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F 7 FEB 1966 j

NEW SERIES Nos. 11-20

1959-1965

Records of the
Queen Victoria Museum
Launceston

Edited by
FRANK ELLIS,
Director of the Museum.

PUBLISHED BY THE MUSEUM COMMITTEE
LAUNCESTON CITY COUNCIL.

Telegraph Printery Pty. Ltd., Launceston.

New Series Nos. 11-20

CONTENTS

No. 11

The Coastal Geomorphology of King Island, Bass Strait, in Relation
to Changes in the Relative Level of Land and Sea, by J N. Jennings.

No. 12

Comments on the Cainozoic History of Western Tasmania, by B. Scott.

No. 13

Erosion Surfaces in Western Tasmania, by B. Scott.

No. 14

Van Diemen’s Land Correspondents, by T. E. Burns and J. R. Skemp.

/ No. 15

A List of Tasmanian Aboriginal Material in Collections in Europe,
^ r by N. J. B. Plomley.

No. 16

Notes on the Petrology and Structure of the Precambrian Metamorphic
Rocks of the Upper Mersey-Forth Area, by Alan Spry.

No. 17

The Tick Fauna of Tasmania, by F. H. S. Roberts.

No. 18

Thomas Bock’s Portraits of the Tasmanian Aborigines, by N. J. B.
Plomley.

No. 19

Two Skink Lizards Newly Recorded from Tasmania, by R. H. Green.

No. 20

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tas¬
mania, by R. H. Green.

fo?

Q j

New Series, No. 11.

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM,

LAUNCESTON

the coastal geomorphology of king island, bass strait, in

RELATION TO CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVEL OF

LAND AND SEA

J. N. JENNINGS

(Manuscript received 17 th July, 1968)
(Published Ihth March, 1959.)

ABSTRACT

The solid geology and general relief of King Island are outlined as a background to a regional
Presentation of the coastal geomorphology from which conclusions about the physiographic history
are derived. From the east coast there are rather slight indications of a 225-ft. sea-level stand and
wronger evidence for one at 120-150 ft. from the same area. Whether these emergences affected
whole island uniformly cannot be determined. Later and lesser emergences did so and correlation
"P* N.W. Tasmania suggests they may have been eustatic in character. Widespread constructional
«nd erosional features of the Old Shoreline System give evidence of a falling sequence of levels from
feet down to the present level with most marked halts at 40-50 feet and 20-30 feet. They are
Provisionally inferred to belong to the Last Interglacial. The Old Dunes formed during this time,
fm 6n the sea level stood at 30-50 feet, the climate was probably slightly warmer, but plant remains
rom a deltaic deposit indicate that, by the time the sea level had fallen to the present level or
snh it ’ the climate was very similar to that of today, perhaps slightly wetter or cooler. In the
uosequent Last Glacial Period the former sea cliffs were degraded by subaerial weathering, prob-
Dew J lided b y frost action. A few features point to lowered sea levels which may relate to this
rko° d ' In the Holocene the New Dunes have formed, probably beginning before sea level had
Shn v S b'Kh as the present level but continuing to form right down to today. The associated New
frnm-l ne System is considered to relate to a Mid-Recent 10-ft. sea-level stand and the emergence
°m it. So far no evidence of climatic variations in the Holocene is to hand.

INTRODUCTION

sesse '^hin an area which permits the whole shoreline to be examined conveniently. King Island pos-
di-alt a , g00d variety of coastal landforms, both erosion and constructional, though there are the
over ° acks of tll e lack of a topographical survey of the island and the survival of thick scrub
r so p*c critical parts. In connection with black sands deposits, S. W. Carey began a study of
furthe° rth ’ east coast between Naracoopa and Lavinia Point; in 1954 and 1955, the present writer did
work in this sector and extended it to the rest of the coastline. Certain aspects of the coastal
(Jenni 10 ' 0gy have already been discussed (Jennings, 1956, 1957a, 1957b). Incidental comments
to av ( 19 55) have been made on the relationship of some of the constructional shorelines

Work Va h ble fe tch, wave and wind regimes; it is clear that these need revision in relation to recent

special J ' L ' Davie s (1959). This will not be undertaken here and only such references to these

to nra a ® pects as are necessary to the present purpose will be made. That purpose is
l a ,.‘,_ e j lt a general picture of the coastal physiography whereby changes in the relative level nf
u and sea can be assessed.

38417

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

Strip maps of all significant geomorphological detail, prepared under the stereoscope from 1/15,000
vertical air photo cover, were amended in the light of field work when the whole coastline was
examined on foot. These strip maps were consolidated into a six-sheet map of the whole island,
using a framework of points enlarged from the Lands Department cadastral plan on a scale of
two inches to one mile. The various maps illustrating this paper were reduced from this compila¬
tion.

The absence of any triangulated heights or bench marks was a serious handicap. Heights were
mainly established by aneroid traverses running inland from HWM and returning to it after a
short interval to enable corrections to be made. Only with the lower features close to HWM could
this method give an accuracy greater than ± 5 feet. A few short traverses with hand level were
made and in addition four lines, varying in length from one-third of a mile to seven miles, were
levelled with a Kern GK-1 Level at critical localities. Similarly, hand borings were put down
at selected important places.

Height observations were related to HWMOST because this is the datum most easily recognized
on the shores of King Island; Falrbridge and Gill (1947) have advocated the use of LWMOST but
this was not practicable in this study. Tidal data for King Island are meagre. Admiralty Chart 404
gives a spring rise of 3 feet for Seal Bay, Franklin Road and Councellor Island (Sea Elephant
Rock), this seems rather low in relation to local observations. Records kept for several years at
Currie by Mr. C Richardson have an average range of spring tides of 5 feet. Mr. J. Skipworth is
of the opinion that the same figure is applicable to City of Melbourne Bay. At Naracoopa tidal
? 1 ,? s 'i remen ''j ^. e Pt between 15 May and 15 June. 1952, by Mr. W. Lightfoot, ranged from between
2 ft. 6 in. and 5 ft. 9 in. On this basis the tidal range for King Island generally is taken to be
5 feet at springs and 3 feet at neaps.

. of . mol ]^ sca * Appendix II) were identified by Miss J. M. Macpherson (National
Museum °i Y. C ° na VT Mr - A ; C - 9° 1 l lr ?s examined a number of samples of foraminifera (Appendix
wnnH K ‘,° f Melbourne) dealt with microflora from a deposit which also yielded

wood specimens identified by Mr. H. D. Ingle of C.S.I.R.O. Forest Products Division (Appendix I);

acknowledged* 11 exammed a Tec^ary limestone. The collaboration of these specialists is gratefully

m , nt “ r np ! T^ at ij? n n Museum Of Victoria) has kindly arranged for the C-14 dating of the wood

YJ SpY pimfh b Ynf''R^\i 1 ' D ' ? arrett , y p J aced boring records and other data relating to the black sands
at Sea Elephant Bay at our disposal. Many King Islanders, too numerous for all to be mentioned
here, gave invaluable help in all sorts of ways. Mr. Jack Skipworth, of City of Melbourne Bay Mr

parUcular a thanL. PealShaPe ’ ^ Mr ' D ' Bowling ’ of Surprise Bay, and their families, require my

Finally. I must pay a special acknowledgment to Professor S. W Carev of the University of
eaTcoast mtroduced me t0 Inland and made available to me his mapping oTthe north-

J. N. JENNINGS

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

OUTLINE OF THE SOLID GEOLOGY.

Since much of the island is covered by Pleistocene
and Recent superficial deposits, the solid geology
is not well known. Fig. 1 is based on published
material, together with some observations made
during this study.

Underlying most of the island and outcropping
over the high country of the centre, south-east and
south-west is a folded metamorphic complex of
uncertain age but generally thought to be late
Precambrian (Carbine Group). Debenham (1910)
lists the following rocks: quartzites, slates, phyl-
lites. various schists, granulites, porphyroids, and
conglomerates. In general the dips are high and
the strike never far from N-S.

Between Naracoopa and Grassy the complex
passes upward into a series of glacial and volcanic
rocks, dipping east at 40 °. Tillite and banded dolo¬
mite occur at the base of the series and are
overlain by a thick suite of lavas, with subsidiary
breccia and tuff. The series is late Precambrian-
Cambrian in age: Carey (1946) and Scott (1951 >
have suggested correlation of these volcanics w'ith
similar ones of Upper Middle Cambrian age in
the Dundas Group at Zeehan. It is these rocks
which give rise through contact metamorphism to
the Grassy Series of hornfels, calc-flints and
marble, in which occur the ore bodies of the
Grassy scheelite mine (Edwards, Baker & Callow,
1955). The strike here is W-E and the dip to
the south is in association with the local faulting.

Acid plutonic rocks, probably of the Tabberab-
beran Orogeny, intrude the basement complex.
The limits of the Grassy granodiorite with much
pink orthoclase and little biotite are the best
known <R. Callow, personal communication*. On
the west coast grey biotite granite is more extensive
than has been mapped previously. The Cataraque
Point granite is small in area and is interrupted
by a septum of metamorphics on the southern
flank of the point itself. It is the southern end
of a long belt of granite running from Admiral
Bay to Whistler Point. Granites in Camp Creek,
in bores north of Currie aerodrome, in Porky
Creek, in a quarry east of Pearson's Swamp and
near the North Road where it drops to the Yellow
Rock R. plain, suggest that this belt is a broad one.

On the north coast, though there are gneissic
granites in the basement complex farther west,
the main mass of granite begins on the western
side of Disappointment Bay. All outcrops of solid
rock eastwards, both along the coast and in the
low hills inland of the dunes are granitic until
a contact is made with slates at the small headland
north of Pennys Lagoon. Since granite outcrops
around Mt. Counsel and at the great bend in the
Sea Elephant River, it is possible that the north
coast granite extends southwards as an important
belt as suggested in the map.

Restricted occurrences of Tertiary limestone
alone serve to tell something of the long geological
history from these old rocks down to the Pleisto¬
cene. The chief outcrop known is at The Blowhole,
four miles north of Naracoopa. where horizontal
bryozoal limestone occurs as a shore platform,
riddled by solution to give rise to small blowholes

(B. Spencer, 1888;* Chapman, 1912). The rock
can be traced a quarter of a mile up to the bed
of the Blowhole Creek and half a mile northwards
along the shore at LW. Seaweed patterns indicate
that the limestone reaches underwater right to
Cowper Point.

Superficial deposits obscure the inland extent
but, running north from the Fraser River, a little
behind the coast, there is a strip of country about
one mile wide with a photo pattern dominated by
swamp hollows of circular to oval plan. In the
field these are seen to have flat peaty or clay floors
depressed 2-3 feet beneath the flat sandy plain
around. They seem to be sinkholes due to
solution of Tertiary limestone below. The belt
certainly reaches to the Sea Elephant River but
beyond that there are many more dunes and these
supposed sinkholes cannot be confidently dis¬
tinguished in the photos from the axial hollows
of old parabolic dunes. The sinkhole strip lies
approximately between 50 and 90 feet above the
sea.

Some way up the Sea Elephant River valley in
the middle of the island, Tertiary limestone has
been met in a well in the Avondale property;
it has been met again in a Rural Bank Land Settle¬
ment bore nearby. Crespin (1944) attributes the
first occurrence to the Balcombian (Middle Mio¬
cene). The altitudes are unknown but may be as
high as 200 feet.

Debenham (1910) and Chapman (1912) reported
bryozoal limestone at an unknown altitude along
a tributary of Seal River less than a mile north
of the Big Swamp; the fossil content did not
permit dating within the Tertiary. In a well on
Mr. O. H. Drake's property, about half a mile SE
of Pearshape Lagoon and approximately at 250 feet,
a bryozoal limestone was encountered 4 feet down;
Miss I. Crespin (Bureau of Mineral Resources)
reported that a sample was of Miocene age.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIEF

The relief of the island has been described in
general terms already by Debenham (1910) and
Stephens and Hosking (1932). Aneroid traverses
along some of the roads and tracks across the
island permit a rather fuller account here, neces¬
sary in the absence of a topographical survey.

In essence. King Island (fig. 2) consists of an
inclined plateau of subdued relief, surrounded by
a rim of coastal sand dunes. The highest part**
of the plateau, rising to 550 feet, is in the SE
between Mt. Stanley and Naracoopa. Here the
surface is gently rolling with low hills of convex
profile rising above swamp flats. Its aspect
conforms well with the Davisian concept of a
peneplain of normal erosion but it cannot be
assumed that the surface developed under humid

* II. Spencer confused Pleistocene-Recent aeallanite with Tertiary
marine limestone so that not all his localities for the latter
can be accepted.

** Mount Stanley, lying near the track running south from the
Loop Road to the Red Hut headland, rises little above the
surrounding plateau. Though reputedly the highest point
in the island, it is (with an approx, altitude of 500 feet)
definitely lower than two more pronounced hills rising to
approximately 550 feet just north of the Forestry Reserve
at the southern junction of the Grassy and Loop Roads.

J. N. JENNINGS

o. ro

3-1

;]

]

J. N. JENNINGS

temperate climatic conditions, since it carries
small residual patches of lateritic ironstone (Ste¬
phens & Hosking, 1932; Hubble, 1947).

The rolling country runs north to the Pegarah
road between Currie and Naracoopa, where the
hills hardly reach 400 feet. East of this drainage
divide, the plateau remains high right to the
coast. Grassy township has a height of 430 feet
within half a mile of the shore; Sullivan’s Ridge,
beyond Grassy Creek, is 450 feet high close to
the coast and. even at Fraser Bluff, the plateau
lies at 250 feet. Because of this, the creeks here
are sharply incised; Grassy and Yarra Creeks
for about two miles from the coast, Conglomerate
Creek and Barrier Creeks for about a mile.

South of Grassy, the plateau margin runs inland
to leave lower country diversified by rounded
granite hills between itself and the coastal dunes.
A fairly high ridge, however, runs south from the
Mt. Stanley area to the granite hills near the
Red Hut headland. The steep western scarp of this
connecting ridge is continued north towards the
northern junction of the Grassy and Loop Roads
to form a marked linear western margin to the
high plateau. From the northern end of this
scarp, high ground at about 250 feet extends SW
through Pearshape into the lower plateau behind
the Cataraque Point-Surprise Point coast. This
small plateau slopes gently eastward to enclose
a lowland embayment between itself and the ridge
to the Red Hut headland. In descending to this
embayment the Seal River develops some incised
meanders.

In the north-east, the high plateau ends abruptly
in a steep scarp which extends some five miles
west-north-west from Fraser Bluff and is markedly
incised by north-north-east draining streams.

Towards the north-west and west, however, the
plateau declines gently in height. As a monoton¬
ously level surface it reaches northwards to a
WNW-ESE line about a mile south of the Yellow
Rock River; here it is 100-150 feet high and
falls off moderately steeply to the plains of
Yellow Rock River and South-East Lagoon. Mount
Counsel stands out from the general plateau level
at its north-east corner; south to the Fraser River
there is not a very clear eastern margin to the
plateau.

The westerly drainage, such as the Ettrick River
and Porky Creek, has not cut down much into the
plateau since the latter is in fact falling in that
direction.

This western flank of the plateau from Fitz-
maurice Bay to Cape Whistler is buried beneath
a broad belt of dunes, much of which is two to three
miles wide. They are generally higher south of
Currie, but this is mainly due to the greater height
of the basement there. Thus, a little south of
the Kentford Road, a dune was ascertained to
have a height of 450 feet, but the sand thickness
here was probably only about 100 feet. North of
Currie it is unlikely that the dunes anywhere
exceed 250 feet in absolute height; the highest
ones occur just south of Pass River and at
Whistler Point. Beneath the coastal dunes the
plateau surface declines in height so that the
bedrock is below sea level on the coast or, at

most, 20-30 feet above. There are, however,
outcrops at 50-100 feet just south of Whistler
Point close to the coast. These suggest that the
rather high dunes of Whistler Point may have
gathered around granite hills rising above the
general basement of country rock. Valleys in
this basement also are discernible beneath the
obscuring blanket of sand, e.g., east of the Drip¬
ping Wells and along Boggy Creek (Jennings,
1956).

North of Whistler Point to Mt. Counsel, the
solid rocks are almost everywhere beneath young
superficial deposits and are probably below sea
level over most of the area. There are the excep¬
tions of the low granite hills arranged WNW-SSE
behind the coastal dunes from Disappointment Bay
to Lake Martha Lavinia. The lowest country of
this northern end of the island is in the centre
where there are extensive flat plains underlain by
young estuarine sediments, parts of which are
covered by the peaty soils of former shallow lakes
and swamps—Reedy Lake, Egg Lagoon, and South-
East Lagoon. This depressed interior is sur¬
rounded by a rim of coastal dunes so that one
can look right across the island from the dunes
of the one coast to those of the other. The
west coast dunes are broader and higher, probably
reaching to 250 feet west of Lake Flannigan.
Elsewhere the Three Sisters, conspicuous dunes
south-east of Rocky Point, are the highest and
do not quite reach 200 feet, though they are of
sand right down to sea level.

It is only necessary to note in general terms the
effects of the coastal dune rim on the drainage of
the island (see Jennings, 1957a, for details). Some
rivers have maintained their courses through the
dunes as these were built up and in this way
“ gorges of construction ” have developed with
steep walls of dune sand. Thus, Debenham says
the Ettrick Gorge is as much as 250 feet deep.
Other rivers have had their mouths deflected,
most noticeably in the case of the Sea Elephant
River, where it amounts to a deflection of two
miles. Damming of drainage by the sand dunes
has led to extensive swamps and lakes. Thus,
Pearsons Swamp, an area of deep peat now drained,
occupied the part of the Bungaree Creek drainage
inside the dunes. The Seal River and its major
tributary enter the Big Swamp behind the coastal
dunes. The drainage is deflected westward into
Big Lake from which the river winds deviously
through the dunes to the sea. In other places
surface drainage has been completely blocked and
has been replaced by underground seepage through
the dunes. This is best exemplified now by Lake
Flannigan, but the more extensive Egg Lagoon
formerly chained westward through the high dunes
there, though it is now drained artificially to
The Nook and Sea Elephant River.

Little can be said of the age of the major
relief features of the island. Debenham regarded
it as being a horst but there is still no positive
evidence of young faulting to hand. However, the
physiographic description given does flit in with
the conception of an old peneplaned surface,
fractured along two sets of trends (fig. 1) and
tilted down to the north and west. Laterites of
various dates are known on the Australian main-

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

land. Nevertheless, widespread laterization seems
to have belonged to the middle or early Tertiary
and the ferruginous bauxites of the Launceston
district are pre-Miocene (Carey, 1947). Provi¬
sionally, the King Island surface, with its lateritic
ironstones may be regarded as Mesozoic-low r er
Tertiary in age. If all the Tertiary limestones
belong to the one Miocene formation, the occurrence
of thin limestone outcrops on top of the plateau
as well as on what seem to be downthrown blocks
suggests that the dislocation was later than this
transgression. In central Tasmania, although the
major Tertiary movements preceded the Miocene
lacustrine sedimentation, later faulting is known
(Fairbridge, 1948).

THE DUNE SYSTEMS (Fig. 2)

A regional description of the coastal features
significant for the purpose of this paper is given
below, but it will facilitate that description if the
dunes are considered as a whole at this stage,
since they exhibit a common general pattern and
the emerged shoreline features are intimately and
significantly associated with them. The dunes fall
clearly into two major systems designated the Old
and the New Dunes.

The New Dunes form a more continuous rim
around the island. Though for the most part fixed
dunes, they retain everywhere a vigour and fresh¬
ness of relief which betokens little change in their
forms since that fixation by vegetation. For the
most part they consist of parabolic or U-dunes
in all stages of development (" elongate ” and
“windrift” dunes of Melton (1940): “transgres¬
sive” dunes of Gardner (1955)). The parabolic
dunes may occur in open pattern or complexly
associated, often nested one within another. Simple
conical dunes occur occasionally, probably residuals
from parabolic dunes. The axial trends of the
parabolic dunes have been examined in relation
to wind regime elsewhere (Jennings, 1957b >
Suffice it to say here that on the west coast the
dunes generally advanced WSW-ENE but, in
accordance with varying aspects of the shore
ranged from SW-NE to WNW-ESE, whilst the
general trend on the east coast was from E-W
again varying with aspect from NE-SW to SE-Nw’
The inland margin of the New Dunes, often lobate
in consonance with parabolic dune pattern, is
almost universally such a steep and continuous one
that their limit is readily discerned both on the
ground and in air photographs.

In constitution they exhibit a simple distribution
pattern. The west coast New Dunes are predomin¬
antly calcareous, ranging from completely uncon¬
solidated creamy-yellow shell sand with a minor
proportion of quartz sand to a typical aeolianite
which exhibits its usual variable degree of consoli¬
dation by secondary calcite. From Cape Wickham
to Lavinia Point the calcareous content remains
high most of the way but declines as aeolanite
masses cease to be seen in section, only calcareous
root incrustations. Aeolianite persists from Stokes
Point nearly to Grassy but eastwards the shell
sand content falls off rapidly. Stephens and
Hosking’s Currie Sand soil type, with its poorly-
developed profile, apart from some organic addition

to a surface horizon, is characteristic of the calca,
reous New Dunes: exceptionally, a podsol has
developed on New Dunes near Currie, which have a
substantial shell sand content (Stephens & Hos_
king, 1932 ,p. 20).

The east coast New Dunes are in contrast pre>
dominantly of quartz sand, slightly reddish-yellow
in colour. Their soils vary from a completely-
undifferentiated profile to a shallow, weakly,
developed podsol, which constitutes one phase 0 f
Stephens and Hosking's Naracoopa Sand soil typ e
Hardpans are not strongly developed and A and &
horizons together are rarely deeper than 3 feet
Below is the reddish-yellow unbleached dune sand
Ferns are often dominant on these soils in con¬
trast with the grasses, herbs and rushes of the
calcareous New Dunes.

It is possible to divide up the New Dunes of
particular coastal sectors into two, sometimes three
separate dune belts, each consisting of parabolic
dunes in depth: these belts advanced successively
inland, probably with appreciable halts between
But attempts to correlate these belts from one area!
to another have failed and, therefore, it is not
thought that they have any general significance
It is true, however, that active blowouts, the
first stage in parabolic dune development, are
most common in the most seaward and latest
belt immediately behind some of the larger sandy
bays of the west and south-east coast. However
active bloivouts occur in scattered fashion through¬
out those New Dunes which are intensively grazed
and the detailed distribution of these blowouts in
relation to gates, fences, cols, &c., indicates that
they are due to grazing animals, aided by burning-
off. But the most mobile areas are on the whole
the only areas in the calcareous New Dunes still
partly In the scrub which almost certainly covered
the whole of these dunes before settlement, it
seems likely then that these mobile areas were also
active before settlement and clearance. In other
words, the New Dunes constitute a series which has
continued to develop naturally right up to the
present.

The Old Dunes are much more sporadically
occurring though they are found all around the
island and reach farther inland. In the northern
part of the island, they are found right in the
middle, admittedly in small groups and as indi¬
viduals there rather than covering large areas
In form they are usually subdued and rather
characterless, ranging from low, gentle swells to
whaleback mounds and smoothed ridges. Their
limits are much less reliably and readily mapped
except, of course, where the New Dunes abut upon
them. However, the characteristic parabolic dune
Plan is quite frequently recognisable in the air
photos (less frequently on the ground) and, where
clear, the inland limit of these Old Dunes shows the
®atne lobate pattern as the New Dunes. It is evident
that most of the Old Dune areas are parabolic
dune systems modified by weathering and colluvia-
Uon over a long time. For the most part the Old
Dunes advanced inland with a direction closely
comparable to that of the New Dunes of the same
coastal sector. The wind regime at the time of
formation of the Old Dunes cannot have been very
different from the present one.

J. N. JENNINGS

Fig. 3. —Coastal Geomorphology of S.E. and S.W. Coasts of King Island.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

The constitution of the Old Dunes does differ
from that of the New Dunes and is rather complex
in pattern. In the first place siliceous dunes are
much more widespread amongst the Old Dunes.
Their quartz sands are much more deeply leached;
in fact, no unleached yellow quartz sand was seen
anywhere in the Old Dunes. In bores and pits
dark-brown hardpans were several feet deep
beneath grey-white sand and well-developed when
encountered at all. In several sections, many feet
of white leached sand overlay many feet of “cof¬
fee-rock ”, humus-bound sandrock; both layers
were into the tens of feet thick in the southern
side of the Grassy scheelite mine opencut. In the
field these profiles were regarded as the A and B
horizons of a giant podsol (cf. G. Hubble in Gill
& Banks, 1956. p. 13). Recent publications by
Coaldrake (1955) and McGarity (1956) show that
not all sandrocks of this general type are of this
origin. Further work would be necessary to sub¬
stantiate this view of the King Island examples,
but the rather indistinct cross-bedding seen at cer¬
tain points and the fact that the Grassy opencut
sand section was on a steep slope suggest that a
B-horizon may be the correct interpretation of at
least some of them. Stephens & Hosking map their
Naracoopa Sand soil type over much of the area
of the Old Dunes but here it must represent a
different phase from that of the New Dune areas.

Calcareous Old Dunes are restricted to the
northern half of the west coast from Currie north¬
wards but even here they are interrupted. Near
Sam Lagoon a lobate area of siliceous sands is inset
between adjacent calcareous lobes and east of
South-East Lagoon, some of the leached quartz
dunes there have advanced from the west to
interlock with others form the east coast. Also
between Yellow Rock River and Bungaree Creek
the sporadic Old Dunes are of quartz sand and
reached inland of calcareous Old Dunes farther
south in the Bungaree Creek-Pass River area.

The calcareous Old Dunes carry characteristically
the Yambacoona Soil type of Stephens and Hock¬
ing; this has a depth of up to 4 feet of red-brown
siliceous sand, sometimes with nodular limestone
layers, overlying yellow calcareous sand or aeolia-
nite. The most likely origin of this soil type is
that it is residual from the calcareous Old Dunes
after much more prolonged leaching than the
calcareous New Dunes have yet experienced. Des¬
pite this leaching, some of the calcareous Old
Dunes have retained then' original form more than
the siliceous Old Dunes and in parts are still quite
steep.

There does not seem to be any basis either in
topography or in the nature of their sands to
recognise any major subdivision of the Old Dunes
in terms of successive periods of formation. Inland
from Lavinia Point, however, their relationship to
emerged shorelines suggests at least two phases of
development (p. 16 below i comparable in status
with the phases recognised in the New Dunes.

Although in certain parts the Old and the New
Dunes are separated by an intervening strip of
country, in general the New Dunes overlap the
Old and the way in which some lobes of the New
Dunes project beyond the local limits of the Old
Dunes whilst nearby ones merely reflect that limit

along a more seaward line makes it likely that
New Dunes must overly the Old Dunes in parts.
There is some direct evidence of this. Just north
of Pennys Lagoon there is a small headland of
granite breaking the long sand cliff coast from
Boulder Point eastwards. The actively eroded sand
cliff, which is as much as 50 feet high on either side
of this headland, consists mainly of yellow New
Dunes, which appear to have a significant shell
sand content from the presence of calcareous root
inctrustations but which reveal former podsolic
soil horizons up to 2 feet thick undulating later¬
ally. But there occur also at the base of the
cliff exposures of Old Dune profile 6-15 feet high,
with red-brown sandrock overlain and replaced
laterally by deep grey-white leached sand. Also
in the floors of hollows near the eastern margin of
the high calcareous dunes south of the Ettrick
River on the west coast there occur patches of grey
leached siliceous sand, which suggest the presence
of siliceous Old Dune material beneath; eastwards
there is only a narrow fringe of Old Dune outside
the foot of the New Dune wall.

The Old Dunes do occur right down to present
sea level and it is probable that they may underlie
the New Dunes quite substantially. Therefore the
aeolianites exposed within the calcareous New
Dunes may not always belong to that system but
as yet no means of distinguishing different aeolian¬
ites has been found. This general point finds its
importance in relation to fossil finds in the dunes.
Bones which do not belong to the animals now living
on the island are reported from blowouts in various
parts of the island but only from the northern end
of Stokes Point have such finds been recorded
through the efforts of Mr. J. Bowling. Three col¬
lections have been described and are consolidated
in the following list:—

Dromaeus minor Spencer (Spencer & Ker¬
shaw, 1910; Anderson, 1914). The King Island
Emu was alive in the island in 1802.

Vombatus ursinus Shaw (Spencer & Ker¬
shaw, 1910; Anderson, 1914). This wombat
is still found on Flinders Island.

Dasyurus bowlingi Spencer & Kershw (Spen¬
cer & Kershaw, 1910; Anderson, 1914).

Dasyurus ? maculatus Kerr (Anderson, 1914).

Macropus ruficollis Desmarest (Anderson,
1914).

Macropus anak Owen (Scott, 1905).

Sthenurus atlas Owen (Scott, 1906, 1917).

There is some discrepancy about the matrix of
the finds. Spencer and Kershaw describe their
finds as coming from dune sands set in motion by
grazing and burning; winnowing left the bones
exposed on the blowout floor and sheep bones were
found along with the indigenous species. Scott’s
account of the matrix “ soft, friable shell lime¬
stone rock of marine origin ” can be safely inter¬
preted as implying aeolianite. Certainly, there is
much aeolianite exposed today in the area of the
finds, the blowout now being generally fixed. But
Anderson maintained that the bones occur mainly
in a red-brown sandrock though some few come
from overlying aeolianite which he regarded as
contemporaneous. This sandrock he thought to
be marine but the cross-bedding on which this
idea rests could quite well be aeolian. The sandrock

J. N. JENNINGS

seems more likely to be of Old Dune provenance,
perhaps covered by New Dune aeolianite. Some of
the finds thus seem to belong to the older system;
there is, however, a strong likelihood that finds
from very different horizons have been brought
together by winnowing action in the blowout.

REGIONAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTAL
GEOMORPHOLOGY

Some of the details of the coastal geomorphology
will now be set out in terms of a number of sectors
which possess a certain degree of homogeneity.
Such a treatment will be longer than to discuss
successively features at different altitudes over the
island as a whole. But the local distributional
relationships of features at different altitudes are
significant for their interpretation; a regional
treatment will make these relationships more
obvious. Moreover, the validity of the interpreta¬
tive synthesis which follows can be more readily
assessed if the data are not presented in the
framework of that synthesis. The high coastal
sectors are considered before the low coasts and the
east coast units before the west coast ones. On
the west coast, which is the weather side of the
island subject to more violent wind and wave
action, features from earlier phases of the physio¬
graphic history have been more liable to obliteration
by erosion or burial whereas on the leeward east
coast there has been both more separation and
more survival of coastal features related to dif¬
ferent stands in the relative level of land and sea.

A. The High Coasts

1. From Naracoopa to Grassy (fig. 3).

This is the major sector of high coast in King
Island, at one time having the local name of “ The
Wall ” (B. Spencer, 1888 >. Yet it is high coast only
in the sense that high ground varying from 300 feet
in the north to 400 feet in the south approaches
very close to the shore. It is an actively cliffed
coast over one mile alone of the dozen involved.
A coastal terrace of varying but generally narrow
width today separates the sea from the steep scarp
of the plateau. The scarp typically has slopes of
30-35°, whereas the terrace varies from quite a flat
surface to slopes of 5°. The terrace consists essen¬
tially of emerged marine platforms and the scarp
is a degraded emerged sea cliff.

Along a little more than a mile of the coast
running south from a point a mile south of Fraser
Bluff modern erosion has removed the marine
terraces consistently, though there are occasional
interruptions of the latter elsewhere. But the
modern cliff is generally only 10-20 feet high,
rising at points to 30-40 feet. As a result the
whole fall from the plateau to the sea here takes
on the character of the “ two-cycle ” cliff of
Cotton (1951) or the “hog-back” cliffs found in
Devon and Cornwall (Balchin, 1946; Arber, 1949).

Elsewhere the break of slope between the two
features, the terrace and the old cliff, which is
the measure of the former stand of the sea in
relation to the land, is frequently obscured by
mass slumping promoted by the seaward dip of the
rocks and by steep, coarse alluvial fans emerging
from gullies in the scarp. Even away from these

obscuring features the old cliff-foot is somewhat
rounded by vegetated talus and so it is impossible
to determine the back of a platform with any degree
of precision; values for a given sea level are
bound to vary 5-10 feet on this count alone.
Nevertheless, the range of height of the former
cliff-foot from a little over 20 feet to 60 feet
shows that the main terrace is composite. More¬
over, subsidiary breaks of slope in the terrace can
be seen at some points where fragments of higher
platforms survive surrounded by lower ones. Plat¬
forms rising to 20-30 feet and 40-50 feet are most
common but the marked scatter cannot be over¬
looked.

The terrace is generally low (20-30 feet) along
the most exposed coast between Fraser Bluff and
the bluff half a mile north of City of Melbourne
Bay. The wider, higher terraces need further
comment. Behind Naracoopa the terrace is about
a quarter of a mile wide and rises generally to
about 50 feet. It carries a good deal of sand
arranged in steps or berms trending NW-SE and
the foot of the most marked rise at least represents
an old shoreline at 27 feet.

From the bluff half a mile north of Yarra Creek,
for a mile and a half southwards, the old cliffline
recedes a quarter to half a mile from the shore.
Around City of Melbourne Bay the main coastal
terrace with its back at 45-50 feet is well defined.
Section, D, fig. 4, shows a levelled profile across
the terrace a little north of Yarra Creek. It
crosses a shallow, swampy depression, now drained,
at the foot of the main scarp and which is enclosed
in part of a low curving sand ridge, in part by
subdued Old Dune sand and low rock projections.
Here there was a small lagoon on the terrace
enclosed by beach ridges. Below the sand ridges
a further shoreline is traceable at 26 feet.

City of Melbourne Bay is surrounded by Old
Dune ridges which are cliffed on the bayside,
revealing 5-10 feet of loose, grey-white quartz sand
over 8-12 feet dark-brown sandrock. Beneath
this dune material are deposits at HWM to + 4
feet, which are very variable, both laterally and
vertically. South of the creek there are isolated
small outcrops of gravel and of clay with boulders
in it. North of the creek the deposit is more con¬
tinuous and contact with the bedrock was visible
at several points. Well rounded boulders and
gravel, in parts with ferruginous matrix, lie at the
contact. These pass upwards into grey silts, sandy
silts or clayey sands. In these occur large timbers,
abraded and non in situ. Where the timber is
most common, the matrix is a laminated sand
and peaty clay. At two points, boulders and gravel
are intercalated between the driftwood layer and
the overlying sandrock. All these materials can be
matched in the present bed of the Yarra Creek
upstream and there can be no doubt that they
represent former deltaic accumulation by the
creek. Sea level may well have been lower when
they were deposited but could not have been higher
because of the lack of any consistent bedding and
absence of marine shells. In time they must have
been deposited before the close of Old Dune forma¬
tion and after the erosion of the marine terrace
and the building of the constructional features
between 38 and 22 feet.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

The plant identifications from the deltaic deposit
made by Dr. Duigan and Mr. Ingle are listed in
Appendix I. The steep walls of the Yarra Creek
gorge above are the most likely part of the drainage
basin to have provided the material; the present
rainfall is about 60 inches annually. The high
percentage of the fern spores is not surprising;
B. Spencer (1888) describes similar valleys incised
into the plateau near Naracoopa as “ fern gullies ”
and in the accompanying floral list, F. v. Mueller
records a number of fern species, including the
tree fern, Dicksonia. Tree ferns still grow on the
island today, e.g., in the Seal River valley. The
dominance of Celery-top Pine ( Phyllocladus aspleni-
ifolius) is interesting since it is often regarded as
restricted to the main island of Tasmania (Curtis,
1956). It was not recorded in the collections made
by Baldwin Spencer’s party last century and is
not known growing on the island today. Never¬
theless, it seems to have been present before the
disastrous forest fires of last century. An early
description of the island (Govt. Gazette. 31 March,
1827, quoted in Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas., 1873, p. 50)
mentions “ celery-leaved pine ” growing there and
during the clearance of secondary forest near
the Yarra Creek as part of the Rural Bank Land
Settlement Scheme a few years ago, celery-top
pine logs and stumps were found to be thick on
the ground in certain parts <0. H. Drake, in litt.).
On the other hand, there is no record at all of
Nothofagus cunninghamii (Tasmanian Beech' and
Drimys lanceolata (Mountain Pepper) in the island
now or last century. The beech is, of course, the
dominant of the Tasmanian temperate rain forest
and occurs sporadically in humid high altitude
localities in the South Eastern Highlands on the
mainland; the mountain pepper has much the
same sort of discontinuous distribution. The
fossil flora is thus not very different from the
historical and present-day flora and there is little
indication of climatic change. The Yarra Creek
gorge is vegetationally near to temperate rain
forest now and was then. Perhaps we can infer
either slightly wetter or slightly cooler conditions,
the cooler conditions making rainfall more effec¬
tive.

The southern end of the recess in the old cliffline
in this neighbourhood is known as Cotton’s Flat,
an appropriate local name since it consists of an
excellent development of the main terrace with a
well-defined inner margin at 45-50 feet. The
northern part has an Old Dune cover but elsewhere
it is gently ribbed by low sand ridges and swampy
depressions.

South of Cotton’s Flat the old cliff returns to the
shore and is actively undercut some 10-15 feet.
Here the main terrace is meagrely represented by
ill-defined steps in the spurs. In one inlet a
coarse conglomerate is exposed with an irregular
base visible at 12-15 feet and rises at the surface
to 25 feet. It is an unfossiliferous beach boulder
bed, with a matrix of iron-cemented sand and
seems to belong to a lower phase of the cutting
of the main terrace.

The steeply-dipping volcanic rocks of Bold Head
have been planed by marine erosion at higher
sea levels than the present but the platforms pass
under the vigorous development of New Dunes
which have here climbed up the south-facing slope

of the plateau. Farther west to Grassy Creek they
form a narrow belt and there is a corridor between
them and the plateau scarp; the bedrock features
are. however, obscured by smaller developments of
Old Dune sands.

Above and below the composite main terrace
there are features significant for the present pur¬
pose. At the southern end of this sector at Grassy
the old cliffline runs westward with the present coast
diverging southwards. The opencut of the schee-
lite mine runs along the face of the cliffline.
Between the thick cover of Old Dunes and the bed¬
rock, a boulder bed 10-15 feet thick has been
exposed at various points and has been commented
on several times (Nye, 1939; Nye and Knight, 1953;
Edwards, Baker, and Callow, 1955). Nye speaks of
the deposits as lying at heights of 120-150 feet.
In 1953, when examined by R. Callow and J. N.
Jennings, they were to be seen in the 90 and 70
feet mine levels and consisted of subangular to well-
rounded gravel and boulders, varying from 1 inch
to 3 feet in maximum dimension, with greenish-
grey, silty clay matrix in parts. Granite, as well
as the many metamorphic rocks of the mine itself,
was represented. Several mineworkers stated that
similar beds had been encountered at various levels
as high as 120 feet and as low as 30 feet. The
general disposition of these unfossiliferous beds
makes it clear they are shoreline and not fluvial
deposits; thus they were still visible in 1953 at the
eastern end of the backwall of the cut at the
90-ft. level with no gully in the slope and virtually
no catchment at all on top of the plateau. All
observers agree that they are high sea level beach
deposits, though the height of the associated strand¬
line is now not closely determinable. Indeed, from
the height range of the deposits, it seems likely
that they related to a succession of strandlines.

However, much higher levels than those of the
main terrace are involved and around the City of
Melbourne Bay-Cotton’s Flat recess in the old
cliffline, there are certain morphological features,
admittedly not well defined, which may relate to
the same phase. The broad bulge in the coast
between City of Melbourne Bay and Cotton’s Flat
is backed by ground higher than the main terrace
developments north and south. This greater alti¬
tude is only partly due to the spreads of Old Dune
sand and a narrower belt of sharp new parabolic
dunes on the south; the bedrock also rises higher
in irregular fashion to a break of slope with the old
cliffline at 120-130 feet. This break of slope seems
to be represented farther north by a series of
flattenings in the spur profiles. These steps,
though distinct, are themselves steeply inclined,
and determinations of the significant break of
slope are very subjective; aneroid values ranged
from 144 to 127 feet. South of Cotton’s Flat there
were some further small steps in the old cliffline
at 130-140 feet.

Three other steps at still higher levels aer
significant (1) on the bluff half a mile north of
Yarra Creek (break at 225 feet) .(2) just south of
the City of Melbourne Bay road (227 feet), (3> on
the bluff south of Cotton's Flat (238 feet). The
first two carried patches of well-rounded grave,
1 inch to 1 foot in size and mainly of quartz.
These were unrelated to any present stream drain¬
age and may be littoral.

J. N. JENNINGS

The present shore of the Naracoopa-Grassy sector
consists in the main of irregular rock reefs pro¬
jecting a few feet above HWM. Active cliffs,
even low ones as little as ten feet high, and well-
developed shore platforms are few. This does not
seem to be entirely due to the emergence of the
main marine terrace. There are frequent and
clear 'evidence of unattacked clifllets behind equally
uneroded rock platforms, often carrying vegetated
and undisturbed beach materials. The cliff foot is
usually very well defined and lies a few feet above
HWM, ranging from 3 to 9 feet but most commonly
about 6 feet. One example is shown in Section D,
fig. 4. Generally the clifflet just trims the outer
edge of the main terrace but at a few points it
eliminates that terrace altogether. Thus just south
of Barrier Creek, the 6-feet platform is 50 yards
wide, with a cover of sand, shingle and boulders,
overgrown by bushes and the cliff behind also
vegetated rises to a maximum height of 30 feet,
pinching out the main platform. There is a similar
development at the northern end of the little bay
into which Conglomerate Creek debouches. Never¬
theless, the general rule is for very narrow plat¬
forms and clifllets only a few feet high; they are
well scattered along the coast in both exposed and
sheltered positions and definitely show no sign of
present-day wave attack.

At four points around Bold Head banks of weath¬
ered and vegetated beach cobbles, 0 to 20 yards
wide, rise to 10-15 feet above HWM. Parts of
these banks lie under thick shrubbery and, although
they may grade downwards into active cobble and
shingle banks, they are interpreted as belonging to
the same phase which fashioned the 6-feet plat¬
forms and cliffllets. The associated constructional
features would, of course, rise higher than the
cliff foot nip.

A further related feature is the occurrence of
vegetated and unattacked shingle and cobble fills
at the heads of marine erosion inlets or geos;
these occur even where modern cliffing is most
active, e.g., north of Barrier Creek.

Sandy shores backed by sand dunes are of
restricted occurrence in this sector but do occur
over short stretches. Active sand cliffs are common
here but there are also some occurrences of fixed
dune clifflet with vegetated sand platform in front,
e.g., half a mile south of Fraser Bluff and along
the shore of Cotton's Flat. These are in New
Dunes but similar features in Old Dunes occur at
the north-east corner of City of Melbourne Bay
and just south of it. These again give a cliff-foot
height within the range of the 6-feet platforms
and are regarded as contemporaneous with them.

Barrier Creek leaves its gorge by a small waterfall
of a few feet to enter the sand-barred lagoon at
HWM. Similarly, Conglomerate Creek hangs 5-6
feet in rapids above HWM at its mouth on the
shore. This lack of adjustment could be due to
the small recent emergence. Grassy Creek is
very different although the dam for water storage
for the scheelite mine obscures the situation.
Over its last quarter of a mile the steep valley walls
appear to converge in a thalweg which is below
the present sea level. This suggests downcutting
when sea level was lower, followed by a positive
movement and some aggradation.

2. From Surprise Bay to Fitzmaurice Bay (Fig. 3).

Though its adjoining plateau (100-190 feet) is
much lower than in the case of the coast just
described, the Surprise Point-Cataraque Point sector
is more truly a high coast. It is broadly similar
in character but the marine terraces have been
largely removed and the old cliff is much more
under modern attack. Active cliffing 30-60 feet
in height is common and at a number of points
the hogback cliff is being eroded right to the top
(100-170 feet). This is particularly true of the
middle section north of Seal Rocks where inlets
and geos are under violent modification right to
their heads which in some cases consist of vertical
cliffs 150 feet high. This greater amount of
present-day cliffing is readily understandable in
terms of exposure to the west from which the
storms mainly come. At the same time the coast
has something of the character of a “ plunging
cliffline ” for the real break of slope is not at
sea level, but some 20-35 fathoms down (Jennings,
1959, in press). A plunging cliffline is usually
regarded as under weakened attack because of wave
reflection (Cotton, 1951).

At a number of points the old hogback cliff is
not only vegetated but carries a thin skin of breccia.
The angular rock fragments are cemented by a
matrix of ferruginous sand, but elsewhere the
consolidation is due to calcium carbonate derived
from the clifftop dunes. This would appear to be
the product of subaerial weathering in different
climatic conditions from the present ones, possibly
periglacial (cryergic) conditions of a Pleistocene
glacial period.

Evidence of former shoreline levels is not entirely"
lacking through more fragmentary and less clear-
cut than on the high east coast. Inclined steps
or ‘ bevels ” in the cliffline, very imperfect rem¬
nants of emerged marine platforms, are most
frequent in the north near to Cataraque Point
but some occur south of Seal Rocks. Some of
these carry dune sand and thick, nearly level
spreads of the breccia mentioned above. This may
have been mistaken for the raised beaches, which
Stephens & Hosking (1932) cite; in fact it has much
more the character of periglacial “ head ”. The
backs of these “ bevels ” are far from clearly defined
and the values given them vary from 23 feet to
59 feet, most being at 40-50 feet. To be correlated
with these bevels are certain “ hanging coves ”
small recesses in the cliffline with their lips and
floors at 45-50 feet. Most do not receive any
appreciable drainage from the plateau nor have
they the nature of landslip scars (cf. “erosion
amphitheatres” of Baker (1950); see also Edwards
(1945)). The most likely origin seems to be
marine erosion at a higher sea level stand. Further
indication of these stands is to be seen in the
high-lying sea caves in the most exposed parts of
this sector. There is one square-cut, shallow cave
with its floor at 50 feet in the southernmost
granite headland; there are also two much deeper'
fissure caves, with floors at approximately 30 feet,
in the sti ike of the schists at an extremely exposed
salient north of Seal Rocks (Jennings, 1956)
The details show they are unattacked and must be
relict features from higher sea levels.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

The short west-east reaches from Surprise Point
to Surprise Bay and from Cataraque Point to
Fitzmaurice Bay are less exposed than the coast
between the two headlands. In consequence, the
old cliffline is still set back from the modern shore.
But, in the southern case. New Dunes have extended
up onto the plateau from WSW and W and
largely obscured the relief in the country rock.
Thus, towards the west there is an irregular
shelf in the rock in front of the dunes but this
disappears beneath the sand with no possibility
of determining the height of any former shoreline.
Nearer to Surprise Bay there is a small rock shelf
with part of the old degraded bedrock cliff unob¬
scured by sand and the break of slope is about
26 feet. There are more vestiges of the lower
shelf with a back at approximately 6 feet and
the related vegetated clifflet is found in the solid,
in aeolianite and in New Dune sand.

The Cataraque Point-Fitzmaurice Bay stretch is
much less obscured, though around the two bays
indenting it sand has blown over from the wind¬
ward side to obscure any high terraces. But to
the west and east these are preserved quite
clearly; to the west the back is at 45 feet, whereas
to the east 35 feet was the usual figure; the
terrace here carries a very fine granite stack. Along
a great deal of this northward-facing coast there
are relict narrow platforms of the 6-feet level,
with boulder beds and small clifflets. At two
points active erosion has exposed cemented boulder
beds at 10-15 feet; these must belong to the main
terrace.

The evidence of this western high coast is less
well preserved and on its own much less decisive
than that of the Naracoopa-Grassy coast. But
it reveals essentially the same story and argues
against any east-west tilting during the time to
which the emerged coastal features relate.

B. The Low Coasts.

1. From Naracoopa to Lavinia Point (fig. 2).

This long low coastal sector is almost entirely a
sandy constructional one, with the brief exception
of the Tertiary limestone of The Blowhole. It is
also almost everywhere prograding at the present
time. The exception is the southern side of Cowper
Point where there is an active sandcliff; possibly
also there is a balance between accumulation and
erosion about three miles north of Cowper Point.
Overall, there is an accentuation of the Sea
Elephant Bay and the bay north of Cowper Point.
Two sets of strandlines can be traced in almost
unbroken continuity over the whole sector; the
Old Shorelines are associated with the Old Dune
system and the New Shorelines with the New Dunes.
The relationships of the different features vary
along the coast and it is necessary to discuss the
sector in three parts— (a> Sea Elephant Bay, (b)
Cowper Point, (c) Sea Elephant River to Lavinia
Point.

(a) Sea Elephant Bay (fig. 2, fig. 3). Behind
the symmetrical arc of sand beach is a low vege¬
tated sand terrace, some 50 yards wide, in front
of a fixed sand cliff 20-30 feet high. The cliff-foot
is usually at 3-6 feet above HWM. Long low sand
ridges, 3-5 feet high and as many as 4 in number,

diversify the low terrace over most of its length.
Each represents a very early stage in the develop¬
ment of a foredune on top of a beach or berm.
Davies (1957) has recently provided the most
satisfactory account of Tasmanian sand ridges of
this type. Together with the clifflng, these
constitute the New Shorelines here and the fact
that progradation succeeded retrogradation over
the full length of the bay in a uniform manner
is indicative of an important general change in
coastal conditions such as a small emergence.

Inland from the cliff which is cut in older,
deeply leached sands, there is a belt some 300 yards
wide where the air photographs reveal linear
patterns suggestive of further strandlines parallel
to the lower features. They are clearest and most
continuous behind the middle of the bay. On the
ground they are seen to be low ridges or berms
of leached quartz sand, separated by wetter depres¬
sions; the height difference is only a few feet
and the surface rises gently as a whole inland.
Where the first stream north of Fraser River cuts
across this belt, the ridges bend backwards into the
mouth of the valley as might be expected of shore¬
line features and on its southern side develop
into subdued dune forms. These sand ridges
appear to be degraded older equivalents of the
sand ridges of the New Shoreline system. The
rear margin of this higher belt of Old Shorelines
was generally not well defined; it takes the form
of a steeper rise, particularly where there are Old
Dunes. At one of the sharpest of these breaks an
aneroid height of 45 feet was obtained. Farther
inland is the zone of sinkholes on Tertiary lime¬
stone with a scatter of sporadic Old Dunes, some
of which exhibit parabolic form.

(5) Cowper Point (fig. 5). Between Blowhole
Creek and Sea Elephant River, the strandline
features confined farther south to a narrow belt
broaden out to a depth of two miles in a fine
cuspate foreland. North of The Blowhole a broad
swamp flat not much above mean sea level inter¬
venes between the Old Shorelines and the New.
Seaward of this flat there is a narrow New Dune
belt. 50-60 feet at its highest, which broadens
northwards to a big mass of parabolic dunes rising'
to heights of over 100 feet behind Cowper Point.
Within this mass linear patterns in the air photos
prove to be former clifflines frequently interrupted
by later parabolic dunes advancing across them.
Along the southern part of the shore from The
Blowhole to Cowper Point, the front of the New
Dune belt is a fixed cliff equivalent to the fixed
cliff in older sands behind Sea Elephant Bay. and
below this cliff are one or two low sandridges.
These change northwards into a well-developed
foredune with an active sandcliff. This sandcliff
rises higher northwards and erosion supervenes
to pinch out this last foredune. The coast is
retreating and local residents report the complete
disappearance of quite high dunes in the last 30
years. The other flank of Cowper Point is prograd¬
ing and here is a series of narrow foredune
ridges. 5-10 feet high, running NW-SE. On the
southern flank of Cowper Creek, these foredunes
are being truncated by erosion but on the northern
flank they are successively reaching farther north¬
west to form a spit deflecting Sea Elephant River
northwards. Between 1946, when the air photo

J. N. JENNINGS

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C O W P E R

P O

N T

ENE

BY ANEROID

J. N. JENNINGS

Fig. 5. — The Cuspate Foreland of Cowper Point.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

cover was taken, and 1954, this spit has grown
and caused the river to debouch even further to
the north. Behind the spit is a protected area
of salt and freshwater marsh and also a complex
pattern of former meanders of the Sea Elephant
River.

The New Dunes of Cowper Point encroach onto
the Old Shorelines, which here reach a maximum
width of a mile. These also form a blunt fore¬
land with a nose about a mile south of Cowper
Point. Section A, fig. 4, shows the general nature
of the Old Shorelines here. This section was
compiled from details of borings for a black sand
investigation in 1952, which were kindly provided
by Dr. M. D. Garretty; the levelling was done as
part of the present study and shell fragments
were collected from the bore spoil (see App. II. >.
This section crosses some of the new foredunes,
former estuarine channels of the Sea Elephant
River and the main new parabolic dune complex
at a fairly narrow point. Behind these dunes
there is a ti-tree swamp below HWM in which
appears the first of the old strandlines. These
consist of very low sand ridges and berms; they
generally rise 2-3 feet with a maximum amplitude
of 7 feet and in width vary from 10 to 65 yards.
Seventeen of these features were crossed in the
section line, rising steadily from just below HWM
to about 40 feet above; then they remain level
for the last third of a mile. Behind the last ridge
there is a depression (bottom at 29 feet) which is
readily traced laterally; inland there is a gradual
rise into the belt of sinkholes or solution hollows.
The ridges and berms consist of grey-white quartz
sand, which underlies the area for 15-30 feet. The
intervening hollows carry some sandy peat, at
most three feet deep. They are generally swampy
and may have intermittent shallow ponds, some
of which are clearly due to combustion of peat
at a result of burning-off practices. Very subdued,
fixed Old Dunes obscune the ridge pattern in parts
and a parabolic pattern is discernible in some
of these low dune mounds.

From the boreline, most of the samples of
mollusca (Appendix II.) came from the New Shore¬
lines and comparatively few from the Old, but no
significant differences in the assemblages are
apparent. Quite a large proportion of the finds
are of sandy and sandy-mud bottom dwellers
but a number of intertidal rock species are present,
together with submerged weed inhabitants. This
suggests open beach conditions with a mixture of
forms transported from different habitats, and
confirms the conception of a continuously develop¬
ing sand foreland with varying exposures of lime¬
stone reefs. All the species were marine with the
exception of a Salinator species from a swale bore
in the New Shorelines; again this is consonant
with the present conditions.

(c) Sea Elephant River to Lavinia Point (fig. 2,
fig. 6i.—Northwards from the estuary of the Sea
Elephant River a flat depression separates the
older and the newer systems of coastal features.

The New Dunes broaden and grow higher
northwards and so does the belt of low foredunes,
which constitute the New Shorelines here. The
one or two ridges of the southern end multiply
to over 20 towards Lavinia Point where they reach

half a mile inland. The seaward three are here
only partly colonised by shrubs and grasses, but
the others are completely fixed either by bracken or
open gum woodland in accordance with the inci¬
dence of burning-off. The ridges are only a few f Ce f
higher than the hollows, though both rise gradu¬
ally inland so that the innermost depressions n~
at 10-15 feet above HWM.

Near Lavinia Point the New Dunes fall im
three sets. Behind the full set of New Shorelines
there are comparatively low parabolic dunes about
half a mile wide. Then a later and higher group
reaching well over 100 feet, cut across at least
eight of the New Shorelines. They eventually
overlap the first set of parabolic dunes completely
and cut across the head of the intervening depres¬
sion to advance onto the Old Dune system. This
set constitutes the main body of the New Dunes
and significantly postdate the oldest of the New
Shorelines. Lastly, at Lavinia Point itself, a very-
young and small group of parabolic dunes cuts
across the ends of nearly all the remaining New
Shorelines.

At their southern end the New Dunes and
Shorelines have deflected the Sea Elephant Riy e -
southwards and many meandering river channels
some still used at flood time, can be traced in the
flat corridor behind them. In this corridor, salt
marsh near the estuary gives way to freshwater
marsh and north of the Sea Elephant River u
becomes an elongated belt of ti-tree swamp and
small lagoons known as The Nook. A bore in the
dry bed of a lagoon about 1J miles from the
northern end showed grey quartz sand extremely
rich in marine mollusca beneath 70 cm. of struc¬
tureless dark-brown peat and organic mud. ^
much smaller assemblage of mollusca than at
Cowper Point still ranges from intertidal rock to
sandy-mud bottom forms but a high proportion
of small weed-living forms are indicative of a
sheltered inlet. The presence of Salinator and
Assiminea also points to the transition to estuarine
conditions. These sands must have been deposited
after the development of the spit and New Dunes
on the seaward side.

From the Cowper Point foreland the Old Shore¬
lines reach north to the outfall of Egg Lagoon
where they are cut across by Old Dunes. They
decline in number and width though retaining the
same character. The Sea Elephant River cuts
through them down to underlying granite. They
are also interrupted at several places by dune-
covered projections of higher ground from the
west; the recurved pattern of some of the Old
Shorelines suggests shallow bays between these
dune-covered headlands. At the northern end the
strandlines are divided into two groups separated
by a broad swampy depression; the seaward group
is accompanied by Old Dune formation. On the
line of “ The Cords" crossing of The Nook, the
mean of two aneroid traverses gave a rather
unreliable height of 27 feet for the back of the
highest berm of the Old Shoreline series.

The Old Dune development behind the coastal
sector is meagre from Mt. Counsel southwards,
but. farther north, Old Dunes reach in a broad
belt right across towards South East Lagoon, where
they meet other parabolic dunes blowing from the
west and give rise to some special dune forms.

J. N. JENNINGS

Fig. 6.—Coastal Geomorphology of Lavinia Point.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

2. From Lavinia Point to Whistler Point (fig. 2).

This is a sandy constructional coast for the
most part. The north coast is interrupted by the
low rock headlands of Rocky Point, Boulder Point,
and of a small outcrop north of Pennys Lagoon;
then there is the longer section of low rock coast
from the western side of Disappointment Bay
around to the northern end of Phoques Bay.

Along the western side of Disappointment Bay,
dunes are absent for half a mile, the granite hill
sloping gradually down to the shore. This coast
is only exposed to the north-east where the length
of fetch is short and so an absence of clifflng is to
be expected. Consequently, although there are
some small emerged marine platforms, they are
not well defined. In three places the lowest level
is represented by breaks of slope at 4, 7, and 8 feet
above HWM, whilst higher platforms have their
backs at 22, 29 and 39 feet. A narrow foredune of
deeply leached quartz sand rests on the forward
part of the last one, which occupies a recess in
the hill slope close to the steep wall of unleached
New Dunes which has swept over from the west
coast. Farther west the New Dunes reach to the
rock reefs in parts; in others a fixed dune cliff
leaves a rock platform in front but the cliff here
cannot be surely interpreted as belonging to the
6-feet stand. Great banks of vegetated cobbles
showing no sign of present-day disturbance, e.g.,
at Cape Wickham itself, do belong to that stand,
however. Between Cape Wickham and Phoques
Bay there is more active erosion, with small cliffs
rising to 15 feet at a maximum to be found in
places. The dunes, generally, rise immediately
behind the reefs here but at a number of points
the abandond clifflet and rock platform or beach
of the 6-feet level are to be seen. At one point
the clifflet can be traced laterally from metamor-
phic basement rocks, through old spring tufa
deposits into aeolianite. At three points, small
sea caves, a few feet above HWM and developed
at the contact of the metamorphics and tufa-
cemented breccia, are no longer attacked by the
sea. Beach shingle in the caves confirms marine
origin; unabraded roof fall, earth, plant growth
and burrows show their relict character at the
present time. They are quite distinct from hollow-
ings in the aeolianite, which are due to wind action.

The remainder of this sector needs little com¬
ment, since it consists for the most part of active
sand cliff and sand beach, apart from three
sections—a stretch of about one mile between
Lake Martha Lavinia and Boulder Point, nearly
two miles of the coast lying symmetrically between
Boulder Point and Rocky Point and the projecting
sand foreland west of the Yellow Rock River
mouth. The first two are very similar. Grassy
or shrub-covered dune cliffs, which rise to a
maximum of about 100 feet, are separated from the
shore by a low terrace with simple sand ridges or
low shrubby foredunes. These are more numerous
at the wider western end of the terrace, where
active accretion and new sand ridge formation has
been going on since 1946, as the air photos reveal
by comparison with the 1954 position. Where the
innermost foredune or ridge is not banked against
the abandoned cliff, the swale bottom lies only
a few feet above HWM. The Yellow Rock Foreland

also has an old fixed cliff, though much lower one,
separating the main mass of parabolic dunes from
low sand ridges which represent a phase of sand
accumulation under different shoreline conditions.
On the north of the foreland there is one low
foredune in front of the cliff, whereas on the west
there are four very low simple sand ridges. The
features of these three localities clearly correlate
with the Newer Shorelines of the Naracoopa-
Lavinia Point sector.

New and Old Dune Belts almost completely ring
this sector of the coast advancing from both west
and east. The one break is found in the granite
hills between Lake Flannigan and Disappointment
Bay. Similar low granite hills lie between Egg
Lagoon and the north coast, though these also
are partly covered by Old Dunes. Numerous
lakes occur at the contact of the dunes with the
granite rises or along the boundary between the
two dune systems or within the dune systems,
particularly the Old Dunes; some of them have
been discussed elsewhere (Jennings, 1957a) and
the others belong to similar types. It is necessary,
however, to consider rather more fully here certain
aspects of the major drained lakes of the area.
The former Reedy Lake, Egg Lagoon and South-
East Lagoon all form part of a plain of young
sediments enclosed by the granite rises on the
north, by the west and east coast dunes to those
flanks and by the northern margin of the meta-
morphic plateau of the island on the south. The
inner part of this plain from Egg Lagoon to South-
East Lagoon lies just about 50 feet above HWM;
a levelled line from South-East Lagoon to the
Yellow Rock River estuary shows that the plain
declines gradually westward. It is still at 45 feet
where it is crossed by the North Road, but it
loses height rather more rapidly farther west to a
level of 20-30 feet where the Yellow Rock River
has incised 10-15 below it. As will be seen from
evidence to be presented, this plain consists mainly
of young estuarine-marine sediments overlain in
parts by freshwater and swamp deposits.

Though the former relative proportions of open
water and ti-tree swamp cannot now be determined.
Egg Lagoon, prior to its drainage, was certainly
the largest extent of lagoon and swamp in King
Island. No geological records survive from the
draining but Mr. H. Graves, of Three Rivers, who
worked on the draining and bore-sinking, states
that generally over the Lagoon floor there was
about 8 feet of black clay above 8-12 feet of
sand with sea shells. Mr. W. A. Steele, who, in
recent years has put down fresh bores for the
Rural Bank Land Settlement scheme, confirms the
general occurrence of marine sands. His log on
No. 1 Block, “ Koreen ”, is typical:—

0- 2 feet
2- 5 feet
5- 8 feet
8-24 feet
24-60 feet

60 feet

Top soil
Brown sand
Brown pug
Sand

Grey sand; abundant sea shells,
including oyster at 40 feet
Granite.

From a recent bore less than half a mile south
of Egg Lagoon, Mr. II. Lot, the owner of the pro¬
perty, preserved shells from a depth of 50-60 feet;
four marine specimens were identified (App. H.).

J. N. JENNINGS

Fig. 7.—Geomorphological Features of S.E. Lagoon Neighbourhood.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

Two finds of giant marsupials have been made in
Egg Lagoon. Scott (1912) identified Nototherium
tasmanicum Scott bones which he received from
Mr. F. H. Stephenson, of “ Yambacoona ” Station.
Mr. H. Graves informs me that this find was
actually made in 1911 by his brother on a slightly
higher islet on Plot No. 12 at the western end of
Egg Lagoon. This islet is readily identifiable today
and a bore was put down giving the following
record:—

0- 13 cm. Highly humified black peat
13-110 cm. Mottled grey and buff silty clay
110-125 cm. Brown silty clay
125-155 cm. Black silty clay
155-180 cm. Dark-brown silty clay with fine
gravel

197-280 cm. White gritty shell sand.

In the field the bottom deposit was estimated as
an aeolianite ground up in the borer. This is
confirmed by the foraminiferal report (App. III.).
Amongst the foraminifera were specimens of a
Calcarina sp., a tropical genus not known in Bass
Strait today.

The second find is recorded in detail by Keble
(1945) and was made by Mr. J. G. Haynes in 1927.
Teeth and jawbones of Diprotodon australis Owen
were found scattered over a quarter of a mile of
drain at the centre of Egg Lagoon in clay under¬
lying black swamp soil. A hand bore was made
within the site area during the present field
work:—

0- 10 cm.
10- 30 cm.
30- 70 cm.

70-125 cm.

125-340 cm.

Clayey peat
Black peaty clay
Grey clay with fine gypsum crys¬
tals

Brown and grey silty clay with
rootlets

Variably grey silty clay and
green-grey clay silt, with an
increasing content of fine
gravel downwards.

The giant marsupials belong to the freshwater
phase succeeding the previous estuarine-marine
conditions. Although the modern lagoon appears
to be dammed at the extreme western end by New
Dunes, it cannot be assumed that the freshwater
conditions did not develop till New Dune times,
since the New Dunes may well overly Old Dunes
at this point. Old Dunes enclose the western part
of this lagoon fairly completely otherwise, and
it will be seen later that South-East Lagoon to
the south must date back to Old Dune times. All
that can be said, therefore, as to the age of the
Egg Lagoon finds is that they may reach back to
Old Dune times, but could relate to a considerably
later date on present evidence.

Between Egg Lagoon and South-East Lagoon,
there is flat ground a few feet higher than the
lagoon floors with Old Dunes to the west and
the east. This is part of the same plain of
estuarine-marine sedimentation. A bore on Mr. D.
Clemons’ property lies close to the margin of the
plain just inside the Old Dunes on the west and
reached down into these sediments; only two
marine mollusc species were identifiable from the
bore spoil, however (Appendix II.).

The drained floor of South-East Lagoon (fig. 7)
lies mainly within the “ Manana ” Estate, and on

the evidence of deep drains and a number of wells.
Mr. J. Lewis, the manager, reports that the general
sequence of deposits is as follows:—

Surface Black Peat
Black clay

Fine grey sand, with cockles and
mussels

— 20 feet Grey clay, with sea shells, includ¬
ing oysters.

The levelled line of bores in Section B, fig. 4,
confirms and elaborates this for the shallower hori¬
zons.

Between the former lagoon floor and the Old
Dunes, to the east, there is interposed a series of
berms and low ridges, trending NNW-SSE, but
with a tendency to concavity towards the west.
There are as many as seven such features with a
total range in height of 51-65 feet above HWM.
They are fully comparable with the Old Shorelines
of the east coast, except, of course, that their
gradual slopes face west and their steep slopes
east. The intervening swales vary from 1-3 feet
in depression and may have a couple of feet of
sandy peat on top of the leached quartz sand
and well-rounded fine gravel which make up the
bulk of the series. In bore 10, 120 cm. of sand
overly 160 cm. of highly-humified black silty peat
on top of silty clay. In this case the sand ridge
has been rolled back over a previous swale swamp.
Well developed podsols occur on the ridges. There
can be no doubt that these are shoreline features
and their significance will be discussed later.

In front of these sand ridges are certain low
broad clay banks which rise 2-3 feet above the
former lagoon floor, with very gradual western
slopes and steeper eastern ones. There is a good
deal of gypsum in the clay. There are two such
banks in the north and one in the south; the
inner bank on the north runs into the outermost
sand ridge of the series just described. These banks
appear to define the eastern margin of the former
South-East Lagoon, whereas on the west the old
lake floor is bordered by a long sand ridge, some
two miles long and 200-400 yards across in the
form of a flat arc concave to WSW. It rises
5-6 feet above the lagoon floor and is markedly
asymmetrical in cross-section, gradually sloping
westwards and steeply to the east. Two bores
show it to be of well-rounded, coarse sand, deeply
podsolised, resting on deposits flooring the lagoon
generally. This ridge reaches neither to the
plateau slope on the south nor the Old Dunes
on the north.

Very little peat remains on the lagoon floor,
though the thicknesses of ash testify to a consider¬
able depth in the past. Below there is generally
black clay up to 3-4 feet in thickness, which
includes a fair amount of plant debris. It seems
likely that some at least of the finds of the sur¬
veyor, K. M. Harrison, from “ a drained swamp on
King Island " (Scott, 1920, 1923) came from these
horizons of South-East Lagoon. The species of
Harrison’s interesting, but ill-documented, collec¬
tion include:—

Nototherium mitchelli Owen
N. victoriae Owen
Macropus anak Owen
Zaglossus Harrisoni Scott.

TO CURRIE

J. N. JENNINGS

Fig. 8. —Geomorphological Features of Neighbourhood of Big Lake.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

Beneath the clay to the full depth of the hand
bores, there was an alternation of grey silty
clay and gTey or brown micaceous silt. The
lamination varies from less than a cm. to tens of
cm. in scale. The coarser layers become prepon¬
derant downwards. Thin horizons of shell marl
and organic muds were also encountered. Several
bores ended in sand and fine gravel when water
prevented further penetration with the available
equipment.

Pour foraminiferal samples < App. Ill > from these
silts and clays were indicative of three types of
conditions:—

(a) Fully marine, with open-sea forms swept

in to mingle with local quiet water
species;

(b) Brackish water, but with open sea access

to allow for certain forms. A tidal
estuary;

sions of salt water. A brackish lake.

Two of these samples were adjacent in the
same bore, with the more marine one on top of
the estuarine one. The alternations in the sedi¬
ments would then seem to reflect variation in width
and depth of entry from the sea into this partially
enclosed bay with the physiographic vicissitudes
of the spits, bars and dunes protecting it.

The marine mollusca (Appendix II.) from the
hand borings and well spoil form a mixed assemb¬
lage pointing to transport of forms from different
habitats as at Cowper Point. However, here there
are proportionately fewer rock reef species and
more small species which favour weedy areas in
sheltered inlets. This agrees with the geomor-
phological and foraminiferal evidence, yet there is
little indication of the intermittent brackish water
conditions shown by the foraminifera.

West of the “ Manana ” sand ridge the plain
was still almost entirely scrub-covered and not
closely examined. Examination of two drains,
one E-W and one NE-SW, showed that it con¬
sisted of clays and silts, with a few short sand
ridges rising a few feet above its surface. A bore
in the drained bed of Alexander’s Lagoon was
sampled in clays at 8 feet; few foraminifera were
found in it (App. III.' and freshwater conditions
probably persisted for a long time over the lagoon
site.

The interpretation placed on the South-East
Lagoon data can now be presented. The sand
ridges east of the lagoon cannot be lacustrine,
since they rise higher than anything between
themselves and the sea to the west. Therefore,
they are regarded as littoral features at the head
of an estuary when the clays, silts and sands of
estuarine-marine nature beneath the lagoon floor
were being laid down. The fact that these ridges
do not extend farther north than they do implies
that when they were forming Old Dunes already
extended some way south from the Cape Wickham
granite hills, although the gap in the Old Dunes
north of the main plateau was probably broader
than at present.

In the middle of this estuary, the “ Manana ”
sand ridge was built up by wave and wind action
as an offshore bar (or barrier island). On emer¬

gence the plain behind this ridge became a fresh^
water swamp and lake. Possibly the clay bank^
belong to an early phase of this lacustrine phase*
and aeolian action on the intermittently dry floor
may be involved in their construction.

Old Dune formation continued after the emers
gence of the estuarine-marine plain at 40-50 feet,
because some of them lie entirely below that level.
At this point it is appropriate to mention tlnj
only marine layer found interbedded in the Oiq
Dunes of King Island. This was in the right.
bank of the Yellow Rock River where it is incised ii\
the Old Dunes immediately above the disuseq
Yellow Rock River Cheese Factory. It is a horizons
tal layer predominantly of shells with some sand,
1-2 feet thick, only a few feet above the contact of
the dune with the underlying granite and lyin%
at about 15 feet above sea level. This bed must,
register a point in the descent of sea level from thtj
high South-East Lagoon littoral features, a descent
more fully recorded by the Old Shorelines of the
east coast. The mollusc assemblage (App. II.) i^
similar to that from South-East Lagoon, with
rather higher proportion of littoral rock specie^
and without the small weed dwellers.

3. From Grassy to Surprise Bay (fig. 2, fig. 8).

This coastal sector consists of sandy bays alter-
nating with low rocky headlands. East of th^
asymmetrical ridge running south from Mt. Stanley
to the Red Hut headland, the plateau slopes
gradually down to the coast but is diversified by
granite hills well forward of it. Along here rocl-
coast preponderates over the constructional sec-
tions: New Dune development is exiguous. West of
the ridge the south-eastward slope of the plateap
lies well back from the coast, much more of which
consists of sandy bays; there is a broad and con¬
tinuous belt of New Dunes. Old Dunes are founq
extensively behind the whole sector though not
without interruption. Both dune systems show
more pronounced variation in the direction of
advance of the parabolic dunes than elsewhere;
this is partly due to the more varied bedrock
relief of the sector. The main characteristic i$
that the parabolic dunes curve in from the sandy
bays laterally behind the bases of the rocky head¬
lands. The features close to the shore will be
dealt with first, from east to west and later those
behind the New Dune belt will be discussed
Because of the lack of local placenames a number
of the lesser headlands have been lettered on fig. 2
for convenience.

In the bay between headlands C and D there
is an island which consists entirely of cobbles
above HWM and these are vegetated in their
central parts. On headland C there are two high-
lying cobble banks completely vegetated at the
rear. All these are considered relict features
unadjusted to present sea level.

From headland B most of the way to headland A,
there is an inactive vegetated aeolianite cliff cut
in the front of the New Dune belt. Behind head¬
land B there is a very recent low foredune in
front of this cliff, but farther west this is replaced
by an emerged platform in granite, with beach
boulders, in various stages of overgrowth by vege¬
tation. At one part this is 20 yards wide with

J. N. JENNINGS

dense scrub on it. The sharp nick at the cliff-foot
was determined at two points as 6 and 7 feet
above HWM. The peninsula of headland A carries
a detached mass of aeolianite largely bereft of
any loose sand; its seaward face is abruptly cliffed
above bevelled granite. Shrub-covered cobbles are
banked at its foot to 10 feet above HWM. Farther
seaward on the peninsula is a stack of granite
with a well-marked and partly shrubbed erosional
shelf on its southern side. These various features
are attributed to the 6-feet sea-level stand.

The bay between headland A and the Red Hut
headland has a rocky shore and is backed by the
steep slope of a high granite hill. Along its middle
portion the New Dunes are absent and Old Dune
sand covers the granite slope. This gullied sheet
of Old Dune is overlapped on the west by new
parabolic dunes which have advanced from the next
bay right over the top of the bedrock hills behind
the Red Hut headland. A large mutton-bird
rookery extends over the junction of the dune
systems and the contrast in colour of the sand
thrown out of the burrows, grey-white on the
east and yellow on the west, is very marked. This
arrangement of the New and Old Dunes here side
by side in relation to the coast, is important in
relation to the features of the Red Hut headland
itself.

The New Dunes have an abrupt margin over¬
looking this low broad headland but numerous
rock outcrops in this slope show that here there
is a partly buried cliff in the metamorphic and
granite basement (Section, E. fig. 4). The low
rock platform seaward of this feature has a very
low new duneline on its western side and a low
granite ridge at its eastern end. Between these two
extend three parallel sand ridges in rising sequence
from 22 feet of the lowest to 49 feet in the swale
behind the highest. These ridges are similar in
character to the Old Shoreline features of the
east coast north of Naracoopa but their position
in relation to the New Dunes will need discussion
later (p. 28). Above the present-day shore reefs
of much of this headland, great banks of cobbles,
up to 1-2 feet in diameter, reach to 10-15 feet
above HWM. On the seaward slope they are still
actively abraded, above they are first covered in
lichens and obviously undisturbed, then they pass
under marsh vegetation and soil for as much as
30-40 yards. These banks are thought to belong to
the 6-feet sea-level stand.

Seal Point is largely dune-covered; it is necessary
to note, however, several broad vegetated cobble
banks on the west, a small example of unattacked
rock shelf and clifflet at 6 feet on the south and
certain geos with vegetated cobble banks at their
heads on the east.

Behind Seal Bay east of the mouth of Seal River,
there is a fixed dune cliff in the New Dunes, with
up to three foredunes in front. These are com¬
parable in general nature and age to the New
Shorelines of the east coast between Naracoopa and
Lavinia Point, but since they are partly telescoped
one against another, the swales between are very
irregular in height.

Stokes Point has sand dunes right down to the
shore reefs on most of its eastern side, whereas
on the west there is a belt of rock exposed in front

of the dunes. This is of varying width and consists
generally of rocky hummocks rising irregularly to
the middle of the peninsula, with some very flat
areas near the shore. The shore consists of low
reefs for the most part and shows occasional
small 6-feet benches and clifflets. There is a more
extensive planed rock platform at the southern tip
of the peninsula which includes a flat islet cut
off at high tide; this emerged platform is only
backed by a recognisable clifflet at its north-west
corner where the break of slope is at 9 feet above
HWM. More striking than these erosional features
are the broad shingle ridges and cobble ramparts
which line much of this western shore of the pro¬
montory. Their crests lie between 6 and 15 feet
above HWM and they are generally vegetated;
some of them embank ephemeral lagoons. The
coarsest material is often angular and unabraded
as If quite quickly thrown into the ridge and there¬
after left undisturbed.

East of the Red Hut headland, the New Dunes
generally abut on the Old Dunes which, in the
main, advanced WNW up to the bedrock slopes.
But behind the bay between headlands C and D
there is a swampy depression in the rear of the
New Dunes :this rises gradually to a sharp break
of slope at 20-25 feet against low granite hills and
Old Dunes; this appears to be an old shoreline.

West of the Red Hut headland there is a broad
depression between the New Dunes and the Old
Dunes. These latter take on a different character
from the usual dominant pattern of subdued para¬
bolic dunes. Here they rise from approximately
sea level to between 50 and 100 feet up the south¬
eastern slope of the plateau in a series of SW-NE
ridges, which appear to be degraded but formerly
quite substantial foredunes. The depressions be¬
tween are often swampy and are occupied by a
number of streams which join the Seal River and
its major tributaries at right angles (see fig. 7,
Jennings, 1957a). Parabolic dunes are subordinate
in this area. Gravel in pits by the road south of
the Black Forest lie at about 50 feet behind most
of these Old Dunes; they may be marine.

The Big Swamp occupies the eastern end of
the depression between the two dune systems. Low
sand ridges at its eastern face face its full length
and relate to a phase of open water over the
extent of Big Swamp which now has only small
patches of open water amongst the ti-tree swamp.
There is practically no gradient in Seal River
between the Big Swamp and Big Lake (fig. 7).
The latter is approximately at HWM since local
residents relate that kelp is carried up into the
lake along the Seal River from Seal Bay at very
high tides. Around the northern side and eastern
end of Big Lake are arranged a series of very
low sand ridges, a few inches to at most 2-3 feet
in height and 5-10 yards across. There is no
general rise in ground level across the belt of
ridges. Their disposition makes it clear that they
relate to the lake and are not seashore features
of the time of Old Dune formation. The assemblage
registers a contraction of the lake by progradation
at its present level under the influence of south
and west winds. They have ceased to form since
freshwater marsh vegetation now surrounds the
open water. Behind the sheltered western shore
there is a deeper belt of ti-tree swamp.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

West of this ti-tree swamp there is gently rising
cleared ground to the foot of a group of rock
ridges which rise to 20-35 feet above the lake level
(see Section C, fig. 4>. Between these ridges and
to the west as far as Mr. D. Bowling's homestead,
there is level and in parts swampy ground. Beyond
is the Chain of Lagoons, a series of small lakes
which rise in level westwards and lie between the
New Dunes on one side and on the other the
plateau slopes, here partly covered by Old Dunes.

A line of bores from the Big Lake to Mr. D.
Bowling’s homestead, together with other scattered
bores, reveals thin young sediments on the bedrock
floor at levels of 15-30 feet above HWM; they are
mainly sands and fine gravels, though some silty
clays occur near the surface. Near the surface
the sand is quartzose but lower down the propor¬
tion of shell sand increases markedly. These sands
were extremely rich in marine mollusca, furnishing
over 70 species (App. n.>. Forms from many
different habitats occur. However, intertidal rock
species are much higher in proportion, sandy and
sandy-mud bottom dwellers much lower than at
South-East Lagoon and Cowper Point, suggesting
more rock in the vicinity of this beach deposit.
This corresponds closely with the geomorphological
evidence. Foraminiferal samples from DIO, D15
and D60 indicate open beach sands (App. in.)
In D55 similar species show by their state of preser¬
vation that they accumulated in a stagnant lagoon;
this site is in fact more protected from a sea to
the south-east. The fossil remains, therefore,
point to an open coast of rocky reefs and pocket
beaches when sea level reached up to 30 feet
higher than at present. The fauna is in general
typical of Bass Strait today with the significant
exceptions of two warmer water foraminiferal
species from D60 and one further one from D55.

Below the rock ridges the sediments close to sea
level have fewer mollusca (three small marine
species) and the one foraminiferal sample from
D35 is indicative of a marine swamp. No sea level
changes are indicated but the seaward dune
barrier must have been less complete than now
and Big Lake must have been a salt lagoon.

4. From Whistler Point to Fitzmaurice Bay.

Though this is the longest coastal sector, it
has least interest for our present purpose because
the massive New Dune development has covered
up most evidence of earlier physiographic events.
Over most of the sector these dunes abut directly
on the shoreline, which mainly consists of low rock
reefs, long strike ribs in the metamorphic complex,
more rounded joint-controlled blocks in the granite.
There are also numerous open sandy bays of
varying size.

In this context of a dune cover resting on a
rock basement of slight relief, which declines
gently westwards to intersect with the sea at a low
angle, certain types of shore profile occur which
can be regarded as normal to it in the first
analysis.

(a) In the sandy bays, sand beaches front active
dune cliffs, where any vegetation cover suffers
constant modification with the vicissitudes of wind
and wave.

(b> Behind low rock reefs, an actively worked
beach of sand and shingle leads to a gradual dune
slope fixed or partially fixed by vegetation.

(c) At the most exposed points, the reefs are
replaced by active low cliffs in the solid, 10-15 feet
high, on which the dunes rest, e.g., just north of
Currie Harbour and near Whistler Point.

(d) A further common coastal profile is due to
the intervention of lime-rich water seepage from
the dune foot at the contact with the rock. This
gives rise to a strip of tufa-marsh between beach
and dunes; this densely vegetated slope builds up
and becomes convex through precipitation of tufa.

But, additionally, there are certain features which
clearly do not relate to the present shoreline
dynamics. Thus on several of the short projecting
headlands small areas of exposed rock are planed
off at levels 10-25 feet above HWM; similar areas
occur south of Eel Creek and south of Ettrick
River. They pass under gently-rising dune slopes
behind. These appear to be the lower parts of
marine erosional platforms, mainly still buried by
the later New Dune development. At only one
point is it possible to recognise a high former
shoreline on this west coast sector. This is about
three quarters of a mile south of the mouth of
Porky Creek on Block 49/3/39 and neighbouring
blocks where the very narrow New Dune belt lies
in front of or banked up against an old cliffline
with its foot at 35-40 feet. Behind this degraded
cliff there are scattered Old Dunes.

There are also small fragments of 6-feet rock
shelf and associated clifflet, colonised by plants
in various degrees and showing no signs of erosion
today. They are less frequent and less clearcut
than those of the Naracoopa-Grassy coast. Associ¬
ated with these are stretches of unattacked aeolia-
nite cliff with narrow vegetated beach in front
of them. These are very well developed south of
Pass River where they are as much as 20-30 feet
high. At the Dripping Wells, a mile south of the
Ettrick River, a portion of such cliff has been
covered by an overhanging apron of spring tufa,
which creates shallow caves with stalactites and
stalagmites immediately behind the beach (Jen¬
nings, 1955). In addition, the Boggy Creek tufa
terraces or rimstone dams must be mentioned
These are forming between tidemarks and above
HWM behind the protection of low rock reefs.

Similarly protected are a number of small
patches and strips of salt marsh, e.g., near the
mouth of Bungaree Creek.

A prominent feature of certain sections of this
coast, e.g., on Blocks 49/3/39 and 201/3/24 south
of Pork Creek and for a mile south from Currie
Harbour are the wide vegetated shingle platforms
at 3-10 feet above HWM. At many points these
have been extensively quarried for road metal over
several decades. Yet there is no evidence of refill
by modern wave action; they are, indeed, colonised
by various herbs and bushes, even where the pits
reached right to the active beach. There are also
many cobble and shingle ramparts rising to 10-15
feet above HWM; these in some cases have bushes
several feet high on them. In two Instances only
was fresh shingle seen thrown up onto such
ramparts.

J. N. JENNINGS

At two points emerged beach deposits were seen
in section. At the north-west corner of the en¬
closed semi-circular bay immediately south of
Netherby Bay, active erosion has provided an
excellent section. An exposure 25 feet long reveals
a beach platform cut into and backed by semi-
consolidated New Dune. The cliff-foot lies sharply
at 5-6 feet above HWM. On the platform rests
the beach deposit; the lower 6 inches consists of
fine gravel, sand and shell fragments, above is
18-24 inches of shingle and cobbles, with some
shells and sand. The mollusca numbered ten
marine species, all rock reef and rock pool inhabi¬
tants (App. n.). The second occurrence is on the
south side of the bay into which Three Rivers Creek
flows. Below a steep dune there is a bank of
beach shingle resting on a granite platform; in
front are an active shingle beach and low rock
reefs. Along the front of the bank erosion is
exposing the stranded beach deposit at 3-5 feet
above HWM over an interrupted exposure of 30-40
feet. The pebbles and occasional shells had a
sandy matrix, cemented in parts by secondary
calcite and in parts by iron oxide. The mollusc
collection (App. II.) yielded only four species,
three of which live on rocky shores between tide-
marks. At both sites, the mollusca are all species
of the present-day shores and no change in climatic
conditions is implied; they are taken to indicate
a small negative movement in the relative level of
land sea.

The most striking point about this whole sector
lies in the high proportion of it where there is
no marked feature of erosional activity either in
the form of a low rock cliff or active dune cliff.
Much of the actual beach is protected by a wide belt
of low rock reefs. In view of the storminess of
the sea to the west, this is hard to understand
except in terms of this recent small shift in the
relative level of land and sea. The presence of
such features as the Dripping Wells, the Boggy
Creek tufa terraces and the fragments of salt
marsh underlines particularly this dichotomy
between the character of this shoreline and its
exposure to marine attack.

South of Currie there are a number of well-
enclosed, semi-circular bays; most of these seem
to be due to the partial removal of a fill of
beach shingle in hollows in the rock basement,
protected by a slightly higher seaward rib of rock
which now forms the “ hammer-headed ” promon¬
tories between the bays. Netherby Bay and parti¬
cularly the bay immediately to its south are rather
different. Their semi-circular beaches lie partly
below 10-15 feet cliffs in semiconsolidated calca¬
reous dunes; these dune cliffs have the appearance
of descending below the sea level in the inner part
of the bay and in these cases it seems to be the
removal of calcareous dune material from hollows
in the bedrock which has given rise to the bays. If
this is so, a lower sea level than the present one
is implied at the time of formation of the dunes.

DISCUSSION

The evidence for changes in the relative level
of land and sea from the island can now be
considered as a whole and internal difficulties
considered prior to a comparison with similar data

from other parts of Australia when the question
of dating can also be taken up.

1. The 225-feet Sea Level Stand.

Waterhouse (1915) has suggested that the lower
parts of the King Island plateau, usually extremely
well planed, have been smoothed by marine erosion.
It is true that quartz pebble gravels can be found
on flat divides well away from modern stream
courses; there is, for instance such an occurrence
at 220 feet on the plateau top west of Fraser Bluff.
In support of this idea the present study can only
point to rather indecisive spur profile steps, with
inner breaks of slope at about 225 feet, at three
points around the City of Melbourne Bay-Cotton’s
Flat coastal embayment.

2. The 120-150 -feet Sea Level Stand.

Similar spur flattenings in this area suggest a
sea level stand at 120-150 feet and this finds
stronger support in the Grassy scheelite mine beach
boulder bed, which in the earlier stages of the
open cut were observed at 120-150 feet. Burial
of this boulder bed by Old Dunes makes this still-
stand earlier than the time of formation of this
dune system.

When a topographical survey has provided a
framework of fixed heights and contours, close
morphological analysis of the plateau and rivers
can be brought to bear on these possible stands
of base level; at the present time further discussion
is not warranted.

3. The Old Shorelines, 65 feet to Present Sea Level.

From 65 feet above HWM downwards, evidence

for former high sea level stands is extensive, varied
and indubitable. But difficulties remain because
the relevant features—emerged shell beds, estu¬
arine-marine sediments, sand ridges and berms,
marine terraces, sea cliffs and sea caves—occur
at nearly every height below that figure. Some of
this variation is, of course, due simply to inaccu¬
racy of height determination, especially where the
aneroid is used. Also when it is a question of
estimating the level of a degraded cliff-foot, rounded
by weathering and obscured by colluvium, the same
shoreline at different places may be allocated
several heights. Constructional littoral features
can be built to varying heights above a given
shoreline making estimation of the related sea
level imprecise. These and many other difficulties
which have been set out by D. W. Johnson (1932)
make marine level correlation hazardous.

The relationship of the emerged shoreline fea¬
tures in this height range to the two major dune
systems of the island provides the basis for an
initial division.

The Old Shorelines from Naracoopa to Lavinia
Point are intimately associated with the formation
of the Old Dunes. The latter may have begun
to form before the innermost shoreline of this
series developed but they certainly continued to
form during the period of falling base level regis¬
tered by the sequence which here occurs continu¬
ously from about 40 feet down to present sea level.
Though lying higher than this series, the Old
Shorelines east of South-East Lagoon, together
with the associated wide plain of estuarine-marine

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OP KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

sediments at 50 feet, must be correlated with them
since the two series abut onto the one intervening
dune system. Subsequent discussion below sug¬
gests that the difference in height of the two
series is not due to subsequent tilting. Differences
of tidal range between the open shore of the east
and the partially enclosed waters of the west seem
hardily likely to explain it and the discrepancy
must await more detailed work to account for it.
The marine shell bed at 15 feet in the Old Dunes
at the Yellow Rock Cheese Factory corresponds
to some lower point in the east coast sequence.
At the southern end of the island the Old Dunes
behind the Big Lake-Big Swamp depression, al¬
though of the nature of foredunes and do not allow
of any precise formulation of the associated sea
levels, yet do indicate once more that sea level
in Old Dune times has fallen from something of the
order of 50 feet down to present sea level. The
shelly beach deposits on Mr. D. Bowling’s farm
west of Big Lake register fairly accurately sea level
stands at 20-30 feet in part of this fall.

All these constructional features so far discussed
and attributed to the Old Shoreline sequence lie
landward of the New Dunes. There is, however, the
sand ridge sequence at 22-49 feet on the Red Hut
headland lying in front of the New Dunes. No¬
where else are such high sand ridges found in
front of the New Dunes on the island. They
cannot be features younger than the New Dunes
and elevated to this abnormal altitude by local
uplift, since there is no evidence for faulting in
the bedrock ridge or in the New Dune system
behind the headland. Morover, New Shoreline fea¬
tures at their normal height also occur on the
headland and as will be seen later there can be
little time interval, if any, between the formation
of the New Dunes and such features. The explana¬
tion already given that the New Dunes advanced
from west to east across the base of the headland
but failed to cross the headland itself to remove
or bury these older sand ridges is regarded as
the correct one, though it seems a lucky chance
that the features in question survived in this way.
In support of it the air photos do show a rocky
bottom with little sand around this and many
other headlands; the bays are the chief source
of sand for dune develepoment and this plays a
large part in the directions of parabolic dune
advance along this coastal sector (Jennings,
1957b).

The marine terraces in the bedrock can now
be considered, first where best developed between
Grassy and Naracoopa. The breaks of slope at the
back of these terraces are scattered over a range
from 60 feet down to 3 feet above HWM; never¬
theless, they do fall into three predominant classes;
(1) at 40-50 feet; (2) at 20-30 feet; (3) at 3-9 feet.
The last class is very much fresher in appearance,
never carries deeply leached sand either as sand
ridges or true dunes but does occur quite often
in front of New Dunes. All the higher terraces
have a much older and degraded aspect; in certain
cases they carry Old Dunes and low sand ridges
and berms similar to those of the Old Shorelines
of the Naracoopa-Lavinia Point sector. They are
therefore correlated with the constructional Old
Shorelines though the possibility that the highest

terraces, at least, may be older cannot be ruled
out altogether.

Between Grassy and Little Grassy Creek a ter¬
race at 20-25 feet occurs between the New Dunes
and the Old Dunes and these higher marine
terraces (22-39 feet) are also represented west
of Disappointment Bay, one example carrying an
Old Dune on its lower part.

On the west coast similar high terraces must
generally have suffered burial because of massive
dune development there. Between Cataraque Point
and Surprise Point, however, the dunes are on
top of the cliffs and here the terrace remnants,
chiefly at 40-50 feet .associated “ hanging coves ”
and abandoned sea caves, must also belong to the
Old Shoreline system. So also does the better
preserved terrace at the less frequent altitude of
35 feet east of Cataraque Point in the shelter of
Fitzmaurice Bay. On the north side of Surprise
Bay there is the small 26-feet terrace remnant in
front of the New Dunes, the assumption being that
the latter have passed right over it. This again
is an exceptional case; more such cases would cast
doubt on the standpoint taken here that the
marine terraces from 20 feet upwards antedate the
formation on the New Dunes.

It will be evident that the different levels in
this older emerged shoreline sequence occur in an
unsystematic fashion at the northern and southern
ends of the island and on the western and eastern
sides, though for reasons given they are less well
represented on the western side. This unsystematic
scatter at various levels argues against any tilting
or other tectonic deformation of the island during
or since the foi'mation of the Older Shorelines.
On the present evidence the features are regarded
therefore, as belonging to a single progressive
emergence which affected the island uniformly.

Climatically the evidence testifies to conditions
not very different from todays. The marine fauna
is close to that of the present Bass Strait, the
plant remains at City of Melbourne Bay on the
whole correspond with the historical Yarra Creek
flora and the axial direction of the Old Dunes
agree closely with those of the New Dunes and both
can be shown to have close relation to the present
wind regime (Jennings, 1957b). Two qualifications
have to be made. The warmer water foraminifera
from the 15-30 feet beds west of Big Lake indicate
a slightly warmer climate, whereas the Nothofagus
and Drimys from the City of Melbourne Bay deltaic
deposit, which relates to a sea level at least as low
as the present one and yet is covered by Old
Dunes, indicate, if anything, slightly wetter or
cooler conditions. Thus some climatic deterioration
seems to have accompanied the fall of the sea
relative to the land.

The breccia, resembling periglacial “ head ”, on
the hogback cliffs of the south-west coast may be
the product of subsequent colder conditions.

4. The New Shorelines.

The New Shorelines are best expressed between
Naracoopa and Lavinia Point where, in geographi¬
cal continuity, they are represented by fixed and
abandoned clifflines in both New Dunes and Old
Shoreline sands, by definite, though modest, fore¬
dunes and by low sand ridges and berms which

J. N. JENNINGS

at best are incipient foredunes. Contemporaneity
with the New Dunes is demonstrated by the rela¬
tionships of the shorelines and the dunes at
Lavinia Point and at Cowper Point. Moreover, the
absence of New Dunes from Sea Elephant Bay
south of the Blowhole is most readily explained
by regarding the cutting of the cliff into the
emerged slope of Old Shorelines as simultaneous
with the development of New Dunes elsewhere.
Only where the New Shorelines are represented
by low sand ridges do the intervening swales give
a good idea of the asociated sea level; the inner¬
most depression in these circumstances is usually
between 3 and 9 feet above HWM.

Similar features are found in the constructional
coasts of the eastern part of Seal Bay, at the
Yellow Rock Foreland and to the east and west
of Boulder Point.

All these occurrences could be the result of
simple progradation of the coast without any
change of sea level, particularly as most of them
relate to the more sheltered aspects of the island’s
coast. But against this possibility are numerous
other features all around the island which must be
correlated with them. On all the rocky shores,
both low and high, and on all aspects of the
coast, are low clifflets a few feet high, steep and
fresh, but vegetated and giving no evidence of
present-day marine attack. Occasionally, they
become cliffs 20-30 feet high. Bedrock, aeolianite
and tufa are cliffed in this way. They lie behind
narrow rock platforms or beaches, which appa¬
rently are equally inactive. In a few localities
small sea caves, no longer reached by waves, are
found. The cliff-foot lies between 3 and 9 feet
above HWM. Though occurring sometimes in
quite exposed positions, these unattacked plat-
foims, beaches and clifflets are more frequent in
protected localities, particularly so where they
occur in the most exposed south-west coast.

It is clear from the facts given that these
features do not fall into the category of storm-
wave platforms recorded, for example, from Vic¬
toria and New South Wales, where they have
occasioned vigorous discussion as to whether they
are relict features of a higher sea level stand
or the product of the present wave regime.

Additional in the present connection there are
to be noted:—

(a) Cobble ramparts and high-lying shingle
banks, between 6 and 15 feet above HWM, on
some of the low rocky coasts. They show no signs
of movement and are in various degrees of vege¬
tative colonisation.

(b) Wide shingle platforms of the west coast,
with old quarries unmodified by wave action.

( d ) The Dripping Wells tufa cliffs with their
stalagmites and stalactites facing the open ocean
and the Boggy Creek rimstone dams reaching
below HWM.

(e) Vegetated cobble packs at the heads of geos
and erosional inlets on some of the most exposed
parts of the coast.

The most surprising characteristic of the King
Island coast is that so much of it does not show
the signs of strong marine attack; yet the stormi¬
ness of its waters is well known and many of its

placenames commemorate shipwrecks. Two ex¬
planations offer—a small negative movement or a
marked reduction in storminess of the surrounding
seas. The fact that the phenomena concerned are
very generally distributed around the whole island
seems to favour the former explanation rather
than the latter. A small emergence of the order
of 10 feet affecting the island uniformly is the
interpretation preferred here.

4. Low Sea Level Stands.

A small island, liable to strong marine erosion
at times of high sea level and lacking major river
valleys where aggradation may bury low sea level
deposits, is not favourable to determining positive
movements of sea level; this is true of King Island.
Four points only need to be mentioned:—

ten The disposition of cliffed dune sand and
aeolianite around two small bays on the west coast
suggest that these terrestrial deposits reach below
sea level.

(b> A submerged stream channel can be seen in
air photos crossing the Tertiary limestone sea floor
between The Blowhole and Cowper Point.

(tf) On the southern part of the west coast there
is a submarine cliff with its basal break of slope
at 30-35 fathoms, which David (1923) interpreted
as a Pleistocene low sea level marine cliff. It
seems likely that this is a tectonic feature. How¬
ever, there are offshore reefs and islets which also
rise steeply from the sea floor at that level and
the general evidence from Bass Strait (Jennings,
1959, in press) suggests that David's view is accept¬
able and not incompatible with the feature being
a fault scarp also.

Where this submergence evidence fits into the
emergence already discussed is not as yet deter¬
minable. but clearly the low sea level or levels
must precede the formation of the New Shorelines.

CORRELATION AND DATING.

No direct evidence of the timing of the physio¬
graphic events described is as yet available: and
attempt to date them must be based on inference
and comparison with other Australian coasts.

The early work of Johnston (1877, 188) remains
the best account of the Furneaux Group. Emerged
beach shell beds underlie aeolianite (" Helicidae
Sandstone ”) at 40 feet on Badger and Green
Islands: similar beds at undesignated but lower
heights lie beneath more recent dunes on Badger
and Flinders Islands; from Arthur River valley on
Flinders there is separate mention of an oyster
bed at 30 feet. All these can be correlated with the
Old Shorelines of King Island. Edwards (1941)
quotes Johnston (1888) as recording a raised beach
deposit at 100 feet on Mt. Chappel Island. This
is a misreading; only aeolianite is described at this
level by Johnston.

From a study of a great length of the coast of
N.W. Tasmania, Edwards (1941) concludes that
there are three emerged levels at 100 feet, 45-50
feet and 5-15 feet. He also mentions some coastal
terraces at 30 feet. The altitudinal correlations
with the King Island data are obvious.

Within this area the more detailed results of
Gill and Banks (1956) come from the Duck Bay-

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

Mowbray Swamp area. Inland of the swamp are
the Christmas Hills, old dunes with deeply leached
quartz sand above sandrock; Gill and Banks regard
these as two separate deposits but quote Hubble’s
opinion that they may constitute a giant podsol.
Beneath the Mowbray Swamp peats, from the base
of which come important nototherian and other
vertebrate remains, there is the marine Mella
Sand rising to 50 feet. Gill and Banks correlate
this sand with the Rocky Cape emerged sea caves
which, in their view, were formed by a 70-feet
sea level. But Edwards maintains that it is
necessary to allow for a very thick midden fill
in the caves and that the relevant sea level
lay at 50-60 feet. Gill and Banks attribute the
Mella Sand to the Upper Pleistocene since a C14
date from the overlying peat is >33,760 years.

The Mella Sand plain declines seawards where
it carries an “ Ancient Series of Sand Ridges ”,
which, from their description, are very similar to
the Old Shorelines of Cowper Point. The mapped
ridges lie between 30 and 15 feet but apparently
before drainage of the swamp they occurred at
higher levels still. Farther seaward is a “ Holocene
Series of Sand Ridges ” to be compared with the
New Shorelines of Cowper Point. These are re¬
garded as forming during the emergence from a
Mid-Recent 10-feet sea level. The similarity of
this sequence with the evidence from the north
of King Island is striking and not solely altitu¬
dinal.

The correspondence between the data from the
substantial area comprising King Island. Furneaux
Group and N.W. Tasmania, in particular the close
comparability between King Island and the Mow¬
bray Swamp area, makes a provisional case for
regarding the emergences of the Old and New
Shorelines as eustatic. This is. of course the
interpretation which Edwards, Gill and Banks put
on their own data.

Differing views on the origins of successive
coastal dune systems have been held in Australia
Previously, following the work of Sayles on Ber¬
mudan dunes, the view was held that the coastal
dune systems were formed at the time of Pleisto¬
cene glacial low sea levels when the retreating
sea exposed the marine sands of the shelf floor
to aeohan attack (Coulson, 1940; Gill, 1943- Fair-
bridge, 1947; Teichert, 1947). But, from their
independent studies of the coastal dune ridges of
the S.E. Province of South Australia, both Hoss-
feld 0950) and Spngg 0 952' came to regard
these dunes as forming at the high sea level
of Pleistocene interglacials or interstadials.
opngg related each dune ridge to a single maxi-
mum sea level, whereas Hossfleld thought some
related to maxima and others to halts in the
hills from these maxima. Moreover, Teichert and
Fairbridge 0952) revised their earlier views in the
light of studies of soil horizons within the West
^stralian aeolianite dunes. They also came to the
conclusion that beach conditions similar to present
ones were sufficient for dune formation and that
dune belts could form during any halt in the
Pleistocene glacioeustatic oscillations. Unless tec¬
tonic movements are involved, the dunes on the

li?Hicn Urfa £ e Wl11 belon ° to interglacials or inter-
stadials, whereas any dunes of glacial periods will
be found submerged on the continental shelf.

The King Island evidence shows clearly the
association of the dune systems with high sea level
shorelines and supports the second standpoint.

The immaturity of soil profile development on
the New Dunes of King Island and their freshness
of form precludes their having survived a glacial
low sea level period even if that were only the
final advance of the Last Glaciation. They belong
to the Holocene. The pronounced degradation of
form and greater maturity of soil profile presumes
a much greater age on the part of the Old Dunes
and the intervention of a glaciation or a glacial
stadium between the formation of the two sys¬
tems. It is logical, therefore, to attribute the Old
Dunes to either the last interstadial or the Last
Interglacial. Reasons will follow for preferring the
latter alternative.

Claims for a 10-feet Mid-Holocene eustatic high
sea level come from such widely-scattered localities
around Australia and are based on such diverse
shoreline features that they are not easily set
aside. From West Australia there are Teichert's
and Fail-bridge's studies of benches in aeolianite
and coral reefs; from Victoria, Coulson and Gill
have employed emerged shell beds; from the black
sand seams of the coasts of New South Wales and
Queensland, Beasley and Gardner independently
derived a 10-feet Recent level. The New Shore¬
line features of King Island are therefore regarded
as a further expression of this Recent 10-feet
stillstand and of the succeeding emergence.

According to Gill (1956) evidence for a 25-feet
level stand is the most w-idespread higher level in
Victoria. Through Carbon-14 dating this is attri¬
buted to the Last Interglacial; mollusca and fora-
minifera suggest^ a warmer climate. Baker (1950)
mentions briefly marine terraces and notches at
40 feet and 60-70 feet from W. Victoria.

Teichert and Fairbridge (1952) ascribe the Cowa-
ramup Bay Conglomerate and other deposits in
West Australia at 5-15 feet to the last Wurm
n/IH interstadial. The Peppermint Grove Forma¬
tion of Perth is regarded as indicating a 25-feet
sea level stand of the earlier Wurm I/n inter¬
stadial. These attributions are based mainly on
the unsatisfactory basis of altitude correlation with
England and N. Africa. Moreover, the Guildford
Clay is correlated with the Peppermint Grove For¬
mation and as the former is described as rising to
50 feet, it upsets the altitude correlation in any case
Gardner (1955) finds evidence for high sea levels
of 20 feet and 45 feet along the north N.S.W. coast'
the former belongs in his view to the last Wurm
interstadial and the latter to the Riss-Wurm Inter¬
glacial, with the earlier Wurm interstadial unren-
resented. ^

* n ih.s context any correlation of the King Island
Old Shorelines is uncertain but the closest corres¬
pondence is with the Mowbray Swamp sequence
This sequence has the advantage of a C-14 dating
On this basis, the Old Shoreline sequence of Kin"
island with its range of erosional and constructional
features from over 60 feet down to sea level but
with more important halts at 40-50 feet and 20-30
feet is provisionally attributed as a whole to the
La^t Interglacial. A Carbon-14 dating of the wood
, t ^ le c lty of Melbourne Bay deltaic deposit will
piovide a useful test of this correlation.

J. N. JENNINGS

References.

Anderson, W. t 1914.—Note on the Occurrence of the Sandrock
Containing Bones of Extinct Species of Marsupials on
King Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania, liec. Aust. Mus.,
V. 10, pp. 275-283.

Arber, M. A., 1949. — Cliff Profiles of Devon and Cornwall.

Geogr. J.. Vol. 114, pp. 191-197.

Baker, G-, 1950.—Geology and Physiography of the Moonlight
Head District, Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., Vol. 60,
pp. 17-44.

BALCHIN, W. G. V., 194G. — Geomorphology of the North Cornish
Coast. Trans. Roy. Gcol. Soc. Cornwall, Vol. 17, pp.
317-344.

Beasley, A. W., 1948.—Heavy Mineral Beach Sands of S.
Queensland. Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland, Vol. 59, pp.
109-140.

Carey, S. W., 1946. — Tillius on King Island. Rpt. A.A.A.S .,
Vol. 25, p. 349.

Chapman, F., 1912. —Notes on a Collection of Tertiary Lime¬
stone and their Fossil Contents from King Island. Mem.
Nat. Mus. Melb., Vol. 4, pp. 39-53.

Coaldrake, J. E., 1955. — Fossil Soil Hardpans and Coastal
Sandrock in S. Queensland. Aust. J. Set., Vol. 17, pp.
132-133.

Cotton, C. A., 1951. — Atlantic Gulfs, Estuaries and Cliffs

Gcol. Mag,. Vol. 88, pp, 113-128.

Coulson, A., 1910.—The Sand Dunes of the Portland District
and their Relation to Post-Pliocene Uplift. Proc. Roy.
Soc. Vic., Vol. 52, pp. 312-335.

Crespin, I., 1944.—Middle Miocene Limestones from King

Island, Tasmania. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. for 1914, pp. 15-18.
Curtls, W. M., 1956. — The Students' Flora of Tasmania, Part I.
Hobart.

Davies, J. L., 1957.—The Importance of Cut and Fill in the
Development of Sand Ilidges. Aust. J. Sci., Vol. 20,
pp. 105-111.

- , 1959. — Wave Refraction and the Evolution of

Shoreline Curves. Geogr. Studies (to be published).
Debenham, F., 1910.—Notes on the Geology of King Island.

J. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. 44, pp. 560-575.

Edwards, A. B., 1941.—The North-West Coast of Tasmania.
Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., Vol. 53, pp. 233-267.

- 1945.—The Geology of Phillip Island. Proc.

Roy. Soc . Vic., Vol. 57, pp. 1-16.

Edwards, A. B., Baker, G„ and Callow, R„ 1955.—Metamor¬
phism and Metasomatism at King Island Scheelite Mine.
J. Gcol. Soc. Aust*, Vol. 3, pp. 55-98.

Fairbridc.e, R. W., 1948. — Geology of the Country around Wadda-
mana, C. Tasmania. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. for 1948, pp.
111-149.

Gardner, D. E. 1955.—Beach-Sand Heavy-Mineral Deposits of
Eastern Australia. C'wlth of Aust. Bur. Min. Res. Bull.
28.

Gill, E. D., 1943. — Geology of Warrnambool. Proc. Roy. Soc.
Vic., Vol. 55, pp. 133-164.

- , 1956. — Radiocarbon Dating of Late Quaternary

Shorelines in Australia. Quatcrnaria, Vol. 3. pt>. 133-138.
Gill, E. D., and Banks, M. R.. 1956.—Cainozoic History of
Mowbray Swamp and Other Areas of North-Western
Tasmania. Rcc. Queen Viet. Mus. Launceston , N.S. No. 6,

pp. 1-12.

Hossfkld, I*. S., 1950. — Late Cainozoic History of the South-east
of S. Australia. Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., Vol. 73, pp.
232-279.

Jennings, J. N., 1955. — The Influence of Wave Action on
Coastal Outline in Plan. Aust. Geogr., Vol. 6, pp. 36-44.

-, 195G.—Calc-Sinter and Dripstone Formations

in an Unusual Context. Aust. J. Sci., Vol. 18, pp. 107-111.

- , 1967a.—Coastal Dune-Lakes as Exemplified

from King Island, Tasmania. Geogr. J., Vol. 123, pp.
59-70.

- , 1957b. — On the Orientation of Parabolic or

U-Dunes. Geogr. J., Vol. 123, pp. 474-480.

■- , 1959.—The Submarine Topography of Bass

Strait. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic. (in press).

Johnson, D. W., 1932.—Principles of Marine Level Correlation.
Geogr. Rev., Vol. 22, pp. 294-298.

Johnston. R. M., 1878. — Notes on certain Tertiary and Post-
Tertiary Deposits on Flinders, Barren, Badger and other
Islands in Bass Straits. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. for 1878,
p. 41.

- , 1888. — Systematic Account of the Geology

of Tasmania. Hobart.

KBBLE, R. A., 1945.—Diprotodontiae in Southern Australia.
Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., Vol. 57, pp. 23-48.

McGarity, J. W., 1956.—Coastal Sandrock Formation at Evans
Head, N.S.W. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. 81, pp. 62-
58.

Melton, F. A., 1940.—A Tentative Classification of Sand

Dunes. J. Gcol., Vol. 48, pp. 113-145.

Nye, P. B., 1939. — King Island Scheelite Deposit. Chcm. Eng.
& Min. Rev., Vol. 27. pp. 14-16.

Nye. P. B., and Knight, C. L.. 1953.—The King Island Scheelite
Mine; in Geology of the Australian Ore Deposits, 5th
Emp. Min. Metall. Cong., Vol. 1, pp. 1222-1232.

Scorr, B., I960.—The Petrology of the Volcanic Rocks of S.E.
King Island, Tasmania. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. for 1950,
pp. 113-136.

Scott, H. H., 1905.—Memoir on Procoptodon raphe Owen (from
King Island). Queen Viet. Mus., Launceston Brochure
No. 1.

- , 1906. — Memoir on Macropus anak from King

Island. Queen Viet. Mus. Launceston Brochure No. 2.

-, 1912.—Memoir on Nototherium tasmanicus Owen.

Queen Viet. Mus. Launceston Brochure No. 4.

-, 1917.-—Some Paleontological Notes. Queen Viet.

Mus. Launceston Brochure No. 6.

Scott, H. H., and Lokd, C. E., 1920-23. -Studies in Tasmanian
Mammals, Living and Extinct. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. for
1920, pp. 13-27. 76-96; for 1921. pp. 13-15; for 1923,
pp. 1-8.

Spencer, W. B., 1*88. — Expedition to King Island, Nov., 1887.
Vic. Nat., Vol. 4, pp. 189-164.

Spencer. W. B., and Kershaw. J. V.. 1910.—A Collection of
Subfossil Bird and Marsupial Remains from King Island.
Mem. Not. Mus. Vic., Vol. 3, pp. 5-36.

Sprigg, R., 1952.—The Geology of the S.E. Province of S. Aus¬
tralia. Gcol. Surv. S. Aust. Bull. 29.

Stephens. C. G., and Hoskino, 6. G., 1932.—A Soil Survey of
King Island. C.S.l.R.O. Bull. 70.

Tbichkrt, C., 1947. — Contributions to the Geology of Houtman’s
Abrolhos, W. Australia. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. 71,
pp. 145-196.

Tkichert, C., and Fairiwidge, R. W., 1952.—Soil Horizons and
Marine Bands in the Coastal Limestone of W. Australia.
J. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. 86, pp. 68-87.

Waterhouse, L. L., 1915. — Notes on the Geology of King
Island. Sec. Min. Rep. 1915. Tas. Pari. Pap., Vol. 14,
pp. 88-93.

APPENDIX I.—PLANT REMAINS FROM DELTAIC DEPOSIT EXPOSED IN CLIFF OF

CITY OF MELBOURNE BAY

Fossil Wood (Identified by Mr. H. D. Ingle, C.S.l.R.O. Division of Forest Products)

Eucalyptus sp.

Nothofagus sp.

Hardwood, not either of the above.

Fossil Pollen and Spores (Identified by Dr. S. Duigan, University of Melbourne)

Phyllocladus aspleniifolius

91.5

Pollen

Expressed

total

pollen

count

Drimys lanceolata

4.5

Expressed

total

pollen

count

Nothofagus cunninghamii

1.0

Expressed

total

pollen

count

Myrtaceae

0.5

Expressed

total

pollen

count

Unknown dicotyledons

2.5

Expressed

°7o

total

pollen

count

Unknown ferns including

17.5

Spores

Expressed

°/o

total

pollen

count

Dicksonia ? sp. & Todea ?
sp.)

Cyathea sp.

2.5

Expressed

total

pollen

count

Polypodium sp.

1.0

Expressed

total

pollen

count

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

APPENDIX II.—MOLLUSCA FROM KING ISLAND.
J. Hope Maepherson
(National Museum of Victoria)

+ denotes species present.

J denotes juveniles only of species present.

? denotes uncertain identification.

r.OWPER POINT:

New Shorelines and Dunes

Old Shorelines

Bore No.

. .

100

101

106

186

196

204

Sample No. 15

Clanculus Jloridus Philippi

4 ustrocochlea adelaidae Philippi

••

A. constricta Lamarck

4. odontis Wood.

* *

‘ *

Gantharidus ramburi Crosse
Subninella undulaUi Solander . .

* •

* *

‘ *

Micrastrea a urea Jonas

Phasianella sp.
p ventricosa Swainson ..

••

;;

Sigapatella calyptraejormis Lamarck

• •

llipponir sp.

H. conica Schumacher . .

• •

* *

• *

Zeacumantns cerithium Q. and G.

. .

Turritella sp.

. .

TurbonUla marine T. Woods
Ellatrivia merces Iredalo..

* *

Zemitrella semiconvexa Lamarck
Cominetta lineolata Lamarck

Alocospira marginata Lamarck

A. petterdi Tate ..

* •

* *

ilarqinelln sp.

M. formicula Lamarck ..

* *

• •

* *

Marita metralis Adams and Angus
Ploraconus anemone Lamarck . .
Salinator fragilis Lamarck

* *

••

• •

••

Glycymeris sp.

G. radians Lamarck

* *

G. striatularis Lamarck

. .

Ostrea angasi Sowerby ..
Venericardia calm Tate

Codakia crassilirata Tate

* *

• •

* *

• •

••

C. tatei Angas

Cardium Bp.

Gomphinn undulosa Lamarck ..
Katelysia sp.

K. pe.roni Lamarck

. .

K. scalarina Lamarck ..

. .

IC. rhytiphora Lamy

Tawera galinula Lamarck

. .

T. spissa Deshayes

Notospisula trigonella Lamarck

Mesodesma angusta Reeve

* *

• •

* •

1 “

J. N. JENNINGS.

THE NOOK: 100-290 cm. Samples Nos., 42, 45, 59 and 61

Clanculus aloysii T. Woods .. .. .. +

Astraea sp. .. .. .. . . .. J

Elachorbix cf. caperatum . . . . . . +

Laevilitorina mariae T. Woods . . . . +

Diala lauta A. Adams .. .. .. +

J). pulchra A. Adams . . . ■ +

Assiminea brazieri T. Woods .. . . +

Zeacumantus cerithium Q. and G.
Retusa ampliizosta Watson . .
Cominella eburnea Reeve
Cylichnina ircdaleana Hedley
Salinator sp.

Melliteryx hetnsi Hedloy
Katelysia peroni Lamarck

SOUTH EAST LAGOON AND NEIGHBOURING BORES:

Bore No.

2 £ £

4-3

Depth

44-

48-

60-

2.7-

S s

3 S

o ©

w O

48"

52"

66"

3.5m

3.1m

5 s

Sample No.

Clanculus plebejus Philippi

llypolrochus monaclms Crosse and Fischer

Subninella undulata Solander

Estea tasmanica T. Woods

Laevilitorina marina T. Woods . .

Dial u pa god ula A. Adams..

D. pulchra A. Adams

Assiminea brazieri T. Woods

Cithna angulata Hedley

Rissoa sp. ..

Cerithium sp.

EubiUium insculptum (Reeve) . .

Od. 08 tom.ia met calfei P and Gat.. ..

Zemitrella sp.

Z. semiconvexci Lamarck ..

Nnxsarius sp.

Parcanassa sp.

P.pauperata Lamarck

. .

Microvoluta sp.

Marginalia sp.

Ostrea angasi Sowerbv

Notomytilu8 rubra Hedley. .

Venericardia sp.

Melliteryx helmsi Hedley

Cardium sp.

Katelysia sp.

K. peroni Lamarck

K. scalarina Lamarck

. .

K. rkytiphora Lamy

4 .

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

YELLOW ROCK CHEESE FACTORY: Sample No. 56.

A mblychilepas javanicensis Lamarck

• • +

Glycymeris radians Lamarck

Sophismulepas oblonga Menke

-• +

G. striatnlaris Lamarck

Halioti8 sp.

Ostrea angasi Sowerby

Cellana tramoserica Sowerby

• ■ +

Cardium sp.

MicraMrea aurea Jonas

• • +

Gomphina undulosa Lamarck

Hipponix conica Schumacher

-• +

Tawera gall inula Lamarck

Pleuroploca australamae Perry

.. +

Notispisula trigonella Lamarck

Floraconus anemone Lamarck

-• +

Mesodestna augasta Reeve

D. BOWLING’S FARM (between Chain of Lagoons and Big Lake).

Boro No.

Depth

Sample No.

Sophismalepas cruris Beddome . .
S. oblonqa Menke
Macrochisnui lusmaniae Sowerby
Hal lot is roei Gray
H. ruber Leach
Clancnlus aloysii T. Wood
C. plebejus Philippi
GibbuUi up.

Herpctopomu aspersa Philippi
Phasianotrochus sp.

P, eximius Perry .. .. .

Bnnkivia fasciata Menke . .
Cautharidus ramburi Crosso
Auslrocochlea adelaidae Philippi
A. constricta Lamarck
A. odotttis Wood

Bypotrochus mouachus C. and F.. .
Calliotrochus sp.

Subnine.Ua undulata Solander
Micraslrea a urea Jonas
PhasiuneUa sp.

P. ventricosa Swainson
Munditiu subquadratn T. Woods
Elacliorbis hrirriettae Pottord
Actinoleuca calamus C. and F.
Cellurui solida Blainville ..
Chiazacmaea sp.

Patelloida altieostata Angas
Laevilitorina mariae T. Woods ..
Pseudorissoina tasmanica T. Woods
Sigapatella calyptraeformis Lamarck
Anlisabia Joliacea Q. and G.
Hipponix conica Schumacher
Ataxocerilbium serotinum A. Adams
Zeacumantus cerithium Q. and G.
Triphora angasi Crosse and Fischer
Fossarina petterdi Crosse . .

'1 urbonilla hojmani Angas

T. mariae T. Woods

Eulima coxi Pilsbry

Cymatiella lesucuri Iredalo

C. verrucosa Reeve

Notocypraea angustata Gmelin ’ '

Ellatrivia merces Iredale

Higher Sediments

Lower

Sediments

DIO

D15

D20

D55

D60

D35

1.5-

1.45-

1.75-

1.15-

1.05-

1.55-

1.7-

well

1.9m.

1.6m.

2.45m

1.36m

1.6m.

1.65m

1.8m.

••

• •

. .

• *

. .

• •

. .

• •

. .

, .

* *

• •

. .

, ,

••

* *

••

• •

. .

. ,

* *

. .

* *

. .

* *

* ‘

• •

. .

, .

••

* ■

* *

. .

* •

* *

■ ■

* *

• •

. .

••

. .

••

• *

• •

. .

. ,

‘ *

J. N. JENNINGS.

D. BOWLING’S FARM: continued —

——

Higher Sediments

Lower

Sediments

Bore No.

DIO

D15

D20

D55

D60

D35

Depth

well

1.5-

1.0m.

1.45-

1.6m.

1.75-

2.45m

1.15-

1.36m

1.05-

1.6m.

1.55-

1.65m

1.7-

1.8m.

Sample No.

XAtozamia brazieri T. Woods

Lepsiella reticulata Blainville

Ze 7 iiitrella austrinn Gaskoin

Z. semiconvexa Lamarck

Z. tenebrica Reeve

Jteticunassa mobilis Hedley and May
Taixiniotha tasmaniea T. Woods

Cominella eburnea Reeve

C. lineolata Lamarck

Alocospira lineata Kiener

A. maeginata Lamarck

A. petterdi Tate

Marginella sp.

M. jormicula Lamarck

M. inconspicua Sowerby . .

M. ovulum Sowerby

M. pygmaea Sowerby

Austromitra angasi Brazier

Plorn conus sp.

P. anemone Lamarck

Pseudodaphnella modesta Angas . .

Terebra ustulata Deshayes

Siphonaria diemensis Q. and G. . .
Olycymeris sp.

Area pistachio Lamarck . .

My til us sp. . .

Modiolus pulex Lamarck

Cardita calyculata Linne . .

Melliteryx helmsi Hedley

My sella donaciformis Angas

To xeeru gallinula Lamarck

T. spissa Deshayes

Uiatella australis Lamarck

• ++++; ^ ^.

THREE RIVERS: Sample 31.

AustrococMea sp. .. .. .. .. ? Micrastraea aurea Jonas .. .. .. +

Cellana solida Blainville .. .. .. + Pleuroploca australasiae Perry . . .. +

BAY SOUTH OF NETHERBY BAY: Sample 16.

AustrococMea adelatdae Philippi .. .. +

A. constricta Lamarck .. .. .. +

A. odonlis Wood . . .. .. .. -j-

Subinnella undulata Solander .. . . 4-

Patelloida alticostata Ongas .. .. .. +

P. victoriana (Singleton) .. . . .. -f

Patellanax peroni Blainville . . . . -j-

Dicathais textiliosa Lamarck . . . . -f

ZemitreUa semiconvexa Lamarck . . . . ?

Cominella lineolata Lamarck . . .. -j-

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

APPENDIX III.—REPORT ON FORAMINI FERAL SAMPLES FROM KING ISLAND,

TASMANIA

A. C. Collins

Bowling’s Farm, Surprise Bay.

Sample 38, Bore D60. Dark-grey shell and
quartz sand, 105-160 cm.

Residue after washing is almost entirely calca¬
reous; bryozoan fragments are dominant; there
are also small mollusca, echinoid spines, sponge
spicules, worm tubes, ostracoda. Manv foramini-
fera are present, over 100 spp. Some small sharp-
edged quartz grains occur.

Floatings mostly consist of the lighter bryozoan
fragments with foraminifera, ostracoda and gas-
teropod molluscs. The foraminiferal assemblage
is that of an open-sea beach sand as found on
the mainland at places like Torquay with the ex¬
ception of two species. Quinqueloculina monynensis
has so far been recorded only from the warm-water
Pleistocene shell-beds of Port Fairy. Poroeponides
lateralis is a tropical species. One specimen only
was found, poorly developed, but otherwise typical.

Sample 41, Bore D55. Grey shell sand, 115-
136 cm.

Residue after washing and floating similar to
those of sample 38. The foraminiferal assemblage
of about *0 spp. is that of an open-sea beach sand
in composition but not in preservation. Many of
the miliolid tests are stained grey or black, in
some cases the whole test being a polished jet-
biack This suggests deposition under reducing
conditions, e.g., material derived from adjacent
shallow-water bemg carried by waves or high
tides into a stagnant lagoon.

Two specimens of the foraminifera, Fabularia sp
? Collins were found in this material, both
black-stained like other miliolids. The only pre-

t^nf 1Q leC ? r n f °J /' lata is from warm-water Pleis¬
tocene shell beds at Port Fairy, Vic., while a
closely-similar, if not identical, form has been

Salh Xt all °\ Water 0ff K ‘ n Sston, South
1 The genus has in general been recorded
from warm-water deposits from the Eocene on-
r , ecc ?v’ d si *fsests rather warmer climatic
present” &t the tlme of de P°sition than at

Sa i50-190 7 cm° re D1 °' SheU 3nd qUartz sand -

Residue after washing consists of clear auartz
^hPii’ H g V ai . ns rounded . with a good deal of

forLfnifera, e &c SPin6S ’ bryozoan fragments.

80 F snn tl nf\p C pp nS t ist », n ?i ainIy of foi 'aminifera, about

SP ?C of leccnt shallow-water Bass Strait facies-
the lighter fragments of bryozoa’
ostracoda and small mollusca. The material is a
typical open-sea beach sand. ls a

Sa g?avtl 3 with°np D35 ' , Gr ® y quartz sand and
180 V cm Wlth occaslonal she11 fragments, 170-

Residue after washing consists mainly of quartz
sand, larger grains rounded, smaller angular, also
some larger fragments of greenish fine-grained
rock. A good deal of carbonaceous matter is
present, adhering to the sand grains and giving
the material its dark colour.

Floatings contain a fair number of foraminifera,
of about 55 spp. and a normal shallow-water Bass
Strait facies. Specimens are mostly rather small,
with surfaces dulled or eroded and in some cases
dark-stained. Other organisms include discoidal
diatom tests, sponge spicules, ostracoda and coxi-
ellid gasteropods.

Foraminiferal and other evidence suggests condi¬
tions of normal salinity but somewhat sapropelic
bottom conditions, not very favourable to the
growth or preservation of foraminifera, e.g., a
marine swamp.

South-East Lagoon.

Sample 34, Alexander’s Lagoon. Grey clay,
92-96 in.

Residue is mostly sharp clear quartz grains.
Floatings consist mainly of a matted accumulation
of a bright-green stellate desmid alga. One speci¬
men of a foraminifera was found— Fissurina sp.,
in poor condition, possibly adventitious.

Evidence is negative only; the deposit is presum¬
ably freshwater.

sample 35. Bore 2.
shells, 58-52 in.

Darn-grey silty clay, with

Residue after washing is mostly shell debris with
fibrous carbonaceous matter; there are some fine
quartz grains and a good deal of mica.

Floatings include small mollusca, with manv
coxiellids, ostracoda, and very many specimens of
a species of the foraminiferal genus Streblus so
common as to make up about a quarter of the
enure float Five spp. of the genus Elphidium
weie present, the remaining 19 spp. being all such
“are found in the shallow waters of Bass Strait
with no arenaceous miliolid forms.

,J^ prepo i ld l 1 ; a “ , ?e. in numbers of the species of
Streblus and Elphidium, genera known to have
to , era f! t of low salinities, combined with the

SS5?S»StttS2f SSJ! brada * h -»“»

Oreen-yellow clay-syttja,

n™ e iii d H e < - after washing consist mainly of mollus-
clean and well preserved, with
?f rac ° da ’ echinoid spines, &c., and a good deal
of mica. Some fairly large quartz grains are
subangular or sharply facetted.

„J, loatings consist largely of small foraminifera
well preserved and unstained, with a strong ele-
ment of large specimens of Elphidium sp. sf.

J. N. JENNINGS.

crispum (L). There are also some large specimens
of Streblus sp., but they are not common. The
smaller species are of similar facies to sample 35.

This is an assemblage which almost suggests
two separate provenances—a local quiet-water
marine element consisting of the larger species,
and a current-transported assemblage of the
smaller and lighter forms from an open-sea source.
Corio Bay, Vic., has shore-sand assemblages domi¬
nated by this species of Elphidium. There does
not seem to be any strong evidence of low salinity.
Mineral contents suggest short travel of the quartz
and mica fraction. The development and good pre¬
servation of the larger foraminiferal and molluscan
shells seems to be at variance with sapropelic
bottom conditions as suggested by the identifica¬
tion of the deposit as clay-gyttja.

Sample 50, Bore 40. Grey clay-silt, with shells,
270-310 cm.

Residue after washing is a fine-grained calca¬
reous sand, with shell debris foraminifera, ostra-
coda, small mollusca, echinoid spines, sponge spi¬
cules and some clear quartz grains.

Streblus sp. is dominant in the floatings, which
also contained coxiellid gasteropods. Other fora¬
minifera, about 50 spp., were of shallow-water open
sea facies, with some grey-staining and erosion.
The foraminiferal and other evidence suggests
brackish-water conditions with open sea access,
e.g., tidal estuaries.

Sample 53, Bore 45. Grey silt with shells,

255-268 cm.

Residue after washing is mostly of angular quartz
grains with mica flakes.

Floatings consist almost entirely of coxiellid
shells, with a few foraminifera dominated by

Streblus sp., grey-stained and eroded. The evi¬
dence suggests brackish-water lake conditions with
occasional access by the sea.

Egg Lagoon.

Smple 54. White shell sand, 197-260 cm. Bore
at Nototherium site (whereas all above are
estuarine-marine sediments, this may be an
aeolianite mashed up in the auger).

The material consists mostly of calcareous frag¬
ments with some quartz grains, rather angular.
Shell fragments and foraminifera have a rather
“ frosted ” appearance, including those which are
naturally glassy and translucent. The material
compares rather closely with an aeolianite from
Cape Grim, Tas. (coll. E. D. Gill), and is probably
of similar provenance. There are about 60 spp.
of foraminifera. all Bass Strait forms, with the
exception of Calcarina sp. cf. calcar d’Orb.
Calcarina as a genus is tropical in distribution.
Specimens found are not well preserved but are
rather like a form found in Western Australian and
Barrier Reef waters. Genus was recorded also from
the Pleistocene of Port Fairy. It is not known as
recent in Bass Strait.

The ecological indications vary from probable
fresh-water deposits to marine beach-sand. The
only evidence of climatic difference is given in the
occurrence of Qtiinqueloculina moynensis and
Poroeponid.es lateralis in Sample 38, of Fabularia
sp. cf. lata in Sample 41, and of Calcarina sp. in
Sample 54. These invite comparisons with the
climate of the last Pleistocene warm period. They
also, indirectly, give some age evidence, since to
the best of my knowledge these species do not occur
in the Bass Strait area in the recent state. Other¬
wise all species appear to be of recent Bass Strait
facies.

THE COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF KING ISLAND, BASS STRAIT

LIST OF SPECIES IDENTIFIED

Note— “Discorbis” s.l has recently been subdivided into a number of genera by Bermudez. These records are
however kept under the names recorded in the literaturo for convenience in reference. All are well-known species.

-f denotes species present. X denotes dominant species.

Samples

,rr
ta Pari

Textularia agglutinans d’Orb.

T. pseudogramen Chapman and Pa
T. sagittula Defrance
Qaudryina ( Pseudogaudryina ) hasta
Clavidina difformis Brady ..
Quinqucloculina costata d'Orb.

Q. baragutanalhi Parr
Q. bradyana Cushman
Q. lamarekiana d'Orb.

Q. moynensis Collins
Q. subpolygona Parr
Spiroloculina angusteoralis Parr
8. scita Cushman and Todd
Sigmoilina australis (Parr)

Triloculina labiosa d’Orb. ..

T. cf. oblonga (Montagu)

T, tricarinata d’Orb.

T. trigonula (Lamarck)

T. striatotrigonula (P. and J.)

Pyrgo depressa (d’Orb.)

P. subglob ulus Parr . .

Biloctdinella globula (Born.)

Fabularia sp. aff. lata Collins
Nevillina coronata (Millett)

Tubine.Ua funalis (Brady) . .

Lenticidina crepidula (F. and M.)

L. gibba (d'Orb.)

L. ( Bobul-us ) suborbicularis Parr
Plantdaria australis Chapman
Vaginulina vertebra lit Parr
V. ha seen sis Parr
V. patens Brady
Amphicoryne scalaris (Batsch)

Lagena laevis (Montagu)
h. distoma-margaritifera P. and J
L. distoma-margaritifera var. victoriensis
L. ramulosa Chapman
L. sulcata (Walker and Jacob)

L. perlucida (Montagu)

L. subacuticosta Parr
Oolina ampulla-distoma (R. Jones)

O. costa ta (Williamson)

O. globosa (Montagu)

O. hexagona (Williamson)

O. squamosa (Montagu)

O. variola (Brady) . .

Fissurina clathrata (Brady)

P■ lacunata (Burrows and Holland’

F. margituito-perforata Seguenza
F. orbignyana (Seguenza) var.

F. lagenoides (Williamson)

F. subquadrata Parr
F. lucida (Williamson)

F. marginata (Walker and Boys)
Parafissurina quadrata Parr
Oattulina lactea (W. and J.)

O. problema d’Orbigny

Parr

. .

-b

. .

••

. .

• •

. .

J. N. JENNINGS.

Samples

O. regina (Brady, Parker and Jones)

-f

Globidina gibba d’Orbigny . .

Polymorph ina hawchini Cushman and Ozawa

Sigmoidella kagaensis C. and 0.

S. elegantissima Parker and Jones

BolivineUn folium (P. and J.)

Buliminella madagascariensis d’Orbigny . .

. .

Bulimina marginata d'Orbigny

if. sp. afif. elongata d'Orb ..

Virgulina sp. aff. pauciloculata Brady

Beussella sp. aff. simplex Cushman

Bolivina compacta Sidebottoin

B. pseudoplicatu Heron-Alien and Earland

Uvigerina bassensis Parr ..

Siphogenerina raphanus (P. and J.)

Angulogenerina angulosa (Will.) . .

Trifarina bradyi Cushman ..

Cassidulina delicata Cushman

Spirillina inaequalis Brady

denticulala Brady

Patellinu carrugula Williamson

PateUineUa inconspicua (Brady) ..

<i Discorbis >1 williamsoni Chapin, and Parr

“V.” rarescens (Brady)

’ globularis (d’Orbigny)

“IJ." australensis H-A. and E.

“D.” jmlvinalna (Brady)

“Z>.” patclliformis (Brady)

’ dimidiatus Parker and Jones

Discorbinclla biconcava (P. and J.)

D. disparilis (Sidebottoin)

Heronallenia lingulata (B. and H.)

H. translucent! Parr

Poroeponides lateralis (Torquem) .

Valvulineria collinsi (Parr)

Streblus sp. (?2)

rs*t

Calcarina sp. cf. calcar d’Orb.

_l_

Olobigerina bulloides d’Orb.

-f

Globigerinoides conglobatus (Brady)

Orbulina uni versa d’Orbigny

Sphaeroidina bulloides d’Orb.

Globorotalia crassula Cushman and Stewart

Trnncorotalia truncatulinoides (d’Orbigny)

Tretomphalua concinnus (Brady)

Cibicides lobatulus (W. and J.)

••

• •

C. psuedoungerianus Cushman

-f

Oyocibicides laevis Parr

Planorbulina rubra d’Orb. .

Acervulina inhaerens (Schultzo)

Gypsina vesicular is P. and J.

Elph idium sculpturatum Cuslnnan

4 -

K. macellum (Fichtel and Moll)

K. tnacellum var. limbatum (Chapman) . .

-f

E. crispum (Linne) ..

E. sp. aff. articulatum (d’Orb.)

E. argenteum Parr ..

-f- denotes speoies present. ^ denotes dominant species.

L. G. Shea. Government Printer, Tasmania

1 » i <!'• T! n*lM5b +

; r ■ vr?* .mh* .© -J

NEW SERIES, No. 12

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM,

LAUNCESTON

COMMENTS

ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY
WESTERN TASMANIA

B. SCOTT

(Manuscript received, ZHh October, 1959)
(Published 30th June, 1960)

ABSTRACT

A series of unconsolidated sands and gravels, with bands of clay and lignite, extends from Strahan and
Malanna southwards to the Wanderer River, covering an area of approximately 225 square miles. Fossil
determinations on two carbonaceous horizons at Strahan indicate an Upper Cainozoic age (probably Pliocene)
for these deposits. Sections in cliff exposures on the eastern shore of Macquarie Harbour combined with the
results of drilling by the Tasmanian Department of Mines show a minimum thickness of 730 feet, of which
approximately 560 feet is below the present sea level. These beds are believed to have been deposited during
the Upper Cainozoic in a graben. Continued movement on the boundary faults during deposition is indicated
and the cyclic nature of the sedimentation could be related to this’ feature. Movement on these faults
after deposition (post-Pliocene) is indicated by the presence of sediments at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,200
feet above the present sea level.

INTRODUCTION

During the regional mapping campaign of S.W. Tasmania recently carried out by personnel of Lyell-E.Z.
Explorations (the exploration branch of Mt. Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd. and the Electrolytic Zinc
Co. of Australasia Limited), a series of unconsolidated sands and gravels, with bands of clay and lignite, was
JPund ex * en< ^ ' ron ' Strahan (Figure 1) and southwards to cover an area of approximately 225 square miles,
the sediments were demonstrated to be masking areas which would contain rocks belonging to the Dundas
Group and Owen Conglomerate, of Lower Palaeozoic age. As these older rocks form the host for many of
the sulphide deposits which are found on the West Coast, such as at Rosebery and Queenstown, it became
necessary to examine these younger rocks in some detail in order to understand their broad outlines of
lithology and thickness. As this work progressed, a study was also made of the various levels, or surfaces,
to be seen within, and beyond, these unconsolidated sediments.

1 X^ is E aper , \ 8 published by permission of the Mt. Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd. and the Electro¬
lytic Zinc Co. of Australasia Limited.

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

PREVIOUS WORK

The first observations relating to these sediments
were made by Lempriere (1954) who was Commissariat
Officer for the period 1835-1839 on the convict settlement
which had been established on Settlement Island in
Macquarie Harbour. His observations relate to the
poor nature of the soil in the area, and the lignite at
Coal Head. Later workers in C. Gould (1862), R. M.
Johnston (1888, 1890, p. 53, 1894 p. 73), T. B. Moore
(1894 p. 147, 1895 p. 56 and 62), A. Montgomery (1894,
p. 167), C. L. Hills (1914), S. W. Carey (1950) and J.
Bradley (1954, p. 193) make reference to these sediments
on the east shore of the Harbour. Hills refers to a
thickness of about 100 feet of horizontal beds of clays,
sandstones, mudstones and lignites at Kelly Basin, in the
S.E. comer of the Harbour. Further to the north, A.
Montgomery (1890, p. 42), R. M. Johnston (1892, p. 11),
J. W. Gregory (1904 p. 37) noted the presence of clays
and lignites in the lower Henty River area and David
(1926, p. 91) records the presence of lignitic shales and
sandstone from the same area. Most recently, Banks
and Ahmad (1959, p. 117) have presented a detailed
account of the lithology and structure of these sediments
in the Henty area. South of Macquarie Harbour the
only reference to these sediments is by F. Blake (1936)
in his report on the Wanderer River area.

