BY JAMES BACKHOUSE WALKER. 73 



sluggish, and muddy, choked with weeds and slime, and 

 altogether uninviting in aspect. At the up)3er end of 

 the marsh, where the valley suddenly contracts, a dilapi- 

 dated stone jelty marks the old landing-place on the 

 creek, at present quite inaccessible for a boat. On the 

 narrow strip of flat ground between the jetty and the 

 steep hill beyond are the barely discernible foundations 

 of a stone building, the first stone store in Tasmania. 

 From this point a road leads upwards along the hillside 

 for some 150 or 200 yards to the top of the rise, where 

 there is a level piece of land of no great extent, bounded 

 on the north by rough hills and on the south sloping 

 steeply to the valley. On the edge of this level ground, 

 overlooking the flat and commanding a fine view of the 

 Derwent and of the mountains behind it, stand some 

 dilapidated wooden buildings, for many years well known 

 as the residence of Mr. Gregson, the little cottage in 

 front being not improbably Lieut. Bowen's original 

 quarters. A good garden extends to the rear of the 

 house, and in this garden, about 100 yards behind the 

 cottage, there still stand the ruins of an oven v/ith brick 

 chimney, which Mr, Gregson for many years religiously 

 preserved as the remains of the first house erected 

 in Van Diemen's Land. From this point the valloy is 

 narrow, the ground sloping down steeply, but there is 

 good agricultural land in the bottom, and on the northern 

 slope where Bowen's free settlers were located — the 

 other side being stony and_ barren. A plan which Bowen 

 sent to Governor King enables us to identify the locality 

 with absolute precision. He tells King — " We are 

 situated on a hill commanding a perfect view of the 

 river, and with the fresh water at the foot of it — the land 

 excellent." 



After pitching his tents at Risdon, BoAven was not 

 idle. He set his people at once to work to build huts. 

 During the first week he made a boat excursion up the 

 river ; examined Herdsman's Cove, find thought of 

 locating his free settlers there. He describes the Der- Bowen to 

 went as " perfectly fresh " above Herdsman's Cove, King? 20th 

 and " the banks more like a nobleman's park in England jg^^® '' 

 than an uncultivated country ; every part is beautifully 

 green, and very little trouble might clear every valley I 

 have seen in a month. There are few rocky spots except 

 on the high hills, and in many places the plough might 

 be used immediately ; but our woi'kmen are very few and 

 very bad. I could with ease employ a hundred men 

 upon the land about us, and with that number — some 

 good men among them — we should soon be a flourishing 



