DU 
 
 4SO 
 
 S86I 
 
 i 
 
 STIRLING 
 
 IN TASMAN'S 
 LAND 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
eapis 
 
 ftlieQreat 
 
 yfe * ^ , ^ 
 
 -West. 
 
 Ulmu J3<W Ixailivav Comparw 
 
Beattic, 1'hoto , Hobart 
 
 A Peep from the Train Wiqdow. 
 
In Tasman's Land, 
 
 Gleams and Dreams of the 
 Great North-West, 
 
 . 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR 
 
 THE EMU BAY RAILWAY COMPANY 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
PRINTER : 
 
 ALLAN MORRISON, 
 MELBOURNE. 
 
41 
 
 12 
 
 43 
 
 TASMANIA 
 
 ^k\RAILWAYSANoCOACH ROUTEJS 
 
UNION LINE 
 
 TASMANIAN EXCURSIONS. 
 
 Melbourne to Burnie and Devonport 
 
 TWICE WEEKLY. 
 By the Splendid Steamship "FLORA" 1,273 Tons. 
 
 iMelbourne to Launceston 
 
 Tn-weeUy by the S.S. "PATEENA," 7,272 Tons 
 
 Melbourne to Strahan 
 
 By the S.S. "KAWAT1RI" Weekly. 
 
 Melbourne to Hobart 
 
 Large and Powerful Steamship Weekly 
 
 FARES AND GUIDES ON APPLICATION TO 
 
 453 COLLINS ST., MELBOURNE 
 
uo 
 
 In Tasman's Land. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BECKONING OK THE MYRTLES. 
 
 " It's ' all clear aft ' on the old trail the trail 
 that is always new." Kipling. 
 
 >HE Flora slid imperceptibly into the stream, 
 and the long-expected holiday had really 
 begun at last. 
 
 As she dropped down the Yarra, the smoke 
 of the Melbourne factories and the rattle of the lor- 
 ries in Flinders Street faded gradually away, and, 
 with every revolution of the propeller, work and 
 worry fell further and further astern. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said the American mining engineer, in 
 the smoking-room, " they call California ' God's coun- 
 try ' and I believe they are right; but I reckon that 
 you're not going to count too many flies on Tasmania, 
 anyhow." He was a shrewd, intelligent, well-read 
 and much-travelled American. His clear-cut features 
 and open gaze inspired confidence, and one could not 
 help feeling that, with such a recommendation, the 
 
 1467350 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 holiday trip was not likely to be a disappointing one. 
 After a prolonged residence in Melbourne, it was rest 
 and change, even to listen to the crisp accent of 
 New York, and to hear the fresh and unprejudiced 
 comments of this citizen of no mean city upon mat- 
 ters which one was accustomed to regard as settled 
 for good and all. He actually ventured to suggest 
 that even coloured labour was better than no labour 
 at all for developing the sugar industry. His views 
 upon the legislative restriction of hours of labour 
 were enough to make an advanced thinker rock on 
 his foundations. Moreover, he declared that the 
 United States had prospered exceedingly in com- 
 merce and manufactures without what he scof- 
 flngly described as socialistic legislation, and 
 he further averred that there were more 
 professional politicians in Australia than he 
 could shake a stick at. The freshness, the candour, 
 the breezy uuconventionality of the New Yorker's 
 criticisms acted positively like a tonic. 
 
 One felt that the holiday was doing one good al- 
 ready, and when the critic tilted his cap over his eyea, 
 stuck his cigar in the corner of his mouth, at an 
 angle of 45 degrees, and again announced his opinion 
 that Tasmania was next door to " God's country," the 
 
Union Go's S.S. "Flora," 1,273 Toqs. 
 
THE BECKONING OF THE MYRTLES. 
 
 conviction slowly grew upon the listener's conscious- 
 ness that the choice of a holiday trip had been well 
 and wisely made, and that the Flora, outward-bound 
 for Emu Bay, was steaming towards happiness and 
 pure contentment. 
 
 Then, again, the Flora herself is a miniature Royal 
 Mail steamer in all her appointments. Her saloon 
 runs the full width of the ship. The roomy deck 
 stateroom, the liberal menu, and the pervading air 
 of comfort, and even of luxury, all tend to put a 
 traveller into the right holiday mood. 
 
 Later on, when the New Yorker had retired below, 
 and the gentleman from Northern Queensland had 
 no one left to argue with, and the returned soldier 
 had desisted from his conversational trekking after 
 De Wet, and the married man had folded his rug like 
 a husband, and silently slunk away in response to 
 an appealing face in the doorway, darkness descended 
 upon the waters. The Flora, having passed through 
 the Rip, turned her nose a few points to the east- 
 ward, and thud, thudded steadily on her way to the 
 north-west coast of the beautiful island that hangs 
 like a pendant from the necklace of sapphire sea 
 which adorns imperious Australia. 
 
 Leaning over the taffrail, and looking out across 
 the waste of waters, one fell an easy victim to the 
 influence of the moment. How far off was Mel- 
 bourne? A million leagues at least. Those 
 busy landsmen far away had dwindled to 
 mere ants, hurrying, scuffling, and toiling for 
 infinitesimal motives, which had almost ceased to be 
 intelligible. "What is the good," one asks oneself, 
 " of all this scheming, plotting, intriguing, 
 working, fighting, and worrying by day and 
 night, week in and week out, on the part 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 of our unhappy fellow-creatures ashore, till, " by 
 and by Death comes and takes them where they 
 never see the sun." Out here, under a dark sky, 
 patched with the short, thick parallel clouds that 
 mean a gale before the morning, there is a sense of 
 space and mystery that enfolds and penetrates the 
 imagination, making all the interests of the land seem 
 puny and insignificant. The party cry, the Stock Ex- 
 change quotation, the latest bit of tittle-tattle, how 
 inconceivably distant and unimportant they all seem 
 when out yonder to windward, riding in the shadow of 
 the rising gale, one can see in fancy the Zeehan and 
 the Heemskirk, those two high-prowed ships, cap- 
 tained two and a half centuries ago by Abel Janz- 
 soon Tasman, when that intrepid Netherlander swept 
 on across yon stormy water, " the first that ever burst 
 into that silent sea." One shivers. How cold it is 
 as one sails in the wake of that great navigator of 
 long ago, whose portrait, in courtly doublet and hose, 
 with one hand on a globe, and the other grasping a 
 
DO 
 
 
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 ca 
 
 CD 
 
 E 
 
 Ui 
 
THE BECKONING OF THE MYRTLES. 
 
 compass, may still be seen in a private gallery in 
 Hobart. One feels chilly. One goes to bed. And 
 one awakes in Burnie. 
 
 The sun pierced through a bank of grey clouds, and 
 disclosed white seas breaking angrily on a reef that 
 ran out at right angles to the shore. A breakwater 
 and a jetty enclosed a sheltered spot, where the 
 steamer lay, and, nestling under a semi-circle of hills, 
 was the little township that has grown up on the 
 shore of Emu Bay. Long ago, in 1823, a company 
 was formed in London to rifle the fabulous treasures 
 in distant Van Diemen's Land. They called it the 
 Van Diemen's Land Company, and an enormous grant 
 of land in this north-west district of the island was 
 made over to it, under certain stringent conditions 
 regarding improvement. For fifty years the company 
 worked away at its territory. It cleared a great deal 
 of rich agricultural land near Emu Bay, and it im- 
 ported flocks and herds of the finest strains, and many 
 skilled farmers and artisans also. The original share- 
 holders died and were forgotten, but their children 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 and their grandchildren retained the shares, and the 
 company, like a colossal Micawber, " waiting for 
 something to turn up," continued in existence. Then 
 at length, in 1870, the Mount Bischoff mine, one of the 
 greatest tin mines in the world, was discovered, near 
 the banks of the Waratah River, other mineral dis- 
 coveries followed, a horse-train made its appearance, 
 and then a railway. The V. D. L. Company awoke, 
 and began to pay dividends to the grandchildren of 
 the original shareholders, and Burnie grew up as 
 the port of the new territory. 
 
 Mount Bischoff is well worth going to see, although 
 it lies far beyond yonder semi-circular range of hills, 
 cut, on the northern side, by a gorge, through which 
 runs the Emu River. The Emu Bay Railway Com- 
 pany will carry you to the treasure-house in a day, 
 and will show you many things to think about, on 
 the journey. As the little train, running smoothly 
 on the solidly-made line, climbs the steep gradient 
 out of Burnie, one gets a glimpse of the Emu River, 
 spanned by a bridge over which runs the Tasmanian 
 Government line to Launceston. Then, swinging 
 round the corner, one is among the hills at once, now 
 peering down into deep ferny gullies close to the 
 line, and now catching sight of distant ranges capped 
 with snow and rising high above the lightwood and 
 the myrtle nearer at hand. There is plenty of set- 
 tlement near Burnie, for the land is rich, and the price 
 of potatoes is phenomenally high. Drought-stricken 
 folk on the other side of the Straits are willing to 
 pay 5 a ton for this useful vegetable, and million- 
 aires, as well as potatoes, are consequently being 
 raised on the rich chocolate soil through which the 
 railway runs. Some of these millionaires have souls 
 above potatoes, and half-a-dozen miles back from 
 Burnie a white rifle-target, with its black bull's-eye, 
 stares through a vista in the thick timber, where 
 dwells a possible member of some future Kolapore 
 
THE BECKONING OF THE MYRTLES. 9 
 
 Cup team. The ping of the bullet has for its accom- 
 paniment the plash of the Darling Creek, that falls 
 with a drop of 150 feet into its basin close by. As 
 the train climbs the gradient the view steadily en- 
 larges, and to eyes accustomed to the softer tints of 
 the Australian bush, the rich green of these Tas- 
 manian gullies is full of the charm of freshness. 
 Everywhere this brilliancy of colouring is apparent 
 and especially in the faces of the hardy, apple-cheeked 
 children that are bred on the leaseholders' selections, 
 and in the fettlers' huts along the line. Hardly 
 
 a house that has not half-a-dozen of them on view, 
 and children, even more than tin or silver, are the 
 real wealth of under-populated Tasmania. 
 
 Further inland the country becomes wilder, the 
 soil poorer, the settlement sparser, the rosy-cheeked 
 chiidron more infrequent. Wide rolling plains cov- 
 
10 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 red with coarse native grass suddenly appear in- 
 stead of the endless vistas of myrtle, stringy-bark, 
 and celery-top pine, and these plains, if they serve 
 no other purpose, are. at any rate, a pathetic remin- 
 der of those former occupants who have passed away 
 for ever, submerged by the advancing wave of civi- 
 lisation. The Hampshire Plains, as they are now 
 called, bearing a name given to them by some sur- 
 veyor who saw in them a fancied resemblance to 
 far-off English downs, were originally cleared, it is 
 supposed, by the blacks, as a hunting-ground. Year 
 after year they burned away the timber, and opened 
 up this wild park-land, so that the fresh grass could 
 grow luxuriantly, and tempt wallaby and kangaroo 
 to resort there, and then they came down upon 
 the unsuspecting game, and used the hunting-spears 
 to fill their larders. The last of the Tasmanian 
 blacks died more than a quarter of a century ago, 
 but the recollection of the sinister methods by which 
 they were exterminated has not yet passed away. 
 
 The train runs past a clear mountain creek on the 
 left side, and the bright water falls in three distinct 
 leaps into its lower course, with clouds of silvery 
 spray sprinkling the tall tree-ferns on its bank. An 
 unknown student of Longfellow has christened it 
 " Laughing-water Creek." Long before the coming 
 of the white men, some dusky Tasmanian Hiawatha 
 dreamed her dreams, doubtless, beside this silvery 
 stream. And now the stream goes on, but the 
 daughter of the forest has been whirled away into 
 oblivion, like the green myrtle leaf that falls upon the 
 surface of the rushing water. It is a stern and ter- 
 rible doctrine this, that only the strongest shall sur- 
 vive; but its truth i.; borne in upon us as the little 
 train sweeps on, leaving the Hampshire Plains and 
 Laughing-water Creek nothing but a memory. Where 
 is the race that formerly inhabited these solitudes 
 ah. where indeed? 
 
Children of the Mist. 
 
THE BECKONING OF' THE MYRTLES. 11 
 
 THE CHILDREN OF THE MIST. 
 
 Through the valleys, softly creeping 
 
 'Mid the tree-tops, tempest-tossed, 
 See the cloud-forms seeking, peeping 
 
 For the loved ones that are lost. 
 Not for storm or sunshine resting, 
 
 Will they slacken or desist, 
 Or grow weary in their questing 
 
 For the Children of the Mist. 
 
 Where are now those children hiding? 
 
 Surely they will soon return, 
 In the gorge again abiding 
 
 'Mid the myrtle and the fern. 
 Ah! the dusky forms departed 
 
 Never more will keep their tryst, 
 And the clouds, alone, sad-hearted, 
 
 Mourn the Children of the Mist. 
 
 E'en the wild bush-creatures, scattered, 
 
 Ere they die renew their race, 
 And the pine, by levin shattered, 
 
 Leaves an heir to take its place. 
 Though each forest thing, forth stealing, 
 
 Year by year the clouds have kissed, 
 Vainly are those white arms feeling 
 
 For the Children of the Mist. 
 
 Dead the race, beyond awaking, 
 
 Ere its task was well begun: 
 Human hearts that throbbed to breaking 
 
 Are but dust beneath the sun. 
 Past all dreams of vengeance-wreaking, 
 
 Blown where'er the tempests list. 
 
 "But the cloud-forms still are seeking 
 For the Children of the Mist. 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 Guildford Junction! There is no time for further- 
 reflections, because there are only a few minutes to- 
 spare, and, while the engine is taking in water, the 
 prudent passenger should be taking in tea or some- 
 thing else, in the " practicable " refreshment- room. 
 Ten minutes at Guildford is enough to convince one 
 that a few days might be spent there with unalloyed 
 enjoyment, and with immense advantage to the health 
 and spirits. In the first place, it is 2,000 feet above 
 sea level, and the crisp, delicious air that fills the 
 eager lungs makes one realise what Gordon meant 
 when he apostrophised in that ecstatic stanza, " God's 
 glorious oxygen." Then, in the rushing little Hell- 
 yer River, half-a-mile away, there are such English 
 trout as the fisherman from across the Straits, ac- 
 customed to pulling up the meek flathead and lethar- 
 gic barracoutta, has never dreamed of. A railway 
 
THE BECKONING OF THE MYRTLES. 18 
 
 hand the other day, it seems, caught twenty-two trout, 
 ranging from 2 Ib. to 4 Ib. each, in an afternoon. 
 The bait to be used is a matter which provokes fierce 
 discussion. Some experts declare for the artificial 
 fly; but the practical fisherman sneers openly at ar- 
 tificial flies, and points triumphantly to a nice basket 
 of fish caught with nothing more scientific than a 
 small green frog, or a common, ordinary grasshopper. 
 There is a fine field for the experimentalist who seta 
 about trout-fishing in the Hellyer. The stream has 
 been well stocked with English fish, and it is aston- 
 ishing how large they grow in their new surroundings. 
 In the Tasmanian lakes it is not at all unusual to 
 catch gigantic trout up to 20 Ib. in weight, and when 
 it is remembered that an ordinarily skilful fisherman 
 can turn a 20-pounder into a 50-pounder by a mere 
 twist of the tongue, it is easy to see the attractiveness 
 of this country from the angler's point of view r . Mr. 
 Brown, who keeps the refreshment-room, openly 
 scoffs at fishermen, which is only what might be ex- 
 pected from one who is himself a sportsman of a more 
 romantic kind. He belongs, indeed, to the great 
 fraternity of the fur-hunters, a class beloved by all 
 boys who can delight in the thrilling stories of Mayne 
 Reid and Fennimore Cooper. Mr. Brown's name is 
 not, perhaps, so thrilling as that of those half-for- 
 gotten heroes of boyhood's days, who worked for 
 eight hours a day at trapping wild animals, and were 
 horribly tortured by the ruthless Apaches and Co- 
 manches after hours. But Mr. Brown is a highly 
 successful hunter, all the same, and he can point, 
 with pardonable pride, to a weatherboard store, nearly 
 filled with the pelts delightful word, and fragrant 
 Tvith boyhood's memories of many big grey kanga- 
 roos, brown wallabies, and grey or black opossums. 
 These pelts represent a considerable value in sordid 
 cash, apart from their romantic interest, and, in fact, 
 Mr. Brown does very well out of the business. He 
 has three or four real Kangaroo-dogs, who follow him 
 
14 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 wherever he goes. Bred from the stag-hound and 
 the grey-hound, they have strength as well as pace. 
 They will hunt by scent as well as by sight, and the 
 biggest kangaroo that hops through the scrub has 
 little chance of escape when once those sharp eyes 
 have sighted him, or those keen noses have snuffed 
 his presence down the wind. A longing comes into 
 the heart to tarry for a little with Mr. Brown, to go 
 seeking black 'possums of gigantic size on moonlight 
 nights, in these vast solitudes, and hunting the " old 
 man " or the flying doe with the big brindled dogs. 
 But all these legitimate aspirations have to be swal- 
 lowed down hurriedly, together with a final cup of 
 hot tea, and as the train steams out of Guildford 
 the fur-hunter is left alone on the deserted platform. 
 It would save a doctor's bill or two if some hard- 
 worked city men would give up the eternal hunt for 
 money, just for a week, and slip across to Guildford 
 in the kangarooing season. 
 
