44 A NATURALIST IN TASMANIA ch. 



the aboriginals, probably from time immemorial, 

 had been in the habit of burning out the scrub 

 in order to make large feeding-grounds for the 

 Kangaroo and other game on which they sub- 

 sisted. In other parts, the low hiUs are covered 

 with the ordinary English Bracken, which is also a 

 native here ; and this, together with small Wattles, 

 Tea-trees, and Bottle-brushes, makes a fairly thick 

 but by no means impenetrable scrub, which is 

 not to be compared with the really thick bush 

 on the southern and western mountain ranges. 



The earlier settlers naturally took up this 

 comparatively open country for their sheep-runs 

 and agricultural operations, especially in the mid- 

 land and northern parts of the island, where the 

 soil is superior. But little trouble is required 

 for preparing the land as pasture ; the Gum- 

 trees are ring-barked, and if growing in too great 

 numbers are grubbed up and burnt, but on many 

 acres of grazing-land the dead trees are left 

 standing or lying untidily about. The bush- 

 grown country is reclaimed by ringing the 

 Gums, which die after two years, shedding their 

 leaves and bark, and at the same time, or more 

 properly afterwards, the underscrub, if it is suf- 

 ficiently thick, is burnt, and the refuse cleared 

 away. 



But after clearing the land and sowing with 

 clover or grass, constant attention is necessary 

 to keep the Bracken from invading the newly 

 opened country ; so that it takes fully four years 



