A Line Was
Formed Reaching Across The Island, With The Intention Of
Driving The Natives Into A _Cul-De-Sac_ On Tasman's Peninsula.
The Attempt Failed; The Natives, Having Tied Up Their Dogs,
Stole During One Night Through The Lines.
This is far from
surprising, when their practised senses, and usual manner
of crawling after wild animals is considered.
I have been
assured that they can conceal themselves on almost bare
ground, in a manner which until witnessed is scarcely credible;
their dusky bodies being easily mistaken for the blackened
stumps which are scattered all over the country. I was
told of a trial between a party of Englishmen and a native,
who was to stand in full view on the side of a bare hill; if the
Englishmen closed their eyes for less than a minute, he
would squat down, and then they were never able to distinguish
him from the surrounding stumps. But to return to
the hunting-match; the natives understanding this kind of
warfare, were terribly alarmed, for they at once perceived
the power and numbers of the whites. Shortly afterwards
a party of thirteen belonging to two tribes came in; and,
conscious of their unprotected condition, delivered themselves
up in despair. Subsequently by the intrepid exertions
of Mr. Robinson, an active and benevolent man, who
fearlessly visited by himself the most hostile of the natives,
the whole were induced to act in a similar manner. They
were then removed to an island, where food and clothes
were provided them. Count Strzelecki states, [6] that "at the
epoch of their deportation in 1835, the number of natives
amounted to 210. In 1842, that is, after the interval of seven
years, they mustered only fifty-four individuals; and, while
each family of the interior of New South Wales, uncontaminated
by contact with the whites, swarms with children, those
of Flinders' Island had during eight years an accession of
only fourteen in number!"
The Beagle stayed here ten days, and in this time I made
several pleasant little excursions, chiefly with the object of
examining the geological structure of the immediate
neighbourhood. The main points of interest consist, first in
some highly fossiliferous strata, belonging to the Devonian or
Carboniferous period; secondly, in proofs of a late small rise
of the land; and lastly, in a solitary and superficial patch of
yellowish limestone or travertin, which contains numerous
impressions of leaves of trees, together with land-shells, not
now existing. It is not improbable that this one small quarry
includes the only remaining record of the vegetation of Van
Diemen's Land during one former epoch.
The climate here is damper than in New South Wales,
and hence the land is more fertile. Agriculture flourishes;
the cultivated fields look well, and the gardens abound with
thriving vegetables and fruit-trees. Some of the farm-houses,
situated in retired spots, had a very attractive appearance.
The general aspect of the vegetation is similar to
that of Australia; perhaps it is a little more green and
cheerful; and the pasture between the trees rather more
abundant. One day I took a long walk on the side of the bay
opposite to the town: I crossed in a steam-boat, two of which
are constantly plying backwards and forwards. The machinery
of one of these vessels was entirely manufactured in
this colony, which, from its very foundation, then numbered
only three and thirty years! Another day I ascended Mount
Wellington; I took with me a guide, for I failed in a first
attempt, from the thickness of the wood. Our guide, however,
was a stupid fellow, and conducted us to the southern
and damp side of the mountain, where the vegetation was
very luxuriant; and where the labour of the ascent, from the
number of rotten trunks, was almost as great as on a mountain
in Tierra del Fuego or in Chiloe. It cost us five and a
half hours of hard climbing before we reached the summit.
In many parts the Eucalypti grew to a great size, and composed
a noble forest. In some of the dampest ravines, tree-
ferns flourished in an extraordinary manner; I saw one
which must have been at least twenty feet high to the base
of the fronds, and was in girth exactly six feet. The fronds
forming the most elegant parasols, produced a gloomy shade,
like that of the first hour of the night. The summit of the
mountain is broad and flat, and is composed of huge angular
masses of naked greenstone. Its elevation is 3100 feet above
the level of the sea. The day was splendidly clear, and we
enjoyed a most extensive view; to the north, the country
appeared a mass of wooded mountains, of about the same height
with that on which we were standing, and with an equally
tame outline: to the south the broken land and water, forming
many intricate bays, was mapped with clearness before
us. After staying some hours on the summit, we found a
better way to descend, but did not reach the Beagle till eight
o'clock, after a severe day's work.
February 7th. - The Beagle sailed from Tasmania, and,
on the 6th of the ensuing month, reached King George's
Sound, situated close to the S. W. corner of Australia. We
stayed there eight days; and we did not during our voyage
pass a more dull and uninteresting time. The country,
viewed from an eminence, appears a woody plain, with here
and there rounded and partly bare hills of granite protruding.
One day I went out with a party, in hopes of seeing a
kangaroo hunt, and walked over a good many miles of country.
Everywhere we found the soil sandy, and very poor;
it supported either a coarse vegetation of thin, low brushwood
and wiry grass, or a forest of stunted trees. The
scenery resembled that of the high sandstone platform of the
Blue Mountains; the Casuarina (a tree somewhat resembling
a Scotch fir) is, however, here in greater number, and
the Eucalyptus in rather less.
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