CHAPTER III.

Hobart Town.-Pious Persons.-Penitentiary.--Temperance Society.-Kings Pits. Shrubs. Fern Valley.-School Meeting.-Voyage to Macquarie Harbour.-Prison Ship.-Piracy of the Cypress.-Prisoners.-Loss of the Science. -Fish.-Penguin.-Storm.- Port Davey.-Cockatoos.-Land Lobster.Excursions. Sharks.-Swearing.-Storm.-Sea Fowl.-Entrance of Macquarie Harbour.

WE remained in Hobart Town till the 7th of 5th month; and were much occupied in putting religious tracts and books into circulation, visiting the prisons, conversing with various persons, on the eternal interests of man, and holding or attending meetings for the promotion of religion and morality. During this period we became acquainted with several pious persons; one of whom, Captain William Jacob, from India, was temporarily residing in this island, on account of his health; Van Diemens Land being much resorted to by invalids from India, and often with great benefit, from its fine, dry, salubrious climate. Another, was a drummer, who went into the army at fourteen years of age, and had remained in it fourteen years. He said he had spent much of his time in sin, but had now learned the value of his Bible, and was glad when opportunity offered, to retire into the bush to read it alone he had found peace of mind through faith in Christ, but was in a situation requiring great watchfulness, to retain the sense of the Divine presence being with him. Another, was a young man, who, when in London, sometimes stepped into Friends' Meeting House, in White Hart Court; where a solemn feeling pervaded his mind, without his knowing from whence it arose; but as he supposed the congregation while sitting in silence, were exercised in

examining the state of their own hearts before the Lord, he endeavoured to be similarly occupied.

We several times visited the prisoners in the Penitentiary, who assembled for religious purposes in a mess-room accommodating about 450 at a time: their quietness and attention were very striking; notwithstanding many of them wore chains, the least clink was rarely to be heard; many of them appeared truly grateful for a little religious counsel extended in Christian sympathy.

The Penitentiary contains upwards of 600 prisoners : it is the great receptacle of convicts on their arrival in the Colony those returned from assigned service for misconduct, or other causes, are also sent here; and those retained for some of the public-works are likewise lodged in this place. Considering the class of its inmates, they are under good discipline. They are sent out in the morning under overseers and guards, to work on the roads, and in the various departments, as sawyers, carpenters, builders, &c. and they are all mustered and locked up at night. This precaution renders property remarkably secure in Hobart Town; where formerly robbery was very common. The Penitentiary has a large day-room, and numerous sleeping wards. The men are lodged on two tiers of barrack-bedsteads. These are large platforms without any separation, which is a great evil. In every room there is a man in charge, who is answerable for the conduct of the rest; but it is rare for one to dare to complain of the misconduct of his fellow. Each individual has a bed, blanket, and coverlet; and the place is well ventilated and clean. A tread-mill is attached to this building, which serves the purpose of special punishment, and grinds corn for the institution.-At a subsequent period, a large addition was made to this prison, including a number of solitary cells, and an Episcopal chapel, part of which is open also to the public.

In the latter part of the 4th month, a Temperance Society was first established in Hobart Town, but not without considerable opposition. The Lieut. Governor became its Patron; and the senior Colonial Chaplain, stated, in support of the object, that he had attended between three

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and four hundred criminals to execution, nineteen out of twenty of whom, had been drawn into the commission of the crimes for which they forfeited their lives, either directly or indirectly by intemperance.

On the 15th of 4th month, we held a meeting with some sawyers, in their huts, at a place called the Kings Pits, on the ascent of Mount Wellington, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet, and about four miles from the town. These people seemed a little interested in the counsel given them, and received a few tracts gratefully. The forest among which they are residing is very lofty: many of the trees are clear of branches for upwards of 100 feet. It caught fire a few months ago, and some of the men narrowly escaped. The trees are blackened to the top, but are beginning to shoot again from their charred stems. brushwood is very thick in some of these forests. shower of snow fell while we were at the place. cia Oxycedrus, 10 feet high, was in flower on the ascent of the mountain. This, along with numerous shrubs of other kinds, formed impervious thickets in some places; while, in others, Epacris impressa, displayed its brilliant blossoms of crimson and of rose colour.

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The brook that supplies Hobart Town with water, flows from Mount Wellington through a valley at the foot of the mountain. Here the bed of the brook is rocky, and so nearly flat as scarcely to deserve the name of The Cascades, by which this place is called. Many dead trees and branches lie across the brook, by the sides of which grows Drymophila cyanocarpa-a plant, allied to Solomon's Seal, producing sky-blue berries on an elegantly three-branched, nodding top. Dianella cærulea-a sedgy plant-flourishes on the drier slopes: this, as well as Billardiera longiflora-a climbing shrub, that entwines itself among the bushes-was now exhibiting its violet-coloured fruit. In damp places, by the side of the brook, a princely tree-fern, Cybotium Billardieri, emerged through the surrounding foliage. A multitude of other ferns, of large and small size, enriched the rocky margins of the stream, which I crossed upon the trunk of one of the prostrate giants of