Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/607

 TASMANIA rhere ale is made for export to the other colonies, the climate being especially adapted to malting and brewing. There are also tan- neries, founderies, soap and candle manufac- tories, jam-boiling and fruit-preserving estab- lishments, and two manufactories of cloth, tweed, blankets, &c. The value of exports in 1873 was 893,556 ; of imports, 1,107,167. The exports of wool amounted to 4,243,433 Ibs., valued at 314,068 ; of jams to the value of 98,281 ; and of hops, 41,015. Other ar- ticles of export are bark, butter and cheese, bran and pollard, the cereals, flour, skins and leather, horses, sheep, sperm and black oil, fruits and vegetables, gold (in 1873, 15,309), and ale. The most important ports are Ho- bart Town and Launceston. Frequent com- munication by steamships is maintained be- tween them and Sydney and Melbourne. The only completed railway is the Launceston and Western, 45 m. long, connecting Launceston and Deloraine. The line was opened in 1871 ; in 1872 it was taken by the government. The Mersey and Deloraine railway, to connect Del- oraine with the mouth of the Mersey river, had 18 m. completed in 1874. A main line, connecting Launceston with Hobart Town, 120 m. long, will probably be opened in 1876. The principal towns are connected by tele- graph, of which 291 m. were open in 1873. ,A submarine cable, laid in 1869, connects Launceston with Melbourne. The aborigines of Tasmania resembled physically those of Australia, excepting that their hair was wool- ly. They were estimated to number 3,000 to 4,000 when the island was colonized, and were inoffensive ; but from the abuse of the convict colonists a war of extermination broke out. At its close the remnant of the tribe was transported first to Flinders and then to Maria island, and finally in 1849, when only 86 re- mained, to the vicinity of Hobart Town, where they were established in comfortable dwellings. In 1870 only one, a woman, survived. In 1848 nearly a third of the inhabitants were or had been convicts ; and although since the cessa- tion of transportation the proportion has grad- nally decreased, the moral effect is still felt. "With respect to religion, the principal denomi- nations are represented as follows : church of England, 53,047 ; Roman Catholic, 22,091 ; church of Scotland, 6,644; Free church of Scotland, 2,420; Wesleyans, 7,187; Indepen- dents, 3,931. The whole number of churches and chapels in the colony is 316. The Angli- cans and Roman Catholics have each a bishop. Education is under the management of a coun- cil, and a board supervises the distribution of all moneys voted by parliament. In 1873 there were 141 public schools, with 10,803 pupils on the rolls arid an average attendance of 7,047 ; 105 male teachers, 108 female teachers, and 32 pupil teachers. There are four superior schools: Horton college, high school, Hutch- ins's school, and the church grammar school. The attendance of children at the public schools TASSAERT 579 is compulsory, under a fine of 2, except in cases of private education. In 1870 there were 29,444 persons in the colony who were unable to read. The public press includes two daily newspapers published at Hobart Town, two tri- weekly and a semi- weekly at Launceston, and several weekly and monthly periodicals. The colony is divided into 18 counties, which are subdivided into parishes. For electoral pur- poses it is divided into districts, 16 for the election of members of the legislative council, and 32 for members of the house of assembly. The government consists of a governor and executive council appointed by the crown. The governor is assisted by a cabinet consist- ing of four official members, colonial secretary, colonial treasurer, attorney general, and min- ister of land and works, and sometimes a pre- mier ex officw. The legislative power is vest- ed in a parliament of two houses, the legisla- tive council and the house of assembly. The legislative council is composed of 16 members elected for six years, the house of assembly of 32 members elected for five years. The judiciary consists of a chief justice, a puisne judge, and minor justices. The revenue is derived from customs, railway receipts, land sales, and miscellaneous taxes. The general revenue for 1875 was estimated at 295,317, and the expenditure at 311,206. The debt of the colony at the end of 1873 was 1,477,- 600, incurred mostly for the following pur- poses : public works, 938,528 ; immigration, 200,000 ; commute state aid to religion, 100,- 000 ; in payment of an old debt to the impe- rial government, 30,500 ; in aid of land fund, 30,000. Tasmania was discovered in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Abel Janssen Tasman, who believed it to be a part of the mainland of Australia, and who named it Van Diemen's Land after Anthony van Diemen, then gov- ernor general of the Dutch East Indies. Its insularity was not established till 1798, when Mr. Bass, a surgeon of the British navy, cir- cumnavigated it. The first settlement was made in 1803 by a detachment of marines and a body of convicts, in charge of Lieut. Bowen, who selected Risdon on the Derwent river as the site for a penal station. In 1804 Col. Collins, who landed with 400 prisoners, changed the site to the opposite side of the river, and named it Hobart Town after Lord Hobart, then secretary of state for the colonies. Van Die- men's Land was erected into an independent colony in 1825. For some years the prosperity of the colony was impaired by the depreda- tions of *'bush rangers," or escaped convicts, but they were finally suppressed. In 1853 the transportation of convicts ceased, and on Jan. 4, 1856, on the petition of the legislative coun- cil to the home government, the name of the colony was officially changed to Tasmania. TASSAERT, Nicolas Francois Octave, a French painter, born in Paris, July 26, 1800, died there by his own hand, April 26, 1874. He left the school of fine arts in 1825, and became known