BY JAMES BACKHOUSE WALKER. 225 



was land of good quality immediately about him 

 suiScient for extensive agricultural purposes. The timber 

 and stone were in sufficient quantity and quality for all 

 his needs, and the cove would make an admirable 

 harbour. Knopwood describes the site, not very 

 accurately, as an " extensive plain, with a continual run 

 of water, which comes from the lofty mountain much 

 resembling the Table Mountain at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. The land is good, and the trees excellent. The 

 ^lain is calculated in every degree for a settlement. At 

 five we returned and dined with the Governor, much 

 delighted with the excursion." Collins devoted another 

 day to the examination of a plain further up the river — 

 probably in the neighbourhood of Glenorchy — which, 

 he thought, might serve for the location of his free 

 settlers. °The trees were large and good, but the ground 

 was so cut up by torrents that he decided it to be unsuit- 

 able. In the meantime the officers had been sent to look 

 at the first site, and they returned v^'ith their unanimous 

 approval of it. The Governor forthwith ordered the Ocean's Log, 

 tents to be struck and sent on board the Lady Nelson, 

 and the two ships were moved out of the cove. On the 

 Sunday morning, in a strong northerly breeze, they 

 droppe'd down the river and anchored off the bay, to 

 which the Lieut.-Governor gave the name of Sullivan's 

 Cove, in honour of his friend Mr. John Sullivan, the 

 Permanent Under-Secretary at the Colonial Office. 



Monday morning (20th February) was squally and Knopwood. 

 wet, but in the afternoon the weather cleared, and a body 

 of prisonei's with a military guard was landed to pitch the 

 tents on the selected site. At four o'clock the Lieut.- 

 Governor himself, with his officers, went on shore for 

 a short time to superintend operations. That night the 

 marines and convicts slept at the new camp — the first^ 

 Europeans to sleep on the site of the future capital of 

 Tasmania. 



In a despatch to Governor King, Collins gives a 29th Feb. 

 description of the Cove in its original state. " In the iso*- 

 centre of the Cove," he writes, "is a small island, con- 

 nected with the mainland at low water, admirably 

 adapted for the landing and reception of stores and pro- 

 visions. Round this island is a channel for a boat, at 

 the head of which is a run of clear fresh water, pro- 

 ceeding from a distance inland, and having its source in 

 a rockln the vicinity of Table Mountain. The ground 

 on each side of the run is of gradual ascent, and upon 

 that next the Cove I have formed my camp. The Ocean 



