The Hills Are Crowned With Irregular
Plantations Of Scotch Firs; And The Sloping Banks Are Thickly
Scattered Over With Thickets Of Gorse, Covered With Its Bright
Yellow Flowers.
Weeping-willows are common on the banks
of the rivulets, and the hedges are made of the blackberry,
producing its well-known fruit.
When we consider that the
number of plants now found on the island is 746, and that
out of these fifty-two alone are indigenous species, the rest
having been imported, and most of them from England,
we see the reason of the British character of the vegetation.
Many of these English plants appear to flourish better than
in their native country; some also from the opposite quarter
of Australia succeed remarkably well. The many imported
species must have destroyed some of the native kinds; and
it is only on the highest and steepest ridges that the
indigenous Flora is now predominant.
The English, or rather Welsh character of the scenery, is
kept up by the numerous cottages and small white houses;
some buried at the bottom of the deepest valleys, and others
mounted on the crests of the lofty hills. Some of the views
are striking, for instance that from near Sir W. Doveton's
house, where the bold peak called Lot is seen over a dark
wood of firs, the whole being backed by the red water-worn
mountains of the southern coast. On viewing the island
from an eminence, the first circumstance which strikes one,
is the number of the roads and forts:
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