way

the forest, a Gum-tree of large dimensions, which had been uprooted by some blast from the mountain; and in its fall, had subdued many of the neighbouring bushes, and made a where otherwise the forest would have been inaccessible. On descending from this natural bridge, to examine a treefern, I found myself at the foot of one of their trunks, which was about 5 feet in circumference and 10 in height. The lower part was a mass of protruding roots, and the upper part clothed with short remains of leaf-stalks, looking rough and blackened: this was surmounted by dead leaves hanging down, and nearly obscuring the trunk from distant view: above was the noble crest of fronds, or leaves, resembling those of Asplenium Filix-fœmina in form, but exceeding 11 feet in length, in various degrees of inclination between erect and horizontal, and of the tenderest green, rendered more delicate by the contrast with the dark verdure of the surrounding foliage. At my feet were several other ferns of large size, covering the ground, and which, through age and their favourable situation, had attained root-stocks a foot in height, crowned by circles of leaves three times that length. Other plants of tree-fern, at short distances, concealed from my view, by their spreading fronds, the foliage of the lofty evergreens that towered a hundred feet above them. The trunk of one of the tree-ferns was clothed with a Trichomanes and several species of Hymenophyllum—small membranaceous ferns of great delicacy and beauty. On a rocky bank adjoining, there were other ferns, with creeping roots, that threw up their bright green fronds at short distances from each other, decorating the ledges on which they grew. In the deepest recesses of this shade I could enjoy the novel scene-ferns above, below, around-without fear of molestation; no dangerous beasts of prey inhabiting this interesting island. The annexed etching will give the reader some idea of a tree-fern, many species of which exceed in beauty the stately palms of warmer climates.

5th mo. 7th, 1832. Having obtained a letter of introduction from the Lieut. Governor to Major Baylee, the commandant of the Penal Settlement, at Macquarie Harbour;

and other necessary arrangements having been made for our passage on board the Government brig Tamar, we embarked, after dining with the senior colonial chaplain, William Bedford, and his family, from whom we received much kind attention during our sojourn in V. D. Land. The vessel not sailing till the 10th, we spent the evening at the house of Nathaniel Turner, the Wesleyan Minister stationed at Hobart Town, in company with John Allen Manton, a Wesleyan Missionary, also proceeding to Macquarie Harbour. At N. Turner's we also met the teachers of four sabbath schools, containing together about 200 children. Two of these schools are in Hobart Town, and the others at Sandy Bay and O'Briens Bridge. After the teachers had transacted the business of their monthly meeting, we had a solemn and highly favoured religious opportunity; in which, in the fresh feeling of heavenly love, I endeavoured to encourage them to live under a sense of the divine presence, and to seek to the Lord for counsel and direction, in order that their wellintended labours might be blessed.

There were in the cabin of the Tamar, John Burn, the captain for the voyage, Henry Herberg, the mate, David Hoy, a ship's carpenter, Jno. A. Manton, George W. Walker, and myself. Ten private soldiers and a sergeant, as guard, occupied a portion of the hold, in which there were also provisions for the Penal Settlement, and a flock of sheep. Two soldiers' wives and five children were in the midships. Twelve seamen, several of whom were convicts, formed the crew; and 18 prisoners under sentence to the Penal Settlement completed the ship's company. The last occupied a jail, separated from the hold by wooden bars, filled with nails, and accessible only from the deck by a small hatchway. One of the soldiers on guard stood constantly by this hatchway, which was secured by three bolts across the opening, two walked the deck, the one on one side returning with his face toward the prison, at the time the other was going in the opposite direction, and two were in the hold, seated in view of the jail. The prisoners wore chains, and only two of them were allowed to come on deck at a time

for air; these were kept before the windlas and not allowed to converse with the seamen. This was rigidly observed, in consequence of two of these men having, at a former period, been parties in the seizure of a vessel named the Cypress, making the same voyage; which was carried off to the coast of China or Japan. They put the persons, now our captain and mate, on shore, along with several others, in Recherche Bay, at the mouth of D'Entrecasteaux Channel; from whence they reached Hobart Town with great difficulty. The jail occupied by these men was not high enough for them to stand erect in, but they could stretch themselves on the floor, on which they slept, being each furnished with a blanket.

On the 8th, I paid my first visit to the prisoners, just after they had been searched, lest they should have concealed any implements for effecting their escape. After enquiring respecting their health, I told them that if they had no objection, I would read them a chapter in the Bible, and desired to know if there was any one in particular they would prefer. One of them replied, there was some very good reading in Isaiah. I opened the book, and read the 42nd chapter, and at the conclusion commented upon it, pointing out the effect of sin, the object of the coming of the Saviour, and his power, not only to deliver out of darkness and the prisonhouse, in a spiritual sense, but also in an outward one; expressing my conviction, that if they would attend to that grace which reproved them for evil, they would be led to repentance, and into that faith in Christ, through which they would obtain forgiveness of sin, and a capacity to love and serve God; that this would produce such an effect upon their conduct, as to restrain them from evil, and enable them to work righteousness, procure them a remission of their sentence, and introduce them to peace and joy, beyond any thing of which they could form an idea while in the service of Satan, whom, I did not doubt, they had found in their own experience to be a liar, as they had been tempted by him to expect pleasure from sin, but had found in its stead trouble and loss. Several of them were attentive and appeared thoughtful, and on taking leave, one of them placed

his hand to my foot and helped me to ascend from the prison.

The day the Tamar sailed was very fine. The Science, by which we came to V. D. Land, was passing down the Derwent at the same time, on her voyage for England; we parted from her on entering D'Entrecasteaux Channel, little anticipating the disaster by which she was lost off Cape Horn; where she was struck by a heavy sea, that swept away four of her men, and left the remainder, who were ultimately rescued by another ship, in a forlorn and perilous situation.-The various bays and islands of D'Entrecasteaux Channel, with their wood-covered hills looked beautiful. We came to anchor in the evening off Mount Royal. Numbers of fish called Flat-head and Rock Cod were taken. The former is firm, and resembles in figure the Bull-head of English rivers, but weighs about 1lb. The other is softer than the English cod, and weighs from 3 to 7lbs. When stewed with but little water it nearly dissolves, and makes very palatable soup;-at least so we sometimes found it when at sea, and having little but salt

meat.

11th. Anchor was weighed early, and passing between the Acteon Islands and Recherche Bay-a navigation requiring great care—we rounded the Whales-head, and came into the open sea. The evening was beautifully fine. We passed close by the Mew Stone by moonlight. Jelly-fish, such as are said to be food of the whale, and resembling glass-beads, were in myriads in the day time, and at night the sea was illuminated by phosphorescent species. Sometimes we heard the cry of a small Penguin common in this vicinity, known by the name of the Jackass Penguin.

12th. About two o'clock in the morning, the wind changed to N.W. At four it blew a violent gale, attended by lightning, thunder, and rain. We had just advanced middle harbour of Port

far enough to be able to enter the Davey, by its northern opening, which is to the south of the northermost conical rock in the annexed sketch. The rocky island between that, and the southermost of the three conical rocks to the south, shuts this harbour in from