complete the work of preparing the 
camp. This took most of the day, and 
towards evening all was ready for the 
reception of the main party, who were 
duo t.o arrive some time after midnight, 
ns they did not leave town until 7 o’clock. 
Looking at the camp from the hill to 
the south-east, it made a pretty picture. 
The silver waters of the hay terminated 
in an are of white sand, behind which 
rose a small sandbank, which again dip¬ 
ped before rising to the hillside, In the 
sheltered dell so formed grew a number 
of ouealypts and it was amidst these 
that the tents, nineteen in all, were 
pitched. 
The main party of the campers ar¬ 
rived in the early hours of Good Friday 
morning, and it was some time before 
all lights were out and the call of the 
spotted owl was the only sound that 
challenged the roll of the surge along 
the shore. Tn the morning Chef Wood¬ 
ward and his assistants had a busy time, 
and while breakfasting the members 
made plans for the day. Some decided 
to go exploring amid the gullies of the 
hillsides, others along the shore, while 
the main party decided to picnic at the 
Remarkable Cave. The cave is situated 
on the coast, towards Cape Raoul, and 
there are some splendid scenic views in 
the vicinity. On former occasions we 
had been able to walk right through the 
cave to the beach beyond, but this year, 
upon descending into the bowl-shaped 
opening leading to the cove, we were 
surprised to find that all the sand had 
been washed away. The floor of the 
cave was about five feet Tower than 
formerly, water-washed boulders gave 
place to sand, and the ocean rollers surg¬ 
ed through from the sea. After spend¬ 
ing most of the dnv in this vicinity the 
party returned to camp. 
On Saturday the. chief excursion was 
to Port Arthur. It was here that the 
historians of the party were able to tell 
the history of the many old buildings 
relics of the convict days, that are to be 
found there. Port Arthur was named 
after Colonel George Arthur, who did so 
much work elaborating “the system” dur¬ 
ing his administration of Tasmania from 
May 14, 1824, to October 30. 1838. It 
must lie remembered that Tasmania, or, 
as it was then known, Van Diemen’s 
Land, was, together with the other Aus¬ 
tralian colonies, a dumping ground for 
the surplus and undesirable population of 
the Mother Country. Many notable cri¬ 
minals were transported to these shores, 
hut, on the other hand, many were sent 
out for purely trivial offences. The pol¬ 
icy of transportation was to a large ex¬ 
tent one of forced emigration and coloni¬ 
sation of new possessions. As is well 
known, the occupation of Van Diemen’s 
Land was forced on the British authori¬ 
ties owing to fear of the French making 
a prior claim. Further, the idea of 
colonisation with the aid of forced con¬ 
vict labour had been brought under the 
notice of the French Government many 
years before. Charles de Drosses in 1756 
drew up such a scheme, and the eventual 
occupation of the Australian zone by the 
English was carried out on very similar 
lines to those proposed half a century 
before by the learned Frenchman. 
Colonel Sorell had founded a station at 
Macquarie Harbour, in order tg isolate 
the most undesirable of the convict: popu¬ 
lation, but, owing to its situation. Colonel 
Arthur decided to abandon this, and con¬ 
centrate the main settlement on Tas¬ 
man’s Peninsula, with the result ihat the 
initial settlement was made in Seotem- 
ber, 1830 Gradually the whole of the 
peninsula, of which Kaglehawk Neck 
formed the key. was linked up, and many 
sub-stations founded. The main station, 
however, was at Povt Arthur, the present 
name of the settlement being Carnarvon. 
It is here that one sees the ruins of the 
past. The church, the prisons, the resi¬ 
dences of the officers and men, together 
with many attendant structures, which 
were all in use eighty years ago. are now 
mostly in ruins, and serve to waken in 
many minds a desire to know more or 
les s of their history. 
An excellent view of the settlement is 
to be obtained front Scorpion Rock, a 
small hill behind the church. Here most 
of the members assembled and studied 
the panorama which spread out as a map 
before them. In the foreground lay the 
ruins of the church, one of the most 
picturesque relics of the old regime. This 
building was designed by a prisoner, who 
preferred to be known by the name of 
Mason. He afterwards received his par¬ 
don. and practised as an architect in 
Sydney, where he was very successful. 
The church, which would accommodate 
1.500 persons, had an eventful history, 
which commenced during its erection, as 
there were two murders committed, one 
while the trenches were being excavated, 
and a second while the roof was being 
put on. One of Die convict workmen was 
also detected making spurious coin from 
the lead. In front of the church, and 
near the shore of the bay, are the ruins 
of the large penitentiary, which was cap¬ 
able of accommodating 857 prisoners 
within its walls. Beyond this the walls 
of the magazine still stand, and towards 
the point the Commandant’s residence 
remains. To the right are to be seen the 
ruins of the hospital, the asylum, officers’ 
quarters, and the model prison, while 
across tbe waters of the bay lies Point 
Puer. It was here that the boys from 
