Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 41

Tasmania

page break

Tasmania.

General Description.

Situation and Area.

Tasmania lies about 120 miles south of the continent of Australia, from which it is separated by Bass' Strait. From north to south the extent is about 170 miles, and from east to west about 160 miles. The total area, including islands belonging to the colony, is nearly 17,000,000 acres, of which over 4,000,000 are in private hands, while about 2,000,000 are rented from the Crown.

Climate.

The climate is unsurpassed for its salubrity. The observations of 35 years at Hobart Town give the average annual rainfall as 24.09 inches; the mean temperature of the winter months, 46.44; and the mean summer temperature, 63.17. A remarkable feature of the climate is the low rate of mortality among children.

Government.

Legislative power is vested in a Governor and two Houses of Parliament; the Legislative Council consists of 16 members, and the House of Assembly of 32 members, both elective. The qualification for electors of the Council is the possession of freehold estate of £30 per annum clear, or leasehold of £200 per annum, under term of not less than five years; and for electors of the Assembly, freehold estate value £50, or leasehold £7 per annum. Ministers of religion graduates of British universities, officers of the army and navy not on service, and members of the learned professions, have votes for both Houses. The municipal system extends over the greater part of the settled districts.

Vegetable and Animal Products.

Timber.

The timber resources of the island are extensive. Blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), stringy bark (E. obliqua), white or swamp gum (E. viminalis), peppermint (E. amygdalina), beech (Fagus Cunninghami), Huon pine (Dacrydium Franklini), celery-topped pine (Phyllocladus rhomboidalis), blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), and silver wattle (Acacia dealbata), are extensively used or exported; and there are many woods of a highly ornamental character. The hardwoods are in good demand in the adjacent colonies for shipbuilding, railway construction, &c. The annual value of timber exported amounts to over £70,000. Wattle bark, for tanning purposes, is exported to England and the neighbouring colonies; the quantity sent away in 1879 was 5813 tons, valued at £40,000.

Agriculture, &c.

The soil and climate are specially favourable for the production of cereals and fruit. The total area of land cleared or in cultivation is 366,911 acres; the chief products being wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, peas, and English grasses. The number of acres in wheat, according to the latest returns, was over 45,000, with 37,000 acres in oats. The export of grain in 1879 was valued at £22,396. Hops are largely and profitably cultivated; the value of the exports in 1879 was over £26,000. All the fruits of temperate climates grow luxuriantly, and are extensively utilised both for local consumption and for exportation. The gross produce of the principal crops during the year ended 31st March, 1880, was, in round numbers:—Wheat, 1,050,000 bushels; barley, 181,000 bushels; oats, 1,065,000 bushels; peas, 131,000 bushels; potatoes, 31,000 tons; hay, 54,000 tons; hops, 740,000 lb.; apples, 140,000 bushels; pears, 20,000 bushels.

Pastoral, &c.

The number of sheep in the colony is nearly two millions; cattle, about 130,000; horses, 25,000; and pigs, 38,000. The quantity of wool exported in 1879-80 was 8,333,726 lb., of the page 132 value of £448,912. The stud sheep of Tasmania realise high prices at the annual Australian sales, and the breed of draught horses is unsurpassed. The amount realised by the sale in the other colonies of Tasmanian stud sheep in 1879 was £31,324.

Mineral Products.

The mining industry has been largely developed in recent years. In 1879 the quantity of gold produced was 60,155 oz., valued at £230,895; while for the half-year ending 30th June, 1880, the quantity was 34,000 oz., valued at £140,000. The chief centres of gold-mining are:—Beaconsfield, on the west bank of the River Tamar; Nine-Mile Springs, east side of the River Tamar; Back Creek, Denison, and Golconda, on the north-east coast; Lisle, 27 miles to the north-east of Launceston; Mathinna and Mangana, in the Fingal district; and the neighbourhood of the River Pieman, on the west coast. Gold has also been found at Port Cygnet and Oyster Cove, on the south of the island; at various points in the counties of Devon and Wellington; at Waterhouse, on the north-east coast; near Great Mussel Roe and Scamander rivers, on the east coast; and in other places. An unlimited supply of timber of the best description for mining purposes exists on all the goldfields, and the supply of water is generally abundant.

Tin-mining is extensively prosecuted in the north-western and north-eastern districts, and on the west coast. The value of the tin and tin ore exported in 1879 was, in round numbers, £300,000; and the returns for the first half of the year 1880 show a value of £162,000, the yield of ore from Mount Bischoff alone being about 250 tons per month. Other rich undeveloped deposits are known to exist in various parts of the island.

Coal is found in all the settled districts of the south and east, the chief localities being the Fingal Valley, the east coast, Jerusalem, the Midland district, Newtown, Seymour, and D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and at the Mersey and Don rivers on the north coast.

Very rich deposits of iron ore are found all over the island, and limestone and marble of every shade of colour are abundant Lodes of copper and lead (both of them rich in silver), bismuth, antimony, and other metals, are known to exist, but have not yet been extensively worked. The midland and southern districts are noted for their excellent building-stone; the freestone of the new law courts in Melbourne is from quarries near Spring Bay. Good roofing slate is obtained at and near Piper's river, in the north of the island.