During the last two summers sections were measured
by R. G. Elms at Condor River (Locality L) and Moore’s
Valley (Locality M, Figure 2), by P. Rodda at the
Spero River and Moore's Valley, and by B. Scott else¬
where. Apart from these localised studies work of a
general nature was carried out by way of helicopter
reconnaissance and the examination of aerial photo¬
graphs.

DEPOSITS

It will be convenient to describe the deposits
exposed from Macquarie Harbour southwards to Moore’s
Valley. To arrive at some overall coverage a description
of the Cainozoic sediments at the Lower Henty River
is also included. The description is from the recent
paper by Banks and Ahmad (1959).

I. LOWER HENTY AREA ; Section from Govt.

Railway cuttings between Malanna and the Henty

River (Locality A on Fig. 2).

“The Cainozoic deposits exposed in the railway
cuttings consist of more or less unconsolidated rocks,
with gravels, cross bedded sands, clays and lignites being
represented. The gravels are commonly bedded and the
boulders in them are mainly sub-rounded. No striated
pebbles were found although they were looked for. The
rock fragments consist mainly of Permian sandstone,
siltstone or granule conglomerate, dolerite, Owen Con¬
glomerate, quartz and quartzite and more rarely
fragments of clay or clayey sand or lignite. Some of
these boulders are now deeply weathered,” “It is also
significant that the rock types present are all potentially
of local derivation and could all come from within three
miles to the east. The matrix of the gravels is predomin¬
antly sandy and they contain little clay.”

8. MACQUARIE HARBOUR (Localities B to G on

Figure 2).

The Cainozoic sediments are well exposed in the
cliffs of the N.E. shore of Macquarie Harbour. These

unconsolidated sediments form cliffs up to 200 ft. high
and were graphically described by Moore (1894) as
forming “a formidable wall of consolidated sand and
mud.”

In contrast to the sediments to the south of the
Harbour, these sections contain two distinct sedimentary
types, one distinguished by a predominance of sands
and gravels (arenaceous) and the other by a predomin¬
ance of shales and mudstones with thin bands of low
rank coal (lutaceous). Analyses of these coals, and
associated pyritic mudstones are shown in Table I. The
lutaceous type is exposed in the cliff sections at Braddon
Cliff (E) and Coal Head (D). Above and below these
sections a regional dip of 5° to 10° to the N.W. exposes
arenaceous sediments at Sophia Bay (B) and Neilson’s
Cliff (C) and Farm Cove (F) and Clarks Bay (G)
respectively. These sediments are identical in most
respects to the lignitic clay /sand/gravel noted south of
Macquarie Harbour but with a maximum size range of
only up to the cobble gravel grade. 1 Particles of Owen
Conglomerate and Precambrian siliceous sediments
(quartz-mica schists and metaquartzite) predominate
but north of Coal Head, that is in the upper group of
arenaceous beds, particles of granite and rocks of the
Dundas Group are relatively common. The colour of
these sediments varies from cream to yellow, some of
those iron stained sands containing sufficient iron
hydroxides to form a cement. The particles are gener¬
ally rounded ; current bedding and gullying are
common, with angular unconformities of up to 25
degrees. The current bedding direction varies from
horizon to horizon in the sequence, and suggests both
northerly and southerly current directions. The upper
arenaceous beds are exposed at Neilson’s Cliff (C) in
a section showing 90 feet of sand and gravel, the low
cliffs in Sophia Bay (B) show the same type of sedi¬
mentation, as do the sections at Strahan. The lower
arenaceous beds are exposed in the cliff at Clarks Bay
and show 75 feet of sand/gravel, at Farm Cove a cliff
54 feet high shows an identical sequence but with a 4
feet band of lignitic shale interbedded in the sand.

The lutaceous beds consist essentially of a thickness
of sands and brown shales with minor clay bands.
Lignitic bands are relatively common and thin seams of
low grade coal and pyritic mudstones are also conspi¬
cuous (Table I). The sections at Braddon Cliff (E) (see
Table n) and Coal Hoad (D), which are 2i miles apart,
appear to correlate reasonably well but between them at
Philip Island and on the shore immediately to the north¬
east, the proportion of sand is higher than that at
Localities E and D. Assuming that the shale beds were
once continuous between Braddon Cliff and Coal Head,
this emplacement of the arenaceous lens may well
represent erosion, and later infilling, by an old river
course. An example of this type of structure in the
upper arenaceous beds can be seen at Sophia Bay.

The top of the lutaceous beds is present in the cliff
near Coal Head (D). Its contact with overlying
arenaceous beds appears to be conformable via a
transitional unit 38 feet thick consisting of rapidly
alternating layers of sand and brown shale/lignitic shale,
each layer less than one inch in thickness.

1. Grain sizes follow Pettljohn (1957), p. 20.

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF

WESTERN TASMANIA

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

TABLE I

ANALYSIS OF COAL AND PYRITIC MUDSTONE FROM CAINOZOIC SEDIMENTS—

MACQUARIE HARBOUR.

Moisture

9.40

7.7

7.76

8.29

Fixed Carbon

33.96

2059

33.08

2951

Volatile

38.39

23.63

43.85

35.29

Ash

19.06

48.33

15.87

27.75

Total Iron

26.11

27.54

26.82

Ferrous Iron

18.26

18.97

18.61

Sulphur

7.20

4.50

5.85

Spcm. 1 Coal from Braddon Cliff (Locality E)

2 Coal from Coal Head (Locality D)

3 Coal from Philip Island

4 Average of Spcms. 1 to 3

5 Pyrjtjc mudstone from Coal Head (Locality D)

6 Pyritic mudstone from Coal Head (Locality D)

7 Average of Spcms. 5 and 6.

Analyses by Assay Office. Mt. Lyell Mining & Railway Co. Limited, Queenstown, Tasmania.

TABLE II

SECTION IN

CAINOZOIC SEDIMENTS

AT BRADDON CLIFF. MACQUARIE HARBOUR

Lutaceous Type

Approx. 43 ft. to

sand

TOP OF CLIFF

12'

brown shale becoming darker to top, pyritic at top
coal

brown shale with thin lignitic partings

pyritic mudstone

brown sandy shale

brown shale with thin (\") coal partings
coal

brown shale

Spcm. 1 in Table II

coal

pyritic mudstone

brown shale

light grey clay

BOTTOM

BEACH LEVEL

TABLE III

I ARM COVE BORE, MACQUARIE HARBOUR (Locality E on Figure 2)
Commenced 11th November, 1902 Completed 23rd January, 1903

Total Depth 571 feet

- 33' 10"

Alternating bands of lignite and clay ,

none of the bands of lignite over twelve
inches. No bands of lignite below 18' 1"

Lutaceous

33'

10"

- 88' 3"

Alternating bands of grey, dark and
light shales/sandy shales

beds

88'

- 180' 10"

Sandstone, light and dark, very soft
and friable

Arenaceous

180'

10"

- 571' 0"

Sandstones (soft and friable) with
occasional lignite bands up to 5" thick.

beds

Reference : Report Sec. Mines, Tasmania, 1902-1903, p. lvii.

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

Thickness of Cainozoic Sediments on Macquarie Harbour

Neither the base nor the top of the sequence has
been seen. As has already been stated, the top of the
lutaceous beds has been seen at Coal Head, with a
measured thickness of 71 feet. Using these measured
sequences the following thicknesses are obtained :

Measured Thickness of Cainozoic Sediments —
Macquarie Harbour

Northwest—Top

Upper arenaceous group

At least 90 feet Neilson’s Cliff (C)
Lutaceous group 71 feet Coal Head (D)

Lower arenaceous group 78 feet Clarks Bay (G)
Southwest—Bottom

A vertical bore drilled by the Tasmanian Depart¬
ment of Mines is summarised in Table III. The exact
location of the collar is not known but from the
description it would have been in the near vicinity of
Braddon Cliff (E). Assuming a regional dip of 5° to
the northwest and that the hole stayed vertical, the base
of the lutaceous beds was located at a depth of 87 feet,
after which the hole continued in 481 feet of the lower
arenaceous beds. Using this result with that of the field
observations, the minimum thickness of the lutaceous
beds can be taken as 158 feet.

Minimum Thickness of Cainozoic Sediments —
Macquarie Harbour

Northwest—Top

Upper arenaceous group 90 feet

Lutaceous group 158 feet

Lower arenaceous group 481 feet

730 feet (to nearest 10 ft.)

It is interesting to note that of this thickness of
730 feet, approximately 560 feet is below the present
sea level.

3. EASTERN MARGIN — D'AGVILAR RANGE

AND MT. SORELL (Localities I and H).

The sediments immediately to the west of these two
localities are poorly exposed and there has not been
the opportunity for the measurement of a section.

Lithologically, the sediments are boulder gravels with
particles of Owen Conglomerate up to 3 to 4 feet in
size, in an unconsolidated matrix of sand. Structurally,
these friable sediments are faulted against the Owen
Conglomerate to the east, a rock noted for its hardness
■ nd durability. However, the Cainozoic sediments near
the D'Aguilar Range form a prominent cliff 100 to 200
feet higher than the flat Henty surface which has been
cut into the western flank of the mounain range here
(see Figure 3). This cliff and associated surface, which is
also present at the south end of Mt. Sorell is rapidly
being removed by erosion.

I). BIRCH INLET (Locality J).

The sediments at the south end of Birch Inlet
consist of pebble/cobble gravels and sands. Particles of
the Owen Conglomerate and Preeambrian are common,
but sandstone pebbles derived from the Eldon Group
also occur. Particles of the Dundas Group are not
apparent.

5. SPERO RIVER (Locality K).

The sediments contain a similar scries of gravels,
sands and clays as seen elsewhere in the area, with a
maximum range into the boulder grade ( +10"). Again
the particles are predominantly siliceous and consist of
Owen Conglomerate and Preeambrian metaquartzites
and quartz-mica schists. The measured sequences show
a rapid variation in character as they are traced north¬
wards from the Spero River. This change is expressed
in the wedging out to the north of the sand grade and
a concomitant increase in the gravel. Westwards there
appears to be a reverse in this trend. Two other
examples of this rapid horizontal variation in the
character of the sediments here are the appearance of a
band of lignitic clay 4 feet thick over tw T o sections 70
yards apart and the thickening of a sand unit from 12
inches to double this thickness with a 3" band of pebble
gravel over two sections six feet apart. All units show
marked current bedding and gullying, with angular
unconformities of up to 13 degrees.

These observations all reflect unsettled conditions
of deposition and it is considered that this may be due
to movement, during deposition, on the western boundary
fault of the basin of accumulation (Figure 2) which is
placed as only approximately 900 yards west of this
locality. Immediately to the west of this boundary, the
base of the Cainozoic sequence, resting on the Dundas
Group, can be seen in the Spero River. This base is
several hundred feet above sea-level.

6. CONDER RIVER (Locality L).

The generalised sequence at the Conder River has
been built up from a study of three sections. Th e
succession resembles that seen elsewhere, sands, pebble
and cobble gravels consisting of particles of Preeambrian
metaquartzites and quartz-mica schist and of Owen
Conglomerate. Particles of chert and shale also
occasionally occur.

The column of 248 feet can be broadly divided into
5 stages, of which only the middle three are fully
represented. Each stage is characterised by n decrease
m grain size from bottom to top, from cobble and nebble
gravels (plus 2') to pebble gravels (less than 2") and
sands, t here is also some evidence to suggest that the
degree of sorting improves with decreasing grain size
Banks and Ahmad (1959, p. 123) noted a similar change
in gram size in the Malanna area. 8

7, MOORES VALLEY (Locality M).

- The generalised sequence here has been built un

s sTmila 8 r to 7 t °h n ! hre ? dl ^ ere . nt sections. The succession
f™ , t0 those already described and consists of a
.eries of sands, pebble and cobble gravels with lignitic
bnnds which dip 5° to 10° to the north. In contrast
Lw*: setlltnp dt8 occasionally contain appreciable (un to
50%) quantities of detritus from the Dundas Groun
particularly towards the base of the measured sequence’
Otherwise the particles consist of Owen Conglomerate
schist and metaquartzite. Usually the
gravels have a sand matrix with less amounts of elav
particles. However, occasionally the matrix is mainly

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

In one of the measured sequences of 235 feet, six
cycles or parts of cycles, can be distinguished. A cycle
typically follows the pattern already outlined at the
Conder River locality except that the top unit is sonie-
times a thin band of lignitic clay up to 2 feet in thick¬
ness. A complete cycle would be about 40 feet thick.

An investigation of the detrital minerals in the
sediments established the obvious abundance of quartz,
with muscovite. Rutile, hematite, topaz, zircon, kyanite
and biotite were also identified, magnetite and chromite
were not seen.

A minimum thickness of 425 feet has been measured
with an unknown thickness removed from the top and
an unknown thickness below the base of the measured
column. Geophysical results indicate a thickness of 300
to 400 feet below the present valley floor but this figure
cannot be directly added to that of 425 feet. A minimum
thickness of 600 to 700 feet is indicated, the base of
which is at an elevation of approximately 100 feet below
sea-level.

AGE OF DEPOSITS

Particles of Owen Conglomerate (Ordovician) are
common throughout the sediments with particles of
sandstones of the Eldon Group (Silurian) being less
abundant. In the lower Henty River area, Gregory
(1904) and Banks and Ahmad (1959) recorded the
presence of particles of dolerite (lower Jurassic) and
Permian sandstone and conglomerate. In 1892, Johnston
recorded the presence of a Fagua close to F. cunninghami
and an Acacia close to A. melanoxylon from the lignites
of the latter area. From this same area. Banks and
Ahmad (1959) report the presence of seeds and seed
cases on cones of Bnnksia margincita which also bear
a close resemblance to the seed cases of forms still living
in the area. According to Banks and Ahmad (op. cit.)
on this basis the beds in the lower Henty area would
best, be considered as Upper Cainozoic.

E. D. Gill (personal communication. 1959) collected
specimens from two carbonaceous horizons which are
present in the cliff near the Customs House at Strahan.
The fossil determinations were the work of Dr. Isabel
Cookson and her colleagues of the National Museum
of Victoria. Near the road level there is a carbonaceous
horizon containing Trioriles harrisii, Nothojagus (abun¬
dant), Dacrydium ; Acacia, grasses and herbs are present.
About fifty feet above this is another carbonaceous
horizon containing Tnon tea harrisii (not abundant),
Dacrydium (more abundant), Acacia, herbs and grasses
are present. The lower horizon is considered to be
Tertiary in age. In view of the similar ecology, and
the site being the same, it is probably significant that
Acacia, grasses and herbs are absent although present at
the higher level. This higher band is Pliocene or
Quaternary in age. Acacia is not known in beds older
than Pliocene, the herbs and grasses are indicative of
an Upper Cainozoic age. Considering the fossils, the
stratification, and the ecology, Gill places the more
likely age as Pliocene.

In summary at least the upper part of the sediments
in the Strahan area and northwards to the Henty River
can be considered as being Upper Cainozoic in age,
probably belonging to the Pliocene Epoch. These
sediments have in the past been called Macquarie

Harbour Leaf Beds (Johnston, 1890), Macquarie Harbour
Group (Carey, 1950), Macquarie Beds (Bradley. 1954)
and Macquarie Harbour Beds (Banks and Ahmad, 1959).
It is suggested that the term Macquarie Harbour Beds
is retained and it be defined as that group of unconsoli¬
dated sands and gravels with shale and lignite bands
uncomfortably overlying the Dundas and Junee Groups.
It is several hundred feet thick and Upper Cainozoic in
age, probably Pliocene. It is named after Macquarie
Harhour on the west coast of Tasmania where the type
area occurs. The co-ordinates in this area are (Zone 7
Grid) 810.000N, 340,000E (Strahan) for the unconsoli¬
dated sands and gravels and 788.000N, 351,OOOE for the
shales and lignite (Braddon Cliff).

BASIN OF DEPOSITION

Figure 2 shows that the borders of the Macquarie
Basin 1 2 are primarily limited by fault planes. Those to
the east and north-east are readily apparent, those to the
south are based on geological and geophysical evidence
but the western boundary fault running through Birch
Inlet is primarily located on the results of an airborne
magnetic survey. The boundary to the north-west is
now covered by Macquarie Harbour but the lack of
correlation between the geological features on either
side of the Harbour strongly suggests the presence of a
substantial fault running through this area. Some
information as to its more precise location can perhaps
be arrived at by contouring the soundings in the
Harbour-. The isobat,hs show that the bottom of the
Harbour is ‘V’ shaped with the depth of plus 90 feet
located in its centre and running north-westerly, towards
Sophia Point (Locality B on Figure 2), and then north-
north-westerly towards Strahan ; this is the trace
marked on Figure 2 as the location of the boundary
fault here. The vertical throw on these boundary faults
is not known although it must obviously have been
considerable. One of these faults near Strahan brings
the Dundas Group (Upper and Middle Cambrian)
against quartzites of the Eldon Group (Silurian) but a
reasonable estimate based on stratigraphic thicknesses
involved is not possible owing to the possible wedging
out of sediments (particularly the Owen Conglomerate
of Ordovician age) in this area. However, a conservative
estimate would be several hundred feet, possibly over
a thousand feet.

It is interesting to note that all of the rock types
present in the Cainozoic sediments could be of local
derivation, within a few miles of the edge of the basin
of deposition. Banks and Ahmad (1959) noted the
same relationship in the northern area at Malanna.

The abundance of particles of Preeambrinn and
Owen Conglomerate (Ordovician) and the comparative
absence of particles of the Dundas Group (Cambrian)
can be explained in two premises. Firstly, on the

1. The term Macquarie Basin Is used as a general term to
signify the general locality of deposition.

2. It is interesting to note from these isobaths that a relative
drop in the water level of 25 feet would Isolate the
Harbour from the Ocean and deplete its extent by
approximately 25%. A relative drop of 100 feet would
reduce the Harbour into two small, shallow (20-70 ft.
deep) isolated lakes.

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

relative durability of each type, with the lavas and
shales etc. of the latter Group rapidly breaking up on
weathering and transportation, and secondly on the
assumption that the land to the east of the basin was
higher than that to the west and that, as a consequence,
most of the debris for sedimentation came from the
former direction. As the stratigraphy to the east is
primarily of Precumbrian and Owen Conglomerate rocks,
the absence of particles belonging to the Dundas Group
is not surprising. The particles of granite which occur
in the sediments on the north-east shore of the Harbour
were presumably derived from the Darwin granite which
occurs some eight miles to the east ut Mt. Darwin
(Figure 2), unless some unknown and nearer source is
being masked by the Cainozoic sediments themselves.
The kyanite which was noted in the sediments of
Moore’s Valley presents an interesting problem in that
if it were derived from the Precambrian terrain to the
east its occurrence indicates a higher metamorphic grade
than the garnet mica schists which are known to occur
in this area. However, kyanite has only been noted as
a detrital mineral and has not yet been seen in situ.

SUMMARY

In summary then, these late Cainozoic sediments
are believed to have been deposited into a fault basin,
resembling a rift valley. The thickness of these sediments
on the north-east shore of Macquarie Harbour is at
least 730 feet, 560 of which is below the present sea-
level. At Moore’s Valley, there is good evidence for a
similar minimum thickness but only with approximately
100 feet of these sediments below the present .sea-level.
At neither of these localities has the top of the Cainozoic
sediments been recognised and, once inside the graben,
only at Moore's Valley (and this is on the basis of
apparent resistivity surveys) is there a definite suggestion
of the base of these sediments.

Continued movement on the boundary faults during
deposition is suggested and the unsettled conditions of

deposition at the Spero River locality which is close to
the western boundary’ fault appear to support this
contention. The cyclic nature of the gravel/sand/
lignitic clay' could also be related to this movement.
The presence of sediments of the Macquarie Harbour
Beds 1000 to 1200 feet above the present sea-level
indicates that there has been considerable tectonic
activity' in the Cainozoic, some at least in the Late
Cainozoic.

From the descriptions given of the Cainozoic
sediments, they' are not a typically marine series and
the presence of lignite/coal bands indicates that these
bands at least can be ascribed to formation in a paludal
environment. These Macquarie Harbour Beds more
closely resemble the Tertiary sediments which occur near
Launceston than any other sediments of comparable age
in Tasmania. These latter sediments are described by
Care.v (1947, p. 31) who suggests that they were
deposited in lakes. Gill and Banks (1956, p, 11) indicate
that at least part of these sediments are of Eocene/
Lower Oligoccne age. Elsewhere in Tasmania Banks
(1957, p. 78) presents a summary of the Tertiary
formations in the N.W. and N. of the island. Marine
limestones of Upper Oligocene/Lower Miocene age are
recorded in the N.W. and at Cape Barren Island
(Furneaux Group). No further marine sediments are
known until those deposited at Cape Barren Island of
Upper Pliocene/Pleistocene age. Banks relates this cycle
of events to an Upper Oligocene/Lower Miocene marine
regression and then a re-advance of the sea in the
Pliocene Epoch which affected only the Furneaux Group
of islands. Consequently it would appear that whilst
marine sediments were being deposited at the latter
locality sediments were being deposited in the Macquarie
Basin in what would appear to be a large lake. When
it is considered that the Basin now borders the open
ocean it is difficult to visualise what prevented a marine
invasion into this area.

COMMENTS ON THE CAINOZOIC HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

REFERENCES

ravks M R 1957—Stratigraphy of Tasmanian Lirne-
BAN stones Tasm. Dept, of Mines, Geol. Surv. Mm.
Res. 10.

HAKKS M R- & AHMAD, N. 1959-Notes on the
A \inofflit History of Western Tasmama-The
“Malanna” Glaciation. Pop. Roy. Soc. Tas.
Vol. 93, pp. 117-127.

ru attf F 1936—Report on District between Main-
BLA ’waring R^er ami Wanderer River. Tas. Dept.
Mines Unpub. Rcpl.

URADLEY J. 1954—The Geology of the West Coast
BKA Ranee of Tasmania. Part I. Pop. Roy. Soc. Tas.,
Vol 88, pp. 193-243.

19 gg _ The Geology of the West Coast Range

of Tasmania. Part II. Pop. Roy. Soc. Tas. Vol.
90, pp. 65-130.

,,, pi.-y a w. 1947—Geology of the Launceston Dis¬
trict, Tasmania. Rec. Queen Viet. Mus. II, 1,
pp. 31-46. .

1950 _West Coast Concession report, North

Broken Hill Ltd. Compilation (unpublished).

n A VTD T W E. 1926 — Pleistocene Glaciation near
Strahun,' Tasmania. A.N.Z.A.AB., Vol. XVII
(1924) pp. 91-103.

GILL, E. D. and BANKS, M. R. 1956—Cainozoic His¬
tory of Mowbray Swamp and other areas of
north-western Tasmania. Rec. Queen Viet. Mus.
New Series 6.

GOULD, C. 1862—Macquarie Harbour. Tos. House of
Assembly Pap. 26; Leg. Council Pap. 20.

GREGORY, J. W. 1903—Some Features in the Geo.
graphy of North-Western Tasmania. Proc. Ron
Soc. Vic. Vol. XVI, Part 1, pp. 177-183.

1904 — A contribution to the Glacial Geology of
Tasmania. Q.J.G.S., London No. 327, Vol. LX
pp. 37-52.

HILLS, C. L. 1914—The Jukes-Darwin Mining Field
Tas. Dept. Mines, Geol. Surv. Bulletin 16.

JOHNSTON. R. M. 1888 — Systematic Account of the
Geology of Tasmania. Hobart, Govt. Printer
1890 — Macquarie Harbour Leaf Beds. Pap. Ron
Soc. Tas. 1889, p. 53.

1892 — Notes on a Collection of Plant Impressions
from the Hentv River. Pap. Roy. Soc. Tas
1891, pp. 11-13.

1894—The Glacier Epoch of Tasmania. Pan
Roy. Soc. Tas. 1893, pp. 73-134.

LEMPRIERE, T. J. 1954 — The Penal Settlements of
Early Van Diemen’s Land, (edited by W. F
Ellis). Separate publication by Royal Soc. o)
Tasmania. '

MONTGOMERY, A. 1890—Coal Measures at the Henty
River. Tas. Dept. Mines Secy, jor Mines Rent
(1800), pp. 42-43.

1894— Remarks by A. Montgomery in Pap. Ron
Soc. Tas. 1893, p. 167.

MOORE, T. B. 1894—Discovery of Glaciation in Vici¬
nity of Mt. Tyndall in Tasmania. Pap. Ron
Soc. Tas. 1893, pp. 147-149.

1895 — Further Discoveries of Glaciation, West
Coast of Tasmania. Pap. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1894
pp. 56 and 62.

PETTIJOHN, F. J. 1957—Sedimentaiy Rocks. Harper
Bros., New York.

Printed by

Foot & Playsted Pty. Ltd.
Launceston

- . .—- -- —---—

NEW SERIES, No. 13

RECORDS OF

THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM
LAUNCESTON

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

B. SCOTT

(Manuscript received 12th May, 1960)
(Published 30th June, 1960)

ABSTRACT

yji . ' 44le topography of Western Tasmania is discussed and the marked concordances of summit, ridge and

feet 11 ar<3 Pla ° ed into five levels at 4,400 to 5,300 feet ’ 3 ' 900 t0 4,400 feet ’ 3,000 t0 3,500 feet ’ 2,400 to 2,700
fault °°° 4o 1,400 f ee t- They are shown to be uplifted erosion surfaces and the possibility of them being

and n ooun *' er P ar ts of one, or more, levels is discounted except in the area between the West Coast Range
feet tllG 8Ca ' East of the Wcst - Coast Range the Permian land surface transgresses these levels from 3,200
0 f al Mt. Sedgwick to 2,400 feet near Lake St. Clair and its uniform easterly dip demonstrates the absence
(j oa taaior post-Permian faulting although the area as a whole has been uplifted. However, west of the West
are this ancient land surface is at sea level ; the Upper Cainozoic sediments at Macquarie Harbour

p e , e c t*d faulting of this same age, and younger. Both of these relationships indicate extensive post-
la n faulting which would have effected the late Mesozoic and Cainozoic erosion surfaces in this area.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

TASMANIA

Scot*: in miles

Figure 1 : Location Plan of area described.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

INTRODUCTION

It has long been generally recognised that the topography of western Tasmania 1 shows a marked
concordance of summit, ridge and plain heights at certain levels. These observations commenced with Gregory
(1903) who recognised un extensive low level surface from his observations which he made on his visit to
Queenstown via Burnie ; this was his I-Ienty “peneplain” and N.W. Plateau. This period was the time of
a vigorous mining boom on the West Coast and from 1908 to 1915 thirteen Geological Survey Bulletins
were issued by the Tasmanian Department of Mines which reported an area bounded on the north by the
Pieman River, east to Rosebery and Queenstown and southwards to Macquarie Harbour and Point Hibbs.
The sections on the topography extended and qualified the earlier work of Gregory and also recognised a higher
level at approximately 2,500 feet (Ward, 1911, p. 8). In the previous year Twelvetrees and Ward (1910) had
recognised the prc-Permian surface at Mt. Dundas although Gould (1860) was the first to describe the
occurrence of this ancient land surface on the West Coast. In one of the last of the Geological Bulletins
of this period, that describing the South Heemskirk Tin Field, Waterhouse (1911, p. 17) presents an admirable
summary of the topography of the area under discussion and summarises the information gained by the
previous publications. A gap of several years followed until Clemes (1925) described three surfaces (2,000 to
2,500 feet, 3,000 to 3,500 and an upper surface represented by the mountain tops) from the Lake St. Clair and
Central Plateau region. Publications after 1925 do not specifically deal with the south-west of Tasmania but
with the island as a whole. Lewis (1931, 1940, 1945 and 1946) refers to a preponderance of altitudes at
approximately 1,500 feet, 2,500 feet and 4,000 feet. Nye and Blake (1938) recognised two major surfaces, at
3,000 to 5,000 feet and a lower one at about 2,000 feet. The former was thought to have been of late Cretaceous
age with the latter of Oligoccne age. They referred to the Henty surface of Gregory (1903) as the Western
Peneplain and considered it to be either a third level not reaching above 1,000 feet and of post-Miocene age
or a tilted portion of their lower surface of 2,000 feet. This latter surface is represented in the north-west of
the State by their north-western Peneplain. Browne (1950, p. Ill) recognised the existence of at least three
surfaces. The highest of between 4,000 to 5,000 feet was represented on the west coast by the peaks at the
Eldon Range, Frenchman’s Cap and around Lake St. Clair. His 3,000 to 3,500 surface extended from Lake
St. Clair with the peaks of the West Coast Range belonging to the same level. The 2,000 to 2,600 feet surface
he named the St. Clair surface, being typically developed about the Lake St. Clair-Derwent Bridge area. On
the West Coast he recognised the Henty surface reaching 900 to 1,000 feet in height and he considered the
possibility that this level was continuous with the St. Clair surface at Waratah, that is, a downfaulted or
downwarped portion of this 2,000 to 2,500 level. The 3,000 to 3,500 feet level was thought to be of a
Cretaceous or early Tertiary age whilst the St. Clair level was correlated with the Miocene peneplain of
Queensland and New South Wales.

It is interesting to note that the reviews of Nye and Blake and Browne are primarily based on work
completed prior to 1925. It is quite obvious, however, that there was no unanimity of opinion as regards the
number of surfaces or their height. Opinion followed two distinct paths, either there were different surfaces
formed at varying elevations or the apparent abundance of such levels was the result of the faulting or warping
of one, or two, erosion surfaces. The almost overwhelming drawback to these discussions prior to 1958 was
the absence of accurately contoured topographical maps. This has recently been remedied by the Department
of Lands and Surveys of Tasmania and a series of maps at a scale of over two inches to the mile and contoured
at a 50 feet interval is being prepared to cover most of the State. Several have already been prepared and their
existence led Davies (1959) to present the first systematic study of the various erosion levels in Tasmania.
Davies recognised six major levels and the elevations of these are reproduced in Table I. His general conclusion
is that they represent uplifted sub-aerial erosion surfaces although the lowest (Lower Coastal surface which
part equals the Henty surface on the west coast) may be largely of marine origin.

The high peaks of plus 4,400 feet are cited as possible residuals of a surface which can be correlated with
the Mesozoic surfaces of continental Australia. However, the only levels which Davies safely ascribes to this
ancient surface are the downfaulted and buried bauxites of the Launceston and Ouse districts. Following this
the mature landscape was broken by extensive faulting which occurred either at the end of the Mesozoic or
beginning of the Tertiary period. A long period of planation followed which lasted through Eocene and
Oligoccne and possibly into the Miocene during which extensive erosional and depositional plains were formed
(see also Carey, 1947). Remnants of this surface, if they still exist, would probably be the higher plateau
level of 3,900 to 4,400 feet. In the latter half of the Cainozoic an intermittent uplift commenced erosion once
again which carved the lower surfaces out of this single mid-Tertiary surface.

Since Davies prepared his paper further contoured sheets have been made available by the Department
of Lands and Surveys, notably the 4 Pillinger sheets and the 4 Zeehan sheets. Also an amount of elevations
have come from the exploration work which has recently been carried out, by the Mt. Lyell Mining & Railway
Co. Limited and the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited in the area from Macquarie Harbour
to Port Davey. The use of helicopters in this area has allowed the determination of the elevation of hitherto
inaccessible localities by barometer. Since the reconnaissance traverses with the helicopter were always of a
short duration (less than two hours) and the barometers were set to sea level at the commencement and end
of the traverses the elevations given can be taken to be accurate to within 25 feet. This accuracy is sufficient
for the correlation of major erosion surfaces.

1. The area under discussion in this paper is limited by the Pieman River on the north, Rosebery, Lake St. Clair,
Lake Pedder and Port Davey in the south.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

EROSION surfaces
H enty S ur l ace (300 to 1,400 feet)

One of the most striking points of interest when
the YVe^t Coast is viewed from Macquarie Harbour is
the vari° us levels which are developed in the Cainozoic
and associated Lower Palaeozoic sediments. These levels
are very ' vp h developed in the former sediments at the
south end of Birch Inlet but the most striking example
is the 900 and 1,400 feet level which has been carved
into the Owen Conglomerate on the western sides of the
.D’Aguilar and Mt. Sorell Ranges respectively (Figure
3). TPhe heights of these various levels are summarised
in Table II-

Considering those to the south of the Harbour
first of all, the level of 800 feet is considered to represent
the gen era l l eve l °I the Henty surface 1 of Gregory
( 1903 ) with the lower levels developed along the river
valleys which have cut into this surface. At the
D’Aguilar Range, it rises to 900 feet and gently slopes
to the west at an average rate of about 80 feet to the
mile, to within about one mile of the sea coast. Its
grade then steepens and it typically appears at the
coast, as cliffs up to 100 feet in height, such as at High
Rocky Point, forming a rugged shore line. The surface
also appears to be gently sloping to the south and the
effect of this is readily apparent in the more hospitable
coastline south of the Wanderer River, and especially
so south of Low Rocky Point, where wide sandy beaches,
with an absence of cliffs, are apparent. The plain can
be seen continuing southwards towards Port Davey as
a narrow coastal strip which rises inland towards the
Lawson and De Witt Ranges. This low level surface
appears to be either absent or very poorly developed
in the extreme south-west of the State.

The surface is gently undulating with low monad-
nocks of Precambrian, such as Elliott Hill. Owen
Conglomerate (Ordovician) at Mt. Osmund and of the
Dundas Group (Cambrian) at Wart Hill. On a broader
scale the West Coast, D’Aguilar and Lewis Ranges also
appear to be monndnocks rising 2,500 to 3.500 feet. It
is interesting to note that whilst the D’Aguilar Range
is the direct southerly continuation of the West Coast
Range, south of the Wanderer River this feature has
been reduced to the Henty surface level and forms the
area known as Tabletop. The only remnant of what
must have been its former grandeur and ruggedness in
this locality is the monadnock of Mt. Osmund, a low
round hill rising to about 1,210 feet.

On the western flank of the D’Aguilar Range there
is a localised surface in Cainozoic sediments at 1,200 feet
(Figure 3). This surface can be traced for several miles
northwards to the Gordon River. The development of
this localised surface is considered to be due to vertical
movement on the Lyell Shear and Long Fault which
post dates the formation of the Henty surface.

1. Gregory (1903. pi. XX) restricted hts term Henty Peneplain
to an area banded on the east by the West Const Range,
on the south by the King River, north by the Little Henty
River and to within a lew miles of the coast where his
Western Peneplain commenced. However, earlier in this
paper (op. cit., p. 177) he describes the peneplain as
extending In a broad band parallel to the west coast, at
least from the Arthur River in the north to some distance
south of Macquarie Harbour. This southerly continuation
of tlie Henty surface is most apparent when the Macquarie
Harbour area is viewed from a low flying aircraft. Thus
the use of the term Henty surface beyond its original
limits is considered to be Justified.

To the north of the Harbour the Henty surface,
and its extension, has been adequately described else¬
where by Gregory (1903), Twelvetrees and Ward (1910),
Ward (1911), Hills (1914 a, b & c), Waterhouse (1914
& 1916) and recently by Bradley 2 (1954), Wade and
Solomon (1958) and Banks and Ahmad (1959). In the
Queenstown area, the plain is at 800 to 1,000 feet, rising
to 1,200 in the West Coast Range and falling to 5 to
600 feet above sea-level at the sea coast near Strahan,
an average slope of about 50 feet per mile. It is
considered to be equivalent to the Little Henty Pene¬
plain near the Heemskirk Range which is at 700 feet
Waterhouse, 1916) and the surface described by Ward
(1911) at 800 feet near Balfour in N.W. Tasmania (see
also Gregory, 1903, pp. 177-178).

Banks and Ahmad (1959) describe the Henty surface
at the Henty River urea (Malana) at an elevation of
720 feet (m 10 feet) above sea-level and sloping seaward
at an average rate of 60 feet per mile. Associated with
this is a lower, and apparently younger, surface at an
elevation of 350 to 400 feet which Banks and Ahmad
call the Firewood Siding surface. This lower surface
appears to be part of the Western Peneplain of Gregory
(1903, pi. XX). Davies (1959) places the elevation of
this surface as between 300 to 900 feet. On the West
Coast this upper limit is considered to be too low as the
surface can be traced continuously from 300 feet to the
mentioned height of 1200 to 1400 feet at the edge of
the West Coast Range north of Macquarie Harbour.
(See State Topographical sheets Pillinger A and Lyell
A & C. 2 inches to 1 mile, contour interval of 50 feet).
East of the West Coast Range this low level surface
is present at 1,200 feet in the King River valley at least
northwards to the junction of the King River and the
South Eldon River (near Eldon Peak) and southwards
to the continuation of this valley via the upper Andrew
and Nora It ivers to the Gordon River. The plains in
the Craycroft Range ( 1,400') and those associated with
the Deception and Surveyor Range further to the east
arc at an elevation of 800 to 1,400 feet. The extensive
Lighting Plains between the Jane River and Frenchmans
Cap are also at this same general elevation, at 1,400
feet. Similarly the Collingwood River plain is at. an
elevation of 1,200 to 1,400 feet.

Age of Henty Surface

Banks and Ahmad (1959), in their description of
the surface in the lower Henty River area, describe its
development in Permian sandstone and dolerite, the
latter being presumably of lower Jurassic age. In the
Macquarie Harbour area the surface is developed in the
Cainozoic sediments and consequently must post-date
the deposition of these. The age of these sediments has
been given as Upper Cainozoic (E. D. Gill in Scott,
1960), probably Pliocene, thus also placing the formation
of the Henty surface as post Pliocene. Since this event,
the surface has been uplifted several hundred feet with

2. Bradley (1954, p. 195) uses the terms Howard’s Peneplain
and Henty Peneplain. The former is given as being present
at 1,100 feet in the Andrew and King River Basins whilst
the latter surface stands between 400 to 500 feet lower
and is the level of the old flood plain of the King and
Queen Rivers. This is not the definition given to the
Henty surface by Gregors- (1903). Presumably the tvpe
area for the Howard’s Peneplain is Madame Howard’s
plain, to the north west of Queenstown. This plain is an
essential part of the Henty surface as described by
Gregory and consequently it would be best if use of the
term Howard’s Peneplain were discontinued.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

the result that the rejuvenated rivers have cut gorges
ur> to 100 to 200 feet below the level of the plain with
the development of knick points, incised meanders and
examples of river capture. The extensive development
of the local surfaces (see Table II) of lower elevation
than that of the Henty is considered to be related to
this relative uplift and following erosion, their horizontal
development would indicate that the uplift was not
continuous but occurred in a cycle of a maximum and
then a minimum movement. As has already been
discussed on page 5, the localised surface at 1.200 to 1,400
feet in the Cainozoic sediments is considered to be due
to vertical movement on the Lyell Shear which post¬
dated the development of the Hentv surface : this higher
surface which is composed of highly friable sandstones
and conglomerates, is being rapidly removed by erosion
in an area of high rainfall (-}- 50 inches per annum).
Faults disturbing the Cainozoic sediments have also
been noted at Clarks Bay on Macquarie Harbour and
in Moore’s Valley, approximately 20 miles south of
Birch Inlet. Davies (1959) places a higher coastal
surface on the West Coast at a general height of 1,200
to 1,500 feet. This surface is apparently very well
developed in the south-east, part of Tasmania with the
lower coastal surface standing below it. at 900 feet. In
the western half of the island he relates well marked
and extensive valley flats to this higher surface. How¬
ever, the Henty surface on the West Coast includes this
elevation range, as already described above. It, forms
a gradual slope rising from 300 feet near the coast to
1,200 to 1.400 feet inland and east of the West Coast
Range. Consequently the higher coastal surface wouid
appear to be absent or exceptionally poorly developed
in the area under discussion.

Sri Clair Surface (2,400 to 2,700 feet)

The St. Clair surface was originally described by
Clemes (1929) as the 2,000 to 2,500 feet level in the Lake
St. Clair Region. Browne (1950) was the first to use
the term “St. Clair surface”. Davies (1959) defines its
elevation as between 2,400 to 2.700 feet and this is
accepted here.

In the area under discussion it is most clearly seen
in the Lake St. Clair-Derwent Bridge area. On the
west coast it was recognised as an accordance of summits
and ridges by many of the earlier works during the
period 1908-1915, being first mentioned bv Ward (1911
p. 8). North of Queestown it can be recognised at the
Norfolk Range, the Heemskirk Range, Mt, Zeriian
Parsons Hood and Mt. Livingstone. Nearer to Queens^
town Moore (1894) and Johnston (1894) recognised
this general level in the Mt. Tyndall area. To the east
of Queenstown Mt. Lyell, the north end of Mt Owen
the north slopes of Frenchman’s Cap, Mt. Maud!
Colhngwood Range, Engineer Range, Mt, Fincham, Mt.
Madge and the Deception Range all attain this general
elevation. South of Queenstown, Mt, Strahan Mt
South Darwin. D’Aguilar Range, Mt. Lewis and the
Lawson and DeWitt Ranges attain a similar altitude
bimilarly most of the major Ranges between Mt. Lewis
and Hip Rasselas \ alley to the east appear to attain
a similar elevation, such as the Hamilton, Wilmot and
Junction Ranges. Also the Ranges east of Bathurst
Harbour such as the Tronbound, Spero and Norold
approximately attain 2,400 feet,

Lower Plateau Surface (3,000 to 3,500 feet)

This surface was designated the “Intermediate” level
by Clemes (1925) who described it as the Traveller
Plateau at an elevation of 3,000 to 3,500 feet. This
elevation is also adopted by Browne (1950), Davies
(1959) and the author. The surface is best developed
outside the area at present being discussed, at the Great
Lake. However, most of the prominent peaks on the
West Coast Range attain this height as Mt. Sedgwick,
Mt. Owen, Mt. Jukes, Mt, Darwin and Mt. Sorell. To
the east the Raglan Range has quite extensive plains
at this elevation, Mt. Mary, Mt. Sprent, north slopes
of Frenchman’s Cap, Last Hill, Rocky Hill and Pyramid
Hill all have plains at this elevation. Similarly Mt.
Arrowsmith has a plateau at about 3,200 feet.

The pre-Permian plane of unconformity has been
extensively stripped at this elevation. At Mt. Sedgwick
it is at 3,200 feet (see also Edwards, 1941) where
Palaeozoic sediments. To the north the same uncon¬
formity can be seen at Mt. Dundas at about the same
elevation. This stripped ur .nformity at Mt. Sedgwick
forms part of the Lower Plateau surface. Similarly the
small plateaus at this elevation elsewhere on the West
Coast Range (particularly that at Mt, Jukes) can no
doubt also be related to this stripped unconformity
although positive proof in remnants of Permian
sediments has not been located. To the east this
unconformity is readily apparent at Eldon Bluff and
the cast to west ridge of high land which runs through
Last Hill, Rocky Ilill, Pyramid Hill to Goulds Sugar
Loaf and Mt, Hugol (Gould, 1860). The unconformity,
Permian on folded Lower Palaeozoic or Precambrian,
has been visited at Last Hill and it is readily apparent
on aerial photographs at the other localities. At Last
Hill it is at an elevation of about 3,000 feet and at
Pyramid Hill 2,800 feet. The Precambrian can be seen
beneath the Permian in the Franklin River valley
between Lakes Dixon and Undine with the unconformity
at about 2,400 feet. The same unconformity is also
present further to the south in the Surprise River
valley. From the Last Hill to Lake Dixon the uncon¬
formity has an average slope of 45 feet to the mile.
It is interesting to note how this tilted ancient land
surface “transgresses” the younger surfaces, forming
part of the 3,200 feet level in the West Coast Range
and the 2.500 feet surface at Lake St. Clair some 2S
miles to the east.

est of Queenstown, at the coast, Permian
sediments have been recognised at sea level at the
lower Henty River and at Point, Hibbs. The position
sediments and associated dolerite is at least
3.000 feet below those found in the West Coast Range
and their faulted relationship with the associated
I alaeozoic sediments indicates that they have been
brought, to this position by extensive post-lower Jurassic
fault movement.

Higher Plateau Surface (3,900 to 4,400 feet)

This is defined by Davies (1959) as generally at
an elevation of 3,900 to 4,400 feet. This elevation is
well represented in the northern part of the area under
discussion. Mt. Murchison, Mt, Tyndall, Eldon Range
and Bluff, Rocky Hill, Pyramid Hill, Goulds Sugar
Ar’.TT 11 ' innumud plateau between the Sugar Loaf and
ifir tt s ,’ *fing William Range, the plateau below
Mt. Hugel and Mt. Gell as well as several other adjacent

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

localities show this surface. * ''tntrteoMhis surface
plateau is about the only representative of this sun

outside this northern zone.

High Monadnocks (plus 4,400 feet)

Standing above the Higher etl^and Mt°

peaks such as Frenchman’s Cap (4, n f these peaks
Olympus (4.746 feet). The best examples of toese p peak f

are bevond S.W. Tasmania in the • ’. - j

Barn Bluff and Cradle Mountain area all of which rise

above 5,000 feet.

RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACES

A study of the various contoured topographic^
sheets which are available for S.W. , within

Tasmania shows that each surface is repre . .

the next lower one. by the presence of accordant
monadnocks and within the next higher by p *•
relationship led Davies (1959) to the con p
landscape derived from a mid to late Tertiary p
of a single peneplain which had been derived f
early (Eocene-Oligicene) period of planation. This
concept differed from earlier workers who e “ VI *?® e |
higher levels to represent earlier cycles and the lower
levels to either have been faulted or warped into thier
present position (Browne 1950 and earlier). I"o
typical examples of the relationship of the surtaces
described above will clarify this point. In the JVlt.
Sorell-Mt. Strahan area the 1,400 feet level of the Henty
surface can be seen on the western flank of the moutain.
Immediately above this level the St. Clair surface is
developed at 2,200 feet at Mt. Strahan anti the Lower
Plateau surface at 3,200 feet at Mt. Sorcll. Ihcse three
surfaces are developed in the same rock type (Owen
Conglomerate) and geological mapping precludes the
possibility that the two lower surfaces are downfaulted
remnants of the upper surface, or vice versa with up-
faulting. At Frenchman’s Cap the four surfaces described
above are developed about the peak at 4,750 feet, these
are at 1,100, 2,200, 3,200 and 3^00 feet respectively. These
are all developed in Preeambrian metaquartzites and
siliceous mica schists and their distribution about the
peak again eliminates the possibility of a faulted
relationship between these various surfaces. Similarly
the absence of major faulting during and after the
formation of these surfaces in this area is supported by
the constant slope of the pre-Permian unconformity
from Last Hill to Lake St. Clair : this unconformity has
undoubtedly been regionally tilted since its formation
but it has not been disturbed by faulting in the area
under discussion. Consequently, the present work
entirely supports this concept that these surfaces (with
the possible exception of the Henty surface) are
uplifted sub-aerial erosion levels. The question of
extensive faulting during or after the development, of
these surfaces has already been discussed and concluded
that east of the West Coast Range it is either absent
or of negligible proportions. This conclusion is an
agreement with Davies (1959) who concluded that the
mid-Tertiary planation followed major faulting and that
there is no longer any positive evidence for extensive
late Tertiary' faulting. However, the dating of the
non-marine sediments at Strahan as Upper Cainozoic
(probably Pliocene) by E. D. Gill (in Scott, 1960) must
qualify this viewpoint. These sediments at Strahan
form part of an extensive area (225 square miles) of
sediments which are several hundred feet thick, at

least 730 feet, and of which at least 560 feet is below
the present sea level. These sediments were deposited
in the Macquarie Harbour graben, consequently normal
faulting of possibly up to 1,000 feet must have taken
place on the West Coast during the Upper Cainozoic
(probably Pliocene). The Henty surface is developed
in the sediments and also crosses the boundary faults
to the graben, thus movement on these faults must have
largely ceased during the formation of this surface.
However, some recent adjustments are considered to
have taken place on the eastern boundary fault as
discussed on page 5 and shown in Figure 3. A necessary
corollary of this upper Cainozoic tectonic movement is
that the 2,500 feet level which exists in the Heemskirk
Range and at Mt. Zeehan need not necessarily be a
correlate of the St. Clair surface, it could be a down-
faulted position of a higher surface such as the low
plateau level (3,000 to 3,500 feet).

It. is interesting to note that this concept of
extensive faulting with a considerable downthrow to the
west is supported by the position of the pre-Permian
unconformity. East of the West Coast Range evidence
has been presented to show that apart from a regional
tilting to the east it has not been materially disturbed
by faulting since its formation. However, west of the
Range the Permian sediments are downfaulted from
3,209 feet at Mt. Sedgwick and Mt. Dundas to sea level
and below at the Henty River and Point Hibbs. It, is
appreciated that all of this faulting could have occurred
during the late Mesozoic or early Tertiary period. How¬
ever, it does demonstrate that the major north-south
faults which exist between the Range and the coast
were active at a time when' the region to the east of
the Range was one of stability.

SUMMARY

The Tabberabberan folding which took place during
the Devonian period was followed by a prolonged period
of planation which led to the development of the pre-
Permian land surface which is recognisable at various
levels between Lake St. Clair and Point Hibbs. The
deposition of the Permo-Triassic sediments followed
with the intrusion of the dolerite which is usually
accepted as Lower Jurassic in age (Banks, 1958).
Following this igneous activity there was a prolonged
period of stability which produced an extensive and well
developed surface of erosion in the Mesozoic, and older,
•ocks. The only remnant of a surface which can be
ascribed to this ancient level is the downfaulted bauxites
of the Launceston area, which are developed in dolerite
(Carey, 1947). This period of tectonic quiescence was
followed in the late Mesozoic or early Tertiary by
faulting which broke up this surface. On the West
Coast this faulting could have been responsible for the
displacement of the pre-Permian surface from 3,2: 0 feet
in the West Coast Range to below sea level on the
present coast line some 17 miles to the west. Elsewhere
in Tasmania the formation of the Launceston Basin and
possibly also the Oyster Bay and Derwent grabens can
be ascribed to this period of tectonic activity.

The West Coast at this time would have undergone
a general uplift but faulting or extensive tilting east of
the West Coast Range can be considered to be of
negligible proportions owing to the relatively undisturbed
conditions of the pre-Permian surface from Mt. Sedgwick
to Lake St. Clair. No sediments which can be related
to this early and mid-Tertiary period have yet been

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

identified in the area under discussion. This is in a
direct contrast to other areas of Tasmania where marine
sediments of Eocene-Lower Oligocene age (Gill and
Banks, 1956) were deposited in the Launceston Basin and
the marine limestones of Oligocene-Miocene age were
formed on the North-West coast, and the Furneaux
Islands (Banks, 1957). During this period the extensive
Cretaceous land surface which would have been present
at some unknown elevation in the area under discussion
would have undergone erosion with an undoubted
development of lower surfaces. Although there is no
direct evidence the complete removal of this surface
would seem to be unlikely. If this is the case then the
high monadnocks (plus 4,400 feet) such as Frenchman’s
Cap and the next lower surface, the high plateau surface
at 3,900 to 4,400 feet, may well be remnants of this
original Cretaceous level plus one of its lower surfaces
developed during this early Tertiary. At the close of
the Miocene and during the Pliocene intermittent uplift
would have caused a rejuvenation of erosion with the
formation of lower surfaces and reduction of the area
covered by the higher levels. On the West Coast possibly

only the lower plateau (3,000-3,500) and St. Clair surfaces
(2,400-2,700 feet) were formed during this interval.

At. the end of Pliocene extensive faulting took place
west of the West Coast Range with the undoubted
disturbance of previously established surfaces and the
formation of the Macquarie Harbour graben (Scott,
1960). The cyclic nature of the several hundred feet of
the non-marine sediments which fill this structure
suggest an intermittent nature to this movement. Else¬
where in Tasmania sediments of a similar age are known
at Flinders Island (Banks, 1957). The Henty surface
was developed in these former sediments and as this
level crosses the boundary faults to the graben move¬
ment on these structures must have generally ceased
prior to its development. However, some later movement
is indicated by the presence of the localised 1,200 feet
surface, as discussed on Page 5. This low level surface
has recently' been uplifted several hundred feet as the
Upper Cainozoic sediments at Strahan are 250 feet above
the present sea level. This has led to the active erosion
of the surface, and indeed all surfaces, with the
development of at least four minor levels below, and
consequently younger than the Henty level.

TABLE I

SUMMARY OF ELEVATION OF SURFACES—WEST COAST

PRE 1915 CLEMES LEWIS NYE & BLAKE BROWNE DAVIES SCOTT
(1925) (1938) (1950) (1959) (1959)

4,000'- 5,000'

4,400'- 5,300'
(CRET. ?)

4.400'- 5,300
(CRET. 7)

Plus 3,600' 3,900'-4,400' 3,900'- 4,400'

(EARLY (EARLY
4,000' TERT. ?) TERT ?)

3,000'-3,500' 3,000'-3,500' 3,000'-3,500' 3,000'-3,500' 3,000'- 3,500'

(CRET.) (CRET.) (UPPER (UPPER

TERT ?) TERT.)

2,500' 2,000'-2,500' (A) 2,500' (A) 2,000' (A) 2,500' 2,400'-2,700' 2,400'-2,700'

(OLIGO.) (MIO.) (UPPER (UPPER

TERT.) TERT ?)

300' to 1,000'

(B) 1,500'

(B) to 1,000'

200'- 1,000'
(B) (MIO. ?)

1.200'- 1,500'
300'- 900'

300'- 1,400'
(PLIO-
PLEIST.)

(A) & (B) All three strongly considered the
feasibility that the lower surface
was a downfaulted or downwarped
portion of the upper, 2,500', surface.

CRET. =Late Cretaceous or Early Tertiary.
TERT. =Tertiary.

OLIGO. =01igocene.

MIO. =Miocene.

PLIO. =Pliocene.

PLEIST. ^Pleistocene.

UPPER TERT. —Post Miocene.

EARLY TERT. =Pre Miocene.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

TABLE II

SUMMARY OF LEVELS IN MACQUARIE HARBOUR CAINOZOIC SEDIMENTS AND MARGINS

(For location see Figure 2)

Birch Inlet

Discovery

(D’Aguilar

Range)

Spero

River

Urquhart

Riveri

Moore’s

Valley 2

South West 3
Coast

Mt. Sorell

Strahan

North of
Harbour

1,200'

Top not

800'

700'°

1,400'“

1,200'"

mad.

•

1,100'“

1,000'“

510'

800'“

460'

400'

420'

380'

300'

310'

300'“

200'

200'“

230'

210'*

110'

120'“

150'

130'

60'

70'

55'

30'

15'

Heights underlined indicate the top surface for that area.

All heights measured by aneroid barometer, accurate to plus or minus 25 feet. Heights marked " are checked
against State Topographical Survey sheets, contour interval of 50 feet.

1. Urquhart River is immediately south of the Wanderer River.

2. Moore’s Valley is immediately south of Thirkell Hill.

3. Raised beach levels on ocean coast between Point Hibbs and Elliott Bay.

TABLE III

SURFACE ELEVATION

HIGH MONADNOCKS Developed in dolerite (Lower Jurassic) at Cradle Mountain and Lake St. Clair.
(PLUS 4,400')

UPPER PLATEAU Developed in dolerite (Lower Jurassic) at Lake St. Clair.
(3,900' to 4,400')

LOWER PLATEAU Developed in dolerite (Lower Jurassic) at Lake St. Clair and Great Lake.
(3,000' to 3,500')

ST. CLAIR Developed in Tertiary basalt at Waratali.

(2,400' to 2,700')

HENTY Developed in Upper Cainozoc, probably Pliocene, non marine sediments at Mac-

(300' to 1,400') quarie Harbour.

The table summarises the youngest rocks in which the surfaces are developed. Since
each lower surface is considered to be younger than the next higher one the table also
provides a minimum age for the surfaces.

EROSION SURFACES IN WESTERN TASMANIA

REFERENCES

BANKS, M. R. 1957 — Stratigraphy of Tasmanian Lime¬
stones. Tasm. Dept, of Mines, Geol. Surv. Min.
Res. 10.

1958—A comparison of Jurassic and Tertiary
trends in Tasmania in “Dolerites : a symposium”
p.p. 231-264, pub. University of Tasmania.

BANKS, M. R. & AHMAD. 1959 — Notes on the Caino-
zoic History of Western Tasmania — The
“Malanna Glaciation.” Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc.
Tasm. Vol. 93, p. 117.

BRADLEY, J. 1954 — The Geology of the West Coast
Range of Tasmania. Part I. Pap. Ptoc. Roy.
Hoc. Tas., Vol. 88, pp. 193-348.

1956 — The Geology of the West Coast Range of
Tasmania, Part II. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas.,
Vol. 90.

BROWNE, W. R. 1950 (Ed) David, T. W. E. — The
Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia,
Vol. II. E. Arnold <fc Co., London.

CAREY. S. W. 1947 — Geology of the Launceston District,
Tasmania. Rec. Queen Viet. Mm. II, 1 p. 31.

CLEMES, W. H. 1925 — Notes on a geological recon¬
naissance of the Lake St. CJair district. Pap.
Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1924, PP- 59-72.

CONDER, H. 1918—The Tin Field of North Dundas.
Tas. Dept, of Mines Geol. Surv. Bulltn. 26.

DAVIES, J- 1959—High Level Erosion Surfaces and
Landscape Development in Tasmania. Austra¬
lian Geographer, Vol. 7, page 193-203.

EDWARDS, A. B. 1941 — On a Remnant of a Stripped
Peneplain of Palaeozic Age at Mt. Sedgwick
in Western Tasmania. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas.
Vol. 74, PP- 19-22.

GILL, E. D. & BANKS, M. li. 1956—Cainozoic History
of Mowbray Swamp and other Areas of N.W.
Tasmania. Rec. Queen Viet. Mus.. New Series
6.

GOULD, C. 1860—Report of the Exploration of the
Western Country. Leg. Council Tas. Paper 6.
1863—Western Country : Report of Govt. Geo¬
logist. Leg. Council Tas. Paper 1A.

GREGORY, J. W. 1903—Features in the Geography of
N.W. Tasmania. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic. Vol. XVI,
Pt. 1.

HILLS, C. L. 1914a—The Jukes-Darwin Mining Field.
Tas. Dept. Mines, Geol. Surv. Bidletin 16.

1914b — Geological Reconnaissance of the Coun¬
try between Cape Sorell and Point Hibbs. Tas.
Dept, of Mines Geol. Surv. Bulletin 18.

1914c — The Zinc-Lead Sulphide Deposits of the
Read-Rosebery District. Part I. Tas. Dept, of

Mines Geol. Surv. Bulletin 19.

1915 — The Zinc Lead Sulphide Deposits of the
Read-Rosebery District. Part II. Tas. Dept, of
Mines Geol. Surv. Bulltn. 23.

JOHNSTON, R. M. 1894—The Glacier Epoch of Tas¬
mania. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1893, 100.

LEWIS, A. N. 1939 — Report for Tasmania to Committee
on the structure and landforms of Australia and
New Zealand. A J^IA.AAB. 24 th Mtg. Canberra:

400-402.

1940—Geology of the Tyenna Valley. Pap. Proc.
Roy. Soc. Tas. 1939, p.33-59.

1945— Time Scales in the development of
Tasmanian physiographv. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc.
Tas. 1944 p. 19-39.

1946— The Geology of the Hobart District.
Hobart.

MOORE, T. B. 1894 — Discovery in Glaciation in
Vicinity of Mt. Tyndall in Tasmania. Pap. Proc.
Roy. Soc. Tas. 1893, 147-149.

NYE, P. B. & BLAKE, F. 1938—The Geology and
Mineral Deposits of Tasmania. Tas. Geol.
Surv. Bulltn. No. 44-

SCOTT, B. 1960—Comments on the Cainozoic History
of Western Tasmania. Rec. Queen Viet. Mus.
New Series No. 12.

TWELVETREES, W. H. & WARD, L. K. 1909—Geo¬
logical Examination of the Zeehan Field,
Preliminary Statement. Tas. Dept, of Mines
Geol. Bulletin 7.

1910 — The Orebodies of the Zeehan Field. Tas.
Dept, of Mines Geol. Bidletin 8.

TWELVETREES, W. H. 1914—The Bald Hill Osmiri-
dium Field. Tas. Dept, of Mines Geol. Surv.
Bulletin 17.

WADE, M. L. & SOLOMON, M. 1958—Geology of the
Mt. Lyell Mines, Tasmania. Econ. Geol. Vol.
53, No. 4.

WARD, L. K. 1908—The Mt. Farrell Mining Field.
Tas. Dept, of Mines, Geol. Bulletin 3.

1909—The Tin field of North Dundas. Tas.
Dept, of Mines, Geological Bulletin 6.

1911a—The Mount Balfour Mining Field. Tas.
Dept. Mines Geol. Surv. Bulltn. 10.

1911b—The X River Tinfield. Tas. Dept, of
Mines Geol. Bidltn. 12.

WATERHOUSE, L. L. 1914—The Stanley River Tin-
field. Tas. Dept, of Mines Geol. Bulltn. 15.

1916— The South Heemskirk Tin Field. Tas.
Dept, of Mines Geol. Surv. Bulltn 21.

Van Diemen’s Land
Correspondents

T. E Bums and J R. Skemp

Letters from

R. C. Gunn, R. W. Lawrence, Jorgen Jorgenson,
Sir John Franklin and others
to Sir William J. Hooker.

1827-1849

QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM
1961

PUBLISHERS NOTE

This publication is New Series No. 14 of The Records of the Queen

Victoria Museum, Launceston.

Edited by Frank Ellis, Director of the Museum.

Issued in an edition of 1,200 copies, 1961.

REGISTERED AT THE GENERAL
POST OFFICE, HOBART, FOR
TRANSMISSION THROUGH THE
POST AS A BOOK.

33082

L. G. Shba, Government Printer, Tasmania.

CONTENTS

1. Preface.

2. Introduction.

3. Editorial Note.

4. Biographical Note on R. C. Gunn.

5. Letters &c.

Thomas Scott to W. J. Hooker 3, 7, 21

Diary of R. W. Lawrence 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
R. W. Lawrence to W. J. Hooker 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24
Ronald C. Gunn to W. J. Hooker 21, 30, 31, 38, 41, 44, 46,
49, 51, 54, 55, 57, 58, 61, 62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 74, 77, 78, 81,
84, 86, 91, 92, 93, 95, 98, 100. 103, 104, 105, 113, 114, 115, 119
Journal of R. W. Lawrence 26, 27, 28
Ronald C. Gunn to Colonel George Arthur 33
Jorgen Jorgenson to W. J. Hooker 34, 37, 56, 86
Thomas K. Short to W. J. Hooker 47, 48, 53
Robert Scott to W. J. Hooker 50, 51
Sir John Franklin to W. J. Hooker 67, 88
J. G. Robertson to W. J. Hooker 69
Ronald C. Gunn to H. B. Fielding 73
Robert Brown to Ronald C. Gunn 108
Ronald C. Gunn to Robert Brown 109
Ronald C. Gunn to Joseph D. Hooker 110, 117
Joseph Milligan to W. J. Hooker 112, 113

Appendix A 128
Appendix B 140
Appendix C 140
General Index 143
Botanical Index 145

iii

publication of the letters between William Jackson Hooker, the English Botanist,

and his Botanical Correspondents in Tasmania, chief of whom was the Naturalist,
Ronald Campbell Gunn, is not only of scientific importance but also a valuable contri¬
bution to the early history of the Colony.

William Jackson Hooker, who had been Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow
from 1820, became Director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew in 1841. In 1855 his son,
Joseph Dalton Hooker, was appointed Assistant Director, and became Director in 1865
on the death of his father.

The story of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew goes back over two hundred years.
The Gardens, with its Library, Museum, Plant Houses and Laboratories, are probably
the most remarkable of their kind anywhere. Into three hundred acres of land beside
the River Thames are concentrated almost every form of plant life, drawn from every
country in the world; it is a collection built up by the dedicated work of many famous
explorers and botanists, including Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks. The letters
reproduced in this volume illustrate how this has been done, over long periods and dis¬
tances, when the small saling ship was the only means of communication between
England and this remote Colony of Tasmania.

Joseph'Hooker used the reports made to his father from Gunn and others in the
compilation of his “ Flora Tasmaniae ”, published in London in 1860 under the authority
of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The British Admiralty was the pub¬
lishing authority by reason of the fact that the original investigation into the Flora of
Tasmania was undertaken during the Antarctic voyage of the English Discovery Ships
“ Erebus ” and “ Terror ” (1839-43), under the command of Sir James Clark Ross, which
anchored in the River Derwent for three months in the winter of 1841. During that
voyage Joseph Hooker was Assistant-Surgeon of the “ Erebus ”, and also Botanist to the
expedition. On his return to England Hooker compiled his monumental work on the
Tasmanian Flora, in four volumes; he dedicated it to Ronald Campbell Gunn of Laun¬
ceston, and William Archer of “ Cheshunt ”, Tasmania.

Looking back from this point of time the great amount of information available
to Hooker then appears astonishing, but he explains it as due partly to the “ increased
exertions of the Botanical Correspondents, who were stimulated by the prospect of a
speedy publication of their discoveries In his account of the negotiations for publi¬
cation of the volumes Hooker expresses his “ unexpected gratification of receiving from
the Governor and Parliament of Tasmania the announcement that they had awarded me
a grant of £350 ”. This valuable contribution towards publication was supplemented by
an additional £100 from William Archer, who went to England to assist in the final
preparation of the manuscripts.

“ The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin ” (by his son Francis Darwin) was pub¬
lished in 1887; “The Life and Letters of Sir J. D. Hooker” (by Leonard Huxley) was
published in 1918. From these two works it is clear that these two distinguished con-

temporaries were close friends who consulted with each other in solving their scien¬
tific problems. In preparing his famous work “ The Origin of Species ”, which brought
about a revolution in scientific thought, Darwin had access to Hooker’s manuscripts,
and described the “ Flora of Tasmania ” as the strongest buttress for his theory of
Evolution. It is not surprising, therefore, when the intended publication of Hooker’s
volumes on Tasmania was announced, that it was welcomed by Darwin. In a letter to
Hooker he wrote:—“What capital news from Tasmania; it really is a very remarkable
and creditable fact to the Colony.” This letter then stated that his castle in the air
was emigration to Tasmania, and he already regarded the colony as his “ headquarters ”.
He continued:—“ I feel very proud of my adopted country [Tasmania] ; it is really a
very singular and delightful fact, constrasted with the slight appreciation of science in
the Old Country.” It is probable that Darwin’s warm recollection of Tasmania came
from his five-year voyage as a Naturalist on the “ Beagle”—the 235-ton Navy Brig that
left England in 1831, under the command of Captain Fitz-roy (later Governor of New
Zealand) to survey parts of South America and certain islands in the Pacific, includ¬
ing Tasmania.

The purpose of this Preface is to explain very briefly the place of Tasmanian
Flora in certain early scientific discoveries, and the reason why, after the passage of
a century, the present Government of Tasmania is, in conjunction with the City of
Launceston and the University of Tasmania, contributing to the completion of this
work by assistance to the publication of the early personal reports from the Colony on
which much of Hooker’s volumes is based.

INTRODUCTION

Professor H. N. Barber M.A., Ph.D., F.A.A., Professor of Botany,

University of Tasmania

r PHE history of the development of Science, its ideas, and its great men is an immense

field somewhat neglected by the professional historian. University libraries and
state archives are full of classified, reprinted and reclassified documents illustrating
the foibles of such diverse personalities as Queen Elizabeth I, King Charles II, King
George III and Queen Victoria. Yet the world has had to wait almost 250 years for a
definitive edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s correspondence. Historical studies of the
development of the great ideas of the 19th Century Science have hardly begun. Who
among us, scientist, historian, or layman, can begin to imagine the state of thought on
electrical theory before Faraday and Clerk-Maxwell, or on atomic theory before Can-
nizaro, Frankland, Joule and Clausius, or on evolutionary speculation in the twenty
years between Darwin’s return from the Southern Hemisphere and the reading of his
and Wallace’s papers before the Linnean Society of London on July 1st 1858?

There are many reasons for this peculiar blindness. Probably the most important
is the explosive way in which Science, particularly since Newton’s day, has grown in a
sort of self-catalytic chain-reaction. A new idea, or often a new statement of an old
idea, spreads itself throughout the organised body of scientific knowledge, generating
further new ideas, just as the neutrons of uranium 235 multiply with every atomic
fission. This explosive situation, exciting as it is to ride the crest of the wave, has
a number of unfortunate consequences. The man whose job it is to develop new scien¬
tific ideas has to run so fast to keep himself informed that he has too little time for
that contemplation so necessary for the development of an historical attitude. The pro¬
fessional historian, on the other hand, is lost in the rear before he can begin to get
the necessary techniques and ideas of Science and its language. The super-specialisa¬
tion, which is now demanded by our Modern Arts Faculties, almost excludes any
knowledge, or the desire for knowledge, of Science and its ideas amongst most of its
graduate products.

Another reason for the blindness is the fact that the primary sources of the history
of Science are often difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. It is a fantastic comment¬
ary on academic specialisation to compare, say, the documents available on the history
of the British Reform Bills or the Corn Laws with those available on the development
of the idea of evolution. Darwin’s first notebooks on “ the transmutation of species ”
written in 1837 and 1838 have been published in 1960 for the first time, as part of the
centenary publication of “ On the Origin of Species ”.

It was, thus, with great interest that I heard that Messrs. Burns and Skemp were
preparing the papers of Ronald Campbell Gunn for publication. Gunn is one of the
minor, but still very significant, workers who helped almost unwittingly to lay the
foundations for our modern ideas of the origin of the diversity of living organisms
and of man’s place in that diversity. The letters give us an insight of the way in which
the son of an Army Officer, born in Capetown, educated in England for the Army
and then attached to the Royal Engineers in Barbados, migrated to Tasmania at the
age of 21 and became superintendent of convicts and amateur botanist. This is scarcely

vii

the background one would expect for a man who was elected into the Fellowship of
the Linnean Society in 1850 and of the Royal Society of London in 1854. Nor is it the
background for a man of whom Hooker could write in the Introduction to the Flora
Tasmaniae . . . There are few Tasmanian plants that Mr. Gunn has not seen alive,

noted their habits in a living state, and collected large suites of specimens with singular
tact and judgment. These have all been transmitted to England in perfect preserva¬
tion, and are accompanied with notes that display remarkable powers of observation,
and a facility for seizing important characters in the physiognomy of plants, such as
few experienced botanists possess.

I had the pleasure of making Mr. Gunn’s acquaintance at Hobarton, in 1840, and
am indebted to him for nearly all I know of the vegetation of the districts I then
visited; for we either studied together in the field or in his library; or when he could
not accompany me himself, directed one of his servants, who was an experienced guide
and plant-collector, to accompany me and take charge of my specimens. I can recall
no happier weeks of my various wanderings over the globe, than those spent with Mr.
Gunn, collecting in the Tasmanian mountains and forests, or studying our plants in
his library, with the works of our predecessors Labillardiere and Brown

There are two questions which it is necessary to ask in any consideration of Gunn’s
work and of his place in history. The first is how Gunn became so intensely interested
particularly in botany but also in many other branches of natural history. There is no
need for me to spend much time on this question. Mr. Baulch’s biographical essay and
the correspondence itself show us as much as we are ever likely to know. His friend¬
ship with Lawrence was one deciding factor. The enthusiastic response of Professor
Lindley and W. J. Hooker and J. D. Hooker, father and son and successively Directors
of Kew, must have been another. The arrival of Sir John Franklin and the younger
Hooker with Sir James Ross helped sustain his interest.

The letters give us many fascinating hints of the intimacy which arose between
men on opposite sides of the world and of very different educational and social back¬
grounds. Gunn seeks out advice and information; he wants no payment for his work
except books on botany; he spends enormous trouble trying to get live plants in Ward-
cases back to Kew; he continually seeks out better and safer ways of ensuring the
arrival of his precious collections in those days of precarious travel.

The other question is the place of Gunn’s work in biology. We must first try to
understand something of the ferment which had developed in biology since the develop¬
ment of Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum in 1753. Linnaeus did two essential things—he
developed a cataloguing system just in time for use by the naturalists attached, almost
as a routine, by almost all governments to their ships of exploration in that magnifi¬
cent Indian Summer of exploration associated with the name of Captain James Cook,
R.N., F.R.S. Once it was possible to catalogue, collections could be made and described
accurately. Linnaeus’ other essential contribution was a sort of antithesis to his thesis.
His system of cataloguing turned out to be rather like attempting to classify scientists
or poets or priests or politicians by the colour of their eyes, rather than by their subject,
school, church or party. Such reliance on one characteristic may sometimes lead to
the formation of natural groups, that is groups of objects with many important pro¬
perties in common. More often, it leads to the grouping of objects into entirely artificial
categories.

This is the impasse to which Linnaeus’ catalogue of plants based, as it was, on the
number of stamens in the flower, led botanists. The catalogue allowed all the orchids
(with one stamen) to remain together; but at other places it grouped plants together

viii

whose only characters in common were the possession of green leaves, seeds, and x
rather than (x 4- 1) or ( x — 1) stamens; in other places his catalogue put into com¬
pletely different groups plants differing only in staminal number. These difficulties led
to the development of natural systems. The letters give fascinating glimpses of how
such problems were discussed 150 years ago. Robert Brown, who climbed Mt. Wel¬
lington in 1804, had published his Prodomus Flora Novae Hollandiae in 1810 and, as
an appendix to Flinders’ Journal in 1814, he gave the first account of the relationships
of the Australian flora.

In his work Brown defined several more natural groups, e.g., the Proteaceae. He
was expected to follow it up with a more complete account. However, although Brown
was interested in this type of work until the end of his long life in 1858, it was left to
G. Bentham and J. D. Hooker to give us one of the first great definitions of the
natural classification. The work is still not finished in 1960.

What did this idea of a natural system of classification mean? Had the Creator
of Genesis designed his creatures on certain basic structural and physiological patterns
and then in his wisdom modified a few fundamental designs in this way and that?
Why was it virtually impossible to classify Australian Leguminosae, Labiatae, Pro¬
teaceae, Rutaceae, Myrtaceae, etc., by examination of the non-flowering plant? In flower
each species clearly shows its relationships. In each group the leaves vary from large,
flat, typical leaves through small hard eridoid types to spines and scales so small as to
be almost invisible. Why are such convergences of character (as we call them now) so
characteristic of the Australian vegetation?

Cataloguing, thus, became the fashion. At first, it led, by way of the idealistic
“ Natur-philosophs ” and Goethe’s “ Urpflanze ” to a search for something like Plato’s
“ ideal forms ”. But catologuing also led immediately to the definition of a number of
problems in plant geography. The first, which we may call ecological, dealt with the
fact that regions with similar climates and soils situated anywhere in the world carry
a vegetation of similar appearance or physiognomy. The shrubby, evergreen, aromatic
“ chaparral ” or “ maquis ” is characteristic of winter-rainfall climates whether we
go to Palermo, Valparaiso, Los Angeles or Busselton. Or you can stand above the mor¬
aines at Waldheim on Cradle Mountain and imagine you are not too far from Enner-
dale and Great Gable. The vegetation has certain features in its vegetative construc¬
tion giving a peculiar similarity in habit or growth-form.

Our second, or floristic, problem arises if we go deeper and catalogue the species
of plants growing in such widely separated regions of similar climate. We shall
scarcely find a single species in common. Why are the shrubby Ericas, bilberries and
heather of the English Lake District replaced by the Epacrids of Tasmanian mountains?
Why is Eucalyptus almost restricted to Australia where it plays, among many others,
the ecological role played by the evergreen oaks, olives and pines of California and Sicily?
Were there several Creations in different parts of the world or has there been a gradual
process of change or evolution, as we call it now?

Darwin, during the voyage of the Beagle in 1835, posed a third problem of floristic
plant geography—the flora and fauna of islands. Islands like St. Helena or Hawaii,
situated thousands of miles away from the nearest continent, carry their own endemic
flora which shows no very close relationship to any continental flora. Islands like the
Galapagos or Cape Verde situated a few hundred miles from a continent carry a large
number of species closely related to those of the nearest continental shores; but many
of the island species are endemic to the islands occurring nowhere else in the world.
Islands like Tasmania, a mere one hundred miles from the nearest continent, carry a

flora most of whose species are common to the mainland. However, Tasmania has a few
endemic species. Our snow gum, E. coccifera, is different from the snow gums of
Mt. Bogong or Kosciuscko which are various forms of our cabbage gum, E. pauciflora.
Similarly most of our Tasmanian conifers are endemic to Tasmania.

An accurate definition of all these problems demanded an immense amount of
detailed work. Banks, Solander, Forster, Brown, Cunningham, Darwin, Hooker and
Huxley in the years between 1770 and 1850 made rapid collecting forays in the Aus¬
tralian region. What was needed were resident collectors who knew what they were
about. And so, the Hookers, father and son, established, where they could, relation¬
ships with the new colonies and their citizens. In Tasmania, there were Lawrence,
Gunn, Archer; in Victoria, von Muller; in New South Wales Bidwell, Mitchell, Beck-
ler, Dallachy; Colenso and Sinclair in New Zealand; Douglas in U.S.A. and Canada;
and Fortune in China and the East. It was an amazng organisation buit up by the
sympathy and interest of the Hookers. Missionary, farmer, explorer, or superintend¬
ent of convicts could all help and all did. Kew’s pre-eminence in systematic botany dates
back to these amateur-collectors of the colonies.

Their work, as great scientific work always does, produced predictable results.
The predictable result of Gunn’s work was Hooker’s magnificent Flora Tasmaniae, the
centenary of which we are celebrating this year. The unpredictable result was the
“ Introductory Essay ” to the Flora. In this essay, Hooker marshalls the facts of plant
geography and shows how difficult it is to explain them except by the theory of descent
brought about by natural selection working on inherited variation always present in
populations of plants. Thus, a superintendent of convicts helped make men rethink
his origins and his place in nature.

It is a difficult task for us in 1960 to know what Gunn really thought of all the
theorizing from Home. Muller in Melbourne, to his death in 1896, never believed in
evolution. Gunn, perhaps, because of his greater modesty, in his article published in
vol. 1 of the Tasmanian Journal of Science (1842) on “Observations on the Flora of
Geelong, Port Phillip ”, was content to quote Mirbel. The quotation reads:

“ The surest way is to confine ourselves to collecting and arranging facts, leaving
to those who may follow us the charge of discovering and developing the theory ”.

H. N. BARBER,
1960.

EDITORIAL NOTE

letters here published, most of them for the first time, are preserved in the

library of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Through the kind
offices of Dr. R. Melville and by permission of the authorities at Kew, microfilm copies of
selected letters were secured by Mr. T. E. Burns for presentation to the Queen Victoria
Museum, Launceston. In addition, photostat copies of other letters were obtained from
the British Museum of Natural History, Botanical Section, and from Kew, whence
photographs of the Gunn portrait were also obtained. The Director of the Queen
Victoria Museum, Mr. W. F. Ellis, has been granted permission to print these documents.

Acknowledgment is made to Dr. R. Melville, of Kew, for his help and encourage¬
ment in the conception of the project, for his ready co-operation when further material
was required, and, most particularly, for his painstaking research into the nomenclature
of the Gunn material preserved at Kew when the literature available in Tasmania was
inadequate to interpret the manuscript.

The extracts from the R. W. Lawrence Diary, which have some relevance in that
they describe the early botanical collections sent to W. J. Hooker from Tasmania, are
also published for the first time. This diary, now in the possession of Mr. Leonard Law¬
rence, of “ Formosa ”, Cressy, a nephew of R. W. Lawrence, came to light when enquiries
were made regarding the diarist, one of Hooker’s earliest Van Diemen’s Land corres¬
pondents. They are printed by kind permission of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Lawrence.
Letters or extracts included in the commentary were made available by the courtesy of
Mr. W. Baulch.

The microfilmed letters were transcribed, using an ordinary 35 mm. strip film pro¬
jector, and typed. The typescript was then twice corrected by careful re-reading of the
films. In a few cases reading was particularly difficult and laborious owing to the faint¬
ness of the photograph; to the writing being crossed (that is, the page being covered
with writing in black ink, turned at right angles and, on the same side, again covered in
writing in red ink) ; to fold marks or tears in the paper. The task was not made easier
by the use of the long “ s ”, which looks so much like an “ f ”, in the handwriting of all
the correspondents except R. C. Gunn, whose letters, fortunately, make up the bulk of
the correspondence. Where the transcription of a word has been doubtful it has been
enclosed in square brackets and, if quite illegible, this has been indicated by square
brackets enclosing a blank space. To avoid interpolations in the text, the botanical
numbers used by Gunn and Lawrence, and quoted in their letters to Hooker, are repeated
immediately after the letter with the botanical name given the numbered specimen
(where these have been ascertained from the literature available or by direct reference
to Dr. Melville at Kew). Botanical names in the text are given in an index, together
with the probable or known synonym. Botanical names in the commentary are given in
italics, following the usual practice. Bold tvne is used in the letters, but only to indicate
words underlined for emphasis. Botanical names in the letters which are printed in
bold type were underlined for emphasis in the originals.

Care has been taken to ensure that the spelling and punctuation of the letters are
printed exactly as they appeared in the originals. Some of the writers, notably T. K.
Short and J. G. Robertson, employed their own peculiar orthography and the frequent
repetition of (sic) after every misspelt word would, in the editors’ opinion, tend to
distract readers.

EDITORIAL NOTE

For those who think handwriting is some indication of the writer’s character, it may
be noted that Lawrence had rather a hurried scrawling style. Ronald Gunn had a
small, neat, sloping hand (though his writing deteriorated somewhat after 1840), while
his brother, Robert, of Edinburgh, wrote a formal copperplate.

Jorgen Jorgenson’s was a large, round, bold handwriting, while that of Sir John
Franklin was somewhat hurried, though easily legible. T. K. Short had a slovenly, mis¬
spelt scrawl, while that of J. G. Robertson was painfully laboured.

The signatures of the writers are printed except in the numerous letters of Ronald
Gunn, where his signature is omitted except where particularly relevant.

The principal correspondent, and easily the most important contributor to Hooker’s
herbarium of V.D.L. plants, was Ronald Campbell Gunn and, as it was felt that some
knowledge of his life was necessary for the proper appreciation of his letters, Mr. W.
Baulch, who for some years has been collecting matei'ial on R. C. Gunn with the object
ultimately of writing a full-length biography, has therefore contributed a short bio¬
graphical note on this outstanding personality.

Help has been received from Professor H. N. Barber, of the Department of Botany
at the University of Tasmania, and from Dr. W. N. Curtis, Miss J. Somerville, and Mr.
W. D. Jackson, of the same department. Acknowledgment is due, also, to Mr. J. H. Willis,
of the National Herbarium of Victoria, for his introduction to Kew and his later assist¬
ance.

On the historical side, assistance has been given by Mr. R. M. Gunn, of Perth, Mr.
Leonard Lawrence, of “ Formosa ”, Mr. Lambert Lawrence, of “ Billopp ”, Mr. W. Baulch,
Mr. Hawley Stancombe, of “Glendessary ”, Mr. J. M. Curtis, the late Miss T. Masters,
Mrs. F. Edwards, Mrs. Gow, and Mrs. Mead. Photographic assistance has been given
by Mr. H. J. King.

To Mr. W. F. Ellis, Director of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston, very special
acknowledgments are due. As Editor-in-chief he has been most encouraging and help¬
ful, and has devoted much time and thought to furthering the project. The Library of
the Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania has been most useful and old
volumes preserved by wise discrimination in the Launceston Public Library have been
veritable treasures.

To Mr. Frank Green and Professor Barber, who read the first draft of these edited
letters and recommended them for publication, the editors are most grateful, as well as
for their subsequent very valuable help and advice.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance received from the Tasmanian
State Government, and the University of Tasmania, which subsidised the funds provided
by the Launceston City Council.

xii

RONALD CAMPBELL GUNN., F.R.S. F.L.S.

A Biographical Note by W. Baulch, B.Sc., A.R.A.C.l.

Ronald Campbell Gunn was born at the Cape of Good Hope on 4th April, 1808. At
that time his father, William Gunn, was serving as a lieutenant in the 72nd Highland
Regiment, commanded by Lt.-Col. Ronald Campbell, after whom he named his son.
In 1809, when Admiral Rowley was despatched with troops to capture the islands of
Mauritius and Bourbon, the 72nd Regiment formed part of his force. The whole Gunn
family accompanied the father on this expedition. They remained at the island while
the regiment was on garrison duty and, during their stay there, the mother died. It was
not until the short peace of 1814, when Bourbon was restored to France and renamed
Reunion, that the regiment received orders to transfer to the West Indies. Before this
Ronald’s eldest brother, William, though no more than fourteen, had received a commis¬
sion in the Bourbon Regiment with his father. This Bourbon Regiment appears to
have been a kind of Militia formed on the island and commanded by officers from British
regiments stationed there. According to family tradition the Gunns belonged to the
Black Watch, the name current for all Highland regiments at the time.

Following the escape of Napoleon from Elba, the regiment was diverted to the Cape
of Good Hope, where the Gunn family became friendly with Lt.-Col. William Sorell,
later to become the Lieutenant-Governer of Van Diemen’s Land. As a result of the
defeat of Napoleon and his banishment to St. Helena, Britain’s military forces were
reduced. One of the regiments to be disbanded in 1816 was the Bourbon Regiment,
now at Barbados, and its officers were placed on half pay. This caused the Gunn family
to return to Scotland, where Ronald was educated with the idea of an army career. Little
is known of this period in the life of the family, except that they probably lived in,
or frequently visited the Border country, especially the area around Melrose and New-
stead since Ronald later chose the name “ Newstead ” for his home in Launceston.

During this time, his father and brother William made many attempts to obtain army
appointments without success. Tiring of life in Scotland, in 1822 William set out to visit
India and Australia in order to investigate the opportunities offering there. His ship
called at Hobart Town, where William was recognized by Lt.-Col. Sorell at a church
service. The Governor persuaded William to settle .there, offering him a public appoint¬
ment and a land grant. One estate was granted in the Richmond district and he named
it “ Bourbon ” after his old regiment.

Ronald’s name was placed on the Commander-in-Chief’s list for a commission in
the British army. This did not materialise and when, in 1825, his father was appointed
Paymaster in the 93rd Highlanders, serving in the West Indies, Ronald accompanied
him. Another brother, Robert, had obtained a post on the staff of “ The Scotsman ” and
remained in Edinburgh. For a short time Ronald had also served on this newspaper.
Although he did not receive a commission, Ronald held a civilian appointment with the
Royal Engineers at Antigua. Just prior to his father’s death, he married, in 1826,
Eliza Ireland, the daughter of a brother officer of his father. Two children, a son, Ronald
James William, and a daughter, Frances, were born in the West Indies.

Meanwhile, in Van Diemen’s Land, his brother William had held a number of
public service positions and secured land grants for himself. Always impressed with
the opportunities in Van Diemen’s Land, and worried about the effects of the climate of
the West Indies on his brother’s health, William finally persuaded Ronald to come to

Xlll

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Van Diemen’s Land with a view to settling there. Ronald returned to England in 1829
and almost immediately set out for Hobart Town which he reached in the ship “ Green¬
ock ” on 5th February, 1830. He brought with him introductions from the Commander-
in-Chief of the West Indies (Sir Charles Smith) and the Secretary of State for the
Colonies (Sir George Murray) recommending him to Governor Arthur for employment
in “ some minor post ”. According to a document made available to Mr. J. Curtis,
Ronald Gunn borrowed the money to pay for the passage from the Australian Company
at Leith. The family travelled cabin class. Single fare was £68 5s., while his 2A-year-
old son was charged quarter fare. Fifty pounds was advanced for outfit for the voyage
and. with interest and insurance, the total amounted to £224 12s. Id. This Gunn
promised to pay at Hobart Town on arrival, his brother William being guarantor.

He was soon appointed under his brother William’s supervision to act as superin¬
tendent of a convict barracks at Hobart Town. In December of the same year (1830)
he was transferred to Launceston as Assistant Superintendent of Convicts for the
Northern Division of Van Diemen’s Land. He soon became Superintendent and, in
1833, he was appointed a Police Magistrate. Thus, at the age of 24, he was in control
of all convicts in Northern Tasmania. At this time his duties involved the control of
male and female Houses of Correction, the distribution and assignment of all convict
servants, and the daily trials of all disorderly Crown prisoners (estimated to be forty
to sixty weekly with a total of over 3.000 in a little over two years) as well as the super¬
vision of chain gangs. His duties, and the social life of the town, soon brought him in
contact with a young man of his own age, Robert William Lawrence, the son of William
Effingham Lawrence, a large landholder in the northern part of the Island.

Lawrence had been induced to collect for and correspond with the great British
botanist, W. J. Hooker, by a friend, Thomas Scott, a merchant of Launceston. Lawrence
and Scott soon introduced Gunn to Hooker by letter and induced him to assist them in
collecting plants. In 1832 Lawrence moved to “ Formosa ”, near Cressy, to become
overseer of his father’s large estates there. Visiting him there, Gunn became even
keener to gain some knowledge of botany. In the following year, Lawrence died
suddenly and the loss of his friend had a profound effect on Gunn. For many years he
continued to mention in his letters the great loss he had sustained. But he was now well
started as a plant collector and, during the next two years, despite his onerous duties
and Governor Arthur’s unsympathetic attitude, he travelled extensively in northern
Van Diemen’s Land gathering new plants for Hooker.

At this time Ronald Gunn contemplated resigning his post to settle at the newly
formed Port Phillip settlement aci-oss Bass Strait, which he visited briefly in 1835, but
a new appointment as Police Magistrate to Circular Head (headquarters of the Van
Diemen’s Land Company estates) probably caused him to change his mind. This appoint¬
ment, at £300 a year, meant far less official work and splendid opportunities for plant
collecting. Prior to his removal to Circular Head, Gunn had sent his wife home to her
people in Dublin, where she died in June 1836, soon after her arrival.

From Circular Head, Gunn travelled over much of the north-western portion of the
island, from Cape Grim to the Forth River, although he had already forwarded some
specimens from Dr. Joseph Milligan, then the V.D.L. Co.’s surgeon at Hampshire Hills.
He also turned his attention to collecting animals, birds, and shells, as well as plants.
Each shipment to Hooker was rewarded by a shipment of books and periodicals which
Gunn regarded as sufficient recompense for his labours. Hooker had great admiration
for the work done by Gunn and constantly encouraged him to continue.

xiv

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The arrival in 1837 of Sir John Franklin as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s
Land meant a period of greater encouragement and official support for Gunn. The
interest that Sir John and Lady Franklin displayed in scientific matters, and the fact that
Gunn’s work had been commended to them by Hooker, brought Gunn to the forefront as
an authority on Tasmanian Natural History. Lady Franklin invited him to assist in
laying out a Botanic Garden on her estate “ Ancanthe ”, Lenah Valley, near Hobart Town
(now known as the Franklin Gardens). In October, 1838, he left Circluar Head for
Hobart Town to take up the positions of Third Member of the Assignment Board, and
Second Assistant Police Magistrate. In Hobart Town he took an active part in all the
Franklins’ efforts to make the residents of Van Diemen’s Land science conscious; for
example, he became Secretary of the Horticultural Society formed in 1839 and, in 1840,
Secretary of the Tasmanian Society formed in 1838 by Sir John to promote scientific
enquiry. He frequently accompanied the Franklins on their trips (e.g., to Flinders
Island, to Esperance Bay, to the Huon River), but a fall from his horse resulting in a
broken leg, caused him to miss the overland trip to Macquarie Harbour which the
Franklins made in 1842. In 1840 he was appointed Private Secretary to Sir John Frank,
lin and Clerk of the Legislative Council and of the Executive Council. As Secretary
he was sure to meet all visitors interested in science. Among these must be numbered
John Gould, Joseph Dalton Hooker (son of W. J. Hooker), and Captains Ross and
Crozier of the “ Erebus ” and “ Terror ” Magnetic Survey Expedition.

In 1841 Gunn married Margaret Legrand Jamieson, only daughter of David
Jamieson, of “ Glen Leith ”, near New Norfolk. Just prior to his marriage Gunn
resigned all his government appointments and returned to Launceston to become
manager of the very large estates of W. E Lawrence, who had died the same year.
He took up residence at Penquite House on Lawrence’s suburban estate. On Sir John’s
recall in 1843, Ronald Gunn also became manager of the properties acquired in Van
Diemen’s Land by the ex-governor and Lady Jane Franklin.

Gunn’s salary as manager of these estates probably enabled him to acquire property
for himself. It was a period of depression in the colonies, following the bursting of
the Port Phillip land boom, and land and stock were cheap. Whatever the reason
starting with little when he left Hobart Town, by the 1850’s he had become a large land
owner, possessing both country sheep runs and large areas of land in the suburbs of
Launceston. He already owned 45 acres of Glen Dhu, Launceston, where he had begun
a private botanic garden in 1833. This was now developed as a market garden and
orchard. When sold in 1854 it was stated to have realised upwards of £600 per year.
He also acquired 107 acres on the eastern side of Launceston on the town side of
Penquite between High Street and the North Esk River. On this estate he built, in 1856,
the mansion of Newstead House, where he resided until his death. The house is still
standing.

After a vain and tactless effort by Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Franklin’s successor, to
incorporate the Tasmanian Society into a new “ Royal Society of Van Diemen’s Land,
for Horticulture, Botany and the Advancement of Science ” that he founded, the Tas¬
manian Society moved its headquarters to Launceston, where its most active member,
Ronald Gunn, now lived. Until 1848, when the Tasmanian Society amalgamated with
the Royal Society under Governor Denison’s presidency and with Dr. Milligan as Secre¬
tary Gunn was the force which kept it alive. He was both its Secretary and the editor
of its publication, “ The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science ”. Reports of its activities

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

published in the newspapers of the times are full of such references as—“ Mr. Gunn
read a paper ... ”, “ Mr. Gunn exhibited specimens ... ”, “ Mr. Gunn drew attention
to . . . ”, &c.

He continued to collect specimens for Hooker, both dried and living plants, the latter
being sent in hermetically sealed glass-topped containers called Ward’s Cases. They
were returned from England filled with living garden plants, ornamental shrubs, and
trees.

He also collected living animals to send to England. “ The Times ” of London records
in 1850 the arrival of a live Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) for Mr. Gray of the British
Museum from Mr. Gunn.

In recognition of his work in Natural History, Gunn was elected a Fellow of the
Linnean Society in 1850, and in 1854 a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the
first Tasmanian to receive this honour.

His work, in collaboration with William Archer, in helping Joseph Hooker with
specimens and notes for his beautifully produced Flora Tasmaniae, the first book on the
botany of this island, was gratefully acknowledged by Hooker in his introduction, and
the book was dedicated jointly to William Archer and" Ronald Gunn.

The period from 1840 to 1860 must have been an extremely busy one for Gunn.
His management of the Lawrence and Franklin estates, the gradual acquiring of his
own property, and the building of Newstead House, his exploring and botanical trips,
particularly to the north-east and the west coast, must have given him little time for
outside intei’ests, while the circumstances of Franklin’s recall and Wilmot’s dealings
with the Tasmanian Society caused Gunn to take little part in public affairs until the
late ’forties. With Sir William Denison’s arrival in 1847, Gunn became more active.
At this time the great question agitating the mind of the community was that of the
transportation of convicts to Tasmania. He was one of a group of large landholders
who advocated the continuance of the system. He had charge of a petition to be sent
to the Queen praying for the continuance in office of Sir William Denison, champion
of transportation. He was also one of the principal signatories of a circular sent to
the chief property owners and employers of labour advocating the continuance of this
compulsory migration for economic and moral reasons but, in spite of all the efforts of
Gunn and his associates, transportation ceased in 1853.

Gunn continued to take an active interest in politics, however, and in July, 1855
was elected to the Launceston seat of the Legislative Council, the result of the poll
being Gunn, 401; Field 12. With the granting of self-government to the colony in the
same year, Gunn resigned his seat on the Council and stood for and was elected to the
Selby seat in the first House of Assembly. He continued to hold this seat until 1860
when his friend, Isaac Sherwin, was elected in his place. Ronald Gunn does not seem to
have been a very active member of parliament. Although he occasionally presented a
petition or introduced a deputation and was chairman of one select committee during
the term, the most common entry in the minutes of the House regarding him is —
“ Mr. Gunn granted leave of absence ”.

After his resignation from Parliament, R. C. Gunn was appointed Deputy Commis¬
sioner of Crown Lands for the northern side of the island. In 1862 he was appointed
Agent for the Real Property Act; Deputy Registrar of the Court of Requests; Clerk of

xvi

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

the Peace; Deputy Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; in 1863, Deputy Recorder
of Titles; Chairman of the Northern Sub-Board of Works; Chairman and Treasurer
of the North Esk Road Trust; in 1864, he was chosen as one of the Commissioners to
report on the site of Government for New Zealand, when Wellington was unanimously
recommended.

Gunn travelled extensively over Tasmania, including some previously unexplored
regions. His early trips were to the mouncains near Launceston—Mt. Arthur, Mt. Bar-
row, Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond—and on many occasions to the Western Tiers. He also
visited the Asbestos Hills and the mouth of the Tamar River. While at Circular Head,
he went to Woolnorth and the country south of Cape Grim, to the Hampshire and Surrey
Hills, tne Middlesex Plains and to the upper reaches of the Forth River. With the
Franklins, he visited Flinders Island, Recherche Bay, and the Huon. Later he made
trips to Lake St. Clair, and on another occasion he followed the Franklins’ route to
Macquarie Harbour. He also made a traverse of the Western Tiers from the Arthur
Lakes to the Meander Falls, and the first overland penetration of the dense rain forest
between Mount Barrow and the north-eastern coastal plain. He made several trips to
southern Victoria, including Westernport, Port Phillip, Cape Otway, Portland, and the
Glenelg River. For the Government of Tasmania in 1859, with Surveyor Peter Lette,
he reported on gold discoveries on the Forth River, on the Middlesex Plains, and the
upper Arthur River. At the same time they explored the country between the north¬
western rivers to locate suitable access routes to the fertile forest lands which had
not yet been taken up. This was the occasion when the plains named in Gunn’s honour
were discovered. In 1865, James and John Scott escorted Charles Meredith (the
Colonial Secretary), C. Gould (the Government Geologist), and R. C. Gunn by way of
Pipers River, Bridport, and Scottsdale, to Ringarooma.

During these years he had become an influential figure in Launceston. A large
landholder, he was a director or chairman of several companies or societies—The Bread-
albane Road Trust, the St. Andrews Immigration Society, the Launceston Patriotic Fund
for relief of widows and children of deceased soldiers of the Crimean War, the Tamar Fire
and Marine Insurance Company, the Mechanics Institute, the Bank of Australasia,
the Horticultural Society, and Vice-President of the Northern Agricultural Society,
formed at Longford in 1856.

Probably his last official appointment was as collector of the Western Railway rate
in 1872. This rate was payable by property owners in the Western Railway District to
meet interest on bonds issued by the Government to help finance the Western Railway
Company’s line between Launceston and Deloraine, built in 1868-70. As the line failed
to do more than pay working expenses, owners and occupiers of the district had to make
good their guarantees, although the Main Line Company’s interest for its expenditure
on the railway between Hobart and Launceston, begun in 1871, was guaranteed by
the Government without any call being made on landowners. Gunn collected £7,000 of
the £7,500 owing for the first half year’s rate, but his sympathy was with the ratepayers
and he notified the Government that the law could not be enforced and that in his
opinion the rate could not be collected, and he resigned. The Government persisted in
its claims and at Launceston ordered the seizure of large quantities of goods belonging
to those who refused to pay and lodged them in the Commissariat store; thereupon
riots broke out in the streets of the town and additional police had to be sworn in. In its
next sitting, Parliament relieved the landowners of all liability.

XVII

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Gunn & literary efforts seem to have been confined to editing the “ Tasmanian
Journal of Natural Science ”, writing articles for it, compiling lists of indigenous planes
and animals for such publications as Backhouse’s Journal, and there is an acknow¬
ledgment of the valuable aid he afforded the publishers in Walch’s Almanack for 1862.
He presented his extensive private Herbarium to the Royal Society of Tasmania in
1878 and it was kept at the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart, until transferred to the
National Herbarium of N.S.W., Sydney, in 1904.

In 1876, because of failing health, R. C. Gunn retired on a pension from his
Government offices. For the remainder of his life he lived quietly at Newstead House
where he died on 13th March, 1881. For at least two years before hia death he had been
so crippled that he was unable to move without assistance. On the afternoon of his
funeral the public offices in Launceston were closed, but the funeral was poorly attended.
This poor attendance was attributed by one newspaper correspondent to the fact that
Gunn’s ill-health had forced him to live in retirement for so long that people had
forgotten him.

Ronald Campbell Gunn was buried in the old Scotch Burial Ground in High
Street, Launceston. This cemetery was the gift of his brother, William Gunn, to the
Presbyterian community. The cemetery, long disused, was taken over by the Launceston
City Council about 1950 with the intention of making it into a park. William Gunn’s
grandson, Mr. R. M. Gunn, had the tombstone bearing Ronald Gunn’s name and that of
his second wife and a daughter re-erected at Carr Villa Cemetery. At the same time he
removed all the coffins from the William Gunn vault to the same cemetery.

Ronald Gunn had five children of his first marriage and five more of his second.
Descendants of some of these survive but none bear the name of Gunn. Two of his sons,
one of the first and one of the second family, became medical practitioners. One died
in Queensland and one in England, neither with male issue. Newstead House remained
in the family with Gunn’e daughter, Mary Anne, and her cousins, Louisa and Ronald
Thomas Gunn, children of William Gunn, living there. In 1924, at the death of Louisa,
the last to go, the property was sold and Gunn’s magnificent collection of books, as
well as numerous letters of historic interest, were dispersed. The Newstead estate was
subdivided for housing and Gunn’s private botanic garden destroyed.

Ronald Gunn’s name is commemorated in Gunns Plains; Lake Gunn (one of the
Arthur Lakes where Gunn had a summer sheep run) ; Campbell River and Mount Camp¬
bell in the Cradle Mountain Reserve, which were named in his honour by his friend
James (“Philosopher”) Smith, the discoverer of the Mt. Bischoff tin mine. In Devon.
port, there are Ronald, Campbell, and Gunn Streets; and in Launceston, Ronald, Camp¬
bell, and Gunn Streets were so named when the Newstead estate was cut up, but Ronald
later became Junction Street and Gunn became Wentworth Street. Over fifty species
of plants bore his name in latinised form, but revision over the century has reduced
the number to about twenty-five. One bandicoot and four species of shellfish also bear
his name.

In the wide sphere of his public life, both official and voluntary, Ronald Gunn prob¬
ably did more than most other public spirited citizens of the time. One lasting and
tangible benefit to Launceston came from his Horticultural Society. This body, whose
headquarters was the Launceston Government Cottage (later known as Franklin Lodge),
had in its care the gardens which afterwards became the City Park, and the justifiable

xviii

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

pride that Launceston has in its many well-ordered gardens and reserves stems from it.
“ The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science ”, organ of the Tasmanian Society, which he
for several years edited, also set a very high standard for the “ Papers and Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Tasmania ”, which succeeded it.

But Ronald Gunn’s chief claim to fame is his magnificent pioneering work in bring¬
ing to the notice of competent authorities the flora and fauna of Tasmania. Without
his help and his beautifully preserved specimens and accurate notes, Joseph Hooker could
never have produced his “ Flora Tasmaniae ” in 1860. Nor could Joseph Hooker and
George Bentham have made complete their comprehensive “ Genera Plantarum ” which
brought up to date the classification of all known plants and on which Bentham based
his monumental “ Flora Australiensis ” wherein, with the assistance of Ferdinand von
Mueller, he summarised the then known work on Australian plants.

Gunn’s name is rightly honoured in Botany. It should also be honoured by all
Tasmanians as that of one of their greatest and most distinguished citizens.

XIX

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

T. E. BURNS AND J. R. SKEMP.

Letters from R. C. Gunn, R. W. Lawrence, Jorgen Jorgenson, Sir Frank Franklin,

and others to

Sir William Hooker,

1827-1849.

The last half of the Eighteenth and the
first half of the Nineteenth Centuries were
the great years of the Systematic Naturalists.
Leuwenhoek’s microscope had engendered
interest in the more minute details, often
of diagnostic value, in the classification of
living things, while Linnaeus’ binomial sys¬
tem of naming them and the framework of
classification developed by the Jussieus in
the Vegetable, and Cuvier in the Animal
Kingdom, set the Naturalists of Europe
gathering, dissecting, and classifying every
species of living thing they could lay then-
hands on. The science of Natural History,
dormant almost since Aristotle’s time, be¬
came the subject of absorbing interest to
many of the most brilliant intellects of the
day.

It was, too, still an age of geographical
discovery. New seas were being charted
and new lands put on the map by European
navigators, while in countries already colon¬
ized, the frontiers were being steadily pushed
back by explorers and settlers. From these
new discoveries came more and mox-e new
species of plants and animals to be named
and classified. Most of the great voyagers
of the period took with them accredited
naturalists, together with artists to depict
new species, both plant and animal, and often
with gardeners to select and preserve living
plants, for the discovery and propagation
of new edible or ornamental kinds was a
most important, and profitable, branch of
horticulture.

Of the more famous navigators of the
latter half of the Eighteenth and earlier
years of the Nineteenth Century who visited

Tasmania and Australia, James Cook had
with him on his first voyage Mr. (afterwards
Sir) Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander; on his
second voyage the German botanists Forster
(father and son) ; while on his third voyage
(when in 1777, he visited Adventure Bay in
southern Van Diemen’s Land) a consider¬
able collection of new species was made by
Mr. David Nelson and the surgeon of the
“ Resolution ”, Mr. Anderson. (In the train¬
ing of medical men of the day, botany, par¬
ticularly relating to herbal remedies, was an
important subject. Most of the leading
botanists were also medical practitioners.)
Mathew Flinders, in his voyages of discovery
around the Australian Coast during the years
1801-2, was accompanied by a man destined
to be one of the greatest systematic botanists
of the time, Dr. Robert Brown, who had, as
his assistants, Ferdinand Bauer as botanical
draughtsman, and Peter Good as gardener.
In 1802, in the “ Investigator ”, Flinders
visited the Bass Strait Islands and Port
Dalrymple, where Brown collected many new
species. A result of these voyages was the
publication, in 1810, of Brown’s “ Prodomus
Flora Novae-Hollandiae ”, acclaimed, though
only a fragment, as the greatest botanical
work that had ever appeared.

In 1793, the French navigator, Bruni
D’Entrecasteaux, spent some time charting
the southern coasts of Van Diemen’s Land,
particularly the island and the channel that
bear his names. With him were two natural¬
ists, Labillardiere and Riche, who collected
and named many of the plants in this locality,
as well as establishing a garden of European
plants at Recherche Bay.

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Another French expedition, under Captain
Baudin, visited Van Diemen’s Land in 1802.
On his staff as chief botanist was Leschenault
de la Tour, with Peron as zoologist.

It was, indeed, mainly British and French
naturalists who did the bulk of this early
work in collecting and classifying, both in
the field and in the laboratories at home,
and there was considerable rivalry among
them (not always of the friendliest kind)
to be the first to put on record new plants or
animals discovered. There was still much
to be done. The navigators touched only
the fringes of the lands they discovei’ed. A
wealth of material lay behind the coastline
that only land exploration could reveal and
the early explorers usually took a naturalist
with them or were themselves naturalists.
Among Australian examples are Major
Mitchell, Allan Cunningham, Count Strzlecki
and Ludwig Leichhardt, but it required a
biologist, with a proper knowledge of his
specific subject, and time and facilities at
his disposal, to achieve order out of the new
material that constantly came to hand. Most
of these qualified experts were in Europe,
mainly in Britain and France. Two of the
most accomplished botanists of the day were
the Scotsman, Dr. Robert Brown, who, in
1827, became keeper of the botanic depart¬
ment of the British Museum, and the English¬
man, Dr. (later Sir) William Jackson Hooker,
professor of botany at the University of
Glasgow from 1820 to 1840, and thereafter
director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew until his death in 1865, when his son,
Dr. (later Sir) Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-
1911) succeeded him in that office.

Like Brown, Hooker in his younger days
had collected plants in other lands. In 1809,
during the Napoleonic Wars when Denmark
was at war with Britain, he visited Den-
mai'k’s dependency, Iceland. This was a
famous occasion, for the romantic adven¬
turer, Jorgen Jorgenson, who accompanied
the British trading ship “ Clarence ”, as
agent and interpreter, seized control of the
government of Iceland and, for a few months,

ruled the country as a benevolent despot.
Jorgenson was deposed by the commander of
a British naval vessel, but on the return
to England, the “ Clarence ”, on which
Hooker was travelling, caught fire and sank.
By the prompt and skilful action of Jorgen¬
son, who took charge of the accompanying
vessel, the whole ship’s company was saved,
though Hooker lost his botanical specimens.

As a consequence of this association,
Hooker and Jorgenson became friends and,
after serving a term of imprisonment, not
so much for usurping power in Iceland, as
for breaking his parole while a prisoner of
war to do so, Jorgenson was the guest of
Hooker at his Norfolk home in Norwich.

Later (according to his own story, owing
to his gambling habits) Jorgenson fell from
grace, and in 1825 was transported for life
to Van Diemen’s Land. It was not, however,
his old friend’s enforced residence there that
turned Hooker’s mind to the plants of the
Colony, and Jorgenson, even if he had the
inclination, as a convict had no opportunities
for collecting. As early as 1823 Hooker set
about trying to get specimens from Van
Diemen’s Land.

Though science was becoming an import¬
ant branch of study at home, in Van Diemen’s
Land it had hardly begun. About half the
population of the infant colony consisted of
convicts and their guards, while the free
colonists were more interested in their
material welfare than in cultural matters—
the settlers in establishing and widening
their estates, the merchants and professional
men in making money and maintaining their
social status in society and, with one notable
exception, up to Sir John Franklin’s advent
none of the early governors gave much
encouragement to scientific enquiry. The
exception was Colonel William Paterson,
founder and Lieutenant-Governor of North¬
ern Van Diemen’s Land until 1812, who was
himself something of a botanist and plant
collector. His name is celebrated botanically
in the Iris genus Patersonia R.Br. and the
Orchid species Caladenia patersonii R.Br.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

True, a mineralogist, W. H. Humphrey, had
been attached to the staff of Hobart Town’s
founder, Lieutenant-Governor David Collins,
but the work he did in that field seems hardly
to have justified the office. In the eighteen-
twenties, according to a letter from Jorgen¬
son, Humphrey still held the position. There
was no official botanist, though New South
Wales (to which colony Van Diemen’s Land
was an appendage until 1824) had one.

Colonel George Arthur, Lieutenant-Gover¬
nor from 1824 to 1836, was fully occupied
with the suppression of bushrangers, the
Black War, the perfection of his convict
system, and the animosity of many of the
free settlers, but found time for scientific
matters. It was under his regime that
scientific studies in Van Diemen’s Land had
their tentative beginnings. His predecessor,
Colonel William Sorell, had repossessed a
farm of 80 acres, “ Hangans Farm ”, on the
banks of the Derwent for the purpose of
establishing a botanical garden there in 1818,
but practically nothing had been done and,
in 1826, Arthur was complaining of its
neglected state. “ Nothing,” he wrote, “ hav¬
ing yet been done in collecting Plants, Shrubs,
etc., with which the colony abounds. It is
discreditable not to stir in this, and I am
anxious about it, as I find it is remarked by
strangers ”. In 1828 the first Superintendent
of the Gardens, Mr. William Davidson, was
appointed, and the gardens soon became a
centre of attraction for citizens of Hobart
Town; so much so that, in 1832, Arthur
directed that they be closed on Sundays, as
the crowd that came damaged the plants.
In 1829 Davidson applied for a number of
grafted trees from the Government gardens
at Launceston and George Town. These
were probably introduced fruit and orna¬
mental trees, not native species. In addition,
a large number of seeds were ordered from
England. In the same year Davidson col¬
lected the seeds of 150 kinds of native plants
from Mt. Wellington for growth in the
garden. When Sir John Franklin arrived in
1837, the Hobart Botanic Gardens were
already fairly well established.

A start had also been made in the way of
scientific societies. In 1829 the Van Diemen’s
Land Scientific Society with Governor Arthur
as Patron, Dr. John Henderson, President,
and Dr. Adam Turnbull, Secretary and
Treasurer, was founded. Dr. James Ross,
LL.D., author and publisher of Hobart Town,
remarked, “ Whatever new species might be
discovered by the members would for many
years to come readily find a place in the
excellent classification which learned men had
adopted in the old world ”. The society met
monthly and was occupied with papers and
discussions on many subjects; and it estab¬
lished a museum; but it seems to have been
more a social than a scientific body. In 1824,
also under the patronage of Colonel Arthur,
a Mechanics’ Institute had been established
in Hobart Town, at which lectures on astro¬
nomy, steam engines, and chemistry were
given. It was not until 1842, however, that
a Mechanics’ Institute was founded in Laun¬
ceston and the first scientific society in that
centre did not begin to function until 1839.

There was no interested body, therefore,
to which Hooker could address his enquiries
for plants from Van Diemen’s Land. He
probably appealed to people both in the south
and north of the island whom he thought
might help him, but the only reply he seems
to have received was from Thomas Scott,
merchant of Launceston and formerly of
Glasgow. It reads—

HOOKER CORRESPONDENCE.

VOLUME LXXXIII
(Australian Letters).
letter 277.

Launceston Van Diemen’s Land
1st Septr. 1827
Sir

I was honoured with your letter of 12th July
1823 conveying instructions and paper for dry¬
ing plants, from my long silence you no doubt
supposed that I was paying no attention to
your request, but I assure you it has been
much otherwise, but as I am no botanist I went
very awkwardly about it, my first intention was
to have numbered the specimens, then to have

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

gathered the seeds of the same plants and
numbered them to correspond with the speci¬
mens, but after several attempts I found I was
only making confusion as sometimes when I
brought home some seeds I could not recollect
from what plant I had gathered them I therefore
gave up that Idea, I have just thought of a
plan by which I think I will be able to succeed
better I intend to get a number of small bags
made to gather the seeds in and likewise to put
some of the leaves of the plant from which they
were gathered along with them, or perhaps it
would be better just to put a sprig of the plant
along with them when I send them to you—In
the immediate neighbourhood of Launceston the
variety of plants is very limited. I have some¬
times collected a quantity at a distance but after
bringing them sometimes 20 sometimes 40 Miles
cn horseback many of them would be so des¬
troyed that they did not look like the same
things.. I therefore considered them useless,
there is however a considerable variety here
still and I hope in a few months more to send
you a farther supply of seeds and speci¬
mens in the meantime I have put (for you) on
board the ship Admiral Cockburn a Box
addressed To the Glasgow Royal Botanic Gar¬
den, the Master of the Ship, Lieut. Cooling
R.N. has acted in a very shameful way on the
present occasion, he kept the Bills of Lading
beside him for 8 or 10 days making frivolous
pretences for not signing them, such as, he had
not examined them with the Mate’s book, the
day before he sailed he promised to take them
on board with him, to sign them and send
them to me, in place of which he went off and
took them with him, the ship goes round to
Hobart Town to take on board passengers and
I have written to a friend to demand the Bills
of Lading from him, if I get them I will forward
yours by the first ship in case the Admiral
Cockburn has left Hobart Town before I can
send to Hobart Town again, however I am afraid
from some circumstances which have come to
my knowledge that Captn Cooling would wish
to apropriate them to his own use, for which I
am the more concerned as the box contains
specimens which I will not be able to replace,
they were a variety of mosses from Macquarie
Harbour collected for me by my friend Mr.
Spence Assistant Colonial Surgeon whilst he
was doing duty there, the remainder of the
Box was plants dryed by my self and a few
seeds, I hope they may arrive safe altho’ I
have my doubts, the Ship is bound for Rio
Janeiro and Liverpool in case you do not get
the Bills of Lading you must recover the box
the best way you can—I have seen your letter
to my late friend the Revd John Youl, he died
in March last as I observed by it that you
wished to have Mosses and Ferns, I will collect

as great a variety of them as I can, we have
here a very extrordinary fern, (the fern Tree)
it growes upwards of 16 foot high and I am told
nearly 2 foot diameter in the stem altho’ I have
never seen any that I judged to be so large as
that. I had some thoughts of taking a small one
up by the root say about 6 or 8 foot high and
sending it to you whole but have deferred doing
so untill I should write to you as perhaps you
have such a thing already and the freight on
it home would be high, if you wish to have one
you have only to write to me and I will forward
it, they grow in shady places where the ground
is moist, the stem runs up straight without
leaf or branch, and at the very top the leaves
spread out broad, having never paid any atten¬
tion to them I cannot say whither they are of
quick or slow growth a few days ago I had a
small one whose stem is not a foot high brought
in and planted in my Garden to try if it would
grow in a situation less moist and less shadowey
than that in which they are generally found I
will let you know the result of my experiment

I am
Sir

Your Mot, Obt. St.

Thos Scott

To Dr. Hooker t
Glasgow )

Macquarie Harbour, where Scott’s friend,
Second Assistant-Surgeon James Spence haa
been on duty, was the dreaded penal settle¬
ment for twice-convicted convicts, established
by Lieut.-Governor Sorell in 1822 on the
desolate and rain-drenched west coast of Van
Diemen’s Land.

The Rev. John Youl was the first ordained
clergyman of the town of Launceston, arriv¬
ing in 1819, thirteen years after the first
settlement there. Having at first no church
to conduct services in, he held them in the
open or sometimes in a blacksmith's shop,
attracting his congregation by marching
around the town in his canonicals and strik¬
ing an iron bar with a mallet in place of a
bell. St. John’s Church of England was not
completed until 1825, with the Rev. Youl as
first rector. His stipend was small, but he
obtained land grants in the Perth district
still held by his descendants. He died in
1827.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Thomas Scott’s premises were in Cameron
Street at the two western corners of the
George Street intersection. As well as being
an agent for general merchandise and ship¬
ping he was a wine and spirit merchant. An
advertisement in the “ Launceston Adver¬
tiser ” of 8th November, 1832, states that he
is agent for the Caledonian Distillery of
David M’Gown at Distillery Creek. Owing
to a rise in the price of corn, the price of his
article, “ equal to the best Irish or Scotch
Whiskey ”, had been raised to twelve shil¬
lings per gallon for sixty gallons or over and
thirteen shillings for smaller quantities. On
the 29th September, 1834, Scott is reported
as being chairman of a meeting to draw
attention to the loss of vessels in the Tamar.
He probably lived at Glen Dhu where, accord¬
ing to charts, a Thomas Scott had five blocks
amounting to fifty acres, but one or more of
these may have belonged to Thomas Scott, the
surveyor, who lived in the same locality.

Thomas Scott, merchant, is liable to be
confused with Thomas Scott, surveyor, who
was contemporaneous with him at Launces¬
ton. Each had a brother James, the mer¬
chant’s brother being a merchant in Glasgow
in 1830, while the surveyor’s brother, then
aged 20, was either on his way to Van
Diemen’s Land or still a clerk in the office
of Sir Walter Scott at Melrose Abbey. A
Thomas Scott died in Launceston in 1854,
aged 72. Thomas Scott the surveyor died
in Scotland a year later.

It was Thomas Scott, merchant, through
whom Hooker was introduced to a much more
interested (and interesting) correspondent
from Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land. This
was Robert W. Lawrence, who, in July, 1829,
at the age of 20, commenced a diary which
he later transcribed into a cheap ruled exer¬
cise book, watermarked on the cover J.
Smiles, 1829. This exercise book, together
with another continuing the diary over the
years 1830 and 1831, is now in the possession
of Mr. Leonard Lawrence of Formosa,
Cressy, nephew of the diarist.

This diary shows that Robert was a young
man of scientific bent, with horticulture,
botany, and zoology his main interests,
though he also dabbled in chemistry and
philosophy. Some extracts are given below.
At the time he was living at “ Vermont ” on
the banks of the North Esk near Launceston.

1829 July 30th Sowed Early Nimble Peas.

Sept. 15th Sowed Cauliflower \ Grew very well
Purple Brocoli | afterwards de-

Early York Cabbage | stroyed by the
J Grubs.

Forest tree seeds of several kinds (What
few of these last came up were after¬
wards entirely destroyed by those dread¬
ful enemies of the Gardiner as well as
Farmer, which appear about the midle.
Oct.—)

Oct. 24th This morning a light shower fell. Sowed
some Australian seeds viz. Acacia ven-
ista/Came up 7th Dec. Acacia Verniciflua/
Tristanea voliusta/Came up 2nd Dec.
Hibiscus mutabilis Called by Mr. Fraser
the Monarch of the Australian flowers.
Nov. 19th Moran and Drudge barking. I hoed a
Thr. 64° few potatoes this morning. Dined at
—69° 30’ Captn. Stewarts when I had an oppor¬
tunity of examining the Didelphus Cyno-
ccphalus more nearly than hitherto.

Nov. 21st Moran and myself making preparation for
a short excursion into the bush this morn¬
ing. At about 2 o’clock we effected a
start, our party consisted of Mr. Cham¬
pion, Mr. Lamont, myself and Moran.
Fine morning and night. Found several
rare plants in flower, particularly a plant
so similar in habit to the genus Pimelea,
that I am inclined to think notwithstand¬
ing its deficiency of a stamen, that it is
a species of that genus, its description is
as follows.

MONANDR1A MONOGYNIA

Calyx, O. Corol. monopetala, infundibuli-
formis, quadrifida, infera. Stamen 1.
tubo insertum. Pist. 1/Stigma simplex/
Pericarpium/Semina (Not yet seen in a
sufficiently forward or ripe state) /Recep-
taculum/Flores, terminalibus capitulis/
Folia oblonga, acuta, integerrima, oppo-
sita, erecta, petiolata/ Caules vimenei
procumbentes, porrieti/Radix/ Habitat:
Black Hills/Fl. November./

An unprofitable excursion.

Dec. 5th Rather windy. Examined the small Dia-
Ther61° delphous plant, which constitutes so
essential a part of the herbage of Cape

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Grim and the other parts of th western
coast, and found it to be the Lotus Corni-
culatus (var.) This plant is reported
to be sought after with great eagerness
by the sheep of this country. Mr. Curr
of the V.D.L.C. considers it as the best of
the pasture on the Company’s Lands.
It grows luxuriantly on the light soils of
the sea coast..

Dec. 6th Monday A very fine day. Employed in
cleaning and setting up a very fine micro¬
scope lent to me by Mr. Wedge.

Dec. 8th Wind N. Very fine. Drudge carting bark.

Ther Moran hoeing potatoes. Employed my-

69° 30' self today in the examination of several
plants in the class & order Hexandria
monogynia six of which I found to belong
to the Genus Anthericum, and two others,
to two different new genera. One of the
species of Anthericum is remarkable
from three of its stamina (or rather
filaments) being bearded and three being
naked I found this plant during my late
excursion to Circular Head, growing on
light soils on the coast. It is very much
resembling a species with yellow flowers
very common in this country but differs
in the above mentioned circumstances,
(the common one having all the filaments
bearded) and in the spiral twist of its
leaves. I find considerable difficulty in
describing the different grassy-leaved
species, where it becomes necessary to
resort to the leaves for specific characters.
I have thought that the situation (upon
the filament whether vertical or horizon¬
tal) and form of the anthera would form
good specific characters, in this genus,
where in is found so great a variety of
these organs.

This day a solitary seed germinated of
the Acacia verniciflua, sown 24th Oct.
and a few days ago the Hibiscus Muta-
bilis sown at the same time.

Dec. 10th Acacia Stenophylla up in the Greenhouse;

sown in August. ... I put in a few
specimens today, among the number the
beautiful Musk Tree. Also two beautiful
and rare Ferns.

Dec 17th. Windy. Drudge in town. Moran in the

Ther 67° Garden. Collected twenty one species of
indigenous seeds ripened in the Garden.
Examined the herb called native penny¬
royal, and found it to be a species of
Mentha undescribed in Turton’s Linnaeus.

Dec. 21st. Moran and Drudge stacking bark. Made

Ther 87° some experiments upon several minerals.

In Diallage found the presence of Iron.

two species of steatite one red the other
white; in the red I found the colouring
matter to be iron; in the white, indications
of a small quantity of Lime. A white
cloud upon adding Oxolate of Ammonia
to a solution of the mineral.

Dec. 24th. Evening. The day lost to work. The

Ther 65° morning intolerably close and hot.
Drudge received his Ticket of Leave.

Dec. 27th. No work; all the men drunk. Heavy
thunderstorm in the evening.—

Dec. 27th. Dined with Hobler.—In the evening came
home and wrote out my application for
the appointment of Gardener to the
Society, and one or two other letters
upon business—

Jan. 11th. No answer to my application for the

[78J0] situation of Gardener to the V.D.L.

Ther 67° Phil. Soc.—

March 20th A cloudy and changeable day, sometimes

Ther. 60° hot and sometimes cold—wrote to my

Even 66° Uncle Edward today for several books.

April 10th. Spent most of the day in an anatomical

Ther 65° examination of the male organs of
generation of the Opossum. But being
young in the practice of dissection I am
afraid I made some mistakes; if I have,
they must be corrected by futui’e examina¬
tions. I shall therefore give the result of
my present dissection.

[He does so and includes a sketch.']

April 14th. Dissected a specimen of the Pelicanus
Corba—Moran went to town for Glue
and remained there till a late hour. I
shall be obliged to punish him shortly if
he does not mend.

April 26th. Wrote to the Superintendent of Convicts
again for Servants, and did several other
matters of business in Town — Came home
in the evening.

April 27th. Did two or three jobs in Carpentry about

Ther. 58° the house. Afterwards I had an opor-
tunity of dissecting a specimen of the
Ornithorynchus Paradoxus The few obser¬
vations I was able to make are as fol¬
lows —

TORACIC VISCERA
Heart.—The form and situation of the
heart is much the same as in the Human
subject. Fyfe says that the Foramen
Ooole is short in this species of animal;
but I could not ascertain the fact in this

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

dissection. I shall investigate farther
on some future occasion. Lungs are situ¬
ated on each side of the media stirmum
as in the Human Body; the right side
having four lobes, the left only one. The
Trachea divides into Bronchia as in the
mammalia.

ABDOMINAL VISCERA.

Liver 5-lobed. Gall bladder beautifully
attached to the great lobes on the right
side — The two branches of the Hepatic
Duct join with the Cystic, about a quarter
of an inch below the neck of the Gall
bladder. The Ductus communis chole-
dochus enters the Duodenum three quar¬
ters of an inch from the Pylonis. The
Pancreas resembles that of most Quad¬
rupeds. Spleen, consists of two branches,
one of which is about three inches and
a half longer than the other, and of an
elongated form, see figure land he gives
a figure ] Fyfe says, “ the spleen of the
ornithoi’ynchus is of a quadrangular form,
and larger than the stomach.” The
stomach is simple and remarkably small;
having horny Papillae on the Pyloris.
Testes situated internally between the
kidneys and the lumbar vertebrae. The
subject of this dissection was too young
to admit of an accurate examination of
the organs of generation.

May 3rd. Returned from town after being disap¬
pointed in not having heard anything
relating to my application for men—I
received today an assortment of native
seeds from Circular Head collected by
Dr. Hutchinson, one of the few whom I
have known to keep their promises.—
Every appearance of rain before morning.

May 7th Today a man of Mr. Priaulx’s brought me
a bird to look at, which I should have
bought had he not told me a lie. It was
a new bird to me somewhat in appearance
resembling the coot kind. The iris of a
beautiful and brilliant red—Body Brown
—Small.

May 14th Moran at work at the potatoes.—In the
Evening I set to work to find out the
nature of a chrystalized substance which
I received from Dr. Westbrook for that
purpose. It proved to be Nitrate of Silver
—I received from him several other sub¬
stances the names of which he did not
know. One of them proved to be that
species of Bitumen called asphaltum.
Another Amber, a beautiful specimen.

May 15th Engaged most of the day in chemical
examination of minerals—&c—

By “ barking ” in the entry for the 4th
October, Lawrence refers to his servants
stripping bark from wattle trees for tanning
purposes. The Monandria monogynia is
probably Pimelia filiformis. The Didelphus
cynocephalus is the Tasmanian Tiger, Thyla-
cinus cynocephalus. In his plant classification
in the descriptions that follow Lawrence is
using the Linnean System (see below). His
mention of Lotus corniculatus, the Birdsfoot
Trefoil, is interesting as there is some differ¬
ence of opinion as to whether this excellent
fodder plant is a native or introduced. In
his diary Lawrence quotes from the “ Hortus
Gramineus Woburnensis ” regarding its
value as a fodder plant. In his entry of
14th April Pelicanus corba refers to the
Black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, and
on the 27th April Ornithorynchus paradoxus
is the Platypus, 0. anatinus. Hobler, men¬
tioned several times in the diary was a farmer
also living on the banks of the North Esk.
Hoblers Bridge, which carries the Tasman
Highway to the East Coast, is named after
him.

A few days later young Robert Lawrence
had a chat with Mr. Thomas Scott who, as
he himself says, was not a botanist. He was
not even a satisfactory correspondent, for
Dr. William Hooker’s first letter had re¬
mained unanswered for over three years,
and it was nearly three years since he had
written that first reply. His conversation
with Robert induced him to write again.

Letter 276.

Launceston Van Diemens Land
24th May 1830

Dear Sir

I have to acknowledge receipt of your very
kind letters of 28th Augt 1828 and 9th Octb.
1829 and have also to acknowledge the impro¬
priety of my conduct in not writing to you
sooner, as confession of a fault is a great step
towards reformation, (perhaps half the battle),
I hope you will forgive me for this time — I had
dried some more plants for you but they were
not sufficient to make any thing like a decent
parcel. I have been so absorbed in business
for a long time back, that great part of the
specimens I had collected were again lost, and

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

to tell you the truth collecting of plants had
gone quite out of my head, when three days
ago I received your letter of 9th Octr. I
immediately went to a young friend of mine
Mr Robt. Lawrence who is an enthusiatic botan¬
ist, shewed him your letter and asked him to
make up some seeds for you, and I have no doubt
but you would send him any seeds he might
want in return, he made up a small parcel,
which I have forwarded by Mr. Hunter Mate of
the Clansman which was just clearing out, as
Mr. Hunter is going to Glasgow, and I know
him to be very carefull, I have no doubt of your
receiving them safe. I have sent them to the
care of my brother Mr. James Scott No 102
Stockwell Street, who will deliver them to you,
as he is making frequent shipments to me he
will forward to me any seeds you may find it
convenient to send Mr. Lawrence, enclosed 1
send the note he sent me along with the seeds
he is a young man very anxious to learn and
I have no doubt but you will find him a very
valuable correspondent, I will request him to
write to you by the Lucy Davidson which sails
for London next month, and in the mean time
I beg you will rest assured that my feeble
endeavours will be exerted in the furtherance
of your views—-

I am

Dear Sir

Yours most sincerely—

Thos. Scott

P.S. Please address to me Cameron Street
Launceston, as there is now another of the same
name here. T.S.

Robert Lawrence, Hooker’s new correspon¬
dent, was the eldest son of William Effingham
Lawrence, a wealthy settler who had arrived
in Launceston in 1823. W. E. Lawrence had
been a successful merchant in England, with
houses in London, Liverpool, and New York.
Failing health induced him to seek a more
favourable climate and he purchased the
“ Lord Liverpool ”, a cutter of 71 tons bur¬
then, to bring him to Van Diemen’s Land.
With him he brought his wife and two
children, a blacksmith, and two apprentices,
together with a large quantity of merchan¬
dise, including furniture, agricultural imple¬
ments, and mechanics’ tools. The vessel was
commanded by Captain George Coulson, with
Samuel Budge mate, four seamen and a car¬
penter, all of whom intended to settle in the

colony. (Captain Coulson made his home on
the east bank of the Tamar, near Winder-
mere, where his descendants still live; one
of the seamen, J. W. Bell, became an auc¬
tioneer in Launceston, in which profession
he was succeeded by his son, W. T. Bell.)

W. E. Lawrence had been a friend of
Jeremy Bentham, the great philosopher and
reformer. A bust of Bentham, brought out
at the time, is in the possession of Mr. E. L.
Lawrence, of “ Billopp ”, who also has the
original abstracts of two letters on metaphy¬
sics, written by Bentham to his Swiss-French
friend and disciple, Pierre Dumont.

They left England in May 1822, but a
stay of four months at Rio de Janiero delayed
their reaching George Town, at the mouth
of the Tamar, until February 1823. The
“ Lord Liverpool ”, however, did not sail up
the Tamar to Launceston until six weeks
later. In the meantime, W. E. Lawrence had
visited Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell
at Hobart Town and obtained, in proportion
to the considerable capital in goods and
money he had brought into the colony, exten¬
sive grants of land in Northern Tasmania.
These included the large estate of “ For¬
mosa ”, on the Lake River in the Northern
Midlands, and areas adjacent to the small
but growing towh of Launceston. One of
these areas was to the south of Windmill Hill
and included the present-day surburban areas
of Lawrence Vale and Penquite. Penquite
House, only recently demolished, was built
for Lawrence’s overseer. Another section
granted to him, together with Thomas Archer
of “ Woolmers ” and Joseph Archer of “ Pan¬
hanger ”, was on the marshes to the north
of the town ,on the banks of the North Esk
River, on condition that an embankment was
built to prevent flooding and that the land
was drained. W. E. Lawrence’s town resi¬
dence was on a block between Brisbane
Street and York Street, above the present
City Park, overlooking the North Esk flats,
and commanding a view of shipping entering
and leaving the port of Launceston. The
house, numbered 15 Brisbane Street, is still
standing behind the houses which now front

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMF

the street. It is approached by a small lane
at the head of which is a cast-iron gateway
which once gave entry to the Henty residence
in Cameron Street. The house is built of a
ferruginous sandstone taken, apparently,
from the Windmill Hill beds. Sills and lintels
are of a line-grade freestone not found in
the district. The house stands in what
appears to have been the floor of an old clay
quarry. The clay perhaps went to make the
soft friable bricks with which the buildings
and garden walls of Launceston were built.
The coarse sandstone found embedded in
the clay would be discarded and used finally
to build this house. A wing at the rear is
in brick but the brick stables were demolished
to make way for the home of Mr. A. W. M.
Brewer. In the courtyard stands a very
ancient weeping willow traditionally sup¬
posed to have been grown from a cutting
taken from Napoleon’s grave at St. Helena.

As the block was not alienated from the
Crown until the arrival of W. E. Lawrence,
the quarry may have been one operated by
the Crown.

On the hill behind the North Esk marshes,
he had another house, “ Vermont ”, built for
his son Robert. In addition, by grant or
purchase, he became the possessor of other
estates, including “ Point Effingham ”, near
George Town, and “ Danbury Park ”, on the
West Tamar. Besides his pastoral interests,
W. E. Lawrence became a leading business
man of Launceston, being a director of the
Cornwall Bank, founded in 1828, and the
Bank of Australasia, with which the Corn¬
wall Bank was later merged, and also a
director of the Tamar Steam Navigation
Company, founded in 1832.

In 1826 it was brought to the notice of
Colonel George Arthur, who had succeeded
Sorell as Lieutenant-Governer in 1824, that
the “ Formosa ” estate, owing to negligence
(or, as it was hinted, collusion) of the
Surveyor-General, George Evans, and his
Assistant Surveyor, Thomas Scott, was
greatly in excess of the permissable grant.
(Apparently, it was customary at the time

to measure boundaries of large estates by
pacing.) This led to a lengthy enquiry, as
a result of which Evans lost his position and
Scott his chance of promotion, but “ For¬
mosa ” retained its 13,000 acres, and later
Evans was granted an Imperial pension at
Arthur’s request. The litigation, however,
created bad feeling between Arthur and Law¬
rence so that, though his talents and wealth
made him an obvious choice, Lawrence was
completely ignored by Arthur in his selection
of members for his nominated Legislative
Council.

Robert Lawrence, in whose name 2,000
acres of the “ Formosa ” estate wei'e granted,
remained in England to complete his educa¬
tion when his father left. He did not arrive
in Van Diemen’s Land until, a youth of
sixteen, he landed at Hobart Town from the
ship “ Elizabeth ” in April, 1825. Robert
made a copy of his first letter to Hooker in
his diary. The original is preserved in
Hooker’s correspondence as letter 144.

June 4th. Wind from the Southward, very cold.

Rather unwell today so kept house and
read all day — Moran still digging pota¬
toes — Through the kindness of Mr. Scott
I have got an introduction to Dr. Hooker
of Glasgow — Professor of Botany—I have
sent him 2 packages of seeds, and the
following, letter—

Vermont June 1st 1830
Sir

I am happy in being acquainted with a corres¬
pondent of yours Mr T. Scott who has been kind
enough to introduce me to you by letter. He
will no doubt inform you that I have a taste for
the science of Botany. — My knowledge of this
science is certainly very slight indeed, I am a
mere learner and without a preceptor but I hope
that in time, by application I shall become as
much of a Botanist as to enable me to be useful
to you now if you will accept my services
such as they may be.

The principle obstacles to my becoming scien¬
tific are as you may conceive the total want of
persons with whom to converse on such subjects;
and of Books. If therefore you will occasionally
furnish me with a little knowledge I will furnish
you with new or at least rare species of plants
to examine and describe, with their pecularities
as regards soil, sizes, habitat &c &c —

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

You may henceforth consider me therefore
as an established correspondent—I will regularly
send you seeds and a duplicate of my Hortus
Siccus. Directions as to the best method of
packing seed &c will be desirable and your
address—

If it were possible to obtain Brown’s Prod-
romus FI. Nov. Holl.—I shall feel greatly
obliged by your furnishing me with it.

I remain

Your Obt Serv

R. W. Lawrence

Address to care of
W. E. Lawrence Esqe
Launceston

The address was placed on the back of
the sheet, after it was folded and sealed
with wax, and various postmarks indicate
that it was received as an “ India Letter ”
at Dover, and that it reached Glasgow on
30th October, 1830. A small rectangle shows
“ 1 ”.

Some further extracts from the diary fol¬
low—

June 10th The Orchidia and other bulbous plants
are rapidly rising above the ground; and
the common though beautiful Epacris
rises prettily above the coarser plants
usually found on barren hills. Many
species of plants appear to be preparing
for a most luxuriant display of their
spring colours

Sunday I lament to say that when I came home
June 27th this morning from Hobler’s I found my
Ther 47° last three years labour lost, all my plants
30' were completely destroyed by cattle which
had contrived to break down the garden
fence. Two hundred head of cattle in a
garden for one night is of course quite
sufficient. — Captn Wales dined with me
today—

I am an unfortunate devil I have most
truly said in the preceeding pages — How
often are our fondest hopes denied us —

July 2nd Returned from town where I have been
remaining ever since Monday. My prin¬
cipal business being to attend to the
dissection of the two murderers who
were hanged. I witnessed the disagree¬
able sight of their execution, and was
glad to find that the Culprits suffer very
little; their death must be immediate.

July 7th
July 8th
July 22nd

-23

-24

Sunday

—25

- 26th

-27

- 28

July 29

Returned. In the evening began a Pneu¬
matic apparatus —

Succeeded in several experiments on the
Gases —

Made an excursion round the neighbour¬
hood in search of young plants for
transportation. My rout was by Hoblers
where I found young plants of a beautiful
species of Noteloea —some Oleas and
Tasmanniu; then Penquite, Waddles
and the Cataract. 1 was remarkably
fortunate in finding young plants of
several rare species —

Moran and myself started for the West¬
ern District. In the forest on the Old
Norfolk Plains road I recognised a very
rare Diadelphous plant which I had
before only seen in the Forest of Formosa
— Reached Entally where I remained all
night —

Proceeded to Mr. Ashburner’s where I
remained all day and enjoyed the sight
of numerous books of value as well as a
great deal of amusing and instructive
conversations —

Rained very heavily which induced me
to remain at Mr. Ashburner’s .oday — 1
enjoyed myself exceedingly. Mr. Ash-
burner was kind enough to lend me a
book which I had often-times wished to
read, viz. Davy's Ag. Ch. an extremely
valuable production He also presented
me with a small evaporating dish which
was desirable to me —

Proceeded on my rambles, went up the
Isis a few miles but only saw one new
plant of an unsightly appearance.
Reached Mr. Walkers estate about 2
o’clock I found myself so agreeably
situated that I gladly remained there the
afternoon and took a bed —

Made through the Bush for my father’s
place Formosa where I arrived about
5 o’clock in the evening. This day 1
made several aquisitions

Traveled round the Forest; obtained
some rare plants for which I was seeking
and then travelled on to the Companies.
Found Mr. Dutton an hospitable gentle¬
manly man. He was kind enough to lend
me several books &c Remained there all
night—

Started from Mr. Dutton’s about 10
o’clock for town, via Entally, where I
had seen several plants on my journey

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

1 ]

up. Took some of them and proceeded
to town where I arrived at 6 o’clock.
During the latter part of the Journey
walked very fast. I left Entally at 4
o’clock and was in town at 6 o’clock—

—-— 30 Returned to Vermont.

