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Title: An account of the colony of Van Diemen's Land : principally intended for the use of persons residing in India, pointing out the readiest means of going there and the advantages it holds out to them for a permanent establishment.

Author: Betts, T.

Published: Printed at the Baptist Mission Press, 1830

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AN ACCOUNT

OF

THE COLONY

OF

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND,

PRINCIPALLY INTENDED

FOR THE

Use of Persons residing in India;

POINTING OUT THE READIEST MEANS OF GOING THERE;

AND THE ADVANTAGES IT HOLDS OUT TO THEM

FOR A PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT.

Calcutta:

PRINTED AT THE BAPTIST MISSION PRESS, CIRCULAR ROAD.

SOLD BY

MESSRS. W. THACKER AND CO. ST. ANDREW'S LIBRARY; J. J. FLEURY,

COSSITOLLAH; AND ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

1830.

PREFACE.

THE view of the Author of the following pages is to draw the attention of the Indian Community to a country that is but little known; and of which, those who have ever thought on the subject, from the difficulty of obtaining correct information, entertain very vague and erroneous ideas.

Its climate seems so well adapted to the renovating the constitution of those who have suffered from their residence in India, that he conceives it only requires to be pointed out, and the easiest manner of getting there made known; as also the cheapness and comfort of living, when there; to turn the tide of visitors to the Cape and the Isle of France, towards its shores.

Many, also, who have saved what would not afford a bare existence in England, or indeed any part of Europe, might, with the addition of their pension, live in the greatest comfort in this country; but are deterred from making the experiment, from the little faith that can generally be put in the publications on emigration; and from the want of correct information on points having a direct reference to their own peculiar circumstances and previous habits of life.

The following work is rather a compilation than an original production, as regards the description of the country. The writer, however, has himself travelled a great deal in the Colony, and nothing has been admitted but what he knows to be strictly correct, either from his own observation, or from the most undoubted authority. The observations regarding the advantages it holds out to people of small property in India, are, however, entirely his own. Being written by a person precisely so situated as those for whose information the work is principally intended, they may be supposed to carry some weight with them; the subject having engaged his most anxious investigation: and should the information so conveyed be the means of pointing out a comfortable refuge to one family from the unhealthy climate of India, the writer will think he has not laboured in vain: and he trusts that the intention will prove a bar to criticism, on the inaccuracies, both of style and composition, of which he fears there are but too many.

Asiatic Lithographic Press Choringhee

AN ACCOUNT
OF
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND,
&c.
CHAPTER I.

Mode of obtaining Grants of Land, &c.

It is not absolutely necessary for an emigrant from England, to obtain the sanction of the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, to proceed to Van Diemen's Land: the possession of property being the claim to a grant of land in proportion to its amount; and the having such letter does not at all facilitate the passing through the usual Colonial forms: still, however, it is perhaps advisable to be possessed of such sanction, as it does away with the possibility of any demur from the want of it, and it is obtainable without any difficulty*. For the information of the reader, I have annexed a copy of an actual reply from Downing Street, to an application to proceed to Van Die men's Land, and of the terms upon which grants of land are obtainable.

COLONIAL OFFICE, DOWNING STREET,

London, Dec. 6th, 1826.

SIR,

I am directed by Earl Bathurst to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of 4th inst., that the printed memorandum which I enclose, will explain to you the conditions upon which persons are permitted to hold lands at New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land; and if, under such circumstances, you should think it advisable to proceed to either of those settlements, with a view to agricultural objects, the Governor will, on your making the necessary application to him for that purpose, and provided he shall be satisfied of your possessing sufficient capital to enable you to fulfil those conditions, make you a grant of land accordingly.

I am directed further to acquaint you, that the general instructions with which the Governor has been furnished, will render it unnecessary for you, on your proceeding to the Colony, to be provided with any other letter from the Colonial Department but this.

I am, &c.

(Signed) R. M. HAY.

To —.

Terms upon which Land is granted to Settlers in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

For the information of persons proceeding to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, it has been deemed expedient to prepare the following summary of the rules which His Majesty's Government have thought fit to lay down for regulating the Grants of Land in those Colonies.

1. A division of the whole territory into counties, hundreds, and parishes, is in progress; when that division shall be completed, each parish will comprise an area of about 25 miles. A valuation will be made of the lands throughout the Colony, and an average price will be struck for each parish*.

2. All the lands in the Colony, not hitherto granted, and not appropriated for public purposes, will be put up at the average price thus fixed.

3. All persons proposing to purchase lands must transmit a written application to the Governor, in a certain prescribed form, which will be delivered at the Surveyor General's Office to all parties applying, on payment of a fee of two shillings and six pence.

4. All correspondence with the local Government, respecting grants of land, must take place through the same office.

5. A deposit of 10 per cent, upon the whole value of the purchase, to be paid down; the remainder to be paid half yearly, by promissory notes, payable at such intervals of time, and under such regulations, as may be agreed on by the Governor.

6. On payment of the money, a grant will be made, in fee simple, to the purchaser, at the nominal quit-rent of a peppercorn.

7. The largest quantity of land that will be sold to any individual is 9,600 acres. The lands will generally be put up to sale in lots of three square miles, or 1,920 acres. Persons wishing to make more extensive purchases must apply to the Secretary of State in writing, with full explanations of their object and means.

8. Any purchaser, who within ten years after his purchase, shall, by the employment and maintenance of convicts, have relieved the public from a charge equal to ten times the amount of the purchase money, will have the purchase money returned, but without interest. It will be computed that for each convict employed, and wholly maintained by the purchaser for 12 months, £16 have been saved to the public.

9. Lands may also be obtained without immediate purchase, but upon different conditions.

10. Persons desirous to become grantees, without immediate purchase, will make their application to the Governor in writing, in a prescribed form, copies of which are to be obtained at the Surveyor General's Office, on payment of two shillings and six pence.

11. The largest grant that will be made to any fresh settler without purchase, is 2560 acres; the smallest 320 acres.

12. No grant is to be made to any person without immediate purchase, unless the Governor is satisfied that the grantee has the power of expending, in the cultivation of the lands, a capital equal to half their estimated value.

13. A quit-rent of 5 per cent, per annum, upon the value of each grant of land, as estimated in the survey, will be levied on all such grants; but such quit-rent will not commence to be levied until the expiration of the first seven years next succeeding the issue of such grant: at the expiration of the abovementioned seven years, the grantee will become possessed, in fee simple, of the grant, subject to the payment of the quit-rent; or he will be entitled to redeem such quit-rent, if he prefer that alternative.

14. The quit-rent will always be redeemable at 20 years' purchase: the power of such redemption commencing at the termination of the first seven years, when such quit-rent is first levied.

15. Every grantee without purchase must, at the expiration of the before mentioned term of seven years, prove to the satisfaction of the Surveyor General, that he has expended in the cultivation and improvement of his land, a capital equal to half its value, as that value was estimated at the time of his grant: on failure of such proof, the land will be forfeited to the Crown.

16. In the redemption of his quit-rent, the grantee will have credit for one fifth part of the sums which he may have saved to His Majesty's Government, by the employment and maintenance of convicts: and for the purpose of making this allowance, it will be calculated that Government has saved £16 for each convict employed by the grantee, and wholly maintained at his expense on his land, for one whole year. In the case of such grantees as may not have an opportunity of obtaining convicts, and thereby reducing the amount of their quit-rent, in the manner laid down in this clause; every such grantee, upon shewing an expenditure of capital on his land, to the amount of five times the estimated value at the time of its being granted to him, will be entitled, at the expiration of seven years, from the time of such grant, to claim a reduction of one half of his annual quit-rent, whether for the purpose of annual payment or redemption.

17. No additional grant of land will be made to any person who has not proved, as last mentioned, the necessary expenditure of capital on the lands already granted to him, and that he has sufficient capital in hand to enable him to cultivate to advantage the additional grant for which he applies.

18. Persons receiving a second grant of land, without purchase, will become liable to pay a quit-rent upon the lands comprised in such second grant, immediately from the date of it; but any grantee who can shew an expenditure of capital upon his first grant, to the amount of five times the estimated value of that grant, at the time of its being made to him, will be entitled to a further grant, at the rate of per cent, on the estimated value of such grant, on proving that he has sufficient capital still in hand to cultivate, to advantage, the additional grant.

19. The same regulation will apply to purchasers of land who may make application for a second purchase, and who can shew that they have laid out capital upon such land to five times the amount of its value. In such case, half the value of the new land will be remitted.

20. Persons desirous to receive grants of land, without purchase, on terms different from those above stated, must lay before the Secretary of State a full explanation, in writing, of the circumstances which they may conceive to exempt them from the operation of these general rules.

Colonial Office, Downing Street, April, 1826.

The fullest information for persons intending to settle in Van Diemen's Land, regarding the necessary Colonial forms, for obtaining grants and purchasing land from the Crown, is contained in the Regulations pubfished by authority of the Governor, a copy of which follows.

GOVERNMENT ORDER, No. 22.

COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,

April 29, 1828.

Regulations for the granting and selling of Land.

His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor is pleased to notify, that the following Regulations, in furtherance of His Majesty's instructions for the disposal of Land, have been established, until His Majesty's pleasure shall be known:—

1. It being of importance that settlers should not receive agreater extent of land than they are capable of improving; and that grants should not be made to persons who are desirous only of disposing of them, a Land Board has been appointed, amongst whose duties it will be, carefully to investigate the amount, and other particulars of the capital, which the several applicants state themselves respectively to possess.

2. Persons desirous of obtaining land by grant, will address themselves to the Surveyor General, who will furnish them with the established form of application to the Lieutenant Governor, on payment of a fee of 2s. 6d.

3. When the Lieutenant Governor shall have been satisfied of the character and respectability of the applicant, the Colonial Secretary will be instructed to furnish him with a letter to the Land Board, in order that the amount of capital which he can command, may be positively and particularly ascertained.

4. Live stock of every description, implements of husbandry, and other articles, which may be applicable to agricultural purposes, are to be considered as capital: as likewise any half-pay, or pension, which the applicant may receive from Government.

5. When the Lieutenant Governor shall have been satisfied by the report of the Board, of the amount of capital; the applicant will be funished, by the Colonial Secretary, with a land order, addressed to the Surveyor General, stating the quantity of land of which the applicant is to be put in possession.

6. The applicant will find a general map of the Colony exhibited in the office of the Surveyor General; and he will there also receive every necessary local information which he may desire to obtain, in order to facilitate his view in the selection of land.

7. When the applicant shall have made his selection, he will apprise the Surveyor General thereof by letter, who will point out in his report, to be transmitted twice, viz. on the 1st and 15th days in every month, for the Lieutenant Governor's information; the extent, situation, and other particulars of such land as has been selected. If the selection be approved, the Colonial Secretary will make the necessary notification to the Surveyor General, from whom the applicant will receive a written authority, containing the description (and specifying the condition of grant and tenure,) to take possession of and settle on the land.

8. If the applicant shall neglect to act upon the land order, or shall fail to take possession of the land within four months from the date of the written authority, such land order, or written authority, will be deemed void, and the original application must be renewed.

9. Land thus disposed of without purchase, is to be granted in fee simple, and held in fee and common socage, in payment of a quit rent of £5 per cent, per annum, upon the value of the land, as estimated in the survey by the Land Commissioner, and approved by the Lieutenant Governor.

10. The quit rent is not to become payable until the end of seven years after the grantee shall have been authorized to settle on the land; and is to be redeemable, at the option of the grantee, at twenty years' purchase: the power of such redemption commencing at the time when such quit rent first become payable.

11. Although the ordinary period for issuing the grant will be at the expiration of seven years; yet, whenever satisfactory proof shall be brought forward, after one year from the entry into possession and actual occupation, that the grantee has expended in the improvement of the land, a sum equal to its value, as that value was estimated by the Commissioners, at the period of his being put into possession: the settler in such case shall have an immediate right to receive his title deeds to the grant, without being obliged to await the expiration of the term of seven years; but if he fail within that period to expend, in improvements on the land, a sum equal to its estimated value as aforesaid, possession of the land will be resumed by the Crown.

12. Lands to be granted in square miles, in the proportion of one square mile, or 640 acres, for every £500 sterling of capital, which the applicant can immediately command; to the extent of four square miles, or 2,560 acres, which is the largest grant that will be made to any fresh settler, without purchase; as the smallest is 320 acres.

13. The Crown reserves to itself the right of making and constructing such roads and bridges as may be necessary for public purposes, on lands to be granted as above; and also to mines of gold and silver, and to such quantities of indigenous timber, stone, and other materials, as may be required for making and keeping the said roads and bridges in repair; or for constructing other public works or buildings, or of compelling the proprietor, after a certain period, to construct roads through his own property, or to contribute either by money payments, or by work performed, towards an object so desirable.

14. Persons desirous of obtaining "Grants in extension," will make application, in a certain prescribed form, which will be delivered at the Surveyor General's Office on payment of a fee of 2s. 6d. The best claim for this indulgence, will be founded in bona fide residence as a settler, on the original grant; but whether the settler be resident on the land, or not, actual outlay of capital in the improvement of it, either by buildings, enclosures, draining, or clearing, or in the importation of cattle or sheep of improved breeds, to be depastured on it, will form the criterion by which the decision of the Government will be made; the applicant at the same time proving, to the satisfaction of the Land Board, that he has sufficient capital in hand, to enable him to cultivate, or improve to advantage, the additional land for which be applies. " Grants in extension" are subject to quit rent, from the date of the authority to take possession of the land; in all other respects, they are liable to the like conditions and restrictions with original grants.

15. Persons desirous of obtaining "Land by Purchase," will address themselves to the Surveyor General, in a certain prescribed form, which will be delivered at the Surveyor General's Office, on payment of a fee of 2s. 6d.

16. The lands selected by individuals who have obtained leave to purchase, will be surveyed and valued by the Commissioners, with as little delay as possible; and will be put up to sale for one month, (by proclamation to be made and published for that purpose,) and are not be sold at a lower rate than the value so fixed.

17. Sealed tenders for the purchase of the land advertised as above, are to be addressed under cover to the Colonial Secretary, and marked each, "Tender for Land." At the end of a month from the date of the proclamation, the tenders will be opened in the presence of such persons as the Lieutenant Governor may appoint, when the land will be disposed of as directed by His Majesty's instructions, to the person making the highest tender, if approved by the Lieutenant Governor.

18. Lands purchased will be conveyed in fee simple, and held in fee and common socage; the purchaser paying a yearly nominal quit rent to the Crown, of one peppercorn ; but the Crown will reserve to itself all the rights specified in Article 13.

19. The following terms will be open to the purchaser:—

1. He may pay down the whole purchase money at the time of sale; in which case he will be entitled to a discount of 10 per cent.

2. He may pay down 10 per cent, on the purchase money, and the residue by four half yearly instalments.

3. He may pay down 10 per cent, on the purchase money, and one moiety of the residue by two half yearly instalments, upon which he shall receive the plenary title deeds of the land conveyed in fee simple, and to be holden of the Crown in fee and common socage, by the annual payment of a peppercorn as quit rent, on his lodging in the hands of Government a maiden mortgage on the land so purchased, as a security for the payment of the other half of the purchase money, which will bear an annual interest of 5 per cent.; such mortgage to be redeemable (at any time) within 12 years, by payment of principal and interest remaining due, and not to be transferable before the expiration of that period.

20. The personal residence of individuals, or the employment on the spot of an overseer, whose character shall have been approved by the Government, will be made an indispensable condition of obtaining and holding land, whether by grant or purchase*.

By Command of the Lieutenant Governor:

(Signed) J. BURNETT.

GOVERNMENT ORDER, No. 26.

COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,

April 30, 1828.

The Lieutenant Governor is pleased to direct that the following conditions shall be in force, on the location of building allotments in the towns and the suburbs:

I. IN THE TOWN.

1. The allotments will be divided into three classes or rates.

2. The class or rate of an allotment, when applied for by any individual, shall be named by the Government, through the Surveyor General.

3. Allotments of the first class shall consist of one acre of land and upwards, but not exceeding three acres;—allotments of the second class, half an acre and upwards, not exceeding one acre;—and allotments of the third class, a quarter of an acre and upwards, not exceeding half an acre.

4. The extent of the allotment in either of these three cases to depend upon the remoteness of the situation from the centre of the town, and the outlay of capital which the grantee pledges himself to expend.

5. That on an allotment of the first class, a house shall be built of a frontage extending not less than 45 feet;—on an allotment of the second class, a house with a frontage of at least 35 feet;—and on an allotment of the third class, a house with a frontage of at least 15 feet.

On granting permission to any individual to occupy an allotment, he will be required to enter into a written obligation to perform the following conditions:—

1. That he will make a footpath of nine feet wide on the side or sides of his allotment, next any street or public way, and inclose such allotment with a good fence, within six months from the date of the obligation.

2. That he will commence the erection of a house of brick or stone, of the proper dimensions, according to the class of the allotment, within six months after the location order is given, keeping the line of the front at a distance of not less than twelve feet from the street.

3. That he will complete the erection of the house as far as regards the outward appearance, if of the first rate, within two years; if of the second rate, within eighteen months; and if of the third rate, within twelve months.

4. That he will, within that period, expend, at least, according to the extent of the allotment, in the erection of building, if of the first rate, one thousand pounds; if of the second rate, five hundred pounds; and if of the third rate, two hundred pounds.

5. That he will not alienate his allotment, within the period of twenty-four, eighteen, or twelve months, (as the case may be with reference to the rate,) but will himself make the improvements required.

Any individual having failed to comply with any of the above conditions, his allotment shall be forfeited to the Crown. If, however, through misfortune, or other unavoidable cause, it shall be made to appear that he has become unable to perform the conditions, he shall be permitted, on application to the Government, to sell to a purchaser, who will become bound in like manner to fulfil them. But on the expiration of twenty-four, eighteen, or twelve months, (as the case may be,) if he shall have fully complied with the conditions, he shall be entitled to a grant, for the first and second class, subject to the payment of the undermentioned quit rent:

In Hobart Town and Launceston,—nine pence per rod, per annum.

In the Townships of New Norfolk, Sorell and Richmond,—three pence per rod, per annum.

In all Townships in the Interior,—two pence per rod, per annum.

And for an allotment of the third class, to a lease for 21 years, subject to the undermentioned rent:

In Hobart Town and Launceston,—six pence per rod, per annum.

In the Townships of New Norfolk, Sorell, and Richmond,—two pence per rod, per annum.

In all other Townships in the interior,—one penny per rod, per annum.

These regulations are not to extend to the allotments on the Wharfs, which are to be subject to a distinct arrangement.

The quit rents on all Town allotments are to be chargeable from the date of the location order, and possession being given to the parties, by the Surveyor General.

II. FOR THE ALLOTMENTS IN THE SUBURBS OF HOBART TOWN

That they be fenced in with a four rail fence, or some other equally substantial fence, and effectually cleared of all trees, (except such as may bona fide be reserved for ornament,) stumps and roots of trees, within twelve months. The ground to be properly broken up by the spade or plough, and a crop, either of turnips, vetches, grass, or potatoes, sown within the second twelvemonths; and a house and other buildings (of stone or brick,) erected to the amount, in the whole for such buildings, of £750, within three years more,—thus, fenced and cleared the first year,—ground broken up and a crop the second year,—buildings erected the fifth year.

A ticket, giving possession, will be exchanged for a grant, on compliance with the conditions, at a quit-rent of five per cent, calculated upon the present value of the land, according to the valuation of the Land Commissioners, approved by the Lieutenant Governor.

If the grantee, is rather disposed to reverse this arrangement, and commence with the erection of the house, it is optional with him to do so; and a grant will be issued as soon as the house is completed.

The largest allotment not exceeding ten acres, and to be decreased according to its vicinity to town.

As it is not to be expected that buildings in the Townships in the interior can, at present, be erected of the extent and value which the regulations require, alike with regard to those Townships, and to Hobart Town and Launceston; the Lieutenant Governor has directed that it shall be in the discretion of several police magistrates, but subject to His Excellency's approval, to modify the conditions relating to the extent of frontage and value of the buildings, in such manner as they may consider best calculated to encourage the erection of buildings in the Townships; and they will accordingly communicate with the Surveyor General upon each case, in which they shall recommend a departure from the regulations.

The Lieutenant Governor has directed this arrangement, in order to prevent the delay which would be occasioned if applications on this subject were made direct to the Surveyor General, by the necessity of referring for information respecting them; and it is to be understood, that the modified terms which shall be recommended by the police magistrates, are sanctioned by the Government, unless his Excellency's disapproval shall be immediately signified.

By Command of His Excellency:

(Signed) J. BURNETT.

These Regulations have been published with the view of insuring that none but those who are bona fide possessed of capital shall obtain land; and also to prevent those who get it, from immediately alienating it.

The conditions have never been strictly enforced; nor, indeed, would it be practicable to do so. For the non-fulfilment of them (to the letter) has been so general throughout the Colony, that if the system of forfeiture were once commenced, it would be impossible to say, where it would end. The residence of the grantee or an overseer, and some shew of cultivation, is all that is, or can be expected; for it is ridiculous to suppose that any one will lay out upon his property more than he has a prospect of being repaid; far from it. The putting of stock upon the land is not considered as expenditure upon it. Fencing, buildings, and cultivation, are the impx-ovements expected by Government. But of course, in the farms distant from a market, no more has been done in the way of cultivation, than what is necessary for home consumption; and the fencing has mostly been limited to what is sufficient for the protection of the crops; and that frequently of the most slovenly description on many farms. Not but that there are very many excellent buildings in some parts, and farms on which cultivation has been carried to a great extent. Any one who may see the estates of Mr. Anstey, near Oatlands, Mr. Thomas Archer, and Mr. Joseph Archer, on the Lake river; besides many others that might be mentioned, will have no hesitation in agreeing with me. There are, however, very few estates that have much of their boundaries fenced. A law is now (April 1830) in progress through the Legislative Council, to compel proprietors to join in fencing their dividing lines. The smallness of improvement on estates has in a great measure arisen from the difficulty and expense of obtaining workmen and artificers: the losses that many of the first settlers sustained from robbery at the time the police was not so good as it is now, and redress from the law more difficult to be obtained: and also from the farms being more scattered, fences were not considered necessary; an extensive run for their stock, being the main object. Now, however, that the old settled parts of the country are become almost entirely parcelled out into farms, rendering the pastures more valuable for the maintenance of the largely increased stock, fencing is becoming far more general, to prevent pounding by their neighbours; and the inconvenience and loss resulting from the admixture of flocks and herds, by which the improved breeds are frequently injured, from the introduction of inferior males. This is more particularly applicable to the farms on the high roads, where, from the traffic being now very great, the owners are obliged to fence themselves in, to prevent all their pastures being destroyed by passing flocks and droves, and the teams of carts going backwards and forwards. The means of getting fencing done are also more easy and less expensive, from the number of free and ticket-of-leave men, who go about the country seeking work.

Grants are still very frequently alienated before the fulfilment of the conditions, there being always means of avoiding the strict letter of the regulation, sub-rosa. It is, however, supposed, that in one or two flagrant instances, the Government intend to make use of their right of resumption.

* By the 53 Geo. III. cap. 155, sec. 59, it is expressly enacted, "that it " shall be lawful for any subject of His Majesty, to proceed to and reside at any " place situated more to the Southward than llo of South Latitude, or more to " the Westward than 64°; or more to the Eastward than 150° East longitude, " for any lawful purposes, without any license whatever."

* This has been done to a great extent; hut in putting up lands for sale, the price is fixed according to the number of acres, and their advantages as to vicinity to water, &c.

* In selecting: his grant, a settler should hear in mind, that if the land adjoins a river, he will not he allowed to locate on hoth sides of it, and that the length of his frontage on the stream will be one-third of his grant.

Thus a grant of 320 acres will have a frontage of 718 yards, and will run back 2154.

Additional grants must be located adjoining the original grants, whenever the adjacent land is available.

In addition to the modes of obtaining land enumerated in the regulations, individuals of respectability may rent land of the Crown from year to year; and those who are desirous of doing so, will procure from the Surveyor General's Office, or from the Assistant Surveyors in the country, printed forms, in which the tenders must be made and transmitted to the Surveyor General. These are submitted on the first Tuesday of every month, for the Lieutenant Governor's consideration; and upon His Excellency's pleasure being made known to the Surveyor General, a list of the tenders accepted is published in the Gazette. The lessee then enters into a bond with the Collector of Internal Revenue, relative to the payment of the rent, and the appropriation of the land, and afterwards procures a written authority from the Surveyor General to occupy the land.

No tenders are accepted at a lower rate than 20 shillings per annum per 100 acres; and, except in peculiar cases, no smaller tract than 500 acres is leased.

If at any time the Government requires the land, the tenant mint resign it after three months' notice.

CHAPTER II.

Regulation regarding persons in India obtaining Land.

The present Government of Van Diemen's Land being desirous of encouraging settlers from India, as a means of introducing gentlemen possessed of capital into the Colony, have promulgated, pro tempore, regulations regarding persons from thence, who are servants of the East India Company.

Those persons proceeding there, and intending to remain, can, of course, obtain lands on the same terms as any other emigrant, and no difficulty will be made from their not having a letter from the Colonial Department.

With reference to Officers in India, who either wish to remit money to be invested by an agent for the obtaining and improving of land;—or who, going there themselves, and obtaining grants, wish to return to India to remain out their time, rules have been established; (pending the approval of the Home Government;) as we lias regarding persons residing in India, but not in the service.

An Officer possessed of £2000, will obtain a maximum grant of 2560 acres, on the following terms, in addition to the usual limitations and restrictions, to which all grants are subjected, viz:—

1st. That he will return to the Colony, or go to it within five years from the date of the location order.

2d. That he will, within four months from the date of the order, place upon the land, and continue to employ upon it, during his absence, a free overseer, who must be approved of by the Government, and who shall have been certified as being a proper person to have the control of convict servants, by the police magistrate of the district in which the grant may be situated.

3d. That in addition to the.stock that he may place upon the land, he will expend upon it, in permanent improvements, a sum of not less than £250 in each year, during the first two years of his stipulated absence.

The above is a summary of the most important rules regarding Company's Officers. A memorial has, I understand, been forwarded from India, praying His Majesty's Government to grant Officers in the Company's service the same advantages in obtaining land in the Colonies, regarding exemption of quit-rent, as has been accorded to King's Officers; and I believe a similar request has been made in their behalf by the Colonial Government of Van Diemen's Land.

The following is the substance of a reply to an official communication through the Colonial Secretary, as to the terms on which persons residing in India, and holding lucrative situations, not in the Company's service, which they were desirous of retaining some time longer, would obtain land, were they to remit funds to be invested in the Colony by an agent.

That His Excellency would have no hesitation (until disallowed by His Majesty's Government) in granting land to any respectable gentleman residing in India, upon the terms applicable to Officers in the service of the East India Company, provided that he engaged to become a resident in the Colony within five years, and that the sum of one pound sterling per acre be imported to be invested in the improvement and cultivation of the land.

CHAPTER III.

Remarks on the foregoing rules—Climate of this country—and its eligibility as a place of resort and settlement for persons from India.

By the rules in the foregoing chapter it will be seen, that persons from, or in India, will experience no difficulty in obtaining land, as long as the present Governor remains; and no orders to the contrary are received from home. Even should the latter occur, there never will be any difficulty in purchasing land from the Crown, which perhaps may be as good a mode as any, for a person not wishing to reside immediately in the country; as he thereby secures the land in parts of the country where a few years hence none would be obtainable, and he would be obliged to go further off. His land is his own, to sell the next day, if he likes; and without any restrictions; and he need be at no expense with it till he goes to the country himself.

I conceive that this Colony holds out the greatest encouragement to persons who have resided a long time in India. The heat of the climate of Sydney, and the country round it, will always be an insuperable bar to its proving a pleasant residence to Europeans; particularly to those whose health has suffered from the effects of a warm climate: for, with the exception of a few of the colder months, the climate is represented by all who have visited it from the East, as intolera ble—nearly as bad as India, and without those "means and appliances to boot," to render it more bearable. Hot winds are very prevalent in the summer, and musquitoes and sandflies abundant. The climate is not, however, intended to be represented as so injurious to the constitutions of those who come from Europe, as India is; but as deteriorating much from the pleasure and comfort of a residence, from its debilitate ing effects: and no greater proof can be adduced of the nature of the climate, than its being universally acknowledged that a rosy cheek is considered as a sort of phenomenon; and those born in the country have all that paleness of complexion which is said to be so peculiar among the Americans. In Van Diemen's Land, on the contrary, the countenances of the inhabitants all exhibit the ruddy appearance of health, and the children are perfect pictures to the eye of an Indian, so long accustomed to the sallow hue on the cheeks of the poor little unfortunates in India.

It is true that in New South Wales, to the westward of the Blue Mountains, and in the southern countries, towards Bass's Straits, the climate is far cooler than it is on the Coast, in the neighbourhood of Sydney; and perhaps nearly, if not quite, equal to the climate of Van Diemen's Land. It is, however, to be recollected, that to obtain this climate, a settler must go, at least, 200 miles from the capital, with which there is a difficulty of communication, from the badness of the roads, and where the distance and want of water carriage will prove a complete prohibition to his sending his produce to the principal mart of the country, and his wool to be shipped for export; on which last must be his principal dependence for realizing a money income.

n the other hand, there is no part of Van Diemen's Land, however remote, where he would be so far from a shipping place, or a market, as at the nearest point, where land would now be obtainable in New South Wales; and I have not a doubt, from what I have seen of the country, that, by diligent search, much unlocated land might be found not very far, either from Launceston or Hobart Town. Instances are daily occurring of persons obtaining grants where no unlocated land was supposed to exist. Some of it may probably be, and is, inferior to what might be obtained in more distant situations, but the vicinity of a market and water carriage will generally be found to counterbalance other disadvantages. An establishment was formerly made at Western Port, in New South Wales, on the north side of Bass's Straits; but it has been given up for some time, as I understand, from the supposed scarcity of fresh water. There is some talk of another attempt being made to locate it; and were the proposed plan to be carried into execution, I have no doubt, from its locality, that it would prove a very advantageous place of settlement, having a direct traffic across the straits with Port Dalrymple, in Van Diemen's Land; and to the N. E. with Sydney: and also being in the track for vessels from Europe and Swan River, bound to the latter place and vice versa. There would, however, long be a want of land communication with any settled part of the country; as the most southerly location from Sydney are still some hundred miles short of it. Captain Sturt, of H. M. 39th Foot, has been employed in tracing the river Morumbidgee, in New South Wales; and on the 4th January, 1830, he was in lat. 34° 15' S., long. 143° 57' E. This river, it is supposed, will be found to discharge itself into the sea, in Spencer's gulf. Should Captain S. succeed in tracing it, and such prove to be the case, a settlement will, no doubt, be formed there, and will be far superior to Western Port.

The climate of Van Diemen's Land seems to me peculiarly adapted for those who have long resided in hot countries. The cold is never very severe, nor the heat so great but that a person may go about in the middle of the day without any inconvenience or danger: as a proof of which, the labours of the harvest are carried on by the servants of the settlers during the hottest days in summer, without any injury to their health. Hot winds are sometimes experienced; but in not more than two or three days in the year. It is then certainly very hot. The nights are, however, always cool; and there are few evenings that a fire in the room is not pleasant; and at night a blanket on the bed is always agreeable. Being a small island, and exposed, nearly on all sides, to the wind, from a great expanse of ocean, every shift of it causes a change in the temperature of the atmosphere. I do not think, indeed, that there is any time of the year when cloth clothes are not pleasant, or, at any rate, bearable. There is something peculiarly dry and elastic in the atmosphere of the Colony, and sickness is very rare among temperate livers. The frosts in winter are slight; and snow seldom lays more than a few hours, or a couple of days at the utmost, on the plains or in the vallies. In the winter of 1829 it lay for a week at Oatlands, which is about the highest point in the settled parts of the Island; and it was thought something extraordinary. On Mount Wellington, which overhangs Hobart Town, snow is seen for nine months in the year; and to the westward, where the country is very elevated, frost and snow are very prevalent: the lakes being sometimes frozen over sufficiently firm to bear cattle. This part of the country is as yet but little used, except as stock-runs for cattle.

To the servants of the Company, and other long residents in India,—especially such as have large families, and but small prospect of ever being enabled to return to England with a sufficiency,—I think this Colony offers the greatest temptations. On an income that would not give them but bare necessaries in England, they will here live comfortably, and independent upon their own estates. They will have the satisfaction of educating their children under their own eye; of seeing them grow up around them with healthy constitutions, and with the pleasing certainty in view, of leaving them provided for.