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CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOME ASPECTS SOME "PROSPECTS," AND A BULL. 
 
 '' Ecco il toro appare!" 
 Toreador, attento, Toreador! 
 
 " Carmen." 
 
 T Magnet Junction it becomes necessary to 
 change from the Emu Bay Railway Com- 
 pany's train to the steam tram that runs 
 for ten miles through the heart of the bush 
 to the Magnet Mine. A ride in a tram is a common 
 and prosaic experience in a big city; but here it be- 
 comes a positive adventure. The locomotive itself 
 is an unfamiliar creature, with a smoke-stack like a 
 huge inverted extinguisher, and a boiler that visibly 
 moves about on the under-structure. It is provided 
 with a whistle piercing enough for an engine of ten 
 times its size, and its furnace is fed with green 
 timber, that pours out huge clouds of pungent smoke, 
 liberally interspersed with sparks and red hot ashes. 
 There are four trucks, and the passengers take their 
 seats on a bench placed on the truck nearest to the 
 engine, while the guard, arrayed in oilskins and sou'- 
 wester, perches himself on the last truck, in order to 
 devote his best attention to the brakes. The passen- 
 gers sit with their backs to the engine, so as not to 
 be blinded by the smoke, and then the steam tram 
 screams like a lost soul in agony, and plunges for- 
 ward on its narrow track. Swinging round the 
 sidling of a mountain, it dashes down the long gradi- 
 ent towards the bottom of the gorge, where the 
 Ritchie Creek is plashing past the spreading tree- 
 ferns, and presently it enters upon a long, straight 
 run, cut through the heavy timber that rises on 
 
16 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 either hand. The gums and myrtles spin past the 
 flying trucks so close that one could touch them with 
 an outstretched hand. The smoke that pours from 
 the locomotive's furnace hangs low over the trucks, 
 for steam is shut off, and she is descending by momen- 
 tum only. The passengers near the front escape the 
 worst of the smoke; but it streams full in the eyes 
 of the guard, as he keeps his place on the side of 
 the last truck, with a keen look out before him, and 
 a firm hand on the brakes. As he sits there, half 
 
 seen for a moment through a rift in the driving clouds 
 of smoke, and then obscured altogether until it lifts 
 again, he looks exactly like the steersman of a life- 
 boat that plunges forward tnrough white-topped seas 
 that gather and burst and part on either side, leaving 
 the helmsman still unharmed. The guard bends his 
 head forward as he crouches down on the truck, and 
 the smoke swings back through the vista of the nar- 
 
SOME ASPECTS, SOMK" PROSPECTS, "AND A BULL. 1? 
 
 row clearing, and spreads itself into all manner of 
 vague and monstrous shapes between the huge trees 
 many of them 150 feet high that wall in the track on 
 both sides. When half the journey is covered. 
 the tram, panting and blowing like a cab-horse that 
 has been driven far and fast, draws up on a little 
 wooden viaduct that spans a creek, and is treated to 
 a needful drink from a tank that is filled from a 
 mountain waterfall. 
 
 Afterwards there is a long uphill gradient to the 
 Magnet Mine, where the works are in full swing, 
 and the silver-lead ore, dried in a burning, fiery fur- 
 nace that might have been prepared for Shadrach, Me- 
 shach, and Abednego, is being packed in neat little 
 sacks, ready to be sent to the smelters at Dapto and 
 at Zeehan. These little sacks, stacked so neatly 
 in the big shed, contain a harvest that is reaped all 
 the year round, the harvest of the Magnet hill. 
 
 A casual knowledge of the ways and habits of sil- 
 ver-lead ore may be obtained from a brief chat with 
 the hospitable mine manager before it is time to 
 venture upon the apoplectic forest tram again, and 
 rejoin the Emu Bay Company's train at Magnet Junc- 
 tion, en route for Waratah. 
 
 At Waratah the traveller is brought face to face 
 with one of the richest tin mines on the face of 
 the globe. There are other rich tin mines certainly. 
 There is one at Pahang, in the Straits Settlements, 
 worked entirely by Chinese. There are others, like 
 the Briseis, and the Brothers' Home, on the east coast 
 of Tasmania, and there are others again in Cornwall, 
 as there were when the Phoenicians went there in 
 their galleys, a few thousand years ago, and caused 
 the British Isles to be called the Cassiterides, or Tin 
 Islands. But in the value of the tin obtained from 
 a single mine. Mount Bischoff is easily first. It is 
 a case of " Eclipse first, and the rest nowhere." And 
 
18 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 Mount Bischoff was discovered over thirty years ago 
 by Philosopher Smith. 
 
 A strange character was Philosopher Smith. He 
 was a gold-prospector by profession, a " hatter " by 
 predilection, and a bushman by instinct. The pros- 
 pecting fever had got such a firm grip over him that 
 lie would forsake everything else, in order to go forth 
 and look for minerals. He lost all his money, and 
 then he lost his good farm, through his insatiable 
 desire for metal-hunting. He endured hunger, and 
 thirst, and cold, as he struggled through the densest 
 bush in the remotest ranges of north-west Tasmania, 
 accompanied only by his inseparable companion, his 
 dog; and often and often, as a friend who knew him 
 in those days testifies, Philosopher Smith would re- 
 turn to civilisation, famished, and with hardly a rag 
 of clothing remaining on his body. But the " aurl 
 sacra fames " never left him. 
 
 Then, at last, he set out from the north-west coast, 
 and struggled through range and creek and gully, 
 until he struck the little creek that is now called 
 the Waratah. He climbed the saddle of the moun- 
 
1 
 
 cr 
 &> 
 
 ir 
 
 0) 
 
SOME ASPECTS, SOME " PROSPECTS," AND A BULL. U) 
 
 tain opposite, and camped with his dog upon the sum- 
 mit. And as he examined the summit with a prac- 
 tised glance, his eye fell upon a porphyritic outcrop, 
 which probably made his heart beat faster. Then he 
 picked up a lump of richly mineralised ore, of a kind 
 that was quite strange to him, and hafing examined 
 it carefully, and made mental notes of the topography, 
 he went back to Wynyard. He took his bit of ore 
 to the blacksmith's furnace, and smelted it in a cru- 
 cible, getting a button of pure metal from the stone, 
 and then he took the metal to his friend, Mr. Quig- 
 gin, for examination. " I think it is tin," said Mr. 
 Quiggin, after a careful inspection. " So do I," 
 responded Philosopher Smith. " Go back and peg 
 out the ground where you found the stuff," said Mr. 
 Quiggin. " I will," said Philosopher Smith: and he 
 forthwith turned round, and. having provided himself 
 with sufficient tucker to sustain life, made his- way 
 back through the almost impenetrable bush to the 
 mountain, and pegged out his claim. The place was 
 called Mount Bischoff, after a Russian who was a 
 member of the original survey party; and it is satis- 
 factory to remember that Philosopher Smith did fairly 
 well, in a pecuniary sense, out of his discovery. The 
 lump of ore which he found that day upon the moun- 
 tain-top was the true Philosopher's Stone, which 
 converted the greater part of the mountain, first into 
 good, useful tin, and then, by the usual metallurgi- 
 cal modification, into pure gold. Up to the year 1902 
 no fewer than 1.830.000 golden sovereigns were dis- 
 tributed among gratified shareholders in the form of 
 dividends; and it is pleasant to think that a reason- 
 able number of them went into the pockets of Philoso- 
 pher Smith. The Philosopher is dead now, and his 
 restless spirit is possibly groping round the remoter 
 districts of Paradise in search of novel mineral wealth. 
 But the mountain that he discovered is still being 
 worked, and experts believe that it will be many years 
 yet before its riches are exhausted. 
 
20 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 Looking out over the valley of the Waratah through 
 the darkness, the watcher sees dozens of fires glowing, 
 where the concentrating plant is at work extracting 
 black oxide of tin from the loads of material that 
 have been brought in trucks from the open face of 
 the mountain* where the stuff was quarried. The 
 roar of the water, as it pours through the jigs, and 
 over the buddies that extend in a long sequence down 
 the valley, is like the sound of the sea upon an ocean 
 beach, and all night long the work continues, and the 
 rich black oxide, containing from 60 to 75 per cent, of 
 pure tin, is falling by its own specific gravity through 
 the water, which carries away the useless debris, 
 and down into the receptacles, from which it is col- 
 lected in due course and bagged for smelting. 
 
 But in the early morning, when the clouds are wrap- 
 ping ^:he mountain's topmost brow in a soft veil of 
 mist, and all the rest of its vast bulk is bathed in 
 sunlight, the sight is even more impressive. The 
 whole face of the mountain below the saddle has been 
 sliced off, as though by an enormous knife, and 
 everywhere the work of cutting out the ore is going 
 on, without haste, without rest. Now and then, 
 standing afar off, the gazer sees something that looks 
 like a small landslip on the hillside. It is a loaded 
 trolly, sliding down to empty Us precious contents 
 into the duodecimo railway trucks that are waiting 
 below to convey the heavy lumps of stone to the 
 crushing battery, and the fine stuff to the concentrat- 
 ing plant. 
 
 A mining man, who has spent a long life at the busi- 
 ness, gives it as his opinion that Mount Bischoff has 
 very many years of usefulness before it yet. And, 
 fortunately, the price of tin is still high. Copper, 
 when manufactured into bolts or wire or any of the 
 dozens of other forms into which it is worked up, 
 can be used over and over again. Not so tin, which 
 
SOME ASPECTS, SOME " PROSPECTS," AND A BULL. 21 
 
 is used largely for coating other metals. Tin, in 
 most cases, can be used once and once only; and, 
 moreover, its distribution over the earth's surface 
 is far more restricted than that of copper. Herein 
 may be found some, at least, of the reasons which 
 keep the price of tin high, and continually depress 
 the price of copper. As for silver, well, to explain 
 the causes of its fall in value must be left to those 
 who can explain the cause of the depreciation of 
 the rupee, and bi-metallism, and the Silverite Party in 
 the United States, and the cryptic utterance of that 
 eminent populist, Mr. Bryan, who protested, during 
 his last campaign for the Presidential election, that 
 he would not " crucify the world upon a cross of 
 gold." 
 
 How delicious is this morning air, on the hills above 
 the little township of Waratah! Soaring up into the 
 clouds, on the west side, are two sharp conical peaks, 
 that would probably be called " The Sisters " 
 if they occurred in Germany, where domestic senti- 
 ment so often finds happy expression in the nomen- 
 clature of mountains. In the gullies that lie between 
 Mount Bischoff and the twin peaks, are the Ritchie 
 and the Arthur Creeks, and the low ridge of the Mag- 
 net Ranges, so lately visited, may be easily recog- 
 nised. 
 
 Clouds gather imperceptibly in these altitudes. Un- 
 expected, unobserved, unreckoned with, they appear, 
 as quietly as the genii in the fables, and while the 
 onlooker is actually gazing, rapt in admiration, at 
 the gracious gleam of sunshine on a distant peak, 
 he becomes aware of rolling mist-wreaths, that have 
 filled the valley, hidden the myrtle, and also the gums 
 that rise above the myrtle belts, and crept up as ruth- 
 lessly as the incoming tide " along the sands o' Dee," 
 until they have blotted out the very tendrils of the 
 Macquarie vine that binds the face of the cliff beneath 
 his feet. The valley is full of mist, there is a fine 
 
22 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 rain falling, and no mo>'e beautiful landscapes will be 
 on view for the present. It is time to go back to 
 Waratah. 
 
 Walking down the hillside towards the township, 
 the traveller puts up a big flight of black jays, with 
 white tips on tail and wings. In a country where 
 birds of every kind are scarce, these black jays are 
 very welcome. A few parrots here and there, and 
 some black cockatoos whirring past us high 
 up in the tree.tops, are the only birds that 
 have hitherto shown themselves. The flights 
 of black jays give the touch of life that this 
 sombre Tasmanian bush so sadly needs. They are 
 the dustmen of the prospectors' and surveyors' camps, 
 and the energy with which they clear away all waste 
 matter from the temporary resting-places of these 
 pioneers should earn a vote of thanks from the 
 nearest beard of public health. 
 
 The blue smoke curling from the chimney of a 
 miner's cottage in the valley is a delightful little 
 touch of home, and it seems to add. in some mysteri- 
 ous fashion, to the stability of this mining township. 
 Blue smoke, curling from a cottage roof, strikes a 
 chord in the sympathetic heart to-day as it did in 
 Calypso's Isle so long ago. 
 
 Yonder in the valley, below Mount Bischoff is the 
 sight that Ulysses, smitten with sudden homesick- 
 ness, desired so yearningly to see, " where clear- 
 seen Ithaca leaned upon the main," nigh three thou- 
 sand years ago. Good-bye, Sweet Waratah! 
 
 The wild cattle on the land that extends from Guild- 
 ford to the Pieman River, are few in number, but 
 they make up in ferocity wh?t they lack in numbers. 
 As the train traverses the Hadfield Plains, a small 
 mob of wild cattle may be seen in the distance, 
 through the scanty timber. They have the appear- 
 ance of degenerate Herefords that have been subjected 
 
SOMEASHECTS, SOME " PROSPECTS," AND A BULL. 28 
 
 to a policy of drastic retrenchment. They can live, 
 but they can never grow fat on this coarse native 
 grass. Still, they have their liberty, and that, for 
 them, is no doubt most enjoyable. These dark- 
 red cattle that give the human race such a wide 
 berth, are not alone in their self-exile, for an ex- 
 citing story is current that has, as its leading incident, 
 the strange behaviour of a cream-coloured bull that 
 was lost by his owner somewhere in this district 
 many months ago. Terrified bushmen had come 
 in at intervals, and reported having met a bull, six- 
 teen hands high, and trained to the hour. The furi- 
 ous animal was faster than many horses, and was 
 equally good on the flat or over fences. Com- 
 bined with a fine dash of speed in a short flutter, he 
 had great staying power, and very few ordinary horses 
 could get away from him. It seems that this unusual 
 animal, in the course of one of his solitary training 
 gallops far inland on the Hampshire Plains, happened 
 to catch sight of a misguided stockman, who had come 
 to look for lost cattle. The stockman soon decided to 
 go for a complete change of air and scene; but, un- 
 fortunately, the bull made the same determination 
 at the same time. Horse and bull got quickly 
 away together, and a most interesting race for the 
 stockman followed. For a time the om stockhorse 
 seemed to hold his own, but the superior condition 
 of the bull, who was trained very fine, and had not 
 a superfluous ounce of flesh on his carcase, soon told 
 its inevitable tale, and the gap between the leader 
 and his next attendant was quickly decreased. Gra- 
 dually the bull improved his position until his horns 
 were level with his opponent's tail. Then he made 
 his run, and forged ahead until his horns were abreast 
 of the horse's girths, and the stockman's teeth were 
 chattering. At this point the bull deliberately bored 
 in upon his opponent, and so thoroughly did he carry 
 out this manoeuvre that he knocked the old stock- 
 horse over altogether, and charged and butted that 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 unfortunate animal, with the most disastrous results. 
 The stockman was only saved from a similar fate 
 by the fact that the bull became entangled in the 
 girths, and as the active young Tasmanian ran for 
 his life to the nearest timber, he saw a gaunt and 
 hungry bull galloping furiously into the bluest dis- 
 tance, with a valuable stock-saddle firmly impaled 
 on the points of its short and businesslike horns. 
 
T3 
 
 " U 
 
 co 
 Lu 
 
 I- 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OFF TO Sif.VEKI,\M>. 
 
