Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
TASMANIA
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: SUS-TAV
del.icio.us it!
|
TASMANIA , a See also:British colonial See also:state, forming See also:part of the Australian See also:Commonwealth. It is composed of the See also:island of Tasmania and its adjoining islands, and is separated from the Australian See also:continent on the See also:south-See also:east by See also:Bass Strait. The
See also:Sea See also:Elephant See also:Rook
.See also: Besides the See also:main entrance to Storm Bay, between Cape Raoul and Tasman See also:Head, there is D'See also:Entrecasteaux Channel, which divides See also:North and South See also:Bruni Island from the mainland. This channel has two branches, the easterly forming the entrance into Storm Bay, and the western being the estuary of the Huon See also:river. On the east See also:coast lies the peculiarly-shaped Maria Island, almost severed by deep indentations on the east and See also:west. Above this island is See also:Oyster Bay, formed by the See also:projection, See also:Freycinet Peninsula. On the south are some very prominent headlands. In the south-west lies the See also:fine See also:harbour of See also:Port Davey, which receives several small See also:rivers. Proceeding northward along the west coast the most conspicuous headlands are Rocky Point, Point Ilibbs and Cape Sorell, which stands at the entrance of See also:Macquarie Harbour, the deep inlet receiving the See also:waters of the river See also:Gordon C Wiohham xent'Craup See also:frith 4, Judgement Rim. .See also:Wright Poch B a a s S t r a i t Craggy le 4istare Pipamid. C.Franh/and Pascoe /s..: See also:Marshall See also:Hummock See also:Low Manngege r ./.Vt See also:Group `--. ` Chappellele., Vanai [See also:tart I. G.wse / BadgerL40. CaPe ` w e H Cq Clarhe I. lO~r ssager o l.n °o aPS~ °v-t ~tlnha Strait PGLP t e obi o~.o i °~,oe^,v '!°. . °See also:Swan 1. C.Natura/isle
ws^~Oec~o~~q\ 0'9~r
_r_ . I TJ86a'` , ddustone
See also:Lodi
Swan Port 4. rouruille
s Panynsu/o mp 5?Sohouten l. 1;9'Toillefen4s, -
labdna. .
See also:Mario I.
Riedle B.
See also:Mar/on Bay
.Fred' Rendrich Forestieri Peninsula
raeman Peninsula
and several smaller streams. North of this there are several prominent headlands. The west coast terminates at Cape Grim, opposite which are the group known by the name of See also:Hunter's Islands. Going eastward along the north coast Circular Head is met with, a narrow peninsula See also:running out for six See also:miles and terminating in a rocky See also:bluff 400 ft. high. Further east are Emu Bay, Port Frederick, Port Sorell and Port Dalrymple, into which flows the Tamar river, on which See also:Launceston is situated. In Bass Strait are several large islands belonging to Tasmania; King's, See also:Flinders, Cape Barren
and See also: Flinders Island has an area 1 to the subsidence of the See also:land, of which the islands in the Bass Strait of 513,000 acres. Among the rivers flowing northward to Bass are remnants, which then connected Tasmania with the continent. The latest date for the existence of this connexion is given by the See also:absence from Tasmania of the See also:dingo, the See also:lyre-See also:bird and the See also:giant marsupials; so that the See also:isolation of Tasmania was earlier than the arrival of those animals in south-eastern See also:Australia. That it was not much earlier is shown by the fact that some still living See also:species of mammals, such as the thylacine, existed before the separation.
