PORT DALRYMPLE. 279 



N.W. by W. from Port Dalrymple, the mouth of 

 the Tamar. 



The 19th was one of the few fine days it was our 

 good fortune to meet with, and we enjoyed a splen- 

 did view of the Alpine features of Tasmania. 

 Towering peaks connected sometimes by high table 

 lands, glittered in the sun as if capped with snow.* 



Early in the afternoon, the lighthouse on Low 

 Head appeared like a white speck resting on the 

 blue horizon ; and by evening we found ourselves 

 at anchor just within the reefs fronting the west 

 entrance point of Port Dalrymple. The first ap- 

 pearance of the Tamar river is not very inviting 

 to the seaman. A rapid stream, thrown out of 

 its course, hemmed in by numerous reefs, and 

 passing over a bottom so uneven as to cause a 

 change in the soundings from 12 to 26, and then 

 1 8 fathoms, with a ripple or line of broken water 

 across the mouth renders it impossible in strong 

 N. W. winds for a stranger to detect the channels, 

 and raises so much sea that the pilots cannot reach 

 the vessels that arrive off the mouth. 



As the Beagle passed through the west channel, 

 the shear or first beacon on the west reefs was on 

 with a round-topped hill some distance up the river. 

 Although there is very apparent difficulty in navi- 

 gating the Tamar, still the first glance shows it to 

 be a stream of importance. Its valley, although 

 not wide, may be traced for miles abruptly 



* Near Ilobarton, in February 183G, I saw suow on the side 

 of a mountain. 