 ' The swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen, 
 Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine, 
 And loiters, slowly drawn." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 HE train sweeps on through mighty cuttings, 
 blasted out of solid conglomerate or schist, 
 and skims round the ranges on sidlings. 
 Five hundred feet below the level of 
 the line the Hadfield River lashes itself into 
 foam as it races over snags and boulders, in 
 a vain attempt to keep up with the train, and the Had- 
 field Gorge, in which the sun never shines, looms up 
 from its lonely depths, tenanted only by the wild 
 laurel and the tree-fern. Far away to the left rises 
 the snow-covered crown of Barn Bluff, with the sun 
 shining on its level plateau, that looks as though it 
 had been squared by some Cyclopean carpenter. Barn 
 Bluff is 4,000 feet high, or thereabouts, and it makes 
 the interminable succession of less lofty ranges ap- 
 pear quite insignificant by comparison. Looking 
 back from the snow-capped mountain on the sky 
 line to the gorges at his feet, the traveller finds him- 
 self gazing down, on one side of the line, into the 
 Hadfield Gorge, and on the other into the gorge o' 
 the Que River, marvelling much at the engineering 
 difficulties which have been met and vanquished 
 in the construction of this portion of the permanent 
 way. Yonder is the old pack-track, three feet wide, 
 and paved with " corduroy," that had to be laid down 
 
26 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 \>y the constructing engineer before a single sleeper 
 or yard of rail could be laid on the permanent way. 
 No general advancing into hostile country needs to be 
 more careful to keep open his line of communica- 
 tion with his supply base than a construct- 
 ing engineer, with such a railway as this 
 on hand. There were no Government roads, 
 or any other kind of roads, that could be util- 
 ised, and every bite of bread and meat for 1,500 men, 
 as well as all other necessary stores, had to be brought 
 by packhorse from the nearest base. The pack-tracks 
 cost thousands of pounds for maintenance alone and 
 at last, with the light of much expei'ience to guide 
 him, the engineer converted the pack-tracks into 
 tram-tracks, by laying down rough wooden rails, upon 
 which trucks could be drawn by horses. The remains 
 of these tram-tracks, winding round the mountain 
 sides, descending into gullies, and climbing up the 
 opposite sides again, crawling through solid masses 
 of dense undergrowth, and always coming back to 
 the side of the railway, may still be seen by travellers, 
 though wind and rain have wrought sad havoc in their 
 solidity. 
 
 The names of some of these Tasmanian beauty-spots 
 seem to have been applied to them without due re- 
 flection. What, for instance, would any fair-minded 
 person suppose to be the name of this lovely stream 
 that ripples along, hiding itself modestly in raiment 
 of rich greenery, from the inquisitive sunshine, and 
 frooning to itself with the sweet inarticulate sounds 
 of innocent infancy? Surely those who had the privi- 
 lege of naming this beautiful rivulet would naturally 
 Confer upon it a name which would recall tender and 
 romantic associations, and which would worthily re- 
 flect the spirit of the scene which it so well adorns. 
 Did they call it the Bendemeer? No, they did not. 
 They called It the Boko Creek. Boko is an expres- 
 sion that It not to be found in any well-regulated 
 
OFF TO S1LVKRLAND. 27 
 
 dictionary. It is not even included in the late Pro- 
 fessor Morris' " Dictionary of Australasian English," 
 and the inquirer into the significance of the word may 
 possibly conjecture that it is not used by any stan- 
 dard authors, and belongs, rather, to that language 
 which is spoken, but not written, except occasionally, 
 on a slip of paper that is handed up to the bench in 
 the police court for their worships emphatic disappro- 
 val. 
 
 Boko, if memory does not play tricks, is a word 
 often used by uneducated persons as a synonym for 
 nose, a threat to " dot " an adversary on the " boko " 
 being, in fact, a direct menace to commit a breach of 
 the peace by hitting somebody on the nose. What a 
 name to give to a sweet little stream like this, with its 
 waterfall that drops thirty feet, sprinkling " the 
 iris of the Australasian spray," to borrow Mr. William 
 Watson's picturesque phrase, over the intrusive fronds 
 of the tree-ferns that bend above its banks! One 
 imagines that there must be some other meaning 
 for this word. And there is. Listen: 
 
 THE CHRISTENING OF BOKO CREEK. 
 
 " There came a skilled surveyor from the distant 
 
 Queensland plains, 
 
 To measure up these wild Tasmanian hills; 
 And the further that he travelled with his little 
 
 pegs and chains 
 
 Well, the louder grew his grumbling at his ills. 
 His beard was like the dogwood scrub, his teeth 
 
 were like the snags 
 
 Where far below in foam the river broke, O; 
 His coat hung round like shredded bark so also 
 
 did his bags, 
 Before he reached the spot now called the Boko. 
 
28 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 " It happened that in brighter days this survey man 
 
 had strayed 
 
 Far, far away, among the Myall blacks, 
 And learned to love their lingo, though the noises 
 
 that they made 
 
 Were mostly like the grinding of an axe. 
 One day there came a jackeroo, with eye-glass in 
 
 his eye; 
 
 The blacks drew near, and jabbered, ' con fuoco.' 
 They thought he was a one-eyed man, and raised a 
 
 frightened cry. 
 ' Heya, mine tinkit now dat pfeller boko.' 
 
 " The vagrant years went moving on, some ran, some 
 
 walked, some crept, 
 
 For Time, the great Policeman, grants no rest, 
 But still that skilled surveyor nian, with dogwood 
 
 whiskers, kept 
 
 The native word for ' one-eyed ' in his breast; 
 And as, while naming each new spot, according to 
 
 his freak. 
 
 He jolted onward, on a ballast loco., 
 And came upon the lonely charm of yon sequestered 
 
 creek, 
 
 ' This one-eyed place,' he yelled, ' I'll call the 
 Boko.' " 
 
 Just below the waterfall is "the 24-mile" and 
 luncheon. The fettler's wife at " the 24-mile," is a 
 hospitable, bright-faced young woman, who lays a 
 white cloth, and makes tea in a tea-pot with marvel- 
 lous promptitude. She disliked " the Que," where 
 she last resided owing to the exigencies of the line 
 in that locality; but she is very happy at the Boko, 
 to which her husband has been transferred, with the 
 other three members of his gang. She cannot under- 
 stand why her next-door neighbour is always grumb- 
 ling at the loneliness of the place, and wishing herself 
 back again in the West. As for herself, she finds the 
 
OFF TO SILVHRLAND. 
 
 children good company, and the place is very healthy, 
 though a trifle cold in winter. One learns, incident- 
 ally, that the young woman is the daughter of a fet- 
 tler, and accustomed from infancy to the strange lone- 
 liness of the nomadic life, in ever-changing habi- 
 tations along the line. She has three children Floss, 
 Apricot, and the baby, each of whom is a distinct 
 little character-type. Floss is a pretty, six-year-old 
 blonde, and moderately conversational; Apricot is a 
 beautiful five-year-old brunette, who speaks never a 
 word, and the baby's age and sex are matters upon 
 which it would be dangerous to hazard an opinion. 
 Like the ancient Spartans, it was clothed in a single 
 garment, and, like the victims of Dr. Wackford 
 Squeers, it had obviously been eating treacle. Floss, 
 whose education is imparted to her by her father 
 after tea every evening, as there is no school nearer 
 than twenty miles or so away, volubly undertakes to 
 spell cat or dog, without being pressed; but Apricot, 
 into whose small soul the silence of the bush has 
 entered, disregards the talkative visitors completely, 
 and though you take her small, plump hand in yours, 
 and implore her to speak, if it is only a word, she 
 continues to stare straight before her, with her big 
 blue eyes fixed inalterably upon the cheery log-fire. 
 Apricot is thinking, and " the thoughts of youth are 
 
30 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 long, long thoughts." Perhaps she is thinking that 
 she, too, like her mother before her. will grow up to 
 be a fettler's wife, and the happy, cheery mother of 
 many future little line-repairers. 
 
 As the train steams out from the hospitable fettler's 
 home the fettler himself being away inspecting a 
 suspicious dog-spike down the line the baby is dis- 
 cerned clambering over a huge boulder towards the 
 creek, Floss is inside the little house, evidently help- 
 ing to clear away the tea things, and Apricot the 
 beautiful is gazing after the retreating train, still 
 wrapped in her reflections. 
 
 Running down on an easy gradient, we open up the 
 Pieman River, compared with which all the Tas- 
 manian rivers hitherto met with "are as moonlight 
 unto sunlight, and as water unto wine. Not un- 
 like wine, either, looks the curiously named Pieman, 
 as it pours along, frothing and sparkling like cham- 
 pagne in the gorge below, and Tennyson's famous 
 line in " Locksley Hall " seems to gain an additional 
 significance. So far as the kindly bounty of Nature 
 is concerned, this part of the island might stand for 
 the model from which the late Laureate drew his 
 picture of the lotus-eaters' Isle. It is. indeed, 
 
 " A land of streams. 
 Some, like a downward smoke, 
 Slow dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go. 
 And some through wavering lights and sha- 
 dows broke, 
 Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below." 
 
 But it is to be feared that the poet's complacent 
 attitude of lofty scorn for common industries, and par- 
 ticularly his contempt for mine-owners, would have 
 received a rude shock had he been able to foresee 
 the rise and progress of the Mount Bischoffs and 
 Mount Zeehans and Mount Lyells. that were un- 
 
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 en 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 tr 
 
 C53 
 0) 
 
 Q_ 
 0) 
 H" 
 
OFF TO SILYKKI.AND. 81 
 
 dreamed of in those early days, when he was singing 
 so sweetly of Maud, with her feet " like sunny gems 
 on an English sward," and of that much-to-be-detes- 
 ted person who developed a coal mine on his pro- 
 perty, and was promptly stigmatised as " master of 
 half a gutted shire." 
 
 The Pieman River itself is worthy of the highest 
 encomiums that could be lavished upon it, and as the 
 student of natural beauty looks at the dark and foam- 
 ing current that winds along under the shadows of the 
 gigantic trees that clothe its banks on either side, 
 the imagination reels under a blow to find that this 
 unromantic name of Pieman was bestowed upon it 
 from the gloomy circumstance that a convict known 
 as Tom the Pieman, who had escaped from Sarah 
 Island, in Macquarie Harbour, was recaptured by 
 his pursuers on the bank of this river, which he 
 was unable to cross. The river is now spanned by 
 a light, strong steel girder bridge, over which the 
 railway line is laid; but it is a comparatively new 
 structure, and a few years ago, when Lord and Lady 
 Brassey were making a pleasure-tour through this 
 part of Tasmania, there was no bridge at all at this 
 point. A cage, travelling on a wire hawser, was the only 
 available means of crossing, and, one by one, the 
 vice-regal party, like shipwrecked passengers from a 
 foundering vessel, were drawn across the yawning 
 gulf to safety. Rightly or wrongly, Lord Brassey, 
 while he was Governor of Victoria, earned a reputa- 
 tion for falling off quite a number of different means 
 of transit, and he descended with more haste than 
 premeditation from his bicycle, his horse, and, finally, 
 his yacht, in rapid succession. Knowing this ten- 
 dency on his part, the watchers across the river 
 kept their eyes fixed upon him with painful anxiety 
 during the passage, but though the wire rope sagged 
 ominously in the middle when the representative oi 
 the Sovereign was suspended in mid-air high above 
 
IN IASMAN S LANP. 
 
 the roaring torrent, the crossing plant was equal to 
 the task, and Lord Brassey managed, under Provi- 
 dence, to retain his seat in the wobbly little cage. 
 
 People who admire deep cuttings, cunningly con- 
 structed sidlings, and elegant steel bridges, can 
 gratify their passion to the full by a trip on this line 
 to Zeehan. There is even a tunnel a quarter of a 
 mile long, to complete tht- inventory of engineering 
 attractions, and. best of all, the line is solid and safe, 
 and the trains run with the perfection of smooth 
 ness. Mr. James Stirling, who built the line for the 
 Company, and who now manages it. was once an 
 officer of the Victorian Railways, and he learned his 
 business as a railway constructor in many different 
 parts of Australia. To the man who built the Pine 
 Creek to Palmerston line, in the torrid region of 
 Northern Australia, and wl,o had <!,000 Chinese nav- 
 vies and 1,000 whites under him for the job, then.' 
 were no difficulties that could not be surmounted in 
 the construction of this line from Guildford Junction 
 to Zeeban. The line built by Mr. Stirling is, indeed, 
 
OKK 10 SIIA'KRI.ANP. 
 
 a solid monument to the indomitable resolution, 
 and the great organising and administrative capacity, 
 as well as the engineering knowledge and resource- 
 fulness of the constructor. 
 
 It is getting dark, and the evening is closing in 
 fast, or otherwise one would be admiring the panor- 
 ama of gorge and forest, stream and mountain, that 
 moves continually past the carriage window. 
 
 Ah, here we are. Zeehan at last! 
 
 There was once, not many years ago, a young gen- 
 tleman who travelled from London to Port Melbourne 
 on a mail steamer, and who attired himself, as soon 
 as he reached Hobson's Bay, in a red shirt, corduroy 
 riding breeches, and ferocious boots, under the im- 
 pression that he was about to land in a place where 
 that was the customary costume, and where his pe- 
 culiar clothing would attract no attention. It re- 
 quired a friendly hint from his alarmed cabin steward 
 to correct his erroneous impression, and common gra- 
 titude probably compelled him to disburse an extra 
 half-sovereign as a thank-offering for being rescued 
 from an unenviable position. 
 
 If the same young gentleman had been bound for 
 Zeehan. instead of Melbourne, he would naturally, 
 relying upon Bret Harte's descriptions of the fashions 
 in vogue at Poker Flat and Roaring Camp, have added 
 to his Melbourne costume a belt containing a bowie 
 and a brace of shooting irons. But, alas! he would 
 find that the picturesque attire of old-time miners has 
 passed away, and that their camps have become 
 respectable, not to say luxurious. The average resi- 
 dent of Zeehan may wear a " bluey " and a stout pair 
 of leggings over the prosaic details of his unroman- 
 tic suit of tweed, but he invariably discards even 
 these accessories indoors, and he usually so far forgets 
 What is due to the romance of mining as to wash his 
 hands before dinner. There may be room for 
 
34 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 grumbling at the fall in the price of silver-lead, 
 which causes the stream of commerce in Zeehan to 
 flow with a slight diminution of its former exuber- 
 ant velocity; but the traveller can still be sure of com- 
 fortable quarters and also of finding plenty to in- 
 terest him, as he takes his walks abroad. 
 
 Horticulturists were recently notified through the 
 press that a monster mushroom had been gathered 
 at Northwood, England. It weighed 2 Ib. 2 oz., mea- 
 sured 39 in. in circumference, and grew in three 
 days. The township of Zeehan strikes the reflective 
 visitor as bearing an astonishing resemblance to that 
 portentous vegetable. It weighs very heavily on the 
 chests of certain rash speculators, it measures several 
 miles in circumference, and it grew in about six years 
 out of nothing. Moreover, it has trams running 
 up and down the main street, an enlightened daily 
 press, several churches, and more than several hotels, 
 not to mention a theatre, streets full of shops, and 
 most of the other luxuries of civilisation. Also, 
 there are a number of silver-lead mines in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood, and new ones are being 
 opened up, or old ones re-opened, almost every week. 
 When the mining field was first pegged out, the Gov- 
 ernment made a slight mistake, which has resulted 
 in some disappointment. They yielded to the de- 
 mand of certain persons that they should be allowed 
 to build houses on the mining area, and the conse- 
 quence was that the main street of Zeehan now runs 
 over one of the richest portions of the field. In fact, 
 when one of the numerous hotels was being erected, 
 the workmen had to excavate a large quantity of 
 high-grade ore before the posts upon which the place 
 was built, instead of foundations, could be securely 
 driven. The bar of ore is not in it, on a new mining 
 township, with the bar of an hotel as a rapid wealth- 
 producer; but as the whole township has been built 
 literally, as well as figuratively, upon the precious 
 
OFF TO SILVERLAND. 
 
 metal, the outlying deposits available for mining 
 operations have in some instances not come up to ex- 
 pectations. At the same time, several mines, no- 
 tably the Montana and the Argent, are getting good, 
 payable ore, and dividends are accruing with quiet 
 and unobtrusive persistence. 
 
 With silver at a shade under 2s. per oz., and lead 
 hovering about in the region of only 10 per ton, 
 an investor cannot hope to grow into a millionaire 
 in a week; but, to borrow the hackneyed phrase which 
 is more usually applied to the investor's wife than 
 to himself, he is " doing as well as can be expected. " 
 
 A ride out to Mount Heemskirk results in the 
 discovery of many excited people, who are confident 
 that in the deposit of tin which they have found 
 there they have secured another Mount Bischoff. 
 So mote it be. 
 
 The mine on Mount Zeehan itself is not now work- 
 ing. A mantle of snow, new-fallen during the night, 
 covers the top of the mountain and also the summit of 
 Mount Dundas, further in the distance. Under a 
 grey sky the township of Zeehan, completely 
 surrounded by a great amphitheatre of hills, is silent 
 on this quiet Sunday afternoon, resting after the 
 strenuous labour of the week. The working of a big 
 12-inch pump on the Montana throbs like a mighty 
 pulse through the stillness, and the listening ear 
 can catch the plash of water through the concentra- 
 tors at the Argent. But these sounds only intensify 
 the general stillness, and, high above the town that 
 bears its name, stands snowy-helmeted Mount Zee- 
 han, like a vigilant sentry, keeping guard above this 
 well-filled treasure-house. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I'ARK SFIADOWS-AND THEN THE SUXSHIXE. 
 
 Man's inhumanity to man makes countless 
 thousands mourn." Burns. 
 
 >HE next slide in the cinematographe of tra- 
 vel reveals Strahan and Macquarie Harbour, 
 haunted by fearful memories. Strahan is 
 only two hours' journey from Zeehan by 
 the Government railway. Visitors will find no lack 
 of hotel accommodation here. The first sight of this 
 vast sheet of dark water, edged near its outlet by 
 mighty terraces of rock, bare of all vegetation, awak- 
 ens an emotion, almost of horror. Where is the 
 spot in all the length and breadth of blood-stained 
 Europe that carries such terrible memorials of man's 
 inhumanity to man as this land-locked harbour, 
 dotted sparsely with small islands here and there, 
 and girt by gigantic prison walls of frowning basalt. 
 
