day's proceedings were concluded by a ball at the Benevolent Asylum, which was attended by all the rank and fashion of Melbourne. The road from the city was lighted all the way, and lined with policemen. The next morning the proclamation and notices of the various official and judicial appointments, &c. were published in a Supplement to the Government Gazette."

Now, although at first sight this appears to be a very ordinary newspaper paragraph, it is in reality pregnant with information; for it informs us that within the short space of sixteen years, a settlement founded by a few squatters from Van Diemen's Land had progressed so rapidly that its principal city could furnish a crowd of two thousand people as mere spectators at a fête day; that it had also contrived to augment its population to a sufficient extent that the usual divisions of society in the Old World were already fully apparent, as evidenced in the presentation of 450 visitors to the representative of her Majesty; that the city was furnished with its properly organized police, and that the constituted authorities were duly supported by the presence of "the military;" that its ecclesiastical affairs had been so carefully attended to as to have ensured the superintendence of a bishop, and that its second

F

town of importance had its archdeacon; that there were a variety of interests or classes, sufficiently distinct and important to appoint each their deputations: and, in fine, that in that short space of time this "Port Phillip district of the colony of New South Wales had already attained an equal rank with the parent colony, which had had a start of half a century.

Nor was this equality of rank merely an official one, for we learn by statistics that in 1849, viz. two years previously, the number of sheep in the squatting localities of the two colonies was as near equal as possible; and at the present time, without the slightest assistance from the government, or the advantage of a systematic puffing by any public company, the colony of Victoria contains nearly 100,000 inhabitants, seven or eight millions of sheep, and more than half a million of horned cattle. The quantity of wool exported is greater than from New South Wales, and the colonists are in the enjoyment of a very high degree of prosperity. And, to complete the picture, we may add that the colony has not only been a self-supporting one from the first, having never cost the mother country a single shilling, but has attained this position in spite of the greatest opposition on the part of the government.

Lord Glenelg, the then colonial minister, opposed the Port Phillip colony in the most determined manner, in spite of the urgent remonstrances of Sir R. Bourke (whose important services we have mentioned) and of Colonel Arthur, the Governor of Van Diemen's Land; and had the colony not been at a distance of sixteen thousand miles from Lord Glenelg's bureau in Downing-street, the settlers would have been driven back by force of arms. As

it was, the colonists beat the minister, and firmly established a new colony, whilst he was waiting the reply to his despatch for its prevention.

Let us now take a glance at the general features of the colony, as they present themselves to us at the present time. The Port Phillip Bay is one of the most magnificent harbours in the world, and would afford safe anchorage for the whole mercantile navy of England. The width of the entrance at the Heads of Port Phillip is about two miles; and the entrance passed, the shores recede away on either side so as to give it an immense width. About half-way up, it throws out an arm to the westward, which is about ten miles wide at the mouth, and which, from its extreme beauty, has been denominated "the second Bay of Naples." This arm or inlet is the Bay of Geelong ;

and the extreme width of the Port Phillip Bay at this point, from east to west, cannot be less than about forty miles. to trend in from this

The land again begins point as we proceed

northerly; and towards the extremity of the harbour, a peninsula runs out into the gulf from the western shore, to the northward of which is Hobson's Bay, where we may notice a fleet of vessels of all sizes lying quietly at anchor, and shipping their cargoes of that important staple of the district, wool. Into a narrow prolongation of Hobson's Bay, and at a distance from the Heads of about forty miles, the Yarra Yarra river discharges its everflowing

waters.

On the peninsula above-mentioned, to the south of Hobson's Bay, is built the township of Williamstown, which was originally intended (by Sir Richard Bourke) as the capital of the colony. It was by no means an unwise selection, although circumstances conspired to prevent this township from obtaining that dignity. It is close to the shipping, from which Melbourne is distant seven or eight miles by water, although not so much by land. The extent of the site is amply sufficient for a large city, and it is surrounded by water on three sides; and the situation would unquestionably have been as salubrious as commanding. The only ob

jection to it was the want of fresh water on the spot, which, although a serious difficulty, was not one of so fatal a character as should have prevented the accomplishment of the intention of its founder. There are many large and important towns, both in Europe and America, which have to resort to artificial means for their supplies of fresh water; and had the town been fairly established, there would have been neither engineering difficulty nor lack of means experienced in bringing an efficient supply from the Yarra Yarra. As it was, however, Melbourne, intended by Sir Richard Bourke as a mere country village some distance inland, has usurped the place which Williamstown was intended to occupy, and the Melbourne merchants are exposed to the expense and delay arising from a transshipment of goods from Hobson's Bay to the Yarra Yarra, (the bar at the mouth not allowing large vessels to pass,) and to various other inconveniences which would have been avoided had the original intention been accomplished.

The city of Melbourne, the present capital of the colony of Victoria, and the seat of a bishopric, is situated on the banks of the Yarra Yarra. It has a municipal charter, its local affairs being directed by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve town-councillors. Its principal