Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/27

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Chap. I.]
FOSSIL REMAINS.
13
1841

the trees from the places where they originally grew; similar to the progressive movement of the glaciers of Switzerland down the valleys of the Alps.

Before concluding my remarks on the highly interesting fossil remains of the Derwent valley, I cannot omit to notice those which are found in the indurated clay of Point Puer, at Port Arthur, and at Eaglehawk Neck, which is a narrow, low, sandy isthmus, connecting Forestier's with Tasman's peninsula; both of which places I visited in company with the governor. The severe penal settlement of Port Arthur, to which the doubly-convicted felons are transported from New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land,—the juvenile establishment of Point Puer[1], where between five and six hundred convict boys are taught useful trades,—the isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck, where furious dogs are chained to guard the pass, and prevent the escape of convicts from Port Arthur, the coalmines and sandstone quarry, being all objects of interest to the stranger, were visited by nearly all the officers of the expedition, but are too extensively known to require any description here. I am glad, however, to avail myself of a communication from Dr. Jeanneret, the physician to the establishment at Point Puer, containing some interesting particulars respecting the peninsula of Tasmania, and its fossil remains.

"Tasman's Peninsula is the rugged land at the south-eastern extremity of Van Diemen's Land. It
  1. For a statistical account of this establishment, see Appendix, No. III.