On October 5 he set out with a party of
nine to take part in the expedition against
the aborigines. Capt. Donaldson was the
officer to whom he was responsible. The
“ Aboriginal Campaign ” was, of course,
Colonel Arthur’s famous “ Black Line ”, the
abortive attempt to round up the remnant
of aborigines, now in murderous and savage
conflict with the white settlers, and contain
them in Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas
on the south-east of the island. It was a
complete failure in its object, but provided
a paid excursion and camping holiday for
many able-bodied young settlers. To Robert
Lawrence, who recorded its progress in his
diary, it gave an opportunity for extending
his botanical collection and doing a little
zoological research. On 16th October, after
the party had reached the Western Plateau,
he dissected and named a snake, “ Coluber
pinnatus R.W.L.” and comments, “ I think
that pinnatus is not an objectionable trivial
name ”. It seems to have been a Tiger
Snake, Notechis scutatus. Other entries
read—

Tuesday . . . There is a new species of Casuarina
19th Octr. here, which is remarkable in being
dioecious. I have collected a large quan¬
tity of the seed. The other two species of
Casuarina indigenous to this country, viz.
stricta & torulosa are also dioecious; this
additional species make the number of
dioecious Casuarinae three, the three
other species described in Turton are
monoecious. It is singular that in this
genus there should be an equal number of
species belonging to two separate classes.
— Three new species of Conchium are
found here also.

Owing to the necessity of attending to
orders, I find it nearly impossible to make
proper descriptions of the new objects
which from time to time attract my
observation. Fell in with a small plant
which is new to me, a species of that
numerous genus Chrysanthemum.

Lawrence’s Conchium is now Hakea. On
the next day, Wednesday, 20th October,
Robert shows those qualities demanded of a
leader in an emergency. He writes of it
thus—

Here I had a row with the men, they
were ill-tempered and pettish at the
gloomy prospect before them, raining
hard, nothing to eat, and every probability
of being out all night, without blankets,
or any thing to protect us from the
still increasing rain. Every man, swore
the lake lay in a different direction to
that which any of his companions sup¬
posed, and every one pronounced his
determination to go his own way. Indeed
this disposition increased so highly, that
I was compelled, after having used every
persuasive argument I could think of,
fulling laying before them the many
dangers they would incurr by a sepera-
tion, to inform them that I should immedi¬
ately shoot the first man that I saw about
to leave me. My violence had the desired
effect.

On the 27th he dissected a native “ Hedge¬
hog ”, the Spiny Ant-eater, Tachyglossus
setosus, and wrote a description.

By the 2nd November, he was in the
vicinity of Richmond and wrote—

I have observed several new species of
Pultenoea; and a species of Eucalyptus
(Eucalyptus robusta ?) is very common
about here, which I have not seen in
Cornwall, called the Blue Gum. It is
when young an ornamental tree.

Saturday Soon after breakfast this morning I
Novr. 6th went with Moran in front of the line
to patroll. Crossed a hill of argillaceous
stone abounding in impressions of an
extinct species of Filices and a shell
(Algae ? being with shell).—I have
several specimens. Also found a curious
and quite new plant in the natural order
of Orchideae, the nectarium has the
appearance of a foxe’s tail—Returned
about dinner time with a violent head¬
ache.

Monday Great complaints from the Capt. about
8th Nov. our fire last night I have in consequence
been obliged to stir the men up a little
this morning. They are beginning to

VAN DIEMEN S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

become ill-tempered now, which makes
the situation of a leader anything but
enviable ....

Wednes- Made an early start this morning and

day 10th about one o’clock got into a very thick

Novr. scrub, our course was due north. Here

we dined. Proceeded about four miles
further into the scrub, where we halted
for the night. Found several new ferns
and other plants — among them the follow¬
ing—Class and Order Icosandria Digynia
Corol. 8-petalae, inferior, regular. Calyx
6-8-leaved, leaves very acute. Filaments
filiform, anthera one valved, opening at
the top—/Pistilla simple./Flowers ter¬
minal, in twos or threes,/ leaves lance¬
olate, whorled, hairy in the margin — Stem
sprauling, the young shoots villous/
Shrub/Habitat. Scrub near Sorrell./FI.
November. Cherry Class & order Dode-
candria Monogynia / / Calyx 4-leaved
Corol. 4-petaled, each petal 3-cleft,
inferior./Stamina 12. Antherae very
long opening longitudinally—Pistil one
Stigma simple/ Pericarpium a berry 3
celled./Flowers axillary, petiolated,/
Leaves ovate, serrate./Stem sprauling./
Hab. Thick scrub near Sorell — /FI. Nov¬
ember — This is a very elegant shrub, the
young shoots having much of the appear¬
ance of a Kentish cherry'. The fruit
resembling a black-heart. I mention
these as being two very beautiful plants.
We passed some very large timber today
some often trees measuring 12-14 feet
in diameter at six feet from the ground.

Thursday Proceeded on our expedition this morn-

11th ing changing our course from north, to

November due west. The scrub sometimes very
thick for about a mile and a half, when
the country became a little more practic¬
able; shortly after this we heard some
persons talking, and on looking in the
direction whence the sound issued, we
saw some trees barked, and a roving party
led by Mr. Massey — Mr M. was engaged
in examining some Natives’ Huts, they
were five in number, and appeared to be
those which had been seen several times
already, by other parties. Mr. Massey
had with him a Black who was taken a
few days ago, as a guide, to lead him
to the haunts of his tribe. Proceeded a
few miles further passing a very dense
and prickly scrub. The plants principally
composing it were the Mimosa verticil-
lata, Pultenaea -sp-, Metrosideros lance-
olata and a coarse cutting grass.—Found
a spear which had been lately made.

The “ Cornwall ” referred to was, at the
time, the general name for the settled country
around Launceston. The Blue Gum, Euca¬
lyptus globulus, grows naturally only in the
south and east of Tasmania. E. robusta does
not occur in Tasmania. The two plants he
describes in detail appear to have been
Bauera rubioides and the Heart Berry,
Aristotelia peduncularis. Mimosa verticillata
is Acacia verticillata, Prickly Mimosa. By
Metrosideros lanceolata he may mean Callis-
temon pallidus.

From Lawrence’s notes on the trees and
shrubs, this excursion apparently took them
into the hilly country towards the present
district of Nugent, where a higher rainfall
produces big timber and a fern gully flora.
The expedition was abandoned on 25th
November and Robert returned to Vermont,
where he resumes his diary. The entries
regarding the Aboriginal Campaign were
written into it from notes he took during
the expedition. The following extracts were
written after his return home.

Wednes- Mr Francis Lord had come over today
day 19th from town, in order to arrange concern-
Jany ing a hebdomadal meeting to be held (by
Ther64° us) for the purpose of improving our¬
selves in the science of Chemistry and
Botany. At present Mr Lord appears to
be unsettled, but he hopes soon to have
matters so arranged, as to be able to
attend with regularity' — We read Thom¬
sons introduction this morning and pro¬
ceeded a short way into the chapter on
Heat. Smith’s introduction to his work
on Systematical and Physiological Botany
was also read, but I was so exceedingly
unwell that I was obliged to go to bed.

[and next day]

My tooth continues very painful; I have
been unable to eat for three days; my
wisdom will be dearly purchased.

Monday Very strong breeze from the N.W.
31st Jany. Landed my chemical apparatus in good
Ther 66° order from the Prince Regent. Con-
Wind veyed it to Vermont nothing broke or
N.W. injured on the way.

Saturday Mr Talbot gave me a bottle of water
9th April from a mineral spring on his estate to
examine

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Tuesday Thornberry was attacked by inflam-
19th April matory fever — I bled him and ad-
Thr. 60° ministered a purgation.

Sunday Engaged today in prosecuting my
24th April examination of Mr Talbot’s mineral
Thr 68° water; did not complete it, but ascertained
Wind that it held in solution a small quantity
N.W. of Sulphate of Magnesia.

During April he paid a visit to the Tamar
Heads.

Wednes- Arrived at George Town by about 7
day o’clock a.m. Collett and I started about

17th April. 12 o’clock for a walk, we went round the
east head and along that coast. I found
several plants which I had not before
seen, but only one in a state fit for des¬
cription, viz.

PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA
Calyx 5-cleft. Corol. superior, funnil-
form, 5-cleft./Pericarp. Berry. Antherae
Perigynous. Stigma capitate./ Leaves.
Oblong, deeply channelled, silvery under¬
neath;/ pedicel short/Shrub 2-3 feet
high./Hab. North East Coast V.D.L. FI.
April & May —/

Several uncommon birds were seen; a
species of Turdus and a beautiful sea¬
bird. A great paucity of shells on this
coast. — Numerous species of Medusae
abound, presenting quite a variety of
form.

Robert visited the limeburner’s kilns in
Middle Arm and describes a geological sec¬
tion of the quarry, including a drawing—

SECTION OF THE LIME ROCK

No. 1. Stratum of light soil containing
angular gravel.

— 2. Indurated clay in small laminae,

very friable, and containing
small silicious stones —

— 3. Lime strata.

Tuesday . . . Returned in the evening and went
3rd. May through some Latin with Mr Collett.—
Ther. 60°

Robert’s next letter to Hooker refers to
the Aboriginal Campaign and his collecting.

LETTER 145.

Vermont May 8th 1831.
Sir

I had the pleasure of writing you June 1st
1830, and of forwarding to you a package of
seeds per Colisto, which I hope you received in
due course—

I have now the pleasure of sending by the
Czar, through your correspondent Mr Scott,
a collection of seeds made in 1830 and 1831.
1 wish that it contained the Hortus Siccus
which I formerly' promised, but owing to the
late Aboriginal Campaign, and other business,
I have been so much confused and pressed for
time, that I have been unable to prepare it for
you, though I have in my possession a consider¬
able number of species for that purpose—
During the late campaign, in which I was
engaged, I had the fortune to collect several
species of plants, which I had not until then
seen, but seeds of which I send you in the
present package. I have been unable to afford
the necessary time for describing their habitudes
and pecularities, but hope next season to be
able to give you some information on those
points.

You will find many of the parcels of seeds
which I have not named, to be those of well
known plants, though unknown to me at present;
and some which I may have named improperly.
An edition of Linnaeus’s system of nature by
Turton 1806 is the latest species plantarum I
at present possess. I however expect shortly
to have an opportunity of obtaining the neces¬
sary works from London, when I may perhaps
be able to render myself more useful to you in
this country than I am at present — I will write
by the post informing you of what the box
contains

Your Obt Sert

R. W. Lawrence

P.S. If you do me the favour to communicate
with me address to care of W. E. Lawrence Esqe.

Launceston

V.I). Land.

Botanical terms and allusions in the letters
may need some elucidation. The Natural
System developed by the French-Swiss Ber¬
nard de Jussieu and his nephew, mentioned
in Lawrence’s next letter, replaced the
Linnean System about the beginning of the
nineteenth century. Linneus, the great

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Swedish botanist of the eighteenth century,
had divided plants into groups or classes
according to the number of stamens present
in the flower, and then subdivided these
classes into orders on the basis of the number
of pistils. Lawrence used this system in
his diary and his note under the date 21st
Nov. 1829 indicates that he recognized, from
experience in the field, the deficencies of the
Linnean System. This artificial system often
separated plants which, in other respects,
were much alike, and brought together plants
which had accidental or superficial similar¬
ities. Linneus developed a Natural System,
but this was not widely known.

B. and A. de Jussieu developed and made
public a Natural System, taking into account
the plant as a whole and the position of the
floral parts rather than their number. This
Natural System is the one which Lawrence
was just learning about, and which Gunn
was to adopt with enthusiasm. It had the
effect of bringing plants with similar charac¬
teristics and properties together though, as
the century went by, it was to prove inade¬
quate and artificial in its turn.

In the period under review, the de Jussieu
System formed the basis for further develop¬
ment of the Natural System, notably by De
Candolle, by Robert Brown in his “ Prodro-
mus ”, by Lindley, and by Bentham and
Hooker, Bentham and Hooker’s classifica¬
tion has, with modifications, been used
in works on Tasmanian botany, notably
Hooker’s “ Flora of Tasmania ”, Rodway’s
“ Tasmanian Flora ”, and Dr. W. Curtis’
“ Student’s Flora of Tasmania ”.

Australian Floras, however, follow F. von
Mueller’s arrangement, with modifications.

Following the publication of Darwin’s
“ Origin of Species ” in 1859, it became
necessary to review the systems of classifi¬
cation with Darwin’s ideas in mind. Engler
and Gilg endeavoured to do this in their
system, which J. M. Black followed in his
“ Flora of South Australia ”.

The outstanding system of this century is
that of J. Hutchinson, of Kew, in 1926.
Hutchinson’s Phylogenetic System seeks to
escape from the artificialities of the earlier
systems and arrange plants in the probable
order of their evolution. All systems of
classification are, however, developments of
the De Jussieu System and may be traced
back to it. It was this system which became
familiar to Lawrence and Gunn and therefore
it is necessary to have some acquaintance
with it.

The “ Journal of Botany ”, vol. Ill (1841),
p. 56, states—

These Natural Orders, as Bernard de Jussieu
had imagined them, were comprised in seven
classes, which A. Laurent de Jussieu judiciously
increased to fourteen. The Lobes of the Embryo
constituted the three first classes; hence arises
the famous division of the whole vegetable
kingdom into Acotyledones, Monocotpledones,
and Dicotyledones.

The Acotyledons have spores in place of
seeds, and consequently no seed leaves. They
are also known as Cryptogams (hidden mar¬
riage) from the fact that the tiny spores
produce sexual plants where fertilization
takes place unnoticed. The Cyptogams
include Ferns (Filices), Mosses (Musci),
Lichens, Fungi, and Algae (the last term
embraces Seaweeds). They are without
flowers in the normal sense.

The flowering plants Phanerogams, (visible
marriage) are separated into two divisions
according to the nature of their seed. Those
with naked or unenclosed seeds, of which the
conifers are the main group, are the Gymno-
sperms; those with seeds enclosed in an outer
covering (like apples or wheat) are the
Angiosperms.

The Angiosperms are then divided into
two sections — the Monocotyledones, with
seeds which contain only one embryo seed
leaf, of which grasses, palms, and orchids
are typical; and Dicotyledones, with seeds
which contain two embryo seed-leaves, such
as the pea family and almost all trees and
shrubs that are not conifers or palms.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

The plants of each major division are then
classified into Botanical Orders and Families
according' to their natural affinities.

The Insertion of the Stamens on the pistil, on
the part which bears the pistil, on the calyx, or
on the corolla, affords the subsequent divisions.

The families, in turn, are further divided
into genera and the genera into species. A
species may again be divided into sub-species,
varities, or other ranks.

Thus, there are two descriptions of characters,
the first derived from the embryo, the second
from the relative insertion of different parts of
the flowers; and these furnish all the classes.
Characters of less and less importance supply
the other groups, families, genera, and species;
the groups always holding the same respective
rank in the general system as their characters
do in nature; and thus the leading principle of
the method, drawn from Nature herself, is the
relative value of characters.

A clue to the discovery of the system is
given in the statement—

Still farther, there are the natural families
all ready made; as in the Grasses, the Compo-
sitae, and the Umbelliferae.

The Linnean method of naming each plant
by its generic name and specific epithet
(which also applies to the Animal Kingdom)
was retained in the System of De Jussieu.
Thus, the botanical name Eucalyptus globulus
Lab. for the Blue Gum indicates that this
tree belongs to the genus Eucalyptus (because
of its general characteristics) and is of the
species globulus (a little globe, referring to
its round seed capsule), because of the minor
features which mark it off from other mem¬
bers of the genus. If the species is divided
into sub-species, then a third name is
appended. The abbreviation “ Lab.” indi¬
cates that the botanist who first published
the name and description of the plant was
the Frenchman, Labillardiere.

Generic and specific names are usually of
classical derivation, being based on both
Latin and Greek roots, though the specific
epithet usually take a Latin form. A separate
name must be used for each genus, but the
specific epithet may be used again and again,
though obviously only once for each genus.

Besides classifying plants into their appro¬
priate orders, the De Jussieu System also
arranged these orders in a sequence accord¬
ing to their affinities with each other. The
Dicotyledones begin with the family Ranun-
culaceae. In Gunn’s lists of specimens found
in the correspondence, plants like clematis
and buttercups, which belong to this family,
come first.

Like Thomas Scott, Robert Lawrence still
thought seeds of plants were Hooker’s main
requirement, though he had also started a
Hortus Siccus, or collection of dried plants.
Hooker quickly advised him that it was plant
specimens rather than seeds he wanted, par¬
ticularly flowers and fruits of plants, and
sent him instructions for drying and pressing
them. In addition, he sent Lawrence works
on botany, including Brown’s “ Prodromus ”
and his own “ Botanical Miscellany ”, which
contained notes on botanical expeditions and
discoveries, and descriptions of new species,
illustrated by Hooker’s own exquisite and
accurate drawings. His judicious praise and
encouragement was greatly appreciated by
Lawrence, as his next letter of 29th May
indicates. Entries in his diary between the
two letters to Hooker are—

Wednes¬
day
11 May

Sunday
15th May

Saturday
21st May
Ther 48°

Sunday

22nd

Went to town to visit His Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor. Saw him in
the afternoon.

In the afternoon walked over to Stephen¬
son’s to return some books borrowed of
him and to borrow White’s Nat. Hist.
Selbourne.

Went to town in the morning and was
gratified at receiving a most satisfactory
answer from Professor Hooker to a letter
which I sent some time ago. He has sent
me the books I was desirous of obtaining
among them Brown’s Prodromus. Also a
periodical published by himself called
Botanical Miscellany.

Remained at home all day preparing an
Herbarium, to send per Czar to Professor
Hooker —

Monday Went to town saw Scott, who had not
23rd. May yet received the books &c from Hobart
Town, which Dr. Hooker was kind enough

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

to send me. Ordered a tin case for Herb¬
arium. Bougt half a ream of cartridge
paper. Evening arranging Herbarium.

Tuesday All day at Herbarium.

24th

Thursday Went to town on business. Returned
26th to Vermont and went on with Hortus

Ther 53° Siccus.

Friday Finished the H-barium this evening.
27th

Saturday Took Herbarium to town, and after hav-
28th ing shown it to my father, had it soldered

up, and made ready for shipping.

Sunday At Home all day writing to Eng-

29th land.

Monday Town, where I shipped the Hei'barium

30th for Dr. Hooker.

Stephenson, from whom he borrowed
White’s “ Natural History of Selbourne ”,
lived on an estate of which a portion is now
the Launceston Church Grammar School.
Stephenson’s Bend, on the River Tamar, is
named after him. At this period Lawrence
was writing to Hooker.

LETTER 146.

Vermont May 20th 1831

Dear Sir

I have received your letter of 30th Oct 1830,
with that degree of pleasure which you can
conceive a young Botanist to feel at the receipt
of such a communication. — I sent by the Czar
on the 8th inst a package of seeds for you,
accompanied by a short letter explaining the
cause of my not having prepared an Herbarium
for you. I find from Mr. Scott that the Czar
will be some days longer in this Harbour, which
enables me to pack up hastily such specimens
as I have by me. I am extremely sorry they are
so few, but until I received your letter I imag¬
ined seeds to be the most important.—You shall
have as rich an Herbarium of the plants of this
country by degrees as it is possible for me to
obtain.

That there are many undescribed plants in
this country I have no doubt, but hitherto I
have had no means of becoming acquainted even
with the most common and well known plants,
and consequently could not detect a new one.
Your kindness, however, has now put me in
possession of the means of acquiring a general
knowledge of the Botany of this country, by

having furnished me with that invaluable Pro-
dromus, for which, and your Botanical Miscel¬
lany, I take this opportunity of thanking you.
You must not be surprised at my deficiency of
botanical knowledge, for in England I never
even thought of the subject of Botany, and here
1 am entirely self-taught.

The natural system of Jussieu I have not yet
studied; but I perceive that it is now so univers¬
ally adopted, that I must commence to use it
immediately.

My arrangement of living indigenous plants
is according to the Linnaean system. — I shall
arrange a new and I hope first-rate Herbarium
according to the natural method, which will
be a work of time, and in the course of the
formation of which, I shall no doubt have fre¬
quent occasion to apply to you for information-
My present Herbarium is without arrangt. I
have numbered the whole of the plants which I
send to you, for though I believe that I know
a number of them, yet I should like to be certain.

With regard to paper I am ashamed almost to
ask you for it, but I send you now in this
Herbarium nearly all I was able to find in
Launceston. I intend having a supply from
England as soon as I can; but I find my friends
there are so long in attending to my requests,
that 1 shall most probably receive what you
send, long before what they may send though I
write to them by the same vessel. — I shall
attend fully to your Directions for collecting
&c. —

The phan[ero]gamous plants have as you sup¬
posed principally attracted my attention; but
the Cryptogamic, have not been entirely passed
over, though I have not collected many and
though I am nearly ignorant of them generic-
ally. I send a few Ferns only, they however
are all I have; some are unfortunately not in
fructification. The Mosses & Lichens I have
never collected at all, but I shall not fail to
do so in future. The Algae I once had a small
collection of but they were by an accident
destroyed—I hope however to repair this loss.

The Dawsonia I do not know, but if it exists
in this neighbourhood, you shall have abundance
of it as soon as possible. I am extremely obliged
to Mr. Murray for the seeds he has been so
good as to send me, and shall yearly send him
a supply —

Your offer of a copy of your Musci Exotici I
cannot help accepting, and the possession of it
will ensure an interest in the subject on which
it treats. The number that you sent to me
containing Dawsonia, has excited in me a
strong desire to possess the full work.—If I
have the fortune to be the means, ‘ as you hope,’

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

of making known to you any considerable por¬
tion of the Botany of this island, it will give me
the greatest possible delight. I shall labour
to do so: hitherto I have not made Botany a
matter of business, but now I consider myself in
a certain degree bound to do all I can. The
major part of the time I can spare from neces¬
sary business will be devoted to it.

Mr Murray would oblige me by furnishing me
with as many species of the genera Salix &
Populus as he can obtain, particularly the useful
species, also Elemus arenarius I shall take the
liberty of writing to Mr Murray with my next
parcel of seeds, and of giving him the informa¬
tion required by your Directions &c.

The Governor has promised to lend me a man
who is a capital delineator, if I succeed in
getting him 1 will have drawings made of all
the remarkable plants whose organs of fructifi¬
cation are complicated. Orchidea &c &c and
send you copies. 1 should think the parts could
be better dissected on the spot while the plant
is yet living than after being dried and pressed.

I have seen a number of his paintings of
indigenous plants which were very accurate
and extremely well executed.—I have a good
microscope.

I remain
Dear Sir

Yours Sincerely
R. W. Lawrence

Dawsonia was a genus of moss which, with
its various species, was described by Hooker
in his book on foreign mosses, “ Musci
Exotici Mosses were one of Hooker’s
botanical specialities.

Mr. S. Murray, at that time in charge of
the Glasgow Botanical Gardens, was inter¬
ested in obtaining new species of plants from
abroad. This is the first of many references
m the letters to seeds sent to, or seeds or
plants received from, Mr. Murray. The
Salix and Populus that Lawrence wanted in
return were, of course, Willows and Poplars;
Elymus arenarius was Sea Lyme-grass, a
grass allied to Barley and possibly used for
binding sand dunes.

The delineator was undoubtedly William
Barlow Gould, the convict artist who, in

1827, was transported to Van Diemen’s Land
for seven years for theft. He was, intermit¬
tently, the assigned servant of Dr. James
Scott, R.N., Colonial Surgeon, from 1829
until 1832, when Gould was sent to Macquarie
Harbour for drunkenness.

The drawings of plants made when he was
with Dr. Scott (many of them named by
James Backhouse) found their way to Eng¬
land. In 1958 they wei*e purchased by the
Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston, from
Miss E. M. Hugh-Smith, of Reading-, England.
These full-size, water-colour drawings, 177
in all, in three sketch books, are beautifully
executed, often showing sections of the
flowers and fruit. Gould’s story is told by
Mrs. I. J. Mead in the “ Papers and Proceed¬
ings of The Royal Society of Tasmania ”,
vol. 93, 1959.

The next letter in the file, of the same date,
is the first draft of the foregoing letter. It
was sent by another vessel and, with some
slight variations in phrasing, is substantially
the same.

The next two are short notes written ten
days later but sent by different ships, one
advising Hooker of the despatch of a package
of specimens, the other to John Hunneman,
shipping agent of London, containing a Bill
of Lading for the parcel.

LETTER 148.

Launceston 30th May 1831

Dear Sir,

I write per Elisabeth to inform you that I
have shipped on board the brig Czar for London
a package containing an Herbarium, and ad¬
dressed to the care of Mr. Hunneman Esqe,
and which I hope you will receive in due course.

I have enclosed to Mr. Hunnemann a Bill of
Lading.—I shall commence immediately to pre¬
pare another collection for you, which I hope
will be more extensive. Dawsonia shall be
searched after. If you wish to obtain a number
of specimens of any plant in particular pray
let me know and I will obtain them for you as
soon as I can.

I remain

Dear Sir

Yours Sincerely
R. W. Lawrence

M MIL

Ronald Campbell Gunn by Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

(By courtesy, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.)

Sir William Jackson Hooker.

/JX V \

L'!

si_^

Letter: R. W. Lawrence to Sir W. J. Hooker (No. 152).

Letter Cover: R. C. Gunn to Sir W. J. Hooker (No. 182).

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

LETTER 149.

Launceston 30th May 1831

Sir,

I write per Czar to advise you of a package
addressed to Dr Hooker, care of John Hunneman
Esqe. Soho containing an Herbarium collected
in this country, (V.D.L.) and shipped on board
the Czar bound for London. I enclose a Bill of
Lading.—Dr Hooker requested me to direct any
packages I might send to London for him to
your care. I shall feel obliged by your forward¬
ing to him the present package as soon as
possible.

I remain

Sir Your Obt Sert
R. W. Lawrence.

On the back of the letter to Hooker, writ¬
ten in another hand, is, “ Astragalus Boeti-
cus

The next letter, to Hooker, was written
ten months later.

LETTER 150.

Vermont. March 15th 1832

By the Princess Augusta I send you a small
collection of dried specimens. I am almost
ashamed at not being able to send you a larger
number this season, but very important business
has prevented me from making as extensive a
collection as I had intended.—

I have commenced to arrange an Herbarium
according to the natural method; but of which
I know scarcely anything as yet.—In Brown’s
Prods the Papilionaceae, Mimosae, Lomenta-
ceae, Myrtaceae, and Compositae all extensive
orders here, are left out.—

The specimens of the present collection are
numbered, without reference to the former one;
you will oblige me much by transmitting to me
the names attached to their respective numbers.

Among the Musci you will find several speci¬
mens without inflorescence; I send such under
the idea that you will in all probaility be
already acquainted with them, and know them
by their foliage or manner of growth.

As I thought it might be injurious to some
of the specimens of Lichens to have them
separated from the Musci &e amongst which
they were growing, I have dried them en masse.
I send you this seasons collection as far as
Epacrideae, the remainder will be sent by the
next vessel. Mr Murray will receive some
seeds by the next opportunity—I hope you

received my last package (per Czar) in good
order —

I expect soon to be enabled to do you a little
more justice as a correspondent than hitherto.

In the meanwhile
Believe me
Dear Sir

Yours sincerely

R. W. Lawrence

“ Prodromus ”, 1810 (Latin, a forerun¬
ner), was not followed by a major work on
Australian plants by Robert Brown.

As there are no postmarks, it is possible
that this letter was delivered by hand or
went with the specimens the dispatch of
which is confirmed in the next short note,
two days after which he wrote a letter of
introduction to Hooker for his friend Ronald
Campbell Gunn.

LETTER 151.

Vermont. March 31st 1832

Dear Sir,

This is to advise you of a package of Dried
Plants, shipped for you in the Princess Augusta,
and addressed to the care of Mr. Hunneman
I have written to that Gentleman, enclosing a
Bill of Lading. 1 shall write to you more fully
with the remaining collection of this season,
which I hope to ship in about 6 weeks—

Believe me
Dear Sir

Yours truly

R. W. Lawrence

letter 152.

Launceston April 2nd 1832

Dear Sir

Give me leave to introduce to you my friend
Mr Gunn; a gentleman who has lately acquired
a passionate taste for the science of Botany,
and who has become an enthusiastic collector —

Believe me
Dear Sir

Yours truly

R. W. Lawrence

JOURNEY OF R.W. LAWRENCE-

JOURNEY OF R.C.GUNN.

SCALE

WYBALCN

GEORGE TOWN

DENSE,
f OREST,

, LAURISTON
HOMESTEAD

GUNNS PLAINS

BLACK HILLS

• oiDOLEUM

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PARK

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•VERMONT'
^NtW STEAD
AUNCESTON

•PE.MOUITE

DELORAINI

LOMOND

WALKERS

NORFOLK

PLAINS

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-FORMOSA

(Gunns'
LAKE v

LAKE |

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ROSS

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Lawrences'

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MRS. PATTERSONS Farm

BASS STRAIT

CIRCULAR HEAD

To face p. 18.

]

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

That Ronald Gunn became a plant collector
is almost certainly due to his friendship with
Robert Lawrence. Young men of the same
age and the same social standing, they natur¬
ally became acquainted. The total popula¬
tion of Launceston was only a few thousand,
of which nearly half were convicts, and
“ society ” of the day was limited to profes¬
sional and business men, government officials
and the landed gentry and their wives and
children; tradesmen and shopkeepers were
rigorously excluded. Gunn, Superintendent
of Convicts, held an important Government
office; Lawrence was a wealthy landowner,
so that they naturally met at social functions.
But, unlike most of the young men of that
time (and later) whose main interests were
hunting, dancing, and drinking, Gunn and
Lawrence had something in common. Better
educated and with keener intellects than
most of their fellows, they had within them
the spirit of scientific enquiry and a desire
to increase their knowledge, and here, in a
new land, full of fresh and undescribed
species, animal and vegetable, was an almost
unlimited field for their activities. What
they needed was a guide and teacher, and
this, almost by accident, Hooker provided.

Lawrence, encouraged by Hooker, trans¬
mitted his enthusiasm for collecting to his
friend Gunn. As a single man of ample
means, he had more time than Gunn, who
was tied to his official post and had a wife
and three children, but, once started, botany
became the absorbing interest of Gunn’s
life; all his spare time he spent collecting,
arranging, and classifying, and his progress
in the subject is reflected in his letters to
Hooker.

Lawrence’s next letter is dated from “ For¬
mosa ”.

LETTER 153.

Formosa 29th June 1832.

My Dear Sir,

I with great pleasure acknowledge receipt of
your letter of the 2nd. Deer. 1831. I hope you
received the Herbarium (such as it is) in a

satisfactory state. I am exceedingly obliged
for the Paper; and the possession of 'the Musci
Exotici, will ensure an attention on my part
to the subject to which it relates — I have writ¬
ten to my agent in Hobart Town to forward the
package as soon as possible.

I am fearful that the paucity of specimens
I have hitherto sent you will cause you to
imagine me to be less zealous collector than
I profess to be and in order to remove such an
impression if it should exist I will acquaint you
with circumstances which otherwise it might
be absurd to communicate to a stranger. I have
been for some time occupied a good deal in
making arrangements previous to my intended
marriage, which will take place in about six
months. Moving to a different establishment
that too in the winter; carrying with me most
of a four-years collection of living plants &c &c
and building a House fit to live in, are all
objects which require much time and attention
to accomplish.

On the 25th inst. I took charge of an estate of
my fathers called Formosa on the Lake River,
consisting of 13000 acres, and have since been
employed in arranging the late Overseer’s
accounts which I have not yet fully accom¬
plished; and which I fear when arranged will
prove any thing but satisfactory — The weather
for a considerable time has been exceedingly
wet, indeed so much so as to have surprised
many of those who have been long on the
Island. My removal from Vermont, therefore
has been attended with difficulty and much
unpleasantness.

My present situation is well adapted for mak¬
ing an interesting collection of Natural History
subjects. A considerable number of the Animals
peculiar to the Island abound upon this estate;

I am immediately under the Western tier of
Mountains, which are rich in the production
of indigenous Vegetables; and I dare say will
eventually when well examined prove interesting
to the Geologist and Mineralogist.

You express your gratification in the antici¬
pated receipt of the Ferns; I fear you must have
been disappointed they were so few. The Tris-
ehostomum you speak of, I think I have seen in
the possession of my friend Mr. Gunn (a zealous
collector) whom I have taken the liberty of
introducing to you. It appears that the Artist
promised to me by Governor Arthur is employed
in Hobart Town by Dr. Scott, the Colonial
Surgeon, in making a collection of paintings of
the Vegetables of that neighbourhood and that
I am unlikely indeed to be allowed ' l o use him.
The general aspect of the scenery of V.D.L. is
not I think of a very pleasing description. The
vernal luxuriance of Britain is absent here

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

though we know the advantage of evergreen
foliage. It is among the Mountains that we
meet with striking and at the same time
pleasing scenery; I have often regretted being
unable to describe upon canvass, that which has
afforded me so much pleasure to dwell upon
during my rambles in such a situation. You
request me to send you my remarks upon the
character of the vegetation &c &c of the country
through which I may travel. I have always
kept journals of my excursions, observing the
most remarkable natural pecularities; and in
future I will readily send you such, but only
for your own perusal; unfortunately I am as
yet so deficient in scientific knowledge that I
cannot give you information fit for publication —
In time, perhaps, when I shall be a little older,
and shall have acquired more knowledge, I may
have the satisfaction of being a more useful
correspondent.

I have heard much of Mr Cunningham, and
shall be very glad to know that his works are
published; I shall immediately request my Uncle
in London to look out for their appearance,
and to send them to me as soon as published.
I am pleased to hear of your Geographical
Society. I have no doubt it will be productive
of much utility. I am extremely obliged to
Mr Murray for his kindness in taking so much
trouble, which the packing of the Poplars and
Willows, must necessarily give him; and that
in return too, for the very scanty supply of
seeds hitherto sent him by me. With my next
collection of seeds I shall do myself the pleasure
of writing to him. I have some seeds on hand
but have not had time to pack them up by
this opportunity. They will accompany the
remaining half of Herbarium per Princess
Augusta which I hope you will have received
before you receive this letter.

Jorgen Jorgenson is not a Government Sur¬
veyor. He had charge of an exploring party of
the V.D.L. Company's. See his Journal in third
report of V.D.L. Company. His character does
not stand high in the opinion of .hose who have
had opportunities of observing it. He 'for a
short time conducted the best periodical here,
the Colonial Advocate.

John Dick is a bad character, he has lately
been put in the Chain Gang. My friend Mr
Gunn, the Superintendent of Convicts, will
obtain an answer to the Widow’s letter. —

I remain

Yours sincerely

R. W. Lawrence

No specimens of the moss Trichostomum
from Gunn are acknowledged in the “ Flora
Tasmaniae ”.

Allan Cunningham was one of Australia’s
first and most distinguished resident botan¬
ists. He came to New South Wales in 1816,
at the age of 25, to collect for the Kew
Botanical Gardens and accompanied and led
many expeditions, including that of Oxley
over the Blue Mountains in 1817, and his
own discovery of the Darling Downs in 1827.
He visited Van Diemen’s Land with Captain
King in 1818-19. While here he made the
following notes (taken from the “Journal
of Botany”, vol. IV, 1842, pp. 247-8)

“ I made a very interesting excursion to the
summit of Mount Table [Mount Wellington],
which presented me with a fair specimen of
Alpine travelling, in 'the sudden transitions of
the weather, (being alternatively fair, with
snow storms,) and with the character off the
botany, as may be found in Terra Australis
collectively. In this elevated journey I gath¬
ered many curious plants, which, although 1
now find them described by that truly eminent
botanist, Mr. Brown, were no less interesting
to me, who knew nothing of them previously."

Of Macquarie Harbour, he says—

“ In no situation did I find the botany so novel
and otherwise interesting as on the low shores of
a little bight, about nine miles up from the
entrance, called Pine Cove, from the abundance
of the Huon and Adventure Bay Pines, which
its humid shaded woods afford. With the
Huon Pine, (which may be a Dacrydium, or
altogether a new genus,) and that named Adven¬
ture Bay Pine (Podocarpus aspeniifolius, Lab.)
I detected the Anopterus of Labillardiere in
flower; the Cenarrhenes of that author in fruit;
the beautiful Carpodontus, the Sassafras-
scented Atherosperma; the aromatic Tasmannia
in fruit; the native Birch; (fagus Cunning-
hamii Hook); a species of Weinmannia biglan-
dulosa Hook; some of the Epacrideae, Eleo-
carpus peduncularis; Gaultheria hispida in
fruit, with several others of like sterling im¬
portance. After a minute examination of all
the trees of Huon Pine that had recently fallen,
I was fortunate in the detection of the young
fruit of that most useful tree.”

Before he left Australia to return to Kew
in 1831, Cunningham had collected over most
of the New South Wales interior and many
of the coastal regions of Australia, including
Western Australia and Northern Australia
and had also visited New Zealand. In 1832
he was offered the position of Colonial

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Botanist of New South Wales, but declined
in favour of his brother Richard, who was
killed by blacks when with Major Mitchell,
in Queensland in 1835. Allan Cunningham
then took over the appointment, but resigned
it after a short time. In 1838 he again
visited New Zealand, where his health was
affected. He died in 1839. The Myrtle-
Beech of Tasmania and Victoria, Nothofagus
cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst., is named after
him.

The “ Geographical Society ” was the
Royal Geographical Society, founded in Lon¬
don in 1830, of which William Jackson
Hooker was one of the original members.

The next letter, though it bears an earlier
date, was not forwarded until some time
after this letter of Lawrence’s. It is from
Thomas Scott, introducing Ronald Gunn to
Dr. Hooker and, together with Lawrence’s
letter of introduction, accompanied Gunn’s
first and very deferential letter to the great
botanist.

LETTER 275.

One can almost hear Thomas Scott’s sigh
of relief as he handed over his collecting
commission, first to Lawrence and now to
Gunn.

References in subsequent works on Tas¬
manian botany, including Joseph Hooker’s
“ Flora Tasmaniae ’, imply that Scott was
an important collector, but his letters obvi¬
ously refute this claim. He is also alluded
to as Dr. Thomas Scott (possibly in confusion
with Dr. James Scott, his contemporary at
Hobart Town) though Ronald Gunn, in some
of his earlier letters to William Hooker, cor¬
rects this mistake.

Thomas Scott must have the credit, how¬
ever, of starting the ball rolling. Without
his good offices, Lawrence and Gunn might
never have corresponded with Hooker, and
the study of Tasmanian plants, with its
effect on the promotion of scientific enquiry
in the colony, would have been postponed for
many years. Ronald Gunn’s first letter to
Dr. William Hooker is a landmark in the
history of science in Tasmania.

Launceston, Van Diemen's Land

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land

12th. May 1832

Dear Sir,

This will be enclosed to you by my friend
Mr. Gunn who I am happy to introduce to your
correspondence, he has made a collection which
he forwards to you by the Research, you will
I think find him a very valuable correspondent,
he is an enthusiastic Botanist and is indefatig¬
able in his exertion — I feel much regret that
I have never studied Botany, and am now too
old 'to begin, but you see I am hearty in the
cause, and in my short excursions will pick up
everything that may seem to me uncommon and
submit them to Mr. Gunn that he may either
forward or reject them—

I am

Dear Sir

Yours very Sincerely
Thos. Scott

Cameron Street

Dr Hooker

Professor of Botany
Glasgow

18th August 1832

Sir,

—I beg leave to state that I have forwarded a
package of dried specimens of plants, princi¬
pally Ferns, Mosses & Lichens p. “ Forth ” to
London to your address, care of Mr Hunneman,
London, and I have enclosed within the package
two letters of Introduction to you I received
from my friends, Mr Thos. Scott, and Mr Robt.
Lawrence: —

Mr Lawrence ex[c]ited in me a few months
ago a taste for Botany and Collecting, and has
since induced me to trouble you with the result
of my six months labours which is the package
above alluded to;—the collection is in many
points very imperfect and poor, as I did not
commence collecting until most of the native
shrubs had ceased flowering—Deer.—Conse¬
quently Crytogamie plants were the only ones
left — and although my rambles were very cir¬
cumscribed I was successful in obtaining a few
things that Mr. Lawrence had never seen—
amongst them two mosses similar to the Daw-
sonia polytrichoides, and of one of which I
gave Mr. L. a few specimens to forward to

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

you some months ago, not being at the time
aware that I should trouble you with my
Collection.

Your already having a correspondent here in
Mr. R. W. Lawrence whose attainments in
Botany and indefatigability and perseverance
in Collecting, so very far surpass my slender
abilities, almost precludes my hoping you to
adopt me as a Second correspondent therefore
in sending you the present package I do it
with a view that should you not desire a second
correspondent in this Colony, to recommend my
humble services to some Botanist Friend who
will in return forward me a few good works
to advance me in the Science, (of which I am
as yet totally ignorant,) and also — seeds of
any Plants, useful, remarkable, ornamental or
which have not yet been introduced into the
Colony and of which also a partial list is
sent.—

I am as yet, as before stated, ignorant of
Botany, and have no means of acquiring more
[or] any information—I have no Books on
the subject—and none can be obtained here—
Mr. Lawrence’s Collection was at my service in
his own house, (lending such works being out of
the question,) but he has now removed 28 miles
from Launceston, previous to being married,
and where he will for the future reside.

I made a considerable collection of seeds, but
they were unfortunately totally destroyed by
some vermin that got into the Case, but the
loss is the less, as Mr. Lawrence has a fine
collection which he is about to send home to
Mr Murray — I have put up one or two varieties
Mr. L had not, and which escaped 'the general
destruction.

I have numbered all the specimens sent you,
and of which I have retained duplicates to
enable me to send you more specimens of any
kinds you may desire—and also to request that
you will send me the name of every number at
your leisure. — Should you be pleased to adopt
me as a Correspondent I shall feel extremely
obliged by your sending me any Botanical or
Horticultural [worfcs] you may have to spare, as
I feel the want of them very much. — If Mr
Murray will also comply as far as practicable
with [my] Requisition for Seeds, I trust [early]
next season to be enabled to add [ considerably ]
both to his collection in the way of [seed and]
to yours in specimens—

I shall now close this long letter by [ stating]
that the letters of Introduction are [o/] old

dates as I kept back my Collection from week
to week to make it as far as possible [worth]
your acceptance —

I Remain, Sir,

Your most obedient
humble Servant

Ronald C. Gunn

W. J. Hooker Esqe

Professor of Botany
Glasgow

At the top of the sheet Hooker has written
“ Mass of Moss 25 Pol. junip.—27 do.”.

25 and 27 Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw.
With it went the following notes:—

Remarks—Mosses, Lichens, &c.

Few of the mosses are peculiar in their
habits, most of those I collected being in wet
umbrageous Ravines. —

Nos. 16. 17 & 28.—I collected on the summits
of two very high mountains between 20 & 30
miles to the east of Launceston — and were not
sheltered much—Nos 27 & 28 I imagine to be
Dawsonia but which is “ polytrichoides ” I do
not know. — I have put some good flowers of
each in a small paper box so as to keep them
safe. — No 25 I found on the Clay bank of a
River growing amidst my Lichen No 2. I saw
little of it — and I think it is not common.—
No 23 I found in a creek at a considerable
elevation on “ Ben Nevis ” — the water was
washing over it, & it must be under water
altogether 9 months of the year.—

No. 29 — Grows on the bark of Trees, and spreads
itself very beautifully, but seldom in large
patches — (as p. specimens).

No. 30 — a leaf or two of Hookeria pinnata,—
as Mr. Lawrence informed me he had sent you
some, I merely added it to fill up a number.
Lichens.—No 1 is curious, and in its natural
state extremely beautiful — but though I call
it a Lichen from sheer ignorance — I doubt its
being one. — I regret I could find no means of
preserving it, as by pressing in the manner I
have done, it will not regain its natural pulpy
(I say pulpy as I know not a word to express
my meaning) or fleshy state by immersion in
water. It grows in large patches, from 3 to
6 feet in extent sometimes, on rich land, at
the bottom of umbrageous hollows and creeks —
No. 2. is very similar in its growth to No. 1,
but I never met it but in one place — about 20
miles from Launceston (with Moss 25).

All the others grow on Rocks and trees, but
without any striking pecularity

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

My Ignorance in all branches of Botany par¬
ticularly Cryptogamic — has I doubt not caused
me to make some great mistakes in numbering
both Mosses and Lichens — omitting to number
some, and giving others two numbers — but I
trust time and your assistance will enable me
to improve—as my partiality for Cryptogamic
plants is daily increasing, and I now, perceive
beauties where a few months ago I believed
there could be none. —

The Nos. will enable you to send to me for
any that you wish, that may be either new, rare
or desirable; and any that I may have omitted
to number which you wish for, you must send
me a sketch of—and inform me the No. to which
it bears the greatest resemblance (to the eye.)
when I doubt not I shall be able to pick it up —

The want of a microscope or a strong magni¬
fying glass is severely felt by me, as neither
can be procured here—Should you be kind
enough to select me as an assistant Correspon¬
dent (to Mr. Lawrence) perhaps you could
procure me a small one, and for which I shall
willingly be your debtor, — as it will enable me
to distinguish the various Mosses with greater
facility.—

The names of the Mosses &c as well as plants
&c will confer additional obligations

Mosses—

16, 23, 27, 28 not traced.

25. Bryum pachytheca C. Muell. var. /3

29. Bartramia papillata Hook.f. &

Wils. “ on rocks ”.

30. (33 in FI. Tas.) Hookeria pennata

Hook., i.e., Cyathophomm pen-
natum Bridel

Written on the outside of the sheet before
it had been folded for sealing is—

My address is as follows.

Ronald C. Gunn

Suptt of Convicts—

Launceston

Van Diemens Land

•Or, if the vessel goes to Hobart Town, any
Packet may as well be addressed to the Care
of my Brother, Lieutenant William Gunn,
Suptt of Convicts, Hobart Town.

The sheet, folded and sealed with wax,
is addressed—

To W. J. Hooker Esqe
Professor of Botany
Glasgow N.B.

At the bottom left-hand corner in small
neat writing in—

R. C. Gunn

1832 V.D.L.

Around the inside of an oval postmark is
LAUNCESTON and inside a round postmark
GLASGOW/A. 18 FE/1833. A rectangular
mark bears the words INDIA LETTER/
DOVER. There is another small rectangle
with .V inside, and scrawl in ink, possibly a
postal franking or perhaps cancellation
mark. Apparently it took just seven months
to reach its destination.

Following this is a short note from Law¬
rence illustrating the uncertainty of letters
or parcels ever reaching their intended desti¬
nation in those days of sailing ships and
protracted voyages; and a longer letter, also
from Lawrence, but written ten months later,
revealing an alternative method of sending
communications. This was by placing them
in the care of acquaintances travelling to and
from England, but it, too, often proved un¬
satisfactory. Accompanying this letter is a
note on bird specimens that had been skinned
by Mrs. Lawrence for Hooker’s son William,
who was interested in ornithology.

At the head of the first letter, Hooker has
written an indecipherable note regarding the
ship “ Guardian

LETTER 154.

Formosa 20th July
1832—

My Dear Sir

In my last letter I acknowledged the receipt
of yours informing me of your having sent me
some paper and a Copy of Musci Exotici per the
Anne Jameson. My agent in Hobart Town can
hear nothing of a package addressed to me by
that Vessel. I hope it is not lost, perhaps you
may hear more of it —

Believe me

Dear Sir

Yours very truly
R. W. Lawrence

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

LETTER 155.

Formosa May 15th 1833

My Dear Sir,

I have had the pleasure of receiving your
letter, and No. 6 of Botanical Miscellany, per
favour of Dr Logan whom you were kind enough
to introduce to me, but unfortunately whom I
have not had an opportunity of seeing, as cir¬
cumstances did not bring him to this country —
He was kind enough to transmit your letter &c
from Sydney—If you could without inconveni¬
ence when you send me any parcel, excepting
when you know the individual as in the case of
Dr Logan obtain Bills of Lading and get the
Parcel entered on the Ship’s manifest. I think
I should be more likely to receive them as I
could compell them to be forthcoming; as it is,
I have lost two valuable packages — Your valu¬
able Musci Exotici, Nos 4 & 5 of Botanical
Miscelly. and the paper you were good enough
to send with them are lost. I cannot hear
anything of them. Mr Murray’s package of
Willows and Poplars per Sophia upon which I
calculated so much and upon the news (by his
letter), of the arrival of which I was so much
delighted; was applied for by my fathers agent
in Hobart Town who could not hear any thing
of it; it was not in the ships manifest. The
consequence was it went on from its proper
place of destination, to Sydney; whence after
three months I got it, all the plants of course
dead. These kind of losses are extremely dis¬
tressing and from the gross ignorance of all
the people here particularly the officials it is
impossible to induce them to pay any attention
to what they term ‘ Such trash ’; unless they can
find it in the common routine of business — and
probably see that they can get something by it —

I am extremely obliged for your enumeration
of Plants, and am quite happy to hear that the
examination of them afforded you pleasure and
that some were novelties. I remark your obser¬
vation respecting the quantity of each kind of
specimen, and hope that in that particular the
last and present collection will please you. I
hope you receive my last per Princess Augusta,
Capn. Hawkins, which I directed to Mr Hunne-
man and of which 1 advised you at the same
time. I Believe I sent a Bill of Lading to
him.—The present collection is a continuation
of the above mentioned one, excepting those
from No 250 which were collected during a
short excursion I lately made up the mountains
in this neighbourhood. If you will favour me
with the names attached to their respective
numbers as in your last communication I shall
be obliged — I shall attend to the collection of
such plants as you express a desire to have

more specimens of and when I obtain them they
shall be sent to you. The Orchideae also shall
be preserved in the manner you request, vi#,
some of the flowers of each in weak spirits-~(
send you some short notes made during my last
little excursion, which if they afford you any
notion of what is to be seen then so much th^
better; if not, there transportation to you cost^
nothing —

I have not had an opportunity of obtaining
Birds of this country yet, but will send you such
as I happen to fall in with — I do not skin them
myself, but Mrs. L has lately done a feV,
which if your son considers sufficiently well
done, more specimens shall be sent to him,

1 intend forming a collection of Skins fob
myself, which will afford me an opportunity
of collecting duplicates for him. I shall number
what I have now, and send them to Mr. Hunne-
man, and shall be happy to hear from your son.
If he will be so obliging as to send me tlm
scientific names of them, I shall be much pleased;
it will give me great pleasure to correspond
with him—

I remain

Dear Sir

Yours very truly
R. W. Lawrence

letter 156.

Formosa May 16th 1833

Dear Sir

I send such specimens of Birds as I have by
me, but will collect more extensively in future;
Ornithology has not been a science that I have
hitherto paid attention to, but I wish neverthe¬
less to make a collection of indigenous Birds,
and will send duplicates to Hooker Junr. with
great pleasure as I obtain them. — W. Hooker
will perhaps do me the favour to send the names
of such as I now send him. — I generally carry
my gun with me when I ramble and shall feel
more interested in obtaining the varieties of
Birds than heretofore, since I have someone to
whom it will give pleasure to receive them -

Yours very truly
R. W. Lawrence

No. 1 Musk Duck — Biziura lobata Shaw —
The male is said [to] have a consider¬
able flavour of musk; whence its com¬
mon name. — The present is I think a
male, but it has not the flavour which
I have observed in some specimens.
This bird cannot fly, and can hardly
walk; its region is the water—Foodi
frogs &c &c —

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

No. 2 Cormorant. (Pelicans of Linn) its
habit is similar to the Black Diver, or
Pelicanus Corvus, Linn —

No. 3 Black Cockatoo. Psitticus funereus,
Linn. It is generally supposed that it
makes its appearance before rain. I
have not, however, observed any such
habits; I believe the notion to be incor¬
rect. The principal food of this bird
is the seeds of Banksia integrifolia and
a large variety of grubs inhabiting
that tree, which is also much sought
after and eaten by the Aborigines of
this Island —

No. 4 Superb Warbler (Motacilla [ ]

Linn I suppose) I think I have some¬
where seen it called Menura Superba,
but I do not recollect with certainty.
This bird does not answer to the des¬
cription of M. Cyanea in Turton’s
Linneus. Is it a variety of another
species ?

No. 5. Golden Winged Fly-catcher — (Mus-
capa sp. Linn.?) Most frequently seen
in Honey suckle trees (Banksia).

No. 6 Wood Martin. (Ampilis sp ?) a Mi¬
gratory bird which appear here late
in the spring and leaves late in the
Autumn. I saw them a few days ago
only — (May)—Insects and seeds were
found in its crop—

No. 7 — As there is no common name for
this hawk, here, I will call it until
I know its name from you — the swallow
hawk from its resemblance to that
bird in its manner of flying, and hover¬
ing over the surface of rivers; it is
very beautiful; I am only sorry that
it like most of the other specimens is
so imperfectly preserved — It is the
smallest Hawk we have. —

No. 8. The Bronzed Winged Pigeon or
Birrill Birrill of the New Holl. Abori¬
gines (Columba Ahalcoptera. Lathan.?)
An excellent bird for the table and
when alive very beautiful —

No. 9. Cuckoo — Native Cuckoo. Food
Beetles and Insects — a migratory
Bird —

No. 10. Smaller Wattle Bird — Belonging to
Linn. Ord. Picae I believe but beyond
I know nothing about it.

No. 11. Snipe.-

No. 12. Magpie Food, not very confined;
Insects, Grubs, &c &c &c—

No. 13. Summer Bird — This bird as its
name indicates is migratory—

No. 14. Scarlett fronted Parrakeet—a very
beautiful little Bird, but not so much
so as its ally Psitticus sanguinisleutus—

Not having sufficient specimens of birds to
fill the Box, I have filled it up with all sorts
of odds and ends that I could find, supposing
them to be at all events more interesting than
shavings—I fear however, you will not think
the box with its contents worth the freight —

I have taken the liberty of sending some seeds
in this package for Mr Murray which I shall
feel obliged by your forwarding to him as soon
as possible, that they may have every chance,
if there happen to be anything valuable among
them—

I have been so distressed for time lately that
you must excuse the haste with which every
thing has been got up. Mrs L. will endeavour
to improve in the art of preserving the skins
of Birds for my new correspondent. I shall
write to night to Mr Murray requesting him
to send me some seeds of Symphytum asperri-
mum & of a plant which if I recollect correctly
is called in South America ‘ Aracada ’? I dare
say you will at all events know what I mean, an
esculent root—Lest my Letter to him should
miscarry, you will oblige me by speaking to
him upon the subject —

In the hope of hearing from you soon

Believe me

Dear Sir

Yours very truly

R. W. Lawrence

Symphytum asperrimum is the Siberian
Prickly Comfrey, a plant growing six to ten
feet high, recommended for cattle fodder.
Arracacha esculent a is an umbelliferous plant
of the region of Caracas in South America,
but he may mean Oxalis tuberosa, the “ Oca ”
which has edible tubers.

A duplicate letter and notes also reached
Hooker. The handwriting is not Lawrence’s,
but is finer and neater and may be his wife’s.
On the duplicate bird notes are a few inser¬
tions written in another hand, probably that
of William Hooker, junior, as one note bears
the initials W. H. For example, above “ No.
1 Musk Duck” is written “Anus Lobata”;
in No. 4 “ Superb Warbler, Malurus cyaneus

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Viell. Lond. P.5, t.72”; and to No. 11 is
added the words “Our Jack Snipe”.

These are the last letters of Robert Law¬
rence to Hooker. He died suddenly in Octo¬
ber of the same year. A journal he had
kept of “ An Excursion up the Western
Mountains ” had been sent to Hooker, pos¬
sibly at the same time as the letters, and
this was published in full in Hooker’s
“ Journal of Botany ” No. 1, together with a
section entitled “ Towards a Flora of Van
Diemen’s Land ”, containg descriptions of
plants sent to him by Lawrence.

In the file is the original of Lawrence’s
journal, as follows:—

Notes on an excursion up the Western Mountains
1833 None of the gentlemen who had engaged

Jany, 15 to accompany me on my expedition to the
Th. 67° Lakes and along the Western range of
mountains having arrived, with the excep¬
tion of Mr Curson, we started with three
men at about 6 o’clock a.m. carrying with
us about a weeks stock of flour, tea &
sugar & c — We had walked nearly six
miles before we discovered that we had
forgotten our shot. The circumstances
of sending a man back for it detained us
nearly six hours. During the time we
were obliged to wait, the mountain tops
became enveloped in clouds and there
was every appearance of approaching bad
weather. At length we had a pretty
heavy fall of rain, accompanied by a
squall, and by the time the man had
returned with the shot, ail was clear
again and promised favourably. On his
return we proceeded upwards, and reached
about half way up the flat topped mount¬
ain, where we halted for the night. Our
tent was a very portable one, consisting of
two strong, coarse sheets sewn together
and stretched over such a frame as we
could most conveniently construct from
the sticks of Prostanthera lasianthos and
other shrubs around us. Met with noth¬
ing very remarkable to day.

The base of this mountain, to one third
of its entire height is composed of White
Sand-stone (free-stone) of excellent
quality as a building stone; hence, at a
future period, we may reckon upon hav¬
ing substantial buildings at Formosa in
place of the miserable wooden ones which

at present exist there. Though indeed
that time must be far off as it is intended
to build in pise at present. 1 had not,
time to ramble much in this neighbour^
hood, to seek the minerals which norms
ally associate with this rock; as my
principal object was to attain high elevas
tion for the purpose of obtaining specis
mens of the plants proper to them.

We made a very large fire in the even¬
ing in order that those at home might
see to what height we had ascended —

Jan 16th The rill which afforded us water, also
Th.60° afforded two or three uncommon Musci,
Evap. 50° among them Lyellia crispa Dawsonia
Polytrichoides and an acquatic moss of
peculiar aspect which was unfortunately
not in flower.

At After collecting the above mentioned

Formosa varieties we continued our ascent, which
Th. 63° became more precipitous as we advanced.

In the course of the Day we arrived
at the summit of the Flat-topped (I have
forgotten how to spell if I ever knew)
mountain, after having climbed up places,
from which when I looked downwards I
felt considerable nervousness though my
friend Mr Curson, whose small figure
gave him an advantage, mounted up them
with apparently the ease of a kangaroo —
(Macropus minor ?)

We passed during the morning the
usual alpine plants, such of which as
were in flower or fruit I collected. Among
them were Drymophila cynocarpa, sev¬
eral species of Pultenaea, Lomatia poly-
morpha, Leucopogon sp. Hakea sp., Orites
sp. &c &c

Mr Curson took two men to hunt while I
remained at a place which we had fixed
upon as an encampment with one man —

Mr Curson after about two hours ab¬
sence returned without any game. I
collected about the neighbourhood of the
tent two species of Richea and an
Eucalptus, together with several o>ther
things—

The country here presents a rugged, and
romantic appearance, being constituted
of small wet flats or plains over which
are scattered projecting columns of
Basalt, and hemispherical masses of a
species of moss, resembling beautiful
green cushions; and occasional masses
of rock, calling to mind the appearance
of ruined Castles.

After our tent was erected I sent two
men out again to hunt. During their

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

absence a severe storm came on and
they returned unsuccessful. It twas
exceedingly cold so much so that the
mens Kangaroo skin Caps and pouches
were quite stiffened. Snowing all night —

Jany 17th. We found that during the night there

Th. _ 42° had been a fall of several inches of

54° snow. The sun however when rising pro-
60 0 mised us a fine day. After looking
__ around us a little, and admiring the ex¬
tensive panoramic scene beneath us, I
At started accompanied by Mr Curson and

Formosa two men to hunt — We were out several
Th. 67° hours, but owing to the dogs having
70° lamed themselves in ascending the moun¬
tain, and to the ground being very stony
we were again unsuccessful. We saw
many Kangaroo of both the Forest kind
and the Brush. We observed excrement
of the Hyhena (Didelphis cynocephalus,
vel Thylacinus cyanocephalus) but saw
very few traces of quadrupeds, except
those named above. Of Birds, there are
but few, the most remarkable of which I
have been accustomed to call the Mountain
Bird, from the circumstances of always
having found in such situations. Its
scientific name I do not know but it ap¬
pears to belong to the Ord. Pici of Blu-
menloch. Our collection of specimens and
seeds of Plants was satisfactory this
morning, Richea, a new (to me) small Pul-
tenaea, a trailing Exocarpus, and a trail¬
ing aphyllus shrub were among the most
prominent.

Returning to the tent, when after having
rested a short time, we packed up and
proceeded due South towards the Lakes;
the Mountains running east and west.
These mountains being purely Basaltic
there is nothing to interest the mineral¬
ogist. After having walked about three
miles, we saw a considerable number of
Kangaroo. I therefore halted, that we
migh: have the advantage of the evening
and the next morning for hunting in
the neighbourhood —

The country here is mainly a repetition
of small plains, and low stony hills. The
Plains having grasses and alpine plants
upon them, but evidently being subject
to lie under water during the winter
season, indeed there is waiter on, or
running through every one of them at
this season— The hills bear several
Eucalypts of deformed aspect arising
from exposure to the winds, which are
high and frequent. Tasmannia fragrans,
and several Hakeas & Orites appear here.

The hunters were unsuccessful though
numbers of fine Forester (a larger kind
of Kangaroo. I believe not the Macropus
giganteus, however) were seen by them.
The Dogs would not run though they
were half starved —

Jan 18th Two of the men went out to hunt at
Th 55° the dawn of day, one of whom returned
70° to breakfast, the other having lost him-

-self — After waiting for him for several

nours we fired some shots, by which we
At succeeded in leading him to us. No

Formosa Game. — We were occupied some time in
Th 68° arranging the specimens of Plants and
76° other things, when we had done which
we proceeded towards the Lakes; at the
first and smallest of which after about
two hours walking we arrived. Found
a Veronica which I had never seen before
with deeply divided leaves — As we were
walking through some underwood a Kan¬
garoo started before me which I shot.
The next or middle Lake was soon in
sight. Here we heard the noise of Dogs,
which we attributed to a party of Blacks
hunting. — As we were walking along a
plain leading to Lake Arthur we dis¬
covered a herd of as we thought wild
cattle, but on shooting one of them, we
found it to be branded with the letters
J.J. Shortly afterwards we were sur¬
prised to see a flock of sheep. — Arrived
at 'the largest of Arthurs Lakes, called
I believe Lake Arthur. In the evening
shot a Duck—

Jany 19th This morning we took about 18 lbs of
Th 53° meat from the Bullock killed yesterday.
80° As we were sitting down to breakfast

- three men appeared, who turned out to

be the overseer and stock keepers belong
At ing to a Mr. Jones of Jericho, the pro-

Formosa prietor .of the Cattle and Sheep we had
Th 63° seen, and who had only settled in 'this
70° neighbourhood about a week before. This
was satisfactory as it enabled me to
explain to them what I had done. The
Overseer was very civil and invited me
to his hut. Found Bellendena montana
in flower and an Epacris new to me. We
remained about the Lake the whole of
'the day. Found several rare plants and
one quite new to me, of the order Compo-
sitae. I shot two Ducks from behind
some tea-trees (Leptospermum sp.)

The scenery about Arthur’s Lakes is
less picturesque than it is generally re¬
ported to be, though it must be confessed
that the largest of the three is a fine

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Jany' 20 th
Th 42°

70°

Formosa
Th 70°
73°

Jany 21st
Th. 42°
60°
44°

Formosa

Jany 22nd
Th. 41°

Formosa
Th. 63°

sheet of water. The most eastward or
smallest is not more than a mile in
length, is surrounded by marshes and the
south western end is very reedy. The
middle Lake is about two or three miles
in length. But the only one worth seeing
is the largest one, being twenty or thirty
miles in circumference. The eastern
shore is shallow for a long way in and
reminds a little of a seashore from the
rocks being worn by the no doubt rolling
waves in windy weather, and from the
collection of a sand bank inland—1 am
not aware that there are any fish in
this large piece of water save Eels. —
Waterfowl abound; two or three kinds of
Ducks, Swans, and Divers. The Orni-
thorynchus paradoxus is plentiful here.

About 11 o’clock after having aired and
packed up our specimens &c we made
our way to the westward of north to¬
wards the Peaks; two conical eminences,
about 500 ft above the top of the fiat-
topped mountain — Collected seeds of
the Cyder tree (Eucalyptus sp.)— I shot
two Kangaroo in the course of the morn¬
ing. — Collected specimens of a few un¬
common plants.— In the afternoon we
reached the foot of the highest Peak
where we erected our tent near a plentiful
supply of water.— Wind blew cold from
the eastward.—

Arranged the specimens collected yester¬
day previous to ascending the Peaks —
In our ramble up the Peak we fell in with
Gaultheria hispida, and a new plant in
Decandria (Perhaps a Baeckia)— Also
a good deal of Lomatia polymorpha.
The wind blew very strong & in less than
an hour the Thermometer fell 10°. Abun¬
dance of Usnea sphacelata ? here— If
what I have been accustomed to call U.
sphacelata is this new one, its distribu¬
tion is universal over this island from
the lowest to the highest altitudes I have
visited. As we approached the top it
became very precipitous, and the wind
being exceedingly high I became too ner¬
vous to be able to ascend further though
I made several attempts. — Mr Curson,
however, and my gardener went to the
top. Very cold indeed all day.

A considerable fall of snow during the
night —

Having packed up our traps, we prepared
to descend. From the Flat-topped moun¬
tain we observed the gully, which ap¬
peared to take the desired direction and

we determind upon following it to they
bottom, where it appeared to constitute
the creek which bounds the western side
of Mr. J. Archer’s estate, adjoining my
father’s upper sheep-run. We found here
a hairy moss (Trichostomum ?) of which
I collected a number of specimens, but
they were unfortunately not in flower. A
number of very beautiful ravine-plants
were passed as we proceeded downwards.
The lower Third of this mountain appears
to be composed of free-stone; we passed
perpendicular and (by the action of
water) excavated rocks of it I dare say
an hundred feet in height. Fine speci¬
mens of Prostanthera lasianthos

From this place we pushed on very hard
for the purpose of endeavouring if pos¬
sible to reach Formosa. We arrived at
the level ground at the foot of the moun¬
tains, just as it was darkening, and
reached Formosa at about 11 o’clock at
night, after a walk of about thirty miles,
over a rugged country, with considerable
weight upon our backs —

I should have enumerated the principal
plants seen on this excursion as far as I
could, had I not sent you specimens of
them.

Lawrence—

259. Leptostomum inclinans R. Br.—
a moss.

302. Friesa peduncularis DC. i.e.
Aristoteliapeduncularis (Lab.)
Hook.f.

321. Phebalium montanum Hook.

324. Ranunculus nanus Hook.

325. Pelargonium erodioides Benth.

ex Hook. i.e. P. inodorum Willd.

The Lawrence numbers require the year
for certain identification as he apparently
had one series of numbers for 1831 and
another series for 1833. e.g. 321 (1831)
Dodonaea salsolifolia A. Cunn. ex Hook. i.e.
D. ericifolia G. Don.

Specimens from No. 250 were collected on
this occasion. Published records indicate the
nature of the collection—

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

His Usnea sphacelata may have been U.
melaxantha Ach. — “ Mr. Lawrence has col¬
lected barren, sorediated forms, with a black
base and blackish extremities, without fibril-
lae, which ai'e not very unlike U. melaxantha,
at an altitude of 3,500 feet, on the highest
parts of the western range of mountains.” —
FI. Tas.

The character of the country traversed by
Robert Lawrence and his party remained,
until quite recent years, much as he found it.
Certainly, the six miles of flat, open country
between “ Formosa ” (still in Lawrence
hands) and his father’s upper sheep run
(now the Billopp Estate owned by Mr. E. L.
Lawrence) has been sown to improved
pasture and is occupied by several farms,
including the State Research Farm, but the
rocky, lake-studded dolerite plateau beyond
the crest of the Tiers, between 3,000 and
4,000 feet above sea level, still carries the
stunted alpine plants and the curious moss¬
like Cushion Plants (not mosses but dwarfed
shrubs resembling moss-covered rocks,
adapted to the severe winter climate) that
Lawrence found there, and is still used as
summer runs for sheep and cattle. The small
kangaroos (or Brush Wallabies) are still
plentiful, though the large Forester Kangaroo
and the Native Hyaena or Tasmanian Tiger
(Tliylacinus cynocephalus) have completely
vanished from the scene.

The first of the Arthur’s Lakes, the Little
Lake, is also called Gunn’s Lake after Ronald
Gunn, while the ci’eek from it to the second
lake is Jones Rivulet, probably named after
the owner of the slaughtered bullock. Some
changes would be apparent at Lake Arthur,
however, as the Hydro-Electric Commission
is erecting a dam and pumping-station there
to supplement the water supply of Great
Lake.

On the return journey, Lawrence’s com¬
panions climbed one of the twin peaks near
the crest of the Tiers, usually called Brady’s
Lookout, after the famous bushranger of
1824-26. (Brady’s gang had raided “ For¬
mosa ” in 1826.) On the evidence of the

perpendicular sandstone cliffs, the descent
was made down the gully of a creek that
reaches the plain near Poatina . Mr. Joseph
Archer’s estate, “ Woodside ”, is still in
the possession of the Archer family.

Sandstone from the mountain was never
used in the construction of the “ Formosa”
homestead. As Robert Lawrence implies, a
pise building replaced the first wooden struc¬
ture and, on the evidence of mud walls
standing until fairly recently, was built near
the banks of the Lake River. Later, a
brick building, overlooking the extensive
flats of the the Lake River, about a mile
from the original site, was built. Part of
this building, which was largely destroyed
by fire over fifty years ago, is incorporated
in the present “ Formosa ” homestead, mainly
a weatherboard structure. This is the home
of Mr. Leonard Lawrence (son of W. E.
Lawrence’s youngest son, born in 1835) and
his wife, who have in their possession the
Journal of Robert Lawrence for 1829-1831.

The next two letters are brief notes from
Gunn advising Hooker of the despatch
of specimens and Bills of Lading. Following
these is a longer letter with a request for
books on botany. It also mentions for the
first time the names of James Backhouse
and Dr. Lindley.

James Backhouse and his fellow Quaker,
G. W. Walker, were sent out by the Society
of Friends in England to enquire into the
welfare, spiritual and physical, of the con¬
victs in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s
Land. Between the years 1832 and 1838
they made arduous journeys, frequently by
foot, to reach the scattered penal settlements
and, as a result of their reports, the lot of
the prisoners was somewhat ameliorated.
Backhouse, whose father was a nurseryman
of York, was interested in botany, particu¬
larly in new plants that might be of use as
food and ornament, and collected many new
species. He was not a trained botanist, but
was not above giving a new plant a name,
even if it had to be changed afterwards.
He was already acquainted with Dr. William
Hooker, and corresponded with him, though

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

there are no letters in the file from Van
Diemen’s Land. His plant collections went
to Robert Brown.

In his “ Narrative of a Visit to the Aus¬
tralian Colonies ”, Backhouse mentions meet¬
ing Ronald Campbell Gunn, “ the most
industrious botanist in Van Diemen’s Land,
who wished us to join him in a botanical
excursion ”. This was at “ a location on the
Meander ”, after Backhouse and Walker had
travelled, by foot, by way of the Van Die¬
men’s Land Company’s stock route, from the
Hampshire Hills, where they had been enter¬
tained by the Company’s surgeon, Dr. Joseph
Milligan. They were unable to accept Gunn’s
invitation “ not for want of inclination but
because . . . we were desirous of having
a meeting with the people of Westbury on
the morrow ”.

Dr. John Lindley was an eminent British
botanist, who specialised in orchids. It was
probably at Hooker’s suggestion that Gunn
sent him specimens, but he was tardy in
acknowledgment and lacked the generosity
of Hooker in praise and reward to his col¬
lectors. At the time he was Professor of
Botany (the first) at the University of
London.

Gunn’s first letter is to John Hunneman
Esq. of 9 Queen Street, Soho.

LETTER 129.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
18th. Augst., 1832.

Sir,

I beg leave to enclose Bill of Lading for a
Box of dried Specimens of Plants shipped P.
“ Forth ” for Professor W. J. Hooker, Glasgow,
and addressed to your care, and which I trust
will come safe to hand.

I shall again ship another box of Specimens
in continuation to the first, by the Brig Camilla,
Captn. Wilson of Greenock, about to sail for
London in a few days. —

By the Camilla I shall write you more fully
and shall enclose a Bill of Lading to Mr. Hunne¬
man London. —

I shall also forward by the same oppty. a box
of Seeds to Mr. Murray in charge of Captn
Wilson, who is a personal friend of Mr. Murray’s.

At the head of the next letter from Gunn
to Hooker is this note in Hooker’s hand.
“ Robt. Napier Esq. Vulcan Foundery 28,
Washington St. for Jas. Scott Esq.” which
almost certainly refers to a forwarding
address through Thos. Scott’s brother in
Glasgow.

LETTER 131.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
1st. July 1833.

Dear Sir,

I had the pleasure about this time last year
of forwarding to you a case of dried specimens
of the Plants of this Colony to the care of
John Hunneman Esqe. London, which I trust
reached you safe and in good order.— I at the
same time enclosed two letters of introduction
from Mr. Thos. Scott, & Mr. Robt. Lawrence.

You will therefore be aware of my intentions
and in how much I depend upon you for
furtherance in the study of Botany. I am
still without a single work, and can only obtain
occasional glimpses at Books on Botany belong¬
ing to my friends—None are to be obtained by
purchase either in this Colony or New South
Wales. Under these discouraging circumstances
I have only had it in my power to collect
specimens, and even in the pursuit of that
branch much interest was wanting from my
not knowing what I was collecting. —

The next is to Hooker—

LETTER 130.

Launceston, 21st. June 1833.

Sir,

I had the pleasure of forwarding you last
season a box of dried specimens of the Plants
of this Colony P. Forth, Captn. Robertson to
London, which I trust has reached you safe and
in good order.

I now send you by the Brig Camilla of Green¬
ock, Captn Wilson, bound to London, another
case of specimens—wherein I have put duplicates
of a considerable number of those I sent last
year, and have extended the No of Plants from
130 to 443. Of Ferns from 22 to 45. Mosses
to 60, and a few other odds and ends. — Of
Mosses and Lichens I have been able to make
nothing, and the want of a common microscope
has prevented my distinguihsing one species
from another.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Mr Lawrence has sent you a large Collection
P. Helen Marr which vessel sails a few days
before the “ Camilla ”—In his collection are
some fine specimens of Mountain Plants.

Mr James Backhouse of York, one of the
Society of Friends, has been in this Colony
some months on a religious mission — . He
mentioned to me his acquaintance with you, and
gave me a few specimens to forward to you —
From him 1 gleaned much information, and
regret that his stay in the Colony will be
very short. He is in the enjoyment of good
health and desires to be remembered to you.

A Dr de Dassel who was two or three years ago
a Lecturer in the Royal Institution, London, has
recently fixed his residence in Launceston, and
from whom I hope to derive considerable assist¬
ance. I have had one or two rambles with him
and Mr Backhouse, but not to any extent — Dr
de D. being a Hanovarian most of his Botanical
Works are in the German Language unfortun¬
ately for me — Neither has he any work on
the Plants of these Colonies.

I last year expressed a wish to receive from you
some Books on Botany — and if you can conveni¬
ently do so I shall willingly remit the amount
for any expensive ones through Mr Scott —
Amongst the many that I most desire are
“ Brown’s Prodromus.”— Cunningham’s work (if
published.) Loudon’s Enc. of Plants — Spren-
gel’s Cryptogamia or any more recent one—
besides any others which you may consider
necessary to form a small Botanists Library in
V.D.L. —

I have again this season sent a small box of
specimens to John Lindley Esqe London, but
have not yet received a reply to my communica¬
tion of last year.— If you communicate with
Mr Lindley at any time relative to the speci¬
mens I send you I would beg to state that his
numbers in the cases sent to him exactly
coincide with yours, — although to him I have
sent fewer of each.— This may assist in fixing
a name of any new Plant.—

I have handed to Captn Wilson a box of seeds
for Mr Murray which I hope will reach safe.

I addressed the box to the care of J. Hunne-
mann Esqe 9 Queen Street, Soho, London to
whom I enclosed a Bill of Lading for the same.

Gunn’s next letter brings Hooker the sad
intelligence of Robert Lawrence’s death.
Some of the writing in this letter, which was
crossed in red ink, is indecipherable.

LETTER 132.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
15th. November, 1833.

My dear Sir,

It is with feelings of the deepest regret I
have to communicate to you the death of our
mutual friend Mr. R. W. Lawrence. This melan¬
choly event took place at Formosa on the night
of the 18th. October last, the day on which he
had attained his 26th. year, and the first
anniversary day of his marriage. Twelve
months ago poor Lawrence married a young and
most amiable Lady, with whom he lived in the
most happy state it is possible for mortals to
enjoy in this world, and on 2nd. Septr. last I
left them, after a short visit both in the enjoy¬
ment of excellent health; next day Mrs. Law¬
rence was safely delivered of a daughter, but
from delicacy of constitution, or too sudden an
exposure after her confinement, she was in a
few days seized with a fever which terminated
fatally within a month, — fatally to Lawrences
happiness & peace.

After her funeral I brought him into town
with me and amused him in various ways, and
he spoke with great pleasure of the satisfaction
you had expressed in your last letter relative
to his collections and your intention of publishing
them — On 8th. Octer. I accompanied him some
miles out of town on his return, and many future
arrangements were made but just a few days
after he was found apparently sleeping in his
bed, having been carried off in a fit of apoplexy—
within one fortnight he and his wife were
buried.— You must excuse my enlarging upon
this melancholy subject — I was I may almost
say his only friend on earth, and we were
brothers to each other, — Our pursuits and
feelings alike, and it will be long ere I shall
be able to fill the blank his death has made.
I owe much to his memory as he led me to
commence the study of Botany, in which I
have spent many happy hours, and yet look
forward to years of pleasure in the same pur¬
suit. His loss to you will also be most severe,
as he was years ahead of me in experience
both of Botany and the localities of the plants
of V.D.L.— I can only however promise to do
all I can, and trust time will improve me.—

I have now to acknowledge receipt of your
very kind and obliging letter of 23 Feby. 1833,
which only reached [me] in October, as also
the Musci Exotici, Brown’s Prodromus, &
Smith’s Grammar, all which reached me safe. —
Your letter to Mr. Lawrence, and some Nos. of
your Miscellany also reached him a few days
before his death. “ Brown ” will as far as

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

it goes be of considerable service, but the No.
of Plants not in it are immense. — As I have
only lately turned my attention to Botany all
Books on the Science will be useful to me
particularly the most recent— as I am anxious
to acquire a correct knowledge of the Jussieu-
sian System for which purpose I have com¬
menced a private Botanic Garden — having
purchased nearly 40 acres in the suburbs of
the town, and which I can attend to .along with
my official duties, and in a year or two I hope
to be permitted to live on it.— I therefore
want seeds of all kinds that will grow in the
open air here (for the present) so that I may
acquire a knowledge of the different Genera
by sight, as also of the various natural orders,
as until that is acquired I find I shall be labour¬
ing much in the dark — I shall also require a
Species Plantarum, but I know not any work
which combines all the qualities I want — I
have seen Loudon’s Enc. of Plants but it does
not meet my expectations, and is particularly
deficient in the Plants of this Colony,— But a
late edition may be better. Send me at all
events as many books as you can and if any
are expensive I shall willingly remit the
necessary sums.—

Mr. Lawrence’s Father has taken possession
of all his Books and his Herbarium—the latter
I will endeavour to get hold of, and send you —
at least such portions as are new, and in sending
the names, send me his Nos. and the names
of his collection as to himself, as it is most
probable the whole will be handed over to me,
or at any events should his father keep it, I
shall at all times have access to it.— The Books
will be kept by Mr. W. E. Lawrence as his own
inclination runs a little that way, and he is
now my only conversable friend.

I found a duplicate Copy of the 6th. No. of
your Miscellany (without the plates) containing
part of Carmichael’s Journal, amongst Mr.
Lawrence’s books and I presume it to be the one
you sent to me. I doubt much my ability to
write any Journal of my Excursions which will
be found worth publishing in your “ Miscellany ”
but I shall at all events send you some manu¬
scripts with my next Packet, and you may make
what use of them you think fit. — I have felt
very much interested in Captn. Carmichael’s
Journal as from all that I can see (the beginning
being absent) he was a brother officer of my
Father’s and in the same Regt. vizt. the 72nd.
end in which Regt. I was born at the Cape of
Good Hope and went from thence with the Army
to the capture of the Isle of France after
which my Father was appointed to the Bourbon
Regt. and in which Island my mother died.— I
was too young during my long residence in the

Mauritius and Bourbon to know much about
them, still I feel interested as being the Scenes
of my childhood. I have indeed spent the best
half of my short life within the Tropics, having
only left the West Indies in Feby. 1829 after a
residence of some years to emigrate here at
my Brothers urgent request who had a fear of
the climate. — I am however much better versed
in Zoology than Botany as far as my knowledge
of Plants is concerned, than in that of England^
and to this day my taste runs in favour of
Pine Apples, Bananas, Mangoes & the mahy
other fruits to which 1 was first accustomed.

My other history is short — I am married —
have 3 children, & my chances of progress
increase as I am nearly 26 years of age. — But
I must resume about your matters. There is
no such things here as Collectors of Birds &
insects and the few who oiler these things for
sale ask too exorbitant prices to be within
reach. — I have therefore turned sportsman &
have already expended some Pounds of both
Powder & Shot in attempting to kill Birds. I
have also destroyed many dozens skins in
skinning. — I will however improve and [ ]

parcel to you, I will add a bag of skins of Birds
& [ ] and shall also T ] collecting,

I have [ ] [whole line indecipherable ]

first collection [ ] probable in a few

seasons something [ ] while I may [ ]

affords me great pleasure that you place it in
my [ ] to be of any service to you or

your family in the collecting way, and although
[ ] own inclinations through all the various

branches of Natural History [ ] books and

a sufficient residence in England to acquire the
rudiments of the [ ] deterred me from

commencing and Lawrences’ Books and enthusi¬
astic feeling all assisted me to adopt Botany
in preference to any other science.

I am very anxious to receive your next letters,
and I would wish you to send me a few notes
as soon as possible always after receiving any
collections from me wherein you might mention
any Nos. you was desirous of receiving more of
or any particulars as a season may in that case
be gained. — I do not think for the future I
shall send you any duplicates of former Nos.
unless you ask for them as it is only swelling
up the packages and giving me unnecessary
trouble in collecting and sending specimens
of what perhaps you may have had plenty of
previously. — If there is any additional informa¬
tion wanted relative to the [ ] as to

their altitude soil &c. let me know and I will
send it to you.

I shall now close this inconscionably long scroll
and hope to hear from you as frequently as

r. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

possible after receiving any specimens from
me as it may enable me to save a season: seeds
also of some kinds may be particularly desirable,
but at present I know not what you possess
in that way at Home.—

[He signs and concludes ]

P.S. 2nd. Deer. Mr. W. E. Lawrence intends
retaining his son’s Herbarium — I shall however
have reference to it — which will be an assist¬
ance — In sending any books out or anything
else; take if possible a Bill of Lading from the
Master Private hand are at all times bad,
and letters and parcels sent by them do not
reach their destination once in a hundred
times R.C.G.

This letter, endorsed “ Single Sheet ”, has
an oval Launceston post mark, a small rect¬
angular “ A ”, and other post marks indicat¬
ing that it was landed in England on 6th
June, 1834.

In Hooker’s “ Companion to the Botanical
Magazine ” is printed the portion of Gunn’s
letter relating to Lawrence’s death, together
with descriptions of plants sent by Lawrence
under the heading “ Contributions towards a
Flora of Van Diemen’s Land ”.

The “ Launceston Advertiser ”, reporting
the inquest on Robert Lawrence’s death held
at “ Formosa ”, states that “ Before the
coroner and a most respectable jury it was
deposed that the deceased was subject to
fits of apoplexy and was supposed to have
expired in a fit. The verdict returned by the
jury was—‘ Died by the visitation of God ’

The orphaned baby was taken and adopted
by her mother’s people, the Wedge family.
She subsequently married Monckton Synnot,
of Oakwood, Station Peak, in Victoria.

Gunn’s address at this time would prob¬
ably be Cameron Street, for in the Launces¬
ton Advertiser of the 27th February, 1834,
we find him advertising for a Preceptor for
the Scotch Church—applications to R. C.
Gunn, Cameron Street.

His forty acres purchased in the suburbs
of the town was probably the block lying
to the west of the old Catholic Cemetery and
bounded by Connaught Crescent, Granville

Street, and Thistle Street, which contained
44 acres and 29 perches. It is in a small
sheltered valley facing south-east and its
light sandy loam over clay is still used for
garden purposes today, houses being built
only around the margins of it. A local tradi¬
tion says that here the first “ love apples ”—
tomatoes—were grown in Launceston, per¬
haps the fruit of some of his seed exchanges.

An interesting letter to Governor Arthur
regarding this garden is held in the Tas¬
manian State Archives, Arthur Period, File
15700.

Launceston 10th May, 1834

Sir,

During the last two or three years I have had
a strong desire to form near Launceston a
general collection, botanically arranged, of all
plants, indigenous and exotic. A collection of
this kind has long been a desideratum here,
where valuable seeds have been frequntly im¬
ported, and, what might have been sources of
wealth, lost to the Colony from the importers
being ignorant of the mode of raising them or
careless, and no garden being devoted to that
purpose, where in a few seasons they might be
sufficiently propagated to prevent any risk of
future loss. With reference to the indigenous
plants, which are highly interesting, so little
of their properties in the Arts, Agriculture or
Medicine are yet known that any general
collection of these must be desirable and would
greatly facilitate any experiments which scien¬
tific persons, visitors to the Colony, or otherwise,
might feel inclined to pursue. I need lot
urge any other inducements, such as many of
the plants here differing from those on the
Southern side &c. as His Excellency will I am
certain be quite aware of every reason that
could be advanced.

I regret that the smallness of my income,
together with my large family, prevents my
being able to carry my wishes on these points
into effect without some assistance, but, I
trust that my now devoting some acres of the
very few I possess in the Colony, to this I may
call public purpose, from whence I can derive
no possible emolument, will induce His Excel¬
lency, from his well known encouragement to
Science, to assist me by the loan of three
labourers for about two months rationed by the
Government.

My anxiety to commence my Botanic Garden
immediately arises from my now possessing

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

at least 1,000 species of plants many of which
will after this season become too large to
transplant, and cannot thrive in the seed beds
they now occupy, therefore must be lost; Also
from being offered my selection from the large
collection of plants of the late Mr. R. W.
Lawrence at Formosa whose garden will this
season be broken up.

I am afraid an application of this kind is
unusual, but if inadmissable, I trust His Excel¬
lency will pardon it, as it is dictated by the
best intentions.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,
Ronald C. Gunn.

The Honble. J. Burnett,

Colonial Secretary,

Hobart Town.

On the back of this letter is a precis made
by Burnett and dated 14th May, 1834. Then
follows: “ His Excellency regrets that under
all the circumstances he cannot acquiesce in
this application; he would however were it
at present practicable have pleasure in estab¬
lishing a public botanic garden in Launces¬
ton. 20/5/34 A.T. 21/5/34 J.B.”.

A.T. probably refers to Adam Turnbull,
who was private secretary to the Lieutenant-
Governor in 1834, while J.B. was John
Burnett, Colonial Secretary at this time.

The long letter from Gunn to Hooker is
followed chronologically by an even longer
letter from Jorgen Jorgenson.

LETTER 140.

Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, Sept:12.34

My once dearest friend, and still held in grateful
rememberance by Jorgenson.

Years have now rolled over our heads since
we saw each other for the first and last time.
Either under good or bad fortune I should at
times have made some communications to you,
but in coming out in the the Ship “ Woodman ”
between 8 and 9 years since a fiend like
prisoner who had been educated for the church
at the university of Cambridge told me, when
accidentally mentioning your name, that he
had seen an account of your death in some of

the public papers, and he related the same of
some other dear friend. These reports, which
I believed to be true, overwhelmed my mind at
the time with the bitterest reflections, and it was
not till 3 years since I was assured by the
learned Dr. Ross that I had been grossly
imposed upon. Yet I had made up my mind
never again to hold correspondence either with
England or Denmark, till the other day when my
mind was roused, and my ill-cured wounds set
a bleeding by some Despatches which had been
addressed by the Danish Minister Plenipoten¬
tiary in London to Lord Palmerston, and by the
Secretary for the Colonies to the Lieutenant
Governor of this island. Not that these des¬
patches were in any way unfavourable towards
me: rather the contrary — but that my mind
felt agitated to an uncommon degree when
running over past events and former associa¬
tions. I remembered you my Hooker— and I
burst into a flood of tears. I was then deter¬
mined to write, and if possible to hear from
you — and once more to see your hand-writing,
er’e the grave closes over me for ever.—

A succint account of my career since my
arrival in this island, may not prove altogether
uninteresting to you, and will indicate how I
am at present situated. My life has been one
of wandering—a stormy and turbulent Life, it
was so in my very infancy, and has ever since
continued in the same coui-se. I landed here a
total stranger. In conversation with your
friend the late Mr Humphries the mineralogist
I conveyed to him the melancholy tidings of
your death, but he was slow of belief, as he had
received from you a letter shortly before. — I
was then engaged by the Van Diemen’s Land
Company in exploring, traversing and tracing
roads through the Country. It was just such
a life as corresponded with the state and feelings
of my mind. — Often, when ascending the loftiest
summits far above the Clouds, I beheld with a
species of gloomy delight, the ranges and tiers
beneath my feet, appearing like the waves of
the mighty ocean troubled and agitated when
the gale sweeps furiously over its surface. The
terrific desolation around me as far as the eye
could reach in the Horizon struck the mind
with inconceivable awe and astonishment, but
alas! I had no one by me who could participate
in my feelings, my companions were all ignorant
men, insensible to the sublime and the beautiful.
During my first two journies through a sterile
and inhospitable country, I had the bitter regret
to lose my fellow travellers, my friend Lorymer
drowning before my face without my having the
power of saving him. He went down in crossing
the mouth of Duck River 15 miles from “ Circu¬
lar Head ” Shortly after 8 more found a watery
grave. After having experienced incredible

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

hardships, bursting our way through heavy
Wire Scrub, climbing of mountains, crossing
deep and steep gullies, losing all my dogs for
want of food and being without provisions for
4 days, three of us returned to “ Circular Head ”
in a state of extreme exhaustion. Dunn being
almost in a state of madness having for want
of fresh water swallowed a pint of sea water.

After quitting the Company’s Service I was
engaged by the Government in various arduous
pursuits in the Interior. I had four armed
parties, each consisting of 6 men, placed under
my directions to proceed in pursuit of the
hostile aboriginal tribes, which although not
very numerous found means for years to keep
the Interior in state of constant alarm, and
filling the country with bloodshed and plunder.—
The superior knowledge of the Aborigines as
far as regarded the bush, and their way of
travelling, us being encumbered with heavy
knapsacks laden with provisions, gave them an
infinite superiority. My four parties, with
other similar gangs, had but little success,
though we saved many lives and much property
constantly moving about. At length sprung up
a modern Los Cavaz, who with a confidence
somewhat bordering on inspiration informed
the Governor, that he was certain he could by
kind treatment and fair means, induce the
Aborigines to surrender. The Governor listened
to him, but all others considered his scheme to
be one of insanity and excessive severity. I
had then been in pursuit two years and the
armed rangers were by the advice of Mr. Robin¬
son, the gentleman alluded to, were all disbanded.
This singular man went into the wild bush,
with all his men unarmed, completely at the
mercy of the Blacks. Sometime after Mr
Robinson fell in with one of the most hostile,
ferocious, and bloody minded tribes. They
beheld their victims before them with savage
joy, and being infinitely superior in number,
came bearing down on the party, with their
spears and waddies. Nothing but instant death
was expected, but all at once the whole tribe
halted, seemingly struck with astonishment at
the sight of so many unarmed men, they felt
convinced, from the absence of fire arms and all
other warlike weapons, that the white man
could not entertain any unfriendly intentions
towards them. Threats were speedily exchanged
for signs of friendship, and strange and almost
incredible, this tribe consented to accompany Mr
Robinson to Hobart Town, where none had
appeared for many years before, and more
strange they went after their own manner,
without the slightest restraint, and at their own
leisure, hunting the whole of the way.— When
arriving in Town the inhabitants felt highly
gratified to hear and see what had been achieved,

so many murders had been committed for years
past, that one in the Interior dared not to
venture outside his door without being armed
with a loaded musket. — Mr. Robinson then
followed up with wonderful perseverance his
first success, and after four years constant
fatigue enduring every species of hardship, and
being nearly the whole of the time absent from
his respectable wife and family, he has now
returned to the bosom of peace, all the tribes
being now collected and sent to Iron bound
island in Bass’s straits, where they enjoy their
usual occupations, hunting in the bush and so
on, but at the same time receiving religious and
other instruction.

Thus this interesting race through the perse-
verence and courage of one man has been
preserved without the British name being dis¬
graced by exterminating the original possessors
of Van Diemen’s Land, and all this with their
own consent.

Since the disbanding of my parties, I have
had a good deal of travelling, but all this has
been far from advancing my individual private
interest. By my journals I have traversed up¬
wards of 28000 miles to and fro in this island.

Of all these matters I have kept regular
accounts. — From my knowledge and experience,
I have been somewhat connected with the
literature of this island, and many things are
published without my name appearing in the
Periodicals. In 1831 I published my “ Observa¬
tions on the Funding System, with the relative
situation in which Van Diemen’s Land stands
towards the Mother Country.” I shall contrive
to send you home this production for I feel
particularly confident that 'the mode I therein
proposed for liquidating the national debt is
the only way such liquidation can be effected
without producing embarrassment and convul¬
sions, and would also be attended without
particular injury to any class of the people. —
One should imagine from the number of
periodicals in this island, we are a literary
people, but except in a few instances this is
not the case. In Hobart Town we have four
weekly journals viz: “The Courier” — “The
Tasmanian ” — “ The Colonial Times ” — and
“ The True Colonist ”. — Of these the “ Courier ”
is by far the best and most impirtialy conducted
paper. The proprietor, publisher, and Editor, is
the learned “James Ross” LLD. . — so well
known in England and Scotland. Independent
of these we have three Sheets of Advertisements,
viz: “ The Trumpeter General ” — “ The Trum¬
peter ” and “ The Horn Boy ” each of which
appears twice in a week. — Then there is a
Monthly Magazine, and two Almanacks printed
yearly, but that by Dr. James Ross is by far the

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

best, being a true statistical work, as well
as extremely useful to our merchants and
farmers in the Island and of essential service to
Emigrants who might wish to settle in this
Colony.

In Launceston which is the Chief Town at
the Northern side of the island, there are two
weekly journals “ The Independent ” and the
“ Launceston Advertiser ” — with two Sheets
of Advertisements. — I think this will do
pretty well for a Colony whose population
does not exceed 34000 in number.

I shall seize any opportunity of making such
a collection as may prove interesting and amus¬
ing to you. If I could procure proper advice
from you, and being sure of support at home,
I would certainly write and publish a narrative
of this interesting island, for here my
literary labours have rather been of pecuniary
injury to me than otherwise; and I must also
observe that which I have hitherto seen on Van
Diemen’s Land migration, Prison Discipline
etc. are far from being correot productions
and mostly dictated by party spirit, selfish
motives and ignorance — You may remember
that a publication of mine appeared in London
in 1827 entitled “ The Religion of Christ is
the Religion of Nature ”, Now you could
really oblige me would you be so good as to
write to the Bookseller in London and enquire
who placed that manuscript in his hands, and
whether it has been productive or not. I have
seen one copy, but as to anything further I
know not; and as from the causes already
enumerated, I am necessarily very poor, even
the smallest sum would be a relief, and there
is a regular Colonial Agent attached to the
Secretary of State’s office London who receives
money in London, and effect remittances to this
and other Colonies. — Should a vessel sail from
Glasgow to this place, or by some other con¬
veyance, I would truly thank you for sending me
out your “ Tour in Iceland ” my “ Travels
through France and Germany ” — and my
“ Religion of Christ is the Religion of Nature ”.
I enjoy my freedom in this Colony, but my
Pardon does not reach anywhere out of it.

From what I have above stated you might be
apt to suppose this to be altogether a sterile
and inhospitable island. This however would
be a wrong notion, for other parts again fully
compensate the mind for former disappoint¬
ments, there are large tracts in this island,
than which it is impossible for the most
luxuriant imagination to conceive more lovely
within the whole circle of the creation. For
miles you will see land of the most perfect
park like appearance, rich in pasture, and
beautiful to a degree. But here again when I

rested under the Honeysuckle, the Waddle-tr^e,
or other elegant shrubbery, my mind becaihe
insensibly affected, both melancholy and des¬
pondent, I wanted one like you to communicate
my feelings to for those about me took ho
delight in the beauties of nature. It was thhn
that my broken heart wandered back to former
associations and past days, I felt an intolerable
vacancy within for such a friend I might for
ever have preserved in you, but I have lost
you with many others — God help me! — Though
I have continued in good health, by reason I
suppose, of much exercise in the fresh air, yet
the fragments of my poor heart are widely
scattered over the surface of the globe. — I fe e ’l
my visitation, and most deeply do I feel it!
— Glancing back to former associations of
happier days, my heart and soul sink within
me when I fix my rememberanee on Sir Henry
Jermyn of Sibton near Gosford, Suffolk, — Hhs
death hitherto spared that exalted, that geh-
erous, that highly venerated friend? But here
again I lost myself. If in existence do write to
him, let me hear from him, if Heaven has not
ordained it otherwise. But, if writing to him,
do bear in mind that you speak pathetically,
write with the highest glow of sensibility, com¬
mensurate with the intensity of my feelings,
and my most friendly affections. — There are
also some other friends of yours I could wish
to hear something of — Mr Smith of Norwich
— Sir Dawson Turner — Mr. Brown librarian
Soho Square — Mrs Turner — Mrs Hooker, Or
whether you have a family or not?

I must inform you that in 1828 letters arrived
to Archdeacon Scott here from the Phrenological
society of Edinburgh requested that dignitary
to use every means of obtaining a cast of my
head, to be sent home to Edinburgh, but by
some mismanagement and blunder the thing was
not at that time effected.— I could never think
how such a request could come to be made,
except you might have corresponded with the
Society. Now as a matter of science I would
consent to one and more things. Let the
request come from the Society to the Lieutenant
Governor, or any other person in the Colony
whom I may know to find, and is acquainted
where to find me at any time should I be in the
Bush. Let the Society state their wish to such
authority or person, and I will allow a bust
to be taken by some skilful surgeon on certain
conditions. Now I have slender faith in the
science of Phrenology, and as to the names I
observe on certain artificial heads, they would
to me require explanation er’e I could under¬
stand them. The moment the Society shall
receive my cast, and after having examined the
same with the utmost scrutiny. Then let all
and every particular be reduced to writing, and

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

that writing to be sealed and placed in the
hands of a person of the strictest honour and
integrity. Whilst this is doing in London, I
will here take a stern survey of my mind, fear¬
lessly and boldly, to make known my own
propensities, inclinations, vices, properties of
the mind, and virtues (if any). — It will be a
picture of no common interest and one which
few persons would venture to draw of 'them¬
selves. Before the packets are opened they
shall be exchanged, and if they correspond, the
Science stands vindicated and if otherwise, in
my opinion, it will fall.— If I think proper I
may exact Secresy, for a series of years except
as to the Society itself. However you manage
as you like. Independent of the channels I have
pointed out, our Bank Director, Charles Mc-
Lachlan Esqre could render Service; he was late
manager in this Island for the Australian Com¬
pany of Glasgow. —

When I arrived here first I wrote a respectful
letter to Mr A. McLeay, but received no answer,
so I have never applied again, and as he is in
Sydney he can do me little good here.

Now my once most excellent friend, and com¬
panion, let me call the blessings of Heaven on
you and your’s and sometimes remember your
unfortunate Jorgenson.

P.S. Excuse this slovenly letter but time is
precious. — Everyone knows me in this island. —
This letter will pass through the office of
S.ate for the Colonies and the Danish Minister
Plenipotentiary in London.

This letter arrived in Glasgow in Febru¬
ary, 1835, and appears to have been paid for
by the recipient.

A second letter from Jorgenson, written a
month later and sent by another vessel, is
largely a summary of the first.

LETTER 141.

Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s
Land, 15 October 1834

My dear Sir,

In the course of last month, by the ship
“ Cleopatra ” I sent you a very long letter. By
a most strange coincidence, my letter had no
sooner left this post than I met Lieutenant
Gunn, who informed me that he had received
a letter from his Brother Mr Gunn near Laun¬
ceston wherein that gentleman informed him
that Professor Hooker of Glasgow had written
him making some inquiries concerning one

Jorgen Jorgenson. This certainly appeared
to me very strange, as I had not for many years
written to you before.

We send all letters or writings in duplicate
from this island by reason of the long distance
from home, so should a Ship be lost, some
other is likely to go safe.— However I shall in
this letter coniine myself merely to touch on
the outline of my other very long letter. 1) I
expressed my feelings and sentiments towards
you 2) I spoke of my recollections of former
days particularly alluding to you. 3) I fur¬
nished you with a succint description of this
country, with other little matters. However I
merely write now in a very concise manner
as I [hope] and trust, you will receive my
former letter, long before this can come to hand.

There were two topics mentioned on which I
shall fully explain myself again. I called to
your mind that a book entitled “ The Religion
of Christ is the Religion of Nature ” of which
I am the Author, was published in London in
1827, nearly two years after I had left England
for this colony. One Copy was sent to me here,
but by whom I know not. And as my circum¬
stances are, as you may suppose, very narrow
and as the smallest sum would be an object to
me, I would feel extremely obliged to you,
would you write to the bookseller, and endeavour
to learn from him, whether the Book has been
productive, and if so, to remit me what he
can. — I however omitted stating that eleven
years further experience and observation have
strengthened my faith, and I could in addition
introduce some very strong arguments in
support of those marked in my book.

The other matter referred to was that in
1827 or 28 a letter arrived in this Colony
from the Phrenological Society in Edinburgh
addressed to Archdeacon Scott wherein it was
requested of him to obtain a cast of my head
for the Society. I was at that time sufficiently
inclined to have that done; but by some mistake
or other the object failed. I have never been
able to form the most distant guess how the
Society could make such a request, unless you
had corresponded upon the Subject. However,
if the Society will write to the Governor here,
or any other of the Authorities, known to any
of them, and who will know where to find me, I
will let them have a cast of my head. I have
no faith in Phrenology, and yet one would not
rashly reject the positive assertions of many
men of science, study, and learning, so before
the Cast is taken, and long before, I will pen
with perfect honesty and immovable fearless¬
ness, an accurate, precise, and most true account
of myself, my inclinations, propensities, failings,
vice and virtues (if any) and this document

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

shall be deposited in safe hands, to which the
Society shall not be accessible, till a particular
character shall have been given of the organs
of my head. If their, and my statement agree,
I shall have some faith in Phrenology — if
otherwise, as far as regards myself I shall
totally reject the Science. I leave you to
arrange the affair in your own way.—

As I hope that God has preserved the Ship
“ Cleopatra ” from mishaps, I do not write
much at present, but I truly hope I shall receive
a letter from you by the very earliest oppor¬
tunity.

I remain

Your ever faithful
Jorgen Jorgenson

I am so well known here that any letter
addressed to me will speedily find me.

Arriving in Glasgow on 2nd March, 1835,
this second letter was apparently prepaid.

Archdeacon Thomas Hobbes Scott, head
of the Anglican community of New South
Wales and Van Diemen’s Land (then part
of the diocese of Calcutta) came to Van
Diemen’s Land first in 1826 and again in
1828, when he conseci'ated Old St. John’s
Church, Launceston.

The Van Diemen’s Land Company, in
which Jorgenson was an assigned servant,
is the subject of a paper published as New
Series No. 9 of the “ Records of the Queen
Victoria Museum ”.

On the Surrey Hills property of the Van
Diemen’s Land Company was “ Burleigh ”,
headquarters of Dr. Joseph Milligan, surgeon
and later surgeon-superintendent of the com¬
pany for Emu Bay and the inland areas.
Milligan, as a young man of 23, who had
only obtained the diploma of the Royal Col¬
lege of Surgeons at Edinburgh the year
before, was appointed to the post in 1830,
and until he was made superintendent of the
area as well as surgeon (which also meant
veterinary surgeon), had plenty of spare
time for collecting natural history specimens.
It was probably Backhouse’s visit to “ Bur¬
leigh ” in’ January, 1833, that stimulated

Milligan’s interest in plants, and probably
his meeting with Backhouse soon afterwards
that led Gunn to enlist Milligan as a fellow-
collector for Hooker, as recorded in Gunn’s
next letter.

LETTER 133.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
14th September 1834.

My dear Sir,

Your two highly valued letters of 27th Deer,
and 10th Jany. only came to hand, together
with the box of Books &c &c a few days ago.
The Steam-boat did not leave Kindale in Ireland
until 31st March, and called at the Cape, which
she left on 8th July, thereby delaying her
arrival here until last week — Your most
valuable present of Books, -for which I really
know not how to make sufficient recompense,
and which placed me most wofully in your
debt, came in good condition, and have made my
Botanical Library almost complete — with the
Prodromus & Musci Exotici which I acknow¬
ledged in my last, when I communicated to you
the melancholy news of Mr Robt W. Lawrence’s
death. — That event has thrown me back more
than I could have conceived as I have now no
one with whom to talk over Botanical matters,
or to excite me to exertion — Your Parcels for
him P. “ Tamar ” also arrived safe, and were
delivered to his father. — I am gratified to
hear that so many of our Plants are new — I
hope my future collections will continue to meet
with your expectations — your remarks are
interesting beyond what I can express and I only
now look forward for your additional sheets. —

I suppose I need hardly tell you how proud you
have made me [6j/] naming the Mountain
Ranunculus after me. — 1 cannot in this letter
make any additional observations upon those
specimens of Plants already sent, but along
with my first box I hope to do so. — In December
last I was appointed a magistrate which in¬
creased my official duties as to prevent my
collecting much or sending the few I did col¬
lect, — home — as the novelty and extent of
the duty which that appointment threw upon
my hands made it at first no sinecure; — I have
to try daily all the disorderlies of about 600
Crown prisoners (Convicts) male and all the
females in the Town and district — besides
having the Male & Female Houses of Correction
entirely under my charge (with Supts. how¬
ever) — toge her with the general distribution
& assignment of Servants. — If I leave town for
an hour or two I am hunted after in ail
directions so that my escapes after Plants
require all my ingenuity to be exerted to escape

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

censure either from the Govt or the people.
My last trip for example in April last to collect
seeds on Ben Lomond was done in 4 days — I
rode 90 miles — ascended and descended the
mountain & slept two of the nights on the top
in that time — I would not have minded the
exertions then used, in spite of the rain & cold
had my success been at all in proportion, but the
excessive dryness of the last summer in V.D.L.
which has almost caused a famine, as far as
wheat & Potatoes go — & increased the prices of
all articles of consumption to a great degree —
had been felt equally severe on the mountains. —
the plants had not flowered in most cases —
others had all their young shoots burnt up, and
not a few were dead or dieing altogether.— I
had a month before ascended Ben Nevis and
found the same results, with the additional
misery of having been for 8 hours without water
myself & Party. — The only thing I saw new
were two Gaultherias (I think) besides G. his-
pida — one of which the first was pleasant to
taste, but I did not eat many being too anxious
to send the seed to Mr Murray. — as I only

found fruit upon one plant _ also plenty good

seed of Bellendena montana, Elichrysum No. 275.
and of some Epacrideae & a few others, but
really so few as hardly to compensate for the
labour had not my inclination naturally led me
to ramble. — I am very sorry that my duties
are so extensive and incessant as to preclude
my visiting many of our friend Backhouse’s
scenes — vizt. Circular Head, Cape Grim,
Hampshire Hills, Flinder’s Islands &c. but I
have opened communications with the Van
Diemen’s Land Coys. Medical Officers at Wool-
nor.h & the Hampshire Hills from whom I
expect considerable additions — I have already
received a very small collection from the Hamp¬
shire Hills from Dr Joseph Milligan who has
entered very much into the spirit of it — and
I hope in a year or two your Herbarium of
V.D.L. plants will equal any other in Britain. —
All these additions I will insert in my first
Box which I intend forwarding to you by the
first vessel for England from Launceston. I
find myself improving my knowledge of Botany
and particularly according to the Natural
System to which I am paying most attention. —

1 have this season commenced a Botanical
Collection of Plants arranged according to the
natural orders as enumerated in the Second
Part of the Enc. of Plants, but in which I
have detected a few errors — among others the
entire omission of Epacrideae & Pittosporeae I
have devoted about 5 acres to the purpose in the
suburbs of the Town in a place combining as
many natural advantages as I could easily
attain, but wanting plenty of water which is
a serious fault but one almost universally felt
in this Island — except by those persons on

the banks of the Rivers — which includes all.—
All water sunk for is bad, — at least generally
so. — In collecting plants for my Garden and
arranging them I find it gives me a much more
correct idea of natural affinities between the

different genera than any books could give me_

It is on this account therefore that I sincerely
regret the almost total loss of the most valuable
collection of Plants from Mr Murray, — As
setting aside the beauty of the Plants I wanted
many as typical of natural oi'ders of which I
possess no specimens — Had the passage
extended to six months instead of nine I am
certain from their admirable package that most
would have survived but alas a dozen or two
tuberous rooted herbaceous plants, and still
fewer of the shrubs are all that were alive in the
large Box. — • The Bulbs and Dahlias in the
small Box were alive & good except very few
and which might have [survived?] in a passage
of as many weeks — The seeds were more unfor¬
tunate still as I do not think one seed hardly
or Mr Lawrence’s or mine will vegetate —• They
got quite rotten in consequence I think of some
damp Hips & Haws having been put up, by which
all the rest were made equally so — the oil
cloth covering at the same time preventing
evaporation _

Your letter to Mr T. K. Short dated 3rd March
came to hand a month before the others. — Mr
Short has not come to Launceston, but should
he do so I shall show him every attention — a
Box of Sundries from Mr Short of Martin Hall
I received at the same time, and shall send him
a collection of such things as he desires by an
early opportunity.

In looking [over?] a number of British Botan¬
ical Magazines I find the names of old acquaint¬
ances — Mr Telfair at the Mauritius and an
old friend of my Fathers when we resided
there — I was at the Capture of that Island
though very young & remained there some
years. Dr Nicholson of Antigua I knew inti¬
mately [in?] 1826 & 1827 — but I had no idea
then of becoming Botanical.

I have not yet heard from Mr. Lindley in
reply even to my earliest letters [or?] mes¬
sage.— Your remark however has removed the
slight feeling of annoyance which I found grow¬
ing in my mind, when I compared your Conduct
to his — as in commencing Collector it was
purely taste, and a mind bent upon some pur¬
suit, and not necessity or for a livelihood & I
was afraid Mr Lindley whom I only knew from
his public name, might forget those points — if
my collections are worth the freight & a few
seeds in return, it was all I looked for — but
your generosity has thrown me completely
aback — £30 worth of Books alone has so

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

completely dumbfounded me (to use a Scotch
phrase) that for some days I looked for the
Invoice — as your letters were not delivered to
me for some time.—

Should business of pleasure [take?] you
through York I think a call upon Backhouse’s
brother would repay you — Many specimens of
new Plants were collected by him out here &
sent Home — The seeds sent also were numerous
and rare, — and ought soon to be in a forward
state.—

Dr de Dassel, very shortly after my last
communication, I found to be a regular German
Quack. — Professing to know everything &
knowing nothing. — He at least knows nothing
of Botany. — calling to me at one time the red
& white flowd. Epacris No. 12 an Hibbertia — A
Plant in the Euphorbiaceae then in flowr. &
seed — a Persoonia vizt. No. 142

Hypoxis hygrometrica — he has been giving
his Patients as a Colchicum— A nultis alus — in
fact he is as profoundly ignorant as he could
be. — His Character in other respects does not
meet my views, and I feel ashamed of ever
having mentioned him — I must now close as my
Paper will extend no further —

This letter did not reach Glasgow until
16th February, 1835.

Elichrysum No. 275 not traced. Epacris
No. 12 is probably E. impressa Lab. No.
142 not traced. The Hypoxis hygrometrica
Lab. is a small amaryllis with yellow
starlike flower growing close to the ground
in wet places. It has a small roundish
buld. Colchicum is the Autumn Crocus which
is poisonous to cattle and to humans. The
seeds and bulbs were used in small doses for
gout or rheumatism. The doctor being with¬
out supplies of the drugs and herbs used in
Europe probably used something rather
resembling them in appearance found locally
—or had them supplied by some local herb¬
alist.

German quack or not, Dr. de Dassel con¬
tinued to practice in Launceston, and presum¬
ably prospered, for he settled here. He was
occasionally a consultant of Dr. W. R. Pugh,
the first man to use (in 1847) an anaesthetic
in the Southern Hemisphere. In a case in

which a patient of Dr. de Dassel died after
an operation by Dr. Pugh, the latter was
charged by another doctor of the town, Dr.
Haygarth, with negligence. A libel action
ensued, in which Dr. Pugh was exonerated
and awarded £250 damages.

Mr. Charles Telfair was a surgeon on
board one of the ships which bombarded
Mauritius in 1810. He was Government
Secretary at Bourbon and later Private
Secretary to Sir liobert Farquhar at Mauri¬
tius. Later still, he was Guardian of Vacant
Estates and Secretary to the Vice Admiralty
Court. He remained at Mauritius and he
and his wife collected the plants of the island
for study by European scientists. He died
in 1833, aged 56.

The Steam boat was apparently the
“ Tamar ”, a paddle steamer with sails, o f
88 tons, built at Greenock on the Clyde
for the Tamar Steam Navigation Company,
formed by Messrs. Gleadow, Landale, Thom¬
son, R. Dry, and W. E. Lawrence in 1832.
for trading on the River Tamar between
George Town and Launceston. She was
the first steam boat to arrive at Launceston.
(Bethel, 1954, describes her as a steam tug.
She may have been used to tow barges or
sailing ships but there was another steam
tug, called the “ Tamar ”, purchased for the
Port of Launceston in 1855.)

The Mountain Ranunculus, R. gunnianus
Hook., a native Tasmanian buttercup, was
the first of many new species which Hooker
named in honour of their collector. In all
one genus, Gunnia, and about 60 species of
plants originally bore Gunn’s name in some
latinised form, though subsequently many of
the names have had to be abandoned owing
to the priority of other names or for other
reasons. With generous gifts of books and
compliments such as this, Hooker encouraged
his collectors. Robert Lawrence had been
honoured in the same way. Hooker certainb
stimulated Gunn to even greater efforts as
his next long letter indicates.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

LETTER [ ].

Launceston 30th March 1835. —

My dear Sir,

I have at last arranged my collection of Plants
for this season and sincerely hope they will
reach you safe and in good order. — I have put
in one Box No. 1 — and the largest — The
duplicates of my various former numbers—
some very good — some not — still all I trust
will be welcomely received. — also the few
Acotyledones that I have collected during the
past season, but in them you will find few
novelties. — In the same Box I have placed a
copy of Dr Ross’s Van Diemen’s Land Almanack
possessing among its contents an “ Index
Plantarum ” written by our friend James Back¬
house and which may perhaps give some infor¬
mation relative to various plants which I have
probably omitted — and otherwise good, con¬
sidering the limited means he possessed — and
its popular form. — The Almanack also contains
a portion of the Autobiography of Jorgen
Jorgenson — to which I refer. — I also enclose
a copy of Ross’s Almanack for 1834, which
contains a good article also written by James
Backhouse on the esculent Roots, &c. of Van
Diemen’s Land— and a humourous & I believe
pretty correct account of Circular Head— a
Map of Van Diemen’s Land published by Dr.
Ross — a Plan of Launceston — old — but still
may be interesting — I regi'et I can make but

such a poor return for your valuable books _

In the second box No. 2. I have placed only
the new Nos. extending from Nos. 444 to 630
inclusive and though I have myself been unfor¬
tunately prevented from any extended excur¬
sions — friend Backhouse and Dr Milligan, (an
esteemed correspondent who I have induced to
collect) have assisted me much. — The former
has some months ago left the Colony for New
South Wales, and is I believe now visiting the
Penal Colony of Norfolk Island.— The latter
is now medical officer stationed at the Hamp¬
shire Hills, (part of the Establishment of the
Van Diemen’s Land Company) — and is a
brother magistrate of the Territory. — Relative
■to all the plants I have written short remarks
which I attach to this letter and to which I refer
for many particulars which would have been
too voluminous for a letter. —

I am every day more satisfied with myself
at my progress in Botany — and am still con¬
tinuing the formation of my Botanic Garden
upon the Natural System. — And I think that
as my knowledge increases my ability to discover
new plants will be much increased and that you
need not think that you have yet received more

than one half of the Plants of V.D.L. from me.—
1 shall continue my annual boxes of specimens
with such additions as I can make—

I have not yet received a single letter or
acknowledgement from Dr Lindley — I have
therefore sent him my third and last box of
specimens— merely containing duplicates of
my former collections to render those already
received as complete as possible — but I have
not sent him a single new No. after 443— As I
cannot but feel hurt that years should elapse
without his finding time to say “ thank you ”—
and if he did not perform anything, might at
least have promised.— Your conduct forms such
a sad contrast that I am not aware of any
excuse he can make — even granting that they
were utterly valueless.— My time I can assure
you is much more occupied than that of any
other officer under Government in Launceston,
one branch of duties alone, vizt. as magistrate,
giving me 10 to 90 cases weekly to try and
dispose of — besides the other miscellaneous
duties of a daily sitting magistrate— then my
Superintendents — of assigning men, & women
and everlasting correspondence — makes my
time for Botany limited indeed — and had you
not induced me to continue my communications
at a period when I had more time on my hands
than now, I should long since have been obliged
•to give up in despair — At this moment I have
waited three weeks in vain to procure a magis¬
trate to undertake my duties for three days to
enable me to ascend the mountains to collect
seeds of the Ranunculus Gunnianus & others—
& last Sunday I started and accomplished 76
miles on foot and horseback in 28 hours to
collect, being unable to be away from my office—

I do not say this to enhance the value of my
collections to you — but to show that my time, no
more than Mr Lindley’s, is wholly unoccupied
and I regret to say my income is far from being
in proportion, — however— that is another
affair. If when you see Dr Lindley you can
get any books from him, do so,— and if he
really expresses a desire for more specimens 1
can send them, but as far as I am concerned
I now feel perfectly satisfied with your assist¬
ance — more especially as death has removed
poor Robert Lawrence from co-operating — I
sadly feel the want of some botanically inclined
person to exchange thoughts with, but not a soul
in Launceston or within many miles has the
least taste for Natural History in any of its
branches_

With reference to your various enquiries
relative to Jorgenson— I find he was appointed
a Constable at Oatlands where his zeal in that
office was so great as to lead to his receiving
Emancipation some years ago.— His moral
character here stands very low, the Chief Police

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Magistrate and my Brother both giving me a
bad account of him — He married a woman here
of abandoned character and very drunken
habits, — I do not know how he earns a subsist¬
ence just now, but I believe he is not devoting
his talents to any profitable or industrious
pursuit.— For your Book on Iceland I feel
much obliged and -felt greatly interested in its
perusal. —

I regret I have been extremely unsuccesesful
in my pursuit of the two other branches of
Natural History, vizt. Birds and Insects — With
reference to Birds— I have tried in vain to
acquire skill in skinning them and have failed,
and have been equally unsuccessful in my search
for a man capable of doing so — 1 do not however
despair of procuring one of the first Bird skin¬
ners who arrives in any prison ship from Eng¬
land, as I have applied for a man of that descrip¬
tion officially to Hobart Town to be assigned to
my service, on purpose to fulfill my promise to
you— until then I can do nothing— With refer¬
ence to Insects I have also been bothered_ I

cannot procure for love or money any Cork to
line the bottom of the box and I find the
slightest shake knocks the pins out when stuck
into a hard board, and most of the pins becoming
bent in attempting to push them in securely —
My collec.ions have therefore I regret to say
been regularly lost four or five times from the
box being touched rather roughly when out
came pins &e and the legs, wings, antennae &e
of the insects suffered, and rendered them use¬
less. — Will you therefore at your earliest
convenience send me out some Cork and I will
get boxes made out here. — Mr Lawrence has
been I believe collecting for you bu: I do not
know with what Success. — I can only add to
these various reasons for not having done what
I ought to have done — that my inclination
continues strong.— No Bird skins or collections
in Natural History can be purchased in Launn.

My “ List of Wants ” continues very great and
I annex a list of various Books I would like to
procure, but not at your expence; Get what
you can from Lindley, and if you will send me
an Invoice of the Remainder I shall most happily
remit you the money, as I apply to you from
having no person who can so well select books
I want in Britain. —

[At the head of next page in Hooker’s )iand
is a list of books with some items marked ]

Comp, to Bot. Mag. 3-6. *Brit. II. ad 8
(one to be sent afterwards) *Brit. Mag. ad [ ]

[What follows is Gunn’s] —

Books &c wished for from Britain.

1. * de Candolles “ Prodromus Systematis Vat-

uralis Regni Vegetabilis ” — 4 vols. ^Vnd
his larger work if yet complete. —

2. Richards “ Medical Botany ” or any other

superior book on the medical &c. pro¬
perties of Plants

[In Hooker’s hand ] — Reid’s Med. Bot. 1835

3. * Arnotts “ Elements of Physics ” vol 2nd or

vols 1st. & 2nd. of the latest edition.—

4. ® Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa

Architecture by I. C. Loudon.

5. * Ency. of Geography by Hugh Murray-

assisted by Hooker, Jamieson, Wallace,
&e £3. 0. 0. — If this work is very good, if
not Standard, do not send it.

6. * Arrowsmiths last Atlas of 54 maps £2-12.6

[In Hooker’s hand ]— 53 - j.16.

7. The Best Work on Natural History in Qen-

eral in the style of “ Turton’s System of
Nature ” as in collecting, Birds, Insects,
Animals, &c I should like at the same to
study these different branches which 1
have no opportunity of now doing, and 1
should feel double interest in knowing
what I was collecting —

8. * Smith’s introduction to Botany edited by

yourself

9. Lindleys introductions to “ Botany ” and

“ to the Natural System of Botany ” may
be sent by Lindley. —

10. Naturalists Library by Sir. W. Jardine —
if good—

Lastly — Any other good works on Scientific
subjects to which I am every day becoming
more attached. —

When you visit London I would esteem it
a favour if you would ascertain for me the
price of a collection of minerals at Mawe’s,
Strand, London or elsewhere as I do not now
know one mineral from another although I
have read largely on the subject, and in my
rambles have, I am certain, fallen in with
novelties in that Department — I collected
largely but from extreme ignorance of the
simplest rudiments of mineralogy, I cannot
ascertain the names even of metals — but if I
had a collection to refer to, I could at once

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

find to which it bore the greatest resemblance,
and be enabled to ascertain if it was at all
curious or valuable. — If you can assist me in
these matters you will oblige me much — as I
know no one here that has the slightest preten¬
sions to a knowledge on the subject —

I must now close this long and hasty letter
by requesting that should there be any particular
information relative to the plants or any of
them which you may desire so as to render your
published list as complete as possible, I shall
be glad to do it as quickly as possible on your
informing me what you wish, — such as Habitat,
soil, time of flowering — &c which I have not
furnished, but can furnish, if wished for or
desireable. —

I sincerely hope that you will find my humble
efforts such as to meet your expectations from
a beginner like myself, and that you will make
any allowances for imperfections — I also par¬
ticularly caution you not to make me any
compensation for my labours beyond what you
find convenient, and within your own means,
as I am aware that like myself you have a
large family — and as my expenses only consist
in Paper, Boxes, and tear and wear of clothes
which I should destroy whether or not — you
may perceive that any extraordinary remunera¬
tion is uncalled for, and now that I possess
most of the Books essential for a Student from
your liberality, I conceive you have amply done
all that I could expect from you— and instead
of now being in my debt, I am in yours.—

To Mr Murray I have sent a valuable collec¬
tion of Seeds, and some orchideous roots which
I trust will be safe — I have placed correspond¬
ing nos on the packets of Seeds to the Specimens,
least you might wish to refer to any of them
as specimens of the fruit of the Plants—

To Mr Cooper of Wentworth House, and
Mr. Short of Nottingham I also send packages of
seed, —

Your wishes upon all points I shall at all
times have pleasure in attending to as far as
my limited time and knowledge will permit —

I need not add that your letters and books
are welcomly received and highly acceptable

[He closes but goes o»]

16 April 1835. I this day closed the boxes. —
The box of Bird skins will go by another vessel
as also the seeds &c. for Mr Murray, & others
as in spite of all my exertions four vessels
have sailed without this — and I shall wait no
longer but nail up.—

If you have any of the ferns more than you
require, please send any that have seed to
Mr Cooper of Wentworth House, to whom I
intended to send some, but thought it better
for you to divide than me, as I knew not
which you required most.— If you cannot
spare any write to Mr Cooper, and inform him
that I am now collecting for him, but I shall
be unable to send them before next Season.—
Haying everything to do myself, in packing,
drying, collecting, &c &c you must make great
allowances for errors and omissions.—

I enclose a parcel for my brother Mr Robert
Gunn of Edinburgh, which I shall feel obliged
by your getting forwarded P. Coach as early
as convenient.—

I send you a Journal of a Journey to the
Australian Alps by Dr Lhotsky— it is incom¬
plete, but all that has reached this quarter yet
from Sydney, & sold at the moderate price of
one shilling a number.— I understand Dr
Lhotsky is a German Adventurer like Dr de
Dassel professing to know everything, but really
quite ignorant, & assisted by others in his com¬
pilations.

In addition to the books please add—

“ Reece’s Medical Guide ” (or any better one) .—
And when sending out Books, a Catalogue of
Scientific Works from which 1 might cull —
would assist me — in selecting — Books are not
to be procured here at any price — on Scientific
Subjects, & although I am now devoting my
leisure time to Botany, I am extremely anxious
to acquire additional knowledge to what I now
possess in Medicine, Chemistry, and Natural
History in all its branches.— Are the Books
published by the Society for the diffusion of
useful knowledge good, or are they' merely got
up by Knight the publisher —

I do not expect you to answer all my ques¬
tions — at once — but in time, if we continue
to jog on pleasantly together which I think
admits of no doubt

Dr. Ross’s “ Almanacks ” reached Hooker
safely with the plant specimens. In his
“ Companion to the Botanical Magazine ”,
vol. II, is Backhouse’s list of the “ Esculent
Plants of Van Diemen’s Land ” from Ross’s
“ V.D.L. Almanack ” of 1834.

Jorgenson’s letters of the previous year
had evidently prompted Hooker to make
further enquiries about his old companion;
but Gunn’s unfavourable report probably
influenced him from replying to them. Still,

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

he did get Jorgenson’s first instalment of
his “ Fragment of an Autobiography The
second, and last, part of the “ Fragment ”
was printed in Eliston’s (Ross’s successor)
Almanack for 1836. It is on these two
“ fragments ” that J. F. Hogan’s book on
Jorgenson, “ The Convict King ”, is largely
based.

Dr. John Lhotsky was a German doctor
of medicine, who, before coming to Australia
in 1832, had travelled extensively in Brazil.
He seems to have been a rather unprincipled
adventurer, writing journalistic articles on
his travels and selling the specimens he
collected. For a time, during the eighteen-
thirties, he was a medical officer for the
Van Diemen’s Land Government, stationed
at Port Arthur. In the letter file at Kew
is the first part of a printed pamphlet en¬
titled “ Information for the People, No. 1
Sketches of Tasman’s Peninsula ”, a roman¬
ticised account of a journey he made through
the bush there, “ printed for the Proprietor
by J. M. Short, Argyle St ”. Presumably
sent to Hooker by Gunn as a sample of
Lhotsky’s work, it has neither literary nor
scientific merit.

On the head of the letter is written, appa¬
rently by Hooker, “ Book on Skins/Reece’s
Bird Guide ”. On the page containing Gunn’s
“ Wants ”, Hooker has also inserted a few
more items and puts ticks against those that
presumably were sent.

This letter was enclosed in No. 2 of the
two boxes of plants he had packed for
Hooker, and with it went his list of speci¬
mens numbered to agree with the duplicates
he kept in his own herbarium.

The 443 specimens of flowering plants in
Box No. 1 are listed in their natural orders
according to Jussieu’s system, beginning with
the order Ranunculaceae in the Dicotyle-
dones. These are followed by the Monoco-
tyledones, including many orchids. Another
set of numbers (1 to 50) is used for the
“ Acotyledones ”—the Cryptogamic plants,
mainly ferns and mosses. This box contained
duplicates of plants he had already sent to
Hooker, and the numbers are by no means

consecutive. Mostly they are simply given
the generic name (or what Gunn thinks it
is), sometimes with a query, e.g., “ —Sam-
bucus (?) 19 some have simply a number,
e.g., “—76”; while against some others he
appends descriptive notes. The full anno¬
tated list is printed as an appendix.

LETTER 134.

Launceston V.D.L. 6th May 1835.

My dear Sir,

I have just had the pleasure of putting on
board the ship “ Janet ” of London, T. C. Mathe-
son, Master, Three boxes to your address, care
of John Ker Esqe. Asst. Secy, to the Commis¬
sioners of Custom’s London, — to whom I have
also this day enclosed “ Bill of Lading ” for
the same, and sincerely trust they will all reach
you in good order. —

Box N. 1 Contains a large collection of dupli¬
cates to my former Nos from 1 to 443. — also
Ferns and all the acotyledonous Plants, which
are this season very few —

Box N. 2 Contains Specimens of New Nos
from 444 to 630 both inclusive — and a prodigi¬
ous long letter, and sheets of Remarks, to which
I refer. —

Box N. 3 Contains skins of Birds. — I should
not have sent these to you as I consider them of
trifling value and badly preserved, but they were
principally left by the late Uobt. W. Lawrence,
and intended for you and I have therefore so
far fulfilled his wish in sending them. — I have
added of my own collecting a Pelican of the
River Tamar, 2 Herons, one white Cockatoo, a
parrot, some opossum & other skins of animals,
& a few trifling odds and ends. — In my letter
in Box No 2 I have fully explained the cause
of my bad success in Bird collecting from the
want of a Skinner as I have neither time nor
skill to attend to it, but hope soon to remedy
this

I have so fully explained everything in my
long letter before alluded to that I have little
to add in this. 1 am astonished you had not
received a very long letter I wrote to you
reporting the melancholy and sudden death of
our worthy friend Robert W. Lawrence previous
to your sending your last letter, dated 5th
April, 1834. He died on 18th October 1833 at
Formosa suddenly, being found dead in his
bed.— His young and worthy wife had died
after giving birth to a daughter a few weeks
previous— Poor Lawrence dying on the first
anniversary of his marriage aged 26. — A more
worthy and kind hearted man never existed, and

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

I deeply deplore his loss— to me irreparable—
as I have not now a single soul to speak to
about Plants, or to excite my emulation— He
was enthusiastic in the pursuit of all branches
of Natural History.

I am much afraid my last letter to you has
also gone to the bottom.— I wrote very fully
to you as also to Mr. Murray acknowledging
the safe arrival of your various packages &c —
by the steam-boat “ Tamar ” in September,
1834.— and sent my letters to you (as well as
many others) by the “ Cleopatra ” which was the
last vessel for the season from this Colony.—
and I see by a late newspaper that she was
totally wrecked on the Falkland Islands on her
voyage home— She sailed from Hobart Town
on 25 Septemr. last.— I have not heard whether
the mail was saved— if not, my letters are
gone.— I cannot now repeat the contents—
beyond stating that your Books reached me
quite safe and have delighted mo since beyond
measure. Your “ Tour in Iceland ” in a separate
parcel was also duly delivered by Captn. Wales
of the “ Tamar ”, who as an old acquaintance
took every care of things entrusted to his charge.
The plants having been between 8 and 9 months
on board the vessel, you may suppose that they
were almost wholly rotten, as were also Mr.
Lawrence’s, the Bulbs, being hai'dier; came
almost wholly safe; only the tenderest being
destroyed; but in the larger box, the iron wire,
and wooden tallies were as rotten as the
plants.— It is excessively annoying after the
immense trouble which had been taken to
lose so valuable a collection.— the Seeds sent
to Mr. Lawrence & myself were also totally
destroyed from the ignorance or carelessness
of the packer who placed a large quantity of
pulpy hips, haws, holly berries, &c. in each
package and these; being wrapped in oil skin
which prevented evaporation, communicated
damp & mouldiness to all the rest, so that on
arrival here even the cones of the Pines were
so rotten as to crumble to pieces, nuts, &c. &c.
in a like state.—Captn Wales had them in his
Cabin the whole voyage so that no blame could
by possibility fall upon him.— I only hope Mr.
Murray will not be discouraged but continue
sending as often as his time and conveniences
offer,— and as an inducement I have now got
ready to send him by next vessel about 230
packets of seeds— many new and not before
sent by me.— I shall put them up with the
greatest care.— I shall at the same time send
packages to Mr Cooper of Wentworth House
and Mr. Short of Nottingham, but not so large
or numerous.

In your letter to me and elsewhere you
address Mr Thomas Scott— as Dr. Thos. Scott.—
He is not a Doctor but merchant in Launces¬

ton.— I would not make this Remark to you
but there is a Dr. James Scott who will get the
credit of any he may have sent to you — and I
see Backhouse in his “ Index Plantarum ” (which
I sent you in one of the boxes,) also blunders
and gives a Mr. J. W. Scott credit for having
sent you those sent by our mutual & worthy
friend Mr Thomas Scott, Merchant. — Mr. J. W.
Scott is an ignorant man in Hobart Town but
an indefatigable collector of seeds
[possibly a line missing. Crossing begins .]
by which he earns a [ ] Scott’s business

as a Merchant has prevented his [ continuing ]
his natural taste for plants but I owe him much
as my introducer to you— as I believe he was
also of the late Mr Lawrence.

If nothing occurs in the way of business to
alter my wishes it is my present intention
to forward you my Collections more frequently
than I have recently done— as it is too much
labour to arrange a very large box-ful I am
exceedingly anxious to receive your farther
notes upon the Plants I sent Home, vizt. the
natural orders after “ Stackhouseae ”— And I
hope you will find the plants as you go on
presenting an equal No. of new ones.—

I shall be most happy to hear from you as
frequently as possible.

[.Having closed his letter, Gunn added ]—

Your last letters reed, by me — are dated
Glasgow 27 Deer. 1833 and 10 January 1834.-—
and an introductory letter by Mr. Short dated
3rd. March — And another from Mr. Cooper
dated 5th April 1834.

In Box No. 1. I have placed a small packet
containing two almarn cks similar to those I
sent to you — which I shall feel obliged by
your forwarding ;o my Brother in Edinburgh
as addressed.

This letter arrived in Britain on 20th
October, 1835.

Dr. James Scott was the man for whom
the convict artist, W. B. Gould, made the
botanical drawings referred to previously.

The “ Tasmanian Colonist ”, of 24th June,
1834, notes that, “ Mr. J. W. Scott, our
industrious native seed collector, collecting
with deserved encouragement, has just ship¬
ped a large collection to the Royal Gardens
at Kew, and is now making a similar collec¬
tion for the Royal Dublin Society ”.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

In his next letter, Gunn quotes from a
letter he had received from James Back¬
house. It shows, too, his interest in new
scientific discoveries, particularly those that
might assist his botanical studies.

LETTER [ ].

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
29th June 1835.

My dear Sir,

I am induced again to write to you from an
itch I have this day for scribling, and also from
the want of any one nearer with whom to
exchange thoughts, opinions, &e.— I have just
sent on board the ship “ Bolina ” to London,
by which this letter goes, a case addressed to
Mr. Ker, London containing three smaller boxes
of seeds, vizt. for Mr Murray, Mr Cooper &
Mr Short. — The two latter gentlemen gave me
no address via London, to which port all vessels
go, so that I have trespassed on your friend
Mr. Ker to open the case and despatch the

three smaller boxes as addressed_Mr Murray’s

contains about 252 papers of Seeds of V.D.L.
24 of kinds just reed from James Backhouse
who collected them on Norfolk Island, and one
paper of the seeds of the “ Prangos ” of Thibet,
said by Loudon in his Enc. of Plants P.1070 —
to be the most productive forage Plant in the
world. — If Mr Murray grows it — I will trouble
him for some back again. — From the number of
seeds I have now sent him I am certain you
will have many novelties and I have requested
him to sow some of all; as however similar
many may be to those of New South Wales —
I still suspect not a few will be different though
closely allied species — From our friend Back¬
house I look for much information, if he has
time. — He wrote an interesting letter from
Sydney which I reed, a few days ago — He had
just returned from a visit [to?] Norfolk Island
which is the penal Colony of New South Wales
& V.D.L. to which the worst twice & thrice
convicted felons are sent. — The Island is how¬
ever hself a lovely spot. I cannot do better
than subjoin an extract from Backhouse’s letter

to me_ “ We (alluding to himself and his

fellow missionary Mr Walker both of the Society
of Friends) have been much interested with our
visit to Norfolk Island; which is a beautiful
spot by nature. Altingia excelsa towers like
spires over all other trees, and attains 150 to
200 ft. in height, & I measured one 29i ft in
circumference at 4 ft. up. The next tree in
magnitude is Hibiscus (Lagunia) Patersonii
which though a low shrub on the declivities of
the Island to the sea, is, in some places, 80 to
100 ft. high; and I measured one (not the

largest I have seen, but I happened at this time
to have the measuring tape in my pocket) 16J ft.
in circumference. The Island is a series of
small basaltic Hills with narrow vallies, covered
with rich red soil; their points and the lower
part of the vallies are open, & covered with
coarse grass,— Lemon & Guava trees, scattered
about like Thorns & hazels, Grape Vines, &
Figs, as well as Lemons, Guavas & Cape Goose¬
berries have escaped from the gardens of the
former Settlers, & gained a possession which
they will long retain in spite of all efforts
to reduce them. The upper portion of the
gullies and hills are generally covered with
wood, 'for the most part a completely different
race to the trees of V.D.L. The opening of
these gullies into the grassy mounds is generally
marked by quantities of tree-ferns (Alsophila
excelsa) of tall stature, exposing fair crests l o
the sun:— Charlwoodia australis (Dracaena)
with its branches terminated by heads of sedgy
looking leaves, is also to be seen a little farther
up the hills in these situations. One small
ridge [on?] the N. part of the Island rises into
a mount which is estimated at 1,200 ft above
the sea, but the Lemon has in this fine climate,
where the thermometer ranges from 65“ to 85°
of Fahrn., ascended to the very summit, where
it grows among the native trees.” The above
interesting sketch is accompanied by various
other matters — Among other things he men¬
tions, that, of the Solanum laciniatum of N.S.W.,
the fruit is [edible?'] whereas that of V.D.L. (my
No. 376) is not at all so. — I wrote to you on
6th. May 1835 P. “Janet” to London, and at
the same time sent two cases off dried specimens
of Plants and one of Bird & other skins— (the
latter not in very good order.)— all of which
I trust will have reached you long before this
will.— In one of the cases I also sent you a
prodigious long letter which would occupy you
no small time to get through.— I have during
the last four weeks fallen in with a bird-skinner,
& have accordingly occupied a few leisure hours
in shooting all the species of small birds near
town — I have already got about 24 species
well done, and of some of the kinds three or
more specimens— I note the colour of the iris, &
other matters but am afraid from my town
residence, that I shall be unable to enlighten you
much on the habits, migrations &c &c, however—
I shall do my best. —

[Crossing]

Would it not be as well for the future for
me to send all seeds to your address instead of
to Mr. Murray, as should Mr Murray by any
chance leave the Botanic Garden, my boxes
being addressed to him would become his private
property instead of that of the Garden. — 1
merely hint this to you. — You will find on all

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

or most of my seeds corresponding Nos to the
specimens sent to you which will enable you
to give correct names to Mr Murray, and may
also assist you as a means of examining the
seed vessel. — I read in a copy of “ White’s
Selbourne” edited by Captn. Brown P. 266—
of an instrument called a Sympiesometer for
measuring the altitude of mountains invented
by Mr Adie 68 Princes St. Edinburgh — Could
you ascertain the price for me ? The altitiude
of mountains here would be interesting as fixing
the localities of certain Plants, and might
convey useful information for their treatment
at Home. —

I find that I have only sent you the flowers
of one sex of No 462. I fortunately got some
of the others in Mr Lawrence’s collection of
Plants, — which I shall send home next season —
both Nos 452 & 173 are dioceous. — I also have
strong reason to believe that most of the speci¬
mens I have sent Home to you this season as
No. 54 Clematis blanda are another quite dis¬
tinct species, & which will make four species
that exist here. — You will perceive a great
difference in the leaves which are never alter¬
nate — The habit of the Plant is also different —
having a more prostrate growth and in a
different soil to my No 54 of 1832—1 however
merely call your attention to the point — I
have sent Lindley some of the same this season
as duplicates of 54. I shall however closely
observe them this season.

