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UC-4IRLF
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MY HOME IN TASMANIA.
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'4.
LATH HALL.
FROM A SKETCH BY THE BISHOP OP TA9MAKIA.
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cr>>»-</^
♦ MY HOME
TASMANIA,
DURING A RESIDENCE OF NINE YEARS.
By Mrs. CHAELES MEREDITH.
TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. IL
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1852.
.7.
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-* "i
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
PAOB
Opossnxns not Sluggish. — My Tame Oposram. — Mtoehieroiis
Pranks. — The Oposram at Sapper. — Awfol Thonder-Storm.
— Varieties of Opossom. — ^The Ring-tailed Spedes 1
CHAPTER IL
Wild Cattle.— The « Milking Bail.**— « Mob.*— Sheep-shearing.—
Harvest. — ^Wages. — The Bronze-winged Pigeon. — QoaiL — Snipe.
--KatiTe Hen.— Bittern.— Presents of Pets .... 15
CHAPTER III.
Green Parrots. — Rose-hOl Parrots. — Parakeets. — Snakes. — A
Snake Charmer. — ^A Tame Snake. — ^Poison-fEuigs of Snakes. —
lizards.— « Blood-sncker.**— Spiders' Nests .... 28
CHAPTER IV.
Destroyers of Poultry. — ^Natiye Cats. — Hawks. —Crows. — ^Miner.
— Great Comet — ^Excursion to the Coast — ^View of the Schon-
tens.— Oyster Bay Pine.—'' The Two Peterses."— Apsley River.
— ^Pacific Ocean.— Whaling Station.— Cray Fish.— Retom Hone 40
CHAPTER V.
Garden laid ont— "Water laid on.** — Heavy Gale.— Itinerant
nireehing Machine. — Spring and Summer Flowers. — ^Acacia. —
Eucalyptus. — Epacris. — Native lilac. — liUes. — Stylidium. —
Orchidesa.— Sun-dew.— Native Rose. — ^The Tea-tree. — Berry-
bearing Shrubs 61
CHAPTER VI.
Improvements. — Fishing. — Water-fowL — Bush-rangers. — Who's
there! — ^Domestic Security 79
-1 ( ) 3 5) 7 9 git zed by Googk
IV CONTENTS,
CHAPTER Vn.
PAOB
Unwelcome Changes. — ^Preparations for BemoraL — ^A Dripping
Gnest. — Onr " Family Carriage."— A Coi^jnrer. — Departure. —
Passage over the Tier. — " Hop-pole Bottom." — Economy of
Goyemment OfiUdals. — Mount Henry 89
CHAPTER Vm.
Saint Paul's Plains and River. — ^Bog. — ^Ben Lomond. — Sojourn at
the " Stony Creek."—" Deoch an Dorich."— " Eagle's Return."
— Coaches. — Great Western Tier. — ^Perth. — ^Approach to Laun-
ceston.— Sojourn there.— Arriyal at Carrick.— Old Water-mill . 101
CHAPTER IX.
Westbury. — ^Deloraine.— Wooden Bridge. — ^Bottled Ale and Porter.
— ^Hospitality.— A New Friend. — ^Last Day of the Pilgrimage.
— ^Avenue Plain. — Crossing the Rubicon. — The Forest. — ^Mid-
day Halt.— Leech.— Night Ride.— Difficulties of the Road.—
Safe Arrival . 117
CHAPTER X.
General Sketch of " Lath Hall." — Cockatooers.— Poverty at Port
SorelL — Potatoes. — Port Sorell Horse-keeping. — Fences. —
Dutch Bams.— Model Stables. —Police Station.— Pleasant Sea
View.— " Clarissa."— Cottage Sites 134
CHAPTER XI.
Our New Neighbours. — Golden Rxde for Ladies. — ^Touchstone and
Audrey. — Veterinary Conversation. — Excursions. — Walk to
the ** Sisters." — Sea-Birds. — Pelicans and Porpoises, Ac. . . 149
CHAPTER XII.
Expedition to an Enchanted Valley.— lichens.— Netties.— Fern-
trees. — Small Ferns. — Natural Temple.— The Tallow-tree. —
Sassafiras. — Mischances by the Way. — Clematis. — Orchidaceous
Flowers. — ^Native Laburnum . . , . . . . 159
CHAPTER Xin.
Tasmanian Eagle. — White Hawk. — ^White Cockatoos. — Superb
Warblers' Nest. — Strange Insect. — Venomous Guests. — ^Burn-
ing Trees.— Stinging Ants.— Flies.— Wood Tick . . .170
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
TJtMM
Church-Building. — ^Pablic Worship. — ^Defidencf of Bdigiont In- '
stmction. — Rustic Costomes. — Leather '* LeggingB." — P iogie e -
sire LoTe-tokens. — Marriage 186
CHAPTER XV.
A Winter at Port SoreH— Four Months' Rain.— Vojage to Laim-
ceston. — The Town Wharf. — Jonme7 to Hobarton. — Sir
Eardley Wilmot-- Sketching Epidemic — Exhibition.— A Fern
Valley. — Gabs.— Mrs. Bowden's "Anaon" Disdi^ine.- Female
Servants — ^Religions Instniction 194
CHAPTER XVI.
Retom Home. — Ronte over Badger Head. — ^The Asbestos HiDs. —
The New Cottage.— €k)ats and their Kids. — Garden. — Bees. —
Native Wasps.- Flies versus Spiders.- Wasps* Nests.- The
Dark Avenger.— Rose-tree Cattings.- Wasp Stings . 212
CHAPTER XVn.
Pish.- The Blue-head.— Sting-raj.- Bathing.— Crabs.— Shells.—
Echini.— Starfish.— Sea Anemones.— Handsome Cuttle-fish.—
Jelly-fish, &c.— A Marine Mrs. Qamp.— Elephant-fish . . 230
CHAPTER JCVIII.
Improvements at Poyston. — The Harriet. — A New Bird. —
IMamond Birds. — Dragon-flies. — Oreen Frogs. — Rabbits. —
Great OwL— SmaU OwL— Mawpawk.— Bush Fires.— Provi-
dential Escape ...» 243
CHAPTER XIX.
Resignation. — Removal. — Voyage. — Contrary Breeze. — Great
PeriL — Anchor at George Town. — Overland Journey to Swan
Port. — ArrivfJ of the Harriet.— Riversdale.-Improvemente.
—The Veranda.— Pigeons and Fowls.— Plenty without Profit.
— Condnsion 269
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UST OF ILLUSTMTIONS TO VOL. H.
Lath Hall FrontisplMe.
Dblobjuitb Bridob ^ntle-page.
Spiobsi' Nbsts Page 28. 39.
Bbn Lomond „ 103.
POYSTOS . . .
Elephant Fish
Badoeb Hbad and thb S18TB& Islands, fbom Potston
VlBW FAOM THB GaBDEN, PoTBTON ....
212.
230.
243.
258.
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NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA.
CHAPTER I.
Opoflsmns not Sluggish. — Mj Tame Opoasnm. — Mtoehieroaf Pnuiki. —
The Opoflsom at Supper. — ^Awfal Thnnder-Stonn. — Vaiietiat of
Opossum.— The Bing-taQed Spedee.
Having in my fonner " Sketches " alluded to the
common opossums, which are alike denizens of New
South Wales and Tasmania, I need not minutely
describe them again, but must beg to point out
what seems to me a lamentable error in the account
given of their habits in a recent and generally very
interesting work*, of which only a few of the
earlier numbers have reached us. They are there
described as '* sluggish and stupid!" Perhaps I
ought, in the first place, to acknowledge my own
former ignorance in calling them '' opossums " at
all, seeing that the zoologically learned have de-
* " The Pictorial Musemn of Animated Nature." London : Charlea
Knight and Co.
VOL. II. B
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2 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. I.
monstrated tfeem to be " Phalangers," as I learn
from the work in question ; but it is so hard to know
a thing suddenly by a new name, whilst every day
brings the familiar use of the old one, by which the
creatures are known here, that I fear it will be long
ere I learn to adopt readily the new and proper
appellation of my old favourites.
And now as to their sluggishness and stupidity.
That a poor imprisoned animal, shut up in a small
box or cage, fed on unwholesome and unnatural
food, and removed to an^ungenial climate, where
it is never permitted to enjoy the free use of its
limbs, may seem stupid, is very possible, especially
if only observed in the daytime. When in its natural
state, it is always fast asleep in its nest in some dark
hollow tree, or coiled up in a thick tussock or
bush; but this same creature, in its own mild
climate, and in ftill possession of its liberty and
health, is as far removed from the "sluggish" or
" stupid " as any in the whole glorious creation ;
and if the unconscious writer of that sad libel
could mark, as I have done, the scampering,
climbing, and chattering, and the headlong frolic-
some gambols of the woolly elves in our forests on
a moonlight night, or witness the havoc which
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Chap. I.] OPOSSUMS NOT SLUGGISH. 8
moming shows, after their exploits in the harvest-
field, which was oyer-night as neatly laid out as a
newly-set chess-hoard, he would instantly re-cast
his unfair paragraph. At harvest- time they are
specially provoking : I have seen one of our fields
left in the evening ready for the next day's carting ;
the rich heavy sheaves nicely set up and " capped "
in compact shocks, running in even lines from end
to end (and in a " paddock " of thirty acres and
upwards, as this was, the sight is a most pleasant
one), and I have visited the same field in the mom-
ing, to he reluctantly convinced that my favourite
opossums were really the mischievous imps they
are considered. Scarcely a line of shocks remained
as it was, hut numbers of them lay prostrate, the
sheaves scattered, the hands untied, and the heavy
com beaten and trampled down, partly eaten, and
scratched about in woful waste and disorder. The
chief scenes of the destraction were within wide
circles round several very large dead gum-trees,
which had been ''ringed" and left to perish (a
ring of bark taken off all round causes a tree to
die, although the breadth of an inch left entire
saves it); and up and down these trees, and among
their great bare branches, and round about amongst
B U
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4 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. I.
the shocks of corn, it appeared that the maddest of
the revel bad gone on. No doubt the kangaroos
had been of the party, and had taken their share in
the mischief, but the opossums were pronounced to
be the principal delinquents.
I kept one of the common species tame for some
months, and know their troublesome activity but
too well. One of our servants, when out at night
shooting them, killed two does, each having a
young one in her pouch, and these he brought to
me. They were then about two-thirds the size of
an EngUsh squirrel, grayish brown, softfiirred,
sweet- faced little creatures ; and I, as delighted with
my prize as a child, directly ordered a large tea-
chest to be made into a cage, with thin bars, and a
door at one side to put them in. As the man went
on preparing the new abode, he observed quietly, —
" Ah ! ma am, I Ve known a many people as
kep' tame possums, but never a one as wasn't glad
to be quit of 'em again ! "
This, however, I treated as a most unworthy
prejudice on the part of our good servitor, and
diminished nothing of my zeal for the comfort of
my poor little orphan pets. I gave them a warm
bed of wool and fresh hay, in which they com-
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Chap. I.] MY TAME OPOSSUM. 5
pletely hid themselves during the day, clasping
each other ynth their paws and tails into one round
ball. I fed them with bread soaked in milk, and
slightly sweetened, but for the first few eyenings I
had to give it to them very carefully with a small
spoon, not noticing their sharp little claws and
teeth ; and afterwards they fed th^nselves, picking
a piece out of the saucer and holding it in their
fore-paws, which, as well as the hind feet, have the
toes so long and slaader as to seem just like fingers,
and in these little creatures the texture and colour
of the skin was soft and fair, quite a delicate pink,
like a baby's fingers. They grew fast, and played
with each other at night, as well as their roomy
cage would permit, and after a time began to eat
firesh young ears of com, grass, parsley, &c., in
addition to their constant meal of bread and milk.
One day, when I was clipping the thyme-edging of
my flower borders, I unfortunately offered them a
small bit of it in blossom. One of them refused it,
but the other ate a young sprig about two inches
long, and coiled itself to sleep again. A feiend who
dined with us that day, hearing me mention having
given some thyme to the opossum, immediately
said that it would die, as he had known others
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6 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [C^iap. L
killed in a similar manner. At night, when the
cage was as usual carried in from the veranda to
the hall, I saw that the one which had eaten the
thyme was ill, ^d would not touch its food; its
eyes were dim, its nose hot and dry, and its stomach
frightfully distended. My attempts to remedy the
evil I had so unconsciously done were all unavail-
ing, and I put the poor Uttle creature back into its
cage, hoping, l>ut not expecting, to see it recover;
its companion seemed greatly distressed and pu?zled
by its sad condition, and tried to rouse it up to
play as usual, but it grew worse, and in the morn-
ing was dead.
The survivor continued growing and thriving
well, and soon got so clever as to open the fastening
of his cage and let himself out into the hall, as
soon as he had finisned supper, and then such a
scampering and scrambling and leaping and
scuflBing began, as no decent household, who did
7iot keep " tame 'possums," ever heard before ! Up
the wall, and along the row of hat-pegs, knocking
oflF all the hats and parasols to begin with ; then,
before you have time to catch a glimpse of the
madcap, down he pops, apd, with a half-jumping
half-cantering sort of run, takes advantage of the
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ChajK I.] MISCHIEVOUS PRANKS.
door being left ajar for a moment, to firisk past yoa
into the parlour ; then climbing up the back of a
chair, he twiris his long tail over the top, and
swings by it gently to and fro, looking about him
the while with a sly nptomed face, till suddenly he
takes aim at the sideboard, springs upon that, kick-
ing off anything in his way, such as a stray decanter
or flower- vase, and runs round the raised back to
the centre scroll-work, where he sits a moment or
two, and, while glancing round with his bright,
glittering, black eyes, you see he is plotting new
mischief, though he pretends to be wholly engaged
in combing his whiskers with a fore-paw, or sur-
veying the curling end of that mysterious proboscis-
flnger-hook-like tail. Some one moves or speaks,
and off he flies, with a sUde along the piano, and a
scramble round the architrave of the door, and
there he is, hooked up above it to a picture-frame ;
dangling again by his tail for a second or two,
before that saiden j>loj> down to the floor, and the
quick scamper up the drawn curtains by his claws,
till he secures a safe and unmolested seat on the
top of the cornice, whence he complacently surveys
all below : and all this in a quarter of the time it
will take to read it I Never surely was there such
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8 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. I.
a beautifdl, graceful, iimooent-faced, sly, wicked
little piece of mischief 2 If my open work-box
were on the table, he made it a rule to spring up,
hook his tail to the lid, and straightway upset the
whole apparatus, flying before the scattered contents
into a comer, and peeping out like a sly, spoiled,
half-shy, half-Mghtened child; or if, determined
not to notice him, we sat still and silent, he would
slily climb the back of my chair and gently claw
my shoulder or bite my elbow; whilst his favourite
method of attracting Mr. Meredith's attention was,
to bite his toe, or pull the skirt of his coat, and
then scamper oflF to hide himself, only to return the
next moment and repeat the game. He stood in
some awe of the cat, with whom he frequently tried
to establish a pleasant and playful understanding,
but in vain. Mistress puss possibly considered bin)
a rival in her share of my affections, and always
repulsed his advances very rudely: when she
merely clawed at him, he ran away; but if she
forgot herself so far as to spit or growl, he instantly
turned back, and looked at her very earnestly, as if
debating within himself how such an indignity
should be received, or whether the offensive de-
monstrations were really directed to him !
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Chap. I.] THE OPOSSUM AT SUPPER. 9
At last we made a rule, never to admit Willy*
of an evening, until we were disposed to be idle ;
for to read, write, or work, with this spirit of fidget
in the room, was impossible ; and he was restricted
to the hall and passage, with a fresh yonng wattle-
tree (perpetually renewed), set upright in a stand,
for his especial comfort : this was a kind and clever
contrivance of his master s, that our favourite might
enjoy something of his native habits, in swinging
amongst the branches. Perhaps the drollest thing
was, to see him at supper, after he had attained the
size of a cat, and was quite independent in his ways
and manners. His tree stood close beside the table
where his cage and saucer of bread and milk were
placed at night, and as he hung like a great live
pendulum, swaying about from a high branch, he
would stretch out one hand, and, taking a piece of
bread, proceed very composedly to eat it, with his
head hanging down, end his hind legs uppermost.
The sight of my Uttle playfellow swallowing his
food in this topsy-turvy style, was enough to give
any one a fit of indigestion at least.
Willy fiilly appreciated the honour of being
* The name tused by the natives of New South Wake for the
opossum.
B 3
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10 NINE YEAB8 IN TASMANIA. [Chap. I-
admitted to our society, and used to make clamour-
ous demands to be let in, long before the appointed
hour, by running round the architrave of the
parlour door, and crying angrily from the top ; one
night, as if to spite us, he contrived to slip into
our bedroom unknown to the housemaid, who had
orders to keep the door shut. We had missed him
for some time, and, on going into our room and
looking about, I saw the bright wicked eyes peeping
at me over the cornice of the bed, and could soon
have dislodged Master Willy ; but, as Mr. Meredith
had no objection to his company, he remained,
keeping up such a ceaseless scamper up and down
the curtains, rattling the rings, and scuffling about,
that sleep was out of the question, and I feared lest
he might jump down on George's cot, and awake
him in a fright ; so, striking a light, and putting on
strong gloves, I watched my opportunity, and,
seizing his tail the next time it appeared, I gently
disengaged his claws and handed him into the
passage, where he grumbled and scampered round
the door-case till I fell asleep.
One evening when the weather was very sultry,
with constant Ughtning and distant thunder, Willy
failed to make his usual disturbance, and I searched
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eh*p. I.] AWFUL THUNDER-STOBlf . 1 1
for him in vain. He had eaten his bread and milk,
and was gone, no one knew whither; chimneys,
pantry, beds — every place was examined, bnt no
Willy could be seen, and we gave him up for lost,
when, in returning along the hall, I saw something
long and dark, hanging from one of Mr. Meredith s
hats, against the wall ; this proved to be Possy's
tail, and all the rest of him lay tightly screwed up
in the crown of the hat I would not have him
disturbed, and we never heard him move until near
daylight. The tempest increased to a fearful
height; I never heard so awful a thunder-storm,
and the lightning was for seven or eight hours
literally incessant; the flashes, blue and blindingly
vivid, seemed to come several at once, and the
simultaneous peals of thunder were deafening;
their tremendous and closely-successive explosions,
loudly reverberated by the surrounding mountain
tiers, were truly terrific*.
Willy, with animal instinct, had doubtless known
that a storm was at hand, and as, if in the forest,
* The aborigines of New South Wales have a great dread of thun-
der and lightning, and their words for these phenomena are singularly
expressiye, especially when uttered in their significant and earnest
manner. They call lightning "miklca" (very short and sharp), aad
thunder is " moo'rooboo'rooboroy," with a lengthened rumbling pro-
aondatioii.
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12 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. I.
he would have lain quiet in his hollow txee, so,
although well housed, he sought a place of close
concealment, nor tried any of his wonted vagaries,
until the storm had passed over.
Latterly he often opened his cage (which was
fastened by a leather loop over a nail), before the
time at which it was usually carried indoors ; but I
felt no apprehension of losing him, as he always
cantered into the house, our front door, leading to
the veranda and garden, being always open during
the day. One evening, the servants were otherwise
occupied, and I, having fed Willy in the veranda,
forgot him, until after the door had been shut for
the night, and then, on seeking him, I found that
my " bird was flown," and the cage opened as usual.
After this, we ahnost nightly heard an opossum on
the roof, and various things left about, outside,
were tossed over, very much in Willy's scrambling
style, so that we believed the house to be still
visited by its old inmate ; but, though tempted with
saucers of fresh sweet bread and milk for many
nights, he never returned to his old cage : nor, I
must candidly own, should I have desired to recover
my pretty plague, could I have felt certain he
was safe and happy; for I had sometimes acknow-
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Chap. L] VARIETIES OF OPOSSUM. 18
ledged that keeping one "tame 'possum" had
given me quite a sufficient insight into their
maimers and habits in a domestic state.
If any of my readers find this memoir of a
pet " Phalanger " somewhat prolix, they must
attribute my tediousness to my zeal for science, and
my desire to make known whatever knowledge I
may possess on this interesting subject: judging
from the work before alluded to, which is the only
recent book on natural history I have perused, these
creatures are not very well known. Should I ever
return to dear old England, I seriously contemplate
bringing with me a large " consignment" of young
opossums, for the especial solace and consolation of
such of my Mends as are now constrained to
pamper apoplectic lap-dogs, asthmatic cats, spiteful
parrots, and disgusting apes ; confident that, by so
doing, I shall confer an inestimable benefit on
society in general, and benevolent maiden ladies in
particular.
The black, golden, and gray . opossums are, I
imagine, distinct varieties, although identical in
nature and habits. Our bam and stack-yard were
often visited by them, and sometimes they came
boldly about the house early in the night; one
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14 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chftp. I.
evening Mr. Meredith shot two very large ones in a
wattle- tree within six yards of the kitchen door.
The " Bing-tailed Opossum " of Van Diemen's
Land {Phalangista viverrina) is a smaller species
than the common one, and still more elegant and
agile, although I have seen them the size of a full-
grown cat Like their kindred, they sleep hy day
and play hy night, when they hop and swing among
the branches of trees with even a greater degree of
rope-dancer buoyancy than the others. One which
was kept at Cambria some years since, was occa-
sionally admitted to the dining-room at dessert
time, and once, desiring to lower himself down over
the table s-edge, and at the same time hold on to it,
he clasped the end of his tail tightly round the
stem of a wine-glass, and boldly swung off, wo-
fuUy surprised to find his frail support and himself
on the floor together,
v The ring-tails are gray, the under parts being of
a lighter shade than the back, and about two inches
at the tip of the tail is white ; they seem to possess
more sagacity than most of their kind, as they are
never caught sleeping on the ground in the daytime,
a situation in which so many opossums are killed
by dogs.
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CHAPTER II.
wad Cattic—The " Milking BaU.**— " Mob."— Sheep^heMiiig. Har-
vest. — ^Wagee. — The fironae-winged Pigeon. — QaaiL — Snipe. —
Native Hen. — Bittern. — Presents of Pete.
I WELL remember the extreme wonder and amuse-
ment with which, years ago, we read in England
the accounts of chasing the wild cattle here, and,
with something bordering on incredulity, heard of
" milking cows leaping five-barred gates like fox-
hunters." I have since discovered that there was
no romance whatever in the story, for some of our
wild herd here would in the Bush outstrip the
fleetest horse ; and when " yarded," that is» put in a
stoc^-yard of massive logs, five or six feet high,
would frequently clear the top-rail at a bound. I
dreaded the periodical " collecting of cattle," more
than any other duty attendant on the farming
operations; sufiered great anxiety while it lasted,
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16 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. U.
and always thankMly rejoiced to see "Master/'
men, and horses return home without serious
injury, after one of their campaigns of a week or
fortnight's duration; a station at some distance
from home being the usual centre of £U5tion. The
poor horses rarely escaped being hurt by severe
falls, besides being nearly ridden to death. Not
that a helter-skelter chase is the method adopted,
for, if the cattle are once suffered to start off at the
top of their speed, they become perfectly mad, and
very little chance remains of regaining them that
day at least The utmost care and skill are
required to avoid alarming them; and the grand
object is, not to make them run, but to prevent
their doing so. Four horsemen are usually suffi-
cient to collect a small herd of two or three
hundred cattle.
When near the place where they expect to find a
herd, they ride quietly and silently along in
"Indian file," through the Bush, and the first
person who discovers the cattle gives a low whittle,
when all stop, and, observing their position, sepa-
rate, and endeavour to surround them, but more
especially to cut off their retreat into a thicket or
swamp, or other hiding-place, where pursuit would be
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Chi^IL] WILD CATTLE. 17
impossible ; the chief endeavoar being to get them
into a piece of open country, where the stock-iiders
can circle them ronnd and round, so as to narrow
the space they occupy, and get them to stand, which
is the great difficulty, and care is taken not to scare
or alarm them in any way. Sometimes one or
two or more dart away, and, if not recovered
immediately, are suffered to gallop off, as, whilst
pursuing them, the rest might be lost. Other
"lots" belonging to the herd are collected and
joined to these, and the whole driven, or rather
manoeuvred, in the direction of the station or stock-
yard, where the calves are to be branded with the
mark of the owner, and steers, cows, and "beef"
selected for use* On approaching a " scrub," with
only a narrow cattle-path through it, one or two of
the stock-keepers ride on ahead to the clear ground,
so as to be in readiness to check the cattle when
they emerge upon it, otherwise they would again
set off at full speed. They are then conducted
along; with one horseman ahead, to keep them firom
going too fast, one on each side, and one behind ;
and if this, the proper routine, can be observed,
the gathering is thought to be very easily accom-
pUshed.
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18 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Obap. II.
Horses acoustomed to the task understand the
whole programme as well as their riders, and will
pursue a run-away beast through an intricate forest^
or avoid the attacks of the inAiriated animals, with
the most nimble adroitness.
As may be supposed, these wild animals have a
strong repugnance to enter a gate, and care is
taken, on their approach, to leave all open and clear
for them, and to remove out of sight all dogs,
people, and everything that is likely to alarm them.
I have often seen the drove selected for use, and
not considered wild, as compared with many others,
brought within a few yards of the gateway leading
to our farm-yard several hours before they could be
got through it. They would often approach tole-
rably near, as if about to trot quietly in, when, with
a start and a snort, they would burst oflP, some
one way, some another, through the river, into the
scrub, " o'er the hills and far away," and the poor
weary horses be compelled to gallop furiously oiter
them, till the "lot" was again collected, and
perhaps with the same result, again and again.
Sometimes a party of more civilized animals were
turned out to meet and mix with the Strangers, who
might possibly be beguiled into rushing in with
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Chap, n.] THE "MItKINO BAIL." 19
them altogether^ bat this plau would only answer
occasionally.
Extreme activity^ n^rve, and presence of mind
are essential in the business of the stock-yard,
where fifty or more of these raging creatures are
pent up together^ and it is necessary for persons to
go in amongst them to draft certain of them off,
"rope" them {i. e,, catch them by flinging a noose
oyer their heads), &c., avoiding, as they best may,
the apparently inevitable fate of being impaled
on some pair of the entangled mass of horns
threatening them on all sides, the only mode of
escape being by a leap over the stock-yard itself,
when a stumble, or a moment's hesitation, might
be fatal.
Some of the cows from such a herd are very
troublesome before they can be quietly milked, and
it is necessary to have a kind of pillory, called a
"milking bail/' in which, without hurting them,
their heads are held fast, and a leg of the refractory
ones tied also, to prevent them from injuring both
themselves and the milkman, who, with the aid of
this simple contrivance, seldom fails in soon making
them quiet. Sometimes they have an incorrigible
desire to run away back to the hills, leaving their
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20 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. II.
calves, and the rich pasture, and a life of ease, to
go galloping about with the herd.
"Milkmaids" are out of the question among
such cattle as these, so that the pictures, so
common at Home, of buxom damsels tripping about
with pails and three-legged stools, would find few
living resemblances here.
A number of cattle together is here usually
termed a *' mob," and truly their riotous and unruly
demeanour renders the designation in this case far
from inapt ; but I was very much amused at first, to
hear people gravely talking of " a mob of sheep,"
or " a mob of lambs,'* and it was some time ere I
became accustomed to the novel use of the word.
Now, the common announcements that " the cuckoo
hen has brought out a rare mob of chickens," or
that "there's a great mob of quail in the big
paddock," are to me fraught with no alarming an-
ticipations.
December being, with us, midsummer as well as
Christmas, brought with its warm sunny weather
the summer tasks of sheep-washing and shearing.
The former part of the business was easily and
efl&ciently performed in a bright running pool in the
Swan River; and as we had as yet no suitable
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Chap, n.] SHEEP-SHEAKING. 21
buildings erected for the latter^ a temporary boarded
floor was laid in a stable^ around which the sheep-
pens and yards were arranged with hurdles. This
brought the busy scene rather close to the house,
but in our young establishment we could not have
all things fit at first, and I was too well pleased
with the progress already made to find room for
complaint. Master George was, of course, in a
great state of delight, and tumbled over hurdles,
got knocked down by the sheep, hugged the dogs,
made fiiends with the good-natured shearers and
shepherds, and got in everybody's way with im-
punity, as long as the, to him, charming dis-
turbance lasted.
The lambs of our flock were all shorn at the
same time as the old sheep, a far more humane
method than that usually practised here; most
persons choosing to leave the lambs' fleeces to grow
a month or two longer, so as to obtain a larger
"clip," thus stripping the poor animals of their
warm natural clothing just as the cold autumnal
and wintry weather approaches; and, although
great numbers of lambs perish miserably in con-
sequence, the cruel and short-sighted custom is still
obstinately adhered to by many, to whom interest.
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22 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. II.
if not humanity, might teach a wiser course. We
had the satisfaction of seeing our fat frisky lambs
with good warm winter coats on again hy the time
they needed them, and their healthy lusty condition
was an ample compensation for the temporary
sacrifice of a few pounds of wool.
Sheep- shearing ended on the 11th of January,
and harvest hegan on the 26th of the same month.
Heavy and luxuriant were the crops our new land
yielded us, and most pleasant it was to see wide
fields of golden grain waving in the sunshine, and
rows of sturdy reapers husily plying their gleaming
sickles, where, only the year before, we had with
diflSculty threaded our tortuous way through scrub
and forest.
And pleasant, too, was it to see the goodly stack-
yard fast filling with the plenteous store, hard by
the little spot where our first modest wheat-rick had
gladdened our grateful hearts. Now, instead of one
small one, five large portly stacks stood in brave
array, and the erection of a capacious bam and
straw-yard gave the finishing touch to that portion
of our farm arrangements.
The extra " hands" engaged for the harvest each
received a dollar (4«. 4^.) a day, with the same
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Chap, n.] THE BRONZE-WINGED PIGEON. 23 .
unlimited allowance as our own servants, of meat,
flour, vegetables, tea, and sugar, and a bottle of
wine a day each. To each of our own men, Mr.
Meredith gave £2 after harvest, as a reward and
encouragement for good behaviour and diligence.
These were prisoners, not better than the average ;
but they were industrious, well-conducted men,
who, though under strict discipline, needed not a
day's punishment whilst in our service *.
Numbers of the beautiful bronze- winged pigeons ^
frequented our corn-fields and stubble, affording
Mr. Meredith a little shooting, in which murderous
diversion I must not deny being an accomplice, for,
by walking up the lands of the field, I put up the
birds, whilst he shot them as they flew over towards
the scrub. They are considerably larger than the
common tame pigeon, and their plumage is a soft
purplish dove-colour, with a reddish glow upon the
breast, and the resplendent prismatic hues on the
wings from which they are named. In some the
preponderating gleam is green, and in others red,
* Wages were at tbat time high, good ploughmen and farm-servants
receiving from 36i. to iOl. a-year, with rations, dtc. ; bnt as wheat was
then worth 10*. a bnshel, and wool Is. 6d. a pound, the farmer's pro-
spects were far better than since (1847-8-9), with wages from lOl. to
15;., wheat 3«., and wool lOd.
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24 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IT.
but always bright and lustrous, like a peacock's
back, or a pearly shell in the sunshine. They have
pretty pink feet and ruby-ringed eyes. I have
often thought of trying to domesticate some, by
rearing them with my tame pigeons; their rich,
plumage and handsome shape would be . very
ornamental. A friend of ours had oue so tame
that it flew about his house, sat on his shoulder,
and, when he went from home, would accompany
him for a considerable distance, and then fly back
again. The poor bird was at last accidentally de-
stroyed, to its master's great regret.
When cooked, the bronze-winged pigeon is excel-
lent, being plump, tender, and well-flavoured, very
nearly the size of a good partridge, and here, where
those birds are not to be had, is our best substitute
for them. The meat on the breast is of two distinct
colours, white and brown, in two separate layers.
A few quail bred among the com, but they are
always scanty in number; the native vermin, as
well as hawks and snakes, and cats of the do-
mestic breed, become wild, are all tenibly destructive
to them.
Before the marshes were drained, snipe were often
plentiful in them, but are now very rare.
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Chap, n.] THE BITTERN. 25
Our dogs often found a bird commonly known
here as a native hen, and chased it out of the
scrabs or long grass; but unless a gun came to
their aid, they did not often succeed in catching
one, for the bird is exceedingly swift afoot. It is
something lit;e a common fowl in shape and size,
of a dusky copper-tinged colour, with long power-
ftd legs, and dark, generally tough flesh. It is
eaten and relished by some persons when skinned
and nicely stewed, but requires good cooking to
render it palatable. The noise the native hens
make at night exactly resembles that made in
setting a saw!^
One evening Mr. Meredith was looking for wild
ducks beside the river, when a rustling flight from
the tall sedges near induced him to fire, and he
shot a fine bittern, much to our regret, for we had
long known by the strange " boom," heard at night,
that we had one for a neighbour, and would not
willingly have had it destroyed. Its long fringed
neck and crest, and tall slender legs, reminded me
of the heron, and, for old acquaintance' sake, I
should have rejoiced in having it about us alive.
Its plumage is a sober brown, with markings and
shades of darker and lighter hues, altogether much
VOL. ir. c
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26 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. II.
more grave and ancient-looking than the bright
array of the blue cranes.
All kinds of wild things used to be brought to
me by our servants, for pets, until the very
unlooked-for ways in which I disposed of most of
them had the desired eflfect of damping their well-
meant ardour in making captures. One man
brought me a hatful of beautiful young quail,
which he found among the com, and I felt very
much tempted to try to rear them ; but knowing
that such experiments usually ended fatally for the
poor little birds, I contented myself with looking at
the lovely, tiny, little helpless things, and had them
straightway carried carefully back to the place
whence they were taken, so that the old birds might
find them again, and, as the young brood was well-
grown, fledged, and active, I am fain to hope they
did.
Another man brought me a nest of wild ducks,
which, by the time he had drank the tumbler of
wine I gave him, I had determined to dispose of
exactly as I did the quail. A third caught for me
ft pair of robins, but my love for the bright little
birds is much too great to permit me to imprison
them, or indeed any others. Birds in cages are
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Chap. II.] PET BIRDS. 27
to me most distressing and melancholy objects; ^
I never keep pets that must be so utterly deprived (
of their freedom; for my pleasure in possessing '
them would be outweighed tenfold by the sight and
knowledge of their unhappiness.
c 2
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spider's kest.
CHAPTER III.
Green Parrots.— Roae-hill Parrots.— Parakeets.— Snakes.— A Snake
Charmer. — A Tame Snake. — Poison-fangs of Snakes.— Lizards. —
" Blood-sucker." — Spiders* Nests.
3^ One family of birds may invariably be found in this
island wherever there is grain for them to steal, and
these are the handsome, merry, impudent, wicked,
rainbow-plumag'd, thieving parrots. The common
kind, attired in shaded green, with a yellowish breast,
and a few blue feathers in the wings and tail, is the
most daring and incorrigible. These beset the
stack-yard in legions, literally covering some of the
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Chap, ra.] THE ROSE-HILL PARROT. 29
ricks, and terrible is the havoc they commit, claw-
ing off the thatch and scooping caverns beneath,
into which they retreat when attacked, and peep out
in the most provoking way imaginable, crying
continually " cushee — cashee — cushee !" — and, when
assailed by volleys of sticks or stones, will often
only bob down their round saucy heads, or hop
aside to avoid a blow, and go on coolly pecking the
ears of com they hold in their claws, as if the
assault were a most unprovoked and unwarrant-
able one.
