The History of Tasmania Volume I Part 33

With the exception of the pretty but gaudy parrot tribe, our most beautiful birds may be said to be the wren (_Malurus longicaudus_, Gould), the grosbeak (_Estrelda bella_, Lath.), the king-fisher (_Alcyone Diemenensis_, Gould), the diamond birds (_Pardalotus_ species), and the satin fly-catcher (_Myiagra nitida_, Gould). None of the birds equal the songsters of Europe, although many have sweet notes, and some are musical, as the magpie (_Gymnorhina organic.u.m_, Gould), that lively bird whose cheerful notes delight the ear of every traveller at early dawn in the settled districts of Tasmania, to which it is restricted.

The distribution of the birds of Tasmania is very partial, differing in this respect remarkably from that of the animals. The supply of the peculiar food suitable to particular genera and species necessarily affects their range, and as one half of the island is still covered by the dense primaeval forests, so in that portion few of the birds inhabiting the settled districts are to be found. Several of them follow the footsteps of man, and as his clearings take place in the remote wilds, and corn-fields spring into existence, so many grain-eating birds make their appearance. This is entirely irrespective of the regular annual migrations of numerous species from New Holland to Tasmania, which, in this respect, follow the same law which governs the migrations of species inhabiting similar lat.i.tudes in the other hemisphere. The snipe and swallows usually arrive in Van Diemen's Land during the first week in September; and during that month most of those birds which migrate for the purpose of breeding also make their appearance. In April, or soon after, the various summer visitants take their departure northwards. Mr. Gould observes:--"There are also periods when some species of birds appear entirely to forsake the part of the country in which they have been accustomed to dwell, and to betake themselves to some distant locality, where they remain for five or ten years, or even for a longer period, and whence they as suddenly disappear as they had arrived."

The only birds shot as game in the colony are quail and snipe. Quail shooting commences on 1st April, and snipe shooting about 1st September.

SECTION III.--FISHES.

Sir John Richardson has described many species of Tasmanian fish in the _Transactions of the Zoological Society_, and, more recently, some additional species in the _Zoology of H. M. S. Erebus and Terror_. To these works we must refer for scientific details, but many are still undescribed, and of the habits of our fish in general but little is known. Every season new species are brought to market at Hobart Town and Launceston, and no doubt many more species yet remain to reward the zealous fisherman who will explore the various banks off our coasts. The depth of water throughout the whole of Ba.s.s' Strait, and between the numerous islands which dot its eastern and western extremities, ranges between twenty and fifty fathoms only, the latter being the greatest depth. In such localities, and more especially amongst the islands, where numerous currents occur, fish may be expected to abound; but as yet no attempt has been made to extend the fishing beyond the shallow smooth water at the mouths of our rivers and estuaries.

Not only are many of the Tasmanian fish admirable as articles of food, but there is every reason to believe that they might be caught in sufficient numbers to form a valuable export to those countries where salt fish is esteemed. The best for this purpose would be that commonly known as the "king-fish" (a species of _alepisaurus_), about the size of a cod, the _habitat_ of which is still unknown, but which comes regularly every season, during the months of May to July, into the shallow waters along the coasts, to sp.a.w.n. It most probably permanently inhabits some of the banks in Ba.s.s' Strait.

The species considered finest for the table is one called the Trumpeter, found commonly in the estuary of the Derwent and Storm Bay, but which is rarely caught on the northern coast. Flounders, gar-fish, gurnett (_Sebastes maculatus_), and several other species of sea-fish, a bare list of which would convey little information, are frequently and usually brought to market.

The rivers of Tasmania are not so well supplied with fish as those of many other countries. The largest, except an eel, is one called the black-fish, which, in some of the rivers which discharge themselves into the sea on the north coast, attains a weight of six to eight pounds.

This fish, it is said, does not exist in the river Derwent, or in any of its numerous tributaries. The mullet (or fresh water herring) is a fine, well-flavored fish, weighing usually about five ounces, and is the only one affording sport to the angler. These, with a species of trout, two lampreys, and, perhaps, two or three very small species not usually noticed, complete the list of those which inhabit our streams and lakes.

The colonists are now anxious to introduce the Salmon into the Tasmanian rivers, for which they seem admirably adapted. Hitherto the attempts have been made from Scotland, and failed; but it is supposed that the west coast of North America would afford a more favorable and accessible station from which to introduce the salmon of that country, which, although not so highly flavored as the Scotch species, would still be a most desirable acquisition.