The See also:geological sequence in Tasmania is full, and the island contains a better See also:series of Carboniferous rocks than is found in See also:Victoria. The See also:nucleus of the island is a See also:block of Archean rocks, which are not, so far as is known, extensively exposed. The most certain representatives of the Archean are the See also:gneiss and See also:schists of the See also:Dove river and the upper Forth, and the See also:hornblende-schists, which are exposed in the river valleys on the margins of the central See also:plateau. The See also:Mount See also:Lyell schists which underlie the West Coast Range, and the quartzites of Port Davey on the western coast, ,have also been regarded as Archean. The See also:Lower Palaeozoic systems begin with the See also:Cambrian, which are found in See also:northern Tasmania near See also:Latrobe, and contain Cambrian fossils as Dikelocephalus Tasmanicus and Conocephalites stephensi. The Ordovician See also:system has not been certainly identified; but probably many of the slates and quartzites ! in north-western Tasmania and of the See also:mining See also: The Devonian system is best represented by the massive conglomerates and quartzites, which See also:form the West Coast Range extending from Mount Lyell on Macquarie Harbour, through Mounts See also:Jukes, See also:Owen, Lyell, See also:Murchison and See also:Geikie, to Mount See also:Black. These mountains consist of detached remnants of a See also:sheet of See also:quartz conglomerates, interbedded with sandstones, containing crinoid stems and obscure brachiopods. They See also:rest unconformably on the Silurian rocks on the King river and to the west are faulted against the schists by a powerful overthrust See also:fault, traversing the Mount Lyell See also:copper field. A northern See also:extension of these conglomerates forms the See also:Dial Range near Burnie. The Devonian See also:period, as in Victoria, was marked by a series of granitic intrusions, which altered the older beds on the contact, while the quartz-See also:porphyry dikes, which are intrusive in the Silurian rocks at the Mount Bischoff tin mine, doubtless belong to this period. The Carboniferous system begins with a series of marine limestones, shales and grits, including a See also:rich Lower Carboniferous fauna. The Carboniferous rocks occupy the whole of the south-eastern corner of Tasmania; and one outlier occurs on the northern coast in the See also:Mersey Valley. This formation See also:helps to build up the central plateau, and a See also:band outcrops around its edge. The Upper Carboniferous includes beds of shale and See also:coal; but though the coal is See also:good, the seams are thin and have not been much worked. The Coal See also:Measures are covered by marine shales with numerous bryozoa; and, on the See also:horizon of the Greta Coal Measures of New South See also:Wales, is a See also:bed of Carboniferous glacial deposits. The Mesozoic system is not well developed. It is usually regarded as beginning with a fresh-See also:water series containing the remains of See also:fish and labyrinthodonts; but as it also contains Vertebraria it is probably Palaeozoic; and this series is covered by sandstones and shales which are probably of Triassic See also:age. The most conspicuous member of the Mesozoic group is the sheet of See also:diabase and See also:dolerite, made up of laccolites and sills, which covers most of the central plateau of Tasmania. These rocks form the prominent scarps, known as the Tiers, on the edge of the plateau, and its outliers, such at Mount See also:Wellington near Hobart, and the See also:Eldon Range. This sheet of diabase has been regarded as Carboniferous; but, according to W. H. Twelvetrees, it is probably Cretaceous. The See also:Cainozoic system includes at Table Cape an outcrop of marine beds probably of Oligocene age. Lower Cainozoic lacustrine beds with fossil See also:plants. of the same age as those which underlie the older basalts of Victoria, occur in the valleys of northern Tasmania. The Cainozoic series includes many igneous rocks. The tinguaites and sfilvsbergites of Port Cygnet, south of Hobart, may be of this age; they are intrusive in Carboniferous rocks, and there is no See also:evidence of their precise date; but their resemblance to the rocks associated with the geburite-See also:dacite of Victoria suggests that they may belong to the beginning of the Cainozoic volcanic period of south-eastern Australia. North-western Tasmania in See also:Pleistocene times had an
of See also:Ross-See also:shire and See also:Inverness-shire in See also:Scotland, from the picturesque See also:character of the See also:blue, See also: C.)