Manufactures and Industries.

There are in active operation breweries, tanneries, soap and candle works, jam-making establishments, saw-mills, fellmongeries, flour-mills, coachbuilding factories, agricultural implement works, iron foundries, tin smelting works, and manufactories of cloth, tweed, and blankets. The climate is especially adapted to malting and brewing. Jam-making is a flourishing industry in the south, the quantity exported in 1879 being nearly four million pounds.

Education.

The public elementary schools—171 in number, with an average of 8520 scholars on the rolls—are under the control of a board. The income of teachers is derived from fixed salaries regulated by their classification and supplemented by school fees and allowances. Provision is made for the encouragement of higher education by a system of exhibitions tenable at the best private schools, and by annual examinations for the degree of Associate of Arts, under the direction of the Council of Education. Two scholarships of £200 a-year each, tenable for four years at a British University, are awarded annually by the council to Associates of Arts who pass a prescribed examination.

Education in the public schools is unsectarian, and compulsory at ages ranging from 7 to 14 years.

Free certificates are granted to children whose parents are too poor to pay school fees; and there are, in Hobart Town, free or ragged schools wholly or partially maintained at the expense of the State.

Natural History.

The indigenous vegetation is nearly identical with that of the southern half of the continent of Australia; but there are valuable coniferous trees, a deciduous beech, and many plants and shrubs which are not found elsewhere. Of the indigenous animals peculiar to the island the principal are the tiger (Thylacinus) and the devil (Sarcophilus), which are now chiefly confined to the mountainous parts. Of the indigenous fish, the trumpeter of the southern coast is without a rival in the Australian colonies for richness of flavour combined with size.

All the common animals of Europe, and many of the birds, have been introduced. The English salmon, salmon trout, brown trout, perch, and tench have been acclimatised, and most of them are plentiful in the principal rivers.

page 133

General Statistics.

The estimated population is 112,000, the number of males being 60,000, and females, 53,022. Vital statistics:—Births registered in 1879, 3564; deaths, 1688; marriages, 801. The lowest upset price of agricultural land belonging to the Crown, which is more or less timbered, is £1 per acre; and the lowest upset price of pastoral lands, 5s. per acre. Agricultural land, to the extent of 320 acres, may be selected for purchase at £1 an acre, the time for payment extending over 14 years. The board of immigration issue bounty tickets in the colony for the introduction of emigrants from the United Kingdom on the following terms:—Family ticket for a man, his wife, and children under 12 years of age, £15; ticket for single female, £5; and for single man, £10. The London agents are also empowered to issue warrants for land in the colony; and the immigration board are empowered to grant land certificates to any immigrants from Europe and India who have come out at their own cost, entitling them to select 30 acres of land for themselves, 20 for their wives, and 10 for each child.

The value of the imports during 1879 was £1,267,475, and of exports £1,301,097.

There are 167 miles of railway opened. The main roads are maintained by Government, the branch roads being under the control of road trustees, locally elected. There are 731 miles of telegraph lines, not including 133 miles belonging to the Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company. The post-offices or receiving houses number about 200, the most important of which are also money-order offices. An electric cable connects Tasmania with Australia and New Zealand, and also, rid Port Darwin, with India and England. There is also rapid and regular steam communication between Tasmania and the neighbouring colonies.

Postal.
Letters posted in 1879 1,963,798
Letters received in 1879 1,844,772
Newspapers posted in 1879 1,609,494
Newspapers received in 1879 1,313,189
Banks.
Deposits £1,983,594
Savings banks 298,202
Commerce.
Tonnage of vessels inward 189,087
Tonnage of vessels outward 192,808
Tonnage of vessels belonging to Tasinanian ports 18,820
Principal Exports of Colonial Produce for the Year 1879.
Article. Quantity. Value.
Bark 5,813 tons £30,800
Butter and cheese 127½ cwt. 595
Fruit—Green 142,252 bushels 151,802
Fruit—Jam 3,915,881 lb. 151,802
Grain—Wheat 15,090 bushels 4,242
Grain—Oats 109,086 bushels 15,726
Grain—Barley 8,412 bushels 2,428
Hides—Skins 1,022,892 12,811
Hides—Leather 2,183 packages 12,811
Hops 558,622 lb. 26,572
Live stock—Horses 137 7,180
Live stock—Cattle 5 225
Live stock—Sheep 938 31,324
Oatmeal 209 tons 7,347
Oil (sperm) 245 tuns 13,810
Timber 59,713
Vegetables 9,475 tons* 39,474
Potatoes 9,475 tons* 39,474
Wool 7,385,002 lb. 407,227
Gold 38,895 oz. 145,723
Tin—Ingots 4,316 tons 300,203
Tin—Ore 247 tons 300,203

* Also, peas and beans, 5536 bushels; peas (split), 50 cwt.; onions, 1836 cwt.; and carrots, 30 tons.