There are certainly several, nay many, places in Continental Europe,—Geneva, Tours, and Boulogne may be instanced,—in these towns families reside, with much ceconomy, yet not bereft of comforts. The farther you penetrate in the interior of France, but particularly Germany, the common comforts (not luxuries) of life are to be obtained at a much cheaper rate than on the borders of the sea:—but the children grow up as foreigners, daily losing their amor patriae; while their parents, year after year, becoming more estranged, from the connections in their native land, gradually lose the means of establishing their growing progeny in the part of the world dearest to them. The property of the parent, already limited, would, on the division of it, barely suffice for the subsistence of his children, and this would prove a difficulty that would increase with their number.—But in this happy Colony, the certain and great extent of land to which the settlers are entitled, in proportion to the capital they bring, would afford to them a present comfortable maintenance, with the sure prospect of being able to add, by purchase, other valuable tracts to their present possessions and grants; with this additional security, that as the children grew, the land would also increase in value, as population increased, and cultivation extended. A small house built, and a farm already stocked, would provide to a son wherewith to live comfortably all his remaining days.

I have no doubt, that to those who have never left the shores of Old England, the idea and reality of emigration must cause many heart-felt pangs, and in proportion to their long endeared ties, connection, and consanguinity.—But it is not to these untravelled individuals that I offer my observations, and address my reasonings j—I turn to those who, having left their native island at an early age, before they could form those almost indissoluble ties which would have bound them to the land of their birth, have married in India, have a large family to provide for, and whose paucity of means debars them from thinking, or even forming a wish to return to the land of their fathers:— to these, India is the bourne whence no traveller of their description returns,—the connexion with their former friends and relations at home being dissolved and broken, either by age or death, or removal to distant countries, affords no argument to return. With such sad prospects before them, and, in many cases, with a constitution and health encroached upon by the enervating effects of the climate of India, what does not Van Diemen's Land offer? Amongst his countrymen,—if not exactly so, at least amongst Britons, speaking the same language, accustomed to the same laws and customs, and assimilated in manners,—could he call himself a greater stranger than in England, where most that return seldom find old friends alive?—Proceeding to Van Diemen's Land to an Indian, would appear like directing his course to England by a shorter route. A capital, which in England would not afford wherewith to maintain a family, could in this Colony, from the high rate of interest obtainable, produce an income upon which a family might live in comfort. The happiness of seeing your children under your inspection, is not a small boon: we are deprived of it in India, and boys and girls are torn from the bosoms of their parents, before they can have formed that filial attachment, which nothing can repay or education teach or instil. Parents in India have the choice of two evils,—the risk incurred in the health and lives of their infants by retaining them; or the estrangement of their finer feelings by transporting them across the wide and dangerous ocean, at the mercy of the waves and of strangers. It is admitted, I believe pretty generally, that education in India is but indifferent. There are also parents, who, to secure, in after life, something for their children, give them a very limited education; making this a secondary consideration: their limited income or allowances not permitting them to attain both objects at once. In the country to which I am desirous to turn the mind's eye of my readers, the means of education are respectable; and as much interest has been excited on this important topic, I have not the slightest doubt that ere long improvement will keep pace with the increase and influx of population. To those who have reasonable and sure prospects of x-eturning to England, I would say, By all means realize your projects. Our England, the land of our fathers, the land of our liberty and freedom, must be ever dear to a true patriot;—but if a return to the land that gave us birth be unattainable, our eyes and wishes should turn to the country nearest to her in manners, customs, and laws.

To those, however, who should emigrate to Van Diemen's Land, with the idea of making money rapidly, or the ultimate hope of returning to England, disappointment and continual repining will be the most probable result. But to a person who has a family, and is embarrassed how to provide for them out of his small savings, this country offers the fairest possible field, as long as industry and common prudence form any part of his character. He will have the necessaries of life in the greatest abundance, and of the finest description. His own flock of sheep will give him mutton; and his cattle, beef and veal, occasionally. His poultry and pigs will supply him with an abundant variety. His field will give hiin grain for bread, and his garden will yield him vegetables and fruit; and from his dairy he will have milk and butter, &c. Horses he will keep at but little expense from the produce of his farm. All these things will not, however, be obtainable immediately, or without considerable perseverance and personal attention; and for the first twelve-months a settler must count upon having much trouble, and not a little vexation; which will not appear surprising, when it is considered that the better part of the men, who are distributed to settlers, to be employed as farm servants, are from London and the manufacturing districts, and know about as well how to handle a plough, as many of their masters. With a little patience and instruction however, most of them learn what is necessary, and become hardworking fellows, if well looked after. Nor is it observed that those who have been brought up as farmers make the most successful settlers. A man accustomed to cleared fields, into which he has only to put his plough, is often frightened and thrown into despair, when he finds that to get an acre of land into cultivation, he has to fell and grub up, perhaps, twenty or thirty trees at least: to fence it and break it up, before he can expect any return from it. The very solitude of the forest is depressing to him, who has never,perhaps, before moved from his native place till he emigrated. Soldiers and sailors, from their habits of perseverance, and the vicissitudes that most of them must have endured in the course of an active life, seem to face their difficulties the best, and to get on as well as any. .The quantum of agricultural knowledge for a beginner is soon learnt; and the rest comes by time and observation; the system of agriculture being as yet very simple, and the theory of it but little studied. Some variations from the general rule are, however, to be found, and improvements of all kinds are making rapid strides. Persons who have lived in the more remote parts of India, or been much in the wilder parts of it, will not think much of the forests and solitude of Van Diemen's Land. In a climate like that, five miles of road is nothing, and a settler at that distance is a next door neighbour. The character of the country, generally, is an open forest, with but very little underwood; —so much so, that were it not for the interruption of fallen trees, there are few places where a cart may not be driven with ease, when the nature of the ground is otherwise practicable for wheel carriages. Society cannot, however, be expected to be very extensive in a scattered population, and constituted as this is, of very opposite and often discordant materials. The free settlers will not, generally, associate with the emancipists, (those free by servitude or pardon;) nor have the latter attained such a footing in this Colony, by the possession of property, as in Sydney. There is also but little social communication between the Government officers and military, and the free settlers, either in town or country. This has partly arisen from a very great many of the original settlers not being such as a man of liberal education, would have much pleasure in forming a close acquaintance with. This estrangement is, however, somewhat wearing off, from the great influx, of late years, of a superior class of emigrants, possessed of considerable property; and from the number of officers of the army and navy, who have been induced to settle from the indulgences accorded to them. There is no part of the country where a person may not form a small circle of very agreeable acquaintance. Hospitality is a very general feature in the Colony, arising originally from the difficulty of travellers finding shelter when there were no inns in the country. Indeed, it has often been carried to a blameable extent: and to its indiscriminate exercise on first settling, instead of going on according to their means, many may attribute their embarrassments.

I shall now proceed to point out what appear to me the best modes of getting to the Colony; of investing money, &c.; in the course of which, it will still more appear how many advantages this country offers to persons of small property.

CHAPTER IV.

Best mode of getting from India to Van Diemen's Land, —of transferring Funds, and investing them there— Capital required—How to proceed on arrival—Stocking a Farm—Inducements to Visitors.

Should a vessel offer direct from any of the ports in India, the emigrant will have no difficulty in deciding what course to pursue. In such a case, I should recommend turning his funds into Spanish Dollars, which he can do at the rate of 208 Sicca Rupees per 100 Spanish Dollars, which, after allowing 2½ per cent, for insurance, will, at 4s. 2d. per Spanish dollar, give him a small profit upon his Rupees, taking them at Is. 11d. which is the highest average of what he would be likely to get for them in sterling money, and that in bills at 12 months date, losing thereby the interest for that time; whereas the specie is immediately available on his arrival. At the commencement of 1830, the Dollar was still received in Hobart Town at 4s. 4d. and the Sicca Rupee at 2s.—At Sydney the former had just been reduced to 4s. 2d, and the latter to Is. 9d.; and there was some talk of making them only receivable at those rates at the Banks in Hobart Town. There were doubts, however, in the minds of many of the Directors, as to the policy of such a measure. Should the Dollars remain current at their former value, the gain on the specie would of course be greater.—Doubloons are valued at £ 3. 5; and I calculate they may be had in Calcutta at £3. 1. 4,—but not being current, or a legal tender, I would not recommend their being taken. English Bank Notes are at a considerable discount,from the fear of forgery. English silver and gold is received at par; therefore there would arise a loss in purchasing that in India, at the rate it usually bears. Bills on India may be valued at 1s. 9d., but from the limited traffic between these Colonies, they are hardly negociable. Bills on England are saleable at par with good names to them. None but Sicca Rupees are current in Van Diemen's Land. When I say current, I mean payable into the Banks, the Treasury, or the Commissariat, these being the great regulators of the currency. A few Austrian and German Crowns are in circulation at 4s. There have been so few ships to this country from India, that it is scarcely possible to state what the rate of passage money would be; but should think from 800 to 1000 Rupees. The usual amount from Hobart Town or Sydney to India is from £75 to £80. I know of one gentleman and his lady, with three servants, who got from Calcutta to Hobart Town for 2000 Rupees. Should no opportunity offer for going direct, I think that by the way of the Isle of France would be most eligible. A good many vessels sail from thence at the time of the sugar crop, which may be about from October to January. By leaving Calcutta in all October or the beginning of November, a fair passage may be expected to the Isle of France; and by arriving there at the most usual time for the sailing of the ships with sugar for Hobart Town and Sydney, a detention at Port Louis would most probably be avoided; which must be an object of consideration, as living there is very expensive. The passage money from Calcutta may be taken at from 5 to 700 Rupees each person, and at £40 to £60 from the Isle of France. Where a gentleman and lady occupy one cabin, it comes of course proportionably less. I must, however, mention, that the vessels sailing from Port Louis are more frequently small than large ones; and unless a family are so fortunate as to arrive when one of the larger ones are sailing, they may have but confined accommodation. This is, however, of less consequence, as from the Isle of France the passage is generally performed in from six to seven weeks, and being in high latitudes, the weather is cool. In the Appendix A, I have subjoined a short account of Port Louis, and the manner of living there, which may prove of some assistance in case of detention, till a vessel is ready to sail.

In going by this route, I would still recommend taking specie. Doubloons, as I have already stated, can be got in Calcutta at 32 Rupees or £3. 1s. 4d. and pass current at Port Louis at 17⅓ Piastres of 4s. each, or £3. 9s. 4d. Sicca Rupees at 2s. 1d. and all other Rupees at 1s. 11 d. By taking Doubloons a considerable profit would be made; and at Port Louis these might be turned into sterling money;—and Bills on Sydney or Hobart Town,—investing a portion of the capital in sugar,—would, probably, be as good a way as any. The lowest it has ever sold at in Hobart Town is £22, by wholesale, and most commonly at £25 to £30. The sort most generally used in the Colony, is the very coarse, commonly called (I believe) syrup sugar. Taking freight on a vessel would also, probably, conduce to a reduction in the passage money, and there is every probability of making a considerable profit on the investment; and indeed, I may almost say, a certainty, if the emigrant does not, immediately on his arrival in Van Diemen's Land, require all his capital, and can with convenience wait a favorable market.

The smallest capital that a person from India should land possessed of, after paying all the expenses of getting to the Colony, is, in my opinion, £2000: and with such capital, if he acts prudently in the disposal of it, I think he may establish himself very comfortably. He should, immediately on arrival, place out £1200 at interest; which he can do part in bank shares, that have hitherto yielded a half yearly dividend of 8 per cent, on the amount paid upon each share, and part in mortgages in houses and properties in towns or estates in the country; both of which are very good modes of investing capital: there being plenty of people glad to take money and pay 15 per cent, for it, giving the most unexceptionable security. As much as 20 and 25 per cent, is made in this way; but 15 per cent, can always be had. The above capital, so invested, will give about £200 per annum income, without any trouble or expense. There are many small farms in the old settled districts, both in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town and Launceston, to be rented by the year, at from £100 to £300 per annum, according to the state of cultivation they have been brought into, and the sort of dwelling upon them. I would advise the emigrant, as soon as possible after landing, to rent a farm of this sort for twelve months, (say one of £100 a year;) to apply for as many convict servants as may be necessary for the full cultivation of it, and as domestics; and to hire a free overseer and his wife, who can be had for £50 to £60 per year and their food. Here he can establish his family, and avoid the expense of living at an inn in town. Were he to take a house, he would find it far more expensive than the plan I propose; house rent in town is very high, £60 being the lowest that a very small house can be had for: and he would have to buy every thing from the market at a comparatively high rate, both for his family and servants. On the other hand, in renting a farm, a great saving would arise in every respect. His fuel, he would have for the cutting; which, in a country where fires are so continually burned, is no small item of expense. A couple of good cows would supply him with milk and butter; and would be grazed at little expense. He could purchase a small flock of coarse woolled sheep for killing, at a reasonable rate; and his fields would supply him with wheat for his home-baked bread, and grain for his horses, if he chose to keep the latter: add to which, if he succeeds in getting a good overseer who understands farming, he ought to be able to make the sales of hay, grain, and fruit and vegetables, from the farm and garden, pay the rent and expenses. The overseer's wife should be able to act as housekeeper, and look after the dairy. It is no small advantage also, that by being a little way out of the town, the servants are kept from bad company, and the temptations offered by the numerous public houses. By pursuing the above mode, the settler would have time to travel about, and decide upon the most eligible spot for taking his grant in; with reference to his ultimate views, and of learning by observation the usual and best modes pursued on first settling: bow fences are made, houses and huts built, &c. &c. He will also have opportunities of ascertaining the prices of stock, and of making good bargains, from not being hurried. Having so decided, he should immediately send his farming men upon it, who will build themselves a sod hut, which will answer all temporary purposes. He will have to supply these people with flour, tobacco, tea, and sugar; and for their meat, he should purchase a few common sheep, which will graze upon the land. After building the hut, and a log yard for his working bullocks, the men should be immediately employed in grubbing up a piece of land, sufficiently large to grow grain enough for the maintenance of the whole establishment, in flour, to obviate the expense of purchasing that article after the first crop. When this first grand object is secured, the settler should then make yards for cattle and sheep, of good substantial materials; and this being done, he may then purchase his stock. For £450 more he will get a couple of good mares, 300 of the best young ewes, 10 cows, 12 Avorking oxen, 4 fine rams, and utensils enough for his farm. This will leave him £350 of his original capital, to pay overseers and meet contingent expenses and build him such a dwelling as he can remove his family to at first, should he decide on residing entirely on his land; besides the £200 that would be accruing by the interest of his vested property. If determined to reside upon his grant,—which will certainly be the most advisable step for a person of the limited capital I have described,—I would recommend, in building a house, to form such a plan, as he would wish to have as his circumstances improve; and for immediate purposes, to finish only so much of it as will suffice for his family and domestic servants; adding to it, as he has means of so doing. His farming offices and barns should be at some distance from his dwelling, and his two sets of servants kept entirely separate. It will always, I think, tend to his comfort and convenience, to have an overseer, as a channel of communication between him and his farm men. To him he can give all his orders, and he need never have any thing to say to the men, except when he finds it necessary to enforce the authority of his overseer, who, having the master to refer to on all occasions, when the men are troublesome, will be well able to keep them in order, and there will be less occasion to have recourse to a magistrate. Tea and tobacco being both indulgences, the master also holds in his own hands a means of punishment, by the deprivation of them. Neither are the men strictly entitled to sugar; for the allowance was struck off by a Government order, at a time when it was very dear, and it has never been since reordered. When the dairy affords a sufficiency of milk, I do not think it at all essential for tea and sugar to be given to the men; but tobacco is such a necessary to all this class, that I would never deprive them of it, except as a punishment. These minor arrangements will, however, depend much upon a person's own feelings and ideas; and very little experience will enable him to form a judgment of the best mode of procedure. The greatest inconvenience to settlers, arises from the difficulty of getting good domestic servants, especially females. Of the latter, the numbers sent out are but limited, and generally of a very abandoned class; and even those of comparatively decent behaviour are very awkward; for domestic servants, who have been accustomed to live in families, are not commonly to be met with among the convicts of either sex. Free people are not found to answer well. They presume much upon their situation, and, being few in number, the obtaining a place is so easy, that they generally prove very troublesome, and leave at a moment's warning. This is so much the case, that persons who have brought free servants from England with them, are generally glad to get rid of them as fast as they can, and supply their places with convicts, as giving less tx-ouble, and having over them greater control. People holding tickets of leave are the best, as you have a certain sort of security for their good behaviour; a complaint before a magistrate of any very improper conduct ensuring a deprivation of their ticket, and their being returned into Government employ. I think a family emigrating from India, especially where children form a part if it, would do well, if possible, to take Native Christians, or Portuguese, with them, both male and female, as house servants. They might keep them quite separate from the farming men; and from their having been so long accustomed to have natives about them, they would probably be more comfortable, by acting as I have now recommended. I believe it would not be difficult to get people from Madras and the Coromandel Coast to emigrate; and if they could be induced to take their families with them, they would be more likely to remain. The prospect of a cottage and a bit of land, might very likely act as an encouragement. The number to be taken must of course depend very much upon the means and habits of the emigrant. Many natives of India that I saw in the Colony, were very good house servants, and did not suffer from the climate. A good single poled tent, with double flys and walls, would also be found a very great convenience: in which the master could live when first going upon his land, and it would be found very useful on many occasions.

The foregoing would, I think, be the best plan for persons of small capital; but those possessed of upwards of £2000 to £5000 would have less difficulties to encounter, and might establish themselves in the greatest comfort, according to their own wishes. Their capital, as I have already said, will always meet with a ready and advantageous investment; giving them at the least 15 per cent. Ten per cent, per annum, is the rate of interest charged by the Banks, on discounts at three months; but from the want of money being so great, and the means of employing capital profitably so various, it will be many years, I think, before that rate of interest becomes general, and another generation must pass by before it falls lower.

The establishment of a person, with the superior capital I have alluded to, must, of course, depend upon his own views, feelings, and wishes. Should these point to a continual residence in the countrv, he will not find it difficult to purchase an estate ready to his hands at a reasonable rate, with such a house upon it as he might very well manage with for a first residence; building a better at his leisure. Such estates may be had at from ten to fifteen shillings per acre, including dwelling, fences, and all improvements; but for such a purchase he must wait his time, and not hurry the market. Just before I left the Colony, an estate on the Macquarrie River, of 4000 acres of excellent land, with a good stone house upon it, and a good deal of fencing done, was offered for £2000. Another at Jericho, of 2000 acres, with a decent house and offices, 2000 sheep and 7 brood mares, was offered for £2500. This estate really contained 2700 acres, and was an excellent sheep farm. A third, of nominally 5000 acres, but really containing between 7 and 8000, with an unlimited back run, and having the most extensive unfordable water boundary in the country, was sold for £3500, payable by instalments, including an unfinished house, offices, fencing, &c.—These and many others that might be mentioned, belong to old settlers, who, from extravagance, have got into embarrassments, and are obliged to sell. Having bought such a property, he might add to it by taking his grant near it, or by purchasing land from the Crown; which last would probably be the best plan for a person having the funds at command, as he has it then without restriction, and the terms of payment are so favourable. The only advantage in taking a grant over purchasing is, that the person gains the interest of the quit-rent at twenty years' purchase, amounting exactly to the value of the land, at whatever rate it may be fixed, as will be easily seen by a reference to the rules, and a very simple calculation. This, however, is a consideration where the rate of interest is so high,—the more so as, having purchased an estate on which there were improvements already, to whiph the settler would always be adding, the Government would never call upon him to fulfil the conditions that are imperative on a person having nothing but that grant. Should the emigrant's view be to combine a town and country residence, estates are to be purchased within a few miles of either of the towns, either with or without dwellings, whereon he might establish himself very comfortably; having the advantage of the cheapness of a country residence, as he would raise every thing for his own consumption,—and the pleasures and advantages of the town from his vicinity to it, giving him access to its society, public institutions, &c. and a ready market for his surplus produce. His grant in the interior would do as a stock-run for his flocks, under charge of an overseer, from whence would be drafted to him his sheep and cattle in small numbers, as required for consumption, and where he would require to raise no more grain than would suffice to maintain his few people. Its distance from town would then be of less consequence, as wool would be his principal article of transport. Time would increase the value of the property, and the gradual making of roads, his facility of getting to a market. Another considerable benefit would be, that when he had stock for sale to the butchers, they would be sent down to him from his run, and kept upon his homestead, without deteriorating in quality till a good market offered,—instead of, as is often the case with stockholders in the interior, being obliged to sell at a loss, from having no place to keep them in. His stock would thus fetch a far better price, as the butchers would come and buy from him as they wanted; for those of them who go into the interior to purchase, are obliged to pay high rent for grazing ground for their stock, from whence they draw them as required for daily consumption.

I think even with such a capital as I have described, the best plan, on arrival, would still be to rent a farm, (unless an eligible opportunity for purchase should, by chance, oifer immediately;)—and an estate, within a few miles of town, might gradually be formed, by purchasing from small settlers, farms of from 30 to 140 acres, and joining them together. This would be the most reasonable mode of arranging, as the most of these small farms are in the hands of men who have been convicts, from whose hands they are gradually passing, from their indolence and addiction to liquor; —and such a house might be built upon the property as would suit the settler's views and taste. I should think by thus doing, an estate of 500 acres, having the advantage of water carriage, might be made, and a house built upon it for a thousand pounds. Should the person wish to live entirely in town during any part of the year, I would recommend his purchasing an old town allotment, and building a house upon it. This will be a profitable mode of investing capital, as the value of land and houses in town is rising fast. The house should be so placed on the land, as to allow of others being built hereafter, as space becomes more circumscribed. The purchasing of allotments, with small tenements upon them, gives a very excellent return for the money laid out, as scarcely any dwelling, however small, lets for less than £50 or £60 a year; and as land becomes more scarce, from the extension of the town, and places near the harbour more valuable, from the increase of trade, these allotments will cut up very advantageously into building lots. A great many of these properties are in the hands of convicts, who are fast drinking them away. A piece of ground of ninety acres, near the battery, and within the limits of Hobart Town, that was purchased 6 or 7 years ago for £600, is now selling, in small parcels, by the present proprietor, at £40 and £45 per acre. There is, however, but little inducement, as yet, for a permanent residence in town, as there are no public places of amusement, and the settler could as readily enjoy the advantages of town and its society while living a few miles from it, as if in it.

Stock is just now to be purchased at a very reasonable rate; the depreciation in value arising from various causes, among which the following may be mentioned. The large holders becoming circumscribed in their pasture, from emigrants taking land in their neighbourhood, over which they had formerly an unlimited range, although not belonging to them, are obliged to sell some, to have food for the remainder. The Government have also, of late, instituted a system of renting Crown lands to settlers, who have need of more pasture than is afforded by their own, but who are unable to buy:—these persons seldom hold the land long, as emigrants in search of land find out these spots by reference to the gazettes, in which their being rented is advertized, and apply for them either as grants or purchase; acting upon the principle, that what is worth one man's renting, is worth another's taking: these also are, therefore, obliged to sell part of their stock, or rent land in remote situations, which many are unable to do, from inability to pay a free overseer, whom they are obliged, by the regulations, to maintain at every establishment where they are not resident themselves. The law, authorising the impounding of stock found straying on Crown lands, and the no longer giving small grants of 50 to 100 acres to emancipated convicts, has also greatly tended to the depreciation of stock kept for killing as meat, by being the means of rooting out a class of people called "Squatters." These were generally emancipated convicts,or ticket-of-leave-men, who, having obtained a small grant, under the old system, or without any grant at all, sat themselves down in remote situations, and maintained large flocks, obtained, generally, in very nefarious ways, by having the run of all the surrounding country. These establishments were found to be a great encouragement to cattle and sheepstealing, as the depredators always found a ready sale for their thefts among these Squatters. The causes I have mentioned, operating to throw so much stock simultaneously into the market, combined with its rapid increase, from the general absence of disease,caused an immediate depreciation in value, which continued for some time; but has been, I think, at the lowest. Fat stock, however, for killing, and the good breeds, will still always fetch a fair price; and greater attention being now paid to the crossing and the improvement of the wool, as also to the rearing a breed of good, tame, dairy cattle, the prices will, I have no doubt, again find their proper level; though they can never again rise to the enormous height they held when stock was very scarce: and most probably it is the great difference of the then and present prices that has mainly caused the outcry about the depreciation of stock. Horses and mares have always realized a good market in Van Diemen's Land, although so much depreciated in New South Wales, from their greatly increased number there. Of late, much attention is being paid to the cart breed in the former country, from the demand for them, caused by the greater number of carts required by the increasing traffic of the town, where, during my residence of eight months, the number employed certainly doubled itself; and also from the use of bullocks on the great roads beginning to go out of practice. Horses are found to answer better, both from their greater rapidity, and also from the difficulty now found of grazing bullocks, arising from the increase of fencing along the line of the main roads, rendering the expense of foraging them on a journey, greater than for horses, from the difference of numbers required for equal loads. Horses are also getting a good deal introduced into farming operations, from their working so much quicker; so that, in the course of a few years, bullocks will, I have no doubt, only be used in breaking up new land, and the rough operations of a first establishment. It has been found to answer to bring horses down from Sydney to Hobart Town; and I am astonished,—so plentiful as they are at the former place, and of such little value,—that none of the large proprietors have thought of sending them to India, where the large ones, adapted for the carriage, would be sure to fetch very remunerating prices. Horses, as I have observed, are of too much value in Van Diemen's Land to render an export advantageous as yet; but as the stock increases, it will be very necessary to seek for some other market, and none can offer better than India, or the Mauritius.

In the Appendix B, I have given the prices at which stock might usually be obtained in Van Dieinen's Land while I was there, which may be found useful, as some sort of guide, though of course subject to much fluctuation, like all other articles of sale.

As regards mere visitors, I have but very few observations to make. To them the climate will be the chief inducement; and its effects have been found most renovating to the constitutions of invalids, and will, I have no doubt, be found more permanent than that of the Cape of Good Hope, where the summers are very hot. After the invalid gets a little strength, he will find much pleasure in travelling about the country: the scenery is most romantic; and lie will experience no difficulty in penetrating into the most remote parts, hospitality being such a general feature. The inns on the mainroads are excellent, and even off of them small ones are to be found, where very decent entertainment may be had. A horse, a valise, strapped behind the saddle, containing a few necessaries, and a cloak, are all that is required. The society in Hobart Town is limited, but very good; and visitors from India have no need to complain of want of attention on the part of the upper classes of the inhabitants. Visiting is regulated by the English mode, the residents calling on the late arrivals. All persons are expected to wait upon the Governor, whose days of receiving are Tuesdays and Fridays. No introduction is requisite; the sending in of the card being sufficient. It is usual to pay the same compliment to the Chief Justice and Colonial Secretary, as also to the head of the Church establishment.

Very comfortable residence may be had at the Inns, and also in lodgings, and at reasonable rates. I should think that about 200 rupees monthly would cover every possible expense to a bachelor, including the keep of a horse at livery and travelling charges; and that without any particular ceconomy. A stranger should be careful not to intermeddle in politics or any discussions on public matters, which are very fertile sources of discussion, and the war carried on in the public prints with considerable virulence. The public amusements are but few; the libraries and billiards affording the principal means of passing away the time of a mere idler in town. A plan was talked of when I left Hobart Town, for establishing a "General Service Club," on much the same plan as the other "Service Clubs;" and if properly regulated, I have no doubt of its succeeding. If such should be the case, it would add much to the pleasure of a visitor, and be the means of introducing him into a general acquaintance among the best society: and on the other hand, I think that the influx of visitors from India would tend much to its establishment and prosperity; and, indeed, be a geral benefit to the Colony, from the money they would spend; as has been the case at the Cape of Good Hope, where their expenditure has been calculated at £70,000 per annum.

There is but little sporting to be found in the neighbourhood of the town; but in the interior, ducks, teal, snipe, and quail are abundant. Kangaroos are also hunted by dogs, trained for the purpose, and called kangaroo dogs. They are a sort of lurcher, bred between the hound and greyhound. When they have killed, if the sportsman is not in at the death, which is very likely to be the case, from the nature of the ground, and the impediments of fallen timber, they come back to him and lead him to the spot, on being ordered "to shew." There is also very good fly-fishing in some of the streams. After residing a short time at any of the inns, if the visitor frequents the Table d'hote, he will be in no want of invitation from respectable settlers, whom he will meet there, to their estates in the interior, where he will meet with a hearty welcome. I would recommend every visitor to bring the funds he may require with him in specie; for, as I have before observed, he will find it difficult to negociate hills at all, or he must do it at a great loss 5 and may, perhaps, be placed in an uncomfortable predicament. He can lodge his funds in either of the public banks with perfect security, giving checks on the cashier for his expenses: no interest is given, nor charge made of any sort whatever. Captain Wilson, one of the most respectable merchants in the town, gives 10 per cent, for all sums deposited with him, and will be found a most obliging person to deal with. It is intended to be one part of the new system of management of the De rwent Bank, to facilitate the negociation of the bills of visitors from India, by establishing a communication with some of the first houses there. This will be found a great convenience to persons visiting the Colony. A prospectus of this Bank is in the Appendix C.

CHAPTER V.

Erroneous notions entertained regarding the Convict population—Mode of obtaining servants, and the mamugement of them—Regulations regarding them— Expenses of maintenance—Security of property in Town and Country—Bush-Ranging.

Very erroneous ideas are entertained by persons who have never visited this Colony, regarding the state of the Convict population; and great apprehensions are felt by those who are not aware of the real state of things, as to the security of their persons and property. This, I believe, has tended as much as any thing that could be mentioned, to prevent many from visiting the country, either with a view of making a permanent settlement, or as mere birds of passage. There is no doubt, that even so late as four years since, there was great reason for these apprehensions. The Magistracy and Police generally were not then as efficient as they now are; and the difficulty of getting servants punished for delinquencies and thefts was very great; arising, in a great measure, from the thinness of tlie population, and the distance it was necessary to carry offenders to a magistrate; now, however, the case is far different. From the great influx of respectable settlers, during the last few years, the numbers of the unpaid Magistracy has been very much increased; besides whom, there are many Police Magistrates stationed over the settled parts of the country, who are paid for performing the duty; so that no one has now far to go to obtain redress. These stipendiary magistrates, by their zeal and vigilance, aided by the Field Police and Constabulary, have brought the country into a very different state to what it was in formerly. The Police is almost entirely formed from among the convicts themselves, who have been selected for their good behaviour; a continuance of which is encouraged by the prospect of tickets of leave after a certain probation, and other rewards. Sheep-stealing and cattle-killing, that was formerly carried on by wholesale, (half a flock being sometimes driven off at once,) is now reduced to a solitary animal being now and then stolen. The paucity of losses is a proof of the improved state of the Police; for the flocks and herds of large proprietors are so scattered through a great extent of thickly-wooded country, and so seldom driven into a yard to be counted, that there would be no difficulty in stealing great numbers without the owner's immediately perceiving his loss: but informations against receivers are now so frequent, and the Field Police so widely dispersed about the country, that it would be impossible to drive off any numbers without detection. The thefts are now mostly confined to killing one now and then for food.

That great pest of the country, Bush-Ranging, is also entirely annihilated, and the system can never be reestablished from the causes abovementioned. During my residence in the Colony, no less than three different gangs of bush-rangers were formed by run-avvays from chain-gangs, or from private service: not one of them, however, was able to maintain itself more than two or three weeks. They were so hotly pursued by the parties of Field Police that were immediately sent after them, that they were very soon all taken, without having had time to commit more than one or two insignificant robberies of distant stock huts; and those principally for the means of subsistence. In one instance, where they made resistance, two or three were killed. It is certain, when they used to go about in regularly organized bands, that they were very formidable still, a great deal of the terror they inspired, especially to those out of the Colony, was in the name. The word "bush-rangers" conveyed undefined ideas of fear and apprehension, from being unusual. Had they been called highwayman, or housebreakers, not half so much would have been thought of them. At the very worst, they were never half so bad as the banditti in the southern parts of Italy, where travellers never hesitate going for the mere satisfaction of curiosity. They were said to break into houses, get down chimneys, and so forth; all this sounded very formidable at a distance,—but on viewing many of the houses where these outrages were committed, our wonder is considerably diminished; or rather, our surprise is excited, that with such a population more robberies did not take place. The fastenings of most of the small farm houses are quite contemptible; the walls and chimneys often built up with sods, through which there would be no difficulty in digging a hole with a spade, in ten minutes, without any noise; and the latter so low, and the aperture at top so wide, that a ladder could be put down, and two or three men descend at once.

The means of suppressing these formidable bands of bush-rangers, was by introducing treachery among them. Induced by the temptation of a free pardon, convicts ostensibly joined them; and in a very short time managed to kill several, and inveigle the remainder into the hands of justice. The only one that has of late maintained himself for any length of time, was a young man of the name of Bevan, who was at large for nearly four years, but sometimes nothing was heard of him for months together. His success in avoiding apprehension, arose from his never having more than one companion; and being native born, or what is called "currency," it is supposed he was harboured by a numerous body of that class settled at Norfolk Plains, in the county of Cornwall, to which part of the country be principally confined himself, seldom coming south into Buckingham. He, however, at last fell by the treachery of a comrade. He was killed a short time since, (February 1830,) by a man who joined him for the express purpose of taking him dead or alive. There are now only two men known to be at large in "The Bush," as it is called, and they are very seldom heard of; sometimes shewing themselves at solitary huts to sret a little flour and tobacco.