See also:Geology.—Tasmania is, geologically, an outlier of the Australian continent. It is most intimately connected with Victoria, from which it was only separated by the foundering of Bass's Strait in See also:late See also:Pliocene or See also:early Pleistocene times. The precise date of the separation is fixed as later than the See also:Miocene, since the fringe of the marine Miocene deposits along the southern coast of Victoria is broken, from Flinders to Alberton; and this See also:gap was no doubt due
Strait are the Tamar, See also:Inglis, See also:Cam, Emu, See also:Blyth, Forth, See also:Don, Mersey, See also:Piper and Ringarooma. The Macquarie, receiving the See also: At its greatest elevation it is comparatively level, and contains many extensive See also:freshwater basins, such as Lake See also:Augusta, Lake St Clair, Lake Sorell, Lake See also:Echo, Lake See also:Crescent, Arthur's Lake and the Great Lake. The marginal crests of this mountain tableland, together with its upper See also:surface, are known locally as " Tiers," and have a very commanding aspect in the neighbourhood of See also:Longford, See also:Westbury, Deloraine and Chudlcigh. The extent of the principal elevated plateau is best appreciated when we consider that it maintains its See also:general See also:altitude in a See also:westerly direction from Dry's Bluff (4257 feet) on the north to See also:Cradle Mountain (5069 feet) in the north-west, a distance of nearly 5o miles; from Dry's Bluff in a south-westerly direction to Denison Range, a distance of over 6o miles; and from Dry's Bluff to Table Mountain in a southerly direction, a distance of above 43 miles. This plateau itself again rests upon a more extended tableland, stretching westwards, and, with the See also:Middlesex Plains, the See also:Hampshire Hills and the Emu Plains, maintaining an altitude of 1200 to 2000 feet. Its limits follow the coast-line more or less closely, the space between it and the sea often broadening out into low-lying tracts not much raised above the sea-level. Here and there, rising abruptly from its surface, are to be seen isolated peaks, the most characteristic of which are See also:Valentine's See also:Peak (3637 feet) and Mount Pearse. Ridges and plateaus of a similar character, but more or less isolated, such as See also:Ben See also:Lomond (5010 feet) and Mount Wellington (4166 feet), are to be found in the north-east and south-west of the island. Towards the extreme west and south, anticlinal and synclinal ridges trend north and south, the most characteristic being the See also:Huxley, Owen, See also:Sedgwick, See also:Franklin and Arthur Ranges. See also:Settlement of See also:population has taken See also:place principally among the plains and lower levels of the north-western, midland and south-eastern parts of the island, following in the main the rocks of See also:Tertiary and Mesozoic age. In the See also:Recent Tertiary period the soils of these plains and valleys have been greatly enriched by extensive outbursts of See also:basalt with accompanying tuffs. These basalts produce a very rich See also:chocolate See also:soil, and were it not for their See also:influence, the greater part of what is now the most fertile part of the island would have been comparatively poor or altogether sterile. The See also:appearance of the island throughout is wonderfully beautiful, with its open plains, bordered by far-extending precipitous mountain tiers, its isolated shaggy peaks and wooded ranges, and its many See also:noble rivers and lakes. Its coasts for the most part, especially towards the south, See also:ate bold, and frequently indented with splendid bays and harbours, affording ample shelter and safe anchorage for See also:ships. On the western side onto is reminded of scenes in the See also:highlands extensive series of glaciers, of which the lower moraines were de-posited only about 400 feet above sea level. The See also:information as to the geology of Tasmania up to 1888 is collected in R. M. See also:Johnston's Systematic See also:Account of the Geology of Tasmania, which gives a bibliography up to that date. A later See also:sketch of the island is by W. H. Twelvetrees, " Outlines of the Geology of Tasmania," Proc. R. See also:Soc. Tasmania, 1900-1901, pp. 58-74. The mining literature is given in the reports of the Mines See also:Department, and See also:special reports issued in the See also:Parliamentary Papers; and the economic and general geology are described in reports issued periodically by the Geological Survey, under W. H. Twelvetrees, and in papers published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. The Mount Lyell mining field is described, with some account of the neighbouring districts of Western Tasmania, in J. W. See also:Gregory, The Mount Lyell Mining Field (See also:Melbourne, 1904). The glacial geology, with a See also:summary of the literature thereon, is described by the same writer in the Quarterly See also:Journal of the Geological Society, 1904, vol. Ix., pp. 7-8, 37-53• (J. W. G.) See also:Climate.—Tasmania possesses a very temperate and healthy climate. The mean temperature of the See also:year, as estimated from observations extending back to 1841, is about 50.10°. The mean at Hobart was 54'4°, at Launceston 56.6° and at Oatlands, which is in the centre of the island and 1400 ft. above sea-level, 51.76°. See also:Snow is rarely seen except in the mountains. The See also:average temperature at Hobart of See also:January, the hottest See also:month, is 63°, and of See also:July, which is See also:mid-See also:winter, 45°. The western prevailing winds—particularly the north-western--carry the See also:rain-bearing clouds. The elevation-See also:divide between the western and eastern parts of the island rises generally to a height of between 3000 and 5000 ft., and consequently the parts to the east of such heights receive much less precipitation than those to the westward. The general average for the eastern See also:district over a period of years was 22.07 inches; for the western, 37.55 inches; and for Tasmania 26.69 inches. See also:Flora.—The vegetation which prevails among the older schistose rocks of the west and extreme south presents a totally different appearance to that which occurs in the more settled districts of the east. The western vegetation, as compared with that of the east, presents as marked a contrast as do the prevailing rocks upon which it flourishes. The characteristic trees and shrubs of the west include the following genera, viz.: Fagus, Cenarrhenes, Anodopetalum, Eucryphia, Bauera, Boronia, Agastachys, Richea, Telopea, Grevillea, Orites, Athrotaxis, Dacrydium, Phyllocladus. On the eastern side the plains and rocky ridges, where not artificially cleared, are occupied by shaggy and often sombre forests mainly composed of the following genera: See also:Eucalyptus (See also:gum See also:tree), See also:Casuarina, Bursaria, See also:Acacia, Leptospermum, Drimys, Melaleuca, Dodonaea, Notolea, Exocar pus, Hakea, Epacris, Xanthorrhoea, Frenela. The mountain slopes and ravines of the east have a well-marked vegetation. In character it is more akin to, and in many cases identical with, that of the west. The tree See also:fern (Dicksonia antarctica) in the mountain ravines is especially remarkable. The following genera are also found in such positions in great luxuriance, viz.: Fagus, Anopterus, Phebalium, Eucalyptus, Richea, Cyathodes, Pomaderris, Prostanthere, Boronia, Gaultheria, See also:Correa, Bedfordia, See also:Aster, Archeria, Atherosperma, &c. In the extreme west the trees and larger shrubs do not appear to ascend the schistose rocky mountain slopes of the central and eastern parts.