They are not deemed worth powder and shot, ^'
but may be knocked down with sticks, and when
skinned are tolerably good in pies.
All our parrots here have long tails, and are what ^ /
I should in England have called parroquets. The
stuffed specimens in museums, and in Gould's
magnificent work on Australian birds, have probably
made the chief of them famiUar to my readers.
The Rose-hill, or Rosella parrot, is the gayest of the
family indigenous to Tasmania ; the brightest and
most positive colours are distributed over its
brilliemt attire with such startling contrasts as would
be unpleasantly gaudy in anything but a bird.
Only imagine a lady dressed in a scarlet turban,
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80 NINE YEABS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. m.
green shawl^ scarlet and yellow stomacher, green
dress (a dififerent shade to the shawl), and long
purple train, edged with sky-blue ! Yet all these
clear and distinct colours are united in this bird's
radiant plumage. A group of them daintily pacing
about in the sunny garden, climbing among the
plants, picking flower-seeds, and performing all the
elegant, affected, coquettish antics which only
parrots can do, is a sight that well repays me for
the loss of many a half-hour which I cannot but
waste in watching them.
, They are very easily tamed to follow their master
/ about the house, or sit on his hand; but they
^ ^ cannot be taught to speak or sing so well as the
j larger kinds of parrots: I have never heard any
I, here which are comparable, in point of accomplish-
ments, to the large gray and green parrots I used
\ to know in England.
The most exquisite of all the Tasmanian species
/ is the Jittle green parakeet, which is not much
j larger than a fat sparrow. Its plumage is of two
^ colours only, green and red, but the green is a
living emerald, and the red is like that of moist
coral ; it is sparingly displayed about the head and
I tail. A flock of these radiant Uttle creatures
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Chap. III.] PARAKEETS. 31
sh'mming past— for they fly very swiftly, and are
much more shy than the larger species — can scarcely
be exceeded in beauty by the gorgeous lories of New
South Wales. They appear to live on the honey of
flowers, chiefly gimi-blossoms^ and are very short-
lived in captivity, none, that I have heard of, ,
surviving more than a year.
The_groundparaieetis a singular species, never
being seen to perch on a tree, but always alighting
on the ground. Its colour is clear bright green,
barred and spotted with black ; it is described to me
as very beautiful, but it is so rare that I have not
yet seen it.
I had feared that we should suffer much alarm
and annoyance from snakes at Spring Vale, judging
from the numbers destroyed there during the first
year of its occupation as a farm; but, with the
exception of one found in the stable litter, and two
killed in the cellar at different times, we saw none
very near the house ; and the number destroyed by
the men on the farm was not a quarter so large as
during the previous year.
A very thick black snake was brought home one . '
day, and, on being opened, was found to contain a
nearly full-grown kangaroo-rat, quite entire, all but
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32 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. III.
.the head, which was already digested; the snake
was not quite four feet long, and the kangaroo-rat
measured ten inches in length, with proportionate
girth.
r Several well-authenticated instances have been
related to me of snakes being killed, which had
half-swallowed other snakes very little smaller than
themselves, the lower portions of which were in
process of digestion in the devourer s stomach,
whilst the yet unswallowed half hung out of its
mouth. One of these was discovered by a boy
treading on it, when, to his horror, the reptile
I instantly coiled itself round his leg, but without
biting him, and, on a person coming to his aid,
it was found that the snake's mouth was fully
occupied and distended by the body of another
'. snake.
The extreme coolness with which some persons
will attack snakes is, to me, perfectly terrible. One
of our men-servants had a peculiar talent in this
way, and would, after peeping into a snake's hole,
thrust in his bare hand and arm, deliberately draw
out the deadly inmate, by the tail, and, holding
it up for a few seconds, swing it round, and dash
its head to pieces against a tree or log, with as
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Chap. IIL] A SNAKE-CHABBCER. 33
much sang froid as any one else would crack a
whip!
It is said that when a snake is held up by the
tail, and gently swung round and round, it cannot
turn up its head so far as to bite the hand. I
can hardly imagine any one trying the experi-
ment.
Considerable interest has been excited here lately
by the wonderful performances of a prisoner named
Underwood, who professes to have the power of
" charming" any kind of snake, so as to render it
gentle and innoxious ; and he has exhibited his ex-
traordinary faculty before the Lieutenant Governor,
the Bishop of Tasmania, several medical men, and
many others of the most intelligent persons in the
colony, all of whom bear testimony to his evident
power over the reptiles. He handles the most
venomous snakes with impunity, tying them in
knots, or putting them in his bosom, and suflfering
them to make their way down over his body,
taking them up from the leg of his trousers. All
such feats, however, are merely surprising ; but he
also declares that he possesses an effective antidote
for the bites of all venomous reptiles ; it consists of
a liquid, a drop or two of which is to be imme*
c 3
v:
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84 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. III.
/ diately applied to the wound. I believe that its
eflBcacy has been tolerably well tested, and Under-
wood has obtained permission from the Government
to compound and sell his antidote for his own
advantage. He says he learned the secret of its
composition when at Callao, and would disclose it
if his pardon were granted to him in return.
Should the remedy prove really as valuable as
at present represented, the inestimable benefit it
confers on all dwellers in these and other snake-
infested countries does indeed demand a most
generous reward.
Many years ago Mr. John Amos, one of the
oldest settlers in Swan Port, whilst ploughing, with
his feet bare, accidentally trod upon a large black
snake, close to its head : with admirable and sur-
prising presence of mind, knowing it could not
hurt him while in that position, he let go of the
plough, and stood fast, whilst the reptile twined
itself tightly round his leg and struggled to get
away ; but he held on stoutly until a knife could be
brought to cut ofiF the snake's head, and free him
from a situation which very few would have nerve
enough to endure, notwithstanding the prudence of
doing so.
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Chap. III.] A TAME SNAKE. 35
Differences of taste are proverbially great, but
perhaps in few instances more strikingly shown than
in the choice of tame pets, some persons patro-
nizing hens, some mice, and some monkeys, and it
seems even snakes have their patrons, for Mr.
Meredith was once absolutely horror-stricken at
seeing an old servant exhibit to him a tame snake,
which he kept in an old tea-kettle; and, when
desirous of enjoying its company, would take off
the lid, put his hand in, and pull out his strange
friend as unconcernedly as a boy would fetch out a
tame guinea-pig ! The precaution of a cork was
adopted, to prevent the possibility of the reptile's
absconding by going up the spout.
The black snake seems unable to give many
mortal bites in quick succession, the venom, as it
would appear, becoming exhausted. Some years
since a large snake was seen to bite three dogs,
one after the other, as they attacked it in turn.
The dog first bitten died almost immediately;
the second in about two hours; and the third,
after being very ill for some time, eventually re-
covered.
I am not aware how many kinds of snakes infest
Van Diemen s Land. Most of those killed come
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36 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. HL
under the two denominations of "black" and
** diamond" snakes, but I have observed varieties
in the shades and marking of their skins, which
probably constitute several distinct species; both
these are sometimes found five feet in length, but
more commonly three-and-a-half, and four feet. A
smaller kind of snake, of a green colour, is also
known, but is less common.
^ In examining the heads of snakes, the venomous
; fangs are distinctly visible, two or three being
placed together on each side of the upper jaw;
and, in a newly-killed snake, they can be raised or
depressed with a pin or needle, the bag of venom at
/ their base being also seen. The teeth, when ex-
\ amined with a microscope, appear transparent, with
/ a tube traversing nearly their whole length, and
J opening onthe side, leaving one-fifth of the tooth
like a sohd point, which pierces the thing bitten,
whilst the venom-bag, squeezed by the pressure of
the tooth, ejects the poison through the tube into
the wound. The mechanism of this terrible weapon
of destruction very much resembles that of the
spines of the stinging-nettle.
The length of the venomous fangs in the head
of a snake which Mr. Meredith destroyed a few
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Chap, in.] THE " BLOOD-SUCKER." 37
days since was about the sixth of an inch. We
were walking over a wooded rocky point above the
sea-beach: I had lingered a moment behind^ ga-
thering flowers, and was hastening on again^ when
a very large diamond snake darted almost from
beneath my feet; when stmck with a stick, and
severely hurt, it turned fiercely upon us, with its
hideous head flattened out, and its throat dis-
tended, looking as nothing but a snake can look ;
unable to reach us, it seized its own body in its
teeth, and held it tenaciously for some seconds;
then, suddenly loosing, fastened on another part,
and bit again in a most savage and determined
manner.
Several kinds of little harmless lizards are
found here, similar to those in New South
Wales; one of them frequented our dining-room
at Kiversdale, often amusing me, when I have
been sitting alone and silent, by its swift move-
ments, and adroit capture of flies on the floor
and wainscot, into a crevice of which it disap-
peared when alarmed.
Another description of lizard is here vulgarly
called the " blood-sucker," and is supposed to be
venomous, but I think this is probably an error,
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38 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. III.
the extreme ugliness of the unlucky little reptile
being, with most persons, deemed ample evidence
against it. Its body is dark gray, marked with
black above and white beneath; in shape it is
broad and squat, rather toad-like in aspect; both
the body and the long tail are rendered somewhat
formidable by longitudinal rows of larger scales
than the rest, set up like spines. The head of one
species of blood-sucker is hooded, of the other,
bare, but both are very ugly. They are six or
eight inches long.
Some of our spiders form most ingenious nests
of gum-leaves, webbed together at the edges. I
annex a sketch*, which I made long ago, from a
very pretty nest formed of five green leaves, per-
fectly closed up at both ends. After I had had it
some days, a flock of tiny spiders came out and
ran about. I have often, since then, seen what
appeared, at a. first glance, to be a spider's web
scattered full of coarse pepper, hanging to the
threads, but the slightest touch transformed the
grains each to an active little spider. The two
other clever nests, each formed of a single gum-
leaf, were also the habitations of spiders. Ground-
* See page 28.
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Chap, m.]
SPIDERS NESTS.
39
spiders are likewise very numerous^ with beautiftdly-
fonned cells, in the earth, but they are less often
seen with doors to their houses than those of New
South Wales.
SPIDKKS' NESTS MADE OF QUM-LKAVKS.
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CHAPTEE IV.
Destroyers of Poultry. — Native Cats. — Hawks. —Crows. — Miner. —
Great Comet. — Excursion to the Coast — View of the Schontens. —
Oyster Bay Pine.—" The Two Peterses."— Apsley River.— Pacific
Ocean.— Whaling Station. — Cray Fish. — Return Home.
Next to my perpetual horror of snakes, I may
rank among minor colonial troubles the annoyance
suffered from the various depredators amongst our
poultry. Hens which would not sit in the fowl-
house, but chose to select their own nests in the
Bush, were frequently taken by native cats, and
most often just as the young brood was hatched.
A trap, baited with some meat of rather high scent,
was sometimes successful in catching the delin-
quent, but as often failed. Hens with young
broods under coops were in great danger at night,
even though I always took the precaution of
placing them close to the house. We well knew, by
their cries, when cats were near them, and many
Digitized by
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Chap. IV.] NATIVE CATS. 41
a midnight sally to the rescue took place in con-
sequence. One poor partlet was attacked thrice
in the same night; and, being unable to see and
shoot the enemy, Mr. Meredith left a lighted lan-
tern in front of her domicile, to prevent further
molestation; but in the morning we found she
had been so much hurt, that it was necessary to
kill her. The thin, wiry, native cat had, appa-
rently, squeezed itself in and out through the bars
of the coop.
Oats of the common domestic breed are now
wild in the colony in considerable numbers, and
are fdlly as destructive among poultry as the na-
tive vermin. One, which had been reared on the
farm a demure and respectable kitten, and had
taken to disorderly and predatory habits in her
mature age, committed sad havoc among my half-
grown chickens and sitting hens, and for a time
eluded all our vigilance. One evening Mrs. Puss
was detected stealing crouchingly along under the
shadow of a fence, when a shot from a gun, so
often vainly devoted to her service, in a moment
cut short her hopes of " chicken-fixings."
The hawks, as a matter of course, rank pro-
minently among my poultry-perils, and I truly
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42 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
grieve that they are so terribly mischievous, for
their noble stately beauty almost disarms one's
enmity; and, shameless freebooters and tyrants as
they are, I cannot help sorrowing for every one
that I see killed.
The common brown hawk of this island is a
noble and powerful bird, and, when perched,
stands sixteen or seventeen inches high, with an
immense span of wing. The plumage of the back
and tail is rich hazel-brown, barred with a darker
shade, and that of the breast a soft pale tint of
gray, warming into fawn-colour, also barred across
with deeper hues : very grave, but exceedingly beau-
tiful; a chaste, quiet, tasteful dress, well suiting a
bird of his ancient and aristocratic race.
" Old times are changed " for the glorious-eyed
bird; in these railroad days, and this matter-of-
fact colony, the once favoured of courts, and the
caressed of rank and beauty, is simply regarded
as an arrant thief and most impudent marauder.
Very many were killed at Spring Vale. During
one of our morning rambles round the fields, Mr.
Meredith shot four; the first was one of a pair,
which rose from a dead bandicoot, or other like
delicacy on the ground, as we passed. After
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Chap. IV.] HAWKS AND CROWS. 48
shooting another at some distance farther on, two
more appeared, high oveiiiead, approaching the
place, and Mr. Meredith, having reloaded his gun,
flnng the dead hird high in the air, when instantly
the two stooped towards it, and the two barrels,
fired in qnick succession, killed them both. <
The boldness of hawks in pursuit of their prey
is well known, and I have seen them follow our
fowls or tame pigeons so close to the house,
that, as the Mghtened creatures darted within for
protection, the hawks wings nearly brushed the
door.
The crows, too, were most audacious in their
forays for eggs and chickens; the former species
of theft I might perhaps have been tempted to
overlook, by my admiration for their beautiful
sable plumage, and their identity of kind with
their English brethren; for, to resemble anything
which speaks to me of Home, is a royal road to
my favour. But after procuring, with some pains
and trouble, a set of white turkey-eggs, and after
all the cares and anxieties inseparable from the
duties of poultry-rearing — after seeing my eight
interesting little chickens thriving well, and be-
ginning to chase ants and grasshoppers on their
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44 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
own account — after all this, could human patience
{feminine) endure to see one — two — three — four
successively pounced upon, and carried squeaking
away hy the same grave, solemn-looking culprit?
So the gentleman in hlack was one day igno-
• miniously shot, in the act of chasing a young
chicken into a wattle-hush, and his hody formally
nailed to a tree, near which I usually placed my
young broods, as a rather pointed moral lecture
to his surviving relatives on the fatal consequences
of such evil courses.
A very amusing and pretty bird, here called the
miner, often assisted us in detecting the hawk,
when the latter had taken refuge in a tree out of
sight. These miners, or minors (for the etymo-
logy of the name has often puzzled me), are
nearly the size of a blackbird; their plumage is
a delicate French gray, with darker shades on the
wings and tail, and a little black cap, and touches
of yellow about the head; and their general air
and expression are extremely piquant and saucy^
They are evidently great gossips, perpetually hunt-
ing out and interfering with every bird in the
neighbourhood ; and a whole troop may frequently
be seen chasing a marauding hawk or egg-steal-
Digitized by
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Chap. IV.] THE MINER. 46
ing crow, flying all round in the busiest manner,
and uttering their quick, sharp, distinct cry of
"Thief! thief! thief!" Their own morals being
none of the purest, we might expect them to be
chary of abuse; but, apparently, their individual
experiences in thefl only render them the more
alert in detecting the peccadilloes of their bre-
thren, and we have often traced out our poultry
foes through their agency.
Their depredations in orchards are really serious,
and their impudence is so imperturbable, that no-
thing short of mortal wounding will scare them
from their stolen banquet. A fine bearing cherry-
tree, one of our richest prizes from the Cambria
orchard, was planted close to one end of the ve-
randa, in the belief that there the fruit would be
safe, as persons were constantly passing to and
fro; but our busy friends took up their daily
abode in it as soon as the cherries began to
ripen, and continued to partake of our store, in
the proportion of the lion's share, as long as any
remained. Yet was it well worth the loss of a
few cherries to witness the impudent nonchalance
of these miners — how they would hop and creep
about the branches, and, instead of flying off when
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46 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
pelted with gravel or shouted at, would pop out
their bright-eyed saucy heads from amidst the
clustering leaves, and cry "thief! thief!" as loudly
as ever, straightway making a fresh onslaught on
the fruit with such honest-looking confident as-
surance, that I almost began to doubt whether they
or we were the rightftil proprietors of it.
A rather suspicious circumstance occurred one
day, not reflecting much credit on the miner as a
kind or charitable neighbour. Mr. Meredith, in
shooting at a wattle-bird in the top of a high
tree, only winged it, and, as it fluttered down, it
alighted in a bush, whither he watched it whilst
reloading his gun, and then ran to the spot,
where he found the wounded wattle-bird flutter-
ing and struggling in the claw of a miner,
which would not loose its hold until struck and
driven away.
The sudden appearance of the great comet of
this year (1843), which we first saw on the
5th of March, was a glorious incident in our
somewhat monotonous life here; which, with its
ever-recurring digging, clearing, and *' grubbing,"
ploughing, sowing, and reaping, perhaps does
tend to make our thoughts savour " of the earth.
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Chap. IV.] GREAT COMET. 47
earthy;" but this stupendous visitant gave them,
for a time, a loftier impetus.
Mr. Meredith determined to measure the appa-
rent length the comet subtended on the sky, al-
though we did not possess a single fit instrument
for such a purpose. But not even Sir James
South, or her Majesty's Astronomer Royal, ever set
about an investigation with more zeal and high
resolve! Firstly, there was made, with all pos-
sible accuracy, a " cross-staflf " and plummet, and
thus we proceeded to work : — At night, and when
the comet was brightest, with the nucleus just
above the mountain tier, we *' set up our instru-
ments" (i. e., laid them on a chair), on the lawn.
My office was that of worthy Master George Sea-
coal, *' to bear the lantern," carefully darkened
until required. When my better and cleverer half
had fairly shot the nucleus, at which he took de-
Uberate and deadly aim with the cross-staflF, I
brought the lantern to bear on the latter, and
marked with a pencil where the thread of the
plummet fell ; ascertaining the altitude of the ex-
tremity of the tail in like learned and scientific
manner: and then, after tcJcing the respective
bearings by the compass, also aided by the Ian-
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48 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
tern, and repeating the whole ceremony twice or
thrice, to test the accuracy of the results, our
astronomical ohservations ended for the night. If
not very grave or dignified, the style of the pro-
ceeding was infinitely diverting ; and, as it eventu-
ally proved, some of the greater lights among the
learned here were less correct than we and our
lantern, for, after the comet's length had been
calculated, and published in the colonial papers,
to our no small mystification, as 23° only, it was
finally declared to be 42°, the same result as
that we had arrived at in our primitive method of
measurement, which was, of course, highly grati-
fying and satisfactory.
The popular responsibilities of comets in general
are known to be heavy and various, and this being
a comet of such vast and startling dimensions, had
naturally a great deal to answer for, with some of
the simple good people around us. If the sun
shone pleasantly out, the comet was bringing " ter-
rible hot weather;" — if a shower of rain fell, the
comet brought that too, and would most probably
favour us with a flood ; — ^if the hens ceased laying,
the comet had frightened them ; — if an apple-tree
died, the comet had blighted it; —and, whatever
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Chap. IV.] AN EXCUBSION. 49
domestic accident occuired^ whether a baby cut a
toothy or its mother spoiled a batch of bread, it
was "all along of that comet!**
To us its rapid progress was a source of great
interest; night after night we traced it, changing
its direction, and traversing one constellation after
after another, waning in brightness as it receded,
until first a doubt arose whether we could discern
it, and then came the reluctantly-acknowledged
certainty that we could not. We felt as if some
Mend and companion, who had for a while spoken
to us, with stirring eloquence, of the glory of Na-
ture, and of Nature's God, had departed firom be-
side us.
Mr. Meredith had long projected an excursion to
show me the river Apsley and the eastern coast
north of Oyster Bay, about thirty miles distant
firom Spring Vale ; and this year, after harvest, we
arranged our little plan, which involved the neces-
sity for an absence firom home of two nights. I
fabricated for myself a nondescript kind of valise
or knapsack, to hang over the pommel of the
saddle and fasten with the girths, which contained,
in marvellously small space, the essentials for a
travelling toilette, besides a pocket telescope «^nd
VOL. II. t>
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50 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
sketch-book; and, mounted on the gentle and
beautiful Arab dedicated in her old age to my
especial service, I set forth with Mr. Meredith, on
a fine autumn afternoon early in March, to cross
the tier, and remain the night at the house of a
settler eight miles on our way, so as to enable us
to reach the coast and return thither the following
day.
On the verge of our own land we passed the
cottage and busy blazing forge of our tenant the
blacksmith, whose forty acres had yielded him a
good return ; and a bonny wheat-stack, a well-filled
garden, and oxen, poultry, and pigs in plenty, made
a pleasant show of homely comforts all about it.
Beyond this, the road entered on the property of
the Amos family, who deserve honourable mention
at the hands of any chronicler of this island, as
being among the best farmers it contains. I know
not any spot here which so vividly recalls to my
mind the scenery and character of an English
village, as the group of homesteads and the sur-
rounding cultivated land occupied by difierent
iiaembers of this family. The substantial buildings
include several good houses (now embosomed in
Home-like gardens), a large water-mill on the bank of
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Chap, rv.] VIEW OF THE SCH0UTEN8. 61
the Swan Biyer, barns, and all other requisites ; and
the strong neat fences, in many places lined with
thick hedges of sweethriar, the perfectly-cleared
and well-farmed land, and the air of abundance
and comfort pervading the whole, form a most
striking contrast to the slovenly, improvident style
of fanning prevalent in some other parts of the
colony.
Shortly after fording the river, we began to
ascend the hills, over which a very rough and
stony track passes, certainly not worthy to be
called a road, as by all, save colonial travellers, it
would be pronounced totally impassable.
We gained a few very pretty peeps of wild
mountain scenery, wherever the dense forests cu*ound
afforded an open vista ; particularly a foreshortened
view of the Schoutens, which was very beautiful,
with a foreground of densely-wooded hiUs and
ravines glowing in the full-golden radiance of an
afternoon sun. In due time we crossed a "saddle"
of the tier, and began to descend again, traversing
spme very wild and picturesque glens and gullies,
where the "Oyster-Bay pine" flourishes in great
luxuriance. This species of tree is only known
within a well-defined boundary, of about forty
o 2
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52 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
miles from north to south in this particular district ;
it is not found either northward of the Apsley
Eiver, or south of Oyster Bay, or in any other
explored part of the island. It is a very handsome
tree, not so densely verdant as the "scruh" or
** binishy pine " before described, but much more
lofty and picturesque, and so perfectly straight and
taper, that the larger trees resemble the entire mast
of a vessel, from deck to sky-sail. The lower
branches curve downwards, and turn up again, with
a most graceftil bend; the cones are small> each
consisting of four or five hard scales, and a few
small ones between them; they grow in clusters,
sitting close to the branches, and their poUshed
dark brown shells are beautifully conspicuous
amongst the vivid green foliage.
Although known here universally as pines, yet I
imagine that both this tree and the "brushy pine"
belong to the cypress family. Some of the largest
grow to the height of from 90 to 1 20 feet, but the
average size varies from 30 to 80 feet. They are
found on the most rocky hills and gullies, and,
being useftd for many purposes, are much thinned
in the more accessible regions. As I did not
penetrate beyond these, I have not seen the finest
Digitized by
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\
V
Chap. IV.] " THE TWO PETERSE8." 53
specimens, but the common road-side groups of
tbem are very beautiful. We frequently sent men
and teams into the tiers for pine spars to make
ladders, rafters, fence-rails, &c., and, when sawn and
well laid, they make excellent floors.
Emerging from this region of woods and glens,
we came out at the head of Moulting Bay (so
named in days of yore, when swans were abundant),
and reached the house which was our night s
destination. It commands a fine view of the ever-
grand Schoutens, Great Swan Port, two conspicuous
eminences called " St. Peter" and " St. Paul" (or
more commonly "the two Peterses"), and various
other hills and inlets.
We set forth again early the following morning,
and cantered briskly along through thick woods of
gum, pine, and wattle trees, and then, climbing
another rugged stony hill, came in view of an
extensive lagune, a drained flat of rich land,
formerly a fresh-water marsh or lake, but now chiefly
under cultivation: the owner of it has a good
house-garden and farm buildings on the slope of a
hill commanding a fine view ; also a large orchard,
producing a hundred or more hogsheads of cider
annually.
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54 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
The next pleasing object in our landscape was
the river Apsley, a deep, clear, beautiful river of
fresh water, which, if it went on its way like other
orderly rivers, and rolled its waters onward to the
ocean, would be of the greatest advantage to the
neighbouring settlers in shipping their produce;
but, after running for a considerable distance of
sufficient depth to float a frigate, it suddenly makes
a ftill stop, and finishes off abruptly in a low flat,
over which, when floods occur, the superabundant
waters flow into the bay, and the river itself is no
more seen : the produce of the adjacent farms has
thus to be conveyed some miles overland to the
eetst coast.
The striking change in the outline of the hills as
we advanced, gave quite a different character to the
scenery here; instead of widely-spread sloping
hills, fine wooded ridges of most picturesque form,
and with almost precipitous sides, bounded the
prospect in every direction. Many bright flowers
enlivened the Bush, among which the most con-
spicuous were, the large crimson epacris and a
small snow-white-blossomed "tea- tree" (Leptosper-
mum ?)
We soon reached my father's sheep station on
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Chap. IV.J THE PACIFIC. 65
the Apsley, where the overseer in charge had a
considerable quantity of land cleared, neatly fenced,
and onder cultivation. His barn-yard displayed
some comely stacks of wheat, the produce of the
recent harvest ; and his cottage, garden, goats, pigs,
poultry, and a swarm of sturdy, healthy, shouting
children, made a pleasant busy scene to greet us
after our quiet ride through the silent, wild, primeval
forests.
Being anxious to achieve our chief purpose of
reaching the sea in good time, we declined for the
present the hospitable offers of the overseer's wife,
but promised to call on our return ; and, again plung-
ing into the forest, journeyed on as usual along a
bush road, which after some distance quitted the
dark " trap " rock we had hitherto travelled over
from Spring Vale, and entered upon a range of
granite hills, comparatively low in some parts, but
rising in others to a considerable elevation. From
the last of these we gained a view of the magnificent
Pacific, which truly then deserved its name! It
was pure intense blue, even to the beach, where the
little waves rippled on fine sand, white as driven
snow. This beautiful beach extended for a distance
of many miles along the coast, only interrupted
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56 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
by crags and huge heaped- up masses of granite,
sparkling like gems in the sunshine, as the trans-
parent blue waves broke in endless dazzling suc-
cession, and the feathery spray flew high over the
rocks.
Long high headlands stretched away to the north,
in the vicinity of the river Douglas and St. Patrick's
Head, and a bright bare granite island, called Dia-
mond Isle, lay almost close in-shore. The creep-
ing plant called here the "Macquarie Harbour
Vine," spread its long chaplets of broad verdant
leaves in a thick net- work over the high sand-bank
above the beach, together with the common Mesem-
bryanthemum (known here as "pigs* faces") and
a few low green shrubs, vividly -contrasting with the
more sombre tints of the lofty mountains behind,
all thickly clothed with wood, except where some
grotesquely-shaped granite mass protruded in the
form of an ancient tower or rampart.
We dismounted and walked along one beach in
the hope of finding shells, but saw scarcely any ;
then rode over an intervening point to another
beach, when we left the horses tied to a shady tree,
and enjoyed a scramble amongst the rocks, which were
very beautiful, exhibiting great variety of colour and
Digitized by
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chap, rv.] " WABB'S BOAT HARBOUR." 5T
crystallization : in some of the masses were cnbes
of red felspar nearly two inches square, with equally
large scales of mica ; in some places the granite con-
tained schorl, and was covered with large black
patches of that mineral. A very minute red lichen
clothes some of the rocks so completely as to appear
at first their natural colour, whilst numbers of the
bright deep little pools among the crags were gay
with many-coloured sea- weeds; vivid green, rose,
crimson, purple, and other less showy hues floating
together, gay and changing as a living kaleidoscope-
Some of the Algae were new to me.
Eemounting our horses, we rode on over another
point, to another beach, close to which a spring of
pure fresh water rises in a green grassy hollow, and
here Mr. Meredith unsaddled and tethered the horses
to graze, whilst we sat under a scrubby old honey-
suckle tree, and comfortably discussed our own
luncheon, in as lovely and lonely a spot as can well
be conceived. This important matter satisfactorily
disposed of, we again rode forwards and southwards
to " Wabb's Boat Harbour," where a granite island
lying very near to the main-land aflfords shelter to
the narrow channel between them, which is much
frequented by the small vessels visiting this part
D 3
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58 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Obap. IV.
of the east coast to receive the com, wool, and other
produce of the settlers*.
This little harbour of reiuge being the only shel-
ter in a stretch of many miles of rocky coast, it is
often occupied during the winter as the station of
a whaling establishment, although at the period
of our visit all was silent and deserted. Skeletons
of huts and skeletons of whales stood side by side,
and with greasy barrels in long and black array,
and remains of putrid carcasses steaming in the
sunshine, formed one scene of dirt, desolation, and
disgust, contrasting powerfully with the clean bright
crags, snow-white beach, and the pure brilliant cha-
racter of the surrounding scenery.
As we looked over the rocks into the still deep
water of the Uttle strait, great numbers of cray-fish
were seen clawing about amongst the floating kelp,
rather provokingly, for we had no means whatever
of catching any, and they are particularly nice,
although I suppose they act in the capacity of
sea-scavengers in this place, their presence here in
* The recent discovery (1849) of a ooal-field, supposed to be of
great extent, near this place, will no doubt speedily effect a great
change in the aspect of the neighbourhood, especially if the promised
Cfovemment tramroad be formed, for the eonveyance of the coal to
Wabb's Harbour for shipment. A company has been formed for
working the coal, and operations are expected to begin immediately.
Digitized by
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Caiap- IV.] CRAY-FISH. W
such quantities being, at the least, sospidons. They
resemble the lobster in flavour, size, and shi^M,
except that they are destitute of the large claws,
and the back-shell is very rough with sharp tuber-
cles ; their colour is a duU dark red, which becomes
the common lobster-red when boiled. A stating
with a piece of raw meat, or even a bit of red Tag,
is a sufficient decoy to bring the cray-fish to the
surface, when they must be seized with the hand
and pulled out. They are plentifiil in many parts
of the coast, where the water is deep and still, with
a rocky bottom.
Bidding a reluctant farewell to the blue Paeifio,
we turned homewards, traversing a better road than
we had done in coming, the decomposed granite
forming a fine white gravel path across the hills.
On arriving again at the x)verseer's cottage, we
found the unfailing mark of hospitality— a steam-
ing tea-pot of gigantic capacity^ ready to give us
welcome. The good wife had been busy too, making
that favourite bush dainty, a '* fat cake," which was
hot and brown, and of a most savoury and unctuous
smell, although rather too rich for my inexperienced
palate (its composition being that of pie-crust, with
abundance of dripping or "fat" kneaded into it,
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66 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IV.
and then being made about an inch and a half
thick^ it is baked slowly in the fi7ing-pan); but the
nice bread and tea were very acceptable, and we
discussed those, and all matters connected with the
ferm and the garden, and the large family of small
clean sturdy children, at the same time.
We reached our resting-place of the previous
night about sunset, and rode home the following
morning, two nights* absence from our Uttle boy
seeming to me a scarcely excusable act ; and divers
visions of perils firom nursery-fires, snakes, ponds,
horses* heels, and cows* horns, had begun to haunt
me most reproachfully, when, as we neared the gate,
the joyous little voice came ringing forth to greet
us, praying for a ride before me on " old Dainty/'
which being duly granted, our pleasant little excur*
isdon was happily ended.
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CHAPTER V.
Garden laid out. — *' Water laid on." — Heavy Gale. — Itinerant "nireah-
ing Machine. — Spring and Sommer Flowers. — ^Acada. — Eacaifp-
tus. — Epacris. — Native Lilac. — LUiee. — Stylidimn. — Orchidjoa. —
Sun-dew. — Native Rose. — ^The Tea-tree. — Berry-bearing SSirttba.
Although our new garden had been planned, and
many trees planted in it, even before our removal
from Kiversdale, it was not neatly and artistically
finished until the June of the present year, 1843.
A great lightwood tree, very green and well-
formed, grew at the lower end, and a drain, through
which a bright clear stream always flowed, traversed
one side; the banks were well planted with rasp-
berries, currants, stone-fruit trees, and nuts, whilst
in nice moist corners we cherished some weeping
willow cuttings, and encouraged a few groups of
the elegant white-blossomed tea- tree to grow up in
kindly companionship with the strangera
The valuable gifts we received from the paternal
orchard at Cambria included the finest kinds of
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62 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
grafted fruit trees of all sorts, many of them bearing
well, so that even before our garden was finished it
yielded us fruit, and at once assumed a pleasant
and promising aspect when made neat and trim :
the \yalks, smoothly laid, and sown with English
grass- seeds, showed green and fresh, and in fancy I
saw the China-rose cuttings I had carefully planted
vis'd'vis beside them at intervals, grown up into
verdant and blooming arches and bowers. But my
speculations on the future glory of our garden were
suddenly checked by a tremendous winter flood,
or rather two successive floods early in July, which
caused the rivers to overflow in new places, and
drove a raging roaring torrent directly through our
neat, precise, and just-completed garden.
Among minor losses and troubles, I do not re-
member one which ever annoyed and grieved me so
much as this. We had been so long striving to
achieve what we now saw ruthlessly destroyed, that
my eyes grew dim with positive tears, as I stood
watching the resistless stream come sweeping on,
driving the stout paling fence before it, bending
down and uprooting tree after tree — ^plum, and
peach, and apple — and washing ofi' whole beds of
vegetables and flowers. Finally, after surging
Digitized by
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Chap, v.] *' WATER LAID ON." C3
heavily for some time against the ponderous dead-
wood fence at the bottom of the garden, it burst
the massive barrier, which it flung open on either
side like great gates, and rushed uninterruptedly
onwards to the Swan Kiver. About the middle of
the flood, we saw the " seed-lift," which the man
sowing had left the day before in a wheat field
nearly a mile distant, come sailing along over the
drowned flower-borders, till it lodged in the boughs
of a cherry tree ; and this told very plainly that the
work of destruction was carried on to a still more
serious extent elsewhere. We afterwards found
that eight or nine acres of rich ploughed land had
been washed away out of one field, and three acres
out of another, leaving the unploughed subsoil
smooth as a floor.
