CHAPTER II 

 HOBART AND THE MIDLANDS 



Hobart and the Derwent River. English appearance of the 

 country. Eucalyptus country. Cultivation and pasturage. 

 Birds. Mount Wellington. Vegetation. The mountain 

 tableland. Scenery. Harz Mountains. Birds. The Moun- 

 tain Shrimp. 



The little town of Hobart is situated upon the 

 estuary of the Derwent River, a few miles from 

 the heads where the river flows into the open 

 ocean ; the river, which is nearly two miles 

 broad and does not narrow very much for eight 

 or nine miles of its course inland, is very deep ; 

 and ships displacing about thirty feet of water 

 can draw right up to the wharves at Hobart, 

 a distinction which gives this port the pre-eminence 

 in Australian waters. At the back of the town 

 rises the Mount Wellington range of greenstone 

 (diabasic dolerite) mountains, and in all directions 

 the land is hilly, the palaeozoic sandstone strata 

 undulating up and down among crests and dykes 

 of the igneous greenstone. The coast-line to the 

 east and south of Hobart is wonderfully irregular, 

 and has been compared to the fantastic shapes 

 formed by pouring molten lead into water ; 

 everywhere the sea makes inroads into the coast, 

 cutting off narrow islands and peninsulas, while 

 the broad estuaries of the Derwent and Huon 