Fauna.—See also:Animal See also:life in Tasmania is similar to that in Australia. The dingo or See also:dog of the latter is wanting; and the Tasmanian See also:devil and See also:tiger, or See also:wolf, are See also:peculiar to the island. The Marsupials include the Macro pus or See also:kangaroo; the opossums, Phalangista vulpina and P. Cookii; the See also:opossum-See also:mouse, Dromicia nana; Perameles or See also:bandicoot; Hypsiprymnus or kangaroo See also:rat; Phascolomys or See also:wombat; while of See also:Monotremata there are the See also:Echidna or See also:porcupine See also:ant-eater and the See also:duck-billed See also:platypus. The marsupial tiger or Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus), 5 ft. See also:long, is yellowish See also: The tail is thick, and the See also:bull-dog mouth is formidable. Among the birds of the island are the See also:eagle, See also:hawk, See also:petrel, See also:owl, See also:finch, peewit, See also:diamond bird, See also:fire-tail, See also:robin, emu-See also:wren, See also:crow, See also:swallow, See also:magpie, blackcap, See also:goatsucker, See also:quail, ground dove, See also:parrot, See also:lark, mountain See also:thrush, See also:cuckoo, wattlebird, whistling duck, See also:honey-bird, Cape Barren See also:goose, See also:penguin duck, waterhen, See also:snipe, See also:albatross and laughing jackass. See also:Snakes are See also:pretty plentiful in scrubs; the lizards are harmless. See also:Insects, though similar to Australian ones, are far less troublesome; many are to be admired for their great beauty. Population.—At the beginning of 1905, the state contained i8i,See also:ioo See also:people, giving a See also:density of 6.9 persons per square mile. The population in 187o was roo,765. The See also:discovery of Mount Bischoff one year later, though it greatly stimulated See also:speculation and induced a large influx of immigrants, did not put a stop tothe outflow, for in 188o the population was still below 115,000. During the next two decades there was a substantial advance; in 1890 it had reached 145,200, and in 1900, 172,980. Like all the Australian states, Tasmania shows a decline in the See also:birth-See also:rate; in 1905 the births were 5256—36 less than in 1904—which gives a rate of 29.32 per See also:I000 of mean population. The climate is probably more healthy than that of any of the Australian states, although, owing to the large number of old people in the See also:colony, the See also:death-rate would appear to put Tasmania on a See also:par with New South Wales and South Australia. The death-rate per moo of population, which was 16.52 in the period 1876-8o, had fallen to IIasi in the period 1901-5. There has therefore been a See also:gradual and substantial improvement in the See also:health conditions of the state. The See also:annual See also:marriage-rate was for many years consider-ably below the average of Australia generally, a See also:condition sufficiently accounted for by the continued See also:emigration of men unmarried and of marriageable ages; this emigration had ceased in 1900, and the marriage-rate may be taken as 7.8 per thousand. The See also:chief towns are Hobart (pop. 35,000) and Launceston (pop. 22,500). See also:Administration.—As one of the states of Australia, Tasmania returns six senators and five representatives to the federal See also:parliament. The See also:local constitution resembles that of the other Australian states inasmuch as the executive See also:government of four ministers is responsible to the legislature, which consists of a legislative See also:council and a See also:house of See also:assembly. The former is composed of eighteen members elected for six years. See also:Electors of the council must be natural-See also:born or naturalized subjects of the king, twenty-one years of age, See also:resident in Tasmania for twelve months, and possessing a See also:freehold of the annual value of £to or a leasehold of the annual value of £30 within the electoral district; the See also:property qualification being waived in the See also:case of persons with university degrees or belonging to certain professions. Members of the council must be not less than See also:thirty years of age. The house of assembly consists of 35 members elected for three years. Every resident of Tasmania for a period of twelve months who is twenty-one years of age, natural-born or naturalized, is entitled to have his name placed on the electoral See also:roll, and to See also:vote for the district in which he resides. The See also:franchise has been conferred on See also:women. See also:Education.