BY CLIVE K. LOUD. 49 



iTLitsket. O'Brien was so furious at the faikxre of the plan 

 that he refused to walk back 'to the station, and had to be 

 ■carried there by the men who had co-me to rescue him (^^). 

 After this O'Brien (35) was transferred to Port Arthur, 

 and eventually he accepted a ticket-of -leave. 



Traaisportation was soon to cease, however, and Dar- 

 lington was finally vacated as a convict station in 1850. 



There is an amusing account (3^) of how the H.M.S. 

 Ilavanndh, unaware that the settlement had been vacate'!, 

 put in there at Christmas time, 1850, and awaited a wel- 

 come due to such a Queen's ship. However, "the tall flag- 

 "staff was buntinsiess, the windmill sailless, the pretty cot- 

 stages and gardens seemed tenantless, not a drum was- 

 ■''heard in the military barracks, and the' huge convict 

 "buildings seemed minus convicts. At length, through a 

 "telescope, was observed one canary coloured biped, in the 

 "grey and yellow livery of the doubl^T- and trebly convicted 

 "felon. . . Pr-esently a whaleboat came slowly off and 

 "there 'appeared on the quarter-deck a hawk-eyed and 

 "nosed personage about six feet and a half high, who seem- 

 "ed as if he had long lived in indifferent society, for his 

 "eyes had a habit of sweeping round his person as though 

 "he was in "momentary danger of assault. This was an 

 ■""overseer left in charge of the abandoned station with a 

 "few prisoners to assist him." 



This now brings us to the end of the early period of 

 the island's interesting liistor)^ and the one with which we 

 will conclude. We have seen how the early romantic era 

 of geographical exploration gave place to commerce as re- 

 presented by the sealers and "bay whalers." And how 

 when these men had exterminated their stock in trade the 

 island became a home for the reformers of society — and 

 their patients. During the century the island was to wit- 

 ness yet another commercial era due to the activities of 

 Signor Bernacchi's Maria Island C'O'mpan}^, but this is be- 

 yond the scope of oiir present investigationsi. Maria Island 

 will always be of interest, not only from a scientific stand- 

 point owing to its peculiar geological formation, but from 

 the more general fact of its charming scenery and ideal 

 climat.S'. Closely inteirwoven with the other attractions of 

 the island are the interesting facts relating to its early his- 



(34) Denison. — Varieties of V ice-Regal Life, p 145. 



(35) Some said O'Brien was betrayed. However, tlie Victoria 

 was captured by a boat from the settlement, and the master Ellis was 

 tried at Hobart, and his share of the vessel forfeited. In spite of this 

 he managed to get away with the vessel. Later, some of the Irish 

 prisoners who had reached America met Ellis at San Francisco, and 

 an immediate Lynch law trial took place. The "jury," however, ac- 



iquitted Ellis on the charge of betraying the plan of escape. Fenton, 

 History of Tasmania, p. 216. 



(36) Mundy.— Our Antipodes, p. 474. 

 D 