I have no hesitation in saying, that thefts are now far less common in Van Diemen's Land than in any country that I have seen, and that property is as secure there as any where. It surprises a person coming from a settled country, to see the slight precautions taken against robbery, and the way that articles are left loosely about, thus absolutely throwing temptation in the way of the servants. They have now no means of getting rid of any thing they steal, and, therefore, every thing is safe:—the hope of getting liquor was the great inducement; but the "sly grog" shops being almost entirely suppressed, that temptation is removed.

I think that with management and temper, there is as little trouble with the servants here, as in any other country—or rather, in other words, there is as much trouble elsewhere as here; for servants are a subject of complaint every where. They are, without doubt, more annoying in India than here, and the control that a master has over a servant in this country, is superior to any place that I have ever seen. The best system as regards Convicts, and which is, in fact, applicable to servants of all sorts, seems to be firmness and temper; never to allow an order to be disobeyed, or the slightest insolence or disrespect to pass unpunished. The magistrates have a far more extensive jurisdiction here than in England, and offences arc cognizable by them, for which a master would never think of taking them before them there; so that, having a more complete control over them than over free Servants,—with the system I have advocated, I think he cannot fail of getting on. In cases of insolence, disobedience of orders, neglect, laziness, and the numerous other petty offences that an assigned servant will commit, the mode is to take them before a magistrate, where the complaint must be substantiated either by evidence, or, in minor cases, by the oath of the master. The usual punishments are flagellation and condemnation for a certain time to work in a road-gang in chains. Formerly labour was so little enforced in these gangs, that it was considered no punishmeut to be sent to them; the case is now, however, much altered: they are kept hard to their work from sunrise to sunset; their diet is so inferior to what it would be with their masters, and they are so severely punished if lazy, that a chain gang is now looked on with dread. If the master treats them kindly, and looks to their essential comforts; is firm, and persists in taking them to a magistrate, however distant his abode, and whatever maybe the inconvenience resulting to himself, and however often they may repeat their offences in the hope of tiring him out, and at the same time does not allow their plausible way of talking to mollify him against his better judgment:— in nine cases out of ten, he will, I think, succeed in making them very good servants, and get as much work from them as from most free labourers in England. In general they are not near so stupid and difficult to be taught as a common country bumpkin, for the very cause of their transportation commonly shews a superiority above the ordinary scale of the lower classes; pocket-picking, liouse-breaking, &c. implying the possession of some intellect. The love of change that seems inherent in this class of people, will often induce them to offend, with the hope of being turned into Government employ, and thence getting to a new master: but when they find that their employer gets them punished, but does not send them away, they will generally give this up.

The idea of forced servitude, from which the mind of man always revolts, and with which he associates a feeling of slavery, (however much better he may be situated in point of personal comfort than he would be if he were free,) is also a continual source of discontent in those families, where they are constantly taunted and upbraided with their unhappy situation on every trifling cause of offence. A wise master, who studies his own interest, will recall this to their minds as little as possible, either by word or inuendo; and although he may think them inclined to be rogues, if opportunity offered, and remains upon his guard, still he will not allow his thoughts to be visible to them. I speak on this subject not only from my own observation, but from the opinion of many long residents in the Colony, who have bad ample experience to enable them to form a correct judgment. I do not think they make good domestic servants, or that they would very well suit those who have been long resident in India:— therefore, as I have before observed, if one or two good house servants could be taken from that country along with their families, they would answer better than Europeans. Chinese have been found to answer very well as domestics. In the Appendix D, will be found a summary of the regulations regarding assigned servants, which will convey all the information on the subject required by a settler.

There has been hitherto a great want in the Colony of mechanics, and the difficulty of obtaining assigned servants, as mere labourers, is considerable, from the numbers sent out not being enough to answer the demand. At the time I left the Colony there were no less than 600 applications approved of by the Governor, which could not be complied with, till the arrival of more ships with prisoners. The system of distribution is, however, very fair, and the preference is always given, before all others, to newly arrived settlers, in giving them lands enough to begin their farming operations. Those who obtain tickets of leave generally hire themselves out as shepherds, overseers, &c.; or if they are mechanics, set up a shop for themselves in some town:—it is not easy to get job artisans in the country, and their charges are too high for a man of limited property.

I am not aware that the experiment of masters giving those who have obtained tickets of lea x from their service, small portions of land on their properties,—at first rent free, and afterwards at an easy rate,—has ever been tried. I believe the general opinion is, that they are commonly too idle ever to do much good on their own account; and that these small settlements would become the resort of run-a-ways; and that many of them would turn venders of grog, on what is called "the sly." In the present efficient state of the Police, I think these apprehensions are entertained without sufficient grounds; and I should imagine, that a person holding out a ticket, as an encouragement both to his male and female assigned servants, with the promise, if at the expiration of their time of probation any of them chose to marry, to give them a small farm on his property, on easy terms; setting them up with a sufficiency of implements to cultivate it, to be paid for in fencing and wheat; and building a small cottage for them; all of which might be done at a very trifling expense:—I say, that the holding out of such an inducement would prove an encouragement to them to behave well while in service; and a spur to their exertions, when the well doing of themselves, and, probably, of a family, depended on their own industry. In addition to which, the master would still hold over them the fear of their ticket being taken from them; which would be the certain consequence of a complaint pf ill behaviour being made to a magistrate; and the husband and wife assigned to different services.

By means of these small farms the landholder would be getting a greater proportion of his estate cleared, fenced, and brought under tillage; and although the immediate gain to himself might not be large, the prospective advantages Mould be great in improving the value of his land: besides his having the satisfaction, in all probability, of putting some in the way of honest industry; who, but for his help, might have been going on in the old path of reckless wickedness. I should suppose £50 would set up two small farms; as the most expensive implements might be used in common, and where combined efforts were required, they might club their bullocks and assist each other. When I said the experiment had not been tried, I meant generally; as I know of one or two individuals who have succeeded very well in this system; and of several who never part with a female servant except on her being married. The entire absence of females at most of the farms, arising from the small numbers sent out, and their being, very properly, only assigned to families, is, I have not the slightest doubt, one very great cause of the discontent and restless desire of change frequently exhibited by the men.

A few Chinese mechanics, who have been brought by captains of ships, and liave remained in the Colony, have been found to answer extremely well. I have not the slightest hesitation in saying, that I am convinced nothing would so much conduce to the welfare of the Colony as a large importation of these people. They are willing to go to any place where there is a prospect of employment. They are a strong and industrious race of people; orderly, and easily managed; and, being accustomed to cold in their own country, they do not suffer in this climate. The price hitherto paid, Vv has been from 12 to 15 dollars, monthly, to a good carpenter, and 8 dollars to a common field-labourer, and their food found them. It is well known, however, that they might be got for much less—say, 8 to 10 dollars for mechanics, and 5 to 7 for labourers; and their rations; they finding their own clothing. While I was at Hobart Town, a captain of a ship offered to bring a ship load of them from Singapore, if the Colonists would agree to take a certain number (about 200) on arrival, paying him 120 dollars for each man's passage. They were to be indented for 3 to 5 years, and the money advanced by the master for their passage, to be refunded to him out of their pay, he taking the risk of their dying before the advance was worked out. The scheme was never publicly proposed, as the ship was taken up for another destination; but I have no doubt that, without difficulty, an association might be formed for the importation of mechanics and handicrafts men of all sorts, which, I think, would be of the greatest assistance to the settlers. The farming operations might be performed by the convicts; but, by having Chinese carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, and shoemakers, his expenses would be very much diminished, and his comfort increased. Among the convict men that he would get from Government, it would be very unlikely that he should have any mechanics,—the permanently assigning them being forbid, and a settler rarely obtains them, except on loan. With a great deal of personal trouble and attention he may manage to get fencing done, paling put up, and barns and offices built by his men; but, for the most part, it is but rough work after all;—and his own house must be a patchwork concern, unless he is able to go to the expense of hiring regular artificers; which few of the very old settlers have been able to do:—while, by having a number of Chinese artificers, of the above-mentioned description, a great saving, both of time and expense, would result in the immediate mending of his implements, instead of sending far, and paying dearly; in the substantial fencing he would have made, and buildings raised; besides the comfort to himself and family in the finishing of his dwelling, by having these ingenious people at his command.

They might be imported, I should think, at less than what was proposed by the Captain I have alluded to in a former page. The plantations at Singapore have been entirely formed by Chinese, who have emigrated on speculation, and the island is so overstocked with them, that one half are unemployed.

They are so easily induced to emigrate any where, that I have no doubt any number might be persuaded to go to Van Diemen's Land, taking with them their Malay wives, were their passage paid:—and I should think they would readily contract for bringing lands into cultivation for any product adapted to the climate, which is a consideration worthy of the attention of intending settlers, as the prosperity of the Colony will increase in proportion to what they can make the country produce fit for exportation, in return for the vast importations from Europe, for which money is now obliged to be paid.

CHAPTER VI.

Making Land—Storm Bay—D'Entrecasteaux Channel —Brune Island—Mount Lewis—Iron-pot Island— Blackmail's Bay—Brown's River—Crawjish Point— Sandy Bay—Mulgrave Battery—Harbour.

In approaching from the westward, the high land about Port Davy, or else South-west Cape, is generally first seen; and in standing towards the harbour, a very large and remarkable solitary rock, called the Mewstone, attracts attention. There are two entrances to the Derwent River; one through what is called D'Entrecasteaux's Channel*, which is a narrow passage, between Brune Island and the main land; and the other by a large bay, called Storm Bay. Either of these are chosen, according to the state of the wind; though the former is preferred by some, from the circumstance of there being anchorage all the way from its entrance; whereas in the other it is necessary to beat, should the wind prove foul. I think, however, the latter is the one generally used; probably from the other passage being very narrow, and having one or two shoals in it, although they are well defined. In standing into Storm Bay the views of the shores on either side are very magnificent; high bold coasts, backed by mountains, clothed with evergreen forests to their summits; and the perpendicular cliffs at the water's edge, broken into all sorts of fantastic shapes, which are plainly visible, as a ship can stand in quite close, there being deep water up to the very rocks. Brun£ Island, along which a ship's course lays, is about 50 miles long, and from 4 to 14 miles in breadth; very lofty, except about its centre, where it is nearly divided into two parts, by the near approach of the sea on each side of a narrow low isthmus of sand, connecting the north and south divisions. The island, as I have said, is very high, particularly on its eastern side; so much so, that vessels standing up Storm Bay, and nearing it, are subject to alternate sudden squalls and calms. The northernmost point of the island is named "Cap de la Sortie," or "Cape Get out;" and upon it Mr. Kelly, the principal pilot, has a very fine farm, where supplies are procurable; particularly excellent potatoes and poultry. About three miles to the south, on the western side, is a depôt, under the charge of Mr. Robinson, whence provisions are distributed to the aboriginal natives, who are located on the island. These have either gone there voluntarily, or have been taken in various parts of the country, by the different parties that are now ranging about to prevent their committing their usual atrocities, of murdering the distant stock-keepers, and robbing their huts. Attempts are making to civilize, in some measure, those who have been taken, and placed under Mr. Robinson's care.—Barnes's Bay is situated on the west side of the northern portion of the island. Mr. Roberts has a salt manufactory here, and Mr. McCracken a farm; and a few miles to the southward is Mr. Kinghorne's farm, nearly opposite to Birch's Bay. On the eastern side of the island, in Bull Bay and Adventure Bay, are establishments where boats resort in the whaling season. Tbe whales are harpooned in the bays, and towed to what are called try-houses, where they are flinched and boiled down. The whalers had a very successful season in the end of 1829. Most of the boats Avere manned by Colonial born youths, who are found to make excellent seamen. But little is known of South Brun£, and it is surprising that it has not been completely explored. From its situation, and the command of water carriage, should there be even a moderate proportion of good land, a grant there would be very valuable. After passing the north point of Bruné Island, the ship is boarded by the pilot. Just above the northern opening of D'Entrecasteaux's channel, the coast of the main land is very high, rising into lofty cliff's of ironstone rock, the summits crowned by noble forests; the whole scenery conveying an impression of solitary magnificence; the hand of man having here made but small advances towards cultivation, and the patches visible here and there appearing still smaller than they really are, from the immensity of the forests by which they are surrounded. A little above this again, and at the only landing place on this part of the coast, are the farms of Mr. Mansfield, and Mr. Lovett, the Pilot. The road along the coast from Hobart Town terminates here. Close to the Pilot's house is a signal station, called Mount Lewis. Notice of the vessel's movements have been communicated ever since she has been near S.-W. Cape, from a more southerly signal station, called Mount Royal, situated near Birch's Bay, to the one on this hill, from thence to another, on Mount Nelson, and from it to the town. As soon as the pilot comes on board, he makes a signal of where the vessel is from, which is communicated through the stations on Mount Lewis and Mount Nelson, to the battery below the town, and is there displayed for the information of the inhabitants, who are generally anxiously on the look-out for arrivals. Near the entrance of the Derwent, on the east side, a small island is visible, called the Ironpot—it is a mere rock, but on which there has been some idea of erecting a light-house, which would be very useful to vessels going in at night. A little to the east of this again, is Betsey's Island, which has been granted to a person of the name of King. He brought out, some years since, a few pairs of silver-haired rabbits, from the produce of which the whole island is now overrun. His intention is to supply the China market with these skins, where they fetch a dollar each. It is only a short time that he has begun to kill; selling the bodies in Hobart Town, and reserving the skins for exportation. There is no doubt, but what he will realize a very handsome property from the speculation, his outlay having been a mere trifle.

Proceeding up the river, on the coast, to the north of Mount Lewis, is Blackman's Bay, where there are a number of prettily situated farms, with a fine sandy beach in front. This place is celebrated for the growth of remarkably fine potatoes, to the raising of which, the soil seems admirably adapted, as is that on the banks of Brown's River, a small stream, the month of which is visible about a mile to the north of the Bay. The appearance of the embouchure of this river is very romantic, issuing between perpendicular cliffs, and covered with immense trees on the narrow stripe of level land on its banks, throwing a sombre shade over the whole landscape. Between Blackman's Bay and Brown's River, a remarkable aperture, of 150 feet in circumference, and 30 feet in depth, has been formed by the ebb and flow of the tide. This river is about 10 miles from town, by the road along the coast. It is situated in a deep narrow valley, and has a number of small farms upon it. Continuing to sail up the river, we pass Crawfish Point, and open Sandy Bay, a long stretch of beach, so called, on which the Hobart Town races are generally held. After rounding the Point, the town and harbour come in view, but can only be partially seen, on account of some intervening points. Mount Nelson and Mount Wellington are also now distinctly visible; the latter towering to the height of 3800 feet above the level of the sea, immediately at the back of the town; clothed to near its top with wood of a dark and sombre foliage; the immediate summit consisting of columns of basalt, and its peflk, for several months in the year, covered with snov, and in dull weather enveloped in clouds. The whole coast from Crawfish Point, up to the town, is parcelled out into small farms; many of them brought into a very creditable state of cultivation, and having neat little cottages erected upon them. The town is very materially supplied with vegetables, from the gardens belonging to these small proprietors; and the road along the water side is one of the prettiest in the neighbourhood. The opposite shore is also dotted with farms, backed by hills of moderate elevation, which are still covered with primaeval forests. As we near the town, Mulgrave Battery comes in view. This is merely a small saluting battery, with a few guns en barbette, and having a guard house, signal staff, and telegraph on this spot. However, it is intended hereafter to erect a serviceable battery for the protection of the harbour and town, to maintain a cross tire with a small fort that it is projected to erect on the opposite side of Sullivan's Cove. Just above Mulgrave Battery is a new house, built by the Government, in which the port officer resides; and by him the ship is boarded on her approach, and her papers examined. Till this ceremony is gone through, no person is allowed to land: and in convict ships a special order is necessary to enable passengers to go ashore. The port officer takes on shore with him the packets; and there is always a crowd of merchants and gentlemen way-laying him at the landing place, to learn all the news. Ships anchor generally in what is called Sullivan's Cove, a small sheltered bay, immediately above the battery, where there is deep water, and excellent holding ground. Some vessels, however, lay farther out in the stream, there being good anchorage every where. The town lays immediately in front, and I shall proceed to describe its appearance, as seen from the shipping.

Almost immediately in front is the Government House, situated on a rising ground. It is a long range, of one story in height, roofed, as all the houses in the Colony are, with shingles; and stuccoed, to imitate stone. It has nothing imposing in its appearance, but there is an air of neatness and comfort about it, and no inconsiderable share of beauty. At one end are the lately erected Council-rooms for the debates of the Executive and Legislative Councils when sitting; and at some distance from them a new range of stables. The whole is suiTounded by a considerable portion of ground, sloping down to the water's edge, and neatly laid out into lawn and shrubbery, with a carpet of the most beautiful verdure on the former, conveying no unpleasing sensation to the eyes of the wearied voyager. Included in the Government ground, is the Private Secretary's house, also visible from the harbour. On the left of the Government house is seen the Court House and Jail, with some private dwellings; and bringing the eye round towards the Battery, the neat grounds of Mr. Moodie, Mr. Read, and the Revd. 11. Knopwood, as also the Burying-ground, arc visible. At the back of these, situated on an eminence, are the fine looking Barracks, for the use of the regiment stationed in the Island, containing quarters both for men and officers, and commanding a splendid view all over the town, harbour, and opposite shores. Below them is an open green space, where the band plays once a week, during the spring and summer months. To the right of the Private Secretary's dwelling is the Commissariat Stores; and immediately in the centre of the Cove is a large stone building—this was formerly a Government store, but has lately had a strong room added to it, and been converted into the Treasury. It is a great pity, that instead of making the expensive repairs to this building, the Government had not pulled it down, and rebuilt it in some other place, as the present building completely blocks up the view of the harbour, from Campbell Street, and the new market place, a continuation of which, down to the water, would have had a very fine appearance, as the main entrance of the town. The public landing place is at the end of a long pier or jetty, built of stone, and connecting the mainland with what was formerly called Hunter's Island. On this, and along the sides of the jetty, are erected many substantial and spacious ware-houses, for the most part built of a sort of white freestone, of which there is a great abundance in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. Among the buildings may be mentioned the very extensive stores of the Leith Australian Company, now let to the Government as an ordnance store; and a steam flour mill erected by Mr. Walker. To the right of the jetty, through a small inlet, the I own Rivulet discharges itself into the harbour. It takes its rise below Mount Wellington, and has hitherto been almost the only supply of water for the town. During the summer months it became very scanty, and far from good. An aqueduct has lately been dug by a gang of prisoners, under the superintendence of Mr. O'Connor, the superintendent of roads and bridges, bringing the water from the head of Brown's River, (which also rises under Mount Wellington,) into a reservoir in the barracks, whence it runs through Davy Street into the harbour. This is a great convenience to the inhabitants of that part of the town, who have hitherto suffered much from the want of water in summer. Works are also in progress for deepening the bed of the Rivulet, and keeping it clear of impurities. On a promontory to the right of the embouchure of the Town Rivulet, called Macquarrie Point, is situated the Civil Engineer's Stores or Lumber Yard, where the blacksmiths, carpenters, and other mechanics, in the employ of Government, are kept at work. This Point is clear of any other buildings, and in it the troops in garrison are reviewed; and here, it is projected to erect the Fort I alluded to for the protection of the harbour and shipping. It is intended to carry Macquarrie Street over the Rivulet, towards this Point; and I have no doubt, that, with the exception of the ground reserved for the fortification, the whole of it, and the bank of the river beyond, will, ere many years, be covered with substantial buildings adapted to the increasing trade and importance of the town.

Looking still further round to the right, on the opposite side of the river, we see on a point (forming one side of what is called Kangaroo Bay) Rosni, the property of Captain Read. There is a nice looking house on this, consisting of about 120 acres, but it is deficient in fresh water. On the opposite side of the bay is Kangaroo Point, where there are several inns and other dwellings, forming an embryo village; and in the neighbourhood is the residence of a police magistrate for this district. A number of ferry boats ply from Hobart Town to this place, which is the key to several populous districts on this side of the island. It is, however, a most unpleasant place to cross at, the distance over being considerable; and when it blows at all from any point, there is a very heavy swell knocked up, rendering it tedious and disagreeable at all times, and sometimes dangerous; especially with a horse or two stowed away in a common ship's boat. Travellers from the interior generally leave their horses at one of the inns, and cross alone. A Company was a considerable time since established by shares, and called "The Steam Navigation Company," for the purpose of making a practicable and safe traffic across the river by means of steam-boats; and also with the further intention of bringing Colonial produce from Pittwater, Richmond, and other places situated on the coasts of this extensive harbour, where boats frequently lay wind-bound, and from whence they make long passages, to the serious detriment both of grower and consumer. This project, however, fell to the ground, partly from want of unanimity in the projectors, and spirit in the public; and partly from the scarcity of capital in the country. There is no doubt, however, that there is a very fair chance of profit in such an undertaking, and in the traffic up the river; the supplies of corn, potatoes, &c. coming mostly from places accessible to boats, and the transport adding much to the expenses.

The harbour is, perhaps, as fine as any in the world; there are no dangers or difficulties to impede the entrance, and any number of ships may lay in perfect security. The site of the town is very picturesque; and when the proposed improvements, which I shall mention in a subsequent chapter, are carried into execution, its advantages, as a port, will render it able to compete with many of the oldest established commercial cities.

* So named after Admiral Bruné D'Entrecasteaux, who in the Research, accompanied by Captain Huon Kermandée in the Esperance, in 1792, disco vered that Bruné was an Island. The Huon River was named after the Captain of the Esperance.

CHAPTER VII.

Description of Hobart Town, Jetty and Buildings— Market place and Market—Commissariat—Courthouse—Jail—Public Offices—Church and other places of worship—Penitentiary—Road to Mount Wellington —Female Factory—Mr. Hodgson's Tannery—Saw and Flour Mills—Elizabeth and other Streets—Inns and Taverns—Improvements—Trade and Shipping— Government Garden—Police of the Town and Colony generally.

Having taken a survey of the harbour and its appearance from the shipping, let us suppose the voyager about to land for the purpose of taking a stroll about the town. There are two places for landing both passengers and goods; one completely at the point of the Jetty, where there are some very inconvenient and sometimes perilous stone steps for passengers, and a crane for hoisting heavy goods out of the boats; and another on one side of the Jetty, in Sullivan's Cove, where a wooden wharf has been roughly constructed of trunks of trees and planks, and where the landing and discharging are somewhat easier. The Jetty is so narrow, that the greatest confusion is caused with the increasing traffic of the port; and both the wharfs are vile places when the sea breeze blows, causing a heavy swell, and dashing the boats about in fine style, with manifest danger to the passengers, and damage to the goods, from the spray. The intended improvements shall be touched upon by and bye; now we will suppose the passenger safely stepped ashore at the end of the stone pier, and immediately in front of him he will see the Wharfinger's office,—a small wooden box, where he transacts all his business during the day. On his right he will observe, along nearly the whole length of the jetty on that side, and with but few vacant spaces, a range of substantial buildings, of various size and appearance, but built mostly of the white and red sandstone, so abundant. The first place that will particularly strike him, is what is called the " Commercial Tavern." Above is the coffee room and accommodations for lodgers, and below are "The Shades," rivalling its great London prototype, in its supplies of liquor to the thirsty throats of the seamen and carters, who are always to be found in great numbers on the wharf. It is kept by a person of the name of Mawle, who also exercises the occupation of merchant, agent, and general dealer. A little further on, on the same side, are the large stores of the Leith Australian Company, formerly mentioned. The last finished store on this side belongs to Captain Bell; and just beyond it is a large one now building for a shopkeeper in the town. On the left side of the jetty there are as yet but two buildings,—a large store, and Walker's steam flour mill. After getting off the jetty, on our left will be observed a large ancient-looking building, which is the Treasury, before mentioned, as seen from the harbour. Immediately facing its entrance is an open space, which was, a short time since, a complete salt-water swamp; the tide ebbing and flowing in and out of it. It has, however, lately been filled up by the Government gangs; and the public are indebted for the rapidity with which this beneficial change has been effected, to the zealous efforts of Mr. O'Connor. This space is appropriated by Government for a public market place, and is to include an additional piece of ground adjoining to it in Collins' Street, which runs at right angles to it, at the back of and parallel with Macquarrie Street. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays have been fixed, by a Government order, for the market days; and one or two stalls have been opened by private individuals; but it will go on but slowly, it is to be feared, until Government shall be able to afford its aid in erecting stalls, pens, &c. The want of a well regulated market has been sensibly felt by all the inhabitants of the town. The small country dealers, having no place where they can expose their produce for sale, are obliged to dispose of it to the shopkeepers at any price, and frequently to take useless things in exchange; they are thus injured and discouraged, and the prices enhanced to the inhabitants. It is the intention of Government to give all the aid they can in effecting this much called for change, by building stalls, &c. as soon as ever they have disposable hands for the purpose, which, from the pressure of public works, they have not at present.

Continuing our course up Macquarrie Street, on our left, is the Commissariat Office and Store, situated near the water, where there is a small landing place of rough stones, called the King's Wharf. A little beyond is the Government House, standing back from the street, having railings along it, and being partly hid by the shrubbery that is interposed. Immediately beyond the Government House is the Court House. This is a very substantial building, somewhat in the Gothic style, of red sandstone,—the present only forming part of what the complete one will be; the plan having been made on a large scale, and the other parts will be added as the wants and means of the Colony call for and permit. Fronting the Court House, but having Murray Street, which runs down to the Harbour, between them, is the Jail, a brick building, surrounded by a high brick wall, over which may be seen the drop where so many criminals have expiated their offences. This is a sad disfigurement to the principal street of the town, and there is an intention of removing it as soon as possible. Macquarrie Street is about a mile and half long, running nearly east and west; and the stranger will be surprised to observe how well it, and also several others in the town, are macadamized, with raised footpaths on each side; as also the number of good-looking houses they contain. In addition to the public buildings already mentioned as to be found in it, there are the Survey Office, Land-board Office, and Office of the Collector of Internal Revenue, all in one handsome looking house; the Colonial Secretary's Office, the Main-Guard House, and the Van Diemen's Land Bank. Saint David's Church is situated about half way up this street, and is rather a good-looking structure, with its weather boarded spire, walls stuccoed to imitate stone, and its shingled roof, looking like slate. The ground round it is prettily laid out into a shrubbery; and its interior neatly fitted up with pews, pulpit, reading desk, and a good toned organ, put up in 1824, principally at the expense of the inhabitants. Two spacious galleries run along the inside, and a clock in the steeple strikes the hours. The church has been built about ten years. Divine service is here performed four times on Sundays. At 9 in the morning, when the attendance is chiefly by such of the prisoner class as are in the service of residents in the town, and for those holding tickets of leave, a muster of whom takes place previous to the ceremony. At 11 is for the inhabitants of the town, at which the military in garrison attend, being marched down from the barracks, with band playing, and accompanied, as usual, by a crowd of people. At 4 in the afternoon, and again at 6, the service is also for the inhabitants. The church is generally much crowded, particularly at the 11 o'clock service ; and the extremely well dressed congregation gives a very agreeable specimen of the appearance of the population of the place. In Melville Street there are chapels for those of the Presbyterian and YVesleyan persuasions. They, as well as the Roman Catholic chapel, are good buildings, and do credit to the town, from the neatness of their appearance, and their numerous and orderly congregations. The Penitentiary, where the chain gangs, and men in Government works are confined, is a large brick building, surrounded by a high wall, and is situated in Campbell Street, which runs at right angles with Macquarrie Street, commencing from the market place. It is kept extremely clean, and the prisoners in it in the best of order, to which the tread wheel, in one part of the establishment, does not a little contribute. Formerly the prisoners were allowed to sleep any where about the town, where they could find lodgings; now they are always locked up at night, which has been one great cause for the cessation of the numerous burglaries that used to be committed. There is a small chapel outside of and adjoining the wall of the prison, where the men attend divine service on Sundays. They used to go to the gallery of St. David's Church, but have lately been removed, and the church wardens contemplate pewing oft' these galleries for the accommodation of the inhabitants; a want of room being considerably felt at present. It has been proposed to build another church in Elizabeth Street; and I have no doubt, from the rapidly increasing population, that it will be found indispensable, and be shortly carried into execution.

Leaving the west end of Macquarrie Street, which, notwithstanding its great length, is still making rapid strides onwards, a track continues along the right bank of the Town Rivulet, to the foot of Mount Wellington; passing the Female Orphan School, on the left, a good-looking one-storied house, Mr. Hackett's distillery, called Dynnyme, but now the residence of Mr. R. L. Murray, the editor of the Tasmanian newspaper; Mr. Hodgson's Tannery, the new Female Penitentiary, and the Saw Mills of Messrs. Mackintosh and De Graves, and Mr. Stokell, beyond which is the Rocky Fall, called the Cascade.

A considerable number of orphans are maintained and educated at the expense of Government: they may be seen, as well as the boys from the Male Asylum, every Sunday at church, neatly and cleanly attired.

The Female Penitentiary is a mass of buildings surrounded by a high wall, and beyond that, at some distance, by an outer enclosure, which was found necessary to be added, to prevent the lovers of the ladies, confined within, from throwing articles to them over the wall. Here, those who have behaved ill in private service, are sent to expiate their offences.

At Mr. Hodgson's a great deal of leather, of a very excellent quality, is tanned for the consumption of the town, the bark of the Mimosa or wattle tree being used in the manufacture. At the saw mills are both vertical and circular saws: the latter of a very small size, put in motion by the action of an overshot waterwheel, supplied with water from the Rivulet. Here most of the timber required for the use of the buildings in town, and for exportation, is cut; and at a moderate rate. The neighbouring hills afford a supply of most excellent timber. The scenery on the road from the town and at this place is very romantic, and worth a walk to enjoy it. The path is along a narrow valley, at the bottom of which is seen the Rivulet winding its course towards the town, with hills rising precipitately on each side, clothed with fine forest trees; and at the mills, Mount Wellington towers high above you, dark and stern. On the Rivulet, both in and out of town, are several mills for grinding corn, to supply the consumption of the inhabitants.

Returning to the centre of the town, immediately in front of the Government-house, and at right angles with Macquarrie Street, is Elizabeth Street, broad and handsome in its appearance, and well macadamized. It conducts to the main-road, which leads to the interior; and in it and Liverpool Street are some of the best shops of the town; many of them, particularly the lately built ones, vieing with those to be seen in large country towns in England. Campbell Street leads up from the market place; and in it, raised high above the rest of the houses, on a scarped rock, is the Colonial Hospital, an extensive building, in a fine airy situation, and commanding an extensive view all over the harbour. The other streets branching from these, are rapidly rivalling them in appearance, by the numerous new and substantial buildings in progress in them; but, for the most part, they are still in want of being put into a proper state as thoroughfares, by means of macadamizing; many of them being scarcely passable in winter from the mud. All this will, however, be remedied in due time, gangs being busily employed in putting the streets into a proper state. The ground on Avhich the town is built, is of very tinequal surface, many of the streets being complete hills:—every pains is being bestowed to remedy this, by digging down some, and raising the low grounds. The situation of the town is very romantic, being completely surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills; and looks very extensive, the undulating character of the site causing so much to be brought into view at once. It already covers upwards of a square mile, which may be accounted for by most of the dwellings having small inclosures, laid out into shrubberies or orchards, round them. A lively air pervades the whole place, which reminds a person of an English country town of the third class, there being nothing either in the appearance of the inhabitants, the climate, or the character of the surrounding scenery and the productions of nature, to break the illusion. Every one coming from India must, 1 think, feel this particularly. The allotments granted in the town for building, are of ½ an acre to 3 acres, and it is rapidly increasing in size and importance.

A stranger is much struck by the number of signs of taverns and places where liquor is sold, which must be attributed to the bibulous propensities of the prisoner and emancipist population; tavern-keeping being found one of the most profitable trades in the country. Every house of public entertainment is obliged, by a Government regulation, to keep a lamp burning before the door at night; and, being so numerous, this almost answers the purpose of lighting the streets, giving nearly as much assistance to the passenger as the old system of street illumination in England, previous to the introduction of brilliant gas. Strangers have no difficulty in finding accommodation in the town, there being several good inns and lodging houses, where they can domicile themselves at reasonable rates. The best is the Macquarrie Hotel, in Macquarrie street, kept by Mr. Cox. This is a large brick building, containing a good deal of accommodation; upon the whole well conducted, and much frequented, both by strangers and the most respectable country residents. There is a table d'hote daily at 5 o'clock, and breakfast every morning at 9. The charges are not high, being two shillings for breakfast, half a crown for dinner, two shillings for tea, and two shillings for bed. Every thing is of the best, and the attendance good. Some gentlemen, who resided for considerable periods at this hotel, made an agreement with the landlord to pay him two guineas per week, and pay for no more wine than they called for, instead of a share of what was drank at table. They had also the use of a sitting room. Persons desirous of living alone, can do so if they like. The Ship Inn and theDerwent Hotel, both in Elizabeth street, are the other two best houses. There are billiard tables at the two first mentioned.