Two of our men-servants, with their wives and
one child, lived in a cottage about half a mile fi-om
us, on a little plot of land which they cultivated for
themselves, and on which, at the time Mr. Mere-
dith measured it for them, not a trace or vestige of
flood or "wreck" was visible, such indications
being always accurately observed in choosing a
building-site; but during this terrible inundation
(the highest known here for nineteen years), the
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64 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
water rapidly rose round them, leaving the cottage
awhile as on an island, until towards night, when it
flowed over the floor, and, all retreat to the higher
ground heing cut oflp, the men proceeded to set up
a kind of perch or rude platform in the nearest tree,
upon which they hoisted their few stores and
clothes, and then helped the terrified women and
child up also, the woman who had no child carry-
ing her favourite cat with her for safety ; and thus
they passed the dismal night, water rushing and
roaring all below, and the rain still pouring heavily
down.
Late in the evening, our shepherd, in taking his
last circuit to see that the sheep were safe, hailed
the two men from a distance, as he saw them wading
about, with the help of long poles, and learned
something of the state of affairs, although the noise
of the water prevented his comprehending much
that they told him. Both of the women had been
my servants, one being the nurse who was so much
affected when "Bill" was "up a tree" in the
former great flood, and I was truly concerned to
learn that she was .now " up a tree" herself; but no
aid could be safely afforded them until day dawned,
and the waters fell, which they did during the
Digitized by
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Chap, v.] HEAVY GAXE. 65
night, so that the poor, wet, cold creatures con-
trived to make the ever-comforting "pot o' tea"
hefore daylight, and soon after were ahle to re-
enter their soppy dwelling, which their dog had
never quitted, having made himself as comfortahle
as circumstances would permit on the top of the
hed-place.
After the flood had wholly subsided, and we
could again walk about, we found that the Swan
River had risen between twenty and thirty feet above
its ordinary level, and that several spots which we
htid formerly thought of as sites for our cottage
had been overflowed to a considerable depth, and
heaps of wreck, huge ponderous trees, and pieces of
fencing, left on the banks at a scarcely credible
height above the usually placid river. My poor
. garden was long ere it recovered from the devasta-
tion, and the necessity of making another broad
drain through it, and of laying down a portion of
the borders in a long grass-plot, to prevent future
floods from carrying away the soil, considerably
affected my favourite plan.
Not long after this watery desolation, we were
visited by one of the most furious gales of wind I
ever remember, and as Mr. Meredith had started
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66 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
for. Hobarton the day previous, and was then
traveUing through the Bush, where, in such a
tempest, trees are continually falling, and huge
limbs of others are rent oflP, and driven about with
terrific force, I felt no small degree of apprehension
on his account. So many reports of damage done
around our own homestead poured in upon me,
that I resolved to sally forth and superintend the
preventive and remedial forces in person, though
sorely buffeted and breath- spent in the attempt.
The bam displayed a miserable appearance ; the
thatch, rent oflP by yards, left nothing but bare
rafters between our threshed com and the threaten-
ing skies ; and the mischief, so far from abating,
was still making rapid progress. All the, stacks
were likewise stripped " to windward," and partly
ripped open ; pig- sties, stable, cowsheds, calf-pens,
and all such buildings, perfectly neat in the
morning, exhibited now a most dishevelled and
deplorable condition ; whilst fences blown down in
all directions, laid the corn-fields open to the forays
of horses, sheep, and cattle. Many and ingenious
were the contrivances proposed and put in practice
to arrest the injuries on all sides, the gale raging
with unwearied vigour and intensity until nightfall.
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Chap, v.] ITINERANT THRESHING MACHINE. 67
when it moderated a little, and relieved my appre-
hensions lest the house itself might he unroofed.
When, from the state of the markets or other
causes, it hecomes desirable to thresh com out
speedily, we young fanners, who have not yet erected
a threshing machine, are obliged to hire one of
those which are kept to go out to work in most
districts (the ** char- women" of their species) ;
those who employ such assistance paying three-
pence or fourpence per bushel for all the grain
threshed, and furnishing twelve men and some or
all of the four horses required in the operation,
which must be hard and weary work for the poor
animals ; and I always rejoiced when the business
was over, and the deafening, clattering, factory-like
din, and the suffocating clouds of dust, subsided
together, and the great reeling rumbling machine
rolled away from our peaceful home.
The month of November is the chief season for
our Tasmanian wild flowers, and consequently the
pleasantest time of the year for a ramble in the
"Bush," and our many long wandering walks
made me acquainted with various new faces among
the delicate and fragrant denizens of our woods
and meadows.
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68 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. T.
^^ The notion that our flowers have no scent is as
ridiculous as the idea that our hirds have no song ;
hoth assertions must have heen made hy people too
much prejudiced to admit the natural impressions
of their senses. Without enumerating the less
conspicuous hlossoms of the colony, tliere is the
wattle or acacia trihe, contending species multi-
tudinous, and all fragrant, if English hawthorn or
meadow-sweet he fragrant, hoth of which they
resemble in perfume, and are, like them, almost too
strongly scented to be pleasant for any length of
time in a closed room, although out of doors the
rich odour is most delicious. All the Eucalyptus
family hear an abundance of bloom, in constellated
wreaths of starry flowers, sweet as the rich honey
which the labouring bees suck from the crystal
stores that he deep within the fringe-bordered cups ;
and as you pass a tree full of blossom, the fragrance
it diflfiises seems to hang around so lusciously as to
be almost palpable to taste as well as smell.
S^ The Epacrida are here usually called heaths,
although we have not any true heaths in the
island; all of them bear honey-laden flowers of
sweet scent, but not very powerful. The lovely
Ejpacris jpulchella is well known in English green-
Digitized by
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Chap, v.]
FLOWERS. 69
houses, and the crimson and white varieties are
scarcely less heautiftd, growing as they do here in
such lavish ahundance.
A little purple flower, which is equally common, /-
so vividly recalls to my mind, hoth hy its scent and
colour, an Old- World favourite, that I always know
it as the native Lilac {Tetratheca juncea). The
flowers have four petals, partially closed, so as
often to give them a hell-shape; the stamens,
united in a spire, are hlack or nearly so; the
flowers form pendulous clusters of six or eight ; the
foliage is small and hard, and the slender stems are
from six to eighteen inches high. It grows in
every part of the colony with which I am
acquainted, and flowers in November and De-
cember : I have sometimes found specimens nearly
white, and some pink; hut the usual colour, and
the universal scent of this lovely Uttle flower, are
those of the lilac blossoms.
Another very fragrant flower is the common white
lily, Diplarrhoena Morosay which is as universal a
guest here as the daisy in England, but more
especially occupying rocky gravelly banks, where
its great tussocks of long reedy leaves flourish all
the year round, and in \hQ spring and summer are
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70 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
abundantly adorned with the elegant white flowers.
These are much of the Iris form, the three larger
petals snowy white, and the small inner ones
delicately tinted with yellow and lilac. Each lasts
one day only, hut they appear in a long succession,
emerging singly or in pairs from the sheath, which
terminates the long slender stalk, where the httle
buds lie closely hidden, like shy young birds, till
fully fledged to flutter and dance in the breezy
sunshine.
Our children always exult in the first bunch of
lilies they can find for me, and bring them home in
great triupaph. The lilies are our true heralds of
summer, and seem to me the most generous and
loveable of all our wild flowers.
The sadly prosaic, dull, matter-of-fact habits of
mind, and apathetic want of observation, which
characterize so large a proportion of colonial young
people, are to me lamentable, and we guard against
such habits in our own children as we would
against the symptoms of some mortal distemper pf
the body, at the same time offering perhaps the best
antidote in the shape of our own opposite habits
and active interest in all things around us.
One day, very long since, whilst engaged in
Digitized by
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Chap, v.] THE HAJB-TRIOGER. 71
drawing one of our commonest wild flowers, with ^
the name of which I was then unacquainted, I
accidentally made a discovery, which seemed to
render my botanical immortalization inevitable,
until, shortly after, I found that my new wonder
had been known, printed, and published in Eng-
land years before! The flower was the Styli-
dium (graminifolium^), and whilst sketching it,
I gently raised the singular central column of one
blossom with my pencil, in order to examine its
form more accurately, when, the instant it was
touched, it leaped over to the other side of the
flower, as if I had suddenly moved some hidden
spring which previously confined it. Greatly sur-
prised and interested, I touched the colunms of
all the other blossoms, and all performed the same
jump with greater or less vigour; and, beheving
in my simplicity that what was so new to me
must be also new to every one else, I was pre-
pared to receive the honours due to my wonderful
discovery, until a chance reference to page 1480
of " Murray's Encyclopaedia of Geography," pub-
lished in 1834, nipped all my vain aspirations in
the bud.
The Stylidium^ or, as we named it, the ** Hair*
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72 NINE YEARS .IN TASMANIA. [CJhap. V.
trigger," is common all over the colony ; the flower
stem springs from a low tuft of grassy leaves, and
grows from a foot to eighteen or twenty inches
high, the upper half of it heing adorned with
purplish pink flowers, which succeed each other
during several months in summer.
Many very pretty orchidaceous flowers dwell
amidst our woods and wastes; among these the
golden Diuris holds a conspicuous place, with its
singular long-petalled hright yellow flowers, gro-
tesquely marked with rich hrown, and, as, they are
viewed in different positions, may he fancied to he
dragons' heads, snakes, or nondescript creatures
with long horns and beards. Diuris umbellata has
darker amber blossoms, also clouded with patches of
brown.
Some of the Thaladenias are yet more fantastic ;
one, viewed in front, always reminds me of the
picture of an ancient court jester, with a tall
conical cap, gay crimson doublet, and long party-
coloured legs ; but I never could persuade any one
else to see more than the likeness of a spider in
this odd little flower. Other species of Thaladenia
are pale lavender colour, pink, &c. One small
kind, very delicate in form, and daintily shaded
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Chap, v.] THE SUN-DEW. 73
pink and white, has an unpleasant odour very
similar to that of mutton-bird feathers.
I have often found the curious little Neottia
Australis, The stem is ten or fifteen inches high,
with one or two small leaves at the base, and a
multitude of little bell-shaped flowers without foot-
stalks, circling closely round and round the twisted
stem, corkscrew- wise, to the top ; each flower being
partially sheathed in a curving green leaf or bract ;
the tiny bells are bright pink outside, and white
within, with a pleasant but slight odour, like new
hay. In the same meadow where this little beauty
dwelt, I have also found an eccentric relative of
an old Home friend, namely, the forked-leaved
sun-dew of Australia (Dr<?*^ra binata ?),
Every one knows the common English species of
the sun-dew, with its rosette of round leaves sitting
close to the soil, and sparkling like a cluster of little
rubies, as the light glistens on its dew-tipped crim-
son fringe ; but its Tasmanian cousin is totally the
reverse of this compact character. The plants I
have gathered have usually six or more leaf stalks
springing from the root, of from two to six inches
long, the leaf seeming merely a continuation of the
stalk, divided into two thin portions, forming a fork
VOL. II. E
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74 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [CSiap. V.
of one or more mobes ia lengthy and the whole
greatly resembling in shape an old bent pitchfork
with a crooked handle, for the leaf stems have always
some twist or bend in them. The forked leaf is
richly adorned with the feinge of crimson threads
and sparkling dew-jewels peculiar to this curious
faioily of plants ; the young leaves first appear like
closely-curled tendrils ; the flower is white, very simi-
lar to that of the English sun-dew. In the bright
pools of the Cygnet River I have seen the plant
growing much more luxuriantly than on land, the
flower-stalk being a foot and a half high, and the
leaf fork three inches long.
On the banks of these same bright pools, too,
dwells the loveliest of all the Tasmanian flowering
shrubs, the Banera rubidBfoli^j more commonly
known as thQ native rose. Its dear green foliage
is nicely disposed in starry circles round the slender
waving stems, and the exquisitely-delicate flowers
which appear among them are something like a
wild rose or apple-blossom in form, but aj?e smaller
and far more airy and slender in character; whilst
the closed, round, red buds aire the prettiest little
coy green-hooded fairies imaginable. The flowers
are a soft rosy pink, passing into white towards
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Ch«p. v.] THB TBA-TRSE. 75
the centre of eaeh peUJ» and the anthers are
golim. yellow. After gadiering a few sprays of
the native rose, I always ^ance arocmd, and rarely
in vsin, to find a Tea-txee, and straightway pil-
li^e its snow-laden pyramids of some dainty little
brandies, which form a lovely contrast, in their
chaste lily-like pmity, with the blushing little
SQSe.
The tea* tree {Lepiaspermum) blossoms may be /..
somewhat likened to those of hawthorn, in their
individual form, although longer; but, instead of
being groaped in detached closters, they form tall
continuous pinnacles of flowers, most graceful in
fccm and moticm,. and charmingly enhanced by the
ridi myrtle-like foliage and the scarlet-brown tints
of the sepals, shown between the bases of the white
petals.
Grouped with these is often seen another hand-
some shrubs whiek I used to call a Yeli&w Metro-
aideros, but is, I bdieve, the Crested CaGstemon ;
&s great boiltle-brusli flowers of pale yellow, and
its long sharp-pointed leaves, show well beside the
more delicate proportions and tints of it^ gentle
n^hbours.
The stoop rocky banks of the rivers, as they
E 2
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76 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
recede among the mountains^ produce many beau-
tiful shrubs, which are wholly absent from the
more level parts of the country. Our pretty
Cygnet Biver often afforded me a treat in the
discovery of some new flower. One, which we
especially admired, was a species of Hovea, a
long, scanty, scrambling kind of shrub, with a
very large proportion of stem, and only the ter-
minal sprays adorned with much foliage, the leaves
being small, oval, and of the darkest green, with
a rusty down on the under side ; but the clusters of
small papilionaceous flowers were of the loveliest
pale lilac or French gray colour, with an eye of
deep violet, whence slender veins of the same hue
went wandering over the whole flower. We were
at great pains to remove some of these plants, but
they grew in such wild, craggy places, and with
their strong iron- wiry roots so knotted round and
amongst the rocks, with no apparent soil near
them, that the task was a somewhat tough one;
and of the four we succeeded in detaching, only
one, planted in a hole in the rocky bank by our
cottage, survived the removal.
Many of these mountain shrubs are more beau-
tiful in their seed-time than whilst in flower, as
Digitized by
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Chap, v.] BERRY-BEARING SHRUBS. 77
their berries are very ornamental. One very prickly
bush bears inconspicuons little greeny -white
flowers, succeeded by quantities of berries, the
size of currants, but painted like peaches, shaded
and tinted with the brightest and clearest hues,
with a soft tempting bloom on them; but, alas!
the beauty is to the eye alone! The iqpples
on the Dead Sea shore are not more de-
ceptive in promise than my pretty peach-berries of
Tasmania.
A very handsome shrub, or small tree, the No- j.-.,
telia, bears glossy bright berries of a rich morone
crimson, deepening to black; the leaves of this
shrub are also beautiful, being long, and of a deep,
rich, polished green. Some species of Leucopogon
bear transparent berries, called native currants, but
none of all these are good to eat.
Wandering among my favourite river-side din-
gles and dells over again on paper is so pleasant,
that for my own part I could very complacently
loiter on, until every leaf and blossom I loved were
duly presented to my readers; but, remembering
that paper and ink can make at best but a sorry
description of my bright sweet flowers, and their
wild, stiU, beautiful dwelling-places beside the rip-
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78 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. V.
pling river, or under the cypress shade, I must
leave them, although reluctantly; for I -would fain
show how wondrously fair they ore, and how pos-
sible it is to enjoy their beauty, and the beauty of
much more in this favoured land, without a thought
or dream of the horrors and terrors, and other un*
comfortable inventions, which it seems customary
now to associate with the idea of poor Tasmania.
Digitized by
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CHAPTEB VI.
Imi»n>Temaits. — fishing.— Water-towL — Bosh-rangen. — Who *8
th«ret-^Dome8tic Security.
Our pleasant little home had assumed a tolerably
civilized aspect by the summer of 1843-4. The
principal rooms were plastered and finished; the
veranda erected along the front was by this time
partially hidden by roses, native clematis, and other
plants; the garden was thriving and productive;
and behind the house, on the same bank, stood a
goodly bam, surrounded by other farm-buildings.
A granary was built of wood, supported some feet
from the ^und on thick posts, in the vain hope
of excluding the destructive little mice from the
com ; but in an incredibly short time they infested
it, as they do every building in the colony, and I
think to a greater degree than in England, our
mild climate here ^o doubt favouring their more
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80 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. {Chap. YI.
rapid increase. EYen our fields abound with the
little creatures, and in bams and stacks they lite-
rally swarm. Bats I haYe heard of as haYing been
seen here, but am happy in not yet haYing myself
made their acquaintance.
Among other of our improYements, a rampart
of huge logs and an embankment were raised, to
defend the garden, in future, from the dcYastating
sweep of the riYer-floods, by restricting the en-
trance of the water to a certain breadth, and pre-
Yenting the wide tearing rush of the torrent : to
shut out the flood was impossible, but the spread
of the still water did comparatively little mischief,
especially after the main track of the floods had
been laid down with English grass-seed, which in
time made a firm sward, and saved the soil from
being washed away and scooped in holes.
Our bright rivers often yielded us a nice dish of
fish, for which, however, we were most frequently
indebted to the skill and patience of some of our
servants, not being ourselves much skilled in the
" gentle craft." When we did make an onslaught
among the delicate trout that abounded in the
Cygnet's crystal pools, I much suspect our pro-
ceedings would be pronoimced positively heretical
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Chap. VL] FISHING. 81
by any proper orthodox angler. Walking across
the verdant grassy marshes {Angliciy meadows) to
the Cygnet Biver, each armed with a '' stick and
a string," and some lean raw mutton for bait, we
selected onr several pools, some of which were as
much as four yards across ! George being stationed
beside his papa or me, we began to bait and bob ;
our rods being sticks, four or five feet long, and
our lines not much longer.
The chief charm consisted in our being able to
see distinctly down into the pool, and watch every
movement of our finny victims ; and great was the
excitement when, from amidst the waving shelter of
some long-tressed clustering water weeds, the round
head and winding body of a wriggling eel would
glide into the sunlight, and manoeuvre round the
bait among the lesser firy, which instantly lost value
in our eyes, as every energy was devoted to the
capture of the greater prize, the achievement of
which won a shout of delight firom George. The
trout we usually caught were a small species, from
four to nine inches long, and very nice and delicate.
A larger and less firm kind of fish, called "Black
fish," was also numerous ; but these seldom began
to bite until after sunset, when the mosquitoes
£ 8
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82 NINE YEAK8 IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VL
began to bite too, so Yshemently that I oould not
remain after that time. Poor little Qeorges bare
legs were terribly attacked, and we were thus driven
home just as the proper fishing time approached^
for our men always began to fish after dark, lighting
fires on the banks of the large pools in the river,
and often remaining out half the ni^t, having ex*
cellent sport.
Fine bream abound in the lower parts of the Swan
Biver, where the salt water prevails, and a small
delicate fish, called ''cucumber fish," fixim its
pecuHar odour, is somelhnes found in great abnn*
dance in the rocky pooh and basins higher up
towards the mountains.
\^ Of the water-fowl of this colony, many speeie^
like the poor swans, have been so much destroyed
and disturbed as to be almost exterminated in most
of the settled distriots ; we rarely see more than &
&w wild ducks or teal in a season, althoisgb
formerly ev^ lagune teemed with theai^ and with
legions of bald coots, but the lattei are now so rar^
that I have not yet seen ©xw. The musfc di*ek is
a large, heavy, beautiM bird, of dark sombre
plumage, pervaded with a strong sowt of musk ; of
these I have seen two only, and those were dead.
Digitized by
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caiop. VI.] BUSH-RANGERS. 83
The mountain duck is a magnificent creature, with
the clear blue and chestnut brown of the king-
fisher, added to all the bright metallic hues of its
other plumage. Sea-eagles, gannets, gulls of
various species, pelicans, divers, shags, cormorants,
kingfishers, and other aquatic birds, firequent
most rivers and inlets in greater or less abundance,
in proportion to the populousn^ss of the vicinity,
ai^ the disturbance they suffer.
In December, 1848, our th^ new governor. Sir
Eardley Wilmot, paid Swan Fort a passing visit, in
a tour he made on the east coast, and I, a true lover
of my native Warwickshire, naturally felt more than
eommon interest and pleasure in welcoming one so
well and deservedly esteemed at home, to our lowly
abode in his new dominion. Another connecting
fink segued woven at once between my new home
and my old one; little did we then dream it would
be so soon and so crudly broken !
Several parties of bush-rangers excited considcor-
aUb alarm about this time, and some of them came
ixito our imtmediate neighbourhood, robbing remote
shepherds huts- of food and clothing, and attadung
other dwellers in londy places. One n^ht, or
rathec morning, about two o'clock, a violent fap-
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84 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VI.
ping and thumping was heard at our kitchen door,
and of course the first half-dreaming thought was
of "Bush-rangers," although they are not in the
habit of besieging houses exactly in that style.
Nevertheless, a parley was held (with bolted doors),
and the noisy visitor proved to be a settler from a
small fann about three miles distant, whose cottage
had been ransacked, and himself and servants
'' bailed up." As soon as he could escape, he ran
to warn us and other neighbours to be on our guard
against his lawless guests, who were, he supposed,
still lurking about The fact, well known around
us, that plenty of loaded fire-arms were always kept
ready for use in our house, may have preserved us
from like disturbances.
For several months at this time, ominous rumours
were constantly floating about, of the deeds and
desperation of these marauding parties, most of
whom, it appeared, were making their way towards
our neighbourhood, in the belief that they would
be able to seize and take off some of the coasting
vessels, which were always trading to and fro, or
lying at anchor at Swansea or Wabb's Harbour;
but no abduction of the kind took place.
A small party of soldiers was stationed on our
Digitized by
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Chap. VI.] WHO *S THEBE ? 85
farm^ as being a central situation, whence all the
upper portions of the district were readily accessible,
in case the robbers were again heard of; but no
opportunity occurred for the display of their military
prowess, although the persevering activity they
exhibited during their abode at Spring Yale, in the
capture and demolition of eggs from our poultry-
house, gave us a most impressive conviction of their
foraging capacities.
During this season of alarms, Mr. Meredith, who
had been detained at an out-station, was returning
home on a Sunday morning, and called at the house
of a settler on the way. He found the doors closely
shut and fastened, and knocked stoutly for ad-
mittance. Presently a face appeared at a window,
and, beside the face, there peeped out also the
muzzle of a double-barrelled gun; whilst, from
within the door, a voice, accompanied by the pecu-
liar click of cocking a pistol, demanded '' who was
there, and what was wanted." The peaceftd cause
of this warlike display being instantly admitted,
was ushered into the family sitting-room, where
morning prayers had just been read, and on the
table (round which the old gentleman and his wife
and their patriarchal assemblage of sons and
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86 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [ChM).VI.
daughters and grandofaildren bad beeoa seated) lay^
side by side« bibles, prayer-books, guns, pistols, and
an old yeomanry sword: it was like a meeting of
the Oovenanters of old. A report had, as it ap-
peared, reached them that morning, that a most
daring and notorious fellow, whose name had been
the terror of the whole country population for
months, had been seen near their house, and hence
the preparations for defence in case of an attack^
which, however, was never made.
Fortunately this unpleasant condition of things
was not destined to contrmte. A new chief police
magistrate arrived, in the person of Mr. F.Burgess^
and, in an incredibly short time, his active vigilance
and well-organized system oi pursuit effected an
entire change; so that, instead of parties of armed
absconders being tamely permitted to harass the
defenceless country settlers for months and even
years together, their escape was so rapidly and
invariably succeeded by their recapture and punish*
vamty that the terrors of bush-ranging becaifte
absolutely ahnost forgotten in the oolony; and at
the very time what the ridiculo«i8ly-exagg«»ted
aecouBls of our lost and outraged ccMidition were
being diligently ^cukled at Home, every country
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Chap. VI.] DOBfESnC SECURITY. 87
bouse m the island, however lonely, was in far less
danger of molestation and robbery than those of
any English city. How well I remanber the
nightly preparation at Home, the festening and
barring of shatters, locking, boltmg, and chaining
of doors, sticking up of spring-hung bells, and all
the elaborate defences of English houses, both in
town and country! whilst the loneliest dwelling
here has neither shutt^ nor bell, the French or
sash windows are merely closed with hasps, and the
outer doors with a single bolt ; and on many ocoa-
sions our lower windows have be«i left open, and
the front door unfastened all night.
It seems doubly hard on us, not only to suffer
the odium of receiving the majority of England's
felons here, but also to have the credit of keeping
them as worthless as we get them ; and, so far as
one small voice may serve to disprove it, I am by
no means disposed to let the false and injurious im-
pression continue dominant. True it is, and must
be, that, out of the many thousand convicts sent
hither, some do remain wholly incorrigible; but,
for each one of such, are there not scores of good,
willing men, who, thankful for the opportunity
afforded them here of leading a new life, and en-
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88 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VI.
joying in abundance all necessary comforts, are
quiet, orderly, industrious, and trusty ^rvants ? If
this be not generally the case, then we must have
been singularly fortunate; but I believe the old
axiom, that ''good masters make good servants,"
meets with more corroborative cases here than
elsewhere. The low mean spirit which loves to
domineer over and taunt its fallen brother with the
perpetual upbraidings of his errors and degradation,
does more than check his onward struggles towards
amendment — it drives him forcibly back, and per-
chance further on the road to perdition than he
ever went before.
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CHAPTER VII.
Unwdoome Changes. — Preparations for Bemoval. — A Dripping Oneet.
Our " Family Carriage." — A Coiyurer. — ^Departure. — Passage over
the Tier. — "Hop-pole Bottom." — Economy of Ctovemment Of-
ficials. -^Monnt Henry.
I HAVE before alluded to the heavy and calamitous
losses which the almost universal insolvency in
New South Wales, and the unprincipled conduct
of persons whom we believed trustworthy, had
inflicted upon us. For a time we had ardently
hoped, and earnestly striven, to remedy the conse-
quences; and, had the prices of farm produce
continued even moderate, we should, probably,
have succeeded; but wheat at 28, 6d, a bushel
was a sorry help to remove mortgages at 10 per
cent.
Reluctantly — most reluctantly — did we at last
acknowledge the necessity for some new plan of
exertion; but having once resolved, we lost no
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90 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VII.
time in endeavouring to carry out our determin-
ation. Our kind Mend Sir Eardley Wilmot
offered Mr. Meredith the police magistracy of
a newly-formed and remote district: it was ac-
cepted thankfiilly; and, just as the pretty and
loved home of our creation was assuming an ap-
pearance, and a reality too, of comfort and com-
pleteness, and all the rough and arduous work
of a new place was merging into mere pleasant
cheerftil occupation, we were destined to leave it
to the care of a few small tenants, the farm ser-
vants and overseer. Unsettled as our former life
had been, we had taken up our abode at Spring
Vale with the comfortable feeling that there our
wanderings had finally ceased, our weary way-
fftring ended. The conviction that all was about
to begin agfun, came upon my heart with most
sorrowful and dispiriting anticipations; I felt as
if there were some evil spell upon us, dooming
us always to go on wandering, as if for us earth
had not a home.
Our new settlement was to be in a district called
Port Sorell, of which previously we had scarcely
so much as heard. We found that it occupied
the central portion of the north coast, about
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CJhAp. Va] PEEPARATIONS FOR REMOVAL. 91
150 miles from Swan Port; and its sea-side
vidnity was a potent charm in reconciling as to
our migration thither.
Mr. Meredith set ont to enter upon his new
duties in the beginning of May^ leaving me at
Spring Vale with our two children. My husband's
letters descriptive of the new country were indeed
discouraging : the scenery, except that on the sea-
borders, was one vast dreary forest — damp, dark,
and dismal ; the inhabitants, with a few exceptions,
miserably poor, so that the contrast to our comfort-
able and substantial neighbours of Swan Fort was
stnnewhat striking. Another unpleasant peculi-
arity I soon perceived — that of the extreme wetness
of the climate, for every letter I received, whether
one or more reached me in a week, contained some
similar paragraph, such as, ^'The rain has not
ceased for four days;" "It is raining heavily;"
or, " I have just come in, wet through." The place
seemed to be the constant scene of a partial deluge.
The impracticabiUty of a winter transit for our
children and myself, and the difficulty Mr. Mere-
dith found in procuring a residence for us, com-
bined to delay his arrangements for our removal;
and at the end of June he came home for a brief
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92 NINE TEABS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. Vn.
visit, and again returned to Port Sorell, without
being able to end, as I had hoped he would, my
lonely sojourn in single uncomfortableness. Most
dreary were the long winter evenings, which had
never seemed long before, and perfectly intolerable
were the floods, when they prevented my receiving
the " post."
My chief occupation was the gradual packing
up and removal of our goods and chattels down
to Swansea, in readiness for the vessel which was
to take them round to Port Sorell, and as the winter
rains rendered the roads and rivers often quite im-
passable, and always nearly so, we could only cart
down small loads at a time. Accordingly all
articles not . essentially useful, such as pictures,
&c., were first taken down and put away in cases,
then most of our books, and by degrees every
piece of ftimiture that could be spared, until the
baby was put to sleep first in a drawer, and, when
the drawers departed, in a clothes-basket.
Towards the end of August, when I was in daily
expectation of Mr. Meredith s arrival, to take us
back with him to Port Sorell, one of our terrible
floods arose; the inundated lowlands became,
as usual, one vast lagime, and the raging rivers
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Chap. VIL] A DRIPPING OUEST. 93
swept angrily along in swollen rapid torrents.
Knowing that the streams on the inland side
of the mountain-tier frequently show no indi-
cation of rising, even when ours are flooded,
I feared greatly for my husband's safety, as he
could not arrive near home before late in the
evening, and then might rashly venture into
danger. I had scouts out until after dark, and
the head shepherd, a faithful old servant (albeit
formerly a prisoner), went wading across the
flooded lands, up to his middle in water, hoping
to meet or hear his master, so as to assist him;
but he at length came in, satisfied that no one
who knew the place as Mr. Meredith did would
attempt to cross the flooded Cygnet -that night ;
and I tried to persuade myself that it was so,
although more than half inclined to feel cross
with the good man for giving up his watch,
and very much disposed to go forth in the pelt-
ing rain and resume it myself, when the noise
of a finger lightly tapping at the window sent
me in one boimd to the door, where, wet and drip-
ping as a merman, stood my own good man !
Instantly the whole quiet household was joyously
astir; and when the streaming guest had been
f^\0\t ^'£^/f>d^it,zedbyG00Qk
r^^^ OF THE 'TA *^
UNlVE'-^SITYy
94 NINE YBARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VU.
all comfortably arrayed and refreshed, he told
his story, as benighted wand^:er should. The
vhole country was partially under water, and
the Cygnet River formed a wide outspread stream,
with several deep channels, and broad interrenii^
shallows, all which he had to traverse in the
dark, on foot; it would have been impossible to
ride, as he trusted to his memory of certain fEdleu
trees to aid him in crossing some of the channels.
In one or two instances, after cautiously wading to
the spot where he remembered a fallen tree-bridge,
it was not to be found, ^loept by probing the
gully with the pole he carried, when the log was
discovered two or three feet under water: at lengdi
the last deep channel was crossed, the inundate
marsh splashed through, and he gained our terrace-
like bank.
As one preparation for our transit, a strong easy
vehide, something of the jaunting-car genus, on
invention of Mr. Meredith's, which had bemi some
time in progress, was now quickly completed, and
fully aoflwered our expectations. The seat, a dos-a-
do8, and very roomy {(xt four persons, being made
movable, to shifb on the body, aeeording to the
number conveyed, enabled the weight to be always
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Chap. Vn.] OUR " FAMILY CARRIAGE." 95
placed centrally oyer the axle; and this arrange-
ment, with four excellent springs, and high wheels,
gave an easy uniform motion like that of a good
Stanhope, instead of the agonizing spasmodic
ahakmg to and fro of the cars commonly in use
here, whioh have only two springs, and are the
most perfect instruments of torture conceivable.
The springs and axle w^re procured from a good
ooachmaker, the body was very neatly made and
painted by our own carpenter; a n^ghbouring
blacksmith and wheelwright, who was quite an
artist of a Vulcan, made the wheels and remaining
ironwork, and put all together; whilst the cushions
displayed my proficiency in the upholstery depart-
ment: so that our "family carriage" was truly
home-made, and did us all infinite credit; not the
least useful part of it being a large square box,
fitting in beneath the double seat, and capable of
containing a yery tolerable travelling equipment for
our party. All Long Acre could not have furnished
us with a conveyance so well adapted to the service
we required ; whilst its perfect originality, and the
curiosity and diversity of opinions it excited, were
infinitely amusing. Its first appearance in pubUa
wafi on the occasion of our farewell visit to Ccunbria,
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06 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. Vn.
when the rivers were still almost dangerously high ;
but our stout tandem, good horses, and skilful
driver overcame all obstacles.
An itinerant conjurer, who was engaged to per-
form before the party in the evening, afforded our
George the extremest delight. He, unsophisticated
cliild of the Bush, had never beheld anything of
the kind before, and gazed with fascinated astonish-
ment, as each respectably ancient piece of legerde-
main was exhibited, clapped his hands with joy at
the disclosure of the impromptu pancake, shouted
aloud when a cauUflower tumbled from his papa's
hat, and contemplated the fire-eating process with
a comical mixture of curiosity and horror ; but the
climax of his mystification and amazement arrived
when the pistol, which George had seen properly
loaded with a ball, was deliberately fired in the
necromancer s face — and, coolly taking the bullet
from his mouth, the marvellous man showed it,
slightly flattened, to the spectators! Poor Uttle
boy ! I began to debate within myself whether
such a blissful state of ignorance deserved more
my commiseration or my envy. Not that / was
an uninterested witness of the good old tricks;
they were too pleasant, as reminders of bygone
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Chap. VII.] PASSAGE OVER THE TIER. 97
times, and my own childish wonderment, to seem at
all despicable now.
Returning home the following day, our final
arrangements were made, and next morning we
set forth from our dear cottage-home, to cross the
mountain-tier to the north, in order to get into
the main road to Launceston. Our party consisted
of Mr. Meredith and myself, the two children
and nursemaid in the car, our old house-servant
on horseback, and several others to assist us over
the tier.
For the first five or six miles our road was
comparatively good; we then reached a ford of
the Swan Eiver at the foot of the hills, where a
saddle-horse was waiting for me ; George also was
mounted before one of the men on horseback,
the baby carried by another, whilst Mr. Mere-
dith and a third led the tandem horses, with the
nearly empty car, up the steep ascent. After a
fatiguing climb of several miles, we paused for
a few minutes on a high point of the mountain
range, whence we gained a last beautiful farewell
view of the grand Schoutens. We then continued
our journey over rough abrupt masses of rock,
varying from the size of a waggon to that of a
VOL. II. F
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98 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VII.
hat-box, heaped together in one chaotic wilderness
of mounts and ravines, thickly covered with both
growing and fallen timber.
By about three in the afternoon we had accom-
plished the descent of the mountains, and forth-
with prepared for dinner. The horses were taken
out to graze, a fire made to leeward of our grassy
dining-table, and our commissariat unpacked, which
contained a cold turkey, ham, cakes, wine, &c., and
we brought that best relish, a good appetite, to the
banquet. This over, the supernumeraries from
Spring Vale and the horse I had ridden over the
tier turned again homewards, and we journeyed on,
through bogs, logs, mud-pits, and quagmires, as we
best might, in a hollow denominated ''Hop-pole
Bottom," which, being full of deep holes of water
and fallen timber, was perilous to traverse, after
so much rain, and amply tested the safe qualities
of our stout vehicle, and the strength and docility
pi our good horses.
