island was first discovered by Tasman on Dec. 1, 1642, and named by him Van Diemen's Land, in honor of his patron, the then governor of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. During the next century, no visit is recorded; but between 1772 and 1802, partial surveys and explorations were made by English and French navigators. In 1803, lieut. Bowen was dispatched from Sydney with a few soldiers and convicts to form a settlement in the s. of Tasmania, which was finally fixed on the spot where Hobart Town now stands. In 1804, a settlement was formed near the mouth of the Tamar, which was removed in 1806 to the spot now occupied by the town of Launceston. From 1817, commenced a rapid increase in the number of free settlers, who received grants of land in proportion to the capital which they brought into the colony, and were subsequently further aided in the clearing and cultivation of their estates by the assignment of convicts as their servants. In 1825, Tasmania was declared independent of New South Wales.
The colony was for a good many years agitated by the question of the disposal and management of the convicts, who were now becoming a prominent and formidable element in the community. At last, in 1853, transportation to Tasmania and New South Wales was finally abandoned by the home government. The abolition of trans portation, and the consequent cessation of a vast imperial expenditure, naturally pro duced a considerable depression in all branches of trade, especially in the southern districts. It is not surprising that the great body of the colonists, instead of setting
thenaselve§ manfully to turn the true and natural resources of the country to the best - account, have rather looked for some great discovery of rich gold-fields, or some gigantie , works undertaken under the auspices of government, as the only means by which the prosperity of the colony was to be assured. But shell a state of things must ultimately work its own cure. Viewed in a true light, the progress, social, material, and political, has presented a more hopeful aspect since the extinction of the convict system than at any earlier period. For years after the discovery of gold in Australia, the expirees of Tasmania flocked in crowds to the neighboring colonies, attracted by the prospect of richer gains, and glad to escape from police surveillance in a country where their ante cedents were too known. Those who remained had, for the most part, by this time become orderly, well-conducted members of the community, not to be distin guished from the immigrant population by whom they were surrounded. Necessity will in due time develop the enterprise and energy which have too long lain dormant. Some of the older settlements may prove inadeouate to the maintenance of their former population, but the rich lands of the n. coast offer to industrious settlers a field which is practically inexhaustible.