JAUNTS AND JOTTINGS. 147 



particular period every year. I have gone rather out 

 of my course, but crave the reader's pardon for the 

 digression, which may not have been uninteresting. 



A jaunt from Sydney to Hobart is very pleasant. 

 Taking advantage of a favourable break in regular 

 work, I took a run over to Hobart in the SS. ^'Oonah,^* 

 of the Union Company's line, of which steamer the 

 popular Captain Featherstone is in command. There 

 is not a more manly fellow on the coast than '^ Bill ^' 

 Featherstone, as he is generally styled, and he is a 

 splendid seaman. Hobart is a curious old-fashioned 

 place, built in the convict days ; and Marcus Clarke, 

 iu the story ^' For the Term of his Natural Life,^' has 

 given a vivid description of the horrors of convict 

 life at Port Arthur and Hobart. The town is beauti- 

 fully situated, nestling at the foot of Mount 

 Wellington and facing the magnificent harbour which 

 almost surpasses that of Sydney. Hobart has been 

 described so many times that there is very little to 

 relate about it that will be fresh to readers. This is 

 not a guide-book, merely a slight sketch, or series of 

 sketches, of what an ordinary individual's life is like 

 in the Colonies. I often think books of travel are 

 written for one section of the community only, the 

 more favoured class of society. 



During my stay in Hobart, I visited several of the 

 training stables, and had a drive to the racecourse at 

 Jjlwick. 