In Liverpool street there is a private boarding house, called the British Hotel, kept by Mr. Donahoo, where strangers can be accommodated with board and lodging, exclusive of wine, at two guineas per week. And board and lodging, or lodgings only, may be had in one or two private families on much the same terms, among which may be mentioned Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Maria Lord, in Macquarrie street.

I have already observed that the improvements in the town are rapidly carrying on; among those proposed of the greatest importance, are what are intended to be executed in Sullivan's Cove, to add facility to the traffic of the port. At the back of the Treasury is a shoal, extending nearly as far out as the end of the Jetty; this is to be filled up, and given in allotments for building commercial stores upon. Along the front, and facing the harbour, is to be a row of buildings, with a wharf for landing goods from the shipping, to be called "The Marine Terrace." Commencing at the Port Officer's house, and continuing till it joins this terrace, is to be another wharf and terrace; and on this is to be a row of Government buildings and offices connected with the business of the port, consisting of the Custom House, Timber Yard, &c. The whole, when finished, will make the harbour as convenient as any in the world; the ships laying alongside the wharfs, and discharging their cargoes immediately into the ware-houses.

Among other changes, it has also been proposed to build a new Government house, on the Government Domain, and turn the present house into public offices; which will be a great convenience both to those connected with them, and to persons who have business there; saving them the trouble and fatigue of travelling up and down from one end to the other of this rambling town. "The Domain" is a pretty, park-like spot of ground, situated between Macquarrie Point and New Town; and there is a very pleasant walk through it to the latter place. A Government garden has here been formed, and is very neatly laid out. The quarries on the ground are of most excellent white freestone, which, as it hardens much by exposure, although working very easy when first quarried, would afford abundant materials for a substantial building. Most of the stone used in the town is taken from them. Want of hands, and the expense, prevent the immediate commencement of the new Government House. These are some of the most important improvements in progress; but minor ones, both by Government and private individuals, are being daily carried into execution, and altering the appearance of the town for the better. The population is supposed to amount to about 6000 souls, but 110 regular census has been taken.

The Police of Hobart Town, and the Colony generally, has been brought into a most efficient state during the government of Colonel Arthur, and would do credit to many older countries. House-breaking is a thing never heard of, and the orderly and quiet state of the streets at all hours of the night is really remarkable. Persons go and return on foot at very late hours along the bye roads in the neighbourhood, to and from the country houses, and it is very long since any instances of molestation have occurred. Indeed, I think that it will be very difficult for any person who has not visited the Colony, to figure to himself the present security of property from theft in all parts of the country. There is a very extensive Police Establishment in Hobart Town and Launceston, besides which there are Police Magistrates stationed at the following Townships; viz. New Norfolk, Oatlands, Campbell Town, Norfolk Plains, Richmond, Bothwell, Great Swan Port, and George Town. These are all stipendiary magistrates, having each a large district under their supervision, assisted by a chief District Constable, and a considerable establishment of constables and field police under them. The field police are well armed and dispersed all over the country, and have tended very much to the entire suppression of bush-ranging and robberies among flocks and herds. Besides this paid establishment, which deserves great praise for the security with which persons may travel all over the country, even in places the most remote, as well as the general exemption from depredation enjoyed by the Colonists, —there are no less than 65 justices of the peace, in various parts of the country, who are, for the most part, gentlemen of property, residing on their estates. No one, therefore, has far to go to obtain redress in case of robbery, or when his servants behave ill; which facility in obtaining justice has tended very much to bringing the convict population into their present state of order.

CHAPTER VIII.

Trade of Hobart Town and Launceston—Arrivals and Departures of Ships—Imports and Exports—Revenue —Colonial Shipping—Colonial Produce adapted to Commerce—Banks—Means of Education—Population of the Colony.

The trade of this Island is rapidly increasing, there being now never less than 8 to 12 or 14 vessels from distant ports laying in the harbour at Hobart Town, independent of the small colonial crafts, and the foreign and colonial vessels at Launceston. It is also becoming a place of call for refreshment for foreign and other vessels, bound from Manilla, Batavia, &c. to Europe and America, and to and from the South-west coast of America, round Cape Horn. In the beginning of 1830, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships touched at Hobart Town for refreshments, on her way from Colombia River, to England; as also one vessel from Calcutta, and two Americans from Manilla, bound to Valparaiso.

The annexed statement will shew the number of vessels that entered and left the Port of Hobart Town, during the year 1829.

It may be observed, that the numbers to Sydney arose from a great many of the large vessels either not discharging all their cargo here, or else, having done so, proceeding to Sydney to look for freight.

I have not been able to obtain a similar account of the arrivals and departures at Launceston; but in March 1830 there were six large vessels laying there, loading for England: and it also carries on a considerable traffic with Sydney; the county of Cornwall being the great granary for the supply of New South Wales through this port. Some vessels also Avent from thence to Swan River, loaded Avith Colonial produce, as were those that were sent from Hobart Town. Many more have gone there and to the Mauritius in this year. The following table of the value of the Imports and Exports for one year, ending the 30th September, 1829, will give some idea of the trade of this port. A great deal is sent round to Launceston for the settlers in the north part of the island; very few vessels from England or foreign ports having as yet gone there direct.

VALUE OF IMPORTS.

VALUE OF EXPORTS.

I am sensible that exceptions will be made to the above tables, and that there must, necessarily, be many inaccuracies in them, from the inadequate data on which they are framed: they are, however, from the best information obtainable, and are inserted as conveying some idea of the commerce of the country. The amount of the exports of flour, wheat, potatoes, and live stock, will appear very large; but it must be recollected that this Island is the great granary from whence Sydney draws her principal means of subsistence; that the potatoes grown there are very inferior, and the demand for those from Van Diemen's Land is, consequently, very great, from their fine quality; fetching in Sydney from £8 to £14 per ton: and that Swan River and the Isle of France have assisted in taking off great quantities of these articles, and of live stock. I have 110 means of ascertaining the Imports and Exports at Launceston; but the amount of the duties received there, will give some idea of its trade relative with that of Hobart Town.

Total amount of Customs Revenue from October 1st, 1828, to 30th September, 1829.

I refer the reader to the Appendix E for the duties levied, port charges, &c.

To enable the reader to form-some idea of the increasing trade of the Colony, I insert the following statements of Arrivals and Departures, Exports and Imports, and Revenue for past years, from the best data that I can find ; and as the information is all drawn from the same sources, the comparison must be something near the truth, as regards the relative state of the Colony at the different periods.

The Arrivals and Departures from the Port of Hobart Town during the year 1828, were as follows:

The following is a list of the Colonial vessels. The small ones are, many of them, employed in whaling in the bays and harbours, as well as in bringing up the colonial produce to town, and trading coastwise and with Sydney. The Government vessels are mostly employed in carrying supplies to the penal settlements at Macquarrie Harbour and Maria Island, and bringing back timber and building materials from thence.

VESSELS BELONGING TO THE PORT OP HOBART TOWN.

Australian, schooner, 27 tons, James Kelly, owner.

Recovery, sloop, 25 tons, William Maycock.

Hunter, schooner, 62 tons, F. Champion and A. Charlton.

Fanny, cutter, 27 tons, Van Diemen's Land Company.

Waterloo, schooner, 81 tons, John Bell.

Sarah Ann, schooner, 23 tons, John Lord, owner.

Contest, 39 tons, Thomas Lucas.

Elizabeth Henrietta, sloop, 39 tons, James Innis.

Marquis Lansdowne, ship, 209 tons, W. A. Bethune.

Dragon, brig, 134 tons, Dan. Taylor.

Black Swan, schooner, 40 tons, George Meredith.

Industry, cutter, 38 tons, Walford and Young.

Margaret, sloop, 20 tons, William Currie.

Hetty, schooner, 105 tons, James Kelly.

Clarence, brig—employed in whaling.

Deveron, brig, 250 tons, W. Wilson,—employed in whaling.

VESSELS BELONGING TO THE PORT OF LAUNCESTON.

Governor Arthur, sloop, 42 tons, J. H. Reibey.

Resolution, schooner, 60 tons, Jonathan Griffiths.

Henry, schooner, 34 tons, John Griffiths.

Olivia, schooner, 60 tons, J. Lucas, C. Williams, and C. Lucas.

GOVERNMENT VESSELS.

Brigs—Tamar, 128 tons; Prince Leopold, 81; Derwent, 110.

Cutters—Charlotte, 50 tons; Clyde, 30.

Schooner—Badger, 25 tons.

Sloops—Opossum, 30 tons; Swallow, 16 ditto; Swift, 14 ditto; Rambler, 16 ditto.

Launches—Porpoise, 10 tons; Onyx, 8 ditto.

A brig of 130 tons is now building at Macquarrie Harbour, ana a sloop of 20 tons.

Total, Colonial Tonnage 1983, independent ot the Government and other vessels now building.

With the exception of some of the small vessels in the above list, which I have mentioned as being employed in the whale fishery in the harbours, very little has been done, as yet, in Hobart Town for the extension of this very lucrative trade, by which many of the merchants in Sydney are accumulating large fortunes. The sperm whale abounds in these seas, the oil of which fetches a high price in the Enlgish market; and, I think, it must be evident to every one, that if the merchants of London find it to their advantage to equip vessels there, at a heavy expense, for such a distant speculation as a three years' voyage to the Southern Fishery, how much more profitable it would be for the mercantile people of Van Diemen's Land to enter into the trade, when they have the fish as, I may say, at their very doors. There would be no necessity for the ships keeping the sea so long, to their great detriment, as they would have a port at hand to resort to; to deposit their oil, refit, and take in fresh supplies. The capital required would also be much less, from the smaller size of the vessels, and the return being so much quicker; a ready sale being found on the spot, should the adventurer not be able to wait even so long as to send it to the English market. The having a valuable article to offer in return for their imports, and the furnishing of freight to vessels, which are now obliged to go elsewhere in ballast to seek it, would tend much to increase the trade of the Colony, by attracting vessels; and to the benefit of the settlers, by reducing the prices of articles from the greater importation caused by it. One vessel, named the Clarence, the joint property of several merchants in the town, has been equipt and dispatched from this port, and has already made one good voyage, although she was only out a short time. She is the first belonging to the colonists: but Mr. W. Wilson was following the example, and fitting out his brig, the Deveron, for the same employment. Several associations were on the tapis for extending the fishery, and there is no doubt, ere long, this branch of trade will be as much attended to as it deserves to be: want of capital has alone prevented its being done hitherto. The oil, when sent to England, must be accompanied by a certificate of its being caught by the crews of British ships, and imported in British vessels; in which case the duty on importation is Is. per ton. The duty on American oil, on the contrary, is £26: 12s. per ton. The whale which yields the black oil is extremely numerous all round the Island, coming up even into the harbour, where the inhabitants have had the pleasure of witnessing the animating spectacle of these huge monsters killed by the boats belonging to the port. One female went up as far as New Norfolk, 24 miles above Hobart Town—it is supposed for the purpose of calving, and was killed there.

Fine wool is another of the staple commodities towards which this Colony must look forward to afford her a lucrative export. Till within the last three or four years, neither the improvement of the breed, nor the careful getting up of the wool, was much attended to. Mr. Curr, in his work on this Colony, mentions that in 1823, some of the Colonists were so far improving in attention to this article, that they housed their wool, and washed their sheep previous to shearing. Before that time it was considered altogether valueless, and was, in most cases, allowed to rot on the dung heap; the sheep never being shorn, except when it was absolutely necessary to relieve them from the weight, and to prevent the scab. Since then the progress of improvement has been very gradual, until within the period I have mentioned; large importations of the pure Saxon and Merino breeds having lately been made, and sold at very high prices to the settlers. Most of the owners of sheep now look very carefully to the cropping of their flocks, and the proper cleansing and packing of the fleeces; knowing that on this produce of their estates they must principally depend for funds to purchase those necessaries and comforts which their farms do not yield. The introduction of proper wool presses, is also becoming very common in every wellregulated establishment; and I may say in one word, that the agriculturists have begun to see and to pay proper attention to their real interests. The wool is always now a ready article of sale to the merchants in Hobart Town and Launceston, who purchase it as a good mode of remittance to England for their import cargoes, and of affording freight to the ships consigned to them. In the commencement of 1830 the prices of wool in Hobart Town were much depreciated, in consequence of the unfavorable accounts from home. Few persons in the Colony having been brought up to the wool trade, the price given by the merchants are more regulated by the accounts received from England of the state of the markets there, than from the real value of the commodity, as regards quality, cleanliness, and the proper sorting of the fleeces; which last is too much neglected, very different sorts being indifferently stowed away in the same bale; to which circumstance may frequently be attributed the low price that Van Diemen's Land wool fetches; the purchaser being, of course, regulated in what he will give by the worst and not the best samples in each package. At the period I have mentioned above, wool, which had been only partially improved, realized from Ad. to 6d. per lb. and that of the finer breeds Is. to 14d. Many preferred taking advances upon their wool, and sending it home upon their own account, in hopes of getting a better price. The large breeders, who are not in immediate want of money, generally send their wool to some merchant in London, getting out the proceeds in slop clothing, and other articles necessary for their establishment, and realizing a fair profit upon what is surplus to their own wants. As the trade gets better understood, and the sorting, cleaning, and packing the fleeces more carefully attended to, I have no doubt that some persons will find it worth their while to devote their attention entirely to this branch of commerce; and to give such prices for the article, as to obviate the necessity of the wool-grower going out of his own line to sell his produce. The prices realized by the best parcels in the London market in 1828, averaged about 2s. 6d. per lb. " By a recent parliamentary return, it appears that the quantity of wool imported into England in 1828 was 30,235, 915 lbs. whereof 967,812 lbs. were brought from New South Wales, 606,372 lbs. from Van Diemen's Land, and a small quantity from other British possessions; 22,014.131 lbs. from Germany, and 3,808,662 lbs. from Spain. The duty paid was £ 114,986, being at the rate of one penny per lb. for foreign wool, of the value of Is. and upwards, and one half penny for that of less value; the produce of British Colonies dutv free*."

It will plainly be seen by the foregoing statement,that notwithstanding it is only 27 years since the first establishment of this Colony, and that the commencement of its prosperity cannot be dated more than ten years back, yet Van Diemen's Land already sends to the mother country, within about one-third the same quantity of wool as New South Wales, which has so much greater age to boast of. The quantity imported from foreign States into England, distinctly points out how immensely this branch of Colonial commerce may be extended. Every thing but distance from the market is in its favour. The climate is so congenial, that the vast expense to which the Saxon wool-grower is obliged to go, in buildings and sheds of all descriptions, and even in clothing for his sheep, is perfectly unknown here. One man looks after a large flock; and the animals are seldom housed or even yarded, generally bedding themselves at night on the sheltered side of a hill. I shall not enter into the controversy as to whether it would not be better to follow the New South Wales system, of regularly yarding the sheep every night, and having more shepherds. The so doing would add but in a trifling degree to the expense; and I only wish to point out how much cheaper the Colonial wool can be brought into the market than the foreign; and how much it is to the interest of all agriculturists to pay more attention than they have hitherto done to this vast branch of Colonial export. The numerous treatises on the management of sheep, and his own experience and observation, will point out to the emigrant the best method to be pursued on his own farm, far better than any thing I could say, with my limited knowledge of the subject.

I shall now proceed to enumerate the remaining articles of Colonial produce that are exported, and to point out, as far as I am able, how the trade might be extended. Seals are very numerous on the coasts and islands, and their skins are sent to England, where they fetch about 25s. each. They must be accompanied by a certificate of their being caught by British subjects, when they bear a duty of 3d. per skin. No use whatever is made of the oil which this animal yields so abundantly; the carcases being generally left to rot by the fishermen. Kangaroo and other skins, such as those of the opossum, tiger cat, and plattypus, or ornythoryncus paradoxus, are exported, but in such trilling quantities as to be scarcely worth mentioning. The skin of the kangaroo answers, as well as kid skin, for the upper leathers of shoes, and is of a very soft, pleasant wear. Till lately, scarcely any attention was paid to the hides of the cattle that were slaughtered out of the towns, and even now very little care is bestowed upon them. Great quantities are consumed by the settlers themselves, in making a rude sort of rope, by cutting the hide up into strips; and what are not so used, are generally thrown aside to rot. The curing of hides and salting of beef for exportation are very worthy of attention on the part of the settlers. The herds of cattle are increasing so rapidly, and in many places are allowed to stray so much at large over the country, as to be almost valueless to the proprietors. It would be worth their while to slaughter very extensively, for the purposes I have mentioned. The dry hides have a duty upon them in England of 2s. 4d. and the wet ones Is. 2d. per cwt.; and if properly packed, well cured, and of good size and thickness, they fetch from bd. to 6d. per lb. I may say that no attempt has been made to salt beef for exportation: but were it properly done, India, the Mauritius, (and Swan River for some time,) would afford an extensive market, in supplying the navy and merchantmen. The latter generally bring a sufficiency of salt provisions for the voyage out and home; but were they sure of obtaining them good in India, it cannot be doubted but that they would be glad to avail themselves of the additional quantity of room, obtainable by only taking enough for their outward voyage. I understand that some trials, in a small way, have been made in salting beef, and that it did not stand the changes of climate. There can be no doubt but that this must have arisen either from the method of curing pursued in England, not being properly understood in the Colony, or from the nature of the salt made use of. There is nothing in the climate to prevent meat being cured just as well as in any part of the world. Hams and bacon are cured in considerable quantities, and were proper attention paid to the English methods of doing it, they ought to furnish a considerable article for export to India, as well as cheese, the making of which is beginning to be more attended to in this Colony. Large quantities are made in New South Wales; but as long as they can get Is. to 15rf. per lb. by sending it to Hobart Town; it is not worth their while to seek so distant a market as India. The hams and bacon sell in Hobart at about Is. per lb. and are of a very fine quality; the only bar to their being a good export is the doubt whether they are so cured as to stand the changes of climate. The corn of Van Diemen's Land is particularly fine, and heavy. Large quantities are exported annually to Sydney; and a few trials have been made of sending it, as also flour, to the Isle of France, where they have sold very well. Barley grows very luxuriantly, but from the little pains hitherto bestowed in keeping the seed free from admixture of other grains, it cannot be extensively used in brewing of malt liquor; to which probably may be attributed the slow progress in this branch of trade; as the brewers are obliged to purchase foreign barley at a high price. There are, however, five breweries established in Hobart Town, producing very good beer and ale, which sells at from 6d. to Is. per quart. Imported hops are made use of at present; but attention is being turned to the growth of this very necessary article, to the raising of which the climate is found extremely favorable. It is to be hoped that at some no very distant period, beer may also afford an export to our Indian settlements, to which the voyage from hence is so much shorter than from England. The distance is now performed in two months even in winter; and as the usual state of the winds, &c. become better known, I have no doubt that it will be done in less time. There is but one distillery now at work in the Island; which belongs to Mr. Hackett, in Hobart Town; who sells large quantities of gin, cordials, and liqueurs of his own making. The duty on imported spirits is not, however, sufficently heavy to render it a very lucrative mode of employing capital.

The bark of the Mimosa, or as it is called in the Colony" The Wattle Tree," is found to answer extremely well in tanning leather, and to yield a very powerful extract for the same purpose. Of the latter not much is made, but great quantities of the bark are now being sent to England, the character of it becoming better understood. A small portion of the extract was also sent, but from ignorance of the mode of manufacture, it was boiled in iron vessels; so that although of very great strength, it did not answer, from its imparting a colour to the leather, and rendering it brittle. Time and experience will, however, enable the Colonists to manufacture it in a proper manner. In August 1829, the market price in London, of bark was £12 per ton, and the extract £20.

Leather is tanned to a considerable extent in various places, and a great deal is consumed in the making of shoes; the Colonial made being found more durable for the servants, than those imported from England. A good deal of glue and parchment is also made; the latter article fetching, at Sydney, £10 a roll of 60 skins. Very durable hats are manufactured in Hobart Town, at 18s. to 20s. each; they have not, however, so good an appearance as those sent from England.

There is a considerable manufactory of salt, as already mentioned, on Brune Island; but a great deal is still imported from England.

The demand tor soap is largely supplied by the manufactory of this article in Hobart Town. The Barilla used, is found on the Islands in Bass's Straits, and the eastern coast of the Island; and some little of the last mentioned produce has been exported. I may say in short, that it only requires a greater command of labour and capital to develope the great resources that this Island possesses within itself.

There are two public, and one private Bank in Hobart Town, and one public one in Launceston. I shall only now speak of theformer. The VanDiemen'sLand, or Old Bank, as it is sometimes called, was founded in 1823, and is a joint Stock Company, with a limited number of shares, of £50 each, on which only £31, 5s. has been as yet called for. The affairs are conducted by a president and six directors, two of whom go out yearly in rotation: a cashier and principal and assistant accountant. Ten per cent, per annum is the rate of discount on good bills, having two names to them, and three months to run. It receives deposits, but gives no interest upon them. The half yearly dividend has never been less than 8 per cent, on the amount paid upon each share.

The Derwent Bank was established in 1827, principally by the Government Officers. Its shares are £100 each; and it is conducted nearly on the same principles, and by the same number of officers as the old bank. Shortly after its establishment, the Government officers were obliged to withdraw, in obedience to an order of Government. This was caused by the complaints that were made of the undue preponderance obtained by this bank, in consequence of its close connection with the members of Government. The paper of these two banks is received as a legal tender in all payments into the Government coffers. A change has lately taken place in the management of the Derwent Bank, which will be found in the Appendix C.

The Commercial Bank is a private undertaking by the sole proprietor, Mr. John Dunn, who was formerly a shopkeeper in Hobart Town, and realized a good deal of money by his dealings. It was established in 1829, and, like the other banks, issues its paper, which is, however, not received by the Government. Those who keep accounts in this bank can discount every day, but strangers only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Ten per cent, per annum interest is allowed for money deposited more than six months. A good deal of business is done by this bank, which has, in a great measure, been caused by the public ones refusing to receive its paper in any shape; thereby assisting to keep it in circulation, and forcing in their own. This was found to be so much the case, that they have lately come to a resolution to receive the Commercial banknotes to a limited amount.

The means afforded for the education of children are very creditable to a Colony that is only so recently established, and will be best seen by a reference to the list of schools in the Appendix F. The want, however, of a good public school, under the patronage of the Government, and principal people of the Colony, with the ultimate view of founding a college to be supplied from it with students, is much felt. A plan of this sort, properly proposed, through influential persons, would not fail to succeed, from the great anxiety on the part of the better classes of the inhabitants to have a seminary of education for their children on an extensive scale, assimilating to the great establishments of the mother country. A school and college to be founded by means of shares, would now, I have no doubt, meet with every encouragement,were any persons competent to make the arrangements, and carry them on to a successful conclusion, to set such a plan afloat.

About the middle of 1826, a public seminary was established by subscription in the county of Cornwall, called "The Cornwall Collegiate Institution." Those who subscribed to the amount of £50 were entitled to the privilege of having their sons boarded and educated for £30 per annum each. The objects of this institution, as set forth in the rules promulgated in the public prints, were, "to afford a liberal and scientific education, to form an extensive library and reading room, and botanical garden. And when the funds allowed, a lecture room, laboratory and observatory."

From various causes, among which may be mentioned, the difficulty of reconciling the clashing interests and feelings of the free emigrants, and the emancipists, the undertaking fell to the ground at its commencement, although almost all the principal settlers in the north part of the Island joined the Institution. I mention the above to shew that, even so long since, the desire for such an establishment was very general; and that now, the numbers of respectable emigrants being so much increased, and the prosperity of the Colony more permanently established, a similar undertaking would be more likely to succeed.

A school and College had lately been founded at Sydney, under the auspices of Archdeacon Broughton, who was at Hobart Town in April last, on a visit of inspection of the Clerical establishments in this Colony. It was confidently expected by all classes that he would exert himself in conferring a similar benefit on Van Diemen's Land, as he had already been the means of doing on the sister Colony.

In a country where the settlements are so scattered, and no regular census has been taken, it is very difficult to state any number as the probable amount of the population. The best informed persons, however, all agree in estimating it at not less than 25000 souls; of which 12000 are convicts. The greatest increase in numbeis has been within the last five years; and as the births far over-balance the deaths, and ships are almost daily arriving full of free-emigrants, we may look to the population doubling itself, within the next ten years. In 1829 the marriages are stated at 200, the births at 700, and the deaths, 300, or about one in 80. The arrivals from England of free and bond were about 1600.

* New Monthly Magazine for September, 1829.

CHAPTER IX.

General Description of the Appearance of the Country, Townships, &c.

I have been particular in the description of Hobart Town, as being the capital of the country, and that the reader may form some idea of the growing importance of the Colony, although so recently established, from the very advanced state of this town. I shall give a much more general description of the country at large, as so many particular accounts of it have been published, from which any information may be obtained if desired*. The surface of the country is broken into hills, betwixt which, vallies of greater or less extent are always to be found, of excellent arable land; as are the sides of the hills that are not too precipitous; and the pasture is every where most excellent. The country is clothed with an open forest of evergreens of the different gums, wattles, stringy bark, she oak, honeysuckle, light wood, and various other trees bearing colonial names. There is but little undergrowth in any part, and the forest is generally of that open character as to offer no impediment to the passage of wheeled carriages. In very many places there are no more trees than would be considered ornamental in a gentleman's park; and the wattle trees grow in small and picturesque clumps, as if so placed by the hand of man. In various parts of the island, plains and downs are to be found, without a tree standing upon them, so that the plough may be put into the ground without the settler expending a shilling in clearing. Off the roads the traveller will frequently be struck with large level vallies, thickly covered with large trees, the whole of which are quite dead and dried up, having a most singular effect upon one's feelings. This is supposed to arise from the water laying many months on these flats, and rotting the roots. The distance from Hobart Town to Launceston is 124 miles by the present road, which is most excellent throughout, except in a very few places; made on MacAdam's principle, and kept in very good repair by different chain gangs, who are also employed in making new portions of road, wherever it is found to shorten the distance, or to go through a tract of country easier for cattle to travel. At present, travellers, going the north road, are obliged to cross the Derwent River, by various ferries, which are not pleasant sometimes when the wind is strong. To obviate the inconvenience resulting from the difficulty of transit for carts and goods, a causeway is building at the Black Snake, about 11 miles from town, reducing the channel of the river to about 200 yards of deep water, across which a flying bridge will traverse; and a new line of road has been cut from thence into the old one, shortening the distance by 3 miles. An excellent and handsome white free stone bridge is building on this line, over the Jordan River, which falls into the Derwent, after a very long and tortuous course. Besides the great north road, there are various others penetrating into different districts. One goes to New Norfolk, distant 24 miles, which is a large and thriving village, in a beautiful situation on the Derwent. The Governor has a country house here, to which he frequently retires for a little relaxation from public business. Another, after crossing the Derwent, at Kangaroo Point, goes to Richmond and Jericho, besides branches to many other districts. In addition to the Macadamized roads made, and in progress in various parts of the Colony, there are tracks into every part where settlements have been made, that can be travelled over in a C'ig, without the slightest difficulty.

The means of accommodation on the great roads are numerous and excellent at the different inns, of which there are no less than sixteen between Hobart Town and Launceston, and they are equally numerous on all the other roads. The "entertainment for man and horse," is generally very good, and the charges not very greatly above the inns in Hobart Town. The scenery is every where most romantic, and will well repay the traveller for the fatigue of his journey. Among the most beautiful places may be mentioned the village of New Town, distant about 3 miles from Hobart Town, consisting chiefly of gentlemen's houses and properties, well cleared, cultivated, and laid out into gardens and meadows. It is on the bank of the Derwent, the views of which, at this spot, are quite charming. This place reminds one of a quiet English village, and it only requires a spire to render the illusion complete. Perth on the South Esk, distant 12 miles from Launceston, is also another romantic village with which the traveller will be much struck, as well as with the beauty of the river, which glides silently between its sloping banks, covered with the finest verdure.

Launceston is the second town in importance in the Colony, and capital of the county of Cornwall. It is the residence of a Civil Commandant, and is garrisoned by a considerable detachment of troops. Assizes are held here, and there are Courts of Requests and Quarter Sessions. The principal public buildings are a handsome and spacious church, the military barracks, commissariat stores, and jail. There are also many good stores and houses belonging to the different merchants; and the inhabitants amount to about 1000 souls. The town is situated at the confluence of the North and South Esk, which here form the Tamar. This is a tide river. The water is salt as far as the town, and is deep enough to admit vessels of 300 tons burthen. This place is rapidly rising into importance, having hitherto carried on a large trade in grain with Sydney, which has of late been extended by ships coming to it direct from England. George Town is 40 miles from Launceston, and 164 from Hobart Town, within 4 miles of the entrance of Port Dalrymple, which is the name of the mouth of the Tamar, where it falls into Bass's Straits. This is but a small place, and has fallen much into decay since the head-quarters were removed from it to Launceston. Besides these places there are various other towns and villages; some of them, however, merely as yet in name, and others which are advancing considerably; among which may be mentioned, Perth, Green Ponds, Oatlands, Jericho, Campbell Town, Richmond, and Sorell Town,—some of them very prettily situated. With the exception of the Derwent and Tamar, no very large rivers have as yet been discovered, although the country may decidedly be called well watered either by streams or lakes: and many of the former would be navigable, were it not for the interruption of rapids that occur very frequently.

There are several ranges of mountains in various parts of the country, of considerable height; the greatest elevation as yet ascertained is about 5000 feet above the sea, and the summits of them are covered with snow throughout the year: very little is known of these ranges, the difficulty of penetrating their recesses having hitherto baffled the explorers. What is called the Western Tier has as yet proved a bar to ascertaining the capabilities of the country on the western side of the Island; although some convicts, who have, at various times, made their escape from the penal settlement at Macquarrie Harbour, and crossed over to Hobart Town, have described the country as offering sufficient inducements to settlers. The present Surveyor General is doing a great deal towards ascertaining the capabilities of every part of the country, by dispatching discovery parties in every direction; and the Government is lending its aid towards this most desirable object, by employing gangs of men in cutting tracks into many unexplored parts of the country, to facilitate the access of those who are in search of land.

The dwellings of the settlers are generally at considerable distances from each other, and mostly in the style of farm houses; though many of them belonging to the larger proprietors are excellent dwellings, built either of weather boards, brick or stone, with out-offices of every description. In some places, however, the houses are so near to each other as to form very picturesque hamlets. There are numerous small churches and chapels already built both by Government and private subscription, and others proposed and in progress. Several chaplains are stationed in the larger townships, and in the smaller ones there are what are called Catechists, who read prayers on Sundays. In the Appendix G will be seen the Clerical Establishment, as well as the various other Establishments of the Colony. There are district Assistant Surgeons stationed in various parts of the Colony, to afford medical aid to the convicts and military detachments, who are paid by Government for their services. The regulations by which the Medical Department is guided, will be found in the Appendix H. There are many very excellent private practitioners in Hobart Town and Launceston, as well as a few in other parts of the country: so that there is no want of medical attendance, although, in such a climate, it is not much required.

There is no difficulty of communication by letters; mails being transported on horseback to all the principal districts in the country, and the more distant settlers send their letters to particular places appointed for them. The rates are yet rather high, but some new arrangement was about to be made regarding the postage, as well as to make the days of dispatch more numerous.

In the Appendix will be seen a few memoranda regarding the Public Institutions and Establishments of the Colony, which will give some idea of its rising importance.

* The last work that I have seen was by a person of the name of Widowson, published in 1829, and is pretty correct in the main; but as a Colonial Guide, I would strongly recommend the Hobart Town Almanac, published in Hobart Town, by Dr. Ross, the Editer of the Government Gazette and Hobart Town Courier. This little work contains a most useful itinerary of the country, which is yearly being- improved, and a great deal of very valuable information. It is embellished by some good plates, executed in the Colony. To it I am indebted for a great many of the facts contained in this volume, corroborated by my own knowledge.

CHAPTER X.

State of Gardening in the Colony.

It is not ray intention to attempt writing a treatise under this head, there being many works to be found in the Colony from which the emigrant will obtain far better instructions than I could give him regarding the colonial mode of gardening. The seasons in Van Dieman's Land may be divided as follows. The Spring commences in September, the Summer in December, the Autumn in March, and the Winter in June. It is some time before the emigrant from the northern hemisphere gets reconciled to this complete inversion of the seasons. Christmas falls in the midst of summer; and the state of the weather quite outrages all the associations of ideas he has so long cherished as connected with this period of festivity. Time, however, accustoms him to this, as well as to seeing the indigenous evergreens covered with foliage in the depth of winter. Trees grown from imported seeds, or cuttings, shed their leaves in the autumn of this country the same as in Europe.