 Could an oubliette in the Bastille compare for 
 horror with one of these terrible cells that are still 
 to be seen on Settlement Island? Think you that 
 Ponnivard, chained to his pillar in the lowest dungeon 
 of wave-lashed Chillon, could be likened in misery 
 to one of those unnamed creatures who were fastened 
 to the iron rings that still remain in the cave of 
 Condemned Island, where the prisoner was left to be 
 tamed or maddened by the icy waters of the rising 
 tide. Eighty years of progress and civilisation have 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THEN THE SUNSHINK. 8? 
 
 not obliterated the traces of the lash and the chaiu- 
 gang on yonder little wooded island, and the bitter 
 memories are burnt into the history of this place as 
 indelibly as the marks of the cat and the leg-iron 
 still visible in the flesh of one or two shuffling " old 
 hands " that yet survive. 
 
 The historical facts connected with Macquarie Har- 
 bour cannot be forgotten, for they have been woven 
 into the one great tragical romance that has yet been 
 produced by an Australian writer, but after a brief 
 and hurried survey they may well be quietlv laid aside 
 by those who come to this place to rejoice in the gifts 
 of Nature rather than to be sad at the thought of the 
 shameful way in which man has befouled her handi- 
 work. The holiday-maker, however, who comes to 
 Macquarie Harbour would do well to refresh his 
 memory by re-reading Marcus Clarke's sombre and 
 haunting story, in order to be able to identify the 
 scenes in which the action of the plot is carried on. 
 
 Away on the opposite side of the harbour from 
 Strahan the cliffs which form the coast line run out 
 into a long point of rock, bare of all vegetation. 
 This is Liberty Point, which escaping prisoners usu- 
 ally made for, under the belief that it marked the 
 
38 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 entrance to the harbour, only to find that before them 
 lay a long succession of still more arduous ridges. 
 Next to Liberty Point is Bald Head, and opposite 
 Bald Head is Betsy Island. Local tradition says that 
 it was here that Rufus Dawes, after being isolated 
 with Mrs. Vickers and Sylvia and Maurice Frere, 
 used to swim out daily irom the mainland to capture 
 the goats, and use their skins to make the " coracle." 
 
 The passage from the mainland to the island is 
 only a few hundred yards in length, and at the pre- 
 sent time nearly half the distance may be accom- 
 plished by wading, so that the task was not at all an 
 impossible one. 
 
 Everywhere one can note evidences of the close 
 topographical study that Marcus Clarke must have 
 made of the harbour before he sat down to write 
 his book; and, however painful the subject may 
 be, there is a sombre interest in picking out the differ- 
 ent notorious spots that are described in the novel. 
 
 The traveller in Europe, as he journeys where 
 
 " The castled crag of Drachenfels 
 Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine," 
 
 finds a keener pleasure in the scene as he remembers 
 the cantos which record the pilgrimage of Childe 
 Harold on the same storied and romantic river. 
 Should he find his way, afterwards, from Geneva up 
 to Montreux by the blue waters of the " Lake Leman" 
 that Byron loved, he will visit, with a warmer in- 
 terest, the grey old castle that is built on a rock in 
 the lake, under the shadow of the frowning Col du 
 Jaman, as he remembers the lines in " The Prisoner 
 of Chillon," and sees the author's name rudely cut in 
 the pillar of the dungeon. So, also, in going over 
 Macquarle Harbour, one cannot see the different spots 
 which have become identified with that other semi- 
 historical prisoner, without thinking of the Australian 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THKN THE SUNSHINE. 89 
 
 writer who has made the sombre theme his own. 
 Yonder is Sarah Island it is called Settlement Island 
 now where Rufus Dawes bore his sufferings with 
 such unwavering fortitude. In the cliff at Bald 
 Head there is a cave, which is called Dawes 
 Cave, and which tradition has actually assigned 
 as the place of shelter of the castaways dur- 
 ing the time that the famous " coracle " was build- 
 ing. Just beyond Sarah Island is Condemned Island, 
 a mere rock, with a cave on the further side, and on 
 the mainland opposite is Coal Head, to which the 
 prisoner swam from Condemned Island in his irons. 
 Does anyone now say, looking at the broad expanse 
 of water that separates the lonely rock from the main- 
 land, that such a feat was impossible? 
 
 A recent discovery has justified the introduction of 
 the incident most remarkably. Five years ago a 
 party of prospectors were exploring Mount Darwin, 
 that towers up yonder behind Coal Head, in search 
 of gold. They had found good gold in the lower gul- 
 lies, and, after the manner of prospectors, they had 
 climbed to the summit, in order to see if the denuda- 
 tion by wind and weather had uncovered the out- 
 crop of a reef. They did not find the reef, but they 
 did find, on the very top of the mountain, a rusty 
 leg-iron, the grim relic of the former days tinder " the 
 system." 
 
 Who can tell the fate of the man who once climbed, 
 with irons on his legs, up to the top of this mountain, 
 rich in gold, and, reaching the summit, managed at 
 last to knock the hateful emblem of his servitude from 
 his body? Who can tell with what a thrill of hope 
 renewed he must have looked across the water to the 
 little hell on earth that he had left behind him? And 
 who shall describe the awful sense of utter abandon- 
 ment as he staggered on, deeper and deeper, into the 
 loneliest gulfs of those unimagined solitudes, to die 
 
IN' TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 at last of famine and despair, with the wild-cat star- 
 ing at him through the timber, and the hyena that 
 bushmen now call the Tasmanian tiger howling 
 ominously near. Yet all this is told plainly enough 
 by those links of iron found upon the mountain-top. 
 
 There are other relics that bring home to the spec- 
 tator with irresistible vividness the reality of the con- 
 vict days. An old brick-kiln was found, some time 
 ago, on the western shore of the harbour, and was 
 easily identified as the place where the prisoners 
 working like the captive Israelites of old for their 
 Egyptian masters put out their daily tale of bricks. 
 A gum-tree, defying " the system " has scornfully 
 pushed its trunk up and through the brickwork of the 
 kiln; but the ruins are still in excellent preservation. 
 Here the prisoners moulded the bricks that were 
 used in building the cells, the court-house, and the 
 officers' quarters on the island. To assist the task 
 of .tallying the required number, the brickmakers 
 were accustomed to indent every tenth brick on its 
 upper surface with both their thumbs, so that the 
 warder could count the output almost at a glance. 
 The bricks so indented were used with the others 
 for building operations on the island, and a few years 
 ago, when the great mining activity in the north- 
 west of Tasmania had caused a strong demand for 
 building material, to be used in the different mining 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THEN THE SUNSHINE. 41 
 
 townships, many enterprising speculators obtained 
 boats, and sailed away to the old convict settlement, 
 in quest of bricks. They destroyed and carried 
 off a quantity of the old brickwork before the Gov- 
 ernment, learning what was going on, stepped in and 
 stopped the depredations. 
 
 Among the bricks so carried off were many of those 
 that were thumb-marked by the convict makers 
 seventy years ago, and the marks may still be 
 seen on them as fresh as the day that they were 
 made. 
 
 The pattern of the fine lines on each convict's 
 thumb, and the deeper, broader line at the base of 
 the first joint, are delineated with photographic sharp- 
 ness. Every thumb-mark differs from every other, 
 and each is the vivid record of an individuality that 
 has passed away. These thumb-marked bricks may 
 still be seen on the island, by making diligent search, 
 though a great number have been carried away as 
 curios. Some of them present special marks, by 
 which their owners, if still alive, could easily be iden- 
 tified. Here is one, for instance, in which the convict's 
 thumb had been split longitudinally, and had healed, 
 with a deep cicatrix, which is plainly stamped on 
 the enduring surface of the red-brown clay. To look 
 at it is to be reminded, with distressing vividness, 
 of the brickmaker. One almost expects to see the 
 owner of that scarred thumb looking over one's shoul- 
 der, with his close-cropped hair and desperate eyes, 
 as one examines his handiwork. 
 
 On a few of the bricks, also, the makers have 
 written their monograms, while the clay was still wet, 
 and the initials stand out to-day with absolute dis- 
 tinctness. Here is one with " T.P." inscribed on it, 
 in the centre of a dainty arabesque of scroll-work. 
 Who was T.P., and what was the story of his ill- 
 starred life? None can say; but his signature Is in- 
 
42 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 delible on this bit of well-fired clay, and may last 
 as long as any of those inscriptions of the times of 
 Amurath and Rameses, that the archaeologists from 
 time to time dig up on tiles of pottery, and learnedly 
 decipher. 
 
 The initialled bricks are getting very rare now. 
 Some of them have been built into houses at Strahan 
 and at Zeehan. Others have been carried off by curio- 
 hunters, and soon not one will be left to bring be- 
 fore the wandering stranger what? The very hand- 
 writing of the damned. 
 
 Settlement Island has lately been leased by the Gov- 
 ernment to an unimaginative person, who saw in it 
 an admirable position for a poultry farm. A care- 
 taker and his wife now live on the island, practical 
 people who see no ghosts on stormy nights, and who do 
 not hear the screams of the victims at the triangle 
 mingling with the howling of the wind. And cocks 
 and hens now wander at will where man, made in the 
 image of God, once stared in agony through the gloom 
 of a six-foot cell. The inquisitive stranger who 
 lands on the island may see, in almost every 
 cell, marks on the walls where the wretched 
 men who were condemned to solitary confine- 
 ment have kicked a foothold in the bricks, 
 s--o that they oould scramble up and stare for a few 
 r.econds through the ventilating grater near the ceil- 
 ing ir>to a passage flanked by more cells on the other 
 side. Only a few ruined remains of the old build- 
 Ings still survive to cast their dark shadow over 
 waters where happy-holiday-makers now sail, with 
 song and laughter. 
 
 The snow-topped peak of Frenchman's Cap, far in- 
 land, 
 
 " Stands up like topmost Gargarus, 
 And takes the morning." 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THEN THE SUNSHINE. 48 
 
 As the sunshine broadens on the snow, far up in those 
 stainless heights, and the shadow still broods over the 
 low island set in the dark, peaty waters of the har- 
 bour, one recalls the pithy lines of the poet, who 
 wrote,, with a significance which is redoubled here: 
 
 " En haut la cime, 
 En bas 1'abime; 
 En haut mystere, 
 En bas misere." 
 
 From " penseroso " to " allegro " is, after all, only 
 .a single step. When the sunshine is on Macquarie 
 Harbour it is no unworthy rival, even of Hobart, 
 though its beauties are of a haughtier and more ma- 
 jestic kind, at any rate, to that hackneyed individual, 
 the casual observer. The hills and cliffs on the 
 western side, with their steep, bare sides, and their 
 straight plateau summits, have an unfortunate re- 
 semblance, it is true, to walls; but on the east side 
 of the bay the mountains have been moulded into true 
 Alpine grandeur. Here is Mount Darwin, scored 
 deeply by primeval glaciers that have cut away 
 great slices from the side nearest to the harbour, 
 and fretted by the narrow courses of many moun- 
 tain torrents. And, far away, seen above the 
 intervening peaks, is the snowy crown of Mount 
 Owen in the heart of the copper country. It 
 was a fine thought of Mr. Charles Gould, a former 
 Tasmanian Government geologist, to name the moun- 
 tains in this north-west district after great scientists. 
 Hence we have Mount Darwin, Mount Jukes, Mount 
 Huxley, Mount Owen, Mount Lyell, Mount Sedgwick, 
 and Mount Tyndall, all towering aloft in awesome 
 grandeur. 
 
 What a delightful yachting cruise could be organised 
 in Macquarie Harbour if there were any yachts. In 
 default of yachts, the tourist must put up with the 
 Union Company's launches, which, if less picturesque, 
 
44 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 are, to tell the truth, far more comfortable than the 
 average yacht, with its smelly cabin, and exasperating 
 slowness. If people in Australia, or even in coun- 
 tries more distant still, only knew the delight of a 
 cruise on a launch in Macquarie Harbour, they would 
 hardly miss the chance of coming here and watching 
 the sun gilding the tops of the myrtle and manuka 
 trees, and the black swans that " Banjo " Paterson 
 has sung about, clanging off to their homes, far up the 
 Gordon River. There are pelicans to be seen, also, 
 near Macquarie Heads; lonely-looking creatures, 
 whose immense beaks, like the nose of Cyrano de 
 Bergerac, seem a source of perpetual disquietude to 
 their possessors, and there are trumpeter and sea- 
 trout to be hauled up by anyone who has energy to 
 drop a line overboard. 
 
 The wild swan makes a dainty dish, and may 
 be shot without difficulty as yet, though an experi- 
 enced boatman deplores the tendency on the part of 
 sportsmen to " roust " these birds about unduly. 
 They have already been "rousted" out of Swan Bay. 
 where they were formerly to be found very thickly, 
 and they have now emigrated to the mouth of the 
 
DARK SHADOWS- -AND THEN THE SUNSHINE. 45 
 
 Gordon River, and the upper and less frequented 
 parts of the harbour. 
 
 " Where the pelican builds her nest " is a poetic 
 conundrum that is usually solved by the answer, 
 "Out back;" and whether the long-beaked creatures 
 condescend to build any nests near the sand-ridges 
 flanking Hell's Gates, where they may be often seen, 
 cannot be predicated with certainty; but the swans 
 have certainly been nesting near this harbour since 
 before the coming of the white man. They were 
 there in 1813, when Captain Kelly, sailing round from 
 Hobart on a voyage of adventure, discovered the 
 narrow entrance, masked by a sand-bar outside, and, 
 running through the passage, found himself in the 
 vast landlocked harbour which, a few years after- 
 wards, acquired such sinister notoriety. Captain 
 Kelly named the harbour after the Governor of New 
 South Wales, and he called the bay which he discov- 
 ered on the south-east side by his own name. 
 
 Men and institutions have come and gone since 
 that, eventful day, but still the black swans haunt 
 the harbour for food, slow to relinquish their im- 
 memorial hunting-ground. The explorer went his 
 way and was seen no more, the convicts lived and 
 toiled and died, until at last the settlement was broken 
 up. Then came the prospector and railway navvy. 
 Tasmania itself, which was at first an appanage of 
 lordly New South Wales, became, in 1825, a separate 
 Crown colony, and afterwards a full-fledged colony, 
 with responsible government. Last of all she became a 
 Stato in the Commonwealth of Australia. And the 
 black swans have seen all these men and systems 
 come and go, and still they soar, winging their flight 
 at evening up the valley of the Gordon, and leaving 
 men and systems far below them. But they are get- 
 ting gradually scarcer, and in a few years, if the guns 
 that have already exterminated the native human 
 race of Tasmania are used with the same deadly in- 
 
46 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 sistence against the black swans, these, too, will 
 probably be utterly destroyed, and will share the fate 
 of all the steadily diminishing Tasmanian fauna. 
 A voyage up the magnificent Gordon River, which 
 debouches into the harbour near the southern end, 
 will bring to view the haunts and hiding-places of 
 these beautiful creatures, and will also enable the 
 traveller to revel in river scenes such as exist in no 
 other 'Ofirt of Tasmania. 
 
 The landscape artist, the enthusiastic fisherman, 
 the historical explorer in quest of grim old relics of 
 the past, and the mere tourist and picnicker may all 
 ppend a few delightful days profitably and pleasurably 
 on the waters of this broad-bosomed harbour, where, 
 at the seaward end, the face of Nature scowls with 
 the darkest passions, but where, far up towards the 
 inmost shore, she smiles with exquisite tenderness. 
 The change in the character of the scenery is most 
 marked. As far as Liberty Point the harbour is a 
 veritable prison, castellated, ramparted, frowning, 
 and impregnable. Then begin greem, wooded 
 slopes, and fairy coves and isles, with here 
 and there a broadening inward curve of the 
 shore-line, or a river rippling over a sandy 
 
o 
 
 JQ 
 
 ta 
 
 X 
 
 UJ 
 0) 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THEN THE SUNSHINE. 47 
 
 bar. The narrow entrance to the narbour from 
 the sea has been aptly named " Hell's Gates," and 
 the topmasts of a sunken schooner stand up forlornly 
 among the breakers on the bar, like tne visible em- 
 bodiment of the spirit of desolation in this harbour 
 of wrecked hopes and foundered lives. Upon the 
 gloomy face of the cliff that stands opposite to En- 
 trance Island might well have been written, eighty 
 years ago. the dread inscription that Dante, with the 
 strong visualising imagination of a dramatic poet, 
 saw above the portal of his Inferno. 
 
 " Lasciate ogni speranza, che voi entrate." 
 