[and adds as a postscript ] —

Hoping that I am not troubling you too much
I am extremely anxious for a continuation of
the names of the Plants from the Nat. Ord.
“ Stackhousiae ” — onwards —

Another want. — I saw an acct. of an instrument
for taking views upon an improved principle
better than the Camera Obscura called “ Burge’s
Patient Paneidolon ” will you report upon it —
price, &c. &c.

376. Solanum aviculare Forst. — (the Kan¬
garoo Apple, though Backhouse
says it is edible).

452. Plagianthus sidoides Hook.

173. Sida pulchella Bonpl. ex DC., i.e. Plagi¬
anthus pulchellus (Bonpl.) A.
Gray.

54. Clematis blanda Hook, i.e., C. aristata

R.Br.

By Altingia excelsa, Backhouse obviously
refers to the Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria
heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco. The letter

was landed at Deal on 5th December and
reached Glasgow two days later.

Attempts to establish the identity of
Gunn’s “ bird-skinner ” have been unsuccess¬
ful. Gunn was evidently hoping to get as
assigned servant a convict taxidermist as
soon as one arrived in a prison ship. The
State Archives of Tasmania report that
between March and August, 1835, the only
prison ship arriving was the “ George the
Third ”, which was wrecked in D’Entrecas¬
teaux Channel with great loss of life. Of
the 81 surviving convicts, not one was a
taxidermist, nor were any of them assigned
to Gunn. It therefore seems more likely that
the man Gunn “ fell in with ” was a free
man or possibly an ex-convict taxidermist.
He seems to have served Gunn well for
several years.

In the Launceston Museum is a case con¬
taining some forty species of beautifully-
mounted Tasmanian birds. A note in the
writing of Mr. H. H. Scott, curator of the
museum from 1898 to 1938, says it is the
work of a convict done a hundred years ago.
Could this have been Gunn’s “ bird-
skinner ”?

The next three letters to Hooker are from
Thomas Keir Short, of Nottingham, and tell
their own story.

LETTER 161.

Martin Hall Feb 17th

My Dear Sir

I have great pleasure in informing you, that
I have just received a letter from R. C. Gunn
Esqr in answer to the one I sent, accompanied
with a box of seeds and your kind letter of
introduction, which he kindly acknowledges. It
bears date Sept 16th 1834. He is now forming
a General Botanic Collection of plants Govern¬
ment will not aid him, so we must do all we
can for him & the Sciance. He is much in wants
of a few books on botany; tell me what will
be of most use to him. In the box, I sent a
few odd numbers of the various periodicals I
could pick upp. If you can give me a list in
that way I shall be much obliged.

Mr Gunn informs me that I shall shortly
receive a box of the Terrestrial Orchidae of the

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Island he will send us seeds & roots at every
opportunity he has; and I shall return it as often
as I can.

If you have any letters to send I will enclose
them as I send a box to him next month. If you
would like to see the letter you can, if you
will return it to me after you have read it, I
can send it in about a week or 10 days as I
intend sending Joseph the insects I promised
which I hope will arrive safe.

With respects to Mrs H — and your family,
I remain yours truly
Thomas Keir Short
To

Dr Hooker P.B.

Glascow.

This letter was addressed to Bath Street
and by the postmarks reached Glasgow on
18th February, 1835.

LETTER 162.

Martin Hall

March 17th 1835

Dear Sir,

When you have read this letter you will think
that I am one of the most restless and change¬
able beings on earth. The day after I wrote
to you I received a letter from my Cousin in
Van Diemen and I am going to join him their,
I am quite ready & sail by the Loyds 400 tons
from London on the 10th of April The cause of
my informing you is if it is not to much trouble
& presumption to request a letter of introduction
to Mr Gunn, as I intend residing on the Laun¬
ceston side of the Island. I have sent him a box
of seeds which sailed by the Rubicon from
London on the 15th of this month: I informed
him that I was comeing. I have not been idle
in getting a collection of seeds, I have got in
the 1st place 87 varieties of Vegetable seeds
of Skizanthus, Colceolarias, Clarkias, Collomias,
Penstamons, Ipomias, Asters, Larkspers, Pines,
Furs, Ilex, Oaks, Elms, Rhododendrons, Azalias,
Callendrinas, Magnolias & many others to the
amount of 381 varieties, Roots Amarillis, Cobur-
gias, Ixias, Narcissus, 12 Cactus, 5 Staphaelias,
& a Box of 15 kinds of Camillas & Rhododendron
arbores and abba & which if I can get over
alive will be a great acquisition, if it, is, not
their already. If their are any other plants
likely if you will mention it, I will endeavour to
take it. I have books in abundance among
them [Curtis ?] from the first. I intend staying

10 years from England I shall see New Zealand
& those Islands before I return if possible. Now
inform me if you want dried specimens, seeds,
roots or what & how I must send you them as
I shall send home at every opportunity I have.
I am going to turn my attention principally to
sheep & the growth of wool.

Hopeing you will give an early answer as the
time is so short

I remain Dear Sir
Yours truly

Thomas Keir Short.

P.S. Kind respects to Mrs. H. & family.

A few weeks later he is about to sail.

LETTER 163.

London April 11th
35

Dear Sir

According to promis I have sent you the
insects which I hope you will receive safe. I
sail for vandiemans land on or about the 25
of this month. I have taken my passage & find
the Captin a very cleaver inteligent man. 1
shall turn my sole attention to sheep, & the
improvement of natural history. I am likely
to have a young man come to me next spring
which will give me a much greater portion of
time to attend to Natural history. You will
heare from me as soon as I arrive in VDL With
respects to Mrs Hooker & family I remain yours

Thomas Keir Short

Less than six months later he has arrived.

LETTER 164.

Launceston Oct 10th 1835

Dear Sir

It is with great pleasure that I have now an
opportunity of addressing you from this fav¬
oured island. You will perhaps have seen in
the papers the death of Mr. Cunningham the
botanist at Sydney he was killed by the natives
whilst upon an exploring expedition under Capt
Mitchel.

I have made application for the situation to
General Bourke here & to the Colonial secritary
at home. I have also written to the Duke of
Newcastle or Lord Lincoln who I can depend
on as being my friends Mr Sams the Under
Sheri-f for Launceston has written to Mr Aiton

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

in my favour, so if you will be so kind as to
exert yourself in my favour I will be very much
obliged as I know you have such extensive
connections. I perhaps have taken upon myself
too great a liberty in refering the gentleman to
you for a character i e if I am cabable to
fill the situation which character I hope you will
gdve as favourable as you can as it is a situation
that would suit me very much indeed. I am with
Ciunn at preasent and a most delightful com¬
panion he is we go out together on every spare
hour we have to collect, and I can assure you
that he has got a rich collection of new plants
for you since the last box came. He is very
anxious for an answer to his last vollominious
letter as we are quite puzzled with many of the
plants. I am going to Port Phillip for the
purpos of Collecting plants Birds &c &c &c I
do not intend to settle in the colony as I find
it will not answer my purpos it is too late in
the day for this place so I have written home
to inform my father that I intend comeing back
to England. In the meantime I devote the
whole of the time while here to collecting
everything & shall be obliged to remain until
I hear from home but if I get the appointment
at Sydney it will alter my plans and views
altogether. I hope and trust you will do all
that you can towards my appointment to the
situation at Sydney, as I could there follow up
my persuits of naturall history in all its
branches. My next letter will be of more
interest than this as I have so much to write
and so little time to do it in, that I cannot call
my scattered thoughts to write anything but
about the appointment which is uppermost in my
cranium. I have great faith in your letter
which I showed to Colnl Arther who was anxious
to form a Botan garden as he said but cannot
at pressont he said that my was highly
satisfactory & would give me the appointment
if given to any one.

With respect to Mrs H and family
I remain yours

Thomas Keir Short.

On the back Dr. Hooker is addressed as
“ Professor Hooker LLD ”, while “ T.K.S.”
over “ V.D.L.” in the lower left-hand corner
seems to indicate Gunn’s influence.

Richard Cunningham (1793-1835), who
was speared by the blacks at Dandaloo,
N.S.W., when accompanying an exploring
expedition under Major Thomas Mitchell,
was brother to the more famous botanist and
explorer, Allan Cunningham. He was Gov¬

ernment Botanist of New South Wales from
1833 to his death. The post was then filled
by Allan Cunningham, though, after a short
period, he resigned. Major-General Sir
Richard Bourke was governor of the colony
at the time. He was evidently unimpressed
by Mr. Short’s claim to the position.

William George Sams, born in Bucking¬
ham in 1792, arrived at Hobart Town in
the ship “ Harvey ” in 1825. After serving
as Under-Sheriff at Hobart Town, he was
transferred to the same position at Launces¬
ton in 1827, where he was also Notary Public.
He was a member of the Port Phillip Associa¬
tion and went to Port Phillip in 1836, and is
included in Billis and Kenyon’s “ Pastoral
Pioneers of Port Phillip ”. He died at
Richmond, Victoria, in 1871.

The following letter from R. C. Gunn to
Hooker also reports Mr. T. K. Short’s arrival
in Van Diemen’s Land.

LETTER 28.

Launceston 25th Septemr. 1835.

My Dear Sir,

Our mutual acquaintance Thomas K. Short
Esqe. has to my no small astonishment arrived
in V.D.L.— he writes me to say he has a letter
for me from you, but which I have not yet
received — I expect to see him in Launceston in
a few days.—

I have been at George Town within the last
fortnight and collected a few plants, but the
season is not far enough advanced — I found a
beautiful Correa — resembling in leaf and
habit C. virens, and bearing a pendulous flower
similar to it in size, but the colour was a beauti¬
ful crimson on the upper half and green on the
lower— the varieties were very various in colour
& one var. I found with half the Corolla white
& half green— very abundant — Backhouse saw
three years ago a solitary specimen in a
bouquet — but I could not find where it had
been collected, and therefore entered it in the
Index Plantarum of Ross’s Almanack as C.
speciosa — but on reference I see the flowers
of C. speciosa are said to be erect & figured in
the Enc. of Plants, whereas the present are as
completely pendulus as C. virens — You will
receive it in my first collection & more speci¬
mens of C. Backhousiana. I also found near

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

George Town a new Tetratheca. 449. Drosera
Menziesii, and one or two others of which I
had not before collected specimens — My col¬
lection of Birds has now become pretty good —
and well skinned, not similar to the miserable
box full I sent before, but really good, as I
have got a bird skinner by profession now in
my service. — I brought to town 115 specimens
shot in a fortnight — the varieties are not very
numerous but they will become more so — I am
unfortunately a bad shot,— which causes me to
miss many birds. — I think you will be much
pleased should they reach safe — I shall send
them by the first vessel from Launceston. —

I have received a good collection of specimens
of Plants from the Hampshire Hills — which
I will add to my first box of this season, among
others are beautiful specimens in flower and
fruit of my No 178 — called by you Betula
Antartica to R.W.L. also specimens of Podo-
carpus aspleniifolius, Carpodontus lucida, some
new ones, and many others not easily procured
near Launceston.

I am very anxious for the names of the Plants
in the Natural Orders after “ Stackhousiae ”
which I have not yet received — I cannot
correctly ascertain the Plant called by you
Phebalium montanum — you have sent my
wrong No (213) and the late R. W. Lawrence
unfortunately retained no specimen of it (No.
231) in his Herbarium— My specimens from
the Mts. were that season so imperfect as to
puzzle me sometimes now a good deal, but I
have since pretty well replaced them.

Should Mrs. Gunn, who has recently gone to
Dublin, apply at any time to you for money
you will oblige me much by not giving any—
she has unfortunately acquired a habit of extra¬
indulgence in drinking, which after a marriage
of ten years has reluctantly compelled me to
send her home to her relatives in the hope of
effecting a cure — my success is doubtful — but
her being able to procure money would spoil
all, and from her knowledge of our continued
correspondence I thought it probable she might
apply to you, and to guard against which induced
me to write this letter,— a hint to you is
enough.—

I had a short visit the other day from Jorgen
Jorgenson. I requested him to call again (being
then busy) that I might enquire more fully
into particulars, but he has not done so. — He
was shabbily dressed and looked very miserable
— he told me he had written to you — His
universal character here I regret to say stands
very low,— he is evidently a clever man, but has
turned his talents to a wrong account. —

178. Not traced.

213. The “ Journal of Botany ” gives
Gunn’s number as 223 and Law¬
rence’s as 321 for Phebalium mon¬
tanum Hook.

449. Drosera menziesii Hook, non R.Br.,
i.e., D. planchonii I-Iook.f.

This letter has the oval Launceston post¬
mark and seems to have been landed at
Dover on 3rd February, reaching Glasgow
on 5th February, 1836.

Jorgenson’s visit occurred just twelve
months after his long letter to Hooker was
written. No doubt at the time he was look¬
ing forward to a reply that never came, and
thought perhaps that Gunn might have some
news of his old friend; or possibly lend him
a helping hand.

The next three letters to Hooker, from
Ronald Gunn’s elder brother Robert, of Edin¬
burgh, to whom he had sent the Hobart Town
Almanacks through Hooker, are self-explan¬
atory. At the time Robert was on the staff
of the “ North British Advertiser ”. Pre¬
viously he had been on the “ Scotsman ”, on
which paper Ronald had also worked before
going to the West Indie in 1825.

LETTER 137.

7 North Bank Street
Edinburgh, 20. Nov 1835
Sir,

Had 1 not expected to have had an opportunity
of thanking you personally for your kindness
in forwarding me the parcel from my brother
in Van Diemen’s Land, I would before now have
acknowledged its receipt.

A vessel will sail from Leith in about a fort¬
night, by which, I shall have occasion to send
my brother a parcel, and shall be happy to
forward any communication you may have for
him.— By leaving it at our Office (The North
British Advertiser) 112 Queen Street, opposite
the New Exchange, I shall receive it in due
course free.— And at any time any parcel you

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

may be desirous of forwarding to your friend
[there?], will be sent free by being placed under
Cover to me, and sending it through our agent
[Mr. Smeal?] as above.

To save you trouble and unnecessary expense
it may be as well to direct the Books from
London to which you allude to be sent to me
here and I shall forward them to him from
Leith.

Ronald sent me a Van Dieman’s Land Alman¬
ack containing among other interesting local
information an Index of Plants indigenous to
that Island, but it is probable he will have
forwarded you a copy of it also : if he has not,
1 shall be happy to give you the one he sent me.

Ronald expresses in warm tones the manifold
obligations he is under to you for your Kindness
and the fostering generosity you have evinced
towards him in his new Study; and I cannot
help being gratified that you have deemed him
worthy of your patronage

I am Sir

Your very obed. St
Robt Gunn

LETTER 138.

7 N Bank St Edinr.

4 December 1835

Dear Sir

Yesterday I received a parcel of books from
Messrs. Longman & Co., and today I am fav¬
oured with your letter of the 2d.

As the “ Mid Lothian ” will not sail for Van
Diemen’s Land from hence for some 2 or 3
weeks, you need not put yourself to any incon¬
venience by hastily forwarding Books you pur¬
pose sending to my Brother.

I have looked over the Books from Longman
& Co. and I can hardly conceive of any Publi¬
cations more calculated to improve and gratify
the individual for whom they are intended:
If they were your choice, they reflect much
credit upon your judgment; if the Selection
was his, he would seem to have known full well
what to ask.

Believe me
Dear Sir

Yours very respectfully
Robt Gunn

LETTER 139.

7 N Bank Street
Edinburgh, 29 Jany. 1836

Dear Sir

Your favours I duly received along with the
various parcels of Books &c, which I packed up
carefully in a box and forwarded pr the “ Mid
Lothian ” to my brother, with the exception of
the last small parcel you sent, which arrived
too late; but it will be forwarded by the next
opportunity. I shall write my brother by post,
and will inform him that he will receive it by
next ship along with the Book published by
A & C Black to which you referred in your
last.

The Willows came safely, and Mr. Lawson
kindly sent one of his men to see them carefully-
stowed away on board.

A small parcel of seeds came from Mr Murray
(I think), wrapped up in oil cloth, I gave it
to the ship’s Surgeon whom I accidentally met
on the eve of sailing and I have little doubt
he will take care of it.

Well, I think my brother has been exceedingly
fortunate in possessing the friendship of Gentle¬
men who have possibly appreciated his humble
endeavours beyond their merit; but of one thing
I am assured — that he will be ever grateful
for your Kindness.

Believe me
Dear Sir

Yr very obed. st
Robt Gunn

We now return to letters from Van
Diemen’s Land by Ronald Gunn.

LETTER 181.

Launceston, 16 January 1836.

My dear Sir,

I shall ship to your address by the John
Denistoun to sail in a few days from this Port
for London — a large Case containing 330 to
340 Skins of the Birds of this Colony — A few
skins of Birds (19) from New Holl. and a few
Animals and Reptile skins of this my adopted
land. — They are packed with every care in tin
soldered so as to resist any damp— and a suffi¬
cient quantity of washed wool as will keep them
from knocking about.— There are only 75
species of the V.D.L. Birds sent — but of some

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

I have sent from half a dozen to a dozen or
two to enable you to distribute or exchange
with naturalists. I do not expect any will be
new, but I think some are rare— They are
preserved in the best way and will, if they reach
safe make amends for the Box of Odds and Ends
last season, the remains of R. W. Lawrence’s
Collection.— I am still busy collecting and
will be able to send you another box-full I hope
next season— I have in the meantime been
delayed in writing out a few Notes of the Habits
of the Birds, &c or it might have gone by the
present opportunity. — My Plants are partly
arranged, containing a few additions, but of a
great bulk, to go by an early vessel — of which
however I shall write more fully in my next —

I need not express how anxious 1 am again to
hear from you with the continuation of the
names beyond Stackhousiae. — You are becom¬
ing almost as bad as Mr Lindley, who by the
bye has not yet favoured me with an acknow¬
ledgement of my many communications. — Your
letter by Mr T. K. Short & that Gentleman
arrived here together in Octr last, and with
slight intermissions has lived with me ever
since— 1 am however entre nous much disap¬
pointed. He can give me no information in
Botany or any other science — and his Collec¬
tion of Books though [expensive?] is very
badly selected— His seeds ditto I have however
nevertheless reaped considerable advantage,
although not to the extent I looked forward
to.— He is however a good hearted young man,
but very ignorant of the world.— He now lives
with me & I find him a companion suited to join
in my Natural History pursuits — He adds a few
shells of V.D.L. & some Insects, the combined
labour of Mr W. E. Lawrence, my youngsters
and himself,— and I think many more may be
expected.—

[Crossing on first page.]

Your Letter of Introduction by Dr Logan was
forwarded to me by that Gentleman from Sydney
through Alexr Me Leay Esqe. Colonial Secretary
there— I have not therefore seen him. I shall
write you more fully by the vessel that takes
Hi" C’se of Birds and I merely communicate
thus hastily to enable you to insure it in
England should you consider it worth while. —

I hope my boxes by the Janet reached you
safe— they contain a considerable number not
previously sent. — Mr Short has rambled a great
deal about the Country as he is turning his
attention to nothing but Collecting but without
having discovered many new Plants not already
forwarded by me to you— He is decidely more
in the Entomological way than any other, as of
Plants in general he is positively more ignorant
than myself.

Our united labours will however I hope do
some good to you— I shall at all events d 0
my best— I should like some of the spare Bird
skins sent to Mr Swainson or any other eminent
Ornithologist who you are acquainted with and
who might assist me in Books or authorize my
drawing for small amounts for other matters
wanted from England & not to be procured

here — Powder & shot alone are almost ruinous_.

I am also very anxious for the names of the
Birds as early as possible, — but which I suppose
your Son can at once give me. —

I shall write you frequently I hope with my
collections during the next two months, and
also hoping soon to hear from you—

This letter was landed at Brighton on
20th June, 1836, and reached Glasgow two
days later.

William Swainson, who has been men¬
tioned in a previous letter, was an English
zoologist, and no doubt some of Gunn’s
specimens reached him through Hooker. He
apparently made no acknowledgment nor
rewarded Gunn in any way for them, though,
as a later letter suggests, he sold some of
them to other zoologists. Gunn’s Striped
Bandicoot, Peratneles r/unni Gray, 1838, was
no doubt named in honour of its collector.
Swainson’s own name is perpetuated in
the native species Antechinus swainsonii
(Waterhouse), Swainson’s Pouched Mouse.

He was also interested in botany and Gov¬
ernor Latrobe of Victoria appointed him to
make a report, published in 1853, on the
timber of that colony, mainly eucalypts and
casuarinas. He presumably applied zoolo¬
gical distinctions to botanical species, for
he made 1530 species or varieties of euca¬
lypts, 201 pines, and 213 species of casuar¬
inas. He died in New Zealand in 1855.

Gunn’s news of Mr. Short’s activities is
followed by a letter from that gentleman him¬
self.

T. E. BUKNS & J. li. SKEMP

LETTER 165.

Launceston

1836

My dear Sir

It is with great pleasure that it is now in my
power to send you a few specimens of natural
history they are few in number but perhaps
they may be acceptable as some of them may
be new. In looking over the list of Insects
No 4 is the only one that possesses anything
peculiar & that is the strong scent it produce
when crushed. I have some spirits of wine
that they were collected in that still possesses
a most powerfull scent & the bottle has been
uncorked the last six weeks. I shall be able 1
hope to send you more another time as I posses
no more Duplicates tho previously I collected 98
species, which is much in comparison with the
number the colon possess but non of them are
remarkable for beauty. I have yet only had
one vissit to the sea coast for the purpos of
collecting Conchological specimens at which
time I collected 44 species but I found that I
had only duplicates of about 16 which I have
sent you & will send more when I am able to
get them which will be soon as I am going to
Flinders Island immediately. No 9 is a beautiful
shell & very difficult to get perfect although I
was fortunate in geting as perfect as those I
send you. Nos. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20, all from the
River Mersey salt water. 43 is the shell the
natives make their necklaces off, they string
them & then emerse in a oil they procure from
the Penguin & then hold them in damp grass
over the fire to steam them by this process they
remove the Epedermis As regards plants these
[arc?] placed with those Gunn sends you (which
by the by he has not sent you in this lot but
will follow) I let him place them with his on
condition that if anything new he places my
name to it so you may know, of which I am
very tenacious. I shall go down to Emu bay
for the purpos of Collecting the Gunnea aus¬
tralis which I hope to have the honour of bring¬
ing to England, with me as well as all the other
varieties of Orchidae of which I have got a
great quantity which I hope will be before many
months if I do not get the situation of Botanist
at Sydney, which Bourk refuses to give me,
though I hope I shall not be refused at home
as I have powerful interest particularly with
the Tory interest. I am sure you will be pleased
with the Birds Gunn has sent you they are the
best lot of skins I ever saw you must bear in
mind that I have nothing to do with them
further than add to the collection a few speci¬
mens he had not but I shall be able to replace
them I hope, as I let you have the only specimen
that I possessed. I hav« sent a box of skins to

Professor Ronnel of London for the purpos of
geting their names & geting as many friends
(scientific) as 1 can. I have also sent a collec¬
tion of dried plants to the Linnaean society but
I do not think they will be of much use to
them as they possess them Dr Lindley has beha-
vourd in a most ungentlemanly manner to Gunn
who has sen! him two good collections of plants
and in return has not even condecended to
acknowledge the receipt, of them, nor sent books
nor anything else, it is just the same way he
treated me except that he honoured me with a
very scurrilous letter which I never did nor will
answer Mr Gunn is anxious that you should
send some of your specimens to Swainson for
the purpos of naming them. I do not know
weather he has mentioned it in his letter but he
has to me several times, as I and Gunn keep
the same numbers in all our pursuits, it makes
it much better as your letter & numbers agree
with all the collections that I send to England.
Gunn has got a very good correspondant at the

Cape Barron - Ludwick (or some such name)

who has sent a collection of 300 seeds to him.
the cape bulbs flourish in a most surprising
manner we have the ixias 3 & 5 ft high with
spikes of flowers on them 14 inches long. I shall
attempt to bring home the Grasstree & the
Tree fern if it is possible to be done with care
and attention 1 hope to manage. We are much
in want of rains the crops have suffered much,
but are now mostly cut, & housed: the weather is
dreadfully hot the thermometer has been 110
in the shade from the hot winds.

[Crossing first page.']

I am fear full that I shall be under the necessity
of returning to England earlier than I antici¬
pated as I have received the melloncholy intele-
gence of the death of a beloved brother who
died in Batavia from which circumstance I
expect my father will summons me home before
I complete my collection as I should wish. I
have written to the Linnaean society for the
purpos of becoming a member and as it is
requisite that some 2 or 3 fellows should sign
the certificate I have taken the Liberty of
mentioning your name as one who I think
would do it. I have other friend who will do
it but I prefer your name to others as it is my
intention to devote the whole of my life for
the future to scientific researches and I shall
if I live perhaps have the presumption to
become a candidate for a professores chair; by
this you will see that I am not lacking in
ambition, since I began this letter to you a
friend has sent me a lot of Insects which I
have enclosed more than I intended but I would
have sent more if I could have got cork, for
the box as it is I find I can get nothing but
New Zealand pine and it is as hard as oak wood,

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

if you wood send Gunn and I some pieces of
cork we could manage it better as it is I shall
wait & bring them with me when I return home,
I must beg of your son to reserve any duplicates
of insects or shells as I intend to make as large
a collection as I possibly can 1 am particularly
fond of conchology & have got a fine collection
of shells I must apologise for this letter which
I would have written anew after I reed the
supply of insects but I had not time as the
vessel is to clear out tomorrow I have not
time those insects marked in the list with red
ink are the last I received, they are from
Lawrance, who is making a collection of them
for you now if you could send Gunn [and?] I
a box like the one you sent Lawrence we could
collect a great number of insects as it is I
have only cork for my own boxes. I must com-
clude with regards to Mrs Hooker, your family
& self

Hoping the box will arrive safe
I remain Dear Sir
yours

Thomas Keir Short.

Gunn’s next letter went in the “ John
Denistoun ” with the animal and bird speci¬
mens. It seems probable that the Striped
Bandicoot that bear’s Gunn’s name was sent
at this time.

LETTER [ ]

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land.

Bth February, 1836.

My dear Sir,

I have this day shipped on board of the ship
“ John Denniston ” bound to London a Case of
Specimens in Natural History to your address —
I have enclosed Bill of Lading to John Ker
Esqe. London, to whose care the case is in¬
scribed. — The John Dennistoun sails tomorrow
from Launceston, and will most probably be
out of the River in a week, so that I hope they
will reach you safe and soon — the case is lined
with tin and 1 have taken every precaution by
packing every specimen in paper and wool
between, to prevent any from rubbing or getting
otherwise injured — Lots of camphor and spirits
of Turpentine have also been put in the box
so that I think they will be found perfectly
free from insects— As some of the specimens
of birds, lizards, &c. are small, and already
jamed in all corners I would recommend much
caution in the unpacking, also to prevent the
number being lost, or torn off, I put in the box

a List of every specimen, its sex, when shot, &c
also some sheets of Remarks on the habits of the
birds, the colour of their eyes, legs, &c and any
other particulars that I have been able to pick
up, but which my present employment and town
residence is very unfavourable to.— Of the
specimens of animals 1 had not time to say
anything, but will do so by my next box — some
Reptiles, a few Birds from New Holland, also
some Insects and Shells from Mr Short are
added — The case is a good size— but you
must judge for yourself when you see it. — )
also have written a long letter which is attached
to the notes, — and to which I more particularly
refer you. —

Mr Short continues to live with me, but starts
in about a fortnight for New Zealand — he will
be there about five weeks, and return in the
same vessel to Launceston — It is a bad season
to collect plants in flower, but he may obtain
a few specimens in fruit — and some of the
seeds may be dcsireable — His favourite pursuit
however appears to be conchology, in which he
may' be more successful at New Zealand

I have been much delayed from various causes
in getting my Plants ready for you, but do not
think I shall be many weeks iate. — It will he a
large lot. —

The plate 3396 of the Botanical Mag. “ Plagi-
anthus sidoides ” is my No. 452 — and you may
not be aware that both 452 and my 173 are

dioecious, a strange circumstance in Malvaceae_

the anthers of one sex being quite barren _ In

my last box I believe I sent specimens of one
sex only of 542 but this season I procured the
other and will forward them to you as also a
new species from near Campbell Town. — There
are many other notes I shall send you with the
Plants, but in the meantime keep this letter for
the Birds —

In the box are 333 skins of V.D.L. Birds of
75 species— 19 skins of Birds obtained from

New Holland not skinned by self. — 11 Animals _

2 Snakes, 2 Guanas, 3 lizards, 1 Bat, 2 Sea
Hedge hogs (a fish) — 1 frog— which I believe

is all — saving and except Shorts addition._ I

shall be anxious to hear from you at all times
and more particularly with the names — and any
Books — As the mail P. John Denniston closes in
half an hour I must hastily conclude.

N.B. The colour of the Iris of No. 17 — Blue
winged Parrokeet — is dark brown to black — I
had not before noted it. — A case or two of wide
mouthed bottles, with glass stoppers, or Corks
would be useful for snakes, fish. &c if you wish
for any — or some other person may R.C.G.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Written sideways as a note at the head of
the first page are these notes in Hooker’s
hand—

Sent in Jun 1836/Nos. 7-11 of Comp, to Bot.

Mag./Brit. FI. ed.3/Cryptog. Parts 1 & 2 / Con-
pend. ed Hook./Plates 1-44 of Ic. PI Rai. Lithogr/
Sir W. J. and son/ Soe. for promot. of Useful
Knowledge — Thomas’s Chemistry/

452. Plagianthus sidoides Hook.

173. P. pulchellus (Bonpl.) A. Gray.

542. Frenela australis R.Br. ex Endl., i.e.,
Callitris oblonga Rich.—the Native
Cypress . His new species was pos¬
sibly C. tasmanica —the Oyster Bay
Pine.

The letter was landed at Dover on 13th
July, 1836, and arrived in Scotland two days
later.

The list of birds and animals mentioned is
not in the file. Hooker no doubt sent it
with the specimens to the ornithologists and
zoologists who examined them.

Gunn’s next letter, though written from
Launceston, bears a new address, denoting
his appointment as Police Magistrate to
Circular Head. Written at the head is—

My present address is / Ronald C Gunn Esqe./
Police Magistrate/Circular Head, V.D.L.

LETTER 182.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land
2nd September 1836

My dear Sir,

Three of your letters have recently come to
hand as also the Box of Books which I hasten
to acknowledge and tender you my sincere
thanks for.—

I am now on a hurried visit to Launceston for
two or three days and have been unable either
to look over the Books or carefully peruse your
letters — but shall do so immediately after my
return to Circular Head — the bustle attendant
on my removal from Launceston, and getting
settled at Circular Head has prevented me

writing you earlier or forwarding the collection
of Plants 1 have now got nearly ready for you—
Short purposes returning to England in about
six weeks and I shall avail myself of his going
to send you I hope all my Collections to the
present time. — Mr. Short has just returned from
New Zealand where however his Collections have
been in my opinion inconsiderable — He is very
indolent as a collector and always begs or
purchases in preference. — He has been living
much with me & now goes down to Circular
Head where I have had his books. — He is really
supremely ignorant, vain & conceited and al¬
though we agree very well together, I must say
that I have seldom met with a young man who
has seen so much of the world and benefited
so little by his experiences. He has been extra¬
vagant out here and I am now obliged to
procure him the funds (about £150) to go to
England or otherwise he would have been a dead
weight & no assistance to me. — I must also
caution you in receiving all his Botanical & Nat.
Hist, information as also that relating to these
Colonies in general cum gran salis — He is not
particular in matters of fact — Indeed his indul¬
gence in the marvellous, &e &c has prevented
his acquiring many true friends out here— I have
been enabled to sift out some of his better
qualities, and by making allowance for all the
rest, manage him well, but others have failed —
indeed Short has in many points reason to be
thankful that he became known to me — as I
hardly know what he would otherwise have
done. — all this is for your own information and
I only' conceived it necessary to inform you upon
these points lest you might be induced to
publish some of Mr Short’s statements, which
although some may be pretty correct, the prob¬
ability is that at least one half would be
wrong— Do not however make these opinions
of mine known to him as it can do him no
good.—

I have already informed you that I have been
appointed Police Magte to the North Western
part of V.D.L. including the Hampshire & Surrey
Hills, Emu Bay, Circular Head & Cape Grim
[Inserted above in another hand (a glorious
country, W.J.H .)]. — and I think I shall be able
to send you a few novelties — I have already
seen two new Acacias, a new Billardiera— &
some others. —

I shall write you fully by the oppty Mr Short
goes Home by— and until then must crave your
patience. —

I am in a bustle getting matters in order for
my return and will prove an excuse for this
hasty note—

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

[He closes and adds ~\—

Dr Lindley’s explanation has been most satis¬
factory and I shall write him fully by first
oppty.

On his leaving Launceston Gunn was pre¬
sented with a snuff box with this inscription
on it—

“ Presented to R. C. Gunn Esq. by his
friends in the Northern Division of the
island of V.D. Land, as a token of their
regard and esteem, as also to mark their
sense of his obliging and upright con¬
duct as Superintendent of Convicts at
Launceston ”.

The next letter, from Jorgen Jorgenson,
acquaints Sir William Jackson Hooker of the
departure of the island’s governor, Colonel
Arthur.

LETTER 203.

Hobarton, Van Diemen’s Land
28 October 1836.

Sir,

I seize this opportunity, our present Lieu¬
tenant Governor Colonel Arthur leaving this
Colony after a reign of nearly thirteen years,
to write to you. 1 wrote about two years since
to you, and one subsequently, but have not been
favoured with any replies. — I however heard
•from Mr Gunn that you had not altogether
forgotten me. I had the heart-felt satisfaction
of observing in some of our public journals
that your Sovereign has bestowed on you those
honors which you so justly merit. Nothing
could afford me greater gratification than receiv¬
ing some few lines from you er’e the grave
closes either upon you or me. — Colonel Arthur
will deliver this letter or rather the parcel con¬
taining it to Mr Thomas Chisholme Anstey, a
young gentleman of the most splendid qualities,
now studying the law in London. — He is the
son of Mr Thomas Anstey of this Colony, a
very wealthy gentleman, and large proprietor
of land.— He is a member of the Legislative
Council — a Magistrate— Coroner — and Direc¬
tor of the Derwent Bank.— To me, since my
stay in this Colony, he has been a steady friend
and patron. I shall request Mr J. C. Anstey
to enclose my letter to you under cover, and
should be happy through him to hear from you—

As our Governor is about leaving us I shall
endeavour to furnish you with some outlines of
this gentleman’s character and career.— Colonel
Arthur’s administration merits particular atten¬
tion, and the Statesman may derive a lesson
from contemplating on the amazing progress
the Colony has made through the perseverance
and prudence of a single man. — The genius of
Colonel Arthur’s government is not developed
at a hasty glance, but should we proceed on¬
wards and gradually we shall have room for
cool reflection, and that reflection will lead us
on till we find ourselves astonished at what a
single individual can achieve, who is highly
gifted, and endued with courage, patience, and
equanimity of temper. — All these we have
found in Colonel Arthur, and each succeeding
year has in a higher degree unfolded the powers
of his mind. — Now that he is on the eve of
quitting our shores for ever there is a sort of
gloom hanging over us which is not easily
described.

The Colonists have come forward in a most
extraordinary manner, in numberless addresses,
to express their sense of Colonel Arthur’s merit
and services. Independent of which the large
sum of £1500 has been raised by subscription
for a service of plate to His Excellency_

What I have here stated is merely a simple
tribute I cannot help offering to the memory
of a gentleman who may in the justest sense
be styled the founder of the Colony, whether
we consider the vast improvements made during
his administration — general education, and
prison discipline. —

I could write a great deal more, but as I am
uncertain whether you take any interest in
matters of this kind, or whether my communica¬
tions are well received, I shall conclude with
subscribing myself your

most obedient Servant

and sincere welwisher
J Jorgenson.

Sir William Jackson Hooker.

Mr. T. C. Anstey, through whom the letter
reached Sir William, was the son of Mr.
Thomas Anstey, owner of the Anstey Barton
estate near Oatlands, in the Tasmanian Mid¬
lands. Thomas Anstey senior had befriended
Jorgenson after he had left the Van Diemen’s
Land Company’s service, and obtained for
him the post of constable for the Oatlands
district. Here Jorgenson was in charge
of roving bands that tried to maintain order
between the blacks and the white settlers.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Although, since Arthur was its bearer, it
was diplomatic to speak well of him in
the letter, Jorgenson evidently had a high
opinion of the ex-governor. In the second
part of his “ Fragment of an Autobio¬
graphy ”, published in Eliston’s (formerly
Ross’s) “ Hobart Town Almanack ” for
1836, he devotes a section to a description
of the departure of Colonel Arthur, “ His
Excellency’s Lady and their interesting
family of twelve children ”, praising Arthur
and belittling his enemies. Jorgenson
shrewdly observes that these enemies that
at first fawned on the new governor, Sir
John Franklin, were soon in a faction against
him, too.

Gunn’s next three letters, all sent by
different vessels, in November, 1836, advise
of the early despatch of another box of plant
specimens. In the first, marked private, he
gives Hooker his present opinion of Mr.
Short’s character; in the second and third,
following advice from Launceston, his
opinion of Short, who was returning to
England with Gunn’s assistance, has wors¬
ened considerably.

LETTER 180.

PRIVATE

Circular Head 10th Novr 1836.

My dear Sir,

I have it last got my plants ready— but have
been quite unable to get them P. Guiana— but
they will leave by the first vessel from Launces¬
ton in Decemr — The new Nos amount to above
160. — and some good specimens of the older
numbers. — As a collection altogether it is
good. —

Mr T. K. Short proceeds to England in the
Guiana, and has done little good in these
Colonies. — He spent all the means he possessed
in the most foolish manner, and would have
become a burden on me had I not shipped him
off — As he had not the means — I procured
him the loan of £200, becoming security for its
repayment, for which he has given a draft on
his father and which I hoped he will see duly
honoured. — Mr Short appeared utterly devoid of
application — to make money or earn a liveli¬
hood appeared to him impracticable — and all

he aimed at was notoriety as a great Naturalist
& Traveller His collections he always purchased
where possible, and all his other information he
principally gleaned from me by copying my
various memoranda on Birds & Plants— But
even with that assistance so little research does
he himself posses that I would recommend much
caution in your publishing or acting upon
information received from him.— Ilis ignorance
can only be equalled by his vanity and assump¬
tion of knowledge — or I might say impudence.—
He did not ascend one Hill or mountain in
V.D.L. and has not seen nine tenths of our most
common and beautiful plants although acces¬
sible.— His New Zealand collection is far from
good — His insects are the collection principally
of Mr. Lawrence’s son— His Birds sent Home
were all from me — & the few he now takes
done by my servant. — His neglect of Truth
however in the commonest matters is his greatest
failing and one which has lost him the good
opinion of many who would otherwise have been
his friends— although I must so far say that he
draws the long-bow almost entirely in the
attempts to magnify his exertions, knowledge,
& discoveries— and in the attempts to make him¬
self a great man.—

I have now given you his bad points— which
a long residence under my roof enabled me to
see continually — and I must now say something
on the other side.—

In the first place down to the present moment
we never had a difference and many acts of
mutual kindness passed between us—I believe
him to be much & sincerely attached to me— and
indeed he ought to be— He has a goodness of
heart which compensated for much, and would
have made him a pleasing companion had not
his vanity led him astray— Ho never willingly
said or did anything to annoy me — and there¬
fore I feel every wish to benefit him— and
sincerely wish him well— but as I do not believe
you knew him so well as I now do I consider it
only an act of Justice to you to inform you on
the many points in the early part of this letter—
and although to me your introduction carried
its full weight— I think when you again have an
opportunity of seeing him you will be able so
to question him as to convince [yourself?} that
my opinion is a true one.—

This I wish to be strictly confidential— and
that you will only take advantage indirectly
of the information it contains in as far as
you may find it to be correct— with Mr Short
I still desire to be friendly & correspond — but
my knowledge of his character will always
enable me to make the necessary allowances and
deductions

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

[After closing he adds\ —

My box will contain longer letter on the Plants
& other matters

My address now is R. C. Gunn

Police Magistrate

Circular Head V.D.L.

According to postmarks, the letter was
landed at Gravesend as an “ India Letter ”
and reached Glasgow on 24th April, 1887.

LETTER 30.

Circular Head 16th Novemr 1836.

My dear Sir,

I at last sit down to inform you that I have
forwarded by the V.D.L. Company’s vessel to
Launn. a box containing dried specimens of
Plants, which I hope may be in time to go by
the “ Guiana ” to London, which vessel was to
sail about this time. — The Collection is con¬
siderable, and contains about 150 new Num¬
bers,— I am however now in an interesting field,
and the vegetation is in many points new to
me— I hope by next season to add considerably
to my list — but my promises have really so
frequently been broken that I shall not hastily
make more. The time occupied in arranging
and comparing my specimens, collected in many
different situations, occupies considerable time
— and Mr Shorts residence with me until
October last — my removal here, & other causes
have delayed me far beyond what I could have
imagined — and some of the specimens suffered
considerably from damp — I can only hope when
you do receive them you will not be disappointed.

I wrote you hastily from Launceston on 1st
Septr. last but shall now reply to your highly
valued letters of 12 Oct 1835 and Jany 1836
more at length.— Your Present of Books I can
hardly thank you enough for — they are really
invaluable, — and I hope you do not overrate
my slender assistance. — However I must now
reply to your letters in due order — Your dis¬
posal of Shorts Seeds I think the best that could
be [mudcf] and I only deeply regret that the
Willows which I value so much were entirely
dead — Immediately on their arrival at Hobart
Town my brother got the Supt. of the Govt.
Garden to unpack and examine them, but did
not find a sign of vegetation in them. It is
really quite disheartening.— Your remarks on
the Sympiesometer and Camera lucida are satis¬
factory and I do not wish to procure either
now as I do not think they would answer the

purpose for which I wanted them.— Your com¬
mands relative to my putting the Remarks on
seperate pieces of Paper alongside of the speci¬
mens I have this season attended to, but my
utter ignorance of Botany beyond what I
recently acquired, renders me unable to do that
justice in them which I could have done hid 1
known Botany previous to my arrival in the
Colony — but better a bad collector than none —
and I am aware you will pardon, or laugh at,
as the case may be, any blunder my extreme
ignorance may have caused me to make. —
Indeed I feel convinced the more every day of
my inability to communicate my thoughts in
language sufficiently plain and explicit. —

I am not aware whether Backhouse made a
large collection at Norfolk Island or not. — I
think it probable he did — as he is indefatigable
in collecting— although .specimens are very fre¬
quently few and small of a species. 1 believe
there is little else to reply to particularly. —

I sent you a case of Bird Skins by the “John
Dennistoun ” to London in February 1836, and
I hope they have reached you safe, as I took
considerable pains and in some cases spared no
expense to get them well done & as various
as possible, and I packed them myself as care¬
fully as I could. — I shall be much grieved if
any mischance has befallen them. — 1 have got a
good lot more for you, and a number of other
species to add to the 70 already sent, — and
although I will not promise, I intend that they
shall follow the box now sent in a very few
months. — At Circular Head I nave also turned
shell collector, and it is probable I shall be able
to send you 70 to 100 species of Van Diemen’s
Land Shells at the same time as the Birds. —
Could not Swainson be made to assist in furnish¬
ing me with books ? — I shall send you enough
for yourself and to spare and I have thought
that Swainson both in the Zoological & Concho-
logical Departments might be made to cooperate

— I do not feel satisfied at drawing incessantly
on your Pocket and would like to levy contri¬
butions on others, yet I wish tlat it should
come through you, and that your Sons, should
they so feel inclined, might have an opportunity
of describing and publishing any new species
which I may be fortunate enough to send Home,

— but more on that subject when I send them.

Having broken the chain of my Nos to Lindley

by not forwarding him any new Nos. in 1835 —

I do not think I shall again resume my corres¬
pondence with him — I have therefore sent you
all my collections for the two last seasons, and
shall leave it to you to give such portion to
Dr Lindley, or any other Botanist as you can
spare and as you can get a fair equivalent for—
My collections to you will soon become valuable
& I trust to make them more so if nothing

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

comes in the way to prevent my collecting.—
I am glad you are soon about to publish as
you may otherwise be anticipated by others in
the naming of Plants which ought to be from
you — and I presume that is at all times con¬
sidered desirable. — as showing you to be the
first describer. — I wish you every success — and
the time may come when I shall have an oppor¬
tunity of saying so face to face — and enjoy
at the same time the great treat of looking over
your immense herbarium. —

To the remarks with each specimen I refer
you for any further particulars — My new Nos.
are principally from George Town and Hobart
Town— Those from Hobart Town made during
a hurried visit I paid that Town in Novr &
could only devote one day to ascending Mt
Wellington & adding a few I collected on the
road side. — From Dr Milligan of Hampshire
Hillls are some fine specimens. —

At Circular Head I find a considerable number
of plants that I had not before seen growing —
having received my specimens from Backhouse
& Dr Milligan— At Woolnorth I have also seen
two or three and anticipate some more— indeed
J could hardly be placed in a situation better
suited for collecting— as all the seaside plants
were previously inaccessible to me or nearly so—
My only want will be a mountain of which
there are none near. — My Police District is
about 100 miles long— if I went by land— ex¬
tending from Cape Grim to Emu Bay, & from
thence including the Hampshire & Surrey Hills,
— but extensive as it is on the map I am
happy to say the duties are almost a sinecure —
and as compared to the situation I left, entirely
so.— At Launceston I have frequently tried
upwards of 30 cases in a day — here I have had
only 18 in six months— and I take matters in
most other points as easily as possible. Mr E.
Curr, the prinl. Agent of the V.D.L. Co. &
writer of a book on V.D.L., is the manager and
resides here— We are on excellent terms —
and being allowed a Horse by the Govt., when I
want one, I ride a little in difft. directions — a
Schooner belonging to the Company also enables
me to visit Woolnorth easily & frequently,— so
that I am not precisely tied to the Peninsula of
Circular Head. — About Deer I intend visiting
the Hampshire & Surrey Hills. —

Colonel Arthur has at last left the Govt, of
V.D.L. and not generally regretted, although the
Colony has certainly under his charge attained
an almost unexampled degree of prosperity.- —
To Science he was unfavourable, and less is
known of the Nat Hist of V.D.L. in it — than
in England.— Many of our animals and Birds
will become extinct or nearly so yet no attempt

at a Museum, Botanical or Zoological Gardens
has been made. — Ground here is valueless
comparatively speaking— & Convict labour far
from dear yet an immense Govt. Garden and
Domain with Supt & labourers were always
employed growing cabbages, carrots, & such
like for the Governor’s table & Horses — not that
that could be precisely objected to, but a few
pounds employed in collecting Emus, the
different species of Kangaroo, Wombat, &c.,
would have been no groat matter, & their food,
being grass alone, no expense would have been
incurred beyond fencing in a piece of ground.—
Emus are now extremely rare— and in a few
years will be quite gone, and no means has
been taken in the Colony to domesticate or
breed them. — Kangaroo have been killed in tens
of thousands for the sake of their skins, &
persons may live in V.D.L. for months without
seeing one — I hope Sir John Franklin will alter
matters a little. In New South Wales things
are managed otherwise. —

I have little more to add to this long letter—
there is little news here that can interest you. —
My intention of settling on the South Coast of
New Holland is for the present postponed — a
settlement has however been formed at Port
Phillip from V.D.L. by a number of Gentn. &
at least 30,000 sheep are over there.— A Com¬
mandant & Military have been sent from Sydney
to keep order, but it is sure to thrive astonish¬
ingly fast from the knowledge of the Settlers,
with the Colonial management, their wealth &
its vicinity to V.D.L.— More than can be said
1 am afraid for King Georges Sound or Spencer’s
Gulf— however they have got a fine country
& climate —

My List of Wants must now begin— and I
only hope that you will charge me with such
portion as you think above the value of my
remittances but I hope the Birds &c. will enable
you to make others contribute as I feel reluctant
to draw so much on you.—

1st. Noveau Dictionaire des Sciences Naturelle—
which you say can be got at £18.18/- by all
means

2nd. Botanical Journal. I never received but the
first No of this Periodical from you and will feel
obliged for the others. —

3rd. Companion to Magne. — All Nos except
3. 4. 5 & 6.

4th. Arnotts Elements of Physics.— In your
letter, but not in my box. — still wanted —
You say it is with my Brother— And he
may have omitted to send it.—

5th. Vol 15, Linnaean Transactions Pages 170
to 331— containing an acct. of Australian

60 VAN DIEMEN S LAND

Birds— much desired— as also an article in
vol. 14. P. 430 (or thereabouts) contg. an
acct. of their structure.— I have seen the
former in the possession of a Gentleman
here, and I covet it much.—

6th. Illustrated introduction to Lamarcks Conch-
ology — by E. A. Crouch. — This I would
like to possess as also some of Swainsons
works on Zoology — however, should you
find the latter too expensive, perhaps when
my next Zoological Box arrives, you may
be able to drive a bargain with him for
some Books. — Shells are abundant at Cir¬
cular Head and as my walks take me con¬
stantly over the beaches I should like to
possess a slight knowledge of Conehology—

& its species— I possess Mawe’s Introduc¬
tion — good in its ways but not sufficient.

7th. Part 8 of Bentham’s Labiatae — I received
the first seven Parts from the author. —

8th Lindleys “ Orchideae ” except Parts 1, 2,

3, 4 which I reed, from the author. —

9th. The British Cyclopaedia, by C. F. Parting¬
ton, Division Natural history— 2 copies. —
One of these I wish to give Dr Milligan, —

I have given him a copy of Loudon’s Enc.
of Plants— received from Dr Lindley, &
all the other duplicates I possess, but which
amount to a few — as my whole stock is
from you.—

I must now I think close my list of wants—

I requested Mr Short to send me the Botanical
Magne New Series — in return for what I may
send him, but although promised, I do not
depend much on his performance.—

Any other stray Books you think useful you
can send — and I shall be happy to remit the
value and indeed in some cases an extra copy
would be useful as enabling me to make a
profitable exchange with Collectors,—

I wrote you on 1st Septr. from Launn. & on
10th Novemr from Circular Head— the latter
entirely relative to Mr Short.— That Gentleman
you will most probably have seen before this
reaches you and my letters were principally
cautions lest you might publish from Mr Shorts
information, which in nine cases out of ten would
be incorrect upon all points— he draws hasty
conclusions from isolated facts— and I do not
think any person ever left V.D.L. with less
correct information & more prejudice — On
Natural History he can say nothing— Plants
he never collected except within a mile of
Launn in my Garden & a few at Circular Head. —

CORRESPONDENTS

He never ascended a mountain of any kind, —
or slept one night in the open air, as all collec¬
tors must very often do — and in our climate
without inconvenience. — Shells — Mr Short
picked up a few at Circular Head, but upwards
of one half were received from others — as from
his plethoric & full habit he could not stoop! —
this in a young man of 22! — Birds he made a
miserable fist of — and all he sent Home were
from me — those he now takes were his own
shooting & done by my servant, but the number
does not exceed 12! — Insects 1 have told you
about. — He now talks of writing a work on
V.D.L..— a work on New Zealand — & one on
Conehology. — 1 hope his better judgement will
prevail when he gets Home, — and, as before
stated, even his notes & memoranda would
not be valuable from their incorrectness on
most points — to a Bookmaker. — I sincerely
wish him well — but unless he changes he will
make a sad fool of himself — and unless pos¬
sessed of much money — will spend more than
his income. — These remarks may prove useful
to you and it will not be essential that Short
should be aware of your reasons for not publish¬
ing from his notes — as I have every reason to
believe that he wishes you to do so. — I hope
in my so freely discussing this matter you will
not attribute it to private malicious or jealous
feelings — For a long time after I saw Mr S’s
character I hesitated in expressing my opinion
to you and thought that you would soon be
able to judge for yourself— but since then —
notwithstanding the ill opinion you might form
of me in attempting to prejudice you against a
friend, I felt that I was only acting consci¬
entiously, & doing as I would wish to be done to,
to caution you, leaving it to yourself to act or
not upon the limits given — So ends Mr Short,
with whom, as already stated on 10 Novr 1
intend to correspond, but will be more in the
way of exchange of goods than of ideas. —

I have little now to add— I hope soon to send
you another box of something — and I think it
probable that in two months it will be on its
way — I am collecting Plants largely & have
almost as many drying as are now sent — so you
may look forward to more work —

[He adds ] —

P.S. Add to my list of wants — Illustrations of
American Ornithology by Captn Brown Cold,
plates. — being Companion to the letter press in
Constables Miscellany. I possess the letter
press, but want the plates. — I also want Paper
to dry Plants in if you can conveniently send
me any of the thick Grey absorbing kind similar
to some you sent me before.

Pardon errors as 1 have been obliged to write
this letter hastily—

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

The letters alluded to 1st September, 1835,
from Launceston, and 10th November, from
Circular Head, are not in the file. That of
1st September, however, probably contained
much the same matter as that of 25th Sep¬
tember, which would go in a different vessel.
Presumably Gunn had visited Circular Head
in November to take a look around before
accepting the new’ appointment. At the
time he had evidently been contemplating
leaving the government service to seek his
fortune at the new settlement of Port Phillip,
just founded by Batman and Fawkner and
their parties, and had made a brief visit
there from Circular Head in 1835. Gunn,
in his letters, always referred to the main¬
land of Australia as New- Holland, which
was indeed its official British title until the
colonies wei’e granted self government in the
eighteen-fifties. The name Australia, how¬
ever, suggested by Flinders in 1802, was
already in general current usage.

His Circular Head appointment at a salary
of £300 gave Gunn a great opportunity for
adding to his botanical specimens, and plenty
of leisure for collecting, a respite from the
hard work and worries of his Launceston
home and office. Colonel Arthur had not
encouraged the study of Natural History,
and Gunn obviously did not regret his depar¬
ture.

LETTER 169.

Circular Head, V.D. Land
20th November 1836

My dear Sir,

I have now shipped a Case of dried specimens
to Launceston, to go by the first vessel to
London and addressed it to the care of Mr David
Maclean, Lobby, Custom House, London, to whom
I have written enclosing a Bill of Lading, to be
filled up by my agent in Launceston and I need
hardly add I hope it will reach you safe and
in good order.— The New Nos extend from 617 to
772 — not including Cryptogameae — but the
duplicates of my old Nos are very numerous
and in many cases good. — A few from the
South Coast of New Holland are put in, but arc
far from interesting & with very few exceptions
similar to species in V.D.L, indeed I was aston¬
ished to see the similarity although if we bear

in mind that the diffce of Latt. between Cape
Otway (one of the points visited) & C. Head
being only about two degrees, no great difference
could be expected.

I have just received letters from Launceston
and mentioning Mr Short’s departure for Eng¬
land — I regret to add that his conduct on
leaving the Colony was very bad — He has
left a number of his accounts unpaid — and
attempted to pay off one of £30 by giving an
order on me — but which was not taken —
Indeed, some of his transactions, as reported
in various letters to me, from different persons,
amount to acts of swindling — and I therefore
feel not a little anxious that I shall have to lose
the sum of £172.10/- advanced to him by Messrs
Willis Keogh & Co through our friend Mr
Thomas Scott, upon my guarantee, & for which
Mr Short gave a Bill on his Father’s Agents
Messrs Goodwin & Lee, London. — This will be
in addition to Cash lent him by myself, but
for which I care little, although my young family
will suffer a little — I will under these circum¬
stances feel obliged by your writing to his
Father, and induce him to honour the Bill, or
should it be dishonoured previous to receipt
of this, that he may as early as possible, remit
the amount & expenses —

From Mr Short’s conduct throughout in this
matter and which he has kept from me, I have
the greatest fear that his principles are bad —
and I am sorry that an individual so undeserving
should have been able to procure letters from
you which led to his introduction into the
best V.D.L. society— and which his present
conduct has so deeply disgraced. — I wrote you
as fully on this subject in some of my letters as
I thought myself justified in — but I now feel
more than ordinarily annoyed at having my
great kindness and greater hospitality abused
and imposed on.

After Mr Shorts Cash transactions are settled,
if ever, my correspondence with him will cease,
— and I may now safely recommend that yours
should also.— I shall feel very anxious to hear
from you upon this subject— a loss of about
£200 with my limited means & large family' —
will be no joke — and prove not a little embar¬
rassing.—

The letter was landed at Falmouth and
was in Glasgow on 28th June, 1837.

The letter with the plants despatched by
the “ Guiana ” (if it arrived) is not in the
file. Gunn’s next letter, a long one, was
written some four months later, after he

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

had spent a few days with Dr. Milligan,
collecting plants and other natural history
specimens at the Hampshire Hills and adjoin¬
ing country. It contains, as well, the news of
the death of his wife in Dublin, and a little
more autobiographical information.

At the end of the letter he “ devotes a
seperate sheet to Mr. Short ”, giving a
resume of that pseudo-naturalist’s sojourn
and misdemeanours in Van Diemen’s Land.

LETTER 33.

Circular Head, Van Diemen’s Land
31st March 1837.

My dear Sir,

Your much esteemed letters of 24th June, 15th
& 29th July, have all come to hand, as also
the Box of Books P. Elizabeth, a few days
ago —- and I need not tell you how delighted I
was — I must however proceed to reply to
such parts of your letters I think require it
and then proceed to detail my own doings. —

To one so young in the pursuit of Nat. History
your praise is most gratifying, and indeed incites
me to go on — that my dried plants should
please so veteran a Botanist as yourself is more
than I could reasonably have expected— and
now that you praise my Birds I hardly know
what to think — unless it is that you lean with
a kindly eye to a beginner — if they please it
is all that I desire. — Your hopes of Mr Shorts
collection at New Zealand will I am afraid not
be realised— His whole collection including
Cryptogamia amounted to about 50 species &
many of these very bad. — Insects about 12 to
20 species & all these I believe bought.— Indeed
by money alone did Mr Short collect— & I
regret to say it will prove to be by mine — but
more about him hereafter. —

Your Remarks about Swainson arc I doubt not
correct, & my only view in suggesting him as a
person who would take off some of the spare
Bird Skins arise from advertisements in his
Naturalists Guide. — I care little however if
they please you and your son.—

On the Books I can say little — beyond most
cordially thanking you for your liberality— I
only sincerely hope you arc keeping within
bounds. — On No 7 of the Companion to the
Bot. Mag. you desire me to return it should I
have two copies, but you have not previously
sent it— so I have retained it. — I still want
Nos 1 & 2 which you did not send in the first
Box. — With the specimens of the Plates for

your new work I am much pleased — they are
very correct except Correa Backhousiana — the
flowers of which are pendulous & not erect.—
They have been rubbed upwards in drying by
the Gentn. who sent them to me from Woolnorth
— you will however receive plenty of my fine
specimens in a Box 1 lately despatched, but by
what vessel it went I do not know. — I now
endeavour to dry my specimens as much as
possible like nature — and prevent their shrivel¬
ling up as much as I can before submitting them
to pressure. — I must not make any reply to your
letters without expressing my added obligations
to you for your kind intention of mentioning my
name to our new Governor Sir John Franklin —
I have not yet seen him — but hope to do so in
a few weeks, about which time I purpose visiting
Hobart Town — the Colonists are as yet delighted
with him and I think there is little doubt but a
man of his character will please.—

I have now packed an immense chest e*
sundries in the Natural History line — of which
I annex a full list of contents.— A Pair of V.D.
Land Emus, a bird now almost extinct, obliged
my having it made 5 feet long— & of course
larger than would otherwise have been deemed
essential.— Of the Birds, Animals, fish &c I
can say little,— they are as various as the
opportunities I possessed of collecting would
allow, & as good as my limited means and skill
would allow.— I hope they may give satisfac¬
tion.— In a separate Box inside I have packed up
for you a collection of Shells, & various marine
matters, part of my Circular Head labours—
the Shells are about as good as can be got from
this Colony — Few however possess any remark¬
able beauty.—Mr. Short informed me that Miss
Hooker was fond of shells, should such be the
case I only hope she will accept of those now
sent, and that I may have the pleasure of
adding her as another of my correspondents
in your family — as I wish to possess the
names of the shells also. Do not be afraid
that I shall neglect your favourite Botany—
Birds, Shells, &c are useful in the winter when
the plants are not in flower — but in Summer —
Plants — plants— plants only. — My Botanical
Collection for the last six months has been
immense — it far surpasses in quantity &
quality— although perhaps not in variety—
that of any other season — or I may say two,
yet I have left much undone.— I am now
arranging them as fast as I can, but do not
expect to get them off for a few months after
this— There will be many novelties — but it is
impossible to enumerate them, — I may however
say that there are two additional species of
Drosera — neither of which I had before seen.—
A new Stackhousia, small, with yellow flowers
from Woolnorth— another Hovea— a Calys-

T. E. BURNS * J. R. SKEMP

tegia (probably reniformis)— plenty of Comes-
perma calymega ? and others of which I can
give you no idea in Myrtaceae, and Compositae,
&c.— In Orchideae I have also got some new
& beautiful species, indeed I think of two or
more additional Genera. — Gunnia australis 1
find abundant within four to five miles of
Circular Head parasitic on the Aster Argo-
phy'llus Pomaderris apetala, & 219. — I did not
discover it until late in the season, & found few
jn flower. — My collection however as a whole
will illustrate a great number of my older Nos.
of which I never obtained very good specimens,
& I have also now collected many myself for
the first time, having received my only speci¬
mens from Mr Backhouse, Dr Milligan or
others. — I visited the Hampshire & Surrey Hills
jn Feby, and, considering the limited means I
had of transporting a large package of undried
plants to Circular Head, I did pi'etty well.— I
exhausted Dr Milligans scant supply of Paper—
but the season was in many respects too far
advanced. — I must pay it another visit earlier
next season as I am not satisfied altogether
yet — Dr Milligans arduous duties as Surgeon
Superintendent over the V.D.L. Company’s
Establishment at the Hampshire and Surrey
Hills allow him but little time to devote to
Botany — as formerly he had only his duties as
Surgeon to perform. — The Hampshire Hills
are from 1200 to 1500 feet above the level of
the sea — and most of the plants in the neigh¬
bourhood I have been accustomed to see on the
sides of the mountains near Launceston.— My
rambles extended as far as Middlesex Plains over
the Black Bluff which must be upwards of 4000
feet high— here many new Plants delighted
me — but I can hardly, even now, with patience
record that my servant lost my whole collection
from that locality, and I discovered my loss too
late to be able to replace it.— During my whole
Botanical life of 5 years I certainly met with
no loss that annoyed me so much. — I shall
be able to muster one or two specimens however
of each species (or nearly so) which Dr Milligan
fortunately collected for himself & kept in his
pocket — From Rocky Cape I have collected
beautiful specimens of Xanthorrhoea Australis?
of Backhouse in flower and fruit — Blandfordia
in flower and fruit — Banksia serrata ? (aemula
of Backhouse) & many similar things. — Wool-
north, alias Cape Grim has also added a few —
and many I now have for the first time got speci¬
mens in fruit.— Altogether, I am quite pleased
with myself this season, and when you receive
them which I hope will be in due course of
events, that you will be delighted too. —

To a Mrs John Grant Smith you are indebted
for a collection of Algae herewith sent— She is
a very estimable fellow resident of mine at

Circular Head, where her husband is storekeeper,
and to her I am under the greatest obligations
for her great attention in changing my large
collections of Plants when in paper drying
during my repeated absences to Woolnorth, to
the Hampshire Hills and else where, and without
her my collection would have been far less, & a
great proportion of those collected would have
been spoiled. — Her collection of Sea-Weeds are
very prettily dried, and if they are not as
choice & various as you could have wished, you
must blame me & not her, for being unable to
direct. — Three fourths of the Shells are also
of her collecting.— Mr. Smith by the bye is a
Glasgow Gent. — A nephew of Mrs Anne Grant
of Laggan, Authoress of Letters from the Moun¬
tains, Roy’s wife, &c & also nephew to Mrs. Dr.
Wardlaw of Glasgow.

I forgot to mention earlier that Mrs Gunn
died at Dublin on 25th June 1836, leaving me a
widower with five children at the age of 28.—
She was the daughter of a brother officer of my
Fathers — and we were companions in the West
Indies — Both our Fathers having died at
Antigua. I married her — love our only por¬
tion— I only 18 years of age and she 19. —
Notwithstanding many difficulties I was very
happy, never repented, & until a few years ago
had no complaint— she then unaccountably to
me, and I believe to herself, became so fondly
attached to the bottle that all other considera¬
tions were forgot. — My misery was almost
complete— my ruin hung by a thread, — when
I fortunately got her Home to her friends, and
at the early age of 29 she fell a victim— her
constitution, originally very strong, completely
overpowered.—It has in many points made an
old man of me. —

With Alexr. Macleay Esqe. of Sydney I was
not personally acquainted, — My Brother knew
him, — and through Mr Backhouse I intended
opening a correspondence with him at the time
I heard he had left or was about to leave New
South Wales.- — He has a daughter married to a
son of Major afterwards Lt. Col. Ronald Camp¬
bell of the 72nd. regt. after whom I was named. —

I have very little more to add— I send you
notes on almost every species of Bird, Mammal,
or Shell sent — they are it is true very hastily
written; and without that previous study
which is essential to correctness of style, or
elegance in writing — but it is out of my power
to do anything like justice to the various sub¬
jects, Most of my assertions will I think
however be found to be true, and, should need
be, you can clothe my facts in your own
language — Terms will I doubt not be often

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

found misapplied but to a novice like myself,
ignorant of all Scientific terms, such must be
expected.—

If not too late, I must I am afraid request you
to countermand my order for Books.— Should
Mr. Short’s Bill be dishonoured, as I but too
much feel will be the case, it will take all my
spare means, and indeed I fear some serious
sacrifices, to pay it — as it is but too probable
other claims on me may be pressed at the same
time— It cannot now be helped.—

I also will feel obliged by your returning me
the Cartridge Paper I send with the specimens,
or some other as the price here is most exor¬
bitant — A little good thick grey paper to dry
specimens in would also be acceptable. —

Hoping to hear from you as frequently as your
other more important duties and correspondence
will allow, believe me to be

[He adds ]—

P.S. As my Brother might sometimes wish to
avail himself of the opportunity of your sending
out a box of Books, &c, of writing to me, I will
be obliged by our letting him know sometime
previous. — He is not one of the most regular
correspondents in the world.

I think it as well to devote a seperate sheet
to Mr Short— it is a pity to mix so very
unpleasant a business with everything that is
delightful. — Prom time to time circumstances
transpired which led me, reluctantly at first,
to caution you relative to believing or publishing
statements received from Mr S. beyond this I
had little reason to find fault— His introduction
to me by you stamped him as being Mr Short
of Martin and respectable and I was also aware
of his having brought out letters to other
respectable individuals— he came out as a
Cabin Passenger — And in looking over his
things I found him possessed of a most expen¬
sive, though ill assorted, collection of Books,
instruments, &c which must have cost even in
England two or three hundred Pounds. — Choice
wines, also, part as he said of his sea-stock. —
However ignorant he might be, he had the
manner of being rich, spoke largely, & his
statements were so far borne out by his equip¬
ment.— On first asking his views — he replied
“ They are entirely in pursuit of Natural History
& at the end of twelve months or so to return
Home.—” Unfortunately for me he deposited
his Books in my house — I was afraid to lose
the use of them, & finding that he was living
at a ruinous rate at an Hotel— that is at about
£500 a year — I invited him to join me in my
humble fare & I would make him up a bed—

as I was then recently seperated from my
wife.— This was in the latter Part of 1835.
From that period until his departure for Eng¬
land, with the exception of his short visit to
New Zealand — my house was his Home and my
friends were his friends— through me he was
introduced to almost every respectable person
in the Northern Division of V.D.L. & at Mr
Lawrence’s, as elsewhere, he had a general invi¬
tation. — His boorish and uncouth manners were
tolerated on my account, and I endeavoured to
make every apology for his evidently neglected
education. However I need not enlarge on my
kindness to him — it was unremitting — I am
said to be naturally good & easy tempered,
cheerful, & warm hearted — and so far Mr Short
had full benefit of them. —

Sometime before his departure 1 had become
fairly tired of him — He kept my servant
incessantly attending on him — and my house
in a litter — His funds were exhausted, and
although I believed in his statement that large
remittances might be expected daily, I but too
plainly saw from his want of energy & applica¬
tion that ruin alone could attend him in this
Colony — He wished to return home and upon
his statements of his wealth & that of his
relatives I promised to finance him the means, —
upon which he promised to pay full interest. —
This brings me to Oct. 1836. At this time he
owed me for money advanced beyond what I
possessed of his in my hands, £25 — and he had
had Board, Lodging, Attendance, Wine, Spirits
&c for Nothing.— I need not add to this various
Nat. Hist. Productions — I accordingly gave
him a letter of credit on my friend Mr Thomas
Scott for £125 with Interest, but Mr Short
afterwards found this too small, and Mr Scott
acting upon my recommendation as there was
no time for reference, took his Bill on Messrs.
Godwin & Lee of London for £178.18.10 stg. —
All this I would still have believed well enough
had he not at the very eve of his departure
swindled an immense number of Individuals—
even down to his washerwoman— His acts of
swindling were carried on systematically leaving
no doubt that he was an adept at the business.
To many he gave orders on me — making as
it were bad worse. — Yet you will hardly
believe that he concludes a letter to me whilst
under weigh on board — “ by wishing me every
happiness & fortune I can wish myself in this
world.” — However he might have acted to¬
wards others I at least thought myself safe —
he knew my circumstances— that I had five
young children— that I was deeply in debt
from the habits of my wife — he had experienced
my kindness for months — and in all things was
more a brother than otherwise. —

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

He left with me some Books, subject to his
future disposal, such as the Flora Londonensis,
Latham’s Birds, Gmelin’s Syst. Nat. — & two
or three others— none of much value to me &
still less to any other person in V.D.L.— During
his residence he also made me presents of some
Books, but like the others there were few
useful, and none valuable or but what I could
have done well without— They would indeed
not amount to more than a return for Bird skins
&c I gave him (at one time 120) — I do not
complain on this point. I did originally intend
to charge him for his Board & share of House
Expenses & told him so— but at his departure
my better nature prevailed over Pounds Shillings
& Pence. — I have now summed up all — Of his
character I need say little— of his conduct in
V.D.L. still less— he has become a proverb &
I am fairly ashamed to hear the name coupled
as it always is "with a sneer “ Your friend
Short.”—

I now really wish you to write to his relatives
to endeavour to induce them to Pay me the
amount of £204 with or without Interest &
Expenses of Bill. — Interest is here 15 P. Cent
paid half yearly— He mentioned his uncle the
Revd. William Ileth, Elksley, Nottinghamshire
as being his principal friend, & that he was to
be his heir. — I am aware how severe the
misconduct of a son must be on a father who has
other children to support but it falls heavier
on me who has not even the tie of blood to bind
me to him — and I but too much fear had I
not found him the means of leaving the Colony
his longer stay would have ended in a serious
way—

I do not believe Mr Shorts principles will
ever allow him to do well— and I can only
regret I am but too likely to be a sufferer —
for myself I care little but for my young children
much. —

His new Stackhousia was probably S. flava
Hook.f. 219 was not traced. Banksia ser-
rata ( aeniula of Backhouse) was B, serrata
Linn.l’., the only stand of which in Tasmania
grows in the Rocky Cape-Sisters Hills area.
B. aemvla R.Br is a N.S.W. and Queensland
species.

Also enclosed with the letter were these
two short notes—

LETTER 32.

My friend Dr Joseph Milligan of the Hamp¬
shire Hills, who has from time to time supplied
me with many specimens of Plants from his
District is in want of the undermentioned books,
and as from his remote residence he did not
know how to procure them from Home, I under¬
took, in return for his attention in the plant
line to apply for them through you, — knowing
that you would be able most probably to
obtain them a little under the usual retail
price — an object to a poor devil out here —
on moderate income — If you will be kind enough
to do so and send me out the Invoice I shall
immediately remit the money— as really I know
of no other way of going to work. —

1 Bentham’s Deontology by Dr Bowring — 2 vols

8 vo.

2 On the Horse & Treatise

on draught

3 British Cattle —

4 Practical Geomy., Lin¬

ear Perspective & Pro¬
jection, &c by T. Brad¬
ley —

5 Paley, illustrated by Brougham, 3 vols Cloth

6 Smith’s Wealth of Nations by Macculloch—

7 Loudon’s Ency. of Agriculture

8 Edinr. Cabinet Library, first 14 vols— 5/ ea

9 Arnott’s Elements of Physics vol. 2nd.

10 Lardner’s Cabinet Cycl. Hist, of United States.
2 vols.

11 Do - Roman Empire by Simonds

— 2 vols.

12 Do - Hist, of England — the 3rd

& 4th vols.

Dr Milligan wishes the Books to be either half¬
bound or bound in cloth.

LETTER 31.

I send you a small collection of Algae picked
up at Circular Head for which I am indebted
to a Mrs Smith, a much esteemed friend.— I
was unable to inform her in what way they were
best preserved, but she has as it were naturally
dried them so beautifully that I think she could
hardly improve— she previously soaked them
for a night or so in fresh water— The variety
at Circular Head is not very great, at least to
my inexperienced eyes, as our beaches are
sandy— during the approaching winter however
it is probable Mrs Smith will add considerably to
the number now sent— and I shall be glad to
hear from you that they prove acceptable.—
I am always glad to get any assistance in collect¬
ing for you—

[In Hooker’s hand
is added ]—

By Socy. for
diffusn. of
useful knowledge

VAN DIEMEN S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

I am aware of no peculiarities in habit which
deserve noting— Some of what I suppose to
be Corallines are very beautiful—

Ronald C. Gunn

1 May 1837

Letter 33 and its enclosures probably went
with the box of specimens sent in June by
the “ Crusader ” from Launceston; it bears
no postal marks or address. Across the
head is written this postscript — “ Please
forward the Box for Miss Peacock — it is
from Mrs. Smith & only contains some
trifling Nat. History productions.”

Gunn’s pair of Emus reached the British
Museum and were preserved in the Museum
of Natural History. According to Matthew’s
Birds of Australia, Vol. I, these two skins and
one at the Frankfurt Museum, Germany,
were the only in existence of this unique Tas¬
manian bird, which is presumed to have
become extinct about 1850. The Tasmanian
Emu (Dromaius diemenensis Le Soeuf 1907)
was a distinct species from the Australian
Emu, being shorter in the legs and with
a white patch under the throat. It was
described and named by Le Soeuf from
the British Museum specimens. Advice from
both the British Museum and the Frankfurt
Museum recently received reports that they
are no longer in existence, probably being
destroyed by bombing during the last war.

The following brief letter may also have
been enclosed in the box of specimens which
left Launceston in June. The outside of the
sheet does not bear any postal endorsement
to indicate it was sent by post, and it was
before the days of envelopes. It records
what no doubt was to be a most important
day in Gunn’s life, his first meeting with
the new governor at Hobart Town.

The advent of Sir John Franklin as Gov¬
ernor of Van Diemen’s Land meant much for
the advancement of science in the colony:
it meant, too, the much desired official en¬
couragement for his botanising that Gunn
found wanting in Arthur.

Both Sir John and Lady Franklin were
keenly interested in scientific enquiry, the
gifted and intrepid Lady Jane a devoted
student of natural history, perhaps even
more so than her famous explorer husband.
To dine and converse with them must have
given extraordinary pleasure to Ronald
Gunn, starved for years of such sympathetic
and intellectual companionship.

LETTER [ ]

Launceston 19th June 1837.

My dear Sir,

I have just returned from a visit to Hobart
Town. — I was much pleased with Sir John &
Lady Franklin with whom I had the pleasure
of dining at Govt. House. — He did not mention
having heard of me from you, and of course I
said nothing on the subject. — With Captn.
Maconochie R.N. late Professor of Geography,
London University & his Lady I was also much
delighted — the latter appears very fond of
Botany, — and knew me by name from Dr.
Lindley. —

A letter of yours dated 3d. Jany. 1835, enclos¬
ing the Plate of Ranunculus Gunnianus, and the
published acct. of the first part of the V.D.L.
Plants duly arrived by post via Sydney — the
day before yesterday — that is 21 years after
date. — Of course the contents are too old to
require much comment. I hope to send you a
very large and fine Collection of Plants by an
early opportunity. —

Mr. Backhouse is again here. — He is going
to send you a most valuable Collection of New
Holland Plants immediately — wfth notes—
which I am sure will be invaluable— as I
know of no one who could give you so good an
account of the Flora of these Colonies —

His large Norfolk Island Collection — and
also those collected in various parts of New
South Wales he sent to Mr. Robert Brown
through Mr. Alexr. Macleay, the Coll. Secy.
Sydney — but he gave them with directions
that you should have access to them for refer¬
ence, &c. -

I can add little more. — 1 shall continue to send
you as much as I can of everything. — Believe
me — in haste

[ 0 « the letter Hooker has noted ] —

Sent to Mr. Gunn May 30th 1838./ 1. Paper

of different sizes/ 2. One American Press./

3 Books./ Mr. Lyells. Dante/ Edinburgh

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Almanack./ / British Flora Ed. 4. / Natural¬
ists Library / Penny Cyclopedia./ / leones
Plantarum pts. 3.4./ [Tuskeys Zain or
Longs?]/[Franklin Coppermine series ?]/
4. Four parcels for Mr. Robertson./

Charles Lyell of Kinnordy, Forfarshire,
1767—1849, father of Sir Charles Lyell, the
geologist, translated Vita Nuova & Conuito
of Dante and this is probably the book sent
to Gunn. The Penny Cyclopaedia 1833-1846
was edited by George Long 1800—1879, who
edited the Bibliotheca Classica from 1851—
58. The leones Plantarum Rariorum was
published by Longman and Rees at 15 - a
part. Part 1 contained among other things
— “Gunnianae; from Van Diemen’s Land
Corraea Bachousiana, Hook, tab.2. C. fer-
runginea, Backh, tab. 3.” that is, it was used
to publish the names and descriptions of
plants newly discovered by collectors. A
zain was a dark horse without markings and
a Luther Tucker 1802-1873 wrote works on
farming. The Mr. Robertson would be the
Lawrence’s agent at Formosa.

Backhouse was paying his last visit to
V.D.L. and would soon be returning home.

Captain Alex Maconochie, who with his
wife also charmed Gunn, was Sir John’s
Private Secretary. He held advanced views
on the more humane treatment of convicts
that disagreed with those of the Governor
and he subsequently lost his position. Later
Machonochie was made Commandant of the
Penal Settlement on Norfolk Island, where
he attempted to put his theories into practice.

Sir John Franklin was already acquainted
with Hooker. Among the letters in the file
is one from Sir John written a year before
his appointment to Van Diemen’s Land.

21 Bedford Place Russell Square
2nd. July 1835

My Dear Sir,

Lady Franklin was informed the day or two
since that there is a Steam vessel preparing at
Greenock which is to visit Iceland — This
information has made us desirous of following
your example and taking a peep at the interest¬
ing spot. It has occurred to me that you being
near Greenock can furnish us with every par¬

ticular relative to this vessel and expecially as
to the time of its starting and the places she
will touch at. and I am sure I may rely on your
doing us this favour, if it be in your power —
We are going over to Guernsey next week to see
my little girl who is with one of my sisters --
but shall be quite ready to make our way co
Greenock if we find the steam vessel is to start
early — I presume she will not sail later than
the first week in August —

We have been staying a few days with
Richardson at Chatham and 1 was glad to find
he had nearly arrived at the close of the Printing
his Fishes — I was very sorry to learn from him
the interruption you had suffered in your work
by the failure of your publishers — I trust
however that it is only temporary —

Lady Franklin begs to join with me in kind
regards to Mrs. Hooker — We think of visiting
Scotland this summer whether the Iceland trip
can be executed or not — and my wife is par¬
ticularly desirous of going to the Orkneys &
Shetland — We shall afterwards go to our
friends Colnl. Grant at [ ] Castle — and

to some other friends — I shall be obliged by
your answer to me under cover to Sir John
Barrow Admty — addressed to Bedford Place and
I will leave directions for it to be forwarded to
Guernsey if we should have sailed

Believe me

My dear Sir

Most [truly?] yours
John Franklin

Dr. Hooker
Professor of Botany
Glasgow

Hooker must have felt in some degree
responsible for inflicting Mr. Short on Gunn,
and Gunn had given him plenty of reminders
of Short’s deficiencies. He would get an
even more forcible reminder when he re¬
ceived this letter from London, and Gunn’s
next letter home confirms the bad news.

LETTER 179.

COPY.

London June 9th 1837
Sir,

Our Partners at Launceston Messrs Willis
Keogh & Coy advanced the sum of £172.10. to Mr
Thos K. Short upon his draft on Messrs Godwin
& Lee, which has been dishonoured. We find
that our friends have taken the security of
parties to whom Mr Short took out letters of

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

introduction: but if this Bill has to be returned
to them they will have to pay it with £30 per
cent expenses & re-exchange.

We shall feel obliged by your informing us
whether there is any prospect of Mr Short’s
being able to pay this money, we have written
to him, but received no reply. We make this
aplication at the request of Mr Thos Scott of
Launceston who is one of Mr Short's securities
in consequence of your introduction either to
himself or Mr Gunn.

We are Sir, Your mt Obt Sert
Willis Jackson & Coy.

Sir W. J. Hooker

letter 170.

Circular Head, V.D.L.
25 September 1837.

My dear Sir,

My worst fears relative to Mr. T. K. Shorts
bill have been realized, and I have just been
called upon to pay it with expenses— thus—
Amount of Bill dishonoured £172 10 0

25. P. Cent reexchange 43 2 6

Postage ... 0 5 0

Brokerage 1 Per cent 1 14 6

Protests 0 13 6

£218 5 6

Amounting to £218.5.(5 — and I need hardly toil
you that with my large family and slender
means it has pressed most severely and ruin¬
ously.— I think I mentioned to you the circum¬
stances which led to my acting so foolish a part
as risk such a sum upon Mr Short — but in
reality my authority to Mr Thos Scott of
Launceston was to advance £125 for two years
to Mr Short upon interest, taking his personal
security & that I should see it duly paid — but
on Mr Shorts going to Launceston — he found
it was not a sum large enough — & doubtless
having other designs — induced Mr Scott to
advance £150 Cash taking his Bill on Messrs
Godwin & Lee, Bishopgate Street, London for
that amount with premium added amounting
to £172. 10/- No reference could be made to me,
as communication with Circular Head only
occurs once a month & Mr. Short was accord¬
ingly on his way to England before I could
disapprove of the alteration in my original
intentions. — Of Course Messrs Godwin & Lee
had no funds, & I suppose never had. Besides
the amount of this Bill & expenses Mr Short
owes me £25 for Cash lent him previous to his

quitting my house, and I do not charge him in
any way for Board, Lodging, & many etcetras
for the many months he had with me — In fact
the amount of £218.5.(5 & £25 — besides 17/3
& other smaller amounts since paid his washer¬
woman & others are a loss without any return
and I reaped no advantage directly or indirectly
by my generosity — and which Mr Short him¬
self will acknowledge. —

Not having heard from Mr Short himself since
his arrival in England, I have been obliged ti
sell at the lowest prices all the Books he left
with me, & I have also sold the few articles he
gave me as presents from time to time, (although
usually he received equivalents) to cover the
smaller sums for which he drew on me and meet
the incidental expenses caused by the protesting
of his Bill — and which the whole does not
cover. —

Mr. Thomas Scott as indorser of the Bill holds
it & I believe intends immediately prosecuting
Mr Short for the amount — but as I suppose
he has not the means, I would feel obliged by
your requesting his Father to do so — It 's
unjust towards him I allow — but he is his son
and it is probable he will have the means of
stopping it from any property or money which
would otherwise be left to him— More pai - -
ticularly if his uncle the Revd. Wm Heth is the
man of wealth he always represented him ro
be — & that he was to be his heir. —

There is only one thing more I can say— which
is— that during my whole life I never knew so
gross an instance of ingratitude for unceasing
kindness & my introductions gave him the means
at the last of swindling to a large amount many
deserving persons, & had he been apprehended,
his transportation would have been certain—
as I now hold evidence enough to convict him
at any time — I hope however age may work his
cure but I am much afraid after his conduct
to me above all men — that he is hopelessly
lost. —

I sent you in June from Launn a large Box
of Bird skins, Shells, and sundries too tedious
to ennumerate P. Crusader to London — freight
free — and which I hope will reach you safe ‘i
give satisfaction, I am now arranging an
immense collection of Plants collected last year
in this District It will contain upwards of 100
new species — and duplicates of a great many
of the numbers of which you only reed bad
specimens some years ago — Of Orchidea it will
be very rich — but I must not say too much. —
Send me back all the Cartridge Paper you can —
& also other kinds to dry the Plants in. —

Your two letters of 5tli May by Mr. Todd &
the Revd Mr Lillie have reached me, but the
parcel has not yet come to hand.— My residence

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

at C.H. prevents my seeing either gentleman,
but my first visit to Hobart Town will I hope
give me the oppty of making their acquaint¬
ance, — My brother is one of the two Elders of
Mr Lillie’s Church so that they are likely soon
to be intimate. My Brother & family are at
present absent on a visit to Sydney N.S.W. — &
I must say I should like to visit the far famed
Botany Bay —

The letter was sent by the ship “ Dawson ”
which landed the letter at Falmouth. Sir W.
-J. Hooker L.L.D. is addressed as Regius
Professor of Botany N.B.

The Rev. John Lillie (misspelt Lilley in a
later letter) was born in Scotland and, at
the age of 30, came to Hobart Town to take
charge of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.
“ A man of rare eloquence and power ”, his
interest in science and literature was instru¬
mental in instilling into Tasmanian society a
desire for higher things than the mere ac¬
cumulation of wealth. He was one of the
foundation members of the Tasmanian
Society and also of the Royal Society of Tas¬
mania, of which he was Honorary Secretary
from 1845-48. He left Tasmania for New
Zealand in 1858 and died there in 1866.

Ronald Gunn’s brother William was at the
time Police Magistrate at Hobart Town.
Although he and Ronald were always on the
best of terms, William never seems to have
taken any interest in Natural History, nor
did he belong to any of the Scientific Societies
founded at the time.

The next letter in the series introduces
a new Van Diemen’s Land correspondent for
Sir William Hooker, John George Robertson,
manager of W. E. Lawrence’s Formosa
estate, following Robert Lawrence’s death.
(The four parcels from Hooker for Mr.
Robertson, mentioned in a previous letter,
would be for him).

Robertson was born in Glasgow in 1803
and arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1831.
In 1841 he left Tasmania and settled on the
Glenelg River near Portland in Southern

Victoria, and founded the Wando Vale estate,
still in the possession of his descendants.
There he collected many plants, which were
forwarded to Hooker mainly through Ronald
Gunn (who also visited Robertson in later
years at Wando Vale.) J. H. Maiden lists him
among his Victorian Botanists (“ The Vic¬
torian Naturalist ”, Nov. 1908) and says that
just before coming to Van Diemen’s Land he
had been naturalist and botanist of an
Indian Expedition. Robertson certainly re¬
garded himself as a botanist and Maiden
quotes him as saying, “ With the exception
of the late Mr. Robert Lawrence, Mr. Ronald
Gunn and our much respected ex-governor,
Mr. Latrobe, [Mr. C. J. Latrobe, first gov¬
ernor of Victoria] I never met any individual
resident who knew anything more about
Australian plants than myself ”. He died in
Scotland in 1862.

From the appearance of this letter, how¬
ever, his schooling must have been neglected.
His spelling is peculiar. He seems to be using
a phonetic alphabet of his very own, but
whether he writes “ the ” as “ thu ” or
“ ther ” or “ thir ” it is difficult to determine.
His “ to ” is usually “ t— ” but the dash is
sometimes a small arc almost an “ o His
writing is laboured; he seems to have pressed
heavily on his quill. Whatever his claims
as a Naturalist later, in 1837 he was still in
the beginner class, at least in the field of
entomology, with which his letter mainly
deals. Pins were one of his problems.

LETTER 272.

Formosa 29 Deer. 1837
[written in another hand ] — (Tasmania)
Dear Sir,

From thu time I have taken t — writ you
aftur thu rccipt of your Kind lettur and present
of Starks Elements of Natural History you
must be thinking I am but a luke warm cor¬
respondent — but after thu recipt of your lettur
I had to get boxes but first of all wood from
Launceston that required neerly 1 munth I had
then thu boxes t — make that I had t — make

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

[on?] a wat day, you omitted to send your
Agent name in London that I had to send t—
Circular Head fur, from R. Gunn, and after all
was arranged I had than t — wate a Ship sailing
living as I do 26 miles from Launceston — and
having no aquenton thur, that I can trouble with
my littule affares you must not be surprised at
thu long time spent in me sending thing t — you
fur I am not more than 2 or 3 time in town in
the Year.

I could find no authu sort of Pill Boxes than
thu sort sent you and whu I am t — pack Moths
& Buttufys within it is more than I know, I
have made the attempt with some Moths their
was one thing you omitted in your direction
t—me about packing in Pill boxes which I w T as
at a lose t — know what to do, that was whether
I was t — put pin through them that were t —be
pack in that way, this you might think was not
worth your notice at thu time but with me was
most essential, I find it be far thu easiest way
fur me t — colect thu insect with pin — you
are aware that my dutys to my imployur require
me close moving from one place t a nother on thu
farm and I in gennule carry a few pin with me
and when I get a insect I put it in my hat with
thu pin and at night thu Hat is empteyed into
a box, I have carried boxes, and bottels with
spirits, but I find thu pin thu readest way fur
me — it is but very selden indeed I can spare
time t—Hunt exclusively fur insect, but on such
accation I will make it a point to do as you
desire shuld thu pin be objectionable —- Thu is
one thin I knu that thu pin I hav used are very
objectionably but I do assure you that thur is
no authu sort of pin to be bought in Launceston
fur thu last 2 years I have employed a body to
keep a look out fur small pins without success—
they are eathu t — short or t—longe and thu
small short one I only found one paper off
lately

I was very sorry t—hear that thu last box
I sent you that they had brocken case, but I
have often experienced thu same missfortune
with Snding insects when I celected them in thu
present celection I have taken evu care I could
t —prevent accident and shuld thu breack loose
in one box they will not spoil all, but I only hope
they will arrive safe. In thu celectun sent at
present I think you will find about 16 or 17 new
specem that was not sent you in my first
colection I have not numbered them for I expect
to send you a nithu latur nexed atumn and will
then be able t — send thu same sort with number
& perhaps by that time I will heer from you—
I do not know of above 47 more specem of
insect in thu colony that I have not sent you, I
have found but 3 new speciem this season and 2
of them were very small, thu is a endless number
of small insects that you might have if you can
put me in the way t — celect them

I have commenced colectin Spiders for your
Friend and hav indued a few in the box in phiel
with spirits of wine and whiskey I have not yet
been able to obtain wide mouth phiels fur large
ones so hav been unable t— celect largely

I have had a Box that was sent to Mr.
Lawrence by your Father t — fill with Insects
I helped t — fill at once and a Mr Short who was
hear colecting got thum all he has agane sent
it to me and it is now full and will be sent by
thu first opportunity to town, thur was 8 or
9 speciem in it which Mr Short got that I nevu
had, got by a young man a friend of Mr
Lawrence whu at thu time was riding about thu
cuntry and had a great oppurtuny fur celecting

I have inclosed in thu one of the Bills of
Lading a nother I have sent to Mr. David Mac-
lane in London thu Box is shiped by the Phildun
thue is a lettu in it which I will thank you t —
forward t — my Fathu, hoping t — hear from yur
son

I am Sir

yur Obt St

John G. Robertson

The letter sent by the “ Phildun ” was
landed at Penzance on 16th May 1838 and
reached Glasgow two days later.

Sir William did not neglect his correspond¬
ent. On the letter is this note in Hooker’s
hand.

Sent to Mr Robertson
through Mr Gunn
May 30th 1838

1. Box with Pins & phials

2. Annals of Nat Hist 1-3

3. Browns Edinb. Nat Hist 1-3

4. Naturalists Companion

5. 2 parcels from his friends

Gunn’s next letter indicates that his meet¬
ing with Sir John and Lady Franklin had
had pleasant consequences for him. He had
certainly won their trust.

LETTER 34.

Circular Head 15 February 1838.
My dear Sir,

I really forget whether I have acknowledged
your letter by Mr Lilley & Mr Tod.— I have
as yet seen neither but I received your Box

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

containing the Geological specimens & some
Books, for which as usual I really can hardly
thank you sufficiently. The Geological speci¬
mens are very valuable to me here.

I sent you P. Crusader in June last an im¬
mense Case of Sundries — which I hope arrived
safe and gave you satisfaction — it contained
odds and ends of all kinds. I have now ready
packed a very large case of specimens con¬
taining a great number of most interesting
plants and at least 150 new numbers — as also
a case for Dr Lindley — I am keeping both
back for a few weeks until the Orchidae collected
this season are dry, as in that order I have
been most successful— and I am sure you will
be delighted should it reach you safe.

Sir John & Lady Franklin are sincerely des¬
irous of forwarding the Cause of Natural
History in this Colony. — A Nat. Hist. Socy.
has been Established and Lady Franklin is
about purchasing a piece of ground out of her
private income for a Collection of our indigenous
Plants — a thing most urgently wanted.— She
has authorized me to apply to you for a Gardener
to manage it — An operative man who would
work & collect himself — He must be of sober
habits and of Course in other points of good
Moral Character. — To be engaged for 4 years
from the date of his arrival in V.D.L. His Salary
for the first year to be £40 & to increase £5
a year & a House. His Passage to V.D.L. could
be obtained in one of the Free Emigrant Ships.
These are the terms 1 suggested to Lady
Franklin & which I thought would enable her
to obtain a man well qualified to keep a Garden
of some two acres or so entirely devoted to our
V.D.L. Plants. — This will come exclusively out
of Lady F’s pocket, and on her departure she
intends handing it over for the good of the
Colony. — She is a most amiable & estimable
Lady — and has certainly secured my best feel¬
ings. I shall proceed to Hobart Town in a few
weeks to select what I shall think a suitable
spot.

I accompanied Sir John & Lady Franklin last
month to Flinders Island to visit the Aboriginal
Estabt. All the Aborigines of V.D.L. having
been removed by the Govt to that spot where
they are clothed and fed and receive religious
instruction. — The change of Life, and perhaps
one or two other causes — of which bad water
is the most serious has reduced the number from
about 400 to 98 — and the number of children
only amounts to 10. — Unless Sir John at an
early day adopts some remedial measures (which
I believe he intends) the race in another season
or two will become extinct ! — They are an
interesting race and in my opinion far from so
low in the scale of being as many endeavour to

urge. A favourable climate & abundance of
food always at command were unfavourable to
the development of their minds They neither
wanted houses nor clothes — and could always
procure a sufficient number of Kangaroos,
Opossums or ether animals without rambling
far.

During the few Hours I was on the Island I
made a short excursion to see the Xanthorrhaea
— which I had not met with in the Colony—
I was much pleased with the picturesque ap¬
pearance of a plain covered with them.— I
picked upon abundant specimens of No 488
(myrtaceae) in fruit — also a new shrub about
3 feet high in flower in Dillenaceae which I had
once before seen near George Town some years
ago neither in flower or fruit.— The only other
novelty is a new plant altogether in fruit whicn
I guessed to be Proteaceae & may be a Dry-
andra [It?] was only about 9 inches high. — I
shall add some of each in my case now about
being closed. —

I heard from Mr T. K. Short — but it was
merely informing me that his father had been
unable to Pay the Bill — it was in these words.
“ Dear Gunn, I am sorry that I am obliged to
alter the tone of this letter, for on going to
Martin I found that things have not gone on
as they should have done, and that my father
has had some serious losses & was not capable
of taking up my bill for £172, so it is returned
to V.D.L. but he will be able to let me have
the sum in a few months so 1 will then remit it
to you as speediy as possible, all I can now do
is borrow the money from Mr T. Scott for one
year more & pay the interest & the expenses
of a returned bill.” His letter was dated London
2d. June 1837. — I have now paid the amount
to Mr Thomas Scott, and must [ ] make

up my mind to the loss — it will be dear bought
experience, but my good nature will not take
any serious warning. I only beg it may not affect
our mutual correspondence — if you have failed
in your application to his Father, let it go— and
I only hope it has given you no annoyance. 1
value money as little as most men can who have
a family — and can only regret some more
deserving subject than Mr T. K. Short did not
profit by my loss. I shall not occupy more time
or Paper on the subject. —

[Crossing begins here.]

Dr Lhotsky has gone Home, or is about start¬
ing — be cautious of him. He is I am sorry to
say a Black Sheep. He has made no friends
in V.D.L. and is a good riddance.— He has
pestered me with a few letters and has been
very anxious to see me, but I most cautiously
avoided him, having heard from the best
Authority and all quarters “ that he was utterly
devoid of good moral principle.” — That was

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

enough — His last letter to me is an application
for the most urgent kind for money to enable
him to return to his own country. Short &
Lhotsky have made Naturalists at a sad discount
out here.

Gunn signed and then on the first page
wrote across the original

Hope to write you very soon again & report
the departure of my Collection of Plants

He again signed but added a postscript

Let the Gardener sign indentures for the 4
yrs. from his arrival, and it would perhaps be
as well to bind him to me on behalf of Lady
Franklin — or to Herself if it is equally con¬
venient. It is probable that I shall have most
to do with him. — A knowledge of the Natural
System, to a certain extent at least would be
desirable, & to be able to read & write. — You
can easily guess the man we want — Sobriety
is however of first rate importance in this
Colony. —

488. Kunzia corifolia Reichb. i.e. K.
ambigua (Sm.) Druce. The Dryandra was
possibly Isopogon ceratophyllus R.Br.

The letter was landed at Dover and post¬
marked in Glasgow at 8 a.m. on 15th July,
1838.

The land purchased by Lady Franklin,
possibly on Gunn’s advice, was the estate
called “ Ancanthe ”, at Kangaroo (now
Lenah) Valley on New Town Creek, about
four miles from the centre of Hobart. On it
in 1842 Lady Franklin had built her museum,
on classical Greek lines, for housing natural
history exhibits of the colony. On the
Franklins’ departure from Van Diemen’s
Land the Ancanthe estate was vested in five
trustees — Bishop Nixon, Mr. J. E. Bicheno
(Colonial Secretary), the Rev. T. J. Ewing
(Principal of the Queen’s Orphan School
New Town), the Rev. J. P. Gell and Mr. R.
C. Gunn. Subsequently the estate became the
property of the Church of England, and the
museum, though still standing, fell into
neglect. In recent years the Museum has
again become used for cultural activities.
The building is now used for art exhibitions.

The land round it too, has been tidied up,
and ornamental, though not botanic, gardens,
the Franklin Gardens, are being formed
there.

The excursion to Flinders Island with
the Franklins is commemorated in Hooker’s
“ Journal of Botany ”, Vol. 2. pp. 399—402
In it Hooker lists further new species “ To¬
wards a Flora of Van Diemen’s Land, chiefly
from the collection of Ronald Gunn, Esq.,
and the late Mr. Lawrence.” Gunn appended
notes to the species and Hooker quotes that
from No. 893 Pleurandra asterotricha Sieb.
i.e. Hibbertia billardieri F. Muell., the Climb¬
ing Guinea Flower.

As this was one of the few plants I was
enabled to collect upon Flinders’ Island, during
my few hours’ stay thei-e, 1 cannot omit the
present opportunity of expressing my hearty
obligations to Sir John and Lady Franklin, who
most kindly invited me to accompany them on
their visit to the aboriginal establishment upon
that island. Such an opportunity so seldom
arrives, and encouragement to scientific pur¬
suits has been of such rare occurrence from
influential individuals in this colony, that their
attention was more than usually felt. Sir John
and Lady Franklin accompanied me upon foot
in the evenuing, to see the Grasstrees (Xan-
thorrhoea), distant about four miles, over a
rough and hilly road. It was quite dark before
we returned, when a number of aborigines met
us with torches made of bark, which lies in
quantities upon the ground. In walking along,
they picked up fresh pieces, and the light was
really excellent the effect most picturesque.
The accomplished lady displayed her usual
energy, walking most cheerfully over trees and
bushes in a manner which astonished and de¬
lighted me. Our clothes suffered not a little
from the thorny shrubs which beset our path.

Neither Sir John Franklin, nor anyone
else, could do much to help the dwindling
aboriginal race, now safely isolated on
Flinders Island. Venereal disease, rather
than bad water, was one of the chief causes
of their decline in population and the lack
of children. About 200, rather than Gunn’s
400, is the usual estimate of their numbers
when they were first taken to the island.

The following brief letter to H. B. Field¬
ing, Esq., Stodday Lodge, Lancaster, is taken
from the British Museum files.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Circular Head, Van Diemen’s Land
21st April 1838.

pear Sir,

Notwithstanding my promise to send you a
Collection of Van Diemen’s Land Plants. I
^ave really found it impossible to fulfil my
intentions. However that you might not be
altogether disappointed I have set by the pres¬
ent conveyance to your address through Dr.
Bindley of London a very few plants being in
fact merely a specimen of the Botany of this
island.

My' inability to comply with your wish to
send you plants regularly arises from many
causes — among other my occupation as Police
Magistrate of a District, my having to collect
a nd dry all my Collections myself — and I find
that the leisure hours not devoted to one or other
will be fully occupied in arranging those I send
to Sir W. Hooker & Dr. Lindley — a labour
rendered far greater from my being but a mere
novice in Botany. I have been compelled to
decline the very valuable correspondence of Mr.
Bentham (author of a work on “ Labiatae ” &
others) and other gentlemen from the same
causes.

At a further period perhaps when I may have
more time to devote to my amusements it is
possible I may bear your application in mind
& send you a larger Collection — but having
already disappointed you, it would be unfair to
promise what I may never have the means of
fulfilling.

Of the few I send now I must beg your ac¬
ceptance — they are of too little value to speak
about and I regret that I cannot at present do
more.

I Remain, Dear Sir,

Yours very truly

Ronald C. Gunn.

H. B. Fielding Esqe.

I have attached no names to the specimens, but
you can obtain them, if wished, from Sir W.
Hooker or Dr. Lindley or as they will be pub¬
lished.

The back of the sheet is endorsed “ H. B.
Fielding Esqe. Stodday Lodge, Lancaster,
R. C. Gunn It is postmarked “ India
Letter, Devonport ” — the port of entry.

Mr. Bentham would be George Bentham,
(1800-1884) nephew of the famous Jeremy
Bentham, and for a time his secretary.

George Bentham was a very accomplished
amateur botanist. His main work was the
“Genera Plantarum ”, (1862-1883) which
he produced in collaboration with Joseph
Hooker and which superceded Jussieu’s clas¬
sification of plants. He also produced the
first complete Flora of Australia (1863-1878)
in collaboration with Baron Ferdinand von
Mueller, the great German-Australian bot¬
anist.

On the same date Gunn wrote a long letter
to Sir William, reiterating his request for a
gardener for Lady Frankin’s garden, and
containing a few more memories of his child¬
hood and youth induced by various articles
on travel and botany in Hooker’s “ Botanical
Miscellanies ”. The most famous of the
characters whose names Gunn found in the
botanical periodicals was David Douglas, a
Scotch botanist attached to the Glasgow
Botanic Gardens who collected plants in
Western U.S.A. and Canada in the eighteen
twenties and thirties. He met a tragic end
in the Hawaian Islands in 1834, when he fell
into an animal trap dug by the natives. The
Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine) Pseudotsuga
douglasii Carr. i.e. P. taxifolia which he dis¬
covered is named after him. Thomas Drum¬
mond was another Scotch botanist, an
authority on mosses, who collected in West¬
ern and South-Western U.S.A. about the
same time.

The letter’s main purpose, however, is to
acquaint Hooker of the habitats of the very
large assortment of plants he is preparing
to send, and to this end is* accompanied by a
map of the North-Western corner of Tas¬
mania. This map published by the V.D.L.
Company shows their extensive estates in
North-Western Tasmania. The rivers, creeks
and other landmarks of these estates is given
in great detail and a firm line marks the
‘ roads ’ connecting the various centres of
settlement — Circular Head to Emu Bay,
Emu Bay to Burleigh, and the stock road
across Middlesex Plains towards Deloraine.
A pencil note of Gunn’s on the map, however,

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

reads— “ The track does not run as marked
but actually along the indentations of the
Coast immediately above high water — or
on the beaches where practicable.” Gunn
has also crossed out “ Copper Ore ” printed
on the map and substituted “ Iron Pyrites
The map is entitled “ North West Quarter of
Van Diemens Land including Grants of Land
belonging to the Van Diemens Land Comp¬
any.” The map was based on surveys made
by Henry Hellyer in 1831, and at the bottom
right hand corner are the words, “ J. Cross
Sculpt. 28 Holborn.”

LETTER 35.

Circular Head 21 April 1838.

My dear Sir,

Is is about nine months since I commenced
arranging my collection for 1837 but as usual
it has taken at least twice as long as I expected
and is only just completed.— I need hardly
mention how many cares tend to retard my
labours of arrangement — My official duties to
a considerable degree — my absence at Laun¬
ceston and the other Stations of my District —
and lastly the labour of collecting, drying, &c
which falls entirely upon my shoulders — You
doubtless think it may be indolence— and per¬
haps that might come in for a share of the
blame— but my inclination means well— and
I would fain be busy if nothing came in the
way. — However this seasons labour is now over,
but I have now on hand most of my collection
of 1837 — this is collected in that year— of the
earlier Natural Orders mentioned — and no
despicable lot either — You shall have them in
time but you must wait & go on with what I now
send you. —

I have resumed my correspondence with Dr.
Lindley— it has most materially added to my
labour in dividing the specimens so that each
might have a fair share in about the same state
of flower and fruit, &c. & was no small cause
of my delay in completing my boxes. — I wished
to have continued sending to you alone leaving
to you to distribute, but Dr. Lindley’s letter to
me was couched in such a style as to admit of
no excuse for my further neglect — and indeed
strange as is may appear in one who usually
prides himself upon being a punctual Cor¬
respondent, I actually left Lindleys letters un¬
answered for two years!!!— I received them just
as I was leaving Launceston for Circular Head
— that caused one delay— then I intended send¬
ing some plants with my letter and finally I

waited until apologies and every thing else were
rendered utterly useless and in pure despair I
wrote him — a few weeks ago. — If he knew
me he would pardon me— if he does not— why
I cannot help it.— I must just send him lots
of Orchideac and soften him. You and I are now
old friends — we can actually afford to quarrel,
if need were, and make up friends again — but
I trust no such necessity shall ever exist.

I cannot enter into particulars about my Coll,
for 1837 without expressing in the wannest
terms my obligations to Sir John & Lady
Franklin — they at once gave me that en¬
couragement in my pursuits which I so much
wanted but which I never obtained from Colonel
Arthur — Then, my' shortest absences were
taken notice of, and made a subject of complaint
to the Head of my Department, although the
duties were faithfully discharged — My worthy
superior however knew me too well to believe
that my official matters would be neglected
even for Botany— and I therefore escaped

many dry rubs kindly intended by His Ex. _

who nevertheless availed himself of my labours
in begging for seeds. — Sir John and Lady

Jane however commenced a new era_ and

Science in general is receiving that attention
which in a Colony so young as this where so
much is unknown it deserves. — It is true I have
not received one penny in money nor one hours
leave of absence to devote to my Botanical and
Natural History pursuits— but I have received
what I value much more— kindness attention
and encouragement. —

I wrote you on 15 Feby. for a Gardener to
arrange a small Botanic Garden about to be
established by Lady Franklin at her own ex¬
pense.— This is true love of Science. The
Garden is to be made at first only for our in¬
digenous Plants, but I have no doubt it will be
the nucleus of a regular Botanical Collection
of Plants of the Southern World, and as our
climate is pretty cold I hope it may be the
means of introducing many plants into Britain
which at present are unknown. Lest my former
letter should have miscarried I repeat Lady
Franklin’s wishes. The Gardener must be a
sober well behaved man with a fair knowledge
of Botany sufficient to arrange Plants, &c. and
at the same time an operative man. His Salary
will be £40 the first year to increase £5 a year
for 4 years which will be the period of his
agreement fm the day of his arrival in V.D.L.

A House will also be erected for him in or near
the Garden but this I do not promise. His pas¬
sage out to V.D.L. can be obtained in one of the
Free Emigrant Ships to these Colonies. Should
you be unable to obtain such a man perhaps
Dr. Lindley might. Let him be bound by in¬
denture.

T. E. liURNS & J R. SKEMP

I have received no assistance from Dr. Milli¬
gan for last season or this so that the whole
labour has fallen upon my own hands, except
indeed most essential attention from Mrs. Smith
in attending to my Plants when necessarily
absent & also for a spendid Collection of
Orchideae — as well indeed as many other
Plants. — She has with her Husband now left
Circular Head permanently— and I am again
alone. She has enabled me to add another small
Collection of algae to those already sent.

I am becoming anxious to hear again from
you.— Your Botanical Periodicals interest me
much and I feel quite at Home in reading many
of Douglas’s accounts of his rambles. Sir John
Franklin mentioned many interesting anecdotes
relative to Mr Drummond to me.

My Brother remembers Captn. Carmichael
quite well he was in the Regt. with my father.
Telfair lived in Bourbon immediately opposite
the House occupied by my Father— he was the
Colonial Secretary — In looking over some
Botanical Magazines I find Dr Nicholson of
Antigua mentioned — I knew him in that Island
in 1827 — He was then junior partner with
another Medical Gent, who died shortly after.—
I was last at Antigua in Feby 1829— and have
not heard from it since. — I lived there about
two years. So much for mutual acquaintances—
if I may so call them. —

But to resume — I must refer to the next
page for some account of my labours.

You will perceive that my Collection for
1837, (as I have dated it for the sake of refer¬
ence, although many were collected in 1836
and some in 1838,) far exceeds in extent any
of its predecessors.— The New Nos. extend
from 773 to 1117, but many of these numbers I
have no doubt you will find belong to older
collections, but which, on Dr Lindley’s account,
where doubtful I have renumbered. Cases still
arise I doubt not also when two species are
sent under one No. — in this case you must
quote the year of each as on reference I may
probably recollect where I collected each species.
To most of them I annex the day on which 1
collected it — it will guide you as to the season
of flowering & reference to the specimen will in
many cases indicate whether it was past full
flowering, or whether it was only just coming in.
1 have written Sheets of Remarks on each as
usual — I omit none, and every year adds a
little to my experience, and in most cases you
may take the last as being most probably
correct. My memoranda are written in the
greatest haste, are full of tautology &c and as
I might misapply Botanical terms I usually omit
them, so that under all these circumstances
should you deem it necessary to give the world
any of the information therein contained, I beg

you will revise and correct and clothe them in
appropriate language. I have so frequently
expressed my utter ignorance of Botany and
the want of even the common rudiments which
could be obtained from personal tuition that I
need not solicit your indulgence to my lame
efforts.

My collection has, with only two or three
exceptions, been entirely made in the North
West portion of V.D.L. and except one excursion
to the Hampshire & Surrey Hills (see Map)
& as far as Middlesex Plains, my exursions have
been limited to the Coast.— I send a Map to
which you can better refer to the localities
named by me, and which I give thus minutely
that should my career be, like poor Lawrence’s,
suddenly cut off other collectors may know
where to find any rare species.— I trust how¬
ever this contingency may not arise. I am not
aware of any other remarks which my collection
calls for— in unpacking each sheet should be
shaken as little as possible as sometimes spems.
from particular localities and varieties are
separated on the sheet by some slight arrange¬
ment which your eye will easily detect.— In
packing, the Nos. are unfortunately reversed,
but my memoranda are arranged so that you
can begin at the bottom. I am now becoming
anxious to know the new or undescribed from
the well known plants — It would enable me to
discriminate in Collecting, and of many I am
even still ignorant of the Genera — Backhouse
used to say —Better give a plant a wrong name
than none at all, but I am not inclined to follow
that principle as I find erroneous names once
given most pertinaciously adhere— whereas a
plant without a name is ready to receive the
true one.— I would really beg a mema. of even
the Genera of most of the Plants & those prob¬
ably new, indicated — it would assist me much.—
The names of Ferns you have not yet sent.

Wants.

Mr Shorts kindness has already crippled my
exertions as even Botanizing is not done without
considerable expense— Men to be hired & tear
& wear of clothes, to no small extent.— Indeed
Paper, Packing Cases, &c. are a source of
expenditure three times as much as they would
be in England— but never mind.—

In Books I must leave it much to yourself—
the following are however incomplete.

Companion to Bot. Mag. wants Nos. 1.2.13.14.

15. & all after No. 21.—

leones Plantarum Nos. 3 & 4.

De Candolles Prodromus vol. 5.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

If you can afford it but not otherwise send
me any of the following.

Botanical Magazine all after vol. 8 tab. 3373
— bound,

Dr Graham’s work on the “ Diseases of
Females ”

A Minerological Cabinet with Crystals to
match the Geological Cabinet you sent me
& which I prize much.

The Botanical Miscellany & Journal. Of the
latter I only possess the 1st. No.—

If not very dear I should wish about 10 yards
of the lightest waterproof fabric to make a tent
for my rambles.— Such as Macintoshes — I see
travelling Capes & Cloaks of Fustian made
waterproof which I think would do. It must be
tough & as light as possible.

You cannot err in sending me Books upon any
subject — Botanical Medical, &c, &c. For the
latter my Botany has given me a strong taste.

But new general literature & newspapers in a
colony like this & in so remote a part of it as
Circular Head would prove highly acceptable. —
But in this — as in all things — please yourself.

I shall be glad to hear from you as often as
you find leisure to write. Believe me

Very sincerely yours
in haste as usual

Ronald C. Gunn

You must send me Paper — I am much in want
of it — both to dry Plants & to send them Home
in.— Here it is an enormous price.

Also please ascertain for me the price of a
pair of large Globes — My children are getting
old enough now to use them.

The Habitats mentioned with my Plants you
will find on reference to the annexed Map. —

Beginning at the West.

Barren Island — one of the Hunters Isles.
Rabbit Island (called Anchor Island in Map.)

Woolnorth (not Wool worth as printed by' you)

which includes Cape Grim, & 1 have been as

far South as Studland Bay.

Welcome River. East of Woolnorth. —

I believe these are all the localities named by
me.— The whole country is of the most barren
kind and it is impossible to describe the general
sterility of the Country along the whole Coast
from Circular Head to Woolnorth for many

miles inland.— The soil is sand — the Country
level consisting of extensive plains usually
very wet in winter bearing a dense covering
of three to four feet high of shrubs, except
where burnt off and small clumps here and
and there of dwarf Eucalypti — The shrubs are
various— but principally consist of Aotus (212)
Melaleuca (682 & 18) two or three species of
Leptospermum, dwarf Banksia Australis 3 to
4 feet high, Leucopogon ericifolia. — The smaller
plants are various Plants in Juncoae, Restiaceae,
&c most unnamed, but hardly a single Grass.
These plains are usually denominated Heathy
Plains, to which indeed they have a striking
resemblance, & from which I have reaped my
principal harvest of plants.— The Sea Coast
plants are particularly noted.

Circular Head Habitats.

1. The Peninsula of Circular Head — the soil

is good in general, & as containing my
residence has yielded many plants.— Im¬
mediately South of the Peninsula there is
a belt of Heathy Plains which extend to
Woolnorth in the West. — Here I collected
many of the Orchideae and most of the
plants the soil of which are marked “ poor
wet sand ”.— About 8 miles South from my
South [house?] a dense almost impene¬
trable forest commences which yielded me
the Gunnia & a few others.

2. Black River East from Circular Head, 8

miles.— Soil very various in its neighbour¬
hood— The rich alluvial land yields Fagus
No 178 Phebalium Billardieri, Tasmannia
aromatica, Anopterus & a few others.

From the Black River along the Coast I
picked a few things, but nothing peculiar.

3. Detention River is near Rocky Cape.—

4. Rocky Cape is an extensive range of Hills

I should suppose averaging 4 to 600 feet
in height but many much less— The soil is
of the most miserable kind being poor
coarse quartz sand. In the small hollows
between the Hills the ground is full of
springs — and so boggy you can hardly
walk over with dry feet.— These hollows
yield Droscra binata in abundance Drosera
782 — and some other plants

5. The Sisters, two hills East of Rocky Cape

which yielded the Banksia serrata Linn.f.
& Lasiopetalum discolor.

The Hampshire Hill Habitats are best seen
on the map going South from Emu Bay.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

1. Emu Bay

2. Hampshire Hills 20 miles from Emu Bay.

3. Chilton or the Surrey Hills — 20 miles from

H. Hills

4. Burghley also part of Surrey Hills — a

deserted station.

From Burghley I followed the road ! ! !
which required a microscopic eye when
on it, over the Leven River to May Day
Plain, from thence over the Black Bluff to
the Vale of Belvoir & on to the Middlesex
Plains I penetrated a few miles for two days
towards the Forth’s Gateway, but was
obliged to return.

With these notes and the Map you will not
I hope be at a loss to find out where I collected
most of my plants.— I have walked or rode but
principally the former, from Woolnorth to near
the Forth in less than a month — amounting
by the track (or indeed many places trackless,)
to about 160 miles which doubled as I returned
makes 320 miles— with 8 rivers to ford sixteen
times — and only fordable at low water— even
then dangerous. But look out for another Budget
by & bye.

212 Aotus villosa Curt i.e. A. villosa
(Andr). Sm. “ While going through
the Gunn typescript I discovered
that Aotus ericoides (Vent.) G.Don
must replace A. villosa (Andr.)
Sm.” — Dr. R. Melville

18 Melaleuca ericaefolia Sm.

782 Drosera spathulata Lab.

178 Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.)
Oerst.

“Leucopogon ericifolia is presumably a slip
for L. ericoides R.Br.” — Dr. R. Melville.

This “ Budget ” went with the specimens.
Another letter of the same date went by mail
by another vessel reaching Glasgow on 17th
October, 1838.

LETTER 171.

Circular Head V.D.L. 21st Apl. 1838.
My dear Sir—

I have great pleasure in mentioning that I
have this day closed the lid on a large Case of
Dried specimens of Plants which I have been
arranging off & on for nearly nine months.
I have called it the Collection for 1837 although
many specimens were collected in 1836 & 1838
— but as I may send you another lot this year I
shall retain 1837 for the present one. My new
Nos extend from 773 to 1017, and many are
novelties.— To Dr Bindley I have sent a similar
Collection, though not precisely so many
specimens of each as to you.

No. 896 is I think left out of the case, but it
& any others which I find I have omitted; but
which I intended to send, I shall either send in
Dr Lindley’s case, or else in another one to you
at an early date.— I have now in my possession
a large collection unarranged— but few if any
are new species, although a great number are
of kinds in particular states of inflorescence or
fruit which would be desirable, or of kinds of
which imperfect specimens have I think been
sent.— Something in fact offers almost every
day.

In unpacking the Case commence with the
mosses, & sundries which are shoved in to fill
up— then the monocotyledones— and so on
backwards— as I put them into the Case.
Ranunculaceae first — & you must unpack in the
other order. My memoranda are very hurriedly
written and necessarily full of errors— more
however in the style & application of terms than
in the facts they contain.— I trust the whole
will give you satisfaction. I proceed to Hobart
Town in a few days and shall then I hope see
Mr Lilly who I have not yet had the pleasure of
meeting— and at the same time fix with Lady
Franklin on a piece of Ground to purchase for
our small Botanic Garden.

I sent you a perfect ark, only of dead things,
P. Crusader in June last— I hope it arrived
safe. Its size was so great that I got it fortun¬
ately Home freight free & hope its carriage to
Glasgow did not cost too much — the expenses
of such a Collection in this Colony is I can assure
you more than you could sell it for in Britain
for some birds 6s/ to 8s/- & upwards I some¬
times pay if Tare & 2s/ to 4s/ is looked upon as
nothing. The very cotton is 9d. P. lb.— Camphor
ls/6 p. oz. Arsenic 6s/ P. lb. & so on. Case 30s/-
From this you will see that what in this place
could be sold for £30 or more is in England not
worth one half— However profit is not my object
& in mentioning these things it is only to show

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

that my Collections are not here valueless —
indeed I feel so interested now in the Nat Hist,
of V.D.L. & that its productions should be known
that I care little for small losses.— My children
may profit by the exertions of their father after
I am gone. — Mr Shorts £250 out of my purse has
however most sadly crippled my exertions— &
embarrassed me a good deal. — He gave the
finishing stroke to what my unfortunate wife
had left undone. Tell your young ornithologist
that I have obtained some 8 or 10 additional
species for him at least— & some interesting
ones.— He shall have them by & bye, but in the
mean time I hope to hear from him. I saw a
specimen of the rare Apterix or Wingless bird
of New Zealand the other day — the owner said
£40 would not purchase it. — I should have
gone as far as £5 — but he was without a con¬
science. I hope however to pick up one some¬
time.— I have not sent you duplicates of Shorts
New Zealand Plants not being aware whether he
had given you the portion he marked & set aside
for you;— they were principally ferns.

To my various notes & a long letter in the
Case I must refer you for further particulars—
Backhouse was at Swan River in Feb 1938 &
about to proceed to the Mauritius. I have just
found out that I have made an error in the
following Nos which please alter on all mem¬
oranda & where they occur. Vizt. 1111 to 1117
alter to 1011 to 1017—[They?] are the only
7 Nos. which I remember being wrong. I
fortunately was in time to alter them in
Lindleys Collection.

] enclosed the Bill of Lading to Mr David
Maclean, London. I found the letter in my port¬
manteau & now send it.

“ Your young ornithologist ” was Hooker’s
son William, mentioned by name in a sub¬
sequent letter. The Apteryx or Wingless
Bird of New Zealand is the Kiwi, Apteryx
australis.

A few days delay in the sailing of the
Company’s ship from Circular Head enabled
Gunn to add another short note.

LETTER 172.

Circular Head 26th April 1838.

My dear Sir,

A Short delay in the departure of the
“ Edward ”, our vessel from C. Hd has enabled
me to pack up a Collection of Ferns, Mosses &
Lichens for you which I have put into Dr

Lindleys Cases. — Dr Lindley is I believe no
Cryptogamist so I have sent him none, but
I mentioned that on application he could have a
portion from you of those now sent if he desired
it — & which I shall feel obliged by your doing.
You will be much better able than I to divide
them among those persons who pay attention to
that branch of Botany. Many of the Mosses &c
I think you will find different to those already
received — The specimens are numerous & some
very good. The Lichens are also various. Insects
appear to injure them very much here — and
unless kept with the greatest care many are
utterly destroyed — as has been the case with
me every season. Having not only to collect all
& every specimen myself and afterwards to
change their papers regularly, without any
assistance — you will be able to account for my
Collections of some plants not being more
extensive. If I had only the Collecting to do I
should manage very well, but the daily & in¬
cessant labour of changing the Papers of heaps
of Plants & drying them is more than I some¬
times relish. My solitary Servant attends to
the Zoological Department, Cooking & keeping
my House in order & it would be too much to
make him Botanist into the bargain.

A small packet of seeds is also added. Many
you are likely to find useful for the Herbarium,
& would recommend you looking over the Nos
for the purpose.—

I can add nothing else at present — Hoping
soon to hear from you—

[The postscript reads ]

Do not forget to alter Nos 1111 down to 1117
into 1001 down to 1017 altering the third figure
[from the right] into a cipher will do the
business.

His solitary servant was probably his
“ bird skinner ”, evidently a very useful man.
From this and the following letter it is
evident that Gunn was still collecting birds
and other animals to send home for classi¬
fication.

LETTER 36.

Circular Head V.D. Land
31st July 1838.

My dear Sir,

Is it so long since I heard from you that I
sometimes think you must have forgotten Van
Diemen’s Land and Ronald Gunn— it shall not

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

however be my fault if your memory is not
occasionally refreshed — and for that purpose
I have written you pretty regularly & also
sent three cases still unacknowledged — vizt.
One of Plants P. “ Arabian ” in Deer. 1836 New
Nos. 631 to 772.— One immense Case or rather
Ark P. “ Crusader ” June 1837 — containing
Birds, beasts, fish, shells, Algae, &c. — And
lastly another immense case of Plants P.
“Rhoda ” to London in May 1838, which is now
on its way — and will I trust arrive safe.— It
is the biggest lot I have sent you & contains
New Nos. 773 to 1017.— I am indeed sometimes
afraid I shall completely overstock you, but it
is your own fault, as you ought to cry ‘ hold—
mercy ’.

Your son William will most certainly get into
my black books unless he sends me some account
of the Birds soon— You can tell him— that
I shall hold back a vast number of most interest¬
ing species until I hear from him, and I hope it
may prove a stimulus. A very clever young
medical Gentleman, Dr. J. Grant, in Launceston,
is endeavouring to arrange and classify our
Birds— in which I am lending my humble
assistance — or rather we arc trying to find out
the names, &c. In Falconidae we have specimens
of 10 or 11 ? distinct species, vizt. Falco 3,
Buteo 1, Circus 1, Aquila 1, Pandion ? 1, Astur

2, Accipiter 2 ? — Of Strigidae 2. Of Hirundinae

3. (I have been unsuccessful in obtaining more
specimens of the beautiful (and rare ?)
Chaetura australis Of Caprimulgidae 2 and so
on.— I have obtained numerous specimens of the
little Malurus gularis & Ceyx azurea as also of
Turdus farina.

I have been anxious also to hear relative to
our shells.— Unless some letter comes soon I
fear I shall be away from Circular Head, and
thereby be unable to send more should they be
found interesting.— Since sending them to you 1
have thought that a set might be of use to Mr.
Lyell or any other Geologist although not suited
for a cabinet of shells. It is probable specimens
will from time to time be sent home of our fossil
shells, and in that case it would be interesting to
have a collection of the shells now existing in
these seas warranted genuine, as I either picked
or saw picked, the whole. In this light I hope
they may prove valuable. -Of the “ Algae ” I
can say no more. Mrs Smith left Circular Head
with her husband, some months ago.

Since sending my last case of Plants I find
1 left out all the specimens of No. 896, a small
species of Utricularia you shall have them next
oppty.— The Geraniaceae are also incomplete,
but I shall endeavour to revise them in next

collection. I think I have added a few new
plants since, it being the -winter season, few
have been in flower; I only remember one in
Chenopodeae which I have not yet sent.

I obtained from Mr. W. E. Lawrence last
month poor Robt W. Lawrence’s Herbarium.
It had been lying packed ever since his Death,
and it is possible I might have got it long ago
had I asked for it. I have looked over it but
find it very meagre now as compared to my own;
he erred at first, as I did, in retaining most
untenably small specimens, and in many cases
none, merely noting some general thing, assumed
name, by which he might probably have been
enabled to remember the plant, but which is no
guide to me. It will be useful however to refer to
& I think I shall be able to find out two or three
species which before puzzled me a little.

Mr. W. E. Lawrence has just been nominated
to a seat in the Legislative Council of the
Island— Sir John Franklin having at once
appreciated his high character, great worth and
commanding talent— He is the cleverest (and
also I believe the richest,) Gentleman in the
Colony.

When in Hobart Town in May for a few days
I unfortunately missed seeing the Revd. Mr.
Lillie. He was at that time busy Courting, and
has since married a Miss Burnett, daughter of
our late Colonial Secretary, John Burnett Esqe.,
now in England, I very much regretted not
seeing him, as I wanted to have a chat with
him about you. He is intimate with my brother
& his family.

Mr. T. K. Short has written me three letters
since his arrival in England, but alas ! no hopes
of a remittance. His impudence surpasses any¬
thing I ever met with, and although I have read
of such characters in fictitious works I hardly
expected to have ever known one. He carries his
assurance many points beyond anything I could
have conceived possible. It has been a dear-
bought lesson to me, & I should complain less
if my children’s interests had not suffered.— it
also reduces the means I formerly laid out in
Nat. Histy. — Well — nil desperandum— I
may gain in the long run by being obliged to
adopt more economical habits, but it is un¬
pleasant. Mr. S. sent me out the 1st Part of
Gould’s Synopsis of the Birds of Australia — it
appears a good work, & I will feel obliged by
your sending me all the subsequent Nos. or
indeed two copies of all except the 1st, of
which one copy. I have not replied to any of
Mr. Shorts letters — I could not write him in
a friendly style — and an angry one would be
useless — I have therefore remained silent.
Hoping soon to hear from you

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

[On a flap turned in he adds ]

Our Circular Head small craft has been detained
a few days longer than I expected but I have
no news to add.— I am quite well.—

Be kind enough to mention to Mr S. Murray
that I received his letter & seeds by Mr Mc¬
Culloch— but I have not seen that Gentleman.—
I think he has gone to visit Port Phillip in the
South Coast of New Holland.

On the other flap of the sheet folded in
when the letter was sealed are listed 24
standard measurements, of which he writes—

The following measurements of that rare bird
the “ apterix ” may prove interesting to your
son.

From tip of Bill to rictus
along the top
width

Length of Bird
Scapula
Coracoid
Tibia
Femur
Neck
Body

Neck and Body
Tibia
Md. toe
Outer toe
Inner toe

with slight web
Radius & ulna
Humerus

From wrist to claw
Claw

Hind Claw
Mid. Claw
Out & inner
Eye very small.—

t ]

[ ]

Body [ ]

This letter, landed at Deal, reached Glas¬
gow on 18th January, 1839.

Dr James Grant had arrived late in 1835,
with a letter of introduction from the Sec¬
retary of State, as a medical settler. His
patron was the Marquis of Midlothian. His

first appointment was as First Class Assist¬
ant Surgeon at Launceston hospital at a
salary of £91. 5. 0 per annum. In Lady
Franklin’s Diary of 22nd January, 1838,
(“ Some Private Correspondence of Sir John
and Lady Franklin,” Mackaness, 1947.) is
this reference to Dr. Grant on the occasion of
her visit to the Bickfords who lived near
Muddy Creek on the west bank of the Tamar.

As we were ascending the hill, 2 persons bare
headed came to meet us. The elder, a tall, fine-
looking man, with a black patch over his left
eye was Mr. Bickford. The eye had been lost
by Mr. Grant of the Hospital having lodged
the contents of his gun in it one day when aim¬
ing at some quail. This was 2 years ago. Mr.
B. spoke of it without any unpleasant rellection.
He said that after a time Dr. Grant neglected
him tho’ he was suffering much; when Mr. B.
met him again he reproached him for having
taken no notice of his desire to see him. Young
Grant excused himself on the grounds of his
extreme poverty. He had no horse, he had
not even 3d. to pay his passage in the punt.
Mr. B. told him that tho’ he felt hurt, yet
whenever he did come, tho’ only for his own
pleasure, he • should ever receive a hearty
welcome.

Dr. Grant was a member of the Tasmanian
Society and contributed four papers to the
“ Tasmanian Journal ” — on “ Fulica Tas¬
mania ” ( Fulica atra, the Tasmanian Coot) ,
on “ Thylacinus Harrisii ” ( Thylacinus cyno-
cephalus, the Tasmanian Tiger), on the
“ White Hawk,” ( Astur novae-hollandiae)
and the fourth on the “ Bunyip of Australia
Felix ” written in collaboration with R. C.
Gunn. In this he suggested the skull sub¬
mitted might be that of a very young Camel.
He made three drawings of it which were
published in the Journal. Mr. W. S. Macleay,
F.L.S., F.Z.S., of Sydney, in a letter re¬
printed later in the Journal from the
“ Sydney Morning Herald,” thought the
skull might be that of a malformed, unborn
foal.

Dr. Grant practised in Launceston until
1851, when he obtained an estate on the
Arthur River near the Woolnorth Estate, and
was appointed coroner for the Woolnorth

1 in
21 2/10

1 4/10
0 7/10
4 9/10

3 5/10

6 6/10
12 7/10

2 1/10
2 4/10
1 7/10
1 7/10

0 8/10
1 4/10
0 5/10
0 2/10
0 5/10
0 2/10
0 8/10

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

district. He resumed practice in Launceston
1856, and died in Melbourne in 1865.

A silver tray in the possession of R. M.
Gfinn Esq. of Perth, grandson of William
Gunn, has this inscription, “ To Ronald
Campbell Gunn Esq. A Token of Esteem &
Gratitude from the Relatives of the late
Dr, James Grant.”

Mr. (later Sir) Charles Lyell was the
famous British geologist who originated the
modern theories on the age of the Earth,
based on fossil evidence, and whose “ Prin¬
ciples of Geology ” had been published in
1830-32.

Lady Franklin in a letter to her sister
written on 21st June, 1838, makes the follow¬
ing reference to W. E. Lawrence’s appoint¬
ment—

We are expecting a visit from Miss Lawrence
of Launceston, a young lady of seventeen, who
is to accompany her father to Hobart Town, when
he takes his seat in the Legislative Council for
the first time, Sir John having appointed him
to it, in the room of a resigned member, Mr.
Bethune. I talked to you about the Lawrences
in a former letter. I should like Mr. Joseph
Archer to hear of this appointment for I well re¬
collect his telling me and Sir John in London that
the two men of the greatest talent in the Island
had never been brought forward into public
life, (or at least into Government notice) both
being inimical to Col. Arthur and disliked by
him. These two persons were Mr. Gregson of
Hobart Town and Mr. Lawrence of Launceston.”

The birds listed were probably forwarded
to Hooker for distribution among British
ornithologists. Falconidae presumably re¬
fers to Birds of Prey in which Falco are
Falcons; Buteo is a Buzzard (probably the
Brown Hawk) ; Cirrus the Swamp Hawk;
Aquila the Eagle; Panclion the Osprey; while
Astur are Goshawks and Accipiter are
Sparrow Hawks. Strigidae are Owls; Hir-
undinae refers to Swallows and Martins, but
Gunn apparently included with them Chas-
tura australis the Spine-tailed Swift. The
Carprimulgidae or Nightjar family are repre¬
sented in Tasmania by the Tawny Frogmouth

and Owlet Nightjar. By Malums gularis he
probably refers to the Blue Wren, Malurus
cyaneus, the Ceyx azurea would be the Azure
Kingfisher and Turdus farina probably the
Ground Thrush.

Gunn’s suggestion that he may not be at
Circular Head much longer is borne out by
his next letter, from Hobart Town, to which
centre he was now transferred as Second
Police Magistrate. On leaving Circular Head
the Van Diemen’s Land Company presented
him with a silver tray inscribed “ To Ronald
Campbell Gunn, J.P. for his able, zealous
and conciliatory conduct as Police Magis¬
trate on their estates during 1836-1838 ”.

LETTER 173.

Hobart Town, 30th Novr 1838.

My dear Sir.

Since I last had the pleasure of writing to you,
your favour of 30 May by Dr Scouler came to
hand, as also the Books, Paper, &c. for which
please accept my best thanks. Last month I was
offered the appointment of second Police Magis¬
trate at Hobart Town & to be member of the
Board of Assignment which I accepted, and am
therefore now fairly settled in the metropolis
of V.D.L.— I left Circular Head on 14th Octr.
with all my worldly goods; leaving behind many
friends in that limited community with whom I
had spent many pleasant hours. My present
situation will occupy my time more fully than
it has been for some years past,— so that my
Natl. History Collections are likely to be small
for some time to come, but still I hope to be
able to collect a specimen or two occasionally.

I delivered your letter to Sir John Franklin, and
for which I owe you many obligations. You
however flatter me too much & lead him to
expect more from my scientific exertions — than
I am at all likely to fulfil. Both Sir John & Lady
Franklin have shown me since their arrival the
greatest possible kindness & attention.

I found Dr Scouler at Hobart Town— and had
various conversations with him. I gave him
numerous letters to my friends at Launceston
where I thought a favourable opening existed
for a medical man. His opinion after visiting
it coincided with mine but he thinks a flock of
sheep at Port Phillip will be the most profit¬
able— extensive tracts of land fit for grazing
can there be occupied rent free — the climate is
excellent— and he can at the same time follow

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

his profession— altogether I believe he has
made the most judicious selection, & I have no
doubt will thrive. He sailed on 10th Inst, on
the Renown for Sydney to visit that Colony — &
to go to Port Phillip direct from there or via
Launceston.

I have not yet received any account of Mr
Shorts money.— I sincerely hope at least some
portion of the Amount may be recovered.

It is with feelings of deep and sincere regret
I have to mention the death of my amiable friend
Mrs. I. G. Smith which took place at Launceston
on 8th Octr — at the early age of 29. She had
been in a delicate state of health for about two
years and a half.— In Septr 1836 she removed
to Circular Head, and in the search after
Orchideae, Algae, Shells, &c appeared to be
gradually improving from the pure air and
exercise consequent on such pursuits; but her
whole constitution appears to have been injured
and a few weks after her accouchement and the
death of her child she also was removed from
this life. My youngest child was taken care
of by her from his infancy, and she was indeed
a mother to him. Her loss to me on his account
is deeply felt— but that person must indeed have
many friends who can spare a tried and faithful
one— (and certainly I am not that one—)
without feeling that another link of the chain
which binds them to this world is broken.

As we advance in life how many of those
who started with us in our career or who we
picked up on the road — drop from us— and
doubtless it is well ordered to be so— that when
the time comes for our own removal, we may
have as few ties as possible to make us regret
leaving this world. My next collection will
contain many of Mrs Smith’s Orchideae beauti¬
fully preserved but all are duplicates of my last
numbers. I am most unfortunate in my Botan¬
ical friendships,— poor Robert Lawrence’s loss
has never been made up— the vacancy caused
by his death still remains open.

