acquarie Harbour was explored by Captain Kelly, at the expense of a
merchant whose name is borne by Birch's River, and that of his wife by
Sarah Island. It is an inlet of the sea, on the western coast: by water,
about 200 miles from Hobart Town. It penetrates the country twenty miles
to its junction with Gordon River, where, diverging to the right, Sarah
Island becomes visible--once the principal station, now deserted and
desolate. This region is lashed with tempests; the sky is cloudy, and
the rain falls more frequently than elsewhere. In its chill and humid
climate animal life is preserved with difficulty: half the goats died in
one season, and sheep perish: vegetation, except in its coarsest or most
massive forms, is stunted and precarious. The torrents, which pour down
the mountains, mingle with decayed vegetable matter, and impregnated
with its acids discolour the waters of the harbour; and the fish that
approach the coast, often rise on the waves, and float poisoned to the
shores.[144]

The passage to this dreary dwelling place was tedious, and often
dangerous. The prisoners, confined in a narrow space, were tossed for
weeks on an agitated sea. As they approached, they beheld a narrow
opening choked with a bar of sand, and crossed with peril.[145] This
they called "Hell's gates,"--not less appropriate to the place, than to
the character and torment of the inhabitants: beyond, they saw
impenetrable forests, skirted with an impervious thicket; and beyond
still, enormous mountains covered with snow, which rose to the clouds
like walls of adamant: every object wore the air of rigour, ferocity,
and sadness.

The moment the prisoner landed, if the hours of labor had not expired,
he joined his gang. The chief employment was felling the forest, and
dragging timber to the shore: these gigantic trees, formed into rafts,
were floated to the depot. In this service, life was sometimes lost; and
the miserable workmen, diseased and weakened by hunger, while performing
their tasks, often passed hours in the water. They were long denied
vegetables and fresh food: they were exposed to those maladies which
result from poverty of blood, and many remained victims long after their
release. On a breakfast of flour and water, they started from their
island prison to the main land, and pursued their toil, without food,
till the hour of return: they then received their chief meal, and went
to rest. Those who were separated to punishment s