In this valley, the first sign of a human abode
we had seen since passing the Swan Biver greeted
us in the shape of a large assemblage of huts and
other buildings, almost like a village, erected for
the accommodation of a Probation road-party, who
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Chap. VII.] '' MOUNT HENRY." 99
the neighbouring settlers innooently expected would
have made the fearful track we had traversed con-
veniently passable; but^ according to the usual
custom of the late Comptroller-General, the con-
victs were ordered for removal elsewhere, so soon
as all the expense of building their abode had
been incurred by the Government, and without
their being suffered to become useful, as they
might and ought to have been in this and
many other places : thus affording another notable
instance of the obstinate reckless obstructiveness
of the ofi&cer in question.
"Mount Henry," a hill of picturesque outline,
but provoking situation, lay before us, and our
road, or rather track, made four-fifths of a circuit
round it, affording us a long series of mono-
tonous views; "Mount Henry" being to us, as
Salisbury Cathedral was to Mr. Pecksniff's pupils,
the object of contemplation from all points of the
compass. The short twiUght ceased ere we ap-
proached our destination for the night, which was
the cottage of a friendly settler acquaintance ; but
after manifold groping examinations of fences, in
search of an entrance gate, we at length suc-
ceeded in making our way on foot into a ploughed
F 2
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100 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VII.
field, and thence to the garden gate, not without
being in some jeopardy from the numerous dogs
of all kinds and sizes, which our nocturnal in-
vasion had aroused to full vigilance and wrath.
Our kind reception within-doors seemed doubly
pleasant after so rough a salutation without, and
the hospitable attentions of our good friends were
not a little enhanced by the fatigue and diflSiculty
of our past day s journey.
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CHAPTER VIII.
Saint Paul's Plains and River. — Bog. — Ben Lomond. — Sojourn at the
" Stony Creek." — " Deoch an Dorich." — " Eagle's Return." —
Coaches. — Great Western Tier. — Perth. — Approach to Launceston.
— Sojourn there. — ^Arrival at Carrick. — Old Water-mill.
The first part of our next days journey was
through a beautifdl valley, between fine ranges of
wooded hills, one of which, firom its high round
form, is named " Saint Paul's Dome." Our road
lay along the opposite declivity, overlooking the
vale, with its snug farms and cottages, green
lawn-like fields, and the bright winding river
(" Saint Paul's Eiver") outspread in fair array
below us.
We had fi'equently to get out of the car, whilst
Mr. Meredith drove it over some dangerous gully
or steep ravine, and then, with his and the man-
servant's help, we scrambled over too, and reseated
ourselves; but as sometimes we were obliged to
seek for logs or stones, to build a foot-bridge or
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102 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VUI.
make stepping-places over brooks or creeks, these
interruptions greatly delayed us. One most hor-
rible black morass spread out before us over a
length and breadth of some acres, rendering any
avoidance of it by walking over utterly hopeless,
and, after a brief contemplative pause, Mr. Mere-
dith urged the horses straight on. In they
plunged, nearly up to the shafts, in a sable sea
of something very like bird-lime; and I cannot
now remember, without horror, my (by no means
groundless) dread lest we should be smothered,
or that the traces should break, as the good
horses dragged, and struggled, and floundered on;
but at last they rose again upon the hard ground,
and pulled us safely out.
As we drove pleasantly along '* Saint Paul s
Plains," ftilly appreciating the comfort of hard
firm ground, albeit sometimes rough with rocks,
my attention had for some minutes been engrossed
by the graceful outlines of the distant hills on our
left, and in watching the changes of effect caused
by the passage of clouds across the sunlight, when,
on looking again to the right, I involuntarily
uttered a cry of astonishment and delight: — be-
yond a sort of promontory, in which one hilly
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CO
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O p)
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$25
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Chap. Vm.] BEN LOMOND. 108
range abruptly ended» had arisen, as if by ^-
chantment, a living picture of the snowy Alps!
a distant lofty expanse of crag, and battlement,
and peak, all white and dazzling in silvery snow,
amidst which the steep sides of some mighty but-
tress-like rocks showed black as jet, and the deep
blue unclouded sky crowned this glorious scene;
which, I suppose, was yet the more charming
to me as being wholly unexpected. My new
mountain firiend was the Tasmanian Ben Lo-
mond, the lordly chief of a great mountain group
in the north-east of our beautiful island.
We drove on, still along the plains, with no
living thing near us, save the wild birds and some
scattered sheep ; the grand snowy mountain chang-
ing, but not waning, in its stately beauty as we
proceeded. Soon after midday we halted in a little
isolated grove of trees, affording both shade from
the sun and shelter from the wind (which sweeps
keenly across these wide plains), and also yielding
us some dry firewood, a bright fire being, whether
needed or not, an indispensable part of a bush
bivouac. I contrived to gain time for a slight
hasty sketch of Ben Lomond before the order
for our onward march was given. For foreground
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104 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. Vin.
there was the wide plain, only varied by a few
stray straggling trees, and one or two indistinct
tracks across it; beyond, ranges of hills, covered
with sombre forests, rose dark and abruptly, and
above these the snow-clad summit of Ben Lomond
rested against the clear blue sky.
Changes of the same landscape accompanied us
in the afternoon, until near the lonely inn where
we intended sleeping ; and, just as we had alighted
to walk down the steep rocky bank of the " Stony
Creek," we heard a hearty joyous cry of "Here
they are! Here's the master!" and two of our
own servants, who had gone with a cart-load of
our trunks and bedding to Campbell Town, and
were staying a night at the inn on their way
back, came running to meet us, ready to carry
the children, or lead the horses, or draw the car
themselves, if it would benefit us, all eager alacrity
and good humour.
On the top of the high bank, and facing an-
other high hill which rose before iti stood the
narrow tall brick house, which rejoiced in the
sign of the "Deoch an dorich" (my Gaelic is
most probably ill-spelt). Being very new, the
sepulchral odour of fresh plaster was rather pre-
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Chap. Vm.] " DEOCH AN DORICH." 1 05
dominant within, varied at intervals by a gush of
fragrance from yet more recent paint ; and the par-
lour was drearily cold and cheerless, fire never
having been as yet introduced to the new hearth,
whilst all entrance of sunshine was carefully pre-
vented by a grenadier regiment of tall geraniums
and ftichsias, trained and woven upon high tri-
angular wooden ladders, reared against the win-
dows, apparently with the laudable purpose of
enabling the flowers to peep over the opposite
hill; the lower panes being also defended by an
outpost of spiteftd prickly cactuses, forming a
compact chevaux-de-frise. Still, when the chim-
ney had smoked its best to dislodge us, and finally
given up the attempt as hopeless, and a blazing
fire in some measure thawed the icy vault-like
atmosphere, we found our quarters by no means
despicable, especially when the customary dinnej-
tea-and-supper meal overspread the ample table,
and the pleasant fiimes of tea and coflfee over-
came even the damp plaster and fresh paint.
"Mine host" of the "Stirrup-cup" did us good
service the following morning, by accompanying,
or rather preceding us, on horseback, to show
us a way through the Bush by which we could
F 3
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106 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VHI.
avoid a notoriously dreadfiil boggy laue in the
ndghbourhood. We bad still some unpleasant
"creeks" and watercourses to trayerse, but all
were easily passed, and soon ajpter noon we, to
our great joy, emerged on the fine main road,
and felt all difficulties at an end for a while.
Sitting on the bank, we discussed our luncheon,
and then smoothly and merrily drove along the
hard broad metalled road through Epping Forest
to the Snake Banks, where we halted for the
night at a very good comfortable inn, with the sign
of the "Eagle's Betum" on the signboard; and in
a duplicate copy over the door of each room,
the same design appeared, representing an eagle
pecking at a very bare bone. What hidden mean-
ing might be attached to this picture, I am not
aware, but the feeling it naturally excited was
one of compassion, that the noble bird, whose
"return" seemed an event of some interest and
importance, should not have found better fare to
welcome his arrival.
Whilst the waiter was bringing in dinner, I
observed him endeavouring to drive something
out of the room, and thinking it was our spaniel,
I said, " Do not drive the dog out, let him stay."
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Chap. VnL] THE " EAGLE*S RETURN." 107
"Oh! ma'om^ if you please it's our missis s
tame jackass^ and he's sometimes so rude^ he
gets upon the gentlemen's heads; I'd better put
him out, if you please, ma'am."
But the jackass did not seem inclined to be so
easily dismissed, and I had the pleasure of his amus-
ing company for some time. Talking a little, and
hopping about a great deal, the poor bird appeared
very happy, and was equally entertaining. It had
perfect liberty, and flew in and out and all about
the house at pleasure; sometimes chattering upon
the banisters upstairs, and then flying out to
hail the arrival of new guests.
The bird so ridiculously named a jackass is
about the size and shape of a starling, with dark
shaded brown plumagePand, being easily reared
and tamed, is often kept as a pet; it learns to
whistle tunes, and to say a few words tolerably
plainly, and is a merry sociable bird when al-
lowed its freedom, as this one was, which seemed
quite a popular character in the establishment.
The arrival of the mail and other coaches was
a great event for George, to whom the whole
busy afPair of changing horses was a most amusing
novelty ; and I confess I was far from an apathetic
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108 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VUI.
spectator myself, for the bright handsome vehicles,
the good horses, and orthodox-looking guards and
coachmen, were all pleasant lively reminders of
Home, although now, I fear, almost obsolete there.
The substitution of hideous smoking steam-engines,
dark tunnels, and sooty stokers, for the gay, brisk,
well-horsed coach, is, in my mind, as unpleasant
an offering upon the altar of utility as the
equally-prevalent change from beautiful graceful
sailing vessels to clumsy thick-chimneyed sputter-
ing steamers. The saving of horse-torture would,
however, be a weighty argument, with me, in
favour of steam and iron, were not the luckless
omnibus and cabhorses driven more furiously
and mercilessly then ever, in consequience of the
generally- accelerated speed of travelling. Doubt-
less we far-off colonists are apt to think of English
railways with feelings a little embittered by the
unnecessary fatigues and deprivations we suffer
here, &om the lamentable mismanagement of an
amount of labour which, if wisely and honestly
directed, would leave us little to envy, in the
item of roads, in any country. But in the present
state of things, the contrast is tryingly great,
between EngUsh people at home, for whom jour-
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Chap. Vm.] GREAT WESTERN TIER. 109
neys on tompike roads like bowling-greens are
now too tardy and difficulty and English colonists
here, who (except the few residing near the one
main road) have little else but mountain and
bog in a state of nature to scramble over, whether
for business or pleasure ; so that the most amiable
of us cannot restrain an occasional growl, or a
wish, however bootless, that the despised turnpike-
roads of the mother country could, like other
despised and condemned things, be transported
hither as a bequest to her daughter.
We left the Snake Banks after a night's sojourn,
and drove on to Perth; the whole of the land
on either side being inclosed for sheep-runs, farms,
pleasure-grounds, and gardens, with pleasant houses
and cottages seen at intervals, and my grand favou-
rite Ben Lomond Ufting his snowy head above
all the eastward scenery. On our left lay a wide
extent of inclosed and cultivated lowland, dotted
with houses and settlements, beyond which the
great western range of mountains stretched in a
long dark shadowy chain of snow-crowned peaks /
and wide bleak moorland heights, which may be
considered as the vertebree of our Tasmanian
mountain system, which sends out limbs that
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110 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VUI.
traverse most of the eastern half of the island,
and almost wholly occupy the western. Em-
bosomed in these dreary mountain wilds are
several large and beautiful lakes, of whose lonely
grandeur and picturesque scenery I have heard
their explorers speak in terms of high admiration ;
and in the summer, numerous flocks of sheep
are sent to depasture in tte grassy valleys and low-
land in their vicinity.
We entered the flourishing town of Perth on
the south-east, over a handsome stone bridge of
eight arches, with bold stone parapets, and quite
an imposing aspect, more like a good old English
bridge than the usually flimsy colonial construc-
tions, which seem for the most part built on
the principle of children's card-houses, for the
pleasure of seeing them tumble down again. The
broad rapid river, the signs of population and in-
dustry on its banks, the many good finished build-
ings around, and many more in progress, gave a
pleasant cheering aspect to the place; and during
the hour's halt we made at one of the inns, whilst
the horses rested, we walked down, after luncheon,
to the bridge, to sketch and look about more at
our leisure ; we then drove on to Launceston.
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Caiap. Vm.] PERTH. Ill
After living for five years in the "Bush," and
having a personal acquaintance with nearly every
human being we were in the habit of meeting
on the road, and abnost with every team of cattle,
I found quite a childish amusement in seeing so
many new people, new horses, and new vehicles
of all descriptions, as we approached the town.
Neat suburban cotta^lf veritable "cottages of
gentility," with cof^ch-houses complete, abounded
by the road-side, with their strips of garden and
smart green gates. Carts full of cut wood were
travelling townwards for sale, a sure indication
of our advance towards a denser population.
Brewers', bakers', and other trades-peoples' errand
carts were jogging about; waggons nodded drowsily
along, loaded with the furniture of hapless people,
"flitting" like ourselves; gigs, pony chaises,
phaetons, and Irish cars of all kinds, all full of
people, in spruce dresses, driving briskly to and
fro, mingled with numerous equestrians of all
grades, and divers quadrupeds being led forth
towards Campbell Town, in readiness for a grand
" hunt " on the morrow.
Nor were we, whilst observing, unobserved. Many
a curious glance and earnest stare were bestowed
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112 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VIII.
on our original turn-out ; the good horses, correct
harness, and clever character of the whole, rather
enhancing the interest awakened by the novelty
of our carriage itself, and the family group it
contained, with our handsome little dog gravely
looking out in front; and then the wandering
eyes next rested on our short stout old servant,
in his new suit of velveteA and tall shiny black
hat, with his shot-belt and double-barrelled gun
carried rather defiantly than otherwise, and mounted
on a horse too tall to be easily ascended in haste :
altogether, we must have borne unmistakable
evidences of our country rearing, and I . can only
hope that we proved as amusing to the good folks
we met as they did to us.
From the brow of a hill down which the road
passes into Launceston, we commanded a full view
of the town and adjacent "swamp" (as it is,
for a miracle, rightly named). Dense fogs are
so prevalent in this ill-situated place, that I believe
there are not many days in the year when this
view can be enjoyed; the usual prospect which
awaits the expectant traveller on this spot being
a rolling mass of thick white vapour, below which,
as if at the bottom of a mighty steaming cauldron.
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Chap. VIIL] SOJOURN AT LAUNCESTON. 113
lies, he is told, the populous town of Launceston,
which, as we saw it unveiled, with its shipping
along the wharf, and the far winding river lying
hright in the sunshine, formed really a very pretty
picture. The beauty, unhappily, is only percep-
tible at a distance, and on entering the town
vanishes entirely amidst the dirty streets, where
the handsome churches and other buildings, and
good large well-stored shops, are interspersed with
mean squalid hovels, unpleasant even to pass.
We found roomy apartments prepared for us at a
quiet hotel, and took up our abode there for two or
three days, Mr. Meredith having business to arrange.
The portion we occupied had been added since the
original building of the house, and, from some con-
trivance or whim, the windows of our drawing-room,
which were not above a yard high, rested nearly on
the ground, so that the only comfortable way of
looking out was by sitting on the floor beside them,
a mode of proceeding much more congenial to
George's tastes than my own.
So far we had had no choice as to our mode of
transit, but now the question arose, whether we
should go on the remaining sixty or seventy miles
by land, or take a passage in one of the little coast-
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114 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VUL
ing vessels^ and ship the car with us^ sending the
horses overland, the way, for road there was none,
being deemed by every one but Mr. Meredith as to-
tally impracticable for the tandem. He said he could
drive over it, having carefully noted all the diffi-
culties in his former journeys, and gave me my
choice. In furtherance of my decision, we went to
the wharf, and looked down into two of the Port*
Sorell vessels : they were very small, very dirty, -and
gave out such a potent compound odour of stale
tobacco, grease, and bilge water, that I stepped
back and gave my casting-vote for a land progress ;
thinking that even a night's lodging in the forest,
under or within the hollow trunk of an old gum
tree, would at any rate be a cleaner and sweeter
kind of penance than an incarceration, perhaps for
a week or more, in either of the cabins I had peeped
into.
Accordingly, our busineas bdng ended, we re-
mained no longer in Launceston, but gladly drove out
again on the third afternoon of our sojourn, though
half drowned in a pelting thunder-shower which fell
just as we started ; and, after a boggy progress for
ten miles, we stayed for the night at the little
village of Carrick, where we found the neatest of all
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Chi^. Yin.] ARRIVAL AT CARRICK. 115
possible inn-parlourB^ and the prettiest and most
obliging of all nice amiable landladies (a colonial
Mrs. Lupin^ with .teeth and eyes that a duchess
might have envied)^ and were as cosy and comfort-
able as we could desire.
Having an hour's daylight to spare, Mr. Meredith
took me down the muddy road to see an old mill of
'•which- he had become enctmoured in his lonely
joujneys this way; nor was I at all disappointed
in it. All buildings in these new countries are so
conipletely the things of yesterday, and generally
look so glaringly and obtrusively new and discordant
amidst the surrounding scenery, that it is especially
pleasant to see anything of human work which has
really mellowed into something like an harmonious
character, and so this crazy old weather-board mill
won its way to our admiration. We stood on the
rather frail wooden bridge which the road crosses,
and looked up the narrow rocky bed of the stream,
which came foaming and chafing down towards us,
overshadowed in many places by graceful bending
trees, and an infinite number of lovely flowering
shrubs, growing on the steep banks and little islets
of the noisy turbulent river, the " Liffey," a tribu-
tary of the Meander. A portion of the water turned
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116 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. VIII.
aside a short distance above these rapids was
conveyed along a wooden trough, supported on
stout tall mossy props, which displayed an infinite
variety of angles, according to their respective
lengths and the inequalities of the ground. This
'^lead*' brought the water to the mill, where it
poured down in a glassy sheet on the dark shining
old-fashioned overshot wheel, that brought to my
mind the many old water-mills I had loved to loiter
beside at Home ; and, as the vexed stream flowed
onwards, lodging its creamy wreaths of foam on the
rushes as it hurried along, it seemed like the strange
links of a dream, to unite the long-ago with the
more recent scenes of my life ; till it rushed madly
down a little ravine, and tumbled again into the
parent stream, carrying all my retrospective romance
along with it, and leaving me ready to walk back to
tea. Since my visit a tall, sharp, grievously-neat,
new mill has taken the pleuje of the picturesque old
wooden building, and I am thankful that I am
never likely to pass through Carrick again.
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DRLORADIS BRIPGB.
CHAPTER IX.
Weatbury. — Deloraine. — Wooden Bridge. — Bottled Ale and Porter. —
Hospitality. — ^A New Friend. — Last Day of the Pilgrimage. —
Avenne Plain. — Crossing the Rubicon. — The Forest. — ^Mid-day
Halt.— Leech.— Night Ride. —Difficulties of the Road. — Safe
Arrival.
Leaving our neat inn and our pretty hostess after
breakfast the following morning, we struggled on
through the quagmire roads as we best might, some-
times waiting whilst the servant rode on ahead to
fathom the depth of any very threatening bog
before we ventured into' it, but generally trusting to
good driving and stout horses to pull us through.
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118 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
A bridge over the South Esk had a toll-house and
gate upon it, and this would have been a pleasant
scrap of Old- World ways had the road in the vicinity
been worth paying for ; but as, on the contrary, it
appeared to me that we deserved rather a handsome
premium for enduring the risk and misery it in-
volved, the charge seemed adding insult to injury.
The snow, which lay thick and white along the
higher ridges, gave a piercing keenness to the bleak
southerly wind, as it blew aside cloaks and shawls
. and furs ; the poor children looked pinched with
cold; through all their mufflings, and we were glad
to sit by the inn fire to thaw, when we stopped for
a few minutes at Westbury, a watery, dreary,
muddy place, and the coldest part of the island I
have yet visited.
The roads became gradually but evidently worse
as we approached the forest. Often I thought we
must relinquish the idea of taking the car further,
and travel on upon the horses in the best way we
could, but still we advanced, and before evening
reached Deloraine, on the river Meander.
We passed through a great part of the settlement,
which, with its recently- erected raw brick and
wooden buildings, has very much the character of
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Chap. IX.] WOODEN BRIDGE. 119
the Ugly irregular suburbs of some fast-growing
manufacturing town^ with square patches of ground
fenced for gardens^ but as yet producing little
besides a scattered crop of brick ends, old mortar-
pits, and sawdust, with here and there a huge black
stump remaining unbumed, to tell of the departed
forest.
A singularly picturesque wooden bridge crossed
the Meander here, formed of several piers of logs
supporting the causeway, each of the piers being
built of even logs laid crosswise in a square, par-
tially bedded into each other at the comers, but
leaving space between each so as to offer less resist-
ance to the water when floods occurred. The
causeway and railing of the bridge were con-
siderably out of repair when we crossed it, but the
ponderous piers had every appearance of stability ;
and the river was then considered very high. Since
then a heavy flood of rain came, bringing down
immense quantities of fallen trees from a neighbour-
ing " clearing," which blocked up the openings of
the bridge, and the tremendous weight of the
timber and the body of impeded water behind it
entirely carried away the whole fabric. It has been
replaced by a new one, which I have not seen.
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120 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
Close to the bridge was our destined inn, a
square red-brick house, looking older than most
others in the settlement, and the property of its
landlord, a tolerably wealthy man, hut who, finding
his circumstances thriving, and his inn receiving
abundant custom, seemed to think all improvement
in attendance or refinements in accommodation
wholly unnecessary; yet he practised genuine
liberality in the stable department — a golden virtue
in country innkeepers.
A good fire was our first desideratum on our
arrival, and then, being warmed, we requested to be
fed. A large round table stood in the middle of
the parlour we occupied, and presently the elderly
good wife of our host came in with a huge loaf of
bread in her arms, which she deposited in the
middle of the bare table, and hurried off (to fetch
a tray or dish and a tablecloth, as I innocently
supposed) ; but in a few seconds she returned,
carrying an enormous cheese, which promptly
descended, with a heavy sound, beside the loaf, also
on the bare wood ; then I began to understand the
style of things a little better, and looked on in no
small amusement to see what would follow. Next
came a heap of large blue plates (the dear old
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Chap. IX.] BOTTLED ALE AND PORTER. 121
inexhaustible " willow pattern "), and on these a fear-
ful mass of gigantic wooden-hafted knives and forks ;
then a very small tea-tray, with a very large crockery
teapot, and a tall shaking tower of capacious blue
cups and saucers, skilfully packed together; with
some table-spoons of German silver, or some other
equally unpleasant composition. A basin of black
sugar, and some coarse salt, completed the display,
until the entrance of a great dish of hot fried
mutton-chops and rashers of salt pork.
Spirits and excellent English bottled ale and
porter are kept in the meanest public-houses in
the colonies ; but of their wine, the white is cape,
and the port of that peculiar vintage for which
" Punch" gave us the recipe some years ago,
prescribing a decoction of logwood, brown paper,
and old boots.
Some cases of well- stuffed native birds adorned
our parlour, and after tea we had a most unexpected
and unlikely treat in such a place, being the com-
pany of a very large and excellent musical box,
which played some briUiant airs from new operas
very pleasingly.
We were dismayed the following morning to find
a thick heavy rain falling in a steady determined
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122 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
way, as if to preclude all chance of our proceeding ;
and our host prognosticated " a big flood," which
was a remarkably cheering and pleasant augury !
Our breakfast was the tea over again, minus the
cheese, and I obtained a few eggs for our own
servant to boil for us, frying being the only
popular mode of cooking them here.
We had slept very comfortably ourselves, "with
everything sweet and clean, though bare and rough
in the extreme, and the other beds looked equally
well ; but when poor George came to me, the odour
of the abominable " mutton-bird " pillow on which
he had lain was most sickening ; and it is retained
so strongly in the hair, that the most elaborate
washing, aided by *' Macassar" and Eau de
Cologne, is all unavailing : time alone will remove
it. I believe a little careful preparation renders
these oflfensive feathers quite inodorous, but, being
cheap, they are used commonly without. It is
impossible to be in the same room with any person,
or even any garment, that has passed the night on
such a bed, without being most unpleasantly aware
of the scent.
As I could not find any books to read, save the
*' Newgate Calendar," I sat at the window sketching
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Chap. IX.] HOSPITALITY. 123
the bridge, whilst the rain forbade our walking
about.
The worst thirty miles of our journey now lay
before us — the passage through the forest ; and, as
it seemed scarcely possible to achieve it in one day,
short as they were at that season, we thought of
hiring some mattresses and blankets from Deloraine,
and sending them to a vacant cottage which we had
permission to use, ten miles on the way, that we
might rest a night there, and divide the stage ; but
the account we received of this place, which was in
the "care" of an Irish stock-keeper, and the abode
of untold legions of all varieties of vermin, put
a stop to that plan. The only other house on our
way was but four miles beyond Deloraine, but even
that distance it was desirable to subtract from our
last long stage; and a note to the hospitable owner,
requesting the aid of a night's lodging, speedily
brought him in person, as its reply, to escort us
back with him at once. Just as we were starting,
our groom arrived from Port Sorell, with Mr.
Meredith's saddle-horse, equipped with a side
saddle, which enabled me to travel more pleasantly,
and also to lighten the car. Four miles of boggy,
rocky, slippery, sloppy progress brought us to our
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]24 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
new frieDd's cottage, where all that the kindest
hospitality could suggest was done for our com-
fort.
Bidding a grateful adieu to our w^orthy enter-
tainer tlie next morning, we set forth on our last
day's pilgrimage, about eight o'clock, with a slight
drizzling rain falling, which happily did not in-
crease, and at intervals wholly ceased, but the day
continued damp and gloomy.
We plodded on, through dreary woods and
swampy plains, now fording a lagune, now scramb-
ling over a gully, till a steep channel containing a
broad stream of black liquid mud lay before us,
bearing the cheerful appellation of " Dead Cow
Creek." Setting down the children and the maid,
Mr. Meredith drove into it, and our poor leader
instantly disappeared, all but his head ; but flounder-
ing on, he emerged, and the wheeler went in, and
finally the car; all clambering safely out again, in
process of time, on the opposite bank. The maid
crossed over by walking along the rails of an
adjoining fence; the children were carried; and I
made my way down the bank of the gully, till I
found a place narrow enough for my horse to jump
across. Then we hastened on again, for many such
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Chap. IX.J AVENUE PLAIN. 125
obstacles beset us, and our general progress could
very rarely exceed a walk.
Suddenly, on passing through a gate near to a
lonely stock-hut, we were surrounded by fifteen or
twenty great fierce dogs, growling and barking
furiously ; but before any worse efiect was produced
than that of making our valiant little dog, Dick,
look as bold and angry as if he seriously contem-
plated fighting the whole party himself, they were
called off by the stock-keepers, who very civilly
offered us some refreshment, and were very anxious
that I would at least take a ''pot o' tea;" but it
was too early for luncheon, and I am not sufficiently
imbued with the genuine bush predilections to
admire the composition usually known here as
'' tea," among the labouring class.
Soon after passing the hospitable stockmen, we
reached the Avenue Plain, which in summer must be
a beautiful spot, but was then covered with water,
from a few inches to a foot or more deep. Its
name tolerably well describes it ; a wide, long, open
space, intervening between the belt of fine verdant
lightwoods and other trees skirting the river
*'Eubicon" and the great forest; so that it is a
grassy flat, surrounded by high wood, and in
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126 NINE YEARS IN TASMANU. [Chap. IX.
summer is a valuable grazing ground. We did not
pass the Bubicon until some time after^ and then
crossed only a branch of the classic stream, of
very insignificant dimensions.
From the Avenue Plain we turned aside, and at
once plunged into the dark forest. Gigantic gum-
trees rose on every side, and in every variety that
such tail, straight, bare, gaunt things can exhibit ;
for handsome as single gum-trees frequently are,
and thick-foliaged and massive in their sombre
hues, those which grow clustered in the forests are
almost invariably ugly, and these were so close
together that it was only possible to see around for
a short distance, and so destitute of leaf or branch
for a height of fifty or seventy feet, that nothing
but timber seemed to shut in the view, except where
a stray lightwood or wattle brought the welcome
relief of foliage to the drear gray wall of upright
trunks. Unhappily, they were not all upright ; the
fallen ones giving us infinitely more trouble than
the serried ranks standing ; the car often having to
make long d6tours to get round them, amidst dead
wood, holes, bogs, and all imaginable obstacles.
At last, for every mile of our diflBcult progress
through this dismal, dreary, and most monotonous
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Chap. IX.] MID-DAY HALT. 127
forest seemed like a dozen leagues at least, we
made our mid-day halt for nearly an hour ; watered
and fed the horses, for whom we had brought some
oats from Deloraine, and made a good fire to cook
our provisions and make some tea, which, being hot,
was more coveted than the ale or wine we had with
us. Everything around us was cold, damp, dark,
and gloomy. Hideous fungi, of all varieties of shape
and colour, clustered beneath the wet half-charred
logs, or inside the hollow trees, as if they knew them-
selves to be unfit to meet the light of day, or even
the twilight of the forest, so disgusting were they,
in their livid, bloated, venomous-looking swarms.
Our allotted rest was soon over, and we set forth
i^ain ; on, on went the car, jolting, bumping, and
splashing along, over logs, rocks, lagunes, and
bogs ; whilst, as I followed its erratic course, I often
reined up my horse, and waited, almost breathlessly,
to watch its passage over some unusually threaten-
ing " bad bit of road," but providentially no
accident happened.
Occasionally we came to some semblance of a
bridge, rarely more than the skeleton, the holes and
gaps in which had to be temporarily stopped with
leafy boughs of trees and shrubs and bundles of
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128 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
cut reeds and grass, so that the horses feet might
not slip through in crossing. All these delays
hindered us exceedingly, and we found the short
winter afternoon advancing fast, whilst we were yet
far from our destination. A few plants of the
beautiful large crimson epacris began to appear at
intervals, and soon became abundant ; but before,
behind, and on all sides, spread the dreary vast
forest, an interminable continuance of the same
sombre desolate picture, till I began to doubt if the
existence of meadows and open country were not
altogether a mere pleasant fiction.
I was riding at some distance from the car,
when I heard a scream from the nursemaid, and,
on hurrying up, found her in great terror and
wonder to know what could have hurt the baby,
who was bleeding fast from a wound beneath the
chin, evidently the bite of a leech. These crea-
tures are very numerous in such damp cold places
as those we were traversing ; our dogs were often
afterwards seen with several hanging to their
legs whilst out hunting; and one had probably
been brushed into the car from some of the moist
shrubs, and, after satisfying its appetite, had dropped
off again, for it could nowhere be found.
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Chap. IX.] NIGHT RIDE. 129
Soon after this little fright, a horseman was
seen approaching us, who proved to he a kind
friend's servant, coming to meet us and assist
us in any way he could; and as he was a clever
"bushman," and a most useful intelligent fellow,
we were right glad of his addition to our party.
By the time we arrived in sight of a lonely
stock-hut, supposed to be six miles from our future
residence, the sun set; and as to drive in the
dark through the standing forest and over the
prostrate one was a sheer impossibility, it had
been determined to leave the car here, in the care
of our old servant and his gun, until the morning,
and make our way on in the dark on horseback.
Our new ally, "Sydney Bill," led the way, and
kindly volunteered to take charge of the baby,
who had at last wearied of his jolting journey, and
for some time had cried piteously; but his new
rough-looking nurse held him so tenderly, and
the walk of the quiet horse was so much moi'e
easy a motion than the unequal one of the car,
that the poor weary child went quietly to sleep
for the remainder of the journey, and worthy
"Bill" won my enduring thankfulness. Mr.
Meredith took George before him, on his fine
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130 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
tall horse, and rode next in the cavalcade; I fol-
lowed, and the maid and boy, mounted on the
tandem horses, closed the procession. We pro-
ceeded in *' Indian file," endeavouring to keep on
the narrow track of little more than a foot wide,
which was all the road our hush-route displayed.
In the forest the usual half twiUght is after
sunset so rapidly changed to perfect darkness,
that my somewhat short-sighted eyes soon lost
Mr. Meredith, whose dark horse and dark clothes
were undistinguishable to me from the rest of the
palpable gloom around; and I several times got
off the track until I sent the groom on before
me, and as the horse he rode was a light gray,
I could then just discern a patch of something
less black than the surrounding inky void, moving
ahead, which I followed with literally bhnd confi-
dence. Every now and then my husband's voice
reached me, giving some direction or warning;
sometimes sounding from below, crying, "Mind
this steep gully! When at the bottom, keep to
the right for a few paces, then turn to the left, or
you will be in the bog ! "
A Uttle farther on came another mud-hollow,
and with it the good advice, not easy to follow in
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Chap. IX.] DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROAD. 131
the dark, " Keep in the middle here ! — there are
deep holes on both sides ! "
Shortly after, a quick, sharp "coo-ee!" and
"Stoop your head well — here are some very low
branches to go under," and as I could not pos-
sibly know the exact whereabout of these treache-
rous boughs, I lay almost with my face on the
horse's neck, till the next order arrived from
head^quarters, with directions for the mastery of
some new diflSculty.
I soon learned to trust more to the sagacity
of my good horse than to my own inferior instinct,
and, in some way or another, he scrambled safely
through all the gullies, and jumped well over
all the innumerable logs; and as I could not
see one of them, my ride was altogether a series
of surprises and mystifications, which would have
been amusing enough, had I felt less weary ; but I
had been ten hours on horseback, tiresomely creep- *
ing at a foot pace, and had become so thoroughly
chilled, cramped, and drowsy, as to be scarcely
capable of feeling the reins in my hand, and
began to fear that I should drop off my horse
before we arrived at our destination.
Sometimes, looking straight upwards, I could
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132 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. IX.
catch a passing glimpse of a few bright stars,
showing that anywhere but in the horrible forest
it was a fair clear night ; but whilst we were buried
in that waste of wood, groping our way like the
explorers of some subterraneous world, we were
shut out, or rather shut in, from all cheering
skyey influences. I scarcely know anything more
thoroughly wearisome, both to mind and body, than
a slow progress through these dreary dark forests,
with their huge, tall, gaunt, bare, half-dead trees,
standing around you in apparently the same hideous
skeleton shapes, however far you go; as different
from the verdant, leafy, shadowy depths of an Eng-
lish wood as a decaying mis-shapen skeleton is from
a perfect human form in vigorous life.
Suddenly, the loud barking of several dogs came
most pleasantly upon our ears, and in a few more
paces a span of starry sky opened out before us,
and the outline of some building was visible.