 But up tOAvards the landward end of the harbour, 
 wheie the Gordon River, veiled in the beauty of 
 tinted myrtle and flowering undergrowth, glides down 
 to mingle with these ill-starred waters, there comes 
 through the plash of the oars an echo of another 
 poet's " brief thanksgiving ": 
 
 " That no life lives for ever. 
 That dead men rise up never, 
 That even the weariest river 
 Winds somewhere safe to sea." 
 
 While boating on Macquarie Harbour, it is well 
 to take due precaution, for even in comparatively re- 
 cent times the wind that howls down through the 
 clefts between the mountains has stirred up the 
 spirit cf destruction here, and brought about terrible 
 tragedies. A few years ago a young Englishman 
 named Richardson paid a visit to Macquarie Har- 
 bour, iu order to collect materials for the writing 
 of a book upon the old convict system. He hired a 
 boat and rowed out, with five men, to Settlement 
 Island; but as he was absorbed in his work of inves- 
 tigation, the clouds were gathering, and on the re- 
 turn journey to Old Strahan, the storm fell upon the 
 harbour with awful ferocity, and the boat half filled 
 
48 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 and then capsized. The young author was un- 
 able to maintain his hold on the upturned 
 keel, and sank at once, drowned in those 
 waters whose dark story he had come so far 
 to learn. With him went three of his companions. 
 A young sailor named Lloyd, and a boatman who was 
 an Irishman, alone managed to keep hold of the 
 capsized boat; but their chances were desperate, for 
 they were far from the shore, and boats in those 
 days were few and far between. Hours went by with- 
 out a sign of succour. The sun beat down upon the 
 two men, and then sank below the horizon. The next 
 day broke, and the dawn saw the two men still cling- 
 ing to the upturned boat, chilled by the icy water, 
 and weakened by the terrible strain, but still endur- 
 ing. Then the Irishman went mad, and screamed with 
 maniacal rage at his companion in misery. Lloyd 
 drew his sheath-knife from his waistbelt, and drove 
 the blade through the planking that formed the bot- 
 tom of the boat, so as to get a holdfast for emer- 
 gencies. The hours went by, and at last the Irish- 
 man, with one awful yell, slipped from the boat and 
 disappeared. 
 
 Lloyd was left alone, hanging on to the haft of the 
 knife that he had driven through the timber. His 
 hand slipped down from the haft to the blade, which 
 
DARK SHADOWS AND THEN THK SUNSHINE. 49 
 
 cut through the sinews of his palm, and after that he 
 lost consciousness. He remembered no more un- 
 til he found himself on the shore of the harbour, 
 having been, as he calculated, for thirty hours cling- 
 ing to the boat. He staggered along the shore until 
 he came to the King River, down which big logs 
 floated at intervals, and at last he managed to float 
 across the stream on one of them. Half delirious 
 from exposure and starvation, he tottered on in the 
 direction of the little township of Old Strahan, and 
 was finally found by a settler, at whose hut he ob- 
 tained rest and nourishment. This sole survivor of 
 an almost forgotten tragedy is now the master of the 
 steam-dredge used in clearing away the perpetual 
 accretions of sand at the entrance of the harbour. 
 
 It often rains at Macquarie Harbour, and after the 
 rain comes the rainbow. In fact, the whole of this 
 north-west district of Tasmania might well be called 
 the Land of Rainbows, for hardly a day passes that 
 does not bring half a dozen of them, and sometimes two 
 or three at once. A rainbow at Hell's Gates, with its 
 gorgeous colours descending upon the foaming water 
 on the bar, and the dominating violet, green, and 
 orange bands reflected in a broad belt that comes 
 straight through the narrow entrance, and along the 
 dark surface of the harbour, till it touches the sides 
 of the little rocking launch, compels thoughts of its 
 significance. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THROUGH THE COPPER COUNTRY. 
 
 ' Week in, week out, from morn till night, 
 You may hear his bellows blow." 
 
 " The Village Blacksmith." 
 
 course the gold-seekers have been at work 
 in the beds of nearly all the creeks and 
 rivers that empty themselves into Macquarie 
 Harbour. More than a quarter of a cen- 
 tury ago prospectors had penetrated to these lonely 
 gorges, and had worked their way up the King River, 
 and the contiguous gullies, for many miles. 
 
 But gold was never very plentiful, and the dish 
 and cradle of the fossicker have been replaced by 
 enormous copper-smelting furnaces, which pour out 
 the real mineral wealth of the country in a continu- 
 ous molten stream. A delightful trip to the copper 
 country begins at Regatta Point, on Macquarie Har- 
 bour, the terminus of the Mount Lyell Railway. The 
 line runs, at first, up the valley of the King River to 
 Teepookana. once a great depot of the gold-diggers 
 further inland, and the point from which their boats, 
 with provisions and stores, used to start for the min- 
 ing camps. 
 
 Teepookana. the name in the lost Tasmanian dia- 
 lect for the kingfisher, was not the indigenous name 
 of the place, but was given to it long after the last 
 of the blacks had vanished, by some white antiquary, 
 who decided to preserve the liquid syllables of the lost 
 language, for picturesque reasons, although the people 
 
THROUGH THE COPPER COUNTRY. 51 
 
 who once used the word had disappeared. A strange 
 atonement, surely, by a peaceable philologist for the 
 blotting out of a human family! 
 
 Several of these soft, musical Tasmanian names are 
 to be met with in this part of the country. Here, 
 for instance, is " Rinadena." on the crest of a hill, 
 the name being the aboriginal word for the summit. 
 And here, again, is a charming woodland spot that Is 
 called " Lowana. a word that once meant a young 
 girl. But now the language is dead, and so are the 
 young girls of the departed race dead beyond recall. 
 Something in the low, soft music of these Tasmanian 
 words suggests the Maori language, and yet the 
 ethnologists find no affinity between the two races. 
 
 From the entrance of the river up to the King Gorge 
 you may look from the railway carriage window upon 
 river scenery of rare beauty. Travellers from older 
 lands, accustomed to majestic rivers that w r ind their 
 way between trim banks and daisied water mea- 
 dows, find the wild beauty of these Tasmanian streams 
 quite captivating, for there is a headlong gaiety in 
 their sunnier moods that is strikingly original, and 
 a pensive charm of melancholy in the lonely solitudes 
 that is seldom reached by any English river. 
 The English river is like the well-brought up Eng- 
 lish girl, very beautiful, very gracious, very serene, 
 but, as some feminologists aver, a thought too trim, 
 a shade too prim, a xtm/woii two self-conscious, to 
 be truly natural. The Tasmanian river in this re- 
 mote north-west, at any rate, is a true child of the 
 frontier: imperious, audacious, and undisciplined, full 
 of wild loveliness, and beautiful alike in storm and 
 calm. Further away, if the stranger snoula visit the 
 Tamar or the Derwent, he will find many points of 
 resemblance to the quieter beauties of those distant 
 streams in the underworld; but here the loveliness 
 is untutored, natural, and frankly half-barbaric. 
 
52 IN' TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 As the train creeps round the sidling of the moun- 
 tain, one looks across the dark, broad river, far be- 
 low, to an immense wall of wooded range, five hun- 
 dred feet in height. Down near the water are huge 
 tree ferns, and the flowering scrub of sassafrass and 
 leatherwood, with here and there a crimson wara- 
 tah that glows like flame amid the green. The myrtles 
 stand up, shoulder to shoulder, dressed in tones that 
 vary between the richest russet of an English autumn 
 and the brightest emerald of an Irish spring, while, 
 among them, one may pick out stray clumps of black- 
 wood, or the tall, straight boles of the Huon pine. 
 
 Towering high above the myrtles are belts of the 
 giant gums that invariably hold the crests of the 
 hills, and when the sunshine gilds all this vast mass 
 of variegated foliage, a gorgeous feast of colour is 
 presented to the watching traveller. 
 
 But beautiful as is the scene above, it is far tran- 
 scended when Nature, like a mighty artist, paints a 
 whole gallery of glorious landscapes on the surface 
 of the river. The reflections in the water give more 
 delight, perhaps, than the originals, on account of 
 that tendency which Browning analyses so clearly 
 in " Fra Lippo Lippi," when he explains how art 
 gives beauty, even to the common-place. You see no 
 beauty in 
 
 " Yon cullion's hanging face a bit of chalk, 
 And, trust me, but you should though." 
 
 So is it with these reflections, and the eye that might 
 pass by the loveliness of tapering spars and feathery 
 foliage on the mountains sees all their beauty made 
 manifest when the clear surface of the river reveals 
 them so exquisitely delineated, and with such just 
 perspective and masterly massing of the foliage and 
 the shadows that all the charm of outline and of 
 colour seems to be redoubled in that sub-aqueous 
 
lictittie, Phcto , Hobart j 
 
 T(-]e Abt Sectioq 
 of the Mount Lyell Railway. 
 
THROUGH THK COPPER COUNTRY. 58 
 
 fairy-land. In such a stream as this, Narcissus 
 must have looked when he fell in love with his own. 
 image, mirrored in the bright water. 
 
 Past the grotesquely-named station at " Dubbil- 
 barril," which at first sight seems to carry a sinister 
 suggestion of the rifles that once brought doom to the 
 aboriginals, the train sweeps on towards the King 
 Gorge. It is a relief to find that " Dubbil-barril >r 
 conveys no direct allusion to weapons of destruction, 
 and that the name was given to the place by a party 
 of gold prospectors, who found the river divided here 
 into two branches by a long, wooded island. 
 
 At King Gorge the happy picnickers from Queens- 
 town find a woodland Elysium, which is reached by 
 means of a cage that crosses the river on a wire 
 hawser. Once across the river, a well-made track 
 allures one to a walk that is well worth the taking; 
 and, indeed, the ranges hereabouts are intersected 
 with old pack-tracks that enable even a tyro in the 
 bush to see all its beauties. In the summer there 
 are Sunday excursions to the King Gorge, and it is 
 a spot that certainly should not be missed. 
 
 Presently the train begins to climb more slowly, 
 and one discovers that the section of the line which 
 has been constructed on the Abt system has been 
 reached, and that the engine, which is fitted with a 
 central cogged wheel, is carefully working its way 
 along the rack-rail laid down between the ordinary 
 metals. It reaches the highest point on the line, 
 pauses for a drink of water, and then gingerly de- 
 scends, still feeling its way along the toothed rack-rail 
 on the falling gradient. And so, througn gorge and 
 gully, round the sidlings. and over many tall bridges 
 that span the creeks, it sweeps along, until the snows 
 on Mount Owen gleam nearer and clearer through 
 rifts in fleecy clouds, and at last we enter the wide r 
 
54 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 ropen plain in which Queenstown has grown up with 
 the rapidity of a tropical plant, and in which the 
 pale fumes from the smelters are slowly curling up- 
 wards, to melt and mingle with the clouds upon Mount 
 
 Owen's brow. 
 
 It is just an ordinary mining township, this Queens- 
 town, and as it rests there in the valley, under the 
 shadow of Mount Owen, there would be nothing re- 
 markable about it but for its extreme youth. 
 
 Consider, however, that these well-made streets 
 and well-stocked warehouses and palatial hotels have 
 all risen within the last two or three years from the 
 aboriginal swamp, and there is a good deal to mar- 
 vel at. The comforts of the Empire Hotel would be 
 not unusual in a more settled country, Dm one finds 
 it strange indeed to find luxury in the wilderness. 
 Between the charred and blackened ranges 
 opposite, where the bush fires have been sweeping, 
 and the stainless snows upon Mount Owen's crest, 
 a town has been built upon the copper ore won from 
 that other mountain just behind yonder ridge. 
 
 You can see, at intervals, black spots sailing across 
 the blue sky far up beyond the township. These 
 are the ore buckets, that pass in long procession over 
 the aerial ropeway from the mine to the smelters, 
 and, after a proportional part has been tipped at the 
 sampling house, are conducted to the ore-bms, where 
 their contents, all carefully graded, await the ordeal 
 by fire. 
 
 The smelters are the great sight of Queenstown, 
 and for all the hideous ugliness of the sluggish fumes 
 that rise incessantly from the chimney-tops, and the 
 pungent and pervading odour of sulphur that assails 
 the nose of the visitor, there is an extraordinary 
 fascination in watching the transmutation of the 
 metals that here goes on under the direction of that 
 
THROUGH THE COPPER COUNTRY. 65 
 
 most subtle alchemist, Mr. Sticht, the general man- 
 ager, who was induced to come over from America. 
 
 There are many different kinds of copper ore, and 
 there are many different ways of treating them. Mr. 
 Sticht, like a skilful and experienced physician, fa- 
 miliarised himself with the constitution of the mate- 
 rial upon which his skill was to be tested, and then 
 argued out the only line of treatment applicable. 
 Theory and experience both pointed to blast furnaces, 
 and Mr. Sticht, in spite of the misgivings of many 
 of the public and some professional brethren, de- 
 signed and erected a complete plant for smelting the 
 ore in blast furnaces. Now, a great objection to the 
 ordinary blast furnace is the enormous quantity of 
 fuel which it consumes, and coke is an expensive 
 luxury in the wilds of western Tasmania. Mr. 
 Sticht thought over the problem, and hit upon 
 a brilliant idea, suggested by his American expe,ri- 
 ence. Why should not the ore be made to act as its 
 own fuel, and to smelt itself? The high per- 
 centages of iron and sulphur in the ore were 
 a valuable supply of fuel, and, to cut the 
 story short, the furnaces were set in order, 
 with absolute certainty in the mind of Mr. Sticht 
 that only a small amount of coke would be needed 
 to assist the heat latent in the ore, to smelt the 
 metals out of it. And so it proved. This beautiful 
 idea, marvellous in its simplicity, and also in its 
 effectiveness, was translated into action. The al- 
 chemist had discovered the real secret of the transmu- 
 tation of metals. He would turn the ore into 
 " matte," the matte into " blister copper," and the 
 blister copper into gold by the simple operation of 
 placing it on the metal market. 
 
 To go round the smelting furnaces, under the guid- 
 ance of Mr. Sticht, is a liberal education in metal- 
 lurgy, while, from the point of view of pure spec- 
 tacle, no transformation scene of the most gorgeous 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 pantomime ever staged could compare with the bril- 
 liancy of the illuminations. 
 
 Take a peep at the smelters by night. It is pitch 
 dark outside, but the smelting-house is lit by gleams 
 of many-coloured fires that show up the stalwart 
 forms of the men who feed the furnaces. A 
 glimpse into one of these furnaces is an experi- 
 ence that is almost terrifying. There are in- 
 direct scientific methods of measuring the heat r 
 and one learns with a real feeling of awe 
 that the temperature inside the blast fur- 
 nace is about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while 
 the air-blast, which is driven by powerful en- 
 gines, into each furnace, is heated to 650 degrees 
 Fahrenheit. One would say that nothing could re- 
 sist such heat, and that the hardest and most uncom- 
 promising material would be reduced, either to a 
 fluid or a vapour when subjected to it. 
 
 But, strangely enough and this is one of the most 
 beautiful provisions of Nature, that the chemistry of 
 the metallurgist has brought to light there are .cer- 
 tain substances which decline to fuse, even in intense 
 heat, if subjected to it by themselves, but which smelt 
 readily v/hen associated with other substances for 
 which they have an affinity. That, of course, is 
 commonplace knowledge to the chemical engineer: 
 but the lay spectator is apt to regard it with 
 great curiosity. Why should it happen that this 
 ore, which is rich in iron pyrites and sulphur, 
 will not smelt properly, i.e. .economically, unless a lib- 
 eral admixture of silica is superimposed !n fur- 
 nace? And why should it happen, also, that the ore 
 from adjoining mines, which is deficient in iron py- 
 rites, will not smelt by itself at all, but will smelt 
 readily if mixed with the Mount Lyell ore? The 
 metallurgist knows that this is so, but he cannot give 
 any satisfactory explanation as to why it is so. That 
 is one of Nature's secrets. 
 
THROUGH THE COPPER COUNTRY. 5? 
 
 There is not much, apparently, that Mr. Sticht does 
 not know in connection with the treatment of copper 
 ores, and the extent of his knowledge may be con- 
 jectured from the circumstances that with practically 
 nothing else but a billet of wood, a shovelful of 
 coke, and a lump of ore from the heart of Mount 
 Lyell. he will produce you a piece of metal containing 
 99 per cent, of pure copper, and the balance in silver 
 and gold, with a few insignificant trifling decimals 
 of other substances. 
 
 The machinery by which lie performs this miracle 
 has all been designed by himself and a corps of 
 excellent assistants, and erected under his super- 
 vision. In the grey matter of the brain of 
 that quiet and highly-cultivated gentleman were 
 born the well reasoned deductions from which sprang 
 first the engines to create the blast, then the fires to 
 heat the blast; then the lines of mighty furnaces into 
 which the blast is driven before it generates the 
 furious heat in which the ore and added quartz lose 
 their identity, and mingle in a mighty bath of molten 
 liquid, from which, separated by the inexorable laws 
 that govern specific gravity, come two fiery golden 
 streams, one of molten metal, and the other of molten 
 stone. The molten metal is carefully poured into 
 moulds for further treatment, and the molten stone, 
 cooled by a never failing jet of water that is con- 
 veniently placed, is turned into the waste product that 
 Is known as " slag." 
 
