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16
On one point only, Government officials , settlers , prisoners and
visitors , too, agreed.
The climate of Van Diemen 's Land was undoubtedly
salubrious and beneficial to health, its summer temperatures greatly
moderated, the mornings and eveni_ngs always cool, no matter how hot the
mid hours ight be,
The winters , too, were moderated in their intensity
by the presence of the vast oceans surrounding the island.
an aveage no more than fifty or sixty days in the year;
and bril liant , the atmosphere mostly dry , pure and elastic.
never very severe and snow seldom lay on the ground for very long .
Rain fe ll on
the sky was clear
Frosts were
Al tho_ugh sudden,_ great ch11:nges of temperature frequently occurred, these
were considered exhiliarating rather than detrimental in such a pure, dry
atmosphere .
A climate such as this , plus the fact that survival in a
new colony demanded an active life , produced a more vigorous , healthy way
of livi_ng .
The chances of life and longevity were considered to be
twenty per cent better in Van Diemen 1 s Land than in E_ngland.
Persons
arriving with their constitutions impaired frequently recovered quickly
and were able to look forward to a longer, more useful life .
Children
born in the colony grew strng and tall with open countenances , the bright
pink of health in their cheeks ;
even the prisoners , who arrived with
diseased and emaciated bodies from the irregular and dissolute life they
had led in E_ngland, found their health improved by the more regular life
forced upon them and by the sufficiency o good and who lesome food. Many
•
diseases so prevalent in other parts of the world were still unknown :
altho_ugh whoopi.ng cough had swept the island after its introduction by one
of the female prison ships , it had been in a mild form;
measles had not occurred.
had yet been discovered.
smal lpox and
Furthermore , no diseases peculiar to the island
Fever and dysentery were probably the most
common ailments , but·o worse than anywhere else.
It was noticed, however,
that a protuberance on the neck, closely resemb lng the Swiss goitre , had
been found in districts near New Norfolk and around Hobart .
However , a
healthy climate and the possibility of a more active and fortunate way of
life were not always enugh to counter the evils of heavy alcoholic
drinki_ng and intoxication . According to Ross :
:he quantity of spirits , and other strng drink consumed annually
1n the colony, may on a moderate computation, be taken at not less
than 10 , 000. gallons , which according to the population allows the
enormous quantity of about s. gallons to each individual , young and
old, male and female in the island . So as tounding a fact , shows
at 11: glance the horrid state into which some of the community must
be immersed.l6
16
Ross , Almanack , 1831, p. 52 .