'' Here we are at last ! " cried my husband, but
it seemed unlikely we should be there long, for
half a dozen immense dogs were raging round us,
apparently only discussing who should be eaten
up first, until their master, our valuable assistant
**Bill," called them off, and we reached the garden
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Chap. IX.] SAFE ARRIVAL. l3o
gate of our new domicile. The poor children,
both fast asleep, were quickly carried in, beside
a good fire, and I followed as soon as I could
walk, for, on first alighting from my horse, I was
too much cramped with cold to stand.
The good bachelor friend . from whom Mr. Mere-
dith had rented the cottage (and our friend Bill's
estimable master) having kindly left us his furni-
ture until some of our own should arrive, we
managed admirably, making children's beds of car
cushions, cloaks, &c. ; nothing seemed worth think-
ing a trouble or annoyance, now that our diflfieult
and weary journey was safely over.
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CHAPTER X.
General Sketch of "Lath Hall.*' — Cockatooers. — Poverty at Port
Sorell. — Potatoes. — Port Sorell Horse-keeping. — Fences. — Dutch
Barns. — Model Stables. — Police Station. — Pleasant Sea View. —
" Clarissa."— Cottage Sites.
I WAS somewhat curious, the next morning, to
judge for myself of the situation of our new
dwelling, after the very unfavourable accounts Mr.
Meredith had given me, but I found his descriptions
most faithful. The cottage occupied the top of a
slight slope, which was so far cleared that the chief
of the great trees had been cut down, but not cut
up, and the enormous dead trunks, lying over and
under and across each other, made a most melan-
choly foreground to the everlasting forest, which
bounded the narrow view on all sides, like a high
dense screen. Two avenues, which had been cut
through it in front of the house, gave distant peeps
of two other cottages on two other slopes, and
gum-trees again, behind. No one who has any
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Chap. X.] "LATH HALL." 136
regard for health would, I should think, venture to
live in the hollows or flats of the forest, which seem
the very strongholds of ague, miasma, and all the
other pleasant progeny of swampy woods.
From the back of the house, the close dense
forest was the only view; so close, that any one
looking for sky jfrom the kitchen door must gaze
up to the zenith for it ! Altogether, as may well
be imagined, our new home was not a cheerful one
in its external characteristics ; and we soon found it
to be exceedingly damp throughout, and very cold.
The walls were built of upright " slabs," that is to
say, of thick pieces of rough spUt timber, six or
seven inches broad, two or three inches thick, and
about nine feet high, fastened to logs at the
bottom, and wall-plates at the top. These slabs
were lathed and thinly plastered within, and lathed,
but not plastered, without ; whence, as the cottage
had no name, I bestowed upon it the sobriquet of
*' Lath Hall." The slabs were in many places some
inches apart, and the inside plaster displayed
multitudes of capacious crevices, which enabled the
external air to keep up a friendly and frequent
communication with that within. Five doors and a
French window, all opening into our only parlour,
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J36 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
were not calculated to diminish the airiness of the
apartment.
By suspending a thick curtain across one recess,
we screened off three doors at once ; and another
curtain hung over another door, excluded a copious
volume of wind from an opposite comer.
Fortunately, fire-wood was abundant, and our
liberal use of it in every room which possessed a
hearth contributed not a Uttle to clear the near
portions of the forest of masses of dead wood.
The instalment of our household goods which
had been sent overland to Launceston safely
reached us in about a fortnight after our own
arrival, and the main body in some weeks after-
wards, but in a most deplorable condition — broken,
dismembered, and destroyed ; casks of well-packed
china and glass produced Uttle besides fragments,
and all the furniture was maimed, wounded, and
disfigured for life. We found, on inquiry, that
when the goods were put on board the vessel
engaged to convey them from Swan Port to
Launceston, her captain and crew were all alike
intoxicated, and tumbled our unlucky goods pell-
mell into the vessel's hold ; and hence the serious
and very annoying loss we suffered.
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Chap. X.] " COCKATOOERS." 137
" Lath Hall" being about five miles inland irom
the police office and township on the shore of Port
Sorell, I took an early opportunity of accompanying
Mr. Meredith in one of his daily rides thither, to
see what manner of place the coast of our new
district might be, for I certainly was not enaniom'ed
of the inland portion I had seen. Our way lay
through the forest, dark, dismal, and dreary as ever,
for about three miles ; the only variety of scene was
afforded by a few wretched-looking huts and hovels,
the dwellings of " cockatobers," who are not, as it
might seem, a species of bird, but human beings ;
who rent portions of this forest from the proprietors
or their mortgagees, on exorbitant terms, and vainly
endeavour to exist on what they can earn besides,
their frequent compulsory abstinence from meat,
when they cannot afford to buy it, even in tlii.-s laud
of cheap and abundant food, giving them some
affinity to the grain- eating white cockatoos.
The mere clearing off the timber from such
land usually costs at least 10/. an acre, and tho im-
practicability of a man without capital clearing it,
paying rent for it all the while, and maintaining
himself and family till the crop comes in, is too
evident to any rational mind to need a comment.
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138 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
The common course is this: — Some industrious
servant who has saved a few pounds from his wages,
if he has been so unusually fortunate in this
peculiar district as to receive his earnings, or a man
with a little money and farm stock, blindly agrees
to pay a high annual rent for a piece of dense
forest, covered with the heaviest timber, the land
itself being of the richest description. With a
large portion of his small capital, he builds a hut
for his family, and then goes on clearing a field for
the plough. Meantime, nothing is coming in, and
money for food constantly going out; rent-day
comes round, and if the remaining savings are
enough, they pay the rent ; if not, the cart, plough,
or bullocks must go as well. The coming crop is
oflFered as security for other inevitable debts, and is
swept oflf when harvested, leaving only the promise
of the next to carry on the work with until it
comes; and when it does, in all probability the
demands exceed the receipts ; the sad finale being
that the wretched family goes forth again, bereft of
every shilling they possessed, and the place where
their all lies buried is let as an "improved
property " to some other adventurer at an advanced
rental. Until I came into the district of Port
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Chap. X.] POVERTY AT PORT SORELL. 139
Sorell, I could not conceive such poverty as I saw
there, to be possible in this land of plenteousness ;
nor is there, I imagine, in the whole island a
similarly-conditioned neighbourhood. It was some-
thing quite new again to me, to find the poor
people around us thankAil for any victuals or other
little helps we could give them, such as our
comfortable small settlers of Swan Port would have
scorned to accept had they been oflfered. One poor
industrious man near us declared afterwards that the
scraps of meat and rusty bacon, &c., he had from our
kitchen were all he had to eat during one winter,
except some cabbages from his garden ; every sale-
able kind of pi'oduee, swoh as wheat, potatoes, &c.,
having gone in part payment of his debts and rent.
As compared with the extremities of famine
recently suffered by thousands of our miserable
fellow-creatures in Ireland and England, a winter's
subsistence on cabbages may not appear to merit
much commiseration; but here, where good fresh
meat sells for twopence or twopence-hal^enny a
pound, and is used thrice a day in every labourer s
or shepherd's hut, besides tea and sugar, and abun-
dance of good wheaten bread, vegetable diet is felt
as an unusual hardship.
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J 40 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
Much of the penury of Port Sorell may he
traced to the high price which was obtained for
potatoes some few years ago. Those persons
who cultivated them in this district sold their crops
one year for 10/. and 12/. per ton, and as the
produce varies from six to ten tons an acre, ac-
cording to soil and aspect, the simple people fancied
they had nothing further to do but plant and dig
potatoes, and count gold, (if indeed such gains as
they expected could be counted !) not taking into
consideration the possibility of a depreciation of
prices. Lavish expenditure in clearing, cultivat-
ing, and building was rapidly made ; little estates
were mortgaged beyond their value, for funds to
carry on the improvements; and, after the whole
small population of the neighbourhood had become
deeply involved in the fatal potato speculation,
prices sank, more rapidly even than they had
risen, and, instead of 12/., the faithless root
fetched only 55. or 10^. the ton. At the period
of our residence at Lath Hall, they were deemed
scarcely worth even carriage. Horses and pigs
were fed on them, and some scores of cart-loads,
stored in an inclosure on one side of the cottage we
occupied, were deemed worthless, and left there to
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Chap. X.] PORT SORELL HORSE-KEEPING. 14 1
perish, until the insufferable odour arising from
their putrescence compelled us to require their
removal.
On Mr. Meredith's first arrival in the district,
he one day called at the cottage of a settler,
who very civilly inquired, "Would you like your
horse put in the stable, Mr. Meredith ? "
" No, I thank you," was the reply, " he will do
quite well where I left him."
"Then," rejoined Mr. Smith, "shall I send
him a few potatoes ? "
Such an extraordinary suggestion as offering
a dish of potatoes to a horse seemed very like
a quiz; but the grave earnestness of the querist
proved his perfect sincerity, and, on inquiry, Mr.
Meredith was duly initiated into the Port Sorell
style of horse-keeping; a bucket of small raw
washed potatoes being as usual a "feed" there,
as a " quartern of oats " at Home, and the animals
seem to relish and thrive on them.
And now to return to our cockatooers' farms,
from which the great potato question has too long
detained me. Four or five of these little excava-
tions in the forest lay near our route to the beach ;
each with its one or two small patches of cultiva-
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142 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
tion, surrounded by the forest wall (like a child's
garden of a foot square^ with a paling a yard high),
and a low dilapidated hut and some hovels, usually
crouching in one comer of the clearing, shadowed
from all but a vertical sun by the gigantic tree-
barrier around.
In a place where timber of the best descriptions
for sawing or splitting is so superabundant as it
is here, we should expect to see particularly good
fences, as, if the labour of making posts and
rails were too expensive, a perfect rampart of a
dead-wood fence might be erected with ease, and
the advantage of saving labour in clearing the
ground : but the common fences all through Port
Sorell would convey the idea that timber was an
almost unattainable article; for, save in one or
two instances, I rarely saw any but the most
deplorable imitations of brush fences ever at-
tempted, and as these are no defence against the
inroads of cattle on the growing com, perpetual
disputes and bickerings arise, which a little good
fencing would wholly prevent. Undoubtedly,
uncertain tenure and small gains tend not a Httle
to such negligence in tenants, but the proprietors
are scarcely better farmers themselves.
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C5h^. X.] DEFECTIVE FENCING. 148
At one tiine I engaged a " cockatooer s " wife
in the neighbourhood to come to our house two
days in the week, to wash and iron, and gave her
5^. each time and her board ; but she shortly sent
me word she could not come again, as she must
stop at home to keep the cattle off the wheat.
A day or two after, I had the curiosity to go and
look at the fence of their field. It consisted of
a few boughs of shrubs laid on the ground, vary-
ing from a few inches to two feet in height, and
at intervals forked sticks were stuck up with long
thin "tea- tree" poles, like fishing-rods, resting
in the forks, and these by no means continuous.
It would not have kept a sheep out, in auy one
place, far less resist the determination and strength
of half-wild cattle. Yet these people were content
to plough and sow, and then leave their crop with
no defence but the vigilance of an old woman;
whilst a couple of men and a team of oxen would
in less than a week put such a wall of logs round
it as should be impregnable for years, and had this
been done, I need not have lost my washerwoman,
nor she her wages.
The majority of the bams in the district exhibit
an equal economy of timber and industry. The
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144 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
most popular are denominated Dutch barns, and
consist of a roof, supported on posts, with the
sides and ends open. I have also seen stables
there, constructed in the same style, but with
the spaces between the posts walled up with heaps
of manure two or three feet thick! The least
tidy kind of rough wall I have observed in any
other part of the colony has been *' wattle and
dab," or turf at the least; it remained for the
ingenious indolence of Port Sorell to invent this
odoriferous composite order of rural architecture.
Some few bits of the forest scenery on our way
to the beach were, from being less dense, much
more pleasing than the rest, especially where mag-
nificent lightwoods, rich in colour and fohage, and
the symmetrical native cherry trees {Exocarpus),
in their close massive cypress-like shape, and full
deep -shaded green hue, made pleasant pictures
amongst the more dreary realities of the eternal
Eucalyptus trunks above, and the harsh olive
green ferns below. A few flowers appeai'cd here
and there, seeming rather like things gone astray
from a fairer home, than constant dwellers beneath
.the dark gum-tree trunks. .
After passing one or two swampy plains tole^
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Chap. X.] THE POLICE STATION. 145
rably bare of trees— crossing "Muddy Creek,"
a clear fresh-water rivulet in a deep hollow — and
descending the next hill, a most welcome line
of blue water appeared over the distaut trees,
and we entered a more open country of undulating
grass land, with belts and groups of leafy trees
scattered about, more like a Swan Port sheep-run,
than the Port SoteH forest; aud soon we reached
the police station, the situation of which seemed
to me singularly beautiful, after our forest-den,
commanding a view of the cahn blue waters of
the port, its pretty rocky islets, and long wooded
points, with the open sea (Bass's Straits) beyond,
bounded on the east by the beautiful range of
the Asbestus Mountains, and on the west by the
West Head of Port Sorell, and Carbuncle Island
(usually rendered Cary-bunckle). Two or three
little vessels, including my odoriferous friends of
the Launceston wharf, lay at anchor in the port'.
The name of one of these was for some time a
problem to us : first we heard of a package come /
for us by the " Clara Say;" then the name changed ]
to the " Clara Say oh ! " and then into tibe " Qlaret -
Sea," which in due time was absorbed in the " Pha-
risee," an odd name for an honest little schooner, /
VOL. II. H
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146 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
we thought, until a sight of her stem-board an-
nounced to us that she bore, in reaUty, the soft
and romantic appellation of " Clarissa ! " Nor is
Port Sorell alone ingenious in such distortions:
I have known the " Sesostris " spoken of as the
"Sea Ostrich;" the "Vansittart" transformed to
the "Fancy Tart;" and a man in New Zealand
being ordered to name a vessel the "Crocodile,*'
actually painted, launched, and registered her as
the "Crooked Eye!"
A boat, pulling swiftly out to one of the vessels,
and numerous flocks of gulls and' red-bills busily
flying to and fro, or fishing in the shallows, added
just enough of life and motion to the calm glorious
view and the bright clear sunshine, which in itself
was reviving and comforting, after the watery vapoury
kind of twinkle which reached our forest gloom.
I sunned myself delightfiiUy on the saudy beach,
till Mr. Meredith's business was over, and then we
visited three different spots, which he had thought
of as pleasant sites for our own cottage. The first
was a natural terrace, with a conical hill behind,
commanding at high water a fine view of the port,
and with good fresh water in the vicinity ; but at
low tide, the view chiefly consisted of reedy mud^
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Chap. X.] BUILDING SITES. 147
flats and sand-banks, which was not pleasant. The
second spot was most beautiful ; a rocky but well-
sheltered and woody point, with a view both of the
port and its islands, and the open sea; with the
Asbestus Mountains opposite; everything in point
of beauty, but deficient in the requisite of fresh
water, —
*' Water, water, everywhCTe,
But not a drop to drink.**
And our miserable experience of drought in New
South Wales made us especially covetous of an
abundant supply. Keluctantly, we rode away to
the third selected point. This was a prominent
comer of a natural terrace, which we had traced
along for some distance, close to a running stream
of good water, and with as lovely a view as from
the spot we had last left, although as yet only
seen by glimpses through the great trees ; but we
fully appreciated the capabilities of the place, and
decided that there we would erect our cottage,
as soon as the land could be ofl&cially surveyed
for the Government, the allotments advertised in
the Government Gazette, and purchased at the
public sale, all which involved an inevitable delay
of some months.
H 2
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J 48 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. X.
Wooden houses are built with such rapidity that
we hoped to remove into ours within a year,
including all expected hindrances; but even that
seemed a long time to live so completely ''under
the shade of melancholy boughs."
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CHAPTER XI.
Owe New Neighbours. — Golden Ride for Ladies. — ^Touehstone and
Audrey. — Veterinary Conversation. — Excursions. — ^Walk to the
" Sisters." — Sea-Birds. — Pelicans and Porpoises, Ac
The inhabitants of our new district were highly
delighted at having their frequent prayers for a
resident police magistrate at length granted^ and
the full measure of popularity was accorded to him ;
whilst I was enabled to judge of the degree of
reflected lustre which I enjoyed, by the number of
calls which succeeded my arrival : by the time these
complimentary visits were over, and in due order
returned, I had grown quite weary of answering the
same questions over and over again. I soon dis-
covered that, although we had a more numerous list
of visitors than at Swan Port, we had not gained in
point of society.
All the residents were farmers, of greater or less
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X
150 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XI.
degree, and all "esquires," if not in their own
right, by their own assertion, which was often very
amnsing, and, for all common purposes, did as well.
In America, military titles seem the especial ambi-
tion of the shop-keeping and agricultural classes,
and " majors/* " colonels," and "generals" abound
on all sides ; but in our peaceful island, all such
redundcmt ambition tends towards one point of
glory, and " esquire" is the coveted and demanded
distinction, asked for, when not accorded without,
and now so universally applied, that its omission
will soon begin to be the really honourable distinc-
tion of a colonial gentleman.
One crying fault of the "ladies" prevails far
more in colonial than in English society — I allude
to that most absurd fallacy, which seems to imtagii^
that a lady ought to be discovered by any chance
visitor, at any hour of the day, fully arrayed in
her. newest attire, and in a state of smartness and
precision as regards flounces, ribbons, and coDars,
which is wholly and utterly incompatible with any
kind of domestic occupation or duty whatsoever.
Now the prevalence of this monstrous belief is
productive of many evils; not the least of which is,
the delay which almost invariably takes place in the
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Chap. XI.] GOLDEN RULE FOB LADIES. 151
appearance of the ladies of any family on whom
one calls in the country; and the period allotted
for a friendly chat thus passes in a dreary survey of
a formal drawing-room, or in constrained talk with
the unhappy master of the house, who is in a fidget
of anxiety and impatience at the absence of wife
and daughters. Thus, unless we determine to let
our own dinner spoil, or to omit some other intended
visit, we are compelled to take leave in five minutes
after the entrance of our fair friends, whose recently-
smoothed hair, horizontally-folded dresses, and red
damp hands, attest with painful certainty the trouble
which our kindly-intended call has occasioned them.
I know I am on dangerous ground, and that I
might almost as safely " patter in a hornet's nest,"
as show myself so manifestly a traitor in the
camp ; yet a little exposure of such follies ofttimes
effects so much improvement, that I do not hesitate
to take my share of responsibility in the attempt.
The golden rule by which all such troublesome
transformations may be rendered unnecessary is,
of course, to avoid ever being untidy or slatternly,
let our occupation be what it may.
My own criterion of propriety in every-day dress
is a very simple one. Of all persons living, I
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152 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XI.
consider my husband to merit my first and chiefest
respect ; and if my attire is such as I deem neat
and proper to be worn in his presence^ I do not
think I ought to suppose it unfit to appear in
before indifferent people or strangers. And it seems
to me far more pleasant to imagine one's lady-friends
notably busy in a morning, as good country house-
wives must be and are, than to conceive such
useless impossibilities as ladies (some of whom in
this place, 1 know, keep no female servant) dressed
in new silks or musUns at noon, and seated on a
sofa, doing nothing I To my simple notions, the
latter is intensely contemptible, whilst the former is
right and respectable ; and whatever may be thought
of my heretical opinion by my fair acquaintances
themselves, I am quite sure that the husbands,
fathers, and brothers, are all on my side of the
question.
The children, too ! such an expenditure of soap
and hair-oil as is deemed indispensable before they
can be introduced to strangers! and then ten to
one but the poor innocents put their mamma in
an agony by instantly informing you that " This is
my best frock ! " or that " Bobby mustn't come in,
he s dirty ! " Whereas, if no attempt were made to
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Chap. XI.] TOUCHSTONE AND AUDREY. 153
make things appear finer than they really are, all
this vexation would be spared, and the pleasant
little dirt-pie or pebble-pudding which the little
party were happily discussing, would proceed with-
out interruption.
One of our neighbouring "esquires*' one day
asked Mr. Meredith what he called the horse he
was thai riding; he replied, "Oh, this is Touch-
stone, and that," pointing to mine, " is Audrey."
" Ah !" rejoined the querist thoughtfully — "Yes,
I see; Touch-stone — oh, yes, he does touch the
stones, to be sure, but still I think Top-log would
have been better, for he s a rare one to leap ! "
Our unlucky penchant for classical or Shake-
spearian names for favourite horses or dogs, often
led to a similar display of incorrigible innocence in
our acquaintance, very few of our Port Sorell
Mends being literary characters. A lady, whilst
looking over a scrap-book, with which I had essayed
to amuse her during part of a dreary visit, appealed
to me for some explanation of one of Liverseege's
exquisite Shakespeare scenes which passed her com-
prehension, and I began trying to remind her of the
situation it represented, by a rough sketch of the
well-known characters and locality of the play ; but
H 3
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154 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XI.
ahe wofiilly checked my valuable illustrations by
exclaiming; "Oh, no, indeed, I don't remember
anything about it; I never read Shakespeare^ I
never could."
Shortly afterwards, some local matter became the
topic of conversation, and, thinking that was
perhaps a more congenial theme, I addressed a
common-place remark to my fair guest as to her
opinion of the affair ; but was again repulsed and
reproved by " I do n't know, indeed, I never trouble
my head with reading newspapers ; I 've something
else to do." The very truth being, as I opine, that
such heads pass through life in the enjoyment of
almost absolute sinecures.
I was sometimes rather startled by the very
veterinary character of the conversation prevalent
among some few young and (otherwise) lady-like
women of our acquaintance. Good and fearless
horse-women themselves, their whole dehght seemed
to be in the discussion of matters pertaining to the
stable; and when meeting any young lady friend
from a distance, the first questions were not en-
quiries after parents, sisters^ brothers, or friends:
no, nor even the lady-beloved talk of weddings and
dress; but the discourse almost invariably took a
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Chap. XI.] EXCURSIONS. 165
" turfy " turn, that was, to say the least, unfeminine
in the extreme.
As the swampy road hetween "Lath HaJl" and
the port became tolerably hard in summer, we
frequently drove down with the children, to pass the
day on the sea beach, both as a great treat and a
sanitary measure also ; for we felt how impossible
it must be to live long in that dark dank place, sur-
rounded with such masses of growing and decaying
vegetable matter, without the children, at least, feel-
ing the injurious effects. The perceptible change
in the atmosphere as we left the forest was always :
striking. On a cool day, the air around our cottage |
was damp and chilly, on a warm one, close and /
oppressive, and always seemed heavy, as if vapour- \
laden ; but as soon as we emerged from the woods i
upon the open land, the fresh light sea-breeze
brought us new life and vigour; the very act of
breathing was a pleasant sensation, and we all
heartily enjoyed our little excursions.
One day we had established the children and the
maid in a nice rocky nook under some lovely box-
trees (a species of our tribe of myrtles), where
George could either pick shells or pull flowers,
or, what children still more delight in, scoop up
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15(( NINE YSiitS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XL
'' mountains " of sand on the broad smooth beach ;
and as the water was at its lowest ebb^ Mr. Meredith
and I determined to walk across to one of the
islands called the ''Sisters/' which we had often
wistftdly gazed at from the shore.
The lovely beach we mostly frequented formed
at high water the margin of a bright bay, nestled
amidst rocks and wooded banks; but the tide
receded so far that, at low water, an expanse of
hard sand, nearly half a mile broad, was left bare
and dry, and apparently extended to the islands,
whither we boldly directed our course; but, as we
approached, a broad deep channel became visible,
lying between us and our goal. Skirting it round
for some distance, we found a shallow place, scarcely
ankle deep, and, resolving not to be so lightly foiled
in our purpose, began to step across it, when we
found ourselves on a quicksand, and had to be
tolerably active to get safe through. Once on the
island, objects of interest abounded. Sea-birds in
flocks were abound us; gray and white gulls uttering
their plaintive cry overhead, as they floated along
with one bright eye bent upon us ; busy merry red-
bills, circling us round and round, repeating thek
sharp impatient notes ; swift-footed little sand-larks
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Chap. XL] PELICANS AND PORPOISES. 157'
skimming rapidly over the beach^ like gray and
white balls^ whirled along in succession; and grand
demure ponderous pelicans^ in their silvery white
and raven gray plumage, sitting asleep, or standing
like statues on the broad smooth sands. Silently
and stealthily we stepped nearer and nearer to see
them better; but our curiosity— as curiosity so often
does — defeated its own object, and aroused the
pelicans to a full belief of their peril in allowing us
to advance so far. Their process of taking flight
was to me exceedingly droll ; they began by making
a short jump on both feet, then another, and
another, and another, each jump becoming longer
and higher, and their wings becoming gradually
expanded, till they finally bounded up from the
ground and soared away; and to see eight or ten
of these immense birds hopping along in this
measured and deliberate style, with their grave and
imposing aspect and long pouched bills, was the
most comic piece of solemnity I ever witnessed.
After the pelicans took flight, a shoal of porpoises
came floundering by, plunging and splashing most
delightftilly; then we went prying amongst the
crevices of the rocks, and in the clear pools, gazing
at the myriads of beautiful starfish and Echini, and
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158 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chi^. XI.
heedlessly scrambling over the sea- weedy crags in
search of oysters, until a chance look towards the
shore showed ns the returning tide flowing rapidly
in, and our retreat almost cut off; but by instantly
decamping, and fording our quicksand channel,
then considerably above a foot deep, we escaped all
harm save a good wetting, and by the time we had
walked to the car, and were ready to drive home,
my somewhat mermaidish garments had become
nearly dry in the sun and wind.
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CHAPTER XII.
Expedition to an Enchanted Valley.— lichens. — Nettles.— Fern-tree«.
— Small Ferns. — Natural Temple.— The Tallow-tree.— Sassalhw.
— Mischances by the Way. — Clematis. — Orchidaceous Flowers. —
Native Laburnum.
Mr. Meredith used often to make long ex-
plorations in the neighbourhood of our cottage^
sometimes to shoot ducks or a kangaroo, and as
frequently merely for a new walk. One day he
returned with such an armful of beautiful shrubs
and ferns, and such exciting accounts of the sin-
gularly beautiftil spots where he found them, that
I waited impatiently for his first leisure day, that I
might go with him into the new and wondrous
world he had discovered, and see its treasures grow-
ing there.
Accordingly on the first opportunity we set forth;
we rode on horseback for two miles of forest, and
then arriving at a " scrub," so thick and close that
our horses could go no further, we left them with
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160 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XII.
the servant, and proceeded on foot. We soon struck
into a cattle path, which was a beaten though very
narrow track underfoot, and so far a passage above,
that the shrubs gave way on being pushed, but
instantly closed again. Long pendulous streamers
of tangled gray lichen hung like enormous beards
from the trees, and on horizontal branches formed
perfect curtains of some feet in depth. Fun-
guses of all kinds protruded from the dead,
damp, mossy logs and gigantic fallen trees that lay
in our path, and the deep soft beds of accumulated
decaying leaves and bark that one's feet sank into
were damp and spongy, and chill, even on a warm
summer day.
s^ The nettles of this colony are the most formid-
able I have ever encountered, both in size and
venom, and in this primeval scrub they flourished
in undisturbed luxuriance, often rising far above
our heads, and forming quite a tree-like growth,
armed with a fierce array of poisoned spears, with
which they ruthlessly attacked my arms and ankles;
a thin print dress being a poor defence against their
sharp and most painful stings, from which I
suffered severely for some days after this scramble.
A friend of ours once rode after some cattle into
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Chap. XII.] ENCHANTED VALLEY. 161
a mass of tibese nettles^ which spread over a large A
space of ground. His horse became so infdriated
by the pain of the nettle-stings^ that he threw him-
self down amongst them to roll, which of course in-
creased the poor animal's torture, and his master
could neither lead nor drive him out ; the creature
was rendered mad and Airious by pain, and in a
short time died in convulsions.
Our cattle-track at length brought us into the -^
enchanted valley Mr. Meredith had discovered, and
not in my most fantastic imaginings had I ever
pictured to myself anything so exquisitely beautiful!
We were in a world of fern-trees, some palm-Uke
and of gigantic size, others quite juvenile ; some
tall and erect as the columns of a temple, others
bending into an arch, or springing up in diverging
groups, leaning in all directions ; their wide-spread-
ing feathery crowns forming half-transparent green
canopies, that folded and waved together in many
places so closely that only a span of blue sky could
peep down between them, to glitter on the bright
sparkling rivulet that tumbled and foamed along
over mossy rocks, and under fantastic natural log
bridges, and down into dark mysterious channels
that no eye could trace out, under those masses of ,
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162 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap- XII.
fern trunks^ and broad green feathers overarch-
ing it ; and all around, far above the tallest ferns,
huge forest trees soared up aloft, throwing their
great arms about in a gale that was blowing up
there, whilst scarcely a breath lifted the Ughtest
feather of the ferns below ; all was calm and silent
beside us, save the pleasant music of the rivulet,
and the tiny chirping of some bright little birds,
flitting about amongst the underwood.
I had brought my sketch-book, and although
despairing of success, sat down under a fern-canopy
to attempt an outUne of some of the whimsical
groups before me, whilst Mr. Meredith and Dick
went to look for a kangaroo, the former giving me
the needless caution not to wander about, lest I
should be lost, a catastrophe for which I seem to
possess a natural aptitude in the " Bush."
I soon relinquished my pencil, and shut my
book, half in disgust at my own presumption in
attempting for an instant a subject so far beyond
my poor abilities ; and, fastening my handkerofaifif
to the trunk of my canopy fern-tree, I ventured to
make short exciursions from it on all sides, taking
care not to go out of sight of the handkerchief.
Sometimes I could go as much as ten yards, but
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Chap. Xn.] FERN-TREES. 163
this was in the clearest place ; generally the view
closed in about five or six.
The stems of the ^fem-tr ees here varied from six
to twenty or thirty feet high, and from eight inches
diameter to two or three feet; their external sub-
stance being a dark-coloured, thick, soft, fibrous,
mat-like bark, frequently netted over with the
most delicate little ferns, growing on it parasiti-
cally. One species of these creeping ferns had
long winding stems, so tough and strong that I
could rarely break them, and waving polished
leaves, not unlike harts-tongue, but narrower.
These wreathed round and round the mossy
columns of the fern-trees like living garlands,
and the wondrously-elegant stately crown-canopy
of feathers (from twelve to eighteen feet long)
springing from the summit, bent over in a grace-
ful curve all around, as evenly and regularly as
the ribs of a parasol.
Whilst making one of my cautious six-yard
tours, a fine brush kangaroo came by me, and
was instantly out of sight again; and then I
heard a whistle, which I answered by a " coo-ee**
and Dick soon bounded to me, followed by his
master. We then shared our sandwiches with the
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164 NINE YBAB8 IN TASMANIA. [Cba;p. XIL
litde birds and the ants^ and drank of the bright
oool rivulet, and again went on exploring. In one
place we foond a perfect living model of an ancient
vaulted crypt, such as I have seen in old churches
or castles, or beneath St. Mary's Hall in Coven-
try. We stood in a large level space, devoid of
grass or any kind of undergrowth, but strewn with
fern leaflets like a thick, soft, even mat. Hundreds
— ^perhaps thousands — of fern-trees grew here, of
nearly uniform size, and at equal distances, all
straight and erect as chiselled pillars, and, spring-
ing fix>m their living capitals, the long, arching,
thick-ribbed fern-leaves spread forth and mingled
densely overhead in a groined roof of the daintiest
beauty, through which not a ray of light gleamed
down, the solemn twilight of the place strangely
suiting with its almost sacred character. Open-
ings between the outer columns seemed like arched
doors and windows seen through the " long-drawn
aisle," and stray gleams of sunshine falling across
them were faintly reflected on the fretted vault
above us.
Danby mi^ht paint the scene ; or perhaps one of
Cattermole's wondrous water-colour pictures done
on the spot might convey some tolerable idea of
Digitized by
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Chap. XII.] THE "tallow-tree." 165
its form and colouring, bat a mere slight sketch
were wholly nseless.
After reluctantly leaving our temple in the wil-
derness, we wandered some time longer amidst the
grand and beautiful scenes around, and I made a
collection of small ferns and other plants new
to me.
We noticed one very ornamental shrub, usually
known as the " Tallow-tree'^ (from the viscous
greasy pulp of the berries), growing here very
abundantly, and in gre&t luxiiriance ; but every
one we found was growing out of a fern-tree, the
foster-parent in most cases appearing exhausted
and withering, whilst the nursling throve most
vigorously. It seemed, generally, as if a seed
had lodged in the soft fibrous rind of the fern-
tree, and had sprung up into a tall, strong, erect
stem, at the same time sending out downward
shoots, that eventually struck into the earth; but
we could not find one plant growing in and out
of the earth, although I am aware that the tree
is not always a parasite. Many of the stems were
a foot through, and their great, coiling, snaky
root-shoots clasped about the poor old hoary fern-
trees. These tyrant parasites are very handsome.
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166 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XII.
with rich, dark green, glossy leaves, and red blos-
soms, succeeded by most brilliant orange -coloured
berries, which, when ripe, split open, and the case
flying back partially displays the bright red cluster
of seeds within, like a little pomegranate with an
orange-peel husk.
\ The beautiful Tasmanian sassaft^-tree is also a
dweller in some parts of our fem-tree valley, but
not in those we explored on the present occasion.
The flowers are white and fragrant, the leaves
large and bright green, and the bark has a most
aromatic scent, besides being, in a decoction, an
excellent tonic medicine. The wood is haM and
white, with scarcely any visible grain, but is
marked or shaded with light brown in irregular
occasional streaks. Thinking that it must partake
the pleasant fragrance of its bark, I procured some
to make boxes of, but found it quite devoid of
scent after the bark was removed. A block of
it furnished Mr. Meredith with an excellent ma-
terial for a beautiful toy sailing-boat, which he
carved out of it for George; and the fine, close,
velvety texture of the wood seems admirably
adapted for carving of any kind. The sawyers
and other bush-men familiar with the tree call it
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Chap, xn.] MISCHANCES BY THE WAY. 167
indiscriminately " saucifax," " sarserfrax," and " sa-
tisfaction/*
We found no small difficulty in getting out of our
vale of enchantment ; indeed, I began to think that,
having really forced an entrance into Fairy Land,
the wicked sprites had bewitched us, so that we
must perforce remain there. No returning cattle-
track could be discovered, the scrub was too dense
to observe the position of the sun, and its imbroken
entanglement was most fatiguing to force one's way
through. Several times we took a wrong direction,
and, after a long combat with briars and nettles,
were forced to "trybtick" again. The heat and
oven-like closeness of the air were most depressing
to strength and spirits, and once or twice I sank
down almost exhausted; but after a brief rest I
grew more resolute, and pushed on after my hus-
band.
The impossibility of seeing what was beneath
our feet caused me to suffer many unwelcome sur-
prises, by stumbling over logs, falling into holes,
and like mischances ; but at length we succeeded in
scrambling once again into light and sunshine, and
very thankfully mounted our horses and rode home,
the pleasure of our day's exploring having so im-
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168 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XII.
measurably overbalanced the fatigue, that I pro-
mised myself several more pilgrimages to the same
shrine, which, alas, were never performed.
I never saw the lovely native clematis growing
so luxuriantly as among the Fort Sorell forests.
There, over the universal undergrowth of ferns,
this beautiful climber often spread over a space
many feet broad and long, in a richly-woven
mantle of loaf and flower, or, clinging to some
slender tree, formed a tangled covering all over
it, with long starry chaplets waving about. The
bright blue Comespertna was equally abundant,
but its abode was usually in drier and more open
places.
