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
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