f land near the
centre of the town. The walks and drives in and about the neighborhood
are quite attractive. The North and South Elk rivers rise on different
sides of Ben Lomond, and after flowing through some romantic plains and
gorges, they join each other at Launceston. This sky-reaching mountain
is worthy of its Scotch counterpart; between it and Launceston is some
of the finest river and mountain scenery in all Tasmania. Ben Lomond is
the chief object in the landscape wherever one drives or walks in this
part of the island.

One of the first places of interest in this vicinity to which the
attention of the visitor is invited, is a locality reached by a drive of
four or five miles from Launceston called Cora Linn, which is notable
for its romantic scenery. It consists of a deep gorge, through which the
North Elk River rushes noisily, forming seething cascades and dashing
waterfalls of a grand character. To reach this spot one passes through
the pretty village of St. Leonard, where there is a neat little Wesleyan
chapel and plenty of handsome villas most home-like in aspect.

The winter is here like that of Nice and Mentone, while the summer is
much like that of New England, though not subject to such extremes. One
sees many bronze-winged pigeons here, a very fine domestic bird, blazing
with color under the sun's rays.

Of all the vast mineral wealth of Tasmania, the most thoroughly
developed enterprise is that of the Mount Bischoff tin mine, which is
situated about one hundred and fifty miles from Launceston. It is
accessible from the city either by land or water. The land-route passes
through a highly interesting district, diversified by river and mountain
scenery, pleasant homesteads, cultivated fields, and some of the largest
sheep-runs on the island. The quartz or tin-bearing rock of this mine
may be said to form the entire hill to the height of three hundred
feet,--Mount Bischoff itself being three thousand feet above sea-level.
Several shafts have been sunk to a depth of a hundred feet each, showing
that the metallic deposit reaches to that depth with a "breast" (as
miners term it) as broad as the hill itself. The deposit is therefore
practically inexhaustible, and of such value that it has already greatly
enriched its stockholders. The tin is shipped direct to England in the
form of "pigs," and the demand from that country seems to absorb the
entire product of this mine. The price for tin ore is said to be