DEAL ISLAND. 423 



group, nine hundred and ten feet high and quite 

 precipitous on its seaward face. We named it 

 Lighthouse Hill, its admirably conspicuous situation 

 suggesting the purpose to which it might be de- 

 voted ; the materials for building, moreover, are all 

 at hand. 



The principal islands of Kent Group have been 

 named Deal and Erith ; they occupy a square of 

 four miles, and are separated by Murray Pass, a 

 channel half a mile wide. Conical granitic hills, 

 in some cases clothed to their very summits with an 

 impervious scrub, are scattered over them. On Deal, 

 the eastern isle, there are charred stumps of a few 

 large eucalypti : but otherwise the trees are small, 

 the laro^est beinof a few casuarinas over the head of 

 East Cove. The valleys on the north side are 

 rich ; and in one leading from Garden Cove we 

 found a quantity of fine carrots, planted by some 

 sealers ; their seed had been carried by the wind 

 until the whole valley was filled with them ; fresh 

 water also is abundant on that side of Deal Island ; 

 and as limestone crops out at the head of East 

 Cove, a small party of convicts might be kept here 

 and advantageously employed in erecting the light- 

 house and cultivating the soil. By holding out to 

 them a slight reward, many of the islands in Bass 

 Strait might be brought under cultivation, and 

 supply grain, potatoes, &c., for the consumption of 

 the prisoners in Tasmania. This plan of dispersing 

 the convicts would also be beneficial in producing a 

 change for the better in themselves ; for whilst to- 



