428 
Account of the country between 
affect to describe the trees and shrubs of these districts generally. 
But I cannot help noticing the cabbage palm,* a handsome shrub, 
pre-eminent for beauty and elegance, and common to every jungle, 
from those of Mount Olympus to Macquarie Harbour. The 
Blandfordiaf is also common. 
According to Mr. Frankland’s chart of Van Diemen’s Land,— 
indisputably the best yet compiled,—the distance between the two 
points (Marlborough and Macquarie Harbour) is, in a direct line, 
about 52 miles. To me this has been always unaccountable. 
By the circuitous track that I marked, the distance is at least 
between 80 and 90 miles, (the latter rather than the former). I 
am willing to admit that it is by no means direct, but even after 
making reasonable allowances, and large deductions, I must 
express my belief, that a person travelling direct from Marl¬ 
borough, would not reach Macquarie Harbour in 52 miles. It 
appears to me that Van Diemen’s Land extends somewhat further 
to the west than the charts lead us to suppose; in other words, 
that it is a larger island than it is represented to be. When 1 
went round to Macquarie Harbour by water, I amused myself with 
taking the bearings of various points on the south coast; and 
though I possess no memoranda of the observations I then made, 
(not having recorded them) I well recollect that they all tended to 
confirm the belief that the west coast is (at any rate in some 
parts) incorrectly represented. 
To question the accuracy of the work of such a surveyor as 
Flinders, would be presumptuous; did we not know that his 
surveys of the west coast of V. D. Land were (from some cause 
which I now forget) very hastily made. That they were made 
under circumstances unfavourable to correct observation, must be 
apparent from the fact, that he passed Port Davey without seeing 
it. That Flinders should have overlooked Macquarie Harbour, is 
not so much to be wondered at, as the entrance is extremely 
* Richea pandanifolia Hook. fil. is the plant here alluded to, A figure of it is given at 
page 72 of the present vol. Tasmanian Journal.— Ed. 
t B. grand!flora *— Ed. 
