

T A S 



following "hit tin- aiiuiunt uf the llohart Town 



imiiDH.s and f\|H>rU, with the places IIKIII which rrrrivril, 

 and to which sent, lor I he \carc tiding December, )Kf7: 



Imftrirlt. 

 Great Britain . . . 230.950 



Smith Wales . 

 itms 

 ita 



Canton . . . 



.Ha . . , 



. 'ore 



Cape of Good Hope 



United States . 

 Hamburg 



Great Britain 

 New South Wale* 

 Swan Kiver 

 South Australia 

 New Zealand 

 Mauritius 

 Calcutta 

 Canton . 

 Valparaiso 



Exports. 



MjMO 



8,141 

 4387 



1..-.H 



880 



1,878 



8.OO 



490 



348,126 



235,266 



In a comparison of these returns it is pointed out by the 

 editor of the Van Diemen's Land Annual," from which 

 publication they are taken, that the apparent balance ex- 

 hibited against HobartTown is diminished when it is con- 

 sidered that a great portion of this balance consists of pro- 

 perty imported by individuals who have settled in the 

 colony. We have not been able to procure authentic 

 returns of a later date than those quoted; but it may be 

 concluded that the value both of the exports and imports 

 of Hobart Town has greatly increased since. 



Launceston, the second town of the colony, is situated 

 at the confluence of the North and South Esk", which there 

 form the Tamar, flowing about forty-five miles, when it 

 disembogues into the ocean at Bass's Straits. It is 124 miles 

 from the capital of the colony. Lannceston is situated in 

 a marshy spot, and is neither in beauty nor in the promise 

 of health to be compared to Hobart Town. The enterprise 

 uf its inhabitants, aided by the vicinity of the richest 

 settlements in the island, is however great, and it is not 

 improbable that this town will outstrip its southern com- 

 petitor in commerce. The imports in the year 1K(7 were 

 l'.ll.s-J3/. in value : the exports being 264,5i")!)/.. upward* of 

 twenty-nine thousand pounds above those of Hobart Town ; 

 and in subsequent years it is believed that the difference 

 is much greater in amount. Launceston contains many 

 churches, t he property of different religious denominations, 

 and the private and public buildings are not destitute of 

 architectural beauty. 



The highway between the northern and southern capitals 

 of Tasmania is for the most part well laid out : there are 

 inns along this road at short distances from one another, 

 the accommodation in which is not far from equalling the 

 same on the roads of England. Passing from the highway 

 into what were not long since unpeopled woods, the 

 fashionable vehicle as well as the rustic waggon of the 

 settler is to be seen dri\en along cross mads which are 

 everywhere in process of formation : and here and there, 

 only partially obscured from a distance by the thick and 

 sombre Australian foliage, are In ];, seen "mansions aim.. st 

 baronial, superseding the rude shelter of the aborigine, and 

 the but, almost as rude, in which the colonist first lodged. 

 Population. In iKts census of the free inhabitants 

 of Van Diemen's Land was mnde with a reference to the 

 religious denominations to which they belonged, which ex- 

 hibited the following summary: 



Church of Knglaml 



( 'hiireh of Scotland 



Church of Home 



\Veslcvins 

 Baptists 

 Independents 

 Quaker* 

 Jews . 



The accuracy of Ibis return, in MI far as it referred 

 relative number* belonging to different i< omi- 



nations. was generally questioned ; but t!: 



-tation ol the amount of popul.i 1 



admitted. No great increase b\ IIIHKIL iatioii h:is 

 place sir.ce, and the new co ' Phillip h:.- 



many from Tasmania. The return of the number of male 

 and female com ids for the sain 



Male convicts .... lr. 

 Kemale convict* 

 An account of the com id system of Van Piemen's Land 



r\ed for the article TRANSPORTATION : but 11,. 

 lowing returns are introduced I'.cie. as they bear upon the 

 general social condition of the island : 



Return s/wui'iig the Disposal of the Convicts in 1838. 



Sentence of transportation expired . 793 

 Free and conditional pardons 



Transported to New South \V., . 23 



Transported to Port Arthur . . ],30<i 



Absconded in 1837 . . 1 



Died . K,7 



Executed . . . . 4 



Confined in gaols . . (i!i 



Sick in hospitals . . 



Invalid establishments . . PJI; 



Employed in chain gangs 

 Kmploycd in public winks 



Artificers on loan to settlers . . '.!(i'J 



,'ned to settlers .... (i.ui'J 

 'Tickets of leave.' or conditionally free :t,!Mkt 

 Constables and iield police . 



Missing ... . . 'M 



Female Convicts. 



Sentence of transportation expired 

 Conditional pardons . . . 



Died 



Sent to New South Wales . 

 Total number remaining 



U 



B3 



16 

 1 



2.31 S* 



i if Crime. If Van Diemen's Land has greatly be- 

 nefited in au economical sen-e In being a settlement for 

 convicts, it has undoubtedly suffered from this cause in a 

 moral sense. A paragraph will not suffice to give an ac- 

 curate idea of the general moral condition of the popu- 

 lation. Referring therefore to the Transportation 1, 

 of 1838, and to a volume entitled ' Australiana." by Captain 

 Maconochie, R.N..K.H. (Parker, Strand, 1836), vn shall 

 introduce here only a lew details and accoinpamin 

 planations taken from the last of these authorities. 

 withstanding the 1 strictness and vigilance of the police of 

 this colony, notwithstanding the length of time during 

 which the prisoners ha\e for the most part been sub.'. 

 to its minute supervision, notwithstanding the decided 

 tendency of the age to moral improvement, and notwith- 

 standing tlie great influx of free settlers into the colony 

 within the last ten jears and the hiu'li personal respec- 

 tability of most of them, the proportion of cnme and dis- 

 order 'to the entire population is not onl\ . but 

 appeals in mam paitieulars e\eii lobe on UW inert 

 From No. :u of \J\tStatittical /'.;/< /* drawn up by the 

 colonial secretary, it appears that convictions for drunken- 

 ness were, in IS'.'l. as :(,', to UNI of the whole population, 

 and in timis under penal statin . 



.'i-soiis in IS'Jl were as 5jJ to 1IHI. and in IKJ'J .-is 

 7ft; and general misdemeanors b\ com ids in IsJl were 



, to im. and in IS32 as I:*,"/,. After IKW the re- 

 turns arc differently made, and tin- several heads of o Hence 

 are multiplied : yet, with feu except). 



fact is evident. Thus drunkenness among the comicts in 

 lX33-3t-:i5 was as 4fi, 4^, 4^J respecli\ely to 1(K). 

 The tendency, as is well known, in Kiiirhsh society, ut 

 in peculiar circumstances, has been rather steadily, during 

 the last ten or tucl\e veais. towards sobriety. Felonies 



'I ol summarily were in like manner, in ls3:t-:H-:r>, 

 * 2ft- +H|. 3JH to I'lK): nmonir free people, as 7)^, 5Jt> 

 .!,, 1,1 liHI: and what are, MIS otlenee,. not in- 



cluded under pieuo.is lieads, as Iflj, 3^,4^ to 100. Cap- 



W',' ' .wn.l, 



w lii'-li i \plain the difference between thoc totals ami thoe j.rc\ iou-ly quoted. 



