rather be called an estuary, for it receives at its head the waters of
the Derwent. Near the mouth, there are some extensive basaltic
platforms; but higher up the land becomes mountainous, and is covered
by a light wood. The lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are
cleared; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of
potatoes, appear very luxuriant. Late in the evening we anchored in the
snug cove, on the shores of which stands the capital of Tasmania. The
first aspect of the place was very inferior to that of Sydney; the
latter might be called a city, this is only a town. It stands at the
base of Mount Wellington, a mountain 3100 feet high, but of little
picturesque beauty; from this source, however, it receives a good
supply of water. Round the cove there are some fine warehouses and on
one side a small fort. Coming from the Spanish settlements, where such
magnificent care has generally been paid to the fortifications, the
means of defence in these colonies appeared very contemptible.
Comparing the town with Sydney, I was chiefly struck with the
comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or building.
Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and
the whole of Tasmania 36,505.
All the aborigines have been removed to an island in Bass's Straits, so
that Van Diemen's Land enjoys the great advantage of being free from a
native population. This most cruel step seems to have been quite
unavoidable, as the only means of stopping a fearful succession of
robberies, burnings, and murders, committed by the blacks; and which
sooner or later would have ended in their utter destruction. I fear
there is no doubt, that this train of evil and its consequences,
originated in the infamous conduct of some of our countrymen. Thirty
years is a short period, in which to have banished the last aboriginal
from his native island,--and that island nearly as large as Ireland.
The correspondence on this subject, which took place between the
government at home and that of Van Diemen's Land, is very interesting.
Although numbers of natives were shot and taken prisoners in the
skirmishing, which was going on at intervals for several years; nothing
seems fully to have impressed them with the idea of our overwhelming
power, until the whole island, in 1830, was put under martial law, and
by proclamation the whole population commanded to assist in one great
attempt to secure the entire race. The plan adopted was nearly similar
to that of the great hunting-matches in India: a line was formed
reaching across the island, with the intention of driving the natives
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