II HOBART AND THE MIDLANDS 39 



the Australian mainland, is struck with the 

 English appearance of the buildings and gardens, 

 and even of the landscape. Many of the houses 

 are built of solid blocks of sandstone, a remnant 

 of the old days of prison labour, and although 

 corrugated iron has replaced the once almost 

 universal 'shingles', a certain number of tiled 

 roofs may still be seen. In the gardens by the 

 roadside geraniums and every sort of English 

 flower grow to perfection in a congenial climate ; 

 oaks, poplars, and elms, and a variety of pines 

 are planted everywhere ; and the blossom of the 

 hawthorn hedges, which everywhere line the roads 

 and delimit the fields, might surprise us that this 

 is an Antipodean spring in October and not our 

 English May. Along the banks of the rivers and 

 streams, magnificent willows hold a usurped sway, 

 and the sweet-briar is not only rife, but would 

 very soon cover the whole of the open country 

 if it were given a free hand, and is a more serious 

 menace to the Tasmanian farmer than the rabbit 

 of evil fame. 



The illusion that I was in England was very 

 strong one sunny afternoon as I sat outside a 

 village inn upon the Brown's River road. Looking 

 up and down the village street one could see 

 nothing but English flowers and trees ; sparrows 

 pecked about on the road and a flock of starlings 

 passed every now and again overhead, and a 

 number of goldfinches were busy looking for 

 seed in an adjoining field. Some swallows swept 



