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On the Landslips of the River Tamar. 
Art. XXV. On the Landslips which have recently occurred 
on the west bank of the River Tamar, Van Diemen’s Land. 
By Lieut. M. C. Friend, R.N., F.R.S., &c. 
The great interest that has been recently created by the numerous 
landslips on the banks of the River Tamar, by the serious con¬ 
sequences that have already resulted from them, and the painful 
anticipation of still greater and more fearful ravages, has induced 
me to examine into the cause of these destructive phenomena of 
the soil in the localities in question, and if possible to suggest 
some remedy for an evil which, if not prevented, is likely to ruin 
several houses, and render useless much of the land that has been 
cleared at a great expense of time and labour. 
The first appearance of these moves—at least, that which first 
attracted my attention—was in the year 1833, on a farm at 
Pleasant Hills, then belonging to Mr. T. L. Bickford, which was 
one of the first cultivated; and about the same time I observed a 
similar effect in a field belonging to a man named Lachlan White 
near Freshwater Point, which was also broken up at an early 
period. Since that time, as improvements have advanced, the 
landslips have multiplied, and in some recent cases the extent of 
the mischief has been most serious. 
The soil on the west bank of the Tamar, which has been and is 
most liable to these accidents, is composed of decomposed trap 
rock, resting on yellow clay, with occasional patches of ochrey 
clay and pipe-clay, below which is the greenstone rock formation. 
The bank slopes at a considerable angle from the river, varying 
of course in the different farms. 
At Rosevear’s Point, where by the descent of the soil the whole 
feature of the hill has been altered, the motion seems to have been 
deeply seated, as even the large gum trees ( Eucalypti ), forming 
the landmarks by which the boundaries of the farms are defined, 
have been removed many yards down the hill, in that direction 
which presents the greatest facility of descent. 
On examination I found the land at this place to be deeply 
fissured, some of these openings being many yards deep, and 
several feet wide at top, the smaller ones occasionally holding 