—See also:Half the population are adherents of the See also: 3d. per inhabitant; of this sum £259,099 was the excess of Commonwealth collections over expenditure, and £216,953 from other See also:taxation; the See also:railways returned £245,049, while from public lands was obtained £63,088, and from other sources £43,504. The expenditure was £840,185, thus distributed: railway working expenses, £171,619; public instruction, £67,403; See also:interest and charges upon See also:debt, including sinking funds, £349,090; and other services £252,075. The interest and other debt charges come to £1, 18s. 9d. per inhabitant, and represent 41.55 per cent. of the expenditure of the state. The public debt in the year 1906 stood at £9,471,971, of which £7,830,250 was held in See also:London; this represents £52, 6s. per inhabitant. In 1871 it was £1,315,200, in 1881 £2,003,000, and in 1891 £7,110,290, representing respectively £12, 18s., £r6, 16s. See also:rod., and £46, Iis. rod. per inhabitant, the great increase in recent years being due to the rapid extension of railway and other public See also:works. The expenditure upon works may be show: divided into that on revenue-yielding works, viz. railways, £4,122,589, and telegraphs, £142,410; and that on works not yielding revenue, £4,970,018. For local government purposes Tasmania is divided into municipalities, See also:town boards, and road See also:trusts. The rates are assessed on an assumed annual value, which in 1900 was £1,417,547, corresponding to a capital value oflupwards of £28,000,000. The bulk of the revenue of the local government bodies is obtained from rates. The sources of revenue in 1905 were: government endowment, £5355; local rates, £71,920; and other sources, £83,187. The outstanding loans of municipalities amount to £697,133, of which the greater portion is represented by the indebtedness of the two chief cities, Hobart and Launceston. See also:Defence.—Tasmania being a portion of the Commonwealth of Australia, its defence is undertaken by the federal government. The strength of the local forces is about 1500 See also:officers and men. Mining.—Mining is now the foremost See also:industry, the See also:gross See also:production in 1905 being valued at £1,858,218 as compared with £1,500,000, the value of agricultural production, which is next in importance. Tasmania produces See also:gold, tin, See also:silver, copper and coal, and in 1905 the production of these minerals was valued at: gold, £312,380; silver and silver-lead, £465,094; copper, £672,010; tin, £346,092; and coal, £44,194. Beaconsfield is the chief See also:goldfield, 26 miles north-west of Launceston. There are about 1500 persons employed mining for gold on the various See also:fields. The Mount Zeehan and Dundas districts produce almost the whole of the silver at the See also:present See also:time, and most of the ore is sold to agents of the Australian and See also:German smelting works. Tasmania is the largest producer of tin in See also:Australasia, and a very large proportion of the tin hitherto produced has been obtained from alluvial deposits, the lodes, except at Mount Bischoff, having, comparatively speaking, been neglected. The Mount Bischoff mine, which is worked as an open See also:quarry, is the largest producer of tin, and (with an See also:original capital of £30,000) has paid over two millions See also:sterling in dividends. The number of tin miners in the state is about 1170. Tasmania also takes the lead amongst the states in copper production: in 1896 there was a small production of £1659; in 1897 it See also:grew to £317,437, in 1898 to £378,565, in 1899 to £761,880, and in 1900 to £901,660; and although the production has since been considerably reduced it is still a great industry. This expansion was chiefly due to the enterprise of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway See also:Company, whose mine is situated at Gormanston. Coal-mining is carried on in various districts of the island, but the principal mines are at Mount See also:Nicholas and See also:Cornwall, in the Mount Nicholas Range; the output of the field is increasing, but no export See also:trade is at present possible, the mines being situated too far from the sea-See also:board. The number of men employed in coal-mining is 150, and the output about 52,000 tons per annum. Manufactures are on a small See also:scale,the number of establishments being about 440, and the hands employed 9000. See also:Agriculture.