In August last I visited the Hampshire Hills
on duty from Circular Head.— During my ride
through the dense humid forest extending from
Emu Bay to the Hampshire Hills I found the
long looked for Dawsonia polytrichoides in con¬
siderable abundance.— It was only coming into
flower, but some of last seasons flowers not
having dropped off I recognised the peculiar
tuft of ciliae. The plants at first struck me as
belonging to Epacrideae from their size and
rigid appearance but on dismounting I discovered
it to be a moss.— On my return I found the
flowers and was really delighted to be able at
last to send it to you.— The plants were in many

cases 6 to 11 inches high.— It grew in large
patches, always on the ground & not on decayed
trees, usually on the ball of earth torn up by
the roots of trees when blown down by the
wind— I found it from within 4 miles of Emu
Bay to about 9 miles from that station but it
may extend farther inland. — It is strikingly
different to my Nos 28 & 29 (Polytrichum).
I have requested Dr. Milligan to collect it largely
when in a proper state of inflorescence but
even if he neglects doing so I think I have
enough of excellent specimens of both male &
female flowers — I rolled them into a parcel and
carried them in my coat pocket as I had no good
means of preserving them. — My absence, includ¬
ing two days at the Hills, being only 6 days — &
a ride of 160 miles. — I think I have no other
novelty to mention to you particularly. I have
found Drosera Menziesii & the George Town
Tetratheca in considerable abundance between
Rocky & Table Capes. —

Dr. Milligan’s Books have not yet arrived.—

10th Deer. Lady Franklin has invited me to ac¬
company her on an expedition to Port Davey &
Macquarie Harbour & I expect to start this
evening. — Mr. Gould the Ornithologist ac¬
companies us, and I had hoped to have had the
Revd. Mr Lillie also, but his clerical duties are
too extensive to admit of his being absent more
than two weeks— whereas there is a possibility
that we may be detained from 4 to 6 weeks.
As I take ample means of preserving plants I
hope to add some novelties from that remote
quarter. The Huon or Macquarie Harbour Pine
will be one tree which I have been long anxious
to see, & ascertain in how far it agrees with
any of the Coniferae I found on the Western
Mountains. Sir John Franklin does not go with
us. I shall report the results on my return.

I much fear you can do nothing in Mr Short’s
business except by fair means — as the Bill was
returned to this Colony. I have requested Mr
Scott to send it back to the merchants in London
& thereby enable them to proceed upon it. the
amount would be invaluable to me just now.

I shall send you another lot of plants as soon
after my return from Macquarie Harbour as
possible. We go by sea with a Govt Brig &
Schooner. Address me in future merely Ronald
C. Gunn Hobart Town

[On the back of the letter is this note by
Hooker ] :

“ Sent Mr Gunn by Dr Johnstone/Mar 1840 I
Annals Sc. Nat. V. 1-6 /Ann. of Nat Hist 20-25
/ Ic Plant. P. VI. / Journal of Botany 9 -10 /

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Edinb Jour of Nat. Hist / Penny Mage V. 15.
16./ Iceland Tour vol. 1-2.”

Musci 28 Macromitrium microstomum Hook.
& Grev.

29 Bartramia papillata Hook.f. &
Wils.

The George Town Tetratheca is probably T.
ciliata Lindl.

The letter bears a Hobart Town postmark
with a crown over the name. It was landed
at Brighton on 18th May, 1839 and was post¬
marked into Glasgow at 5 p.m. on 19th May,
1839.

Dr. Scouler was another of Sir William’s
acquaintances, who, on emigrating to Van
Diemen’s Land, carried a letter of introduc¬
tion to Ronald Gunn. No doubt, after the
unhappy experience with the erring Mr.
Short, who still continues to crop up in the
correspondence, Hooker was now more care¬
ful in his nominees.

Dr. Scouler, a one-time pupil with Dr.
Hooker, was surgeon on the Hudson Bay
Company’s brig, “ William and Ann,” which
took David Douglas to the west coast of
North America. To Dr. Hooker from the
Great Falls on the Columbia River, March
24th, 1826, Douglas writes—

“ From Dr Scouler you must have ob¬
tained a good description of North-
Western America, and be made acquainted
with many of its treasures. He left me in
fine spirits; and when we were together,
not a day passed in which you were not
spoken of. His departui’e I much regret;
we had always been friends, and here our
friendship increased. When botanizing
along the shores of the Columbia River
and in the adjoining woods, we would
sometimes sit down and rest our limbs,
and then conversation often turned on
Glasgow and Ben Lomond. If a favourite
moss caught his eye, and was eagerly

grasped and transferred to the vasculum,
the remark was pretty sure to follow, * how
much would Dr. Hooker like to be with
us ! ’ I felt very lonely during the first
few weeks after Dr. Scouler had sailed.”

Dr. Scouler was later Professor of Natural
History in the Andersonian University,
Glasgow, and subsequently Professor of
Geology in the Royal Dublin Institution.
Vide “Companion to the Botanical Mag¬
azine ” Vol. II 1836 p. 105.

Mrs. Smith, who had helped Gunn both
with his botany and his motherless family,
probably died from that scourge of the times,
consumption. Her well-mounted specimens
must still be in existence, either at Kew or
Sydney Herbarium, where Gunn’s own col¬
lection is now kept.

Dawsonia polytrichoides ( D. superba
Grev.) was the moss that Gunn and Law¬
rence were seeking for Hooker when they
began collecting. The dense forest where
Gunn found it has today been replaced by
the fertile farmlands of the Ridgley district.

The expedition to Port Davey and Mac¬
quarie Harbour in the Government schooner
“ Eliza ”, H. Hurburgh, Master, never got
further than Recherche Bay in D’Entre¬
casteaux Channel. There it was weather¬
bound nearly a month and finally returned
to Hobart Town. Those in the party, m
addition to crew and servants, were Lady
Franklin and her step-daughter Elinor, John
Gould, Ronald Gunn and his assistant and
Captain King R.N. and his wife. Lengthy
references to their stay in Recherche Bay
may be found in Lady Franklin’s letters
published by Mackaness.

While there Gunn collected many plants,
being especially interested in those that the
French botanist Labillardiere had described
when with the D’Entrecasteaux expedition
of 1793. He also searched unsuccessful for
any remains of the European garden laid out
at the time by the gardener of the expedition,
La Haye.

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

John Gould was the famous ornithologist
and author of the monumental “ Birds of
Australia.” At the time Gould and his wife
were guests of Sir John and Lady Franklin
at Government House, while he and his
assistant John Gilbert collected specimens
to describe. From these specimens artistic
and accurate coloured drawings of the birds
were made by Mrs. Gould for reproduction.

Gunn’s next letter is addressed from
Hobarton, Tasmania. The oval postmark
on the outside however reads “ Hobart Town,
V.D.L.”

LETTER 174.

Hobarton, Tasmania.

18 February 1840.

My dear Sir,

So long a time has elapsed since I had the
pleasure of receiving a letter from you that
I am now in hopes your Son, who is expected
to reach this about April with Captain Ross,
will be the Bearer of some tidings from you.
However I never blame you but I am well aware
how very closely you must be occupied; and
that among your many very valuable corres¬
pondents I must hold a very second-rate place
in importance. I am still zealous in Collecting,
but really incessant official employment prevents
my devoting the time necessary to arrange them
for transmission to England. My House however
is now so full that I must get rid of them
immediately & shall therefore as soon as
possible commence my system of packing for
you & my other correspondents. The great Robt
Brown has requested me, through Sir John
Franklin, to correspond with him & I intend
therefore adding him to Dr. Lindley & your¬
self in my list, & send him a lot this season.

Where I am not adding new species to my
Collection I am at least adding numerous good
specimens of the old numbers. I found 226,
Podocarpus sp. Nov. ? on Mt Wellington &
have got plenty of it. Drosera Arcturi abund¬
antly & many others Another Cryptandra from
the Derwent like C. ulicina & many others
highly interesting even to me. I see Vallisneria
spiralis in the Derwent but it is not yet in
flower. I heard of a small species existing in it—
(some years ago,) but I looked for it in vain a
few days ago. I have rambled to the summit of

Mt Wellington more than once, — To the Huon
River over-land, & examined the banks of the
Derwent pretty closely for 26 miles above
Hobarton, but I cannot say I have found all,
or one half of what I have no doubt exists
in these localities as I can only in my hurried
trips from incessant office tasks taks a cusory
peep at the most striking plants — leaving
the smaller ones for greater leisure at a
future day. During the last 12 months in
addition to my duties as Asst. Police Mgte. &
Managing Member of the Assignment Board,
I have been assistant to my Brother as Prinl.
Superintendents of Convicts. Holding these
offices I have hardly dared to leave Town
for 24 hours at any time. — I am now about
to relinquish these and succeed to the Honble
Harry Elliot as Private Secretary to Sir John
Franklin — Mr Elliot returns to England &
sails tomorrow — by him I send this, and the
trunk of a Fern tree for your acceptance as I
learned their structure was exciting much
interest among Physiologists. I have sent 4
of them — so that you must commission some
friend to cull a good one. One of them branches
off into three stems or heads. Another has some
parasitical ferns on it — so that there is a
choice. 2 are for Lindley one for Brown & one
for yourself.

I feel quite ashamed of my not having yet
sent you the Dawsonia which I collected so long
ago, but in addition to my official business I
have so many other odd matters to attend to
that my amusements must be neglected. I have
established a Horticultural Society here & made
myself Secretary to push it on with plenty of
work but no pay— but it will do much good.

I was elected President of the Laun. Horticul¬
tural Society which was formed two years ago.

I am Secretary of a Natural History Society
Sir John has established here. We are few in
number yet — but we are endeavouring to
ferret out the Natural History of this interest¬
ing Colony. I have written a paper enlarging
Mr Backhouse on the fruits, roots & plants of
V.D.L. which may be rendered available for the
sustenance of man; — & some smaller ones.
My collection of Testaceae is also the best. We
purpose immediately forming a museum— more
particularly directed to the productions of the
island.

Lady Franklin’s Botanic Garden is under my
care and about 180 acres have been purchased by
her 4 to 5 miles from Town. I am now clearing
some acres to lay out the Natural Orders of our
indigenous plants — & have opened out a walk
up the Rivulet upon which it is placed upwards
of a mile and a quarter long through a dense
grove of Fern trees, Fagus, Pomaderris,
Cryptocarya & other interesting Plants — with

T. E. DURNS & J. R. SKEMP

a splendid collection of Cryptojjamia on all
sides. I look anxiously for your Son to aid me in
laying it out to advantage.

I found some interesting land & fresh water
shells last week which I must send by & bye
to any one interested in these things.

Of Dr Scouler I heard a week or two ago. He
has commenced Brewer at Parramatta near
Sydney. Dr Valentine, author of Some Improve¬
ments on the Microscope & a paper on Mosses
in the Linnaean Trans, arrived here recently.
He was delighted with some Mosses & Ferns I
showed him. He has received an appointment as
Distt. Surgeon at Campbell Town in this Colony.

I fear however he has to a certain extent
abandoned scientific pursuits, although it is a
pity as he possesses a splendid microscope &
he is fond of your favourite branch — the
Cryptogamia, Characeae, &c. Many of the
Aquatic plants are I doubt not very interesting,
(but they certainly possess little attraction when
£een in a dried state.

I have so much to tell relative to individual
plants that I must defer my remarks until I
jjend you my collection — whenever that may
pe.

I shall soon write again I hope
[He signs off and then adds forlornly ]

I have never heard from Short.

226 Podocarpus alpina R.Br.

By Fagus Gunn means the Myrtle Beech,
white Cryptocarya is a genus in Lauraceae
not found in Tasmania. He may mean Ather-
ospepma, the Sassafras. Testaceae are
marine shells.

This is the only letter in the whole series
in which Gunn uses the name Tasmania in
his address. Tasmania did not become the
official name of the colony until self-govern¬
ment was granted in 1853, but it was in
current use twenty years earlier. Gunn,
however, was a stickler for official usage.
He never calls the land across Bass Strait
Australia, but refers to it as the southern

coast of New Holland, its official title until
1850, though here again the name Australia,
suggested by Flinders, was already com¬
monly used.

Gunn’s house was in the old Government
House grounds, where it had been built by
Governor Arthur for his nephew, Charles
Arthur. These grounds occupied the site of
the present Hobart Town Hall and Franklin
Square and the street between them.

Sir William Hooker’s son was Dr, Joseph
Dalton Hooker R.N., who at the age of 23,
was surgeon-botanist to the expedition of
Captain (afterwards Sir) James Clark Ross,
who with Her Majesty’s ships “ Erebus ” and
“Terror” (under Captain Crozier) was
making extensive observations on the var¬
iations of the Earth’s magnetic field. Ross
arrived at Hobart Town in August 1840 and
stayed three months, setting up a magnetic
observatory on the Domain, on the site of
the present Government House. He then
sailed south, getting to within 200 miles of
the South Magnetic Pole before being
blocked by ice. Returning to Hobart Town
to refit, the expedition spent the months of
March, April and May there, before sailing
for Sydney, New Zealand and the Pacific to
continue magnetic observations.

Gunn’s visit to the Huon River overland
may have been to the first settlement in the
estuary of the Huon, in which Lady Franklin
was actively interested (see Mackaness).

The Hobart Town Horticultural Society,
founded in November 1839, with Captain C.
Swanston president and Ronald Gunn sec¬
retary, held its first show at the Regatta
Ground on 3rd December of that year. It was
later merged with the Royal Society of Tas¬
mania, founded by Sir John Eardley Wilmot
in 1843.

Franklin’s Natural History Society, later
known as the Tasmanian Society, was the

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

first real attempt to found a learned society
in Tasmania. It made some notable contri¬
butions, by way of scientific papers, to the
knowledge of Tasmanian Natural History,
before it combined with the Royal Society of
Tasmania in 1848.

A letter, not in the file and which may have
been lost in transit, evidently preceded the
following one.

LETTER 175.

Hobarton, V.D. Land.

5th Decemr 1840

My dear Sir

I wrote you a few days ago P. “ Marianne ”
enclosing Third of a Bill of Exchange for £11,
being an amount left with me by your Son for
transmission, and I now beg to enclose the other
two parts which I trust will be duly honoured.

It is so short a time since I wrote that I have
got but little news to offer.

I fear I shall be unable to have the Box ready
to go P. Emu, and must allow it to remain until
I can really quit my office altogether. Unless
carefully put up the things will get all destroyed
—which would render them valueless, & I find
some of the V.D.L. plants put up by your Son
were not dry & had become mildewed. I shall
not however alter his parcel in any way.

I think it is possible the vessels may come
here again about the beginning of this winter
unless they find a good harbour near the
Magnetic Pole. The vessels sail most miserably
ill, and cannot beat to windward. Off our
Southern Coasts the Gales are very strong and
usually from one Point vizt the S.W.—Your
Son’s Collections from the Islands south of New
Zealand will be invaluable.

I hope to be able to leave my present offices
some time this month. Mr Lawrence’s health
continues precarious, & he is most anxious to
place the management in my hands as early as
possible. A Son of Professor Henslow of Cam¬
bridge is to succeed me as Private Secretary, and
I am now alone waiting for his arrival from
Sydney to initiate him into his duties— and then
retire.

good. He follows no industrious mode of earn¬
ing money, but really lives by' his wits. I shall
send you the continuation of his Autobiography
in the Box to you. —

I send my friend Mr Wm Valentine (the micro¬
scope man) some specimens of Azolla in water
the other day. He was delighted with it and
thinks he can throw considerable light upon it,
even altho’ the immortal Brown has had it
through [his?] hands. Valentine is in full
practice as Asst Colonial Surgeon at Campbell
Town and has abandoned all Botanical researches
or nearly so, but he could not resist the tempta¬
tion of the Azolla when I put it in his way. I
have a large glass bottle with Orchideae for
Brown in pyroligneous acid — into it I also
threw some Azolla for his amusement.

I must now conclude this by promising again
to write you soon —

Sir William’s address is given as Woodside
Crescent, Glasgow. The letter is postmarked
outward from Hobart Town on 7th. Decem¬
ber, 1840. and inward to Glasgow at 2 p.m.
on 20th April, 1841. The postmark “ SHIP
LETTER” has replaced the former “ INDIA
LETTER ”. Port of entry is not indicated.

The Azolla that tempted Valentine is com¬
monly called Waterfern, but is not a true
fern.

The day before Gunn wrote Sir William
this letter, his “ old acquaintance Jorgenson ”
also wrote to him. This letter, written in a
good, firm hand, has no postal endorsements,
simply “ Sir Wm. Jackson Hooker / Glas¬
gow,” on the outside. It may have been sent
in an envelope, or possibly Gunn enclosed it
with his to save Jorgenson the postal charges.
Apparently they both agreed about Dr.
Lhotsky’s character.

LETTER 47.

Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s
Land. December 4. 1840.

[Dear?] Sir,

After a lapse of many years, it could not be
but extremely gratifying to me that you had
requested Dr Johnson to make some inquiry
about me. I have seen that gentleman several
times. Mr Ronald Gunn also acquainted me

Your old acquaintance Jorgenson honours me
by frequent interviews— as he knows I now
through you feel an interest in him. He is
however incorrigible, and will never do much

T. E. BURNS & J. K. SKEMP

that your son was engaged as naturalist on
board one of the discovery ships, and that he
wished to see me. I met him one day and had
the unspeakable satisfaction of beholding the
son of one who in former days was my friend;
and the transactions we were engaged in at the
opposite extremity of the globe dwell on my
memory, although at this time of life the images
which lurk round my mind partake of the
character of a dream.

I endeavoured once or twice afterwards to
see Mr Hooker, but he dedicated the whole of
his time to look for plants etc. He, however,
appeared to me to resemble you very much, and
possessed your manner when you were young.
I hope that no untoward accidents will occur
during an expedition which is not without its
perils. —

Mr Gunn tells me that he going to send you
the “ Annual ” of 1838, published by Elliston,
and should he do so, you will therein find the
second part of my “ Autobiography ”. I
believe that the ever lamented Dr Ross for¬
warded you some former Annual, which con¬
tained the first portion of my Autobiography.
It is indeed to be regretted that for the last two
years past no Annuals have been published in
the Colony, but Elliston is not equal to the
task.— He lack’s Dr Ross’s abilities and in¬
dustry; the latter was a man of sterling worth,
and highly respected.

I think you will feel some interest in me, and
like to know what I have been doing since my
arrival in the colony. The Annual of 1838 will
furnish you an account of me up until the
departure of Sir George Arthur from the
Colony. My history since my arrival here has
been (as in all other instances of my life) one
of strange fortunes and great activity; I have
at various periods exercised great influence
over the colonial press. A valuable work is now
completed which will be published in England
“ Sketches of Van Diemen’s Land and the
Neighbouring Colonies By T. II. Braim, of St
John’s College, Cambridge, and now Head
Master of the Proprietory School, New Town.
The work will be much more extensive than was
at first intended. I was invited to render
assistance. The fact is that I alone could
effectually do so. I had been two years in quest
of the Aborigines. With reference to this race
of people the Colonial Archives contain no less
than eleven large Octavos. — Volume No. 1 —
is upwards of one thousand pages, more than
five hundred written by me, in the shape of
reports to the local government — and so on in
other volumes. The languages (four in number)
of the Aboriginal tribes of Van Diemen’s land
are not noticed in the public records, and I am

the only one who possess the vocabularies com¬
plete, at least to a certain extent. I believe
Alexander McGeary’s has been published in
England by an imposter and literary pirate of
the name of Lottsky, who succeeded in gaining
a copy; but McGeary is very illiterate.— I
intended sometime since to have forwarded you
the vocabularies, songs and translation of part
of the first chapter of Genesis, but I supplied
Mr Gunn with what I had, and as Mr Braim’s
book will soon appear you will therein obtain
the necessary knowledge, should it interest you.

The history of the manners, custom’s, lan¬
guages, with the so called “ Black War ” will
alone comprise 200 pages.— The history of Van
Diemen’s Land from its first Colonization will
occupy 200 more, including Emigration, Convict
Discipline; observations on the literature of the
Colony etc.

All this matter has been written by myself
without any assistance. The mass of journals
in my possession has been of material service,
and of great importance. The introduction is
also left to me, and the entire work, as far as
I am concerned, partakes something of the
character of philosophical inquiry.

I have however made a very bad bargain, for
when Mr Braim first commenced he intended
to make a light production, but had he done
so, he must have lost the golden opportunity of
being the first writer who has written a con¬
nected history of the Colony. All that you have
seen at home is fallacious in the extreme; and
evinces decided feelings of party-spirit and pre¬
judices.— Mr Braims will have the merit of
sterling truth, and be free of all biass.

I have stated that Dr. Lottsky is an imposter
and a literary pirate; I have so said because I
think you may have seen something of his
paltry productions at home, he is a very ignorant
man, although excessively impudent. It is not
altogether fair to revile an individual who is at
a distance of 16000 miles, and I shall therefore,
out of a great number of pranks, state one. A
learned German Botanist, through his agent in
London, sent to one of our most respectable and
wealthy merchants, requesting to procure him
native seeds of all sorts. People here at the
time thought Lottsky to be a very clever fellow.
Mr. M. Orr, the merchant alluded to, applied to
the self dubbed Dr who said “ Wery veil, Sar,
you must give me i'30 to begin vith.” The sum
was advanced, and in a short time produced a
large tea chest, well packed up and secured.—
Lottsky said “ but, Sar, mind the air must not
come to it, it will spoil all the (de) seeds”. Mr
M. Orr, did not suspect any trickery, and the
package was forwarded to England. When it

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

was there opened, to the astonishment of all,
it was found to contain nothing but saw dust.
Lottsky knows nothing about seeds, plants and
shrubs. In Sydney he played similar capers.
About six months after the saw dust had arrived
in London Mr Orr received a letter from his
correspondent complaining of the trick.— Dr
Lottsky met some day Mr Orr in the street when
the former came up offering his hand saying
“ Oh Mr Orr — how you do?” — Mr Orr replied
“ I wonder you have the impudence to speak
to me after the deception you have practised
upon me with the seeds.” — Vat deception ? —
Filling the chest with saw dust. — “ Ah, Sar,
have you got the (de) money paid vich you gave
me?” — Yes! — “ (Oh,) Then, Sar, you have lost
nothing — Good morning Sar! ”

When at Port Arthur Lottsky got some
prisoner there to take some drawings of fishes,
and so on, which he called his own. He then
advertised that he intended to give public
lectures in the Court House. His character and
ignorance were well known by this time, so the
public rushed in without paying for the
admission (£ Crown each). When Lottsky began
to open his lecture, the whole audience set up
a roar of laughter, and continued making all
manner of noises.— The speaker then with the
utmost sangfroid said — “ Wery vel I see you do
not understand dose tings, I shall valk.”

He also advertised his museum for show which
consisted of a box of trash, for which, however,
he received £30, as a matter of charity, from
the Institution, to enable him to defray the
expence of his passage home.

I have thus marked the conduct of Lottsky in
the colony, for it is men of his stamp, who
meeting with just disappointment, go home and
publish some wretched pamphlet, or something
in the Newspapers, to the injury of the char¬
acter of the Colonists, and which is greedily
swallowed.

You will see in Mr Braim’s book some stric¬
tures on Captain Maconochies convict discipline
plan, which is the most foolish that could enter
the head of a man. It is visionary altogether.

I am now advanced to that time of life, next
March 29th Sixty one years, that I cannot much
longer expect to linger in this world, and I am
desirous, in case of final departure that [some?]
memorial be left of me. I have been so careless
as not even to keep one copy of each of the

productions which I have published.-They

are in Danish, “ An account of the fisheries in
the South Seas, and the force trade.” In
English “ The Copenhagen Expedition traced to
other causes than the treaty of Tilsit.”—(My
“ State of Christianity in Othaheiti ” I wish no'

to notice, it must be passed over)—“ Travels
through France and Germany ” — “ The Religion
of Christ is the Religion of Nature ” all pub¬
lished in England. In Van Diemen’s land,
“ The Funding System ” and “ Publicola ” on
trial by jury. — You have some manuscripts
by you, and one fell in the hands of Mr. Christie,
who I believe is a friend of your’s. I wrote
it in conjunction with Mr. Jermyn. Even at
this its publication would be useful, as it
contains a great deal of valuable matter with
regard to the ancient times of Ictland and
Scandinavia. I have also contributed largely
in my dates to some of the London Newspapers,
noticed when I am no more. —

I might have written more, but you will prob¬
ably see Dr Johnson.

I should be glad to learn what is become of
Mrs Jermyn, Mr Turner, and some of other of
your friends of whom I have not heard for
years ?

I shall now conclude with wishing you all
manner of happiness as well as your family.—
With the most perfect sincerity I subscribe
myself

Your’s most faithfully
J. Jorgenson

P.S. It would hardly be fair to Mr. Braim to let
it be generally made known that I have con¬
tributed so largely to his book. —

Gunn’s remark on the poor sailing qualities
of the “ Erebus ” and “ Terror,” together
with Jorgenson’s foreboding comment on the
perils of the voyage, may have caused Sir
William to ask Sir John Franklin to try to
persuade Joseph to leave the expedition if
and when it returned to Hobart Town;
(though there would scarcely be time enough
for the transmission of the letters to and
from England).

This is Sir John’s reply. It is addressed to
Sir William J. Hooker, Kew, Sir William
having been appointed Director of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1840.

LETTER 157.

Govt. House V.D. Land
6th August 1841

My dear Sir William

Had not your Son written by every oppor¬
tunity which was afforded I should certainly
have done so at an earlier period.— I [inferred?]
however that he would speak for himself as to

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

his health and feelings respecting the voyage
having had the pleasure of seeing him quite
well on his first arrival and full of zeal in
the good causes— He would have scouted any
suggestion that I might have made as to his
remaining here and I am sure the loss of his
services to this Scientific voyage would have
been great indeed had the state of his health
rendered such a proposition desirable — I am
truly' happy to say that his health was then
good and also on his return after their success¬
ful trip to the Southwards — He was in fact
then looking stronger— He caught a cold on
one of his excursions which caused him to keep
on board a little time but from the effects of
this he had completely recovered before the
ships sailed for Sydney— Ross assured me
that he is always well at sea— and among the
foremost to promote the objects of the Exped¬
ition.— I have been much pleased with his energy
and zeal in collecting and I have no doubt that
his accuracy & faithfulness in describing what
he gathers equals his zeal — He would be
always at his work and in this respect reminded
me often of our mutual friend Dr Richardson —
I trust neither Lady Hooker or yourself will
entertain any uneasiness and will depend upon
it that he will by the blessing of God return
Home strengthened & improved in every way
and that his Family & Friends will have cause
to rejoice at his having been employed on this
Expedition.

As the ships are to proceed after the next
summer’s operations to the Falkland Islands —
there is little prospect of your having the
pleasure of seeing any of the party again before
we have the happiness of meeting them in
England — It is fortunate that the position of
V.D. Land was more favourable for the series
of observations which Ross had to make than
any other in this Quarter— and thus he was
enabled to follow his own inclinations and afford
us the highest gratification by staying longer
here than he could have at another place — This
family feel identified with the Expedition and
I have the satisfaction of knowing that the
whole Colony entertains a very lively Interest
in its success — and in the welfare of its Com¬
mander Officers & Crews. The Magnetic obser¬
vations at the Stationary Observatory are highly
interesting and I am sure the most important
results will be obtained from their Analysis —
No persons could be more sedulous and accurate
than are the three officers Dr Kay Mr Scott &
[Mr Dayman?] who make and register them —

You will be sorry to learn that your cor¬
respondent and friend Mr R. C. Gunn had the
misfortune of breaking his Leg a few months
since _ which though it is now nearly re¬

covered — will prevent his being so active a
collector as before. He is now in charge of
the Estates of Mr Lawrence recently dead—
one of our most wealthy Proprietors— a
situation more to his taste than the confinement
of a Public Office where you have to work some¬
what after the manner of a Horse in a Mill.
Mr Gunn’s Head Quartei-s are at Launceston so
that we see but little of him— I perceive how¬
ever that he is taking the lead in the Horti¬
cultural Society at that place and establishing
a monthly meeting for the discussion of subjects
apertaining to that Science — the effects of
this will not be to prevent his contributing
Papers to our Society — of which you perhaps
may have heard from your Son — who kindly
furnished us with a Paper. — This little Scien¬
tific Society was formed at Government House
where its meetings continue to be held monthly—
Our first number has been printed these six
weeks— but its publication has been delayed for
two or three illustrations— When it is published
I shall have pleasure in sending you a copy — and
will you allow me to say that we should be
much flattered by your contributing a paper for
one of the forth coming numbers — on any
subject which your full acquaintance with the
Natural History of this Colony will readily
supply—

The latest English Papers communicated the
intelligence of your appointment to the Direc¬
tion of H.M. Garden at Kew which I believe
you have been desirous to obtain for some
time. Among other great advantages which your
residence at Kew will give to Science— your
friends in London will derive the benefit of more
easy & more frequent personal conference with
you — Lady Franklin joins me in sincere con¬
gratulations and in kind regards to Lady
Hooker. Your Son had the kindness to present
my wife with a Copy of your letters on the late
Duke of Bedford, which I was reading last
night. — We heard recently of the arrival of
the ships at Sydney & that Ross had estab¬
lished his observatory on Garden Island. I
forwarded to him a box full of Papers & letters
for both ships which Captain Beaufort had sent
to my' care by the Rajah [ ] He will

therefore get the Box before he leaves for New
Zealand

Believe me

My dear Sir William

Yours very Sincerely
John Franklin

Sir William J. Hooker
Kew

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

[Written across the head of the first page is

this postscript ]—

Will you remember me very kindly to our
[friend?] Brown — What would he say to
V.D. Land now? Of all his acquaintances Old
Kemp alone survives — Jorgen Jorgenson died
in the hospital after a short illness — He had
been long breaking — Dr. Hooker saw him and
perhaps had from him a request for a little
money as I occasionally had on the score of
being an old ship mate.

Old Kemp was Antony Fenn Kemp, mer¬
chant of Hobart Town and owner of the Mt.
Vernon estate at Green Ponds (Kempton) in
the Southern Midlands. He may have known
Robert Brown when he was in New South
Wales or later.

Jorgenson also probably knew Brown
when he was with Flinders. He had now
gone on his last great adventure; without,
presumably, having had a cast of his head
taken for the Phrenological Society.

The “ little Scientific Society,” for which
Dr. Joseph Hooker had contributed a paper
on “ Some Fossil Wood from Macquarie
Plains, Tasmania ”, was the Tasmanian
Society already alluded to, and of which
Ronald Gunn was secretary during his term
of office as Secretary to Sir John Franklin.

Hooker’s Paper was printed in the
Society’s “ Tasmanian Journal ”, Volume 1.
In the same volume is an extract from the
“ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of
London ” which contains the descriptions
and names of 24 new species of fish from
“ Port Arthur, Tasmania, collected by T. J.
Lempriere Esq. under instructions from Sir
John Franklin,” by John Richardson M.D.,
F.R.S., F.L.S.

The Royal Gardens at Kew, of which Sir
William Hooker continued as Director for
the rest of his life, were founded in 1759 by
the dowager Princess of Wales, Princess
Augusta, with the help of Lord Bute, a better
botanist than a statesman. Her son, George
III, took a great interest in them and was
often in residence at the Royal Palace there.

He had Sir Joseph Banks as adviser; in fact
Banks was in effect, though not in name,
Director of the Gardens until his death. In
1840 the Gardens were taken over by the
State and Hooker placed in charge of them.
It was largely due to the work of Sir William
and his son Sir Joseph who succeeded him,
that Kew Gardens are now the most famous
botanical gardens in the world, and contain
an herbarium of over a million plant
specimens.

The nucleus of the Kew Herbarium was
Sir William’s own collection, which he trans¬
ferred from Glasgow and which was later
purchased by the British Government. Of
this collection Dr. Asa Gray wrote in the
“ American Journal of Science,” Vol. XI, No.
1 (quoted in the “ Journal of Botany,” Vol.
Ill p. 366) —

The herbarium of Sir Wm. J. Hooker, at
Glasgow, is not only the largest and most
valuable collection in the world, in the possession
of a private individual; but it also comprises
the richest collection of North American plants
in Europe. Here we find nearly complete sets
of the plants collected in the Arctic voyages of
discovery, the overland journeys of Franklin
to the Polar Sea, the collections of Drummond
and Douglas in the Rocky Mountains, Oregon,
and California, as well as those of Prof. Scouler,
Mr Tolmie, Dr Gardner, and numerous officers
of the Hudson Bay Company, from almost every
part of the vast territory embraced in their
operations, from one side of the continent to
the other. By' an active and prolonged cor¬
respondence with nearly all the botanists and
lovers of plants in the United States and Canada,
as well as by the collections of travellers, this
herbarium is rendered unusually rich in the
botany of this country North America; while
Drummond’s Texan collection, and many con¬
tributions from Mr Nuttall and others, very
fully represent the Flora of our southern and
western confines. That these valuable materials
have not been buried, nor suffered to accumulate
to no purpose or advantage to science, the pages
of the Flora Boreali-Americana, the Botanical
Magazine, the Botanical Miscellany, the Journal
of Botany, the leones Plantarum, and other
works of this industrious botanist abundantly
testify; and no single herbarium will afford
the student of North American botany such
extensive aid as that of Sir Wm Hooker.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

Ronald Gunn’s next letter, from Launces¬
ton, explains his change of address.

LETTER 176.

Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land.

31st October, 1841.

My dear Sir,

I am almost ashamed to acknowledge yours
of 2d. April, which I received on 1st Septr and
last week a small box of Books. I can assure
you I deeply feel your very kind attention, and
am only sorry that various untoward circum¬
stances have caused first months— and then
years to elapse without my having sent you any
return. I shall now cease to promise — but
perform as soon as possible. My collection is
really immense & valuable. It occupies much
room & I shall be glad to get it off, but my
anxiety to increase my own very limitted
knowledge by correctly numbering them before
transmission has delayed me— which joined to
incessant official drudgery during my stay at
Hobart Town almost knocked Botany out of my
Head.

Large packets of letters from you & your
family for your Son Joseph sent by Dr Sinclair—
came into my Hands. I packed them all up with
letters from myself, and sent them to him at
New Zealand through Sir John Franklin, who
would forward them via Sydney, and I have no
doubt will duly reach him— although I was
doubtful at the time. A small packet— ap¬
parently containing some trinket — & a Book—
I retained— with the intention of returning them
to you by the first opportunity— as they were
bulky to send by Post & might be lost. I in¬
timated to him that I had done so.

During the stay of your Son at Sydney I
had three letters from him— the last dated 4
Augt. He was much pleased with the attention
he received from Mr W. S. Macleay, but I
suppose he has from time to time given you a
full detail of his wanderings. I hope you have
got his Kerguelen, Auckland & Campbell Islands
specimens. The latter are most interesting, and
it will be gratifying, to you to compare the
Flora of these southern lands with that of
Van Diemens Land & New Zealand. To your
Son the present trip will be of inestimable
value, and I am sure he will make the best use
of it.

I rejoice in your appointment to the Royal
Gardens at Kew and I shall feel great pleasure
in assisting you with seeds &c. I am again
Gardening my self at Launceston — resuming a
Hobby which has lain dormant for 5 years.

I think I mentioned my resignation of all
Government Offices — and my having become
Manager of the late Mr Lawrences Estates. &
one of his Executors. He died possessed of
large property, but has left a very large famliy
to inherit it. My present employment will take
me much about the country & facilitate my
collecting very much: — this season will how¬
ever be almost lost to me — as I had the mis¬
fortune in April last to have my Horse fall
with me & fracture my left leg in a very bad
way. It confined me for some months to the
House, and my power of progression is still
very limitted. Whether I shall ever be able to
clamber the Hills as I used to do is a question
I cannot answer. It has been a source of much
pain & inconvenience, and has helped to retard
my returns to you. I was grieved to learn that
heavy afflictions had also visitted your family.
They are no doubt all wisely ordered for our
good, although we cannot held feeling the heavy
pressure at the time.

With Sir John & Lady Franklin I continue
upon the best possible terms.— I must go over
to Hobart Town sometime this summer to see
them— Their kindness to me has been unceasing.

I saw with pleasure the 1st part of the “ Flora
of V.D.L.” in your Botanical Journal. There are
a few additions & emendations to be made in
it — but it will be time enough by & bye. Your
Son was satisfied before he left this [island?]
that Ranunculus vestitus was a very distinct
species & not a variety of R. pimpinellifolius.
That Tetratheca glandulosa & pilosa were dis¬
tinct species also. — But I reserve to myself for
future proof that Tetratheca 217 is also distinct.
The Boronias must remain for the present — but
I shall send you specimens of at least two
Pelargoniums which are distinct — despite their
tendency to run off into varieties. Your Son
Joseph & I had some amusing discussions over
these plants, although his acuteness & sound
reasoning far surpassed anything I could bring
forward.— I shall make Mr Brown arbitrator I
think between us as I intend sending him a
Collection when I send yours. Lindley has done
the Orchideae admirably. I have got some
additions for him — & I found Burnettia very
abundant near Recherche Bay — upon the ground
where La Billardiere collected. I found [that?]
an interesting locality.

Joseph intends publishing a Monograph on
the Genus Eucalyptus. It will be a most interest¬
ing & valuable work. I intend collecting
materials zealously for him, but my broken leg
has sadly interfered with my good intentions.

Dr. Milligan is about to leave the Hampshire
Hills & settle at Launceston. This I am sorry

VAN DIEMEN'S I,AND CORRESPONDENTS

for— as he was a useful agent in that part of
the Colony. He has promised however to make
a large Collection before he leaves this summer.

The most interesting plant I shall send you
will be a large species in Epacrideae — the
leaves like Riehea but in some cases upwards of
3 feet long. The leaves all grow at the extremity
of the stem — which is straight — without any
branches. The flowers are unfortunately in¬
significant— growing in the axils of the leaves
almost out of sight. It is the Plant alluded
to by Backhouse in Ross’s Almanack under the
Head Riehea. — & I had heard of it at one time
[as?] a species of Palm (or what I suppose now
to have been it.) I shall send you seed of it.— it
grows near Macquarie Harbour on the West.—

217. Tetratheca procumbens Gunn ex
Hook.f. now grouped with T. pilosa Lab. The
Burnettia was probably B. cuneata Lindl.

A scrap of paper in Hooker’s writing
labelled Letter 177 is enclosed in the letter
book. It reads — “ Wanting No 2 Compan¬
ion / Nos. 107 & 109 Bot. Mag. sent Octr.
1842/ & / all after 132 which is the nast No./
133 to 174 sent.”

Dr. Joseph Hooker’s sojourn in Van
Diemen’s Land must have been a very pleas¬
ant interlude for Ronald Gunn, and led to a
lasting friendship.

It was also a pleasant meeting for Joseph
Hooker, for in the Introductory Essay to
his “ Flora of Tasmania ”, 1860, he writes —
“ I had the pleasure of making Mr. Gunn’s
acquaintance at Hobarton, in 1840, and am
indebted to him for nearly all I know of the
vegetation of the districts I then visited; for
we either studied together in the field or in
his library; or when he could not accompany
me himself, he directed one of his servants,
who was an experienced plant collector, to
accompany me and take charge of my speci¬
mens. I can recall no happier weeks of my
various wanderings over the globe, than
those spent with Mr. Gunn, collecting in the
Tasmanian mountains and forests, or study¬
ing our plants in his library, with the works
of our predecessors Labillardiere and
Brown.”

Dr. Milligan did not stay long in Laun¬
ceston. He was soon at Hobart Town with
a Government appointment, and good pros¬
pects of promotion.

The large species of Epacrideae would be
Riehea pandanifolia Hook., a conspicuous,
palm-like plant, sometimes reaching 30 or
40 feet in height, of the western forests of
Tasmania.

Gunn’s next letter (written on small note-
paper instead of the usual foolscap sheets)
is from Penquite, near Launceston. Penquite
House was on the Launceston suburban
estate of that name owned by W. E. Law¬
rence, and Gunn presumably used it as his
headquarters while administering the Law¬
rence estates. The old brick house was
demolished in 1957 to make way for cottages
erected by the Masonic fraternity for aged
and needy members and their widows.

LETTER 178.

Penquite, near Launceston
29 Decemr 1841.

My dear Sir,

I have just time to send you by Captn Milligan
Commanding the Barque Mona which vessel
sails for London tomorrow— the Book & small
parcel which I would not forward to your Son
Joseph— being doubtful whether they would
reach him or not.

I trust they will now once more get safe into
your hands to be delivered to him personally at
the termination of his interesting and arduous
voyage.

I recently received from M. Le Guilleu— the
Surgeon of the French Discovery Ship Zelee
(One of D’Urville’s) a good Collection of Plants
from “ Auckland Islands ” but as your son has
since been carefully over the same ground, I
suppose there will be little novelty in Le
Guilleu’s.—

I have heard nothing lately of Captn Ross’s
expedition and I suppose our first accounts will
be via England.

Sir John & Lady Franklin are in excellent
health. They are most anxious for me to ac¬
company them to Macquarie Harbour, on the

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

West Coast, next month, but ray broken leg is
not yet sufficiently strong to justify my walking
so much — as such a trip would l-equire. Sir
John will most likely retire from the Government
of this Colony about next January, so that
12 months more will be as much as [we?] can
reasonably expect of his Government. He is
a most amiable & worthy man.

The French expedition of D’Urville visited
Tasmania when on a voyage to the Antarctic
regions in 1839, when its naturalists made
collections from some of the remote and un¬
inhabited islands of the Southern Ocean.

The story of the Franklins’ overland
expedition to Macquarie Harbour in the
autumn of 1842 is well known. An account
of it, written by Mr. David Burn, a young
settler of the Derwent Valley district who
accompanied them, was published in the
United Services Magazine June-December
1843 and reprinted by George Mackaness,
Sydney, in 1950. Dr. Milligan also accom¬
panied the party, which was led by Surveyor-
general J. E. Calder.

It is sometimes stated that Ronald Gunn
was another member; but this letter, and
subsequent ones, shows this to be wrong. A
few years later, however, Gunn himself did
make this hazardous journey following the
same route.

Gunn’s broken leg, which prevented his
going with the Franklins, also limited his
botanical activities. It is twelve months
before he writes to Sir William again.

LETTER 183.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land
19 December 1842

My dear Sir,

It is so long since I last had the pleasure of
addressing you that I really forget the time.
I at once acknowledge it to be my own fault,
& therefore must say but little about it. I
think in my last I reported that I had pretty
well recovered from the effects of a broken leg,
a comminuted fracture caused by my horse
falling upon me, and which at one time I feared
would have rendered any walk of a few miles

a matter of impossibility to me in future. I
am happy to say that I am now nearly as strong
upon my limbs as ever, & although I have not
tested them by any walk of more than 10 miles
at a time, yet even my short excursions satisfy
me that my powers of locomotion are but
slightly impaired. The greatest inconvenience
which resulted as far as [we ? ] are virtually
interested— was the serious delay which it oc¬
casioned to my acquiring a thorough knowledge
of the duties of my new situation. For nine
months I was unable to ride on horseback—
to walk or hobble was impossible—and much of
the land I had charge of was inaccessible to any
wheeled vehicle. I had therefore nothing— but
Patience left— and I have taken another year
to learn the routine of the farms. Of course
my Botany fell much in the background although
I continued to collect at all times & seasons
when opportunities offered. Having got my
arrears of work pretty well up, I have recently-
arranged all the dicotyledons of my collection
& am now numbering them to go Home. I trust
by the Adelaide next month— that is unless
some unforeseen business comes in the way as
it too frequently has done of late. On careful
comparison of my specimens in numbering this
season, I am clearing up many former blunders,
& will I think put matters in a clearer way than
I have ever hitherto done. Among many
novelties— & I think I shall add 200 to my
former numbers— I may mention the Agas-
tachys in flower & fruit— all the species of
Athrotaxis & allied species in fructification & I
think an additional species of the former, also
the Plant called Podocarpus mentioned by Brown
as existing on the top of Mt. Wellington— the
fruit is like a taxus. A new Plant an Epacrideae
growing 30 feet high with a straight trunk
usually unbranched & a tuft of leaves on the
top like Richea ? (my No 517) but the leaves
upwards of two feet long— the flowers are
however insignificant.— It is allied to Draco-
phyllum. Prionotes cerinthoides & the true
Decaspora disticha of Labillardiere. A new
Carpodontos— 4 additional Cryptandras & about
as many of Pomaderris. Many additional Epa¬
crideae, and of other Natural Orders. For some
of my novelties I am indebted to Dr Milligan
who accompanied Sir John & Lady Franklin
overland to Macquarie Harbour.— The season
was an impropitious one, but yet he gathered a
few although many were not in flower. I
gathered the Boronia pilosa at Recher [che ? ]
Bay— the spot visited by Labillardiere him
[self?] & identified all the Plants in his “ Novae
Hollandiae Plantarum specimum ” except three
or four which I did not find— vizt his Billardiera
pisiformis with blue flowers. Melaleuca (Astar-
tea) fascicularis. Stylidium umbellatum. Croton
quadripartitum. These may nevertheless have
escaped th“ cursory examination I made. His

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Polygonium adpressum is certainly my No 432.
& not the plant figured in the Bot. Mag. (My
No. 325). — They are distinct species. All these
& many points I must reserve until my Collection
goes Home. — and I shall then advocate the
cause of some of my discarded species.— I have
got two or three additional Ferns.— indeed you
will I think be satisfied with my labours by
& bye.

Among our novelties are some specimens of
fossil “ Banksia which I shall send you.— and
I think you will acknowledge them to be among
the finest you ever saw.

I am I fear much in your debt for Books but
I can only beg of you not to hesitate for a
moment in letting me know the amount & I
shall remit. All I must beseech you is continue
to send— & let me pay.

Sir John and Lady Franklin continue to get
on uncommonly well.— Dr Milligan has recently
received the appointment of Inspector of Con¬
vict Discipline at a salary of £500 a year. It
will I fear naturally operate against his use¬
fulness to us in the shape of Botany, but I
keep his zeal awake by writing to him at all
times.

I have not lately written to your Son not
knowing where my letter would find him. I
shall however send him a “ long yarn ” through
you by the next opportunity.

I may mention that I have plenty of seeds to
send you also for your Garden at Kew and as
I am once more Gardening & have now posses¬
sion of Mr Lawrence’s — I must solicit some
contributions when you feel that you have
leisure to attend to me.

[He adds ]

Mr Lawrence Senr was intimate with Aiten of
Kew— & frequently reed plants from him.

[Across the top of page one in Hooker’s
hand is written ]

Bot Mag Nov to May inclusive/ Lond. J. of
Bot. do./ leones Plant. P. XI./ Backhouse’s
Journal

517, Richea dracophylla R.Br. but the
description seems to fit R. pan-
danifolia better.

432. Muehlenbeckia adpressa (Lab.)

Meissn. var a rotundifolia
Meissn.

325. M. adpressa (Lab.) Meissn. var /3
hastifolia Meissn. the Polygonium
gunnii Hook.

His new Carpodontos was probably

Eucryphia milligani Hook.f.

This letter is addressed to the Royal
Gardens, Kew and arrived in April 1843.

William Aiton snr. published “ Hortus
Kewensis” in 1789 the second (1810-13)
edition of which was issued by his son who
had succeeded him as superintendent of the
Gardens in 1793. Sir William Jackson
Hooker became first official Director in April
1841 after the transfer of the Gardens to
the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.

During the twelve months between this
letter and the next Gunn’s leg had recovered
sufficiently to permit him to resume his
collecting, albeit rather surreptitiously, so
far as his duties of managing the Lawrence
estates would permit.

These estates comprised the suburban
properties of “ Lawrence Vale ” and
“ Penquite ” stretching from Glen Dhu to the
North Esk River, and “ Vermont ” (near
Mowbray) ; a large sheep run at Port Effing¬
ham, near George Town at the mouth of the
Tamar, (on which the Bell Bay Aluminium
Works and the George Town golf links are
now situated) ; the farm of “ Danbury
Park” near Cormiston on the West Tamar;
“ Formosa ” and the “ upper sheep run ” of
“ Billopp ”; and summer grazing leases in
the vicinity of the Arthur Lakes. In visiting
them, on horseback or by cart, Gunn would
have plenty of opportunities to look for new
plants.

Dr. Milligan had a series of rapid promo¬
tions; his interest in Natural History was,
no doubt, a useful recommendation to Sir
John Franklin. The next letter records his
appointment as Commandant to the Aborig¬
inal Settlement on Flinders Island.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

While there his young wife, Eliza, second
daughter of W. E. Lawrence, died after
childbirth at the age of eighteen. Her lonely
tombstone still stands at the site of the old
cemetery of the Aboriginal Settlement,
between Whitemark and Emita.

Joseph Milligan’s brother, A. N. Milligan,
who had also settled in Tasmania, married
the widow of W. E. Lawrence.

Nearly twelve months later Gunn advises
Hooker of the despatch of another consign¬
ment of specimens. This letter is written
on very thin paper.

LETTER 184.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land
6 Decembr 1843

My dear Sir

I have at last been able to close three Cases of
Plants for you and to ship them on board of the
Mona to sail next week— but in the midst of
continual occupation with other & less pleasant
matters I have been unable to complete my
notes relative to each species, which must follow
in a subsequent vessel— I send the Plants &
in most instances they will speak for them¬
selves as I have noted on each the date & place
of Collection. For future reference I have
numbered the whole Collection as that of 1842
so that should any plant now sent as say 247—
prove not to be my 247 of 1833 it can be dis¬
tinguished. On all these points— I shall write
separately.

I have to thank you most sincerely' for three
parcels of Books — the oldest in date arriving
last. They help me vastly. I trust my present
lot of Plants will prove some equivalent. I shall
annex a list of my wants in this way.

Your idea of Publishing the Plants of V.D.
Land, New Zealand & the Antarctic Islands
delights me beyond measure.— VVe want it much.
1 got a small collection of the Auckland Island
specimens from your Son, and subsequently
received a larger lot from France from M. La
Guilleu, the Surgeon of the Zelee with whom
he became intimate at Hobart Town. D’Urville
seemed to be an accurate observer, but I do not
know whether he continued to collect plants
during his last trip. He did not show me any
during his stay in Hobart Town.

Dr Milligan accompanied Sir John and Lady
F. but did not collect any specimens of the
Huon Pine strange to say & to my great regret.
He picked up a few novelties which you will
find in my present Collection, but I had obtained
most of his plants previously. Prionotes cer-
inthoides was abundant in that Country, but I
had previously got it from Mt Wellington. The
Agastachys I obtained in 1838 at Recherche
Bay. His means of carrying specimens was I
believe limited, & Geology is his more favourite
pursuit. Milligan is now going as Commandant
to Flinders Island where the remnant of our
aborigines is domiciled. He will have a fine
field to look upon down there, but he is very
slow.

I had the pleasure of seeing a good deal of
Mr Bieheno upon his arrival in the Colony.
I like him very much but I fear his official duties
will allow him no time for Botanical or Natural
History pursuits.

My good friend Sir John Franklin has left the
Island, and will leave Port Phillip for England
about a month after this time. I sincerely regret
his departure as the loss of a warm & worthy
friend. He may not have been a brilliant
Governor, but he was certainly a good man &
influenced by the best and purest motives. I
rejoice to be able to say that after an intimate
official intercourse I have retained Sir John’s
good opinion to the last. He has appointed me
his agent in these Colonies (as has also Lady
Franklin) where he leaves several thousand
pounds invested. It is the best proof he could
give of his confidence in me. It is just possible
I may take a trip across to Port Phillip to take
a final leave of them next month, but that is as
yet uncertain.

Our new Governor Sir Eardley Wilmot has
established a Horticultural & Botanical Society
at Hobart Town, but I doubt very much its
success.— There are no men in the Colony who
give up time to these things. I am really almost
the only one who steals some hours from other
business to devote to Botany & after all I do but
little of what a man might do whose time was
entirely devoted to Nat. History. It would really
answer the purpose of some of the richer
Societys & Naturalists to pay a person out here

to collect-make it in fact worth a person’s

while to gather & send Home. When I tell
you that Paper alone has cost me upwards of
£40stg. within the last three years you may
judge of my expenses. Some animals I have just
shipped to Professor Owen in brine cost me
about £20. A trip in the bush always costs some
pounds & your Son will tell you how much it
costs to have the slightest thing done. I usually
pay handsomely even for common things that

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

those who gather “curiosities ” as they are
called may bring any novelties to me. 1 am
however entirely without a Botanical assistant,
so that I must collect, dry, arrange &c all my
specimens myself which will account for the
delay in your boxes going off. Mrs Gunn helps
me a good deal but a rising family gives her
full occupation without bothering herself with
my hobbies. I have six farms under my own
management scattered 70 miles apart.— so that
my frequent visitations to each give me riding
enough. On Horseback however I cannot carry
much although I make shift to stuff my hat &
pockets. I dare not carry visibly my means of
preserving plants or else the good people would
suppose I was neglecting my business & only
culling flowers. I therfore hide my botanizing
propensities as much as possible.

Mr Gray of the British Museum has never
written to me or sent me any Books. I regret
this as it has damped my ardour in many of those
branches. The Box which I now regret you gave
to the British Museum was worth £50, and the
specimens in it cost me nearly that amount !
For some of the rarer birds I paid £2. each—
and the two Emus were over here worth £10.
Gould told me that he bought many of the skins
from Gray & paid for them but even that amount
never reached me. It is unfair, because with a
large family I yet spend every spare shilling
for the advancement of Science— & look for
no return beyond that of Books or similar
things. The British Museum could afford to
reward me liberally, & for their own sakes
ought to have encouraged me as a Collector.

From Mr Short I have never heard. I am still
in debt £300 on his account which I must pay
off as soon as I can gather the amount.

I have sent Duplicates of your Collections to
Lindley & Brown, & if you see them you might
suggest Books not already sent by you although
in most cases duplicates are valuable to give
away to induce people to collect for me.

I shall add a short account of my Cases in the
next sheet to which I must beg to refer you
Box

W.I.H.

1 contains specimens of woods, some
fossils, and branches of that large
Epacrideous plant growing 10 to 25 feet high
with usually merely a tuft of leaves to top.
It is sometimes but not usually branched.
Backhouse mentioned it in his Index Plantarum
in Ross’s Almanack under Richea, & if it is
undescribed I should like it to bear his name —
He did much more for Botany than appears,

and I always gladly acknowledge that I reaped
very much valuable information from him. The
flowers are small. You will find them as No.
1215 in the Collection. In this Case are sundries
besides.

Box

W.I.H.

2 contains Ranunculaceae to Myrtac-
eae & nothing else. I find that
certain Caterpillars breed in the Eucalypti &
destroy them in spite of the smell of camphor &
Turpentine. They are an excessive nuisance.

In Box Marked J.H. are seeds of a great
L number of the Eucal-

227 yptus tribe with my

numbers on the packets.

Box

J.H.

L This contains all the Natural Orders

227 of Dicotyledones from Myrtaceae to
Coniferae. The Monocotyledones I have not yet
arranged !

This case also contains a lot of specimens from
Port Phillip and I have 300 more to follow from
the Coast at Portland Bay. Lot of Mosses &
Lichens, Lycopodiums, Fungi, &c. not numbered.
Lot Algae from George Town are numbered.
They were gathered & preserved by Mrs. Gunn
upon the plan suggested by your Son. Woods of
various trees & shrubs named or numbered to
correspond with the plants. Some “ Native
Bread ” a fungus here. Seeds of Eucalypti.
Dawsonia — & anything else to fill up.

In a box to Mr Brown I put some Cider of our
Eucalyptus — as I did [not?] wish to put any
liquid in more boxes than one lest the Bottles
should break. Get him to let you have some of
it. I forget if there was anything else in this
Case for you.

Should you require reference to more speci¬
mens than I have sent you, you will find cor¬
responding ones of most of the species in the
Collections I have just sent to Lindley & Brown.
The only ones I did not send them were the
rarer Eucalypti which your son talked of pub¬
lishing

Amongst my new numbers you will doubtless
find mere varieties of some of the older ones,
but I explain my reasons in each case in my
notes (which are to follow). Many however
are new say 200 of them — and as I yet have a
great number of Monocotyledones not previously
sent Home by me my numbers will swell out by
& bye. I have gathered Vallisneria, Isoetes 2

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

species Azorella, Ruppia, Potamongetons, &
various Charae which I must arrange as soon
as possible. A few additional orchideae also
rewarded my explorations.

My excursion to Recherche Bay enabled me
to identify nearly the whole of La Billardiere’s
V.D.L. plants as I went over the ground visited
by him. The only species I have not seen are
his Billardiera pisiformis which I do not believe
exists in V.D.L. but as it is common at King
George’s Sound & LaB. collected all his Cape
Lewin plants a little to the East of that harbour
I presume he has mistaken the habitat. Gom-
pholobium tomentosum, Melaleuca fascicularis,
Stylidium umbellatum, Euthales trinervis,
Croton quadripartitum, I did not collect. They
may have existed but as I did not possess his
work to draw my attention to them I never
thought of searching for them. Of almost every
other plant of V.D.L. in his work you will receive
specimens just now. I intend however sending
you some observations on the Plants figured in
his work with a view to clearing up some
difficulties & synonyms. His Boronia pilosa is
my No. 1037 — and you will find that his plates
considering their age are very characteristic.
Frankenia tetrapetala is my 1029. — Myrio-
phyllum amphibium is my 1068 Eucalyptus
cordata my 1071. Canthium quadrifidum is your
Coprosma microphylla & my No. 219. Cyathodes
abietina my 1185 Decaspora disticha my 1200
& not my 297 as I at one time supposed. Epacris
myrtifolia 1206, &c &c The true Campynema
linearis is my 954/1837

I can never sufficiently express my admiration
of Brown’s Prodromus — it is so exceedingly
accurate. It is to me a source of astonishment
how he saw so many of our rarer plants. I wish
he had completed it.

I spent a week on the mountains last Feb¬
ruary but except to obtain “ Cider ” & specimens
of the real Cider tree (Eucalyptus). I picked
up few novelties. — A small Coprosma was
almost the only plant I gathered. I got some
good specimens of some of the older things.

On the Sea Coast near George Town I have
added a little to my stock. It is a sandy
country covered with what we call a healthy
vegetation — A Goodenia, Utricularia, Villarsia,
Casuarina, Leucopogon ? &c not previously
obtained are in the present Collection.

I send a letter for your son, but should he not
have returned to England pray open it as it
contains nothing but what you may peruse

[After closing he adds ]

The Algae are sent in a Case of Lindley’s
addressed to you — as your own was closed
before I thought of them

Any Parcels for me sent to Messrs Buckles
& Co. of Mark Lane will be duly forwarded.
They are my wool agents. This will save delay
in looking out for opportunities.

My address is Launceston V.D. Land.

1215. Probably Richea pandanifolia Hook.

1037. Boronia pilosa Lab.

1029. Frankenia tetrapetala Lab. i.e. F.
pauciflora DC.

1068. Myriophyllum amphibium Lab.

1071. Eucalyptus cordata Lab.

219. Canthium quadrifidum Lab. i.e.
Coprosma quadrifida (Lab.) Rob.

1185. Cyathodes abietina R.Br.

1200. Descap-ora disticha Hook. i.e.

Trochocarpa disticha (Hook.)
Spreng.

297. Descapora gunnii Hook. i.e. Trocho¬
carpa gunnii (Hook.) Spreng.

1206. Epacris myrtifolia Lab.

954/1837. Campynema linearis Lab.

“ Native Bread ” is an underground
fungus, Mylitta australis Berk.

This letter was landed at Falmouth as an
‘ India Letter ’ and reached Kingston (on
Thames) on 18th April, 1844.

The Hon. J. E. Bicheno had arrived in
Van Diemen’s Land as Colonial Secretary in
1842, and, keenly interested in scientific
studies and Natural History, was a leading
member of both the Tasmanian Society and
the Royal Botanical Society formed in 1842.
The holiday resort of Bicheno on the East
Coast is named after him.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Professor Richard Owen, of the Royal
College of Surgeons, was the famous
zoologist and anatomist, whose work in com¬
parative anatomy contributed much towards
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Some of his
contributions for the Zoological Society of
London are reprinted in the “ Tasmanian
Journal.”

Mr. J. E. Gray was a zoologist at the
British Museum. Perhaps he thought it was
reward enough for Gunn to name the Striped
Bandicoot (Peremales gnnnii Gray, 1838)
after him.

This letter contains the first reference to
a second Mrs. Gunn and a growing family.
In 1841 Ronald Gunn had married Margaret
Legrand Jamieson, daughter of David
Jamieson of “ Glen Leith ” estate near New
Norfolk. He apparently combined botany
with courting, as several of his specimens
in the Sydney Herbarium have “ Glen Leith ”
as the collecting locality.

It is doubtful if Gunn went to Port Phillip
to say goodbye to the Franklins. There is no
mention of a trip there at the time in subse¬
quent letters. According to the diary of
Lady Jane Franklin (Mackaness, 1947),
Ronald Gunn, Thomas Henty and J. H.
Wedge came in a steamer and bade farewell
to the ex-governor somew'here between Swan
Island and Circular Head, most probably at
George Town, where Gunn owned a house
and two acres of land.

The property owned by the Franklins in
Tasmania was considerable. According to
the Government Gazette of 1864, Lady Jane
Franklin was still in possession of 5,200
acres of pastoral country on the North Esk,
1,200 acres at Barrowville and 1,000 acres
on the St. Patrick’s River. In each case
Ronald C. Gunn is listed as agent. She had
also owned the “ Ancanthe ” estate near
Hobart, Betsy Island off South Arm, and land
on the Huon River at Franklin, let in small
sections to tenant farmers.

With the letter went notes on Labillar-
diere’s collection, which are printed as
Appendix C.

Six months later Gunn entrusted another
box of specimens for Hooker to the care of
the Rev. Archdeacon F. A. Marriott,
Chaplain and Archdeacon to Bishop F. R-
Nixon, the first Anglican Bishop of Tas¬
mania. Marriott had come to Tasmania with
Nixon in 1843 and was returning to enlist
more clergymen for service in Tasmania, and
to obtain funds for promoting the work of
religion and education in the colony. One
result of his efforts was the establishment of
Christ College at Bishopsbourne (later
removed to Hobart).

LETTER 190.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land-
9 May 1844.

My dear Sir,

The Venerable Mr Archdeacon Marriott pro¬
ceeding to England in a few days P. Kinnard
from Hobart Town I have forwarded by hun
(to save freight) a small box of rough dried
Algae. They really look so perfectly horrible
to the eye that I have been ashamed to send
you any hitherto and I fear the present lot will
do me no credit. I find that they become very
brittle in drying and what is worse — lose colour

_ shrink & look most villanously ugly— they

also take up much room in packing. If you can
aid me by any hints by which their appearance
may be improved so that they may reach you
in decent order — I shall try to send you some¬
thing better worth while. I have got a con¬
siderable number of additional species dried
like ordinary specimens of Plants but I did not
know whether it might not be an objectionable
mode — These you must get in my next lot
of Plants. I think they look very much better
than by hanging them to dry in the air. I am
also disposed to think that drying them ju st
as they come out of the Sea is better than
soaking them previously to drying in fresh
water. The salt seems to keep them soft and
would enable you to soak them in England
more easily for examination— & then you might
dry them finally if you liked. Let me know
whether there are any objections to preserving
thus — as fresh water is not abundant near
George Town in the summer time.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

As the present lot will I trust cost you
nothing — I shall be glad to receive your report.
I have plenty more of the smaller kinds dried
on white paper. & lots of what I suppose Claudea

elegans.

I have been ill for the last 3 months which
has confined me to the House — & I lost the
season for collecting many things. Of V.D.L.
Plants I have got very few novelties since I last
wrote— & my illness has prevented my arrang¬
ing the Orchideae & Monocotyledonous Plants.
I shall have to go on as soon as I have leisure.

I have also got for you between 6 & 700
species of Plants from Australia Felix North of
Portland Bay, & from the Banks of the Glenelg
River. Many are very interesting to me as show¬
ing the variation between the Flora of V.D.L.
& New Holland. Many species are the same, but
many are astonishingly like — but yet different—
The Orchideae are nearly all found in this
Colony — but there are several genera with which
I am unacquainted as not being found in this
Island. The various species of Loranthus—
parasitical on the Eucalyptus and Acacias seem
to be the most marked character of difference
in the flora of the two places.

Since I last wrote with my last collection I
was at George Town & York Town. An additional
species of Ozothamnus also rewarded my
labours, but I saw several plants which I had
only previously gathered about Rocky Cape—
& it is a good thing to find new localities
nearer Home. A visit to Rocky Cape would now
cost me at least a month.

By Captn Riddle of the Barque “ Tasmania ”
I sent you very rough notes on the collection
I sent P. Mona. I fear you will find them
miserably meagre — but really so long as I
can only steal moments to devote to Botany —
so long you must feel satisfied with but
imperfect sketches of the Plants &c I am enabled
to send you.

These Colonies have got into a fearful state
in money matters— arising from over specul¬
ation and other causes. Property has fallen
in Value to a ruinous extent — and land is now
sold for a tenth of what was paid for it a few
years ago. Insolvencies innumerable have been
the result — and I have reason to bless my stars
that my poverty has prevented my losing any¬
thing. I therefore remain as I was — richer now
than many of my neighbours who formerly
boasted of their thousands.

I shall be glad at all times to hear from you
when you have leisure. Tell Joseph that I must
write to him next.

I have sent to Dr. Robt. Brown a Collection
of Sponges by this opportunity.— Have you
any interest in them ?

I have more Cider of the Cider Tree if you
desire it.— The nuisance is that a liquid cannot
safely be sent amongst dried specimens.

I shall now say Goodbye

[He adds as a postscript ]

I mentioned before for you to send any parcels
for me at any time to Messrs Buckles & Co.
Mark Lane, London who will always forward
them direct. They are my wool agents. The Box
is marked W.I.H. on the lid, but I put a card of
address under the one with the Archdeacon’s
name, so that when he got to London he might
tear off his own and let yours stand.

The letter arrived on 4th October, 1844.

Whether or not the parcel sent home by
Archdeacon Marriott was satisfactory, the
collections of sea weeds that Gunn from time
to time sent to England formed the basis of
the fifth volume of W. J. Harvey’s
“ Phycologa Australica,” and this volume is
dedicated to him with this note—“ From
Ronald C. Gunn came the earliest collections
of Australian algae, which, through the kind¬
ness of Sir W. J. Hooker, fell under my
notice. Many new species are of his dis¬
covery ; to him also is due the re-discovery of
Claudia elegans; and to him I am not only
indebted for the freeest use of his personal
collections, but for multitudes of duplicate
specimens

The plant collections from Australia Felix
(Major Mitchell’s name for the Western
District of Victoria) were almost certainly
gathered by John G. Robertson on or near
his station of Wando Vale. Gunn visited
Robertson more than once, but in later years
and, as he makes no mention of collecting
these specimens himself, it is likely that
Robertson sent them to Gunn for arrange¬
ment and examination before transmitting
them to Hooker. The New South Wales
botanist J. H. Maiden mentions, (in a note
on Robertson in an article called “ Records
of Victorian Botanists ” in “ The Victorian

100

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Naturalist ” of November 1908) that he has
a “ List of Plants received from Mr. J. G.
Robertson in Gunn’s neat handwriting. All
the plants are numbered. There are ten and
a half closely written pages with critical
notes.”

Loranthus is the Mistletoe. The Austra¬
lian mainland has several species of this
parasite which is absent from Tasmania.
The so-called Tasmanian Mistletoe is really
a parasitic leafless vine of the genus
Cassythci. Claudia elegayis is a seaweed.

The “ fearful state of the colonies ”
followed the collapse of the Victorian Land
Boom in the early eighteen-forties. Land
and stock prices fell disastrously and many
speculators and land owners became insol¬
vent. It is possible that Ronald Gunn took
advantage of the low prices to purchase land
and stock following the slump. By 1850 he
owned considerable property.

The Cider of the Cider Tree was a
fermented liquid made from the sap of the
Cider Gum ( E. gunnii). During late spring
and early summer the sweetish sap of this
highland species of Eucalypt runs very freely
and appreciable quantities may be obtained
from cut or broken trunks and branches, or
deep incisions in the bark. The Tasmanian
aborigines collected this sap in holes lined
with clay and covered it with bark until it
fermented. Gunn’s bottled cider was
probably made by less primitive methods.

In an article called “ Excursion to the
Western Range, Tasmania ”, in the “ Tas¬
manian Journal ” (Vol, 2, p. 140) Lieut.
William H. Breton, R.N. remarks that—

The Shepherds and stock-keepers who tend the
flocks and herds on that elevated region are
in the habit of making deep incisions wherever
an exudation of the sap is perceived upon the
bark. The holes are made in such a manner as
to retain the sap that flows into them, and large
enough to hold a pint. Each tree yields from half
to a pint daily during December and January,
but the quantity lessens in February, and soon
ceases.

In Gunn’s next letter he reports sending
a couple of bottles home to Hooker, with
bottled specimens preserved in pyroligneous
(acetic) acid.

LETTER 189.

Launceston V.D.L. 30 Septemr 1844
My dear Sir,

Your most interesting letter of 13th May
was received by me a fortnight ago with sin¬
cere pleasui'e — and 1 assure you I am delighted
with the prospect of seeing a Flora Tasmanica.
1 shall give my best help towards it despite the
multiplicity of my present associations.

I now send Home P. “ Robert Matthews ” two
Cases to your Address. One containing two
bottles of Cider from the Eucalyptus, a great
number of Orchideae in pyroligenous acid —
vizt various sp. of Diuris, Caladenia, Mac-
donaldia, Chiloglottis, Pterostylis, &c— also a
bottle with Gunnia Australis. To fill up the case
I put in sundry bottles of Snakes, frogs. Birds.
Mulluscae, and Crustaceae, &c— which I should
like to be given to any one who would use them.
I am really anxious that our Tasmanian Natural
History should be well known — and if I can be
the humble means of collecting the specimens—
I shall be satisfied. All I have ever asked has
been Books without which I cannot work, or
at least I toil in the dark — without pleasure—
and I am afraid my collections would soon be
vei-y small indeed were it not for the intense
enjoyment I feel in gathering. In the second
and largest Case are two packages — Auckland
& Campbells Island specimens for your Son;
a Lot from the Straits of Magellan; a few
New Zealand plants & ferns; a few plants from
Port Essington & Raffles Bay on the N. Coast
of New Holland — collected by Le Guillieu in
D’Urville’s Expeditnon— a very large lot of the
smaller Algae preserved on papers— among
which plenty of large specimens of Claudia
elegans and some others hardly less beautiful. —
These are almost entirely the labour of my
“ Womankind ” as the Antiquary has it. Another
parcel contains the larger Algae, Zostera marina
in fruct., Ruppia maritima ? Caulinia antarctica
and some others which bother me, as I am
fairly beyond my depth when I get out of the
Phaenerogamia. You must aid me a little by
& bye. To these I have added all my specimens
of Ferns, some good specimens of a beautiful
coralline, & the whole filled up with an immense
lot of seeds among which are many rare and
good ones such as Athrotaxis & Dacrydium —
My Backhousia (arborescent Riehea of Mac¬
quarie Harbour) and numerous Leptosperma,

T. F.. IiURNS & J. R. SKEMP

101

&c &c. All the Lichens, Fungi &c I threw in.

I was vexed to find two small cigar cases of
minerals, &c belonging to your Son among my
miscellanies the other day— My House at
Hobart Town was very small, & I had put them
amongst some V.D.L. shells, &c in packing to
come here, & there they lay snugly esconced
until chance led me to turn over my reserve
boxes of shells. My eye then caught “ J. D.
Hooker ” legibly written by myself on slips of
paper in each. I cannot help this blunder now.

I immediately wrote to Lieut. Smith to send
me the Wards Case — & it is now on its way
by sea to Launceston. If I get it in time I
shall fill it at once and send it to you. I am
sure I can send you many interesting plants
from this. If you will therefore at once send
me two more cases out through Buckles & Co
who will tell you when a good vessel is likely
to come direct to Launceston— and I shall
promise faithfully to fill them and send them
Home regularly. I have a large garden &
cultivate largely— but I am most anxious for all
those things likely to stand our open air without
much nursing. If I get your Case in time I
shall send the list of the things I send you in it
by another letter. It is probable I may draw
upon you from time to time on act. of the
Royal Gardens for whatever amount you
authorize — but it will only be with a view to
defraying expenses— or to invest in a good
Microscope and Books. I posses Zeal to over¬
flowing— but my mind is too often exhausted
by a multiplicity of associations — one uncon¬
nected with the other— - which my position here
obliges me to discharge— so that I have not that
continuous leisure to enable me to become pro¬
ficient in any science — or indeed the advantage
which those possess who devote all their time
to any one pursuit. You shall have however
as much of my time as I can spare & perhaps
more than I ought were it not that my whole
heart & soul is with you.

I have got some interesting things still to
send, but my box would not hold them, & I
thought the Auckland plants, Fungi, Lichens,
Algae & things of this character were more
important to reach Joseph first. For the future
I shall send all to you, & must beg you to
divide with Lindley on my account — as he has
been most attentive to me. If therefore you
can spare any seeds (particularly Orchideae)
pray let him have them.

I am sorry Brown is so close. I venerate the
man so highly that I am most unwilling to think
otherwise than most favourably of him. I
never found one of his observations wrong yet —
and he seems to have seen almost everything.
Get him to let me know the result of the Fossil

Woods I sent him. I am anxious to know if one
was really a Banksia. Tell him that I suspect
that I have got Fossil Casuarina or something
like it, which I will send him if he sends me the
acct. of the present lot. I have got an instru¬
ment made for cutting thin sections of wood for
the microscope, but I cannot manage to cut the
stones so as to compare them. Tell him also—
I have more sponges for him from the South
Coast of New Holland (Western Port).

Amongst some Books I bought at Auction the
other day I got “ Jacquins Selectarum Stirpium
Americanarum Historia ”— in 2 Vols. edition
1763 with 183 plates. It is of no use to me
whatever, and if you want it — I shall send
it to you. I also got Hills Hortus Malarbaricus,
part 1. with 57 plates edition 1774. This is
also of no value to me. The plates are good
of their age & Commelin’s descriptions probably
correct. I mention these to you as they may
for ought I know be valuable in England.

I shall send this in the Case & write again by
post.—

Of the various genera of orchids Gunn
forwarded, Macdonaldia is now known as
Thelymitra and Gunnia as Sarcochilus. Of
the seaweeds Zostera viarina was probably
Z. tasmanica G. V. Mart.

The “ Flora Tasmaniae ” was published as
Part III of “ The Botany of the Antarctic
Voyage of H.M. discovery ships “ Erebus ”
and “ Terror ” by Lovell Reeve of Covent
Garden, London, in 1860. It bears this
dedication—“ To Ronald Campbell Gunn,
F.R.S., F.L.S., and William Archer, F.L.S.,
this Flora of Tasmania, which owes so much
to their indefatigable exertions, is dedicated
by their very sincere friend, J. D. Hooker,
Royal Gardens, Kew, January, 1860.” (Gunn
become a Fellow of the Linnean Society in
1850 and of the Royal Society of London in
1854).

William Archer was the second son of
Thomas Archer of “ Woolmers,” in the Long¬
ford district of Tasmania. Born in 1820,
as a young man he studied architecture in
England and later designed several well-
known Tasmanian buildings, including the
Hutchins School, Hobart, and the mansion of
“ Mona Vale ” in the Tasmanian Midlands.

102

VAN DIEMEN S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

His home was at “ Cheshunt ” near
Deloraine, under the northern scarp of the
Western Tiers. He was an enthusiastic plant
collector and accomplished botanical
draughtsman. Among the 200 beautifully
drawn, coloured lithographic plates that
illustrate the “ Flora of Tasmania ” are 30
done by William Archer, depicting 60 species
of Tasmanian orchids. As well, he con¬
tributed £100 towards the cost of production.
The Tasmanian Government also voted £350
for the “ Flora Tasmaniae ”, while the
British Treasury gave £1,000 towards the
cost of coloured plates for the whole series,
which included “ Flora of Lord Auckland and
Campbell’s Islands ”, “ Flora of Fuegia, the
Falkland Islands, &c.,” and “Flora of New
Zealand ”, as well as the “ Flora of Tas¬
mania.” The Tasmanian section, in two
beautifully produced volumes, the first for
Dicotyledones, the second for Monocotyle-
dones and Acotyledones, describes in all
2203 species, of which 412 were figured.

There is no mention of William Archer in
any of Gunn’s letters to Hooker contained in
the file, but most of these were written when
Archer was still only a youth or a young man
in England. It is certain they afterwards
collaborated in collecting and corresponded
with each other. In William Archer’s letters
and diaries (in the possession of his grand¬
daughter, Mrs. Frank Edwards of Ulver-
stone, Tasmania) there are several references
to Ronald Gunn, and there is little doubt that
he made “ Cheshunt ” a base for some of his
collecting trips. Although they had a mutual
interest in Botany, they were opposed in
politics. William Archer was an Anti-trans-
portationist, Ronald Gunn favoured a con-
uation of the Convict system. In an entry of
his diary of 10th May 1847, Archer mentions
a meeting on the question at the Cornwall
Hotel, Launceston, when “ Mr. Gunn and
others spoke in favour of Transportation, but
the meeting hissed them constantly and
would scarcely listen to them at all ”. In
1851 William Archer stood as a candidate

for the first elected Legislative Council of
Tasmania, for the division of Westbury,
which then included the whole of North-
Western Tasmania. Archer in his diary
records that in his election campaign he
visited Circular Head in company with
Ronald Gunn, who was making a report on
the affairs of the V.D.L. Company; but Gunn
did not interfere at all with his canvassing
and they did some botanising together.

This letter also contains the first of many
references to Wards Cases, an innovation in
the transportation of living plants over long
distances which might occupy months. In a
letter of 13th January 1836, in Vol. I of W.
J. Hooker’s “ Companion to the Botanical
Magazine ”, Mr. N. B. Ward explains how he
got the idea when he placed the pupa of a
moth in a sealed glass jar in moist earth in
which also were weed seeds. These germin¬
ated and continued to live and grow in the
jar for several weeks. Sunlight could enter
the jar but moisture could not leave it.

Applying this principle on a larger scale
he placed living plants in a strongly made
box containing moist earth .The glazed lid
of this box, shaped like a hip roof, was then
clamped down with steel bands so that the
box was hermetically sealed. The box was
then placed where sunlight could reach it, as
on the deck of a ship. On a long voyage,
barring accidents, the survival rate was
reasonably high, though Joseph Hooker
sometimes referred to them sarcastically as
Ward’s ‘ Coffins ’. (Polythene plastic bags
are now used for the same purpose.)

A reference in a brief note, written two
days later to acknowledge the receipt of more
books from Sir William, indicates that Sir
John Franklin’s Tasmanian Society had now
in actuality become Ronald Gunn’s Tas¬
manian Society with its headquarters in
Launceston.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

103

LETTER 186.

Penquite, 2nd October 1844.

■jyly Dear Sir,

Your immense consignment of Books by Lieut.
(Jmith only reached me yesterday — and as I
pad got a small parcel from the same gentleman
previously — I was surprized by the arrival
pf the second and larger lot. — Pray accept my
pest thanks for them.

\ enclose herewith Copy of an Article of Mr
^olenso’s which appears in the 2nd Vol. of
^ur “ Tasmanian Journal ” on “ Certain New
(ferns ”. The Tasmanian Society was really
^ead until I took it in hand the other day —
pecame its Secretary — and have now in the
press at Launceston ! a number of the “ Journal
^•hich will contain this paper of Colenso’s as
plso portion of another which ought to have
peen published long ago.

I enclose herewith a list of a few plants —
j,ny of which you can send out in the Cases—
j,nd I shall replace them to you by not less
•pteresting Tasmanian foi-ms.

Your Case of Plants is on its way to me —
put has not yet arrived. I shall at once fill it
yvdth Ferns & plants from near my house—
justing to send those from more distant places
py other opportunities.

In the present Case which I close at once —
you will find many Odds and ends.— There are
uiore things to go by next vessel.— but my hands
a re full.—

[He concludes and then adds ]

Mema of things wanted.—
plate 432 of leones Plantarum wanting.

Letter Press of Plate 3430, Vol. 9. Botanical
Magazine wanting.

These you may have to spare & they will make
m y Vols. complete.

I should like Mary Wyatt’s Algae Daw-
moniensis. — You have sent me the Supplement
to it-— Send me the names of the genera of my
algae when you can.

Pritchard’s “ Hist, of Infusoriae ” would if
cheap, enable me to get Plants from P. Phillip —
or any other works on this subject — as my
friend there is devoted to this study.

The outside of the letter bears Sir W. J.
Hooker’s name but no address and no post¬
marks and so may have been enclosed in a
larger packet. The enclosures he mentions
are not with the letter.

Writing to Sir John Franklin from Pen¬
quite on 19th September, 1842, regarding the
Tasmanian Journal, Gunn says,—

I find it difficult to remember all the circum¬
stances originally connected with the printing
of the Magazine, but I believe they were nearly
as follows.

When it was first determined to publish the
“ Tasmanian Journal ” I applied to Mr. Elliston
printer of the Hobart Town Courier to ascertain
whether it could be printed by him. He said
he could but only by throwing off half a sheet
at a time, as he had not a sufficient quantity
of some of the kinds of type required. At his
request I asked the Government Printer if he
could spare the quantity wanted by Mr. Elliston
upon the condition that it should be returned as
soon as he could obtain some from England, but
M. Barnard could not comply. The Courier was
subsequently printed twice a week and if I
recollect rightly greater difficulties arose to
the printing of the Magazine by Mr. Elliston
without a larger supply of type. I then asked
him if it could be printed at any other office in
Hobart, but he replied that it could not, as
there was no office had a sufficient quantity of
good type of the description required to do the
work well, and it was particularly desirable that
such a publication should afford a good specimen
of the typography of the Colony.

At Launceston Mr. Dowling had sold his
establishment to Mr Knight, who was printing
two newspapers, and could not undertake the
publication of a Magazine. The character of the
type of the Cornwall Chronicle rendered the
employment of that office impossible.

Neatness and accuracy were deemed essentials
in a Scientific Periodical, and the miserable
blundering style in which all the Newspapers
were got up, except the Hobart Town Courier
and Launceston Advertiser, was enough to have
deterred from the employment of any but the
Printers of these Journals if they could have
undertaken the work.

The Rev. William Colenso, of Paihai, New
Zealand, was a corresponding member of the
Tasmanian Society, and contributed four

104

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

original papers to the “ Tasmanian Journal ”,
two of them on Ferns. The other two are
the result of an excursion with a fellow
missionary, the Rev. W. Williams, to the
Poverty Bay region of New Zealand; one
dealing mainly with botanical species
observed there, the other entitled “ An
Account of some enormous Fossil Bones, of
an unknown Species of the Class Aves, lately
discovered in New Zealand.” This is
probably the first record of Moa bones ever
to be published.

Colenso was Gunn’s counterpart in New
Zealand, Hooker’s main correspondent and
collector there. He has there been honoured
by a biography, “ William Colenso ”, by A.
G. Bagnall and G. C. Peterson, published in
1948 by A. H. and A. W. Reed of Wellington,
with the aid of the New Zealand State
Literary Fund.

The Papers and Proceedings of the Tas¬
manian Society published in the “ Tasmanian
Journal of Natural History” are of a very
high standard. Some are reprints of Papers
read before learned societies in England,
including a few by Sir William and Dr.
Hooker and Professor Owen; but mostly they
are original works, several by Ronald Gunn
himself. One of these (Vol. I. p. 35) is a
revised list of James Backhouse’s “ Esculent
Plants of Tasmania ”, first published in
Ross’s “ Hobart Town Almanack ” of 1834,
and arranged by Gunn in Natural Orders;
another (Vol. Ill p. 147) on “ The Bunyip of
Australia Felix ”, was written in association
with Dr. James Grant, and based on a skull
found on the banks of the Murrumbidgee
River by Athol Fletcher Esq., forwarded
from Port Phillip by Edward Curr Esq.

A week after writing this letter Gunn had
received his first Ward’s Case from England
and unpacked it, and was now busily refilling
it with native plants for return, and three
weeks later reports its despatch.

LETTER 187.

My dear Sir,

Penquite, near Launceston.
10 October, 1844.

I have already written you two letters in reply
to yours by Lieut Smith, but as I expected to
have to write a third to acknowledge receipt
of the Case of Plants — I put them both into
Case W I H No 2. which is already shipped on
board of the “ Robert Matthews ” — and which
you will find on top. — I have now the pleasure
of saying that the Case of Plants has reached
my hands, & I opened it this morning — finding
upwards of one half its contents alive. — I have
no list however of the plants in it — but I may
as well mention that all the Coniferae save one,
and nearly all the Azaleas are dead. This would
lead me to observe that, perhaps, in future lots,
it would be well to assort the plants— putting
some which like a dry atmosphere into a case by
themselves. Nevertheless the Case has been
most fortunate, & it is probable some may have
died from a pane or two of glass having been
broken during the passage which however Lieut.
Smith kindly got repaired. I have at once set
to work to fill it and return it by the vessel
to sail in a few days, and as the Orchideae are
many of them now in flower — at which season
alone they can be gathered— I have filled the
case almost exclusively with these little plants.
You will I think receive many of them if not all
alive. There are in the Case

Pterostylis squamata, nana, curta, nutans,
pedunculata & mutica.

Caladenia barbata, carnea, Patersoni, & others
Chiloglottis dipliylla;

Cyrtostylis reniformis;

Microtis sp.

Diuris curvifolia, lanceolata — with varieties of
both these species
Glossodia major
Anguillaria dioica & uniflora ?

Burchardia umbellata
Caesia corymbosa & species
Arthropodium sp;

Anthericum bai’batum ?

Drosera my 448.

Brunonia australis;

Brachycomc sp. —

Anopterus glandulosa
Athrotaxis 3 species —

These two last & 1 pi of Fagus are doubtful
although I have had them for some considerable
time.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

105

You will also find a great number of miscellan¬
eous plants in the earth— and in the balls with
the plants which were dug out of the Natural
soil — Among these I send AVahlenbergia
gracilis & the annual species.

Viola hederacea

Dianella sp; &c &c &c &c &c

I sincerely hope these will reach you safe —
as I dug them all up myself — & have seen
them at once packed carefully in your Case. I
would advise you to save all the earth and
mosses in the Case, & place it over a gentle
heat by which you are likely to start many
seeds of the Hymenanthera angustifolia, Astro-
loma humifusa & others. Not a particle of the
soil I sent being from the garden.

Immediately after filling the above Case I
set about collecting Ferns which I shall send you
in a close box nailed down. I do not know how
this plan will answer— but it is worth trying as
the simplest way of sending such bulky and
common things — which if lost are easily re¬
placed. If I can get a Case made here reasonably
1 shall send it off by one of our early vessels
with shrubs, of which I have got many ready —
at all events return me as many Cases as you
like & I shall fill them regularly — if not with
handsome plants at all events with what may
prove botanieally interesting. Almost every
Orchideous plant I send is in its natural soil—-
so that you can keep them afterwards by the
sample you find about their roots.

This is a capital season for Plants to reach
V.D.L. being our spring— so that your dis¬
patching things from Kew in April & May,
would suit us admirably — but you must be
guided by the sailing of vessels.

For your Son’s Flora Tasmanica I have still
many new things— which he shall have in due
course. — I am working — though it can only
be by fits and starts. — By the Robert Matthews
you will therefore now receive 4 Cases — alto¬
gether; as P. memorandum & Bills of Lading
enclosed — To their contents I must refer you—

[He adds as a postscript ]

I have before closing the lid on the Wards
Case covered the whole surface with seeds of
all our species of Athrotaxis — as also rare
Epacrideae, Cryptandra, Leguminosae, and
many other seeds. Some of these will I trust
grow.—

The Box of Ferns contains amongst odds &
ends. —

Blechnum or
? Lomaria— 7 species
Dicksonia 1 small spn

Aspidium proliferum
Aspidium sp.

Polypodum Billardieri
Cheilanthes tenuifolia
Adiantum assimile
Lindsaea ? large
Doodia aspera ?

Hernionitis ? my 14
Grammitis rutaefolia

The Moss will also contain seeds—

448. Drosera peltata Sm.

14. Todea africana Willd. i.e. T. barbara
(L) T. Moore—Austral King
Fern. His “annual species” of
Wahlenbergia was perhaps
Wahlenbergia gracilenta Lothian
which “ was collected on Circular
Hd. but IF. gymnoclada and W.
billardieri were also sent under
‘ W. gracilis ’ ” —Dr. R. Melville.

This letter sent per “ Robert Matthews ”
arrived on 13th February, 1845. Early in
December he writes again.

LETTER 188.

Penquite, near Launceston.

3rd December 1844.

My dear Sir,

By the “ Robert Matthews ” which left our
land on 28 Oct. I sent your Wards Case full of
Orchideous roots and a number of small things
which I trust may reach you alive. Also a
closely covered Case full of our Terrestrial Ferns
of 14 species — if these arrive even com¬
paratively safe — I shall send you immediately
all the rest of our Ferns — terrestrial & epi-
phitical — as they are all come-at-able within
a reasonable distance of Penquite — say 50
miles. I have been unable to see the Gunnia
Australis since I left Circular Head but if 1
can come across it in my rambles you shall have
it. By the Robert Matthews I also sent two
Cases — one of dried specimens and the other
of wet ones — such as Orchideae in bottles—
besides various reptiles, &c to send to others.
These have been doubtless in your hands
sufficiently long that you know their contents.

106

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

I am still gathering: fast — I have splendid
specimens of Alsophila Australis for you which
I found in the Asbestos Hills— and plenty
of it.— I also obtained some additional species
of Algae— and a good number of plants— which
if not new will at least be better in flower than
any I before sent. Since I last wrote I may
ennumerate Pleurandra astrotriche Tetratheca
ciliata Platylobium Murrayanum & many com¬
mon things— with a new sp. of Clematis, a new
Acacia— unfortunately out of fl. close to A.
Gunnii a Triglochum a Chara and some small
things not easily ennumerated.— The Ruppia
are finely in flower — as also Myriophyllum
varia[e] folium.— A curious new aquatic Ran¬
unculus with fine thread like leaves, which
flowers under water; I obtained at Formosa—
and I think I can add two species of Euphrasia
to those last sent—

To your Son I have detailed my visit to a
Granite Country 20 Miles North East of Laun¬
ceston — there I got a few small plants such as
Caldesia &c. but I think little quite new unless
another Ranunculus (besides my 634) proves
to be so on examination. My Ranunculus 634
which you have classed with R. lappaceus is very
distinct from it— as further examination will
show. In the St Patricks river I obtained Callit-
x-iche verna I think— but you shall have speci¬
mens.— I am paying a good deal of attention
just now to collecting the unattractive plants
so as to supply you with many which are I
suspect often overlooked.— I trust I may thus
be able to give you a fair idea of our flora
although I much fear many will still pass
unheeded.—

I am getting a Wards Case built for myself
& as soon as it is finished 1 shall fill it and
ship it off. I shall draw against those already
sent but only as a means of paying your Son
for the Books I obtained. I shall dub him my
banker & let the results of my labours reach me
in Books, paper & such like. I can assure you
that you reap almost half the profits of the
Books I obtain, as the moment my knowledge is
increased — I am enabled to work to much
greater advantage— and my flagging zeal gets
a fillip from every packet. From this time I shall
send you all my Specimens — from which you
can cull for your Herbarium, & then distribute
the remainder. Send me names of the Mosses
& Lichens & if you could return me a small
modicum of each with the name appended it
would add to my pleasure & ultimately most
immensely to your Herbarium as without the
names I plod on in the dark, & feel little interest
in things of which I know nothing. The moment
I catch the name even of a genus 1 then seek out
other species — Pray bear with my ignorance
and I shall try ultimately not to disgrace my

preceptor. You must know that I know nothing
just now and I have not time to wade through
the mass necessary to acquire generic names.
Give me that first help and I can often fight
my way to the rest. Books of Plates of various
kinds afford me much assistance and many
thanks to you for the good supply I have from
time to time received.

I am about to charter a steam boat for a day’s
Cruize (along with a few others) to visit the
Hebe Reef about 7 miles off from George Town
with a view to gather any Algae not common
to the Estuary of the Tamar. What success I
shall have I know not, but I am waiting for
fine weather— and the moon’s age to be favour¬
able so as to give an unusually low tide.

I am exceedingly sorry that I cannot get my
friend Dr. Valentine to work at the Cryptogamia
for which his knowledge so admirably suits him.
He has abandoned Botany altogether, and I
believe he has done so lest his devotion to it
should injure his business as a medical man.
There is no other one in the Colony whose aid
I would covet. I mentioned in my letter to your
Son my having procured numerous specimens
of a species of Cyttaria off the Fagus Cunning-
hami agreeing very closely to Darwin’s des-
scription of the C. Darwini off the Fagi at Terra
del Fuego. In these damp Forests I saw many
Jungermanniae & allied genera but I know not
how to preserve the thin thread-like inflores¬
cence. I got Anthoceros (Monoclea) also— but
these plants are still puzzling to me.

Decemr. 20th I have got very little more to add
to the preceding. — 1 am adding a species or two
every now and then— or getting good specimens
of plants which have escaped me hitherto. I
got lovely specimens of my Pimelea No. 6— of
which I have not hitherto sent you a good
specimen. —

It is some months since I last heard from you,
but I hope to hear soon again from you or your
son. — I am not losing a moment from the little
leisure which my various avocations permit.

[He appends a Bill of Exchange ]

£.stg Launceston V.D.L.

3rd Decemr 1844.
Pay to Joseph D. Hooker Esqe or Order the
sum of Pounds on acct of two

Cases of Tasmanian Plants shipped by me P-

Ship “ Robert Matthews ” from Launceston
V.D.L. to London for the Royal Gardens at
Kew —

Sir W. J. Hooker,

Kew.

Ronald C. Gunn

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

107

[He also adds ]

In your leones Plantarum — I see that you
spell our Coniferous trees, Arthrotaxis instead
of Athrotaxis which was Don’s name as given
in the Linnean Trans. Endiicher in his Enchir¬
idion does the same — Why' 1 know not. —
Cenarrhenes is also continued by all although
LaBillardiere corrects it into Cenarrenes in
the errata at the end of Vol II of his work. —
I presume therefore the latter is the right
way. —

At Tab 295 of the leones Plantarum — the
letter press is Tillaea verticillaris but the Plate
— Bulliarda recurva.

At Tab. 285— a wrong plate is given to illustrate
the text — I have not seen these alluded to in
any errata and therefore mention it.

By the bye I have closely examined the Calli-
triche since — & found all the flowers perfect—
it will therefore probably be a different sp.
from the verna which I at first took it to be.
I have got one or two aquatics which still puzzle
me — One I really thought was the Montia
fontana, but I do not find it to agree with the
description of that plant.—

I have been hoping to see the Flora Antarctica
ere this.

Yours ever

Ronald C. Gunn

634. Ranunculus lappaceus Sm. var.

pascuinus Hook.f. i.e. R. pas-
cuinus (Hook.f.) Melville.

6. Pimelea filiformis Hook.

Cennarrhenes nitida is the Port Arthur
Plum. The first published name is accepted.
The Callitriche species was probably C. stag-
nalis Scop.

Although Gunn could not persuade him to
do any plant collecting. Dr. William Valentine
became a member of the Tasmanian Society,
and presumably sometimes attended its
meetings in Launceston. He had a good
knowledge of optical instruments. Besides
microscopy he was interested in astronomy,
and erected a telescope in his garden at
Campbell Town, where he was visited by
American astronomers to observe the transit
of Venus in 1874. The great tubes of the
instruments are now gateposts there.

Another hobby was organ building. One
pipe organ he was building in a shed was
destroyed by fire when it was almost com¬
pleted. He began another, for which his
friends bought a set of spotted English pipes,
but it was unfinished when he died in 1876.
Valentine remained at Campbell Town,
where he built the first hospital and continued
to practice, sometimes with unfortunate
results. In 1842 he fatally poisoned his
friend, Theophilus Swifte, the schoolmaster,
by accidentally administering a dose of
laudanum instead of a black draught. This
mistake cost him £25 in the Supreme Court.

His descendants, who lived in Launceston,
were more interested in sport than science.
His son William was secretary of the Tas¬
manian Turf Club, and also a keen angler.

The Valentine Rivulet, a tributary of the
St. Patrick’s River, is named after him. One
of his grandsons, Russ Valentine, was a
brilliant Australian Rules footballer.

The Asbestos Hills is a barren quartzite
range west of the Tamar Estuary and
terminating in Badger Head. Deposits of
the mineral asbestos are found there.

The ‘ granite country ’ would almost
certainly be the Diddleum Plains to the north
of Mt. Barrow. Gunn had a sheep run there.
The St. Patrick’s River flows through the
Plains and is joined there by the Valentine
Rivulet.

The ‘ blank cheque ’ appended to this letter
was to enable Dr. Joseph Hooker to act as
Gunn’s ‘banker’, receiving from the Kew
Gardens authorities the monetary value of
his collections, and expending it on botanical
books and appliances, including, no doubt,
the Wards Case mentioned in his next letter
to Sir William Hooker. This letter, and the
one that followed it six months later, is
mainly concerned with plant specimens
received from or sent to Kew.

Although most of Gunn’s botanical corres¬
pondence was with Hooker, he did occasion¬
ally send specimens to his hero, Robert

108

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Brown. The following rough draft of a
reply from Brown to Ronald Gunn is from
the files of the British Museum, and elicited
another letter from Gunn to Brown (also
from British Museum files).

The rough draft really is a ‘ rough ’ draft.
There are frequent alterations, corrections
and insertions, in his search for the appro¬
priate word or phrase. For example, Brown
first writes—“ careful packing ”, alters it to
“ Excellent packing ” and finally decides on
“ judicious packing ”. His handwriting,
hasty and untidy, together with his old-
fashioned use of the long ‘ s ’ made it difficult
to decipher, and in some cases the words
could not even be guessed at.

7 Dean St. Soho
Sepr 2d. 1844

My dear Sir,

I had very great pleasure in receiving your
instructive Letter & the Extensive series of
Dicotyledonous Plants of Van Diemen’s Land
wh accompanied it

These Plants are very valuable to me the
specimens are in excelent condition & the
C[ryptogams] arriv’d quite safe thanks to your
judicious packing I received also your packet
of Dawsonia through Sir William Hooker this
moss is very interesting to me & your specimens
belong to what I am inclined to consider a
second species of the genus (D. Longifolia) of
wh a few specimens were Found many [years
ago] by Allan Cunningham in New South Wales.

Your Fossil Woods are also very acceptable
& I should be glad to receive at a future time
larger specimens of that wh you consider a
Banksia.

In the British Museum we have an enormous
trunk of this kind presented by a Mr Cr[ ]

In structure It certainly very much resembles
the B. australis but the recent plant has a
remarkable [ ] character wh is [absent/]

in the fossil

I am very desirous of adding to my Collection
of [ ] Algae of V.D. Land & I find you

have lately detected Claudea [elegans] a highly
interesting discovery. Pray let me have as
many snecimens as you can of them partly to
be distributed in your name to European
Botanists [ ] who will be delighted in this

very beautiful plant

I had hoped to have been [able] but a [ ]

more particularly to have attended to your
collection & to have communicated to you such
remarks on it as its examination might have
suggested But from various causes indifferent
health being one I have [ ] been prevented

I shall certainly however not lose sight of it &
long to see your Monocotyledonous [ ]

collection wh I hope is on its way.

I may mention that the specimens of Orchidea
in the B. Hbm. have perished so far either from
the acid being too weak or [the] great number
of Specimens it contained that 1 was obliged to
throw them away

Sir William Hooker pi-omised but has not yet
sent me a copy of the catalogue of your
Botanical Library [so your needs are unknown]
to me

I send for your acceptance the Volumes hop¬
ing to [ ] complete your set of the

Linnean Soc. Transactions vizt vols 12 to [19 ?]
part 1st both inclusive & a copy of the Plantae
Javanica Rariones as far as published (vizt
Parts 1-3) to wh 1 am a contributor & wh I
hope you have not already got.

The only other article now sent is a very
short essay on the Development of Embryo
in Conifera in French & in English with an
addition note of this essay l have sent a copy
for Mr Bicheno & for Mr Valentine wh I beg you
to forward an excellent Botanical observer
whom you must have met with.

I am at this moment on the point of leaving
London for several weeks & hope on my return
in the begin of Novr to find that your Mono-
cotyledones have arrived & hope then to be
able to examine your [ ] collection

[ ] now obliged conclude with

] begging you to believe that

I am Your obliged faithfully
R. Brown
Ronald Gunn Esq.

On the back of the letter Brown has
written “ Rough Copy to Ronald Gunn Esq.
Launceston Van Diemens Land Sepr 2 1844 ”
Regarding the Dawsonia. moss species, Dr.
Melville states that the D. longifolia of the
Gunn mss. is D. Superba Grev.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

109

Gunn replies—

Launceston, V.D. Land
27 January 1845.

Very dear Sir,

Three days ago I received the Box containing
the Linnean Trans. & the Plantae Javanicae
rariones all safe — for which pray accept my
very best thanks. To a person like me so far
removed from any Herbarium — books contain¬
ing figures of Plants are invaluable — & with
my very limited Botanical knowledge save a
world of Labour, and really very often enable
me to note things which would otherwise pass
unobserved. — Every New Book which I obtain
I find adds amazingly to my knowledge — and
renders my labours of more value to those
friends in England who feel an interest in my
Collections. My library hitherto has been almost
exclusively supplied by Sir Win Hooker— and
that to an extent so liberal that I am quite sure
my specimens cannot repay him one fourth of
their value. I have therefore tried to levy a
slight tax upon others by gathering in other
branches of Nat. Hist, but my labours have I
presume been valueless for no return ever
reached me. Books alone I have solicited and
having no public or private Library in the
Colony to refer to — I am driven to possess
them of my own.— I am also unfortunate in
having no scientific acquaintance nearer than
Valentine who is 40 miles off at Campbell Town.
I mention all this to account for my insatiable
desire to possess Books — more especially all
relative to the productions of these Colonies —
& recent ones on all subjects so that what I do
learn may be of the latest date.

In thanking you for your kind letter of 2d.
Scptr 1844 — I have also to express my grati¬
fication at having been the means of finding
some things to interest you.— Of the Claudea I
sent a great number of specimens to Sir W.
Hooker about two months ago— some of a very
large size. If I can go to George Town again
during the summer I shall get more I have no
doubt. It was not very abundant about a foot
below low water at neap tides on a point in the
Estuary of the Tamar 7 miles from the Sea —
where indeed all the Algae I sent Home were
collected. It is probably common enough else¬
where, but I never looked — little dreaming of
novelty. —

I shall send you more specimens of what I
believed to be a fossil Banksia— and I shall add
what will not be of less interest to you — I am
sure — fossil leaves & cones of Casuarina !
(siliceous) as also wood. The Cones contain
in one specimen the seeds beautifully perfect,

and the sections of the leaves shew the peculiar
striae for which the Casuarina is remarkable.
They are from Great (Flinders) Island in Bass’
Strait where my friend Mr. Joseph Milligan
found them. The whole appearance of some
specimens is very nearly that of the mass of
leaves & cones which usually lies under a
Casuarina tree — or preserved in very still
water.

On our Fagus Cunninghami here a species of
Fungus very like — if not identical with
Cyttaria Darwinii abounds. — I gathered numer¬
ous specimens some time ago & preserved them
in three ways — spirits, brine, & Pyrolig. Acid
— to see which was best — and which I shall
send Home. I had not the full description at
the time, but a reference to the Plate & des¬
cription in the last part of the Linnean Trans,
which you have so kindly sent me — leads me to
think that if not alike it is closely allied — My
specimens are however usually the size of letters
c. d. e. & some so large as b. in the plate. It
shows how interestingly many plants are dis¬
tributed and associated.

Last week I was for a day or two on top of
the Western Mountains at Arthurs Lakes —
but obtained little novelty. — Two specimens of
Aseroe rubra, I picked up — and I believe the
Isoetes in the Lakes is very distinct from the
species with long flaccid leaves common in the
rivers low down — as I collected both during the
excursion. Of course I gathered plenty of
specimens of such as were in fl. such as Coprosma
repens, Pilitis acerosa, various Ranunculi, but
nothing 1 had not seen before.

Tomorrow morning I start for Macquarie
Harbour to get the Dacrydium — and such other
Plants as I can find — My journey must be on
foot — and as my men and myself must carry on
our backs provisions, bedding &c — I fear the
weight of plants must not be so great as I
could wish. I shall however endeavour to pass
by everything not rare or new — although pretty
specimens of almost any plant is at all times
tempting. I shall take a pack horse as far as I
can — My route will be over the mountains
passing South of the various Lakes —

Arthur’s, Great Lake, Echo — & so through
Marlborough to Lake St Clair & thence S.W. to
the Gordon River.

Pray excuse this hurried letter but I could
not resist writing even at the last hour before
my departure to thank you most heartily for
your attention.

110

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

My continued occupation has delayed the After the formal and courteous ‘ My dear
transmission of my Orchideae but they are nearly gj r > that begins Gunn’s letters to Sir William
ready - Hooker, it is somewhat surprising to find one

Believe me addressed familiarly to ‘ My dear Hooker ’.

Most faithfully yours The directions on the outside of the sheet,

Ronald C. Gunn however, indicate that this one is for Sir

William’s son Joseph, whom Ronald Gunn
[The endorsement reads ]— had met and made friends with in 1840.

Dr. Robert Brown
17 Dean Street
Soho
London

with “ R. C. Gunn ” in the bottom left-hand
corner. In another hand (possibly Brown’s)
is written—“ Mr. Gunn—Jany 1845.”

The letter arrived on 27th May, 1845.

The fungus Cyttaria darwinii (Orange-ball
fungus) was first discovered by Charles
Darwin at Tierra del Fuego during the
famous voyage of the “ Beagle ” in 1838. It
is parasitic on Antarctic beech trees, the
fruit when ripe resembling a cluster of very
small oranges with pitted skins. It is eaten
by the natives of the southern tip of South
America and C. gunnii Berk, is included by
Backhouse in his esculent plants of Tasmania.
Fagus Cunninghami (now Notliofagus
cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst.) is the ever¬
green Beech (usually called Myrtle in Tas¬
mania) of high rainfall areas of Tasmania
and Victoria.

Gunn, as is disclosed in a later letter, had
a summer sheep run at Arthurs Lakes (which
Lawrence had visited during his excursion
in 1833). His trip to Macquarie Harbour
(which his broken leg had prevented him
making with the Franklins in 1842) would
almost certainly follow the route marked out
by Surveyor-general Calder at the time; and
would take him close to Frenchman’s Cap
and involve two hazardous crossings of the
Franklin River. (Surveyor-general Calder’s
account of the cutting of the track is con¬
tained in the “ Tasmanian Journal ”, Vol.
3.)

LETTER 191.

Penquite, 29 March 1845.

My dear Hooker,

I wrote to you a day or two after my return
from my trip towards the Franklin River, &
reported generally the results. 1 now have the
pleasure of stating that I hope to send you the
living Plants P. Dawsons to sail from this in
a few days. The Plants have now been in their
“Wards Case’' for upwards of a month; and
although the Coniferae do not look so healthy
as I could wish, I yet trust many will survive.
The Plants in the Case are of.

X Huon Pine

X Phyllocladus asplenoides
X Fagus Cunninghami
X Anopterus glandulosa
X Telopea truncata
X Tasmannia aromatica
X Richea pandanifolia
X Agastachys odorata
X Lomatia (entire leaved)

Rubus Gunnianus
X Anemone crassifolia

X Irideous PI. No. 270
Leptospernium sp. 2 sp.

Cenarrenes nitida
Taxanthema australis

X Atherosperma moschata
Phlebalium Billardieri
Lyonsia straminea

X Weinmannia australis
Friesia peduncularis
X Zieria (sp. nov.) No. 1038
X Carpodontus lucida
X do. sp. nov.

X Prionotes cerinthoides
Celmisia asteliaefolia
Acacia verniciflua

X Asphodeleous ? PI quite new to me
Do my No 371

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

111

You will perceive by the above list that the
far greater Number are very rare plants, and
also as they are all very young and love a humid
atmosphere that they will do well. All the
moss which is about them was brought all the
way from the Franklin with them & doubtless
contains seeds— and I have also sown a good
number amongst it. The Asphodeleous PI. which
is growing, has leaves like Astelia alpina, but
much longer and grows in very wet places on the
face of limestone rocks. The Huon Pine also
grows in moss saturated at all times with water,
& you may ti-eat all the plants marked thus X
in that way — the others require a very humid
atmosphere but less water would not injure
them.

Send more Cases as often as you like and I
shall return them filled without delay with some¬
thing or other. Against these 1 shall draw hand¬
somely because I am sure that it would cost
very many Pounds to get any one in V.D.L. to
go so far for them. The proceeds of course go
into your hands.

I have already arranged the Collection of
dried specimens except the Astelia leaved
asphodel ? which is as green now as when first
gathered although without a root, and pressed
in paper constantly changed for 7 weeks. I shall
be sorry when it loses its beautiful bright green
colour.

Since my return the season has been past for
collecting, & all my time has been occupied
otherwise. — At night however I arrange a little,
& you will by & bye receive a noble lot of
Tasmanian Plants.

1 am Secretary of our little Tasmanian Socty
& Editor of the Journal which gives me a good
deal to do — correcting proofs — catering
materials — & brushing up our lazy labourers
in the scientific vineyard. I hope however to
see the thing get on by and bye.

Let me get your Flora Antarctica, the leones,
Loudon Journal, & Species Filicum out regularly.
I shall work like a perfect steam engine for you
in return.

[He signs but goes on]

All my people are very well & beg to be most
kindly remembered to you.

The “ Royal Botanical Society of Van Diemen’s
Land ” will go to the devil.

Launceston, V.D.L. 29th March 1845.

Pay to Josph D. Hooker Esqe or Order the sum
of Pounds stg. on account of a

Case of rare Tasmanian living Plants shipped
by me to the Royal Gardens at Kew P. ship
“ Dawsons.”

Sir W. J. Hooker

Director Royal Gardens Ronald C. Gunn

KEW

P.S. 14 April. Yours of Oct 1844 L have reed.

& I presume by it that a third Case of Books is
on the way for me — contains Freycinet. I shall
reply to your letter by first leisure day, — Mr
[Jamieson] died on 4 April — & I have just
returned from the funeral after an absence from
Home of a week.

My thing that you think a sp. of Ceratella or
Trineuron you will more probably find to be a
Forstera. At all events it is not Compositae.

I have large masses in flower for you.

270. Libertia pulchella Spreng, the plant
named L. laurencei by Hooker.f.

1038. Was not traced.

371. Milligania longifolia Hook.

The Carponontus sp. nov. was perhaps
Eucryphia miUigani Hook.f. The “ thing ”
which Hooker thought was a species of
Ceratella or Trineuron (Abrotanella in
Compositae) was probably a cushion bush.
The fact that Gunn thought it to be a
Forstera (a genus in Stylidiaceae) seems to
indicate that the plant was Abrotanella
forsterioides Hook.f. and that this note ot
Gunn’s suggested the specific epithet .

The letter, addressed to Joseph D. Hooker
Esqe, West Park, Kew, Surrey, went per the
ship “ Dawsons ” and arrived on 25th Aug¬
ust, 1845.

The Royal Botanical Society which ‘ will
go to the devil ’ was the original of the Royal
Society of Tasmania, and was founded by
Sir John Eardley Wilmot, Sir John Frank¬
lin’s successor as governor of Van Diemen’s
Land, in 1852. Wilmot’s main object in
establishing the society was to have a cor¬
porate body of responsible citizens to take
control of the Hobart Botanic Gardens which,
until his accession, had been maintained by
public funds. On orders from the Home

112

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Government this practice was now to be
discontinued and the maintenance of the
Gardens became the responsibility of the
governor, whose income was correspondingly
increased.

Wilmot’s proposal was to grant £400 a
year to a society, to be known as “ The Royal
Society of Van Diemen’s Land for Horticul¬
ture, for Botany, and for the advancement
of Science,” in whose control the Gardens
would be vested. He was already, ex-officio,
president of the Tasmanian Society, in suc¬
cession to Franklin, and he called a meeting
of that Society, the Hobart Horticultural
Society and the Mechanics’ Institute to dis¬
cuss the formation of his new society. His
tactless handling of the meeting, however,
and his refusal to grant time to consider the
proposals, antagonised many members of the
Tasmanian Society, who withdrew in a body.
Wilmot then formed his new Royal Society
from those who remained at the meeting, and
resigned from the Tasmanian Society. Sir
John Franklin, who had not yet left the
colony, was re-elected president of the Tas¬
manian Society.

Efforts to amalgamate the two societies
proved unsuccessful, and the headquarters
of the Tasmanian Society moved to Laun¬
ceston where its heart and head, Ronald
Gunn, now resided. There, too, its later
Papers and Proceedings were printed at the
“ Examiner ” newspaper office by Henry
Dowling, publisher of the famous pirated
edition of Dickens “ Pickwick Papers ”.

The Royal Society continued to meet in
Hobart, with William Champ, John Abbot,
Dr. George Story and the Rev. John Lillie
as secretaries. Its scientific achievements
between 1842 and 1846, however, were small.
Two horticultural shows were held and one
paper, on Eucalypts, by the Rev. John Lillie
was read, contrasting with the wealth of
Papers and Proceedings published by the
Tasmanian Society during the same period.

In a letter preserved in the State Archives,
in the correspondence and papers passing
direct to the Lieutenant Governor or his

Private Secretary, is the following in Gunn’s
writing, and addressed from Penquite, 26th.
November, 1844.

I have endeavoured to restore the Tasmanian
Society to its primitive state and hope to suc¬
ceed. I am dubbed Secretary and we meet
regularly, quietly and unobtrusively at Laun¬
ceston where I trust we may do some good. At
Hobart Town we would have been swamped by
the gigantic Royal, but here we are out of the
way— and — science being republican, we have
got rid of all vice presidents, &c., and flourish
alike as humble members.

There is no address on this letter so we
must presume it was a private communica¬
tion to Bicheno with whom it is known Gunn
was friendly.

In 1848, however, largely owing to the
efforts of the new Governor, Sir William
Denison, the two societies were combined,
with Ronald Gunn’s friend, Dr. Joseph
Milligan, as secretary, and the present Royal
Society of Tasmania really began to function.

Milligan was secretary until 1860 and was
succeeded by William Archer, another fellow-
botanist and friend of Gunn. In 1860
Milligan returned to England and died there
in 1884. He left the Royal Society of Tas¬
mania a bequest of £350 and land at George
Town. The native lily genus, MUligania, is
named after him.

Two letters written by Milligan to Sir
William Hooker from the Kew letter file are
of interest. The first, written in 1849,
advises the depatch of the first number of
the Papers and Proceeding of the Royal
Society of Van Diemens Land to Sir William.

LETTER 103.

Hobart Town

18 August 1849

Sir,

Amongst a mass of Specimens in the various
departments of natural history accumulated
on my hands, and which I now wish to dispose
of in a way to render them useful, there are
considerable variety of Seeds of Indigenous
plants of Tasmania, which, as they must deter¬
iorate by long keeping, I have determined at
once to divide, and after assigning to the

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

113

Botanical Gardens of the Royal Society of Van
Diemen’s Land such as have not already been
introduced into it, to distribute as widely as
possible the residue amongst institutions and
persons likely to bestow upon them the care
and attention necessary to their successful
cultivation in the hope that in England at
least some [may] be found either new —un
introduced or at the least hitherto cultivated
without success —

The Council of the Royal Society of Van
Diemen’s Land having requested me to furnish
to yourself a Copy of the first number printed
of their “ Papers and Proceedings ” I have
forwarded them to your address under Cover to
Mr. John Murray of Albermarle Street London
— in doing so it occurred to me that I could not
better dispose of a moiety of the Tasmanian
Seeds in my possession and of which I have
spoken than by transmitting them to you for
cultivation in the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew—

You will discover amongst the Seeds several
from the Extreme Western side of Van Diemen’s
Land — a [part] of the Island not much visited
and the peculiar productions of which are con¬
sequently' little known. Upon each packet there
is a number corresponding with the number of
the Specimen or plant in my register and
Collection, so that if you find anything deserving
special notice or anything upon which additional
light may be thrown by reference here it may be
easily accomplished and I may add that it will
afford me very sincere pleasure to receive your
remarks and whenever it may be in my power to
supply information or procure specimens when
required —

The second letter, written after Dr.
Milligan’s return to England, is of a more
personal nature.

LETTER 140.

15— Northumberland St.

Charing Cross.

Dear Sir William

I am making a collection of Photographic
portraits of celebrated and eminent men con¬
nected with the Exhibition of 1862 and of others
of equal distinction with whom I came into
contact there and to give the album additional
interest I am asking for the autograph signa¬
ture underneath the portraits. I need scarcely
say that without your photograph such a
collection would be incomplete and in order to
obtain it I paid a visit to Kew yesterday but
was so unlucky as to miss you though Dr.
Hooker told me you had just returned from the
country and that I should easily meet you
somewhere about the grounds. I failed however
and then it was too late to call at your home.
So I adopt the present expedient and to save
you trouble I enclose a Carte de Visite to
which if you approve you will perhaps be so
very kind as to affix your sign manual and
return to me at your convenience

Excuse the liberty I take and allow me to be

Dear Sir William.

Yours very faithfully
Joseph Milligan.

Sir W. J. Hooker
&C. &C. &C.

The parcels of which I advise you are shipped
by “ the Marmion ” which is to sail from this
port within an hour or two. 1 have only there¬
fore time to express a hope that the Corres¬
pondence which this gives me the opportunity of
Soliciting may prove as agreeable to you as I
feel assured it must be advantageous to the
working of the Royal Society of Van Diemen’s
Land and to the interest of Botanical Science
generally in this place—

Believe me to be

with great respect
Your very faithful servant

Joseph Milligan
Secretary

of the Royal Society
of V.D. Land.

Sir W. Hooker
Kew Gardens

We now return to letters from Ronald
Gunn to Sir William Hooker.

LETTER 192.

Penquite 14 April 1845.

My dear Sir,

I have much pleasure in saying that I have
shipped on board of the Dawsons — t° sail
from this Port to London tomorrow — a Wards
Case containing a lot of living Plants for the
Royal Gardens at Kew and against which I have
drawn through your Son for a blank amount. —
They are a portion of the Plants I gathered near
Macquarie Harbour and will I trust reach you
safely— or at least some of them. I am vexed
to perceive that the Huon Pines look ill but
perhaps some may pass muster & live. Pray
continue to send out Cases and I shall fill there

114

VAN DIEMEN S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

for you and of course, all 1 want is repayment in
such form as your Public Establishment can give,
and which I desire to constitute a fund to assist
in defraying the expense to which you put
yourself in sending me out Books. &c.— The
present Wards Case I got made by a botch of a
Carpenter on the farm, but I much fear it is
not quite the thing. At all events return it
and as many more as you like. In sending Plants
out to me I should like a few of your newest &
best fruits— Strawberries, Raspberries &c as
well as Apples, Plums, Cherries, Peaches,
Nectarines, Apricots, &e. We have good collec¬
tions of most of these, but yet any possessing
any particularly good properties would be
desirable.

I had recently finished a letter to your Son
when I received his esteemed letted dated Oct.
1844, and to which I shall reply at an early day.
I am working away & shall attend to every
suggestion I receive from you in so far as my
very limited knowledge of Botany will permit.

I have this past season gathered Coniferae and
taken a little more pains with the less attractive
branches of our Botany. Much however yet
remains to be done in the Phaenerogamous
Vegetation. A new Clematis — a new Ranunculus
& many others show pretty clearly that that field
is not yet exhausted — although doubtless the
Cryptogamia have been less examined. I really
believe that if you wrote to Valentine or got
Brown to do it — that he might do ten times
more than I could. He is unfortunately in the
very worst Cryptogamic Region in V.D.L. but
yet he might do something. He is a most ac¬
curate microscopic observer, draws well, but
dreads the fascination of Botany drawing him
away from his professional duties. I have tried
coaxing & scolding by turns— without avail.

On 1st April I rambled up a Rivulet not very
far from this & got some interesting specimens
of Hymenophyllum, so that I hope to clear up
some points — as I do not feel perfectly well
assured that the species meant as II. cupressi-
forma by Labill. is your H. Tunbridgense or
else I have got a new one. I have got good
specimens to send of Siphoptcris heterophylla,
Asplenium laxum of which I got proliferous
fronds — which Brown in his Prod, says he had
not seen, and some others; but no new ones so
far as I can judge. I have satisfied myself that
my No. 174/1833 is a very distinct sp. of
Veronica although I believe in all my subsequent
Collections I confounded it with others. I have
now got lots of specimens. I cannot have a vast
amount of novelty at any time to communicate,
but every difficulty cleared up— or species of
a Plant clearly & satisfactorily ascertained
on the spot must De important ana aad to the
correctness of any Flora Tasmanica.

I must now temporarily close this

[he writes but adds ] —

The List of Plants in the Case is in my letter
to Dr. Hooker. I have not taken a Bill of Lading
for the Case but it is the only one P. Dawsons
& I shall write to Messrs Buckles & Co to land
it.—

Tell your son to send all packages for me
always to Buckles & never mind the expense. —
I prefer them thus sent to the risk by private
hands.

[In Hooker’s writing is added ]

3 Cases

by Robt Mathews I case of his
own & our Sons

by ship Dawsons 1 case of his own

174 1833. Veronica arguta R.Br. i.e. V.

notabilis F. Muell.

This letter was also sent per ship Dawsons,
and arrived on 25th August, 1845. His next
letter is also concerned with Wards Cases.

LETTER 166.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land
November 1845

My dear Sir William,

1 have to thank you for your kind letter of
7th April last, as also for Books, Plants, Seeds
&c the only thing left me to say is that your
very great attention stimulates me to additional
exertions during every leisure moment I can
spare and I hope I shall be able to send you
something worthy in return.

The Cases of living Plants from Kew arrived
in very bad order although unusual attention had
been paid to them during the voyage. They
were too dry as the former two cases were too
wet. The soil had not a particle of moisture in
it so that the most hardy plants died. I annex
a list (which I send with this) of the few that
survived and of those that were dead as it may
guide you a little in future packing. The Seeds
have almost all grown but they were a bad
collection of uninteresting annuals such as
Osotes 7 sp., Silene 5 sp. with Bisentillae, and
other plants possessing little beauty, and not
much interest. Annuals also, unless very hand¬
some or curious, require an amount of labour in
a New Colony in saving the seeds year after
y T ear that we cannot afford, and therefoi-e I seek
perennials in preference— and really you would
be delighted to see how flourishingly most of
the plants from England flourish out here—
ana although the Latitude of 41° would lead you

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

115

to expect great heat nevertheless our Climate
is very mild. Cowslips, violets, foxgloves, colum¬
bine, and a host of plants indigenous to Britain
seem to do better than the dryness of the air
would have otherwise led one to expect. In the
shrub & tree department I am also anxious to
add those which are either hardy or so nearly
so as to do in the open air here.

I have refilled your Cases and return them by
the “ Renown ”, the same vessel that brought
them out. I have put extra iron clamps to them
as the joints had slightly given way which
perhaps might have caused the excessive dryness
by letting out some of the moisture. The Plants
I have put into the cases are miscellaneous as
Pr. list, but Fagus Cunninghami, Telopea trun-
cata, Atherosperma moschata, Anopteris, Cen-
arrenes, Weinmannia (?) &c are valuable, and
many are growing as I have kept some in a
nursery for the last 10 or 12 months, & they
have made shoots since I put them in the Cases.
Of course it requires more experience than I
possess to put up these things well, but I am
very anxious that they should reach you safe
and in good order. A few of the remnants of my
Macquarie Harbour Collection are now sent.

I have also packed up a Case of living Ferns
the same as the last, & trust it will reach in like
good order. It contains some species not pre¬
viously sent, and almost all that are come-at-able
within 20 miles of my House. I hope to go down
to George Town next month and from that place
if possible I shall send you the Gleichenias &
some other species not to be found near this.
I could not procure you seed of the Huon Pine;
but I sent you a number of Young Plants of it
in a Wards Case P. “ Dawsons ” in April last
for the safe arival of which I am most anxious.
After carrying Plants on a man’s back in a
knapsack over a rugged country for about 150
miles and then sending them by sea 15,000 —
they ought to possess some little interest. —

I have sent you also a Box of Seeds most of
them recently gathered — the date of collecting
being attached to some, and these I trust will
grow. The names on them so far as I could find
them will speak for themselves.

A very large and heavy Case of Sundries — a
list of the contents of which I have put into the
Box of seeds— it is sufficient to say that it
contains splendid fronds of Alsophila, & sections
of a Caudex, Fossil Banksia ? & Casuarina ! The
latter seems undoubted. Rock Lichens, Fungi,
specimens of woods principally brought all the
way from Macquarie Harbour in our knap¬
sacks — as they were of rare kinds, Lawrencia
spicata in fruit, & lots of other odds & ends

which I have at once sent to be out of my way.
Pray debit me with the freight of this case as
I am afraid you are far too liberal in your
remunerations to me. I continue to draw against
you for living Plants and seeds — which amount
will I trust help to pay off some the Books.

I am now numbering my Plants to go I trust
soon, but am continually delayed by press of
other business; I however add almost daily to the
number of species; & I trust your sons Flora
Tasmaniae will contain many novelties not yet
seen in Europe. Much however will remain
undescribed but the supplementary parts will
then be immensely interesting & valuable
completing the main work. I shall leave no
means untried so far as my humble knowledge
extends to assist and will collect as indefatigably
as other avocations will allow. —

I hope to have the pleasure of addressing
you again soon & in the meantime pray accept
my warmest thanks for your uniform attention.

[He adds]

I have sent the Bill of Lading to Messrs Buckles

This letter went by the ship “ Renown ”
and arrived on 14th April, 1846.

The reference to carrying plants in a
knapsack for 150 miles, is of course, to his
overland journey to the Franklin River and
Macquarie Harbour in the summer of 1845.

Though he hopes ‘ to have the pleasure of
addressing you again soon Gunn’s next
letter to Sir William (in the file) is dated
over 12 months later. It too, refers mainly
to cases of specimens sent Home.

LETTER 167.

Penquite 25th Decemr 1846 V.D.L.
My dear Sir William,

I have shipped to your Son’s address on board
the Halifax Packet bound for London, and to
sail tomorrow, three Cases of Plants & Fossils —
and I have enclosed Bills of Lading to my agents
Messrs Buckles & Co of Mark Lane.

Case No. 1. I D H. Contains an extensive suite
of specimens of Dicotyledones — including; all
those gathered during my trip to Macquarie

116

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Horbaur, &c of course Huon Pine, and an
immense lot of others — and more new ones than
I thought probable after so many years collect¬
ing. You will I am sure be pleased to examine
thsi collection. In Case No 1 I also put up a
Portrait of myself, and specimens of about 20
species of wood— also a packet of Lawrencia
spicata in all stages of inflorescense being
gathered at many different times.—•

Case I D H No 2. Has Monocotyledones &
Acotyledones. The former some 9 years collect¬
ing— and having many new species. — Acotyle¬
dones I have entirely renumbered and you will
find a vast No to interest you. Among the ferns
you will I think see Gleichenia tenera — (my
No. 1586), Alsophila, Allantodia, & some others
which were either rarely sent Home by me or not
such good specimens. Mosses some are very
curious — But pray look at No 1625.; there are
however many others scarcely less interesting.
Jungermannia are also numerous, but do not
require to be particularized. Lichens — Algae of
some new species.— Corallines & their allies
(or what I believe to be such) of about 30
species, and all very beautiful. — Fungi a very
extensive series, but I find much difficulty in
preserving many of the kinds of the smaller
species.— You will find the Caterpillar fungus
(Sphaeria) of which I have also preserved plenty
of specimens in Spirits, Brine, Pyrolig. Acid
& will send them with my next parcel. I need
not enumerate more fully what perhaps you
will have reed before this reaches you. I filled
the case with fossils. ,

Case I D H No. 3. Consists of two small boxes
united together and containing fossils. One of
specimens of a recent sandstone formation at
Launceston The other case containing impres¬
sions of Plants from Shale near Hobart Town.
However they are all I think ticketted sufficiently
plain to be understood.

The Orchideae I have not yet sent you.

During the last spring I had intended to have
gone round our North East Coast but the
weather was too wet to admit of my crossing
the numerous rivers with my pack Horses. —
Next week I intend again visiting Lake St Clair,
and ascending to the Summits of some of the
Mts. in its vicinity. Lake St. Clair has itself
a semi-alpine vegetation — and as the Mts
rise at least 2000 ft. above the level of its
surface — I am led to hope that I may discover
some novelties at an altitude which can hardly
be less than 5500 ft. I shall report results in
my next letter.

In the various specimens I have now sent, you
will I think find many that will interest you —
such as Isoetes, Pilularia, Chara of many species,
Coniferae, & many of the smaller plants. You
will also find Montia ?, Callitriche, Limosella,

and others which had previously escaped my
notice. — The wide distribution of Aquatic plants
is a matter of interest and I am led to think
that Migratory Aquatic Birds assist nature —
or are rather the means used by nature in
scattering these plants. The temperature of
water being less liable to change than the
atmosphere the seeds fall into favourable situ¬
ations for germination, more readily than those
of land plants would do. I can only in that way
account for Vallisneria, Ruppia, Pilularia,
Potamogeton Callitriche, Montia, Isoetes,
Lemma &c being everywhere— & Arundo
phragmites, Typha, Lythrum, & others which
are the inhabitants of river sides & ponds, being
also very widely distributed. The temperature
of our rivers rarely fall below about 45 — and
even on the Mts are usually above 50 — our
springs about 50 to 52. — Such temperature
rising of course with our summer heats — must
be favourable to many plants.

I have just reed a letter from Messrs Buckles
& Co intimating that they had put some Books
on board the Union for me from you. I shall
look most anxiously for them, as they are almost
my only enjoyment out here. You have not
written at to the state of any of my Cases of
living Plants which I sent Home. Pray return
them full, & I will refill them for you regularly.
Do not forget that I asked for a collection of
Roses.— I garden now much less than
formerly — giving Botany & Natural History all
my spare time.

I gave the Revd. Henry Jones, Chaplain of H.M.
Ship “ Castor ” — letter to you and your son —
as he wanted to see Kew. He [is] a most inteli-
gent person & has now been for some years in
China, New Zealand &c., & will give you much
information about these places.

The Allantodia was perhaps Athyrium
umbrosum (Ait.) Presl.—The Black Fern;
the caterpillar fungus pei'haps Sphaeria
gunnii Berk. i.e. Cordyceps gunnii (Berk.)
Berk, in Hook.f.

1586. Gleichenia tenera R.Br. i.e. G.
flabellata R.Br. var. tenera.

1625. Not traced.

Across the head of this letter which
reached England on 23rd April, 1847, is a
note in Hooker’s writing — “ Parcels by
Onger and Meryon, 174 Fenchurch St.”

At the time the only settlements in the
north-eastern quarter of Tasmania were a

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

117

few pastoral properties near the coast line,
at Bridport, Boobyalla and Cape Portland.
The heavily forested country inland was un¬
inhabited and unexplored. Gunn’s projected
trip was probably from George Town to Cape
Portland and he would have had to cross,
in turn, the Piper, Little Forester, Brid, Big
Forester and Ringarooma Rivers.

The picturesque Lake St. Clair, source of
the Derwent River, is a large body of water
enclosed in a moraine-blocked valley with
forest-clad hills backed by mountains. Gunn
would formerly have passed by it on his over¬
land trip to the West Coast.

The portrait of Gunn as a young man, a
coloured drawing of his head and shoulders
by an unknown artist, is still at Kew. It
may possibly have been painted by Thomas
Griffiths Wainewright, convict artist and
writer, who was transported to Van
Diemen’s Land in 1837 for forgery. A
portrait of Mrs. William Gunn by Wain-
wright is recorded in “ Wainwright in Tas¬
mania ” by Robert Crossland. Mr. R. M.
Gunn of Perth has another portrait of Gunn
as a boy. In the Launceston Public Library
is another portrait of Gunn as an old man,
seated at a table. This is a handcoloured
photograph, taken between 1860 and 1870,
and “ presented by his admirers ” to the
Mechanics’ Institute, the forerunner of the
Launceston Public Library.

His next letter, in a very friendly familiar
style, is for Joseph.

LETTER 168.

Penquite, 16th June 1847.

My dear Hooker

I sent you P. “ Murrayshire ” two packages —
one of dried plants and one of Bottles of sundries
vegetable and animal. The pump of the Murray¬
shire most unfortunately got choked, and she
had to put back to Launceston, discharge much
of her Cargo, and start again. Long ere this
reaches you I hope they will be safely in your
hands. — The Murrayshire sailed finally about
1 May.

Amongst the new Plants I then sent you were
a new Cruciferous one ; — a new Fagus 1 very

like one of the Fuegian ones; a new Fern from
Mt Olympus; and sundry other interesting
additions. —

I have since got from Dr Milligan a small
Collection from Macquarie Harbour, (which
station has again been broken up,) and it
contains the Mt Olympus Fagus which he
obtained from the top of Mt Sorrell, near Mac¬
quarie Harbour. In Milligan’s Collection there
are however some new plants — and I may
mention one new Richea (or Dracophyllum) —
a third ? Carpodontus; a very curious new
Patersonia or allied genus; a new fern; some
new Umbelliferae; & two or three other things
which will be an addition to your stock. These I
shall send you soon. He also obtained in flower
that curious Astelia leaved asphodeleous plant
(my No 1388) and what he thinks is another
species from the same genus—

Since I last wrote I went to P- Phillip but did
no good in the Botanical way — in fact there was
nothing in flower about 1 April but the Oxalis
microphylla, the Correas, and one or two plants
in the heathy spots. Since my return I have
been most unusually busy as I always am after
an absence even of short duration.

My packages and parcels have now been so
numerous since any account of the results have
been received by me from you — that I shall
almost swamp you with them. When the
Magnum Opus comes out then indeed we shall
see all that can be said upon the subject.

My business however is increasing from
various causes and it is just as well that my
Botanical Collections have got a fair start,
otherwise I feel I could not again so readily
make such large Collections.

I have been disappointed at not receiving any
cases from Kew. I paid a man many Pounds to
get me a lai-ge Lot of Athrotaxis, Microcachrys,
&c besides my own immense collection of living
plants from Lake St Clair, all which I popped
into a nursery & there they remain, subject to
theft, &c. I do not feel disposed to have any
more Wards Cases made, as the last I had made
for myself has not yet been returned. Blow up
the Deputies at Kew, & let them return my case
even if they want no more of our trees. Of
course my drafts against them were only
intended as a means of paying for their Collect¬
ing — & incidental expenses. Natural History
is very pleasant but most uncommonly unprofit¬
able in a money making community like this.

I wrote to you about Lots of missing Books,
& am anxious that you should at your very
earliest convenience replace the lost ones. It is
a most confounded nuisance but it is a little
your own fault for not writing by post— as I

118

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

do — naming the [month] when you send a
parcel, even if you cannot name the vessel which
brings it. — Always do so— & I can then look.
If you write to me at any time that you have
that day or week sent a parcel for me to Messrs
Buckles I shall be quite sure to get it by the
first vessel direct to Launceston; & I can look
out accordingly. — I now want.

f leones Plantarum Part 14.16 & all subsequent,
f Species Flicum Part 3.5. & all subsequent.

f London Journal of Botany Part 48 to 52 both
inclusive, & all after 56.

Botanical Magazine Nos 12 to 16 both inclusive
3rd Series, all after No. 19.

f Flora Antarctica. Parts 13 to 16 both inclusive
f Elements of Conchology Parts 1 & 2. —

[In Hooker's crumpetI hand the following (filling
up a line originally left blank) “The above are
missing exclusive of any which may have been
sent with them.”— Gunn continues ]

Draw upon my pocket if necessary to complete
& send me the following— which I think I sent
for in my last.

Dr Smiths Zoology of S. Africa Part 24 & all
subsequent

Dr Smiths Journal of the Expedition into
Southern Africa.

De Candolle’s Prodromus, all after Part 9.

Lindley’s genera & species of Orchideous
Plants. Part 7, & any subsequent if pub¬
lished. —

Journal of Botany Vol. 2. No. 11. (Not London
Journal of Botany.)

Cyclopaedia of Anatomy & Physiology, all
after Part 25.

Cyclopaed. of Practical Surgery all after part 12.

Illustrated London News Vol. 5 & all sub¬
sequent as published.

t Voyage of American Discovery ships, the full
Edition

Supplement to Penny Cyclopaedia,
t Cosmos by Colonel Sabine.

f Vestiges of Nat. History of Creation, with the
explanations by the same author — a Sequel
to the Vestiges

f Lindleys Nat. System of Botany— New
Edition

f Lindley’s Elements of Botany
f Rural Chemistry by Solby.

Sillimans American Journal. Nos 90 & 94 &
all after 100.

[Same if the items have been marked with a
dagger, presumably by Hooker, and, following
them, in Hooker’s hand, is the’following —

“ N.B. Many of the above sent by Mr. Heward
in consequence of a former list. This to be
cancelled and a fresh list asked for.”]

[.Hooker has also written, but crossed
out —“ King and Fitzroy — Stokes-Beagle. - ’
The letter then resumes ]

Whenever you can — put the Books into a
Box as they get very much injured in the paper
wrappers which are generally rubbed off at the
Corners — & otherwise destroyed. For all this
trouble 1 shall compensate you some day by the
magnificance of my collections. — However you
will have better materials for Flora of V.D.L.
than anybody else who ever lived.

Milligan has handed to Bicheno some fossils
from Macquarie Harbour to be transmitted to
the Geological Society. The Cases have gone
there ere this — & you may see them by calling
there. Some of the vegetable forms Milligan
says are new — but his notions of their resem¬
blances are sometimes startling.

Thine always

Ronald C. Gunn

1388. Milligania longifolia Hook.f. and
M. densiflora. Hook.f.

His Richea (or Dracophyllum ) was per¬
haps D. milligani Hook. (1852), as R. Draco-
phylla R.Br. (1810), R. pandanifolia Hook.f.
(1844), R. gunnii Hook.f. (1847), and
R. scoparia Hook.f. (1847) had been named
before this date.

His very curious new Patersonia was per¬
haps Hewardia tasmanica Hook 1852. See
reference to Mr. Heward above.

At the head of the letter, presumably in
Joseph’s hand, is the note—‘ Ship sails Dec.
25th.’ According to the postmarks the letter
left Launceston on 18th June and arrived
in London on 26th November.

Dr. Milligan’s visit to Macquarie Harbour
would be in the course of his duties as
Medical Superintendent of Convict Discip¬
line. The first penal settlement, established
by Governor Sorell on Sarah Island in
Macquarie Harbour, was closed down in 1832.
This second penal station was apparently
set up during Sir Eardley Wilmot’s governor¬
ship as part of the Probation System,

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

119

probably (as the first one was) for the
exploitation of the Huon Pine timber, but it
was soon abandoned.

The new Fagus, ‘ like a Fuegian one
which Gunn collected from Mt. Olympus,
near Lake St. Clair, and Dr. Milligan from
Mt. Sorell, near Macquarie Harbour, would
almost certainly be N othofagus gunnii, the
Deciduous Beech or Fagus, peculiar to the
Western and South-Western highlands of
Tasmania and the country’s only native
deciduous tree. On the exposed mountains
it is a stunted shrub but grows to the
dimensions of a small tree in sheltered
valleys. The rich gold of its autumn foliage
adds a unique colour note to the Western
Mountains in April and May.

The note “ King & Fitzroy Stokes—
Beagle ” in Hooker’s writing at the foot of
the letter refers to the three commanders
during the 1820’s and 1830’s of the survey
ship “ Beagle ” in which Charles Darwin
made his famous voyage with Fitzroy. All,
at various times, had visited Van Diemen’s
Land and Captain Phillip Parker King, R.N.,
son of Phillip Gidley King, was Port Officer
and Superintendent of Government Vessels
at Hobart Town during Franklin’s regime.

There were no letters in the file for 1848;
and the next (to Sir William Hooker) bears
the date 17th March, 1849, and records some
of Ronald Gunn’s bush excursions.