The climate seems peculiarly favorable to raising all kinds of vegetable productions; the only thing they suffer from, are the night frosts in summer, which, however, do not prevail so much near Hobart Town and Launceston, as in the more elevated parts in the interior of the island. They may, I think, be attributed to "the immense forests retaining the moisture, which is acted upon by the piercing winds from which, in the present open and uninclosed state of the country, the plants are not at all defended. As the woods get cleared and hedgerows more extensively introduced, the effect of these frosts may be expected to be very much diminished. The hawthorn, whin, and all other plants fit for this purpose, grow most luxuriantly, and the planting of them is coming extensively into practice. Fruit trees of all kinds grow most rapidly, and what is surprising to an European, generally commence bearing in the third year. Apple orchards have been formed to a great extent: much of the fruit is of a very good quality, and grows to an immense size. An apple 15½ inches in circumference, and weighing from 17 to 19 ounces, is not uncommon. The crop was so enormous this year as to be literally thrown away. The making of cider is only just now beginning to be thought of; but some of the colonists now perceive what an excellent beverage may be obtained for themselves and servants, with little expense and trouble, and are turning their attention to this. It is to be hoped, that ere many years have elapsed, the making of cider will afford an export, and at the same time tend to diminish the present great consumption of spirits. Peaches, apricots, and nectarines, grow very luxuriantly, and bear abundantly; but being, for the most part, from seedlings, they are of an inferior sort. The peaches in particular abound so much as to be left to rot on the ground, or are thrown to the piers.

Grafting is becoming extensively practised: and we may hope, in a few years, to see as fine varieties of fruit here, as in any part of the world. Damsons, plums, and green-gages; cherries, pears and quinces, are all to be had, but for the reasons I have assigned, are not generally very good. The grape vine grows so well here, and bears so plentifully, as to afford reasonable hopes that at some future period it will not be found impracticable to manufacture wine. Some little was made from grapes, in a garden near Hobart Town, buthad not attained a sufficient age to allow of any judgment being formed. A gentleman had taken a suburb allotment, near Hobart Town, intending to form a vineyard for the purpose of making experiments on the manufacture of wine. Gooseberries and currants are grown of the finest size and quality. The crops of raspberries are, however, the most astonishing. The bushes grow to an enormous height, and bear such quantities of fruit, as have, in all probability, never been seen any where else. A great deal of most excellent jam is made and sold in the towns, as well as jellies and preserves from many other sorts of fruit, of a very good quality. The cheapness of sugar, and the abundance of the fruit, will, I have no doubt, ere long, induce the Colonists to turn their attention to sending: these luxuries to the Indian market.

Strawberries grow very well, but are not as yet abundant.

Vegetables of all kinds are most plentiful in the Colony, and of the finest quality. I have, indeed, heard people from England pronounce them better than in the mother country, and there is far less trouble in rearing them at almost any season of the year, from the general mildness of the climate; as an instance of which, geraniums are grown in the open air, attaining a great size, and being in bloom all the year. That tender plant, mignionette, may be said never to be out of blossom. In fact I need not expatiate any longer on this subject; but shall shortly state, that every thing that can be grown in England may be raised here of the finest quality; and that most of the vegetable productions of Southern Europe, which require so much care and expense to be bestowed upon them in England, may be had without much of either in this Colony.

So many good descriptions of the natural and animal productions indigenous to this Island are extant, that it would be superfluous in me to repeat what has already been so well told; and to them I refer the reader. I shall only say a few words of the aboriginal natives of the country in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XI.

Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land.

There is, probably, not a more debased race on the face of the globe than the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land; they may almost be said to form the connecting link between man and the monkey tribes. They are jet black, with woolly hair; ugly features, and ill-made limbs. They have a miserable appearance; and, from their mode of life, are very subject to cutaneous disorders. From all that we have been able to learn regarding them, they do not appear to have made the slightest approach, even to the simplest arts known among the most uncivilized savagesj with the exception of making their spears, and waddies or clubs. The former are made out of the straight branches of the native tea tree, and are generally from 10 to 12 feet long; of the thickness of a man's middle finger at about two feet from the point, and tapering off towards the opposite end. The point is made very sharp, by scraping with a flint and hardened in the fire. Constant practice has given them infinite dexterity in using this simple weapon, which they discharge with such force as to go right through a man at 40 yards off; and to penetrate several inches into the back of a tree, at half that distance. I may mention as an instance of the strength with which they throw their spears, that on examining the body of a man who had been killed by them, one of his ribs was found by the surgeon to have been completely split longitudinally, as if done by the point of a bayonet or dirk. They also make use of the spear in killing kangaroos and other animals for food. The waddie is a sort of club, made of heavy wood, and varies from 2½ to 4 feet in length. In some that have been seen, rude attempts at carving have been made, by scratching them over with cross lines. This is used to knock out the brains of their enemies in war; and they can very dexterously bring down any object at a considerable distance, by hurling this club at it. Both male and female go entirely naked; they build no huts; the nearest approach they have made to so doing, being in peeling off pieces of bark from the trees, and sticking them up loosely, leaning against each other, so as to form a semi-circular shelter to windward. They wander about constantly from place to place, living upon the kangaroos they spear, or the opossums they find in the hollow trees; to reach which they climb up by means of notches made alternately on either side, with a sharp flint, each of which is just large enough to hold the great toe. They are sometimes, however, so hard pressed for food as to live upon grubs and any kind of vermin they can find—even what they pick off of each other. At night they generally sleep huddled round a small fire in a circle; each person in a sitting posture, between the legs of the one behind him; thus all have a portion of the heat, and assist in keeping each other warm. They are remarkably fond of the dogs of Europeans, always having numbers with them; and the women have been known to suckle the young pups along with their children. Nothing is certainly known regarding the amount of the aboriginal population: they are, however, supposed to be but few in numbers, and those gradually diminishing by wars among the different tribes, sickness, and the great disproportion of births to the deaths. Notwithstanding the length of time that Europeans have possessed this Colony, but little information has been obtained regarding the manners and customs of the native tribes. Hostilities unfortunately commenced at the first establishment of the Colony, by the officer commanding the troops having fired on a party of the natives that were approaching, supposing their intentions to be hostile. Matters were afterwards accommodated, and the natives used occasionally to come into the towns and about the farms, and when met in the woods were peaceable. Within the last three years, however, they have become very hostile, and murdered many of the shepherds at the solitary stock huts. In 1828 they were so troublesoihe that a cordon was established by a Government regulation, dated 15th April of that year, within which they were not to be allowed to enter. Their aggressions, however, increased so rapidly that, in November of the same year, martial law was proclaimed against them, except in some districts, which were particularly specified. These people are not individually formidable, either from their courage or personal strength; but their mode of approach is so insidious, and their colour makes it so difficult to distinguish them, when standing still, from the numerous black stumps of trees that have been burned down, that they generally succeed in spearing the person they mean to attack, before he has the slightest idea of their vicinity; and they then rush in, and dispatch their unfortunate victim, by beating him on the head with their waddies. The settlers generally supply those of their servants who have to go about much in the woods, with muskets and ammunition; but as soon as the alarm of any late attack has subsided, they are generally too lazy to carry their arms; or if they do take them with them, they commonly fire with such precipitation, as to do no execution; and have thus, in a great measure, removed from the minds of the natives the fear that they at first entertained of the weapons of Europeans. A single person who perceives their approach, and has presence of mind sufficient to reserve his fire, can always keep a whole crowd of them at bay, and may retire before them by frequently presenting his musket; but if he allows himself to be dared into discharging it, they then run in upon him with their spears. There are scarcely any instances of their having attacked persons on horseback, even in the most solitary parts of the country.

It has been the policy of Government to try and conciliate these people as much as possible, and, when practicable, to take them alive. The prisoners are kept on Brune Island, and attempts are making to instruct them, with the view of ultimately making them the means of communicating to the wandering tribes that no hostile feeling was entertained against them, if they chose to remain quiet. During the last year, parties under different police officers have been employed in ranging the country to take them; but have had but little success. One of these parties was accompanied by a black native, but it is supposed he more often led them astray than towards the object of their search; as had he possessed the will, there is no doubt of his ability to find the retreats of his countrymen: for, from constant practice, their keenness in tracking any moving thing from the slightest indications, is most astonishing. Another party had a Sydney native with them, and frequently succeeded in surprising the blacks. In the different skirmishes that took place, some were taken, and a few killed; and their attacks upon the stock huts in some measure prevented, by their being harassed from one place to another.

Formerly their murders were chiefly confined to shepherds, whom they accidentally met, while migrating from one part of the island to the other, at different seasons of the year; as they remain on the coasts in winter, and go to the high parts of the interior in summer. Of late, however, their object seems to have been plunder and devastation, and their attacks too have been carried on systematically; and, what is the worst feature in their atrocities, they have commenced burning fences and detached thatched cottages, by discharging their spears into the latter, with light stuck on the end. Those parties of them who have been seen, are observed to be unaccompanied by women; and the attacks have succeeded so rapidly to one another at very distant points, as to leave it doubtful whether they are made by the same or different parties. As may be imagined, the alarm caused by their atrocities is great, and thtf Government has, in consequence, offered a reward of five pounds tor each native brought in alive. Nothing effectual will be done, I am convinced, till the tone of moderation is abandoned, and the strong arm of power made use of. In such cases, mercy has always proved to be cruelty. There is no doubt that great oppression has been formerly exercised on these people by the ticket-of-leave men,and distant stock-keepers; and their feelings outraged, by assaults upon their women, which has driven them to open war: but their vengeance falls upon the unoffending, and even upon women and children, as in their wrath they make no discrimination of sex or age. In their ignorance of the moral rules that guide the conduct of civilized man, our forbearance is attributed to fear. Such was the case in Sydney, where they attacked the Colonists in all parts of the country, until a strong detachment of soldiers was sent to scour the woods, who killed all before them. Since then they have been quite peaceable; and their acuteness,in assisting the constabulary, in tracking bushrangers, has contributed greatly to the putting down that banditti. Were Sydney natives brought to Van Diemen's Land for the purpose of tracing the aborigines of that island, and substantial rewards offered for their apprehension, dead or a live, (the larger sum being awarded for those who were brought in alive,) I am convinced that the country would be free of this pest in six months. Even the paltry reward that has been offered already will tend to do some good; as there are numbers of the native youth and stock-keepers, who live so much in the woods, that they have become nearly as expert in threading their snares, as the blacks themselves: and although they may not take many, still agood number will probably be killed in the attempt, and the remainder intimidated. So impressed had the Government become of the imperious necessity of some energetic measures, that it was intended to turn out all the military, and to call upon the settlers to assist in putting them down: and I think there is every reason to hope, that, ere long, we shall hear that the Colony is relieved from the aggressions of these savages, which at present I conceive to be the only drawback on settling. Where, however, the establishments are large, the buildings numerous, and not thatched, there is but little danger; the natives being afraid to approach, from not knowing the numbers that may be ready to oppose them, and ftiey cannot use fire to assist in causing confusion and dismay.

APPENDIX.

A.

A short account of Port Louis, in the Mauritius,
IN JUNE, 1829.

The voyage from the Sandheads is generally performed, during the North-east monsoon, in about a month, or five weeks at the most. The rate of passage money is from 4 to 600 Rupees for a single person, according to the cabin and the season of the year. Ships generally make Round Island to the north of the Mauritius; and if in the day time or a moonlight night, pass between it and another Island, called the Quoin, which is very high land indeed. The passage is narrow, but safe. The appearance of Port Louis, as you approach from the sea, is not, I think, very imposing, being situated in a hollow, at the foot of high mountains: you cannot discern its real size; the coast and mountains, however, have an air of wild magnificence. The harbour is small, but safe. The entrance is narrowed up by shoals, the channel being marked out by buoys, the removal of which would always prevent an enemy standing in with safety, even if he had a fair wind for so doing, which is very seldom the case here. Two batteries, Fort Blance to the west, and the Isle Tonnelier to the east, defend the mouth. The S. E. trade prevailing all the year round, ships can only sail to the entrance, where they bring to at the Bell Buoy; so called, from its being furnished with a mast, to the top of which a large bell is attached, the tolling of which is very audible when there is any swell. From this place ships are warped from buoy to buoy into the harbour, where they lay moored in tiers: the large ones laying farthest out, the water near the shore only admitting vessels of about 200 tons when they are laden. In the hurricane months of January, to about the 15th April, the roads are very unsafe; and the only chance for a ship is to slip and get to sea with the beginning of it: if this is delayed till the wind gets to seaward, nothing can save it. It was thus that the Canning was lost, while riding quarantine at the Bell Buoy. The harbour is quite safe at all seasons. Previous to reaching the Bell Buoy, ships are boarded by the pilot boat, in which is also the port doctor. Should they have brought a clean bill of health, have had no sickness on board, or communication with any other vessel during the passage, the pilot and doctor come on board, and the former carries the ship to an anchor at the buoy. Should, however, the necessary qualifications be wanting, the pilot keeps alongside in his boat and directs the vessel to the buoy, where she is put in quarantine for a period; a yellow flag being the mark to prevent communication. Much alarm is felt here regarding infectious complaints, on account of the slave population, a mortality among whom is such a serious and irremediable loss to the proprietors. On the doctor's coming on board, he musters every one in the ship, assisted by a clerk frsm the Port Office, and lists and reports are made out. No one is allowed to land till the ship has been reported at the Port Office. Passengers may, however, accompany the captain when he goes ashore for that purpose. The harbour is divided as regards rates for landing baggage, goods, and passengers, into the outer and inner harbour: a baggage boat to the outer harbour is 8 shillings, and a ferry boat is 2 shillings: to the inner the former is 4 shillings and the latter one. Outside of all is three dollars, or twelve shillings. The boats are mostly rowed by blacks, dressed as Europeans, and speaking Creole French, which has a curious effect on strangers. Great impositions are attempted by the boatmen here, as well as at other sea ports, particularly on Anglo-Indians, who are considered rich, and fair game. There are one or two boat proprietors always to be found on the wharf, and the best way is to give them your baggage pass, and a list of your things, and they will land them, and cart them to wherever you may have taken up your abode, and save you all trouble. The water in the harbour is generally very smooth, and the rise and fall of the tide very slight. Masse's Hotel, in a quiet street, off the Chaussee, is the only one in the town where they lodge as well as feed you. This is a very clean well arranged house, and the attendance is very good. The charges are, I think, not so exorbitant, considering how dear all articles of supply are in the Island: the rates are, one dollar (or piastre of 4 shillings) for breakfast, two piastres for dinner, 1/4 of a dollar for coffee in the evening, and 3/4 of a piastre for lodging, letting you have the use of a sitting room. The food is of course principally in the French mode of cooking, but very good:—beef, pork, veal, and poultry; and also most excellent fish. Mutton is but seldom seen, being very dear. As much vin de barique is given at dinner as the guests choose to drink; but it is not very recommendable. Very good St. Julien Medoc, Chateaux Margaux, and other light French wines, can be had from the merchants at about 6 piastres per dozen, in cases; and the proprietors of the inns have no objection to the guests buying and drinking their own wine. Unfurnished lodgings are to be had in the town, at about 20 to 30 dollars per month, for a suite of three or four rooms; and meals can be obtained from the traiteurs, who send them at any hour you wish, and the prices are in proportion to the sort of fare desired. This is a convenient way of living, and more reasonable than a hotel; but the best plan, I should think, for a family would be, to hire what is called a pavilion in the suburbs, or some of the more retired streets. These are small houses, built of wood, and many of them neatly fitted up and papered, containing three or four rooms, which can be hired at 20 to 30 dollars per month. A cook can be hired at 12 dollars per month, who will do every thing:—the master or mistress can go to market in the morning, if they prefer doing it to sending the servant, such being the fashion of the place. Other servants, both male and female, can be had if required. By looking in the Gazette a stranger will find out what servants are to be had on hire. They are the property of individuals who live by thus hiring out their slaves, who give them all the money they earn; the person who hires them being also obliged to feed them. Fowls and beef are brought principally from Madagascar. Pork, of which a great deal is consumed by the inhabitants, is reared on the Island. Mutton is seldom seen even at the best supplied tables, from its being so very expensive. The principal supply is from India and the Cape. Seven dollars is the lowest sum paid for a sheep out of the ship. Vegetables are plentiful and good. Fruit is sufficiently abundant in the season, but dear. Potatoes are brought from Bourbon. Indeed, land and slaves have begun to be so valuable for the cultivation of sugar, that every thing is imported that can be obtained from abroad. It is now very difficult to have slaves for domestic servants on that account; none of the landed proprietors making a profit of their services in that way. Grooms are more hard to be got than any other: their wages are 10 dollars per month, and they cut grass enough to supply one horse; and grain for the animal's food will cost about 10 dollars more. Horses are principally supplied from the Cape, and fetch large prices. 300 dollars is a common price for one of no particular figure. They are a cross of the English, whom they resemble much, though smaller, and are considered hard workers. Ponies, from Timor, sell at very high rates: 200 dollars not being considered at all out of the way. Mules are much used of late in carts, and are imported from France and Spain. Some of them are immense animals, and fetch even heavier prices than the horses. When slaves were less required on the plantations, they were more employed to drag carts, with a strap round the chest. Some are still so. Steam engines are also greatly used now, bo as to enable the planters to put the slaves to tilling the lands. The great want at present felt in the Isle of France is manual labour, and there was a plan in agitation while I was there, for introducing Chinese, which I have since heard has been carried into execution. The roads in the Island are very good, on McAdam's principle, and are kept in order by native convicts from India, and by slaves who have marooned. The last are slaves belonging to private individuals or Government, who have run off to the woods and have been caught. They are kept at work for a certain time on the roads, some in chains, and others not, according to their degree of guilt, and then returned to their owners. The greater number of Indian convicts have only a light iron ring on one leg, are well clothed, and look happy: and seem to go a good deal at large. The regulations regarding slaves are very strict: none are allowed to wear shoes,—that being the mark of freedom here; and all are to be housed after retreat beating in the barracks at 8 o'clock. If out after that, they must either have a lantern or a written pass from their masters. They seem to be very well treated, and, excepting the name of slave, appear to be better off than the general run of domestic servants. On the plantations, however, slavery is much more apparent; being marched out in gangs, with a driver after them, armed with a whip, which is occasionally used to enforce the proper quantity of labour. Slaves, however, have become so valuable, from the importation having been entirely stopt, and the births not equalling the deaths, that, in general, they are taken great care of, and well treated. Their principal food is salt fish, salt beef from Madagascar, rice, and a bitter vegetable called bret, which is almost an indispensable article at every meal with the whole of the Creole population. Scarcely anything is raised on the Island for consumption. Rice is imported from India; wheat from the Cape of Good Hope, India, and sometimes, though rarely, from Van Diemen's Land; bullocks and fowls from Madagascar; and a number of vessels, colonial property, are employed in this trade. The voyage takes from 18 days to 6 weeks, there and back, according to the sailing of the vessel. The bullocks are stowed on deck and in the 'tween decks; and of course many die on the passage in bad weather. A vessel of 300 tons will carry about 150 bullocks. The prices at Tamatave, on the Eastern Coast, which is the port most resorted to, vary from 8 to 12 dollars, and they fetch at Port Louis from 25 to 50 dollars: they must, however, be very scarce to fetch the last mentioned sum; the common rate is about 35 dollars. While I was at Port Louis a brig came in from Hobart Town loaded with the produce of that colony. She brought spars, shingles for roofing, potatoes, cows and sheep. The potatoes fetched from 8 to 10 dollars per cwt.; Cows from £25 to £33; Sheep from £2 to £3. Since then several similar cargoes have been sent from the same place, and I have no doubt have succeeded very well. A very large quantity of the coarse sugars are exported annually from Port Louis to Hobart Town and Sydney. Oranges are imported from Bourbon. Coffee is smuggled from thence, there being a prohibitive duty on this product, to force the growth on the Island. Dried fruits and a little wine are brought from the Cape. The principal wines consumed, are the lighter French Clarets. Madeira, Port, and the stronger wines are but little drank, even among the English. Tobacco is grown here, and much smoked in the shape of segars; but those accustomed to the use of Manillas and Havannas, say that the Colonial are good for nothing, and tasteless. Good preserves are made from the native fruits, and very excellent liqueurs. The wild raspberry is very abundant, and good with milk and sugar.

There are stairs at the wharf for landing at, from which you go up a broad street, called the Place d'armes; and the Government house immediately faces you on landing, at the upper end of this street, down which it has a view, as well as over the harbour. It is a two storied building, of rather a mean appearance, forming three sides of an oblong, and open towards the Place, at which end there is an iron railing and a gateway. The basement is of stone, and the vtpper stories of wood and weather boarded, with a sloping shingled roof. There are verandas towards the court, with Venetians in the Indian fashion, forming a gallery of communication all round the building. On the right hand side of the Place, on landing, is the Post Office, and next to it the Mainguard, where the band of one of the regiments plays every morning for a short period, when the guards are relieved. At the right corner of the street is the Garrison Reading Room: this is furnished with newspapers and periodicals, and it is intended to raise a library, by degrees, from the subscriptions. Most strangers, especially military, are introduced to this by some member. The Custom House is down on the left side of the harbour, close to the water, in a large stone building. It is necessary to go here to get a pass for your baggage, both on landing and embarking, for each of which you pay sixpence, and no examination takes place. Near the landing place is a covered wooden building, open all round, and furnished with wooden benches, which goes by the name of Scandal Bench. It is the resort of all people who wish to hear the on dits of the day, and is generally full when vessels are coining in, as it is supplied by subscription witli two spyglasses; and there is a wooden turret close by, much like a belfry in appearance, whence vessels coming in may be descried. Notices of arrivals and departures, as well as advertisements, are stuck up here. The Post Office and the Deputy Master Attendant's house are close to it, and a little lower down are two long covered sheds, where goods entering are landed, and appraised by the king's appraiser, in order to levy the duties. On the left hand side of the landing place is a fountain of the finest water. It is brought, by means of an aqueduct, from the hills, and is constantly running. It is close to the edge of the wharf, and a hose being attached, boats have only to lay alongside and fill their casks in a very short time, which must be a very great convenience. The town is very well supplied with water, by means of fountains, in various other parts of it; and those houses that are at a distance from them, get their little bariques filled for the daily consumption by slaves, who earn a living by so doing. Exactly at the back of the Government house is a broad street, called the Rue de Gouvernement, which leads up to the Champ de Mars. This is the finest street in the whole town, and contains the best houses. It is bordered, for nearly its whole length, by trees on each side, under which is the footpath. About half way up, but standing back, and having a green in front, with a huge stone crucifix and a fountain, is the principal Catholic church. This is a massive stone building, possessing nothing striking in its appearance externally; nor is there any thing worth looking at inside. It is very plainly, not to say meanly, fitted up; and the ornaments used on days of ceremony appear very paltry, to those who have seen the magnificent accompaniments of the Catholic ritual, as exhibited in the splendid cathedrals, on the continent of Europe.

Most of the streets have trottoirs, but being made of rough and pointed stones, they are not the most pleasant in the world to walk upon: the best is in the Chaussee, which street consists almost entirely of shops; among which, the most frequently recurring are those of silversmiths, tinmen, and shoemakers. The former exhibit a fine display, but their prices are most exorbitant; so much so, that an Englishman who had just opened a shop while I was there, was in a fair way of making a fortune, by the comparative reasonableness of his charges. Pastry cooks and confectioners are very numerous in all the streets, the Creoles being very partial to bon bons. It is necessary, in walking the streets, to be on the look out for carts and carriages; the former run over you without ceremony or warning; and the French here seem, in general, such bad drivers and riders, that no street appears wide enough for them, and they run you down in spite of themselves. The Champ de Mars is an open plain, of about half a mile across; of a circular form, with hills rising from it on three sides, amphitheatre-wise; and having trees and abundance of grass upon them, they look very pretty. On the fourth side is the town, a splendid view of which, the harbour, roads, and sea, is to be had from near the foot of the hills. It is really a most picturesque sight, and can be often contemplated without satiety. On two sides of the Champ are a single row of houses. Many of them are neat pretty dwellings; with the ground round them tastefully laid out into lawn and shrubbery, and are inhabited by some of the chief people of the place. In this field is the Race Course, of about f of a mile in circumference, where races are held every year, about the month of July, which is the winter of this southern hemisphere, and the pleasantest weather. Many horses are entered, principally belonging to the English, the French joining but little in an amusement so uncongenial to their national habits. The ground is hard, and not very well adapted for the sport; and there are several sharp turns in it. Morning and evening the better classes of the inhabitants, but principally the English, are to be seen here, taking the air and exercise, in carriages and on horseback. Every evening a band, from one of the regiments in garrison in the town, plays here; and in fine weather a great concourse of people assemble, in carriages, on horseback, and on foot, to listen to the music, and see and be seen. The scene is a very lively one, from the motley group assembled of mulattoes and slaves, all in their holiday dresses, and looking happy and gay. Formerly there used to be two bands, but on one occasion they were so grossly insulted by the French, including even people who, from their appearance, should have known better, and pelted with stones, that the officers present marched them off, and their playing was altogether put a stop to. This was felt as a great deprivation, and on the intercession of some of the most respectable inhabitants, one band was again given. From the upper end of the Champ de Mars, a very romantic road leads in among the hills, to what is called the cascade. The scenery the whole way is very beautiful. The barracks for the troops are situated on the west side of the town. They are strongly built of stone and lime, and are very extensive; the officers as well as men having quarters in them. The bead quarters of two regiments are always in garrison, at Port Louis; and one at Mahebourg, or Grand Port, on the south-east side of the Island. The troops are very much dispersed into detachments and posts, all over the Island. There is also a datachment of artillery, in a separate barrack in the town, commanded by a Colonel; and a company of the staff corps, who, with their officers, are employed about the country, in civil works for its improvement.

There is no great communication between the English residents and French inhabitants; and still less, apparently, between the latter and military. Quarrels, however, as far as I could learn, were very rare, which is certainly not owing to the goodness of the Police, which is confessedly wretched. It is under the charge of a chief and assistant, both English: and there are numerous gens d' armes, as they are called, attached to the department. They are a sort of foot militia, dressed in blue and red, with cotton aiguillettes and shakoes, black belts and swords, and are poor-looking subjects enough. All strangers are expected to report themselves on arrival at the Police Office, which is in the Rue de Gouvernement.

Public amusements are not very numerous. The Theatre is a large stone building, in the Rue de Gouvernement; and were its interior painted and put to rights, would be very neat. It was originally built by subscription of 500 dollars per share; but the share-holders have made a very losing concern of it. The present company came from France, about two years since; and for a provincial one are very fair in their acting: the music and singing are generally very good. There are a few hired performers in the Orchestra, but they are much assisted by amateurs. When any favourite opera is to be performed, there is always a very strong band of them. The scenery is very poor; but the actors manage to dress themselves splendidly, pursuing mostly some avocation in addition to the theatre. Madame Tournois, the first actress and singer, is the best dress maker in Port Louis; and Mr. Charles Marc, who is the first male performer, teaches music and singing to families; and so on the others. The performances take place thrice a week; but the manager has lost much, it is said, by his lease. During the cold months the house is well attended, the planters and their families coming in from the country to reside in town during the gay season: but at other times the receipts are very small. The entrance to the first boxes and pit is one piastre, and to the upper boxes half a one. The first mentioned are reserved for people of pure blood, that is without any intermixture of black, whether born in Europe or the colony: the latter for free blacks, people of colour, and those who have any black blood in their veins, however remote. Among the latter, many are so fair as not to be distinguished from Europeans, and some of the prettiest women are to be found in that class. The distinction, however, is very strictly enforced: purity of blood being a passport to the first boxes, even for women of no good fame. Marriages are not permitted between the whites and the mulattresses; and as the latter will not intermarry with people of their own class, morals, as may be supposed, are at a very low ebb among them, principally arising from these distinctions. All born in the Island, of European parents, are called Creoles; and the half breeds, mulattoes. Invitations to Government house are regulated on the same footing; and even many low in rank, such as shopkeepers and small merchants, are included in the list, having this necessary qualification. This last class also consider themselves entitled to the privileges of the duel, having this passport to gentility in the purity of their blood. Much jealousy exists between these French whites and the mulattoes; though the latter do not seem to entertain the same feeling towards the English. The suburbs called the Camp, are mostly inhabited by this class, and an Englishman can pass through them at all hours, whereas a Frenchman will frequently be subject to insult and assault. Many disturbances used to take place between them at the Theatre; and as the Police is not very efficient, it was found necessary to reinforce them by a Serjeant's guard, from the troops in garrison, which attends every night of performance. The lease of the present manager expires in August, and although many subscriptions have been proposed for the purpose of keeping them in the Island, they have not succeeded, and it is supposed the performers will go to Bourbon, when their engagement expires. This will, I should think, be felt as a great loss by the French inhabitants of Port Louis, as many of them seem nightly attendants: but it does not appear, however, to open their pursestrings. Neither the English residents, nor the officers of the garrison, are much seen at the Theatre. Two of the stage boxes are kept sacred; the one on the right side, for the Governor and his suite and civil officers; that on the left for the officers of the garrison; and into this most strangers go. The house will contain, I should think, about 1000 or 1200 people. Most of the balls and public amusements take place in it, the stage and pit being boarded over, even with the first boxes. There was formerly another theatre in the Chaussee, which has been pulled down, and the vacant space is being planted with trees, apparently intended for a public place of resort. Near this is another piece of open ground, where it is intended, I believe, to establish a second market. The present market place is near the port; it is extensive, and very well supplied with every thing. Long rows of open sheds have been built, under which the market people expose what they have for sale. The busiest time is about 8 o'clock in the morning, when it is crowded with people making their purchases. Mistresses of families commonly go, attended by a servant; and on Sundays the place is crowded with well dressed women, many of whom go as much to be seen as any thing else, I believe. The market is a perfect lounge on that day. The streets are mostly built at right angles with each other; and the generality of the houses of wood, with shingled roofs, which, after some exposure to the weather, assume a leaden hue, and, at a distance, have all the appearance of slates. The rooms in the better houses are lofty and well ventilated, as is necessary in a tropical climate; but the Pavilions in the suburbs, as they are called, are very small—mere wooden boxes; and it is astonishing how closely the population is packed in these small places. Nearly the whole of the eastern side of the town was burnt down in the great fire of 1816, and has not as yet been entirely rebuilt. The houses here have been reconstructed on a much more substantial plan than formerly, the walls being principally of stone, of which there is a great abundance, fit for the purposes of building, in the immediate neighbourhood; and the roads and streets are excellent, from the abundance of capital stuff for mettalling them. The doors and windows in every house are furnished with strong wooden shutters, and immense fastenings of iron—this is a necessary precaution, on account of the hurricanes, at which time every aperture is carefully closed; for such is the fury of the wind, that were it once to get into the interior of the house, the roof would most probably be lifted off. Precautions against thieves are also not to be neglected, robberies being frequent in the town, and most commonly perpetrated by the Maroons.

The appearance of Port Louis is, I think, very striking to a stranger from India. The motley population of whites, mulattoes and slaves, with their various and often gay dresses;—the sound of the French language on every side, with the extraordinary jargon used by the mulattoes and slaves;—the seeing the streets crowded with people dressed in the European fashion on foot, and among them so many well dressed females;—carts drawn by horses and mules;— the houses and streets, that remind him of an old French town;— the wild scenery all round, and the trees and shrubs common to tropical climates,—form such a mixture of discordant objects, that while, on the one hand, the manners of the people, and the appearance of many things, will almost persuade him he has returned to Europe: on the other, the climate, and a variety of trifles, will as forcibly remind him that he is but a few degrees removed from India; forming altogether a scene so new and varied, as will not, I imagine, fail to surprise every one on landing. The climate, as may be supposed from its latitude, is hot; but we know that it is colder in low southern latitudes than in corresponding northern ones; and this being a small Island, exposed to the effect of a constant trade, blowing from a cold quarter, by which the heat of the sun is much tempered, and its effects are rendered far less injurious, people go out on foot at all hours of the day, using only the precaution of carrying an umbrella. It is found to be a healthy climate, and the diseases to which the people are subject are but few. To a person understanding the French language, I think this Island must afford a very pleasant residence. The English residents are hospitable, and easily accessible to strangers; and the higher classes of the French are distinguished by that urbanity for which the people has long been celebrated. Morning visiting is but little in vogue among the latter; but of an evening all the houses are thrown open, and lighted brilliantly, by large hanging lamps, in which cocoanut oil is burnt. Dancing is very common, some lady or gentleman generally furnishing the music, and any person having a visiting aquaintance with the family, is welcome, should be choose to drop in. The present Governor, Sir Charles Colville and his lady, are deservedly popular with all classes of the inhabitants, from the condescension of their manners and their politeness and attention to all. Persons arriving at Port Louis are expected to pay their respects to his Excellency on his levee day, which is Wednesday. The aide-de-camp in waiting acts as master of the ceremonies in introducing persons. During the cold months the Governor and family reside in town, and the rest of the year at their country house, called Reduit, about 7 miles out, which is much cooler; the Governor only coming in on Wednesday, to receive visits and transact particular business. Strangers of respectability are generally invited to spend a few days at the country house. The cold months are the season of gaiety; balls and fetes of all sorts are then very abundant. A grand ball is given at the Government house every year, to which every one entitled to the compliment, is invited. There have been as many as 1,200 people present, of which more than one half were females, dressed in the best style. I think I never saw an equal number of females who dressed so tastily, and with such simple materials. The generality of the ladies have a profusion of beautiful hair, in the arranging of which great care is bestowed, a hair dresser attending almost every day for the purpose; the number of these artistes is consequently great, and, their charge being but small, they are retained by the month.

