r parts of the
establishment, and it was not a little pleasing to observe a number of
English fruit trees. I was told, however, that they suffered exceedingly
from blight which was brought by the west winds. In one corner that at
first escaped my curiosity, so completely had it been shut out from the
gaze of all by a winding bowery walk, I found in a sort of alcove, the
tomb of a child; upon it lay a fresh bouquet of flowers, revealing that
the dead was not forgotten by those who were left behind. It was easy to
divine, and I afterwards learned this to be the case, that it was the
mother, Mrs. Curr, who came every morning to pay this tribute of
affection to the departed. A weeping willow drooped its supple branches
over the tomb; some honey-suckle and sweet-briar surrounded it, loading
the air with their rich fragrance; not even the chirping of a bird
disturbed the solemn silence that reigned around; everything seemed to
conspire to suggest holy and melancholy thoughts, and I lingered awhile
to indulge in them; but perceiving by the few footmarks that I was an
intruder, hastened to retire, by no means sorry, however, to have
discovered this evidence of the enduring love a mother bears her
offspring.

In the Park at Hyfield were some fallow deer, imported from England, and
seeming to thrive exceedingly well. There were also two emus, the sight
of which reminded me of a very curious observation I had before made, and
the truth of which again struck me forcibly, namely, that the face of the
Emu bears a most remarkable likeness to that of the aborigines of New
South Wales. Had there been any intimacy between the native and the Emu,
I might have been disposed to resort to this circumstance as an
explanation; for some maintain that the human countenance partakes of the
expression and even of the form of whatever, whether man or beast, it is
in the habit of associating with.

SURREY HILLS.

The Company have another station about sixty miles South-East from
Circular Head, at the Surrey hills, from whence the road to Launceston is
good and wide. But between it and Circular Head there are several rivers
to ford, and the country is not only very hilly, but densely wooded with
enormous trees, some of which I was informed were 30 feet in
circumference. This causes great difficulty in clearing the land. They
accomplish about fifty acres every year. The establishment consists of
one hundred persons, many of whom are convicts. They