LETTER 165.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land
17th March 1849

My dear Sir William,

From some not easily to be explained cause
I have permitted your kind and most welcome
letter of 10 Jany 1848 to remain unanswered.
I find upon my table a letter indeed three fourths
written, but it was never completed & of course
never forwarded. 1 assure you I was indeed
rejoiced once more to see your old familiar
writing, and although I do not possess the
advantage of being personally known to you,
yet I always look upon you as one of my oldest
and most valued friends. Your son has, it is
true, for some time relieved you of your cor¬
respondence, but I shall be sorry if ever his

return to Europe should induce you to cease
to write to me, & deprive me of that pleasure
which your letters always afford to a poor
Botanist like myself at the Antipodes.—

My Zeal remains but alas! my time is sadly
trenched upon by other and less pleasant employ¬
ments than Botany — Still I collect, but am
puzzled to find time to arrange. I have got a
glorious lot of Algae for Harvey — and many
will I am sure be new. I am much interested in
tracing the British Species which exist in our
Seas, associated in many instances with similar,
but not identical representatives of European
forms. I am sure however, that more British
species will be found in my present collection—
such as. Sphacelaria scoparia Porphyria lacin-
iata, Codium Bursa, an Asperococous like A.
Turneri, and several others. I [now] do little
besides collect, & have no time to examine.

1 am much pleased to find that some more of
my Tasmanian Plants are being published in
the London Journal of Botany. Pray attach my
Numbers to the species as far as you can, as it
will save me very great trouble more especially
in such Natural Orders as Compositae, Epa-
cridea, &c. You must not forget that I am not
so clever a Botanist as to be able to read off the
description of a plant & at once recognise it.
If I could devote much of my time to my plants
no doubt I could do pretty well, but many
months sometimes elapse without my touching a
Plant or Botanical work. Pray therefore help
my ignorance by printing my Nos. or by send¬
ing me a list of them. It is thus that illustrated
Books are so useful to me as, having a capital
eye, I am enabled to know plants by sight with¬
out the toil of poring over the descriptions. I
have almost abandoned all hope at ever being
better than a mere culler of weeds & wild
flowers for you.

In October last business took me to Arthurs
Lakes (my summer sheep station) where I
found your sons “ Scleroleima fosteroides ” in
flower. It still bothers me much as it is so un¬
like any plant in Compositae with which I am
acquainted, and I should have been more dis¬
posed to refer to it the nat Ord. “ Sclerantheae.”
No doubt however your son is correct. There
is another undescribed plant in Compositae which
grows with it in the same masses, & of which
I shall send you specimens. — Scleroleima only
grows on the highest parts of the mountains, &
during a recent visit to the Northern parts of
the same range— where the waters are thrown
off to the North & South — to discharge them¬
selves into the Sea by the Derwent & Tamar—
I found it very abundant — indeed acres upon
acres of the “green Cushions” (Scleroleima)
impeded our walking very much. — The only

120

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

novelty I found at Arthurs Lake in Octr was a
new Cruciferous plant (a Draba ?) small &
insignificant.—

Last week I rambled (as already observed)
over all the northern and highest part of the
Western Mountains, keeping to the North of
the Great Lake and as much as possible upon
the ridge dividing the Northern & Southern
Lakes. I may here observe that the vast table
land forming the Western Mountains is a
plateau of about 40 miles square rising gradually
and almost imperceptibly from the Southward,
and ending abruptly in steep basaltic precipices
to the North and North East— having bold
headlands projecting out called in the Colony
Bluffs, at every few miles. The Country to the
North & South East of this table land lies 2500
to 3000 feet or more immediately below— &
from which lower Country the mountains are
almost inaccessible except at a few points— so
that from Launceston and all that part of the
Colony the Mountains present a grand and
splendid aspect whereas from the South no
Mountains are visible so that you may ride
or drive a cart up to the verge of the cliffs
without having in any instance had to en¬
counter cither a high hill or any serious obstacle.
The top of the Mountains is, as I said, almost a
table land consisting of long narrow grassy
plains running one into the other, and divided
by narrow rocky ridges covered usually, but
not always, by dwarf Eucalypti and other
alpine shrubs. The whole formation is green¬
stone, and to compare great things to small the
ridges and plains remind me of a heavy sea off
the Cape of Good Hope suddenly arrested — the
waves forming the rocky Hills.— All the hills
run nearly N. & S. or rather N.N.W. & S.S.E. —
and break off into short lengths admitting
passages from one valley to the other. All this
Country to the elevation of 4600 feet is now
covered during the summer months with flocks
of sheep removed from the low Country to rest
the pastures — the Government letting this
Mountain Country at the rate of £10 per 1000
acres. From the description I have attempted to
give you you will perceive that the highest part
of the Mountains is the Northern end, and that
all the waters flow to the South except those
within a mile or less of the northern edge. The
numerous basin like Cavities in this Mountain
Country are occupied by Lakes — some very
large as the Great Lake but many of them are
small — covering only a few acres and this
smaller character occurred most frequently
as we proceeded to the Westward where 15 to
20 small lakes (called in the Colony lagoons)
were to be seen at one time probably the
remains of some larger lake or lakes which had
been drained off. However, Botany was more
my object than Geology, but I got nothing new
to reward me. I got however some good speci¬

mens of Coniferae. The prostrate Conifer like
Microcachrys tetragona (my No 367) and which
from the remarkable resemblance in the leaves
and branches to the Microcachrys has led to
them being confounded — will prove to be in
my opinion a new genus. It is quite prostrate—
common over all the mountain tops in that
quarter, dioecious ? the cone bright red like a
strawberry and soft like a berry. I should desire
it to bear the name of Hooker as a specific name.
(There are Cones of the prostrate Microcachrys
? pressed in my Note Book). I think you have
by mistake figured a branch of it a Microcachrys
at tab. 560 of the leones Plantarum — at least
it is certainly very like the male of the pros¬
trate plant. On the streams on the higher parts
of the ranges Athrotaxis cupressoides is very
abundant skirting the edges of the rivulets.
Clumps occasionally occur where there is a
Sphagnum Bog, and in one place I found a small
forest of them covering 20 to 30 acres. The
trees are very thick at the base (about 2 feet
in diameter) — but taper off very rapidly
towards the summit — as the tree seldom exceeds
20 feet high, but more usually much less. I
proceeded Westwards to the Falls of the River
Meander where I first discovered all these Pines
in 1833. Here I collected first specimens of the
Athrotaxis Selaginoides. It forms a tree very
similar in size and mode of growth to A. cup¬
ressoides that is low in height, but with a trunk
about 2 feet in diameter. Although I found it
growing sparingly upon the margin of the
Meander just below the falls, yet it seems to
prefer the beds of loose rocks and stones which
have fallen from the cliffs above, and where it
would puzzle one to perceive how it found soil
to support its roots. I sought in vain for a
tree of Athrotaxis laxifolia, and as I found
many young plants 1 have come to the conclusion
that no such species exists — my specimens
being branches off young plants. There seems
to be a peculiar variety of A. cupressoides as the
young plants of both A. cupressoides and sela¬
ginoides usually possess leaves like the older
plants of these species. I may be rash in con¬
demning A. laxifolia, but another season will
satisfy me. Of Microcachrys tetragona I saw
plenty but as I sent it to you abundantly from
Lake St Clair few observations are necessary
now. The Podocarpus alpina was common on
the top growing amongst & trailing over the
rocks & stones with the prostrate Microcachrys 7
Many other plants greeted my sight, but they
were all old acquaintances. It was a bad season
to get any plant in flower, and early as the
autumn was, 4th to 10th March, I was caught
in a snow storm which covered everything up
and I had to walk for miles through snow. After
the snow came sharp frost— the thermometer'
falling at lowest to 30° so that our Mountain
plants ought to be able to stand any viscissitudes

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

121

to which they can be exposed in the open air of
Britain. Here severe heat and cold follow so
rapidly upon one another that plants must
possess great vital energy to be able to resist
these sudden changes of temperature. Very
many' of our Tasmanian Plants will I am sure do
in the open air in England.

In October I walked for several days through
a forest of Fagus Cunninghami towards the
North-East, and came out upon the North
Coast. In the fagus forest not one gramineous
plant met my eyes for days — everything except
the trees of Beech and Eucalypt were crypto-
gamic, Aspidium prolil'erum occasionally in very
wet places Lomaria procera covered the
ground. Dead logs, trunks of trees, the
very ground itself covered with mosses junger-
mannia and such like— with the small epiphytal
ferns. Occasionally shrubs occurred where the
forest became more open, but no grass appeared
anywhere. Towards the Coast the soil became
sandy & undulating — the vegetation at once
changed, and I found all my old acquaintances
of the healthy plains of Circular Head &
Rocky Cape. The only new form was a Euphor-
biaceous plant (My No. 744.) which occurs all
along the North Coast after you attain a few
miles East of Port Dalrymple. I have not seen
it elsewhere in the Colony but it occurs at Port
Phillip. It is a different plant from any of our
other Tasmanian Euphorbiaceae. —

You ask me (for your Museum) for a cut
through one of our gigantic Eucalyptus trees
but I fear it is not to be obtained. Our largest
cross-cut saws have only blades of 6 to 7 feet
in length whereas I measured a Eucalyptus tree
perfectly solid at 5 to 6 feet from the ground
49 feet in circumference drawing the measuring
tape tight round it. I have passed larger trees
but measured this one as it was close to my
elbow. Now it would be no joke to send you a
cut out of such a tree. However I must see what
can be done, and send you as large a slice as I
can.

I quite envy your Son the delights of his
Himalaya & Borneo trip. 1 anticipate very much
new matter as the result of his explorations—
and trust that he will return safely to you
and in good health.

I have often desii’ed to send you portraits of
our trees and sketches of some of our character¬
istic scenery — one sketch being equal to a
dozen pages of description. Do you think a
Daguerreotype apparatus would answer the
purpose or a Photographic one ? I would gladly
go to the expenses of £10 to £20 to furnish you
with perhaps 100 portraits of all our most
important trees — and occasionally of some of
our peculiar Fern tree glens. Of course I must
seiect tne day— and do it when all is calm. If

upon enquiry you think or know of any mechan¬
ical means by which I can attain this object, I
am sure you would afterwards be delighted
at the results of my labours. For example
portraits of the species of Athrotaxis, Callitris,
Acacia, Casuarina, &c. would give you a capital
idea of our vegetation. Pray think over it and
see what can be done. Your last Cases of Plants
from Kew were again unfortunately in bad
order, and very few survived— and these the
least interesting. I have one of the Cases filled
for the last few months with Mountain Plants
which now that they are rooted ought to reach
you safely. I shall send them by first ship from
this.—

I have plenty more to say but my paper is
running short, and I fear your patience too will
be exhausted with my long letter. I hope you are
going on with your “ leones Plantarum ” as well
as your “ Species Filicum ” They are both inimit¬
able and invaluable works— Part 15 of the
former, & part 4 of the latter are the last I
have received. Under Llndsaea ensifolia Sw.
you quote LaBillardiere’s plate of the L. lance-
olata Vol 2, t.248 & say the species is from the
North Coast of New Holland. Now LaBillardiere
was not on the North Coast at all and he quotes
the species as from Van Diemens Land (“ In
Caput Van Diemen ”) as at that time V.D. Land
was not known to be an Island, and in all his
desci-iptions of Tasmanian Plants he calls it as
was then called “Cape Van Diemen ”. (Is not
Lindsaea lanceolata my Filices No. 20) I think
it is, & it agrees vex - y well with LaBillardiere's
plate. Brown, strange to say, does not give it
as a Tasmanian Plant. It is not common. De
Candolle and others I see have followed in mis¬
taking LaBillardiere’s Cape Van Diemen (Tas¬
mania) for the Cape Van Diemen of the N. Coast
of New Holland. I suspect however that La
Billardiere has described some of the Plants he
gathered at Lewin’s Land near King George’s
Sound as natives of V.D. Land by mistake— The
specimens having probably got mixed. I am the
more confirmed in this opinion as I never saw
them here, & find them described as existing
in that part of New Holland.

My eldest Son Ronald has passed as a Surgeon
& M.D. at Home. I have begged him to call at
Kew ere he returns to this Colony & shall be
irlad if you can induce him to collect for you too.
[Written across the head of the letter is a
final postscript ]

Instead of sending any parcels for me to Buckles
& Co who have now given up business— pray
send them always to Messrs. Onger & Meryon,
Booksellers, 174 Fenchurch Street.

122

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

367, Microcachrys tetragona (Hook.)
Hook.f. Note Gunn’s confusion.
The erect shrub is Diselma
areheri Hook.f.

744. Ricinocarpus pinifolius Desf.

20. Lindsaea linearis Sw.

Sphacelaria scoparia was probably S. pani-
culata Suhr., Codium bursa probably C.
tomentosum Ag., by “ Seleroleima foster-
aides ” he means Abrotanella fosterioides
Hook.f. the floral heads of which resemble
those of Scleranthus biflorus Hook, in
Sclerantheae rather than those of a plant in
Compositae. His associated undescribed
Compositae may have been Pterygopappus
lawrencii Hook.f. though this was named in
1847 perhaps from material sent by R. W.
Lawrence earlier.

With regard to the Lindsaea Dr. R.
Melville writes, “ The only Gunn specimens
of Lindsaea in the Herbarium are L. linearis
Sw. L. ensifolia Sw. is a synonym of Schizo-
loma ensifolium (Sw.) J. Sm. and L.
lanceolata Lab. is listed as a variety of it. I
have found no evidence that Gunn collected
Schizoloma.”

Postmarked in Launceston on 21st March,
1849, this letter arrived on 23rd July, 1849
only four months later.

Gunn’s ‘ ramble ’ along the high northern
scarp of the Central Plateau and his descent
down the Western Tiers by way of the
Meander falls most probably ended at
“ Cheshunt ”, the estate of William Archer,
on the Meander River not far from the base
of the Tiers.

This excursion was over fairly familiar
territory: the other, across the North-East,
broke entirely new ground over country
previously untrod by white man, or even
black, for the Aborigines kept to open
country and avoided thick scrub and rain
forest. Gunn almost certainly started from
his grazing property at Diddleum Plains,
north of Mt. Barrow, to which a stock track
led up the St. Patrick’s River valley from
Launceston. Thence he probably followed

the Valentine Rivulet, skirted Mt. Maurice
and reached the headwaters of the
Ringarooma River, whose valley he followed
until he reached the open coastal plain
country and the sea either at Boobyalla or
Bridport, where there were sheep stations.
Nearly all this Ringarooma valley was
originally covered by Fag us (now Notho-
fagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst.) the
Tasmanian Myrtle-Beech, and giant
Eucalypts. If, as is likely, Gunn was seeking
new pastoral plains he was disappointed.

This tract of country was again traversed
by Surveyor James Scott in 1855 or ’56 when
in search of the rich basaltic soils that were
at the time being pioneered by bush settlers
on the North-West Coast. Scott found such
land both in the Ringarooma Valley and at
Scottsdale, and settlement quickly followed.
He is generally credited as being the first dis¬
coverer; but this letter proves that Gunn had
been there before him. Gunn’s ‘ old
acquaintance ’ among the plants of the
coastal plain would be the Wedding Bush,
Ricinocarpus pinifolius. In October, miles
of country in this region are covered with its
creamy white flowers.

Gunn’s observations on the size some
eucalypts attain are not exaggerated. In
moist and fertile soil trees over 20 feet in
diameter were sometimes found. Most of
these giants went with the clearing of the
country by the bush pioneers, but when Gunn
wrote this letter this era had hardly begun.
Trees over 300 feet tall (there are even
records of some over 400 feet) were also to
be met with. Nearly all these huge trees
were of the species Eucalyptus regnans (com¬
monly called Stringy Gum in the North of
Tasmania, Swamp Gum in the South, and
Mountain Ash in Victoria). The present
tallest (measured) ti*eeinthe State (326 ft.),
also a Eucalyptus regnans, stands in the
Styx Valley in Southern Tasmania.

Gunn’s interest in new inventions that
might aid his botanical researches had not
waned. Photography was just beginning,
and the etching process of the Daguerrotype
was soon to be superseded by the collodion

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

123

or wet plate process. In either case a con¬
siderable time exposure was required to
register a suitable image, which explains his
proviso of a calm day to make his tree
porti-aits.

His eldest son Ronald (of his first family)
returned to Tasmania to practice, but
remained only a short time before going to
Queensland. The eldest son of his second
family, John Jamieson Gunn, also became a
doctor. He died in Derby, England, about
1880.

The next letter, the last of the series, con¬
tinues the comments on La Billardiere’s con¬
fusion in naming the localities where he
collected plants when with D’Entrecasteaux
in 1792-3.

LETTER 77.

Launceston, Van Diemens Land.

10th May 1849.

My dear Sir William,

In my last letter 1 took occasion to mention,
in speaking of LaBillardiere, that I believed he
had mixed many of the specimens of Plants
he collected near King George’s Sound with
those he gathered at Recherche Bay in Van
Diemen’s Land— and I am the more confirmed in
this opinion as I perceive that every plant save
one, which I had not detected in this Colony and
yet which are described in his work as being
natives of Van Diemens Land, have been recently
described as natives of Western & South Western
Australia in the “ Plantae Preissianae ” of
which you kindly sent me the four first fascimile.

Billardiera pisiformis. Labill. t.90. Never seen
or heard of in V.D.L.

Sollya heterophylla.

Melaleuca fascieularis Labill. t.170. I have
never seen in V.D.L. & it occurs in Leuwin’s
Land.

Gompholobium tomentosum Labill. t.134. Not
seen in V.D.L. but occurs in Western

Australia.

Euthales trinervis (Velleia) Labill. t.77. Not
seen in V.D.L. but occurs in Western

Australia.

Croton quadmipartitum Labill. t.233. Gaud.
I have never seen in this Island but it
occurs in Western Australia.

Now 1 have little doubt that these 5 species
have by mistake been put down as natives of

this Island more especially as LaBillardiere
explains in his work of the want of accommod¬
ation for his specimens on board the Recherche.

Stylidium umbellatum Labill. t.217. I do not
perceive in the “ Plantae Preissianae ”— and as
Robt Brown never saw it, I think it probable that
it will turn out to be merely a monstrous variety
of the common Sea side species with the top
of the spike snipped off by some animal, and
the lower flowers assuming the form of those
specimens 1 sent you from Lake St. Clair which
were slightly umbellate.

Acacia saligna, Labill. t.235. I do not exactly
know although I had believed it to be meant
to represent my A. dissitiflora but Benthams
not being able to recognise it leads me there¬
fore to suspect that it may be a Western
Australian species too.

I believe I have recognised all the rest of
LaBillardiere’s Plants marked as from Van
Diemen’s Land — “ in Capite Van Diemen ” as
he calls it — Bass’s Strait not having been dis¬
covered until several years after La Billardiere’s
visit with D’Entrecasteaux to Van Diemen’s
Land.

I made a mistake with reference to Lindsaea
lanceolata, Labill. in my last, mistaking for it
Pteris falcata which it much resembles. I have
not seen Lindsaea lanceolata I find, and now
think that it too must be added to LaBillardiere’s
mistakes as being found in V.D. Land. —

Since I last wrote I have enquired and satisfied
myself that Athrotaxis laxifolia is a true species
— indeed I had forgotten that you mentioned
having obtained from me a specimen with the
fruit. It is so many years since I saw the large
plants of it — and having lately at the falls
of the Meander obtained young Plants without
being able to find any old tree led me to question
whether it might not turn out to be a mere
variety. I am glad however it is really a species
of so very interesting a genus.

I now send you P. “ Potentate ”, which takes
this, a small paper parcel (Freight paid here)
cotaining specimens of the prostrate Conifer
(My No. 167 of 1833) which has been mistaken
for a new variety of Microcachrys tetragona.
It is not only a distinct plant, but I think quite
a new' genus. It is dioecious ? — fruit red,
pulpy & soft like a berry when ripe — grows
quite prostrate. My specimens are pretty good,
and you will find no difficulty in describing it
from them, as they are numerous. I have re¬
quested that it may bear the specific name of
Hooker— as a small but well deserved token
of my regard and esteem. I regret that my skill
has not enabled me to describe many of our
Plants as most assuredly I should have named
many after you. —

124

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

In the same parcel you will find beautiful
specimens of Athrotaxis selaginoides, young
plants of A. laxifolia, and specimens of Sclero-
leima fosteroides; also another compositae which
grows in the mosses with it and hardly less
interesting (No. 2058) a new Crucifer; a plant
in Mytaceae, Hemiphues; a new Richea— per¬
haps two; new Orites; new Plant allied to
Patersonia ? — and some others as well as
duplicates of some half dozen others. I am
heartily ashamed that so many treasures are
lying waiting in my rooms, but I really can¬
not find time to assort them — and it was
only by a desperate effort that I got this small
parcel put up for the sake of getting you to
describe at once the new coniferous plant.—
I add a fern to the parcel which is also new to
me;— I do not wish that any other parties should
anticipate you in the description of any of our
Plants—

Having opened a communication with Mr
Lovell Reeve for various Books wanted by
myself, as well as my friends, and as I will be
receiving parcels from his regularly, (as well
as from Messrs. Ongar & Meryon) I would feel
obliged by your sending any odds and ends
which you can spare me through Mr Reeves.
I have written to him by this opportunity sug¬
gesting that in future, if you had no objection,
the London Journal of Botany; Botanical
Magazine; & Annals of Natural History would
be more valuable to me if they came out in his
monthly parcel insteod of waiting until there
was a lot to send. Much of the interest of
these Books depending upon the novelty of the
contents. I have sent you so few contributions
lately that I do not like to trespass upon your
pocket too much & therefore will feel obliged
by your allowing Mr Reeves to furnish me with
any Books at my own expense which you may
think would be either of interest or value. My
last Nos. of Books —

Botanical Magazine No. 37
London Journal of Botany No 72
Annals of Natural History No [
leones Plantarum Part 15.
Species Filicum Part 4.

] These
| are the
] ) last
| received
J by me

I should like to obtain the following

De Candolles Prodromus all after vol. 9.—

Plantae Preissianae all after Part 4. Interest¬
ing to compare with Flora of V.D.L.

Sillimans American Journal of Science. I have
from time to time received odd numbers from
you, & it is so admirable a Book that I should
like it much if not dear. I possess No. 89 to 100
of the old series but Nos. 90 & 94 wanting. &
I possess from Nos. 2 to 8 of the new series,
Nos. 1 & 3 of new series wanting.— Really you
must suppose me a perfect bibliomaniac, but
having few other enjoyments but my Books to

keep me up lo the progress of matters in
Europe I like to get as many as my limited
means can purchase and the very great gener¬
osity of my British friends will furnish. Here
all the World is new — and which-ever way I
turn — whether amongst Plants, fish, shells,
fossils, &c I find much that is new and not
described or detailed in the common Books to
which I have access. We have no public Library
that can be so called, and no Museum in the
Colony, so that I must possess all within myself
or go without that information which I so
ardently desire to obtain. In Ornithology I am
rich as I have Goulds splendid Book on Austra¬
lian Birds, Garrells British Birds, Gray &
Mitchells Genera of Birds, & some others — and
thanks to your liberality I am becoming rich
in my Botanical library.

By the bye I shall at an early date give you
roughly some of my ideas on the vegetation
of Van Diemens Land, and its peculiar
character — and which from its general resem¬
blance to much that is characteristic of that of
the Carboniferous era, leads me to infer that
it is not essential that the character of that
period in England should have been so much
warmer than the present climate as most
Geologists seem most anxious to urge.

[ Wax seal over ]

It has struck me for a long time that if our
vegetation was found in a fossil state people
would assuredly infer that our three species
of Fern tree, Richea pandanifolia with leaves
nearly like those of a palm & 3 to 5 feet long,
Athrotaxis like Lepidodendron, &c would char¬
acterize a warmer climate than the cold bleak
region of the South West of Van Diemen’s Land,
with a mean temperature for the year below
some parts of Britain according to Professor
Dove’s tables, and much below many parts of
France. More However by & bye if it interests
you.

Believe me always

Most sincerely Yours
Ronald C. Gunn

Do not fail to send me Dr Hookers letters which
I see by the Athenaeum arc printed. —

[ ENDORSEMENT ]

[Round postmark
bordered by a
single thick line ]

P. Potentate.

Sir W. J. Hooker
West Park

Kew — Surrey

R. C. Gunn

LAUNCESTON
11 MY11
18[49]

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

125

167 of 1833 probably Microcachrys tetra-
gona Hook.f.

2058 not traced.

Lovell Reeve of Covent Garden, London,
was the publisher of Dr. Joseph Hooker’s
“ Flora Tasmaniae ”.

Gunn’s complaint of the lack of a Public
Library or Museum in Tasmania at the time
was justified. The Ancanthe Museum estab¬
lished by Lady Franklin at Kangaroo
(Lenah) Valley had practically ceased to
function after she left the colony. Had
Ronald Gunn remained in Hobart the story
might have been different, though Ancanthe
was rather too remote to be of much service
to the general public.

The Royal (Botanical) Society discussed
the setting up of a Museum and librai-y in its
formative years, and in 1848 Sir William
Denison gave permission for the use, free
of charge, of the large Committee Room at
the Legislative Council Chamber as a
museum and library and meeting-room for
the Society; he also obtained a Government
grant of £100 a year towards the expenses
of the Museum. In 1849 the Tasmanian
Public Library was established in Hobart,
and the Royal Society decided to restrict the
books in its librai'y to those of a scientific
character. In 1852 the Royal Society took
the lease of premises in Harrington Street
and its library and museum were moved
there. In 1853 the cases and fittings (and
presumably any worth-while specimens) of
the Ancanthe Museum were purchased for
use in this building. Finally, in 1860, the
site of the present Hobart Museum in
Argyle Street was granted to the Royal
Society and its first building, to which exten¬
sive additions have since been made, was
erected there.

The Launceston Museum also had its
beginnings in the Royal Society, of which a
Northern Branch (with Ronald Gunn an
active member) was formed in 1853. Its
first meetings were held in Franklin Lodge
(the governor’s northern residence in what
is now the City Park), but later it moved

to the Public Buildings, where cases were
installed to hold exhibits of a small museum.
When the Northern Branch of the Royal
Society became moribund these, with the
contents, were taken over by the Mechanics
Institute and installed in their premises,
(now the Launceston Public Library) . With
the erection, in 1891, by the Launceston City
Council of the present Queen Victoria
Museum and Art Gallery in Wellington
Street (Royal Park), the cases and contents,
mainly minerals, formed the beginning of the
present collections.

This is the last letter in the file from
Ronald Gunn to either Sir William or Dr.
(afterwards Sir) Joseph Hooker. As the
previous letter indicated, Joseph was now
handling the official correspondence at Kew,
though he did not succeed his father as
Director of the Gardens until Sir William’s
death in 1865. Any further letters from
Gunn (and they must have continued until
after the publication of the “ Flora Tas¬
maniae ” and possibly until Gunn’s death in
1881) were probably regarded as private
correspondence. Notes and observations on
any speciment sent would go into the Her¬
barium.

(The only other revelant letter in the file
of Tasmanian correspondence is of a much
later date — London, February 5th 1929. This
is from R. W. Giblin, the Tasmanian
historian, who had apparently visited Kew
to get advice about a rubber plantation he
was interested in. When he was there the
Kew authorities had asked him the where¬
abouts of “ Penquite ” and “ Formosa ” in
Tasmania, probably in connection with
localities where plants, in the herbarium, had
been collected by Ronald Gunn. Giblin found
out for them where “ Penquite ” was, but was
unable to locate “ Formosa ”.)

In 1849, Gunn, in his early forties, still had
many years of active life ahead of him. Ten
years later, with the surveyor, Peter Lette,
he explored and made a report on the land
on the North-West Coast between the
Mersey and Inglis rivers and on some gold
discoveries that had been made by James

126

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

(Philosopher) Smith and others in the area.
It was on this commission that he discovered
the fertile treeless flats about 15 miles up the
Leven River that still bear the name Gunns
Plains, and where a memorial has recently
been erected to his memory. (It is possible
that Gunns Plains was seen earlier, as in a
sketch map made by Dr. Milligan for the
V.D.L. Company in the eighteen thirties,
‘ Rings Plains ’ is marked in approximately
the same position. However, it was
apparently forgotten until Gunn came upon
the place 20 years later, when settlement
quickly followed. It is now a prosperous
farming district). It is virtually certain
that Gunn collected botanical specimens on
this and other exploring trips and sent them,
with accompanying letters, to his friend
Joseph Hooker at Kew.

William Howitt, the author, visited Tas¬
mania in 1854 and met Ronald Gunn at
Launceston. Gunn was then living at Pen-
quite House, Newstead House, his final
residence, not being built until two years
later. In his “ Two Years in Victoria ”,
published in 1855, Howitt records their
meeting:

“ Mr. Gunn’s house lies in a fine park
enclosed from the native forest, and exhibi¬
ting not only fine native timber, but splendid
steeps and most picturesque glens. The
country round is extremely beautiful. We
made a long ramble during the afternoon,
getting some rich views of cultivated valley
on the North Esk, and of a peculiarly fine
glen, where the perpendicular masses of
basaltic rock, relieved by noble trees,
presented a specimen of bold beauty rare on
the other side of the Straits ... In our
walk, Mr. Gunn drew my attention to a
particularly rough and scrubby shrub, with
short stout boughs striking out on every side,
and said that the botanists had classed it
amongst the violets ”. He refers to
Hymenanthera angustifolia R.Br. The fine
glen is the Punch Bowl.

Ronald Campbell Gunn has sometimes
been claimed as Tasmania’s greatest botanist.
In an academic sense he was not a botanist
at all; he had no formal botanical training
and, as he himself admits in one of his later
letters to Sir William Hooker, he had not
the requisite knowledge to describe a species
botanically, and had “ almost abandoned all
hope of ever being better than a culler of
wild flowers and weeds for you But he
was a magnificent collector, both in his
ability to recognise new species or varieties
and in his technique of preserving them.
Ronald Gunn probably collected and
preserved more specimens of new Tas¬
manian plants than all the rest of the
collectors put together, and it is fitting that
so many should still bear his name.

In 1876 he presented his extensive
private herbarium to the Royal Society, to be
housed in the Hobart Museum; but it is now
in the Sydney Herbarium being taken there
in 1904 by J. H. Maiden, with the consent of
the museum authorities for study. In a
letter to Mr. W. Baulch dated 2.9.1951, the
late Rev. H. M. R. Rupp, then Honorary
Curator of the Orchidaceae at the National
Herbarium of New South Wales, explains
how this came about—

The late Mr. W. F. Blakely, one of the senior
botanists here for years, told me that during the
directorate of Mr. J. H. Maiden, he persuaded
the Hobart Museum authorities to send Gunn’s

collection to Sydney.It was therefore

sent here, on the understanding that when it
had been thoroughly checked over, duplicates,
where possible, should be returned to Hobart.
Soon after its arrival [Rupp incorrectly believed
the transfer took place in the 1920’s] the de¬
pression of the early ’thirties set in and the
staff of the Sydney Herbarium was reduced and
nothing was done in the matter of returning
duplicates to Hobart.

As soon as possible I went very carefully
through the Orchids of Gunn’s collection . . . .
and with the approval of the present Director,
Mr. R. H. Anderson, I sent as many duplicates
as possible to Hobart. There are many other
specimens of Gunn’s here beside the Orchids;
but I have no responsibility for them, and know
very little about them.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP.

127

Most of the orchids, which were collected
between 1832 and 1844, are in astonishingly
good condition; in fact many look as if they
had been collected last week. Gunn was a master
hand not only at collecting, but at pressing and
preserving plants.

The letters have recorded the development
of Ronald Campbell Gunn from an enthusi¬
astic amateur to a mature critic of botanical
species. They show also the great part that
Gunn played in the growth of an appreci¬
ation of science in the young Colony.

But the real hero of the letters is William
Jackson Hooker. Indirectly it was he who
founded the Tasmanian Society and the Royal
Society that emerged from it. Without his
generous and friendly encouragement it is
doubtful if Gunn, or any other collector,

would so tirelessly have perservered in a
hobby that demands so much time and effort.
We cannot do better than end with this
tribute paid to his father by Joseph Hooker
in a letter to Baron von Mueller on Sir
William’s death, taken from “ By Their
Fruits”, by Margaret Willis.

My loss has indeed been a grievous one, my
father having for so many years been more my
daily companion than any other person. I
shall never see his equal for liberality of purse
and work to library and herbarium, for genuine
kindness, for utter absence of self-love and self¬
esteem, and for single-minded devotion to
science. He thought nothing of himself in these
matters, and scrupulously avoided applause,
flattery, and distinctions. These attributes
brought their own reward. He lived and died
more happily than any scientific man I know and
had not a single enemy or detractor.

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Appendix A

R. C. Gunn’s Specimen Notes

It has been deemed advisable to print
these numbers and Gunn’s notes on specimens
in full. The numbers alone however convey
very little and present tantalizing problems
to students engaged on research. Where
possible therefore the plant identification
associated with the numbers in Hooker’s
Journal of Botany and in the Flora of Tas¬
mania have been added in square brackets
after the numbers. If the name shown is
that now current nothing further is added,
if however the current name is different the
abbreviation “ i.e.” follows and then the
current name is given. In this way it is
hoped to make the list valuable to research
students.

Various difficulties arise however. First
it is not possible to check the numbers with
the actual specimens. This must be left
to individual workers with particular
problems. Secondly, instead of numbering
each specimen consecutively R. C. Gunn used
several series of numbers each beginning at
No. 1—one for Dicotyledons, one for Mono¬
cotyledons, and one for Mosses, one for Ferns
and one for Lichens, which however he did
not always number but used the specimens
as packing material. Again he used at least
two series of numbers for the Dicotyledons,
each series beginning at No. 1. The first
series probably ceased about No. 500 when
he received books from Hooker which
introduced him to the Natural System. In
his second series he tried the impossible
task of classifying all specimens before they
were despatched. This must have seriously
delayed despatch, but it would enable a
student to discover the limits of the various
collections by noting the return to the Ranun-
culaceae periodically as the series proceed.

Another difficulty results from his practice
of giving a number of collections of one
species the same number. Thus he collected
Ranunculus lappaceus Sm. and gave the
specimen the number 90. A little later he
would collect the same plant again and give
the fresh specimen the number 90. If both
specimens belonged to the same species in
the opinion of the botanist at Kew or the
British Museum they were frequently
amalgamated on the one herbarium sheet
and collections made at different times
cannot now be certainly identified. If the
specimens proved to be different then two
identifications will bear the number 90 as
for example R. lappaceus and R. pimpinelli-
folius. When R. C. Gunn was doubtful about
the similarity of the two specimens he often
placed the question mark after the number
thus 90 ? This made it necessary for the
botanists at Kew to treat such a number as
entirely separate. Thus 90 ? became a
number in its own right and was treated
as we would treat 90A.

The determinations made were published
in a number of publications and it is known
that manuscript lists giving some numbers
and the Kew determinations exist in the
Mitchell Library, Sydney, where most of
Gunn’s papers are. Editorial additions to
the appendices are derived from three
sources, (a) “ Contributions towards a flora
of Van Diemen’s Land; from collections sent
by R. W. Lawrence, and Ronald Gunn, Esqrs.,
and by Dr. Scott ” printed in Hooker’s
“ Journal of Botany ” which was issued as
Volume I in 1834. This was probably the
work of Sir W. J. Hooker while still the
Professor of Botany at Glasgow University.
This was continued in Hooker’s “ Companion

128

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

129

to the Botanical Magazine ” Vol. I p.p.
272-277 1835) which has not been sighted,
(b) “ Contributions towards a Flora of Van
Dieman’s Land, chiefly from collections of
Ronald Gunn Esq., and the late Mr Lawrence
by Joseph Dalton Hooker, M.D., R.N.,
Assistant Surgeon and Naturalist in H.M.
Discovery Ship, Erebus ” which appeared
in Volume II of the same Journal published
as a bound volume in 1840. Hooker filius
continued and amended the work begun by
Hooker, (c) “ Flora of Tasmania ” by J. D.
Hooker, 1860, the first complete Flora of
Tasmania. Using these three lists one of us
(T.E.B.) tried to make the numbers given in
the lists which follow somewhat more useful.
Current synonyms have been obtained from
Rodway’s “ Flora of Tasmania ”, Dr. Curtis’
“ The Student’s Flora of Tasmania ”, J. M.
Black’s “ Flora of South Australia ” and
Rupp’s “ Orchids of N.S. Wales ”.

It is hoped that the errors inevitable in
such a process may not be too great.

A ? preceding a number is a marginal note
inserted probably by W. J. Hooker when he
first examined the collection.

Letter 27

\_An enclosure with letter dated 30 th
March, 1835.]

BOX No. 1

liomarks on Plants sent from V.D. Land to Dr. W. J.

Hooker.— 1835

I have arranged them this season as far as practic¬
able according to the Natural Method — only keeping
the new Numbers in a detached lot from the duplicates
of those sent Homo in former years. You will perceive
innumerable blunders but I am anxious to pursue
that system as far as possible in all my collections. —

CLEMATIS 53. [C. gentianoides DC.} — 54.[C7. blanda
Hook. i.e. C. aristata DC.} good specimens of this last
in fruit. — I have also put in two small branches of what
is evidently a new species but could not find it in
flower. —

RANANCULUS 00. [U. lappacens Srn. and R. pimpin-
ellifolius Hook. var. glabrior] 157. [ it. glabrifolius
Hook.]

& 229. f R. scapigerus Hook, and R. leptocaulis Hook,
i.e. R. pumilio R.Br. ex DC.] — good specimens of
R. scapigerus Hook. (229) [FI. Tas. inis 299 in error]

collected lately at Deloraine 35 miles West — I have
been unable to detect the difference between my 90
& R. pimpinellifolia [Hook.] not having retained
specimens —

PLEURANDRA [HIBBERTJ A] 22. [/'. riparia R.Br.
ex DC. var. glabriuscula Hook. i.e. H. stricta R.Br.]

CARDAM1NE. 401 \G. dictyosperma Hook.]

VIOLA. 84. [(1832) V. betonicoefolia Sin.] 95. [(1832)
V. hederacea Labill. also 95 (?) V. sieberi Hook.] 1
have put in here one or two specimens of a Viola
which may bo different on Examination to 95.—In
my Herbarium I have by mistake retained my present
No. 528

— as 84 — but have now altered it to V. betonicifolia
as p. your memo.

DROSERA. 350. [Vol. I J. of B. has D. peltata Sm., Vol.
II D. lunata Bueh. ex DC. FI. Tas. also. See below]

In my herbarium the spocirnen retained of D.
peltata is with pink flowers, and smooth calyx [i.e.
the specimen he retained for 350 was D. auriculata
Baekh. ex Planch.]—as another spocies is equally
abundant I have given it a new No. (448) [i.e. D.
peltata Sin.] in this years collection and wish to know
which is the true D. peltata.

COMESPERMA. 147. [C. volubile Lab.] 170 [C.
retusum Lab.]

TETRATIIECA. 21. [T. pilosa Lab. var. p] 193. \T.
pilosa Lab. var. a] 194. [T. glandulosa Lab.]—Nos.
21 & 193 called by you varieties [of T. glandulosa Lab.
var. pilosa] do not exist together — and 21 is found
at Launceston — and 19.3 in the Western parts where
the climate is much colder and where I have not seen
21 .

BILLARDIERA. 11. [13. mutabiiis Lab. i.e. 13. ecandene
Sm.] 169. \B. longiflora Lab.]

BURSAR1A. 15. [B. spinosa Cav.] 1 send additional
specimens of this but find the tree has spines though
not abundant on the young branches, — neither do I
find the leaves on any plants to be much smaller
than those sent. —

PITTOSPORUM. 154. [P. bicolor Hook.]

LINUM. 71. [L. marginals A. Cunn. ex Planch.] This
No. you have omitted to give me credit for in your
mema. [Vol. II J. of B. has 71. L. angustifolium Huds.
Gunn seems to be referring to a manuscript list sent
to him by Hooker on receipt of a previous parcel of
specimens. “No. 71 is Linum marginals A. Cunn.” —
Dr. R. Melville.]

STELLARIA. 96. [S. pungent Brongn. ox Duperrey]

FRIESIA. [ARISTOTELIA .] 312. [A. peduncularis
(Lab.) Hook, f.]

HYPERICUM. 73. [H. gramineum Forst.f.] This No.
also omitted in your mema. [“No. 73 is Hypericum
gramineum Forst.” — Dr. R. Melville.]

130

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

DODONAEA. 377. [D. viseosct Jaeq.]

GERANIUM. 63. I G. /lotentilloides L’Herit. var. parvi-
flora Willd. i.e. G. microphyllum Hook .f.] This
appears to vary considerably in the colour of the
flower and mode of growth. — May not some that I
take to be vars. prove species. —

PELARGONIUM. 425. [/’. australe Willd. var. albi-
flornm Hook.]

OXALIS. 370. [O. magellanica Forst.f i.e. O. laden
Hook.] 94. [O. corniculata L.j I send more specimens of
370 reed, from the Hampshire Hills as it does not exist
near Launceston. — The flower is always white—94
always yellow — and a much larger plant— I think
they are distinct.

GORROEA. 152. [C. virens dm. i.e. C. reflex a (Lab.)
Vent.] 153. [C. lawrenciana Hook. var. glabra Lindl.
Curtis gives var. glabra Health.] others in this year’s
collection.

ERIOSTEMON. 14. [E. verrucosa A. Rich. Vol. I •!.
of B. gives E. obcordatum A. Cunn ex Hook.|

BORON1A S. [B. gunnii Hook.f.] 303. [See fael .wj 1
differ with you in thinking these to be vars. of the
same species, — No. 8 exists at Launceston & 303 on
the Mersey and Western parts where the climate is
totally distinct— The smell of the two also differs
very much— No. 8 smelling like Rue— and 303 so as
to give it the Colonial name of Lemon Plant [B.
citriodora Gunn ex Hook.f.] .— Nos. 214 & 303 are
probably vars, — but until 1 can procure good speci¬
mens of the two last Nos it must remain undecided.
[214 B. variabilis Hook. |

ZIERIA. 140 [ Z. arborescens Sims]

POMADERRIS. 128. ] I 1 , apetala Lab. var. a Hook.f.]
440. [/’. elliptic^ Lab.]

GRYPTANDRA. [SPYRIDIUM] 150. [S. tUicinum
(Hook.) Benth.]

STACKHOUSIA. 69. [S. monogyna Lab.)

PULTENEA. 137 or 180 [Both Pultenaea subumbellata
Hook.] — 135 or 215 [135 Bossiaea c inert 1 a R.Br.]—
179. 185. [Both Pultenaea 179 P. juniperina Lab. 185
P. daphnoides Sin.] — -Nos. 137 & 186 are I think alike
as also 133 & 215 — and have accordingly this season
placed them together.

DAYIESIA ? 176. [Bossiaea eaetata Sieb. i.e. B. riparia
A. Cunn.] 177. [Daviesia nlcina Sin.] 181. [Daviesia
umbellulatu Km. var. {1 acuminata DC. and var. y
i.e. D. ulcina Sm.] 148, [ J

AOTUS. 24. [Gotnpholobium latifolium Sm. i.e. G.
huegelii Benth.] Good specimens in flower & fruit.—

PLATYLOBIUM. 04. [P. triangulare R. Br.]

HOVEA 138. | II. purpurea Sw. i.e. II. longijolia R. Hr.]
139. ( II. heteraphylla A. Cunn.] in flower & fruit. —

GOODIA. 135. [ Bossiaea cinerea R. Br.] 208. [Goodin
pubescenx Sims.] 209. [ Goodin lotifolia Salisb.]— I
have placed 135 as a Goodia from the shape of the
fruit.

LOTUS 83. [L. corniculatus L.] 439. [“ L. australis
Andr”.—Dr. R. Melville]

VICIA ? 161. [Lcptocyanus claiutestinux Benth. i.e.

Glycine dandestina Wendl.]

KENNEDIA | KENNEDY A]. 26. \K. prostrata R. Br.]

VIMINARIA '! 172. [ Sphaerolobium riiniueum Sm.)

LEGUMINOSAE Sundries, 171. \Bossiaea coniigera
Benth.] 212. [Actus villosa (Andr.) Sm.j 234. [Oxy-
lobium elliplicum R.Br.] 308 ? (an Aotus) |This
question mark after a number indicates that Gunn
had previously sent a specimen he numbered 308. lie
now submits what ho takes to be a duplicate specimen
and so gives it the sumo number, but he is not quite
sure so ho warns Hooker by putting a '! after the
number not to accept it without close examination.
For his part Hooker had to distinguish the two speci¬
mens in some way intelligible to Gunn. He therefore
called ono specimen 308 and the other 308? 308 was
Pultenaea fascicutata Benth. and 308? was Pultenaea
tenuijalia R. Br.]

AGACIA. 130. [A. mucronata Willd. var. a| 131. [.1.
diffusa Lindl.] 201 [A. melanoxylon R. Br.] 202. [A.
mucronata Willd. var. [i dependent (A. Cunn ex
Benth) Hook.f.] 203 .[A. myrtifolia Willd.) 204. [A.
verticillata Willd.]

POTENT1LLA. 251. [P. anserina L.]

GEUM. 249. [(?. urbanum L. var. sir id a in (Ait.) Hook.f.]

ACAENA. 87. [d. ovina A. Cunn. ex Field] I send
under this no. two distinct kinds which 1 have only
marked as vars.

LYTIIRUM. 30. \E. sulicuria L.J si. | L. hyssopifolia L.]

EPILOBIUM. 82? [82 E. junceum var. a 82? not
located]

TILLAEA? 91. [T. vcrticillnrix DC.]

BAUERA. 156. [/?. rubioides Andre, var. aj

BAECKIA. 86. [ II. thymifolia Hook.f. i.e. B. ramosis-
sima A. Cunn.]

LEPTOSPERMUM. 7. [L. flavescens Sm. i.e. L.
sericeum Lab.]

METRASIDEROS 17. [CalUstemon snliguuin DC. i.e.
C. pallidas (Bonpl.) DC.] 105. | Melaleuca gibbosa
Lab.] Backhouse in his ‘ Index Plantarum” in Ross's
Annual calls No. I 7. “Callistomon lophanthus.” —

MELALEUCA. 18. [ M. ericaefolia Sm.]

CALYTHRIX. 13. [Calycothrix glabra R. Br. var. a
glaberrima i.e. C'alytrix tetragoua Lab.]

UMBELL1FERAE.? 245. [Truchymcne humilis (Hook,
f.) Benth. It is an Umbelliferae.]

SAMBUCUS? 19. [<S. gaudichaudiana DC.]

GALLIUM [GAL1UM \ 159. [Asperula eonferta Hook.f..
a form of A. oligantha F. Muell. Galium is an allied
genus in Rubiacexte,]

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

131

GNAPHALIUM. 112. [Helichrysum apiculatum (Lab.)
DC.] 113. [//. semipapposum DC.] 240. | //. semipap-
pomim DC. ] Of No. 113 1 have sent three kinds marked
as vars. but which in collecting I took to be species. —

I leave them to your decision.

ELICHRYSUM [HELICHRYSUM.] 108. [Heliplerum
incanum DC.] 239 [Helipterum anthemoides DC’.] 111.

| Helichrysum Iracteatum (DC.) Willd.] 11(1. | Heli-
chrysum seorpioides Lab.] 120? [120 Gnaphalium
alpigenum F. Muell. ex Hook.f. J-—' The specimen I
obtained of 120 is so bad that I cannot be certain if
the specimens now sent are the same, or 409. [Gnaph-
alium luteo-albwn L.]

- ? 118. [Leplorhynchus sguanwtus Less.]

GALACTITES? | PODOLEPIS] 110. [P. acuminata
R. Br.l

PICRIS? 115. | hieracioides L.]

CRASPEDIA. —117. LC. richea DC.]

ERIGERON. 164. [not traced]

BELLIS. 06 | Brachycome stricta DC.] -67 [Lagenophoru
billardieri DC.J or 232. [Lagenophora billardieri DC.]
Nos. 67 & 232 are I think alike.

SONCHUS. 265. [not traced]

SENECIO. 114. \S. australis (DC.) Willd.]

ASTER. [OLEARIA.] 36. [36 of 1844 Eurybia gunniana
DC. var. salicifolia —-“All of No. 36 including the
1844 collection soems to be typical O. gunniana DC”

_-Dr. R. Melville] 38. [O. ramulosa DC. var. 0

aculeata DC. also var. y floribunda Hook.f. ( epileia
DC.)] 201. 273? [273. O. gunniana DC. var. (J brevipes
also var. c cam (subpredanda DC.)] 123 [Helichrysum
hookeri Bonder]- At No. 36 I have put in two speci¬
mens of 180 reed, from Mr. Backhouse but I cannot
recognise the difference between it & 36.- -Of 273
now sent 1 am a little doubtful.

OZOTHAMNUS? [Now grouped with the HELI
CHliySUM] 39. [Cassinui aculeata R.Br.] 240. [H.
thyrsoideus DC. ]

CULCITIUM. [BEDF0RD1A ]. 121. {Bedford! a

salicina DC.]

BRUNCNIA. 109. [ lirunonia australis R. Br.]

GOGDEN1A. 45. [O. ovata Sm.] 48. [0. elongata Lab.]

VELLEIA. 47. [not traced] 430 [Goodenia Itederacea
Sm. a var. lanata of G. geniculata R. Br.]

EUTHALES. 46. [ Velleia paradoxa R.Br.]

STYLIDIUM. 102. [S. graminifolium Swartz.]

CAMPANULA. 72. [Wahlenbergia gracilis var. vincoc-
jlorn R.Br. “This is IF. billardieri Lothian” — Dr. R.
Melville] 165. [var. liltoralis R.Br.]

GAULTHERIA. 305. [0. hispida R.Br.] See New Nos.

ANDERSON1A. 155. [Sprengelia incarnate: Sm.] The
specimens now sent arc large, and I think it probably
may differ from some of those sent as 155 in 1833.

EPACRIS. 143. [E. exserta R.Br.] 144. [E. gunnii
Hook.f. i.e. E. microphylla R. Br. j 145. [E. lanuginosa
Lab. var. «] 146. | E. lanuginosa var. y 146? E.
lanuginosa var. [3 but Gunn does not refer to this
number here.]

LEUCOPOGON. &c. 34. [/.. collinus R. Br. var. a]
191. [L. virgatus R.Br.] 196. [L. ericoides R. Br.] 197.
[L. hookeri Sonder] 429. \L. richei R. Br.] — Specimens
of 191 arc sent which were collected at throe places
widely distant, vizt. Launceston, Deloraine, &
Hampshire Hills.—

ASTROLOMA. 122. | A. humifusum R. Br.]

ACROTR1CHE.? 192. [-4. serrulata R. Br.]

Sundries EPACR1DEAE. 297. [(in part) Trochocarpa
disticha Spreng. var. cunninghami Hook, also T.
gunnii (Hook.) Benth.]

For LOBELIA 104 \L. gibbosa Lab. | see New number
at 514 [ L. gibbosa Lab.]

NOTELEA 374. [A 'otelaea Ugustrina Vent.] The colour
of the fruit of this Plant is various—from a wax
coloured white to a deep purple and all the inter¬
mediate shades of red and pink. Specimens last
season sent were purple berries now white.

GENTIANA. 119. [0. montuna Hook. i.e. G. diemenica
Gries.] 1 found one specimen, the flowers of which
were light purple.

CONVOLVULUS 52. [ Con col cuius erubescens Sims.]

?MYOSOTIS? 50. [Myosotis suaveolens R. Br.] & one
or two sundries. [The ? preceding the item is mar¬
ginal anti was probably added by Hooker.]

SOLANUM. 51. |S. nigrum L.]

EUPHRASIA. 167 . [E. scabra R. Br.] 200 .| E. multi-
caul is Benth. ex DC. i.e. E. brownii F. Muell.]

VERONICA. 2. [ F. labiatet R. Br. i.e. V. derwentia
Andr.] 65. | F. gracilis R. Br. | 269. | F. nivea Lindl.]
174. | F. gracilis R. Br.] 269. [F. nivea Lindl.] 174.

| F. arguta R. Br. i.e. F. notabilis F. Muell.]

LYCOPUS. 400. [L. australis R. Br.]

AJUGA. 32. [A, australis R. Br.]

PRUNELLA. 31. [P. vulgaris L.]

’PENARIUM. 70. [not traced]

WESTRINGIA. 213. [IF. brevifolia Benth ex DC.J

MEMA. OMITTED IN PROPER PLACE
Remark relative to No. 1 Lomatia (omitted)

In one of your former letters to R. W. Lawrence
you called this pi,ant ‘Lomatia silaifolia’—but hap¬
pening lately to see Sir J. E. Smith’s “Specimens of the
Botany of New Holland” 1 lint! it differs widely from
Embothrium Silaifolium as those figured and des¬
cribed.—-vizt.

132

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Lomatia Silaifolia.— -of J. E. I Lomatia No. I
Smith.-—-

Leaves thrice divided into nar-S Pinnalifid.- — -See
row decurrent, sharp entire I specimens of
segments, sometimes three i which many very
cleft. — J good are sent

Flowers — Indorous.—&c. &c. \ Very sweet

with one lanceolate sharp I scented. — No
bract ea in common to every r brae tea exists
pair of flowers J

I therefore think it may be L. tinctoria— but make
this remark merely to draw your attention to it.

May not our Y.D.I.. Warratah — (175) bo Telopea
truncata — & not Lomatia polymorpha as named by
you to Mr Lawrence?-— It is the only V.D.L. crimson
flowd spoeies I have soon-— and 1 see that T. truncata
has crimson flowers. — Backhouse in Boss’s Almanack
for 1835 calls it Telopia Tasmaniana but upon what
authority I know not — as I have not seen iiirn since
that publication, and he is now in Now South Wales
-— or Norfolk Island. — But as there is no mention of
T. truncata in that work he may have noticed that
in Brown’s Prodomus it is marked as a V.D.L. species.
—Excuse my freedom in these Remarks but I am
aware you have many difficulties to contond with in
examining dried specimens.

R.C.G.

MENTHA. 89. [M. gracilis li. Br.]

PROSTANTHERA. 58. [P. rotundifolia R. Br.]

SAMOLUS? 381. [S. littoralis R. Br.]

UTRICULARIA. 49. [ U. dichotoma Lab.] These are a
few specimens sent from Hampshire hills.

PLANTAGO. 141. [P. varia R. Br.] and a var. with
edges of leaves not serrated.

POLYGONIUM. 325. [Muehlenbeckia adpressa Meisn.
var. (3. hastifolia, the P. gunnii Hook.f.] These
specimens collected iri my own garden from a young
plant I had reed, from Macquarie Harbour.

CASSYTIIA. 27. [G. glabella R. Br.]

HAKEA 20 [77. microcarpa R. Br.] & some specimens
from Hampshire Hills.

ORIGTES. [OltITES.] 286 [O. revoluta R. Br.] in fruit

BELLENDENA. 282. [77. montana R. Br.]

LOMATIA 1. [L. tinctoria R. Br.] See annexed remark

PIMELEA. 4. [P. nivea Lab.] 5. [P. hvmilis It. Br.]
225. [25, (not 225, the Gunn number) P. gracilis R. Br.]

LEPTOMERIA. 260. [L. billardieri. R. Br.]—This &
29 are alike.

ANTHOBOLUS? 190. [Amperea sparlioides Brongn.]
— I think also same as 28.

CROTON. 35. [Micranthea hexandra Hook.] flower &
fruit

BETULA.? 178 [Xothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.)
Oerst. ]

The following Nos I was a little puzzled about and
therefore huvo placed them at end, & also one or two
odd specimens.

-— -- No. 10. [not traced]

- 76. [not traced]

- 78. This plant has when green a most

foetid odour, not unlike human excrement, more
perceptible however on bruising the leaves.

[From the description, Zieria arborescens Sin. The
bruised bark of Genarrhenes nitida Lab. has a similar
odour. See note to 540.]

-No. 85 [not tracod]

- 92 [Poranthera microphylla Brongn]

- 97 [not tracod]

- 151 [not traced]

- 161 [not traced]

- 219 [not traced]

- 226 [Podocarpus alpina R. Br. ex Mirbel]

- 293 [not t raced]

- 356 Leptospermum thymifolium? (omit¬
ted) [from its correct place among tho Myrtaceae on
the list]

-398. (not in flower)

MONOCOTYLEDONES
DRYMOPHILA. 224. [77. cyunocurpu R. Br.J

IRIS? 270. | Libcrlia lawrencei Hook.f. i.e. L. pulchella
Sprcng.] reed, from Hampshire Hills.

BLANDFORDIA. 241. \ It. pnnicen (Lab.) Sweet]

VTHYSANOTUS? 351. [T. patersoni R. Br.]

CAESIA? 100? [Arlhropodium pendulum DC.]

346. [Caesia corymbosa R. Br. i.e. Chamaescilla
corymbosa (R.Br.) F. Muell.] 99? [99 Caesia vittata
R. Br. 99? not known]

BURCHARDIA. 103. [77. umbellala R. Br. (noinina
conservanda 1940)]

CYPERACEAE, JUNCEAE, &c &c,—336. [ Xeroles
longifolia R. Br. i.e. Lomandra longifolia (R.Br.)] 93.
[Lomandra glauca (R.Br.) Lomandra now included in
the Xanthorrhaeaceae]

421. [Isolepis setacea R. Br. i.e. Scirpus calocarpus
S. T. Blake; Isolepis saviana Sehult. i.e. Scirpus
cernuus, Vahl. Isolepis riparia R. Br. i.e. Scirpus
cemuus Vahl. 421 ? Isolepis cartilagineu R. Br. var.
Y i.e. Scirpus antarcticus L.]

340. (one spocimon) [Luzulus campestris (L.) DC.] 415.
[not traced] 341. [Luzula campestris (L.) DC.] 331.
[Restio telraphyllus Lab.] 332. [Carer fascicularis
Soland. ex Hook.f.] 333. [Cares longifolia R. Br.]
410? [416 Carex guudichaudiana Kunth.] 338.

[Leptocarpus broumii Hook.f. <J] 337. [Hierochloe

redolens R.Br. also Ilierochloe borealis Room. i.e.
Il.fraseri Hook.] 339. [not traced]

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

133

1 have placed tho duplicates of the Orchideae vizt.
[and ho gives the numbers below] amongst the New
numbers as in some eases they required to be put in
juxta-position to ascertain difference.—

101. [Thelymitra nuda It. Br. and T. angustifolia R. Br.
tho latter being T. aristata Lindl.]

127. | Dipodium punctutum It. Br.] 352. [Praeophyllum
patent R. Br.] 353. [Prasophyllum fuscum R. Br.j

354 . [ Microtis arenaria Lindl. i.e. M. unifolia (Forst.)
Rclib. f.] 343. [Diuris rnaculala Sm.] 342. [Diuris
sulphureu R. Br.; 342 of 1835 Diuris corymbosa Lindl.
i.e. D. longifoUa R. Br.]

347. [Caladenia barbata Lindl. i.e. C. deformi-s R. Br.]
357. [ Pterostylis obtusa R. Br. i.e. probably P. decurva
Rogers as P. obtusa does not seem to occur in Tas¬
mania.]

355. [Pterostylis cucullata R. Br.]

& 344. [Caladenia clavigera A. Cunn. ex Lindl.]

ACOTYLEDONES

1 have placed all the Ferns and Lycopodiums to¬
gether as the latter order are not sufficiently numer¬
ous to number by themselves—and 1 will give the
Lycopodiaccuo new Nos. with tho FiUces, as thitherto
1 have placed them with the cotyledonous Plants. —

FILICES.

48. LYCOPODIUM. — From Mounts. This was No. 23
of my Cotyledonous Plants. — but I have now altered
it to Filicos No. 48 [Lycopodium davatum L. var.
Magellanic,um]

49. LYCOPODIACEAE. — (New No.) [Lycopodium
densum Lab.]

4li (Now No.) Reed, from Hampshire Hills. This in
some points looks so different to 40 that I have given
it a new No. [“Specimen is in the Herbarium and is
Hymenophyllum rarum R. Br.” — -Dr. R. Melville]

39 . I sent you a specimen of this in last collection reed-
from J. Backhouse.-—Those now sent are partly
collected by myself and partly reed, from Hampshire
Hills — It grows on tho Tree Fern.

35 Trichomanes venosum [R. Br.]

15. Cheilanthes tenuifolia? [(Burin.f.) Sw.J

41. Pteris. [not traced]

18. Pteris vespertilionis? [ "P. vespertilionis Lab. i.e.
Histiopteris incisa (Thunb.) .f. Sm.”-—Dr. R. Melville]

8 . Pteris falcata? [R.Br. i.e. Pellaea falcata (R.Br.)
F 6 e]

4. Stegama [Lycopodium curolinianum L.]

2 .

do.

il!

do.

26.

do.

27.

do.

28.

do.

- [Numbers not traced]

29. do. [Botrychium lunaria Sw.J

1. Doodia -1 am quite undetermined in how far these
differ one from the other. — In collecting I have
thought them dissimilar, yet in drying I find various
specimens connecting one to the other so closely as to
leave me still unsettled as to whether they are one or
two species. —

3(5. PSILOTUM truncatum. [“Probably in error for
P, triquetrum Sw. i.e. P. nudum Griseb.”- — Dr. R.
Melville] Some specimens with a Jungermannia on it.

29. BOTRYCHIUM? [B. lunaria Sw.— Ophioglos-
saceae] Reed, from Hampshire Hills. [“Correct 1
specimen at Kew” — Dr. R. Melville]

30 BOTRYCHIUM? [B. virginianum Sw. FI. Tas.
“This was probably B. austrule R. Br. B. virginianum
does not occur in your area”—Dr. R. Melville.] This
plant I found abundant near Launn. but waited until
1 could find a flowering frond, but either cattle, the
heat, or some other casualty came in the way, and I
could not find one with any inflorescence.

14 Osmunda barbara? [Thunb. Todea africanu Willd.
ex Schrift i.e. T. barbara (L.) T. Moore]

23 Gleichenia spelunea? [“(7. spcluncae R. Br. i.e.
O. circinruita Sw." — Dr. Melville]

19 Hymenophyllum nitens. | R. Br. i.e. H. flabellatum
Lab.] Of this fern you will find some specimens
abundantly covered with inflorescence others with
very few. —

47.—Is this a new species of Hymenophyllum or do you
think it a dwarf var of No. 19 1 reed, the specimens
from Hampshire Hills

40. Hymenophyllum tunbridgense? [Sm. i.e. H.
cupressiforme Lab.]

22. Asplenium flabellifoliumt [Cav.] The specimens 1
now send differ so widely in size, habit, &e that I am
inclined to believe them t wo species. The small ones
grow among rocks on Hill sides together with Nos.
15 & 1 ( 5 .—and the larger specimens in shady places
among rocks where it is moist — and where Nos. 15
& 16 are never found. —

24. Asplenium laxum? [It. Br.

i.e. A. bulbiferum Forst..]

10. Allantodia australis? [R. Br.

I.e. Athyrium umbrosum (Ait.)
Presl. ssp. austrule (R. Br.) C.
Chr.l

' These ferns are
very similar in
appearance and
► habit being found
parasitical on the
Tree fern and
dead trees. —

9. Aspidium coriaceum? [Sw. “Specimen is here, it is
Rumohra adiantiformis (Forst.) C. Chr.’ Dr. R.
Melville] Parasitical like the above.

7. Aspidium proliferum. [It. Br. i.e. Polystichum
proliferum (R. Br.) Presl.]

17. Polypodium rugosulum? [Lab. i.e. perhaps
Hypolepis rugosula (Lab.) J. Smith]

6 . Polypodiutn Billardieri.—[“Specimen here: it is
Microsorimn diversifolium (Willd.) Copel.”—Dr. R.
Melville] Parasitical on t roes — -but more generally
covering rocks and stones, (like Ivy) to which it
strongly adheres.—

134

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

11. Siphopteris Gram mi tides! [ Polypodium gram-
milides R. Br. i.e. Ctenopteris heterojihylla (Lab.)
Tindale] Parasitical on trees.

44. Grammitis rutaefolia? [R. Br. i.e. Oymnogramma
rutaefolia (R. Br.) Hook, et Grev. i.e. Pleurosorus
rutaefoliux (R.Br.) Fee j

IJ Grammitis australis? [R. Br. i.e. G. billardieri
Willd. ) Parasitical on fern trees— -as are Nos. 9. 10.
II. 12. 19. 24. 35. 36. 39. 40. 45. 40. 47.

MUSCI ET LICHENES

Of Mosses and Lichens-—as of Ferns— 1 have found
no novelties — for the best of reasons—not having
visited those places 1 was likely to find any. — I now
send you the few that 1 happen to have picked up
while in search of others. — Vizt. some good specimens
of Hookeria No. 32.—& a few of 27. 37. [Hypnum
unguieulatum Hook.f. & Wils.] 47 & one or two others.
— I have added No. 62.—a Beautiful Moss in good
flower — and the others may assist my former collec¬
tions.

The Lichenes &c. 1 have wrapped up in Paper
without numbering and used them as a means of
packing the box.—Among them you will find two
good lots and a few others that may help you to find
out the other Collections.

—A small paper of specimens of the curious fungus
called “Native Bread" I find them however so
shrivelled that 1 shall put the next 1 find in spirits.- —
It has when fresh an appearance of a mass of boiled
rice — how it is produced or grows I know not — it is
generally found in ploughing new land, and sometimes
in masses as largo as a man’s head. — See Hobart
Town Almanack for 1834 Page 131. Some Manna
sent in a bottle — -produced by species of Eucalypti.

BOX No. 2

REMARKS ON PLANTS SENT TO DR. HOOKER IN
MARCH 1835. Nos. 444 to 63(1 inclusive.

I have also arranged the first 100 numbers accord¬
ing to their Natural Orders, but as specimens were
received by me from Mr Backhouse, and also collected
by myself after the first arrangement, 1 have placed
them at end. —

444. RANUNCULUS \R. leptocaulis Hook. i.e. R.
pumilio R. Br. ex DC.]—-Swampy places.

445. PLEURANDRA? [ hirsuta Hook. i.e. Hibbertia
hirsuta (Hook.) Benth.] dry hills. Hobart Town, rood,
from J. Backhouse.

446. - [Cardamine heterophylla Hook.] —

wet places.

447. - [Cardamine praleme (L) var, y

tenuifolia Hook i.e. C. tenuifolia Hook.] This plant
I collected at Deloraine -It grows in sluggish streams
and flowers a few inches above the surface of the
water. — I always found it growing in water, and in
many places 3 to 4 ft. deep.

448. - | Drosera peltata Sin.] This Drosera

is as abundant ns 350 | D. lunata Buch. ex DC. i.e.
probably D. auriculnta Baekh. ex Planch.] but differs
in the following points — vizt. 359. — radical leaves —
frequently none—and in others more approaching to
cauline leaves close together & more oval than in
448. — Cauline leaves smaller than 448.—hairs rose
coloured with dark black glands Calyx smooth and
much taller than 448. — flower Pink.—448.

Radical loaves always present — hairs in cauline leaves
white—Calyx hairy, flowers white, but sometimes
pink.

449. Drosera Menziesii [Hook, non R. Br. i.e. D.
planchoni Hook.f.] — Collected at Swan Port East
Coast by J. Backhouse.

450. STELLARIA? [5. media Sm. i.e. S. media (L.)
Vill. perhaps.]

451. do? [jS. multiflora Hook.]

452. Sida pulchella? [Plagianthus pulchellux (Bonpl.)
A. Gray] Native Name Currajong.—1 n your Moma
you state that this is mixed with No. 173 [ Vol. ]
“Journal of Botany" says Sida pulchella Bonpl. ex
D.C. and S. discolor Hook. The distinction does not
seem to have been maintained.] 1 have therefore
given it a sepurate one [i.e. number]. It does not
exist in a natural state on this side of the Island-—my
specimens are from plants in my garden. —

453. GERANIUM [G, potentilloidea L’Herit. i.e. G.
microphyllttm Hook.f.] Is this No. 63? [G. parviflorum
Willd. i.e. presumably G. microphyllum Hook.f. since
the “Journal of Botany” agrees they were the same.]

454. ERIOSTEMON [Phebalium billardieri Adr. Juss.
i.e. Ph. squameum (Lab.) Druce] from an esteemed
correspondent Dr. Joseph Milligan, J.P. Hampshire
Hills to whom I am indebted to the very many
specimens marked throughout this collection as
“From the Hampshire Hills,"which are part of the
Van Diomons Land Coy's territory, — but little
explored by persons not attached to that Establish¬
ment. This species 1 think is very distinct, from the
following No.

455. ERIOSTEMON? Very abundant on the banks of
the South Esk near Launceston, growing about 6 or
7 ft. high—-but frequently higher—and strangely
omitted in my former collections. —

[It was the same as No. 454.]

456. Corroea Backhousiana. ] Hook.] A single speci¬
men of this sent homo in 1833—Some more now reed,
from Woolnorth N.W. Corner of V.D.L. & one of the
V.D.L. Coy's Establishments.

457. Corroea ferruginea? [C. Lawrenciana Hook. var. [j
ferruginea Hook.)

Specimens and a young plant reed, from Mr. -I.
Backhouse who collected them on Mount Wellington
(in the middle & upper regions nearly to the top) at
Hobart Town in October 1834. — Backhouse remarks
to me — “I think Corona ferruginea quite distinct
from the Capo Grim plant; in addition to the other
differences the corolla is slenderer than in ferruginea,

& more contracted than in C. virens [Sin,] — (Qv. C.
Backhousiana? R.C.G.) and is a much less compact
shrub. — ’’

458. Boronia hysopifolia? (/J. hyssopifolia .Siebor, i.e.
li. nana Hook. var. hyxsopifolia Melville] from near
Launceston.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

135

459. Discaria? This 1 collected on Pig Island in the
River Tamar 7 miles below Launn. I think there is
another species near Launn. but it- is such a spinous
shrub that- I failed in all my attempts to preserve
it. I will try again next Season. (It, was Hytnenan-
thera angustifolia R. Hr.]

460. POMADERRIS. [Cryptandra obovata Hook.f.]
Collected by J. Backhouse at Meredith River, Swan
Port, East Coast- V.D.L.

461. POMADERRIS [ racenwsu Hook.] from Flinders
Island. Bass’s Strait- also by James Backhouse.

462. STACKHOUSIA [.S'. monogynu Lab.] from Sand¬
hill near Launceston it flowers later, in a more sandy
soil, <ffc with evidently a different leaf to No. 60 [.S'.
monogyna Lab.]

463. Indigofera Australis? [Willd. — It was.]

464. [Oxylobium arborcsccm R. Br.] Reed, from Dr.
Milligan, Hampshire Hills

465. \Hibbertia virgata Hook, non R. Br. i.e. H. fascicu-
lata R. Br.] from Woolnorth. —-

466. \Swainsonia lessertiaefolia DC.] do. do.

467 PULTENEA [/’. pimelioides Hook.f. i.e. P. dentata
Lab. | from Woolnorth

468. do. [ Dillwyniu cineratceas R. Br.]

Westbury Road. -

460. do. [D. gluberrima Sm.] from Hamp¬

shire Hills, also Woolnorth

470. do. [Pultenaea diffusa Hook.f.] from

Hampshire Hilh- — I his and the proceeding (460) sent
by Dr. Milligan as the same. —

471. PULTENEA [/’. strictu .Sims.] South Esk. abund¬
ant.

472. [Bossiaea prostrata. R. Br.] South Esk

473. PULTENEA? [Aolus mllosa (Andr.) Sm. "I have
not traced this no. It is not Aotus ericoides (Vent.)
G. Don the synonym A. rillaea (Andr.) Sm. is
invalid” — Dr. R. Melville. |()ne specimen only -from
Woolnorth

474. DAVIESIA? [Bossiaea cinereit R. Br.] do. from
Woolnorth.

475. AOTUS [ l/ompholobium latifolium Sm. “This no.
is G. huegelii Benth." Dr. R. Melville.] from Hamp¬
shire Hills

476. Acacia affinis? [A. dealbutu Link.] Silver Wattle-

477. Acacia decurrens? [“This .4. is dcr.arrens (Wendl.]
Willd. var mollis Lindl. As a species it has to be nail¬
ed A meamsii De Wild.” —Dr. R. Melville.] Blink or
green Wattle. 476 flowers in August and 477 in
Deccinr. -both attain considerable size— particularly
476 the trunk of which 1 have seen 2 feet in diameter,
and with the branches spreading at least 20 feet in
every way from the tree. Al, Deloraine & higher up
tin- Meander River I have seen an acacia which 1
believe to be 476 or one very like it-—at least 100 feet
high and from 60 to 70 feet clear stent, at the base
however not more than one foot to a foot and a half
in diameter. I saw several that had been blown down
extend quite across the Meander River where a con¬
siderable width -the bark of 476 & 477 is largely
exported from Launceston to the English Market.- —-
...id this season upwards of 1500 tons have been
shipped as P. the Custom’s books from Launn.
only.—

478. Acacia [stneta (Andrews) Willd.] Creeping roots.—
plant seldom exceeding 3 to 4 ft. high. —

479. Acacia Salicifolia? f.4. vernicifl.ua A. Conn.] from
.1. Backhouse, collected at Hobart- Town.

480. Acacia from Hampshire Hills reed, with some
specimens of 205—& under the same no.

— One specimen here, not nod. reed, from J. Backhouse
collected on Flinder's Island Bass's Strait.

[Two varieties of A. mucronata Willd. are given under
480 in FI. Tas. var. a mucronata Wendl. and var. [3
dependent. 205 has not been traced.]

481. Acacia ruscifollus? [“A. Cunn ex. G. Don i.e. .4.
verticillata Willd. var. Uuifolia Benth.” Dr. R.
Melville] from Hobart Town

482. Acacia oxycedrus? [A. riceaua Hcnslow ] from
Hobart Town

483. Acaena ovina? [Acaena sauguisorbae Vahl. i.e. A.
anserinifolia (J. R. & G. Forst.) Druee.J

484. LEPTOSPERMUM. Not in flower.

485. do. [Eriostemon virgatam. A.

Cunn. “485 is E. virgatus
A. Cunn ex Hook.f.” —
Dr. R. Melville.] from
Hampshire Hills

486. do. [ Leptospermum scoparium

Sm. var. a. scoparia]
from Woolnorth [Two
other varieties var. p
linifolia DC. and var. y
mgrtifolia are given as
480.J

487. METROSIDEROS? [Caliistemon viridiflorum DC.
i.e. (7. viridifloras (Sims.) DC.]

488. [Kunzia corifolia Reichb. i.e. K. ambigua (Sm.)
Druce] from Flinders Island, reed, from J. Backhouse

.Two odd specimens "Myrtaceae”from Woolnorth
put in here but not Nod.

489. CALYTHRIX \glubra R. Br. var. a gluberrima ]

from Hampshire Hills

490. do. from Woolnorth are these alike?

[They were]

491. [Oreomyrrhis eriopoda (DC.) Hook.f.] Common

492. ERYNGIUM. [vesiculosum Lab. Another 492 was
Galium ciliare Hook.f. var. p but as Gunn was dealing
with the Vmbelliferae would not be the plant men¬
tioned here.]

493. | DaUCus brachiatus Kiel).] Common

494. OUOTHAMNUS'; [O. fermgineus R. Br.]

495. ASTER [Eurybia floribunda Hook.f. i.e. Olearia
floributida (Hook.f.) Benth.] Very similar in appear¬
ance to 38... [A number in I In- 380’s with a blurred
units figure.]

136

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

496. Aster tomentosus? of J. Backhouse in Boss’s
annual .—[Eurybia lirata DC. i.e. Olearia lirata (DC.)
Benth.j 1 have sent some specimens of the leaves
only, to show their general size. Colonial name
“Daisy tree”. —

497.1 [Ozothamnus bracteolalus Hook.f.] from J. Back-
. > house.—Flinders Island.

498. J

- A specimen here not Nod. collected by J. Back¬
house at Cape Raoul, Tasman’s Peninsula -like my
166

499. ELICHRYSUM. [HELICHRYSUM—H. leuco-

psideum DC.]—Flinders Is¬
land. —

500. do. like a white var. of E. braeteatum

collected by Backhouse at
Cape Raoul. [ U. papillosum
Hook.f. i.e. H. dlbidum DC.]

501. ELICHRYSUM. [HELICHRYSUMI ] — Is this

the same as 409?

502. do.

503. do.

} probably the same? [502 was
If . scorpioides Lab.]

504. GNAPHALIUM. [Heliclirysum semipupposum
DC.] South Esk.

505. Common.

506. HIERACIUM ? [Microseris forsteri Hook.J

507. Craspedia glauca ? [ C . macrocephala Hook. i.e.
C. uniflora .]

I collected in March 1834 a white species of Cras¬
pedia [G\ richea Cass.] on Ben Nevis, but the insects
have destroyed them—I however send home the
remnants not numbered.

508. - [Erechtites hispidula DC. “This is

Senecio hispidulus A. Rich, x quadridentatus, Lab.
Det. R.O. Belcher” — Dr. R. Melville.]

509. [Cymbonotus lawsonianus Cass. | grows with the
leaves spread out and very close to the ground.

510. [Lagenophora gunniana Steetz. i.e.
L. huegelii Bonth.]

511. [not traced]

Common —

512. [Lagenophora emphysopus Hook.f.]^

513. [Pacquerina graminea Cass. i.e. Brachycorne angusti-
folia Cunn.] found on the South Esk at Perth — grows
in wet places.

104. —placed here — to facilitate reference to 514.

514. LOBELIA, [gibbosa Lab.] On reference to the
specimen I retained of No. 104—1 find it to be
different to the one now sent as 514—but that you
may judge the better T have placed them together- —
No. 104, as now numbered, I found on the Sand¬
hill near Launceston in a poor quartzy sandy soil
—and in a similar situation & soil on the Tamar, —
tl e seed of 101 is double the size of that of 514. —514
is abundant on my allott. near Launn. [His 104 may
have boon the L. aimplicaulis of F. von Mueller who
also noticed this variation in size of seed and erected
a separate species on it later.]

515. GAULTHERIA. [lanceolata Hook.f.)—I found
this on Ben Lomond last season, and from its dwart
creeping habit, (not above a foot high) smaller leaves,
without the hairiness on the stem of G. hispida — *
have given it a No. as a new species and send seed ot
it to Mr. Murray.

516. GAULTHERIA. [antipoda Forst.] — I found only
one plant of t his in fruit on Ben Lomond last Season,
and from which my specimens uro collected — the
fruit is very pleasant to the taste, but tlioro were too
few to admit of my having a mouthful—and at the
same time to remember Mr. Murray’s wants. — -the
fruit is larger than either of the other species although
the plant itself does not oxeeod 6 inches in height an»
of a prostrate habit as far ns I could judge — this plant
in question was pendulous on a clay bank—a stream
having undermined it. — I hope it may prove now--"

517. RICHEA dracophylla ? [R. Br.j Collected by <> l,r
friend Backhouse at Mt. Wellington at Hobart o°
29 Octor. 1834.—It is strange that neither M'' -
Lawrence or myself have found this on any of the
Eastern or Western Mountains—I have mysen
ascended them 6 times—& Mr Lawrence I belie'™
equally often — I therefore do not believe it exists
except in the Southern & South-Western parts ot
V.D.L. — it is very beautiful — as Backhouse sent it to
me green & just collected, by the Coach. —

518. [ Lissanthe strigosa R. Br.] — South Esk.

519. CYATHODES. [parvifolia R. Br.]—from tlm
Mountains. —

520. STYPHELIA ? [Cyathodes glauca Lab.] Hamp¬
shire Hills.

521. LEUCOPOGON ? [australis R. Br.J Hampshire
Hills. There appears to me to be two species undo
this no. reed, from Dr. Milligan, but the habits of th
two plants may cause tho difference

522. EPACR1S [impressa Lab. (in parte) | Hampshi 1 '®
Hills. Is this 142?

523. EPACRIS. | Lissanthe ciliata R. Br. i.e. BrachT
loma cilia turn (R.Br.) Benth.] — near Launceston.

524. Anopterus glandulosa ? [A, glandulosus

Lab.l

,la»t

I have sent you one specimen of this beautiful f
in 1833 reed, from Backhouse those now sent are ft 01
Dr. Milligan Hampshire Hills— as 1 have not yet se °
the plant growing.

525. Cynoglossum.—blue flowering — Common. — -
[Probably C, australe R.Br.]

526. VERONICA. Hampshire Hills.

527. Veronica formosa [R.Br. i.e. Hebe formosa
Br.)]

528. Mazus pumilio ? [R.Br.] It was a specimen f’ 1 Im¬
plant which I retained in my Herbarium as No. ^ #
1832—-I have now howovor altered it as before not 1 ’

529. MENTHA [australis R.Br.] — common.—Coloh^J
name Pennyroyal from whence sundry streams 8 j
called “Pennyroyal Creek” in all parts of the Is! 8 ' 1

530. VERONICA. Hampshire Hills.

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

137

531. Cryptocarya glaucescens [i.e. Alhe.rospe.rma
moscJuita La,b. ] Sassafras. — in flower and fruit — this
lovely tree attains a great size in the Western forests.

It grows in damp ravines & with No. 178 \Notho-
fa,gun cunninghami (Hook.)] — forms a narrow strip of
dense forest on both banks of the Meander River and
farther west becomes I believe more common, the
bark is infused by persons in the bush and used
instead of Tea when the stock of the latter runs out.- —
it is very pleasant. The tree attains a great height —
and its timber I believe good though too scarce near
town to be available. —

532 Cassytha pubescens ? [R.Br.]-

*‘3.1. Cassytha melantha ? |R. Br, J t was C. pubescens
R. Br. however.] Loose in the box — Parasitical —
These plants are curious. — but I have been unsuccess-
lul in drying them—the favourite tree that I have
remarked them on are acacias, but they do not
appear to be very choice in their selection. I shall
collect more carefully I hope next season.—

534. ORIETES — [ORITES but it was Grevillea aus¬
tralis R. Br. var (3 linear i folia
Hook.f. and var. 73 lenuijolia Meisn.]
—South Esk.

no r 1

°' do. [Or. australis R. Br. var. y planijolia

Hook.f.] — North Esk.- & South
Esk,—You will perceive these to be
quite distinct from 19(1. which grows
prostrate in the mountains.- -

53(i. HAKEA [i lissosperma R. Br., a variety of H. acicu-
laris R, B r- ] The most arborescent in V.D.L. & grows
on the tops of the mountains — I have seen it 12 ft
nigh, and the trunk fi to 9 inches in diameter, I have
put some of the fruit in a paper in the box.

537 - PERSOONIA [P. juniper inn Lab. var. p ulcina
Meisn. and var. y brevifolia Meisn.]

" ‘Sundry odd specimens on Pimelea put in here
>ocd. from Woolnorth, &c.—too few to Number yet
n >ay be useful to you.—

°'iK. Exocarpus eupressiformis [i.e. Exocarpos
c upressiformis Lab.] If is only when the plant
attains a groat age that the branches become pen¬
dulous as figured by Labillardiere, at all other times
R is a beautifully erect growing shrub — the top
conical — Its average height, seldom exceeds 10 ft. —
Rover that I have seen, and it is very common every¬
where, have I seen it 20 ft high.— In Loudon’s Ene.

? Plants I see it called 40 ft. high- — a timber tree &
Ri Coniferae!!! all errors,—the wood is never used
except, for fuel- — and not very good or equal to
Casuarina for that purpose.

Vf hxocurpus strictus ? i.e. Exocarpos stricta,
R.Br.]— attaining about 4 ft..

? | BEYER] A buckhousii Hook.f. i.e.

• viscosa Miq.] Flinders Island from .1. Backhouse.

H >- URTICA [■ incisa. Poiret] — Common — generally
°wever in damp shady ravines and Scrubs.

<542. CALLITRIS [Frenela australis R. Br. ex Endl.
It was certainly Callitris oblonga Rich.] South Esk—
this species seldom exceeds 0 to 12 feet high, with its
curious Cones extending from bottom to top adhering
to the trunk—as it flowers and bears fruit when not.
above 2 ft. high. — the Cones never drop off. — ■

543. CALLITRIS pyramidalis ? [Frenela rhornboidea
(R.Br.) Endl. i.e. Callitris lasmanica (Benth.) Baker
& Smith]—Oyster Bay Pine, East Coast, reed, from
J. Backhouse.

.544. Casuarina stricta ? [Ait. It was, however, C.
sube.ro.sa Otto & Dietr.J The Cones of these specimens
are smaller than usual, for convenience in preserving
— This tree is commonly called by the Colonists by
the name of he-oak in contradistinction to another
Casuarina which is called she oak, although both are
dioecious. It is also called swamp-oak—grows erect —
and young trees are not unlike the Exocarpus cupres-
siformis at a distance.

-- Six specimens received from Woolnorth—I think

the same as above.

SUNDRIES

DICOTYLEDONES

545. Common.

546. Another species of 78.— and has a smell equally
offensive, or nearly so. [“Not found under Zieria”—
Dr. R. Melville.]

547. [Hydrocotyle tripartita R. Br.j 1 thought tills a
Ranunculus—

548. ? [548. Galium Vagans Hook.f. i.e. G. umhrosum
Forst. 548? G. squalid-urn Hook.f. i.e. O. australe DC.]

549. do. | Galium australe. DC.] Hampshire Hills.

550. [ Lobelia pedunculata R. Br. and L. fluviatilis R. Br.,
the latter Jsotoma fluviatilis (R.Br.) F. Muell.] Tn wet
places.

551. [Lasiopetalum discolor Hook and L. gunnii Steetz.,
the latter being L. dasyphyllum Sieb.] Prime Seal
Island, Bass’s Straits— .1. Backhouse.

552. —-Flinders Island— ->1. Backhouse

553. [Hydrocotyle lasmanica ■ Hook.f. i.e. 77. hirta R. Br.]
— Common —

554. [ Hydrocotyle vagans Hook.f. i.o. 77. hirta li. Br.]

554? 77. pcduncularis R. Br. var. 8]—South Esk— in
wot places, and under water during the winter floods.

555. I reed, seed of this plant from Macquarie Harbour
but I think it is an imported one— I however thought
it ns well to send it. to you least it might be new &
indigenous

556. [Cenurrhenes nitida Lab.J from Hampshire Hills (I
never saw this plant

557. GALIUM ? | Asperula pusxUa Hook.f. i.e. possibly
A. oliganlha F. Muell. 557 is also Oyperus sanguineo-
fuscus Neos. but that is obviously in the Monocotyle-
dones series of numbers.] from Hampshire Hills and
Woolnorth.

138

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

55S. [Mentha serpyUifolia Benth.] Hampshire Hills

559. - [Haloragis pinnatifida A. Gray i.e.

11. heterophylla Brong.]

5fi0. [Myrtogyne minuta Less.] Common very sweet
Scented particularly when pressed in walking or
otherwise.

MONOCOTYLEDONES

New Nos.

561. HYPOXIS. I hygrometrica Lab. | This is the autumn
or summer species [Nov. to Feb. H. glabella It. Br.
and H. pusillu Hook, are conspicuous in September.]
I also send some s|iecimens of 163 to show the differ¬
ence — I last season in my mema. to you at 163 alluded
to No 561 (now sent) as 1:24—-which was an error, or
if not an error 1 have got two ! it s. |No. 1:24 has not
been noted.]

562. Anguillaria biglandulosa r | it was .4. uniflora
Hook. i.e. A. dioica R.Br.j

563. ANTHEltld'M ? [Arthropodtaut pendulum DC.
“i.e. A. milleflorum (DC. ex lted.) McBride” — Dr. it.
Melville.] I here have put in some specimens from
Hampshire Hills —& also one specimen of 90 to show
the difference. [No. 90 in the Monocots has not been
noted. No. 90 Dicots is Ranunculus spp.]

564. - [Dianella longifolia It. Br. and D.

revolutu K. Br.] This may probably be 263 as my
specimen of that No. is imperfect, — -This bears
beautiful blue berries. [This last statement points to
D. longifotiu It. Br. or D. tasmanica Hook, as the
berries on D. revolutu R. Br. are very small and
sparse.]

565. Another species of 564. [but “565 is type number
of D. taemanica Hook." — Dr. It. Melville.]

566. JUNCUS pauciflorus ? [ It. Br. El. Tas. gives
./. Australis Hook.f. also, perhaps of another collection
566 (in parte) Dianella laevie It. Br. “It is Juncus
gunnii Hook.f.” -Dr. R. Melville ] The following Nos.
to 573 of -Junceae. Cyperaceae, &c require no remarks

I have numbered two or three as species which may
probably be vars caused by different situations -I
find it bettor however to increase the Nos. lest they
he difft. as I note the habitats

567-568—569-570—571-572—573- —-

[567, 568, were ,1 uncus australis Hook.f. “568 is ./.
australis Hook.f.” “569 in part is ./. pallidus R. Br."

—Dr. It. Melville but 569? and 570 were ./. pallidus
It. Br. 571 is noted as,/, communis E. Mey but “None
was .7. communis E. May" — Dr. It. Melville. 572 was
./. gunnii Hook.f. i.e. ./. pauciflorus It. Br. though 572
in Herb. Lindl. is noted as ChaeJospora nitens R. Br.
i.e. Schoenits nitens (It. Br.) Poir. but though probable
this may not have been a Guiui collection. 573 was
Elaechuris gracilis It. Br. or what Hooker f. took to he
that plant and may have been E. acuta R. Br.]

574.575.576.577.578.579.580.581.582.583.

[574 was tares: adpressa It. Br.; 575 Lepidosperma
elutior Lab. 570 L. concava R. Br. and L. angustifolia
Hook.f. the latter being L. laterals It. Br. 577 not
noted; 578 Carex gunniann Boott. “The holotype of
Carex gunniana Boott. is a gathering of this number
now in Herb. Kow ex Herb. Boott.” — Dr. It. Melville
579 Carex chlorantha It. Br.; 580 not noted; 581
Chaetospora imberbis It. Br. var. y i.e. perhaps
Schoenus brownii Hook, or Sch . apogon Room S
Scliult.: 582 Isolepis cartilaginea It. Br. i.e. Scirpus
cartilaginous (It. Br.) Spreng.; 583 is note ! as Juncus
bufonius L. but it "is not in Herb. Kew.” — Dr. B.
Melville.] 584 [Spinifex hirsutus Lab.] from Circular
Head & Woolnorth—where it is abundant. —

585 to 597 inclusive — Grasses—[585 was Danthoniu
pilosa It. Br.: 586 and 587 Koeleria cristata Pcrs.:
588 Stipa pnbescens It. Br.; 589 Dichelachne crinita
(L.f.) Hook.f.; 590 Ecltinopogon ovatue Beauv.]

591. [Anthistiria australis R. Br. i.e. A. ciliata Linn.]-
591 is the Kangaroo grass & our most valuable native
grass for standing the summer heats.

592. [Agrostis billardieri R. Br. i.e. Deycaxia bitlardieri
Kunth. and Agrostis aemula It. Br. i.e. Deyeuxia
forsteri (It. et X.) Kunth.; 593. 594 not noted; 595
Don affi Ill's R. Br. 596 and 597 Poa australis It. Br.
var. y sieberiana usually grouped under Poa caespitosa
Foist.f. ex Spreng. at present under review at the
National Herbarium of New , Soutli Wales.]

598. “Cyperaceae” [actually Luzula campestris DC.]

599. [Hypolaena fastigiatu It. Br.]

ORCH1DEAE

1 have put here together all my specimens of
Orchideae, vizt. both the duplicates of my old Nos.
and such new ones as I have been able to add.—The
duplicates of the old Nos. first

OLD NUMBERS

127. flowers late in the season. Dipodium punctatum

I (8m.) R.B.]

352 [Prasophyllttnt patens R. Br.] & 353 | Prasophylltiiti
fuscutn It. Br. | four Sheets — vi/.t two colected by
myself and two reed, from Hampshire Hills—I think
on examination you will find more than two species
under these Nos.

354 [ Microtis arenariu Lindl. i.e. M. unifolia (Foist.)
Keiohb. f. | Collected by myself & also some from
Hampshire Hills,—probably also to be two species
under this No.

343. [Diuris maculuta Sm.J

342. | Diuris sulphurea R. Br., but 342 (1835) was D.
corymbosa Lindl. i.e. D. longifolia R. Br. ]

347. [Caladenia barbata Lindl. i.e. C. deformis It. Br.]

101. [(in part) Thelymitra ungustifolia R. Br. but
actually of Hook.f. non R. Br. i.e. Th. aristata Lindl.]

357. PTEROSTYLIS [obtnsa R. Br. but H.M.R. Rupp.
1951 thought that P. obtusa It. Br. was not found in
Tasmania but that the plant was P. decurva Rogors]- —
Hampshire Hills

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

139

PTEROSTYLIS [cucullatu R. Br.] — this differs
widely from the plates of both 1*. Curta [R. Br.] &
P. nutans | K. Br.] — you sent mo out, — the lower
segments being very brown and downy, — the flower
is larger & the plant of a dwarf, but more robust
habit than No. 0(H).

NEW NUMBERS

800 Pterostylis curta ' | R. Br.] I think this one
agress with your plate of P. curta in almost every
point as clearly as possible. I found it this season
very abundant on ray own land neir town (as also
355. — ) where 1 am now forming my botanical
collection. —

001. PTEROSTYLIS | culcullata K. Br.]- Hampshire
Hills.

Three specimens collected by myself at Doloraine
1 took to be 601. & have now numbered them accord¬
ingly.

602. PTEROSTYLIS [furcalu Lindl.] I found this
species in a wet place about 8 miles from Launceston

603. [Pterostylis sqamata R. Br. ; P. sqamata & P. burbntn
Lindl.] Of this highly curious and beautiful species
which was first found by a little daughter of mine
only three year's old. I have only seen the few I now
send you — it does not appear to be by any moans so
abundant as the other species 1 have fallen in with- .

604. Pterostylis nutans [R.Br.] — reed from .las
Backhouse- this species 1 do not remember to have
seen growing anywhere near Launceston. [Line
crossed out and above written “See No. 620" i.e.
P. pedunculata R. Br. |

605. Pterostylis [mutica R. Br. | This abundant species
which I never found until this season, has an exceed¬
ingly sensitive labellum And on being touched with
a pin or straw starts up and closes the oiifice of the
flower—after a few hours it returns to its usual
position, which is perpendicularly down, and may
again be made to start. - It is fully as sensitive as the
Stylidium A number of the specimens now sent are
from Hampshire Hills.

606. \G(iliideni<i oamea R. Br.]- Pink when in flower,
found near Launceston

607. [Eriochilus aulamnalis R. Br. i.e. E. cucullalus
(Lab.) Reichb.f.]— from Hampshire Hills-— I think
this is a species that throws up a reniform leaf in the
Spring which dies- and is succeeded by a pink flower
in the autumn—-visit, in March.—

608. [Glossodiu major R. Br.] -Common near Launceston

066. [Diuris pedunculata R. Br.]— from Hampshire
Hills. — 1 think this a species that is the earliost
flowd. of all orehideae.

(1+4 old No.) CALADENIA. The specimen 1 have
retained of this No is similar to those now sent under
this number, but 1 think it probable other species
were at the same time sent to which 1 have now given
different numbers. —

(616. 611. 612) [Caladenia /mterxonii R. Br.] I am un¬
certain in how far I have distinguished the different
species of this Plant which are in so many points
remarkably similar. — No 612 flowers earliest- then
Nos 610 & 611—and No 344 as now marked in this
year's collection considerably later than any of the
others. [34+ was C. ckwigera A. Cunn. ex Lindl.
Flowering time in Tasmania has only a slight North-
South component. It hat a noticeable East-West
component at any given altitude. Altitude is the
chief component however. Mr. H.J. King's experience
is that C. palersonii flowers as eailv as October on the
coast lands: that C, palersonii. C. claviye.ro, anil ('.
filumentosa are to be found flowering together in the
first week in November at Epping and that C.
dilaiata and C. pallida appear on the coastlands
about six weeks later in December, and C. pallida at
Lake St. Clair in January. Gunn's 3+4. till), (ill and
612 should therefore prove interesting.)

In this place you will find a sheet of various
Orehideae reed. & collected from various quarters—
they were too few to divide & number. 1 have there¬
fore sent them to you, upon the same principle as I
have done in other casos, that they may perhaps help
to illustrate other collections already ree '!

613. [Gastrodia sesumoidrs R. Br.] I retained no speci¬
mens of 351) [Gastrodia sesamoides R. Br.] which I
have reason to believe is the same as the one sent now
from having found two specimens in the same
quarter as those last sent were collected by the person
who gave them to me.- Within the* last few days 1
reed some more specimens of evidently the same plant
from Mr. .I.E. Robertson, who is Mr. W.E. Lawrence’s
overseer, in charge of Formosa, who found it most
abundant in patches growing from large masses of
tuberous root,—a number of flowers springing from
each mass.—The two solitary plants that 1 found
near Deloraine had also large roots like two or three
Kidney potatoes of middling si/.e joined together
irregularly.—Is it Gastrodia sesamoidesV

Mr John E. Robertson now in charge of Mr Law¬
rence’s Estate since the death of his son. our friend,
comes from Glasgow & was 1 believe known to you.

He is a Zealous Collector, but has, I learn from him,
already established correspondents at Home, so that
I have been unable to glean from him.—

.Another equally powerful reason is. I believe, that
Mr. S. Murray & he quarrelled.

614. Corysanthes fimbriata '! [R. Br. i.e. Cory has
fimbriatus (R.Br.) Reichb.f.J reed, from -las Backhouse
the tall var. collected at Swan Port, East Coast, the
dwarf var.-—at Mount Wellington Hobart

615. Cryptostylis reniformis '! [He means Cyrtostylis
reniformis R.Br. i.e. Acianthns reniformis (R. Br.)
Schlechter] Swan Port by .1. Backhouse.

The following Nos since received and collected.

Received from James Backhouse—with the names
now sent, attached.

610. ASTER — Hobart Town.

617. DIOSMA ? [ Burmria procumbens Putterlicli i.e.
Marianthus procumbens (Putt.) Benth.]

618. CYATHODES—Swan Port.

140

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

619. Styphelia adscendens 1 [H.Br.] Hobart Town.

620. Epacris exserta ? [R. Br. It was however, E.
mucronulata R.Br.] New Norfolk.

621. Grevlllea australis ? [R.Br.] Meredith River,
East Coast,

622. Pimelea flava ? [R.Br.] Sassafras Valley, Hobart
T.

623. Pimelea cernua ? [Hook. i.e. P. linifolia Sra.]
Hobart Town.

624. - [Bertya rosmarinifolia Planch.] From

Swan Port.

625. - {Conospermum taxifolium Sm. ex Rees.]

From Spring Bay, East Coast.

626. BAUERA [rubiouleu Andr.]

(A Sheet of Sundries aro here added reed, from
Backhouse & others some of which may be interesting).

627. ANTHEMIS. These specimens are collected
rather too late off a plant reed, from Deloraine district
which is now growing in my garden — -I would have
thought it had been imported had I seen a plant of

Anthemis in any Garden of the Colony, which however
1 have not. [Nevertheless ho had tho evidence. A.
nobilis E. was used as a remedy for indigestion and
was an early introduction. |

628 SONCHUS ? [not traced]

629. PTEROSTYLIS | pedunculatu R.Br.] -(among
tho Orchideao)

630. Xanthorrhoea arborea '! [-Y hast i I. is R. Br.
(Gunn Mss., 630. exempt nullum). It would be X.
australis R. Br.] I have cut three scapes into joints
to fit at tho side of the specimens in the box. — One of
them only is the proper size, the others are small,
injured by insects. -Some of the loaves aro also put
in the box in u bundle — but the trunk is too bulky to
send you.) The specimens are from Flinders Island
Bass's Strait, & I annex a sketch by Jas. Backhouse
of tho usual appearance of this curious tree as it is
commonly called.

Nos. 533 & 630 are in box No. 1

All Errors, omissions, &c,&c,&c,&c, to be made due
allowance for

Ronald C. Gunn

APPENDIX B

GUNN’S COMMENTS ON HOOKER’S DETERMINATIONS

Letter 26

I subjoin a few Remarks on your “Plants of Van
Diemen’s Land”. . . . which I thought worth noting. —

Tho following Nos of mine omitted

LINUM 71. [L. angustijolium Huds. “This is Union
marginule A. C'unn.” — Dr. R. .Melville.]

HYPERICUM 73. [H. involution Chois. “73 is //.
gramineum Forst.”— Dr. R. Melville,]

PELARGONIUM 61. [P. australe Willd. ex DC. var.

minus A. Cunn ox Field]

62. [P. australe Willd. ex DC.
Hooker's “Journal of Botany"
Vol I says var. (5, y. and 8 |

425. | P. australe Willd. ex DC. var.
minus A. Cunn ex Field sub No.
425 var. y albiflorum Hook.]

Wrong Nos. given to
Dodonaea Cunninghamii ought to bo 9.

Boronia variabilis var. y [71. c itriodora Gunn ex Hook.f.]
ought to bo 303 (Noted as 30)

Cryptandra vexillifera [Spyritlium vexilliferum (Hook.)
Reissek.] ought to bo 161. (noted as 16)

Corroea lawreneiana [Hook.] docs not flower in Deer.
& Jany but in June & July, and part of August. It
is ono of our earliest flowg. shrubs. —

Tho specimen I have retained of 323 marked by
you ns “ Phobeliuin montnnum" [Hook. No. 223]
Backhouse says is a Pimelea. —

For remarks on Boronia, Bursaria, Oxalis and
Drosera — -1 refer to my notes of the respective nos.
now sent, —

The Remarks are trifling but I thought it as well
to mention them so that should you publish an
account of the Plants, you might make it as correct
as possible.

Ronald C. Gunn

APPENDIX C

GUNN ON THE LABILLARDIERE COLLECTION

Letter 185

Some short Remarks on LaBillardiere’s Plants
collected in Van Diemen’s Land. —

As the only part of V.D. Land visited by LaBillard-
iere was Recherche Bay — and its immediate neigh¬
bourhood — landing in a few places also in D'Entre¬

casteaux Channel there is but little difficulty in
identifying most of the species figured in his book
A few however require some observations from me.

Drosera peltate Labi!, vol. I t. 106. This agrees
closely with my 350 | D. auriculata Bnekh. ox Planch.I

T. E. BURNS & J. R. SKEMP

141

_ which on the heathy land (like Recherche Bay) has

mere scales V on the stem instead of leaves near the
ground.

Tetratheca glandulosa [Lab.] 1.123. Correctly
figured & certainly not a vur. of T. pilosa [Lab.]
although 1 think it difficult to find specific differences
for the species, of this genus.

Billardiera fusifonnis [Lab.] t.!K). If this is Sollya
angustifolia [Lab.] I expect it will never be found in
WILL. - Lubillardiere visited the South Coast of Now
Holland about Long. 122 e. which is to the Last of
King Georges Sound and which he calls “Lewins
Land” where the Sollya now exists— I therefore think
it possible he lias erred in quoting the place. The
corollas of all our Billardiera's are apt to turn blue
in drying

Frankeniu tetrapetala [Lab.] 1.114. Common in
the Islands of Bass's Straits & I saw it at Circular
Head hut not in flower. It flowers in October & 1
have recently got a specimen. It is my 1020 [Frank-
enia jiauci flora DC. "Mr. Gui n says it almost covers
those parts of Goose Island (growing a foot high)
where space for any vegetation is left between the
burrows of the mutton bird.” — FI. Tas.]

Boronin pilosa [Lab.] t. 124. This is my 1037 and
is most abundant at Recherche Bay.—It seems to
run off into my 665, your vnr. floribunda [Hook.f.]

Boronia pilonema [Lab.) t. 125. iny No 701. 1
gathered this at Recherche Bay also. — It is plentiful
on all our poor heathy plains where B. tetrathecoides
[Hook. 1i. liana Hook. vur. hyssopifolia (Sieb.)
Melville] will not grow.

Gompholobium tomentosum [Lab.] t. 134. I cannot
recognise this plant amongst my collections.

Sphacrolobium vimineum [Km.] t. 138. My No 172?
[.S’, vimineum Km.] I find that De Candolle says that
Vitninaria deriudata [Km.] is a native of V.D.L. but
I question it. It is common on the S. Coast of New
Holland — oral least the plant 1 lake to bo V. denudata
fi.e. V. juticea (Schrad.) Hoffing. Known from only
one locality on the East Coast—Curtis]

Aotus ferruginea [Lab.] t. 132. Is my Nos 212 &
361. |.4o/»* villorn (Andr.) Smith i.e. A. ericoides
(Vent.) G. Don] It is a very variable plant in the
ferruginous colour as well as villous character of the
Branches &e.

Acacia saligna [Lab.| t. 235. I do not know this
unless it is a badly figured specimen of my No. 802.
A. dissitiflora [802 Acacia mucronata Willd. var.
dissitiflora Booth.]- with small flowers appearing at
an unusual season. The pods vary also.

Myriophyllum atnphibium [Lab.] t. 220 My number
1068. 1 found it in boggy places at Recherche Bay.

Melaleuca faseicularis [Lab.] t. 170 This I do not
know.

Eucalyptus eordata [Lab.| t.I52. Is my own No
1071 — a species 1 never Haw except in the Country
South of Hobart Town.

Eucalyptus globulus Labil. A troo very common
about Hobart Town — -South to Recherche Bay and

for about 35 miles North of Hobart- -but 1 have not
seen it anywhere in the Northern parts of the Colony.
It is abundant on the Islands in Bass's Strait & at
Cape Otway on the South Coast of Now Holland.

Canthium quadrifidum [Lab.] t. 94 (Marquisia
Billardieri) [DC.-—i.e. Coprosma biUardieri (DC.)
Hook. f.J Is my No. 219 and the name Coprosma
microphylla [A. Cunn MSS] must be abandoned.
C.nitida [Hook.f.] will become a Marquisia I presume
as there is not in my opinion any Generic difference
between them.

Coprosma hirtella [Lab.] t. 95. is my No. 10.
0. cuspidifolia of De Cand. may I think he abolished
—being a mere variety of C. hirtella —which is very
variable in leaf &c.

Eurybia microphylla [(Vent.) DC. i.e. Olearia
microphylla (Vent.) Maiden & Betche] 1.199. is my
No 149—[ Olearia ledipophylla (DC.) Benth.] and the
E. lepidophylla of D.C. prod.- It grows only on the
Sea Shores.

Velloia trinervis [Lab.] t. 77 1 cannot recognise.

Scaevola cuneiformis [Lab.] t. 80. This I have not
gathered.

Stylidium umbcllatum [Lab.] t. 217. This l have
never seen.

The plants of Stylidium vary so much from soil
situation &e that l am puzzled to separate gramini-
folium [Swartz.] from any of the others like it.

Lobelia alata [Lab.] & cuneiformis [Lab.) t. 72 &
73. are mere varieties as correctly laid down by Brown
[of Lobelia anceps Thunb.]

Leucopogon Richei [R. Br.] t. 60. As LaBillardiere
does not mention this plant ns a native of V.D.L.
where ho must have seen it if it had been identical
with my 429. I am led to believe that, it does not
exist in the Island. My 42!) which is so like it must
be parviflorus [Lindl. i.e. Leucopogon richei var. a
Hook. f.[

Leucopogon trichoearpus Ii.Br. t. 66. is 1 presume
mv No 196 what 1 have hitherto called L. ericoides
[196 Leucopogon ericoides R.Br. var. a; var. 3 — L.
trichoearpus R.Br.]

Leucopogon virgatus [ (Lab.) R.Br.]t. 64 is my No
712 and L. collinus [ (Lab.) R.Br. t. 65 is my No
211/1837? [It is var. a]

Aerotric.be serrulate [(Lab.) R.Br.] t. 62. is my No
853. [No. 853 A. patula R.Br.—FI. Tas. Gunn con¬
siders No. 853 and perhaps ulso No. 192 A. serrulata
(Lab.) R.Br. — FI. Tas. to be Lobillardiere’s plant.
“Both 853 and 192 arc this species — A Gunn ms. slip
with the specimen 853/1842 reads “Aorotriche
serrulata. This is the plant figured in Lubillardiere
and grows on the sandhills near Circulur Head".
‘Serrulata’ has boen crossed out (wrongly) and ‘patula
Hr.' added in a different hand. Gunn did not collect
A. patula R.Br.” — Dr. R. Melville]

142

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND CORRESPONDENTS

Epacris myrtifolia [Lab.] t.. 35. seems to be my
120Ii. [Hooker agreed — FI. Tas.]

Epaeris heteronema [Lab.] t. 30 I cannot correctly
identify. [Gunn had collected it, however. No. 1207.
1208—FI. Tas.J

Polygonum adpressum [Lab . — Muehlenbeckia ad-
pressa (Lab.) Meian.J t. 127. Although LaBillardiere
does not quote this as a plant of V.D.L.— Brown does.
LaBillardiere’s plant is obviously my 432 [var.
rotundifolht Meisn.] which I saw plentiful on the
South Coast of New Holland.

Persoonia j uni peri na |Lab. | t. 45. LaBillardiere
says that P. juniperina grows three feet & more high.
I take it to be my K(i0 [var. ulicinn Meisn.] as none of
the others grow so tall.

Pinelea nivea [Lab.] t. ti is my 1243 collected by me
at Recherche Bay. 1 have also seen specimens from
Port Arthur, but I have not. gathered it elsewhere.

Croton quadripartitum [('. quadripartitux Lab. i.e.
Adriana quadripurlila (Lab.) Gaud.] t. 223. I have
not gathered yet in V.D.L.

Blandfcrdia grandiflora [R.Br.] t. 111. My No 241.
[“ Blandfordia grandiflora Hook. f. non R. Br. is

Gunn’s plant. The oldest name for this appears to be
H. punicea (Lab.) Sweet. The combination Bland¬
fordia grandiflora R. Br. var. backiiouxi> (Gunn ex
Lindl.) Hook. f. was published in the FI. Tusm. 2, 49.
but 1 am not aware of a combination under II-
marginata Hook. f. In a rather long n< to on this plant
in the Herbarium Gunn was recommenaing to Hooker
the eommemoration of Backhouse in a generic name".

Dr. R. .Melville.] Why LaBillarriiere’sspecific name
was not retained 1 know not. but it is at all events a<
good an one as ’'grandiflora" which can only mean
larger than the species yet discovered. B. punicea
Labil. [Aletris punicea Lab.] would be quite as correct
as the hundreds of names which occur in Botany. One
would not expect this from the great Brown, but he
may have had good reasons which 1 “wot not of.”
The Country was actually scarlet with this beautiful
plant about Recherche Bay, Mussel Bay &c in
December.

Campynema linearis [Lab. | t. 121 is my No 654.

Of the other Monocotvledonous plants I shall say
nothing until those I have now got are transmitted.

Of the Acotyledones I profess to know little. You
may be able to recognise some of them which 1 have
not.

GENERAL INDEX

Abbot, John 112
Aboriginal Campaign 11, 12, 13

Aboriginal Establishment 71, 95
Aborigines 35, 71, 72, 87
Admiral Cockburn (ship) 4

Alton, William 94

Almanack, Elliston's 57
Almanack, Ross’s 41, 43
Ancanthe Estate xv, 72, 73, 77, 125
Anstey. Thus. 66
Antigua xiii, 39

Anti-transportation xvi

Apterix 78, 80
Archer, Thos. 8
Archer, Jos. 8. 28. 29

Archer, Wm. xvi, 101, 112
Arthurs Lakes 27. 109. 110, 119

Arthur, Governor xiv, 3, 9, 15, 19, 26,
56. 59

Ashburner. Mr. 10
Asbestos Hills 107
Australasia. Bank of 9
Australia 61, 85
Australia Felix 99

Backhouse, J. 17, 29, 31, 41, 46, 66, 78

Bandicoot. Gunn’s 52, 54, 92

Barrow Mt. 122

Bell. J. W- 8

Beagle (ship) 119

Ben Lomond 39

Ben Nevis 39

Bent ham, George 14, 73

Bentham, Jeremy 8, 73

Bicheno. J. 95. 97. 108, 112

Billopp 8, 29. 94

Bird Lista 24, 44, 79

Bird-skinner 42. 47, 78

Black, A. & C. 51

Black Line 11

Black Watch xiii

Bolina (ship) 46

Boobyalla 122

Botanical Gardens 71, 74, 59
Botanical Gardens (Ancanthe) 71, 74,

77. 84

Botanical Gardens (Hobart) 3, 111

Botanical Gardens (Gunn’s) 33, 91

Botanical Gardens (Lawrences’) 6, 10.

19, 33

Botanical Magazine 33, 54
Bourbon Island xiii, 32
Bourbon Regt. xiii, 32
Bourke, Governor 18, 49
Brady. M. 29

Bnin i la. 1

Brady's Look-out 29
Breton. Lieut. 100
Hraim. T. H. 87. 88

Bridport 122
British Museum 98, 108

Brown, Dr. Robert, 1, 2, 81, 91, 9G, 97,
101, 108
Budge, S. 8
Buckles & Co. 114, 121
Burn, David 93
Burnett. John 34
Burghley 77

Book Lists 42. 59. 65, 75, 82, 91, 103,
118, 124

Calder. J. E. 93. 110
Camera obscurn 47, 58
Camilla (ship) 30
Campbell, Ronald xiii, 63
Campbell Town 54, 85
Cape Barron Island 53
Cape of Good Hope xiii, 32
Cape Grim 39, 55
Cape Otway 67
Carmichael, Capt. 32, 75
Champ, Wm. 112
Champion, Mr. 5
Cheshunt 102, 122
Cider 100
Cider Gum 100

Circular Head xiv, 6, 34, 39. 55. 58, 59,
76. 81

Clansman (ship) 8

Clarence (ship) 2

Cleopatra (ship) 37, 45

Colisto (ship) 13

Collett, Mr. 13

Colenso, Rev. Wm. 163

Collins, Lt.-Gov. 3

Cook, Capt. J. 1

Cooling, Capt. 4

Cooper, Mr. 43, 46

Cornwall. Tasmania 11

Cornwall Bank 9

Coulson, Capt. 8

Crozier. Capt. 85

Crusader (ship) 68, 71

Cunningham, Allan 20

Cunningham. Richard 21, 48, 49

Curr, E. 6. 59

Curson, Mr. 26, 28

Cushion Plants 29, 111, 119

Czar (ship) 13, 15, 16

Daguerrotype 121
Danbury Park 9. 94
Davidson. Wm. 3
Dawsons (ship) 111, 115
De D ass el. Dr. 31, 40
de Jussieu 13

Denison, Governor xv, xvi, 112, 125

D'Entrecasteaux, Bruni 1, 123

Diddleum Plains 107, 122

Donaldson. Capt. 11

Douglas, David 73. 83

Dowling Henry 112

Drudge 6. 6

Drummond. Mr. 75

D’Urville, Capt. 92, 93

Dutton. Mr. 10

Edward (ship) 7s
Eliot, H. 84
Eliston 44, 87, 108
Eliza (ship) 83
Elizabeth (ship) 9, 62
Emu (ship) 86
Emus 59, 62, 66, 96
Emu Bay 38. 55
Entally 10, 11
Erebus (ship) 85
Evans, Geo. 9

Field, xvi

Fielding, H. B. 72

Fitz-roy, Capt. 119

Flinders Island 39, 71, 94, 95, 109

Flora Tasmania c 100. 101

Flora of V.D.L. 91

Formosa Estate xiv, 10, 19, 29, 94, 106

Forth (shin) 20. 31

Franklin, Sir John xiv, 57, 59, 66, 71,
72, 74. 82. 84, 91, 92. 95. 96. 108
Franklin Lady Jane 66, 71, 72, 74, 82,
83. 91, 92. 95. 98
Franklin properties 98
Franklin Lodge xviii, 125
Franklin Gardens xviii
Franklin River 110, 115

Geographical Society 21
George Town 13, 49, 97. 98
George the Third (ship) 47
Giblin. R. W. 125
Glenelg River 69, 99
Glen Dhu xv
Glen Leith xv, 98
Gordon River 109
Gould, John 79. 82, 84
Gould. W. B. 17
Grant, Dr. 79. 80
Gray, Dr. A. 90
Gray, J. E. 96. 98
Great Lake 109, 120
Gregson, Wm. 81
Guardian (ship) 23
Guiana (ship) 57. 58

Gunn, Ronald C. xiii, xix, 4, 33, 39, 47, 49,
53, 56, 87. 89, 93, 102
Gunn. Ronald (M.D.) 121. 123
Gunn, John J. (M.D.) 123
Gunn, R. C. (explorations) xiii

Gunn, R. C. (offices of) xvi, xvii

Gunn, Robert 43, 50

Gunn, William xiii, xviii, 33, 37, 69

Gunn, William, senr. xiii

Gunn. Mrs. 50, 63, 96, 98

Gunn’s Lake 29

Gunns Plains xv, 126

Halifax (ship) 115

Hampshire Hills 30, 39. 60, 55. 72, 82

Harvey, W. J. 99, 119

Hellyer, Henry 74

Henderson. Dr. 3

Henslow 86

Helen Marr (ship) 31

Hobart 84, 125

Hobart Town iv, 59, 84

Hobart Town Courier 103

Hobarton 84

Hobler, G. 6, 7, 10, 11

Hogan, J. F. 44

Hooker. Joseph D. 14. 48, 85, 91, 92, 107
Hooker, Dr. William J. 1, 2, 9, 15, 21,

90, 126

Hooker. Wm. Jnr. 23, 24. 25, 78

Horticultural Society xv, 84, 85, 95

Howitt, Wm. 126

Humphrey, W. H. 3, 34

Hunneman. J. 17, 30

Hunter. Mr. 8

Huon River 84, 96

Hurburgh, Capt. 83

Hutchinson, Dr. 7

Isis River 10
Isle of France 32

Jamieson, David xv, 98, 111
Jamieson. M. L. xv, 98
Janet (ship) 44

Jermyn, Sir H. 36, 86
John Denistoun (ship) 54

Jones, Rev. H. 116
Jones (of Jericho) 27
Jones River 29

Jorgenson, Jorgen 2, 20. 34, 41, 44, 50,
56, 86. 90

Journal of Botany (London) 119
Jussieu System 13, 14, 44

Kangaroo 27, 59
Kemp, A. F. 90
Ker, John 44, 46
Kew Gardens 90
King, Capt. 83, 119
Kiwi 78

La Billardicre 1, 83, 91, 121, 123
Lake River 19
Lamont, Mr. 5
Latrobe, Governor C. J. 52
Launceston xiv, 19, 91, 125
Launceston Advertiser 33. 36, 103

Lawrence, L. 5

Lawrence, Robert W. xiv, 5, 9, 19, 30,
31, 33, 40, 44, 79, 82
Lawrence. Mrs. R. W. 23, 31, 44
Lawrence Vale 94

Lawrence. W. E. xiv, 8, 32, 33, 52, 79,
81. 86, 91, 93, 94
Lette, Peter 125
Le Guillen, M. 92, 95
Lhotsky, Dr. 43, 44, 71, 87, 88
Lillie. Rev. J. 69. 79, 82. 112
Lindlcy, Dr. 30, 31, 39, 41, 52, 53, 56.
58, 74, 84

Linneus (system) 13

Linnean Society 53

Longman & Co. 51

Lord, Francis 12

Lord Liverpool (ship) 8

Lorymer 34

Loyds (ship) 48

Lyell, Chas. 67, 79. 80. 81

Maconochie, Capt. 66, 67, 88

Macquarie Harbour 4. 20. 82. 92, 109
113, 115, 117, 118

GENERAL INDEX.

Maiden. J. H. 67. 69. 99, 12G
Mainline Railway xvii
Marianne (ship) 86
Marriot, Archdeacon 98
Marmion (ship) 11, 11*2

Massey 12
Mauritius xiii, 39. 40
McGeary, Alex 87
McGown, D. 5
McLachlan, C. 37
McLeay, A. 37, 52, 63, 91
Meander River 30. 120
Mechanics Institute 3, 112
Mersey River 53
Middle Ann 13
Mid Lothian (ship) 51
Milligan. Dr. J. xiv, 30, 38, 63, 65, 91,
94. 95, 109. 112, 118
Milligan, A. N. 95
Mitchell, Major T. 48, 49, 99
Mona (ship) 95. 99
Moran 5, 6, 9, 11

Murray. Mr. 16, 17, 20, 22. 25. 30, 45, 46
Mueller, F. von 73, 142
Murrayshire (ship) 117
Museums, Hobart 71, 125
Museum, Launceston 47, 125

Newstead House xiii, xviii, 126
New Holland 59, 61, 85, 99
New Zealand 55
Nicholson. Dr. 39
Nixon. Bishop 98
Norfolk. Island 46, 67
Norfolk Plains 10
“ North British Advertiser ” 50

North East Coast 116, 117, 122
North West Coast 125

Oatlands 41, 56

Olympus Mt. 117

Onger & Meryon 116, 121, 124

Opossum 6

Ornithorynchus 6, 7

Orr, M. 87

Owen, Prof. 95

Paneiddon, Burge’s Patent 47
Paterson, Col. Wm. 2
Penquite Estate xv, 10, 92, 94, 126
Phildun (ship) 70
Photographic apparatus 121

Phrenology 36, 37

Platypus 7

Point Effingham 9, 94
Portland Bay 69, 96, 99
Port Phillip xiv, xv, 59, 96
Prangoes 46
Priaulx, Mr. 6
Prince Regent (ship) 12
Princess Augusta (ship) 18
Pugh, Dr. 40

Recherche Bay 1, 83, 91, 97, 123
Reeve, Lovell 124. 125
Resolution (ship) 1
Rhoda (ship) 79
Riche 1

Richardson. Dr. 67, 89, 90
Richmond xiii, 11
Ringarooma 122

Robert Matthews (ship) 100, 104

Robertson, Capt. 30
Robertson. J. G. 67. 69, 99, 139
Robinson, G. A. 35
Ross. Dr. J. 3. 34, 87
Ross, Capt. Sir J. 84
Ross’ Almanack 41, 43
Royal Society of Tasmania xv. 111, 112,
113, 125

Rupp, Rev. H. M. R. 126

Sams. W. G. 48, 49

Scotch Church 33
Scouler, Dr., 81, 83, 85
Scott, Archdeacon T. 36, 3S
Scott. Dr. J. 17. 19. 45

Scott. H. H. 47
Scott, Jas. 5, 8, 30

Scott, Jas. (surveyor) 5, 122

Scott, J. W. 45

Scott, Thomas (merchant) 5, 9, 21, 30,
45, 68, 71

Scott, Thomas (surveyor) 5. 9
“ Scotsman " xiii
Sherwin, Isaac xvi
Short, J. M. 61

Short. T. K. 39. 45. 47, 49, 52. 54. 57,

58. 60. 61, 67. 68. 71, 79, 85, 96
Smith, Mrs. I. G. 63, 75, 82
Smith, J. (“ Philospher ”) xviii, 126
Sorell, Wm. Governor 8
Spence, Asst. Surgeon J. 4
Stokes, Capt. 119

Story, Dr. Geo. 112

St. Clair, Lake 109, 116, 117

St. Patricks River 106, 107, 122

Talbot, Mr. 12

Tamar River 13, 16, 109

Tamar (ship) 38, 40. 45

Tamar Steam Navigation Company 40

Tasmania 84. 85

“ Tasmanian Journal ” xv, 80, 90. 103,

104, 110

Tasmania (ship) 99

Tasmanian Society xiv, 84, 85, 89, 90,
102, 103, 111, 112
“ Tasmanian Colonist ” 45

Telfair, T. 39, 40, 75

Terror (ship) 85

Thornberry 13
Thylacine xvi, 6, 7, 27, 29
Tiger Snake 11
Turnbull, Adam 3. 31

Valentine River 107

Valentine Dr. 85, 86, 107, 108, 114

V.D.L. Co. 30. 38. 73

V.D.L. Pastoral Co. 1ft

Van Diemen’s Land xiv, 2

Van Diemen’s Land newspapers 35

Vermont 5, 9, 12

Waddle, Mr. 10
Wainewright, T. G. 117
Wales, Capt. 10, 45
Walker’s 10

Walker. G. W. 17. 29, 46
Wards Cases xvi, 101, 102, 114
Wedge. C. 33

Wellington, Mount 20, 59, 84
Westbrook, Dr. 6
Westbury 30

Western Mountains 26, 100, 109, 120

Western Railway xvii

Western Port 101

West Indies xiii, 32

Wilmot, Governor xv, 95, 111

Wilson, Capt. 31

Woodman (ship) 34

York Town 99
Youl, Rev. J. 4

Zelee (ship) 95

BOTANICAL INDEX

Botanical Index of names occurring in the text: names in ths appendices are not included. The current name of the plant is
shown as an indent below .'the text name. It is usually, but not always, a synonym. The colloquial name follows also indented.

Abrotanella forsterioides Hook. Ill, 122
Acacia 55

Acacia gunnii Benth. 106

A. vomeriformis A. Cunn. ex Benth.
Acacia stenophylla A. Cunn. ex Benth. 6
Acacia venista 5

Acacia vernieiflua A. Cunn. 5,_ 6, 110
Acacia verticillata (L Her.) Willd. 11
Acacia saliprna Lab. 123
Acacia dissitiflora Benth. 123

A. mucronata Willd. var. dissitiflora
Benth.

Adiantum assimile Sw. 105

A. aethiopicum L.

Maiden Hair Fern
Agastachys odorata R. Br. 93, 95, 110
White W'aratah
Allantodia R. Br. 116

Athyrium umbrosum (Ait.) Presl.

ssp. australe (R.Br.) C.Chr.

Black Fern

Alsophiia australis R. Br. 106, 116

Cyathca australis (R.Br.) Domin
Prickly Tree Fern
Alsophila excelsa R. Br. 46

Cyathea australis (R. Br.) Domin
Prickly Tree Fern
Altingia excelsa R. Br. 46, 47
Araucaria ^heterophylla
France 47
Norfolk Island Pine
Anemone crassifolia Hook. 110
Anguillaria uniflora Hook. 104

A. dioica R. Br.

Anguillaria <Iioica R. Br. 104
Anopterus glandulosus Lab. 20, 76, 104,
110, 115

Native Laurel
Anthericurn barbatum 6

Bulbine semibarbalum (R. Br.)

(Salisb.)

Haw.

Anthocerus (Monoclea) 106

Anthocercis tasmanica Hook.

Aotus villosa (Andr.) Sm. 77

A. ericoides (Vent.) G. Don.
A’-aucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) France
47

Norfolk Island Pine
Aristotelia peduncularis Hook. 12
Heart Berry

Arracachi esculenta DC. 25
Arthropodium 104
Arund-i phrainnites Dodoens 116
Phragmites communis Trin.

Reed Grass

Aseroe rubra Lab. _ 109

Azolla fiiiculoides Lam. var rubra
(Lub.) Hook.

Water fern (Not a true fern)
Asperococcus turneri Hook. 119
Aspidium 105

Aspidium proliferum R. Br. 105, 121

Polystichum proliferum (R. Br.)
Presl.

Cathead Fern
Asphideleous Plant 118
Milligania spp.

Gordon Lilies

Asplenium laxum R. Br. 114
A. bulbiferum forst.

Mother Spleenwort: Hen and

Chickens Fern

Astartea fascicularis _ DC. 93

Melaleuca frscicularls (DC.) Lab.
Astelia alpina R. Br. Ill
Pineapple Lily
Aster argophyllus Lab. 63

Olearia argophylla (Lab.) F. Muell.
Musk

Astroloma humifusa R. Br. 105
Native Cranberry

Atherceperma moschata Lab. 20, 86,

110, 115

Athrotaxis af 93? 100, 104, 105

Athrotaxis cupressoides Don 120
Pencil Pine

Athrotaxis laxifolia Hook. 120, 123, 124
Occasional tree in stands of A.
selaginoides

Athrotaxis selaginoides Don. 120, 124
King Billy Pine

Athyrlum umbrosum (Ait.) Presl. ssp
australe (B. Br.) C. Chr. 116
Black Fern
Azolla 86, 96

Waterfern (Not a true fern)
Azorella 96

Backhousia 100

Riehea paml3nifolia Hook.

Pandanny
Baeckia 28

B. gunniana Scha.

Gunn's Mountain Baeckia
Banksia 63, 101, 109
Banksia nemula Backh. 63, 65

B. serrata Linn. f.

Banksia australis 76, 108

B. marginata Cav.

Banksia serrata Linn. f. 63, 65, 76
Bartramia papillata Hook. f. & Wils 23,
83

Bauera rubioides Andr. 12
Bellendena montana R. Br. 27, 39
Mountain Rocket
Betula antarctiea 50

Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.)
Oerst.

Myrtle-Beech
Billardieri 63

Billardiera pisiformis Lab. 93, 97, 123
Bisentillae 111

Potentilla? or Biscutella?

Garden Cinquefoil Garden Crucifera
Bland ford ia 63

B. punicea (Lab.) Sweet.

Mersey Bells
Blechnum 105
Boron i a 91

Boronia pilusa Lab. 93, 97
Brachyeome 104

Tasmanian Daisy
Brunonla australis Sm. 104
Blue Pin-Cushions
Bryum pachytheea C. Muell. 23
A Moss

Bulliarda recurva Hook.f. 107
Tillaea recurva Hook.f.

Marsh Succulent

Burchardin umbellata R. Br. 104
Milkmaids

Burnettia cuneata Lindl. 91, 92
An Orchid

Cacsia corymbosn R. Br. 104

Chamaescilla corymbosa (R. Br.) F.

Muell
Blue Lily

Caladenia 100, 104
Caladenia barbata Lindl. 104

C. deformis R.Br.

Blue Fairy Orchid
Caladenia curnea R. Br. 104
Pink Fingers Orchid
Caladenia patevsoni It. Br. 2, 104
Common Spider Orchid
Caldesia 106

Damasonium australe Sol. perhaps
Mud Plant

Callitrlche verna L. 106, 107, 116

C. stagnnlis Scop.

Water Starwori.

Callitris oblonga Rich. 55
South Esk Cypress

Callitris tasmanica (Benth.) Baker &
Smith 55

Oyster Bay Pine

Calystegia reniformis R. Br. 63
Convolvulus soldanella L.

Sea Bindweed

Campynema linearis Lab. 97
Green Iris

Canthium quadrifidum Lab. 97

Coprosma quadrifida (Lab.) Rob.
Carpodontus 20. 93, 94, 117
Carpodontus lucida Lab. 20, 50, 110, 111
Eucryphia lucida (Lab.) Baill.
Leatherwood

Carpodontus sp. nov. Ill

Eucryphia milligani Hook.f.
Leatherwood
C assy t ha 100

Native Mistletoe
Cdsuarna 11, 101, 109
Casuarina stricta Ait. 11
She-oak

Casuarina tortulosa 11

C. distyla Vent, perhaps
Caulinia antarctiea Lab. 100

Cymodccea antarctiea (Lab.) Endl.
Water Plant

Celmisia asteliaefolia Hook.f. 100

C. longifolia Cass.

Large White Daisy

Cenarrenes nitida Lab. 20, 106, 107, 110,
115

Cenarrhenes nitida Lab.

Port Arthur Plum
Ceratella 111

Abrotanella forsterioides Hook.f.
Daisy Cushion Bush
Charae 97, 106

Aquatic Plant

Charlwoodia australis G. Don (Dracaena)
46

Cordyline autralis Hook.f.

N.Z. Lily

Cheilanthes tenulfolia (Burm.f.) Sw. 105
Parsley Fern
Chiloglottis 100

Chiloglottis diphylh R. Br. 104
Ch. roflexa (Lab.) Druce
Ant Orchid
Chrysanthemum 11

Compositae resembling C.

Claudia elezans Lamour 99, 100, 108
Seaweed

Clematis blanda Hook. 47
C. aristata R. Br.

Codium bursa (L.) Ag. 119, 122
C. tomentosum Ag. 122
Colehiom 40

Colchicum autumnale L.

Autumn Crocus

Comesperma calyniega Lab. 63
Spike Milkwort
Conchium 11
Hakea

Coprosma 97

Coprosma microphylla Hook. 97
C. quadriflda (Lab.) Rob.

Coprosma repens Hock. 97

Creeping Native Currant
Correa baekhousiana Hook. 49, 67
Correa ferruginea Backh. 67
Correa speciosa Ait. 49

C. reflexa (Lab.) Vent.

Native Fuchsia

Croton quadripartitum Lab. 93, 97, 123

Adriana quadripartlta (Lab.) Gaud.
Cryptandra 84. 93, 105
Cryptandra ulicina Hook. 84

Spyridium ulicinum (Hook.) Benth.
Cryptocarya 85

Possibly Atherosperma moschata
Lab.

Cyathodes abietina R. Br. 97
Cyder Gum 28, 39, 97. 100

Eucalyptus gunnii Hook.f.
Cyrtostylis reniformis R. Br. 104

Acianthus reniformis (R. Br.) Schl.
Gnat Orchid

BOTANICAL INDEX.

Cyttaria darwinii 106, 109, 110
South American fungus
Cyttaria 106

C. gunnii Berk.

Orange-Ball Fungus on Myrtles

Dacrydium 20, 100, 109, 110

D. franklinii Hook.f.

Huon Pine; Macquarie Harbour Pine
Dawsonia polytrichoides 16, 17, 26, 82, S3
D. superba Grev.

Moss

Dawsonia longifolia Gunn mss 108
D. Superba Grev.

Moss

Descapora disticha Hook. 93, 97

Trochocarpa disticha (Hook.)
Spreng.

Descapora gunnii Hook. 97

Troehocpara gunnii (Hook.) Spreng.
Dianella 105
Dicksonia 105

D. antarctica Lab.

Common Tree Fern ; Manfern
Diselma archer! Hook.f. 122
Diuris 100, 104
Diuris curvifolia Lind). 104
D. maculata Sm.

Leopard Orchid
Diuris lanceolata Lind!. 104
D. pedunculata R. Br.

Golden Moth Orchid

Dodonaea salaolifolia A. Cunn. ex Hook. 28
D. erlcifolla G. Don.

Native Hop

Doodia aspera R. Br. 105
D. caudata R. Br.

Draba 120
Dracophyllum 118

D. milligani Hook. 118
Dracophyllum 117

Richca pandanifolia Hook.

Pandanny
Drosera 62

Drosera binata Lab. 76

Drosera menziesii Hook. non R. Br. 50, 82

D. planchonii Hook.f.

Trailing Sundew

Drosera spathulata Lab. 77
Drosera arcturi Hook. 84
Drosera peltata Sm. 104, 105
Dryandra 71, 72

West Australian Protacea

Eleocarpus peduncularis Lab. 20

Aristotelia peduncularis (Lab.)

Hook.f.

Heart Berry
Elichrysum 39

Helichrysum
Elemus arenarius 17

Elymus arenarius L.

Sea Lyme Grass
Epacris 19, 27
Epacris impressa Lab. 40
Heath

Epacris myrtifolia Lab. 97
Coral Heath

Eucalyptus 11, 12, 28, 76, 91
Eucalyptus robusta Sm. 11, 12

E. glodulus Lab.

Eucalyptus globulus Lab. 12, 15
Blue Gum

Eucalyptus gunnii Hook.f. 28, 39, 97, 100
Cider Gum

Eucalyptus regnans F. MueD. 122
Swamp Gum ; Stringy Gum
Eucryphia milligani Hook.f. 94, 110, 111
Leatherwood
Euphrasia 106
Eyebright

Euphorbiacea 40, 12
Euphorbiaceous Plant 121

Ricinocarpus pinifolius Desf. 122
Bridal Bush

Euthales trinervis Lab. 97, 123
Velleia trinervis (Lab.)

Western Australian Plant

Exocarpus, a trailing 27

Exocarpos humifusa R. Br.

Creeping Wild Cherry

Fagus, the Olympus 119

Nothofagus gunnii Hook.

Deciduous Beech
Fagus 76, 84, 104, 106, 121
Nothofagus

Fagus cunniughamii Hook. 20, 106, 109,
110, 115

Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.)
Qerst.

Myrtle-Beech
Forstera 111

Abrotanella forsteriodides Hook.f.
Daisy-type Cushion Bush
Frankenia tetrapetala Lab. 97

F. pauciflora DC.

Sea Heath

Fries!a peduncularis DC. 28, 110

Aristotelia peduncularis (Lab.)

Hook.f.

Heart Berry

Frenela australis R. Br. ex Endl. 55
Callitris oblonga Rich.

Native Cypress

Gaultheria h.'spida R. Br. 20, 28, 39
Snowberry
Gleichenia 115
Gleichenia tenera R. Br. 116

G. flabellata U. Br. var. tenera R. Br.
Umbrella Fern

Glossodia major K. B. 104

Parson in the Pulpit Orchid; Large
Waxlip Orchid

Gumphnlobium tomentosum Lab, 87, 123
West Australian Bladder Pea
Goodenia 97

Grammitis rutnefolia R. Br. 105

Pleurosorus rutaefolius (R.Br.) Fee
Finger Fern
Gunnia 40

Gunnia australis Hook. 53, 63, 76

Sarcochilus australis (Lindl.)
Reichb.f.

Gunn’s Tree Orchid

Hakea 11, 27, 28
Hernionitis 105

Todea barbarn (L.) T. Moore
Austral King Fern
Hewardia tasmanica Hook. 118
Black Iris
Hibbertia 40

Guinea Flower

Hibbertia billardiari F. Muell. 72
Climbing Guinea Flower
Hibiscus (Lagunia) patersonii 46, 47
Lagunaria patersonii G. Don.
Queensland Plant
Hibiscus mutabilis L. 5, 6
Plant of China
Hookeria pennata Hook. 23

Cyathophorum pennatum Bridel.

Moss
Hoven 62

Hymenanthera angnstifolia R. B. 105, 126
Tree Violet or Thorn Bush
HymenophyJlum 114
Filmy Fern

Hymenophyllum cupressiforma Lab. 114

H. tunbridgense (L.) Sm. 114
Filmy Fern

Hypoxis 40

Hypoxis hygrometrica Lab. 40
Golden Star

Irideous Plant 110

Libertia pulchella Spreng.

Myrtle Forest Iris
Isoetes 96, 109, 116

I. gunnii Braun.

Gunn's Quillwort

Isopogon ceratophyllus R. Br. 72
Horny Conebush
Junceae 76
Rushes

Jungermanniae 106

Moss-like Liverworts

Kunzia corifolia Reichb. 72

K. ambigua (Sm.) Druce

Lasiopetalum discolor Hook. 76
Velvet Bush

Lawrencia spicata Hook. 115

Plagianthus spicatua (Hook.) Benth.
Leguminosae 105
Lemma 116

Duckweed

Leptospermum 27. 100, 110
Leptospermum inclinans R. Br. 28
Leucopogon 2G. 28, 97
Beard Heaths

Leucopogon ericoides R. Br. 77
Leucopogon ericifolia 76

L. ericoides R. Br.

Pink Beard Heath

Libertia laurencei Hook. 110
L. pulchella Spreng.

Myrtle Forest Iris
Limosella 116
Mud wort

Lindsaea 15, 122

Lindsaea lanceolata Lab. 121, 123
L. linearis Sw. 122
Screw Fern

Lindsaea ensifoiia Sw. 121, 122

Schizoloma ensifolium (Sw.) j.Sm.
Queensland Fern
Lomaria 105

Blechnum
Water Fern

Loniaria p roc era R. Br. 121

Blechnum procerum (R. Br.)

Harrl Water Fern
Lomatia 110

L. polymorph a R. Br. 26, 28, 39
Mountain Guitar Plant

Lora n thus 99
Cassythn
Native Mistletoe
Lotus eorniculntus L. 6
Bird's-foot Trefoil
Lyellia crispa R. Br. 26
Lyonsia straminea R. Br. 110
Devil's Gut
Lythrum 116

Loose-strife

Macdonaldia 100
Thelymitra
Sun Orchid

Macronitrium mierostomum Hook. & Grev.
83

Moss

Melaleuca ericaefolia Sm. 77
Paper-bark Tea-Tree
Melaleuca (Astartea) fascicularis (DC.)

Lab. 93, 97, 123
Mentha 6. 116

M. gracilis R. Br.

Native Penny-royal

Metrosideros lanceolata 12

Callistemon pallidus (Bonpl.) DC.
perhaps

Yellow Bottlebrush

Microcachrys tetragona (Hook.) Hook.f.
120, 122, 123. 125
Creeping Conifer
Microtis 104

Onion Orchid
Milligania 118

Gordon Lily

Milligania longifolia 111, 118
Mimosa verticfllata L’Herit. 12

Acacia verticillata (L'Herit.) Willd.
Prickly Mimosa
Monoclea 106

Anthocercis tasmanica Hook.