Myriads of strangely-shaped orchidaceous flowers
bloomed in all situations, and included various spe-
cies of yellow and brown Diuris, lilac, pink, and
blue kaladenias, various in form as in colour ;
and one very eccentric individual of the orchis
family, with a very long dark-brown lower lip, in
the centre of which rose a large protuberance like
a nose. I have shown my drawing of it to many
persons, but none had ever seen the plant, or could
tell me its name. I also foimd three varieties of a
singular green orchis, of a helmet-shape, growing
Digitized by
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Chap. XU.] NATIVE LABURNUM. J 69
singly, on rather tall slender footstalks. One of
these had a long feather-like appendage protruding
from the opening in front.
A beautiful shrub, with flowers and leaves very
much resembling the laburnum, formed thickets
in some of the damp hollows near us, and many
other ornamental shrubs abounded, whilst fern-
trees were plentiftd near most of the rivulets ; but,
though very Oriental and palm-like in their aspect,
they were not comparable, in point of beauty or
magnitude, with those of our charmed dell.
VOL. ir.
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CHAPTER XIII.
Tasmanian Eagle. — ^White Hawk. — ^White Cockatoos. — Sai>erb War-
blers' Nest — Strange Insect. — Venomous Guests. — ^Burning Trees.
— Stinging Ants. — Flies.— Wood-Tick.
Few varieties of birds enlivened our forest gloom ;
the most numerous were the crows and black mag-
pies; but none of the sweetly-singing pied magpies
are seen nearer Port Sorell than the Avenue Plain ;
and much as I missed my pleasant merry friends, I
could not but applaud their taste in frequenting any
part of the island rather than this most dreary and
disagreeable district.
Now and then, two, three, or four lordly eagles
might be seen soaring grandly high overhead at
the same time, and once we saw as many as seven
together, and marvelled much what so grave an
augury portended. As all things edible were scarce
in the vicinity, we sometimes thought that our goats,
with their young kids, might possibly attract the
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Chap. XIII. ] THE TASMANIAN EAGLE. 171
attention of the eagles ; but I must freely exonerate
them from all eharge of theft — they never molested
any of our live stook. I cannot give an equally
good character to their disreputable kinsfolk, the
hawks, who were bolder and more rapacious than
any I had seen before, coming and sitting quite
composedly on the very hen-house itself, and swoop-
ing into the veranda after my pet guinea-fowls
vrith insufferable audacity. White^^iawks^so rare )
in most parts of the island, were numerous here ;
they are most superb birds, with plumage soft as
satin, and whiter even than snow; and radiant
piercing eyes, so bold and bright ! I often wished
to procure a young one to rear tame, but I suppose
that a revolt amongst my poultry would certainly
have ensued, on the installation of such a favourite.
The Tasmanian eagle is a very large and noble
bird, of grand and majestic aspect ; but prejudice is
here very strong against him, and scores of instances
are currently related of his destructive predilections
for young lambs, sucking pigs, and other dainty
morsels ; we, however, give very little credence to
these ungenerous stories, as none of the narrators
have been able to say that they themselves saw the
offence conmiitted.
- I 2
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172 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. Xin.
One of our shepherds (at Swan Port), having on
one occasion wounded an eagle slightly in the wing,
caught it, and brought it to me : had I refused to
keep the poor thing, it would immediately have been
put to death ; I therefore let him leave it, and for
some days it was tethered by the leg to a large
coop, and plenty of food given to it, but it ate
nothing — parrots, chickens, rabbits, and offal were
all alike untouched. I then supposed that my
noble captive was too heroic to eat whilst in that
fettered condition, and after having the feathers of
one long beautiftil wing cut, I set him at liberty in
the garden ; but, although daily tempted by fresh
food, he ate nothing for three weeks from the time
of his capture, and I began to despair of keeping
him alive, when one day, to my great joy, a piece
of fresh liver conquered his heroism, end he devoured
it greedily. After that he always fed heartily, and
roamed about the garden for some months, but
never became tame enough to eat from our hands.
One day a servant whom I had entrusted with a
gun to shoot rabbits, saw my poor eagle sitting on
a fence a short distance from the house, and believ-
ing it to be a wild one, shot it, much to my vexa-
tion.
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Chap. Xin.] WHITE COCKATOOS. 178
The beak and talons, and indeed the whole form
and aspect of the bird, denote enormous strength,
and the span of the extended wings is from seven
to nine feet, so that it would be a formidable eidver-
sary to almost any creature it determined to attack.
I have heard a story here of a child two years old
being carried some distance by an eagle, and then
dropped, with its head severely injured ; but I am
unwilling to place any reliance on the tale.
The two neighbouring dwellings which we used
to peep at through the streets or avenues cut in our
girdle of forest, had some meadows and corn-fields
on a rich marsh that spread out below them, and
in our walks we often saw great flocks of white
cockatoos thickly scattered about like sheep, eating
up the springing grain. Unlike the clever, harm-
less, black cockatoos, the white ones are exceedingly
niischievous, devouring immense quantities of com ;
and they are so cunning and sagacious, that it is
very difficult to approach them with a gun. One
pair which had been shot near us was brought me
as a present. They were very large handsome birds,
of snow-white plumage, with crests and lower tail-
feathers of the most pure and delicate yellow.
Knowing that they feed wholly on grain, and are
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174 NINE YEAB8 IN TASMANIA. [CSiap. XIH.
commoBly eaten in New South Wales, I had them
roasted, and we found them excell^it, being young
and tender, very much like a ht wild duck ; but I
believe youth is an indispensable requisite in a
cooked cockatoo, the elderly birds being of rather
leathery texture.
_N>, Very few parrots visited us, and those were of
the common green kind, the least beautiful of all.
Wild ducks and quail were tolerably plentiftd, but
we neither saw bronze- winged pigeons nor wattle-
birds.
\ One or two pairs of "Supwb Warblers" lived
close to the garden lenpe, and for a long time I
tried in vain to discover their nest. We often fed
them, and they came boldly about us, but always
baffled me when I endeavoured to watch them
home. At last I felt quite sure I had found the
grass tussock containing one nest, but although
this was not above two feet across, I was some time
still ere I discovered the entrance, for of course I
would not disturb anything, and the little creatures
were so artful and cautious, and in such a sad state
of fluttering chirping trepidation when I was peep-
ing about, that they distracted my attention, as they
naturally intended to do. At last, I accidentally
Digitized by
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Caiap. Xm.] STRANGE INSECT. 176
looked directly into the little tube of woven grass
and ireb that served them as hall and ante-room —
several blades of reeds waved before it, but still,
on gazing intently down into the dark little cavity,
1 espied two or three little gaping mouths, and
heard a faint small chirp. The two tiny parents
of these tinier babies (which could not be much
bigger thto peas) were all the time flying round
and round me^ in most distressing terror, almost
brushing my face with their delicate wings in their
aiixiety to drive me away ; and the instant I drew
back, both darted into the nest to see if all was
right at home. Poor little fllitterers ! they need not
have feared me. I only confided the secret of their
&bode to my husband, and so fearful was he of
disturbing them^ that I could not induce him to go
near enough to examine the nest. In due time we
had the pleasure of seeing the whole miniature
family out together ; the old birds in a great state
of importance and flutter^ feeding their droll brown
little offspring most assiduously.
" Come here, and look at a strange insect," said
Mr. Meredith, one day when we were in the garden ;
and I went, and looked, and looked agdn^ all over
the low young cherry-tree to which he pointed.
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1 76 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XID.
•* I cannot see any insect ; where is it ? "
" Oh ! look for it ; it is at least eight inches long^
so you surely ought to find it ! "
And searching again, more narrowly than before,
and following the direction of his glance, I observed
something like a few dry sticks or twigs, hanging
in a loose irregular angular style from one of the
sprays, which, on a closer view, proved to be a
living creature, so exactly the colour and. apparent
texture of a dead stick, that I could scarcely credit
its being anything else, and carefiiUy took it off
the tree, before being quite convinced. I suppose
— for I am wofiiUy unlearned in entomology — that
it was one of the animated straw genus. The body
was of a dull brown, and about six inches long, and
little more than a quarter of an inch thick, with one
or two folds just like the joints of a dead reed or
twig ; the head had prominent eyes, and two long
feelers, like thin dead rushes, which being in a line
with the body, added nearly three inches to its
apparent length. The six legs were like thin dead
rushes too, about four inches long, divided into
three joints and ending in a clawed foot. Bather
nearer to the head than the tail were two very short
small wings, like the bladebones of unfinished
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Chap, xm.] VENOMOUS GUESTS. 177
shoulders, evidently quite inefficient as instruments
of flight to the long body and legs. The creature
seemed in a half-torpid state when I captured it,
and eventually became rigid, when I ventured to
believe it really dead, and preserved it, until de-
voured by insects, and utterly destroyed. Some
persons who saw it told me they had seen other
specimens, with large handsome wings; but their
kind promises to procure me one were never ful-
filled.
Any one fond of entomology, or the study of the /^
Crustacea, might have enjoyed great opportunities
and facilities at " Lath Hall," where fine lively
scorpions were in the firequent practice of perambu-
lating our parlour walls, particularly near the fire-
place; and interesting full-grown centipedes, of a
most venomous green hue, and rarely less than four
inches in length, gracefully meandered in the folds
of the window-curtains, our dressing-room (usually
by us denominated " the tank," from its icy damp-
ness) being their favourite haunt; and as in all
the rooms save one, which we allotted to George
and the maid, the wide-apart " slabs " of the floors
afibrded ample space for a lobster to pass through,
the entrance of any of the insect tribe was a matter
I 3
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176 NINB YEAB8 IN TASBfANIA. [G1im>. XUI.
of no marvel whatever. My ohiefeat terror was^
lest snakes shonld cc»ne in too ; but although liiaiiy
large ones were seen and killed very near the house,
I never saw one within it.
Tarantulas straggled along with impunity in all
directions, unless so near that I apprehended their
crawling on me; and tlien the idea of those mgbt
great long woolly hairy legs, and that fat Uack
body, traversing any portion of my own person,
generally conquered my humanity, and the intruder
died.
One of our few amusements was, burning trees
down, and no one would marvel at such an occupa-
tion becoming quite an exciting pursuit, had they
seen how cruelly the tall gaunt trees shut out the
morning sun. In winter, if the sun rose at half-
past seven, not a glance of his glorious face reached
our chilly den before ten o'clock : we seemed to be
living, as Aey say Truth does, at the bottom of a
well, and we did what we could to excavate an
opening towards the sunshina
Selecting our victim-tree, we first made up a
bundle of the driest leaves, grass, and bark inside,
if it were partially hollow, as was generally tbe
case; and after lighting this with a lucifer-matcb,
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Oiftp. XIU.] BURNING TBEEfi. 179
ftnd fanning up a bright blaze, we carried to it
qosfitities of loose wood and bark, the latter com-
modity b^g very abundant everywhere, the gmn-
trees shedding their otit^ skin yeatly, which lies
about in all directions, some of it like gigantic
pieoes of cinnamon, many feet long, and some sorts
iii wider and flatter fldkes, but all highly com-
bustible. When k good heap rose against the first
tree^ and the fire greV too fierce to approach, we
oanried a " fire-stiok " to another, and made up our
blazing pile there too, pursuing the ssme system
with five or six, by which time the first fire required
r^lenishing. Maily of the logs that we drf^ged
to our fires were the abodes of numerous kinds of
ants, most of which nip rather sharply, but of aome
the sting is tenomous kai agonizing in the ex-
treme.
We were busily employed in this way one evening /
(the working party consisting of the papa, mamma,
and George, with the nursemaid and baby Charles
looking on), when a piercing shriek from poor
George alarmed us with the idea that a snake had
bitten him; he sprang up into the air twice or
thrice, far higher than he could have jumped with
his utmost exertion at another time, and then rolled
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180 NINE YEARS IN TASB4ANU. [Chap. xm.
on the ground still shrieking fearfully. I carried
him away from the spot^ and then saw the cause
of the mischief; a large black ant, above an inch
long, was on the poor child's instep, still stinging
him through his sock. Their sting is very long,
and Mr. Meredith describes the pain as resembling
what we may imagine would be that of a sharp red-
hot iron forced into the flesh. In twenty minutes
or half an hour it abates, and gradually goes away,
leaving a blister like a mosquito-bite. On an-
other occasion, the luckless boy had one of these
horrible creatures in the leg of his trousers,
and before it could be removed, he was severely
stung in nine places. I have frequently detected
them running over me, but have always escaped
being stung. Once, as I lay on the sofa read-
ing, 1 observed one very deliberately walking along
my collar, carrying an enormous buzz-fly in his
nippers.
A species of ant somewhat smaller than these,
black, with yellow forceps, is as much or more to
be dreaded, as they sting with equal severity, and
can jump a considerable distance in pursuit of any
one who molests them.
Our burning trees often formed very beautiful
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Chap. Xm.]
FLIES. 181
objects at nighty sometimes taking the semblance of
ruined towers, with windows and loopholes defined
in glowing fire, and showers of sparks falling firom
the summit. Some would bum internally to a great
height, and then burst forth in volumes of flame,
many feet firom the ground, throwing out great jets,
like gigantic fireworks, lighting up all the sur-
rounding gloom.
I have not yet alluded to one of the most <
constant and unpleasant pests to which these colo-
nies are subject, namely, the great brown disgusting |
buzz-flies, which continue to torment us all the \
year round, and in summer swarm most offensively /
and destructively. Our old English blue-botUe J
fly is, it is most true, a very noisy fellow, and
seems fond of dissipated company, in butchers'
shops, &c., and in summer sometimes greatly
disturbs one's lonely reverie, by testing the hard-
ness and reverberatory powers of our ceilings and
windows in his riotous bumping flight about a
room. But here, his brown ill-looking relatives
are not content, like him, with a summer reign, —
they bump about us the twelve months through,
and in numbers incalculable. Now, as I write,
some forty or fifty are careering through the room.
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18t NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Cluq). XIU.
knooking up against the windows, and buzziiig
ttost abcMninably ; whilst the difficulty of excluding
tb&ak firom the larder, and the destruction they
ocoasion in it, are two important items in the
catalogue of colonial hotiaehold plagues. The small
house-fly is here, as elsewhere, rery troublesome
too ; but though these swarm in immense niimbers
during the summer months, they are more endurable
than the " brown buzzes."
A new kind of small fly has appeared in Van
Diemen's Land within the last few years, which is
generally known as the " Fort Philip fly," aaad
supposed to have been brought from thenee. It
closely resembles the common house-fly; but, instead
of the outspreading sucker-proboscis of the latter,
its head is furnished- with a tapering black tube,
the narrow end of which it inserts, with a shmrp
piecing bite, into the skin of men or animals,
and commences sucking the blood most actively,
often leaving a drop on the surface of the skin.
To horses it is a terrible torment, and seems chi^y
to abound in the vicinity of stables and straw-
yards.
One of the insects which I most dreaded was
the '* wood-tick," an unpleasant-looking creature,
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Ofaa^. XIII.] THE WOOD-TICK. 188
vetf much resembling those which infest sheep, but
possessing a great penchant for a residence under
the human skin, into and beneath which it eats its
way until nearly hidden from sight, without any
pain to the person attacked for the first several
hours, so that it often escapes notice imtil the
intolerable aching of a large portion of the body
surrounding it leads to the detection of the insect,
which must then be pulled or cut out. These ticks
live among wood, and are sometimes brought into
the house with the fuel. I have frequently seen
them on my dress or habit, when walking or riding
in the " Bush," and have on two occasions been
bitten : once on the throat, by a small one which
had been several hours at work ; it had buried its
head entirely, and required a strong pull with
tweezers before it could be extracted, the creature
being as hard as bone, and very toughly jointed.
I felt very little pain afterwards on this occasion ;
but the second of the insidious Uttle miners, which
also attacked me on the neck, was a much larger
specimen, and it had begun to cause a most dis-
tressing ache in my shoulder, neck, and arm, which
I attributed to rheumatism, until, on passing my
hand over my dress, I detected its round hard body.
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184 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XTH.
which was too firmly attached for me to pull it
away myself. After it was removed, I suffered
great pain and numbness in the arm and shoulder
for several days.
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OHAPTEB XIV.
Chnrch-btiilding. — Public Worship. — Deficiency of BeligiooB Instmc-
tion. — Rustic Costumes. — Leather ** hogginga.** — Progressiye
LoYe-tokens. — Marriage.
At the period of our arrival, no church had heen
as yet erected at Port Sorell, and the roads of the
district were so impassable from bogs, for nine
months of the twelve, that had there been one,
no congregation could have met oftener than ten
or twelve Sundays in the year. Still, the absence
of all semblemce of a place of public worship for
members of the Church of England (whilst, even
in a yet poorer neighbouring settlement, an Inde-
pendent chapel and minister were maintained,
chiefly by poor sawyers) became too glaring to
continue; and it was proposed to erect a cheap
wooden building by means of subscriptions. This
design, after considerable delay, was carried out:
y.r
J
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186 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Ch*p. XIV.
one person subscribing so many *' slabs;" another,
a certain quantity of weather-boards ; a third, the
requisite "sawed stuflF;" a fourth, the shingles; a
fifth, the blacksmith's work ; a sixth, the " lend " of
a buUock-team, and so on; very few payments
being made in money. Unfortunately, instead of
being placed on the township, in the centre of the
population, where a glebe and burial-ground
might have been obtained from the Government,
the little building was set up on a private property,
too much encumbered with mortgages for the requi-
site gift of the site to be legally made without con-
siderable expense, and consequently the conse-
cration could not take place; but when merely
the rough shell was set up, our energetic and
accomplished Bishop came down and assisted at
the first celebration of Divine service, before a
larger congregation than could have been expected
in such a plctce.
Nearly a year elapsed before any clergyman was
appointed; and then service was only performed
on one Simday in a month, by the missionary
chaplain of Deloraine, the Rev. Montagu Williams.
He came to Port Sorell, a distance of forty miles,
at the end of every fourth week, to ofl&ciate on the
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Oh^. XIV.] PUBLIC WORSHIP. 187
Simday morning at tbe little church, and in the
aftiNnuxm at the police office.
Such, and so rare, are the opportunities for
public worship in the wilds of Tasmazda !
Surely the munificent gifts and bequests which
so many pious persons at Home make for the
purposes of church-building and endowment^ in
towns and cities where scores of churches already
stand, might be extended to such a far-away nook
as this island, where, from the peculiar condition of a
large number of the inhabitants, the need of
instruction is so great, and the means so small!
The amount of good which mi^t be efltected by
the ministry of truly Christian conscientious clergy-
mea would be very great indeed.
Did the power and the means of supplying such
rest with our earnest-hearted and benevolent prelate,
it were well for us all, but more especially for the
poor and ignorant of his diocese. But, if persons
ever so notoriously unfit for holy orders are
appointed here from Home, his judgment and
conviction of the impropriety and mischief of such
appointments cannot efiect a change unless their
commission of errors be as glaring as their omission
of duties. We must, therefore, patiently endure
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188 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIV.
the evil, knowing meanwhile that, with the same
means, an infinite amount of good would result,
under different circumstances.
I have often remarked the difference which exists
hetween the outward aspect of farm labourers here
and in England : whether attributable to the various
trades and callings here amalgamated into the
same occupations, or to the sea-voyage, or to
both of these together, I know not ; but certain it
is, that no British village ever sent forth such
nondescript toilettes as I have seen here on a
Sunday. Latterly, the increase of country shops
in the colony, and the variety of cheap ready-made
coats of all shapes, fabrics, and prices, have caused
wonderful innovations in the dress of all classes,
although still permitting a great display of original
taste.
Red or blue flannel serge shirts are universally
worn by labourers in cold or wet weather as a
working dress, generally hanging loosely over other
garments, or fastened blouse-wise by a leather belt ;
and when these are new and bright, they are
sometimes permitted to form part of the Sunday
outfit.
The stock-keepers seem a perfectly- distinct class
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Chap. XIV.] RUSTIC COSTUMES. 189
in point of dress, a subject which I conceive costs
them some pains, from the ingenious incongruities
often displayed ; all evidently aiming at something
dashing, and of rather a sporting cast. We have
often wondered where such oddly-cut and thoroughly
queer-looking coats, hats, and other garments were
procured, until a little circumstance which occurred
lately threw some light on the interesting subject.
Mr. Meredith was one day in a Jew slop- seller's
shop in Launceston, making some purchases for
our servants, when a labouring man came in, and
desired to see some black hats. Immediately the
counter displayed a selection of the most unac-
countable shapes, chiefly very tall, and with
scarcely any brims ; but as even those were deemed
too broad by the customer, he went away in search
of narrower ones, the shopman remarking, *' Oh ! I
see you are quite a dandy! you want to be too
flash altogether."
And in reply to Mr. Meredith's inquiries, he said
that they were obliged to keep these extraordinary
articles for such men, who would buy no other, and
were as fastidious and particular ** as any fine lady ; "
whilst we, in our innocence, had commiserated
them for being victimized by the shopkeepers, and
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190 NINE YEABS IN TASMANIA. [Cly^ XIV.
haTing goods foisted upon them which were other-
wise unsaleable.
Having thus touched on the delicate topic of
taste in dress, I must not confine my observations
to the servants, whilst their masters in many in-
stances are yet more removed firom the customary
aspect of persons in the same station at Home. The
true gentleman, whether at home or abroad, is as
certain to avoid any uncouth peculiarity of attire, as
the ambitious " snob " is to adopt it; and colonial
country life exemplifies the fact abimdantly. The
most striking feature in the costume of such
worthies on the north side of our island is, a
description of rough brown leathern casing for the
legs, neither trouser, gaiter, nor boot, but a loose,
wrinkled, bagging, dirty, slovenly, hedger-and-
ditcher kind of envelope, worn both in winter and
summer, and usually slung to the waist by a multi-
tude of straps and a belt, looking like a surgeon's
dressing for a firacture, ill put on; and in dirty
weather the loose puckers about the ankles serve
as such capacious receptacles for mud, that the exit
of visitors so arrayed is the signal for the entree
of the housemaid, to remove the evidences of their
sojourn from carpets and floors. When these
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Chap. XIV.] LOVE-TOKENS. 191
hideous leggings are c(Hnpanioned (as I have seen
them,' and on soi-disant esquires, too) by a hat of
white felt or black oil-skin, a striped shirt, with a
blue serge one by way of blouse, and a tremendously
heavy long whip in foil play, the refined and
recherche effect of the combination may be ima-
gined!
As to the tender question of esquirearchy^ I am
convinced that the only prudent principle now is, to
bestow the envied title on every one alike — on the
friend you invite to partake your dinner, and the
butcher from whom you bought it All this has
a strong affinity to some of the ways of the " far
West," not a little aided in effect by an odd use of
old words, and^ a puzzling adaptation of new ones,
which, although less racy and graphic than some of
our American friends' ingenious coinages, are es-
sentiajly un-English.
As all my prisoner women-servants have had
suitors in plenty, I have sometimes been amused by
quietly observing the growing symptoms of the
tender passion, as exempKfied (in their class of life)
by the unfailing presents and love-tokens offered
by the enamoured swain as symbols of his sincere
attachment, and signs of progress made. The
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192 NINE YEAR8 IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIV.
oampaign not unfrequently opens with the bold
demonstration of a gay print gown, especially if the
arrival of a hawker's cart at the kitchen-door has
afforded so excellent an opportunity for the display
of rustic gallantry. The presentation of a bonnet
and ribbons I look upon as a decidedly serious
advance, and in some cases a few yards of calico
often give a grave aspect to the affair ; a shawl, too,
is considered a very affecting thing, and I have
known a lace cap on the head exercise a mighty
influence over the heart ; but the grand conclusive
stroke of all, the true love-philter, the unerring
omen that bids me seek a new handmaiden, is —
when the bolt of Cupid comes wrapped in flannel !
Print gowns and new bonnets are, no doubt, shrewd
pleaders; ribbons and lace, too, are insinuating
things; and shawls and calico may mean much;
but when the courtship takes the shape of flannel,
I know the work of wooing has sped— the damsel's
heart is won; and that the next thing will be
John's awkward round-about request for leave to
" keep company with Mary ; " which is very quickly
followed by Mary's sheepish presentation of the
''memorial for marriage," with — "If you would
please, ma'am, to ask the master to please to recom-
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Chap. XIV.]
MARRIAGE.
193
mend us ! " And married they are, shortly after, if
the lover is in a situation to maintain a wife, which
the superior powers very rightly desire to know,
before authorizing the marriage.
VOL. II.
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CHAPTER XV.
A Wmt«r at Port SorelL — Four Months' Bain. — Voyage to Lamicc
taa.—Thtb Town Wbarl — Jooniey to Hobarton. — ^ Eardief
WUrnot.— Sketching Epidemic— Exhibition.— A Fern Valley.—
Oftba. — Mrs. Bowdea's "AnKm** DiadpUne. — Female Servants.
—Behgiow Instruction.
We had thought it sufficiently unpleasant to be
located for a whole summer in the forest, although
during that time we could occasionally make a
sortie firom our wooden walls, and breathe the
sea-air. But the approach of winter, and the con-
viction that the whole of its dreary days must pass
before we could finaUy escape from our Castle
Dismal, was in truth a severe trial of endurance.
If even sunshine lost its brightness in that sombre
forest gloom, what a thrice-dreary aspect did it wear
in those days, and weeks, and months of almost
incessant rain! Sometimes it rained very hard,
and sometimes harder still ; sometimes like a con-
tinuous thunder-shower, and sometimes in one
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Caiap. XV.] FOUR MONTHS* RAIN. 195
mighty sheet of water, like an upper ocean that had
burst its bounds. The ground was always some-
thing wetter than a bog, and most often resembled
a flooded river : such were the pleasant varieties we
enjoyed ; and when Mr. Meredith s horse used to
be brought in a morning for him to ride down to
the police-oflSce, it came beside the veranda for him
to embark, as a boat would alongside a ship, for a
lagune lay between the house and the garden gate,
where he usually moimted ; and the whole road he
had to traverse was an alternation of deep water,
shallower water, and bogs.
Four pouring months at length wept themselves
out; spring found me slowly recovering from a
severe illness, and, by way of restorative, brought us
the official intelligence that the intended reductions
in the police department, consequent on the low
condition of the Government finances, would in-
evitably include the magistracy of Port Sorell — a
pleasant climax to our troubles ! more especially as
our own cottage was begun, on the land we had
purchased, and must be paid for, whether required
or not. Spring, under these circumstances, became
rather more melancholy than even winter itself;
but happily the sky of our changeful fortunes was
K 2
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196 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
subsequently brightened by the intelligence that
the threatened reductions were postponed sine dfe,
and the hope that our pleasant sea-side home would
receive us before autumn.
A kind invitation at this time from the Lieute-
nant-Governor, our good and valued Mend, Sir
Eardley Wilmot, to visit him in Hobarton, promised
us a most pleasant and welcome change of scene
and society ; and we accordingly arranged for our
temporary excursion, and our final departure from
"Lath Hair* at the same time; determining to take
up our abode, on our return, in the new cottage
by the sea, however unfinished it might be, rather
than dive again into the depths of the forest.
Bapidly and most cheerfully was the work of
packing-up proceeded with, and within a week from
the first consideration of our removal, I and the
children and the nursemaid were, one bright morn-
ing at eight o'clock, sitting on the deck of the
smart little cutter the " Hope" (of about 15 tons),
which was cleaned out and furbished up especially
for our accommodation, and bound to Launceston
expressly in our service, Mr. Meredith remaining
behind to complete the dismantUng of "Lath Hall,"
and purposing to ride up and meet us in town.
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Chap. XV.] VOYAGE TO LAUNCESTON. 197
A fair wind carried 'our little vessel into Port
Dalrymple by ten o'clock, when we got into smooth
water; a very welcome change after the heavy swell
we had suffered from during our short sail through
the straits, which knocked our little bark about
very roughly, and occasioned us considerable in-
disposition.
Launceston lies about forty miles from the sea- C
coast, and the voyage thither, up the Tamar, is /
very mononotous. George Town is a scattered (
little settlement on the low shores of a small but
secure cove at the mouth of the estuary, a few miles
above the lighthouse ; on the opposite shore, near
Kelso Bay and York Town, are some productive
farms and gardens, but the George Town side is a
mere barren, sandy waste, producing nothing.
Although situated several miles from the sea,
George Town is sometimes frequented by families
from the interior of the island for the summer
pleasures of bathing and boating, the weekly visit
of the steamer from Launceston giving every facility
of access.
The scenery on the Tamar is of the tamest pos- I
sible description, although the river forms many j
fine bends in its course. The land on the banks is \
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1 98 NINE TBARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
generally low, but yet risiDg suflBciently to shut out
any distant view. Here and there the quiet smooth
little slopes unexpectedly display a feeble attempt
at the romantic, in a few protruding rocks of very
mild and subdued aspect; the most striking point
is named "Brady's Look-out," after a notorious
bush-ranger of years gone by, who is said to have
been ''planted" (i. ^., concealed) there for some
time ; but the tokens of busy industry which meet
the eye at several bends of the river are pleasanter
subjects for contemplation. Here stands a large
well-built steam flour-mill, with its owner's com-
fortable cottage, garden, and out- buildings; and,
close by, a very pretty little church: there is a
busy shipwright's establishment, with one fine
vessel nearly ready to launch, another standing in
its skeleton, and all the surrounding methodical
confusion of new boats and old boats of all sizes,
large and small, timber of all descriptions, smoking
and pleasant-smelling pitch cauldrons, neat cottages
and workshops, and a busy buzz of voices, and
sounds of hammering and singing coming cheerftJly
towards us as we glide along.
Heavily-laden clumsily-shaped wood-boats toiled
slowly up the stream, carrying fiiel to Launceston,
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Chap. XV. j THE TOWN WHAKF. 199
and making our progress seem rapid by comparison,
until some neat, sharp, smart, whaleboat, with its
well-feathered oars and clever lug sail, darted past
us in the most provoking manner, and almost proved
us to be resting motionless on the water. The
wind had become so light and fitfiil that we
scarcely seemed to make any way, and I began to
think about making up our beds on board for the
children ; but a few ftiendly puffs came to our aid,
and at sunset we were in sight of Launceston,
which, viewed from the water at a proper distance,
and no doubt a little beautified in my eyes by my
anxious desire to reach it, looked positively pretty.
The situation of the town seems to me very ill- |
chosen, as at a short distance below it the river is /
crossed by a bar, over which laden vessels of any /
large size cannot pass ; and accordingly when ships ^
come in, they are compelled to anchor below the
bar, until so far unloaded as to permit their cross-
ing it, when they take up their position at the town
wharf, until about to sail again, and then they drop
down past the provoking bar, before completing
their cargo. The placing a shipping port in such ;
a position, when, for forty miles below, the river is
navigable for a "seventy-four," seems an un- i
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200 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
acoountable blander, and one which, combined with
the unhealthy situation, must, it would seem,
eventually lead to the decline of the town of Laun-
ceston, and the selection of some more eligible
locality for the site of our northern metropoUs.
The channel at the bar is so narrow that two
vessels cannot cross it together, and we had to
wait until another of the coasting craft had preceded
us ; the little " Hope " looking very humble indeed
beside three great merchantmen which were waiting
there to unload, their huge black sides towering up
above us like great walls, and the people on their
decks looking down as if they were on a tall house-
top and we in the street below.
It was quite dark when we reached the wharf,
and our little vessel was then compelled to take up
a berth outside of the steamer and two other vessels,
across the decks of which we passed to the shore,
not without my suffering enough terror and anxiety
for a life in the few minutes of our transit; the
spaces between the vessels, and the deep water
below, gaping like open traps to seize something
precious belonging to me. Our good "skipper"
(who knew how anxious I had been to get on
shore), and all sorts of strange men, immediately
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Chap. XV.] JOURNEY TO HOBARTON. 201
began running off in the most kind but provoking
way with my children and our baggage. I saw
trunks, carpet-bags, and bedding dodging about in
the fitful gleams, like things possessed ; and, utterly
despairing of being able to control matters any
longer on board, I followed in the wake of a con-
spicuous roll of mattresses, until I found myself
beside a heap of my property — children, maid, and
trunks — all safely huddled together on the wharf,
guarded by the "Hope's " mate, who soon called a
cab for us. With a stodge of small folks and
small packages inside, and a pile of trunks and
bedding following, we drove to our hotel, highly
pleased at having had so quick a passage, for
vessels are often a fortnight in going this short
distance (about sixty miles), owing to contrary
winds, fogs, and other obstacles ; and Mr. Meredith,
to provide for such an untoward delay, had insisted
on my packing up a commissariat large enough for
a voyage to New Zealand at least, which became
an acceptable and additional perquisite to the
** Hope's " good people.
At four the next morning we took our seats in
the coach for Hobarton, and arrived there the same
evening soon after eight, a distance of 120 miles.
K 3
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202 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
The fearfully fast driving was the chief drawback
to the pleasure of the journey: the scenery is in
many parts very beautiful, but the feeling of terror
with which I was possessed, lest the constantly-
threatened upset should take place, left me little
power to appreciate or enjoy it. The unfortunate
horses are flogged unmercifully, and driven for the
greater part of the way, up hill and down, and often
down very steep hills, too, at a furious gallop. No
such precaution as locking a wheel is ever heard of!
The result has been shown with terrible regularity
by the paragraphs of the weekly papers, recording
** serious and fatal accidents," fractures and in-
juries of all kinds sustained by the passengers, all
consequent on the senseless and pernicious system
so obstinately pursued.
Between two and three months passed very
pleasantly at Hobarton (Mr. Meredith joining me
occasionally, when he could leave Port Sorell), in
our delightful sojourn at Government House, with
the late — alas! that he is gone! — kind-hearted,
witty, generous Sir Eardley Wilmot, and in visiting
our relatives and other friends in the vicinity.
The utter and flagrant falsehood of the cowardly
and cruel accusations made by anonymous slan-
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Chap. XV.] 8IK BARDLEY WILMOT. 203
derers against our late Lieutenant-Governor has
long since been so well exposed, that I should pass
over all allusion to so lamentable a topic, and one
so painful now to touch upon, but that our visit
happened to take place at the very time when, as it
was wickedly declared, " No ladies ever visited at
Government House!* Such affirmations are always
best met by simple facts. Mr. Meredith and my-
self, and two other famiUes (husbands, wives, and
children), were resident guests there. Sir Eardley
Wilmot's agreeable dinner-parties were attended by
all whom he thought worthy or desirable to invite ;
and a ball, the cards for which were issued during
our stay, and only gave the short notice of one day
and a half, was thronged by all the visitable world
of Hobarton and the vicinity, the company very
possibly including some of the heartless maJigners
themselves, although I am rather tempted to believe
that the reports emanated from disappointed suitors
for admission to Government House. Candid and
open-hearted, perhaps even to a fault, in this world
of hypocrisy, highly refined and witty himself, and
keenly appreciating wit and intelligence in those
around him, Sir Eardley Wilmot rarely took pru-
dent pains to disguise his feelings of indifference
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204 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
towards the dull, the pompous, or the vulgar, azid
consequently created some mortal foes, who, cdded
by the ready credulity of a puritanical minister,
aimed but too surely the assassin's blow at his
honour and peace of mind.
