498 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



dogs both sides of the river, and, first of Englishmen, 

 enjoyed the delight if a mountain ever can be a delight 

 to a Lincolnshire man of climbing Mount Wellington. 

 His report was generally favourable, though his words 

 sound faint praise to those who justly regard Hobart as 

 one of the most perfectly situated cities in the world. To 

 Bass the Derwent is a " dull and lifeless stream," with 

 " a sleepy course." If it has " any claim to respectability, 

 it is indebted for it more to the paucity of inlets into 

 Van Diemen's Land than to any intrinsic merit of its own." 

 The soil is, on the average, better than the soil of New 

 South Wales, though the best in New South Wales is 

 better than the best in Van Diemen's Land. Both these 

 countries are " poor countries " ; but, at all events, Van 

 Diemen's Land " seldom sickens the hearts of its travellers 

 with those extensive tracts which at once disarm industry, 

 and leave the warmest imagination without one beguiling 

 prospect." However, from the practical point of view, 

 it sufficed that Van Diemen's Land, though poor, was 

 less poor than New South Wales. " Many large tracts 

 of land," Bass was able to say, "appear cultivateable 

 both for maize and wheat, but which, as pasture-land, 

 would be excellent." The extensive valleys, he further 

 admits, " contain an indeterminate depth of rich soil, 

 capable of supporting the most exhausting vegetation." 

 After all, there have been many countries, besides New 

 South Wales, poorer than this. Bass especially recom- 

 mended the land at the head of Risdon Creek, and his 

 recommendation prevailed. In 1803 a settlement was 



Hobart, made in this " fertile valley of great bea'uty." The site, 

 however, proved unsuitable for a large town, and the 

 little settlement moved next year to the neighbouring 

 Sullivan Cove. 1 



A fruitful Flinders sailed from the Derwent, after a fortnight's 

 stay, on the 3<3th of December, and he reached Sydney 

 on the nth of January, 1799. He had lengthened the 

 permitted twelve weeks to fourteen. The fruits of the 

 voyage were of great value. It led to the colonization of 

 1 See Walker's Early Tasmania, p. 59. 



