26() WEST s:de of king island. 



being overrun with dense scrub and impervious 

 thickets. Tbere were few elevations on the island, 

 and those not of any great magnitude, the loftiest 

 point being scarcely seven hundred feet. The forma- 

 tion of the neighbourhood of Captain Smith's house 

 was granite : water abounds. 



The house in which this modern Robinson Crusoe 

 dwelt was what is called a Slab Hut. formed of 

 rough boards and thatched with grass. He had a 

 garden in which grew some cabbages and a few 

 other vegetables; but he complained sorely of blight 

 from the west winds. There are three varieties of 

 kangaroos on the island, and plenty of wild fowl on 

 some of the lagoons ; so that supplies are abundant : 

 but the few sheep he possessed were rendered of little 

 value from the burrs I have before mentioned. 

 I could not help pitying the condition of this gentle- 

 man and his interesting family — a wife and daughter 

 and three or four fine boys. They had retained a 

 few of the tastes and habits of civilized life, and I 

 observed a good library with a flute and music in 

 the Slab Hut. It was with great pleasure that I 

 afterwards learned that Captain Smith's prospects 

 had brightened. He is now, I believe, a comfortable 

 settler on the eastern side of Tasmania. 



On the ^9th we passed down the western shore of 

 King Island, finding the coast to be low, treacherous 

 and rocky. We discovered some outlying rocks a 

 mile and half from shore, and about eleven miles 

 south from New Year Island. The most remark^ 

 able circumstance we noticed in this part of our 