* * itt * 4t
After so perfect a seclusion as I had lived in for
years, it was exceedingly pleasant to find myself
once more in society ; and the change which, during
those five years, had taken place in the thoughts and
habits and general tone of conversation among the
good Hobartians, though perhaps scarcely per-
ceptible to themselves, was agreeably evident to me.
Among other more important matters, I found
that the prevalent fashionable epidemic, instead of
betraying symptoms of the ancient Berlin-wool
influenza or the knitting disorder, had taken an
entirely new turn, and that a landscape-sketching
and water-colour fever was raging with extraordinary
vehemence among the usually too placid and
apathetic sons and daughters of Tasmania. The
infection had been originally brought by Mr. Prout,
the fame of whose very clever water-colour drawings
of the scenery in New South Wales, and the
celebrity he attained there, had prepared for him a
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Chap. XV.] EXHIBITION. 205
glad welcome in Van Diemen's Land; and the
exquisite art which he taught and practised so well
at once became the fashion par excellence. All
the young ladies, and many elder ones, immediately
discovered (or coveted, which is nearly the same) a
great taste for drawing, and all commenced taking
class lessons from Mr. Prout in out-of-doors sketch-
ing. Stationers' shops and fancy repositories were
straightway stripped of all their pencils, colours,
and sketch-books, and Mr. Front's absence from
Hobarton for the summer vacation alone prevented
me from joining his disciples.
An exhibition of paintings, drawings, engravings,
&c., was opened after I left town, composed of con-
tributions from the collections of the residents and
the works of colonial amateurs and artists. I
greatly regretted not beiilg able to see it, but the
knowledge that such a thing was achieved at all
was exceedingly pleasant, and seemed a good omen
of future advancement ; and from all accounts of the
exhibition which I read and heard, it was a highly
satisfactory and creditable beginning. One more
having taken place since, I trust we may anticipate
that they will be continued at intervals, if not
regularly.
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206 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
There are some pretty fern-tree thickets at the
foot of Mount Wellington, and I visited one with
a large party; but after seeing our perfectly wild
and untrodden fern valley at Port Sorell, this
oft-frequented one, the beloved of sketching and
pio-nic parties, seemed almost uninteresting. The
ferns, as they ever are, were verdant and graceful,
though rather small, and the gurgling brook was
pretty; but the empty champagne bottles which
bristled beside the rocks, and the corks and greasy
sandwich papers lurking amongst the moss, savoured
considerably more of the creature comforts than the
picturesque.
Regattas, balls, dinner-parties, and pic-nics wear
so much the same aspect wherever they flourish in
English society, and Tasmanian society is, I
rejoice to say, so essentially EngUsh, that a
chronicle of my pleasant sojourn in our antipodelui
metropolis might serve for a chronicle of any
equally pleasant sojourn in any nice town of the
United Kingdom, and so, needless to particularize
in a gossip chiefly devoted to less civilized matters.
The great number of very comfortable carriages
which ply for hire both in Launceston and Hobarton
is an essential public convenience, and a great
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Chap. XV.] CABS. 207
advance from olden times, when the one or two
vehicles of the kind in town would he engaged on
a ball night to convey thirty or forty parties each.
Now, long strings of smart clean cabs (so called,
though more of the chaise and barouche species)
stand in several of the public thoroughfares, and
can be as cheaply hired as similar carriages could
be in England : at the time I was there, 1*.
per mile, or Ss, by the hour, was the usual fare.
My nursemaid had become far too much ena-
moured of the charms and gaieties of the city to
think with any composure of a return tX) the
solitude of bush life, and I found it requisite to
supply her place. She had been my first trial of
the eflfects of Mrs. Bowden's system of female
discipline on board the "Anson," and for a year
and a half had been all I could desire in a servant,
irreproachable in her conduct, clean, cheerftd, and
industrious, until the visit to town, and the greater
opportunities for showing her pretty face, caused
neglect of her duty, and an alarming exhibition of
pink silk stockings, thin muslin dresses, and other
town vanities. I again applied to Mrs. Bowden,
and had again cause to appreciate the value of her
influence, not so much in the fitness of the woman
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208 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Cbap. XV.
I selected for the situation she was to fill (for at
first she was awkward and uncouth in the extreme),
as in the almost miraculous change which must
have been wrought in her to fit her for any decent
occupation whatever. She had, as I afterwards dis-
covered, been reared amidst the worst of the bad
— had been imprisoned in some dozen different
gaols, and no sooner liberated than, partly from
destitution, partly from inveterate habit, she had
sinned again, to be again punished. At last she
was transported, and after remaining the usual
period (six months, I believe) under Mrs. Bowden's
government, she came to me a willing, orderly,
thankful creature, and remained with us a year and
a quarter, when she married comfortably. How
different to her former wretched, lost condition !
Simply judging from the superior usefulness,
willingness, and orderly, decent, sober demeanour of
the women I have taken from the " Anson," over
all others of their unfortunate class that I have
known, I must believe the system pursued there by
Mrs. Bowden to be an excellent and effective one,
and rendering the greatest possible benefit to the
colony generally.
The women always seem to feel great gratitude
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Chap. XV.] FEMALE SERVANTS. 209
and reverence for Mrs. Bowden, which her earnest
solicitude for their well-doing, and her own exalted
character and endowments, well deserve ; they also
express much attachment to her female assistants,
or "officers," as they are termed. Once, soon
after my first "Anson" girl had arrived, I was
going to write to Mrs. Bowden, and called Jane to
ask if she would like me to say anything fi:om her,
when I received this somewhat startling reply, —
" Oh ! if you please ma'am, to give my best
thanks and duty to Mrs. Bowden, and my kind
love to all the officers ! "
Eight or nine pounds a year are the wages I have
always given to the female prisoner-servants at first,
raising them afterwards, if deserved. Free women
expect much higher terms, are not a whit better,
but often worse than the prisoners, and are under
less control. All are certain of marrying, if they
please ; proposals are plentiful, inconveniently so,
indeed, sometimes, to masters and mistresses, when
tidy handmaidens are wooed, won, and married in
such quick succession that new servants have
constantly to be sought, and their passage paid.
But a suitable marriage is so probable and legitimate
a means of reformation, that we never place
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210 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XV.
obstacles in the way of such good intentions.
Those prisoner-women who settle in the country,
with few exceptions, behave well and industriously.
I know many wives of this class who keep their
husbands' little cottages as clean and tidy as any
honest English village dame could do, and wash or
sew, to earn a little money themselves. An addiction
to drink is the chief temptation to be feared; if
they resist that, all goes well. Many of them have
no family, and the spare shillings and pounds are
only too likely to go to the publican or the **sly
grog seller," which is still worse, being illegal as
well as wrong. The temperance-pledge and the
savings-bank seem to be the two most efficient life-
boats, in such chances of moral wreck; but it is
only the naturally determined and resolute among
the well-meaning who have courage to adopt them.
Religious instruction, if adequate, would do much ;
the beneficial influence of really conscientious,
sincere Christian ministers would be immense,
among the lower classes in the country here — those
who would go among the poor and ignorant, and
win them back to the right path by earnest gentle
counsel and kindly admonition; whose own lives,
pure and simple themselves, should be ever before
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Chap. XV.] RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 2U
their erring brethren as a living testimony of the
great Example they preach; those who would be
seen more often on the poor man's threshold than at
the rich man's table ; who would practise charity as
well as preach it, and watch that no beam obscured
their own eye, whilst spying out the mote in their
brother s. I have, I know, before alluded to this
subject; but the lamentable inadequacy of the
means of instruction for the lower classes in this
colony is so great, that the fact can scarcely be too
often reiterated. The deficient number even of
professors of religion, and the sad apathy and
indifference of some among them, ask most urgently
for a change.
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CHAPTER XVI.
Return Home. — Route over Badger Head. — The Asbestus Hills. —
The New Cottage. — Goats and their Kids. — Garden.— Bees. —
Native Wasps. — Flies versus Spiders. — Wasps' Nests. — The Dark
Avenger. — Rose-Tree Cuttings. — ^Wasp-Stings.
In January, 1846, we returned home by the coach
as far as Launceston, passing through, on our way,
the populous settlements and towns of Brighton,
Bagdad, Green Ponds, Cross Marsh, Oatlands,
Ross, Campbelltown, and Perth, all containing
good churches and inns, and the greater number
displaying shops of various kinds, and many sub-
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Chap. XVI.] EOUTE OVER BADGER HEAD. 213
stantial houses ; whilst nearly the whole length of
the road traverses inclosed and cultivated land, and
constantly leads us past comfortable country houses,
farms, and cottages, proving a far greater amount
of improvement and change from a wild state than
our beautifti] island is credited with at Home.
Pausing but a day in Launceston, we proceeded
in the steam-boat to George Town, expecting to
find our little friend the '* Hope " there, and in
three or four hours more to reach Port Sorell.
But a perverse westerly wind, which had been
blowing for some days, still continued, and after
waiting idly two days at George Town, without a
symptom of any change, Mr. Meredith was obhged
to return home ; and, as I decidedly declined the
alternative of remaining with the children and
maid at a dull little inn, we determined to make
our way acrpss, over Badger Head, a track which
was described to us as all but impassable.
A kind settler at Kelso Bay, opposite George
Town, to whom Mr. Meredith applied for assistance,
promised us the loan of a horse-cart and two riding
horses, and on the third morning of our reluctant
sojourn we took a boat, and crossed over Port
Dalrymple, to the pleasant home of our new friend.
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214 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [CJiap. XVI.
and shortly set forth on our route, the servant and
children occupying the cart. I had not even put
on a shawl, knowing so well the torment of any
dispensable encumbrance in a fatiguing scramble
like the one we contemplated.
A very rough road led us for some miles through
bush and swamp, and finally brought us near to
the sea-beach at the foot of the dreaded Badger
Head. Here we found two of the constables and
our groom awaiting us, Mr. Meredith having sent
a foot messenger to them the day before ; but we
could not have our own horses brought to meet us,
there being no safe means of crossing them over
the deep broad channel of Port Sorell, on the
western shore of which lay the settlement and our
house, whilst Badger Head was some dozen miles
eastward from it. The cart, which had brought
the children so far, now went home again, and the
men carried them onwards up the steep ascent.
The horses were led up, with many a perilous
plunge and desperate effort, scrambling like goats
to keep a footing; and I clambered and climbed
along, brave in the resolution of well accomplishing
the task I had voluntarily undertaken, and antici-
pating a succession of such diflSculties, if not
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Chap. XVI.] THE ASBESTUS HILLS. 215
«
greater ones. On gaining a tolerably level space,
I inquired of our servant, " How much more of
the road is as steep as the last bit ? " And I begem
to think how much good heroism had been needlessly
aroused in me, when he replied, ** Oh! ma'am,
that 's all, except one ugly gully, a few miles
further on."
The brow of the hill we had gained commanded
a most glorious sea- view; east and west of us lay
broad smooth sandy beaches, stretching away for
miles, with the long white ridges of the in-coming
tide breaking in five or six successive lines of
snowy spray ; and the deep sea beyond, blue as the
heavens, lay heaving and sparkling in the sunshine.
Several distant vessels were in sight, looking not
'half so big as the gulls and red-bills that circled
and screamed beneath us. It was a Tasmanian
version of Edgar's gaze from Shakespeare's cliff,
only lacking the samphire gatherers.
The wild wide moorland tracts of the Asbestus
Hills, which we now passed over, were but thinly
wooded, the chief growth being the lesser kind of
grass tree, with its tall clubs sticking up Uke a vast
assemblage of long rusty pokers, with the handles
downwards. A great part of the land had been
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216 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVI.
recently burned, and the beds of light ashes made
a most unpleasant dust as we passed along.
The ** ugly gully " was easily passed. Mr. Me-
redith, choosing to avoid the precipitous descent
commonly known, explored a new way for us
higher up, the only obstacles we found being the
dense, strong, interwoven masses of tall shrubs and
ferns which completely occupied it, and througli
which we pushed our way on foot, with some
exertion certainly, but with perfect success; and
again walked on, over grass-tree moorlands, as
before.
On reaching a bright little spring of fresh water
in a ravine near the beach, about three in the
afternoon, we rested to eat our sandwiches, and
determined to send back from thence our good
friend's horses, as it was then early enough for
them to reach home by dark, and if we had taken
them on to the shore of Port Sorell they must
have been tethered all night in the Bush, a very
sorry guerdon for the good service they had done
us!
We rested about an hour, and had then five
miles to walk to the point where the police boat
would meet us; and, so long as we continued on
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Chap. XVI.] OUR NEW HOME. 217
the hard smooth beach^ our progress was easy and
pleasant, but an abominably rough, scrubby, soft
sand-bank of a mile wide, which we were wrongly
advised to cross, instead of following the course of
the beach, was a sad fatigue and difficulty at the
end of our journey: a right gladsome sight, there-
fore, was her Majesty's trim boat, lying off " Dead
Man's Point," just at twiUght, ready to receive our
weary party. Crossing to the poUce office, we took
up our abode for the night in Mr. Meredith's
private room, every member of the estabUshment
being ready and eager to assist and serve us ; and
our good old servant soon came down from our
unfinished cottage, with such a wonderful basket of
cold roast wild ducks, chicken, ham, eggs, bread,
butter, and " sundries," as proved that the new
kitchen had well begun its duties by preparing for
our reception.
The next morning we breakfasted at Poyston,
our new home, named after my husband's birth-
place in Wales. Since I had last visited it, the exte-
rior had been completed, and the trees cleared away
towards the sea, opening a most lovely view of the
port and its fairy islands, the bold bluff of Badger
Head, the grand Asbestus range of mountains,
VOL. II. L
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218 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVL
and the open sea; the western end of the picture
being closed by some wooded rocky points and
intervening sandy beaches.
My old longing for a home on the sea-coast
was now realized ; and, rough as everything neces-
sarily was at first, we enjoyed the change from
the dark forest to the bright sea-shore too in-
tensely to feel any trifling discomforts. Nearly
all the furniture was packed and stowed away
in one room, so the first breakfast was spread on
the hall table, with packing-cases and trunks for
seats.
Our house, which contained large good rooms,
was built of wood, with chimneys of brick; the
tall thick " slabs" were weather-boarded on the out-
side, and wholly bare within, as, had they teen
lathed and plastered at once, their inevitable warp-
ing and shrinking would have cracked and de-
stroyed the plaster. The ceilings were all done
in a corduroy pattern, being neatly boarded, with
a narrow batten over each joint, and all well
whitewashed; a method much more expeditious
and durable than plastering, and, in a country
cottage, by no means unsightly.
Our inner walls, of the bare, rough, split timber,
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Chap. XVI.] GOATS AND THEIR KIDS. 219
fiill of gaps and crevices, maintained a more uni-
versal system of ventilation than even those of
" Lath Hall ; '* yet we all remained wholly unvisited
by colds of any kind during the autumn and win-
ter, which passed before the cottage was finished,
although, when the wind blew from the north-east
(our only exposed quarter), we could scarcely keep
candles alight in the house. Strong westerly gales
are very prevalent on this coast, but from these our
cosy nest was completely sheltered by an amphi-
theatre of high wooded hills behind.
We kept some goats and their pretty mischievous
kids, purposing to have a large herd of them in
time, both for milk and meat, cows requiring better
pasture than our sandy scrubs yielded, and the Port
Sorell mutton having a particularly unpleasant
flavour, probably fr6m some prevailing plant eaten
by the sheep. With goats for neighbours and play-
fellows, it was perfectly useless to make any attempt
at gardening, until a strong close paling-fence was
put up; and this being done, and a stable, fowl-
house, and goat-shed built, we began to look quite
civilized and settled in our new home. An old
gardener in the neighbourhood resolving to go to
Port Philip, we purchased his whole stock of trees,
L 2
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220 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVL
flowers, thyme-edging, raspberry canes, strawberry
plants, pot-herbs, &c., and so gave our young in-
closure a two-years old aspect at once.
We also commenced keeping bees, which thrive
well at Port Sorell, the abundance of sweet wild
flowers there affording them most dainty food,
judging from the quality of the honey they make;
some of which, from hives kept in the Bush, far
from all gardens and ill-flavoured flowers, exceeds
in fine delicate flavour any other I ever tasted, the
famed honey of Narbonne not excepted. Such
portions of the virgin honeycomb as become can-
died, and cut solid, like cheese, are the nicest of all
sweetmeats. Numbers of bees are now wild in
many parts of the island, and hollow trees are
frequently found in the bush filled with honey-
comb.
Several species of wild native bees or wasps are
also numerous ; and, some time ago, I wrote Home
a few observations I had made on their ways and
habits, which, as they do not seem to have crept into
print, I shall insert, rather than recast the substance
of the paper anew.
In the warm summer days, during our residence
at Port Sorell, and more particularly in the even-
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Chap. XVI.] FLIES VERSUS SPIDERS. 221
ings, we had often noticed a large kind of black fly
darting in and out of the house with a loud, sharp,
whizzing noise ; and, on a more attentive observa-
tion, we found a most tragic addition made to our
list of antipodean contrarieties — nothing less than
the discovery of a savage and sanguinary war car-
ried on by flies against spiders, and pursued with
such vigour that one would believe the Tasma-
nian flies were bent on avenging the tyrannies
and grievances suffered at the hands of the spi-
ders by the whole winged-insect family all the
world over.
We had observed the forcible and noisy abduc-
tion of many an unlucky web-spinner, before I
could satisfactorily make out what became of them,
as the frequent seizures made, apparently by the
same fly, forbade the conclusion that they were
forthwith devoured ; but, by dint of sundry watch-
ings and pursuits of the flies, and by eking out
and piecing together my various small scraps of
information and discovery, I at length acquired a
• tolerable knowledge of the habits and practices of
my busy black neighbours.
In size and shape they exactly resemble a large /.
English wasp, but are wholly black, and possess
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222 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVI.
formidable stings, a quarter of an inch long. They
build very remarkable cells or nests of earth, finely
tempered, and formed in layers of tiny mud-pats,
like a swallow's nest. Many of these were placed
in a small wooden out-house, between the upright
studs and the weather-boarding of the wall ; seve-
ral were formed on a shelf in the porch, where
some small pieces of wood lying heaped together
offered convenient nooks ; and one wasp, resolving
to have a more costly lodgment than his friends,
took possession of a meerschaum pipe-bowl which
lay on the same shelf, and very snugly laid out
his house in its interior. All the nests I have
examined are arranged in the same maimer, the
whole fabric being from two to four inches long,
and rather less than an inch broad ; the external
shape of the mansion, whether square, triangular,
or pentagonal, depending a good deal on the site
chosen. When completed, no aperture is left ; but
on being opened, three or four cells are usually
found, two or three containing each a soft white
chrysalis in a cocoon of white web, and the largest
apartment of the mansion is devoted to the pur-
poses of a larder, and is always found full of
spiders, of all varieties of size, colour, and kind.
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Chap. XVI.] WASPS' NESTS. 223
all closely and neatly packed together, with their
legs trussed up, so as to occupy the smallest possible
space. The strangest part of the affair is, that
the spiders are not dead, but remain perfectly soft
and flexible in every part ; and, on being exposed
to the sun and air, and stirred, a feeble movement
is evident in them, as though they were paralysed
or stupified in some manner, so as to be unresist-
ing victims and good fresh meat at the same time.
The store-house is thus well supplied, doubtless
for the benefit of the chrysalis tenantry, on their
awakening to the knowledge of life and appe-
tite.
I have rarely been more interested by any new
insect than by these black wasps, ungentle and
ferocious though they be; for there is a daring
dashing energy and brisk industry about their
ways and doings that is very amusing and per-
fectly original. The bee^dear Uttle hard-work-
ing persevering fellow that he is— can still afford
time for many a coquettish peep into blossoms
and buds that he deigns not to taste ; and, even
when arrived at home with his two pannier-baskets
loaded with their heaped-up golden treasure, can
stay for a few moments' friendly hovering to and
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224 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVU
fro, and pleasant exchanges of hum and buzz with
his helpmates. The ant — whose ways of thrift and
industry even Solomon bids us to "consider and
be wise" — never takes a straight road, but with a
lump of plunder in her nippers thrice her own
size, runs hither and thither, up straws and round
sticks, or may be into a labyrinth of a violet root,
where she plays at bo-peep with you for ten mi-
nutes before going forward again, and seems to get
on in such a perversely round-about way, that I
have only been cured of my inclination to put her
straight, by the conviction (after many trials, when
anxiously striving to trace out the marauders of
my bee-hives) of the utter hopelessness of such
attempts.
But the black wasp has none of these wandering
weeJmesses of character: solitary, stem, ruthless,
and resolute, he goes about his work of cell-build-
ing and spider-catching. If you chance to be near
his chosen place of abode, you may see him dart
past with a bit of mud or a victim, and a shrill
sharp whizz'izz'izz is continued for some seconds or
a minute, during the operation of packing away his
load, when forth he darts again, straight and swift
as an arrow, and the next moment very probably
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Chap. XVI.] THE DARK AVENGER. 225
invades the peaceful retreat of some cobwebbed
recluse, who until now, safe from brooms and
housemaids, has meshed and devoured his flies
in comfort, but is at length seized, trussed, and
packed up half- alive, by the dcurk avenger.
The varieties of wasps or wasp-like flies, which
we noticed curound Poyston, were very numerous.
One is marked with alternate black and golden
stripes, very similar to the English wasp, but more
soft and downy-looking. Another is red, long and
slender, with four long wings and a prodigious
sting, which it can protrude nearly half an inch
from a kind of double sheath beneath the tail.
Another species, partially red, frequented the sandy
paths of the garden, where several of them were
generally seen darting along, flying straight up
fmd down the walks. I have often followed them
nearly round the garden, witihout their ever quit-
ting the path, or rising more than a foot from the
surface. Sometimes they would stop at a hole in
the sand, possibly their nest, and after poking down
into it, head foremost and tail up, for a minute or
more, they made a great skurry of dust over the
opening, so as entirely to conceal it, and flew on
again.
L 3
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226 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVI.
Without enomeratiDg many more members of
this family, of whom I know little more than their
outward aspect, I shall mention one more, which
has interested me nearly as much as the architect
wasp first described, and has caused me to waste
infinitely more time in vain attempts to pry more
narrowly into its domestic privacy.
At ''Lath Hall" I had been annoyed to find that
the multiflora rose-trees which adorned the veranda,
had, towards autumn, become quite disfigured, by
having large round pieces scolloped out of nearly
every leaf; five or six great scollops being made in
each, leaving the middle fibre entire. First I attri-
buted the mischief to caterpillars, and then to
grass-hoppers, but never found any on the treees.
At length the frequent buzzing of a large bee-like
fly attracted my attention; and on watching its
movements I detected it in the act of snipping out
a piece of rose-leaf, rolling it up, grasping it in its
legs, and flying ofl; After this I observed the work
going on in the same memner daily for some time.
Plants, raised from cuttings of these same rose-
trees, grew around the porch at Poyston, and these
were used by the same busy workmen in the same
manner, besides other kinds of roses, and the
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Chap. XVI.] ROSE-TREE CUTTINGS. 227
leaves of the cherry, acacia, and other trees. This
wasp or bee has a pair of forceps, acting precisely
like scissors ; and very many times I have closely
observed him snipping out, "with a quick clean cut,
the piece of leaf, which is usually about the third
of an inch broad and long. Six or eight seconds
suffice for the cutting, when the piece of leaf
is most nimbly and adroitly rolled up and clasped
by the feet and legs, as the wasp flies away. I
have frequently started off when the wasps took
flight, and given chase to them, hoping to find out
whither all the leaves were carried, and how they
were used; but the depredators always proved
too clever for me, and glanced out of sight, leaving
me to come panting back again, vainly vowing to
be more agile and sharp-sighted next time.
Having often found these insects busy gathering
honey, I imagined they must have a hoard or
nest somewhere near, but never found any. An
intelligent young person who lived with me at this
time as nursery governess told me she had often
found the nests, which were holes in the ground,
filled with bits of leaves, in which small portions
of some sweet sticky stuff were folded up and
stuck together, only one or two wasps seeming
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228 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Ch»p. XVL
to inhabit each hole. This species, like all my
other acquaintances of the wasp-kind here, has
a long sting, and precisely the head and antennae
of the English wasp.
A totally different species from any of these
frequented the wide sandy sea-beaches at Fort
Sorell; these latter were large bulky formidable
insects, with great stings like the others, and were
often seen on a warm day, darting about in twos
and threes, just above the surface of the sand.
One of them would sometimes hover over the
same spot for a minute or two, when another
would suddenly dart to the place, and the first
wasp instantly took up his station at some dis-
tance, hovering as before, until he either dis-
placed another, or was superseded in his turn;
and the same dance of " change sides and
back again' went on as long as we watched
them; but what they were doing, or how they
got their living, remained an undiscoverable mys-
tery to me.
It is only just to all these long-stinged wasps,
to add, that neither we nor our children nor ser-
vants were ever stung by any of the fraternity,
although we frequently chased and captured them
Digitized by
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Chap. XVI.] WASP-STINGS. 229
for examination; but always with a due dread of
their threatening weapons of defence, and a careful
restoration of their liberty when our curiosity was
satisfied.
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■LXPHANT-PISH.
CHAPTER XVII.
Piah. — The Blue-head. — Sting-ray. — Bathing. — Crahs. — Shells. —
Echini. — Starfish. — Sea Anemonies. — Handsome Cnttle-fish. —
Jelly-fish, Ac. — ^A Marine BIrs. Gamp. — Elephant-fish.
One luxury which we enjoyed at Poyston was an
abundance of excellent fish, with which the old
fisherman supplied us twice or thrice a week, to
our mutual advantage, for he had few good cus-
tomers besides, and the impossibility of obtedning
even tolerably good meat or poultry rendered the ad-
dition of fish to our bill of fare a great acquisition.
Excellent flounders (of a much better kind than I
remember at Home,) a few soles and guard-fish,
plenty of fine bream, and quantities of flat-heads,
composed the general assortment, which now and
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Chap. XVIL] THE BLUE-HEAD. 281
then included a few oysters, but not any cray-
fish.
Mr. Meredith and George often went out fishing
in our own nice little boat, the '* Sea Egg," but
they seldom found wind, and tide, and time, and
all other marine influences so propitious as to do
much injury to old Donald's trade, a few flat-heads
or blue- heads, or a young shark, being their usual
booty.
The blue-head is among fish what the rose-hill
parakeet is among birds, a miracle of gay colours.
It is a large thick fish, with patches of the most
vivid blue and orange about the head, and touches
of crimson, green, &c., in other parts. It is not
very good eating, being, when cooked, almost as
soft and watery as mashed turnips.
Great numbers of small sharks were often seen
in the port, close in-shore, in such shallow water
that we have thought they must be soon aground;
and legions of the great ugly sting-rays were
always gliding about, now and then turning up
their finny elbows as they passed by us or hur-
ried after their prey. Some of them were of an
enormous size, and once our boat grounded on
one, and it was only when the living island swam
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232 NINE TEAB8 IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVH.
away that it was discoyered not to be a shoal.
We firequently watched Dumbers of these great
fish in the clear channels, looking, when lying
motionless, like black rocks, or masses of kelp,
and sometimes moving so slowly as still to de-
ceive the eye, whilst at other times dozens and
scores of them would come close by us, in water
only deep enough to cover them.
The long barbed bone or " sting" in the tail of
these unsightly creatures is from three to six or
eight inches long, and capable of inflicting a fear-
ful wound, each of the numerous barbs being
jagged at both edges like the teeth of a saw, and
lacerating frightfully where it strikes. No savage
warrior ever invented a more horrible weapon, and
I think some of the hideous implements of de-
struction brought from the South Sea Islands are
made upon its model. A poor man near Port
Sorell, in trying to catch some sting-ray by driv-
ing them on shore, had one of the stings struck
through his thigh, and broken there, and it was
with considerable danger cut out, having passed
close to one of the great arteries.
Fortunately, neither sharks nor sting-rays ever
visited us when bathing, a luxury we enjoyed to
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Chtap. XVIL] BATHING. 233
perfection here. Mr. Meredith had a large rastic
bower of wattled boughs built for my use on a
great flat rock, which made an admirable 'tiring-
room, in a sheltered and retired nook of our pretty
bay, where we could almost pluck flowering shrubs
with one hand, and fish out sea-weed with the
other. At first I fear the sea-gulls, as they flew
over, must sometimes have been scared by piteous
cries from within of " Don't put me in, mamma,
please don't!*' but these vain remonstrances soon
ceased, and the plaintive voices changed to joyous
shouts, as my young ones splashed about like wild
ducks, to the grave amazement of the baby, who
watched such terrible proceedings with evident ap-
prehension.
Many a pleasant day was spent in long walks or
rides, or boating expeditions in the neighbourhood,
and scarcely one passed without our rambling on
the beach. The three children spent half their
days there winning bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and
untold baske of ocean treasures — shells, corals,
and kelp, which were afterwards strewn around
the house in all directions. The ever faith-
ful Dick was their constant playmate, and also
a black Newfoundland dog, named Pluto, who
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234 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVn.
at first, when a soft fftt puppy, used to ride down
to the sands with Charlie in his little carriage, and
after growing a great powerful dog, would good-
naturedly insist on helping to pull it himself, and
a rope was tied on for him, which he took in his
mouth, and trotted along with great satisfaction.
At certain times of the tide, the hroad heach
used to he covered with little purple crahs, as husy
stuffing sand into their waistcoat pockets as my
old friends of the Homebush drains ; and after the
crabs had finished their odd repast, the surface of
the beach was seen thickly strewn with tiny round
pellets of sand, the size of duck-shot, showing how
vast an amount of labour the busy little things
had accomplished, to be all washed out again by
the next wave. We were all careful not to crush
the poor crabs, and often they were so thick as
to make it difficult to avoid them. Pluto, who was
not troubled with philanthropy, used to distress
the children by squashing the little animals with
his great paws, or picking them up in his huge
mouth to play with; whilst our beautiful Dick
kept us in constant alarm lest, with his indefati-
gable nose, he should hunt out the sea-birds' nests,
that we knew were close around, and disturb or
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Chap. XVII.] SHELLS. 235
kill the young ones, which it was our great de-
light to have safely reared, and added to our beach
companions.
One most noble shell is sometimes found on this
coast, a species of volute or Cymhiola, ten inches
or more in length, and five or six in diameter, of
a shaded bufi* colour, beautiftiUy marked with zig-
zag lines of brown, smooth on the outside, and
highly polished within, with three plaits on the
columella, and the outer lip thin and sharp. I
have only seen five of these shells, three of which
I procured myself. One had been dead some time,
being covered with serpula inside; the other two
had not so long pculied from their inhabitants as to
have also lost the odour which their remains had
left behind, and were fresh handsome shells.
Sometimes we found a few smaller volutes of the
same kind as at Swan Port, but usually more per-
fect, being alive ; occasionally we captured a lovely
Venus, in a marvellous array of ridges and spikes.
At some seasons the beach abounded with fine
brown date-muscles, alive also, and the Haliotis,
Sigaretus, and Stomatella were also found, the
former abundantly, and often very large.
A delicate species of Terehratula lived on the
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286 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVII.
reefe, some distance below low-water mark, and I
obtained a few live shells, bat never found any cast
on the sands. One most beautiful Trigonia was
given to me, as having been picked up on the
Badger Head beach, but I was never so fortunate
as to find another there.
Coralines abounded, the same as those of Swan
Port, and a far greater quantity of the delicate
lace-coral, in pieces from two to six or eight
inches broad, but too brittle to bear packing.
Occasionally, but only rarely, a piece of beautiftil
pink coral appeared among the common kinds.
Several species of Echini frequented the reefb
around us, and in the summer we often invaded
their bright rocky pools, to make acquaintance with
them. At low tide we could run across the wide
sands on to several of the reefe, with merely
wetting our feet (which no true sea-side scram-
bler ever pauses to think about, albeit a fearful
extension of shoemakers' bills is the result) ; and
then most delightful was it to peer down through
the clear water of the countless basins and hollows
in the rocks, and see whole families of Echini, all
unconscious of our alarming presence, rolling to
and fro on their ever-moving chevaux de /rise of
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Chap. XVn.] STAR-FISH. 287
spines, and various species of star-fish^ some with
short arms, some with long ones, and many with
no airms at all, but with merely obtuse comers to
their pentagon or hexagon shapes, all most bril-
liant in colour, and shining amidst floating kelp
and through the sunny water, Uke great marigolds,
poppies, and purple anemones; whilst the real sea-
anemones, of many bright colours, clustered up and
down the rocks, those above water closed up, and
looking like the transparent red lollipops which
children call *' cherries," and the submerged ones
spreading out their filmy rays like starry flowers,
the mimic petals or arms of which clasp tightly
around an intruding finger, as if believing it to be
some dainty jelly-fish or other pleasant comestible.
I have often watched both these Actinia and the
star-fish eating soft jelly-like sea creatures, and
have marvelled at the celerity with which they
dispatched their meal.
Mr. Meredith and George once found some very
beautiful Asteria on one of the reefs, and carried
one home to me ; but, despite all their care, it was
very much broken before it arrived. The body,
hexagonal in shape, was not larger than a shilling,
but the arms were at least twelve inches long, and
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2S8 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVII.
not more than an eighth of an inch broad^ consist-
ing of one series of small shelly scales or plates,
with two short feelers to each scale ; each arm look-
ing like a very long centipede. Although so much
injured, it moved when touched, and then emitted
a bright pale blue phosphoric light, which trembled
all over it for several seconds, but became gradually
fainter, till it was no longer emitted. We never
found the same species again.
Very many of the black sea- slugs, or sea-hares,
whose shell is known as the Parmophorus Australis,
also dwelt in our reef-pools, and dead shells were
oft^i thrown on the beach. The airy shells of a
beautiftd Spatan^us, as thin and white as cambric
paper, were also very plentiAil, but I never found
the creature within them, though very curious to
see the animal which could inhabit an abode so fra-
gile that I could scarcely breathe upon it without
wafting it away, although some were the size of a
good orange.
During one of our boating expeditions to the
islands, we found a very handsome individual of a
very ugly femfiily, being a species of cuttle-:fish, in
a coat of bright salmon-colour, profiisely trimmed
and embroidered with brown, and the multitudinous
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Chap. XVn.] JELLY-FISH. 239
arms each dotted with two lines of buttons (i. ^.,
suckers) as thickly as the jacket of a lady's page.
We tried to send this creature out from his bower
of kelp into clearer water, to gain a better view of
him ; but his extraordinary arms always reappeared
where we least expected them, and seemed to be
many feet in length, gliding and writhing amidst
the kelp forest like a colony of snakes. Some time
afterwards I found a smaller specimen of the same
creature washed ashore on the sands, and, as it was
still alive, I cturried it to a deep rocky pool that it
might recover ; but the horrible sensation of all the
strong suckers fastening round my bared wrist and
hand was only just endurable, and I gladly felt it
loosen its tenacious hold, and glide off into the
water.
