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Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/513

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FROM MELBOURNE TO TASMANIA.
489

Tourists with a love for fishing and shooting generally find time to visit Gippsland, as these sports can be had there to the fullest extent. The forests of this region are very dense, and consequently the clearing of the land is attended with considerable expense. Frank thought, with a sigh, of the trout in the streams of this fertile district; he had hoped to be the captor of some of them, but his hopes were dashed when it
A GIPPSLAND SETTLER.
was decided to give the go-by to Gippsland.

"And now," said the Doctor, "I'll tell you my plan." The youths listened attentively as he continued:

"To-day is Tuesday. There's a steamer twice a week (Monday and Thursday) for Launceston, in Tasmania. We are due at Melbourne at 3.41 this afternoon; we will devote this evening and tomorrow to saying good-by to our friends, and leave by the steamer on Thursday for Launceston. How will that do?"

The youths promptly assented, as they always did when the Doctor told them his plans, and it was at once agreed that the scheme would be carried out. Arrangements were made accordingly, the farewell calls were made in the time prescribed by social rules, and the steamer started at noon on the appointed day. She carried the party across Bass's Strait during the night, and on the next morning they were at the entrance of the Tamar River, on their way to Launceston, forty miles up the stream, and two hundred and sixty-seven from Melbourne.

Frank wondered why the name of the island was changed from Van Dieman's Land to Tasmania. He received the following explanation:

"It was discovered by the Dutch navigator Abel Jans Tasman, in 1642, and by him was named Van Dieman's Land, in honor of the then governor of the Dutch East Indies. Tasman was in love with the Governor's daughter, Maria, and gave her name to one of the smaller