The soil was known to be remarkably adapted to cultivation; and the Hobart Town philanthropists, desirous of the civilization of the scattered ones, hailed the proposition with delight. There was something in its aspect which would rather suggest the idea of an Isle of Calypso than of a St. Helena. When Tasman, the Dutchman, first beheld its wooded, hilly shores in 1642, he could think of no better appellation for that Isle of Beauty than the name of a distant charmer, Maria Van Diemen, the daughter of the Batavian Governor.
But they were not to go to Maria Island. All its attractions were admitted, but objections ruled. In 1825 it had been made a penal settlement. Darlington station stood on the north side, near the curious rocks of the Bishop and Clerk, hanging one over the other. There a coarse woollen cloth was made by the men, and afterwards manufactured into garments by the convict women of the Hobart Town Factory. Though suggested by Mr. Robinson, recommended by the chaplain, and hoped for by many, the design was not carried out. Apart from the loss in relinquishing the works of the penal settlement, it was contended that the island had no good harbour, and that its proximity to the eastern main, three miles, would render it no secure encampment, as the Natives could readily cross the water and renew their distressing ravages. The Aborigines' Committee reluctantly disallowed the proposition in February 1831.
When, however, the roving parties had collected some of the unfortunate Blacks, it became imperative to find an asylum. Swan Island was, therefore, selected. This lies between Clark Island and the mainland of Cape Portland, being only three miles from the parent island. It had little in its favour, as its water was brackish, its soil most hopeless, and its size but a mile and a half in length. It was asserted also that the imprisoned ones could easily swim the little strait, and gain their old quarters. But this would not have been easy, as a very rapid current passes between. The Bishop of Tasmania described it in 1854 as "little more than a succession of sand-heaps, covered here and there with tussock and stunted shrubs."
At any rate it would do for a depôt. Mr. Robinson placed twenty-three there on November 20th, 1830, and thirty-three more on December 13th. They were not unhealthy on this desolate granite rock. One little incident occurred there which