 The molten metal, called " matte," contains about 
 15 per cent, of copper, the rest being sulphur 
 and iron, and some silver and gold: but this 
 product is not readily marketable, and the 
 metallurgist has consequently hit upon the happy 
 thought of still further enriching the percentage of 
 copper by a second fiery ordeal. Into the fire, then, 
 goes the matte again, and with the addition of its 
 affinity, in the shape of quartz, is once more reduced 
 
58 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 to a glowing liquid, which, when purified by the fil- 
 tering out of extraneous waste matter, is found by 
 the analyst to contain about 50 per cent, of copper, 
 and aliout 25 per cent, each ot sutpilur and iron, as 
 well as a now increased amount of silver and gold. 
 This product, called " converter matte," is next 
 re-molten in a smaller furnace, and conveyed 
 straight from the furnace into the " converter," 
 a huge vessel, thickly lined with clay, where 
 it sizzles and bubbles, under the influence of 
 an air-blast that enters the vessel at the bottom, 
 and rushes up through the liquid metal, with a roar- 
 ing like the roaring of a hurricane. Up from the 
 nozzle of the " converter " into a handy flue, and so 
 away to the chimneys, go the fumes of the sulphur 
 that is slowly and reluctantly expelled from the mol- 
 ten mass. The clay lining absorbs all of the iron, 
 and is poured out in the form of slag, when the pro- 
 cess is half done, leaving nothing but a rich matte 
 of about 80 per cent, in the vessel. This batfi is fur- 
 ther blown into to remove the sulphur that remained, 
 and finally the copper is alone left behind as a beau- 
 tiful rich golden liquid, with a greenish tinge about 
 its vapour, to be drawn off into mourds which harden 
 into that excellent and valuable commodity known as 
 " blister copper." 
 
 It is perfectly fascinating to watch these moulds 
 of glowing liquid that sparkles like champagne, and 
 throws up fountains of copper spray, caused by the 
 action of the gases in the metal. Beyond the stage 
 of blister copper we cannot follow it. It is left to 
 the refiners at Baltimore, U.S.A., to extract the frac- 
 tional percentages of gold and silver from the cakes 
 of metal, and reduce the mass to practically pure 
 copper. 
 
 An afternoon, or, better still, an evening spent at 
 the smelters is an eye-opener in the processes of met- 
 allurgy, and one is apt to regard the self-possessed 
 
THROUGH THE COPPKR COUNTRY. 59 
 
 gentleman who has devised all this, and much more 
 that must be left undescribed, with feelings not un- 
 mixed with superstitious awe. 
 
 Leave the smelters and take a walk over the ranges 
 to the Mount Lyell Mine itself, and also to the North 
 Mount Lyell, both of which are producing immense 
 quantities of copper ore, differing much in character 
 and in the treatment necessary for the extraction of 
 the metal. From the path leading to the Norta Mount 
 Lyell Mine, a visitor may get a splendid view of 
 the great Mount Lyell open cut, one of the most 
 productive copper mines on the face of the globe. 
 It is late in the afternoon, and snow is falling in 
 thick, heavy flakes; but the spectacle is a superb one, 
 and cold and wet are both forgotten in the absorption 
 of watching such a strange and inspiring scene. 
 
 Yonder, across the valley, stands the mountain, 
 with its whole face cut into terraces that seem to 
 rise, tier on tier, until they almost reach the clouds. 
 It looks like a gigantic fort, and the illusion is height- 
 ened by the flag that has just been run up on the 
 flagstaff rising from the summit. What a defensive 
 position it would make, and how desperate would be 
 the chances of a forlorn hope ordered to the assault! 
 The falling snow is driven slantwise across the valley 
 by a wind that whistles over the mountain tops, and 
 the flag that is flying from the fortress yonder is 
 sometimes almost lost to sight altogether. Imag- 
 ination again reverts to the idea of a defended posi- 
 tion. Was the fire-swept plateau on terrible Spion 
 Kop anything like that? 
 
 Suddenly, as if in answer to the unspoken thought 
 the roar of heavy artillery bursts upon the ear from 
 the mountain opposite, and the reverberations peal 
 and echo away far down the valley. Again and again 
 comes the thunder of bombardment, and in a moment 
 
60 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 it is as though a hundred batteries of field guns were 
 speaking at once. Up through the driving snow soar 
 huge projectiles from the masked batteries, mingled 
 with the" finer hail of shrapnel, and for fully five 
 minutes the bombardment continues, with a succes- 
 sion cf crashing explosions. Then the falling snow 
 shuts out the mountain completely, and at last the 
 echoes die away, and all is silence. 
 
 It was not a bombardment after all, and there are 
 no dead men lying out yonder on the lower slopes, 
 with the snow for their winding sheet, like the troops 
 that fell at Hohenlinden. It was only the customary 
 evening fusilade of the miners firing explosives in 
 the " orjten cut," to break down ore in readiness for 
 next day's operations. 
 
 After a call on the hospitable managing director 
 of the North Mount Lyell Mine, perched in his eyrie 
 on the hill-top, and a tour of inspection through 
 tunnels and stopes, where work is being energetically 
 prosecuted, and ore is being extracted for treatment in 
 the smelting furnaces at the neighbouring township 
 of Crotty, one may take the train on the North Mount 
 Lyell Company's railway, and tvavel down to Kelly 
 Basin, en route by boat for Strahan. From Strahan 
 back to Zeehan is only a short trip, and, freshened 
 and rested by a night at the Grand Hotel, one is ready 
 for a charming outing next day to Williamsford, 
 by the North-east Dundas Mountain Railway. 
 
o 
 O 
 
 $ 
 
 <D 
 
 E 
 
 CO 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOMEWAKO BOUND. 
 
 " Will ye no come back again." Jacobite Song. 
 
 almost seems as though every mile of this 
 little 2-foot gauge mountain line had its 
 own waterfall. The air is musical with the 
 tinkle of streams, and from the platform of 
 the carriage one can see the leatherwood scrub that 
 has a flower like orange blossom, the flowering sas- 
 safrass, the blooms of the wild laurel, and sometimes 
 a crimson waratah, or the dainty petals of the Bland- 
 fordia lily. Scarcely has the train passed over the 
 top of the Argent Falls when the Fraser Falls come 
 rnto view above the line, with a leap of nearly 100 
 feet, and then, swinging round a curve, one opens 
 up the Montezuma Falls, that rush in a succession 
 of leaps from a height of 360 feet into the channel of 
 the watercourse below. 
 
 The first leap is 150 feet in height, and, when a 
 heavy volume of water is flowing, with the sun turn- 
 ing the spray into diamonds, it is a sight to linger long 
 in the memory. Geologists tell us that waterfalls 
 denote the youthfulness of a river. It is only in an 
 old age, extending back for uncounted aeons, that a 
 river attains to the slow and measured pace which is 
 characteristic of advanced years. Judged by that 
 test, the Montezuma Creek must be a veritable child 
 among rivers, for it is practically nothing but a suc- 
 cession of waterfalls. 
 
62 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 By and by, when the present inhabitants of Tas- 
 mania have been replaced by a race of creatures with 
 atrophied limbs and enormous heads, to accommo- 
 date the abnormal brain development of the future, 
 the Montezuma Creek, levelled and chastened by the 
 inexorable processes of erosion and corrosion, may 
 flow along as peacefully, or, one might even say, as 
 sluggishly as the Yarra. If such a thing should ever 
 come to pass, the big-headed people of the future 
 will at any rate miss a glorious and inspiring sight. 
 
 Williamsford at ten o'clock in the morning! 
 
 The mists are curling along the valley far below, 
 and clinging to the hillsides. Then the vapour closes 
 in thickly, and it begins to snow. The outlook is 
 not promising. But we have come out for an Alpine 
 ascent to-day, and there must be no drawing back. 
 High up on the right towers Mount Read, over 3,500 
 feet high, and w r e must get to the summit somehow. 
 There is a mine on the top, and we are bound to 
 see it. 
 
 Fortunately there are more ways of getting up a 
 mountain than walking up it, and the Hercules 
 Gold and Silver Mining Company have con- 
 structed a means of ascent which is admir- 
 ably calculated to save exertion, though it pro- 
 motes apprehension. This is a double trolley 
 line that ascends the face of the mountain with 
 a perfectly straight course, the ore-laden trucks which 
 descend from the siimmit hauling up the empties 
 on the opposite line, through the agency of a stout 
 steel hawser, worked from an engine-room far up, 
 at the moment of this first -"1sit, among the clouds. 
 
 The line is a mile long, or it would perhaps be more 
 correct to say, a mile high, for, in some parts it rises 
 with a gradient of 1 in 2. A fly that is thoroughly 
 experienced in the art of climbing up a perpendicular 
 
HOMKWARD BOUND. 
 
 wall would make light of the ascent of Mount Read, 
 no doubt, but a mere tourist is inclined to jib at the 
 job. However, it may not be so bad as it looks, and 
 one takes one's seat in an empty trolley with a 
 stout heart and a silent prayer that the rope may 
 stand the strain. 
 
 It takes half an hour to ascend Mount Read, in 
 this novel and thrilling style, and the view that opens 
 up continuously, as the ascent proceeds, is more 
 than worth the apparent risk. An immense panor- 
 ama of range and valley, river and waterfall, un- 
 folds itself on every side. The air has the real Al- 
 pine " bite ' in it. When half the journey has been 
 completed we begin to see little drifts of snow at the 
 side of the line. The drifts get bigger, and they lie 
 closer together the higher we go up. Presently 
 there is a crisp and sparkling carpet nearly a foot 
 thick all along the line. And as we step out of the 
 truck at the engine-house, our feet make no sound 
 on the yielding surface. 
 
 "Oh, goodness, it was cold!" The burden of the 
 old pantomime song comes back to memory with real 
 appropriateness upon the top of Mount Read, where 
 Mr. Sydney Thow, the general manager, resides, with 
 the principal officers of the mine. Mr. Thow has a 
 comfortable little house, with a big fire burning in 
 the fireplace, and from his hospitable home, high up 
 in cloudland, a magnificent view, that is ever chang- 
 ing in character, through the infinite variations of 
 cloud and sunshine and shadow, perpetually unrolls 
 itself. 
 
 Sometimes the vapour, settling in a basin in the 
 hills, is exactly like an inland sea an effect that 
 travellers who have climbed Mount Buffalo, in Vic- 
 toria, will remember to have seen there. Then, when 
 the clouds open out, and a patch of sunlit, sapphire 
 sky reveals itself, the eye can travel far away to 
 
64 
 
 IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 little Ringville, nestling in the valley at the feet of the 
 mighty mountains. The roofs are glistening in the 
 morning air. How exquisitely expressive is Tenny- 
 son's line, descriptive of a distant town among the 
 hills, when he writes: 
 
 " The city sparkles like a grain of salt." 
 That is Ringville on a frosty morning. 
 
 There is an assaying house at the mine, and here 
 one may see the modern alchemists at their work. That 
 gentleman yonder, in his shirt-sleeves, is not a mere 
 assayer. He is a Rosicrucian, engaged in the deepest 
 of mysteries, and his little earthen pots, that glow 
 with white heat in the heart of the assaying stove, 
 contain a molten mass, from which, presently, after 
 various rites and ceremonies, he will extract a grain 
 of pure gold. See! he pounds up a small lump of ore, 
 fresh from the mine, and mixes it with certain care- 
 fully-weighed portions of silica and litharge, which 
 are its chemical affinities, and without which it will 
 -not readily smelt. Then into the earthenware pipkin 
 .goes the mixture, and into the heart of the stove 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 65 
 
 goes the pipkin, where it remains until the molten con- 
 tents have quite ceased to bubble. Then the Rosicru- 
 cian removes the vessel from the fire by means of 
 a big pair of pincers, and when the waste matter 
 has been eliminated there remains a button of lead- 
 and other things. The button of lead is placed in a 
 smaller pot, the sides of which are lined with bone- 
 dust, and again melted; gradually the lead sinks down, 
 and is absorbed by the hungry bone-dust, while on 
 the top of the dark-coloured mass appears a small 
 globule of silver like a pellet of silver shot. 
 
 The Rosicrucian has not finished his task yet. What 
 will he do next? Ah! He places the silver pellet in 
 a glass test-tube, pours about two teaspoonfuls of 
 pure nitric acid on top of it, and watches the acid 
 boil and bubble, until all the silver has disappeared, 
 and nothing remains but a little grain of gold 
 the indestructible residue that has survived the double 
 ordeal by fire, and the dissolving force of the potent 
 acid. It is a beautiful process, and so simple when 
 you know just how to do it. 
 
 " You had better go down with them, Jim," said the 
 prudent manager, as he wished his visitors good-bye, 
 and ordered their carriage round. 
 
 The descent of- Mount Read looks a trifle more 
 alarming even than the ascent, but Jim is most re- 
 assuring. Oh, yes, there have been accidents, cer- 
 tainly, but not lately. Besides, the rope is a new 
 one, and there is really nothing to fear now. At 
 the same time, he will accompany us down, just as 
 an extra precaution. 
 
 Jim takes his place on the back of the truck, and 
 arranges himself in the shape of an equilateral tri- 
 angle, the apex of which is formed by the patch on 
 
IN TASMAN S LAND. 
 
 the seat of his trousers, while his arms form one 
 side, and his legs another. The base is made by the 
 back stanchion of the truck. A reference to the 
 accompanying diagram will explain the problem 
 clearly, though one leg of the triangle, so to speak, 
 appears to have a slight wobble at the knees. Before 
 the journey is over, one is not sorry to have the so- 
 ciety of Jim. 
 
 " You see, mister, it's this way," he remarks. "When 
 she comes to the dip in the line, naterally the rope 
 goes up in the air, and if it wasn't for my weight 
 on the back of the truck, the hind wheels would go 
 up in the air too, an' it might be a bit orkard." 
 
 It certainly might be a bit awkward to fall 3,000 
 feet down the side of the cliff, and land on one's 
 head on the mullock-hean at the bottom. One is 
 grateful to Jim, and one fervently hopes that there 
 may be no falling off as far as he is concerned. 
 
 A drive in a light spring-cart from Williamsford to 
 Rosebery is the next stage in the journey, and it is 
 
tr]e Stitt River. Btattit, Photo., Hobart 
 
HOMEWARD HOUND. 67 
 
 one of the most delightful experiences of the whole 
 trip. The road, in many places, resembles the 
 famous Huon Road at Hobart, with unfathomable 
 gorges dipping sheer down from the track, and cur- 
 ving undulations that perpetually reveal new vistas 
 of range and plain and nistant snow-capped peak. 
 At Rosebery we get the Emu Bay Railway Com- 
 pany's train, and so back to Burnie. 
 
 Few lovelier places for a summer holiday can be 
 found within easy distance by parched Australians than 
 this little township on the shores of Emu Bay. Round 
 the corner and away from the business part of the 
 town is West Burnie, the residential portion, with the 
 slope above the sea dotted with many houses and a 
 smooth, sandy beach, running down to the water. 
 There are bathing boxes up against the cliff, and here 
 in the summer come Naiads, frolicking in the foam; 
 or, if you prefer a statem?nt of bald fact, ladies, who 
 bob up and down, with the water not above their 
 knees. The gentlemen's bathing boxes are placed at 
 a discreet distance, for " mixed bathing ' has not yet 
 made its appearance at Burnie. 
 
 There is splendid fishing in the bay, and there are 
 many beautiful walks and drives along the coast 
 towards Launceston or Devonport. Best of all, 
 the mercury in the thermometer seldom goes higher 
 than 85 deg. Fahrenheit at Burnie. Think of that, 
 ye perspiring dwellers on the mainland, when a 
 " brickfielder " is blowing, and life is a weariness 
 that even iced lemon-squashes cannot help or mend. 
 
 But life, unfortunately, is not all a holiday, and the 
 " Flora " is already blowing her whistle at the pier. 
 Good-bye, sweet land of the myrtle and the pine, the 
 mountain and the waterfall. And yet, not good-bye, 
 for the snow-capped peaks are always calling, and 
 one learns to understand the yearning of Azucena, 
 
68 IN TASMAN'S LAND. 
 
 the Gipsy, as she sang with Manrico the haunting 
 strains of her " Ai nostri monti." And so, in Azu- 
 cena's language, we will say, not Good-bye, but " a 
 rivederci." 
 
 Omar Khayyam, or, rather, his accomplished trans- 
 lator, has sung of the Paradisiacal pleasures of 
 
 " A Book of Verses underneath a Bough, 
 A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and Thou 
 Beside me, singing in the wilderness." 
 