The population of the Island seem to be universally musical, in every house you see an instrument of some kind, and in walking the streets you hear practising in almost every one. The slaves even whistle and sing all the popular airs with great correctness. There are two associations of amateurs, who perform concerts both vocal and instrumental, to which the friends of the performers are admitted by tickets. One I attended was given at the Mason's Lodge, which is a large building at the back of the Catholic church. The place was crowded to suffocation, the ladies alone having chairs: the doors were so thronged that it required an hour's squeezing to get in. The amateurs were almost all French, the music was very excellent, and there were some solas performed that showed great skill and execution. Refreshments were liberally afforded to all those invited.

Another concert was given at the Theatre, and was even more numerously attended than the first I have mentioned. Several ladies sung on this occasion. An excellent supper was also given. Balls are very frequent during the winter. The race ball is a grand exhibition of the beauty and fashion of the place. They mostly are given at the Theatre, no other place in the town being large enough to hold the concourse of people. A bachelor's ball, given by subscription while I was there, was a very brilliant affair indeed. The theatre was very well lighted, and there must have been 800 people present, of whom full 400 were ladies, and all elegantly dressed. They were arranged in chairs all round the room, and in two rows, back to back up the middle. They shewed great dexterity and grace in dancing; as from the numbers present there was barely standing room: and how they managed to get on without jostling each other, was to me a matter of marvel. Waltzes and quadrilles were the order of the night; the music, consisting of fiddles and clarionettes, were stationed in the upper gallery, from whence the directions for the figure were thundered out by the leader of the band, in the French fashion. The supper was laid out in the saloon of the theatre, and was very splendid ; but as there was not room enough for all, the ladies sat down first, and the gentlemen took their turn after having waited upon their fair partners. In the upper gallery card tables were laid out, at which much high play was carried on; this being very prevalent here. Wines and refreshments in the drinking way were to be had all night, at tables placed for the purpose of distribution. No half breeds were admitted to this fete.

The best restaurateur and coffee-house in the town is Cognet's, opposite the theatre, which is much frequented. His first floor is laid out into billiard and card rooms, and are well furnished. He receives a certain monthly sum for upholding them, and furnishing refreshments, from an association or club of gentlemen, called the Circle. A great many English as well as French belong to this Club, to which members are admitted by ballot; any member being allowed to give a stranger a free admittance for one month. These rooms are well attended every night, and a good deal of play goes on, as well as at some other places of a less respectable character. There is nowhere any public billiard table, that I am aware of, where strangers can resort.

The English Church is now a complete ruin, and service is performed on Sundays in a private house. It was formerly a large powder magazine, and was converted into a place of worship, by piercing windows, and building a steeple. The adding of the latter, however, injured the roof, by breaking the arch work, and some time since it fell in. The misfortune happily took place when there was no one in the building.

There is considerable traffic along the coasts of the Island, and to Bourbon, by means of small Colonial craft; many passengers going to and coming from the latter place. All supplies for the town, from other parts of the Island, are generally brought coastwise. An attempt was some time since made to establish a steam-boat for these purposes, but the machine was found inadequate to propel the vessel against the heavy seas of this latitude, and she was turned into a dredge to keep the harbour clear. A larger vessel was fitted up while I was there, with a more powerful engine, and was expected to answer very well. The English currency is established by law here, but transactions are most commonly carried on in piastres of 4 shillings each. The Spanish Dollar passes at 4s. 4d., the Sicca Rupee at 2s. 1d., and all other Rupees at 1s. 11 d. Doubloons at 17⅓ piastres, or £3. 9. 4 each. There is a good deal of English money also current, as well as a great variety of other coins.

On leaving the Island it is necessary to advertize your intended departure one week before hand in the Gazette, to enable all persons having claims, to make them, or else the security of some person in the town must be given that all demands shall be paid; in default of this no passport will be granted, and no ship can leave the harbour unless all the passengers are furnished with them, a person from the police coming on board to examine and muster every one before the pilot dare take the ship out. These precautions are also in part to prevent slaves from absconding from the Island.

B.

PRICES OF STOCK, &c. IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND IN 1830.

Copy of actual Outlay made in forming a new Establishment in Van Diemen's Land, ivhicli may prove a Guide to new Settlers.

On this establishment one overseer and six men were employed.

Sawing timber cost £34. There was enough for a house of slabbed logs, 40 feet long, 12 broad, and 8 high; and a skilling behind, boarded floors, and boards for a loft—shingles enough for the house, and a large barn; and laths for the walls inside and out, and for the ceiling. A carpenter, lent by the Government, put the building together, for which he got his food. He and the man split the slabs for the house. A mason, also lent by Government, built a stone chimney; and did the lathing and plastering.—In this house were two rooms for the overseer, a kitchen, and the skilling for the men to sleep in.

c.

Van Diemen's Land.

THE DERWENT BANK.

The Meeting of the Shareholders of the DERWENT BANK, for the Election of a Director, in the room of Mr. Hackett, resigned, and for considering a proposition submitted to the Directors, for making certain changes in the present arrangement of the Bank, took place on Tuesday, the 23d March, 1830;

CAPTAIN WOOD in the chair.

The Chairman shortly stated to the Meeting the purposes for which it had been called,—the election of a new Director, and the consideration of certain proposals made by Mr. Hamilton, contained in a letter addressed by him to the Directors, which, with the reply of the Directors, he proposed to read to the Shareholders present. It would then be for them to decide upon the expediency of adopting the proposed new arrangements, in whole or in part.

The resignation of Mr. Hackett having been accepted, the Meeting proceeded to the election of a Director in his place, and Mr. Hamilton was declared duly elected, by ballot.

Mr. Hamilton's letter to the Directors and their reply were then read, as follows.

Hobart Town, February 15, 1830.

The following observations are respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Directors and Shareholders of the Derwent Bank:—

It is undeniable that Banking transactions should invariably be conducted with the utmost possible privacy, out of regard not only to the interests but the feelings of individuals; and it is manifest, that notwithstanding all the caution which can be observed in the operations of a numerous Joint-Stock Company, conducted by no less than seven Directors and two or three subordinate officers, disclosures may (though unintentionally) be made.

In adverting to this circumstance, as a defect in such a system, I am about to suggest a plan, which, in my humble judgment, will entirely remedy it in the Derwent Bank, without disturbing the constitution of the Company, or lessening the security of the Public.

Possessing already a large stake in the Institution, I feel a more than ordinary interest in its success, and I am now desirous, in conjunction with several of my friends, to invest in it funds to a much greater extent. We are prepared immediately to purchase the vacant shares, and we shall be able, if found requisite, materially to enlarge the existing capital. We cannot give stronger or more decided proofs than these of our conviction of the stability of the Bank, and of the entire success of the plan we have to propose for adoption.

The essentials of Bank management are Security, Secrecy, and Impartiality. The first, as respects the Derwent Bank, is indisputable; and, with the proprietory which we hope to retain, it will continue so: the second appears to me to be among so many Directors and officers almost unattainable: and the third will never be exercised so satisfactorily as by one or two individuals wholly unconnected with commerce or trade. The attainment of these objects would produce an increase of public confidence, and be followed by an extension of business and of consequent profit.

During our enquiries, personal and by agency, we nave not met with one dissentient opinion on these points; and, with my own impressions so confirmed, it may not be unreasonable to assume that if I exhibit a plan, which promises fairly to atchieve what is universally admitted to be so desirable,—and am willing to devote to its realization, the whole of my time and ability,—being ready, moreover, to relinquish my public employment for such purpose, and to extend my responsibility in the undertaking to so serious an amount,—I shall thereby entitle myself to the good opinion of the Directors and Proprietors generally, on the most satisfactory basis,—that of reciprocal benefit.

The plan which, on behalf of my friends, I have to submit to the Directors, and through them to the Proprietors, is as follows:—

1.—We are anxious to retain, if possible, every Shareholder who may be willing to promote the interests of the Establishment. There will remain with us, under any circumstances, not fewer than ten; but we should be glad of a much greater number.

2.—That we should act on that clause of the Deed of Settlement, which provides for a reduction of the number of Directors to three, upon its appearing expedient to do so.

3.—To place the actual management in the hands of two Directors only, who shall be stipendiary; their respective duties to be kept as distinct as possible, compatibly with the due conduct of business. The first to be the "Managing Director," and to have charge of the Discount branch. The second to be the "Cashier," having custody of the money, and performing the ordinary duties attached to that office. The third Director to be a gentleman of property resident in the interior.

4.—To abrogate the privilege originally conferred on holders of Ten Shares, of having constant access to the Direction Room.

5.—To confine the Discount transactions of the Bank, when practicable, solely to the knowledge of the Managing Director and Cashier, permitting no other persons whatever to have any information on the subject.

6.—To afford to the Public the additional facility of Discounting daily, a box to be placed in the office, and kept open until 12 o'clock each day, for the receipt of Bills,—answers to which may be given (in most cases) by 2 o'clock on the same day.

7.—To discount in like manner the promissory notes of individuals at three months' date, without requiring a second name; such individuals having previously given adequate security, by deposit of title deeds or otherwise, for such sum in the whole as they may wish to obtain a running credit for, and as may be agreed on.

By the foregoing arrangements it is apparent that the popular character of the institution will still be maintained, and it will not assume that of a private partnership; and in order to induce those to remain with us who will afford the plan encouragement, and to evince our determination to take no unfair advantage of our position, as the holders of so many shares as may command a majority of the votes, we pledge ourselves to purchase every share of the present owners which they may wish to dispose of, at any time between the 1st January and the 31st March in the next year, in cash, at the full value of the same, including the accruing dividend up to the day of purchase. Time and opportunity will thus be given to the parties interested, to ascertain the results of our scheme, to participate in them if profitable, or, in the event of disappointment, to retire without loss.

If however there are persons who would wish to retire at an earlier period, we hold ourselves ready to purchase their shares on terms nearly as favourable. We will give the amount paid on each of such shares, at the end of three months, (with interest thereon, at ten per cent, per annum,) from the date of tender to us. We offer this as a test of our entire confidence of success, and of our wish to compel no one to remain with us, (however desirous we may be to retain him,) if his views should not happen to coincide with ours.

If, by the proposed changes of management, there shall appear to the Directors to be a reasonable and fair expectation of benefit to the shareholders and to the public, then I trust they will concur in stating their sentiments accordingly, at a meeting of the Proprietory, to be convened for that purpose; and that the Directors will also pledge themselves to the support of my plan; and consequently of such a modification of the present arrangements of the Bank as will be necessary for its adoption.

W. H. HAMILTON.

The Directors of the Derwent Bank have read and considered the plan suggested in the paper which has been laid before the Board by Mr. Hamilton, relative to certain proposed changes in the present arrangements of the Bank; and being of opinion that that plan is calculated to benefit the public, they have resolved to recommend to the Proprietory that it should be adopted. The advantages of the increased accommodation offered in the 6th and 7th of Mr. Hamilton's propositions are obvious. How far the proposed changes are essential to the attainment of the very important objects of secrecy and impartiality, every one will judge for himself. It will be allowed that secrecy, in regard to a transaction, is best to be accomplished by few being, in the first instance, made acquainted with it; but lest Mr. Hamilton's observations should lead to an inference not intended by that gentleman, that the above are objects not yet attained, the Directors must remark that they have ever kept the occurrences at their Board entirely secret; and that, in no instance, has the discharge of their duties been influenced by private partialities or interests.

As Mr. Hamilton's plan involves an increased expenditure, there may be room to doubt whether the interests of individual Shareholders may be benefited by it, particularly at its outset. But the engagement offered, in regard to the purchase of shares, in securing such against loss, removes all objections that might have been urged on this ground.

The Directors consider that it will be for the interest of the Establishment that they should continue their management for some little time; and that Mr. Hamilton should, with a view to his future duties, be associated with them. They therefore recommend to the Proprietors that Mr. Hamilton should now be elected Director, in room of Mr. Hackett resigned; that he should also be appointed managing Director, and commence his services in that character, with an adequate salary, on the 1st of April; that the practice of discounting daily, and upon security, as proposed, should then be adopted; and that on the 1st July, when in that case, three of the present Directors would retire, Mr. Hamilton's plan should be brought into operation, in all its parts and details.

The Directors, in evidence of their approval of that plan, may be allowed to state, that they severally mean to remain in the Proprietory, and afford the Establishment their cordial support.

PATRICK WOOD,

JOHN KERR,

AND CROMBIE,

JOHN WALKER.

STEPHEN ADEY.

Derwent Bank, Davey Street, 22d Feb. 1830.

Some discussion took place upon this correspondence, respecting the accommodation to be afforded by extending the capital of the Bank —by confining the Management of the Discount branch to one Director instead of seven, as heretofore—by that Director being unconnected with trade—by the Bank being open for discounts daily—and by the advance of money upon a deposit of title deeds, without requiring additional names. The following resolutions were then moved and carried.

1.—That the Meeting approve of, and consent to, the arrangements which have been proposed by Mr. Hamilton, and recommended by the Directors in the correspondence just read.

2.—That in the opinion of this Meeting, those arrangements afford, on reasonable grounds, the best promise of advantage to the Bank and the public, and that they be forthwith adopted.

3.—That as Messrs. Kerr, Crombie, and Walker have, in further® ance of the proposed arrangements, intimated their intention to retire from the Board of Direction on the 30th June next, their functions shall accordingly cease at that date, after which the number of Directors shall not exceed three.

4.—That Mr. Hamilton be appointed managing Director, at a salary of Five Hundred Pounds per annum, from the first of April next: when his services are to be given exclusively to the affairs of the Bank.

5.—That the privilege now possessed by holders of ten shares, of having access to the Direction room, be annulled.

6.—That the Shareholders, sensible of the fairness and liberality which have been manifested by Mr. Hamilton and his friends, in reference to the proposed arrangements, and satisfied that the estimate of the advantages likely to accrue from them, is well founded, hereby pledge themselves cordially to support the Bank under its contemplated changes, and to promote its interests to the utmost.

7.—That the proceedings of this day be published in all the Hobart Town newspapers.

With reference to the 4th resolution, Mr. Hamilton stated, that as his plan could only come into operation in its full extent in July, he should decline to receive any emolument until that period.

P. WOOD, Chairman.

March 11, 1830.

D.

ASSIGNED SERVANTS.

The process of obtaining assigned servants, is—to apply by letter, expressing,—1st. The purpose for which the servant or servants are wanted. 2d. The settler's place of residence. 3d. The number of acres of land he occupies. 4th. The quantity of land he has in cultivation. 5th. The number of sheep he possesses. 6 th. The number of cattle, &c.; and 7th. the number of free and assigned servants he has in his employment at the time of his application; mentioning those, if any, who have left his service within the last six months, and for what cause. This letter must be addressed to the principal superintendent of convicts at Hobart Town, and inclosed under cover to the nearest police magistrate.

If the applicant does not reside near Hobart Town, or should find it inconvenient to attend there in person, he must employ an agent to do so, furnishing him with the means of defraying the necessary expenses attending the assignment. This expense is 21 shillings for a complete suit of slop clothing, supplied by Government from the ordnance store, for the issue of which, at that price, the principal superintendent supplies him with an order. The agents employed usually charge 5s. per man for their trouble, besides postage; and the servant must be furnished with the means of support during his journey to his new master's establishment, which is usually supplied him at the rate of 5s. for a day's journey of 30 miles, if a settler. The servant must be furnished with a pass from the police before leaving town, to obtain which, he gets an order from the principal superintendent's office.

By a Government notice, 10½ lbs. of meat, 12,½ lbs. of flour, (unsifted), 7 ozs. of sugar, 5½ ozs. of soap, and 2ozs. of salt, are prescribed as the week's provisions for an adult male servant, the supply of tea or tobacco being discretionary. The master is also required to furnish his servant with two suits of slop clothing, 3 pair of stock-keeper's boots, and a cap or hat, per annum. Also the use of a bed, made of woolbagging, and stuffed with wool or straw, two blankets and a rug:—all of which are the property of the master. These being regularly supplied, the Government disapproves the giving of money to the prisoner under any circumstances.

Female convict servants are allowed, upon the same authority, 5½ lbs. of meat, 8½ lbs. of flour, 20zs. of tea, 1/2lb. of sugar, 2 ozs. of soap, and 1½ ozs. of salt, per week*. The annual allowance of clothing being, one cotton gown, two bedgowns, three shifts, two flannel petticoats, two stuff petticoats, three pair of shoes, three calico caps, three pair of stockings, two neckkerchiefs, 5 check aprons, and a bonnet, not exceeding in the whole, the cost of £7; also a bed is supplied, the same as to the males.

When a prisoner becomes free, obtains a ticket of leave † or other indulgence, or is removed from his master's service for any crime or fault, his place will be supplied by another, on application to the principal superintendent, if there be sufficient hands at the time in the public works. No convict servant can be discharged, except under an order of a magistrate, or the special permission of his Excellency; and none can be considered useless, but those who, from physical causes, are proved to be incapable of labour. When an assigned servant dies, or absconds from his master's service, immediate notice of the circumstance must be sent to the principal superintendent.

Assigned servants stating themselves to be free, are not permitted to leave their service, until a reference has been made by their employer to the principal superintendent, to ascertain whether their statement be correct.

All persons having assigned servants are required annually, in the month of November, to transmit a correct statement to the district police magistrate, containing the number and names of the assigned servants in their employment, the ships by which they arrived, the date of assignment, and general conduct of each.

A Government Notice, Sept. 30th, 1826, strictly forbids the practice of paying the convicts forjtheir labour in sheep or cattle, and apportioning small allotments on their farms to be cultivated by assigned servants for their own advantage, and of permitting them to work for themselves under any circumstances,—practices holding out much temptation to the prisoners, and pregnant with much mischief. Sheep or other live stock are not allowed to be possessed by assigned servants.

Mechanics on loan to settlers are not permitted, on any account, to labour for any other person*.

E.

CUSTOM HOUSE, &c.

The hours for the transacting of public business are from 10 to 3, daily; excepting on Saturdays, when they are from 10 to 12.

Transports are free from port charges.

The duty on all spirits, either British or foreign, is increased in proportion to its strength, if over proof, according to Sykes's hydrometer. On all merchandize of foreign produce or manufacture, an advalorem duty of five per cent, on importation, agreeably to the Act 4, Geo. IV. Cap. 96, with the exception of wine, which is subjected to a duty of fifteen per cent. Goods of British manufacture are not subject to any duty.

WHARFAGE.

Colonial produce, when landed or shipped, is not subjected to any charge, except for a sufferance.

FEES.

WARE-HOUSE RENT AND CHARGES.

A Government Order, published 7th February, 1829, fixes the following rents on Spirits and Tobacco in the King's bonded stores, viz.—

1st. All spirituous liquors, one shilling and three pence per ton of 252 gallons, for every week, or any period less than a week, during which the same shall be deposited.

2dly. Tobacco, six pence per ton, for every week, or any period less than a week, during which the same shall be deposited.

3dly. The amount of all such warehouse rent, in respect of any cask or package required to be delivered, must be paid before the same can be so delivered.

4thly. No allowance whatsoever will at any time be made in respect of,—nor will the Government be answerable for,—any loss by fire, leakage, robbery, or casualty of any kind.

GOVERNMENT ORDER, 28TH FEBRUARY, 1829.

Representations having been made to the Lieutenant Governor, of the inconvenience and delay attending the stowing and unstowing of goods in the bonded ware-houses, a gang of men has been appointed to be employed under the Store-keeper for this purpose exclusively; and the following scale of charges will be required to be paid.

For Spirits:—per pipe, three quarter pipe, or puncheon, each, stowing 9d.; unstowing 1s. 6d.

Per half pipe, hogshead, or barrel, stowing 6d.; unstowing 2s.

Per case containing three or more dozen bottles, stowing 3d.; unStowing 4d.

Per case containing a less quantity than 3 dozen, stowing 2d.; unstowing 3d.

For Tobacco:—in large seroons, each, stowing 6d; unstowing 9d.

In cases, each, stowing 3d.; unstowing 4d.

In kegs, each, stowing 2d.; unstowing 3d.

In baskets, rolls, or small seroons, stowing W.; unstowing 1d.

In consequence of this arrangement, it is to be understood, that no labourers are to be admitted into, or employed at, the bonded warehouses, except the Store-keeper's gang.

Goods intended to be ware-housed must be landed before 12 o'clock.

Hours of attendance at the Custom-house quay, from 8 o'clock till 4, from the 1st September to 30th April; and from 9 till 4, from 1st May till 31st August.

The appointed days for opening the bonding ware-house for the delivery of goods, are, Mondays and Thursdays in every week, at 1 o'clock; on which days the duties must be paid prior to 12 o'clock. Tobacco is issued on the same days from 10 to 12 o'clock.

RATES OF PILOTAGE.

AT THE DERWENT.

If the Pilot does not board the vessel outside the middle ground, at the heads at George Town,—or the weather not permitting his going outside,—if he be not ready to shew the Channel, by keeping his boat in the fair way, until the ship can be boarded, he shall forfeit one half the pilotage inwards.

For every number of inches below six, no charge is to be made; for half a foot and upwards, one foot is to be charged.

Colonial vessels are exempted from the payment of Pilotage, unless the master shall make the signal for a Pilot and accept his services.

HARBOUR DUES.

AT THE DERWENT.

Colonial vessels under 80 tons, per register, to be exempted from the payment of the foregoing dues, unless the services of the Harbour Master be specifically required.

AT PORT DALRYMPLE.

Each vessel entering the harbour will be charged with two removes.

Vessels belonging to the port are not to pay harbour dues.

No vessels to be deemed Colonial that are not registered in Van Diemen's Land.

F.

MEANS AFFORDED FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.

The Grammar School, at New Norfolk, is but just established, and the terms were not completely arranged when I left the Colony.

THE KING'S SCHOOLS.

Male and female children are admitted into the King's Schools according to the following classification.

1. Those who are entirely destitute.

2. Those who have one parent living.

3. Those who have both parents living, but whose parents are totally incompetent to afford them means of education.

4. Children whose parents may be enabled to contribute the moderate sum which will be required for the care, maintenance, clothing and education of children in the King's Schools, viz. £12 per annum. Application for the admission of the first 3 classes must be made according to a prescribed printed form, to be obtained of one of the Committee, and addressed to the Colonial Secretary; and for the admission of the fourth class, by a written letter, also addressed to the Colonial Secretary.

There are now 77 scholars in the Male Orphan School, at New Town, and 64 in the female one, at Hohart Town; besides about 50 whose admission has been sanctioned, but who cannot as yet be received for want of accommodation. Two admirably planned buildings, to accommodate 150 each, are now about to be commenced for each school, on opposite sides of the road on the Government land, near the New Town Rivulet.

Besides these Public Institutions, the following are the private Establishments for education.

1. The Hobart Town Academy, for the instruction of boys, conducted by Mr. James Thomson, who is qualified, with the aid of his assistants, to give a classical education to the pupils.

2. The Grammar School at Norfolk Plains, conducted by the. Rev. R. B. Clairborne, A. B. of Brazennose College, and St. Mary Hall, Oxford, where young gentlemen are classically educated, and prepared for the universities.

3. Commercial School, Hobart Town, conducted by Mr. Dowsett.

4. The Rev. H. R. Robinson, Government Chaplain at Norfolk, has just opened a school.

Besides several subsidiary schools of a more private nature, in various parts of the Island, among which may be mentioned one at Clarence Plains, and another at the Coal River.

5. Mrs. Midwood's Establishment for young ladies, Roxboro' House, Elizabeth street, Hobart Town.

6. Mrs. Dowsett's school for young ladies, Elizabeth street.

7. Mrs. Rocher's school for young ladies, Hobart Town.

8. Mrs. Foyle's school for young ladies, ditto.

9. Ellinthorpe Hall, an establishment for young ladies, conducted by Mrs. Clarke, 20 miles from Oatlands, and 70 from Hobart Town, in a central part of the Island.

10. Mrs. Powell's school for young ladies, Norfolk Plains.

11. Mrs. Eager's school for young ladies, Launceston.

The terms at these seminaries are, upon the whole, moderate; and masters in the various branches of education, classed under the head of accomplishments, are sufficient for the present number of schools.

G.

CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ISLAND AND ITS DEPENDENCIES IN 1830.

Lieutenant Governor.

COLONEL GEORGE ARTHUR.

Colonial Aid-de-Camp, Charles Arthur, Esq.

Private Secretary's Office.

Private Secretary, W. T. Parramore, Esq.

Clerks, Mr. James Thorneloe.

Mr. Edwd. Scrivenor.

Executive Council.

The Lieutenant Governor,

The Chief Justice.

The Colonial Secretary.

Jocelyn Thomas, Esq.

Legislative Council.

His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor.

His Honour the Chief Justice.

The Colonial Secretary,

The Attorney General,

The Colonial Treasurer,

The Colonial Chaplain,

The Collector of Customs,

W. H. Hamilton, Esq.

Thomas Anstey, Esq.

Thomas Archer, Esq.

Edward Abbott, Esq.

John Kerr, Esq.

James Cox, Esq.

James Gordon, Esq.

Richard Willis, Esq.

Clerk to the Councils, W. T. Parramore, Edq. acting in the absence of John Montagu, Esq.

Colonial Secretary's Office.

Colonial Secretary and Registrar of Records, John Burnett, Esq.

Chief Clerk, Henry James Emmett, Esq.

Corresponding Clerk, Mr. Horace Rowcroft.

Clerk of Papers and Office Keeper, A. C. Low.

Clerks, Messrs. H. J. Emmett, J. C. Groom, Robert Legge.

Colonial Agent, Edward Barnard, Esq. residing in England.

The Supreme Court Of Van Diemeris hand, (having Civil, Criminal, and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction).

Chief Justice, John Lewes Pedder, Esq. of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law.

Attorney-General, Algernon Montagu, Esq. of Gray's Inn, Barrister at Law.

Solicitor-General, Alfred Stephen, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law.

Master, Joseph Hone, Esq. of Gray's Inn, Barrister at Law.

Crown Solicitor, Alfred Stephen, Esq.

Registrar, William Sorell, Esq.

Clerk of the Court, James Wood, Esq.

Clerk to the Registrar, Mr. James H. White.

Crier of the Court, Mr. William Baker.

Commissioner at Launceston, Alex. Paterson, Esq.

Barristers, Attorneys, Solicitors, and, Proctors.

Gamaliel Butler, Esq.

George Cartwright, Esq.

Frederick Dawes, Esq.

Joseph Tice Gellibrand, Esq.

John Ward Gleadow, Esq.

Joseph Hone, Esq.

Henry Jennings, Esq.

Charles Bethel Lyons, Esq.

William Lewthwait, Esq.

Algernon Montagu, Esq.

W. T. Parramore, Esq.

Robert Pitcairn, Esq.

Alexander Paterson, Esq.

Hugh Ross, Esq.

T. Wood Rowland, Esq.

Alfred Stephen, Esq.

Howel David Sarel, Esq.

William Williamson, Esq.

Thomas Young, Esq.

Court of Requests.

Commissioner, Joseph Hone, Esq.

Registrar, Charles Bethel Lyons, Esq.

Summoning Officer, Mr. William Peet.

Deputy Registrar and Messenger at Launceston, Mr. Robert Wales.

Court of General Quarter Sessions.

Chairman, Joseph Hone, Esq.

Clerk of the Peace, Charles Bethel Lyons, Esq.

Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff, Dudley Fereday, Esq.

Under Sheriff for Buckinghamshire, Mr. M. Kennedy.

Under Sheriff for the County of Cornwall, Mr. Theodore Bartley.

Clerk, Mr. T. J. Crouch.

Principal Bailiff, Mr. James Collins.

Keeper of His Majesty's Gaol, Hobart Town, Mr. John Bisdee.

Under Gaoler, Mr. James Dodding.

Keeper of His Majesty's Gaol, Launceston, Mr. William Henry Gough.

Gaoler at Jericho, Mr. Thomas F. Bradley.

Ditto at George-town, Mr. John Mussel white.

Ditto at Richmond, Mr. W. J. Speed.

Ditto at New Norfolk, Mr. Thomas Walton.

Ditto at Both well, Mr. James Baldwin.

Ditto at Campbell town, Mr. David Skirving.

Office for Registry of Deeds.

Registrar, John Beamont, Esq.

Clerk, Mr. W. Giblin.

Clerical Establishment.

HOBART TOWN.

Archdeacon of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, Rev. William Grand Brouehton.

Chaplain, Reverend Wm. Bedford.

Clerk, Mr. Robert Household.

Organist, Mr. J. P. Deane.

Organ Keeper, Mr. William Hance.

Pew Opener and Sexton, Mr. J. Bryan.

Church-wardens, Jos. Hone and Alfred Stephen, Esqs.

Chaplain, Female Orphan School, Reverend James Norman.

LAUNCESTON.

Chaplain, Reverend W. H. Brown, LL. D.

Clerk, Mr. T. Godwin.

Church-wardens, W. Kenworthy and T. Bartley, Esqrs.

NEW NORFOLK.

Chaplain, Reverend H. R. Robinson, M. A.

Clerk, Mr. W. T. Ring.

Church-wardens, E. Dumaresq and Robert Officer, Esqrs.

SORELL TOWN.

Chaplain, Reverend W. Garrard.

Clerk, Mr. Henry Batten.

Church-wardens, James Gordon and W. H. Glover, Esqrs.

CLARENCE PLAINS AND KANGAROO POINT.

Chaplain, Reverend Robert Knopwood, M. A.

CATHOLIC PRIEST:

Reverend Philip Conolly.

PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS:

At Hobart town, Reverend Archibald Macarthur.

At Macquarie river, Reverend John Mackersey.

At Both well, Reverend James Garrett.

Lecturers and Catechists.

At Jericho, Mr. William Pike; at the Green Ponds, Mr. T. F. Gorringe; at Norfolk plains, Mr. W. P. Weston; at Maria Island, Mr. George Lindley.

King's Schools.

Committee of Management for the King's Orphan Schools.—The Venerable Archdeacon, Joseph Hone, Esq., Afleck Moodie, Esq., Reverend W. Bedford, and Reverend James Norman.

Male Orphan School.—Master, R. W. Giblin, Esq.; Matron, Mrs. Giblin: Assistant, Mrs. Skirrow.

Female Orphan School.—Master, Rev. James Norman; Matron, Mrs. Clark; Sub-Matron, Mrs. Worthy.

Elementary Schools.—Master in Hobart-town, Mr. Thomas Stone; Mistress, Mrs. Stone.

Master at Launceston, Mr. John Headlam; Mistress, Mrs. Headlam; Teacher of Needle-work, Mrs. Kirk.

Master at Clarence Plains, Mr. Richard Holmes; Mistress ditto, Mrs. Holmes.

Master at Sorell-town, Mr. Henry Batten.

Master at New Norfolk, Mr. W. T. Ring; Mistress ditto, Mrs. Ring.

Master ditto, (Back river), Mr. W. Macqueen ; Mistress ditto, Mrs. Macqueen.

Master at Glenarchy, Mr. Charles Tonge.

Master at Norfolk Plains, Mr. W. P. Weston.

Survey Department.

Surveyor General, George Frankland, Esq.

Deputy Surveyor General, Captain Boyd.

Assistant Surveyors, Thomas Scott, Esq. and Messrs. J. H. Wedge, W. S. Sharland, J. C. Seymour, J. E. Calder, Henry Wilkinson, Charles Wedge, and John Halls.

Clerk, Mr. G. F. Gallot.

Draughtsman, H. S. Hurst.

Roads and Bridges.

Inspector, R. O'Connor, Esq.

Land Board.

Major Richard Turton.

Afleck Moodie, Esq.

Edward Dumaresq, Esq.

Clerk to Land Board, Mr. B. W. Thomas.

Custom-House, Hobart-town.

Collector, Rolla O'Ferrall, Esq.

Controller, (acting,) Thomas Smith, Esq.

Clerks, Messrs. F. Manning, J. Y. Passmore, Robert Ballantine, A. Bauvais.

Keeper of the Bonded Stores, Charles Abbott, Esq.

Sworn Guager, Mr. Alex. G. Watson.

Wharfinger, James Hobbs, Esq.

Row Guard, Messrs. Dan, Clucas, and Thomas Brown,

Water Bailiff, Mr. Francis Pitt.

Harbour Master, Mr. James Kelly.

Pilots, Mr. James Kelly, and Mr. John Lovett.

AT LAUNCESTON.

Collector, Henry Arthur, Esq.

Committee for managing the duties of the Naval Office Department, W. Kenworthy, T. Bartley, Esqrs.

Clerk, Mr. T. Bentley.

