'Some Hobart Town newspapers have come on board. O'Brien is still in very close confinement on an island off the east coast, called Maria Island, a rugged and desolate territory, about twelve miles in length... By the advertisements I see there at present no fewer than five ships at present laid on for California from the two ports, Hobart Town, south, and Launceston, north. There is now a brisk trade between Van Diemen's Land and San Francisco...'