that, in that direction, there are excellent cattle stations, but the ground is considered too wet for sheep.

"I beg to annex a long and interesting communication, addressed to me by Mr. George M'Killop, an intelligent gentleman lately from India, who has embarked a large capital in the Port Philip speculation.

"It is perhaps unnecessary for me to draw the attention of His Excellency to any separate portion of that letter, except it be to the important subject mentioned in the postscript, viz. the smuggling of tobacco, which, together with spirits, I found were, by means of the vessels trading thither, constantly imported without paying duty either at Sydney or Van Diemen's Land.

"For His Excellency's information, the following list of the vessels now employed in bringing stock from Van Diemen's Land is given.

"Indeed, if I may venture to give an opinion, the establishment of a branch of the Customs appears necessary to regulate the introduction of those articles of trade.

"15. In conclusion, I beg to assure His Excellency, that the residents generally expressed great satisfaction at the Government of New South Wales having made inquiry into their state, and would, I am persuaded, feel much gratified if this Government would extend to them its protection.

CHAPTER XVII.

FIRST GOVERNMENT OF PORT PHILLIP.

THE prayers of the Yarra settlers prevailed, and the Sydney Governor, who had warned them off as trespassers, now condescended to take them under his wing, and provide them with a ruler.

Captain Lonsdale, of the 4th Regiment, received command to go down to Bearbrass, Bearburp, Bareburp, Glenelg, Yarrow Yarrow, Batmania, the Settlement, the Township, or by whatever name the collection of sod-huts was known. He arrived, in H.M.S. Rattlesnake, October 1, 1836. The commander, Captain Hobson, gave name to the bay at the mouth of the Yarra. Captain Lonsdale brought with him Messrs. Russel, Darke, and D'Arcy, as surveyors of the township to be laid out; Mr. Howson, as constable; Mr. Webb, as the officer of Customs; . and Lieutenant King, with thirty soldiers. The author can endorse the warm encomium of Mr. G. W. Rusden, who declares the Captain "a straightforward, upright, dutiful servant of the Queen, and kind-hearted Englishman." The house he occupied till his departure still stands behind the Gymnasium, below the upper end of Flinders Street.

A public dinner was given to him and Captain Hobson. We are told that "the married ladies of the settlement also graced the table." The dinner took place November 30th. The company assembled at four, and separated at six. "The viands," says one, "consisted of a splendid leg of mutton, a very fine shoulder of mutton, stewed mutton-chops, real Irish pork, pig's cheek, and a variety of other delicacies. The dessert was in keeping with the dinner." Some fun was

occasioned by one of the guests proposing a toast for the man who had sold the Cape wine for 4s. 6d. per gallon.

Before starting from Sydney, he had instructions from the Governor, September 14th, 1836. He was to be diligent and true as police magistrate, he must make a census of the people as soon as possible, and do his utmost to conciliate the natives. As the Proclamation a few months before had warned off people from going to Port Phillip, it was necessary in these instructions to say something about the influx of trespassers, who could not be kept outside of the Heads, though liable to all sorts of pains and penalties. The Governor, therefore, guardedly wrote:

"You will draw the attention of any person who may desire to occupy land in the district to that part of the notice which. treats of this subject. It is not intended that you should actually prevent free persons, either with or without stock, from passing into the district, nor that you should disturb the occupation of those already there, so long as they conduct themselves honestly and peaceably; but you should discourage any person from occupying land before he acquires a title, and particularly caution him from effecting improvements which will serve to augment competition when the land is put up for sale. It is the desire of this Government to expedite as much as possible the regular location of settlers in those parts, as a preliminary step to which a survey and measurement of the lands are ordered. The premature occupation by individuals will give them no advantage at the time of sale. If you should at any time desire to remove any person from the lands of the Crown, whose conduct is such as to render his presence there injurious to the public service, you will not scruple to use all legal means to effect this object. If payment of the fine imposed on unauthorised occupation by the Act be not made, the offenders must be committed to Sydney Gaol for the period specified," &c.