Some species of fish are poisonous at all seasons, as the toad-fish (_Apistes marmoratus_); others are only occasionally so; and the degree of poisonous effect would seem to depend not only upon the state of the fish, but to vary very much in different persons who partake of them at the same time. There is nothing, however, in these properties of the Tasmanian fish to distinguish them from those of many other countries where similar peculiarities exist.

SECTION IV.--REPTILES.

It will not be necessary, in a work like the present, to do more than notice in very general terms this and the subsequent departments of zoology, upon none of which have any separate works been published.

Snakes exist all over Tasmania; all are believed to be poisonous, and some are well known to be so. They inhabit all localities, from the level of the sea to the summits of the loftiest mountains (about five thousand feet). The number of species is still undetermined, but there are believed to be at least ten, although it is probable that the young of some kinds may have been mistaken for distinct species. The largest are usually four to five feet long, attaining occasionally, though but very rarely indeed, to a length of six feet. The greater number, however, are very much smaller, and are very various in color.

Comparatively few instances have occurred wherein the bite of the snake has proved fatal to human life, and this, considering the immense number of snakes throughout the island, may be deemed remarkable. Numerous instances, however, of the death of horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs, have been recorded; but the particular species causing death in each instance has not been noted with precision; so that there are considerable doubts with many well-informed persons whether some innocuous kinds may not, like the ringed snake of England, be cla.s.sed amongst their poisonous congeners, and indiscriminately killed with them.

Next to man the hawk tribe are their most powerful and persevering enemies; and it would be wise on the part of the colonists if they forbade their servants to destroy those beautiful and, in this respect, most useful birds. Lady Franklin, during the government of her husband, Sir John Franklin, with her wonted liberality and kindness of heart, offered a reward of one shilling per head for every snake killed throughout the island. During the first year she paid about 700, for nearly fourteen thousand snakes killed. Subsequently she discontinued this reward, having ascertained that it would not, at that time, prove permanently beneficial, as from the very great extent of waste and unoccupied land, where snakes could breed undisturbed, they were brought down in vast numbers to the inhabited parts of the island by the flooded streams and rivers; but it now becomes a question, when so much more of the island is occupied, whether our local legislature might not wisely renew the offer of a moderate reward for the destruction of these obnoxious and much dreaded reptiles.

Lizards and frogs, of various species, are common, but possess no peculiar interest. A species of turtle has been occasionally washed ash.o.r.e upon the east coast, brought, no doubt, from the east coast of New Holland by the current which sets from that direction towards Van Diemen's Land.

SECTION V.--INSECTS.

No work on the entomology of Tasmania has yet appeared, although few countries offer a wider or better field to the zealous entomologist, and it possesses many most interesting species.[273]

There is a great preponderance of _Coleoptera_ over the other orders.

Some European forms are common; and several species, as the weevil, apple aphis, slug, &c., have been introduced, and prove most injurious, as they increase with unusual rapidity. The domestic bee was brought to Van Diemen's Land from England by Dr. T. B. Wilson, R.N., in the year 1834; and so admirably does the climate of this island suit this interesting insect that in the first year sixteen swarms were produced from the imported hive! Since that time they have been distributed all over the island, and have been sent to all the adjoining colonies; all those in Australia having been derived from the one hive. In Tasmania they are becoming wild in great numbers, spreading themselves rapidly through all the forests, even to the summits of the western mountains.

SECTION VI.--MOLLUSCA.

Of the mollusca inhabiting the sh.o.r.es of the island many are highly interesting, and several are very beautiful. The rare _Cypraea umbilicata_ (Sowerby) inhabits Ba.s.s' Strait, as also _Trigonia margaritacea_ (Lam.), _Valuta papillaris_ (Swainson), _Venus lamellata_ (Lam.), _Cra.s.satella kingicola_ (Lam.), _solenimya Australis_ (Lam.), a species of _Terebratula_, and many others most interesting to the conchologist, and not less so to the geologist, as some forms are now found living abundantly in the Australian seas which are only known in the old world as occurring in a fossil state.

Our Argonaut, or paper nautilus (_A. tuberculosa_, Lam.), is quite distinct from the European species, and scarcely less beautiful. It is occasionally washed ash.o.r.e in considerable numbers on the islands in Ba.s.s' Strait. The beautiful _Janthina fragilis_ has been washed ash.o.r.e with its inhabitant on the east coast.

Although many forms are almost purely Australian, there are, nevertheless, a great number of European types, such as species of _Mytilus, Venus, Pecten, Ostrea, Patella_, &c.