—After being much neglected, agriculture received renewed See also:attention in 1892 and the following years up to 1904, when the area under See also:crop reached a See also:total of 259,611 acres; since the year named there has been no increase, and the area cultivated may be placed at about 250,000 acres. The area under crop, at intervals of ten years, was as follows: 1861, 163,385 acres; 1871, 155,046 acres; 1887, 148,494 acres; 1891, 168,121 acres; and 1901, 224,352 acres. See also:Wheat is the principal crop, and the yield is larger per See also:acre and less variable than that of the Australian states: for the fifteen years ending with 1905 the average yield was 18.9 bushels per acre, ranging between 15 bushels in 1894 and 27 bushels in 1899. The See also:oat crop is also much above the Australian average, and may be set down at 30 bushels an acre, but an average of 5 bushels higher is not infrequent. Tasmania is renowned for its See also:fruit crops, and now that this fruit has found an opening in the British See also:market, renewed attention is being devoted to the industry. In 1905 there were 12,683 acres of apples, 2098 acres of See also:pears, 1111 acres of apricots, 1123 acres of plums, 426 acres of cherries, 498 acres of peaches, 2000 acres of strawberries, gooseberries and raspberries, and 1107 acres of currants. The crop for the same year included 1,ioo,000 bushels of apples, 75,000 bushels of pears, and nearly 170,000 bushels of other fruit. Tasmania finds its best markets for fruits in New South Wales and in Great See also:Britain. The total value of the produce of Tasmanian farms now exceeds £1,250,000, which is See also:equivalent to £4, 17s. 5d: per acre cultivated. Tasmania shows a decline in See also:sheep-breeding, yet the state is singularly well adapted for sheep-raising, and its See also:stud flocks are well known and annually See also:drawn upon to improve the breed in the other states. Nor have the other branches of the See also:pastoral industry shown much expansion, as the following table will show: Year. Sheep. Horned See also:Cattle. Horses. See also:Swine. 1861 1,714,498 87,114 22,118 40,841 1871 1,305,489 101,540 23,054 52,863 1881 1,847,479 130,526 25,607 49,660 1891 1,662,801 167,666 31,262 73,520 1901 1,683,956 165,516 31,607 68,291 1905 1,583,561 206,211 37,101 72,810 See also:Commerce.—The See also:shipping increased considerably after 1896. Hobart is now a place of See also:call for several of the See also:European steamship lines, and the state is becoming increasingly popular as a summer resort for the residents of Melbourne and See also:Sydney. The growth of the shipping trade will be seen in the following table, which also gives the imports and exports at ten-yearly intervals: Year. Shipping entered. Imports. Exports. Year. Tons. £ £ 1861 113,610 954,517 905,463 1871 107,271 778,087 740,638 1881 192,024 1,431,144 1,555,576 1891 514,706 2,651,964 1,440,818 1900 618,963 2,073,657 2,610,617 1905 1,056,256 2,651,754 3,711,616 does a large trade with Victoria and New South Wales as well as with Great Britain. The principal exports in 1905 and their values were: See also:wool, £401,958; gold, £187,873; tin and ore, £257,256; silver and ore, £318,971; copper, £569,052; See also:farm, fruit and See also:vegetable products, £477,866; See also:timber, £78,380. The imports represent £14, 15s. See also:tod. and the exports £20, 14s. per inhabitant. The chief ports of the state are Hobart, where the shipping entered in 1905 amounted to 645,000 tons, and Launceston, 223,000 tons; Strahan on the west coast has also a considerable trade. Railways.—The railways open for See also:traffic in 1905 had a length of 619 miles, of which 463 were government and 156 private lines. The progress of railway construction will be seen from the following figures: open for traffic, 1871, 45 miles; 1881, 168 miles; 1891, 425 miles; and 1905, 619 miles. The railways, both state and private, are of 3 ft. 6 in. See also:gauge. The capital expended on government lines up to 1905 was £3,920,500; the gross earnings in that year were £243,566, and the working expenses £171,630; leaving £71,936 as the net earnings. This last-mentioned sum is equal to 1.83 per cent. on the capital expenditure; and as the average interest upon outstanding loans is 3.73 per cent., the railways are carried on at a loss of I.9 per cent. The private railways show somewhat better returns; the Emu Bay and Mount Bischoff line, 103 miles in length, constructed at a cost of £565,365, returned in 1904 about 3.22 per cent., and the Mount Lyell Company's railway, 22 miles long, costing £220,333, returned nearly 6 per cent. The roads maintained by the road trusts and boards of the colony extend over 7695 miles, of which 4146 were macadamized; the annual expenditure thereon is over £35,768. • Posts and Telegraphs.—There were 379 See also:post offices and receiving offices in 1905, and 327 telegraphic stations; 12,616,000 postcards and letters, 2,800,000 packets, and 7,200,000 See also:newspapers were received and despatched. The postal revenue amounted to £116,132, and the expenditure to £109,389; these sums include See also:telegraph and See also:telephone business. The telegraph messages sent numbered 496,000. The telephone system is being rapidly extended, and at the beginning of 1906, 1371 miles of line were being worked. Banking.