Montia 107, 116

M. fontana L.

Marsh Plant

Muehlenbeckia adpressa (Lab.) Meisn. 94
Macquarie Vine

BOTANICAL INDEX.

Mylitta australis Berk. 97

Blackman’s Bread Fungus
Myriophyllum variaefolium Hook.f. 106
M. propinquum A. Cunn.

Aquatic Herb T ,

Myriophyllum amphibium Lab. 97
Aquatic Herb

Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst.

21. 77, 122
Myrtle-Beech

Nothofagus gunnii Hook. 119
Deciduous Beech
Notolea ligustrina Vent. 100
Native Olive

Olea 10

Orites 26, 27. 28. 124
Mountain Shrubs
Osotes 114
Oxalis tuberosa 25
Oxalis microphylla Poir.

O. corniculata L. var. microphylla
Poir.

Yellow Wood Sorrel
Ozothamnus 99 ...

Helichrysum (Shrubs)

Patersonia 2, 117
Blue Iris

Pelargonium 91 ,

Pelargonium erodioides^ Benth. ex Hook. 28
P* inodorum Willd.

Native Pelargonium
Persoonia 40

Phebalium billardieri 76, 110

Ph. squameum (Lab.) Druce
Lancewood

Phebalium montanum Hook. 28, 50
Phylloeladus asplenioidcs 110

P. aspleniifolius (Lab.) Hook.f.
Celery Top Pine; Adventure Bay
Pine

Pilularia 116 ,

Pillwort, an aquatic plant
Pilitis acerosa Lind. 109

Richea acerosa (Lind.) F.Muell.
Pimelea 5, 106
Pimelea filiformis Hook. 107

Pittosporaceae 89 , _

Plagianthtis pulchellus (Bonpl.) A. Gray
47. 55

l’lagianthus sidoides Hook. 47, 54, 55
Currajong

Platyloblum murrayanum Hook. 106
P. triangulare R. Br.

Trailing Bush Pea
Pleurandra astrotricha Sieb. 72, 106
Hibbertia billardieri F. Muell.
Climbing Guinea Flower
Podocarpus alpina Hook.f. 84, 85, 120
Mountain Yew: Plum Pine
Podocarpus aspleniifolius Lab. 110

Phylloeladus aspleniifolius (Lab.)

Hook.f.

Celery Top Pine; Adventure Bay
Pine

Polygonum adpressum Lab. 94

Mnehlenbeekia adpressa (Lab.)
Meisn

Macquarie Vine
Polygonum gunnii Hook. 94

Muehlenbeckia adpressa (Lab.)
Meissn

Macquarie Vine

Polypodium billardieri Presl. 105
Copel

Microsorium diversifolium (Willd.)
copel

Finger Fern
Polytrichum 22, 82

P. juniperinum Hedwg.

Moss

Pomaderris 84, 92
Pomaderris a p eta la Lab. 63
Dogwood. Native Pear
Porphyra laciniata Ag. 119
Seaweed

Potamogetons 97, 116
Pond weed

Prionotes cerinthoides R. Br. 93, 95, 110
Climbing Heath

Prostanthera lasianthos Lab. 26, 28
Mountain Lilac
Pseudotsuga douglasii 73
P. taxifolia
Douglas Fir

Pteris falcata R. Br. 123
Pellaea falcata Fee
Sickle Fern

Pterygopappus lawrencii Hook. 122
Daisy Cushion Bush
Pterostylis 100. 104

Greenhood Orchids
Pterostylis curta U. Br. 104
Pterostylis mutica R. Br. 104
Pterostylis nan a R. Br. 104
Pterostylis pedunculata R. Br. 104
Pterostylis squamata R. Br. 104
Pultenaea 11, 12, 26
Bush Pea

Ranunculus 106. 109
Ranunculus gunnianus Hook. 40, 41, 66
Gunn's Mountain Buttercup
Ranunculus nanus Hook. 28
Ranunculus vestitus Hook.f. 91
Ranunculus pimpinellifolius Hook. 91
Ranunculus trichophyllus Chaix
Ranunculus lappaceus Sm. var. pascuinus
Hook.f. 106. 107

R. pascuinus (Hook.f.) Melville
Restiaceae 76
Rushes

Richea 27, 117

R. acerosa (Hook.) F. Muell possibly
Richea 92
Richea 26, 118

Dracophyllum milligani Hook.
Richea dracophylla R. Br. 94, 118
Richea pandanifolia Hook. 92, 94, 97, 110,
118, 124

Richea gunnii 118
Richea scopavia Hook. 118
Ricinocarpus pinifolius Desf. 122
Wedding (or Bridal) Bush
Rubus gunnianus Hook. 110
Mountain Raspberry
Ruppia 97, 106, 116

R. marltima L. 100
Sea Tassel Weed

Sarcochilus 101
Sclerantheae 122
Scleranthus biflorus Hook. 122
Cushion Plant

Sclerolemia forsterloides Hook.f. 119, 122,
124

Abrotanella forsterioides (Hook.)
Hook.f. 122

Schizoloma ensifolium (Sw.) J.Sm. 122
Queensland Wedge Fern
Sida pulchella Bonpl. ex DC. 47

Plagianthus pulchellus (Bonpl.) A.
Gray

Silene 114

Garden Catchfly or Campion
Siphopteris heterophylla 114
Name not traced
Solanum laciniatum Ait. 46, 47

S. aviculare Forst.

Kangaroo Apple

Sollya heterophylla Lab. 123
West Australian Plant
Sphacelnria scopavia 119, 122

S. paniculata Suhr. perhaps 122
Seaweed
Sphaeria 116

Cordyceps gunnii (Berk) Berk, in
Hook.f.

Caterpillar Fungus
Sphagnum 120
Moss

Stackhousia 62

Native Mignonette
Stackhousia flava Hook.f. 65

Stylidiaceae Ill

Stylidium umbellatum Lab. 93, 97, 123
Trigger Plant

Symphytum asperrimum 25

Prickly Comfrey (Russia)
Tasmannia fragrans 10, 27

Drimys lanceolata. (Poir.) Baill.
Native Pepper

Tasmannia aromatica R. Br. 76, 110
Drimys lanceolata (Poir.) Baill.
Native Pepper

Taxanthema australis R, Br. 110

Staticc australis (R. Br.) Spreng.
Native Statice

Telopea truncata R. Br. 110, 115
Tasmanian Waratnh
Tetratheca 49, 82

Lilac Bells. Milkmaids
Tetratheca glandulosa Lab. 91
Tetra theca pilosa Lab. 91, 92
Tetratheca procumbens Gunn ex Hook.f.
92

T. pilosa Lab.

Tetratheca ciliata Lindl. 83, 106
Thelymitra 101

Sun Orchid

Tillaea verticillaris DC. 106
T. sieberiana Schults
Succulent Annual
Todea afrieana Willd. 105

T. barbara (L.) T. Moore
Austral King Fern
Trichostomum 18, 19, 20, 29
Moss

Triglochum 106

Aquatic Plant
Tri neuron

Abrotanella forsterioides Hook.f.
Daisy Cushion Bush
Tristanea voliusta 5

Plant in Myrtaceae

Trochocarpa disticha (Lab.) Spreng. 97
Trochocarpa gunnii (Hook.) Spreng. 97
Typha 116

Reed-Mace

Utricularia 79, 97
Bladderwort

Usnea spacelata 28, 29

U. melaxantha
Lichen

Vallisneria 84, 96, 116

V. spiralis L. 84
Water Plant

Veronica 27

V. nivea Lindl. probably
Veronica arguta R. Br. 114
Veronica notabilis F. Muell. 114
Viola hederacea Lab. 105

Ivy-leaf Violet; White Violet
Villarsia 97

Limnanthemum gunnii (Hook.)
Hook.f.

Plant of Alpine Lakes

Wahlenbergia gracilis Dc. 105
Wahlenbergia gracilenta Lothian 105
Wahlenbergia gymnoclada 105
Wahlenbergia billardieri 105
Blue bells

Weinmannia biglandulosa Hook. 20

Anodopetalum biglandulosum A.

Cunn. ex Hook.f.

Horizontal

Weinmannia australis 110, 115
as above

Xanthorrhaca australis R. Br. 63
Xanthorrhitea arborea 71, 72
X. australis R. Br.

Grass Tree; Yacca

Zieria 110

Zostera marina L. 100, 101
Z. tasmanica G. V. Mart.
Sea-wrack ; Eel-grass

L. G. Shea, Government Printer. Tasmania.

N EW SERIES, No. 15

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM

A LIST OF

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN
COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

N. J. B. PLOMLEY
Department of Anatomy,
University College, London.

(Manuscript received 21/7/1961)
(Published 6th November, 1962)

ABSTRACT

The extinction of the Tasmanians some eighty years ago and their virtual captivity for more than forty
.''ears previously, have meant that material relating to these aborigines is not only rare, but usually lacks the
'^formation about its origin that is necessary for its proper study.

The general conclusions reached in a survey (Plomley, 1961) of Tasmanian collections in Europe were that
skeletal remains were not adequately documented, thus permitting only the identification of a “typical form” ;
an d that there was such doubt as to the origin of cultural material that little if any reliance could be placed on
mos t of it. It was also found that collections in Europe of Tasmanian stone implements were, with one
e * c eption, quite inadequate for satisfactory work — although here the need is rather for precise arehaeolo-
glca l studies in the field. Attention was also drawn to the various portraits of the aborigines, which have not
r 6ceived the attention they deserve ; and to the manuscript sources of information about the natives.

The following paper gives particular information about these collections. In it will be considered first
, e sources of the more important collections, and then the various classes of material will be listed in
detail.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

THE COLLECTIONS

When, early in the 19th century, it came to he
believed that racial differences could be characterised
by the structure of the skull, there arose a demand for
material representative of the various peoples of the
world, and Tasmanian skulls were especially sought
because of their rarity. Not much care was taken to
ensure that the origin of the specimens was accurately
known or recorded, it being sufficient to have a skull
in one’s collection bearing the label “Tasmanian”.
The composition of the various collections shows this
clearly : the skulls were acquired piecemeal, from
residents in the colony and from visitors, from surgeons
and from land-owners, and varied in source from
material collected in the hospitals to specimens picked
up in the bush. There being no native burial grounds
and most of the Tasmanians burning their dead, these
skulls date almost without exception from the period of
European settlement, and from that time not only were
the tribes more and more displaced and intermingled,
but hybridisation occurred and other racial forms were
introduced into the area, among them aborigines from
the Australian mainland. There have also been mistakes
of labelling and the like. Altogether, there is not much
hope of coming to any detailed conclusions about the
form of the Tasmanian skull ; and the same can be said
of other Tasmanian morphological material.

By far the largest, collections of Tasmanian skeletal
material in Europe were those of Dr Barnard Davis
and of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, but
important collections were also built up at Edinburgh,
Oxford, Paris and elsewhere. The Barnard Davis and
College of Surgeons collections were destroyed in 1941,
but other losses of skeletal material seem to have been
small. However, little information can be obtained
about collections in Germany.

Dr Joseph Barnard Davis (1801- 1881), F.R.S.,
surgeon, of Shelton in Staffordshire, amassed the largest
private collection of skulls in England. He published
catalogues of them, the Thesaurus craniorum (1867)
and its Supplement (1875). His Tasmanian material
included a complete skeleton, about fifteen skulls, bones
used as “relics of the dead”, and items of ethnographical
interest. The skeletal material was all acquired by the
College of Surgeons in 1880, but his ethnographical
collection was dispersed.

Another large collection of Tasmanian skeletal
material was built up by the Royal College of Surgeons.
Particulars of most of it have been given in the cata¬
logues of osteological specimens by Owen (1831, 1853)
and by Flower (1879, 1907), but a few specimens were
received subsequently. The catalogue of 1907 lists two
skeletons and eighteen skulls ; and another skull,
possibly Tasmanian, is listed among the pathological
specimens. The reference numbers relating to the
collection are confused owing to renumbering. To the
College material must be added Barnard Davis’s
specimens, but information about them can only be
obtained from his lists, no mention of them being made
in Flower’s catalogue of 1907. It, is particularly import¬
ant to note that the Barnard Davis series was re¬
numbered by the College and has been referred to in
the literature tinder the new numbers, but that no
comparative list of the numbers has been published. All
that now remains of these two collections is one skull
and some fragments, all other material having been
destroyed bv enemy action on the night of May 10/11,
1941. '

Collections in Europe of Tasmanian stone
implements are, with the exception of the Westlake
collection at Oxford, unrepresentative and inadequate
for useful study. Only four contain more than a hundred
specimens, and the impression gained is that much of
the material had been rejected first by the aborigines
and later by those by collecting it !

In Europe, collections of Tasmanian ethnographical
material are found mostly in England. Specimens
collected by the French and British expeditions to the
Pacific (and it is known that at least one of the French
expeditions at the end of the 18th century acquired
ethnographical material directly from the natives) seem
no longer to exist. Present collections in England have
been derived in large part from one made by George
Augustus Robinson, a man who was associated with the
Tasmanian aborigines from 1829 to 1S39, first as their
Conciliator and then as Commandant of the aboriginal
settlement on Flinders Island. Later, from 1839 to 1849,
Robinson was Chief Protector of the aborigines in
Victoria, li is clear that during the whole of this
period he collected relics of the aborigines, and also
that those lie acquired in Tasmania were soniatimes of
Australian manufacture—thus, he records in his journal
for April 24, 1831, that while at George Town
(Tasmania) he was given a basket made by the natives
of Moreton Bay (Queensland) ; and on July 1, 1832,
while at Cape Grim, north-western Tasmania, some
Sydney natives attached to a party engaged in the
rounding up of the Tasmanians, gave him some of their
weapons, which they had made there especially for
him and which almost certainly included boomerangs
(MSS in Mitchell Library, Sydney). Moreover, it is
doubtful whether Robinson saw much difference between
Australians and Tasmanians : certainly people who had
known him after his return to England in 1852 thought
this, and came to disregard what he had to say. His
collections seem to have been a jumble of Tasmanian
and Australian material, some of it unlabelled, some of
it wrongly labelled. During his lifetime he gave away
some of the things he had collected, and afte. his death
in 1866 his widow sold what remained to Dr Barnard
Davis for £30. Thera is a 1st of this in Barnard
Davis’s MSS at the Royal Anthropological Institute in
London and it is worth quoting not only because it
helps to identify items in the original collection, but
because Barnard Davis’s annotations and comments
indicate the diversity of origin of the material :—

“List of ethnological objects collected by the late

Geo Augustus Robinson, and purchased of his

widow, Mar 29 1867.

Skull of Tasmanian man No. 1481.

Do. woman 82.

Map of Van D’s L. Frankland 1837.

12 coloured drawings of Tasmanian aborigines by
[blank] in frames.

5 coloured drawings of do. on tinted paper in four
frames.

2 coloured drawings of do. framed—one of these
is named “Togerlongerlce”.

1 pencil drawing of “Morum-morum-been” by W.
Strutt, 1852, Boningoug Tribe. (Australian).

5 drawings of the heads of aborigines of Tasmania
in profile of a sepia tint in frames.

1 pencil drawing of “Waran-drenin,” Warreneep
Tribe. By W, Strutt, 1852. “Warren-ten-neen”
alias “Mary”, lubra of “Morum-morum-been”.
(Australian).

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

I coloured drawing of an Australian in a sailor’s
jacket, by W. B. Gould.

1 drawing in pencil of “Paru-garu”. one of the
Native Police in 1851. Signed W. Strutt, del.
(Australian).

1 lithograph of “Moornwillie,” an Australian of
good manners.

1 do. of “Oorunguiam” and “Murnight”, Native
Australian Police.

1 drawing coloured “The natives of Tasmania
bewading the loss of their country”. A design
for the "Finis” of Mr G. A. Robinson’s work.
1 coloured drawing of Capo Barren Geese. "K.

Neill, delt. July 1830”.

1 daguerrotype of 3 Tasmanians.

1 large oil painting of a native of Brune Island
called “The Doctor,” who was highly esteemed
by G. A. Robinson.

1 skin of wombat with the fur turned inwards, and
all the openings secured, for a water vessel.

1 slender stick with an almond shaped prominence
at the end.

1 woman’s girdle for the loins, made of white
shells. Qu. whether Australian. (Appears to
be African).

Necklaces. (Shells are cowries with yellow spots ;
string looks like hair. Pacific ?).

1 beautifully carved box in the shape of a canoe,

with grotesque heads at the extremities. (This
is a feather box from the Feejces).

3 human lower jaws of Tasmanians with native
cord wrapped round them. These were worn
round the necks of the natives as amulets.

2 human tibiae of Tasmanians prepared in the

same way for wearing.

2 plaster busts of Tasmanians, by B. Law, Hobart

Town. The man is the bust of Woreddy, a
native of Brune Island. The woman is Trug-
gernanna, native of Sullivan Cove.

5 stone axes in split hafts, fixed with gum of
xanthorrhoea. Tasmanian. Sec Bonwick p. 44.
1 do. with stick haft. Do.

3 do. without hafts. Do.

1 large necklace made of reeds (Australian) labelled

"1847 July, Necklace N.N.W. from Bill le”.
23 Haliotis shells, a fish for which the women were
expert divers. They took a pointed stick in
one hand and had a bag under the arm. She
descended and loosened the fishes from the
rocks & put them into the bag, generally
coming up with the bag full. Occasionally a
woman got fixed between two rocks and was
drowned.

5 reed necklaces from "Ovens” ’41. Australia.

2 necklaces made from some portion of a shellfish.

“Ovens, ’41”. (or a coralline).

Drawing. Return of G. A. Robinson to the Penal
Settlement of Macquarie Harbour with the
Port Davy Tribe of Aborigines on the morning
of the 25th May, 1833. Mr Robinson’s own
inscription on the back.

Piece of native rope, made of grass.

3 necklaces of claws of an animal. One strung on

twisted sinew.

A portion of claw necklace with 8 larger claws.

A small feather ornament.

A small portion of net.

A necklace of six strands, feather.

Another with more slender strands.

2 very fine nose sticks and a small one.

Bunch of bones of the albatros. From a barren
island near V.D.L. frequented by the albatros.
Extreme N. West. Albatross Island.

About 20 string uecklaces made of nutive string.
I necklace made of sinew.

1 finely prepared thick sinew rolled up into perliaps

an amulet.

Box of worsted work the Tasmanians were taught
to make.

2 bundles of sticks for producing fire. Tasmanian.

6 “fire sticks” — 4 twirling sticks & 1 receiver
—8 twirling sticks and 4 receivers. The "tire
sticks” are for carrying fire, the round ones
for producing.

1 bundle of small sticks, charred at the ends.

2 amulets made of the cremated bones of the dead.

V.D.L. “Roydeener", or “Numremureker”.

2 Australian shields.

8 boomerangs ; one of which is large and used
for throwing vertically G.A.R.

11 throwing sticks, some carved.

5 shields of different forms S.A.

Coloured drawings of 2 Tasmanian catamarans or
floats. (See plates of Atlas do la Perouse No.
44 Cape Diemen).

1 Tasmanian catamaran.

5 spears, barbed. Tasm.

29 fine spears of different kinds.

10 reed spears, “Ovens Feb. ’41”.

17 spears, 2 with iron spikes.

An amulet consisting of the bones of a child tied up
in a little bass bag. The 2 femora 2 ulnae and
the bones of one hand. (In skull case).

4 apron-bands, made of emu feathers for women.

(See Lloyd's Tasm. Viet. 407. Australian).

2 bunches for men.

2 human ribs, clean. For a charm or an ornament.
2 lumps of Eucalyptus gum prepared by natives
(liucalyplwi rcsinifera). Some pieces of raddle
for painting the body.

A quantity of prepared sinew.

5 teeth of the wombat and kangaroo, cut. from the

hair of “Leek” 2nd daughter of “Bilbilyun”

1 Sept. 1839. These are Australian and the
hair is flowing.

Mask in plaster of a portion of the face of a
Tasmanian. It reaches from near the eyes
where the ringlets of oclired hair come down
on to the nose to the tip of the chin. The
nose is broad, face flat and mouth of pleasant
expression. This is remarkably different from
an Australian face. “B. D. Sculpt. 1835”.

Small specimens of crystals. Tasmanian diamonds ?
Box of worsted and other work done by the women,
Tasmanian, at Flinders Island.

Piece of pith of Tasmanian Tree Fern upon which
Robinson hud to subsist at times.

Small amulet. Seems to contain a bone.

2 boxes of minerals, Tasmanian and Australian.

3 long fishing nets “Ovens Feb. ’41”.

3 long slender nets.

Stake net. A large net rolled on sticks, circular
base.

2 mats, one of which lias a pocket in it. “Gram-
pions". Tasmanian.

4 long narrow bugs. Seem to be for catching sonic

animal in.

Another small circular bass mat bag. Tasm.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

2 very beautiful baskets or bags, Tasmanian, used
by the women for fishing Ac. One of them
contains a good description in it by G. A.
Robinson in MS.

8 thick bass bags. Tasm.

2 small fine net bags, one of which is inscribed
“Net bag July 15, ’47”. Australian.

12 net bags. One of these is ticketed “Ovens Feb
’41”, another has a. native name on the ticket.

A small net.

A piece of netting which is either an apron or a
bag in the process of being made.

In a letter which he wrote afterwards to Mrs
i> liinson, Barnard Davis remarked that “Dr Milligan
/°. re turned to England ... from what he tells me,
it teems that almost all the objects I had from you
a . Australian and not Tasmanian, except the portraits.
\ r< Iwavs thought this was the case, because Mr Robinson
“ disposed lo confuse the two races together, and
t |,i> w hole Australian.” (Letter dated October 13
186''. iu the Mitchell Library, Sydney).

On March 16, 1848 G. A. Robinson wrote to J. S.
p put the artist, to say that he was sending him some
..rtiele’s relating to the Tasmanian and Australian abo * i ’
Bines including the signboard listed abov e. In the
pe' letter Robinson also says, ‘I should much like
Mr Brown’s dgt. group of Walter, Maiy Ann & David
Briine ’ This is likely to be the ‘daguerrotype of 3
Tasmanians’ listed by Barnard Davis.

Barnard Davis’s collections were dispersed before
j after his death in 1881. The skeletal material was
bought by the Royal College of Surgeons in 1880, and
lija library was sold at Sotheby’s in January/February
1883 With the library were sold photographs and
drawings “of various types of savages,” but the. Tas-
iiatban portraits were probably not, included here: the
latter were almost certainly framed, and Sotheby’s
catalogue seems to refer to material either mounted in
albums or loose. What happened to the ethnographical
collection has not been elucidated. Items from it have
been traced to a number of collections, and it therefore
seems likely that it was sold at auction, but no records
of this have been found. Such details would be of great
interest, since they might give clues to the origin of
some of the portraits.

Besides the Tasmanian ethnographical material in
Barnard Davis’s collection, most of which he had
obtained from G. A. RobinBon but some from others,
(here were a few other original collections in England.
The Chichester Museum had a small Tasmanian
collection, obtained between 1833 and 1838. This
collection! which included three skulls, was acquired in
1912 by Captain A. W. F. Fuller of London : and
recently most of this and some other Tasmanian material
was sold bv him to the Chicago Natural History
Museum.

Another collection of interest is in the Museum at
Saffron Walden, a country town about fifteen miles
from Cambridge. This museum was founded in 1832
and its ethnological collections contain a number of
genuine early pieces, obtained from various native
peoples during early contacts with Europeans. The
original registers of the museum have been lost (if
they ever did exist), but a catalogue of specimens
acquired between 1832 and 1880 was prepared about

1897 from labels and other memoranda. There is also
an Abridged catalogue, published in 1845, and among
the entries are the following (p. 76) :—

“A boomerang: the natives by throwing it in a
peculiar manner, can cause this weapon to strike an
object behind them. From Van Diemen’s Land. John
Holder Wedge Esq., Van Diemen’s Land.”

“ A shield of wood 3 ft. 6 in. long, 10 in. wide,
ornamented with zigzag pattern, filled up with a white
substance, ditto, ditto.”

The MS catalogue of 1897 lists various gifts
between 1833 and 1839 from John Holder Wedge of
Lcighland. near Perth, Van Diemen’s Land, and from
Charles Wedge of Shudy Camps, near Linton in Cam¬
bridgeshire. ,1. H. Wedge was a government surveyor
in Tasmania from 1S26 to 1835. In 1835 he went to
Victoria, where he carried out a number of surveys. His
brother Charles was also a surveyor, working in Tas¬
mania and in Victoria. The gifts received from J. H.
Wedge and his brother included animals and birds,
geological specimens, and weapons of the natives of
New South Wales and New Zealand, as well as shields,
clubs, waddies, spears and boomerangs from Van
Diemen’s Land. A number of these latter, marked
“Van Diemen’s Land” and corresponding to individual
items in the MS catalogue, are still in the collections
at Saffron Walden. Here, then, is a clear case not only
of wrong labelling but of this having occurred early
in the history of the collection. It shows clearly the
care that must be taken in dealing with Tasmanian
aboriginal material. The shields and boomerangs can,
of course, be rejected out of hand, but there is no case
either for attributing the waddies, spears and clubs to
the Tasmanians. All are apparently Australian, even
the spears which, though lancelike, consist of two parts,
a more slender point being fitted into a “handle” of
about the same length—an example of this type of
spear was presented some years ago by the Saffron
Walden Museum to the Launceston Museum, Tasmania.

The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland, which was founded in 1S43 as the
Ethnological Society of London, had a collection of
anthropological material, but most of this was dispersed
many years ago. A Tasmanian skeleton obtained from
Morton Allport in 1873 was sold to the British Museum
(Natural History) in 189S, but some portraits of the
aborigines arc still at the Institute.

Lastly, it is worth noting that Tasmanian abori¬
ginal material was shown in t.he Great Exhibition of
1851 in London. Four items are mentioned in the
catalogue :—

194. Necklaces of shells, as worn by the aborigines
of Tasmania (J. Milligan).

230. Seven baskets, made by the aborigines of
Tasmania (J. Milligan).

231. Model of a water-pitcher made by the
aborigines of Van Diemen’s Land (J. Milli¬
gan).

279. Four models of canoes of the aborigines of
Van Diemen’s Land (J. Milligan).

Of these objects, the model of the water-container and
one of the models of the canoe-raft are almost certainly
those now in the British Museum. When the Exhibition
closed at the end of September 1851 the huge structure
of cast iron and glass was removed from Hyde Park

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS tN EUROPE

to Sydenham, where it became known as the “Crystal
Palace”. Ethnographical material was shown among the
permanent exhibits there, these probably including a
series of portraits of the Tasmanians. Unfortunately,
all were lost in the 'ire which destroyed the building in
1936.

Nearly all tha Tasmanian ethnographical material
mentioned above is now in the British Museum or in
the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

SKELETAL MATERIAL.

The Skeleton.

[The presence or absence of the mandibla has been
noted when examining collections, and this is indicated
by (md+) or (md—) respectively].

Five skeletons of Tasmanian aborigines are referred
to in the literature as being in collections in Europe,
but only two of them still exist. Ihese live skeletons
were obtained from Morton Allport, Curator of the
Hobart Museum, between IS*0 and 1875. [In the
B.itish Medical Journal for November 30, 18.8 it is
stated that live Tasmanian skeletons were shown in the
anthropological section of the Universal Exhib.tion of
Paris, but this may be a mistake. At the Exposition
des sciences anthropolcgiques hold in Paris in that year
three Tasmanian skeletons were exhibited ; thev had
been lent by Dr Barnard Davis and by the Royal CoLege
of Surgeons.].

Royal College oj Surgeons oj England. (Material
destroyed 1941).

[Specimens from the Barnard Davis collection are
indicated by adding in brackets after the College
number the letters BD and the number used in Davis’s
Thesaurus cianiorum (1867) and its Supplement (1875)].

1096. Tasmanian male. (From grave on Flinders
Island).

1097. Tasmanian female. (“Bessy Clark”).

1406 (BD 1761). Tasmanian male.

British Museum (Natural History).

1917.10.29.1. Tasmania. Male (?) (md-f). Pur¬
chased from the Anthropological Society of London,

1898 ; from Morton Allport, 1873.

Institut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique

(Brussels).

Squelette d’un Tasmanien do l’lle Flinders. (md+).

Echange Morton Allport 1873. No. 310 (I.G. 3203.

Reg. 46).

References : Davis (1874, 1875), Flower (1907), Carson
(1899), Hrdlicka (1928), Klaatsch (1903), Pycraft
(1925), Steadman (1937), Turner (1910).

The Skull.

Royal College oj Surgeons of England.

Most of the Tasmanian skulls in the Museum at the
College were recorded in the 1907 edition of the
catalogue of osteological specimens, only a little material
having been received subsequently. At different times
different series of numbers were applied to the speci¬
mens: most of these were used prior lo the first edition
(1879) of Flower's catalogue, but at least some of the
specimens received after the publication of the edition
of 1907 were given yet another series of numbers. As
nearly all the material no longer exists and as any
worthwhile descriptions of it refer mainly to Flower’s
numbers, there seems little point in trying to sort out
the confusion of the old numbers in the MS registers of
the College and in Owen’s catalogues of 1831 and 1853.

Flower lists the following skulls in the 1907 edition
of his catalogue:—

1098. Tasmanian male. Hunterian collection.

1099. Tasmanian male. Presented by Ronald
Gunn.

1100. Tasmanian male. Presented by Ronald
Gunn.

1101. Tasmanian male. “Tasmanian warrior, killed
sit Brushy Plains.” Presented by George
Busk, 1864.

1102. Tasmanian male. Brought from Tasmania

by Dr. Milligan. Presented by George
Busk, 1864.

1103. Tasmanian male (entered in MS catalogue
as “cranium of an Australian”). Presented
by Lady Franklin, 1854.

1104. Tasmanian male (somewhat exceptional
characters: ? Tasmanian). Presented by
Dr Hobson.

1105. Tasmanian female. Hunterian collection.

1106. Tasmanian female (“from Port Dalrymple,
Van Diemen’s Land”). Presented by Sir
Everard Home, 1809.

1107. Tasmanian female. Presented by Ronald
Gunn.

1108. Tasmanian female (from a grave in Bruni
Island). Presented by Dr Archibald Sib-
bald, R.N., 1854.

1109. Tasmanian female (“previously described as
Australian”). Presented by Ronald Gunn.

1109L Tasmanian. Presented by J. Marshall, 1892.

1110. Said to be Tasmanian, female. Presented
by Sir Joseph Hooker, 1866 (“from Dr. Bed¬
ford”).

1111. Tasmanian, ? male aged 14 years. Presented
by G. J. Guthrie, 1825.

1112. Young Tasmanian. Presented by Ronald
Gunn.

1113. Tasmanian, female infant (“from Port Dal-
rymple”). Presented by Thomas Hobbes
Scott, 1821.

1113A. From South Pacific, with characters re¬
sembling those of the Tasmanian race, male.
Presented by Sir Joseph Hooker, 1866.

Material received after 1907 included:—

1096.1. 7 teeth, from a shell-heap in Tasmania.

Donor: W. J. Lewis Abbot, 1922.

1096.2. Imperfect mandibles from sand-dunes in
S.E. Tasmania.

1109.1. Tasmanian: imperfect calvarium, probably
female. Donor: Sir Colin Mackenzie, 1915.

In Owen’s catalogue of 1831 two skulls are listed
which had been given to the museum by Thomas Hobbes
Scott in 1821. These two specimens appear in the MS
register as:—

No. 1082. September 28 1821. Henry Cline Esq.
from (the Revd) Thomas Hobbes Scott Esq. lately
returned from New South Wales, etc.

1. A skull of an adult from Port Dalrymple, the
posterior part of which appears to have Ivcn
injured by fire.

2. A skull of a female child from Port Dalrymple.
The central points of the parietal bones project
unusually.

The subsequent history of the child’s skull is straight¬
forward: it is item 99 of Owen’s list (1831), item 5345
in his list of 1853 (where it is entered as "the cranium
of an Australian child, from Van Diemen’s Land”) and
item 1113 of Flower’s lists (1879, 1907); but that of the

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

damaged adult skull is confused. The latter is listed by
Owen under his number 95 in 1831, and under his num¬
ber 5903 in 1853 (quoted in error us 5904 in an annotation
in the MS register). It is not listed by Flower but
appears next in Paget’s catalogue of pathological speci¬
mens (1882) as item 2085—“a mutilated skull of a
European . . . from the Barnard Davis collection”.
There is also a later (?) catalogue number for this
specimen — 1.2890. The skull is still in the collections
at the Royal College of Surgeons (md—).

The Barnard Davis collection, acquired by the
College in 1880, was renumbered there, but it was not
listed in Flower’s 1907 catalogue; these new numbers
have been used by workers who have examined the
material at the College. In the following lists the Col¬
lege numbers are shown first, and then, in brackets, the
numbers of the Thesaurus craniorum or its Supplement.
In the Thesaurus craniorum (1867) are listed:—

1407 (BD860). Tasmanian male. Devillc collec¬
tion.

1408 (BD861). Tasmanian male. From Van
Diemen’s Land; Mr Goodwin, Surgeon R.N.
Deville collection.

1409 (BD862). Tasmanian female. From Van
Diemen’s Land ; Mr Goodwin, Surgeon R.N.
Deville collection.

1410 (BD863). Tasmanian female. From Van
Diemen’s Lund ; Mr Goodwin, Surgeon R.N.
Deville collection.

1411 (BD867). Tasmanian male. From Dr Greig.
Deville collection.

1412 (BD928). Tasmanian male. Native of Van
Diemen’s Land ; from Mr Espie, Surgeon.
Deville collection.

1413 (BD 1054). Tasmanian male. Purchased of
Mr J. S. Prout.

1414 (BD 1119). Tasmanian female. Found in the
bush at Racecourse, Surrey Hills ; from Dr
Joseph Milligan.

1415 (BD 1120). Tasmanian female. Found at
St Marys ; from Dr Milligan.

1416 (BD 1120a). Tasmanian female (?). Picked
up on north coast ; from Dr Milligan.

1417 (BD 1121). Tasmanian male. From Dr Mil¬
ligan.

1418 (BD 1297). Tasmanian male. From G. A.
Robinson.

In the Supplement (1875) are listed:—

1419 (BD1481). Tasmanian male. From G. A.
Robinson collection.

1420 (BD 1482). Tasmanian female. From G. A.
Robinson collection.

1421 (BD’1763). Tasmanian female.

Of the whole Tasmanian collection in the College
the only specimens now existing are — 1096.1, 1096.2
and a fragment of 1416 (BD 1120a), which are now
lodged at the British Museum (Natural History); and
Paget’s 2085 is still at the Royal College of Surgeons.

References : Hrdlicka (1928), Klaatsch (1903),
Steadman (1937).

University of Oxford.

The Tasmanian crania bear the serial number AUS
80.

1017. Tasmania, (md — ). January 8th 1864. (In
Department of Human Anatomy, Oxford).

1018. Tasmania, (md — ). January 8th 1864. (In
Department of Zoology and Comparative
Anatomy, Oxford). This skull has not been

described. It was not with others of the
series when they were originally described
by Garson, and has not since been referred
to by any author. It was located during the
present enquiries, being recognised by the
inscription “1018” and its typical morpho¬
logy.

1019. Tasmania, (md—). January 8th 1864. (In
Department of Human Anatomy, Oxford).

1020. Tasmania, (md—). Revd W. W. Spicer. (In
British Museum [Natural History]).

1021. Tasmania. (?). (md-p). Said to have been
brought back by Captain Cook and to be
Polynesian. Later classified as Tasmanian.
From Christ Church (Ch.Ch.809a O.C.).
(In Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford). If origi¬
nally part of Cook’s collections, this skull is
the only relic of the Tasmanians obtained
before European settlement which still
exists.

1022. Tasmania (md—). Pitt Rivers collection,
1887 (Ruxton). [In British Museum (Nat¬
ural History)]. This skull was originally
numbered “1021a” and measurements of it
have been published under this number.

1023. Tasmaniu (md—). Pitt Rivers collection,
1887 (Ruxton). (In Department of Human
Anatomy, Oxford). This skull was originally
numbered “1021b” and measurements of it
have been published under this number.

References: Garson (1899), Steadman (1937), Tur¬
ner (1908).

Royal Army Medical College.

This collection, originally described in 1857 by
Surgeon Major Geoige Williamson, M.D., was trans¬
ferred to the Department of Human Anatomy, Oxford,
about 1910, and then, a few years ago, to the British
Museum (Natural History). The numbering is that of
Williamson’s MS and published lists, with the prefix
AUS 80, which was added when the skulls were cata¬
logued at Oxford. (Records and MSS relating to this
collection are at the British Museum [Natural History]).

5. Tasmania. Donor: Dr Atkinson, Hobart
Town. Note:—Williamson listed this skull
as that of “Louisa Ferris, who twice attempted
to commit murder,” but it may be that of an
adult male aborigine.

(58. Native of Van Diemen’s Land. Note:—Mis¬
sing from the collection when received at
Oxford).

59. Native of Van Diemen’s Land. (?).

60. Native of Van Diemen’s Land.

445. Native of Van Diemen’s Land. Donor: Dr
Willis.

446. A boy, a native of Van Diemen's Land.

All the above skulls either lack mandibles, or have
mandibles apparently of other skulls associated with
them.

References: Steadman (1937), Williamson (1857).

British Museum (Natural History).

87.128.1/lq 24 . Tasmania, (md—). Donor: W.

Savile Kent.

94.1.20.1. Tasmania, (md-f). “Lady Franklin”.

Donor: G. C. Trench, 1894.

References: Pycraft (1925), Steadman (1937).

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

King’s College (London).

The Tasmanian skull mentioned by Knox (1850)
as being in the collection at King’s College could not be
traced in the Anatomy Department.

Middlesex Hospital (London).

Berry, Robertson and Buchner (1914) refer to two
skulls labelled as Tasmanian in the Middlesex Hospital
Museum. They consider their authenticity to be some¬
what dubious. These skulls could not be traced in the
Anatomy Department.

University oj Cambridge.

The following skeletal material in the Department
of Anatomy was described by Duckworth (1902):—

2096. Tasmanian. Adult male, (md—). The entry
in Duckworth's register is—“Cranium $
presented by Rev T. Anford in 1845. He
describes it us the skull of a poor aboriginal
woman murdered in the bush, and gave it
to the Rev H. G. Tomkins, Vicar of Bruns-
eombe, by whom it was given to Sir G.
Humphry. It is evidently male.”

2097. Tasmanian. Mandible of adolescent. Donor:
James Bonwick.

2098. ? Tasmanian Mandible of male.

2099. Tasmanian. Adult male, (md—, face and
front of cranium only). Port L . . . ■ The
entry in the register is:—“Presented to Dr
Humphrey by Mr Edmund Abbott who
sent it through Mr Charles Harrison of
Sudbury.” “Sudbury” is evidently Judbury,
in the Huon district. “Port L . ...” is
expanded to “Port Lamalme ??” in the
register; could this be (Cape) “Paul Lama-
non" badly written ?

2100. Tasmanian Adult male. Donor: James
Bonwick.

Note:—Specimens 2097, 2098 and 2099 could not be

located in 1958/59.

In addition to the above, there is the following
undescribed specimen in the collections:—

49. Skull (md+) covered with dried integument
on the right side. It was discovered in the
trunk of a tree in country near the Tamar
Rv and was said to be that of an aboriginal.
Donor: Professor J. T. Wilson. Said to have
been found by Dr Maddox, Government
Medical Officer, about 1880.

University of Edinburgh.

The history of this material (except Nos. 10 and
11 which are undescribed) has been given by Turner
(1908). The skulls, which are in the Department._ of
Anatomy, are referred to under the serial number XXX.

1. Van Diemen's Land. Adult male (md—).

Monro series (52).

2. V.D.L. Adult male (? William Lanney).

(md—). Donor: Dr Lloyd S. H. Oldmeadow.

The original record was "Skull of Tasmanian
aborigine, given me bj r Dr E. M. Crowther of Hobart,
Tasmania, and supposed by him to be that of the last
of the Tasmanians, (commonly known as King Billy).
It was the only Tasmanian skull found in the collection
of Dr Crowther’s father when he died, and as he was
the possessor of King Billy's skull if seems very pro¬
bable that it is the skull Dr Crowther supposes. Lloyd
S. H. Oldmeadow. 11/10/8S.”

3. Tasmanian. Adult female, (rnd-f). Donor:

Dr J. L. Robertson.

4. Tasmanian. Adult male. (md-f). Donor: C.
Gray. Goodsir series.

5. Van Diemen’s Land. Adult male, (md—).

Goodsir scries.

6. Tasmanian Adult male, (md—). Goodsir
series.

7. Van Diemen’s Land. Adult male (md—).

Phrenological Museum.

8. Extinct race V.D.L. Adult male (md—).

Donor. Mr J. Grant.

9. Bridgewater. Juvenile, (md—). Donor: Mr
Brent.

10. Tasmanian, (md-)-). Donor. Dr W. Ramsay
Smith, 1912.

11. Tasmanian, (md—). Old collection (Ogilvie
catalogue 371).

Hoyal Scottish Museum.

There is a skull from Van Diemen’s Land in the
collections, that of an adult male (md—), and origi¬
nally from Professor Jameson’s _ museum. It was
described by Turner (1908) as XXX.10, but this number
has since been used by the University of Edinburgh
for another Tasmanian skull, added to the collections
after the publication of Turner’s paper.

Musce de I'hommc (Paris).

972. Calvarium de Tasmanien de Port Dulrymple.
(md—). Coll: Bedford.

973. Calvarium incomplet trouve sur les bords du
lac St. Clair, Tasmania, (md—). Voy. Astro¬
labe & Z 6lee 47.

1503. Crane de Tasmanienne de Launceston
(md-)-). Verreaux 69. This skull may not
be that of a native of Launceston. The entry
in Verrcaux’s MS list in the library of the
Museum d’histoire natureile in Paris reads—
“69. tasmanienne, adult o. tele separee,

donnee par Mr Ronald Gunn” . Gunn lived
in Launceston and Verreaux met him there.

1505. Crane de Tasmanien. (md-f). Verreaux 68.

3619. Crane de Tasmanien. (md-f). Voy. La Favor¬
ite 10.

3637. Crane de chef Tasmanien. (md-f). Coll.
Eydoux II—Gervais (1876).

3638. Crane de Tasmanien. (md-f). Voy. La
Favorite 12.

4767. Crane de Tasmanienne. (md-f). Lac Saint
Clair. Coll. Dumoutier 5—Voy. Astrolabe
& Zcice.

4768. Crane de jeune Tasmanien. (md-f). Detroit
de Furneaux. Coll. Dumoutier 6.

[Note: Among the skulls in the Dumoutier collection,
no. 4 is labelled—“Crane d’Australien mort a
Hobarth town, publie comme Tasmanien”. Refer¬
ences to it as Tasmanian appeared in the results
of the voyage of the Astrolabe and Y.clvc, in
Blanchard’s text (pp. 134-136) and in the atlas
(pi. 36)].

Although the skulls in the Musee de l’homme have
been referred to by a number of authors and particularly
by Broca, Quatrefages and Topinard, only a few of them
have been described individually. So far as has been
determined, information about the skulls is given in
the following:—

972. Klaatsch (1903). Quatrefages A- Hamy
(1882) refer (p. 225) to this skull as being

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

part of Dumont D’Urville’s collection. (The
Revd William Bedford was Senior Chaplain
in Van Diemen’s Land and was inierested in
G. A. Robinson’s work among the Tasmanian
aborigines. On' of his sons, Dr E. S. P.
Bedford, entered the colonial medical sendee
in Hobart in 1828, and became a leading
doctor there).

973. Quatrefages & Ilamy (1882), pp. 204-205—
“femme Tasmanienne du sud”.

1503. Quatrefages & Hamy (1882). p. 225.

1505. Klaatsch (1903). Quatrefages & Hamy (1882),
p. 225, f. 230, 234-236—“Tasmanien de Laun¬
ceston. Coll. J. Verreaux no. 1”. Topinard
(1872)—“Tasinauien, no. 1505 du Museum”.

3619. Quatrefages & Hamy (1882), p. 224—“no. 3
de eette memo serie de Hobart - Town ’.
Topinard (1872), f. 2—“Tasmanien, no. B.III,
186 du Museumi ... la machoire est
assujettie avec de la ficelle”.

3637. Dumoutier (1874). Gervais (1876) — head
collected by Eydoux in 1831. Quatrefages &
Hamy (1882), f. 228, 229, 231—"Tasmanien de
Hobart-Town”; Eydoux no. 2.

3638. Klaatsch (1903). Quatrefages & Hamy (1882),
f. 232, pi. XIX f. 3, ‘l—“Crane d’un Tas¬
manien de Hobart-Town”; Eydoux no. 1.

4767. Klaatsch (1903). Quatrefages & Hamy (1882),
pp. 224-225—“femme tasmanienne du sud”.

4768. Quatrefages & Hamy (1882), p. 225—“crane do
jeune sujet du detroit de Furneaux recuerlli
par Dumoutier . . . ce jeune Tasmanien peut.
avoir onze ans environ”. (Voy. Astrolabe &
Zelee).

Inslitut royal des sciences nalurelles de Belgique
(Brussels).

(a) Tasmanien. (md—) Soc. anth. (=Societc
d’anthropologie de Bruxelles, now Society royale
beige d’anthropologie et de prehistoire).

(b) Tasmanien. (md+). Coll. Dr. Meisser
75d/24.6.186S (IG2653. R188).

Note:—Turner (1910) states that this skull is
not Tasmanian.

Etnografiska Museet (Stockholm).

There is the left half of a Tasmanian skull (md—)
in the collections. It was described by Ramstrdm (1926).

University oj Vienna.

The Department of Anatomy has the following
specimen:—

1403. Van Diemensland. (md+). This skull is
listed in Hyrtl’s catalogue (1869) under the
number 337. Nothing more is known about
it, the registers having been destroyed in the
last war.

Naturhistorisdhes Museum (Vienna).

5015. Tasmania - , (md—). This is skull no. 3 of the
series described by Harper and Clarke (1898).
It was also described by Poch (1916). The
story of its translation to Vienna is given by
Hohnel (1926, pp. 307-308).

Wroclaw (Breslau), Poland.

The Tasmanian skull described by Barkow (1862)
and by Weiger (1885) was destroyed in the last war
(letter from Dr B. Miszkiewicz, institute of Anthro¬
pology, Polish Academy of Sciences).

Fuller collection (Chicago Natural History Museum).

1. Skull of a native of Van Diemen’s Land
(md+). Originally presented to Chichester
Museum in 1833 by J, Forbes M.D. Female ?
(Steadman no. 1 ; Field no. 113 [Chicago
Natural History Museum]).

2. Female skull from Tasmania, (md—). Formerly
in the Chichester Museum, to which it was
presented by T. Humphrey in 1838. (Steadman
no. 2 ; Fieia no. 114).

3. Male native of Van Diemen’s Land, (md—).
Presented to the Chichester Museum by T.
Humphrey in 1838. (Steadman no. 3; Field
no. 115).

Reference: Steadman (1937).

The Pelvis.

In the Musec de l’homme (Paris) there is the
following specimen:—

1504. Bassin de Tasmanienne de Launceston.

This was sent by Verreaux from Tasmania in 1843 and
in the MS catalogue of his collections it is recorded as
•‘70. pelvis tasmanien”; there is no mention of it being
accompanied by other parts of the skeleton. This is
probably the pelvis described by Vcrneau (1875) and
by Garson (1899), both of whom classify it as male.

HAIR.

Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford).

1. Tasmanian. Eydoux coll. (Hairs brown).

2. Tasmanian. Donor: F. von Luschan, 1914. (2
twisted ringlets, a mixture of light and dark
brown hairs).

3. Tasmanian. Voy. Astrolabe (Quoy & Gaimard).
(Hairs black).

4. Tasmanian male. From Mr Robinson of Bath.
(Coiled ringlets loaded with red “earth”;
hairs black). [The Mr Robinson referred to
is G. A. Robinson, who on his return to Eng¬
land lived in Bath].

University oj Edinburgh.

The following material in the Department of
Anatomy was described by Turner (1914). Specimens
(a), (b) and (c) were from Ling Roth's collection. The
Edinburgh collection is not wholly accessible at present,
but items (b) and (d) have been located ; item (c) pro¬
bably corresponds to specimen 6491/LR 3. XLIX, cata¬
logued as being in the collections.

(a) Hair from the head of a Tasmanian aboriginal

chief who accompanied G. A. Robinson, collected

about 1832.

(b) Hair of Truganini ( 2 ) (1872).

(d) Hair of a male Tasmanian.

Musee de I’homme (Paris).

There are two entries in the catalogue of the collec¬
tion of hair:—

7857. Cheveux de Tasmanien. Eydoux no. II.
(Crane no. 3637).

7858. Cheveux de Tasmanien. Voy. Astrolabe
(Quoy & Gaimard no. 10).

However, these entries do not appear to correspond
with the two samples in the collection, which are both
labelled “Tasmaniens. M. Beauregard”, and are:—
(a) A tightly curled dark brown or black tress, the coil

21-3 cm long.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

(b) Some hairs without any curl and blond to brown
in colour, of maximum length about 6 cm.

University oj Vienna.

The following specimens are at the Anthropolo-
gisches Institut :—

Von Luschan coll: seven coiled tresses of typically
Tasmanian hair, numbered 5131, 5133, 5134, 5135,
5136, 5137 and L5. Their colour ranges between
light and dark brown. One specimen is dated
“1878”; another (L5) is marked “ S’’.

Poch coll: five specimens similar to the above; two
are not numbered, the others 492, 5128 and 5132.
This series does not, include the “blonde" Tasmanian
hair described by Poch (1916a), which is said to be
in the collections here, but has not been located.

Naturhistorisches Museum (Vienna).

There are five specimens of hair marked “Tas-
manier” in the collections. Nos. 154, 155 and 156 were
received from von Luschan and are typical Tasmanian
tight coils; they are 3-1 cm long and the hair is brown.
The entry in the register under nos. 157 and 158 is
“Tasmani’er ? beide Haarproben tragen die 2 Bezeichung
Nauru”. These latter specimens are tresses of almost
straight hair, no. 157 dark brown, about 35 cm long and
with a slight wave; and no. 158 is dull black, about
45 cm long and with at most a very slight wave.

ANATOMICAL MATERIAL.

Except for the skeleton and hair, nothing is known
of the structure of the body in the Tasmanians. Surgeons
performed autopsies on aborigines and probably also
dissected the body. A few postmortem reports exist,
but these do not give any information about the
anatomy; no other records are known.

There were some preserved heads in collections in
Europe, but they were never dissected or reported upon
in detail, and all that now remains is a single mummi¬
fied specimen.

Dumoutier (1874) and Gervais (1876) reported
briefly on a preserved head obtained by Eydoux when
he visited Hobart in July/August 1831 in La Favorite,
as surgeon of Laplace’s expedition. The specimen was
eventually destroyed because the preservation was not
satisfactory, but there is a plaster cast of the head in
the Musee de l'homme (Paris), numbered 3806, and the
skull was kept (no. 3637); and specimens of the hair
are in several collections.

There was one preserved head, and possibly
another, in the collections of the Royal College of
Surgeons of England, but this material was destroyed in
1941. It was never described.

Ling Roth (1899) published a photograph of a
preserved Tasmanian head in the collections of the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. It is still there.
This head, said bv Ling Roth to be that of an aboriginal
named “Shiney," is labelled—“Head of Tasmanian
native. Race extinct. 1845. Presented by Dr J. F.
Clarke, Inspector General of Hospitals”. The specimen
was said to have been preserved in whisky, but it has
been dried out for many years, Ling Roth’s photograph
showing it in this state.

In 1911 Professor G. Elliot Smith described a
mummified Tasmanian brain sent to him by Professor
R. J. A. Berry. The specimen does not seem to exist
now ; it was probably cut up for examination.

RELICS OF THE DEAD.

The term “relics of the dead” is used here as a
designation for objects of human origin carried or used
by the Tasmanians as mementoes of the dead, or as
charms against or cures for sickness or injury. So far
as known all were probably “charms” in the sense of
“articles possessing protective or curative properties”.
There seem to have been two varieties of these objects,
(a) bones, fragments of bone or dried parts of the body
which were either enclosed in a cover of, for example,
kangaroo skin, or tied round with a cord of sinew, by
which they were also suspended, and (b) gatherings
from cremation sites contained in a wrapping.

Barnard Davis obtained examples of both forms
of relic from G. A. Robinson, and these were acquired
by the Royal College of Surgeons with his collection of
skeletal material. The College retained the type (a)
relics, renumbering them as follows :—

1422 (BD 1487). 1422A (BD 1488). 1422B (BD 1489).
1422C (BD 1490). 1423 (BD 1491). 1424 (BD 1492).
1425 (BD 1493). — (BD 1494).

All this material was destroyed in 1941.

Two examples of type (b) relic from the Robinson-
Davis collection were presented by the College to the
British Museum, in the catalogue of which there is the
following entry relating to them : —

“Bundle of bark containing cinerated ashes of the
dead. It is circular in outline and pressed flat:
fastened by thick reddish string on one surface.
Marked “amulet of KILLUPEY MALATOFT or
TUPA,” June 26 1838. Another bundle of ashes
L 7. Formerly belonged to George Augustus Robin¬
son, Protector of the Aborigines (from Dr Barnard
Davis’ collection). Presented by the Royal College
of Surgeons 14t,h December 1882. 82. 12-14. 2".
The details of the catalogue entry appear to be a
mutilation of an original label. It seems likely that
this was one of Robinson’s (the word “cinerated” is
found in his MSS), but to accord with the specimens
“bundle of bark” needs some such words as “skin bag
enclosing” first; and killupey, malalojt and tupa are
unlike Tasmanian words or names. The date June 26,
1838 is not one on which a Tasmanian aboriginal died
on Flinders Island but there is a reference in Robinson’s
journal for May 25, 1838 to a native woman called
“Ellen” who wore “an amulet a parcel of ashes hung
round her throat to alleviate the pain.” Robinson had
previously seen her with a human bone susi>ended to
her back and had asked her for it, but was refused,
Ellen pointing out that he already had one in his office.
Ellen died on June 13 and Robinson might well have
obtained the “amulet" on June 26.

Through the kindness of Mr B. A. L. Cranstone, the
two specimens in the British Museum have now been
examined. Their present form is flattened and roughly
circular; they are about 3 cm thick, and one is about
13.5 cm in diameter and the other about 17 cm. The
cover is skin of a mammal, but no trace of the hair
remains. The cover forms a bag, the mouth of which is
drawn together by a cord and, in one of the specimens,
also by strips of skin 1-2 cm wide. The cord is a crude
3-ply fibre twist. Strips and cord arc threaded through
slits' in the skin bag and laced across its mouth, the slits
being arranged in a single row around the mouth, about
1 cm from its margin. The contents of each bag are
partly charcoal and dust, and partly unbumt vegetable

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

matter. The largeBt lumps of charcoal have one or more
sides of about 1 cm, and there is a gradation of size
between these and the dust. All the charcoal appeared
to be wood charcoal: no bone was found except part of
the beak of a bird, slightly charred at its base, in one of
the specimens. The unburnt vegetable matter comprised
bark and grass, the bark being more papery in one and
more fibrous in the other; no leaves were found. There
was a definite appearance of layering, the unburnt
material lining the bag and surrounding the inner mass
of charcoal.

All the bone “relics" of the Barnard Davis senes
(1422, etc.) were bound with kangaroo sinew (1422 A
had also a cord of vegetable fibre to suspend it), but this
may not have been the original condition. Robinson
obtained som:: at least of these “relics” at the Flinders
Island settlement, and twice mentions in his journal
asking a native to replace with a cord of kangaroo
sinew the string with which the bone was bound.

The “relics” used by the aborigines at the Flinders
Island settlement had either been brought there by
them or were prepared at. the settlement. Bundles of
ashes, if they were to contain human material, could not
have been prepared later than October 17, 1835, when
Robinson arrived to take charge. The same would
apply for most other types of “relics,” for after Robin¬
son arrived all bodies were buried. Of those dying at
the settlement before October 17. 1835 some were buried
and some were cremated. Even in Robinson's time
however, some “relics” were prepared by mothers from
the heads of their infants dying soon after birth.
References: Davis (1875), Pulleine (1924), Roth (1899).

SPEARS.

No Tasmanian spears were located during the sur¬
vey of European collections, apart from those labelled
“Van Diemen’s Land” in the Saffron Walden Museum.
There is one spear in the Fuller collection at Chicago
which may be Tasmanian.

WADD1E8.

British Museum.

The following description is associated with the
one specimen in the British Museum :—

“Wooden club in form of a pointed stick with
roughened grip. Mr Jas. Backhouse, Tasmania. Used
for hunting wallaby. Obtained in 1832 from natives at
Flinders Island (reference: Backhouse (1843) “Narra¬
tive . . .”, P- 90). Purchased from Treasurer of
Yorkshire Philosophical Society Museum. York.” Length
about 65 cm.

Fuller collection (Chicago).

Among the material obtained by Captain Fuller
from the Chichester Museum was a rough stick with a
chipped grip. This was apparently the specimen
referred to in the catalogue of that museum as being
a club used by the natives of Van Diemen’s Land,
presented in 1833 by John Forbes, M.D. (Field no.
4137).

Musie et Institut d’Ethnographie (Geneva).

Three clubs in the collections may be Tasmanian.
CANOE-RAFTS (Models).

There are references in the literature to seven
models of the Tasmanian canoe-raft. Three of these were
figured by Ling Roth (1899); they were then in the

museum of Eton College, but are now in the Pitt Rivers
Museum, Oxford. Four other models were shown at the
Great Exhibition of 1851, and of these one is now in
the British Museum (the other three have not been
located).

Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford).

(a) “Aboriginal canoe of tea-tree bark (Melaleuca)
bound with kurajong bark. They were usually
made of stringy bark. Capable of taking 8-10
persons. Obt. by Sir John Franklin (Governor),
1843; dd. Eton Coll. Museum 1893.” (Three
bundles of about the same size, tapering at the
ends. Ling Roth (1899), p. 156).

(b) “Aboriginal canoe. Tasmania. Obt. by Sir J.
Franklin 1843; dd. Eton Coll. Museum 1893.” (A
large central bundle and two much smaller
bundles forming the sides, brought to a point
at one end and cut square at the other. Made
of bullrush ? Ling Roth (1899), p. 156).

(c) “Aboriginal canoe. Tasmania. Obt. by Sir J.
Franklin 1843; dd. Eton Coll. Museum 1893”.
(A single round bundle, tapering at the ends.
Made of bullrush ? Ling Roth (1899), p. 156).

British Museum.

“Tasmania. Boat made from three rolls of bark;
this is really a raft with pointed ends. Given by the
Secretary, The Royal Society (exhibited in the Great
Exhibition of 1851). 51.11-22.5." ("Secretary of the
Royal Society” signifies Dr Joseph Milligan, Secretary
of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1848-1860, who was in
charge of the Tasmanian exhibits at. the Great Exhibi¬
tion). This is the model referred to by Ling Roth
(1890, p. x, pi. IV; 1899, p. 157). The'entry in the
catalogue of the Great Exhibition reads : — “279- J-
Milligan. Four models of canoes of the aborigines of
Van Diemen’s Land. (These are exact models of the
large catamarans, in which the natives used to cross
1o Bmne Island; the material is bark of the Melaleuca
squarrosa )."

FIRE-DRILLS.

Two fire-drills have been described in the literature
as Tasmanian. One of these instruments was figured
by Lubbock (1S69, 1890, 1900), and both were described
and figured by Ling Roth (1890, 1899).

Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford).

“Firestick, native Tasmanian. Presented by Dr
Barnard Davis 1868.”

Fuller collection (Chicago).

The (ire-drill figured by Lubbock in the second and
subsequent editions of his book Pre-historic times, was
given to him by G. A. Robinson. When Lubbock’s
collection was dispersed this fire-drill was acquired by
Sir Henry Wellcome, but, when Wellcome’s collection
was sold in 1934 only the drill could be found, the pad
being missing. The drill was bought, by Captain Fuller
and is now in the Chicago Natural History Museum
(Field no. 4138).

In spite of the evidence apparently provided by
these fire-drills, it is very doubtful whether the Tas¬
manians used such instruments to obtain fire, at any
rate before their contacts with the Australian aborigines.
Lubbock received his specimen from G. A. Robinson,

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

and it seems likely that the Pitt Rivers-Bamard Davis
specimen was also originally in Robinson's collection, a
collection in which there was known to be confusion
between material of Tasmanian and Australian origin.
Ling Roth (1899, appendix H) states that the Barnard
Davis specimen was obtained from Dr Joseph Milligan
but this seems doubtful and it is much more likely that
it was one of those obtained from Robinson (see list).
Moreover, Ling Roth’s statement (1899) that Milligan
"knew nothing of the aborigines until 1847” is hardly
correct: he was appointed surgeon to the Van Diemen’s
Land Company in 1831 and was stationed on the North-
West Coast, an appointment which gave him
opportunities for observing the natives. Milligan’s
statement to Barnard Davis, quoted on page 4 of this
paper, that the specimens he had obtained from
Robinson were largely Australian, has, therefore, some
authority.

Robinson’s statements to others on the subject of
fire-making do not help either. Thus, among his papers
in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, there are some letters
written to him in 1865/66 by a Dr John Davy of Amble-
side. Robinson had evidently sent Davy particulars of
“the manner employed by the Tasmanians to procure
fire,” but his description was apparently not clear for
Davy could only infer from Robinson’s reply “that
it was by friction.” The same correspondence shows that
Robinson had pointed out to Sir John Lubbock that he
had fallen into a mistake by trusting to the statement
made by Dove (1842) about the Tasmanians that
although fire was well known to them, some tribes, at
least, appear to have been ignorant whence it was
obtained, or how, if extinguished, it could be re-lighted.
Yet Lubbock continues to quote Dove in later editions
of his Pre-historic times, and merely figures the fire-drill
given him by Robinson.

Possibly this confusion has arisen not only from
Robinson’s muddle but also from the use of the word
“firestick” to describe both a fire-brand (for carrying
fire) and a fire-drill (for making fire by friction); and
there is some indication of this in Barnard Davis’s list
of the Robinson collection (p. 2-3). Certainly, any
references to fire in the field journals in which Robinson
kept a daily record of his journcyings through the
Tasmanian bush, confirm Dove's statement. The last
word seems to be provided by Robinson himself, writing
in his journal on May 13 1840 when he was travelling
in the bush in Victoria—“I observed for the first time
how natives in their original state get fire by friction
from two pieces of wood,” ho says, and then proceeds
to describe and figure a fire-drill clearly identical with
the two “Tasmanian” specimens referred to above, to
describe how it was used and to record that the abori¬
ginal ho saw using it presented this fire-drill to him.
The drill pad of a “Tasmanian” specimen from Robin¬
son's collection now in the Queen Victoria Museum.
Launceston. Tasmania, is made of non - Tasmanian
material (Palmaceae). There remains little doubt that
the records of Tasmanian fire-drills are based on
Australian material.

WATER CONTAINERS.

The Tasmanians made a container for water from
the broad blade of Sarcophycus potatorum, a type of
kelp common along parts of the Tasmanian coast,
forming the vessel by gathering up the sides on sticks.
Such a vessel has been described by Labillardiere (1800)

and by Peron & Freycinet (1807/1816).

A model of one of these containers was on display
in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the note in the
catalogue reads :—

“231. J. Milligan. Model of a water-pitcher, made
by the aborigines of Van Diemen’s Land. (This
water-pitcher is made of the broad-leaved kelp,
and is large enough to hold a quart or two of
water. The only other vessel possessed by the
aborigines for carrying a supply of water was a sea-
shell, a largo cymba, occasionally cast upon the
northern shore of Van Diemen’s Land, which con¬
tained about a quart)’’. This is evidently the model
now in the British Museum, which is labelled—
“Model of kelp water vessel. Given by J. Milligan.
51.11-22.2”.

Ling Roth (1899), in giving a figure of this model, also
refers to another model in the Ethnological Museum of
the Louvre, but this has not been traced; it is not in
I he collections of the Musee du Louvre, or of the Musee
do la marine (formerly in the Palais du Louvre), or
of the Musee de l’homme.

NECKLETS.

Four types of necklet of Tasmanian origin have
been described. One was made of the sinews of the
kangaroo’s tail, formed into several loops ; another
comprised loops of twisted plant fibre ; and another
loops of furred skin. The fourth type of necklet was
one or more loops of small shells, usually Elenchus sp.,
strung on a sinew or twisted fibre.

Necklets said to have been made by the Tasmanian
aborigines are fairly common in collections. Most of
them are strings of small shells ; and in all those seen
the shells are strung on a machine-twisted thread, which
may either signify restringing, or that they were made
after European contacts had been made. Many of the
latter must have been made by the captive aborigines
on Flinders Island.

British Museum.

There are about ten necklets of shells in the
collections. Two of these were presented by J. Edge-
Part ington and were obtained by him in Hobart; another
was given by Joseph Milligan in 1851; and others are
marked as coming from Flinders Island.

Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford).

There are at least five necklets in this museum,
four of which are strings of small shells. The other
necklet is labelled :—

“Necklet of native string worn by both sexes
Tasmanian aborigines; dd. Dr Barnard Davis 186S.”
This consists of several coils of string, the loops about
20 cm. long and several of them bound together here
and there with a whipping of a 2-ply twist over a
distance of about 1 cm. This necklet has been figured
by Ling Roth (1899, p. 131).

Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Cambridge).
There is a necklace of the shells of Calliosloma sp.,
about one metre in length overall, which is labelled
“ ? Tasmanian. Dr Webster. 1906”.

Royal Albert Memorial Museum (Exeter).

There is a shell necklace and a bracelet in the
collections, reputed to have belonged to Truganini
(donor Miss C. E. Wright, 1905).

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

Pitt Rivers Museum (Farnliam).

There are two necklets in the collections, labelled
“Necklace made of dog claws on sinew. Tasmania.”
These necklets consist of teeth and beads on a string
of vegetable fibre. The teeth are canines of the dog
and are pierced through the roots for stringing. On the
roots a pattern has been incised. They are probably
native work from New Guinea.

Royal Scottish Museum.

There are two Tasmanian shell necklets in the
collections, one labelled—

“Necklace of shells made by natives. Presented by
the Tasmanian Commission, International Exhibi¬
tion 1862.”;
and the other—

“Necklace of small shells (Truncatella marginala)
and a few Elenchus shells strung on thread. Capo
Barren Island, Bass Straits.”

Another necklace of Elenchus shells, which is
labelled as Australian, is thought to be Tasmanian.

Hunterian Museum (Glasgow).

There is one necklace of shell# in the museum,
from the Bass Straits.

Museum fur Volkerkunde (Koln).

Some necklets in the collections may be Tasmanian.

Fuller collection (Chicago).

A necklace in this collection (Field no. 4139),
obtained before 1834 by John Merrimen, may be of
sinew. It is covered with a red incrustation.

Museo Nazionale (Rome).

There are some Tasmanian shell necklaces in this
museum, in the Giglioli collections.

BASKETS.

It seems likely that the Tasmanian aborigines in
their natural state used only one type of weave in the
baskets they made, and that, such baskets were small
and in form globular or cylindrical with a rounded
bottom. Other types of basket-work have been attri¬
buted to the Tasmanians. Three different types were
described by Ling Roth in the first edition of his book
(1890), but by the time of the second edition (1899) he
had come to the ocnclusion that only one weave was
indigenous, and consisted of vertical bars held together
by horizontal bars of 2-ply plaiting, the horizontal bars
about half an inch apart, and the vertical bare spaced
by the horizontal plaiting. A narrow-leafed “grass”
such as Lepidospcrma was used in manufacture, single
blades being used both in the vertical bars and in each
strand of the horizontal ply (Ling Roth. 1890, pp. ix-x,
pi. Ill; 1899, pp. 144-145).

There is very little precise information about the
basket-work of the Tasmanians. The baskets illustrated
by the French explorers are shown with insufficient detail
(they are usually in composite illustrations, e.g., as in
Labillardierc), or may be Australian rather than Tas¬
manian (Peron & Freycinet, pi. XIII). The real
confusion seems to have begun with Robinson, whose
collections contained baskets marked “Tasmanian” of
the three forms figured by Ling Roth (1890, pis. I, II.
III). A large number of baskets must have passed
through Robinson’s hands: comments in his diaries for
1829-1834 mention baskets, Australian as well as Tas¬

manian, given to him in Tasmania by the natives and
others, and baskets sent by him to friends and acquain¬
tances; baskets (and necklaces) must have been a
common commodity at the native markets held later on
Flinders Island; and there is no reason to suppose that
baskets were not acquired by Robinson during the Port
Phillip protectorate. There were many opportunities for
muddle then and later.

British Museum.

A. Tasmanian-type (Ling Roth 1890, pi. III).

(a) One basket labelled—“Basket. Tasmania.
Mr Milligan 51.11-22.1”.

(b) Four baskets labelled — (1) “Tasmanian
GAR,” (2) “J. B. Davis coll.” (One of these
baskets measures about 9" x 9", another
9" x 7". All have a 2-ply twist carrying¬
string) .

(c) One basket labelled—(1) “Tasmania GAR/
Roth pi. Ill”, (2) “J. B. Davis coll”, (3)
“A. W. F. Nov 4th 1889 +4672 Tasmania
J. B. Davis”.

(d) One basket labelled—“Rush basket. Given
by A. IV. Franks +4672”.

B. Other types.

Bl. (Ling Roth 1890, pi. I).

There are about ten baskets of this type in
the British Museum. All of them are label¬
led “J. B. Davis coll”, and some of them
have other labels also, in four cases the
other label or one of them being “Tasmania
GAR”. These baskets are larger on the
average than those of type A. being com¬
monly about 15" across and 12" deep,
and one of them is quite large, measuring
about 24" across. One of the baskets has
the following labels—(1) “Tasmania GAR,”
(2) “J. B. Davis coll / drawn by Miss
Roth”, (3) “Tasmania A.W.F. Nov. 4th
1889 J. B. Davis +4675 / Roth pi. I”.

B2. (Ling Roth 1890, pi. II.).

There are five baskets of this type in the
British Museum, labelled “Tasmania
GAR”, and from the Barnard Davis collec¬
tion One is also labelled “drawn by Miss
Roth”.

C. Miscellaneous basketry.

In the British Museum there is also a mat

and a large container, both of type Bl weave.

It is unlikely that these articles are of indi¬
genous Tasmanian manufacture.

(a) “Flat circular basket of spiral plaiting with
withes and strips of leaf or grass: projecting
mouth at one side. No history, but it was
in company with Tasmanian baskets. Pre¬
sented by A. W. Franks Esq., 4th November
1889. (Dr Barnard Davis). (+4671)’’. This
container is circular, the diameter about
15".

(b) “Oval mat of plaited rush (or leaf strips)
with a smaller mat of the same shape
fastened in the middle. Tasmania G.A.R.
Presented by A. W. Franks Esq., 4th
November 1889. (Dr Barnard Davis).
(+4674)”.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford).

(a) “Basket in twined weaving. Probably made of
Lepidosperma filiforme. Tasmania. Pitt Rivers
collection 1440. From Royal Gardens, Kew.”
This is a type A basket, considered here to be
Tasmanian.

(b) “Coiled basketry. Sewing done in a series of
zig-zag loops with two elements. Possibly
made of Lepidosperma gladiatum. Tasmanian:
Pitt Rivers coll. 1441. From Ethn. Soc. coll.;
dd. Royal Gardens. Kew.” This is type B1
basketry.

Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Cambridge).
There is a Tasmanian (type A) basket in this
Museum labelled—“Collected by Rev. Backhouse,
Quaker Missionary, 1835." The index card describes
the basket as a “roughly pear-shaped openwork
twined bag of unspun fibres held by a coil of
twining crossing them at intervals of about 1/3”
Very similar in construction to 54.120 from Queens¬
land except for the closeness of the basal coil and
the lack of a binding at the top.”

STRING BAGS.

In the British Museum and at Oxford are some
string bags consisting of loose loops of a 2-ply cord, and
having a carrying handle of cord (ref. Ling Roth 1890,
pp. ix-x). There are four of these bags in the British
Museum, all from the Barnard Davis collection; one
measures about 18" across and 18" deep, and the others
about 12" across and the same depth or a little less.

In the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) the specimen
is labelled—“Tasmania. Bag worn over neck and under
left arm by women diving for Haliotis shell fish. Ob¬
tained by Dr Davis 1868. PR coll 1429”. There is no
evidence that such a string bag was used naturally by
the native women when gathering shell-fish, the records
referring to baskets being used for this purpose.

STONE IMPLEMENTS.

Tasmanian stone implements arc to be found in a
number of collections in Europe, but except for the
Westlake collection at Oxford, the specimens are often
inadequately labelled, damaged or weathered. Moreover,
there are so few specimens in many of the collections
that a comprehensive series is seldom found, and this
has tended to restrict the work of European students.

The Westlake collection in the Pitt Rivers Museum
(Oxford) comprises about 12,000 specimens, but has been
referred to only by Balfour (1925). Ernest Westlake
formed the collection during a visit to Tasmania:
arriving in Hobart about mid-November 1908 he stayed
in the island until at least January 1910 and during that
time travelled extensively. His notebooks contain
accounts of interviews with old settlers who remembered
the natives and halfcastes, or whose parents and
relatives had known them.

There are collections of Tasmanian stone imple¬
ments in the following Museums, the approximate
number of specimens being shown in brackets following
the name of the institution or collection : —

England. British Museum (300), British Museum
(Natural History) (4), Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology (Cambridge) (72), Hornimun Museum (Lon¬
don) (49), Manchester Museum (a few), City Museum
(Bristol (50-100), Wellcome Historical Medical

Museum (London) (16), Exeter Museum (a few),
Lacaille collection (London) (16), Brighton Museum
(9), [Part, perhaps all, of the Brighton collection came
from E. B. Tylor and was used in preparing his paper
on Tasmanian stone implements (1894). In this museum
are also the throe ground stone axes which Tylor des¬
cribed in 1895 and which had been in Barnard Davis's
collection]. Geological Museum (Oxford) (40-50).
[Among these specimens are some from E. B. Tylor’s
collection].

Northern Ireland. Belfast Museum (6).

Belgium. Institut royal dcs sciences naturelles (Brus¬
sels) (443).

France.. Museo de l'homme (Paris)) (21), Institut de
palaeontologie humaine (Paris) (10).

Denmark. Nationalmuseet (Copenhagen) (170).
[The Pulleine collection is not in the Nationalmuseet,
as stated by McCarthy (1938). (The skulls from the
Pulleine collection (ref. Hrdlicka (1928)) are in the
South Australian Museum, Adelaide)].

Italy. Museo Nazionale di Antropologia e Etnologia
(Florence), Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico
(Rome). [It is understood that both these collections
contain only a few specimens].

Sweden. Etnogrnfiska Museet (Stockholm) (7),
Etnografiska Museet (Goteborg) (a few).

Switzerland. Bernisches Historisches Museum (14),
Musee et Institut d’Ethnographie (Geneva) (about 30).

BONE IMPLEMENTS.

The Westlake collection at Oxford contains a bone
implement made from the fibula of a kangaroo, from a
midden at Adventure Bay, Bruny Island ; and there is
a specimen of doubtful authenticity in the British
Museum.

SIGNBOARD.

One of the painted boards issued by Governor
Arthur about 1828 to inform the aborigines that native
and settler were equal under the Law, is in the Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge. It had
formed part of Dr Barnard Davis's collection, and he had
obtained it from John Skinner Prout, the artist, in 1856.
Prout, who came to Australia in 1840 and stayed about
ten years, spending some of that time in Tasmania, was
given the board by G. A. Robinson. (Refer to Little
(1945) for a description of this board).

BUSTS. FACE-MASKS (Plaster).

Musee de l'homme (Paris).

There is a collection of plaster busts and face-masks
of the Tasmanian aborigines in the Musee de l’homme
which includes five busts modelled by Dumouticr when
he visited Hobart Town in 1839/40 as preparateur
d’anatomio and phrenologiste of Dumont D’Urville’s
expedition with the Astrolabe and Z 6lee.

904. Buste de Bourrakooroo, natif de Ringarooma-
bay. Coll. Dumont D’Urville 58.

905. Buste d’un naturel de la terre dc Van Diemen.
(Jeune fille). Coll. Dumont D’Urville 59.
(Also marked: “HYOLEBOUYER (Lalia
Rook)”).

906. Buste de Menalarguerna, natif de Oister-bay.
Coll. Dumont D’Urville 60.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

915. Buste de Timmey, natif de George River,
terre de Van Diemen. Coll. Dumont
D’Urville 69.

916. Buste de Guenny, port Sorrell, Tasmanie.
Coll. Dumont D’Urville 70.

There are also copies and (rials of some of these,
as well as face-masks prepared from 915 and 916, and
the face-mask of a child.

In addition to the above there are the following : —

(a) Buste de jeune Tasmanien. Coll. Dumoutier.

(b) 3806. Buste de Tasmanien mottle sur la tele
rapportee par Eydoux, Voyage de la Favorite
(145), et conservee dans l’alcool. Le crane est
dans la collection sous le no. 3637).

References : Dumont D'Urville (1841-54), Quatrofages

& Hamy (1882).

Law’s busts of Truganini and Wourcddy.

Copies of these well-known busts of Truganini (T.)
and Woureddy (\V.) have been seen in the British
Museum (T. & \V.). Royal Anthropological Institute
(T.) and in the Musee de l’hoinihe (T. & W.; obtained
by Dumoutier in 1839/40, coll. Dumont D’Urville 67 and
68). There are also copies in the Salisbury Museum
(T. & W.) and in the Anatomy Department of the
University of Edinburgh (W.).

Captain A. W. P. Fuller has a copy of the bust of
Wourcddy with the words “From .1. Scott Col. Surg. to
Dr Forbes” also inscribed on it. This bust came from
the Chichester Museum.

CASTS OF SKULLS, ENDOCRANIAL CASTS.

Endocranial casts and casts of skulls have been
seen in various collections. Some of these, and others,
have been referred to in the literature. There is often
no information from which to identify the original model,
and for this reason and also because such easts are of
little use for precise work, they will not be listed here.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIANS.

Original portraits of the aborigines have been
located in several collections in Europe. They will be
dealt with in another paper.

SCOPE OF ENQUIRY.

A list of the museums and collections covered by
this enquiiy is given below. Those that were visited
are indicated by an asterisk (*); enquiries were made at
others by letter. Collections in which Tasmanian
material was located are marked with a dagger (f).
Austria :

Vienna —*t Naturhistorisches Museum; *t Anato-
mischen Institut. Universitat; ° Museum fur
Volkerkunde; °f Institut fur Anthropologic,
Universitat.

Belgium :

Brussels— *t Institut royal des sciences naturelles
de Belgique.

Denmark :

Copenhagen —° f Nationalmuseet.

Eire :

Dublin —* National Museum of Ireland; * Depart¬
ment of Anatomy, Trinity College; 0 f Royal
College of Surgeons in Ireland.

England :

Arundel—Totems Museum.

Batley—Bagshaw Museum.

Birchington—Powell-Cott on Museum.

Birmingham — City Museum; Department of
Anatomy, The University.

Bournemouth—Russell-Cotes Museum.

Brighton—° 1 County Museum.

Bristol—1 City Museum; Department of Anatomy,
The University.

Burnley—Towneley Hall Museum.

Exeter—f Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

Hastings—Public Museum.

Liverpool—Public Museum.

Manchester—f Manchester Museum; Department
of Anatomy, The University.

New Barnet—Abbev Museum.

Saffron Walden—®f Museum.

St. Helens—Gamble institute.

Salford—■•City Museum.

Salisbury—t Salisbury, South Wilts and Blackmore
Museum.

University of Cambridge—°i Department of Ana¬
tomy; °t Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology.

University of Oxford — °fPitt Rivers Museum;
°f Museum of Geology; °f Museum of
Zoology and Comparative Anatomy; t Depart¬
ment of Anatomy.

Kingston upon Hull—City Museums.

Northampton—Central Museum.

Faraham (Dorset)—°f Pitt-Rivers Museum.

London—°f British Museum; “f British Museum
(Natural History); ® Commonwealth Insti¬
tute; °tWellcome Historical Medical Museum;
°f Horniman Museum; °f Royal College of
Surgeons of England; 0 i Royal Anthropological
Institute; * Department, of Anatomy, Univer¬
sity College; • Department of Anatomy. Kings
College; * Department of Anatomy, Middlesex
Hospital Medical School; °t Captain A. W. F.
Fuller (private collection and Fuller Collection,
Chicago, U.S.A.).

Northern Ireland:

Belfast—Museum.

Poland :

Wroclaw (Breslau) — Institute of Anthropology,
Polish Academy of Sciences.

Scotland :

Aberdeen — Department of Anatomy, The Univer¬
sity.

Edinburgh °fDepartment of Anatomy, The Uni¬
versity ; * 1 Royal Scottish Museum; ° Royal
College of Surgeons.

Glasgow—City Museum ; } Hunterian Museum.

Perth—City Museum.

Stirling—Smith Arts Institute.

Stromness — Orkney Natural History Society.

Sweden :

Goteborg—f Etnografiska Museet.

Stockholm—° t Etnografiska Museet.

Switzerland :

Basel—Museum fur Volkerkunde.

Bern—f Historisches Museum.

Geneve—t Musee et institut d’ethnographie.

Neuchatel—Musee d’ethnographie,

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

France :

Le Havre—°t Museum d’histoire naturelle.

Paris—°f Musee de 1’homme; ° Musee du Louvre;
° Musee de la marine; °f Musee de la France
d’outre mer; °f Institut de palaeontologie
humaine.

Germany :

Berlin-Dahlem—Museum fur Volkerkunde.

Bonn—Seminar fur Volkerkunde der Universitat.
Frankfort am Main—Anlhropologisckes Institut ;

Senckenberg Museum ; Frobenius-Institut.
Hamburg—Museum fur Volkerkunde.

Koln—t Museum fur Volkerkunde
Munchen—Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde.
Note :—The following material is referred to in the
literature, but little information has been obtained
concerning it :—

Berlin University—skull (no. 241) of Nanny, a
half caste Tasmanian.

von Lusehan collection—5 skulls, from G. A. Robin¬
son (Klaatsch (1903), Turner (1908)); hair.
Friedenthal collection—hair.

Vcrworn collection — stone implements.

Klaatsch collection — skulls and stone implements.

Ur. Fritz Kiffncr, who was one of Professor von
Luschnn’s pupils, has informed me that the von Lusehan
collection is now in the American Museum of Natuml
History, New York, and Dr H. L. Shapiro of that
Museum has since informed me that seven Tasmanian
skulls were acquired from the von Lusehan collection.

Holland. :

Amsterdam— 0 Institut voor de Tropen; Depart¬
ment of Anatomy, Municipal University.

Leiden — Department of Anatomy, University.

Utrecht—Institute of Anthropology. (Tasmanian
material believed to be in the collections can¬
not, be traced).

Italy :

Florence— f Soeieta Italiana di Antropologia e
Etnologia; f Musoo Nazionalc di Antropologia
e Etnologia.

Rome—Instituto di Antropologia dell’ Universita
di Roma ; t Museo Nazionalc.

TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

REFERENCES

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Australian colonies (London).

BALFOUR, H. 1925—The status of the Tasmanians
among the stone-age peoples . Proc. prehist. Sue.
E. Anglia, 5, pp. 1-15.

BARKOW, H. C. L. 1862 —Comparative Morphologic des
Menschen . . . (Breslau).

BERRY, R. J. A, ROBERTSON, A. W. D. & BUCH¬
NER, L. W. G. 1914—The craniometry of the
Tasmanian aboriginal. ,/. roy. anthrop. Inst., 44,

pp. 122-126.

DAVIS, J. BARNARD. 1867 — Thesaurus craniorum.
(London).

DAVIS, J. BARNARD. 1874 — On the osteology and
peculiarities oj the Tasmanians . . . (Haarlem).

DAVIS, J. BARNARD. 1875 —Supplement to thesaurus
craniorum. (London) .

DUCKWORTH, W. L. II. 1902—Craniological notes on
the aborigines of Tasmania. J. anthrop. Inst.,
32, pp. 177-181.

DUMONT-D’URVILLE, J. S. C. 1830-31 —Voyage de hi
corvette I’Astrolabe . . . (Paris).

DUMONT-D’URVILLE, J. S. C. 1841-54— Voyage . .
sur les corvettes I'Astrolabe et la Ze'/dc . . .
(Paris).

DUMOUTIER, P. M. A. 1874 — Le Tasmanien de
Eydoux. Bull. Soc. Anthrop. Paris, 9, pp. 808-
813.

FLOWER, W. H. Catalogue oj . . osteulogy and denti¬
tion . . in the museum oj the Royal College oj
Surgeons oj England. (London).

1st edition . . 1879.

2nd edition .. 1907.

CARSON, J. G. 1899—Osteology. In: H. Ling Roth
(1899) The aborigines oj Tasmania. (Halifax).

GERVAIS, P. 1876—Un des demiers naturels de la
terre de Diemen. Z oologie el paleontologie
generates, 2, pp. 1-8, pis. 1-4.

GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851, London, Catalogue.
(London).

HARPER, W. R. AND CLARKE, A. H. 1898—Notes
on the measurements of the Tasmanian crania
in the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart. Pap. Proc.
Roy. Soc. Tasm., for 1897, pp. 97-110, pis. 1, 2.

HoHNKL, L. VON. 1926— Mein Lebvn zur See . . .
(1875-1909). (Berlin).

HRDLICKA, A. 1928—Catalogue of human crania in
the United States National Museum collections.
Proc. U IS. nat. Mus., 71, 140 pp.

HYRTL, J. I860 —Vergangcnheil and Gcgenwart des
Museums jiir menschlichc Anatomic an dcr
Weiner Universilat. (Vienna).

KLAATSCH, II. 1903—Bericht iiber einen antliro-
pologischen Streifzug naeh London und auf das
Plateau von Sud-England. Z eits. Elhnol., 35,
pp. 875-920.

KNOX, R. 1850 — The races oj men. (London).

LABILLARDIERE, J. J. HOUTOU DE. 1800— Rela¬
tion du voyage a la recherche de La Perouse . . .
(Paris).

LITTLE, K. L. 1945 — A British proclamation of justice
to the Tasmanians, 1815. Man, 45, p. 1, pi. A.

LUBBOCK, J. Pro-historic limes. (London). 1st ed.
1865; 2nd cd. 1869; 5th ed. 1890; 6lh ed. 1900.

McOARTHY, F. D. 1938 — Aboriginal relics and their
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in the museum oj the Royal College oj Surgeons
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logical series contained in the museum oj the
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PAGET, J. 1882 — Descriptive catalogue oj the patho¬
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the Royal College oj Surgeons of England.
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TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL MATERIAL IN COLLECTIONS IN EUROPE

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75.

A CKNO H 'LEDGEMENTS.

It would not be possible to thank all those who have helped me to make this survey,
so many have done so. I will therefore only record that without their hell) this paper could
not have been written, and offer my best thanks to each.

I would like especially to thank Professor J. Z. Young who gave me a temporary
appointment on his staff at University College, which enabled me to continue research on
the Tasmanian aborigine.

A generous travel grant from the Wellcome Trust made it possible for me to visit
collections in Europe.

Printed by

Foot & Playsted Pty. Ltd.
Launceston, Tasmania

A TEW SERIES, No. 16

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM

LAUNCESTON

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE
PRECAMBRIAN METAMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE
UPPER MERSEY-FORTH AREA

ALAN SPRY
Department of Geology
University of Tasmania

Manuscript received 2/10/1062
Published 6/6/1963

abstract

,, Precambrian metamorphic rocks in the headwaters of the Mersey and Forth Rivers include the Howell
^ r oup (garnet- and mica-schists and quartzites), Fisher Group (quartzites and slates) and the Dove Schist
(garnet- and mica-schist). The rocks were strongly deformed during two phases (Fi and F 2 ) of the regional
^tamorphism of the Frenchman Orogeny; a third phase (F a ) may include both Precambrian and I alaeozoic
movements. The rocks resemble Ihoso of Frenchman’s Cap in their chionology oi deformation and crystal-
nation. It is postulated that t lie rocks were folded into the large recumbent Borradaile Fold during F* and
then into a series of synforms and antiforms during the Devonian Tahberabberan Orogeny.

INTRODUCTION

, The Precambrian rocks of the headwaters of the Mersey and Forth Rivers have been briefly described
b .y Spry (1958) and are very similar to those at Frenchmans Cap (Spry, 1962b). The area (fig. 1) is
covered by the Middlesex one-inch sheet of the Tasmanian Mines Department (Jennings, 1958).

The Precambrian rocks are overlain by Cambrian sediments just South of Lorinna, but like many other
Parts of the edge of the Tyeunun Geanticline, the Cambrian Dundas Group is generally missing and Ordovi-
«>an sediments rest directly on the metamorphic rocks. The uncomformity between Ordovician and
TmCambrian rocks is not strongly angular and the dip and strike are^ similar even though^ garnet schist is
overlain by unmetamorphosed sandstone. Devonian granite has intruded along the unc nfo i utj m several
Places.

South of the unconformity is a belt of garnet-schist (Dove Schist) followed to the south by a belt which
IS dfmiirvmiiir in order going south along the Mersey River is the Arm

Schist (garnet- and mica-echiS) thm the qiwrtzite belt through Maggs Mountain (Maggs Quartzite or Fisher
Group) and then the Howell Group of schists and quartzites which extend further south fot many miles
<%. 1).

. . It will be shown that two periods of deformation <F, “dg^fXuctuS^ekted toHhLdteS

ftr r“;: sSAS'ht wssws.tvsi

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE PRECAMBRIAN

PETROLOGY

The lithology of the various rock groups will be
first described and then the possible structural, strati¬
graphic and petrological relations discussed. Study of
similar rocks at Frenchman’s Cap (Spry, in press) lias
shown, that the history of the metamorphic rocks can
be best determined by analysing the chronology of
crystallization and deformation. Bedding is referred
to as So, the foliation produced during Fi is Si, Su was
formed during F- and & during F».

DOVE SCHIST

Dark coloured, rather fine-grained mica schists are
well exposed along the Mersey Forestry Road for
several miles north of the junction of the Mersey and
Fisher Rivers. Similar schists outcrop further west
along the Forth River and the type locality is at the
quarry just west of the Forth River on the road from
Lorinna to the Dove Mill (Spry', 1958).

The schists are strongly foliated with a colour
banding parallel to the foliation. The lithology js
uniform and interbedded quartzites are rare. Lineation
is uncommon.

The schists contain quartz, muscovite, chlorite and
albite with garnet in many specimens but biotite in
only a few. Accessories an; graphite, iron ore, zircon
and tourmaline.

The main difference between the varieties of Dove
Schist lies in their fabric and five specimens (7372*,
7382. 7370, 7383 and 7392) from the Mersey' Forestry'
Road, 3 miles north of the Fisher - Mersey junction
illustrate this. No. 7372 is simplest and is fine-grained
and composed mainly of sub-parallel flakes of muscovite
with small lenticular grains or aggregates of quartz and
small porphvroblasts of garnet. The foliation is made
up of interweaving layers of mica dividing the rock
into lenses. Chlorite forms small discontinuous layers.
Albite occurs as small lenticular porphvroblasts with
various Si (S-intemal, the S-surface within a crystal)
structures. In some grains the Si are sigmoidal and
trail off into Se (S-external, the S-surface outside of the
crystal) and are thus symtectonic, others contain straight
Si which pass out into Sc and are posttectonic, some
contain Si which are discordant with Se and thus are
pretectonic to the foliation.

Muscovite and chlorite generally' occur as well-
oriented parallel flakes (syntectonic) hut randomly
oriented posttectonic flakes are also present. Other
muscovite crystals occur in thin qunrtzose lenses which
are parallel to the foliation but which contain mica
flakes oblique to the foliation. It will be shown that
these flakes represent an old foliation Si and that the
major foliation is S». The latter is slightly' crumpled
and a foliation S 3 has developed along the appressed
limbs of the folds; some growth of muscovite and
chlorite has occurred along Su. No mineral growth was
associated with Su at Frenchman’s Cap.

No. 7883 is similar in outward appearance to the
previous specimen and outcrops close to it but is con¬
siderably' more complex. It contains three distinct
foliations. The major schistosity S* is formed by thin,
closely spaced parallel layers alternatively richer in
muscovite or in quartz. An older foliation Si occurs
as tightly folded remnants between the layers of Ss.
A third folation S 3 runs obliquely across the rock ns
widely spaced, straight fractures with a little randomly
oriented posttectonic biotite (fig. 2g).

« Numbers refer to specimens in the collection of the Depart¬
ment of Geology. University of Tasmania.

Muscovite occurs as small flakes along both S, and
& and is probably syntectonic to F, and Ft. Garnet
forms small structureless porphyroblusts which do not
disturb the surrounding micas; some have ‘pressure
tails’ of quartz in S„ and thus are pretectonic to F, and
probably posttectonic to Fi. Albite forms small ragged
crystals with dusty trails (fig. 2 b) concordant with S*
and are possibly posttectonic to F 2 .

Biotite occurs in a number of forms. Greenish flakes
along S 3 are posttectonic to F s and appear to be the
last mineral to crystallise. Large ragged and bent flakes
of rusty brown colour appear to pro-date St and to
be posttectonic to St. Green biotite occurs in lenses
along St but the cleavage is perpendicular to the lens
ffig. 2 c); trails of tiny dusty inclusions pass unbroken
from S 3 through the micas which consequently are
posttectonic to S 3 (fig. 2 d).

-Vo. 7370 is a fine grained, irregularly schistose rock
with porphyroblasts of albite set in a matrix of
muscovite, quartz, garnet and chlorite. The dominant
schistosity' is Ss and barely'-discemible remnants of
St remain. The correlation of foliations e.g., Ss, from
specimen to specimen is made from continuity in the
field and is independent of petrographic criteria as
seen under the microscope.

The albite forms spongy' porphyroblasts which are
either untwinned or have simple twins on the Albite
Law. The outer parts of the crystals have trails of
inclusions continuous with lines of grains in S 3 and are
clearly posttectonic to S3. The cores of the albitcs
extinguish differently from the rims and thus have a
slightly' different composition ; central inclusions are
either randomly' arranged or absent. The cores might
be pretectonic to Su.

Garnet forms small crystals in the core of the albites
and in the schistose matrix ; both types are of similar
size and it seems probable that all the garnet crystal¬
lized at an early stage.

No. 7388 contains a foliation which may be Si or Ss.
Garnet is absent. Albite, tourmaline, chlorite, biotite
and muscovite are postectonic to the folded foliation
(fig. 2 e).

A r o. 7392 is mineralogically simple in that, it consists
of quartz, biotite and muscovite with a little albite,
but its structure is complex. Si is recognizable as a
very tightly folded surface cut by' Ss which is itself
folded. The rock consists of alternate lenses of quartz
and mica with the orientation of the mica depending
on its position within the folded S-surfaces. Muscovite
has crystallized syntectonically along St and Si and
posttectonically in the cores of some folds in Si. Albite
is posttectonic to Su and biotite appears to be largely
posttectonic to Sj as it forms unbent flakes obliquely
across some folds of Su.

Specimens of schist from the Forth River are essen¬
tially similar. Specimen No. 7371 from the quarry at
the type-locality is a lustrous greenish rock. It is
composed chiefly of quartz, muscovite, and chlorite with
accessory' garnet, tourmaline, zircon and rutile and the
fabric in thin section is very irregular (fig. 2f). The
rock consists of alternate layers of muscovite plus
quartz and of fine-grained chlorite ; the layers have
been tightly folded then disrupted so that isolated
fold-hinges and twisted limbs remain. The flakes within
the lay’ers are discordant with the boundaries of the
layers. The tiny' chlorites form a matted aggregate in
which the flakes are diversely oriented with only a
slight tendency for alignment in zones, particularly
along the margins of the layers.

LEGEND

POST DEVONIAN ROCKS

GRANITE ETC.

SILURIAN

ORDOVICIAN

GORDON LIMESTONE

. ° „ CAROLINE CREEK SANDSTONE
CAMBRIAN

DUNDAS GROUP
PRECAMBRIAN

DOVE SCHIST

FISHER GROUP

ARM SCHIST

HOWELL GROUP

[

I 4- +1

j-f + |

DIP AND STRIKE
OR FOLIATION

OF BEDDING

4 -

PLUNGE OF LINEATION
ANTICLINE OR ANTIFORM AXIS
SYNCLINE OR SYNFORM AXIS

PRECAMBRIAN-PALAEOZOIC
CONTACT

LORINNA

LIENA

GADS

HILL

■DOVE/

,WALTEI

o '

-JT _ 7>

- ^— l0 x 1/

{S3

p€e ^

Fig. 1.—Geology of the Mersey-Forth Area. Based on Spry (1958) and Jennings (1958).

MET AMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE UPPER MERSEY-FORTH AREA

Fig. 2.—Textures of some schists :

(a) Folded S 3 remnants within planar S s .

(b) Helicitic structure in posttectonic albite.

(d) Helicitic structure in chlorite, posttectonic to S 3 .

(e) Helicitic structure in tourmaline and albite, post¬
tectonic to S...

(f) Complex structure of Dove Schist.

(g) Posttectonic biotite along S 8 .

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE PRECAMBRIAN

The development of the fabric is difficult to interpret
but by comparison with the structure in adjacent rocks
it is likely that the parallel chlorite flakes and lines
of muscovite flakes mark Si and that the banding, S=,
has been tightly folded.

An analysis (Table 1) shows high alumina and silica ;
the low lime is typical of Tasmanian Precambrian
schists. The analysis suggests that the chlorite is an
iron-alumina variety.

A’o. 7368 which is a greenish schist, 3 miles west of
the Dove Mill, shows the major foliation at about 20°
to a compositional banding which might be bedding.
Under the microscope, the texture is irregular and the
foliations not well developed. Muscovite, quartz, chlorite,
albite and a little biotite are present. Irregular layers of
mica trend in one direction to give a foliation, but
many micas are oriented at various angles to the
foliation. Two generations of biotite include large,
bent, partially chloritized flakes which are pretectonic to
the foliation.

Fabric evolution

It is difficult to determine exactly what happened in
the early stages. Bedding (So) is not preserved although
dusty Si in chlorite and albite of no. 7360 (discordant
to both Si and Ss) may represent bedding.

The fabric of the Dove Schist has evolved in the
following way :

Bedding (So) was folded and an early foliation
Si produced by syntectonie growth of quartz
and muscovite. Brown biotite and garnet were
probably formed. Some biotite was chloritized
post tectonically.

f The major foliation Si was formed during fold-
| ing and transposition of Si. Syntectonie growth
Fa t of quartz and muscovite; post tectonic growth of
| albite, chlorite, biotite and tourmaline. Chlori-
l tization of garnet and biotite.
f Si was folded with the production of a sporadic
F» -1 fracture cleavage Ss. Some posttectonic growth
( of chlorite, green biotite and quartz.

HOWELL GROUP

Spry (1958) named the group of schists and quartzites
along the western side of the Mersey valley, south of
Walter’s Marsh, the Howell Group. A narrow belt of
schist and minor quartzite near the Arm-Mersey
junction was named the Arm Schist and was regarded as
possibly a distinct formation although the lithological
similarity with the Howell Group was recognized.
Jennings (1958) grouped the Arm Schist in the Howell
Group. Stratigraphic equivalence cannot be either
proved or disproved but the structural interpretation
advanced later regards the Arm Schist as a formation
in the Howell Group. Iu any petrological discussion
there is no reason to separate them as the lithologies
appear identical.

The schists as a whole are composed of muscovite,
quartz, garnet, albite, chlorite and biotite with accessory
tourmaline and rutile. The two main varieties arc
quartz - muscovite - albite - garnet schist, and quartz-
muscovite-biotitc schist.

Examples of the first group (7388, 7401 and 7374
arc coarse-grained, knotted and strongly foliated rocks
Under the microscope they consist of about, 45% quart?,
25% muscovite, 20% albite, 5% garnet and 4% chlorite;
rutile, apatite and tourmaline are accessories. The
analysis (Table 1) shows the moderate silica, low lime

TABLE I

SiCb

62.50

93.52

72.56

70.82

76.92

64.76

AUOs

19.70

3.63

15.03

16.72

12.08

19.00

Fe 2 0 3

0.75

0.28

1.85

0.53

0.68

1.07

FeO

5.59

038

1.02

1.28

1.89

3.20

MgO

1.72

0.14

1.07

1.22

1.61

1.16

CaO

0.48

0.04

0.39

0.08

NaaO

0.11

0.10

1.11

1.02

1.47

1.72

K.0

434

2.15

3.91

4.24

2.59

4.35

H,0+

3.94

0.20

2.34

2.80

1.86

2.98

H-0 —

0.11

nil

0.20

0.03

0.12

MnO

0.05

0.01

0.03

0.01

0.04

TiOj

0.62

0.05

0.62

0.77

0.42

0.88

PsO;

0.07

nil

0.03

0.07

0.04

0.08

99.98

100.50

99.29

99.41

99.60

99.44

1 .

2 .

6 .

Schist, 7371, Dove Schist, Dove Mill.

Quartzite, Fisher Group, Mersey River.

Banded slate, 7390, Fisher Group, Mersey River.

Banded slate, 7390, Fisher Group, Mersey River, (anal.
Mica schist, 7387, Howell Group, Walter's Marsh.

Mica schist, 7388, Howell Group, Mersey River.

Avery and

Anderson).

Metamorphic rocks of the upper mersey-forth area

•lad high potash typical of Tasmanian Pmcambrinn
alien schists.

Large (2mm.) prismatic porphyroblasts of albite arc
set in an irregularly schistose matrix of quartz and
muscovite. One foliation (Sa) is dominant and is
formed by subparallel mica flakes and by alternating
lenticular layers rich in quartz or in muscovite. A
younger foliation (Si) occurs as sporadic shear planes at
about 15° to &: growth of a little quartz and chlorite
has taken place along these surfaces. The remains of
an older S-surface occurs as contorted Si within albite.

The strongly contorted St in the albite are not found
elsewhere in the rock and consist of trails of tiny opaque
grains, apparently graphite. The first stage appears
to have been the folding of a surface which may have
been &• or Si with little evidence of syntectonic growth.
The albite encloses a little quartz, idoblastic tourmaline
and garnet, so that these three minerals predated its
formation, but the main growth of a foliation formed
by muscovite postdated the albite. The feldspar is
posttectonic to Si. A few scattered, bent flakes of
partially or wholly chloritized biotite which contain Si
somewhat similar to those in the albite, are regarded as
of similar age. The major part of the muscovite and
quartz outline Sa and are syntectonic. The garnet
contains a few vague Si and has the same relationship
to muscovite as the albite (the mica wraps around it)
so that' it also predates Ss. Within the layers of Sa some
muscovite flakes outline fragmentary folds and this is
Probably folded Si. Some muscovite flakes grow
randomly across the major foliation and thus are post-
tectonic to Ss. Some quartz and chlorite crystallized
along chlorite has replaced garnet as a late, non-
oriented aggregate.

No. 7401 shows some slight differences. The albite
porphyroblasts contain Si which are traced out, not
only bv tightly contorted dusty inclusions (So), but.
also by gently curved lines of elongate quartz crystals
(S,). This indicates some growth of quartz prior to the
albite formation. Traces of a folded S-surface (Si)
older than the major foliation (Sa) are present as fold
cores and lenses containing parallel muscovites oblique
to S,.

Brown biotite is abundant. Some large flakes enclose
dusty Si trails and also muscovite flakes and are post-
tectonic to Si. A few small biotite flakes are enclosed
in albite and could be early posttectonic to Sa. A large
proportion of the smaller biotites are parallel to the
muscovite in Sa and are probably syntectonic to this
stage.

A little chlorite is present, most of it clearly derived
from garnet. It commonly forms an envelope to the
garnet, crystals and forms part, of Sa. It would appear
that chlorite is syntectonic to Sa but garnet, is older
and probably associated with Si.

No. 7374 lacks chlorite; in this specimen biotite forms
an envelope to the garnet, and appears to form by
reaction between muscovite and garnet. Many garnets
show snowball structure and are syntectonic to Si; they
are partly replaced by randomly oriented biotite which
is posttectonic.

Quartz-muscovite-biotite schists (such as 7399 and
7408) are richer in quartz than the schists in the
previous group, contain much larger muscovite flakes,
are not so strongly banded, have only rare garnet, ami
contain albite but not as porphyroblasts.

The foliation produced by parallel muscovite flakes,
thin layers of muscovite and the elongation of some

quartz, has been contorted. This foliation is probably
equivalent to the major foliation Ss of the other schists
but clearly recognizable relicts of Si are uncommon
(e.g. No. /386). Albite encloses round quartz crystals
and rare garnets but no Si are clearly recognizable.

Muscovite (lakes are bent around the small folds but
the biotite which averages about l/ 20 th of the size of
•°i m , us<ov ^ e is fresh and unbent. It is intergrown
with the muscovite and appears to replace it,
jj The order of crystallization was probably as in Table

Quartzites

Beds of quartzite up to a hundred or so feet in thick¬
ness and varying from vitreous to saceharoidal, and
massive to foliated, occur within the Howell Group
(e.g. 7397, 7400, 7402 and 7404). The quartzite core of
an overturned anticline is exposed under the bridge
across the Mo racy River at Walter’s Marsh. A thin-
section cut, normal to the lineation of specimen 7397
ironi the Walter’s Marsh bridge is medium grained and
granular. Quartz is not noticeably elongate but a weak
foliation is produced by tiny, sparse, sub-parallel
muscovite and biotite flakes. The quartz grains are
slightly undulose and contain many cracks.

No. 7404 from the same locality is finer grained but is
more strongly foliated; the parallelism of micas is more
pronounced and the quartz grains are slightly elongate.

FISIIER GROUP

1 he Fisher Group consists of the quartzites and slates
along the Mersey River between a point about 4 a
mile north of the Ami River junction and a point about
4 a mile north of the Fisher River junction.

The group is dominantly composed of white quartzite.
Some is very thickly bedded and massive with ripple
marks and cross bedding. Bedding is clearly visible and
many of the rocks are only poorly foliated and lineated;
folds are rarely visible. The politic members are black,
laminated siliceous slates which are strongly cleaved
and possess small tight folds.

The quartzite at Maggs Mountain was regarded as
possibly a separate formation Spry (1958) and named
the Maggs Quartzite. The mapping of Jennings (1958)
further west indicated that the Fisher Group and Maggs
Quartzite are continuous. Petrographic examination
shows that the two are lithologically indistinguishable
and so the term "Maggs Quartzite” is not used further.

Quartzite

The rocks are dominantly composed of quartz with
albite and microcline and minor amounts of rutile and
tourmaline as accessories. The analysis in Table 1 is
that of a feldspathic sandstone with about 6 % of
feldspar, mostly microcline.

The main variation is in the texture. No. 7376 from
the Forth River, 4 a mile north of Gisborne’s Hut, is a
coarse white massive quartzite with traces of small
isoclinal folds visible on a polished surface. A weak
foliation is parallel to the axial surface of the folds.

Under the microscope the rock has a pronounced
mortar texture ; large parallel lenticular quartz grains
with strong undulose extinction are set in a fine-grained
matrix containing parallel muscovite flakes and equi-
granular quartz grains. A little fresh pretectonic
microcline is present.

The mortar texture is present in 7405 but is less
clear in 7389 and 7394 and barely recognizable in 7398.

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE PRECAMBRIAN

In these specimens the proportion of large relict grains
is very much smaller and the matrix is coarser in grain
with undulose, elongate and lenticular crystals with
blurred margins. The feldspars occur as well-rounded
crystals commonly surrounded by a layer of tiny
muscovite flakes. A feldspathic quartzite (No. 7385)
from Maggs Mountain is more strongly recryslallized
and foliated with no signs of mortar texture.

No. 7373 from the track along the Forth River, 1 mile
north of Gisborne’s Hut, has a weak cleavage close to
the bedding and a strong lineation due to irregular
fine ribbing. In a section cut normal to the lineation
the texture is most unusual and quite unlike any of the
other quartzites. The quartz grains are lenticular and
feathery with sutured margins ; they are strongly
undulose and have a preferred orientation.

Petrofabric analyses (Spry, in press) show that some
ripplemarkcd quartzites are virtually undeformed and
have no preferred orientation of quartz whereas others
are more deformed with a weak fabric.

Slates

Black slaty rocks occur among the quartzites of the
Fisher Group but lack of outcrop has prevented mapping
of their distribution. The rocks are thinly bedded,
siliceous, dark in colour, somewhat glossy and might
be called either slates or low grade phyllites. Very tight
shear folds from a few millimetres to a few centimetres
across are prominent (examples include 7406 and 7390).

The slate is composed of quartz, fine-grained muscovite
and a little chlorite with accessory zircon, tourmaline and
iron ore. Two chemical analyses of a specimen from the
western side of the Mersey River, midway between the
Arm and the Fisher Rivers, are given in Table 1. The
rock was originally a siliceous siltstone and is rich in
silica, alumina and potash, but poor in lime and iron.
It is similar mineralogically and chemically to a pliyllite
from the Mary Group (Spry, 1962b) but is quite
different in fabric. It is not chemically dissimilar from
the schist (7387) from the Howell Group but has less
silica (5%), more alumina (4%) and more potash
( 2 %).

Under the micriscope, bedding (So) is visible as layers
differing in grainsize (particularly quartz) and in the
relative proportions of quartz and muscovite ; chlorite
occurs as tiny dark green aggregates and zircon (some
quite angular) is abundant in some layers. A single
strong foliation (& ?) produced by parallelism of micas
and by elongation of quartz grains lias been folded
with extreme thickening in the crests and troughs and
thinning on the limbs ; the folds are asymmetric and
almost isoclinal. In some parts the bedding has been
completely sheared out but in others can be seen to have
been displaced in segments by the foliation. The bedding
has a frayed appearance where it is cut by the foliation.

STRUCTURE
PRECAMBRIAN STRUCTURES

Bedding (So) is only recognizable with certainty in
some of the more massive Fisher Group quartzites
where it shows ripple marks and cross bedding. Compo¬
sitional banding in Fisher Group slates is not much
disturbed tectonically and is almost certainly bedding
also. The contacts between major quartzites and schists
in the Howell Group are bedding planes along which
considerable tectonic movement has taken place.

Compositional banding on a small scale in Dove and
Howell schists is due to alternations of quartz and

musiovite-rich layers and is a foliation (&) much later
than bedding. If the oldest S-surface is taken to be
bedding (and this is by no means certain) it has been
isoclinally folded, sheared through by later foliations
and rotated towards parallelism with them. On a larger
scale it seems very probably that even though the major
foliation (&) of the schists is steeply dipping and there
appear to be very great thicknesses of metamorphosed
sediments, the formations or groups as a whole arc
subhorizontal and tightly folded. It does not seem
likely that the inclination of the schist can be deter¬
mined from the attitude of the foliation or bedding
relicts within it ; in which case there seems no way to
determine its attitude. In other parts of Tasmania it
has been found that So, St and So are commonly almost
parallel because of repeated isoclinal folding.

Remains of up to 3 or 4 folintions are present in
some of the schists but generally only 1 or 2 are
recognizable macroscopically. Bedding and a single,
slightly oblique foliation can be recognized in Fisher
Group quartzites and slates. A strong and a weak
foliation can be seen in most Dove Schists. Generally
only one major foliation is recognizable in Howell schists
and quartzites. This is subparallel to bedding relics
and parallel to the axial surface of small folds.

The foliations strike a little north of west and dip
steeply to the north or to the south (fig. 3).

Spry (1958) described mesoscopic and macroscopic
folds of various dimensions. In the petrographic section
it was shown that. So and Si and probably S» were
folded on a microscopic scale during the metamorphism.
No detailed study has been made of the fold style 5
but many are similar folds of So and Si associated with
considerable flow along the axial surfaces (So). Some
thin quartzite layers within schist show extreme thin¬
ning of limbs and thickening of cores and the formation
of fold mullions. Some of the folds in the Fisher
quartzites appear to be simple parallel folds.

Discussion later suggests that the major mapped
folds are Devonian in age and that no large-scale
Precambrian structure is visible. For similar reasons
to those given for the Frenchman’s Cap area it is
suggested that, there may be a very large recumbent
fold with an east-west axis. It is possible to draw a
profile of a complex structure to fit the stratigraphy
suggested by Spry (1958). Jennings (1958), and Spry
(1962a) showing a large Precambrian recumbent fold
distorted by Devonian antiforms and synforms (fig. 4).
This is named the Borradailc Fold.

Evidence given later suggests a hinge several mile-'
north of the Fisher River on the Mersey Forestry Road
The contact between Dove Schist and Fisher Group is
interpreted as the zone in which the foliation becomes
vertical then overturned at the hinge of the recumbent
fold.

The rocks in this area are not strongly lineated and
measurements of lineation directions are too few to
give an understandable pattern. A plot of poles to
lineation of all kinds is given in fig. 3. The lineation
lies in the foliation and the diagram shows that the
lineation plunges at moderate angles to east or west.

The varieties of lineation include fold axes, fold
mullions, ribs on quartzites, crenulations in schist, large
grooves in quartzite and rarely, intersection of foliations
of various kinds.

Three reasons are possible for the spread in direction
in fig. 3 :

MET AMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE UPPER MERSEY-FORTH AREA

12 , 9 , 7 , 5 , 3 , 1 °/o CONTOURS

O = L I N E AT 10 N S

UPPER MERSEY-FORTH

Fig. 3.—Stereographic projection of structural data for the Mersey-Forth area showing Devonian folding

of Precambrian foliations.

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE PRECAMBRXAN

(1) Lineations of different kinds and ages (p.g. Li
and Lj) may have been grouped together. In several
places it lias been possible to see two lineations in the
one specimen ; one due to metamorphie minerals
plunging west and a later coarse lineation due to
crenulations of the foliation plunging east. In general
the strongest lineation is parallel to the axes of adjacent,
small folds but the relations are not always so simple.
A large amount of the crest of the overturned anticline
beneath the Walter’s Marsh bridge is exposed in the
river. Two lineations run down the fold; one (L»?) is
parallel to the axis but the other (Li?) is 10° away.

(2) The few available measurements suggest that
the cast-plunging lineations are confined to the southern
part, of the area. i.e. to the Howell Group around
Walter’s Marsh. It will be shown later that much of
the large-scale folding took place in the Devonian so
that the spread in the lineation direction may be due
to cross folding on north-south axes. The fold axes
in the Palaeozoic rocks to the north plunge generally
to the E.S.E. so that it is possible that lineations which
originally plunged westerly have been rotated around
to plunge easterly in part, of the area.

(3) Measurements of lineations in very small areas
show that the rocks were originally not completely
homoaxial. An exposure of Howell Group quartzite in
a road cutting on the Forestry Road 2 miles north of the
Arm River exposes a number of isoclinal folds. The
folds are all of the same style and their axial planes
are parallel, but fold axes only a few feet apart plunge
west at angles ranging from 5° to 45°. A similar
relationship has been found by Burns (pers. comm)
in similar metamorphie rocks on the lower Forth River.

TABBERABBERAN STRUCTURES
Faults

It is very difficult to recognise faults through the
Preeambrian rocks in this area but a number of minor
post-metamorphism faults parallel to the major folds
occur to the north and soulh of the Mersey - Arm
junction. A number of other possible faults and fault
directions were tentatively discussed by Spry (1958).
Their age is not known but they are suspected to be
Devonian.

Folds

Spry (1958, p. 136) indicated that the rocks were
folded on all scales ranging from microscopic dimen¬
sions up to structures many miles across. Many of the
tiny crenulations and shear folds up to a hundred feet,
or so appear to be related to the metamorphism and
were described earlier as Preeambrian.

The larger folds (first and second order folds of
Spry. 1958) are probably Tabberabberan synforms and
antiforms. The stereographic plot (fig. 3) of the foliation
in the Preeambrian rocks shows that the poles lie on a
partial great circle which represents a number of folds
with horizontal axes trending east-west. I.nrge folds
in the Preeambrian rocks have been mapped in this
direction (fig. 1 and Spry, 1958; Jennings, 195S) and the
axis of the nearest fold in the Palaeozoic sediments to
the north plots close to this direction. The major
unconformity between the Preeambrian schists and
the overlying Cambrian or Ordovician sediments is not
a strongly angular one. The dip and strike of the
schists and sediments is similiar and the Preeambrian
foliation must have been fairly flat prior to the
Cambrian sedimentation.

The close structural relations between the Preeambrian
and Palaeozoic rocks might suggest that perhaps the
metamorphism as well as much of the folding occurred
in the Tabberabberan Orogeny but the following
evidence shows that this is not so :

1. The contact, between the Dove Schist, and the
overlying Palaeozoic sediments is sharp.
Regionally metamorphosed schist underlies
unmetamorphosed sandstone except where
Devonian granite intrudes along the contact.

2. The Cambrian and Ordovician conglomerates
contain pebbles identical with the underlying
metamorphie rocks.

3. Cleavage in (lie Palaeozoic sediments is parallel
to the axial surfaces of the large folds but the
foliations in the Preeambrian rocks have been
folded by these folds.

Two of the largest structures were named the Mersey
Syncline and the Fisher Anticline. It is proposed to
change the name of the former to the Mersey Svnform
as its structure is even more complicated than originally
thought. The synclinal form proposed by Spry (1958)
has been confirmed by Jennings (1958) and Paterson
(per. comm.). Dips are steep (commonly around 60°,
rarely lower than 55° and many 85° to 90°) but
bedding is clear in most exposures and dips are northerly
in the southern part and southerly in the northern
part. At least three smaller folds occur within the
synform.

STRATIGRAPHY

Three separate lithological units have been recognized:
Dove Schist
Fisher Group
Howell Group

The Howell Group appears to dip beneath the Fisher
Group 1J miles north of Walter’s Marsh, and also 1J
miles west of the Morsey-Arm junction. However, the
Fisher Group appears to dip beneath the Howell Group
2 miles north of the Mersey-Arm junction.

The relations of the Dove Schist and Fisher Group on
the Mersey Forestry Road, north of the Mersey-Fisher
junction, are difficult, to understand. In general both
rock types dip away from the contact. It is possible
that although the foliation of the Dove Schist dips
north, the bedding (not now visible) dips south beneath
the Fisher quartzites. Detailed inspection of the contact
zone along the Mersey Forestry Road, shows that as
the contact is approached from the north, the foliation
in the Dove Schist becomes steeper until it is vertical;
there is n transition zone where thin quartzites arc
interbedded with schist, and then as the dip becomes
flatter (now to the south) massive Fisher quartzites
appear. This is interpreted as part of an overturned
contact near the hinge of the hypothetical Borradaile
Fold as shown in the section in fig. 4.

Ripple marks nre possibly sufficiently abundant in the
Fisher quartzites to allow attitudes to be determined
and detailed mapping may clarify the position although
outcrop is sparse.

At present it is not possible to determine the true
stratigraphic sequence but structurally the Dove Schist
appears to rest on the Fisher Group which in turn rests
on the Howell Group.

MET AMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE UPPER MERSEY-FORT H AREA

Fig. 4._ Cross section along the Mersey River showing Devonian antiTorms and synforms superimposed on the

hypothetical recumbent Borradaile Fold.

NOTES ON THE PETROLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE PRECAMBRIAN

TABLE II

Chronology of Crystallization and Deformation of Schists from the Mersey and from Frenchman’s Cap.

F s

Deformation

Stage

quartz

muscovite

garnet

albite

biotite

chlorite

tourmaline

pre syn

tectonic

post

syn post

tectonic

syn post

tectonic

S produced

S folded

quartz

muscovite

garnet

albite

biotite

chlorite

S„

So, Si

So, Si, So

S produced

S folded

So, Si

So, Si, Sa

quartz

muscovite

garnet

albite

biotite

chlorite

kyanite

S produced

S folded

So, Si

So, Si, Sa

METAMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE UPPER MERSEY-FORTH AREA

CONCLUSIONS

The Howell Group and Dove Schist are dominantly
metapelites belonging to the quartz - albite - epidote
almandine subfacies of the Greenschist Facies whereas
the Fisher Group is mainly quurtzitic with minerals and
textures more characteristic of the quartz - albite -
epidote - muscovite - chlorite subfacies. Rocks containing
the two different mineral assemblages are closely
associated in the field.

The Howell Group and Dove Schist are thus similar
in lithology and structure to rocks described previously
from Frenchman’s Cap (Spry. 1962b) and as the petro¬
logical and structural problems are the same they need
not be discussed at length here. The chemical analyses
in Table 1 show that rocks of similar compositions
(e.g. slate No. 7390 from the Fisher Group and the
garnet schists Nos. 73S7 and 7388 from the Howell
Group) are chemically similar but their mineralogy
indicates that they have been metamorphosed to
considerably different grades.

The structural simplicity and low metamorphic grade
of the Fisher Group suggests that it might be younger
than the Dove Schist and Howell Group. It has features
in common with the younger Precambrian rocks (Spry,
1962a) as well ns the older Precambrian Man- Group.

The fabric evolution of the albite schists in the Dove,
Howell and Franklin Groups are compared in Table II.

As shown earlier the largest visible structures are a
series of synforms and antiforms shown on the maps of
Spry (1958) and Jennings (1958) but it does not seem
possible to derive a simple, structural expknation
compatible with all the field observations. An earlier
explanation (Spry, 1958) attempted to reconcile various
conflicting points by postulating large strike faults.
Later mapping by Jennings (1958), S. J. Paterson and
the author has failed to confirm the existence of these
faults.

An hypothesis involving a large recumbent fold is
presented in an attempt to overcome these difficulties
even though at present there seems to be no way to
check its validity. It is compatible with all field
observations of the attitudes of foliations, bedding and

contacts and is the kind of structure which has been
found elsewhere in the world in rocks which are
similarly metamorphosed and which have similar small-
scale structures.

The large Precambrian recumbent fold has a core of
Howell Group surrounded by Fisher Group then Dove
Schist. The direction of the axis of this fold is related
to the lineation and probably plunges rather flatly to
the west but may be warped. The Fisher-Dove contact
is interpreted as the hinge of the fold which is thus
shown ns closing to the north.

This is similar to the structure postulated at French¬
man’s Cap and has a similar axial trend. A comparison
of the chronology of crystallization and deformation of
Franklin and Howell Group schists shows many simi¬
larities. The differences are :

1. The Fa phase produced much more intense fold¬
ing of S 2 at the Mersey than at Frenchman’s
Cap.

2 . Biotite was formed during Fs at the Mersey but
there was no significant mineral growth at French¬
man’s Cap.

3. Albite is restricted to the intertectonic period
between Fi and F» at Frenchman’s Cap but may
possibly have crystallized after F 2 in some Dove
Schist.

Fi, Fs and Fs do not necessarily mean the same
thing in the two areas.

Fs at Frenchman’s Cap appears to consist mainly of
Palaeozoic movements whereas that at the Mersey may
be mostly Precambrian.

The correlation in Table II however, is preferred. It
is based on detailed similarities between the nature of
Si relics, and the fact that Ss is dominant in the schists
and is the axial surface of the minor folds.

It is considered that metamorphic mineral assemblages
characteristic of chlorite to garnet grade were produced
in large flat sheets of rock during F, and that these
were folded into large recumbent folds during F. at
chlorite grade.

REFERENCES

JENNINGS, I. B„ 1958 : Middlesex Map Sheet. One-
inch series, Tas. Dept. Mines.

SPRY, A., 1958 : Precambrian Rocks of Tasmania.

part III, Mersey-Forth Area. Pap. Proc. Roy.
Soc. Tas., 92, 117-137.

SPRY, A., 1962a: The Precambrian in “Geology of
Tasmania”. Journ. Geol. Soc. Ansi. 9, 2.

SPRY, A., 1962b : Precambrian Rocks of Tasmania.

part V, Petrology and Structure of the French¬
man’s Cap Area. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas.
(in press).

Foot & Playsted Print

NEW SERIES, No. 17

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM

LAUNCESTON

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

F. H. S'. ROBERTS*

‘Division of Animal Health, C.S.I.E.O., Veterinary
Parasitology Laboratory, Yeerongpilly, Queensland.

Manuscript received 31/1/196A
Published 15/6/196 A

SUMMARY

Nineteen species of ticks are now known to occur in Tasmania. These are distributed among
the various genera as follows : Argas (1), Ixodes (13), Amblyomma (2), and Aponomma (3). The
Presence of a species of the Argas (Carios) vespertilionis group, of a representative of the I. auritulus
8r ° u P, and of /. antechini, I. trichosuri and I. australiensis, is recorded for the first time. Host and
Geographical records, most of which are new, are given for all species.

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

Prior to the commencement some ten years
ago of studies by the author on the systematics
of Australian ticks, only seven species had been
recorded from Tasmania. Neumann (1899) des¬
cribed Ixodes tasmani from the Tasmanian main¬
land and Amblyomma postoculatum and Amb.
Hmbatmn from King Is., Bass Strait, and recorded
the presence of /. ornithorhynchi Lucas. Nicholls
(1922) noted Haemaphysails bispinosa Neumann on
cattle at Hobart, Taylor (1946) referred to
“Aponomma trachysauri Lucas” (= Ap. hydro-
sanri Denny (Roberts 1964)), and Seddon to Ixodes
holoeyclus Neumann.

Roberts (1960) increased the number of
species of Ixodes to nine, namely eudyptidis Maskell,
nriae White, kohlsi Arthur, pterodromae Arthur,
ornithorhynchi Lucas, tasmani Neumann, fecialis
Warburton & Nuttall, comuatus Roberts, and liirsti
Hassall. According to this author, holoeyclus does
not occur in Tasmania. The same author indicated
that three species of Aponomma are present
(Roberts 1964). Ornithodoros capensis Neumann,
which is known to be associated with the little
penguin, Eudyptula- minor, in southern Australia,
including Victoria, is probably also present on this
host in Tasmania but as yet there are no records.
H. bispinosa has not been seen since Nicholls’
(1922) record; in fact, Roberts (1963) found the
genus Haemaphysalis to be entirely ‘unrepresented.

The present paper gives new host and geo¬
graphical records for the species already recorded,
with notes on species recorded for the first time.
These records are based mainly on recent ex¬
tensive collections made available to the author
by the Division of Wildlife Research, C.S.I.R.O.

ARGASIDAE

Genus Ary as Latreille
Ary as (Carios) sp.

Hoogstraal and Kohls (1962) in their paper
on larvae of the subgenus Carios from bats of the
Australian mainland and New Guinea, consider
these to belong to the vespertilionis group and to
be possibly pusillus Kohls, or australiensis Kohls
& Hoogstraal, or a new species. Larvae from
Pipistrella tasmaniensis, G.P.O., Hobart, 27.vii.1962,
were not included in this paper, but Kohls (personal
communication) considered that they also belong
to the vespertilionis group. This is the first record
of a species of Argas in Tasmania.

IXODIDAE

Genus Ixodes Latreille
I. eudyptidis Maskell

Roberts (1960) recorded this species from
Eudyptula minor, Little Green Is., Furneaux Group,
Bass Strait.

Material since received and placed under
this name includes : Larus novaehollandiae, Wyn-
yard, 9.ii.l959, R. H. Green (2 9). Tyto novae-
hoUandiac castanops, Lemon Hill, Jericho, 21.ii.1960,
R.H.G., (19). Eudyptula ■minor (burrow), Port
Davey, 20.xi.1959, R.H.G. (1 9). Sula bassana
s errator, Black Pyramid, Bass Strait, R.H.G.,
<15 o).

One specimen from L. novaehollandiae has a
malformed basis capitulum and right palp. In
both specimens the scutum is broader in relation
to its length, W/L ratio 0.87 and 0.89 respectively,
than in type material of eudyptidis, W/L ratio
0.77 (Dumbleton, personal communication). As,
however, Dumbleton intimated that he has en¬
countered specimens from New Zealand considered
by him to be this species with a W/L ratio similar
to that of the Tasmanian material, which other¬
wise conforms closely to the description of eudyp¬
tidis, the two specimens have been determined as
this species.

The female from T. n. castanops can be
given only a provisional determination of eudyp¬
tidis as it differs in several aspects from other
specimens determined as this species by Dumbleton
(personal communication) and the author. The
scutum is somewhat subcircular, about as wide
as long, palpal articles 2 and 3 are without any
obvious constriction and the anal grooves are
parallel. The specimen could represent a new
species, but more material is required before this
can be decided;

The female from a burrow of E. minor and
the nymph3 from S. b. serrator appear typical of
eudyptidis.

I. auritulus Neumann

Material placed under this name comprised :
Strepera fuliginosa : Saint Valentine’s Peak,
13.vii.1962, D. Alexander (1 9); Maydena, G.iv.l96t
(lo). Sericomis hnmilis, Maydena, 15.vii.1962, B.
Maclean (lo).

In both the female and nymphal specimens,
palpal article I possesses a conspicuous, internal
anterior horn-like process, and as there is no
mesodorsal spur on this article, they have been
placed in the auritulus group ( Arthur 1960). The
female has been compared with a. zealandicas
Dumbleton by Dumbleton (personal communication)
who considers it to differ in the longer, narrower,
more strongly retrograde auriculae, in the shape
of the porose areas, in the form of the coxal spurs
and in the shape of the concavity between the
spurs. The coxal characters are reminiscent of
Arthur’s (1960) figure of the South American
form of this species. This female could be another
subspecies of auritulus.

This is the first record of a member of the
auritulus group in Australia.

I. pterodromae Arthur

In addition to the record from Diomedea
exidans, De Witt I. (Roberts 1960), this species
is now known from Pnffirms tenuirostris, Bruni I.,
l.iv.1962, T. O. Wolfe (2 9) and Fisher I., Bass
Strait, Mar. 1963, T.O.W. (2 £).

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

I. uriae White

The only recoi'd of this species is “Tas¬
manian penguin,” King I., Bass Strait (Roberts
1960).

I. kohlsi Arthur

Previously known from Eudyptula minor,
Kingston Beach and North Bruni I. (Roberts 1960),
kohlsi is now recorded also from this host, Little
Green I., Furneaux Group, Bass Strait, Jan. 1952,

J. H. Calaby ( 8 o).

I. omithorynchi Lucas

Roberts (1960) noted this species from
Omithorhynchus anatinus, Bothwell, and Mt.
Wellington, and from “blue-tongue lizard,” Hobart.
New records from O. anathnis include Westbury,

9.iii.l961, B. C. Mollison (1 o), and Maydena,
9.V.1961, T. Anderson (5 2, 3 o). The record from
“blue tongue lizard” is probably erroneous, as this
tick appears specific to the platypus.

1. tasmani Neumann

Hosts and localities previously noted (Roberts
1960) include Sarcophilus harrisii, Hobart, “wom¬
bat,” Gretna, and “tiger cat,” Arthur R.

Material since examined indicated that this
species is extremely widespread and is undoubtedly
the most common Tasmanian tick, occurring on a
wide variety of hosts. These include :

Sarcophilus harrisii : Maydena, 5.L1959, B. C.
Mollison (2 2); Maydena, 5.H.1960, B.C.M. (28 2 );
Maydena, ll.vi.1960, B.C.M. (2 2); Maydena,
2.ii.l962, B.C.M. (10 2); Hilltop, 24.ii.1960, B.C.M.
(2 2); Rocherlea, ll.ii.1962. R. H. Green (4 2):
Florentine Valley, 25.ix.1963, T. O. Wolfe (5 2 ,
4 o, 3 larvae). Dasyurus quoll : Tim Shea, 2.ii.l960,
B.C.M. (1 2, 3o); Mt. Wellington, 22.ii.1961, B.C.M.
(2o). TrichosUrus vulpccula fuliginosus : Smith¬
son, 30.xii.1961, N. Marsh, (12); Mt. Stvx,

19.11.1957, B.C.M. (lo); Kelso, 19.ii.1957. B.C.M.
(3J); Maydena, 2.ii.l960, B.C.M. (lo); Mavdena,
21.i.1960, B.C.M. (lo); Hythe, 13.i.l962 (1 9, 1 o).
Vombatus arshins : Mt. Field National Park.

2. xii.l959, T. Anderson (2 2); Kelso, 5.H.19G0,
B.C.M. (5 2); Green’s Beach, 20.vii.1960, B.C.M.
(5 2); Green’s Beach, 20.viii.1.961, R.H.G. (1 2).
Protcmnodov rufogriscu : Mersey R., near Woogera,

9.1.1957, G. B. Sharman (3 2); Mavdena. 6.L1959,
B.C.M. (3 2 ) ;Maydena, 29.xi.1960, B.C.M. (12);
Maydena, 15.xi.1961, B.C.M. (2 2). Potorous
triaactylus : Maydena. 7.i.1960, T.A. (lo); Green’s
Beach, 2.iii.l961, B.C.M. (12, 5 o, 7 larvae);
Orford, 25.xii,19Gl, B.C.M. (3o). Thylogale bil-
lardicrii : Maydena, Feb. 1959, B.C.M. (32); May¬
dena, 31.i.l960, T.A. (7 2); Maydena, 5.ix.l9Gl,
B.C.M. (12, 1 o); Maydena, 23.xi.1961. B.C.M.
(2 2,1 o). Perameles giinnii : Maydena, 29.xi.1961.
J. H. Callaby (5 2, 5 o, 8 larvae); Maydena,
29.xi.1960 B.C.M. (4 2). Isoodon obcsulus : Uunor-
lan, 9.i.l959, G.B.S. (3 2); Maydena, 17.xii.1960,
T.A. (3 o, 3 larvae); Cascades, Sauth Hobart,
5.vii,1962, B.C.M. & T.A. (2o). Pseudocheims

convolutor : 19.X.1960, B.C.M. (lo); Saint Valen¬
tine’s Peak, 9.vii.l962, T.A. (3o). P. laniginosus :
Delamere, 2.vii.l959, G.B.S. (lo, 3 larvae). Betton-
gia cunicuhts : Green’s Beach, 4.ix,1962, R.H.G.
(4o). Petanrus brevieeps : Westbury, 8.viii.l960,
R.H.G. (2o). Tuc.hyglossns setosus : Maydena,
10.ii.1959, B.C.M. (2 2 ); Antill Ponds, 17.iii.1960,
R.H.G. (2 2 ); Seotsville, 16.iv.19G2. R.H.G. (2 2).
Rattus norvegicus : Hobart, 19.x.1961, B.C.M. (2
larvae); Woolbridge, 19.i.1961, B.C.M. (13 larvae).
II. rattus: Maydena, 12.xii.1959, B.C.M. 2 o, 3
larvae); Maria I., 25.iv.1962, R.H.G. (3o).
R. lutreolus : Yolla, 16.ii.1902, B.C.M. (3 larvae).
Hydromys clirysogaster : Sandy Bay, Hobart,
12.iii.1962, R.H.G. (3 o). Ps&udomys higginsi :
Waratah, 27.vi.1963, R.H.G. (3 o). Homo sapiens :
Green’s Beach, 14.x. 1961 (1 o attached); Notley

Fern Gorge, West Tamar, 24.xi.1962, R.H.G. (1 2
attached); Maydena, G.iii.l961 (lo crawling).

I. fecialis Warburton & Nuttall

Previously known from “tiger cat,” Arthur
R., and Antechinus sp. McIntyre R. (Roberts 1960),
this species is now recorded also from Dasyurus
quoll, Georgetown, 12.iii.1960, R. H. Green (3o),
and Sarcophilus harrisii, Maydena, 2.H.1962, B. C.
Mollison (12).

I. antechini Roberts

This species is recorded from Tasmania for
the first time. Determination was based on the
following material : Dasyurus quoll : Maydena,

9.ii.l961, B. C. Mollison (lo); Icena Estate,
13/14/.V.1961, R. H. Green (1 o). Antechinus mini¬
mus : Maatsuyker I., Aug. 1951 (8 larvae). A
swainsonii, Maatsuyker I., Aug. 1951 (4o).

I. australiensis Neumann

Previously known only from Western Aus¬
tralia, this species is represented by three lots of
specimens from Potorous tridactylus, namely, Bea-
consficld, 4.xi.l960, R. H. Green (2o); Myrtle Bank,
16.viii.1961, R.H.G. ( 8 o, 4 larvae); Kelso, G.ix.1961.
R.H.G. (lo).

The nymph of australiensis was described by
Roberts (1960). The Tasmanian material agrees
with this description except for slightly larger
scuta.

I. cornuatus Roberts

This species was previously recorded from
unknown hosts, Cox’s Bight and Gordon R. (Roberts
1960). Specimens since determined from adults
include :

Vombatus arshins : Mount Field National
Park, 11 .xii.1959, T. Anderson (2 9); Mundunna,

25.ii.1961, B. C. Mollison (19);Kelso, 5.ii.l960,
B.C.M. (8 9).

The immature forms of this species have not
been described, and up to the pi'esent all immature
material received has not been accompanied by any
adults. Determination of the following immature
specimens as cornatus is, therefore, only tentative :

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

Isoodon obesuhis : Eagle Hawk, 9.ix.l961,
T. Anderson (lo); Deviot, 28.i.l962, R. H. Green
(lo); Green’s Beach, 27.i.1961, B. C. Mollison (5o,
1 larvae); Burnie, 27.i.1961, B.C.M. (lo); Green’s
Beach, 26.ii.1961, B.C.M. (8 o); Green’s Beach,
16.ii. 1961, B.C.M. (3 o, numerous larvae); Green’s
Beach, 9.iv.l961, B.C.M. (4 o). Thylogale billiard-
ierii : Kelso, 17.ii. 1960, R.H.G. (lo, 1 larva).
Trich. 08 u.rus vulpecula fuliginosus : Kelso, 16.ii.I960,
B.C.M. (15 larvae). Bettor) gla cuniculus : Green’s
Beach, 12.vi.1961, R.H.G. (2 o). Perameles gunnii :
Green’s Beach, ll.v.1961, B.C.M. (22 o). Rattus
rattus : Green’s Beach, 27.iii.1961, B.C.M. (20
larvae). R■ lutreolus : Kelso, 19.ii.1960, B.C.M.
(8 larvae). Mas muscnlus: Flowery Gully, 3.iv.l963,
R.H.G. (1 larva). Strepera fuliginosa : Maydena,
6.iv.l961, T. O. Wolfe (lo). Cracticus torquatus :
Kelso, 19.ii.1961, B.C.M. (1 larva). Colluricincla
harmonica : Green’s Beach, 20.viii.1961, R.H.G.
(lo). Scricornis humilis : Green’s Beach, 24.ii.1961,
B.C.M. (1 larva).

I. hirsti Hassall

Roberts (1960) recorded this tick from
“kangaroo,” King I., and from an unknown host,
Mt. Wellington. It has since been taken on
Trichosurus vulpecula fuliginosus, Smith ton,

30.ii.l961, W. Marsh (1 9).

I. trichosuri Roberts

This tick hitherto recorded only from Chel¬
tenham, N.S.W.. has now been determined in Tas¬
mania in the following material :

Trichosurus vulpecula fuliginosus, Hythe,
30.L1962, B. C. Mollison (19). Bettongia cunicu-
latus, Green’s Beach, 12.vi.1960, R. H. Green (2o).
Rattus lutreolus, Flowery Gully, S.iv.1963, R.H.G.
(6 larvae). R. rattus, Deviot, 24.xi.1963, R.H.G.
(3 larvae). Sericornis humilis, Hunting Ground,
28.xi.1963, T. O. Wolfe (lo, 1 larva).

Genus A mblyornma Koch

Records of the occurrence of species of
Amblyomma remain restricted to /I mb. limbatum
and Amb. postoculatum described by Neumann
(1899) from King I., Bass Strait (Roberts 1964).

Genus Aponomma Neumann

Roberts (1953) referred to only one record
of this genus, namely, trachysauri on Trachysaurus
rugosus. A later paper (Roberts 1964) increased
the number of species to three, namely hydrosauri,
auruginans and concolor. In this paper it was
shown that the species of inornate Aponomma
from reptiles previously called trachysauri Lucas
should be referred to the name hydrosauri Denny,
and that from the echidna, Tachyglossus spp., pre¬
viously determined as hydrosauri, should be re¬
ferred to concolor Neumann.