He resided for a time with Mr. Batman, who was, above all persons, pleased to see established authority in his domains. After a while, a sod-hut was erected for the representative of order; this was just below Mr. Batman's, on the west side of the present Market Square. In relation to this edifice, and the general state of the place, we have this account in the Sydney Gazette of December, 1836 :

"A house has been erected for the Commandant. Three public-house licenses have been granted; one is kept in a log

hut (Mr. Fawkner's), the others are of turf. There is only one shoemaker at the settlement, but no tailor, carpenter, or wheelwright, who are much wanted. There are neither butcher nor baker, and the settlers luxuriate upon salt beef and damper, which they wash down with copious libations of rum and water, which are very plentiful there. The population consists of 210 settlers, 6 only of whom are women, 15 are the children (?) The stock there at present consists of 42,621 sheep, 121 head of cattle, and 14 horses."

The newly-appointed Commandant, Captain Lonsdale, did not manage to please all parties. Those who had hitherto done what seemed good in their own eyes were put into " a state of mind" by the interference of authority. It was not agreeable to be brought up suddenly when pursuing a very independent course, and made to feel that the rights of others were to be regarded as well as their own. The Cornwall Chronicle, of Launceston, has a version of the affair at the close of 1836

"We have statements before us of the extreme dissatisfaction caused to the Port Phillipians generally by the troublesome interference of Captain Lonsdale in matters in which, as Commandant, he considers himself justified, but in which the Phillipians think he is not. We have it represented to us, that this gentleman will not permit a house to be erected in the allotted township the plan of which does not accord with his ideas of propriety, and that his general behaviour is so annoying to the settlers as to have induced them to petition the supreme authority to remove him. We think we cannot give better advice to the emigrants from Van Diemen's Land than to abandon their plans of settling at Port Phillip, to forget their golden dreams, and to be wise before it is too late. That place is not the El Dorado it is pictured to be. We have it on the best authority that the land in this island, if properly cleared and cultivated, is capable of producing much greater profits, and is, in every sense of the word, much better than the land they have squatted upon without title or license."

The Sydney Gazette of January 26th, 1837, gives another illustration of Port Phillip disquietude, saying:

By the Martha, from Port Phillip, we learn that Captain Lonsdale, the Commandant of that newly-formed settlement, has made a seizure of from ten to twenty thousand feet of cedar and building materials, which had been cut by Mr. Batman, the first settler at that place. Mr. B. has sent up a remonstrance to the Colonial Government upon the subject,

alleging it to be a great hardship, on the ground that the timber was cut before the Government took possession of the place, and when they considered they were doing no wrong. Had it been cut after proclamation made Mr. B. acknowledges the transaction would have assumed a different complexion; but, under the circumstances, he trusts that the timber will be restored to him."

The Sydney Gazette has some sympathy for the Sydney-sent official, and indulges in a little Sydney spleen against the Tasmanian settlers located at Port Phillip; observing

"The greater part of the settlers who have emigrated thither are said to be a drunken, worthless set, and a complete pest to the place. Captain Lonsdale has, no doubt, his hands full of business."

The next change in the Government was proposed by Governor Bourke in his despatch, June 14th, 1837. In this he recommends more than a Commandant for Port Phillip, and suggests that Colonel Snodgrass, who had been a while. Acting Governor in Van Diemen's Land, would admirably suit for the position at Melbourne. The sum of 800l. a year might suffice for lodging, money, fuel, light, and rations"; but two horses would require 731. a year for forage, and a clerk would be needed at 150l. A puisne judge, with a clerk at 150, and a clerk of the crown at 400l., would serve for the law. Attorney-General Plunkett reported June 13th, 1837, that it was absurd to send Port Phillip prisoners to be tried in Sydney; where, said he, witnesses in a murder case arrived there the day after the trial, through a long voyage. He declared the place "at present almost without the pale of the law," and that "courts of criminal and civil jurisdiction should be established there." He thinks that, at present, "Port Phillip is not sufficiently populous (having only 500 souls) to admit of the introduction of grand juries, though it is for petty juries."

The Governor's visit to Port Phillip in March, 1837, led him to acknowledge the growing greatness of the Batman settlement, and the necessity for a more stable form of local authority. His proposal as to the appointment of Colonel Snodgrass was not accepted, but his recommendation that a superior officer be sent thither had the Ministry's attention. It was ultimately resolved that a Superintendent should be sent there. Mr. Joseph Latrobe,