Just across the small bay from Port Arthur is Point Puer, on which for years there had been a boys' prison. Both men and boys sent to these prisons, located 13,000 miles from England, had committed alleged offenses in Great Britain. In addition to these two male prisons there was also one for women, but the latter was not located at Port Arthur. The ages of boys sent to the Point Puer ranged from 12 to 15 years. A number committed suicide, induced by homesickness and other causes. This inhuman state of affairs being brought to the late Queen Victoria's attention, she ordered the boys' prison razed to the ground.
The narrow neck of land referred to separates Norfolk Bay from the Pacific Ocean. To-day there are, or were recently, a row of posts standing across Eagle Hawk Neck—from Norfolk Bay to the ocean. To these posts dogs had been chained, the chains just long enough to allow a dog fastened to one post to meet the other. Some of these posts were driven in the bottom of Norfolk Bay, and on them was built a rest for the dogs to jump on when the tide was in. On each side of the narrow strip of land soldiers were stationed, the string of dogs between. Were a prisoner, in trying to escape the hardships of Port Arthur, to get beyond the sentries, and attempt to get by the dogs, an uproar would be made by the canines, and the sentries on the other side would be on the alert if a prisoner chanced to get by the vicious dogs; so that any effort to escape by that route would be futile.
Norfolk Bay at that point is also narrow—not over a quarter of a mile wide—several prisoners making their escape by swimming across. To forestall further escapes by that means, sharks, which had been imported, were placed in the bay and fed. So, between the soldiers and the dogs on guard at Eagle Hawk Neck and Norfolk Bay full of sharks, once brought to Tasman Peninsula escape was impossible.
Masks were worn by prisoners when they attended church services, so that no recognition could take place. In addition to that precaution, the seats in the church had a board at the back as high as a man's head, and the prisoner was closed in by boards on each side. The preacher was the only man that could be seen when sitting in the box seat. From 1842-46 19,000 convicts were sent to Tasmania. Sometimes many died during the voyage. The only humane feature connected with the convict traffic was that the ship doctor received $2.40 for every prisoner who landed in Tasmania. Naturally, the doctor would do his best to collect the fee. The last shipment of convicts took place in 1877. It is said some prisoners sent to Tasmania had committed minor offenses, such as shooting a rabbit on another's property, stealing chickens, inability to pay debts, and similar charges.
Eucalyptus trees are said to grow to a height of 350 feet in certain parts of Tasmania, and also in some other States.
Reading accounts of the products of the Commonwealth, its exports of wool, meat and ores, and being unfamiliar with the obverse side of the picture—droughts, deserts and the rabbit pest—one would little expect to hear the question asked, "Will the 5,000,000 industrious populace of Australia, a name that fascinates as does California, and having an area one-quarter that of the British Empire, ever increase to 25,000,000?"
Only a fringe of this continent is habitable, behind these fertile tracts being expansive wastes, on portions of which rain does not fall, at times, for several years. No such river as the Nile or Mississippi flows through these salt deserts. Near the coast, visited by moderate rainfalls, are sections in which drought is ever feared, where wells have been bored to depths of thousands of feet, only to find, when a water vein has been pierced, that, in many instances, the flow proves to be salt water, unfit for drink or irrigation purposes. The two chief rivers of Australia—the Darling and the Murray—are small compared to waterways that course other countries. In dry seasons the water becomes low, and in drought periods the bottoms of these rivers offer little more moisture than is found on the plains.
Not more than one per cent. of the land of this great continent is under cultivation. In order to insure the harvesting of crops in favorable seasons, millions and millions of dollars have been expended by the government in building rabbit-proof fences; the quantity used would encircle the globe nearly half a dozen times. Added to this outlay, large sums have been expended in boring wells, building reservoirs and establishing water stations on cattle and sheep ranges. Buying land from landowners controlling large tracts, obtained by devious means in the early stages of the country's development, is still another heavy national expense. This land, when allotted to small farm settlers, is leased. Leasing the land, instead of granting the freehold, does not augur for a rapid increase in the rural population.
Quality, not quantity, seems to be the aim of the Commonwealth in regard to the immigrant entering its shores. "Assisted passages" apply chiefly to domestic help and agricultural workers of British birth or of British descent, and these must be in good health and of sound body. A strong sentiment seems to be prevalent for immigration, but those engaged at the various trades, and even the professions, do not encourage the coming of additional artisans to the respective vocations or an increase of names to the professional roster. Hence, the small volume of immigration to the Antipodes.
With a desert comprising a major portion of the continent, a temperature of 100 to 120 degrees prevailing over a large area, with but few rivers, pure water lakes or refreshing streams, and the bowels of the earth giving up brackish and salt water, thereby dispelling hope of the sandy wastes being reclaimed and the ravages of drought counteracted—meeting with failures in battling to overcome these natural barriers to development, we can picture running through the Australian's mind the paraphrased biblical quotation: "Paul may plant, Apollo may water, but God must give the increase."