CHAPTER XX.

TASMANIA.

THE OFFSHOOTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES-THE EARLY HISTORY OF TASMANIA, OR VAN DIEMAN'S LAND-ITS ESTABLISHMENT AS AN INDEPENDENT COLONY-ITS CONVICTS AND BUSH-RANGERSEXTERMINATION OF THE ABORIGINES-ITS BEST GOVERNORS : SIR GEORGE ARTHUR AND SIR JOHN FRANKLIN-ITS GREATEST PROSPERITY-ITS DETERIORATION AND PRESENT STATE.

WY

[1797-1869.]

HEN, in 1786, it was resolved to establish an English colony in Australia, the limits of the new settlement were declared to extend "from the northern cape or extremity of the coast called Cape York, in the latitude of 10° 37′ S., to the South Cape, the southern extremity of the coast, in the latitude of 43° 39′ S.; and inland to the westward, as far as 135° E. longitude, including all the islands in the Pacific Ocean within the latitudes aforesaid." By that arrangement New South Wales was made to include about twothirds of Australia, with Norfolk Island and other tributaries, and Van Dieman's Land, not then known to be a separate island. As the vast dimensions and capabilities of the territory came to be better understood, and as the settlers in its various parts became more numerous, this huge colony, half as large as Europe, was broken up into sections, each under separate governors, and with independent centres of

jurisdiction. Van Dieman's Land was so parted off in 1824, South Australia in 1834, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. New South Wales is thus the mother of four younger colonies, which now vie with her in wealth and importance.

Van Dieman's Land, now generally called Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer, the oldest rival of the mother-colony, is the least successful. More favoured by nature than any other of the Australasian group of settlements, unless we except New Zealand, it has had a less profitable career than any of them. Soon after Bass and Flinders showed, in 1797 and 1798, that it was a separate island, and one excellently adapted by its genial climate, its splendid harbours, and its well-watered coasts, for a residence of white men, it began to be used both by the Government of New South Wales and by the home authorities as a receptacle for convicts. Hobarton, on the Derwent, in the south-west, and George Town, on the Tamar, in the north, were both founded in 1804; but in both the convicts and the soldiers in charge of them came almost immediately into collision with the aborigines, and a fierce war of extermination was begun, to be carried on at intervals during the sixty years required for killing out all barbarous but comparatively harmless natives. Much suffering, also, was endured by the early settlers, ill-fitted for cultivation of the soil and for making good use of the resources of the island. Better times began about the year 1810. In 1813 merchant ships were allowed to visit the ports, and trade with their inhabitants. In 1816 the first export of grain was made; and in 1819 free immigrants, who had already come in small numbers,

ITS PLANTATION WITH CONVICTS.

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notwithstanding the obstacles thrown in their way, and had done nearly all the good that had been effected, were formally allowed to settle in the island. In 1824 its English population comprised 5938 convicts, 266 soldiers, and 6029 free residents.

In that year Van Dieman's Land was made an independent colony, with a Legislative Council of its own, and a Supreme Court of Judicature. Sir George Arthur, the first governor, who held his office till 1836, wisely used the powers entrusted to him. He reformed the magistracy of the island, divided it into well-ordered police districts, and, in various important ways, sought, to a great extent successfully, to bring about the well-being of its inhabitants.

The reforms were sorely needed. The troubles that prevailed in the chief settlements were surpassed by those caused in the less frequented districts, where a few enterprising farmers tried to make profit out of the fertile soil, and which they, and the traders connected with them, occasionally traversed in pursuit of their callings. These districts were infested by bush-rangers, who, as in New South Wales, were generally runaway convicts of the worst sort. Of their lawless conduct one illustration may be given. "In 1824," says the historian, "fourteen desperate convicts, of whom the leaders were Crawford, Brady, Dunne, and Cody, made their escape from the penal settlement at Port Macquarie in a whale-boat. They coasted the south-west shores of the island, and ultimately reached the shores of the Derwent river, where they landed, and were soon joined by numerous associates, provided with arms and other necessaries. Crawford, a clever

Scotchman, said to have been formerly a lieutenant or mate in the Royal Navy, organized and disciplined this gang of free-booters, who soon filled the respectable colonists with alarm. One of their earliest attacks was directed against the mansion of Mr Taylor, of Valley-field, on the Macquarie river. The banditti mustered thirteen: the family consisted of the venerable old gentleman, in his seventy-fourth year, three sons, two daughters, a carpenter, and another free servant. While the robbers were advancing they made prisoner of Mr Taylor's youngest son, whom they placed in front, threatening his immediate destruction if they were opposed. The gallant veteran, despite the disparity of numbers and the fearful position of his son, sallied forth, accompanied by two other sons and a servant, to give battle. The fearful contest was kept up for a considerable period, the ladies charging the fire-arms of their father and brothers, and the whole party fighting for life, and more than life, since the treatment these defenceless females were likely to receive at the hands of these wretches was more to be dreaded than death itself. At length the bush-rangers were compelled to retreat, leaving Crawford and two of his gang on the field dangerously wounded. They were handed over to justice, and perished on the scaffold. The command of the gang then devolved on Brady, whose name operated like a spell in giving confidence to the bush-rangers, and whose rapid and daring movements struck terror into every part of the island. For nearly two years this Tasmanian brigand, who made it his boast that he never wantonly sacrificed human life, and never outraged female

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delicacy,' set every effort for his capture at defiance; and his traits of generosity and reckless daring threw a prestige around even his worst actions, which, among the less depraved convicts, rendered his example more injurious because more alluring. The superior knowledge of the bush possessed by the brigands, together with the information acquired by their scouts scattered all over the country, and obtained from among the convict servants assigned in private houses, enabled them to out-general every military or police movement. The military at this period consisted of only two or three small detachments, and there was then no effective police. Large rewards were in vain offered for the capture, or for the heads of the robbers. The contributions levied upon the settlers enabled the leaders to purchase connivance; and the residents at out-stations feared to become marked men by aiding in the attempts at capturing the ringleaders. Some of the small settlers not only supplied the gangs with provisions and ammunition, but kept them acquainted with every plan projected for their apprehension." 1

Brady's gang was only one, and one of the most gentlemanly, of the robber hordes that infested Van Dieman's Land; some of the most degraded being even suspected of adding cannibalism to their other crimes. For their suppression all the energies of Governor Arthur were taxed, and often with only a slight result. He had difficulties almost as great also in overcoming another class of enemies raised up by the misconduct of the early rulers of the island. The aborigines, akin to the natives of Aus1 Martin, vol. viii. pp. 7, 8.