,-, i 



(treat Lake. Smaller lai 

 .led tract whir! 



-< i and 



ut to 

 lerous, . 



Irom the 



northern plains. There are lev i the northern 



plains, and they are all small, with i the 



:i Lagoon, a el; -:, :u 



termination of the Western Tier, the largest of winch may 

 be five miles long and half a mile wide. The woody tiact 

 separatim: the plain.- has a hilly - 



where It is crossed by I 



Hobart Town to Lannceston. In the plains tin-re are some 

 short ridges of low hills, which li-e aim-.. .mon 



level with very long slop' 



. At othe. .i>stly of a 



conical form, h> 

 frequent in the district which up, 

 In oil. 



level or slightly undulating. In then natural fcUtc ' 

 arc generally destitute of trees, but in a f,w spots. . 

 cially where the surface is iindulutin<r, trees occur in small 

 clumps. The climate is much colder than in the low l 

 near the coast, as the snow sometimes co-. uml 



for several weeks, and thus the soil imbibes sufficient n 

 lure to maintain a vigorous irrowth of ifrass nearly all the 

 year round. The pastures thus produced constitute the 



iiural wealth of this region, a- the soil is seldom rich 

 enough for the growth of grain. Tie are much 



better adapted for sheep than for cattle, ami the chid pail 

 of the wool exported from Tasmania is brought to the sea- 

 port. , hum this reirion. Amon- ailed 

 Salt-Pan Plain requires notice. It lies near the v. 

 shed of the Derwent and Tamar, between the sou re- 

 the Macquarrie river, which runs to the Tamar, and those 

 of the Jordan, which falls into the Derwent. In this plain 

 are three ponds, or, rather, hollow deprc.--ion>, win, . 

 rilled with water during the rainy season, but dry up when 

 the rains are over, and the soil is then so strongly impreg- 

 nated with salt that a considerable quantity is coll> 



ni for domestic purposes. 



The region hitherto described is watered by many 

 streams, most of which join 1; ut. This nvcr 



originates, as already .u Lake St. Clair. It runs 



about (k) miles measured in a straight hue. until it meets the 

 tide-water, and its general course is souti -,iiii.r 



from the lake, il trav eises for several miles a plain, ami then 

 a narrow valley hounded by mountains, in which it 

 is joined from the north by the Nive. and from the south 

 by the Florentine river, the coui.-e of which two tribu' 

 ig hardly known. It leaves the mountain.- above it- junc- 

 tion with the Dee, where it forms two c mile 

 from one another, of which the uppermost i- :l feet hii:h. 

 It then tlows along the foot of the western mountains with 

 a rapid current, and is not navigated, chi, l 1 . to the 

 numerous rocks along its banks, but also partly lu .;:,-, its 

 volume of water is subject to great change.-, 

 rapids occur at New Norfolk, up to which place the tide- 

 water comes. Durimr the summer months the water of 

 the river is biackish. and unfit for drinking at New Nor- 

 folk : but when it i- swollen by rains, it i- fresh to the 

 distance of two or three mile- below the town. The river 

 is lure a quarter of a mile wide, and begins to be navi- 

 irabl,' for ship-. A few miles lower (low n the river widens 

 to three-quarters of a mile, which width is gradually in- 

 creased to two miles. Below Hobart Town il vain 



and four miles, and is deep enough 

 vessels, and free from shoals, which are rather mum 

 above that town. The tide ascends :>H miles lioin Storm 

 Bay. None of the tributaries which enter the Denvcnl. 

 from the south, after it has emerired horn the moim 

 are above the i*c of n mountain-torn ut : but il i, < 



,1111 the north which flow from 3) to 'M 

 mile-, a- the Dee. theOuse, the Clyde, and the Jordan. 

 Some of them form cataracts and rapids, and none of them 



>vigmble. 



The river Huoil. which drains the irre.-Uer part of thu 

 mountain-region west of the Derwent, na a course of a bout 

 H) miles ; but this river lies without the settled poition of 

 the colony, and , nljf been explored within a 



lew years. No account of it exists. It forms a wide - 

 like the Dei-went, which opens in I) Kntrccasteaux 

 Bay. Coal River drains the undulating country east of 