 But Omar Khayyam was not the only Epicurean who 
 belonged to the great army of the minor poets. A 
 certain genial gentleman who wrote lyrics in the 
 palmy days of Augustus found a theme for his song 
 in the myrtle what a familiar word it is in Tas- 
 mania and it is really surprising to note how closely 
 akin is his little ode, only eight lines altogether, to 
 Omar's famous stanza, as filtered through Mr. Fitz- 
 gerald. However, only old fogies confess to having 
 time to read poetry in a dead language nowadays, 
 so one may, with diffidence, venture upon a new 
 version, in the vulgar tongue. Here goes: 
 
 Away with Persian pomp; away 
 With garlands twined on linden-spray, 
 No late-blown rose I ask to-day, 
 
 To deck the wine. 
 But bind the myrtle in thy hair, 
 The modest wreath I'd have thee wear, 
 And I will deem the myrtle fair, 
 
 Here, 'neath the vine. ' 
 
 And so the myrtles of Tasmania, although they were 
 not the myrtles that the famous lyrist celebrated, 
 have taken us, via Teheran and Rome, to the old doc- 
 trine which the American gentleman tersely summed 
 up when he said, " Enjoy yourself while you can, be- 
 cause you will be a long time dead." 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. (>5) 
 
 And the present vague and shadowy scribe, with his 
 hand upon his phantasmal heart, hereby solemnly 
 and sincerely declares that one of the very best ways 
 of enjoying yourself that you can find, is to follow his 
 example, and take a holiday trip to the great north- 
 west of Tasman's Land. 
 
 FIN' IS. 
 
GEO. W. KELLY & LEWIS, 
 
 Mining & General Engineers. 
 
 CORLISS ENGINES, 
 
 Simple, Compound, and 
 
 Triple Expansion 
 
 Vertical High Speed 
 
 Engines. 
 Simple and Compound. 
 
 Independent, Surface 
 and Jet Condensers. 
 
 
 AIR COMPRESSORS 
 
 from 4 to 30 Drill Capacity. 
 
 Straight Line Compressors 
 Duplex Compressors. 
 
 Cross Compound Two 
 Stage Corliss Air 
 
 Compressors 
 
 ; with mechanically oper- 
 ated air valves. 
 
 Head Office and Works - 533 LITTLE BOURKE STREET, MELBOURNE. 
 
THE 
 
 EMU BAY RAILWAY COMPANY 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 ReKistered under the Companies Acts of Tasmania. 
 
 SHARE CAPITAL - 6OO,OOO, 
 
 500,000 Ordinary Shares of 1 each and 100,000 Preference Shares of 1 each. 
 
 ISSUED 260,000 ORDINARY SHARES and 100,000 PREFERENCE 
 
 SHARES FULLY PAID UP. 
 
 DEBENTURES ISSUED - 200, OOO. 
 
 Directors : 
 
 JOHN GKICE, CHAIRMAN. 
 
 WILLIAM JAMIESON, HOWES KELLY. 
 
 WILLIAM M. KIBBLE. J. S. REID 
 
 Secretary : 
 
 W. B. ARNOLD, 
 
 39 QUEEN STREKT, MELBOURNE. 
 
 Manager : 
 
 JAMES STIRLING, BURNIK, TASMANIA 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 TRUSTEES FOR THE DEBENTURE HOLDERS : 
 
 CHARLES A. HANSON. ROBERT B. RONALD. 
 
 Directors: 
 
 J. DOWLING. | W. DOUGLAS REID. 
 
 Secretary : 
 
 E. HABBEN. 
 
 FINSBURY HOUSE, BLOMFIELD STREET, LONDON WALL, 
 LONDON, B.C. 
 
THE BURNIE HOTEL, 
 
 BURNIE, EMU BAY. 
 
 newly built Brick Hotel is unsurpassed by that of any other in 
 Burnie for Comfort, Convenience and Healthy Situation. 
 It is the nearest Hotel to the Railway Station and is of easy access to 
 the Post and Telegraph Offices also to the Wharf. 
 
 The Balcony affords a splendid view of the ocean, also the sur- 
 rounding district 
 
 The above Hotel has just been newly furnished and will compare 
 very favorably with any other in Tasmania 
 
 Visitors and Travellers to this Hotel can rely on First-Class Accom- 
 modation at Moderate Charges. 
 
 The hours for Meals are specially arranged to suit the convenience 
 of Travellers by all trains and steamers. 
 
 LIGHTED WITH ACETYLENE GAS. HOT * COLD BATHS. 
 
 The Milliard Room is fitted up with one of Alcock's 
 best Billiard Tables. 
 
 BEST BRANDS OF WINES AND SPIRITS ALWAYS PROCURABLE. 
 
 W. H. WISE MANN, Proprietor. 
 
GUARDIAN 
 Assurance Company 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1821. 
 
 CAPITAL SUBSCRIBED, 2,OOO.COO. CAPITAL PAID-UP, 1,000,000. 
 ACCUMULATED FUNDS OVER 4,800,000. 
 
 Head Office: 11 Lombard St., London, E.G. 
 
 Branch Office:- 65 QUEEN STREET, MELBOURNE. 
 
 LOCAL HOARD: 
 
 HON. JAMES BALFOUR, M.L.C., HON. W. H. EMBLING, M.L.C. 
 
 Manager- W. F. ALLAN. 
 
 GENERAL AGENCIES IN AUSTRALASIA: 
 
 Sydney: GIBBS, BRIGHT & CO. Christchurch: CHRYSTALL & CO. 
 Brisbane: GIBBS, BRIGHT & CO. Dunedin: NEILL & CO. LTD. 
 
 Adelaide: GIBBS, BRIGHT & CO. Invercargill : K. F. CUTHBERTSON. 
 Auckland: T. H. HALL & CO. Napier: W BUCHANAN 
 
 Wellington: W. & G. TURNBULL & CO. 
 
 Use 
 
 F)epry (\ 
 
 Writipg Ipks 
 
 Alex, 
 
 & SOP'S 
 
 Writing Papers 
 
 BOTH THE RESULT OF EXPERIENCE-STRETCHING 
 OVER A CENTURY. 
 
 FOR SALE BY ALL STATIONERS. 
 
TIME TABLE & FARES. 
 
 EMU BAY RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED. 
 
 BURNIE ZEEHAN. 
 
 
 .1.111. 
 
 p.m. 
 
 a.m. p.m. 
 
 BURNIE dep. 
 GUILDFORD JUN. arr. 
 
 Do. dep. 
 
 6 50 
 9 35 
 
 9 50 
 
 2 20 
 5 
 
 Goods ' 
 Only, i 
 
 ZEEHAN dep 
 ROSEBERY dep. 
 GUILDFORD JUN. arr. 
 
 Goods 
 Only. 
 
 2 5 
 3 10 
 5 35 
 
 
 p.m. 
 
 
 Do. dep. 
 
 10 15 
 
 5 50 
 
 RosEBERV dep. 
 
 12 8 
 
 
 
 p m. 
 
 
 XEEHAN arr. 
 
 1 
 
 
 BURNIE arr. 
 
 12 30 
 
 8 
 
 Trains connect WARATAH & GUILDFORD JUNCTION, 
 as under: 
 
 
 a.m. 
 
 p.m. 
 
 I 
 
 
 a m. 
 
 p.m. 
 
 WARATAH dep . J 
 
 8 40 
 
 4 40 
 
 GUILDFORD J. 
 
 dep. 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 GUILDFORD JUN. arr.. 
 
 9 20 
 
 o 20 
 
 WARATAH arr. 
 
 . . 10 40 
 
 6 40 
 
 NOTE. --The Goods Train only runs when required. Passengers may 
 travel in the van on paying First Class tare, and must sign Risk Notes. 
 
 FARES. -ORDINARY. 
 
 
 
 WARATAH. 
 
 ROSEBERY. 
 
 ZEEHAN. 
 
 Single. 
 
 Return. 
 
 Single. 
 
 Return. 
 
 Single. 
 
 Return. 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 3URNIE tO . . 
 VVARATAH tO 
 
 ROSEBERY to 
 
 15 
 
 12 6 
 
 25 
 
 20 
 
 23 8 
 14 8 
 
 17 9 
 11 
 
 35 6 
 22 
 
 26 7 
 16 6 
 
 29 4 
 20 4 
 ,5 8 
 
 22 
 15 3 
 4 3 
 
 44 
 30 6 
 
 8 fi 
 
 33 
 
 22 10 
 6 4 
 
 EXCURSION. 
 
 BURNIE to . . 
 \VAK\T \H to 
 
 
 
 18 9 
 
 15 8 
 
 
 .. 1-29 7 
 . (18 4 
 
 22 2| .. | .. 
 13 9 .. 1 .. 
 
 36 8|27 6 
 25 519 1 
 
 ROSF.BERY to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .. i.. 
 
 
 7 l! 5 4 
 
 ZEEHAN MOUNT DUNDAS. 
 
 Two trains daily each way. 
 
 For Time Table and Fares of Steamers connecting with Emu Bay Railway see 
 advertisements. 
 
 Special Excursions will be arranged during the Summer months. 
 Parties of not less than ten will be carried at reduced fares. 
 Burnie can be reached cliiect by Steamer trom Melbourne, and is connected 
 with Lnunceston and Hobart by rail. 
 
 Further information may be obtained on application to the following : 
 W. B. ARNOLD, Secretary, 39 Queen Street, Melbourne. 
 J. STIRLING, Manager, Burnie, Tasmania. 
 THOS. COOK Si SON, Tourist Agents. 
 
TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS. 
 
 ZEEHAN STRAHAN. 
 
 
 a m 
 
 p.m. 
 
 
 a.m. 
 
 p.m. 
 
 ZEEHAN dep. 
 
 8 
 
 2 15 
 
 REGATTA PT. dep. . . 
 
 10 20 
 
 4 35 
 
 STRAHAN WHF. dep. 
 
 9 55 
 
 4 10 
 
 STRAHAN WHF. dep. 
 
 10 45 
 
 5 
 
 REGATTA PT. arr. . . 
 
 10 5 
 
 4 20 
 
 ZEEHAN arr. 
 
 12 45 
 
 7 
 
 FARES. 
 
 
 
 ORDINARY. 
 
 EXCURSION. 
 
 Single. 
 
 - 
 
 Return. 
 
 Return. 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 ZEEHVN TO STRAHAN WHF. 
 ZEEHAN TO REGATTA PNT. 
 
 4 4 
 4 6 
 
 2 11 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 10 
 6 
 
 4 10 
 5 
 
 3 8 
 3 9 
 
 ZEEHAN WILLIAMSFORD. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 
 a.m. 
 
 
 p.m. 
 
 
 
 ZEEHAN dep. 
 
 7 45 
 
 WILLIAMSFORD dep. 
 
 3 
 
 14* 
 
 MONTEZUMA dep. . . 
 
 9 48 
 
 MONTEZUMA dep. . . 
 
 3 40 
 
 18 
 
 WILLIAMSFORD arr. 
 
 10 23 
 
 ZEEHAN arr. 
 
 5 40 
 
 FARES. 
 
 ORDINAKY First Class, 4d. per mile; Second, 3d. per mile. RKTCRS- 
 Fare-and-a-half. EXCTRSION Return Tickets at Single Fares. 
 
 NOTE. A conveyance runs between Williamsford and Rosebiry daily. 
 
 MOUNT LYELL MINING & RAILWAY GO. LTD. 
 
 REGATTA POINT- QUEENSTOWN. 
 
 
 P in. 
 
 a.m. 
 
 KEGAVIA POINT 
 
 dep . . 4 25 
 
 yUEENSTOVVN dep 
 
 S 
 
 yuEENsTowNarr 
 
 ... 
 
 6 35 
 
 - REGATTA POINT arr. . . 
 
 10 
 
 NOTE. Goods Trains, with Passenger carriages Httached. run only 
 when required for Goods Traffic . Information frum Station Masters. 
 
 FARES. 
 
 Between REGATTA POINT and QUEENSTOWN Ordinary, Single, 7s. 6d. 
 Return, 11s. ; Excursions, 5s. 2d. 
 
NORTH MOUNT LYELL COPPER CO. LTD. 
 
 KELLY BASIN LINDA. 
 
 Miles 
 
 p.m. 
 
 
 a.m. 
 
 
 KELLY BASIN dep. . . 
 
 1 30 
 
 LINDA dep. 
 
 ..i 9 
 
 29 
 
 GORMANSTON dep. . . 4 20 
 
 GORMANSTON dep. 
 
 . . 1 9 40 
 
 28 
 
 LINDA arr. ... 4 40 
 
 KELLY BASIN arr. 
 
 . . I 11 50 
 
 FARES. 
 
 First Class, 4d. per mile. Second Class, 3d. per mile. Returns, fare-and-a-balf. 
 
 NOTE. A Steamer runs from Strahan Wharf to Kelly Basin daily (except 
 Thursdays) at 10 a.m. On Thursdays at 8 a.m. returning from Kelly Basin daily 
 at 2 p.m. 
 
 The foregoing information has been obtained from published Time Tables and is 
 subject to alteration from time to time. 
 
 S.S. "FLINDERS" 
 
 Makes Regular Weekly Trips Between 
 
 M F I R O I I R N F (Soling from No.2 Berth, 
 IVI L. L. UU U PUN t. Pri nce's Wharf) and 
 
 BURNIE and DEVONPORT 
 
 Connecting at Melbourne with Steamers to 
 
 WARRNAMBOOL and PORTLAND (Victoria) also 
 PORT McDONNELL (Mt. Gambier) 
 BEACHPORT and KINGSTON (South Australia). 
 
 For Dates of Sailing see local papers and Melbourne Dailies. 
 Fares and Freights at Lowest Current Rates 
 
 JOHN McILWRAITH. Agent. 
 Office 2 Prince's Wharf, South Melbourne. 
 
Stott & Hoare, 
 
 SOLE IMPORTERS OF 
 THE REMINGTON, 
 
 EVERY YEAR 
 THE 
 
 Remington 
 
 STANDARD TYPEWRITER 
 
 Points the Way to Success 
 
 for many thousands of its operators. 
 No other typewriter gives its opera- 
 tor so many opportunities because 
 no other is so favorably known and 
 so generally used in the business 
 world. 
 
 AND PROPRIETORS OF 
 
 Stott & F)oare's Business College, 
 
 426 COLLINS ST., MELBOURNE, 
 
a: 
 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
Reid Brothers & Russell, 
 
 PROPRIETARY LIMITED, 
 
 ENGINEERS &> MINE FURNISHERS, 
 
 458-460 Flinders Street, Melbourne- 
 
 ALL KINDS OF MINING AND ENGINEERS 1 
 REQUISITES IN STOCK. 
 
 Iron, Steel, Cages, Trucks, Kibbles, Steel Truck 
 Wheels, Steel Tram Rails, Fish Plates, Dog Spikes, 
 Bolts, Nuts, Nails, Chain, Black and Galvanized Pipe 
 and Fittings, Steam Pipe, Hydraulic Pipe, Boring 
 Rods, Crucibles, Gold Retorts, Gold Moulds, Shafting, 
 Hangers, Plummer Blocks, Pulleys, Anvils, Vices, 
 Picks, Shovels, Machinery Oil, Castor Oil, Boiled and 
 Raw Linseed Oil, Antifriction Grease, Wire Rope Oil, 
 Pump Leather, Leather, Balata and Cotton Belting, 
 Rubber, Rubber Goods, Engine Packing, Explosives. 
 
 Agents for GLAHOLM <$ ROBSON, LTD.,Sunderland England, 
 
 Manitfactuiers of High-Grade Steel WIRE ROl'ES of all 
 Classes for .Mining, Winding. Haulage, &c., 6-c. 
 
 LARGE ASSORTED STOCK IN OUR MELBOURNE WAREHOUSES. 
 
THE 
 
 Emu Ba^ IRailwa^ Company 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 The Emu Bay Railway Company Limited is registered 
 with a nominal share capital of 600,000, consisting of 100,000 
 preference and 500,000 ordinary shares, of which all the 
 preference and 260,000 ordinary shares have been issued. A 
 debenture issue of 400,000 was provided for, and 200,000 of 
 this amount was floated in London in 1899. The Act of Par- 
 liament which granted concessions to the Company 
 provided for the issue of a primary lease by the Tasmanian 
 Government, for a term of 30 years at a nominal rent, of the 
 land required ior the Railway to Rosebery or Zeehan, and for 
 renewal for further periods not exceeding 21 years. The 
 Government of Tasmania reserve power after the expiration of 
 21 years, to resume the railways upon payment of the cost of 
 construction plus 20 per cent. 
 
 The formation of The Emu Bay Railway Company 
 Limited was proposed with the object of removing the supreme 
 obstacle, which previously existed, to the prosperous develop- 
 ment of the vast mineral wealth of the Western Division of 
 Tasmania, by providing suitable railway communication with 
 a convenient deep-water port. Emu Bay is a safe port readily 
 
accessible to vessels of large tonnage and exceptionally well 
 situated for the convenient disposal of the passenger and 
 shipping traffic of the great mineral country with which it has 
 been brought into connection. 
 
