

u 



Voyage of Capt. Sir James C. Boss to the Antarctic. 19 



Dr. Hooker, of the expedition, speaks of the vast quantities of 

 silicifjed wood, either loose on the plains, or imbedded in rocks, 

 both igneous and aqueous ; — the former being most remarkable 

 from their singular beauty and the very perfect manner in which 

 the structure of the woody tissue is retained. Many of the spe- 

 cimens perfectly resemble to the eye splintered white deal. The 

 stump of the tree from which they came is a pine, about six 

 feet high, 2£ in diameter at the base, and 15 inches at the top; 

 it is silicified throughout ; it stands erect, in a cliff of vesicular 

 basalt, by which it was once enclosed. The exterior, — probably 

 the bark, is beautifully agatized with a brown color and glossy 

 lustre. The concentric annual rings, more than one hundred in 

 number, are perfectly distinct, as well as the medullary rays, and 

 the fibrous structure. The surface (the bark) is marked by those 

 large circular disks which are characteristic of all the pine tribe. 



Boulders of Basalt are numerous in the valley of the Derwent 



they are cylindrical and flattened columns heaped together, 

 with pebbles and spheroidal boulders of greenstone, piled up 

 against an escarpment of the carboniferous series. 



The basalt of Rose Garland contains fossilized trees, probably 

 silicified previous to the irruption of the melted rock — while 

 other trees not fossilized were consumed and have left moulds 

 and impressions — as happened in Hawaii in 1840. In some 

 instances these moulds have been filled by a second irruption, 

 forming casts. 



Coal mines and Sandstone quarries have been opened in this 



country. Copious citations are made in the narrative from Count 



Strzelecki's work which uow lies before us, and to this we must 



refer for many interesting facts regarding the minerals of this 

 country. 



Tasmania abounds with good harbors ; it has rivers of consid- 

 erable magnitude ; in many parts there is a rich soil and luxuriant 

 vegetation, with splendid scenery and grand forests, some of the 

 trees in which are 180 to 200 feet in height. It is capable of sus- 

 taining a large European population. 



Marks to measure the ocean level compared with that of the 

 land, were cut in a rocky cliff in the small island of Point Puer. 



Captain Ross well observes, that if similar marks had been made 

 during the early voyages of Bougainville and Cook, we should 

 possess means of judging more perfectly than now, whether secu- 

 lar changes of level are general or local. 



July 7. — The expedition again set sail for the Antarctic seas, 

 after a warm adieu to the governor and other numerous friends. 

 They passed port Arthur in Tasmania, one of the best harbors in 

 Van Diemens Land, and steered for Port Jackson, New South 

 Wales, where, without any remarkable event, they arrived. July 

 ** On their way up, (July 11,) they obtained soundings in 



