t led to their undoing.

One morning a newly-arrived commander of the convict colony saw a large
number of natives making toward the camp. He did not know their customs
and mistook a chase after a kangaroo for an attack on the camp. So he
ordered the soldiers to fire on the crowd, and, as a result, fifty or
more were killed.

This was bad enough, but worse was to come; for escaped convicts began
to rob and murder the natives whenever they could do so. So in time
there began a bush warfare that almost exterminated the poor natives.
Finally, the remnant, about two hundred, were put on a transport and
carried to Flinder Island, where they gradually decreased in number. The
last native died in 1874.

In 1853, the English government ceased to send convicts to the island,
and within a few years afterward the blackest plague spot in the world
became one of the most beautiful colonies on the face of the earth.

Tasmania is far enough south of the tropics to have a much greater
rainfall than most of Australia, but it is not far enough to have a cold
climate. The generous rainfall covers the whole surface with green.
There are forests of eucalyptus, or "gum tree," tree ferns, beech, and
acacia--just about the same kinds that one finds in Australia.

The animals, too, are much the same as in Australia, and some species of
them are pouched, like the opossum. Many of them are now rarely to be
found near the settlements, but one kind is pretty certain to be found
at all times and seasons--the Tasmanian devil. This ugly beast is a
terror to any neighborhood. An English hunter described it by saying
that it was more bear than wildcat, and more wildcat than bear--and
bear-cat it is frequently called. The tiger-wolf is another pest that
makes great havoc among herds and flocks. Still another pest, also
called "devil," has bands of black and white on its neck and shoulders,
a thick heavy tail, and a bulldog mouth. It is a cowardly little night
prowler with a fondness for young lambs.

As was the case in Australia, the success of sheep-growing and the
finding of rich gold-mines put an end to the convict colony. Even before
the mines became profitable the ranchmen were trying to stop the sending
of convicts to the island; but when the gold fields were found, it was
stopped in short order.

Very shortly gold-mining became the leading industry. Then tin ore was
found at Mount Bischoff. Tasmania now produces more tin than all the
rest