 The Emu Bay Railway Company Limited took over the 
 line from Burnie to Waratah, which was built originally by the 
 Van Dieman's Land Company as a horse tram with wooden 
 rails, and was opened on ist February, 1878. The line was 
 converted into a railway in 1884, and was worked at first by 
 the Emu Bay and Mount Bischoff Railway Company. It was 
 leased and taken over by the present Company in October, 
 1897. With the exception of the last 2.\ miles into Waratah, 
 which are on land leased from the Tasmanian Government, 
 this railway is built on the Van Dieman's Land Company's 
 lands. The length of the line is 48 miles with a gauge of 3 feet 
 6 inches, being the same as that of the Tasmanian Government 
 Railways. Between Burnie and Waratah are the Wey, Hell- 
 yer, and Waratah Rivers. English Trout have been acclima- 
 tised in the first two of these rivers, and have thriven 
 wonderfully. The land which is of basaltic formation is 
 cultivated for the first 14 miles out of Burnie, and after that is 
 bush country. At Hampshire Plains, 20 miles from Burnie, 
 the line reaches an elevation of 1,600 feet, and at Guildford 
 Junction the elevation is 2,035 feet, the line thence dropping 
 slightly to Waratah where it is 1,967 feet above sea level. At 
 Waratah are the Mount Bischoff and West Mount Bischoff 
 Tin Mines, while in the district are the Magnet Silver Mining 
 Company, Long Tunnel Prospecting Association, Confidence. 
 Bell's Reward, and others. The timber along the line consists 
 of stringy bark, and myrtle, with occasional patches of celery 
 top pine. 
 
 The line from Guildlord Junction to Rayna, 2 miles from 
 Zeehan, was constructed by The Emu Bay Railway Company. 
 The length of this line is 48^ miles, the gauge being 3 feet 6 
 inches and steel rails of 61 Ibs. being laid down. The ruling 
 grade is i in 40, and the sharpest curves are 5 chains radius. 
 The longest gradient runs for 7 miles at i in 40 on the Boko 
 
Sideling. For the first 12 miles from Guildford Junction the lint- 
 runs through basaltic country, and thence to Zeehan through 
 schist formations. The first i: miles of the line is on the land 
 of the Van Dieman's Land Company and the remainder is on 
 land leased from the Tasmanian Government. The timber 
 along the line consists principally of stringy bark and myrtle, 
 with some blackwood and celery top pine. In the gullies there 
 is sassafras and leatherwood, and on some of the hills King 
 Billy Pine, a very free-splitting, useful timber, which, when 
 better known, should be commercially valuable. Heavy 
 patches of dense scrub are met with, principally " horizontal " 
 and baueri. For the first n miles the line passes through easy 
 country, .thence the country becomes heavier and the line runs 
 through some fine gorges. On the Que sideling in about 
 5 miles, 300,000 cubic yards of earthwork have been excavated. 
 There are also some heavy and hard cuttings on the Boko 
 sideling. The hardest ground is about the Pieman River, the 
 rock here being very hard metamorphosed schist. Between 
 Guildford Junction and Rayna the principal rivers and creeks 
 crossed by the line are the Hellyer, the Hadfield, the Que, the 
 Bulgobac, the Boko, the Pieman, the Stitt, the Ring, the 
 Argent, and the Little Henty. A timber trestle-bridge spans 
 the Que River, and a timber pile-bridge the Bulgobac. At 
 the Pieman crossing there is a steel girder bridge with concrete 
 abutments and piers ; two spans are of 25 feet each, and one is 
 of 150 feet while the height above the water is 70 feet. 
 The bridge across the Stitt River is of steel trestles and 
 girders, 4 spans being of 30 feet each and one of 60 feet, the 
 height of the bridge is 60 feet. At the Ring River the bridge 
 is of steel trestles and girders, 9 spans being of 30 feet and one 
 of 15 feet, while the height is 84 feet. A wooden trestle-bridge 
 spans the Argent River, having 7 spans of 20 feet, with a 
 height of 40 feet. 
 
 There are several cuttings up to 60 feet, one of the deepest 
 in the line being So feet through solid rock. 
 
 The Argent Tunnel, 44^ miles from Guildford Junction, 
 carries the single line, it has a clear height of 14 feet and is 
 440 yards long. It is lined throughout the walls and arch 
 
with concrete, and cost 30,000 to construct, the height of the 
 saddle which has been pierced is 260 feet above the tunnel. 
 
 The principal mines at Rosebery are the Tasmanian 
 Copper Company and the Primrose Mining Company. At 
 Mount Read, six miles from the line, there are the Hercules 
 and Mount Read Mines (Gold, Silver and Lead), while the 
 Colebrook Rennision Bell, the Confidence (Tin), the 
 Owen Meredith (Silver), and others, are all close to the line 
 between Rosebery and Zeehan. 
 
 The highest point of the line is reached at a distance of 
 6 miles from Guildford Junction, where the elevation is 
 2,306 feet. At Hadfield Plains 10 miles out, it is 2,000 feet, at 
 the Pieman River it is 490 feet, and at Zeehan 533 feet. 
 
 At the 2i-Mile the line junctions with the Farrell Tram- 
 way, which is 8J miles long, with wooden rails and a 2-foot 
 gauge. The Farrell district lies about 6 miles east of the line, 
 and includes the North Mount Farrell Mine, the Mount Farrell, 
 the Osborne Blocks, the Murchison Prospecting Association, 
 and a number of prospecting shows. 
 
 The cost of the railway line to Zeehan, with rolling stock, 
 etc., was 363,000, of which surveys cost 14,000. The work 
 of construction was begun in October, 1897, an< ^ tne ^ ne was 
 opened for traffic in December, 1900. It was constructed by 
 da> labor by the Company. 
 
 The Zeehan-Dundas line was bought by the Emu Bay 
 Railway Company from the Mount Dundas and Zeehan 
 Company in 1899 for 22,500. It is y miles in length, with a 
 gauge of 3 feet 6 inches, and 4olb steel rails are in use. The 
 line runs from Zeehan to Dundas and Maestris, at the foot of 
 Mount Dundas 4,000 feet high, and serves the Comet Mine. 
 
G0. Ltd., 
 
 GLASGOW. 
 
 WORKS Wardmill, ARBROATH- 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF" 
 
 .SAIL, TARPAULIN, MINING AND 
 TENT CANVAS AND DUCKS :: :: 
 
 STOCKS IN MELBOURNE. 
 
 Contractors for Canvas to the 
 VICTORIAN RAILWAYS 
 Agents 
 
 JOHN EDiMONDSON & Co., 
 
 34 Queen Street, Melbourne. 
 
 Busbridge & (p., 
 
 430 Bourke ^treet, flelbouroe, 
 
 IMPORTERS OF HIGH GRADE 
 
 Writipg'& Account Book Papers 
 
 Agents for The Carter's Ink Co. of New York. 
 
 COMPLETE STOCKS OF 
 
 .Busbridge & Co.'s Papers; Wiggins, Teape & Co.'s 
 
 .Papers, and Carter's Inks, Pastes and Mucilage 
 
 always on hand. 
 
 Victorian Representatives of MIDDOWS BROS., Sydney, 
 Type, Printing and Labor Saving Machinery. 
 
Humble & Sons. 
 
 General Engineers, Boilermaker 5, 
 Smitbs, Uron & Brass ffoun&ers, & 
 
 VULCAN FOUNDRY, GEELONG. 
 
 (Compound Ktjngeraitng Machine. 
 SPECIALITIES: 
 
 REFRIGERATING AND ICE MAKING MACHINERY. 
 
 BUTTER FACTORY PLANTS, WOOLPRESSES, 
 
 ENGINES, BOILERS, RABBIT POISON DISTRIBUTORS, Etc. 
 
 Write for Illustrated Catalogue. 
 
"IMPERIAL" 
 
 WRITING & COPYING T TVT T^ QJ 
 
 (Non-corrosive) JL JL ^1 X:k. k^' 
 
 ARE THE BEST 
 
 To be Obtained from all Stationers. 
 North British & Mercantile Insurance Co. 
 
 TOTAL NET ASSETS :: .01 K TOO fiQ^ 
 at 31st December, 1901 *'i ^^j5** 
 
 Australasian Fire Branch : 
 Chief Office, 381 COLLINS St., MELBOURNE. 
 
 DIRECTORS : 
 
 JOHN GRICE, ESQ , CHAIRMAN. WM. DRYSDALE, ESQ ; 
 
 FRANCIS GRAHAM, ESQ. LESLIE SANDERSON, ESQ. 
 
 BRANCHES and AGENCIES. 
 
 New South Wales New Zealand 
 
 G. S. ARTHUR, Secretary, Sydney. TT-ODA\' D^-.TDTID'T-C- a /- 
 
 ML RRA\, ROBERTS & Co , Agts., Dunedm 
 
 T ic- MURRAY, ROBERTS & Co., Agents , Wel- 
 G. S. MATTHEWS, Secretary, Brisbane. 
 
 _ .. ' .. mgton. 
 
 ,T*OO 5V T j ? T MURRAY, ROBERTS & Co., Agts., Napier. 
 D. & W. MURRAY Ltd., Agts., Adelaide. 
 
 West Australia WM WOOD & Co -' A g en 's, Christchnrch. 
 
 D. & W. MURRAY Ltd., Agents, Perth W. FLOYD HARROP, Agent, Auckland. 
 
 GEORGE A. RUSSELL, Manager. 
 
o: 
 
By Special Appointment. Telephone No. 8 
 
 TEN:SWOOD'S SHELVERTON HOTEL, 
 
 MAIN STREET, ZEEHAN (Close to Railway Terminus) 
 
 Superior Accommodation ; Moderate Tariff; Reliable Wines. Spirits and Malt 
 Liquors. Drawing Room, Smokr Room, Commercial Room, Baths, Stabling, and 
 all the usual accommodation of a First-class House. 
 
 For the special convenience of Passengers travelling beyond Zeehan, 
 Dinner is served immediately on arrival of the Burnie Train. 
 
 Electric Light throughout. Porter meets all trains at terminus. 
 
 Waller's Central Hotel 
 
 ZEEHAN. 
 
 FIRST-CLASS COMMERCIAL AND FAMILY HOTEL. 
 
 Largest and best appointed Brick Hotel in Zeehan. Electric Light throughout. 
 Centrally situated, opposite G.H.O. Tourist favorite resort. 
 
 SEA VIEW HOTEL, 
 
 BURNIE. TASMANIA. 
 
 Large new Brick Hotel, centrally situated, close by the famous West Beach. 
 An Ideal Spot for Visitors. First-class accommodation for Tourists and Commercial 
 Gentlemen. Patrons can rely on best of attention. Hot and Cold Baths. 
 Terms Moderate. 
 
 J. T. ALEXANDER, Proprietor. 
 
 Under the Distinguished Patronage of His Excellency the Governor, 
 Sir A . K. Havdock, G.C.S.I., etc. 
 
 = THE EMPIRE = 
 
 QUEENSTOWN, MT. LYELL, TASMANIA, 
 
 "Fit for any city in Australia." Launccston Examiner. "The finest Hotel in 
 Tasmania. The Empire stands above all Tasmanian hostelries, and is a credit to 
 the State." Lyell Standard. " Surpassed by very few hotels in the States." Zeehan 
 Herald. 
 
 Tariff 8s. to 10s. per day. R. W. McGOWAN, Proprietor. 
 
GEELONG COOPERAGE. 
 
 MERGER ST., GEELONG. 
 
 The Largest Cooperage in the State. 
 
 BREWERS SUPPLIED WITH ALL REQUIREMENTS. 
 
 WINE CASKS, ROUND AND OVAL, ALL SIZES MADE TO ORDER. 
 
 Export Wine Hogsheads a Specialty. 
 
 H. P. GREGORY & CO. 
 
 Engineers &> Machinery Merchants, 
 SYDNEY & MELBOURNE. 
 
 (Blake's Direct- Acting Steam Pumps. 
 Fay's Wood Working Machinery. 
 Pickering's Steam Engine Governors. 
 Ludlow Open Gate or Sluice Valves. 
 SOLE Anti-Friction Co.'s Genuine Babbit Metal. 
 AGENTS . Dempster, Moore & Co.'s Engine Lathes. 
 
 FOR 
 
 The American Co.1; All-Steel Pulleys. 
 
 Ball & Woods' Steam Engines. 
 
 Harris' Champion Lubricating Oils. 
 
 Sturtevant's Fans and Forges. 
 
 Barnes' Hand and Foot Power Machine Tools, 
 
The MoqteZUITja Falls. Beattie, Photo., Hobart 
 
Moyes Bros., 
 
 electrical & Mipiog- Gogi peers. 
 
 17 QUEEN ST., MELBOURNE. 
 109 PITT ST., SYDNEY. 
 
 Westipgbouse flacbipery. 
 
 STEAM ENGINES, GAS ENGINES. 
 ELECTRICAL APPARATUS. 
 
 Complete Lighting, Power and Transmission Plants, Designed and Installed. 
 LARGE STOCKS OF ENGINES, MOTORS, GENERATORS, ETC. 
 
 Fried. Kru pp, Grusopwerk. 
 
 All Kinds of CRUSHING & MINING MACHINERY 
 BALL MILLS ROLLER MILLS TRUCKS 
 
 STONE BREAKERS EXCELSIOR MILLS WHEELS 
 
 STAMP BATTERIES AMALGAMATORS SHOES AND DIES 
 
 DISINTEGRATORS CONCENTRATORS (New Type) 
 
 Scott's Hotel, 
 
 COLLINS ST. WEST., MELBOURNE. 
 
 This Hotel is one of the oldest and most centrally 
 situated in Melbourne, being convenient both 
 to the Wharves and Railway Stations. 
 
 Cbe arrapgeroepts of tbe F)ouse are up-to-date, 
 apd the Qjisipe is acknowledged to be apeqaalled. 
 
 It still continues under the ^y WILSON 
 
 well-known management of ' 
 
 Proprietor. 
 
Of All Stationers 
 
 THOMAS' 'PERFECTION" 
 
 ARE PERFECTION 
 ITSELF. 
 
 WRITING INKS. 
 
 The Leading Lines are 
 
 BLDE-BLBCK WRITING, BLUE-BUCK COPYING & BRILLI0NT SCHBLET 
 
 As supplied to the Victorian and Tasmanian Governments. 
 
 Thomas' "Perfection" Ink Powders 
 
 ARE PERFECTLY SOLUBLE and MAKE PERFECT INK. 
 
 Wholesale Only of 
 
 WILLIAM DETMOLD LTD. 
 
 MELBOURNE SYDNEY ADELAIDE FREMANTLE 
 
 IS" Don't Fool Away Your Time at the Pump Handle! 
 
 ALSTON'S : T WINDMILLS 
 
 From 
 
 10s. 
 
 The Largest Manufacturer 
 
 and Supplier 
 in the Australian States. 
 
 HUNDREDS OF TESTIMONIALS 
 Catalogues posted Free. 
 
 npHE experience of 20 
 years in the con- 
 struction and erection of 
 Windmills, the appli- 
 cation of modern science 
 and modern machinery 
 in their manufacture, 
 have made the ALSTON 
 MILL the Premier 
 
 The fact that other 
 makers have accepted 
 my mill as a standard, 
 and are copying it as 
 near as they dare, speaks 
 volumes in its favor. 
 
 A warded 8 Gold Medals 
 4 Silver Medals and num- 
 erous Money Prises. 
 
 I MAKE WINDMILLS A SPECIAL LINE-NOT A SIDE SHOW. 
 
 Manufacturer and Importer of all Requisites for Watering Stock, House or Garden. 
 
 Write your Requirements. 
 T A Ifl DO XI TAM Patentee and Manufacturer of 
 
 JAMtib ALMUN, Steel Windmills and Steel Water Troughs. 
 
 Near Queen's Bridge, MELBOURNE. 
 
FOUNDED 1 797.1 
 
 Funds and Reserves - - 1,345,000. 
 
 Net Premiums ... 1,036,475 
 
 Amount Insured ... 384,600,000. 
 
 Losses Paid .... 15,500,000. 
 
 rOR more than a century the NORWICH UNION has 
 maintained an unsullied reputation, and is now 
 one of the Oldest, Largest, and Wealthiest Fire 
 Offices in the world. 
 
 The popularity of the,NoRwicH UNION in Australia, 
 is best shewn by the leading position which it occupies. 
 
 The NORWICH UNION Policy Conditions are liberal. 
 Losses arising from Bush Fires, Lightning, Gas Explo- 
 sion covered without extra charge. 
 
 Settleroepts Liberal apd Prompt. 
 Security Uodoubted. 
 
 Risks inspected, and lowest current rates granted Free of Charge. 
 Applications for Agencies invited where not already represented. 
 
 MELBOURNE OFFICE 
 
 Queen Street, Melbourne. 
 GEORGE GIBB, Resident Manager & Superintendent. 
 
 HOBART OFFICE 
 
 12 Elizabeth Street, Hobart. 
 F. L. LANGFORD, Chief Agent for Southern Tasmania. 
 
 LAUNCESTON QFFICE- 
 
 82 Cameron St. and at Wharf. 
 A HARRAP & SON, Chief Agents for Northern Tasmania. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939 
 
 
DU 460. S861I 
 
 A 001 240009