In England the greater number of stercovorous beetles are
confined in their appetites; that is, they do not depend
indifferently on any quadruped for the means of subsistence. The
change, therefore, in habits which must have taken place in Van
Diemen's Land is highly remarkable. I am indebted to the Reverend
F.W. Hope, who, I hope, will permit me to call him my master in
Entomology, for giving me the names of the foregoing insects.)
Partridges and pheasants are tolerably abundant; the island is much
too English not to be subject to strict game-laws. I was told of a
more unjust sacrifice to such ordinances than I ever heard of even
in England. The poor people formerly used to burn a plant which
grows on the coast-rocks, and export the soda from its ashes; but a
peremptory order came out prohibiting this practice, and giving as
a reason that the partridges would have nowhere to build!
In my walks I passed more than once over the grassy plain, bounded
by deep valleys, on which Longwood stands. Viewed from a short
distance, it appears like a respectable gentleman's country-seat.
In front there are a few cultivated fields, and beyond them the
smooth hill of coloured rocks called the Flagstaff, and the rugged
square black mass of the Barn.
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