—There are four See also:banks of issue, of which two are local institutions; their See also:united See also:assets average £3,576,700. The See also:note circulation is about £150,000, and the deposits £3,520,000, about half bearing interest. See also:History.—Tasmania, or, as it was originally called, See also:Van See also:Diemen's Land, was discovered in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Tasman (q.v.) who named the territory after his See also:patron, Van Diemen. The island was subsequently visited in 1772 by a See also:French See also:naval officer, See also:Captain See also:Marion du Fresne; in 1773 by Captain Furneaux, of the British See also:man-of-See also:war " See also:Adventure "; in 1777 by the great circumnavigator Captain See also:Cook; by See also:Bligh in 1788, and again in 1792, when he planted fruit trees. In the same year the French navigator D'Entrecasteaux visited the south portion of the island and surveyed the coast. In 1798 Bass sailed through the strait which now bears his name, and discovered Van Diemen's Land was an island. In 1800 the French explorer Baudin, in command of the ships " Geographe " and " Naturaliste," surveyed the south of the island, and reports of his proceedings having reached the British officials at Sydney, they determined to forestall the French and take See also:possession of Van Diemen's Land. In 1802 the " See also:Cumberland," a small See also:schooner, landed at King's Island in Bass Strait, and in 1803 See also:Lieutenant See also:Bowen was sent by See also:Governor King of New South Wales to form a settlement on the south coast of Van Diemen's Land. He had aboard his two ships, the " See also:Lady See also:Nelson " of 6o tons and the whaler " See also:Albion " of 306 tons, three officials, a See also:lance-See also:corporal and seven privates of the New South Wales See also:Corps, six free men and twenty-five convicts, together with an adequate See also:supply of live stock, and landed at Risdon, near Hobart, where he was joined shortly afterwards by fifteen soldiers and See also:forty-two convicts. In 1807, See also:Colonel See also:Paterson occupied Port Dalrymple on the north side of the island. During the same year Colonel See also:Collins, who had failed in an See also:attempt to colonize the shores of Port See also:Phillip, transferred his soldiers, convicts and officials to the neighbourhood of Hobart, and was appointed commandant of the See also:infant settlement. Provisions were scarce and dear, communication with the rest of the See also:world was infrequent, and in 1807 the community was threatened with See also:starvation, and flour was sold at £200 per ton. The difficulties of the settlers were increased by the hostility of the blacks. The first collision took place at Risdon, a few days after the landing of Lieutenant Bowen's expedition, and for this the white settlers were entirely responsible. Hostilities between the races were incessant from 1802 till 1830. An attempt was made in the year 1830 to drive the natives to one corner of the island, but without success. In the following year, however, Mr See also:George See also:Robinson induced the remnant of the blacks to leave the mainland and take See also:refuge, first in South Bruni and subsequently in Flinders Island, their See also:numbers having then diminished from 5000, the original estimate of the aboriginal population, to 203. In 1842 there were only 44, in 18J4 they had diminished to 16, and the last pure-blooded Tasmanian died in 1876, at the age of seventy-six. There are, however, a few persons possessing more or less aboriginal See also:blood in some of the islands of the Bass Strait. Some persons who had settled at Norfolk Island when that island became a penal See also:depot were transferred to Van Diemen's Land in 1805. But the growth of population was extremely slow, and in 1808 a See also:census showed that there were only 3240 people on the island, including officials, military and convicts, and whatever measure of prosperity was enjoyed by the free inhabitants arose from the expenditure by the imperial government upon the convict settlement. In the year named settlers began to arrive. To every free immigrant was given a See also:tract of land in proportion to the amount of capital brought by him to the colony—the possession of £500 entitling the holder to 64o acres, and so in proportion, a very liberal view being taken as to what constituted capital. To every free settler was assigned, if desired, the services of a number of convicts proportionate to the See also:size of his holding. These were fed and clothed by the settler in return for their labour, and the government was relieved of the expense of their support and supervision. The See also:assignment system was eventually abandoned in consequence of its moral and economic evils, but it cannot be denied that while it lasted the colony made substantial progress. In 1821 the population had grown to 7400; the sheep numbered 