Keeper of the Bonded Stores, Mr. John Clark.

Wharfinger, Mr. James Fryett.

Pilots, Messrs. George Williams and George Coulson.

Internal Revenue.

Collector, W. Henry Hamilton, Esq.

Inspector of Distilleries, Mr. Alexander Gordon Watson.

Clerk, Mr. Probert.

Colonial Treasurer's Office.

Colonial Treasurer, Jocelyn Thomas, Esq.

Clerks, Mr. George Smith, Mr. Joeelyn Thomas, junior.

Assistant Treasurer at Launceston, George Hull, Esq.

Audit Office.

Auditor, D. A. C. G. Boyes.

Clerks, Mr. James Dickenson, Mr. Henry Miller, Mr. Maurice Smith, Mr. G. F. Evans.

Engineer Department.

Civil Engineer and Architect, John Lee Archer, Esq.

Assistant ditto, James Simmons, Esq.

Superintendent of Lumber Yard, ditto.

Superintendent of Carpenters, Mr. John A. Brown.

Superintendent of Masons, Mr. J. E. Addison.

Superintendent of Carters'Barracks, Mr. John Crees.

Gate keeper, Joseph Firth.

Superintendent at New Norfolk, Mr. J. Turnbull.

Superintendent at Birch's Bay, Mr. Peter Monro.

Inspector of Works at Launceston, W. Ken worthy, Esq.

Government Garden.

Superintendent, Mr. R. Davidson.

Ordnance Store.

Ordnance Store-keeper, William Neilly, Esq.

Clerks, Mr. Joseph Morgan, Mr. T. A. O'Donohoo.

The Hobart-town Gazette.

Printer, Dr. James Ross.

Government Herds.

Superintendent, G. B. Skardon, Esq.

Inspection of Stock.

Inspector and Superintendent of Government Slaughter-house, Mr. James Belbin.

Annual Pensions.

William Sorell, Esq. retired Lieut. Governor, £500.

Edward Abbott, Esq. Deputy Judge Advocate; £400.

Rev. Robert Knopwood, Chaplain, £100.

G. W. Evans, Esq. Deputy Surveyor General, £200.

Lieutenant Gunn, (loss of an arm,) £70.

Mrs. Collins, widow of Lieutenant Governor Collins, £120.

Mrs. Luttrell, widow of Colonial Surgeon Luttrell, £50.

Emanuel Griffin, retired Pilot, £50.

Henry Hacking, retired Pilot, £25.

Oliver Smith, retired Overseer, £25.

William Flecher, retired Constable, £10.

Joseph Sillitoe, retired Constable, £10.

John Dakers, retired District Constable, £30.

Post Office.

Post-master at Hobart-town, Mr. John Thos. Collicott.

Post-master at Launceston, Mr. John Clark.

Post-master at George-town, Mr. W. Kneale.

Licensed Auctioneers.

AT HOBART-TOWN.

Mr. John Thomas Collicott.

Mr. John Christopher Underwood.

Mr. Richard Lewis.

Mr. David M'Kay.

Mr. W. Cook.

AT LAUNCESTON.

Mr. Richard White.

Coroners.

Joseph Hone, Esq.

Josiah Spode, Esq.

Peter Archer Mulgrave, Esq.

William Henry Hamilton, Esq.

Thomas Anstey, Esq.

James Simpson, Esq.

Malcolm Laing Smith, Esq.

Thomas Allen Lascelles, Esq.

James Gordon, Esq.

Richard Lane, Esq.

Frederick Roper, Esq.

Joseph H. Moore, Esq.

Office for Superintendence of Convicts.

Principal Superintendent, Josiah Spode, Esq.

Clerk, Mr. John Hawthorn.

SUPERINTENDENT OF HOUSE OF CORRECTION, Hobart-town, William Gunn, Esq.

SUPERINTENDENT OF HOUSE OF CORRECTION FOR FEMALES, Mr. Esh Lovell.

Assistant ditto, Mr. Jesse Pullen; Matron, Mrs. Lovell; Assistant ditto, Mrs. Pullen.

Superintendent of Convicts, Launceston, James Sinclair, Esq.

Superintendent of House of Correction, Launceston, Mr. AViIliam Jones.

Superintendent of House of Correction of Females, Mr. Robert Graves.

Medical Department.

Colonial Surgeon, James Scott, R. N.

Assistant Surgeons.

At Launceston, R. W. Owen, Esq.

At Hobart-town, James Spence, Esq. (detached.)

At Pittwater, —

At Hobart-town, William Seccombe, Esq. (on leave of absence.)

At Hobart-town, James Bryant, Esq.

At George-town, John Smith, Esq.

At Macquarie Harbour, R. Garrett, Esq.

Assistant at Hobart-town, E. P. Bedford, Esq.

Overseer at Colonial Hospital, —

Matron, —

District Assistant Surgeons.

At New Norfolk, Robert Officer, Esq.

At Oatlands, John Hudspeth, Esq.

At Campbell-town, Temple Pearson, Esq.

At Both well, John F. Sharland, Esq.

At Norfolk Plains, William Paton, Esq.

At Great Swan Port, G. F. Storey, M. D.

Marine.

Port Officer and Superintendent of Government Vessels, S. Hill, Esq. R. N.

Sail-maker, Mr. David Ramsay.

Master of His Majesty's colonial brig Prince Leopold, Mr. William Kinghorn.

Master of ditto at Derwent, Mr. Charles Taw.

Master of ditto at Tamar, Mr. W, Bateman.

haunceston.

Civil Commandant, Edward Abbott, Esq.

Port Officer and Harbour Master at Port Dalrymple, John Welsh, Esq.

Macquarie Harbour.

Commandant, Captain Briggs, 63d Regiment.

Superintendent, Mr. Richard Ray.

Pilot, Mr. George Bowhill.

Shipwright, Mr. James Hoy.

Commandant's Clerk, Mr. John Douglas.

Maria Island.

Commandant, Thomas Daunt Lord, Esq.

Town Adjutant.

Lieut. Aubin, 63d Regiment.

Barrack Sergeant, Mr. Peter Pringle.

Wesleyan Mission.

At Hobart-town, Rev. Ben. Carvosso.

At Macquarie Harbour, Rev. W. Schofield.

At Launceston,—

Establishment on Bruné Island, for effecting an intercourse with the Aborigines.

Superintendent—Mr. G. A. Robinson.

Standing Committee for the care of the captured natives, and for considering and suggesting measures of conciliation.

The Colonial Treasurer,

The Chief Police Magistrate,

The Colonial Surgeon,

The Port Officer,

And the Rev. Messrs. Bedford and Norman.

H.

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE.

Colonial Secretary's Office, June 3, 1829.—It having become necessary to establish regulations for the medical attendance of convicts in private service, and also for the admission of free persons into the Colonial Hospitals,—

It is hereby intimated, that all district Assistant Surgeons will, in future, be required to attend the assigned servants of those persons not living at a greater distance than 15 miles from the Surgeon's residence, who may pay to that officer, half-yearly, a compensation at the rate of five shillings per annum, for each and every convict in their service.

Settlers at a greater distance than IS miles from the residence of the.Surgeon, will be expected to enter into a special agreement with him for his attendance.

Convict servants will be admitted into the Colonial Hospitals, on payment by the master of one shilling per diem each, for any period not exceeding one month; after which, should their illness continue, they will remain in the Hospital free of all expense to the master.

Free persons, not in a state of actual poverty, will be admitted into the Colonial Hospitals on payment of three shillings per diem.

MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.

JANUARY 1, 1830.

HOBART-TOWN.

40th Foot.—Major Turton, Captain Molyneux Dalrymple, Lieut. N. Lowe, Lieut. William Williams, Lieut. James Sweeney, Lieut. John Ellis, 12 sergeants, 7 corporals, 2 drummers, 176 privates.

63d Foot.—Major Douglas, Captain D. W'entworth, Captain P. Baylee, Captain J. C. Dumas, Lieut. F. Aubin, Lieut. C. Dexter, Lieut. W. M. Carew, Ensign D. M. C. Stubbeman, Ensign S. Darling, 11 sergeants, 7 corporals, 9 drummers, 155 privates.

(STAFF.)

63d Foot.—Surgeon AVilliam Bohen, Assistant Surgeon J. J. Russel, Adjutant Montgomery, Quarter Master J. Cart.

MACQUARIE HARBOUR.

63d Foot.—Captain Briggs, (Commandant,) Ensign W. J. U. Champ, 3 serjeants, 2 corporals, 56 privates.

OATLANDS.

63d Foot.—Lieut. Erskine, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals,d 28 privates.

The following Out-stations are supplied from this force, viz.: Cross-marsli, 2 privates; St. Peter's pass, 2 ditto.

ROSS.

63d Foot.—Captain Hughes, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 29 privates.

Out-stations:—Campbell town, 1 corporal, 2 privates; Blackman's River, 3 ditto; Mr. Harrison's, J. P., 2; Scott's, 2; Auburn, 1 corporal,2 privates; Lake River, 2 ditto; Mr. Sutherland, J. P. 2 ditto.

ST. PAUL'S PLAINS.

63d Foot.—Lieut. Grove, 1 sergeant, 19 privates.

Out-stations:—Mr. Hepburn's, 3 privates; Mr. Batman's, 3 privates.

NEW NORFOLK.

(Present Head-quarters at the Deep Gully.) 63d Foot.—Lieutenant Fry, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, 26 privates.

Out-stations:—New Norfolk, 1 corporal, 2 privates; Bluff, 1 corporal, 2 privates; Native Corners, 3 privates; Parson's Valley, 3 privates.

HAMILTON.

63d Foot.—Lieut. Gibbons, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, 29 privates.

Out-stations:—Cockatoo Valley, X corporal, 2 privates; Glen Quoin, 3 privates; Montacute, 3 privates; Ellengowan, 3 privates; Cluny, 4 privates; Bluff, 3 privates; Fairy Dale, 3 privates; Dick Brown's River, 3 privates.

BOTHWELL.

63d Foot.—Capt. Vicary, J. P. 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, 33 privates.

Out-stations:—Shannon, 1 corporal, 11 privates; Abyssinia, 1 corporal, 5 privates; Ouse, 5 privates; Roving Party, 5 privates and 3 mounted police.

PITTWATER.

63d Foot.—Lieut. Barrow, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 23 privates.

Out-stations:—Richmond, 1 corporal, 2 privates; Frosser's Plains, 4 privates; Capt. Clover's sheep farm, 3 privates; Eastbay Neck, 1 corporal, 3 privates; Carlton, 4 privates; Mackay's Hut, 2 privates; Brown Mountain, 2 privates.

OYSTER BAY.

63d Foot.—Lieut. Lane, J. P. 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, 41 privates.

Out-stations:—Maria Island, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and 15 privates; Little Swan Port, 1 corporal, 3 privates.

LAUNCESTON.

57th Foot.—Captain Donaldson, X sergeant, 3 corporals, 43 privates.

PERTH.

57th Foot.—One sergeant, 10 privates.

GEORGE-TOWN.

57th Foot.—Ensign Lockyer, 1 sergeant, 15 privates.

WESTBUTRY.

57th Foot—Lieut. Shadforth, 1 sergeant, 28 privates.

GUARDS OF THE GARRISON.

The Troops in Hobart-town furnish 3 sergeants, 6 corporals, and 45 privates daily, as a Guard, viz:

Main, or Lieutenant Governor's Guard, consisting of 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, and 15 privates, which furnishes one sentry over the Governor's gate, one on the Treasurer's office, one on the Commissariat office, one on the Bonded stores, and one on the Ordnance stores.

Goal—is guarded by 1 corporal and 9 privates, who furnish 3 loaded sentries in the interior of the Gaol.

Chain-gang Guard—consists of 1 sergeant and 9 privates, which furnish three sentries over the gang by day, and two over their barrack by night; the other sentry by night is placed over the Treasurer's office, making two by night.

Mulgrave Battery—is guarded by 1 corporal, 3 privates, furnishing a sentry over the Magazine.

The Magazine—is protected by 1 corporal ana 3 privates, furnishing a sentry over the Powder-store.

The Main Barrack—is guarded by 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, furnishing two sentries for the prevention of soldiers going out after hours.

TOTAL MILITARY FORCE.

2 Field Officers, 8 Captains, 17 Subalterns, 4 Staff Officers, 42 sergeants, 32 corporals, 11 drummers, 711 privates.

Royal New South Wales Veteran Company disbanded.*

COMMISSARIAT.

HOBART-TOWN.

Assistant Commissary General, Afleck Moodie.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, John Woolrabe.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, William Fletcher.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, Joseph S. Browne.

Commissariat Clerk, Mr. Robert Niell.

Clerks.—Mr. Henry Asliton, Mr. A. Sibbald, Mr. James Niell.

Store-keepers.—Mr. H. Thomson, Mr. John Petrie, Mr. W. Johnson.

LAUNCESTON.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, George Hull.

Clerk, Mr. Priaulx.

Store-keeper, Mr. P. Dalrymple.

MACQUARIE HARBOUR.

Clerk and Store-keeper, Mr. Thomas James Lempriere, Assistant Storekeeper.

MARIA ISLAND.

Commissariat Clerk, Mr. Henry Condell.

STOREKEEPERS.

At George Town, Mr. Wm. Kneale.

At New Norfolk, Mr. David Thomson.

At Brighton, Mr. Edwin Nowell.

At Oatlands, Mr. F. Browne, (clerk.)

At Ross, Mr. A. Jackson.

ASSISTANT STOREKEEPERS.

At Richmond, Mr. W. J. Speed.

At Waterloo Point, Mr. G. F. Stores.

COMMISSARIAT OF ACCOUNTS.

HOBART-TOWN.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, G. Maddox.

Deputy Assistant Commissary General, A. C. Darling.

Clerks, Mr. George Woodward, and Mr. John Offor.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

Bank of Van Diemen's Land, 1823

President, A. F. Kemp, Esq.

Managing Director, T. Hewitt, Esq.

Directors, John Bell, Esq.

Charles M'Lachlan, Esq.

David Lord, Esq.

William Wilson, Esq.

W. M. Orr, Esq.

Cashier, T. Y. Lowes, Esq.

Principal Accountant, Mr. Edward Wilkinson.

Assistant Accountant, Mr. Thomas Giblin.

Standing Counsel, Alfred Stephen, Esq.

J. T. Gellibrand, Esq.

Solicitor, George Cartwright, Esq.

Derwent Bank, 1827.

Directors, Stephen Adey, Esq.

Andrew Crombie, Esq.

W. Gellibrand, Esq.

James Hackett, Esq.

John Kerr, Esq.

John Walker, Esq.

Patrick Wood, Esq.

Cashier, Stephen Adey, Esq.

Accountant,—

Standing Counsel, Alfred Stephen, Esq.

Solicitor, Robert Pitcairn, Esq.

Cornwall Bank, Launceston, 1828.

Directors, W. Effingham Lawrence, Esq.

James Cox, Esq.

Thomas Williams, Esq.

William Barnes, Esq.

James H. Reibey, Esq.

Archibald Thomson, Esq.

Richard Dry, Esq.

Thomas Landale, Esq.

John Ward Gleadow, Esq.

Secretary and Cashier, James Rankin, Esq.

Accountant, Mr. Henry Bartley.

Solicitor, John Ward Gleadow, Esq.

Commercial Bank, 1829.

Proprietor, John Dunn, Esq.

Cashier, Mr. John Hiddlestone.

This establishment discounts every day to those who keep their accounts with the Bank, and every Wednesday and Saturday to straneers.

Interest allowed for money deposited upwards of six months.

Van Diemens Land Company, London, 1825,

Governor, John Pearse, Esq. M. P.

Deputy Governor, John Cripps. Esq. M. P.

(Establishment at Circular head, Bass's Strait.)

Chairman and resident Member of Council of Management, Edward Curr. Esq.

Agriculturist, Mr. Alexander Goldie.

Chief Surveyor and Architect, Mr. Henry Hellyer.

From SO to 60 prisoners of the Crown, and about ISO free mechanics and others, with their families, amounting in all to a population of from 2 to 300 souls.

At Hobart-town, Managing Agent, John Kerry, Esq.

Treasurer and Solicitor, George Cartwright, Esq.

Edinburgh Australian Company, 1822.

Manager at Leith, Robert Brown, Esq.

Agent, Hobart-town, Charles M'Lachlan, Esq.

Agent, Sydney,—.

Derwent Whalinq Club, 1820.

Members, James Kelly, Esq.

William Wilson, Esq.

Walter Angus Bethune, Esq.

Charles Ross Nairne, Esq.

A prize of eight dollars is given to the first person who gives information of a whale being in the river. The profits of this Club are divided into seven shares; five are shared by the members, one to charitable purposes, and one to the native youth who displays the greatest expertness as headsman.

Van Diemen's Land Society, 1829.

For the publication of local scientific information, and the establishment of a museum and botanic earden.

Patron.—His Excellency Colonel Arthur.

Vice Patrons.—The Hon. John Lewes Pedder, Esq., the Hon. John Burnett, Esq.

President.—John Henderson, Esq.

Vice-Presidents.—George Frankland, Esq., Captain Swanston.

Committee of Management.—Captain Boyd, James Bryant, Esq. A. Crombie, Esq., W. Gellibrand, Esq., J. T. Gellibrand, Esq., W. H. Hamilton, Esq., Sam. Hill, Esq., Joseph Hone, Esq., P. A. Mulgrave, Esq., James Ross, LL. D. John Russell, Esq., James Thomson, Esq!

Adam Turnbull, M.D. Secretary and Treasurer.

Mechanics' Institution, 1827.

Patron.—His Excellency Colonel George Arthur.

President.—His Honour Chief Justice Pedder.

Vice-Presidents.—W. A. Bethune, Esq.

W. Gellibrand, Esq.

J. T. Gellibrand, Esq.

James Ross, LL. D.

James Scott, Esq.

Alfred Stephen, Esq.

Treasurer, Jocelyn Thomas, Esq.

Auditors, J. T. Collicott, C. M'Lachlan, R. Neill, Esqrs.

Trustees, E. Dumaresq, W. Gellibrand, Joseph Hone, Esqrs.

Secretary, James Wood, Esq.

Hobart Town Musical Society, 1829.

Conductor, Mr. J. P. Deane.

Secretary, Mr. M'Kennedy.

Van Diemen's hand St. Andrew's Club, 1826.

(Established for charitable purposes.)

President, James Scott, Esq.

Vice-President, Samuel Hood, M. D.

Treasurer, Charles M'Lachlan, Esq.

Secretary, J. A. Eddie, Esq.

Benevolent and Stranger's Friend Society, 1829.

Chairman, Rev. B. Carvosso.

Treasurer, Mr. Dunn.

Secretary, Mr. Lovell.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

Auxiliary Branch Bible Society, 1819.

President, His Excellency Colonel GEORGE ARTHUR.

Vice-Presidents, His Honour Chief Justice Pedder.

Edward Abbott, sen. esq.

Rev. R. Knopwood,

Rev. W. Bedford,

Rev. W. Garrard,

Rev. H. R. Robinson,

Thomas Daunt Lord, Esq.

Rev. J. Norman,

Rev. Dr. Brown,

Rev. A. Macarthur,

Rev. B. Carvosso.

Secretary, Rev. J. Norman.

Treasurer, Jocelyn Thomas, Esq.

District Society for promoting Christian Knowledge

Supported by voluntary contributions. Each subscriber is entitled to receive three-fourths of his subscription in bibles, prayer books, and tracts, and to purchase books at the Society's very low prices, to the amount of 4l. for every guinea subscribed.

Secretary and Treasurer, George Frankland, Esq.

Presbyterian Missionary Society, 1826.

President, Rev. A. Macarthur.

Treasurer, Mr. Henry Hopkins.

Secretary, Lieut. Gunn.

Collector, Mr. John Knox.

Presbyterian Tract Society, 1826.

Depository, Rev. A. Macarthur.

Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. John Walker.

Wesley an Missionary Society, 1823.

Secretaries, Rev. B. Carvosso and Mr. Esh. Lovell; Treasurer, Mr. Dunn.

Seamen's Friend Society, and Bethel Union, 1827.

Treasurer, Mr. Robert Mather.

Secretary and Agent, Mr G. A. Robinson.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

The Hobart-town Book Society, 1826.

(Upwards of 1200 volumes, chiefly new works.)

Joint Secretaries and Treasurers, W. H. Hamilton and A. Stephen, Esqrs.

Librarian, James Ross, LL. D.

Auditors, James Scott, A. F. Kemp, Esqs.

Treasurer in London, J. Stephen, jun. Esq.

Bookseller, Mr. Sampson Lowe, Broad street.

Wesley an Library, 1825.

(Upwards of 800 volumes.)

President, Rev. B. Carvosso.

Treasurer, Mr. John Hiddleston.

Secretary, Mr. T. J. Crouch.

And a Committee of 12 members, at each of whose houses, monthly in rotation, the members meet for religious and mutual improvement.

Norfolk Plains Book Society.

(Upwards of 400 volumes.)

Treasurer and Secretary,—.

Mr. Dearie's Circulating Library,

from which books are lent the public by the year, or any shorter period.

News-papers and other periodical Works.

I.—THE HOBART TOWN GAZETTE, 1816, the sole property of Government, entirely devoted to the promulgation of Government Orders, Notices, Proclamations, Acts of Council, &c.; published every Saturday morning, at the Gazette office, Liverpool street.

2.—THE COLONIAL TIMES, commenced under its present title in 1825, by Mr. Andrew Bent, the proprietor; published every Friday afternoon.

3.—THE TASMANIAN and AUSTRAL-ASIATIC REVIEW, began March 1827; published every Friday evening, by Messrs. Murray and Macdougall, proprietors.

4.—THE HOBART TOWN COURIER, published every Saturday morning by Dr. James Ross; began October 1827.

5.—THE LAUNCESTON ADVERTISER, published every Monday, by Mr. John Fawkner, jun.: began January 1829.

7.—THE HOBART TOWN SHEET CALENDAR, compiled and published by Dr. J. Ross.

8.—The present HOBART TOWN ALMANACK, began January 1829, printed by Dr. J. Ross.

9.—The AUSTRAL-ASIATIC SHEET ALMANACK, gratis to the subscribers of the Tasmanian and Austral-asiatic Review.

10.—During the year, a little neat publication was commenced by Mr. S. Dowsett, at Launceston, called the CORNWALL PRESS, which ceased after surviving 20 numbers.

I.

Swan Riber.

REGULATIONS

For the guidance of those who may propose to embark as settlers for the new Settlement, on the Western Coast of New Holland.

1. His Majesty's Government do not intend to incur expense in conveying settlers to the new colony, on the Swan River; and will not feel bound to defray the expense of supplying them with provisions or other necessaries, after their arrival there; nor to assist their removal to England or elsewhere, should they be desirous of quitting the colony.

2. Such persons as may arrive in that settlement before the end of the year 1830, will receive in the order of their arrival, grants of land free of quit-rent, proportioned to the capital which they may be prepared to invest in the improvement of the land, and of which capital they may be able to produce satisfactory proofs to the Lieutenant Governor, (or other officer administering the colonial government,) or to any two officers of the local government, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor for that purpose, at the rate of 40 acres for every sum of £3, which they may be prepared so to invest.

3. Under the head of investment of capital will be considered stock of every description, all implements of husbandry, and other articles which may be applicable to the purposes of productive industry, or which may be necessary for the establishment of the settler on the land where he is to be located. The amount of any half pay or pension which the applicant may receive from Government will also be considered as so much capital.

4. Those who may incur the expense of taking out labouring persons, will be entitled to an allowance of land, at the rate of 15l. that is, of 200 acres of land for the passage of every such labouring person, over and above any other investment of capital. In the class of ' labouring persons' are included women, and children above 10 years old. Provision will be made by law, at the earliest opportunity, for rendering those capitalists who may be engaged in taking out labouring persons to this settlement, liable for the future maintenance of these persons, should they, from infirmity or any other cause, become unable to maintain themselves there.

5. The license of occupation of land will be granted to the settler, on satisfactory proof being exhibited to the Lieutenant Governor, (or other officer administering the local government,) of the amount o f property brought into the colony. The proofs required of such property will be such satisfactory vouchers of expenses, as would be received in auditing public accounts. But the full title to the land will not be granted in fee simple, until the settler has proved to the satisfaction of the Lieutenant Governor, (or other officer administering the local government,) that the sum required by Article 2, of these Regulations, (viz. 1s. 6d. per acre,) has been expended in the cultivation of the land, or in solid improvements, such as buildings, roads, or other works of the kind.

6. Any grant of land thus allotted, of which a fair proportion of at least one fourth shall not have been brought into cultivation, otherwise improved or reclaimed from its wild state, to the satisfaction of the local government, within three years, from the date of the license of occupation, shall, at the end of the three years, be liable to the payment of 6d. per acre, into the public chest of the settlement; and at the expiration of seven years more, should the land still remain in an uncultivated or unimproved state, it will revert absolutely to the Crown.

7. After the year 1830, land will be disposed of to those settlers who may resort to the colony, on such conditions as his Majesty's government shall see occasion to adopt.

8. It is not intended that any convicts, or other description of prisoners, be transported to this new settlement.

9. The government will be administered by Captain Stirling, of the Royal Navy, as Lieut. Governor of the settlement; and it is proposed that a Bill should be submitted to Parliament in the course of the next Session, to make provision for the civil government of the new settlement.

Colonial Office, January 13, 1829.

A VISIT TO THE NEW SETTLEMENT ON THE SWAN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

The general structure and aspect of the country may be described as being formed of ranges of undulating low hills, composed of limestone and sand, clothed in appearance with a fine sward, and thinly wooded, girded by a white sandy beach, on which breaks a heavy surf. In rear of this country, and at the distance of between fifteen and twenty miles, is seen a continuous chain of mountains, General Darling's range, of equal and unvaried height. The appearance of the country, as viewed from the sea, is pleasing and promising. It is the picture of fine undulating pasture lands: on gaining the shore, this picture is discovered to be mere delusion. A barren, sandy, and sterile soil is all that is to be found; and, without one solitary exception, this is the kind of country to be met with between the entrance of the Swan, and the town of Perth, a distance of IS miles up the Estuary.

The fine sward that the sides of the hills are, from seaward, supposed to be clothed with, is composed of a species of rush and low fir brush, on which goats and pigs browze, and find subsistence; but a blade of grass, food for sheep or cattle, is not the produce of this arid soil. Every thing proclaims the poverty of the land:—the trees are stunted and distorted in their growth; the summits of the hills bare, the rush rising only in patches; and the very brush never exceeding the height of heather.

Gage's Roads, opposite the entrance of the Swan, are formed by an Island, distant from the continent eleven miles, called Rotten-nest Island, and an extensive shoal or sand-bank, on which a few rocks are seen above water. In these roads anchorage, on a sandy bottom, is found in from 5 to 14 fathoms water; but from being exposed to the whole of the swell of the Indian ocean and to the north-west gales, it is unsafe for shipping. Seven or eight miles south of these roads, but debarred from all communication, except for boats, by sand banks, is Cockburn Sound, formed by Garden Island, the entrance to which, from sea, is between this Island and a Rocky islet, called Pulo Carnac. In the passage there is from S5 to 7 fathoms water, but it is narrow and intricate: after gaining the Sound, the water deepens to 12 fathoms. This Sound is in greatest length five miles, and in breadth four miles, and offers safe anchorage for shipping.

Under Garden Island, in its south-east corner, and within Cockburn Sound, is a small sheltered Bay, called Mangles Bay, where ships may be conveniently hove down and repaired.

The structure and aspect of Rotten-nest and Garden Islands are of the same description as the main land,—perhaps more barren. Towards the sea, their sides are fenced with a natural dyke of limestone. The former is in circumference about nineteen miles, whilst the latter is in length seven miles, and in greatest breadth one. On this Island the navy have formed their establishment, and on it water is found, by digging in the sand, whicK, however, becomes brackish if the holes are kept long open. This is also characteristic of the wells on the banks of the Swan.

The two heads which form the entrance of the Swan are composed of limestone rock, the bar being made by a continuity of the same ridge. Over this bar, and against the two heads, breaks a heavy surf, rendering it at all times dangerous for the passage of boats; and when there is a swell in Gage's Roads, or when it blows from the north-west, impassable. This narrow entrance is unimprovable, and can never be made navigable for ships of burthen.

A short distance within the heads, the water deepens; and then begins a succession of limestone cliffs, and marshy belts of low land, backed in by low sand and limestone hills, some parts thickly and others thinly wooded, with the stunted cedar or redwood tree, blue gum, honeysuckle, and she-oak, a species of dwarf or bulbous root-palm, and the grass tree.

The depth of water in the Estuary is very various. In some places a boat will ground, in others a line of battle ship could float, and the channel is in consequence circuitous and difficult of navigation. The expanse of water is generally great, and at Melville Water it is magnificent, forming a fine harbour, if it could be approached by shipping.

At the head of Melville Water the Estuary is joined by the Canning River, a considerable stream of fresh water, which is navigable for boats above its juncture with the Swan for ten miles, when it becomes choked with dead-wood, and dwindles into a paltry rivulet.

At eight miles above the Canning, and twenty miles from the mouth of the Swan, there are flats dividing the channel into two streams. Above these flats the Estuary gradually lessens, the country assumes a better feature, the soil is somewhat richer, the forests are finer, and at 60 miles from its mouth, it terminates in detached pools of brackish water. It is not supplied by any freshwater river at its head, as was supposed to have been the case, and to which was given the name of Swan River; but on its east and south-east shore it receives two small streams besides the Canning. These streams are, however, dry during six months in the year.

At the mouth of the Swan, within the soutli point, or Arthur's Head, is the site of Freemantle, on a narrow tongue of white sand, bleak, barren and bare, possessing within its boundaries not one rood of ground where it would be possible to raise the commonest vegetable, nor in its neighbourhood one acre of land that could produce any kind of grain; for the soil is pure, unadulterated sea sand.

To approach this town from the Bay, boats either enter the bar, and land on the north side in the river, within Arthur's Head, or they pull round this point into Freemantle Bay, to the south of the town, which, from its sheltered situation, offers an easier access, and, at all times, a safe and certain approach to the shore.

The town at present contains about a dozen wooden cottages, as many grass huts, one or two stone houses building, two hotels, several stores or shops, an auction mart, a butcher's shop, where once a week fresh meat may be bought, and a baker's shop, kept by a Chinaman, where unleavened bread is sometimes to be had. A newspaper, called the Freemantle Journal, in manuscript, is published weekly, which, like every thing else, bears a very remunerating price: it is issued only to subscribers, at 10 guineas yearly subscription, and three shillings the copy, on delivery. Hack horses are to be hired to proceed into the interior, and it is projected to start a coach, to run between the towns on the coast and the towns in the interior, when they are established and peopled, and as soon as post-roads can be completed.

The shores of the river and of the bay, close to the town, were strewed with implements of husbandry, materials for building, trunks, packages, and casks, that were either too bulky to be removed, or that were found useless to the proprietors in their new country, and were allowed to remain where they had been first deposited, to the mercy of the elements, to be swallowed up by the sinking in of the sand, and to be destroyed by every nightly depredator, thieving having already become as thriving a trade as anv other in this infant Colony

It could not have been possible to have selected a spot more unfavorable and unprepossessing in the eyes of the newly arrived emigrant, than that which has been fixed upon for the site of the Town of Freemantle. It is more than sufficient to damp the spirits of the most enthusiastic settlers. It is enough, at all events, to force conviction on his mind, that the land he now sees before him is not the land that had been depicted to him, and that he had been promised, and for which he had quitted his native shores.

Opposite to Freemantle, on the north bank of the River or Estuary, on a flat sandy beach, and under some sand-hills, are a few huts and tents, the commencement of another town, to be called North Freemantle, possessing in no respect, either in site or soil, any advantage over its rival. These towns are supplied with fresh water from holes dug in the sand.

Sixteen miles from the mouth of the Swan and from Freemantle, on the north bank of the Estuary, stands Perth, the seat of Government, containing the Government House, four wooden cottages, the offices of Government, a church built of reeds, several grass huts belonging to the military, a few small tents, the Perth hotel, a wooden building, and several houses in frame.

The position and site of this town are good, and well chosen as regards the communication with the interior; but in point of soil it cannot boast of any peculiar advantage over the towns on the coast. The country is more thickly wooded, and the springs of fresh water are more abundant; but yet no grass fit for the food of sheep or cattle, and no land for cultivation, does it command in its neighbourhood.

Above this town, twelve miles further inland, on the same bank, and in a deep bend of the Estuary, a spot is fixed upon for the site of the town of Guilford, having the advantage of a more favorable soil, and a more picturesque situation.

Peel or Clarence is on the shore of Cockburn Sound, distant ten miles south of Freemantle. This town is inhabited by Mr. Peel and his followers. It occupies the spot on which they were landed from the ship with all their baggage, and from which they were unable to remove themselves, could a more eligible site at the time have been found on the coast; but it appears there was but one choice between bad and worse,—sand and limestone, limestone and sand.

