1836-] ABORIGINES. 325 



Land. On the 5th of February, after a six days' passage, of which 

 the first part was fine and the latter very cold and squally, we entered 

 the mouth of Storm Bay : the weather justified this awful name. The 

 bay should rather be called an estuary, for it receives at its head the 

 waters of the Derwent. Near the mouth, there are some extensive 

 basaltic platforms ; but higher up the land becomes mountainous, and 

 is covered by a light wood. The lower parts of the hills which skirt 

 the bay are cleared ; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark 

 green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant. Late in the evening 

 we anchored in the snug cove, on the shores of which stands the 

 capital of Tasmania. The first aspect of the place was very inferior 

 to that of Sydney ; the latter might be called a city, this only a town. 

 It stands at the base of Mount Wellington, a mountain 3,100 feet high, 

 but of little picturesque beauty ; from this source, however, it receives 

 a good supply of water. Round the cove there are some fine ware- 

 houses, and on one side a small fort. Coming from the Spanish 

 settlements, where such magnificent care has generally been paid to 

 the fortifications, the means of defence in thesf; colonies appeared very 

 contemptible. Comparing the town with Sydney, I was chiefly struck 

 with the comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or 

 building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 

 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505. 



All the aborigines have been removed to an island in Bass's Straits, 

 so that Van Diemen's Land enjoys the great advantage of being free 

 from a native population. This most cruel step seems to have been 

 quite unavoidable, as the only means of stopping a fearful succession 

 of robberies, burnings, and murders, committed by the blacks ; and 

 which sooner or later would have ended in their utter destruction. I 

 fear there is no doubt that this train of evil and its consequences, 

 originated in the infamous conduct of some of our countrymen. Thirty 

 years is a short period in which to have banished the last aboriginal 

 from his native island, and that island nearly as large as Ireland. 

 The correspondence on this subject, which took place between the 

 government at home and that of Van Diemea's Land, is very interesting. 

 Although numbers of natives were shot and taken prisoners in the 

 skirmishing which was going on at intervals for several years, nothing 

 seems fully to have impressed them with the idea of our overwhelming 

 power, until the whole island, in 1830, was put under martial law, and 

 by proclamation the whole population commanded to assist in one 

 great attempt to secure the entire race. The plan adopted was nearly 

 similar to that of the great hunting-matches in India: a line was 

 formed reaching across the island, with the intention of driving the 

 natives into a cul-de-sac on Tasman's peninsula. The attempt failed ; 

 the natives, having tied up their dogs, stol<; during one night through 

 the lines. This is far from surprising, when their practised senses and 

 usual manner of crawling after wild animals is considered. I have 

 been assured that they can conceal themselves on almost bare ground, 

 in a manner which until witnessed is scarcely credible; their dusky 

 bodies being easily mistaken for the blackened stumps which are 