128,468; the cattle, 34,790; horses, 550; and 14,940 acres of land were under crops. As the number of free settlers in the colony increased an agitation arose for more See also:political freedom and improved administration; especially was there a demand for a free See also:press and for trial by See also:jury. These See also:requests were gradually granted. Courts of See also:justice were substituted in 1822 for courts-See also:martial; and in 1825 the colony was made See also:independent of New South Wales, Colonel Arthur being appointed governor. In 1828 the Van Diemen's Land Company commenced sheep-farming on a large scale in the north-west district of the island under a See also:charter granted three years before, and in 1829 the Van Diemen's Land See also:Establishment obtained a See also: Its See also:mineral See also:wealth was not suspected, although as far back as 1850 coal of See also:fair quality had been found between the Dee and the Mersey rivers, and gold had been discovered in two or three localities during 1852. In i86o two expeditions were equipped by the government for a See also:search for gold and other minerals, and although it was some years before there was any important result, the discoveries of these explorers directed attention to the mineral wealth of the island.
The political history of the colony after the inauguration of responsible government, until it became in 1901 one of the states of Federated Australasia, was not important. State aid to See also:religion, which was given to any See also:denomination which would receive it, was abolished; local self-government was extended to the rural as well as to the See also:urban districts; a policy of semi-See also:protection was introduced; the island was connected by a submarine See also:cable to the mainland of Australia, and thence to the rest of the civilized world; and the population, which was only 99,328 in 1870, was nearly doubled. Like her neighbours, Tasmania organized a defence force, and was able to send a contingent to South See also:Africa in 'goo. (T, A. C.)
. TASSIE, See also: At first h( had a hard struggle to make his way. But he worked on steadil) with the greatest care and accuracy, scrupulously destroying al
impressions of his gems which were in the slightest degree inferior or defective. Gradually the beauty and See also:artistic character of his productions came to be known. He received a See also:commission from the empress of See also:Russia for a collection of about 15,000 examples; all the richest cabinets in See also:Europe were thrown open to him for purposes of study and See also:reproduction; and his copies were frequently sold by fraudulent dealers as the original gems. He exhibited in the Royal Academy from 1769 to 1791. In 1775 he published the first See also:catalogue of his works, a thin pamphlet detailing 2856 items. This was followed in 1791 by a large catalogue, in two volumes See also:quarto, with illustrations etched by See also:David See also:Allan, and descriptive See also:text in See also:English and French by See also:Rudolph See also:Eric See also:Raspe, enumerating nearly 16,000 pieces.
In addition to his impressions from antique gems, Tassie executed many large See also:profile medallion portraits of his See also:con-temporaries, and these form the most original and definitely artistic class of his works. They were modelled in See also:wax from the life or from drawings done from the life, and—when this was impossible—from other See also:authentic sources. They were then See also:cast in white enamel See also:paste, the whole medallion being sometimes executed in this material; while in other cases the head only appears in enamel, relieved against a background of ground-See also:glass tinted of a subdued See also:colour by See also:paper placed behind. His first large enamel portrait was that of See also: His See also:nephew, WILLIAM TASSIE (1777-1860), also a gem-engraver and modeller, succeeded to James Tassie's business and added largely to his collection of casts and medallions. His portrait of See also:Pitt, in particular, was very popular, and circulated widely. When the See also:Shakespeare See also:Gallery, formed by See also:Alderman See also:Boydell, was disposed of by lottery in 1805, William Tassie was the winner of the See also:prize, and in the same year he sold the pictures by See also:auction for a sum of over 0000. He bequeathed to the Board of Manufactures, See also:Edinburgh, an extensive and valuable collection of casts and medallions by his See also:uncle and himself, along with portraits of James Tassie and his wife by David Allan, and a series of water-colour studies by George See also:Sanders from pictures of the Dutch and Flemish schools. (J. M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] TASMAN, ABEL JANSZOON (c. 1603-1659) |
[next] TASSO, TORQUATO (1544-1595) |