The only kind of sh.e.l.l-fish commonly consumed as an article of food and brought to market is a species of oyster. With the aborigines, however, sh.e.l.l-fish formed a very considerable and important article of diet. La Billardiere[274] describes their diving for _Haliotis_ at Recherche Bay; and abundant remains of their feasts still exist all along the coasts, and, in some places, many miles inland, the sh.e.l.l-fish having been carried in baskets by the women, to situations where fresh water was to be found. The sites of these aboriginal feasts are usually easily to be distinguished from raised beaches, or those acc.u.mulations of sh.e.l.ls caused by change in the relative levels of sea and land. They may be known by their isolated character and position; by their forming, in many instances, round mound-like heaps, or tumuli; by the sh.e.l.ls being injured by fire, often broken into small pieces, intermixed with fragments of charcoal; and from the fact of no small species of sh.e.l.l, not likely to form an article of food, being found intermixed.[275] The species of sh.e.l.l-fish consumed by the aborigines were numerous, and varied according to the locality in which each sh.e.l.l abounded. Those commonly used were the two species of _Haliotis_, _Mussels_, a _Turbo_, and _Oyster_: several of the smaller _bivalves_ and _univalves_ were, however, occasionally used, but it does not appear that the _aborigines_ of Tasmania ever eat the _Unio_, so far as can now be traced; in this instance exhibiting a remarkable difference from those of New Holland, with whom the _Unio_ forms an important article of diet.

The land sh.e.l.ls are inconsiderable in number, not amounting to more than about six species. The freshwater kinds, including those inhabiting ditches, ponds, &c., are more numerous; but, except the _unio_, all are small and insignificant. Some species occur abundantly in situations which are perfectly dry for at least six months of the year, and seem, like many snails, to have the power of sustaining life for a long period in a dormant state.

SECTION VII.--CRUSTACEA, ECHINODERMATA, &c.

Crabs of numerous species are common, and one species, occasionally caught on both the east and west coasts, attains to a gigantic size. A craw-fish is abundant on the coasts, and is much prized by epicures, and another inhabits the rivers which run into the sea on the north coast.

Many other crustaceans, still undescribed or but little known, are to be found in all favorable situations.

There is little in the character of the _echinodermata_ to call for special notice. Species of many genera of star-fish and sea urchins are most abundant. _Acalephae_ and _polypi_ are equally numerous, and a most extensive and little-explored field lies open in this colony to the naturalist in these most interesting branches of zoology. Our _infusoria_, too, are still undescribed, though numerous; but they call for few remarks in this place.

In closing this chapter upon the zoology of Tasmania it must not be forgotten by the reader that its productions are still, in a great many cases, comparatively unknown; the notices of those described are scattered throughout an immense number of works, and in this island no museum or public scientific library yet exists, of such a character as to afford any aid to the compiler. It is not, however, to be expected that a general history of Tasmania should contain a minute history of all its varied and most interesting natural productions. It has been deemed sufficient, in the present slight sketch, to give in general terms merely those leading features which were likely to prove attractive to the general reader; leaving it to the student who may desire further information to refer to the works which have been noticed under the different heads.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 268: _History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds._]

[Footnote 269: It may be as well, also, to observe here that the learned Professor's article on the _Marsupialia_, in the same work, leaves little to be desired by the student who desires fuller information on the comparative anatomy of the marsupial animals.]

[Footnote 270: Mr. Gould, in his introduction, says 181 species, and his table shows 172; but we think he has erred in placing some birds under the head of Van Diemen's Land, which in the body of his book do not appear ever to have been found in it.]

[Footnote 271: Vol. I., introduction, p. 170.]

[Footnote 272: For a very full and excellent description of the habits of this bird see a paper by R. H. Davies, Esq., in the _Tasmanian Journal_, Vol. II., p. 13.]

[Footnote 273: Two hundred and sixty-two species of Tasmanian insects were described by the German entomologist Erichsen, in _Wagner's Archives_ for 1842. The Rev. T. J. Ewing, of New Town, the most zealous and able Tasmanian entomologist, in a paper in the _Tasmanian Journal_, vol. iii., p. 456, quotes the following works, where descriptions of Tasmanian insects may be found.--_Leach's Zoological Miscellany, Entomological Magazine, The Entomologist, Transactions of the Entomological Society of London_, and _Annals of Natural History_.]

[Footnote 274: _Voyage in search of La Perouse._]

[Footnote 275: _Vide_ a paper by R. C. Gunn: _Tasmanian Journal_, vol.

II., p. 332.]