TASHKEND 



5708 



TASMANIA 



first Canadian to wear a cardinal's hat. Car- 

 dinal Taschereau was born at Sainte Marie 

 de la Beauce, Que. He was educated at Que- 

 bec Seminary, with which he was then con- 

 nected for nearly three decades, first as pro- 

 fessor of moral philosophy and after 1860 as 

 Superior. After 1860 he was also rector of 

 Laval University. In 1862 Taschereau was 

 made vicar-general of the diocese, and in 1871 

 archbishop. In the next year he founded the 

 Hotel Dieu du Sacre-Coeur, a convent and hos- 

 pital. In 1886 Pope Leo XIII elevated him to 

 the rank of cardinal. He retired from the 

 active administration of the diocese in 1894. 



Sir Henri Elzear Taschereau (1836-1909), 

 younger brother of the cardinal, was a distin- 

 guished Canadian jurist. He was called to the 

 bar in 1857, and established practice at Quebec. 

 From 1861 to 1867 he sat as a Conservative in 

 the Canadian assembly, and in 1871 became a 

 judge of the superior court of Quebec. From 

 1878 to 1902 he was a puisne judge of the Su- 

 preme Court of Canada, and from 1902 to 1906 

 was Chief Justice. Knighthood was conferred 

 on him in 1902. Sir Henri wrote Notes and 

 Commentaries on the Criminal Law oj 

 Canada; The Code oj Civil Procedure in 

 Lower Canada, and The Criminal Code oj the 

 Dominion oj Canada. 



TASHKEND', or TASHKENT', the largest 

 city in Asiatic Russia and the capital of Rus- 

 sian Turkestan, is situated in the valley of 

 the Chirchik River, fifty miles above the union 

 of that stream with the Syr-Darya. The city 

 is divided into two quarters, the old Asiatic 

 and the new Russian. The latter is regularly 

 built and contains academies, public libraries, a 

 museum and theaters; in the old quarter are 

 numerous mosques, and inns for the accommo- 

 dation of caravans. Tashkend is an important 

 center for the shipment of merchandise to Bok- 

 hara, Persia, Kashmir and India, and it has 

 railroad connection with Krasnovodsk, 1,085 

 miles distant on the Caspian Sea, and with 

 Orenburg, in Eastern Russia. Population (Asi- 

 atic and European nationalities), 1912, 271,650. 



TASMANIA, tazma'nia, formerly called 

 VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, an island forming one of 

 the six states of the Commonwealth of Austra- 

 lia, separated from the southeastern part of 

 the mainland by Bass Strait, 140 miles wide. 

 The island is of triangular shape, 200 miles 

 from north to south and 245 miles from east to 

 west, covering an area of 26,215 square miles, or 

 about as large as Virginia and Delaware com- 

 bined. The population was 201,675 in 1911. 



LOCATION MAP 



The coast is remarkable for its bold headlands 

 and picturesque inlets. The interior of the 

 island forms a plateau with an elevation of 

 between 3,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea 

 level; this plateau contains many lakes, the 

 principal being 

 Lake Austrua, 

 Lake Saint Clair, 

 Lake Sorell, Lake 

 Echo, Great Lake 

 and Arthur's 

 Lake. The moun- 

 tain ranges bor- 

 dering the central 

 plateau do not 

 reach a very great 



altitude, the high- 



' , ? The island lies south of 



est point being Victoria, a sister state of the 



Mount Cradle, Commonwealth. 



which is elevated 5,070 feet above sea level. 



The geological formation of Tasmania is in- 

 timately connected with that of Victoria, on 

 the main Australian continent, to which it was 

 joined until after the Miocene period. The 

 island is well watered, possessing rivers which 

 flow into the sea on the north, south, east and 

 west. The soil is very fertile, and agriculture 

 forms one of the chief occupations of the in- 

 habitants. 



The animal life of Tasmania is similar to 

 that of Australia, except that the dingo, or 

 wild dog of Australia, is not present. Tas,- 

 mania has two carnivorous animals, the tiger 

 and devil, or wolf, which are peculiar to that 

 country. The kangaroo, opossum, kangaroo 

 rat, wombat, the duck-billed platypus and the 

 ant-eater are also common. 



The climate is really delightful and more 

 healthful than that of any other of the Austra- 

 lian states. The heat is not usually excessive, 

 though during exceptionally hot periods the 

 thermometer has been known to rise as high as 

 110 F., and it seldom drops below 47 F. 



The principal wealth of the state consists of 

 its copper mines. Gold, silver, tin and coal are 

 also produced, the combined value of the mine 

 production exceeding that of agriculture. 



Tasmania sends six senators and five repre- 

 sentatives to the Federal Parliament of Aus- 

 tralia. Every person living in Tasmania for a 

 period of twelve months who is over twenty- 

 one years of age is entitled to vote. The fran- 

 chise has been conferred on women. Elemen- 

 tary education is not absolutely free, a small 

 fee being charged, but this is waived in cases 

 of genuine poverty, which are rare. 