Ap. hydrosauri Denny

Material determined under this name com¬
prised : Chclodina longicollis (introduced) : Green’s
R. H. Green (2o). Tiliqua nigrolutea: West
Tamar, 27.x.1959, R.H.G. (2 3, 5o); Green’s Beach,

16.11.1961, B. C. Mollison (4 3, 2 9, 8o); Kelso,

19. 11. 1961, B.C.M. (4 3. 3 9 4 o); Green’s Beach,
22.vii.1961, R.H.G. (2 9); Sandford, 9.ix.l962,
B.C.M. (6 3, 1 o). T. scincoidcs, Launceston,
17-20.xi.1960, B.C.M. (2 3, 1 9, to). Trachysaurus
rugosus, Launceston, 22.ii.1960 (2 3 )• Amphi-
bolurns diemcnsis, Launceston, 15.x.1963, R.H.p.
(20 larvae). Denisonia superba, Kelso, 16.ii.1961,
R.H.G. (3 3. 4 o); Green's Beach, 24.iv.1961, R.H.G.
(3 9, 2o). Notcchis scutatus scutatus, Lower
Longley, 15.V.1962, B.C.M. (1 9).

Ap. concolor Neumann

This species was represented by five lots,
all from Tachyglossus setosus. Details are : Del-
oraine, 21.i.1959 (3 9 ); Wynyard, 8.xii.l960, R.
H. Green (2 3, 3 9, lo); Green’s Beach, 7.xi.l961,
R.H.G. (7 o, 4 larvae); Kelso, 17.ii.1961, B. C.
Mollison (lo, 6 larvae).

Ap. auruginans Schulze

This material includes :

Vombatus ursinus, Tarraleah, 12.i.1949 (1 3> 2 9);
Deloraine, 4.xii,1958 (2 9, 1 o); Gretna, 2.iii.l960,
J. Rolley (1 9). Wandering in cave, Flinders I.,
Mar. 1960, J. Thomson (13,19).

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

CLASSIFIED HOST PARASITE LIST

Classification and Name of Host Parasite Classification and Name of Host Parasite

Monotremata

Vombatidae

Ornithorhynchidae

Vombatus ursinus

tasmani

Omithorhynchus

anatinus

I. ornithorhynchi

(Shaw, 1800),
Tasmanian wombat

/. cornuatus

Ap. auruginans

(Shaw, 1799) platypus

Macropodidae

Tachyglossidae

Bettongia cuniculus

tasmani

Tacliyglossns setosus

I. tasmaiii

(Ogilby, 1838),
Tasmanian
rat-kangaroo

trichosuri

(Geoffroy, 1803),
Tasmanian echidna

Ap. concolor

Marsupialia

Potorous tridactylus

tasmani

(Kerr, 1792),

australiensis

Dasyuridae

long-nosed

? cornuatus

A ntechinus swainsonii

I. ant echini

rat-kangaroo

(Waterhouse, 1840),

Tliylogale billardicrii

tasmani

dusky marsupial mouse

(Desmarest, 1822),

? cornuatus

A. minimus

I. antechini

Tasmanian pademelon

(Geoffroy, 1803),

Protemnodon rufogrisca

tasmani

little Tasmanian

(Desmarest, 1817),

marsupial mouse

brush wallaby

Antechinus sp.

I. fecialis

Kangaroo

hirsti

Dasyurus quoit

I. tasmani

(Zimmermann, 1777),

I. fecialis

Rodentia

eastern native cat

I. antechini

Muridae

Tiger cat

I. tasmani

Rattus rattus

tasmani

I. fecialis

(Linnaeus, 1758),

1 .

? cornuatus

black rat

Sarcoph ilus harrisii

I. tasmani

R. norvegicus

(Boitard, 1841),

I. fecialis

tasmani

Tasmanian devil

(Berkenhout, 1769),
brown rat

? cornuatus

Peramelidae

Isoodon obesulus

I. tasmani

R. lutreolus

tasmani

(Shaw, 1797),

I. ? cornuatus

(Gray, 1841),

? cornuatus

short-nosed bandicoot

eastern swamp rat

Perameles gunnii
(Gray, 1838),

Tasmanian

I. tasmani

I. ? cornuatus

Hydromys chry sag aster
Geoffroy, 1844,
eastern water rat

tasmani

barred bandicoot

Pseudomys li igg ins i

tasmani

Phalangeridae

(Trouessart, 1899),

native mouse

Petaurus breviceps
Waterhouse, 1839,

I. tasmani

Mus musculus

Linnaeus, 1758,

? cornuatus

sugar glider possum

house mouse

Pseudocheirus convolutor

I. tasmani

(Oken, 1810),

Chiroptera

Tasmanian ring-tail possum

Vespertilionidae

P. laniginosus

I. tasmani

P ipistrella fas man iansis

Argas (Carios)

(Gould, 1858),

common ring-tail
possum

false pipistrel

Triehosurus vulpecula

I. tasmani

Primates

fuliginosus

I. trichosuri

Hominidae

(Ogilby, 1831),

I. hirsti

Homo sapiens

1 .

tasmani

Tasmanian brush-tail

I. ? cornuatus

Linnaeus, 1758,

possum

man

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

Classification and Name of Host

Parasite

Classification and Name of Host

Squamata

Procellariidae

Scincidae

Puffinus tenuirostris

Trachysaurus rugosus

Ap. hydrosauri

(Temminck, 1835)

Gray, 1827,

Tasmanian mutton bird

stump-tail lizard

Tiliqua nigrolutea

Ap. hydrosauri

Passeriformes

(Peters, 1863),

Maluridae

southern blue-tongued
lizard

Sericornis humilis

Gould, 1838,

T. scincoides

Ap. hydrosauri

brown scrub-wren

(Shaw, 1790),

blue-tongue lizard

Cracticidae

Amphibolurus diemensis

Ap. hydrosauri

Strepera fuliginosa

(Gray, 1841),

(Gould,' 1837),

mountain dragon

black currawong

Blue-tongued lizard ?

I. ornithorhynchi

Cracticus torquatus

Elapidae

(Latham, 1801),

grey butcher bird

Denisonia supcrba

Ap. hydrosauri

(Gunther, 1858),

copper-head snake

Pelecaniformes

Notechis acutatus scutatus Ap. hydrosauri
(Peters, 1861),
tiger snake

Testudines

Chelidae

Chelodina longicollis Ap. hydrosauri

(Shaw, 1802),
long-necked tortoise
(introduced)

Spenisciformes

Spenisidae

Eudyptula minor I. eudyptidis

(Foster, 1781), I. urine

little penguin I. kohlsi

Procellariiformes

Diomedeidae

Diomedia exulans I. pterodromae

Linnaeus, 1758,
wandering albatross

Sulidae

Snla bassana serrator
Gray, 1843,
Australian gannet

Charadriiformes

Laridae

Larus novaehollandiae
Stephens, 1826
silver gull

Strigiformes

Strigidae

Tyto novaehollandiae
castanops

(Gould, 1837),
Tasmanian masked owl

Host not specified

Parasite

1. pterodromae

I. auritulus group
I. ? cornuatus
I. trichosuri

I. auritidus group
I. ? cornuatus

I. ? cornuatus

I. eudyptidis

Amb. limbatum
Amb. postoculatum

THE TICK FAUNA OF TASMANIA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to express his gratitude to Mr. J. H. Calaby, Division
of Wildlife Research, C.S.I.R.O., for making available the extensive series of
specimens collected mainly by Messrs. B. C. Mollison and R. H. Green.

REFERENCES

Arthur, D. R. (1960).—Parasitology 50: 199.

Hoogstraal, H. and Kohls, G. M. (1962).— Proc. Rinn. Soc. N.S.W. 87: 275.

Neumann, L. G. (1899). — Mem. Zool. Soc. Fr. 12: 107.

Nicholls, H. M. (1922). — Rep. Dep. Agric. Tasm. 1921-22.

Roberts, F. H. S. (1953).—Aust. J. Zool. 1: 111.

Roberts, F. H. S. (I960).—Aust. J. Zool. 8: 392.

Roberts, F. H. S. (1963).—Aust. J. Zool. 11: 35.

Roberts, F. H. S. (1964). — Aust. J. Zool. (in press).

Seddon, H. R. (1951).—Diseases of domestic animals in Australia. Pt. 3. Tick and
mite infestations. Serv. Publ. Dep. Hlth. Dir. Vet. Hyg. No. 7. 200 pp.

Taylor, F. H. (1946). — Spiders, mites and ticks, including the species harmful to man
in Australia and New Guinea. Serv. Pub. Schl. Publ. Hlth. Sydney, No. 6,
234 pp.

Published 31/5/1965

THOMAS BOCK'S PORTRAITS
OF THE

TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

Wins crip t Received 26/9/11.

963

N. I. B. PLOMLEY

is 0 ,f/? mas . Bock, a portrait painter of distinction,
us atstan ding among’ those few who have given
T a „ a worthwhile pictorial record of the extinct
* uianian aborigines.

Bock
ar
V,

The main sources of information about Thomas

art / , a * e William Moore’s The story of Australian
' y. .34) an( j Clifford Craig’s The engravers of

-9 i 7 Qn C " le, *’ s Land (1961). Bock, born in England
s Beci. i- w . as trained as an engraver and came to
T a _ 1Se in portraiture. He was transported to
to' *nia after conviction for administering drugs
J. ll .„f 0< t uce abortion, and arrived in Hobart on
the ■ }’ y 19 1824 on the Asia. He remained in
on iw° on , y ^ or the rest of his life, dying in Hobart
to WAi^h ^8 1855. In Tasmania, Bock continued
tuanv f as an en graver and also did portraits of
in„. " °.t those prominent in colonial society, work-
mamly in crayons and watercolours.
ha s , ° detailed appraisal of Thomas Bock’s work
acc, w V, e i • , een Pnblisned. He was probably the most
tijj, gPBshed portraitist working in Hobart at any
g- ei . , la the nineteenth century, but his work is
titiifJu y unknown and unrecorded and has some-
Air,, been confused with that of his son Alfred (•>.
torin Bock 0835-1920) worked in Tasmania, Vic-
hhon, and New’ Zealand as artist, engraver and
Port £. l ’ a Pher and, like his father, specialised in
aiture. He was taught painting by his father.
Paint j, P 01 't ra -its of the Tasmanian aborigines
Pole/- , y . Thomas Bock are of considerable anthro-
eom„, importance. Other than Bock, the only
reeSa ^ artist to have left a useful pictoria
then/ , of the natives is Petit, who portrayed
nwnk Waen he visited Tasmania in 1804 as a
of .1 er of Baudin’s expedition. The other artists
c eiiin? French and British expeditions were con-
th e f with scenes rather than portraiture, and
Pean/// P 01 'traits they painted were usually euro-
W ei . A Se d in engraving them for publication, if they
in +i, n °l so in the original. Of artists working
Skjn/ Colony, only Benjamin Duterrau and John
the).,, er Brout produced anything significant, though
thp ,, "’ere a few amateurs who attempted to portray

natives.

class ute nrau’s work was technically not in the first
Pi- et ,‘j an d his portraits therefore provide little
Phv</ 6 “'formation about the appearance and
a hic/?i Ue °f the natives. On the other hand, 1 rout,
as h/-V competent artist, only portrayed the n a lives
s tudi A e captives of Flinders Island, most ot the
UstUi’A *? e did of them there in 1845 l*> showing
hulivil clothed in shroud-like garments rather than
the Tn Ua s .having the particular morphology ol
Worko i nian ' an aborigines. Duterrau seems to have
^J^juainly in oils, and Prout in watercolours.

ds ol the Queen Victoria Museum, New Series, No. 18.

Bock’s watercolours of the Tasmanian aborigines
have become well-known not only as portraits of
an extinct race, but also on account of their rarity.
In Tasmania they have been associated especially
with Lady Franklin, a romantic figure there in the
middle of the last century: Sir John Franklin was
Governor from January 6 1837 to August 21 1843,
and both he and his wife were patrons of art and
science in the colony.

TECHNIQUE OF THE PORTRAITS

A survey of collections in Europe having
brought to light a greater number of Bock’s por¬
traits of the Tasmanians than current ideas pointed
to his having painted, and more being known in
collections in Tasmania, it seemed possible that
some of these paintings might be copies of Thomas
Bock’s originals by other hands. Attention was
therefore given to the technique employed in each
of the portraits, and in this the author was for¬
tunate in having the advice and help of Mr E.
Croft-Murray (Keeper of the Department of Prints
and Drawings, British Museum), and of Mr G.
Reynolds (Keeper of the Department of Engravings,
Illustration & Design and Paintings, Victoria and
Albert Museum). Portraits at the British Museum
and at the Royal Anthropological Institute were
examined first by Mr Croft-Murray. He considered
them to be by two hands and to comprise : —

(a) a group of portraits in which fine dots
were employed in shading, M) and the use of blue
was pronounced; and

(b) a group of portraits in which the shading
depends upon dashes and lines, and reddish-brown
predominates in the colour.

All the portraits at the Royal Anthropological
Institute had the characteristics of group (a), and
there was an inscription below each of them. The
portraits at the British Museum, on the other
hand, had no inscriptions, and belonged technically
to group (b). In both groups the work was of
a high standard, and appeared to be contemporary.

Later, and independently, Mr Reynolds saw the
same portraits and came to the same conclusion.
He also examined the portraits in the Pitt Rivers
Museum Oxford and, finding that the technique of
the painting was the same as that used in the
portraits at the Royal Anthropological Institute,
concluded from the evidence of the inscriptions that
these two groups wore the work of Thomas Bock.
Moreover, Mr Reynolds came to the further con¬
clusion that the Pitt Rivers portraits were Thomas
Bock’s originals, and that the portraits in the
Institute had been prepared from them, being not
so fine a set.

I . 1 A N ALA R G E N N A-

iA Chief of U <■ £, /$te> n Coast of

van oilmen's la n d .

TYPE A1 (R.A.I. “Hobson”)

"M! AN A IL. A IK, G- JE M Tf A

: Chief cj the East Coast of
van diem EN*w land

TYPE A2 (R.A.I. Franklin)

Jill!

JValive of ‘Tort Soretl

VAN DIEMENS LAND.

.... —

PLATE 1 : INSCRIPTIONS TYPE Al/2 (Fuller Collection)

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

DESCRIPTION of the portraits

For ease of reference in other sections of this
Paper, Thomas Bock’s watercolours of the aborigines
will be grouped as :—

(i) the portraits common to the collections of
G. A. Robinson and Lady Franklin;

(ii) the pi’ofiles in blue watercolour; and

(iii) other portraits.

(i). The Robinson/Franklin series.

This series of portraits comprises those of
which several sets are known and which have been
referred to and reproduced in the literature as
Thomas Bock’s portraits of the Tasmanian abori¬
gines. Their present location is given in Table I.

The original paintings are probably those now
in the Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford but Bock cer¬
tainly prepared at least one other set of the
portraits as well as other duplicates of some of
them. The individuals portrayed were natives who
accompanied G. A. Robinson on his expeditions of
conciliation among the Tasmanian aborigines.
Woureddy and Truggernana joined him in 1829, and
the others in 1830 and 1831.

All the known portraits of this series have an
inscription giving the name and some particulars
of the native portrayed and, except in a number
of those of the Oxford set, this inscription has been
hand printed by the artist. The printed inscription
is set out in three lines below the portrait, the name
of the native in the first, locality and information
in the second, and “Van Diemen’s Land” in the
third. The first and third lines are in capitals,
but the second is in an italic which is characteristic
of Thomas Bock’s lettering, being found both in
the usual form of his artist’s signature and in the
inscriptions on his engravings (Craig 1961). The
capitals of the first and third lines are of three
varieties, a rather broad plain capital (type Al),
a modification of this with double lines instead of
single (type Al/2), and a decorated capital (type
A2).

If it can be assumed that the form of capital
(and inscription) is uniform in portraits prepared
at the one time, which is a reasonable likelihood,
some suggestions can be made as to the origin of
the portraits in modern collections. Thus, those in
the Royal Anthropological Institute are all from the
set prepared by Bock for Lady Franklin (the
portrait of Manalargenna given her by Hobson
is an earlier production), the portraits of Jennv
and Jemmy in the Fuller collection were originally
in the possession of Strzelerki. and those with a
simple capital belonged to Robinson’s set or were
contemporary duplicates.

In many of the portraits of the Oxford set, the
inscription is written in pencil, probably in the
hand of G. A. Robinson (type B).

Only three of Thomas Bock’s portraits are
signed. In two of them, those of Jenny and Jimmy
in the Fuller collection, the signature is in the
italic referred to above, the same as that found in
his lithographs.

ock, dt z *

Signatures : italic form.

However, in the signature to the portrait of
Manalargenna given to Lady Franklin by Hobson
< 5 ' the letters are all type Al Capitals.

T-BOCK

Signature : Al Capital form.

Handwritten notes on the life and character of
each native have been added in pencil to the Oxford
set, beside and to the right of the inscription. The
writer of these notes has not been identified, but
the information given has clearly originated from
Robinson, as it includes descriptive phrases used by
him in MS, and particulars which only he could
have known. Robinson provided Thomas Bock
(August 1835) and Henry Dowling (December
1840) with biographical information about some or
all of these natives, but they are formal biographies
and do not give the character sketches found in
the notes. One of these notes says of Jemmy,
“Abt 18 (6) in 1839”. The notes on the portrait
of Larretong include the comment “dead about 3
years” — Larretong died on August 16 1837.

*T : tl #

j &

It is probably safe to conclude from these notes
that they were composed about 1839; they may have
been inscribed by Robinson’s clerk <") at the
Flinders Island settlement, whose handwriting re¬
sembles that found in them.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

It is possible, of course, that the notes were
added to the portraits some time later, but there is
no evidence of this: the details given in them would
not have been known to others, or readily accessible
to anyone else. It is unlikely that the notes were
added by Dr Barnard Davis after he bought the
portraits from Robinson’s widow in 1867 because
he would not have had the information given in
them; in any case, the notes are not in Barnard
Davis’s handwriting.

1. WOUREDDY (8) (Plate 2).

The Oxford portrait is inscribed in type B —
“Woureddy/Native of Brune Island", and that at
the Royal Anthropological Institute in type A2 —
“Woureddy/Native of Brune Island/Vari Diemen’s
Land”.

The notes on the Oxford portrait read : “hus¬
band to Lalla Rookh 2nd wife abt 40—2 sons—
Robert and David Bruny by 1st wife”.

2. TRUGGERNANA (Plate 2).

The Oxford portrait is inscribed in type A1
—“Truggernana/Native of the southern part'of/Van
Diemen’s Land”. The portrait in the Tasmanian
Museum has a similar inscription.

The notes on the Oxford portrait read : “Lalla
Rookh. wife of Woureddi aged 27. parti, good, saved
Mr R’s life at Arthur river by pulling log/ 2 spars/
of wood across river on which Mr R. was”.

3. JACK/TUNNERMINNERIVATE (Plate 3).

The Oxford portrait is inscribed in type B —
“Jack Native of Cape Grim”; and the portrait in
the Royal Anthropological Institute — “Tunnamin-
nerwate/Native of Cape Grim/Van Diemen’s Land”
in type A.

The notes on the Oxford portrait are — “about
24 ‘rather risible’ md. to Fanny — no family —
very good disposition”.

4- JACK’S WIFE / FANNY / WORTABOWIGEE

(Plate 3).

The Oxford portrait is inscribed in type B —
“Jack’s wife/Native of Port Dalrymple”; and the
portrait in the Royal Anthropological Institute has
in type A “Wortabowigee/Native of Port Dalrymple/
Van Diemen’s Land”.

The Oxford portrait has the additional notes —
“Fanny aged 30 rather well disposed, but rather
petulant”.

5. TIMMY (Plate 4).

The Oxford portrait has the type B inscription

— “Timmy/Native of George’s River”; and the
additional notes are — “jawbone — md to Jenny
—- about 19 native of Cape Portland — travelled
with Mr Robinson”.

G. JENNY /JINNY (Plate 4).

The Oxford portrait has a type B inscription

— “Jenny/Wife of Timmy/Native of Port Sorell”;
and that in Captain A. W. F. Fuller’s collection
has a type A inscription — “Jenny/Native of Port
Sorell/Van Diemen’s Land”, and is also signed
“T. Bock delt.”.

The notes on the Oxford portrait are — “about
20 — rather facetious and loquacious, no children,
don’t live very amicable”.

7. JEMMY/JIMMY/PROBLATENA (Plate 5).

The Oxford portrait has the type B inscription

— “Jemmy/Native of Hampshire Hills;” and Cap¬
tain Fuller’s portrait has a type A inscription —
“Jemmy / Native of the Hampshire Hills / Van
Diemen’s Land,” and is signed “T. Bock delt.”.

The notes on the Oxford portrait are “same
as the grey bust”. (»).

8. LARRETONG (Plate 5).

The Oxford portrait has the type B inscription

— “The Widow of a Chief and Native of Cape
Grim”, and the notes are “dead about 3 years —
mother of Adolphus, named Larretong. She never
had any commn. with Europeans till went to Flin¬
ders”.

.9. MANALARGENNA (Plate G).

Four examples of this portrait are known.
The one at Oxford has a type A1 inscription —
“Manalargenna/A Chief of the Eastern Coast of/
Van Diemen’s Land”; and another in the Tasmanian
Museum has a similar inscription. There are two
examples in the Royal Anthropological Institute,
one having a type A1 inscription, the other type
A2. The former is signed “T. Bock” in type A1
capitals, and has associated with it the following
handwritten note — “Mr Hobson, (f>) of Hobart
Town, gave me this drawing of Manalargenna on
Mav 18th 1837. He told me that he had hunted
with him, often, and that this was a very good
likeness. It was taken from life. The artist is a
German” O 1 ®). This note is almost certainly Lady
Franklin’s.

The notes on the Oxford portrait are — “dead

— a powerful chieftain & considered a sage —
sinews of kangaroo tail spun into cord around his
neck.”

(ii). The Profiles

There are profiles in blue watercolour of five
of the Tasmanians of the Robinson/Franklin series.
These profiles show the head and upper part of
the neck of the native. They are only known in
the original in the Oxford series, but conies of
them are associated with the copies of the Robinson
Franklin portraits in the British Museum and in
the Tasmanian Museum.

The five profiles in the Oxford collection are
labelled in handwriting (Type B inscription). They
are:

(10) Truggernana’s profile (Plate 7).

(11) Timmy’s profile (Plate 7b

(12) Jenny’s profile (Plate 8).

(13) Jimmy’s profile (Plate 8).

(14) Manalargenna’s profile (Plate 9).

In addition the profile of Jimmy has the
note — “travelled with Mr Robinson, married lately
to Maria, who lived with a sealer — is very
harmless, abt. 18 in 1839;” and that of Manalar¬
genna has two notes, one in the same hand as his
name (type B) — “The beard was removed to
shew the form of the lower jaw”, and the other
in the hand of the explanatory notes of the other
Oxford portraits — “dead at between 50 and 60.
5 ft 10”.

WOUREDDY PLATE 2 TRUGERNANNA

JACK/TUNNERMINNERWATE PLATE 3 JACK’S WIFE/FANNY/WORTABOWIGEE

TIMMY PLATE 4 JENNY

MANALARGENNA PLATE 6 MATHINNA

T7VU GEKN ANN A. PLATE 7 TIMMY

JENNY PLATE 8 JIMMY

MANAUARGENNA PLATE 9 UNKNOWN D (British Museum)

PLATE 10

Top Left: TOGERLONGERTER Top Right: UNKNOWN A/TOMLABOMA (?)

Bottom Left : UNKNOWN B Bottom Right : UNKNOWN C

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

(iii). Other Portraits

A. In the British Museum there are five portraits
of natives painted by Thomas Bock, or copied from
his work. Portraits 16 and 17 are unique.

15. TOGERLONGERTER (Plate 10).

The man’s name is written on the portrait in
G. A. Robinson’s hand.

10. UNKNOWN A/TOMLABOMA (?) (Plate 10).

This is a copy by Alfred Bock of an unknown
original by Thomas Bock. In the collections at the
British Museum it is associated with a set of
Alfred Bock’s copies of the group I portraits.

17. UNKNOWN B (Plate 10).

This portrait is in the same style as that of
Togerlongerter. The man lacks an upper incisor.

18. UNKNOWN C (Plate 10).

This portrait is also in the style of Toger¬
longerter.

19. UNKNOWN D (Plate 9).

The subject of this portrait does not show the
leanness found usually among the Tasmanians; he
was perhaps one of those natives with Robinson who
had been brought up from infancy by settlers Hi).
The man has short hair rather than ringlets,
his features are plump with a well-rounded chin,
and his body and limbs are stout and fleshy
rather than lean and elongated. Thomas Bock’s
original pencil drawing for this portrait, which
is now in the Queen Victoria Museum, shows two
poses of the legs; and has two marginal sketches
of natives in European dress.

B. In the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart, there is a
portrait of an aboriginal girl named Mathinna
(Plate 6). Her age is six or seven years. She is
wearing a red dress which conceals the body so
that only the head can be seen in detail. The por¬
trait is not signed, but it is clearly the work of
Thomas Bock.

THE COLLECTIONS

The Barnard Davis Collection

The most important collection of portraits of
the Tasmanian aborigines was that built up by
Dr Joseph Barnard Davis (1801-1881), of Shelton
in Staffordshire, a surgeon who became interested
in the human skull. His was the largest collection
of skeletal material of the various races of man¬
kind in either public or private hands in the
seventies of the last century. Associated with this
collection were many articles of ethnological interest,
as well as a large library. Barnard Davis acquired
Tasmanian skulls from various sources, but most
of his Tasmanian ethnological material came from
G. A. Robinson’s collection. Shortly before his death
Barnard Davis disposed of the skeletal material
to the Royal College of Surgeons of England 02).
His library was auctioned by Sotheby’s ( |3 > on
January 30 1883 and the two following days. It
is not known when the ethnological material was
disposed of, but as Tasmanian specimens from it
have been traced to a number of different col¬
lections, (14) it seems probable that this part of
the collection was sold by auction. However, at¬
tempts to trace an auction sale have failed.

Barnard Davis does not seem to have known
G. A. Robinson before 1862. On February 5 of
that year he wrote to Robinson saying that he
wanted to buy Tasmanian skulls, implements, etc.
and this letter began a correspondence which led
to the two men meeting. Robinson died on October
18 1866, and in the following March Barnard Davis
acquired his portraits of the Tasmanians and other
ethnological material, paying the widow £30 for
the collection. In a letter to Mrs. Robinson, written
about April 15 1867, and now' in the Mitchell Lib¬
rary, Davis said :—

. . . The chief things to me amonvr the curiosities were
the skulls & the portraits, but, Finding I must purchase
the whole, I strove to the best of my ability to estimate
their money value - no easy task. T believe I know
better thnn any one else the price of the skulls, from

being the great skull-purchaser of recent times. With

respect to the portraits, 1 some years ago acquired a
knowledge of the 12 best and most carefully executed
of them, which were executed by Mr T. Bock, of
Ilobart T. & I now have before me a letter of his
son’s Mr Alfted B. written May 14. ’56, upon the

subject of these very portraits. Mr T.B. executed them

for th« late Mr Robinson but, as Mr Robinson told me,
Bock did another set for another person. It happened
that in 1855 seven out of the 12 drawings of this other
set, which cannot in any way be distinguished from
those of Mr Robinson's, were purchased by a London
printseller in the Strand, who lives a few doors on
the Temple Bar side of Norfolk Street.. When he had
purchased these drawings, he offered them to Mr Rd.
Cull, then Secretary of the Ethnol. Soc. a gentleman
well known to the late Mr Robinson, and Mr C. bought
the drawings of this London dealer . . for two guineas,
and they are now in the library of the Ethnol. Soc.
... (I have in my possession) very carefully executed
copies of 7 of them.

The material which Barnard Davis bought
from Mrs Robinson is listed in the notebooks now in
the Royal Anthropological Institute Or.), There
is a list of the whole collection, 06) in which
many of the portraits are grouped together, and
another list in which the portraits ai-e each des¬
cribed. The following Tasmanian portraits are
mentioned in this second list, which is dated
October 21 1867 :—

1. Bust of “ Wor eddy”, a native of Brune Is¬
land. Executed by B. Law. Hobartown.

2. Bust of “Truggernanny,” a Tasmanian
woman, a native of Sullivan Cove, the
second wife of Woreddy. Executed by B.
Law. She accompanied G. A. Robinson on
his expeditions, and saved his life on
one occasion, when the natives were about
to murder him, by swimming before him
across a river. He could not swim.

3. Oil painting of “Woreddy”, or “The Doc¬
tor.” 3 ft. 1 in. by 2 ft. 9 in. This painting
is framed in a beautiful Tasmanian wood.

4. Fine coloured drawing of “Woreddy” 5 •
By T. Bock, of Hobarton, who made this
series of drawings with very great care and
exactness for G. A. Robinson, who was
much displeased that Bock subsequently
supplied Lady Franklin with copies of some
of them.

5. Fine coloured drawing of “Truggernana” 9.
By Bock. Truggernana presents the natural
colour of the skin. I have no doubt she
was a native of Brune Isl. Shell necklace.

6. Fine coloured drawing of “Wortabowigee”.
By Bock. Native of Port Dalrymple. Has
kangaroo skin dress, and wheals on the arm,
but is not ochred.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

7. Pine coloured drawing- of “Jenny” 9. By
Bock. Native of Port Sorell. Kangaroo skin
dress. Wheals on the arm. Not ochred.

8. Fine coloured drawing of “Problatena” $,
nearly full length, with a spear bv his side.
Native of Hampshire Hills. By Bock. Pro¬
blatena is not ochred, and therefore presents
the true and natural colour of the Tas¬
manians. Has kangaroo skin dress.

9. Fine coloured drawing of “Tunnaminna-
wate” 3. By Bock. Native of Cape Grim.
Kangaroo dress on. Ochred. Wheals on the
arm.

10. Fine coloured drawing of “Manalargenna”
3. By Bock. A chief (?) of eastern coast.
Carries a firestick.

11. Fine coloured drawing of a Tasmanian $
seated, pointing a spear. By Bock. Not
ochred.

12. Fine coloured drawing of a Tasmanian $.
Ochred, and wants an upper front tooth.
By Bock.

13. Fine coloured drawing of a Tasmanian $.
Has his head shaved, is in kangaroo skin
dress, not ochred. By Bock. This is “Tom-
laboma”. G.A.R.

14. Drawing of a Tasmanian $ on the reddish
tinted paper.

15. Fine coloured drawing of a Tasmanian $.
Has a human .jaw suspended round his neck
as a charm. Has a fire stick and a waddy.
Is naked, but ochred. By Bock.

16. Fine coloured drawing of a Tasmanian 9
(grave looking). Has a skin dress and
wheals, but is not ochred. By Bock. Bock
was an artist who lived at Hobarton. He
was most scrupulously accurate. I have
some account of him in a letter from his
son in the portfolio “Galerie Anthropolo-
gique”.

17. Larger drawing of a Tasmanian 9 on a
reddish tinted paper. She has a skin girdle
tied round her chest, above her breasts.

18. 2 drawings of a Tasmanian $ and a 9 on
same paper. Both have the hair ochred and
clotted.

19. Drawing of a Tasmanian 9 on same
paper. The upper part of her head is
whitened. A mourning custom among
A ustralians.

20. A fine drawing of a Tasmanian $, “Toger-
longerter”.

21. Another fine drawing of a Tasmanian $.
Unnamed. These two drawings were most
likely executed by Bock, but I don’t know.

22. A drawing of a Tasmanian $ with clotted
hair. The upper part of the figure is in
outline.

23. A drawing of a Tasmanian 3- The hair
in this drawing is evidently growing in
spiral tufts. This and the three following
are heads only.

24. A drawing of Tasmanian $. Head.

25. A drawing of Tasmanian 9. Head.

26. A drawing of Tasmanian 9. Head. These
five drawings are executed in a bluish
sepia.

(27-31. Portraits of Australian aborigines).

32. Coloured drawing of an Australian in a
sailor’s dress. By W. B. Gould.

32a. Daguerrotype of three Tasmanians.

33. Coloured drawing. “The natives of Tas¬
mania bewailing the loss of their country.”
A design for the “Finis” of G. A. Robinson’s
proposed work on his missions.

Neaidy the whole of this collection has been
located. The portraits by Thomas Bock are :—

Group I — items 4-10, 15, 16.

Group II — items 22-26.

Group III — items 11 (unknown D), 12 (un¬
known B), 13 (? unknown A), 20 (Togerlongerter),
21 (unknown C).

It is unlikely that Robinson’s collection con¬
tained any but original work by Thomas Bock.
Alfred Bock was horn in 1835, so that the 50’s
would have been the earliest date for his skilled
copying of his father’s work, and by then Robinson
had retired to England. However, before he ac¬
quired Robinson’s collection in 1867, Barnard Davis
undoubtedly had obtained a set of copies from
Alfred Bock, and the set in the British Museum
seems to be it.

Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

In the collections at Oxford there are fourteen
coloured drawings of the Tasmanians, comprising
the portraits of groups I and II. Although none
of them are signed and there is no record of their
source, there is little doubt that they were painted
by Thomas Bock for G. A. Robinson, and were
among the portraits acquired by Barnard Davis
from Mrs Robinson in 1867: the technique of
applying the watercolour shows them to be by
the same hand as portraits now in the Royal An¬
thropological Institute which were originally in the
possession of Lady Franklin; the particulars con¬
cerning the natives are either in italic of the style
found in the portraits from Lady Franklin’s col¬
lection and in work known to be by Thomas Bock,
or are written in a hand (type B) which is probably
Robinson’s; the annotations, though not in Robin¬
son’s hand, could only have been written by
someone given the information by him or having
access to Robinson’s MSS. Technically they ap¬
pear to be the originals from which Thomas Bock
prepared others.

British Museum, London

The British Museum contains a large collection
of Tasmanian material, including many portraits
of the natives. Much of this came from Barnard
Davis's collection and was apparently obtained for
the museum by A. W. Franks, sometime keeper
of the ethnological collections. Such material is
usually marked “J.B. Davis coll.”, and with Franks’s
name, but none of the portraits have any reference
to Franks. The museum’s records do not give any
information. None of the portraits are now framed,
but some are marked as having been so. This col¬
lection includes all the known Bock portraits, but
while some are original paintings by Thomas Bock,
most of them appear to be copies by Alfred Bock.
The original portraits of groups I and II -which
Barnard Davis obtained from Mrs Robinson are
clearly not among them.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

The other portraits listed by Barnard Davis
are also in the British Museum, with the exception
of the daguerrotype of three Tasmanians (item
32a). There is no information in the museum’s
records relating to the busts of Woureddy and
Truggernana which are there, but there is no
reason to doubt that they formed part of the
Barnard Davis collection. The oil painting of
Woureddy (item 3) is by Benjamin Duterrau.
Items 14, 17, 18 and 19 are five crude pencil and
crayon sketches on tinted paper by an unknown
hand. The coloured drawing by W. B. Gould of a
native in sailor’s dress (item 32) is almost cer¬
tainly an Australian 07). The artist of the vignette
(item 33) is not known.

In addition to the portraits of the Tasmanians
which Barnard Davis obtained from Mrs Robinson,
he also purchased a number from John Skinner
Prout, which that artist had painted on Flinders
Island in 1845.(3) With these watercolours and
pencil sketches Davis also obtained from Prout
one of the boards painted with figures which
Governor George Arthur issued about 1829 to
show the natives that justice was equal for black
and white. Prout’s watercolours and sketches are
now in the British Museum, but the painted board
is in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology,
Cambridge.! 18 )

Royal Anthropological Institute, London

References in the literature! 19 ) and in Barnard
Davis’s papers show that Richard Cull, Secretary of
the Ethnological Society, bought from a London
printseller in the early 1850’s! 29 ) seven of Bock’s
portraits of the Tasmanians, and added them to the
collections of the Society. There is little doubt that
these seven portraits had formed part of the set
Thomas Bock prepared for Lady Franklin: she
had informed Barnard Davis in 1856 that some of
hers were missing, and the inscription associated
with the extra portrait of Manalargenna in the
Institute is undoubtedly Lady Franklin’s. More¬
over, Barnard Davis, when writing to Mrs Robinson
in April 1867, stated that the seven portraits which
Cull bought had formed part of a set, and there is
not much doubt that he was referring to the one
which had belonged to Lady Franklin. By chance,
it is possible to say with some certainty which
portraits these seven were. There are in the
British Museum seven copies by J. Gray of Bock’s
portraits, the subjects being Woureddy, Trugger¬
nana, Jack, Jack’s wife, Jenny, Jimmy and Mana¬
largenna. These copies come from Barnard Davis's
collection and are evidently those he refers to in
this correspondence.

There are now only five original portraits by
Thomas Bock in the Royal Anthropological Insti¬
tute, those of Manalargenna (represented twice),
Woureddy, Tunnaminnerwate and Wortabowigee.
The portrait of Tunnaminnerwate and one of those
of Manalargenna are mai'ked on the back “Pur¬
chased 13 Jany 1880”: the style of the inscription
is uniform with those on the portraits of Woureddy
and Wortabowigee, so that they could well have
been among the portraits originally in the possession
of Lady Franklin, acquired by Cull, later dispersed
during the formation of breakaway groups from

the original society, and subsequently re-acquired
unknowingly by purchase in 1880.

Only one of the portraits in the Institute is
signed, namely the one of Manalargenna which
was given to Lady Franklin by Hobson. It must
be concluded, therefore, that Barnard Davis’s
statement that Cull’s portraits were signed (letter
to Alfred Bock of September 30 1855), probably
means no more than at least some of them were
signed — none of the Oxford series is signed, so it
is clear that Thomas Bock did not always sign
his work (and it follows also that the Oxford
portraits were not Lady Franklin’s set). There is
no doubt that the portraits are all by Thomas Bock,
the technique of the painting being the same in
all five and the inscriptions by the same hand,
with type Al/2 capitals in the Hobson portrait
and type A2 capitals in the others.

Fuller Collection, London

In the collection of the late Captain A. W. F.
Fuller there are two of Bock’s portraits of the
Tasmanians, those of Jenny and Jimmy. Both are
originals, both are signed and both have type Al/2
inscriptions.

These two portraits were at one time in Edge-
Partington’s collection/ 21 ) and possibly were
originally in Strzelecki’s possession (see below).
Both these portraits were recently presented to
the Mitchell Library, Sydney.

Crystal Palace, London

The late Captain A. W. F. Fuller informed me
that he recollected having seen many years ago a
series of Bock’s portraits among the permanent
collections at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
Presumably, these were destroyed when the Crystal
Palace burnt in November 1936. They are likely
to have been some of Alfred Bock’s copies of his
father’s work.

Tasmanian Museum, Hobart

This museum has a set of copies of the Robin¬
son/Franklin portraits (group 1) and the profiles
(group II), evidently prepared by Alfred Bock.
Although supposed to be originals, possibly because
of Fenton’s statement (see below), they are tech¬
nically not Thomas Bock’s work. Moreover, they
are recorded as being copies in the letter by which
the government gave them to the museum:—

From Chief Secretary’s Office, Hobart to Alexander
Morton, Curator, Tasmanian Museum, Hobart. April 5
1889.

... I also beg to forward a series of facsimiles of
Hock’s drawings of Tasmanian aborigines which the
Government desire to present to the Trustees for the
Art Gallery.

Although these portraits are copies, one of them,
that of Woureddy, is inscribed “T. Bock delt.” in
small capitals. Photographs of this set, by J. W.
Beattie of Hobart, are fairly common in collections.

There are also two original group I portraits
by Bock in the collections. They are not signed,
but have type A1 inscriptions. These portraits,
which are of Ti’ugernanna and Manalargenna, were
acquired by the museum in 1949 and had belonged
to Miss E. M. Scott of Hobart.

portraits of the tasmanian aborigines

Thomas Bock’s portrait of Mathinna was pre¬
sented to the Tasmanian Museum in May 1951 by
Mrs. J. H. Clark, of Wellington, New Zealand, the
elder daughter of William it. Bock, who was the
second son of Thomas Bock.

Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston

In 195(1 the museum acquired some papers re¬
lating to the Bock family, which had been in the
possession of two of Alfred Bock’s sons. Among
these papers are some letters to Alfred Bock from
Barnard Davis, biographies of Trugernanna and
Woureddy in G. A. Robinson’s handwriting and
dated August 13 1835, and a number of pencil
sketches of the aborigines.

The pencil sketches comprise:—

(1) Unknown D. The head, trunk and arms are
shaded, but the legs are indicated only in outline
and arc crossed asymmetrically. On the same sheet
are outline sketches of (a) the right foot, (b) the
legs, which are crossed symmetrically, (c) the
head of a native and (d) two natives in European
dress seated with their legs crossed. The paper is
watermarked “A Cowan & Son/1831”. There is
Pencil rubbing under the central figure; and many
of the outlines and salient features have been
emphasised in pencil, but this does not seem to have
been heavy enough to obtain a tracing from it.

The pencil .sketch differs from the coloured
Portrait in the British Museum (Plate 9) in detail:
in the latter the legs are crossed symmetrically (as
shown in the outline on the same sheet as the
sketch), and the lips are open, showing the teeth.

(2) Unknown C. (Plate 10). This sketch is colour¬
ed with brown and grey wash, and colour trials
with splashes of pure colour, partly overlying one
another, grey over brown, are on the same paper.
The drawing has no tracing lines or pencil rubbing;
part is torn away.

(3) Togerlongerter. (Plate 10). Pencil sketch,,
shaded. There is pencil rubbing on the back, and
outlines and salient features have been gone over
with a sharp pencil, but evidence that tracings have
been taken from the sketch is not definite.

(4) There is a series of outline pencil sketches
of Fanny, Jimmy, Jack, Trugernana, Woureddy,
Larratong and unknown A (?Tomlaboma), and
also of Trugernana, Jimmy, Jenny, Manalargenna
and Timmy in profile. It is quite clear that these
sketches have been used for making tracings; the
outlines are indented with a sharp pencil and there
is not only pencil rubbing behind each sketch but
the tracing lines are evident. Moreover, the sketches
of unknown A and of Woureddy are accompanied
by tracings on a thick creamy-white paper. The
outline sketches are on a fairly heavy whitish paper.

Samples of the papers of the outline sketch
and tracing of unknown A, together with the
paper of the same portrait in the British Museum,
which is almost certainly Alfred Bock’s work, have
been examined in the laboratory of the British
Museum, and Mr Baynes-Cope has reported on
them as follows:—

I have examined these samples (and the portrait of
'unknown A') and find that they are all cotton-linen
ray: papers which, though differing slightly among
themselves, offer no information on which dating"
could be based.

The papers, therefore, do not provide any evidence
as to the authorship of tracing, outline sketch and
finished portrait, nor indicate when they were
prepared.

Tt is unlikely that the sketches in the Laun¬
ceston museum are original studies: they are
merely outlines. If they are Thomas Bock’s work—
and the best evidence for this is Alfred Bock’s
letter to Barnard Davis in which he states that
he has “none but mere outlines”, and clearly is
referring to his father’s work—-then they are not
the original sketches for the portraits but outlines
prepared from them for the purpose of duplicating
the portraits. This will explain why the duplicates
of the various portraits are so closely similar.
The fact that Alfred Bock had only “mere out¬
lines” of his father’s portraits, will also explain
the differences in colour between copy and original,
the colouring of the copies being not only uniform
and without the individual distinction found in the
originals, but also having a reddish-brown tint for
the skin rather than the blackish-brown tones of
the originals.

REFERENCES IN THE LITERATURE
AND IN MANUSCRIPT

The Literature:

There are but few references in the literature
to Thomas Bock’s portraits, and most of them
deal with the portraits in the Royal Anthropological
Institute, London. In 185G the Secretary of the
Ethnological Society, Richard Cull, showed to
members of the British AssociationfWseven port¬
raits of the Tasmanians by Thomas Bock which
he had bought in London. These portraits were
also mentioned briefly at the time in the Journal
of the Ethnological Society as being in the col¬
lections of the Society, and there have been other
and more recent references to them in the Society’s
publication/1®) There is little doubt that they had
all originally been in the possession of Lady Frank¬
lin.

Lithographs of the four remaining portraits
in the Royal Anthropological Institute, prepared
from copies of the paintings by Miss E. M. Roth,
sister of H. Ling Roth, were published in the
latter’s Aborigines of Tasmania in 1890. These
portraits of Manalargenna, Tunnerminnerwate,
Woureddy and Wortabowigee were reproduced in
reduced size and by photo-lithography, in the
second edition of the book in 1899.

P. E, de Strzelecki, in his Physical description
of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land (1845),
published lithographs of Bock’s portraits of Jenny
and Jemmy. Strzelecki was in Tasmania from
August 1840 to September 1842 and became a close
friend of Sir John and Lady Franklin. H. M. E.
Ileney, in her biography of Strzelecki/ 22 ) quotes
from a letter written by Lady Franklin to her
sister in March 1843 which refers to these port¬
raits:—

Do not forget to offer him Mathinna's (see note 23)
portrait to get engraved. I have given him the portraits
of two Tasmanian natives for the same purpose, they
were quite savages.

The form of the inscription reproduced in
these lithographs, with type Al/2 capitals in the
name and type A1 capitals in “Van Diemen’s

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

Land”, is the same as that of the portraits of
Jenny and Jemmy in the Fuller reflection, a com¬
bination not found in any of the other known
portraits. The evidence of this lettering and of
the composition of Cull’s purchase shows not only
that the Fuller portraits were those given to
Strzelecki by Lady Franklin, but also that she
gave him two obtained from Bock especially for
him and not ones from her own set.

In James Fenton’s History of Tasmania! 24 )
there is the following note concerning the litho¬
graphs after Bock’s portraits of Jinny, Timmy,
Truganini and Jack (sic) which were used as
illustrations in the book:—

The portraits of Tasmanian aborigines were taken
from life, by the late Mr Bock, for Lady Franklin,
who permitted the artist to make copies for Henry
Dowling. Esq., in 1838. The Tasmanian Government,
in whose possession the portrait* now are, has kindly
allowed selections to be engraved for this volume.
Mr Dowling says :— “From my personal acquaintance
with the subjects themselves, during the years 1831-
1833, I can confidently speak of the faithfulness of
the portraiture”.

Fenton’s reference to Bock’s portraits is not
only confusing but has given substance to the
Tasmanian legend associating their painting with
the patronage of Lady Franklin. His statement
comprises several parts — (a) the portraits were
taken from life by Thomas Bock and (b) were
painted for Lady Franklin; (c) duplicates of these
portraits were prepared by Thomas Bock for
Henry Dowling and (d) those duplicates were
later acquired by the Tasmanian government; and
(e) Dowling, from acquaintance with the subjects of
the portraits in 1831-183.3, could affirm the faith¬
fulness of Bock’s portraiture. Of all this it may
be said that while Thomas Bock certainly painted
the original portraits, he produced them for G. A.
Robinson and not for Lady Franklin; that while
Thomas Bock might well have prepared duplicates
for Henry Dowling, none of them has certainly
been identified in any collection, the portraits
owned by the Tasmanian government (now in the
Tasmanian Museum, Hobart) being copies of Thomas
Bock’s work; and that Henry Dowling was ac¬
quainted with some, if not all, of the natives
portrayed while they were with G. A. Robinson,
whom he knew personally.

Manuscript sources of information:

A good deal of light is thrown upon questions
relating to the origin of the portraits and to the
source of those in the various collections by
contemporary records and correspondence. Tn G. A.
Robinson’s papers in the Mitchell Library, Sydney,
there are references to the portraits and corres¬
pondence about them; and in the Robinson papers
at Sydney, in the Barnard Davis MSS in the Royal
Anthropological Institute, London, in the Depart¬
ment of Ethnography of the British Museum, and
in the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston there
are letters and memoranda by Barnard Davis which
relate to the portraits.

There seems little doubt that Thomas Bock
painted all the portraits in the early 1830’s. The
following memoranda by R'obinson(25)make this
certain at least for some of them:—

Dec 21st 1832 . . . paid Bock for 2 drawings of n.t.
chiefs 2. 0. 0

(March 8, 1833) Reed this week the beginning
the portrait of Ehumarah (see note 26) from llo<k

In addition there is the following receipt signed

by Thomas Bock:—

Received of Mrs Robinson, June the 29 1833 the suhi
of ten pounds fifteen shillings being the balance d l ie
for painting a portrait and 2 drawings of native chiefs.

And in a letter dated November 7 1864 written

to Dr John Davy Robinson stated:—

In 1832 I had the portraits of a number of Tub. aha. i’t.
of both sexes painted from life by an eminent artist
at Hobart Town with their profile in neutral tint.

This last note, written so many years after the
event, may be thought unreliable, but as other
parts of his letter to Davy contain quotations frohi
his papers, it is clear that he was not relying solely
on recollection in composing the letter.

There is also indirect evidence that the port¬
raits were painted in the early 1830’s:—

Manalargenna died at Flinders Island oh
December 4 1835, Togerlongerter on June 20 18?7
and Larretong on August 16 1837 (dates of death
of the other natives either not known, or later
than 1837).

On May 31 1834 A. Schayer (superintendent of
flocks, V.D.L. Co., Circular Head) wrote to Robin¬
son as follows:—

Pray let me have the portraits of 2 of your aborigines
a male and a female, I should wish either the old chief
and his lady or Jemmy and his wife, I shall with
pleasure return the expense, they only need to be in
water colours the price of which you stated to be li
guinea a piece. For 1 see it will be some time fill ' v e
set out with the aborigines fo»* Berlin and so I waAt
to give my friends an idea of what they have to expert.

A year later, on May 28 1835, Thomas Swayne
(clerk and woolsorter, V.D.L. Co., Circular Head)
wrote to Robinson to acknowledge receipt of port¬
raits of the natives sent for Schayer and himself,
for which he sent Robinson £4. 4. 0 to be paid

to the artist.* 2 ")

It is clear, therefore, that some at least of
the portraits were painted as early as 1832. Ill
three cases, the date of death fixes an extreme
point for the painting of a portrait, even if this
point were not set for all the portraits at October 1
1835, when Robinson left Hobart to take charge
at Flinders Island, and was accompanied by all
the aborigines not already sent there (except only
a few children who remained for a time in HobaJ’t
at the orphan school).

There is no evidence, therefore, for Fenton's
statements in his History that Bock painted the
portraits for Lady Franklin. The Franklins did not
arrive in Tasmania until January 1837, by which
time Manalargenna was dead and the other natives
exiled on Flinders Island. There is no doubt that
Lady Franklin did obtain a number of Thomas
Bock’s portraits of the aborigines, but these were
duplicates based on the earlier work done for
Robinson.

There is no reason to doubt that the seven
portraits which originally made up the Ethno¬
logical Society’s collection had formed part of
Lady Franklin’s set, nor that those now at the
Institute are representatives of it. Lady Franklin’s
collection possibly comprised a set of group I
portraits obtained from Bock, and an extra portrait
of Manalargenna obtained from Hobson on May 18

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

1 !)

1837. Sir John and Lady Franklin visited the
aboriginal settlement at Flinders Island in January
1838 and while there they told Robinson that
“They had the set of portraits of the nt. by Bock
for which they paid him 30 guineas” (journal of
G. A. Robinson, January 25 1838, Mitchell Library).
It is not clear whether “set” meant only the nine
group I portraits, or whether the five profiles
were included, but probably the former was the
case because no profiles have been identified as
having been originally in Lady Franklin’s posses¬
sion.

Fenton’s statement, however, that duplicates
of the portraits were prepared for Henry Dowling
is almost certainly correct. The Dowling family
came to Tasmania in 1830 and spent a year or two
in Hobart, where Henry Dowling was on the staff
of the Hobart Town Courier before settling per¬
manently in Launceston. There the father, Revd.
Henry Dowling, became the first Baptist minister
and his son Henry a newspaper proprietor and
man of affairs. Correspondence in the Robinson
papers in the Mitchell Library shows that Robinson
knew both father and son, and that they supported
him in his work among the aborigines and in his
claims for reward for his services. Among the
papers there is a copy ol a letter from Robinson
to Henry Dowling, dated December 3 1840 from
Melbourne, sending biographical notes on the
subjects of Bock’s portraits. It contains the fol¬
lowing:—

The aboriginal natives referred to were my travelling
attendants . . . and now altho' many are dead yet do
they live in my recollection and in my gratitude.
Larcurkenner is the young man with the long spear.
Smalhoy is the fine young man with the wnddy I think
the same you call Timmy.

Although the letter which Dowling wrote to
Robinson on November 8 1840, to which the above
was the reply, is missing from the Robinson papers,
it is clear that Dowling was familiar wth Bock’s
portraits, and probable that he possessed a series of
them. However, no portraits of .such origin have
been identified in any modern collection. Henry
Dowling’s portraits may have passed to his brother
Robert, who prepared oil paintings based on
Bock’s portraits, and it is possible they may yet
be found, some of Robert’s vignettes having come
to light in England some years ago.C^ 8 )

The further history of Bock’s portraits can
largely be followed, though not absolutely de¬
termined, through the correspondence and papers
of Barnard Davis, which not only refer to the
portraits in the possession of Robinson and Lady
Franklin, but point to Alfred Bock’s hand in the
preparation of copies of his father’s work.

Barnard Davis apparently knew of Bock’s
portraits of the Tasmanian aborigines through
Richard Cull, Secretary of the Ethnological Society.
In one of his notebooks in the Royal Anthropologi¬
cal Institute there is the following entry dated
December 22 1854:—

Siiw Cull. Showed me 7 small coloured prints of
1 ^ ,Grnen ’ H bind issued he believed by

Mr Robinson now or lately Prot. of Aborigines there
°. v 1,1 n r*Y» J£ e bought them alwmt 3 years ago for
“• — u of PalliBer Strand, who says he cant get more.

(In a later note, T. Bock is named as the
artist).

This inspection of Cull’s portraits seems to have
led Barnard Davis to try to get some for himself—
he was an indefatigable collector—and he wrote
to Lady Franklin, and also to Alfred Bock in
Hobart.

It is not clear how Barnard Davis knew that
Lady Franklin had some of the portraits, but pos¬
sibly he found this out by enquiries concerning
Cull’s purchase. At any rate, he had no success
with Lady Franklin:—

caay rranKlin to liarnard Davis. December 5
1856.(29)

L '»C Franklin presents her compliments to Mr
J. Barnard Davis, and in reply to his note, liens to say
that she possesses only a portion of the drawings of
the Aborigines of Tasmania made for her by Mr Bock
their number having been unfortunately diminished in
consequence of lending them.

Lady Franklin regrets therefore, that it will not
be m her power again to allow them to leave her.
and that she will also he unable to shew them to Mr
Davis as they are packed up with others, in a place
not at present accessible to Lady Franklin.

Barnard Davis’s importunities were apparently
more successful with Alfred Bock, for it is likely
that Alfred sent him a series of portraits which
he had prepared from tracings of his father’s
origmals, colouring them similarly but not identic¬
ally. These copies are probably those now in the
Department of Ethnography of the British Museum,
ine relevant correspondence is as follows:_

Barnard Davis to Alfred Bock. Shelton, Sep¬
tember 30 1855.(39)

A friend of mine who resides in London about
two years ago bought at a print-sellers a series of 7
small drawings of natives of Van Diemens Land, for
wtiich he paid two guineas, considered by him a
great Price. They are only small. Any of them would
go on the page I am writing upon. But they are very
nicely coloured, 1 conclude the correct colour of the
natives. They are signed "T. Bock".

When I returned from London I mentioned this
subject to my friend Joaiah Spode, Esq. gentleman
now residing in this neighbourhood, but long a resident
■it Hobart Town, and well known there. (See note 31).
a informed me that he knew the artist and

snowed me a newspaper containing the announcement
ol tne exhibition of his works, and also your adver iso-
5? 1 * “« Photographer in liehalf or your mother.
Mr Bock s widow.

. j am , very desirous of procuring some of your
lathers coloured drawings of the natives of Tasmania
or ot other southern regions, it you have any such, or
can procure me them. The 7 Tasmanians would be
l 10 me - A . nd if , y°, u have your Father's
shoo Mi, k f c , h< f I 11 ’ c0 ? ies uf those I have seen 1
should be glad to have them. Pray let me know if you

K s them Ti 1 ' ° r , Cfln « 1them ^om any one who
^ern. The colour of the drawings of these people

lie S'd b y lighter than we generally suppose it to
ne Horn the common name of "Black people” but I

hatu U ro e «o,r would colour his drawing from

evnlnM ; mak f f hem as correct as possible. Pray
explain to me whether this is so, or not . . .

Bock to Barnard Davis. Hobart, May 14

• • * With regard to the drawings, I am sorry to
say they are the only ones, I know, of his having
completed. I believe they were executed for Ladv
franklin; they were drawn and coloured from nature,
and 11 WilK °ne of my father’s hobbies to make them as
true_as possible; I have none but mere outlines, with
* should not like to part: and I have not had
sufficient opportunity to copy them for you at the
present time, but will as soon as the winter sets in.
and my leisure allows. I would advise you to endeavour
to get the drawings from your friend and have them
copied as they are the only authentic ones now extant

of this race of people , and they are rapidly passing
from off the earth, I believe there are but 6 or 7
maining.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

. . . Your friend ought to be very proud of the
set of drawings he has got, and he had them for a mere
nothing, if I mistake not, my father had four guineas
each for them; and I would willingly have given £2
each to have them back. Do you think you can obtain
copies of them? If so, will you have a set made for
me also . . . P.S. Try and got the drawings, if pos¬
sible. I will send you the copies of the outlines I
have by the first opportunity.

(Annotation by Barnard Davis — “Son of the late
Mr T. Bock, who made the 7 drawings of Tasman¬
ians in the hands of the Ethnol. Soc. London.).

Barnard Davis to Alfred Bock. Shelton, October

4 1856.(30)

... I am also very much obliged to you . . .
for the promise of copies of your Father’s outline
drawings. Before saying more on this subject, I must
tell you that I have made every effort to get the
beautiful drawings, or to procure copies of them, for
which purpose I engaged the services of a friend, an
excellent artist. All my elForts have hitherto proved
in vain, I believe from the fact that the present
owner of these interesting drawings intends to publish
them ere long. We shall then get lithographic copies,
of which I shall send you an example . . .

I am hoping that you will have found time to
make me copies of the outine drawings during your
winter, and that they are now on their way to me.
They will be very acceptable . . .

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

1. Portraits in watercolour of a number of the
Tasmanian aborigines were painted by Thomas
Bock about 1832. These portraits are here desig¬
nated for ease of reference, as groups I (9 port¬
raits), II (5 profiles of group I natives) and III.

2. The portraits were painted for G. A. Kobinson,
the natives being for the most part those who
accompanied him on his missions.

•1. Subsequently duplicates were prepared for
Lady Franklin and others, the latter probably
including Henry Dowling, ,1. Swayne, A. Schayer
and P. E. de Strzelecki. Only duplicates of group I
portraits have been located.

4. Robinson’s set of group I portraits is almost
certainly that now in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Ox¬
ford. Some of Lady Franklin’s set and a portrait
given her by Hobson are now in the Royal Anthro¬
pological Institute.

5. The only known original portraits of group 11
(profiles in blue watercolour) are those in the
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, and are almost cer¬
tainly the originals painted for Robinson.

6. The portraits of group III are known only from
the examples in the British Museum, from the
unique original of Mathinna in the Tasmanian
Museum, Hobart, and from the tracings and
sketches in the Launceston Museum. Some of those
in the British Museum are originals, but at least
one is a copy.

7. Thomas Bock used outline sketches in preparing
duplicates of tha portraits so as to obtain close
similarity. These or similar tracings formed the
basis for copies prepared by his son Alfred, of
which those in the British Museum and in the
Tasmanian Museum are examples. Just as others
of Thomas Bock’s duplicates of the portraits may
possibly be located in the future, so also may other
copies by Alfred Bock come to light.

8. Anthropologically, Thomas Bock’s portraits
are important in giving us information about the

morphology and culture of the Tasmanian aborig¬
ines. They are probably as useful in this regard
as available photographs, since the photographs
are nearly all those of old people, long inactive.
The busts are probably unreliable also.

Thomas Bock’s treatment of skin pigmentation
is likely to be mo-re reliable than any other sources
of information, and in this regard care must be
taken to use Thomas Bock’s originals rather than
the duplicates he prepared, and still less the copies
by Alfred Bock and others.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author offers his best thanks to the follow¬
ing for help in the work reported in this paper:—

In London: Mr Baynes-Cope, Mr B. A. L.
Cranstone, Mr E. Croft-Murray, the late Captain
A. W. F. Fuller, Miss B. ,T. Kirkpatrick and Mr G.
Reynolds.

In Oxford: Mr T. K. Penniman.

In Launceston: Dr C. Craig and Mr W. F

Ellis.

In Hobart: Mr Henry Allport, Dr W. Bryden
and Mr V. W. Ilodgman.

In Sydney: Miss S. Mourot and other members
of staff of the Mitchell Library; Mrs T. Belleau-
Kemp.

Particular thanks are due to Professor J. L.
Young, University College, London, in whose de¬
partment the author was working when most of
the enquiries reported herein were being made.

Grateful acknowledgment is made of permission
given by the Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum,
Oxford, the Trustees of the British Museum, the
Director of the Tasmanian Museum and the Director
of the Queen Victoria Museum to publish portraits
of the Tasmanian Aborigines by or after Thomas
Bock.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Who is the Robert Bock to whom some pencil
and crayon portraits in the Mitchell Library,
Sydney, are attributed ? These portraits seem to
be in two hands: one group may be by Thomas
Bock; the other, comprising some portraits in
crayons, may he by Alfred Bock. One of the latter
is dated 1855 and the signature is said to be
“Robert Bock”, but the Christian name is unclear
and could as well be “Alfred”. But if this is Alfred
Bock’s work some of the portraits must be copies
from other earlier work, for the series includes a
portrait of Sir George Arthur who was in Tasmania
as Governor only from 1824 to 1836.

2. If busts are included, those of Dumoutier
should be mentioned, though it is very doubtful
if he modelled any of the subjects from nature.
Dumoutier visited Hobart in 1839/40 with Dumont
D’Urville’s expedition, but by that time one of his
“models” was dead, and at least two of the others
were then in Victoria with G. A. Robinson. Alto¬
gether, the whole question of Dumoutier’s busts
needs clarification. The busts are listed by Plomley
N. J. B. (1962) Rec.Q.V.Mus., Launceston, N.S.15.

3. There is a companion series of portraits by
F. G. Simpkinson (de Wesselow) in the Tasmanian
Museum, Hobart. They are dated 1845 and it seems

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

probable that Prout and de Wesselow visited the
Flinders Island settlement together.

4. Mr E. Croft-Murray describes the technique
as “stippled watercolour of the professional port¬
rait-draughtsman in that medium in the early 19th
century”.

5. Probably Dr Edmund Hobson, an amateur
naturalist, but perhaps his son Edmund Charles
Hobson, M.D. E. C. Hobson died at Melbourne on
March 4 1848, aged thirty-three.

C. The ages of the natives cannot be used to fix
dates. The age ascribed is often little more than a
guess, and there is sometimes a wide discrepancy
between an age recorded on one occasion and that
recorded on another.

7. This man was probably B. McSweeney, 2061

Norfolk.

8. Some notes on the aborigines of Thomas
Bock’s portraits are given on p. 22.

9. This cast has not been identified. Perhaps
it was one by Duterrau, who modelled several of
the natives. Seme of his casts are now in the
Tasmanian Museum, but examination of the cata¬
logue of the sale of Duterrau’s pictures and other
work after his death points to there having been
other’s.

10. Why Lady Franklin should have thought
Thomas Bock to have been a German is not clear,
unless she considered the name Bock sounded ger-
manic.

11. It must be kept in mind that there were
natives of many races in Tasmania at one time
or another, both convicts in the colony and seamen
visiting it. Negroes and natives of the Pacific were
among them, as well as Australian aborigines; and
sometimes their portraits were painted in the
colony. Thus, W. B. Gould painted a Sydney native
at Macquarie Harbour in 1832, and J. S. Prout
painted a native of the Isle of Palms and sever’al
New Zealanders when he was in Hobart. However,
in the present case there is little doubt that the
subject was a Tasmanian aboriginal.

12. Almost the whole of this collection was des¬
troyed when the Royal College of Surgeons of
England was bombed on the night of May 10/11
1941.

13. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge. (1883). Catalogue
of the library and engravings of the late D J.
Barnard Davis, F.S.A., F.R.S., &t\, of Shelton,
Hanley, Staffordshire. Part of the collection was
later resold by Bernard Quaritch by his Rough
List No. 63, February 28 1883.

14. Tasmanian material from Barnard Davis’s col¬
lection has been seen in the Department of Ethnog¬
raphy of the British Museum (portraits, baskets),
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (necklet), Brighton
Museum (ground stone axes said to be Tasmanian),
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge
(signboard). Ref:— Plomley, N. J. B. (1962) op.cit.

15. The Barnard Davis papers in The Royal
Anthropological Institute include (a) a series of
notebooks recording visits relating to his scientific
interests (August 1845-October 1860), (b) a note¬
book labelled “Notae Ethnographicae”.

16. This list is quoted by Plomley, N. J. B. (1962)
op.cit.

17. W. B. Gould was a convict at Macquarie Har¬
bour at the time G. A. Robinson was using the
Settlement as a base for his mission to the aborig¬
ines of south-western Tasmania in 1833. Robinson
records in his journal for May 28 of that year that
“Gould the artist painted me a view of the
Settlement shewing my return with the Port Davey
tribe of aborigines and their landing at the penal
settlement of Macquarie Harbour”. Robinson had
this and some other views of the Settlement in
his collection (Barnard Davis MS). At this time
also, Gould would have painted the portrait of
Towtrer (Towterer), chief of the Port Davey tribe,
which is now in the Mitchell Libi’ary. At about
this time also, Gould could have painted the native
wearing the blue jacket whose portrait is item 32
of the Barnard Davis list. Some “Sydney natives”
were at Macquarie Harbour with a party led by
A. Cotterell in May 1833, and among the stores
they had were blue jackets, the garment worn by
the native in Gould’s portrait.

18. A short description of this board has been
given by Little, K. L. (1945). A British procla¬
mation of justice to the Tasmanians, 1815. Man, 45,
p.l, pi.A.

19. (a) Cull, R. (1856) On some watercolour
portraits of natives of Van Diemen’s Land. Rept.
Brit.Ass.Adr.Sci.,25, p.142. (See also Launceston
Examiner, January 8 1856.).

(b) King, R. (1867) (Exhibitor of watercolour
drawings of natives of Tasmania) J.anthrop.Soc.
Lond.,5, p.xxxii.

(d) (Bock’s portraits in R.A.I. library). Man,38,
p.82 (1938).

20. This date is given by Barnard Davis variously
as (a) “About two years ago” (letter to Alfred
Bock of September 30 1855), (b) “About three
years ago” (note dated December 22 1854), and
(c) “In 1855” (letter to Mrs Robinson of April
1867).

21. (a). Australian prints, drawings, etc. in the
collection of J. Edge-Partington, Esq., Beaconsfield.
(1926), (b). Francis Edwards Ltd. (1934). Catalogue
of the Australian collection of books and pictures
formed by the late James Edge-Partington.

22. Heney, H. M. E. (1961). In a dark glass,
(Sydney).

23. It is unlikely that the portrait of Mathinna
which Lady Franklin is referring to here is the
one now in the Tasmanian Museum. The latter
came from the Bock family and is therefore cleai’ly
a duplicate of the one which Thomas Bock painted
for Lady Franklin, which must be regarded as
missing. (The statement by Heney in footnote 15,
p.242, referring to Lady Franklin’s letter, quoted
on p.140 that the portrait of Mathinna “is one of
the illustrations in the Physical Description”, is
not correct.)

24. Fenton, J. (1884) A History of Tasmania.
(Hobart).

25. The information referred to in paragraphs
(a) to (f) is to be found in the Robinson papers
in the Mitchell Library.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

26. The portrait of Umarrah, who died on March
24 1832, has not been traced. It may be unknown
A or B or C of the British Museum collection.

27. It is possible, though not at all likely, that the
portraits which Robinson obtained for Schayer and
Swayne were painted by Duterrau, who had arrived
in Hobart on August 16 1832 and who had also
portrayed Robinson’s “sable friends.” But Duterrau "s
work was in oils, not watercolours; and oil paintings
would certainly not have been sold for “a guinea a
piece”, the price paid by Schayer and Swayne. In
a letter to Robinson dated October 8 1832, Scbayer
informed him that he had forwarded to Berlin
an account of an exhibition of native dancing, “for
a friend of mine who is the editor of a newspaper
and a journal of travels”. If this were the friend
for whom Scbayer wanted the portraits, it may
he that they are still in existence and will be
found in some German collection.

28. Plomley, N. J. B. (1961) Pictures of Tas¬
manian aborigines by Robert Dowling. BuIl.nat.Gal.
Viet.,3, pp.17-22.

29. Original letter in the Department of Ethnog¬
raphy, British Museum.

30. Original letter in the Queen Victoria Museum,
Launceston.

31. Mr. Henry Allport of Hobart has informed me
that Alfred Bock states in a letter to J. W. Beattie
that Lady Franklin allowed Thomas Bock to dupli¬
cate the portraits for Josiah Spode. This is most
unlikely, for there is not the slightest hint of it in
Barnard Davis’s correspondence. It must be re¬
membered that Alfred Bock was only twenty when
his father died and would have had, at best, vague
recollections for details of events occurring when
he was a child. This vagueness is apparent in his
correspondence with Barnard Davis.

NOTES ON THE ABORIGINES OF
THOMAS BOCK’S PORTRAITS

The identification of the Tasmanian aborigines
portrayed by Thomas Bock presents several diffi¬
culties, not the least of which arise from the use
of English names and from variations in the
spelling of the native names. Although all the
natives whose portraits Bock painted seem to have
been associated with G. A. Robinson on his expe¬
ditions at one time or another, or had been captured
by him, it is sometimes difficult to determine from
his journals and papers who a particular native
was, even though there may be many references to
such a one. To add to the confusion, in January
and February 1836 Robinson bestowed romantic
names on the natives at the Flinders Island settle¬
ment (marked “FI” below) and they were often
known by these names from that time. However,
sometimes the new names were not used: in any
case, it is often difficult to find out what native
names they replaced and still more so to distinguish
between the duplications of Maria, Jack and so on
in the earlier records, so that it may become well-
nigh impossible to- sort out some piece of confusion,
particularly when there is little doubt that Robinson
himself was at times forgetful and made mistakes
in recording names.

The notes which follow summarise what has
been determined from the records available, taking-
account, in so far as possible, of the causes of
error referred to above.

1. WOORRADY ( £ )

Other spellings: WOORRADEDY, WOUR.
EDDY, WOREDDY, and other variants.

Other native names: MUT.TEEL.LEE and
variants.

English names: “The Doctor”; Count Alpha
(FI).

Native of Brune Island.

Wife: (a) first wife (name unknown) died at
Brune Island c. September 1829, leaving two
children DROY.YER.LOIN.NE and MY.YUNG.-
GE., later named Peter Brune and David Brune-
(b) second wife TRUGER'NANNA.

Associated with G.A.R. from May 1829.

Died: July 1842.

2. TRUGERNANNA ( 9 )

Other spellings: TRU.GER.NAN.NER
TRUCAN1NI, TROUKANINNY, TOOKER-
NENNY, TRIGENHANNA and other variants.

Other native name: LYD.GUDG.GEE and
variants.

English name: Lalla Rookh (FI).

Native of southern part of VDL (Port Esper-
ance).

Husband: WOORRADY.

Associated with G.A.R. from April 1829.

Died: May 8 1876.

3. TUN.NER.MIN.NER.WAIT ( £ )

Other spellings: TUNNERMINNERWATE
and variants.

Other native name: PEE.VAY and variants.
English names: Jack, Cape Grim Jack;
Napoleon (FI).

Native of Robbins Island (“Cape Grim”).
Wife: Fanny (WORTABOWIGEE).

Associated with G.A.R. from June 1830.
Hanged with MAUL.BOY.HEEN.NER at Mel¬
bourne on January 20 1842 for the murder of
two sealers (?) at Westernport in October 1841.

4. WORTABOWIGEE ($)

Other spellings: ? WATERPOOIDEYER.
Other native name: PLON.NOO.PIN.NER.
English names: Fanny*, Jock.

Native of Port Dalrymple.

Husband: Jack (TUN.NER.MIN.NER.WAIT).
Associated with G.A.R 1 . from (?) 1832.

With G.A.R. at Port Phillip; sent back to
Flinders Island July 1842 1 . Died: (?)**

* There seem to have been at least three nativ¬
es named “Fanny”.

** Fanny was alive in 1845.

5. MAUL.BOY.HEEN.NER* ( £ )

Other spellings: MAL.BOY, MALBY, MAL.-
LEY, 7MAIL.A.PO.WAY.NER.ER.NER.

English names: Timmy; “Small Boy”;
Robert** (FI).

Native of Georges River (?=Georges Rocks);
? Cape Portland.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

Wife: Jenny. (After Jenny’s death he married
Rebecca, who died of dysentry on April 29
1841).

Captured by one of the roving parties: pos¬
sibly he was one of the natives whom Robinson
saw in gaol at Richmond early in October 1829.
He accompanied the expedition to Port Davey
but seems to have been one of those sent back
to Hobart from Port Davey in April 1830. If
so, he probably rejoined Robinson in March

1831.

Hanged (with TUN.NEK.M1N.NER.WAIT) at
Melbourne on January 20 1842 for the murder
of two sealers (?) at Westernport in October
1841.

* Writing to Henry Dowling from Port Phillip
on December 3 1840, Robinson said in a bio¬
graphical note — “Small Boy the original name
given him by his parents but which it is evident
is only a compound of the Engl adjective small
and substantive boy”. However, the name
MAUL.BOY.HEEN.NER is found in a note
made about December 1833, and so the above
statement should be treated with some reserve.
** Not to be confused with Robert, the “civilised
aborigine” who died at Launceston in March

1832.

6. NUM.BLOO.TE* ( 9 )

English names: Jenny (Jinny); Semiramis

( FI ).

Native of Port Sorell.

Husband: Timmy'*

Died: February 28 1839.

According to a statement by Robinson, “Num-
ploote and her husband attended me in all my
wanderings”, but there is no clear evidence
that she accompanied the Port Davey ex¬
pedition, and she does not seem to have been
associated with G.A.R. before 1832.

* Robinson states that “Numploote in the lan¬
guage of the district is the name for a bat
i.e. the bird so called”.

** Timmy was her second husband, her first
having been shot by one of the armed parties.

7. PROBELATTER ( 3 )

Other spellings: PROBELATENA and vari¬
ants.

Other native names: LAR.CUR.KEN.NER-';
LACKLAY(?).

English names: Jemmy (Jimmy); Isaac*-

(FI).

Native of Hampshire Hills.

Wife***: Matilda (FI) = PY.TER.RUN.ER
(? = NATTEPOLENINER).

? Drowned at Westernport (Victoria) c.1840.
Captured when a boy by one of the armed
parties. He has not been identified among
the natives with Robinson earlier than 1831, and
probably he was among those sent to Robinson
from Launceston in March of that year. Re¬
mained with Robinson thereafter.

* There is a statement by Robinson that “Lar-
curkenner in the language of the district is
the name for a pigeon”.

** Not to be confused with Isaac a native
woman who lived with the sealer Mansell.

..The note associated with the profile of

Jimmy that he was “married lately to Maria,
who lived with a sealer” is very difficult to in¬
terpret. There are three possibilities : (a)

“Maria” is a mistake for “Matilda”, (b) Maria
is an alternate name for Matilda; and (c)
“lately” means “formerly”, i.e. Maria was then
dead. It is almost impossible to check on the
third explanation because of the number of
native women, at least six, who had been called
Maria by the sealers. None of them seem likely
except one who had lived with the sealer Kelly:
She was a girl who seems to have died soon
after she arrived at the aboriginal settlement
(? c.1833-34). Of the three explanations the
second seems the most likely.

8. LAR.RA.TONG. ( 9 )

Other spelling: LARRETONG.

English name: Queen Andromache (FI).
Native of Robbins Island (? Sandy Cape).
Husband: WY.MUR.R1CK.

Joined G.A.R. in July 1832.

Her only (?) son TIME.MER.N1D.IC (Tommy);
Adolphus (FI) was sent to Lady Franklin in
January 1839.

Died: August 16 1837.

LARRATONG and her husband WYMURRICK
were in Hobart in November and December 1832
(after which they were sent to Flinders Island),
so that this was almost certainly when the
portrait of LARRATONG was painted by Bock.

9. MAN.NER.LE.LAR.GEN.NER. (3)

Other spellings: MANNALARGENNA
and variants.

Chief of an unidentified tribe of the east coast.
Wife: TAN.LEE.BONE.YER (Sail; ’Sarah).
Associated with G.A.R. from November 1830.
Died: December 4 1835.

15. TOE.GER.LONG.EN.TER. ( 3 )

Other spellings : TOGERLONGERTER,
TOUGE.LOUCHTER, TONGEKLONGETER.

English names : Governor; King William
(FI).

Chief of the Oyster Bay tribe.

Wife: Queen Adelaide (FI).

Captured by G.A.R. (with MONT.PE.LI.AT-
TER, chief of the Big River tribe) on December
31 1831.

Died : June 20 1837.

16. TOMLABOMA. (?9)

The only known portrait of this native is one
in the British Museum, which is a copy by
Alfred Bock after an unknown orginal by
Thomas Bock (there is an outline sketch for the
portrait in the Queen Victoria Museum). The
native of the portrait is not named, but seems
to be TOMLABOMA of item 13 of the Barnard
Davis list (the shaven head suggests a female
rather than a male). No one, either male or
female, is known by this name, but if one
uses similarity of sound for identification rather
than spelling, it is just possible that the name
is TANLEBONEYER (TAN.LEE.BONE.YER).

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

This native was the wife of the chief MANNA-
LAKGENNA. She had been living with the
sealers, but was brought to Launceston by
James Parish about September 1830 to act as
a guide at the time of the Line. In 1831 she
was again at the islands, either with the
sealers or at the aboriginal settlement, but she
joined Robinson at the beginning of September
and, with her husband, accompanied him on
all his expeditions thereafter. She died on
May 1 1835.

The above identification receives some
support from the fact that TANLEBONEYER
was one of the natives portrayed by Duterrau.
(Some information about her was included with
the biographies which Robinson sent to Henry
Dowling on December 3 1840, but it is clear
that her portrait was not included among those
which were probably in Dowling’s possession.)

17. MATHINNA. (9)

Mathinna was the daughter of Towterer, chief
of the Port Davey people, and his wife Wonger-
neep. Both parents were natives of Point
Hibbs; they were captured by Robinson in June
1833. Mathinna was born on Flinders Island but
the date of birth has not been determined.
However, in a letter to her sister Mrs. Simpkin-
son in February 1843 Lady Franklin remarks
that in the portrait which Thomas Bock had
painted Mathinna “looks there like a girl of 12,
but is only 7”. This and other evidence sug¬
gests that Mathinna was born between July
1834 and June 1835.

Mathinna’s mother died in September or
October 1840. The child apparently went to the
Franklins about July 1841, either directly from
the Flinders Island aboriginal settlement or
after having spent some time at the Queens
Orphan School, Hobart. She remained with

them until they returned to England, living
with Eleanor Franklin and her governess. In
July 1843 Mathinna was sent to the Queens
Orphan School, and in February 1844 to Flin¬
ders Island. J. S. Prout saw her there in 1845
and made a sketch of her which is now in the
British Museum. When the Flinders settlement
was abandoned she was again sent to the
Queens Orphan School (in October 1847). In
1851 she went to the settlement at Oyster Cove
and on September 1 185G she died there by
misadventure when drunk — she was then
twenty-one or twenty-two years old.

G. P. Gell, when writing to his father in
November 1841, remarked that the name
Mathinna signified “necklace”. Such a deriva¬
tion is possible, meta being the word for
“sinew” or “cord” in the eastern dialect (the
western word has not been recorded), and
sinews were used in making necklaces. The
name Mathinna does not appear in the Flinders
Island records of the Robinson era (and no
other detailed records have been seen): she
was known there as Mary. Other sources of
confusion are the renaming of her father as
Romeo and of her mother as Eveline at Flinders
Island. Towterer died on September 30 1837
and Wongerneep later married Parlin, another
western native, who appears in Robinson’s
records under the name Hannibal.

Note added in proof : Examination of some
papers of Dumoutier in the Muses de l’Homme
(Paris) suggests that (a) Sir John and Lady
Franklin had a full set of Bock’s portraits, includ¬
ing the “blue profiles”, and (b) Sir John allowed
Dumont D’Urville to take copies of his Bock port¬
raits (and others) during the visit in December
1839. These copies have not been traced; it is
just possible that they were yet another set of
replicas obtained from Bock.

Table I: THE R'OBINSON/FRANKLIN SERIES OF PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIANS.

Present known distribution of originals and copies.

ORIGINALS

COPIES

PORTRAIT

Pitt

Rivers,

Oxford

Roy.

Anthrop.

Inst.

A. W. F.
Fuller
Coll.*

Tasm.

Museum

Hobart

British
Museum
Alfred Bock

Tasm.
Museum
Alfred Bock

British

Museum

J. Grey

Woureddy .

Truggemana

Jack .

Jack’s Wife

Timmy .

Jenny .

Jimmy .

Larretong .

Manalargenna ....

* Now in Mitchell Library, Sydney.

PORTRAITS OF THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES

ADDENDUM

The identification of the series of Thomas
Bock’s portraits of Tasmanian aborigines now in
the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, as being the
original set painted for G. A. Robinson, has been
shown to be incorrect by the recent discovery of
material in the Musee de i’Homme, Paris. It is
now clear that the Pitt Rivers set* belonged origin¬
ally to Kir John and Lady Franklin; that the set
painted by Thomas Bock for G. A. Robinson has
not been located; and that the original owner of
the portraits in the Royal Anthropological Institute,
except the one bearing the inscription referring to
Hobson, has not been identified.

The new material comprises some photocopies
of drawings found among Dumoutier’s papers and
originating in Dumont D’Urville’s expedition, that
is, the material relates to the period 12 December
1839—25 February 1840 in which the Astrolabe and
Zelee paid their two visits to Hobart. The relevant
pieces in this collection are (1) an outline sketch of
the chief Mannalargenna, and (2) a rough sketch of
portraits of Larratong, Jenny and Jack. The
sketch of Mannalargenna is clearly Thomas Bock’s
work, and is identical with his other portraits of
this man; the conclusion reached that Bock obtained
exactness of reproduction by working from outlines
is therefore strengthened (see page 17).

The sketch of Larratong, Jenny and Jack is
readily identifiable as having been made from
Thomas Bock's portraits of those three natives.
It has the additional interest of having inscriptions
associated with each of the portraits which are
those found on the Oxford set. These inscriptions,
moreover, clearly were dictated to the sketcher, so
that, for example, the notation on Larratong’s
portrait “she never had any commun. with Euro¬
peans till went to Flinders”, has become “chi never
haid eney communication vith Europeens and till
flindern”; and there is also a free translation of
this notation into French.

it is known from Dumoutier’s papers in the lib¬
rary of the Musee de l’Homme, that Sir John Frank¬
lin had a collection of pictures, busts and “mini¬
atures” relating to the Tasmanian aborigines, and
that Lady Franklin gave Dumont D’Urville per¬
mission to copy the “miniatures.” The notations on
the sketch in the Dumoutier collection clearly as¬
sociate Dumont D’Urville and the Pitt Rivers set
of Bock’s portraits; and in the absence of any
known, or possible, contact with G. A. Robinson
at that time — he had been at Port Phillip since
February 1839, and Dumont D’Urville did not
visit that place nor any other on the Australian
mainland except Port Essington — there is no
alternative to the view that the Pitt Rivers port-
traits were those seen by Dumont D’Urville in
Sir John Franklin’s collection.

Having thus identified with some certainty the
Pitt Rivers portraits as having belonged to Sir
John and Lady Franklin, it is now necessary to
revise some of the previous conclusions as to the
provenance of the various portraits :—

(A). Statements linking the Oxford portraits with
G. A. Robinson’s original collection are untenable,
but in no way depreciate the descriptions of the
portraits in the various collections, or the con¬
clusions on matters other than original ownership.
Thus, the conclusion reached from the content of

the notations on the Oxford set that they were com¬
posed about 1839, is now nearly certain; but the
supposition arising from that conclusion that the
notations may have been inscribed by Robinson’s
clerk is now open to some doubt, although the
fact that the type B inscriptions are probably in
Robinson’s hand does not make it impossible —
in view of the known meetings, both at Hobart
and at Flinders Island, between Robinson and the
Franklins there is no argument against the latter.

(B) . The conclusion that the portraits in the
Royal Anthropological Institute, with the exception
of that with the inscription referring to Hobson,
had belonged to the Franklins, is of course un¬
tenable. Lady Franklin’s excuse to Barnard Davis
for not lending him her set of the portraits for
copying must now be seen in more restricted
terms, with perhaps only the Hobson portrait
missing. The origin of the other portraits in the
Institute cannot yet be determined and we can
only deduce from the records relating to Cull’s
purchase that they all came from the one collection.
None of the known sets seems to fill the bill —
they are certainly not part of Robinson’s original
set, which Barnard Davis later acquired; it is
unlikely that they had belonged to Henry Dowling,
for his brother Robert did not reach England until
1856 at the earliest 28 ; and Schayer and Swayne
seem to have had only four portraits altogether, and
Schayer’s were probably sent to Berlin. Possible
sources of the portraits are:— G. A. Robinson
(no evidence that he had portraits in addition to
his original series, and no evidence that he disposed
of any in London between his arrival there in
September 1852 and departure for the Continent
in June 1853); John Skinner Prout (may have
obtained copies from Bock during the four years
he spent in Tasmania (1844-1848); returned to
England in 1848); Josiah Spode (returned to
England in 1854; no evidence that he had any of
Bock’s portraits, except for Alfred Bock’s state¬
ment in his letter to J. W. Beattie 811 , and the
Barnard Davis correspondence does net support
this). Prout is the most likely of these.

(C) . Lastly, it must again be pointed out that
Robinson’s original set of portraits, except for
the group (iii) portraits in the British Museum,
has not been traced. Barnard Davis acquired the
collection from Mrs. Robinson, and presumably
it was sold after his death in 1881, but there the
trail peters out for most of the portraits; and
unless the missing ones were those said to have
been in the Crystal Palace, nothing further can
at present be said on the matter.

Paris, June 1965. N. J. B. PLOMLEY

* Each of the Oxford portraits is now framed, so
that it is not possible to inspect the back, or the
margins of the front. However, close to the upper
margin of the portrait of Mannalargenna the words
“House of Assembly Hobart” are written in pencil;
and on his profile, partly obscured by the frame,
what appears to be “Mrs G. . .”. No explanation of
these notations can be offered; the “House of As¬
sembly Hobart”, the low r er chamber of the legisla¬
ture in Tasmania, was not set up until 1855; its
first members were elected in 1856.

Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, New Series, No. 18.

NEW SERIES, No. 19.

RECORDS OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM

LAUNCESTON

Two Skink Lizards Newly Recorded From Tasmania

R. H. GREEN,

Queen Victoria Museum,

Launceston, Tasmania.

Manuscript received 6/10/6U
Published 10/1/65

ABSTRACT

Rhodona bougainvillii Gray, and Leiolopisma delicata De Vis, are recorded from Tasmania for
the first time. The extent of local distribution is given, measurements of five specimens of R. boug¬
ainvillii and nine specimens of L. delicata are tabulated and observations on their Tasmanian
distribution, habitat, behaviour, breeding and food are recorded.

TWO SKINK LIZARDS NEWLY RECORDED FROM TASMANIA

INTRODUCTION

Until 1962 only eight lizard species were
recognised as occurring in Tasmania. Concentrated
collecting has since revealed the presence of two
additional species, Rhodona bougainvillii and
Leiolopisma delicata.

Specimens of R. bougainvillii were sent to
Mr. A. J. Coventry of the National Museum of
Victoria, Melbourne, for comparison with specimens
from the Australian mainland.

Specimens of L. delicata were sent to
Dr. J. L. Hickman, of the University of Tasmania,
Dr. H. G. Cogger, of the Australian Museum, Syd¬
ney, and Miss Carina Clarke, of the Sydney
University for determination. Miss Clarke con-
finned Dr. Cogger’s opinion that they are L.
delicata (Clarke, in press).

A brief account of these two species is
given below.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

This record is based on the collection and
examination of 15 specimens of R. bougainvillii
and 41 specimens of L, delicata. In addition 11
eggs and 40 hatched shells of L. delicata have been
studied.

Observations were also made on numerous
individuals of L. delicata kept in captivity for
periods up to three months.

Measurements of ovaries were taken from
alcohol preserved specimens and those of eggs
were made on fresh material.

Measurements of lizards were made on
specimens preserved in 70% alcohol and were
taken as follows :

Total length — Snout tip to tail tip.

Tail — Posterior edge of anal flap to tail tip.

Snout to ear — Snout tip to centre of ear
opening.

Fore-limb — Body to base of claw measured
posteriorally.

Hind-limb — Body to base of claw measured
posteriorally.

Head — Width at ear.

Body — Width at mid-region.

Rhodona bougainvilli Gray.

LOCAL DISTKIBUTION AND HABITAT.

In correspondence with Mr. A. J. Coventry
of the National Museum of Victoria I was in¬
formed that the Museum’s register shows that, in
1933, one specimen of, It. bougainvillii was taken
by Mr. D. J. Mahoney on Swan Island, twenty
miles to the east of Waterhouse Island, off
Northern Tasmania.

Worrell (1963) includes Bass Strait Islands
in the distribution of R. bougainvillii but does not
give details.

in the course of two days spent on Water-
house Island in August 1962 the opportunity was
taken to collect representatives of the lizard fauna.
The island, situated about two miles from the Tas¬
manian mainland, is two miles long, half a mile
wide and rises to about 100 feet. The soil is sandy
with parts of the island being very rocky. Trees
are absent and low scrub, tussock grass and rushes
cover much of the island. Pasture improvement
has taken place in suitable areas.

Sixty-five lizards were collected and found
to include five species, namely Egcrnia whitii
Lacepede, Leiolopisma mctallicum O’Shaughnessy,
L. occllatum Gray, L. trilineatum Gray, and R.
bougainvillii. In every instance It. bougainvillii
was found half buried in the sandy soil beneath
stones. Twelve specimens were collected, all of
which were in a semi-torpid condition but became
active after handling.

The presence of the species on the off-shore
islands indicated the possibility of its occurrence
on the adjacent Tasmanian mainland. In June
1964, lizards collected at Cape Portland by Mr.
Lance Wilcox included three R. bougainvillii thus
confirming the earlier suspicion of their presence
in north-eastern Tasmania. To date, they have not
been collected in Tasmania beyond these limits.

The species is adequately detailed by Waite
in “The Reptiles and Amphibians of South Aus¬
tralia” 1929, and the following particulars are
given for comparison.

The three specimens collected at Cape Port¬
land were typical of the species and consisted of
one adult male (total length: 105 mm.) and two
juveniles (total length: each 45 mm.). (See Table
1 ).

REPRODUCTION.

The ovaries of R. bougainvillii collected at
Waterhouse Island showed no evidence that matur¬
ation of the ova had begun. However those of the
other species collected from the island had ob¬
viously commenced development.

Table 1. DIMENSIONS OF FIVE R. BOUGAINVILLII (in mm.).

Q.V.M. Reg. No.

1964:3:9

Waterhouse Island
1964:3:8

1964:3:7

Cape

1964:3:6

Portland

1964:3:5

Juv.

Total length .

126

118

105

Tail .

Snout to ear.

4.8

4.7

Fore-limb

4.5

6.5

3.5

Hind-limb .

Head .

3.2

Body .

3.2

Rows of body scales .

TWO SKINK LIZARDS NEWLY RECORDED FROM TASMANIA

Leiolopisma delicata De Vis.

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAi.

This lizard was first suspected as being a
species new to Tasmania in the spring of 1963
when, upon examination of captive specimens,
characteristics were noticed which served to dis¬
tinguish it from Leiolopisma metallicum O’Shaugh-
nessy with which it had previously been confused.

Following further collecting in the summer
and autumn of 1964 and a re-examination of
specimens of Leiolopisma in the collections of the
Queen Victoria Museum, it became obvious that
those previously determined as L. metallicum
included specimens of L. delicata.

To date, L. delicata has been collected only
from northern and north-eastern Tasmania, locali¬
ties being Gladstone, Moorina, Launceston, Exeter,
Deviot, Flowery Gully, Green’s Beach and Badger

Head. Throughout this area it is a comparatively
common lizard and has been taken in habitats
ranging from open sandy heath to pine forest and
thick bush. Though it is not suggested that its
range is limited to this area it has thus far not
been collected from areas beyond these limits. No
Tasmanian specimens were located in collections
outside the Queen Victoria Museum but it is intend¬
ed to lodge examples in the Australian Museum,
the National Museum of Victoria and the Tas¬
manian Museum.

When disturbed it readily retreats beneath
any available cover and has been found under
timber, stones, old iron, cement blocks, dried sea¬
weed and accumulated vegetation. There is no
evidence of burrowing apart from the removal of
some soil to facilitate its access to a retreat. Though
it is an excellent climber in captivity it has not
been found to ascend more than a few inches
above the ground in its natural habitat.

Table 2. DIMENSIONS OF NINE L. DELICATA (in mm.).

Q.V.M. Rag. No.

1964:3:17

1964:3:16

1962:3:10

1964:3:15

1964:3:14

1964:3:13

1964:3:12

1964:3:11

1964:3:10

Sex .

9 *

Total length .

105

102

100

Tail .

Snout to ear .

7.5

7.8

6.5

7.5

5.4

Fore-limb.

7.5

9.5

8.5

9.5

8.5

Hind-limb.

11.5

13.5

12.5

11.5

12.5

7.5

Head .

5.5

4.6

5.6

5.7

5.5

4.5

Body

6.5

5.5

6.5

Rows of body scales
(* Regenerated Tail).

Table 3. RANGE IN NUMBER OF SUBDIGITAL
LAMELLAE OF NINE L. DELICATA.

Digit

I ....

III

Number of digital lamellae
Fore-Limb Hind-Limb
5-7 6-9

8- 10 10-14

9- 14 13-20

. 11-16 16-25

7-10 11-15

BREEDING.

A specimen (with head and body length of
of 41 mm.) collected at Green’s Beach on 15/9/63
was found to have two eggs (each 1.7 mm. in
diameter) in each oviduct. Another (with head
and body length of 38 mm.) collected at Exeter
on 1/1/62 had one egg (5.5 mm. x 4.5 mm.) in
each oviduct.

From December to March eggs, at various
stages of development, have been found in crevices
in the dry ground and in chambers beneath stones,
wood, and loose earth. Eggs are oval in shape
with a milky white soft skin-like covering. A lizard
collected on 30/11/63 and showing obvious signs of
pregnancy was kept in captivity, and produced
four eggs on 4/12/63. These eggs averaged 7.5 mm.
x 5 mm.

A set from Green’s Beach on the point of
hatching averaged 11 mm. x 6 mm. The size
difference between newly laid eggs and eggs on
the point of hatching indicates fluid assimilation
with volume increase. A similar development was
noted by Mitchell in his observations on Leiolopisma
guichcnoti Dumeril and Bibron (Mitchell, 1959).
If the eggs are only partly developed when re¬
moved from the cavity of deposition they rapidly
dehydrate but, if advanced, they easily hatch.
Total length at hatching is 37 mm. to 43 mm. In
colour and appearance the young lizard is similar
to the adult except for the head which proportion¬
ally is slightly larger. Nest chambers from which
the young have emerged sometimes contain more
than 20 empty and shrivelled shells. This communal
breeding habit is closely allied to that of L. guich¬
cnoti, (Mitchell, 1959), and Leiolopisma trilineatum,
(B. C. Mollison — personal communication).

FOOD.

Examination of the stomach contents has
revealed in most instances the remains of insects
belonging to the oi-ders HYMENOPTERA and DIP-
TERA. One specimen collected near the high
water mark at Green’s Beach was found to have
its alimentary canal distended with remains of
small crustaceans.

TWO SKINK LIZARDS NEWLY RECORDED FROM TASMANIA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks Mr. A. J. Coventry of the National Museum of Victoria
for his examination of R. bougainvillii, Dr. H. G. Cogger of the Australian Museum
and Miss Carina J. Clarke of Sydney University for examination and determination
of L. delicata, and Dr. J. L. Hickman of the University of Tasmania and Mr. E. 0. G.
Scott for examination of L. delicata and helpful suggestions and criticism of the
manuscript.

REFERENCES

Mitchell, Francis J., 1959.—Communal egg laying in the lizard Leiolopisma guichenoti
Dumeril and Bibron. Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A., Vol. 82, pp. 121-122.

Waite, Edgar R., 1929.—“Reptiles and Amphibians of South Australia,” (Government
Printers, Adelaide), p. 157.

Worrell, Eric, 1963.—“Reptiles of Australia,” (Angus & Robertson, Sydney), p. 58.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE
LITTLE BROWN BAT EPTESICUS PUMILUS GRAY

IN TASMANIA

R. H. GREEN

QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM
LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA

Manuscript received 28/6/1965 Published 30/7/1965

ABSTRACT

The results of three years’ (1962-1965) observations on the Little Brown Bat, Eptesicus pumilus in
northern Tasmania, are recorded.

The diurnal roosts of five maternal colonies are described and observations on their exit and entry
flights are given.

The three main methods used to capture specimens are described and 206 E. pumilus were collected
by these methods. Of this total 83 were examined and processed into the collections of the Queen Victoria
Museum. The remaining 123 were banded and released and of these 86 were subsequently recaptured 216
times on 34 trap nights.

The longest distance recovery was three miles and the longest time lapse was nineteen months.

Colonies will use more than one diurnal roost at the same time and interchanging by individuals between
these roosts is usual.

Colonies are at their greatest numerical strength in January but autumn dispersal greatly reduces the
colony during the winter months. A build-up occurs in the spring and parturition takes place between the
end of November and mid December with a single birth being normal. Post-partum copulation and seminal
storage is indicated by the structure of colonies and seasonal behaviour of males.

The growth, pelage, tooth eruption and behaviour of young are described and progressive mensurations
tabulated.

Pelage variants are not indicative of sex but appear to be influenced by age and possibly local environ-
rnent.

Tooth wear is apparently associated with age and in some cases has been found to be extremely severe.
Body weight generally increases throughout the first year of the bat’s life and from six months of age the
weight of females usually exceeds that of males.

Observations are recorded on feeding, drinking, flight, swimming, voice, excreting and toilet.

I. INTRODUCTION

This paper is based on data collected from various
sources as opportunity permitted over a period of three
years. The study was commenced in February 1962
with the banding of a colony at Green’s Beach. These
Were the first bats of any species to be banded in
Tasmania.

Four more colonies were located and subsequently
the occupants of two were banded and released and most
of the occupants of the other two were collected and
Processed into the collections of the Queen Victoria
Museum. Odd individuals came to hand over the same
Period.

Retrapping was carried out at the three banding sites
on a total of thirty-four evenings, observations were
recorded and some individuals retained during the
breeding season for cage study and dissection. This
interference, particularly during the breeding season,
Was apparently the reason for desertion of the roosts
by each of the banded colonies. Consequently it has
hot been possible to make repeated observations on any
one colony for two successive years and much of the

data acquired has in itself created additional questions.

Much more work still remains to be done before the
life cycle of E. pumilus is completely known but its
small size, hidden roosts and shy habits makes the
study on free living colonies most difficult. The results
of the past three years’ observations therefore are little
more than an introduction and are here recorded for
the use of future workers.

To avoid confusion, certain terms used in the text
are defined here as follows:

Juvenile: Dependent young, from birth to about
60 days by which age the bat is flying and
changing to an insectivorous diet.

Sub-Adult: Independent but sexually immature,
covering the period from commencement of
flight at about 60 days until the approach of
the following breeding season at about nine
months of age.

Adult : Having attained puberty, in excess of
nine months of age.

Morphological differences between these categories
are discussed later.

Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, New Series, No. 20

Observations on the Little Broum Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

II. DIURNAL ROOSTS

Although a number of reports have been received of
bat colonies in buildings, trees and caves, most have
proved valueless because the site was destroyed or
abandoned by the bats before it could be visited and in
every case the species was not positively identifiable
from the description.

During the course of study, five major diurnal roosts
have come under my notice. All were in wooden build¬
ings and were subsequently found to house maternal
colonies. They are briefly described as follows:

“Green’s Beach” colony, at Green’s Beach on the
western side of the mouth of the Tamar River, reported
1:11:1962, was found to be housed in two separate
roosts about twenty-five feet apart. One roost (desig¬
nated A) was in a three inch wall cavity of a shack,
the bats gaining entry by way of small gaps between
the window facias and the cement sheets covering the
external walls. The other (designated B) was in the
roof of a paling hut near the shack. The shingle roof
had been covered with heavy tar paper and the colony
was occupying the narrow space between the two
materials. Bat faeces were found adhering to the outer
wall in the vicinity of the entrances and the owners
of the buildings complained of an offensive odour during
the summer months. The painted surface of the inner
wall of the shack was stained with urine and faeces
were regularly falling through the shingles in the roof
of the hut and fouling its contents.

Squeakings and rustling noises could be heard in the
roosts at most times of the day, particularly in the
roof roost on hot sunny days when the heat immediately
beneath the tar paper must have been intense.

The shack owners told of a similar occupancy during
the previous summer when quantities of bat faeces
were found to have accumulated in crevices.

FIGURE 1. Sketch map based on the Tamar River showing
the relative positions of the sites of the diurnal roosts
mentioned in the text.

"Kelso” colony at Kelso, near the western side of the
mouth of the Tamar River and about three miles south
of Green’s Beach colony was discovered following the
finding of two juvenile E. pumilus on 8: II: 1964. The
colony was located beneath the tar covered flat wooden
roof of a substantial brick building. The bats were
found to be living behind the facia boards and among
the converging mass of wooden roof supports. Entry
was gained by way of the corrugations on a lower roof
which ran beneath the facia boards.

The bats could be clearly heard from the outside

and upon examination from the inside with the aid
of a torch a number of bats were seen retreating from
the light into the crevices between the roofing material.

The employees working in the building had no
previous knowledge of the existence of the colony,
though accumulated faeces indicated that it had pro¬
bably been in use in a previous season.

“Lilydale” colony near Lilydale about ten miles north
of Launceston, was discovered in the roof on an old
shed when it was about to be demolished on 10: IV: 1964.
Fourteen bats were collected by the owner and sent
to the Queen Victoria Museum and were subsequently
processed into the collections.

“Robigana” colony at Robigana on the west bank of
the Tamar River was reported in October, 1964. It was
occupying a small space where a verandah roof joined
the weatherboards of an old wooden house. Entry was
gained by way of the open verandah and the roost was
reported to have been occupied during the previous
summer.

The owners complained of fouling of the wall and
floor by the faeces of the bats and had made several
attempts to wash the colony out with a garden hose.
Though bats had been dislodged by this means they
could not be deterred from returning at a later date.

“Sheffield” colony, two miles south of Sheffield, was
examined on 18: XI: 1964 and found to be occupying
the snace beneath a single corrugation of a sheet of
roofing iron, where it capped a board on the end of a
verandah roof in an old weatherboard house. Entry was
gained from outside the verandah by way of the gaps
between the sloping board and the weatherboards to
which it was fixed. Bats could be heard inside the roost
and it was reported to liave been occupied the previous
summer. A mist net set on the same evening captured
twenty-four bats which were subsequently processed
into the collections of the Queen Victoria Museum.
Although some bats could still be heard in the roost
at the cessation of netting activities, the roost was found
to be deserted when the roofing iron was lifted on
5: XU: 1964.

A few solitary individuals have been collected at
various times from roosts in sheds and timber stacks,
or collected in flight at night.

Though bats have been reported flying in cave
entrances no diurnal bat roosts have been discovered
in Tasmanian caves.

III. EXIT FROM AND RE-ENTRY
TO THE ROOST

E. pumilus colonies have been found to commence
leaving their roosts at dusk and continue to do so in
a haphazard manner for about half an hour. There is
no indication of a mass exit as a time lapse varying from
several seconds to several minutes takes place between
the departure of individuals. Chattering and squabbling
in the roost is accentuated as the bats prepare to leave,
but, if a light is flashed on the exit, activity is depressed
and the bats are reluctant to leave until darkness is
restored.

Limited observations have not shown that E. pumilus
has any notable preference for any particular weather
conditions. However, on the evening of 13: X: 1962
when light rain was falling, bats began to return to the
roost before exit flights had ceased. Of thirteen success¬
ful nettings, six were in exit flight and seven in entry
flight. Three of the latter had not been taken in exit
flight on that evening and appeared to have come from
another roost.

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

When leaving the roost the bats drop from the exit
hole to gain momentum and then usually quickly

ascend. t ,

Individuals can be seen flying m the vicinity of the
ro ost for a few minutes after leaving but appear soon

move away to more distant places.

pawn observations of entry flights have shown that
the colony may return to roost either in a massed flock
or staggered over a period of time.

A year before the study was commenced a massed
Dr e-dawn entry was observed at Green’s Beach in
February 196l' This roost (designated C) was in a
s hack roof and entry was gained by the bats dropping
hjto the spouting and crawling along the corrugations
beneath the roofing iron to enter a four-inch space
between the ceiling and the roof. In the half light of
d a wn bats were noticed flying in every direction over
,he roof and garden area of the shack. They appeared
so numerous and their flight so irregular that they
reminded the observers of a swarm of bees. The
number was difficult to estimate but it, was thought to
be about fifty. The light was not sufficient to follow
their flight except when they were silhouetted against
the sky and within a few minutes they had completely
vanished. Unfortunately circumstances at the time
prevented further observations and it was not until
sometime later that the roosting site was discovered.
It was subsequently abandoned for no apparent reason
an d has not since been occupied.

Overnight trapping in the “Green’s Beach” roost (A)
in February 1962 indicated that movement in and out
of roosts continued haphazardly throughout the night.
In the same month a dawn entry was watched and about
a dozen bats were seen to return in the quarter hour
before daylight.

At this roost flight terminated in an upward sweep
with the bats losing momentum as they reached the
vicinity of the entrance in the wall of the shack. If the
initial grip on the wall surface was not secure they
dropped away to circle and again repeat the attempt.
When a satisfactory foothold was obtained the entrance
was quickly located and the bat disappeared within the
roost. It is, when making these attempted entries, that
the bats deposit the faecal pellets which are to be found
adhering to vertical surfaces in the vicinity of roost
entrances.

E. pumilus were found to fly in the vicinity of their
roost for only a few minutes after exit and it was most
noticeable to the observers that they soon moved
further afield.

When disturbed from their roost or liberated in day
time they showed no apparent concern at an enforced

diurnal flight. Welcome Swallows Hirundo neoxena
took interest in their presence and hawked round them
as they flew but no other bird or animal appeared
disturbed. Some of the bats would return within
minutes to re-enter the roosts while others gradually
moved away and vanished from sight.

IV BANDING

(a) Methods.

All the bats collected alive have been secured by three
methods:

(i) Wall panels or similar coverings have been carefully
removed and bats collected before they could move
away. This method has been used as little as
possible because of the greater risk of disturbance.

(ii) Mist netting has proved successful when the net
was strung across the flight lines opposite the
entrance to the roost and bats have been taken
by this method when leaving or returning to the
roosts. E. pumilus has been found to become net
shy when subjected to repeated netting and will
take evasive action if an alternative escape is
possible. If nets are well set and completely contain
exit routes the bats have been found to mesh well
and to be easy to extract if removed soon after
netting. In the Kelso roost the bats were
captured by laying the mist net over the roof and
entrances in a semi-horizontal position to blanket
the area and prevent escape. Here the net hung
within six inches of the exits and the bats became
entangled in the loose netting instead of being
properly meshed behind a shelf string.

(iii) Tin traps have been used with success wherever
exit holes were suitable. A standard four gallon
kerosene tin with the top cut out makes an ideal
trap but any smooth sided container is satisfactory
provided the sides are high enough to prevent the
bats jumping out when attempting to fly. The
trap is suspended immediately below the exit hole
in such a position that the bats will drop into it
as they start their exit flight. The advantage of
this trap is that it can be left unattended and cleared
at the convenience of the operator, provided
weather conditions are satisfactory or the trap
suitably shielded from rain. It was found that the
trap had to be removed during the night as other¬
wise the entry flight of the bats was obstructed
and they experienced difficulty in locating the
entrance to the roost. Thin plastic bags are not
satisfactory for traps or containers as bats will
chew holes in the material and escape.

TABLE 1. TOTAL BANDING AND RECAPTURE STATISTICS

Times Recaptured Total

4507 Recaptures

Banded Between
4 : 11 : 1962 - 1 : I : 1965
$ $ 30
9 9 93
Total 123

0 2 0

16 6 6

16 8 6

2 0 35

3 2 181

5 2 216

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

Bands were supplied by CJ3.I.R.0. Division of Wild¬
life Research. Initially these were standard size 020
bird bands and were found to be quite satisfactory.
Special bat bands of a slightly different design are now
in use. Bands were placed round the radius without
piercing the propatagium and were large enough to
move freely and not bind on the skin.

(b) Results.

Banding was carried out in the Green's Beach, Kelso,
and Robigana colonies between 4: II: 1962 and
1 :1: 1965. A total of 123 bats were banded and of
these 86 were subsequently recaptured 216 times on
34 trap nights. (See table 1).

With the following exception all recoveries have been
at the place of banding. A female banded at Green’s
Beach on 6 : IX : 1963 was recaptured at the Kelso
roost on 25 : IX : 1964. The intervening distance is
about three miles and the terrain is undulating coastal
plain carrying light scrub and stunted eucalypts.

The longest time lapse between banding and recovery
is for three females banded at Green’s Beach on
4: II : 1962. They were recaptured at the place of
banding together with eight others on 6 : IX : 1963,
nineteen months after banding. Two had been banded
ns sub-adults but the third was still showing evidence
of recent lactation when banded.

Banding and rotrapping has indicated that more than
one roost site is used by each colony. The Green’s
Beach colony used at least two roosts sited in buildings
about, 12 feet apart and recoveries showed an inter¬
change of occupants : on some days the whole colony
occupied one roost, while on others both were occupied.

Netting of banded bats from other colonies has like¬
wise shown the number of occupants to fluctuate daily
and individuals present on one evening may be partly
replaced by different bats the next, or they may reappear
on subsequent occasions. Consequently it was necessary
to set nets for several evenings, before all members of a
colony were caught and banded. Counts of bats
leaving the roost on evenings when netting was not

carried out has shown similar fluctuations.

Two sub-adults removed from a roost site at Green’s
Beach in the mid-afternoon of 28 : II : 1965, banded
and released, were seen to enter a small hole 4 feet above
ground, in a stone chimney about fifty yards distant.
Netting at this site on the following evening resulted
in the capture of five bats and accumulated faeces
indicated that this alternative roost was well used.

All the roosts examined have produced less than fifty
individuals. In those whose occupants were banded
numerical strength was at its peak in February follow¬
ing breeding when all the sub-adults were still present,
but decreased in the autumn and reached a minimum
during the winter months.

In spring the numbers increased until, by the end
of October, a full complement of pregnant females was
in occupancy.

The spring build-up in the Green’s Beach colony in

1962 did not occur till the latter half of October, but in

1963 it started in September. In 1964 the Kelso colony
was at its full breeding peak by the end of September
but the Robigana colony did not appear in strength
till mid-October. There was no apparent reason for
these variations but the use of alternative roosts may
be responsible.

Of 49 bats captured from the Green’s Beach roost (A)
in February and March, 1962, 23 adult females were still
lactating or had just ceased to lactate. The remainder
were 15 females and 11 males, all of which appeared to
be sub-adults. Of these 3 adult females, 1 sub-adult
female and 1 sub-adult male were killed and processed
into the collections. The rest were banded and released.

It is not suggested that the preponderance of sub¬
adults over adult females indicates twinning but rather
a failure at the time to catch all the adult females.
Subsequent trapping of this colony in the following
spring recovered many of these banded bats and
produced the highest number of recaptures from the
older females. (See Table 2).

TABLE 2. BANDING AND RECOVERIES AT THE GREEN’S BEACH COLONY

Banded

Feb.-March 1962

As Adult
As Adult
As sub. Ad.
As sub. Ad.
Banded
Oct.-Nov. 1962

$ 9 20

s $ o

9 9 14
3 3 7
As Adult
As Adult

9 9
$ 6

Recaptured

Oct.-Nov. 1962 Nov. 1962 only

5
0

TABLE 3. BANDING AND RECOVERIES AT THE KELSO COLONY

Banded
February, 1964

Sept.-Dee. 1964

Recaptured

Dec. 1964 only

As Adult 9 9 24
As Adult 3 3 0

As sub. Ad. 9 9 9

As sub. Ad. 3 3 9
Banded As Adult 9 9

Sept.-Dee. 1964 As Adult 3 3

17 8

2 0

4 3

6 3

6 6

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

The proportion of males decreased as the breeding
season approached and was at its lowest numerical
strength in early November. This roost was deserted in
mid-November and no further observations cauld be

made.

A somewhat similar fluctuation in population struc¬
ture was found to occur in the Kelso colony in 1964
w jth the highest number of recaptures again amongst
the older females. (See Table 3). None of the first
year females remained to breed in this roost in the
190 - 1-65 season, the last recapture being made on
29 : XI : 196-1, apparently in non-breeding condition.

Of the 9 first year males banded at Kelso 3 remained
j n the colony over the following breeding season but it
w <i 3 found that from the commencement of parturition
in late November, to the end of December, 6 new
unbanded males joined the colony. Previous trapping
has failed to find any adult males in colonies after
January.

The portion of the colony collected at Sheffield on
18 : XI : 1964 produced 17 pregnant females, all with
embryos at an advanced stage of development, and 7
males.

A somewhat similar sex ratio was found to occur in
a maternal colony of Chalinolobus gouldi near Mel¬
bourne in December, 1961, at which time the colony
contained both lactating and heavily pregnant females.
(Simpson 1961).

The portion of the colony collected at Lilydale in
April 1964 produced 11 females and 3 males, the latter
being almost certainly sub-adult.

Trapping at Robigana roost in November and
December, 1964, produced 18 females and 6 males.

No explanation can be offered to account for the
disappearance of bats from the roost over the winter
months. However, winter occupancy by some bats at
least and an extended period of use by a high summer
population seem to indicate that the roosts in question
are not just temporary breeding sites.

One case of species association was recorded when a
single Chalinalobus mono was taken with E. pumilus in
a mist net set at the entrance to a roost at Green’s
Beach in April, 1963. Although it. cannot be stated
positively that this bat was roosting in association with
E. pumilus, the limited roosting space available and
its suitability make this a strong possibility.

V. OBSERVATIONS ON BREEDING,
GROWTH 8C DEVELOPMENT

(a) Breeding.

From the observations made on seasonal changes
in colony structure it appears that there is an influx of
additional males into a roost immediately prior to and
during the period of parturition, but that these males
abandoned the colony before the juveniles take flight.
It therefore seems reasonable to suggest that this influx
is for the purpose of copulation, which may occur soon
after parturition, with seminal storage taking place in
the females. Post-partum copulation was observed in
a colony of Myoiis lueijugus in Chicago, U.S.A., by
Dubkin (1952) and observations on seminal storage in
vespertilionid bats in the eastern United States of
America have been summarized by Wimsatt (19-15).

The supposition that this is the pattern in E. pumilus
is further supported by a pronounced seasonal variation
in the size of the testes in the male. The testes of 5
males taken between the end of January and the end

of October ranged between 2 x 1 mm. and lxl mm.,
while the testes of 9 males taken from three different
colonies during November ranged between 4x2 mm.
and 2.5 x 1.5 mm. Enlargement in terms of testes
volume is, of course, much greater. Thus the testes are
of maximum size and therefore presumably at a peak
of spermatogenesis at the time the young are born.

Embryos of 3 to 5 mm. total length were noted in
dissected bats collected in the last weak of October
and abdominal distension was obvious by mid Novem¬
ber. During advanced pregnancy the skin of the
abdomen became stretched to such a degree that a patch
of skin free of fur, about 7x3 mm., appeared immedi¬
ately above the vagina.

Observations and dissection of pregnant bats indicates
that breech birth may be customary. The body of the
unborn foetus is considerably broader than the head and
upon its expulsion the female relaxes and allows the
young to withdraw its head by its own efforts. The
tail and the uropatagium of the female are held in
the position of a "safety net” to support the new bom

oung. Observations of M. lueijugus (Wimsatt, 1945)

ave shown a nearly similar parturition procedure.

A breech birth in which contractions ceased after
expulsion of the foetus, and in which the new born
young removed its head from the vagina unaided,
was noted by the author in the case of the second of
twins of Nyctophilus geojjroyi, bom 20 : XI: 1964 (un¬
published data).

The young of E. pumilus were produced over a period
of about three weeks, between the end of November and
mid-December. All the material so far examined has
indicated that only a single young is produced annually,
although McKean and Hall (1964) quoting Dwyer
(personal communications) recorded twinning in this
species in the New England district of New South
Wales.

At none of the colonies visited was a young bat ever
found attached to an adult. The 5 juveniles taken from
the Kelso roost were all found unassociated and no adult
netted in exit flight was ever found to be carrying
■young. A juvenile bat placed on the breast of a lactat¬
ing female would quickly attach to a nipple but the
adult often became annoyed and removed the juvenile
by pulling it away with her teeth.

Although the thumbs and hind feet are used by the
young to retain its hold of the parent, they appear of
secondary importance to the mouth. In captivity, young
bats were often noted to lose their “foothold” and
swing attached by the mouth only. They fasten tena¬
ciously to the nipple and some effort is required to
remove them. The nipples of lactating females are
about 2 mm. long and are surrounded by a 3 to 4 mm.
radius of bare skin. In lactating females netted at dusk,
this mammary patch was pink, but in those collected
from the roost on the mornings of 2 : 1 : 1965 and
S : I : 1965, the subcutaneous glands ware distended and
appeared a milk-white colour. In the evenings lactating
females were found to emerge from the roosts over a
more extended period than at other times of the year,
though this may have been due to net shyness after
repeated netting.

Two pregnant females were collected and removed
from the Green’s Beach colony in November 1963 and
twelve from the Kelso, Robigana and Sheffield colonies
in November 1964 in an endeavour to observe birth in
captivity. They were held in small cages of about five
cubic feet capacity, supplied with water and fed on live
house flies and small moths. Most individuals died after
3 to 5 days, only 2 surviving to give birth to their young

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

and in both instances these were stillborn. One was
found dead on the floor of the cage on 16 : XII : 1964.
It weighed 0.83 gtn. and had a total length of 34 mm.
(See Table 4). It was naked with the eyelids closed.
Skin colour was primarily flesh pink with the eyelids,
nose, lips, ears, fore and hind limbs, tail and patagium
grey. A few mystical and supraorbital vibrissar were
present. Milk teeth had begun to erupt, with those on
the upper jaw being most advanced. The pes and thumb
were noticeably well developed in relation to the other
features, the fingers appearing under-developed by the
same comparison. General appearance gave the
impression that this bat was not a full term foetus.

The birth of the other stillborn bat, on 26 : XI : 1964,
was observed by Mr. J. W. Swift of the Museum staff
who recorded the following details :

At 0955 hrs. the female was noticed clinging to the wire
front of the cage in a head upward position. Her tail
was curled upward ventrally to form a pocket and the
rump of the young bat could be seen protruding from
the vagina. Tha female’s body was heaving irregularly
and the young was gradually expelled as far as its head,
its body being contained within the curl of the tail. The
female rested in this position until 1030 hrs. when she
was removed for examination and the young found to
have been born dead. The head of the young was
easily withdrawn from the vagina and the umbilical
cord was cut.

By 1130 hrs. a placenta approximately 5 mm. x 3 mm.
had been completely expelled but the bat was of a
lethargic disposition and made no attempt at toilet.
The female’s weight after parturition was 3.84 g.m.

The stillborn young. Reg. No. 1964 : 1 : 304 S , weight
1.11 gm., total length 38 mm. appeared in fresh condition
and was apparently near to a full term foetus. (See
Table 4). The body colour was a pinkish grey, darkest
dorsally. The fore and hind limbs, ears and lips were
a dark grey and the patagium when folded appeared
a similar colour but when spread was a transparent
grey. The nasal glands were prominent and paler
than the surrounding skin. The eyes were closed and
the claws sharp and stout.

It was bom apparently naked but under microscopic
examination short hairs were visible in the region of the
nose, on the toes and thumbs particularly near the
base of the claws, on wrists, forearm and darkest parts
of the ears. Mysticial, supraorbital and intcrramal
vibrissae were present and slightly longer than adjacent
pelage hairs.

The canine and incisor milk teeth had erupted, those
on the upper jaw being most prominent. Cheek teeth
were still contained within a swollen jelly-like gum.

(b) Growth and Development.

Five juvenile bats were collected from the Kelso
colony in early January 1965 from which the following
successive stages of development were recorded. (See
also Table 4).

(i) Reg. No. 1965 : 1 : 2 9, collected at 10.30 a.m.
on 2:1:1965, weight 1.35 gm., total length 42 mm.
Right eye was open, left eye still closed. Skin colour
a grey flesh dorsally, pinkish ventrally. Nose, lips,
eyelids, ear tips, toes and distal parts of the patagium,
dark grey. The stretched patagium a paler transparent
grey. Nose glands almost milk white. Body naked with
only a few short, microscopic hairs round the nose on
the chin, ears, lips, and under tail. A few vibrissae were
visible. The finger bones were soft and flexible.

Both upper and lower canines and the milk incisors

had fully erupted and two milk premolars in each lower
jaw had just broken through the skin. All other cheek
teeth were still contained within the gums.

The upper incisors were slender and well spaced, each
with three cusps, the middle cusp being the longest.
Three pairs of lower incisors had just cut the gum sur¬
face and their form was not clearly visible. The upper
canines were strong and well developed. The lower
canines were short, stout and had three cusps. The two
cusps of equal proportions were formed on the anterior
part of the tooth while the third cusp, much shorter and
less prominent, wus situated posteriorally. All teeth,
particularly the upper incisors and lower canines, were
strongly curved inwardly and posteriorally giving the
impression of claws or hooks, an adaptation which no
doubt assists the young bats to maintain their hold on
the nipples and fur of the parent.

This bat was very active and continually sought
seclusion. It hung head down when at rest in the manner
of adults and was an efficient climber. On dissection
the stomach was found to be empty but the intestines
carried a bright orange fluid through which was dispersed
a small amount of fur, apparently from the body of
the parent.

(ii) Reg. No. 1965 : 1 :6 9, collected at 11.30 a.m.
on 8:1: 1965, weighed 186 gm., total length 47 mm.
Both eyes open. Skin colour grey dorsally, pinkish
grey ventrally. Nose, lips, ear tips, fore and hind limbs
and patagium noticeably darker than the rest of the
body.

Body fur emerging and just visible to the naked
eye on the dorsal surface where it was about 0.5 mm.
long. Hairs on the chin and lips noticeably longer
than those on the rest of the head and body. Vibrissae
becoming prominent, with supraorbitals reaching to

2 mm. Body fur emerging on the ventral surface but
not yet visible to the naked eye.

Teeth slightly more developed than in the preceding
specimen, the 3 pairs of lower incisors being well spaced,
each with three prominent incurved cusps. One upper
and two lower milk premolars erupted on each side, one
of the latter possessing a small anterior cusp. (Fig. 2a).

The bat was active and continually sought seclusion.
Its intestines contained orange fluid.

(iii) Reg. No. 1965 : 1 :3 <5, collected at 1030 a.m.
on 2:1: 1964, weighed 2.92 gm., total length 55 mm.
Head and body covered with dense soft grey fur 2 to

3 mm. in length, shortest and palest on the ventral
surface. Dorsal fur extends sparsely onto the anterior
half of the uropatagium. Hairs on lips and around the
nose, well developed. Vibrissae prominent with supra¬
orbitals longest and reaching to 3 mm. Naked skin on
fore and hind limbs, tail, nose, ears and patagium
almost completely black. Finger bones soft and some¬
what flexible: finger joints not prominent.

The three pairs of lower milk incisors had been lost
and were being replaced by permanent teeth, the centre
pair being well through the gum. These were stout
and broad without inter-spaces; the three incurved
cusps being represented in the permanent teeth by a
three crescent shaped cutting edge. All other milk
teeth still in place. The one pair of upper and two pairs
of lower milk premolars well through and appearing as
very small needle-like structures. Their setting was
irregular and they appeared to be rudimentary. Gums
distended by molar teeth which were just erupting
(Fig. 2b).

This bat was very active and would hang from
objects and initiate pre-flight movements. However,

Plate 1. (Top). Site of the diurnal roost at Kelso. The bats were living behind the facia board and
entering by way of the corrugations on the lower roof.

(Bottom). Adult female E. pumilus and suckling juvenile at about 7 days.

Plate 2. (Top). Adult female E. pumilus showing band on left radius.

Juvenile (1965 :1 :7) at about 45 days.

Juvenile (1965 : 1 : 6) at about 18 days.

(Bottom). Stillborn E. pumilus (1964 :1 : 304). Almost a full term foetus.

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

FIGURE 2. Showing the progressive replacement of the deciduous milk teeth (black) by the
pennanent teeth (white) in right side jaws of E. pumilus.

(a) Reg. No. 1965 :1

(b) Reg. No. 1965 :1

(d) Reg. No. 1965 :1

it made no voluntary attempts at flight and when
dropped its actions were feeble and completely
ineffective. On several occasions the bat was seen to
clean its fingers and prepatagium, using its lips and
teeth for the purpose.

The stomach contained some curdled milk and small
clusters of fur and the intestines contained orange
fluid.

(iv) Reg. No. 1965 : 1 :8 9, collected at 11.30 a.m.
on 8:1:1965, weighed 3.2 gm, total length 61 mm.

Fur colour dark grey to 3.5 mm. dorsally, slightly
shorter and paler ventrally. Fur extending sparsely on
to anterior dorsal half of the uropatagium. Supra¬
orbital vibrissae to 4.5 m.m General appearance more
adult than the preceding specimen, the fingers being
much better developed and the finger joints becoming
noticeably prominent.

: 6 at about 18 days.

: 3 at about 32 days.

: 8 at about 39 days.

: 7 at about 45 days.

The two pairs of upper milk incisors were still in
place but were being pushed out by the eruption of
the central pair of permanent bicusped incisors. These
were very much stouter and stronger, each cusp erupting
behind a milk tooth and the new tooth occupying the
space of its former two counterparts. The three pairs
of pennanent lower incisors now completely erupted
and occupying all the space available. The upper milk
canines still in place but being replaced by permanent
teeth which had erupted anteriorally. The lower milk
canines still in place and firmly attached; the permanent
canines evident only as lumps in the gum on the inner
side of the milk canines. Both upper and lower milk
premolars absent and replaced in the upper jaw by one
pair and in the lower jaw by two pairs of permanent
premolars, the single cusps of which had just erupted.
All molars had erupted with the cusps just clear of the
gums (Fig. 2c).

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

This bat was very active and would bite at the hand
in its endeavour to escape. It made several attempts
to fly but its actions were too feeble for it to become
airborne.

The stomach contained some curdled milk and the
intestines orange fluid with some greyish dirt-like
particles.

(v) Reg. No. 1965 ; 1 : 7 2, collected at 11.30 ajn.
on 8:1: 1965, weighed 3.6 gm., total length 67 mm.
Fur colour grey, to 5 mm. on the dorsal surface, slightly
shorter and paler ventrally, anterior dorsal half of
uropatagium sparsely furred. Supraorbital vibrissae to
55 mm., mystical vibrissae to 4 mm. Except for size,
the bat was superficially adult in general appearance,
but with fingers stout and finger joints prominent.

One pair of upper milk incisors still present but loose
and pushed well forward by the permanent incisors which
were well advanced and extended beyond the tops of
the milk incisors they were replacing. The lower milk
canines had been replaced by well advanced permanent
teeth. All cheek teeth well advanced, with the body of
the teeth emerging above gum level (Fig. 2d.).

This bat was very active and made numerous attempts
to fly. None of these were successful but it was
obviously very near to achieving flight and becoming
independent.

The stomach contained a little curdled milk and the
intestines orange fluid with greyish dirt-like particles.

An examination of the skulls of juvenile bats taken
from the same Kelso colony on 23 :1 : 1964 and
5 : II : 1964 (total length 68 mm. and 73 mm. respec¬
tively) showed both carried a complete set of fully
erupted permanent teeth.

The removal of the facia board covering the Kelso
roost resulted in roost abandonment in January 1965.
At this time the young bats would not have been
sufficiently developed to fly, though some would have
been semi-furred and weighed in excess of 3 gm. Their
removal from the roost must therefore have been effected
by the parent females. A similar case of roost aban¬
donment with removal of the young was noted by the
author in the case of a colony of Nyctophilus geofjroyi
at Green’s Beach at the end of November, 1964.

The young become independent of their parent at
about 60 days, usually during the month of February.

Sub-adults are morphologically similar to adults
except that the finger joints are conspicuously enlarged
until the bats are about four months of age. Where
this criterion fails, pelage colour and complete absence
of tooth wear usually distinguish the sub-adults.

The enlargement of the finger joints does not become
noticeable until the young bats develop to the flying
stage and it has been found to be prominent in sub¬
adults collected in March.

The phalanges of pre-flight juveniles appear relatively
thick and soft but as the bats develop and become able
to fly these bones harden and become more slender.
The extremities and finger joints appear to be the last
parts to contract and at this stage the joints appear
swollen. By September they have become reduced to
their normal adult size.

The hind foot is remarkably well developed before
birth, (see Table 4) and little or no variation occurs in
the length of the pes after the foetus nears full term.
Though the foot appears of secondary importance to
the mouth in enabling the juvenile to retain its grip
on the fur of the parent, it is vital to its safety within
the roost. Observations have shown that juveniles
move freely about the roost soon after birth and have

been found to hang up by themselves in the same
manner as adults, supported by the claws of the pes.

The eruption of vibrissae precedes that of the pelage
hairs by several weeks. Embryo Reg. No. 1964 : 1 : 274
(Table 4) was found to have mystical and supraorbital
vibrissae just above the skin but the interramal vibrissae
were not visible.

Young E. pumilus do not usually reach a weight of
4 gm. in the first, six months of their life and there
appears to be little difference between the sexes at this
age. After six months the body weight of females
usually exceeds that of males. The heaviest males taken
were those collected from colonies during the breeding
season when they were found to have enlarged testes.
The greatest weight of a male was 4.9 gm. Females
reach their greatest weight during advanced pregnancy,
the heaviest recorded being 5.8 gm.

The heaviest female taken outside the breeding
season was collected on 17 : VI : 1964 and weighed
5.1 gm. (See Table 4).

VI. PELAGE AND AGE

Pelage colour and texture vary greatly in both males
and females. It is in no way indicative of sex but does
appear to be influenced by age and possibly by local
environment. The fur grows to a length of about 7 mm.,
the sub-fur being considerably darker than the outer.
The ventral surface is always paler than the dorsal.

Sub-adults of both sexes have a soft grey pelage which
changes by varying degrees to dark grey and brown
as the bats age. The fur of several aged females with
extensive tooth wear had taken on a rusty or sandy-
brown colour.

Tooth wear is very noticeable as the bats age and
this wear is most easily recognised in the incisors,
canines and premolars of the upper jaw. By the end
of the first year the cusps on the larger incisors are
rounded and blunt and the canines and premolars also
show signs of wear. This has been observed in banded
bats of known age. (See Fig. 3b). In older individuals
wear subsequently removes the incisor cusps entirely
and the tooth takes on a flat tip, the canines shorten
and the premolars are reduced by heavy scalloping of
the posterior edge (Fig. 3c, d and e).

Towards the end of life the teeth are reduced to
stumps and in one instance an old female was found
to have the upper premolars worn through in the middle
leaving two independent stumps in place of each of
the double rooted teeth (Fig. 3f).

Although there appears to be a correlation between
pelage colour and tooth wear there have been some
remarkable exceptions to the general rule. One male
taken at Winnaleah in north-eastern Tasmania on
28 : II: 1962 was a deep chocolate colour though its
teeth were unworn. Only one male has been found with
considerable tooth wear and it still retained its sub¬
adult grey pelage and weighed only 4 gm.

Deep chocolate pelage was unusual in the bats of
Greens Beach and Kelso colonies, the colour of adults
usually being grey-brown, or rusty brown. However,
all bats of both sexes taken from the Sheffield colony,
with tooth wear ranging from slight to medium, had
deep chocolate pelage. When a series of skins from
these areas were placed side by side the localitv
variation was conspicuous. Both Winnaleah and
Sheffield are inland areas — whereas — Green’s Beach
and Kelso are coastal. Sufficient suitable study skins
are not available at present to define the full range
of geographical variation.

TABLE 4. PROGRESSIVE MENSURATION GAIN IN E. PUMILUS. EXPANDED DIGITAL MEASUREMENTS ARE
INDIVIDUAL PHALANGES: PROXIMAL FIRST, DISTAL LAST.

observations on the Little Broum Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

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Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

FIGURE 3. Showing progressive wear in the right upper incisors, canine and premolar of E. pumilus.

(a) At 3 months old when the teeth have just fully erupted.

(b) At 11 months.

(c, d, e and f). Progressive tooth wear at an unknown age.

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

VII. FOOD AND WATER

Observations on free-flying E. pumilus have been
limited but indicate tliat they do not ascend much
above the tree-tops. Most activity seems to be con-
<~entrated below the leaf-canopy and the bats evidently
feed on insects which fly about the less dense vegetation.

one occasion a bat was seen to hover five feet above
the ground beside a eucalypt sucker as if in pursuit of
<,n insect. It appeared to be hesitant about entering the
flense foliage and hovered for 5 to 10 seconds beside the
outermost leaves as if trying to locate its prey. Similar
IX'haviour by Eptesicus serotinus in England was noted
|,y the Earl of Cranbrook (1904).

There is no evidence to suggest that E. pumilus obtains
food from the surface of the ground and there does not.
Appear to be any preference for pond, river or lagoon
jireas when they are hunting.

A captive E. pumilus which was liberated in a large
room at night to exercise, was often noticed taking small
moths attracted by the electric light. These were seized
in mid-air, the bodies devoured and the wings discarded
in a few seconds, without any apparent alteration in the
bat’s mode of flight.

An E. pumilus which showed no signs of pregnancy
was successfully kept in captivity for several months
on a diet of live flics and moths. Mince meat or dead
food of any kind was always refused. If live insects were
placed in the cage while the bat was sleeping in a semi-
torpid state, the activity of the insects appeared to
slowly stir the bat and within five to ten minutes it
would be actively pursuing the insects about the cage.
Smaller insects were seized in the mouth and quickly
devoured, but large flies and moths or anything difficult
to handle was seized in the mouth and forced onto the
bat’s belly and held in a pocket formed by the animal
sitting on the lower part of its back with the tail forward
and with the uropatagium and patagium forming a
pocket. Here the insect was easily handled and devoured
at leisure. Only the more succulent body parts were
eaten, the wings and legs being rejected.

Even in confined spaces sight appears to play very
little part, in the bat’s location of an insect as on many
occasions it was seen to grope for a fly only an inch
from its face as if uncertain as to where it was. While
the insects remained still, the bat was less inclined to
take them, but when active the bat hunted more
determinedly.

Water did not appear to be taken in any quantity
by captive animals. It was never seen to be acceptable
in a saucer-shaped container but when spilt the animals
would sometimes lick it from the floor. Bats often
became wet as they accidentally blundered over a small
container of water and would later be found cleaning
themselves and licking the moisture from their fur.
These habits suggest that in the wild state they do not
drink as most other mammals do, but lick surface
moisture from foliage, etc. and no doubt assimilate a
limited amount when cleaning their fur following
nocturnal flights on wet nights.

In the autumn of 196*1, the moth Dasypodia seleno-
phora, Guen., was not uncommon in the Green’s Beach
area. It is a handsome brown insect with a wing span
of up to three inches and is often found inside houses.
On a number of occasions it was found inside the paling
hut in which the Green’s Beach roost (B) was located.
Wings of this moth were also found scattered about the
floor and on one day 16 individual forewings were

collected. Evening observations consequently revealed
that E. pumilus often entered the hut when in exit from
its roost in the roof and spent some time flying round
inside before departing by way of a space between the
roof and walls. Though the bats were not observed
feeding on these moths it seems possible that they
were as no other insectivorcs were known to enter the
building. However the possibility of the predator being
a bat species larger than E. pumilus cannot be dis¬
regarded.

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS

E. pumilus is noisy when active in the roost and utters
a sharp “chzit" rapidly repeated. It is used in anger
when an active bat is restrained and the bat continues
uttering the sound while biting. Similar utterances can
be heard coming from within roosts in hot weather and
when the bats are squabbling at the exit holes prior to
their evening flight.

They sleep head downward, sometimes individually,
sometimes clustered together to form a mass and even
clinging to each other. To urinate and defaecate they
turn head upwards, but do not move away from their
resting place. Only a few drops of urine are passed at
a time and the bat soon returns to its original position.
The whole process takes one or two minutes. Neigh¬
bouring bats in the cluster do not appear to be soiled
by tliis habit.

Toilet of the fur is usually carried out during the
settling period following flight or disturbance. The
forelimbs, patagium and tail are cleaned with the lips
and tongue, the fur is licked and often scratched with
the feet, following which the nails are cleaned with the
teeth.

Flight is initiated with ease from a horizontal plane
by an upward jump which carries the bat clear of the
surface before the wings are brought into use.

When placed on water E. pumilus was found to be
able to swim vigorously. The wings are semi-extended
and beaten in a series of rapid short jerks just beneath
the surface of the water. The tail and uropatagium are
held fully outstretched and the head held high. The
sub-fur does not wet easily but the bat is unable to
take off from the surface of the water. It swims to
nearest object and climbs free without difficulty. Wet
fur is licked and the bat flies when only partly dry.

N. geojjroyi has been observed to swim in a some¬
what similar manner. (McKean and Hall 1964).

Ectoparasites have been collected from E. pumilus
and lodged with the National Insect Collection,
CS.I.R.O., Canberra. Mites and louse-flies were found
to be plentiful, particularly during the breeding season
and a few small fleas were also present.

Ectoparisites were not found on the naked juveniles
but they became established once the fur of the host
reached about 2 mm. in length.

Observations on the Little Brown Bat Eptesicus pumilus Gray in Tasmania

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his thanks to Mr.
R. M. Wameke, Victorian Fisheries and Wildlife De¬
partment for helpful suggestions and assistance, and
to all those people who assisted with observations and
trapping at roost sites. I am particularly indebted to
Mr. and Mrs. John Greig, Green’s Beach; Mr. Laurie
Dean, Kelso; Mr. John Parish, Lilydale; Mr. and Mrs.
L. E. Marchant, Robigana; and Mrs. C. Steane, Shef¬
field, without whose help and co-operation this work
would never have been possible. Thanks are also due
to Miss Margaret MacKean for the illustrations.

REFERENCES

Earl of Cranbrook, 1964: Transactions of the Suffolk
Naturalists Society, 12 Part 5. (January 1964).
Reviewed in Nature, Vol. 202, p. 862.

Dubkin, Leonard, 1952: “The White Lady". Published
in U.K. by MacMillan & Co., 1952.

McKean, John L. and Hall, L. S., 1964: Notes on
Microchiropteran Bats. The Victorian Naturalist.
Vol. 81 (2), pp. 36-37.

Simpson, K. G., 1961: A Rooftop Breeding Colony of
Gould’s Wattled Bat. The Victorian Naturalist.
Vol. 78 (11), pp. 325-327.

Wimsatt, William A., 1945: Notes on Breeding Be¬
haviour, Pregnancy, and Parturition in some
Vespcrtilionid Bats of the Eastern United States.
Jour. Mamm. Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 23-33.

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