At some seasons the beach used to be thickly
strewn with what are called "jelly-fish," left by the
receding tide; most of them being the size of a
large dinner plate, and not unlike a great mass of
encrusted glass, with a large star pattern within, of
pink or purple. When seen swimming they resem-
ble an expanded umbrella, with a cluster of long
fringed arms extending from its convex centre.
During a short voyage in Bass's Straits, the my-
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240 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVn.
hads I have seen of these jelly nmbrellas were
perfectly astonishing ; every wave passmg the vessel
contained five or six, and their bright soft irri*
descent colours of pink, purple, blue, and crimson,
seen glancing in the rapid water, were most beau-
tiful.
Several species of curious bony fish are found
at Port Sorell. One, about four inches long, is
called the dog fish, firom the accurate resemblance
which its head bears to that of a pointer. Another,
which we named the porcupine fish, is about eight
inches long, and is armed all over with sharp strong
spines. We preserved some of these excellently by
suspending them by a thread, near an ant-hill, and
in a short time all the skin and form of the fish
became dry and hard, whilst the busy little insects
had disposed of all the more perishable matter.
One very singular fish, the size and shape
of a large egg somewhat compressed at the sides,
was arrayed in a complete suit of white bony ar-
mour, beautifully embossed and engraved, with sharp
fins and tail, and a mouth like a small whistle. It
is sometimes found dead and dry among the heaps
of old kelp and shells on the sand-banks, but I
never saw one either alive or firesh.
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Chap. XVn.] A MABINE MRS. GAMP. 241
A large skeleton of a hideously ugly fish, which
none of us knew, was brought me by one of the
constables (all of whom used to do their best to
contribute to my heterogeneous collections of od-
dities). Its heavy bony head was more than
half of the whole fish, with a large under-jawed
bull-dog mouth, and the oody tapering sharply off
from it, being altogether about two feet long.
Mr. Meredith said it somewhat resembled a fish
called by whalers "an Old Nurse," and then
we decided that it must be the Mrs. Gamp of the
ocean. If my lame description is unintelligible to
the ichthyologically learned, I can direct them to
an admirable portrait of my ugly friend, in Cruik-
shanFs Comic Almanack for 1843, for he has
drawn it to the life, in the astonished fish which
rushes fuU in the light from his submarine steamer,
to gaze upon the portentous visitant with super-
cilious indignation.'^
On passing our fisherman's hut one morning, we
found him quite Busy, wheeling in a quantity of
unsaleable fish to enrich his httle potato garden,
and we detained one, of a kind new to us, to exa-
mine. It was a large fish, nearly three feet in
length, and about five inches deep, with a singular
VOL. II. . M ^ ^
J
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242 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVn.
bony head, from which a narrow bony process
extended in front, like a very prominent Roman
nose, with a tom-np at the point of it ; from the
end of this hong, outspread, a soft fleshy heart-
shaped membrane, three or more inches long. The
month was placed at some distance behind this
pendoloos apparatus, winch looked like a bait, with
which this odd fish was perpetually angling for
himself. A long, strong, sharp spine proceeded
from the front of the dorsal fin ; and the vertebrse
continued through the upper lobe of the tail, taper-
ing finely to the end. I have rarely seen a more
singular fish.
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BADGER HEAD, AND THE SISTER ISLA^'DSJ FROM POTSTON,
FORT SORELL.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Improvements at Poyston. — The Harriet. — A New Bird. — Diamond
Birds. — Dragon-flies. — Green Frogs. — Rabbits. — Great Owl. —
Small Owl.— Mawpawk. — Bush Fires. — Providential Escape.
We continued to improve our pleasant sea- side
home in various ways, by enlarging the house and
garden, by having our rooms plastered and papered,
by making some log-bridges across'watery hollows .
- in the sand bank, for our winter walks to the beach,
and by marking an avenue through the wood, in
the direction of the police station, which was partly
cleared at our own expense, and partly by the
M 2
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244 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVm.
occasional labour of watch-house prisoners ; and,
when completed, opened a beautiful vista, ending
in a distant view of the station, and the woods and
mountains behind, as shown in my little sketch
from our garden, given at page 258.
The arrival of the Port Sorell vessels (small
schooners and cutters of from fifteen to forty tons)
added considerably to the life and interest of our
sea view, especially when any friend or long-ex-
pected package was known to be on board; and as
the reefs and channels of the entrance to the port
are rather intricate, we frequently watched the little
craft with great anxiety.
We took great interest in a small schooner, which
the builder of our cottage (a generally useful na-
tive genius) commenced after nearly finishing our
house ; perfect completion of a task we found was
impossible to him.
The " Hope " cutter, which I have before men-
tioned, was also the work and property of our
worthy neighbour, but she had been sent to sea at
first without a rudder-case, and sailed without that
apparently indispensable appendage ever afterwards.
His new schooner was very cleverly and accurately
modelled after the brig " Scout," formerly a slaver,
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Chap. XVin.] THE HARRIET. 245
and the fastest sailiDg vessel in these colonies. We
conld readily distinguish her from all the other
ships seen passing through the Straits^ hound for,
or leaving Launceston, by her superior speed, and
were much grieved lately to learn that the beautiful
vessel had been vrrecked.
We often visited our ingenious neighbour to see
how his vessel got on, and. anticipated the launch
with great interest; but, as I ftdly expected, some-
thing was left undone, or was not done quite
enough, in the laying down of the "ways," and
instead of dashing boldly into the water, when we
were all assembled to see her, the gaUant ** Harriet"
stuck fast, and was unsatisfactorily and ingloriously
shoved off in the evening tide, with no one to look
at her.
Having by means of the '* Mosquito craft " of
the vicinity constant opportunities of communica-
tion with Launceston, we commenced subscribing
to a library there, which, although not very ex-
tensive, seemed to promise us a twelvemonth's
supply of reading; but after exchanging our books
about four times, and sending in vain for more, I
discovered that our supply was finally cut off; the
whole collection of books having been sold by
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246 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVm.
auction ! and we were once more reduced to the
chance volumes we could borrow, and our own
rare and scanty acquisitions from Home.
When living in a new country, and in great
measure apart from the advantages of civilized life,
it is no small solace and pleasure to possess the
habit, apparently so natural, but in reality very
rtu:e (at least here), of deriving interest and amuse-
ment from the perusal of whatever page of the
great book of Nature lies open to us ; and strange
indeed must be our destiny, if we are ever without
some instructive and wondrous passage before us,
telling of the beneficence and wisdom of Him who
alike hath fixed the track of the mysterious comet
through the illimitable immensity of space, and
decreed the shape in which the little bees shall
make their tiny cells !
In old countries, where every change of season,
every successively-opening flower, and every insect
that flutters the frailest wing in the sunshine, has
attracted the study of naturalists and philosopliers
for centuries, we can always refer to books for in-
formation respecting all that interests us, or excites
our curiosity. But here, if we would learn from
Nature, we must strive to read her own untranslated
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Chap. XVIII.] DIAMOND BIRDS. 247
history, and no one who has not tried can tell how
pleasant a hook it is. Sometimes, it is true, we
should like a hook of reference, when some quite
new hird or flower proves too profound an enigma
for our small acquirements. Such was a lovely
little creature like a large humming-hird, which
came daily to suck honey from the trumpet-flowers
of the Ecremocarpus creeper round our porch and
garden fence. It never perched, hut remained on
the wing, hovering and sipping the honey with its
long hairy tongue, and uttering a low murmuring
sound as it skimmed ahout. Its plumage was
chiefly hrown and fawn colour, with a long heard-
like shadow on the throat. I was quite glad to see
the Ecremocarpus honey made useful to something,
for I had often thought it a pity that the mouth
of the flower was too small for the entrance of a
hee, whilst so well stored with sweets ; and the little
hird came as if on purpose to show me that all in
Nature must he right and good.
A pair of little gems of diamond hirds had their
»est in the hank near our cottage. Mr. Meredith
found the hole one day, and thought it helonged to
a snake, hut whilst peeping ahout it, one of the
alarmed little hirds flew out, dmost in his face.
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fUS NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Cluq>. XVIIL
We visited it several times afterwards^ and, on look-
ing steadily into the dark little nest, conld just
discern the baby-birds within, and often saw the
beautiiiil little paroit pair flying or creeping in
and out
Some gigantic dragon flies, larger than the
diamond birds, often visted ns ; and had, I imagine,
emerged £rom their former more humble condition
of existence in our fishpond, as we saw many in its
vicinity. I always admired their handsome tribe,
but was rather shocked one day to see a very large
one snap up a poor heavily-laden bee, and fly off
with it Had I seen many such captures, a
declaration of war against the great dragon flies
must have followed, but it was a solitary outrage,
so far as I know.
Numbers of my old favourites, the goi^eously-
attired green frogs, also abode in our pond and
brook, and in warm summer days were wont to
bathe luxuriously in the sunshine, with their moist
gold-threaded heads and backs, and great calm eyes,
gleaming like jewels; and as they sit thus, they
keep up a kind of friendly conversational croak
with each other, each exclamation being apparently
the result of great effort. The speaker suddenly
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Ohap. XVm.] RABBITS. 249
collapses his portly body, and at the same instant
inflates a large white speckled pouch beneath the
under jaw^ which expands to the size of a small
hen's-egg, whilst the croak is going on — the sound
and the inflation ceasing together; and in the space
of a minute the process begins again. The appear-
ance of a party of firogs thus conyersing, seated a
few feet apart, over a pond or lagune, is most
gravely ridiculous; but a spectator must wait for
some time, motionless and silent, before the dis-
course begins, the approach of any noise or move-
ment, however slight, causing the whole solemn
assembly to plop under water.
To our favourite household troops of goats,
horses, dogs, cats, tame swans, and poultry, we had
now rather a droll addition in a flock of tame
rabbits, the progeny of one pair given to the
children by our gardener. These had for some
time been kept in a hutch, but we decided on
giving them their liberty, and had a capacious cage
made of paling for them at one comer of our
paddock, and put them in it, with a daily supply of
food, intending that they should burrow out into
the Bush and go free, but still have their safe cage
as a retreat from dogs or other molestations. They
M 3
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250 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVIIl.
very soon availed themselves of the liherty we gave
them, and scratched their way out, but, instead of
going into the Bush, straightway came back and
took up their abode under the kitchen, burrowing
an entrance beneath the massive wooden sleepers,
and no doubt finding a waxm and roomy apartment
ready for their reception, as the floor of the kitchen
was raised above a foot from the level ground.
Here they continued to live, and bred numbers of
young ones, which were of all colours, though the
old pair were black, and in the evening, a troop of
all sizes, black, brown, gray, buff, and white, used
to come out and frolic all about us : the old ones
were so tame as to jump into our laps as we sat
down ; and very often used in play to scratch the
children's faces, who had taught them to take
bread from their lips. The young ones very
rapidly spread abroad, and colonized the whole
neighbourhood. We, or rather our spaniel, Dick,
found several at one or two miles distance from
home. Our garden was so well fenced that only
very juvenile bunnies could gain admittance there,
and as we had not anything else they could possibly
injure, and abundance of food for them, we greatly
enjoyed our novel kind of rabbit-warren; the only
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Chap. XVm.] GREAT OWL. 251
trouble connected with it being our constant fear
lest strangers coming to the house should inadver-
tendy tread upon our bold little favourites, which
were always trooping about.
The poor old doe fell a victim to the kittenish
propensity for play of an Arab colt we had; he used
to run after everything, and pawed over dogs, fowls,
or anything he could overtake, as a kitten would a
ball, and in an unhappy hour, with one playful
stroke of his fore-foot, broke a hind leg of our old
bunny, so that we were compelled, after ineffectual
attempts to set the bone, to let our poor pet be
killed as an act of mercy. We never before kept
tame rabbits, but these free and sociable ones were
exceedingly interesting, and their evening gambols,
when the whole family party was assembled, were
most graceful and diverting.
I had one day a most unwelcome present brought
to me by one of our constables, who, poor man,
had taken infinite pains to obtain it, but had
wofuUy mistaken what he conceived to be my
wishes in the matter. Hearing that I wemted to
procure an owl, he brought me a most magnificent
one, but alas ! it was dead, and my wish was to
have one, or, still better, a pair, alive, to put them
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252 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVHI.
in undisturbed possession of two great lofts in the
gabled roof of our house, where they and their
progeny might benefit us and themselves by carry-
ing on the mousing business, and gratify us occa-
sionally by a glimpse of their ghostly shapes
winnowing silently around in the twilight.
The poor dead bird was a most noble specimen of
his order, about fifteen inches in height, and of a
broad comely figure, with the proper great heart-
face, and very large eyes ; the plumage gray and
fawn-colour, barred with brown, beautifully soft
and downy.
I since had one of the small Tasmanian owls
aUve, and kept it for some months, feeding it on
mice, birds, and raw meat, but I could not tame it
in the least. It tore and bit any one it could reach,
and always greeted our approach with a savage
chop-chopping of its beak, that sounded most
defiant and ferocious. It was a very handsome
bird, six or seven inches high, with dark plumage,
and very quick, savagely-bright eyes. Finding I
could not by any means render it sociable and
Mendly, I determined to set it firee, hoping it might
possibly remain about the house or garden; but
the emancipation, so kindly meant, proved fatal.
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Chap. XVIII.] THE MAWPAWK. 258
Unaccustomed to procure food for itself^ and teased
and attacked by crowds of other birds^ it sat
moping in a high tree^ for a day or two, until
pecked blind, and almost in pieces; and I only
recovered my perverse pet in time to see it expire
in its old cage.
The Mawpawk, More Pork, or Mope Hawk, is
common in most parts of the colony, and utters its
peculiar two-syllable cry at night, very constantly.
Its habits are those of the owl, and its rather
hawkish appearance partakes also of the peculiarities
of the goat-sucker tribe. The bird is ten or twelve
inches long, and the head forms more than a third
of this ; the mouth, bristling with strong whiskers,
opens to the very back of the head, and displays a
cavern, apparently capable of accommodating a
whole family of mice at once. The eyes are Iturge
and hawk-Uke, the plumage dark and dusky, and
the bird's flight is silent as that of the owl. We
often listen to them at night, as they answer each
other's cry, sometimes from a tree close beside us,
and then from the distant woods. The sound
does not really resemble the words " more pork,"
any more than " cuckoo," and it is more lite the
" tu-whoo " of the owl than either.
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254 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVUI.
The summer bush fires in these forest regions
sometimes rage to a fearful extent, from the great
masses of dead wood, bark, and scrub which
accumulate though successive seasons. During our
abode at "Lath Hall" I once suffered great alarm
from the very near approach of the bush fires,
which, in those dense and lofty forests, have a most
terrific appearance, as the volumes of lurid smoke
come roUing onwards, and tree after tree bursts
into flame; whilst the frequent thundering fall of
some mighty trunk, and the crackling and hissing
of the blazing mass, are as terrible to hear as to
behold. By anticipating the approach of the great
body of fire, and careftiUy burning and beating out
the low scrub, ferns, and grass beside fences, or for
a considerable breadth in the probable track of the
conflagration, any serious mischief may frequently
be prevented ; but when a high wind prevails at the
same time, immense flakes of fire are carried along
by it, and falling in distant places, or perchance on
thatched roofs, spread the devastation with terrible
rapidity.
We had on one occasion a fearful drive home
from the house of a friend with whom we had
spent the day, and during our stay one of these
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Chap. XVIII.] BUSH FIRES. 256
tremendous forest fires had traversed the road we
had to repass in returning, leaving the whole
country in flames. As we drove along, great
huming trees came toppling and crashing down on
hoth sides, and some fell direcdy across our track,
compelling us to make a d6tour in the Bush, where
we feared the horses would hum their feet in the
hot ashes, the terror of the poor animals increasing
our own peril not a little. The air was like a
fiimace and thick with smoke, and fiery fragments
of leaves, sticks, and hark were falling around and
about us. I have not often felt more awed by any
impending danger than during that scorching drive,
nor more devoutly thankful for our preservation
than when at last we emerged from the terrible
dominions of the tyrannical Fire King, into the
cool olive-green avenue of our forest road, and once
more breathed air instead of smoke.
Mr. Meredith was absent from home when the
bush fires in the near vicinity of Poyston seemed
to me threatening its speedy destruction, and my
intense terror was consequently uncomforted by his
better experience; nor was I aware at the time,
that he had, before leaving home, taken the wise
precaution of burning the ferns over the whole of a
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266 NINE YEARS IN TASMANU. [Chap. XVIH.
wide span of forest land around us, although I
knew it had been partially done. The appearance
of the rapidly-advancing fire was indeed such as to
appal a stouter heart than mine, when at last, after
many disregarded entreaties from my frightened
women servants, I went out to look at it. Over-
head, a thick black rolling cloud of fire-speckled
smoke shut out the sky; and behind, the mighty
array of flames whence it came rose high over the
tallest of those giant trees, in tongues and spears
of red blaze, bright even at noonday, and wreathed
about the trunks and branches, devouring every
leaf and fragment of bark as it went crackling on.
The wind blew the fire directly towards our appa-
rently devoted house, which, almost wholly com-
posed of resinous wood, dry as tinder after the
summer's heat, would have burnt like touch-paper.
I began to count up our carpets and blankets,
intending to have them all soaked in the brook,
and laid over the roof to prevent its becoming
ignited by the falling flakes, and I had our small
stock of gunpowder ready to bury in the garden,
under the camp oven, if the danger increased.
The two men servants went to beat out the fire so
as to prevent its crossing a narrow gully at the
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Ch»p. XVIII.] PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 267
back of our inclosure, and I dispatched George
and the nurse-girl to the police station for more
men to help them, the fire meanwhile evidently
making rapid progress, and the horrid crackling
becoming louder and nearer.
A reinforcement from the station, of the district
constable and two others, enabled our party to
spread out so as to keep a wide extent of the
ground-fire under control, but not without having
their clothes burned in the efltort, and I had my
share of active business in serving out tea, grog,
and flannel shirts. A sudden shift of the wind
providentially aided our endeavours, and, before
night, the body of the fire was raging onwards in
a different direction, but still leaving so much be-
hind as to render a night-watch requisite ; nor did
we feel quite safe until the following evening, when
the alarming appearances had to a great degree sub-
sided.
These extensive fires must no doubt destroy
great numbers of snakes ; and if they were of no
other service, that alone would plead their pardon
for many mischievous deeds. The poor opossums,
too, I fear, must suffer martyrdom in crowds, and
quantities of small vermin and insects; but the
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258
NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XVni.
chief service of the bush fires is, the rapid and
wholesome consumption of heaps of vegetable
matter, that would otherwise accumulate to excess
on such rich damp soil, and, in their slow process of
decomposition, fill the air with unhealthy vapours.
VIEW FEOM THB GARDEN, POYSTON.
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CHAPTEB XIX.
Resignation. — RemovaL — Voyage. — Contrary Breeze. — Great Peril.
— ^Anchor at George Town. — Overland Jonmey to Swan Port.
— Riversdale. — ImprovementB. — The Veranda. — Pigeons and
Fowls. — Plenty without Profit. — Arrival of the Harriet. — Con-
clusion.
The apparently uncertain continuance of all
police appointments in the colony, and the strong
inducements we had to return to Swan Port, at
length decided us in favour of a removal from
Port Sorell. Mr. Meredith sent in his resignation
of the police magistracy accordingly, and had the
gratification of receiving, both from his Excellency
Lieutenant-Governor Sir. W. T. Denison, and from
the Chief Police Magistrate, flattering testimonies
of their high estimation and approval of his past
services, and kind expressions of regret that they
were to cease.
As we had to transport ourselves, children, and
servants, together with our furniture, horses, dogs,
bees, favourite fowls, and other matters — a very
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260 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
menagerie of clanjamphry — Mr. Meredith engaged
our graceful friend the ''Harriet" schooner to
convey us direct to Swan Port, all but the horses,
which were sent overland with the groom ; my own
especial gray Arab and her pretty foal having been
carefiiUy taken across previously.
Mr. Meredith's successor at Port Sorell gladly
agreed to purchase our house, land, &c. ; our
preparations for departure were, therefore, very
speedily effected, although not without many
regrets at leaving our comfortable home, and its
most beautifril sea-view, which, so far from becom-
ing indifferent to us, by long use, seemed ever to
acquire some new charm.
Yet, having once rooted ourselves up, ready
for a transplantation, delays became provok-
ing, and after waiting two days on board, and
receiving more "last visits" from the few valued
friends we were leaving behind, we finally set sail,
on a day universally considered of ill omen — in
seafaring matters, at least — on Friday evening,
February 22, 1848. Our good neighbour, the
builder and owner of the vessel, had at the
eleventh hour suddenly relinquished his intention
of going with us, and left the command to a very
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Chap. XIX.] VOYAGE. 261
unworthy representative, a careless, lazy fellow,
lately hired, whose chief vocation seemed to be
dozing and smoking, and who could not even rouse
himself enough to get out of the port at high
water, but dawdled about on shore until we very
narrowly escaped another night's detention, and,
by some mismanagement in the narrowest and
most dangerous part of the intricate channel
amongst the reefs and islands^ were, for a short
time, in considerable peril.
The following morning, when Mr. Meredith went
on deck, hoping to find that we had made good
progress during the night, as we had had a fair
breeze the evening before, — what was his annoy-
ance to discern that our lazy " skipper" had after-
wards hove the vessel to, and gone to sleep, during
the greater part of the night, and so lost us at
least thirty or forty miles of our voyage.
By the time I thought of rising we were making
tolerable way through the Straits, and the vessel's
motion had become so unpleasantly lively, that I
found it desirable to make my ascent to the deck
as quickly as possible, and try to ward off the ap-
proaching return of indisposition. My nursemaid,
as a matter of course, was totally useless, having
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262 NINE YEAKS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
given herself up a voluntary, or at all events an
unresisting victim, to sea-sickness, and lay on the
deck refusing all aid or remedy ; so Mr. Meredith
and our good old servant-man made their first
essay in the nursery department hy putting George
and Charlie into their respective garments, hut
with an ingenious variation of hack and front,
tapes and huttons, which did infinite credit to
their powers of invention. However, I was very
thankful even for such aid, haby Owen's toilet
heing quite as much as I could safely undertake
myself. The poor children were all very ill, and
nothing hut a most resolute determination saved
me from sharing the same fate. I sat on deck
all day, facing the fresh breeze, nursing the baby,
and endeavouring to keep every thought busy with
the passing clouds, the distant shore, the shoals
of strange jelly-fish sailing along beside us, or
anything, rather than suffer myself to admit
the real truth, that I felt very far from well;
and thus I continued all day without becoming
worse.
The wind had been veering round for some
hours, and at last settled to a strong breeze from
the north-east, the most directly adverse point
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Chap. XIX.] CONTRARY BREEZE. 263
for US. We passed " Tenth Island/' and " Ninth,"
or "Gun-carriage Island," both of them barren
and rocky, with low scrub and sand; and we
were very anxious to reach *' Waterhouse Island,"
where we could anchor safely, until a change of
wind enabled us to weather Cape Portland, and
then a breeze from any point of the compass,
except due south, would carry us down the east
coast to Oyster Bay. But the contrary breeze
grew yet stronger towards night, and the vessel
pitched and rolled horribly; the children suf-
fered exceedingly, and poor Charlie, who had
only recently recovered from a dangerous illness,
became seriously ill and exhausted. The vessel,
perfect as were her form and sailing capacities,
had she been properly rigged, had only her fore
and aft canvas, without square sails, and could
not therefore be properly worked, even by skilful
hands, whilst those we had on board were ignorant
and helpless in the extreme.
A thick dark night, a contrary wind blowing
half a gale, and a rocky reefy lee-shore, added
to these disadvantages, made me petition my hus-
band most earnestly for a run back to George
Town, whence we could proceed overland with
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5d64 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
our children ; . and, about eleven o'clock, I had
the great, but I must confess unexpected, satis-
faction of hearing that the order had been given^
and we were soon hurrying back most rapidly,
bounding before the gale towards the Tamar.
Knowing the inattention and recklessness of the
"Master" (and which knowledge alone induced
him to turn back), Mr. Meredith went on deck
frequently to see that all was right. Once, as he
stood gazing at the lighthouse, the point for
which we were steering, he suddenly lost the
light for a long interval, much longer than its
period for revolving; then it reappeared, as if
from behind some dark body, and again vanished.
He then thought there must be an island which
intervened, and asked the master if he knew how
" Tenth Island" bore from us then ?
" Oh, yes, sir ! — We re leaving Tenth Island
two or three miles on the port quarter."
Still my husband's suspicions were not at rest,
and he took the man forward with him to look
out again. By this time the vessel had rapidly
approached "Tenth Island" — for such' it was —
the roar of the heavy surf was distinctly audible
on the rocks, and there remained barely time to
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Chap. XDL] GREAT PERIL. 265
alter our course^ ere we swept close past the white
gleam of the breakers on the cliff.
Had we driven onwards another two minutes in
the direction we were going, not one of us had
survived to tell the tale : — and with a devout and
grateful heart did I most earnestly thank God for
our signal deliverance from such a fearful death!
I knew nothing of our danger until it was past,
yet even then it was horrible to think of, and a
light welcome sound was the rumble of the cable
as we cast anchor at George Town, about one on
Sunday morning.
Leaving our servant as our supercargo on board
the "Harriet" to proceed to Swan Port when the
wind served, we exchanged our cabin accommoda-
tion for snug apartments in a quiet little inn, and
took our passage from thence on Monday after-
noon in the steamer for Launceston. Her Ma-
jesty's ship " Batdesnake" had also arrived on
Saturday night, and several of her officers and
midshipmen were fellow-passengers with us in the
steamboat.
A very pleasant voyage up the Tamar brought us
in the evening to Launceston and our old hotel ;
whence, the following afternoon, we proceeded in
VOL. II. N
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266 NINE TEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
the mail to Campbell Town : and here began the
real difficulties of our progress; our own good
horses were comfortably grazing at Swan Fort, and
our peerless tandem cart lay dismembered in the
bold of the " Harriet ; " Mr, Meredith consequently
made a voyage of inquiry the next morning in
search of some strong vehicle that could be hired
$0 convey us across the tier, a weary journey of
Beadj Biztj miles, over the same rough track
described in our pilgrimage to Fort Sorell. A
spring cart was at length obtained, and in it we
proceeded on our slow and weary way. On the
third evening of our journey, we arrived and halted
awhile at our old home of Spring Vale, where we
pressed one of our own stout horses into oiir
service, and had the pleasure of being welcomed
with a* shout of delight from some of our old
servants.
Our pretty cottage and the garden we had made
and cultivated with so much care and pride, were
unworthily tenanted by people who kept cattle and
horses tethered to our choice fruit-trees, and had
even erased the very form of the garden. Bagged
disreputable sheds were set up in front, and
slovenly brush fences behind ; but I am happy to
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ChM>. XIX.] AKRIVAL OF THB HARRIET. 267
say^ it has smce^ in the occupation of our servants^
under our own care^ recovered much of its old
neatDess.
We made a pleasant sojourn at Cambria, our
ftither s hospitable home^ where we joined a right
patriarchal assemblage of our own '' kith and kin/'
then Tisitifig there, and contributed our triad of
boys to the ttconry group of grandchildren abready
met. We waited ia anxious expectation for the
'^ Harriet's" arrival, and «& one week after another
went by without intelligence of her, began to fear
the worst for our valued old servant and our goods
and chattels ; but at length, after being driven
about the straits in every direction but the right
one, and paying involuntary visits to Circular Head,
and other out-of-the-way localities, they contrived
to cast anchor at Waterloo Point. As soon as our
goods were landed, we took up our abode once
more at Biversdale, where the commencement of a
garden and orchard had brought a pleasant altera-
tion on its former appearance and comfort, and
where we have happily passed the last two years,
busy in all farm matters, and in effecting every
practicable improvement in all around us.
If these unpretending chronicles of our Tasma-
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268 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [CJhap. XIX.
nian life seem to have lingered long in the re-
cording, the perpetual enticements and heguile-
ments of pleasant country occupation must hear
the blame.
I could not possibly sit down quietly to write
whilst I had my new garden entirely to remodel;
and my anxious wish to leave all things in their
places that were growing luxuriantly, so as to
prevent too much evidence of newness, and at the
same time to turn all the straight dirt- walks into
gracefully curved turf ones, and to have a nice
grass plat in front, was not very easily fiilfilled, and
cost me many runs up stairs, to contemplate the
effect of my plans from the upper windows, before
my clever old gardener and I could finally accom-
plish our task, the result now being highly satis-
factory. A rustic wooden bridge leading to the
orchard over a long fishpond in the garden is also
one of our useful embellishments, and a thatched
octagon summer-house, nicely placed beneath a fine
old lightwood tree near the pond, will, when covered
with creeping roses, ivy, jasmine, and passion-
flowers, be very ornamental too, though at present
the popular opinion of my taste in erecting it
seems somewhat divided. A spacious veranda.
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Chap. XIX.] THE VERANDA. 269
erected this summer, along the front of the house,
is the most important and essential addition of all ;
in this country^ a good veranda is like an extra
sitting-room ; and, as an airy play-place for children
on a warm or rainy day, is invaluable. We hope
that some of our numerous families of swallows
will take, of rather make, apartments in it next
summer/ Last year we were prevented from using
our little boat for some months, although the Swan
Biver is a delightful place for sailing, becaase a pair
of confiding little swallows had built their iiest in
it, as it lay on the cross beams of a shed in the
yard ; and we could not dream of disturbing them
till the young ones were grown up ; then the boat
was removed at once, lest another brood should
claim our forbearance. Our veranda also forms
my only substitute for a green-house, and in this
elimate such partial shelter is sufficient for the
cultivation of most plants which must be wholly
protected during an English winter.
From the front window of our dining-room,
where I now sit, I look through the veranda over
the grass plat and flower borders, now past their
summer beauty, but still gay with noble holly-
hocks, carnations,' tiger lilies, and other autumn
N 3
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270 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
flowers. A hawthorn hedge, and some graoefiil
white-blossomed acacias, overhang two ranges of
beehives, and conceal the paling fence, behind which
passes the public road ; and beyond its other hedge,
which is of gorse, lie sweet fields of clover, where the
children's five pet lambs, and some favourite horses
or cows, lead a luxurious life. Beyond these, again,
is another gorse hedge, and other larger meadows,
also fenced with a grand chevaux defrise of gorse,
with some emerald bright English willows, forming
lofty clumps on one side ; and in spring, giving ns
a pleasant home-like interest in marking their
graducJly deepening green, amidst the unchanging,
dull, olive natives of the soil. Still again beyond
flows the Swan Biver,^ a noble broad stream, sixty
yards or more in width, but only visible to us
fi*om the house when a heavy flood spreads it over
the meadows. On the opposite bank of the river
lies a smfdl farm, some of the whitewashed build*
ings just showing through a flue belt of trees ; and,
bounding the whole, rises a woody ridge of ste^
rocky hills, only used as a sheep-run, and a very
poor one.
From our side-window, through fhe passion-
flowers, roses, and jasmine trained round it, and over
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C&«p. XIX.] PIGEONS AND FOWLS. 271
a gay little flower-garden below, we look up the
public road, through the district. Opposite the
entrance to our farm-yard stands our blacksmith s
forge, whilst the mill, bam, stack-yard, cow-sheds,
stabling, dairymen's cottages, and other buildings,
fill up the side-view, and complete the extensive
farm homestead. A dovecote on a high wooden
pillar, safe from cats, but alas ! not always so from
hawks, is the abode of a large and handsome family
of tumbler-pigeons; and a capacious yard be3rond,
well stocked with portly porkers, if not adding
much to the ornamental character of the scene,
gives by no means an unsubstantial promise of
creature comforts. The common barn-door fowls
are our most profitable kind of poultry, being more
hardy and requiring less tending than most others.
Turkeys were apt to wander away into the bush,
wh^e they are killed by the native vermin ; Guinea
fowls generally become wild; geese do not com-
monly thrive so well as at home ; and ducks, very
successful on some farms, are on others always
carried off by disease.
From the two hives of bees which survived
the long confinement of the voyage from Port
Sorell (one hive died entirely, not having enough
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272 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
honey to maintain them so long), we have now
twenty-three, besides five that I have given away ;
and as we always drive the bees into a new hive
when we take the honey, instead of smothering
the swarm with brimstone, &o., onr stock will
soon be much larger. Whether the system of
driving them into an empty hive would answer
in the severe winters of England, I am not aware ;
but here, we perform the operation early in
February (which answers to August at Home),
and the bees collect a good store again before
winter, and are even then rarely kept prisoners
three days together without fresh food. Here the
wide extent of English clover fields, and the
long, long lines of glorious gorse edges, added
to all the usual bush and garden flowers, seem
admirably suited to the good little honey-makers.
At Poyston the young swarms always gave ua
great trouble to hive them, -from their tendency
to fly swiftly away, and we lost many in this
manner; but here we have now even left off
performing the usual tin-dish-and-key concert, on
ihe rising of a swarm, for without any interference
they settle within a few feet, or at most a few yardsj
of the parent hive. Onie little bush of Ohrysan-
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Chap. XIX.] PLENTY WITHOUT PROFIT. 273
themnms has had four swanns light in it within a
month, and an old peach*tree has been similarly
favoured ; so that we have come to the conclusion
that our bees are of peculiarly domestic and
contented habits. The honey-comb of this year is
much of it, not figuratively, but literally, as white
as snow, and the honey colourless as liquid crystal,
and of most delicate flavour.
Our fine dairy of beautiful cows, and our busy
hives of good little bees, ftilly realize to us that
scriptural picture of rural luxury — "A land
flowing with milk and honey;" the only alloying
drop of gall being the absence of all possibility of
turning any of our surrounding abundance to
pecuniary profit. Our fat grass-fed beef and
small delicious mutton — equal to any "Welsh" ever
tasted — sell at two -pence halfpenny a pound ; our
wheat at 3«. the bushel; oats scarcely saleable
at 1«. 6rf. ; and barley not in demand at all,
most brewers here concocting their compounds
from damaged sugar. Were colonial distillation
permitted by the Government, it might become
a profitable means of disposing of the surplus
grain; but the fear lest the finance department
should suffer by any diminution of the duties now
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274 NINE YEARS IN TASMANIA. [Chap. XIX.
80 largely paid on imported spirits, prevents that
boon being accorded to the colonists; and they,
unable to make the business of grain-growing pay
its own expenses, must soon do generally, as
so many have already done, lay down their
luxuriant corn-fields in grass and clover, for the
production of wool, cheese, and butter, and cul-
tivate no more com than their own establishments
require to consume; and this in a country suited
beyond most others for the production of excellent
wheat and other grain. Wool seems the only
staple commodity of the colony that can be made
to pay even its expenses, and a short time since the
prices for that were exceedingly low, nor have they
yet become adequately remunerative to the sheep-
farmer.
I have now retraced my Colonial life from first to
last: from the period of my leaving England
in 1839, to the present month of February, 1850 ;
and as I fold up the last leaves of my Tasmanian
chronicle, and wish my little book a safe voyage to
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Chap. XUL]
CONCLUSION.
276
dear old England^ I cannot ask or desire a more
cordial welcome for it than that which greeted
its predecessor; and I heartily hope it may be
deemed deserving of one as kind.
THE END.
London : G. Woodfall and Son, Printers, Angel Court. Skinner Street.
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