Besides those settlements, there is one formed at Port Leschinant, 80 miles south of Freemantle, and another about to be formed at Port Stirling, on the banks of a newly discovered river near Cape Lenwin, which is described as being a large body of fresh water, running through a fine country, and affording a safe harbour within the bay for vessels of 250 tons burthen.

The land is located in town, villa, and country grants; the extent of the latter being calculated at £3 for 40 acres, and it is given in fee simple, proportioned to the capital invested in public or private objects in the Colony.

The emigrants who have already arrived amount in number to 2000, and have been principally located on the banks of the Estuary and the Canning River, on the belts of low marshy land that occupy, in small patches, the shores of these waters; and it remains yet to be proved whether the soil of these swamps is of sufficient strength and richness for crops of wheat or potatoes to remunerate the labour and expense of the emigrant. A very few patches had been prepare ed and turned up by the hoe or spade to receive the seed. At the commencement of the season, in June of last year, a little cultivation was tried by the officers of His Majesty's ships, on Garden Island. A little barley was sown, which came up, but never headed; and a few potatoes and some cabbage seed were put in the ground at Perth by the Governor; but from one cause or another no benefit was derived from them. The seed came up, but not even the constant watering night and morning could bring them to perfection.

The food of the settlers is chiefly salt meat and ship biscuit:—

These are the wholesale prices; the retail prices, in many instances, yielding one to two hundred per cent, profit. Rum retails at nine pence the glass ; a small loaf of unleavened bread, about half the size of a brick, sold for six pence; fresh mutton sold at nine pence, and fresh beef from one shilling to thirteen pence the pound. Money is not a scarce article in the colony, but it must soon become so ; for, as yet, the colony having nothing to offer as an export in return for the supplies imported but cash, it will, of course, in a short time be drained of its specie. The Government and Mr. Peel issue notes from ten shillings to ten pounds value, but those of the latter do not pass very current.

Sheep and cattle find no sale, in consequence of the settlers not having the means of taking care of or feeding them, and there being no pasture for them; and horses, of which numbers have been imported from England and Van Diemen's Land, are, for the same reasons, valueless. Many of them, as well as cattle of all descriptions, have been allowed to go astray into the interior, to seek pasture for themselves, and have never returned. This circumstance would lead to the belief that they have been more successful in these wanderings than the exploring parties, and have found pasture lands. It was through the agency of wild cattle that the fine lands of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land were laid open to the settler.

The animal productions are the same as those of New South Wales. The natives in their endowments are the same, and carry the same sort of spears—the womera, or throwing stick, and the waddie. The spear is about twelve feet long, and as thick as a man's finger. They harden one end by burning, and attach to the point of it, with a kind of black pitch or rosin, a wooden barb. The waddie is a short stick, about two and a half feet long, and one inch in diameter.

Up to the 5th of May last, they had been friendly to the settlers; but on that day they first shewed hostile feelings, in an attempt made by some of them to commit some petty theft in the settlement of Perth. A quarrel ensued, the military were called out, and before the affray could be quelled, the natives had seven of their number killed, arid one officer and three of the military were wounded by spears.

The natives on this occasion shewed no signs of alarm or fear at our musquetry, but on the contrary a great deal of daring and spirit. From the tops of trees the chiefs harangued their tribes. They dared our men to fight, and one of them was so bold as to advance, and with his waddie to knock a corporal down in the ranks. This is the most unfortunate circumstance that could have happened for the welfare and prosperity of the Cblony.

In Van Diemen's Land a quarrel of the same description has grown up into a war of extermination. For with a savage, whose language and habits are unknown to Europeans, no terms of peace can be entered into; no explanation can be offered to him; and no remuneration, even if he has been aggrieved, can be made to one who despises and views with contempt the comforts, conveniencies, and luxuries of civilized man. The savage, in all climes and countries, has been found to be artful, treacherous, and cruel in the exercise of his revenge; to make no discrimination between the innocent and the guilty. A babe of the tribe or nation from which he may 'have received an injury, equally with the adult, falls under his merciless arm. If peace, therefore, is not immediately restored, the life and property of the colonists will be in jeopardy, and many innocent men will suffer. The fear of the natives, against whose attacks, for the preservation of himself and family, the settler must at all times be prepared, will, by keeping him in a feverish excitement, paralyze his exertions, cause him to neglect his farm, and finally to quit his location, and seek safety in the townships.

The natives on the Swan have neither houses nor clothing, and nothing yet resembling a boat or raft has been found amongst them. They were to be seen on the banks of the Estuary, where they resort to spear the fish, which abound on its shores, and all along the coast, and of different kinds, but particularly a kind of rock cod, which is excellent.

The sharks, judging from one that was seen alongside the ship, in Gage's Road, are of monstrous size. It was the largest that had ever been seen by any person on board. The Kangaroo and the Opossum tribes are plentiful; and of birds, there are cockatoos and parrots, swans and ducks; but the latter have already been frightened away from the lower parts of the rivers, by the new visitors. A few cranes and a diver, called the shag, are the only remaining occupants, and they have become very shy.

In point of climate this colony no doubt equals New South Wales, and, as far as experience goes, it has been found by the emigrants highly salubrious, excepting in one complaint, and that a very serious one,—ophthalmia,—which, from the general character it had assumed amongst the settlers, appears to be connected with the nature of the soil. This disease, however, is only prevalent during the great heat of the summer months of January, February, March, April, and May, disappearing with the first appearance of the winter rains. The heat of the summer months is cooled by the alternate land and sea breezes, whioh render the climate at that period of the year agreeable: the mornings and evenings are particularly so, and the nights invariably brilliant and clear. In the month of June commences winter, when the rains are expected, which continue to fall during that and the following months of July and August, and are represented as being very heavy. In this period of the year the climate is cold and boisterous, and severe gales from the north-west are often experienced.

In giving an opinion of the land seen on the banks of the Swan, no one will hesitate in pronouncing it unfit both for the purposes of agriculture and pasture; and that as regards local advantages, it possesses none excepting those of water-carriage, for the distance inland of 35 or 40 miles.

Reviewing the accounts given by Captain Stirling and Mr. Frazer, it may be stated in a few words, that the present colony of the Swan is not the country described by those gentlemen; and that if, from the general appearance of the line of coast and the parts already examined, a judgment may be formed of the remaining portion of the territory, between the sea coast and General Darling's Range, estimated by those gentlemen to contain five or six millions of acres, "the greater part of which may be considered as land fit for the plough, and, therefore, fully capable of giving support to one million of soulsit may with much more truth be pronounced as an unfruitful soil, unsuitable for the plough, and incapable of giving support to one-tenth part of that number.

In further evidence of the general badness of the land, and of the barren nature of the soil, it may be stated, that sufficient, either for the purposes of agriculture or pasture, has not been found to locate the few settlers who have already arrived; that Governor Stirling has abandoned Garden Island, which he had originally selected for himself; and that he has not taken up his grant, no land worth taking possession of having as yet been discovered.

Mr. Peel's principality, of which so much was said, both in and cut of Parliament, has been resumed by the local Government, in consequence of the conditicns under which he received the grant not having been fulfilled by him; and it remains unoccupied, except a few patches of marshy land, where some of the first arrivals have settled themselves, and it is likely to remain so, the land being good for nothing.

Mr. Hentey had located himself on the banks of the stream at Port Leschinant, distant eighty miles south of the Swan; but even there he had not been able to obtain above half the extent of land to which he is entitled. Several of the settlers had accompanied Governor Stirling on an exploring excursion still further to the southward, and had abandoned the Swan, with the determination of fixing themselves at Port Stirling, under the hope of finding a better soil. A worse, they believed, they could not meet with, than that which they had left behind.

On the discovery of an agricultural and grazing country on the banks of the Southern River at Port Stirling, to which Governor Stirling had proceeded in quest of a more advantageous situation for the formation of a settlement, and on the future and sanguine hopes entertained of discovering land fit for the purposes of man beyond the Darling Range, yet unexplored,—depends the very existence of the Colony. The fine tracts of land, of which so highly a coloured picture has received the sanction of Governor Stirling's name on the Swan, cannot be recognized by those who have directed their steps to a place whose only resemblance to the description is the name it bears. The consequence is, a general disappointment, and a gloomy foreboding of the future, on the part of the emigrants; and on the part of the Governor an anxious desire and an unwearied exertion to discover a more promising soil, and a better favored country.

Notes of a Traveller.

The writer of the following pages has not the presumption to give a decided opinion, merely from his own judgment, of the present state and future prospects of this Colony. He only pretends to describe fairly, and without prejudice, what he saw personally, during a week that he was on the coast, and on a trip that he took up the Swan as far as Perth. His opinions and descriptions of what he did not see are formed from an impartial comparison of all the various statements he heard, not only from settlers, who might be supposed to colour their descriptions from the disappointments of an over excited and extravagant expectation, but from persons attached to the Government, and the admissions of many among them who are most sanguine in upholding the prospect of future prosperity to the settlement. The accounts, as might be expected, were very discordant, but all agreed in saying that the country was not such as they had reason to expect, from the inflated descriptions published in England; and that had not the land above Guildford been found superior in quality, small in quantity as all seem to say it is, to that between it and the sea, the undertaking must have been immediately abandoned; and all, from the Governor downwards, are anxiously hoping that a better soil may be found to the southward and beyond the range of mountains, to enable them to locate the numbers of emigrants that are daily expected from England.

The entrance of Swan River, as it has erroneously been called. is laid down by the Charts in latitude 32° 05′ S., longitude 115° 34′ E. It has been proved by later investigation to be only an Estuary, and not to take its source in any fresh water stream, as had been supposed. It is salt to its furthest limit, except in the rainy season, when, from the torrents that fall into it from the high lands, and the floods from one or two tributary streams, it is fresh at its upper part for a limited period. The entrance to this Estuary is bounded by two points; one called Arthur's Head, to the south, and Row's Point to the north, both consisting of limestone rock, the continuation of which ridge forms a bar across its mouth, oh which there is a surf at all times; and there being,but two narrow passages through it, it is dangerous even for light boats, and I should think heavy laden ones could never pass. When there is any wind or any increase of swell from the sea, the waves break on the bar and the two points with great violence, rendering it perfectly impassable. Gage's Roads are opposite to the mouth of the Swan, and are protected, though slightly, from westerly winds, by a sandy island, called Rotten-nest Island; but they are very unsafe in north-west gales, several accidents having already happened to vessels. The holding ground is also very bad, adding to the perils of its exposed situation. To the south of these roads, but debarred from all communication with them for shipping by shoals, is Cockburn Sound, formed by Garden Island, the entrance to which, from the sea, is between this island and a rocky islet, called Pulo Carnac, on the rocks lying out from which, H. M.'s ship Success struck when standing into the Sound. The passage is intricate, but some attempts have lately been made by the officers of the ships of war, lying in the Sound, to buoy it off: but these have hitherto failed, from the buoys being washed away in heavy gales, not having proper moorings for them. This, I have no doubt, will shortly be remedied, and the passage made safe.

All parts of Cockburn Sound are perfectly safe, except in N. W. gales, at which times ships can find shelter under Garden Island, in a bay near its S. E. end, which is the real Mangles Bay, (and not as has been hitherto laid down in the charts,) where there is excellent anchorage, sheltered from all winds, and every facility for heaving ships down. Garden Island contains about G or 7000 acres ; but, as might be imagined from its situation, it is nothing but sand, and on the seaward side limestone crags. The officers and crew of H. M.'s ship Success have been halted on this island since the vessel struck. They have made strenuous attempts to make a garden, and a few vegetables have been grown, as also a little barley; but the latter had very short straw, and from some cause never came to a head. They are on half allowance of provisions, and enduring many privations. The scurvy has also made its appearance among them, in spite of their having fresh meat occasionally, and their supplies being diversified by the small kangaroos with which this island abounds, and which are snared in great numbers by the men. They are supplied with indifferent water from wells dug in the sand. The carcases of the animals left by Captain Stirling were found by the Success's; people. They must have died partly from starvation, and partly from the want of water when the pools dried up in the summer. The Success was got off the rocks after incredible exertions, and taken into Mangles' Bay, where she is to be hove down, as soon as wood enough has been obtained to repair her, by the parties of her crew that are employed about 35 miles up the Swan, in cutting and transporting it down in flats. Such, however, was the damage she received, that it is supposed the plan will prove a complete failure. II. M.'s ship Cruizer, that touched here with dispatches, has been detained by Capt. Jervoise, of the Success, to assist in heaving the latter ship down. The Sulphur bomb, which brought out supplies, is also there. Rotten-nest Island is the largest here, being about 8 miles long, and is the same in soil and natural productions as Garden Island. Kangaroos are numerous upon it, as also seals:—the former, being of the small species, were taken by the Dutch, who were the first discoverers, for rats, and they consequently named the Island, The Rats' Nest. Garden Island formed part of Captain Stirling's grant, but was given up by him. Should the colony ultimately succeed, a town will probably be formed upon it, from the vicinity of the safest anchorage, and the facility it affords for the establishment of a fishery for whales, which abound, at certain seasons, on these coasts. The town of Freemantle is situated at the back of Arthur's Head, on an isthmus formed by the Swan, and a small bay, called Freemantle Bay, immediately south of the Head. Its site is nothing but sand, which, from its appearance, must formerly have been under water: even now it must be a complete swamp in many places during the rains, marshy hollows being dispersed all over it. Nothing can be imagined more miserable than the appearance of this place—more disadvantageous than its situation—and, as being the first encountered by new arrivals, more fitted to damp the spirits of the most ardent. It is the very personification of misery and desolation. The town consists of a few small houses that have been brought in frame from England, and set upon a precarious foundation of loose stones; some thatched huts, with walls of reeds and Tushes, pervious to the wind, from the want of mud to coat them; and a considerable assemblage of pitiful little bell tents, not adapted to keep o ut either sun or rain, and in which whole families are crowded with all their goods. There are one or two stores, where all sorts of things are sold; an auction mart; three hotels, one of which is called the Stirling; a butcher's shop, where meat is killed once a week; and a baker's shop, kept by a Chinaman, who sells loaves about the size of a penny roll in England, for 6d. each. One or two stone buildings are rising, for which there is no want of material, the limestone rock furnishing both stone and cement. Hack horses are to be had at an exorbitant price, and are perfect skeletons to look at, which is no wonder, from the scantiness of their diet. There is some talk of establishing a coach to run between this and Perth, though the very idea is enough to make any one laugh, were the situation of these poor people a fit subject of mirth. I cannot at all conceive that they will ever be able to make roads, within any reasonable period, fit for a wheel carriage; for labour is scarce, or I may say, for such a purpose, unattainable; and such is the loose sandy nature of the soil, both above and below, that whatever quantity of metal they may lay down, for the purpose of forming a road, must necessarily sink after a little traffic; so that the mere talk of any wheel carriage carries absurdity upon the face of it: and so convinced are some of the settlers of this fact, who have been gulled into bringing carriages with them, that they have made all practicable haste to exchange them with people from Hobart Town for more useful articles. John Bull, wherever he is, cannot do without his newspaper: and in this remote corner of the world one has already been established, called the Freemantle Journal. It is a manuscript of one foolscap sheet, and issued only to subscribers of 10 guineas each, and 3 shillings a copy. The beach is strewed with boxes, implements, cases, and a nondescript collection of articles, which the owners have been unable to remove from want of hands; or too much dispirited to do it: and they have been left at the mercy of any depredator, without the slightest care being bestowed on them. Great quantities of property have been buried entirely by the sand, which is of a very light, loose sort, and of dazzling whiteness, to which I conclude may be attributed the prevalence of ophthalmia throughout the colony during the dry months; disappearing with the falls of rain. As is generally the case in sandy situations, fleas and musquitoes are a great source of annoyance to the colonists. Water can always be procured by digging a little way under the surface, and of a pretty good quality; but after a few days it becomes brackish, and it is necessary to dig another well. This occurs mostly on the coast; further inland it is less the case.

At the time that Gage's Roads are unsafe, every thing must be boated up to the town from Cockburn Sound, and I imagine landed there and re-shipped, to be transported up the river; for, as I have observed, I question if loaded boats can pass the bar, except in very calm weather indeed: for this reason Mr. Peel's settlement is far better adapted to commercial purposes. It is situated about 10 miles to the southward, on the shore of the Sound, and is indiscriminately called Peel Town, Brighton, and Clarence; though the latter is the name the owner wishes it to bear. Mr. Peel having arrived after the expiration of the time to which he was limited, the land that had been reserved till then for him and liis band of emigrants, about 100 in number, had been granted away, and he has been obliged to take it near his own. 11 is said to be of the most wretched description, and the misery prevailing among his followers very great. They are, in fact, on the verge of starvation, and ophthalmia prevails more violently among them than elsewhere. Money is also very scarce among them; Mr. Peel having resorted to the issue of his notes of from five shillings to ten pounds, payable either in the colony or by Messrs. Cooper and Levi, of Sydney; and, as may be imagined, they are not very current. The Government are also issuing small notes in payment of the necessary expenses. Specie is not, however, generally very scarce among the body of the emigrants, few having brought any thing else; but as it is continually going away for necessaries from abroad, it is to be feared this will soon fail them. The granting of lands is classed into town allotments for buildings of about 45 feet front, and 90 or 100 feet depth; villa grants of about 3000 acres; and country grants of an indefinite extent, regulated in the ratio of 40 acres for every £3 of real property, goods, &c. brought out, as also for working people taken with them, at the rate of 200 acres for each person. Money is not taken into consideration as property; and the reason assigned for this is, that it is so easily transferable from one hand to another, that it would lead to extensive frauds in the obtaining of land.

The whole line of coast consists of a narrow sandy beach, and limestone crags, with a heavy surf breaking on it, backed by a low undulating country, which at a distance has the appearance of abundance of verdure upon it; but which, on examination, proves to be covered with a kind of rush or flag, and dwarf bushes, with leaves like the fir; but there is not the shadow of any thing that animals but goats will feed on, and the land is nothing but pure unmixed sand and limestone rock. A single blade of grass is literally not to be seen any where. A short way in, commences an open forest of blue and black gum, cedar or redwood, the she-oak, and the banksia, or honeysuckle. There is also a great abundance of low trees, called by the colonists, grass trees. The stem consists of a soft spongy wood, about five feet high, of a naturally very dark coloured bark, and rendered perfectly black by the firing of the under growth by the natives; and on the top is a single large tuft of a rushy sort of grass, from the centre of which springs a single long strflk, which is covered at the upper part with a cellular substance, in which the seeds are contained. The tuft of grass is found very useful in thatching the houses, and the stem is good for fuel. This tree is common both to New South Wales and the western part of Van Diemen's Land. A sort of dwarf date or sindee tree also abounds, the stem being seldom more than two feet high, swelling out into a complete bulb, and the wood of much the same kind as that of the grass tree. It appears to bear nothing, and is, I believe, peculiar to this part of the country. The forest trees do not at all attain the height they do in Van Diemen's Land; at least for some miles from the coast; and they have a very knarled and stunted appearance. Freemantle is backed by low sand and limestone hills. The bay to the south of it affords shelter for small vessels of 100 tons, except in west and south-westerly winds; and it appears to me, that had not the houses been placed where they are, it would have been very practicable to have cut a passage from the Swan through this very narrow, low neck, into the bay; and the entrance being protected by Arthur's Head, would have been free from surf or rollers, affording a safe entrance for boats and vessels of small burden, the depth of water inside of the present bar not being sufficient for large ones. The turning of the river appears to me a far more feasible plan for making it available for the purposes of navigation, than the removal of the limestone bar, which Captain Stirling, in his first account of the country, seems to think may be attempted hereafter, and which, I think, is perfectly impracticable. The river being so turned, the present bar would soon fill up entirely, and form a barrier against the sea rolling into it on that side, thereby rendering it perfectly smooth water; while, on the contrary, there is now a very considerable swell, even in moderate weather, and the boats are dashed about on the north beach of the town, rendering the landing or shipping of goods a very inconvenient and tedious operation; and in blowing weather I should suppose impracticable. Near the hills, at the back of the present settlement, would have been a far better site for a town. On the north side of the Estuary, opposite to Freemantle, a number of huts and tents are to be seen; these are principally inhabited by the settlers who came out in the ship Egyptian, Captain Silburne, who have taken up their abode here till they find land to go upon, and are spending both their time and money to no purpose. This place goes indifferently by the name of Egyptian Town and Silburne, though the authorities wish it to be called North Freemantle. A ferry boat plies across the river between the two settlements, and from North Freemantle goes the direct road to Perth, through the woods; this is, however, as yet, barely a track, and only practicable for foot passengers and horsemen, if they can manage to find it, which is rather difficult. The reasons I have before assigned regarding the nature of the soil, and the principal communication for trade with the intended capital being by boat, will long prove a bar to the establishing of a good thoroughfare by land.

Perth is situated on the right bank of the Swan, which thus far runs nearly a N. E. course, and is distant about 17 miles from its entrance by the windings of the river, the voyage being much lengthened from the great number of sand spits that stretch out a great distance from every point, and on which the water is too shallow to allow the passage even of a moderate sized boat. This would prove a great impediment to its ever being a good navigable communication for vessels of any burden, even were the depth at the mouth sufficient to allow of their entering. The scenery going up the river is very pretty. An undulating country on each side, covered with an open forest, and having every appearance of luxuriant verdure from a distance, but which a near approach proves to be entirely deceptive; the undergrowth, soil, and rock being exactly of the same character as on the immediate coast, and continuing so as far as Perth, and, as I was told, a considerable distance beyond it. In various places near the water side, extremely narrow slips of flat land are to be seen, on which settlers have located themselves; some still living in tents, others in miserable huts; and a very few having rather better-looking mansions in progress: but I nowhere saw any appearance of the slightest attempts at cultivation. In many parts the banks are formed of precipitous limestone crags of every fantastic shape, having in many places the appearance of old buttresses and bastions; but in general the low hills come shelving down to the water's edge, leaving but a very few of the flats I have alluded to. About seven miles up, the Swan spreads itself into a magnificent expanse, nearly six miles in length and three in breadth, which has been named Melville Water, and would certainly be a splendid harbour were vessels able to get so far. About three miles farther up, the Canning River falls into the Swan, coming from the S. E. It is navigable for ten miles, beyond which it becomes narrow and shallow for the remainder of its extent of ten or fifteen miles. The land on its banks has all been located to settlers, and is said to be good, but confined to a narrow stripe on each side.

The situation of Perth is good, as affording a communication with the interior settlements. In front is a fine expanse of water; "but there is unfortunately a long shoal immediately near the landing place, which prevents the approach of loaded boats to the side of the small jettee, that has been made by the soldiers of the detachment of the 63d stationed here. The bank of the river is high, and it is intended to reserve an open space in front of the town as a terrace. The building consists of a Government House of wood, roofed with tarpaulins, a church of reeds and grass, four lath and plaister cottages, roofed with tiles and shingles, brought from England and Hobart Town, intended for public offices. A line of thatched huts, inhabited by the soldiers, and a rather larger one for the commanding officer, and a weather-boarded cottage called the Perth Hotel, which, with the exception of the Government House, is the best looking dwelling in this embryo city. There are, besides these, a number of miserable huts and some tents; and one or two frames of wooden houses are arising in the midst of the still standing wood, which prevents the town being visible from the river.

The site is nothing but sand, with the very slightest possible admixture of mould, but not the least appearance of grass of any sort; and it so continues as far as has yet been discovered, directly back from the settlement. It will be a dreadfully hot place of residence as soon as the wood is cleared, which now shelters them in some measure from the effect of the sun's rays, reflected from the sandy soil. The inhabitants are supplied with water from one or two springs situated in the hollows, and, as far as I could learn, there appears to be no fear of any want of this necessary article in the yet discovered parts of the colony, having always been obtained by digging. I had an opportunity of ascertaining the appearance of the substrata, by looking into a saw-pit. On the top was about nine inches of sand, a degree better than that on the coast; beneath that, about a foot of darkisk looking loose soil, with a great admixture of sand; and below all, to the bottom of the pit, more than six feet of pure unmixed reddish coloured sand. A few miles above Perth, the land begins to improve, it is said; but it is merely a narrow strip on the banks of the river. Twelve miles beyond Perth, at the limit of navigation, is the town of Guildford, and a short distance above it two small streams, called the Susannah and the Helena, fall into the Swan: they are mere mountain torrents, and dry half the year. The Swan has been traced to its utmost extent, which is about 20 miles beyond Guildford and 50 from the entrance. The explorers say, that as they advanced, the land improved, and the hills afforded good pasturage: their observations were, however, confined to the valley of the Swan, the expedition having been obliged to return, in consequence of their horses having strayed away back to the settlement during the night. The Estuary was ascertained to be a mere chain of salt ponds in summer. In the distance is seen, what is called the Darling Range of hills. 1 hese are of moderate elevation, not more than 1200 feet high, and remarkable only for the unbroken line exhibited by their summits, except in one place where a deep chasm may be observed: they run nearly parallel with the coast, at a distance from it of from 20 to 25 miles. Nothing is known of the country beyond this range, but slight attempts having as yet been made to cross them.

The prosperity of the Colony, I conceive, in a great measure, if not entirely, depends upon the nature of the country that may be found on the other side of these mountains. Reasoning from what I saw and heard, I should draw the conclusion, that the whole belt between the sea and the mountains will be found to consist of nearly the same sort of land as is to be seen about Perth, with patches here and there; and on the banks of the waters, of land fit for cultivation, in the proportion of about ten per cent, of its extent. Its exposure to the whole force of the wind from the ocean, and what is observed to be the general character of coasts having a westerly aspect, adds weight to tliis supposition; and should such prove to be the case, with the additional want of pasture lands, it will, I greatly fear, prove inadequate to support a population of any extent, without assistance from abroad. In return for this they have nothing to offer, so that when the fund brought out by the colonists is expended, their misery will be great; unless the land in the interior prove good, which I should think there is every reason to hope, enabling the settlers on the coasts to obtain supplies from thence in exchange for the commodities of which they will become the wholesale importers for retail among the interior settlers, from whom they may also hereafter hope to obtain articles for export in their wool and other produce for which the climate maybe found adapted. The other colonies in this part of the globe have had the advantage of a large Government establishment, paid from home, and a numerous body of convicts maintained at the expense of the English Government, the supplying of whom with food and necessaries of life, afforded the means to the colonists of paying for their imports. Here they have not that advantage. The officials are mostly half-pay officers, serving without any salary upon the chance of the colony succeeding; the home Government having determined to expend only a very limited sum on what is considered as an experiment. A great deal of stress was laid in England upon the circumstance that no convicts were to be sent there; intending emigrants were felicitated upon the purity from contamination that the colony was to enjoy, and they congratulated themselves upon the absence of what would in fact have been the very life of it—namely, enforced labour.

As has always been the case at the formation of new establishments, the free men who are brought out as indented servants, finding that the rate of wages is very high, become discontented and anxious to be liberated from their engagements, to effect which they make themselves so troublesome, that in nine cases out of ten, the master is glad to get rid of them; for, working or idle, he is obliged to supply them with rations, and the means of obtaining redress are very limitted. Complaints on this score are made on every hand. One unfortunate gentleman said to me, " My wife is turned washerwoman, and I am turned grubber, for what are we to do when our people will do nothing." The cry for labour is very general; most people now acknowledging that the introduction of convicts or Chinese would be very beneficial, and is indeed almost absolutely necessary, as may be supposed when a common labourer can get 8 shillings a day, and a mechanic from 10 to 12 shillings. Neither are they very willing to work at all times, as they can earn enough in two or three days to enable them to pass the remainder of the week in drinking; for doing which every facility is afforded, as there is no duty on the importation of spirits, and drunkenness is, in consequence, very common. Robbery is also of very frequent occurrence, the state of the dwellings offering no prevention. Salt provisions, flour, and biscuits are in great demand; as also potatoes, of •which there are none in the colony, nor have any been grown. Some that were planted came up, but died in spite of the careful watering night and morning. This and other failures may possibly be attributed to its being the wrong season of the year for their growth. Those few who have got a little land turned up with the hoe, are waiting for the commencement of the rains, to make another attempt at growing wheat and other necessaries for their subsistence next year. Should they fail, little better than famine can be their lot. Live stock does not realize the price that was anticipated by the exporters from Hobart Town, the want of pasture and means of taking care of them preventing purchases beyond the immediate wants of the buyers. Great numbers of animals have already gone astray and never returned. A countryman belonging to one of the settlers, asserts, that while out searching for some bullocks that had strayed, he saw four pie-balled horses; and though cross-questioned, has always told his story without variation. Should this be true, these wild animals must be the descendants of horses that have strayed from the westerly settlements in New South Wales, and it will afford a convincing proof that the intermediate country is good pasture land.

The first establishment of the colony was made in June last, and there are now somewhat under 2000 people in the country; great numbers are still expected. The towns may contain about 400, and the rest are with Mr. Peel, and located about the country. Emigration to Swan River must have been quite a mania in England. There are many individuals there, with their families, who have handsome landed properties at home, which they have left in charge of agents to go out and settle there; tempted, most probably, by the favourable accounts of the country and the immense grants obtainable. Numbers are from towns, and the most unfit subjects that could have been found for enduring the common hardships that occur in settling even in a fine country; and there, where in addition to those, the land is sterile and barren, it may be imagined what they suffer. Several have determined on going home again.

The climate may be concluded to be healthy and congenial to Europeans; for, with the exception of ophthalmia, no diseases have shewn themselves among the colonists, notwithstanding the constant exposure they have necessarily undergone. The sun is very powerful, but has not that oppressive heat that is felt in India; and it is tempered by the alternate sea and land breezes, which blow during all the dry months, and the nights and mornings are always pleasant. The rains are periodical, falling during the winter months of June, July and August, at which time the gales of wind from the northwest are very severe.

The natives are the same in manner and habits as those of New South Wales, but are supposed to speak a different language. They are not supposed to be very numerous, and had hitherto proved peaceable, coming frequently among the settlers; but in the beginning of May a severe skirmish took place between them and the military at Perth. They came there in considerable numbers, and carried off some articles of property, driving back the owners who followed to recover them. The latter called on the guard for assistance, and a soldier being knocked down by the natives, who also commenced throwing spears, a fire was opened upon them. Their numbers becoming formidable, the whole detachment turned out at last. An officer and three or four men were severely wounded by spears, and several of the natives were killed and wounded. They retreated near a lagoon, and continued their attitude of defiance; but the commanding officer of the military stopt the firing, and drew off the men; a course which, in the disputes of Europeans with savages, has always proved to be misplaced lenity, as it has invariably been found necessary to make a most severe example of them before they would cease their aggressions; forbearance being always, in their ignorance of our power, placed to the account of fear and weakness. This was amply exemplified in New South Wales, where, although they were originally the injured party, still their vengeance generally fell on the innocent; till at last it became necessary to send out a strong force, which spared none that they fell in with, and since that they have been quite peaceable. In the affray above mentioned, they were the aggressors, without having had any cause to complain of injuries having been inflicted upon them; up to that period they had been treated with uniform kindness wherever they shewed themselves in the settlement. It is shocking to think of the precarious situation of the settlers and their families, now that hostilities have commenced, scattered as they are at a distance from each other, and deserted, as they most likely will be, by their alarmed servants, whom they have no means of compelling to remain with them, instead of going for shelter to the towns. The number of troops also is too small to admit of many detachments; a single company of II. M. 63d Foot being the amount of the military force in the colony.

The Government is administered by Captain Stirling as Governor, assisted by a Council of three of his own appointing, and there is much the same establishment of Secretaries, Surveyors, &c. as in larger colonies. A few local Magistrates have been appointed, but no law court has as yet been established.

An establishment of an officer and a few privates has been formed about 80 miles to the southward, at Port Leschinault, and some settlers have already gone there to take their grants, the land being described as much better than on the Swan. Another River has also been discovered near Cape Lenwin, on the West Coast. It was seen by the deputy harbour master of Freeman tie when he went down to look for the wreck of the ship Cumberland, Captain Steele. This vessel grounded on a bank about 80 or 90 miles to the southward, and was abandoned by the crew and passengers, who came up to Swan River in their boats. He describes it as having a bar, with water enough upon it to admit vessels of 250 tons burthen, and the land down to the sea as very fine. The Governor went down in the end of June to look at and locate it; and was accompanied by many emigrants. He has only taken a villa grant on the Swan, and it is supposed he will take his large grant to the South. Great hopes were entertained in the colony from this discovery, though the imformation regarding it was so vague. It is to be called Port Stirling.

* Female servants being generally in the house, are seldom allowanced, but take their meals after the family.

† These are granted after certain probation, according- to the length of the sentence of transportation, on a recommendation from the master, through a police magistrate. A prisoner having such ticket is allowed to reside in any district he may wish, and work for his own support.

* A certain number of different sorts of artisans are kept in what is called a "loan gang," from which new settlers are supplied with them for limited periods of 3 or 6 months, to aid in getting up their buildings.

* The 40th having left for India, some alteration has been made in the individuals, but the detachments are the same in strength.