for them at the yards of the Caledonian Hotel, a bush-frequented hostelry on the south side of Lonsdale Street, and some twenty yards from Swanston Street. T h e first overland journey m a d e in a boat from the Saltwater River to Melbourne was on this occasion, when Mr. Michael Cashmore, one of Melbourne's earliest drapers, with some companions, was weather-bound at a small hotel then near Footscray. They were cut off from town by water, and could not attempt the homeward journey by swimming or wading. Horseback, even if they could procure horses, was equally out of the question. So they took an open boat, and ventured over what was then " a lone dismal swamp," and taking their bearings round about Batman's Hill, after several escapes from snagging and capsizing, reached the Queen's Wharf unshipwrecked, pulled straight for the Royal Highlander, a well-known hotel, and did not deem themselves safe ashore until their craft was securely roped to one of the legs of the tavern bar. Then, no doubt, the inward m a n speedily m a d e up for the outward discomforts of the long and dangerous voyage, and the mariners drank to the good luck which permitted them to escape with no other unpleasant consequences than a rubber of stiff muscular exercise and a sound drenching.
Flood No. 3 — in 1842.
The 26th October witnessed another extensive flood, and the Yarra rose 50 feet at Heidelberg, doing m u c h injury to the gardens and land otherwise under cultivation along the line of river to Melbourne. T h e Melbourne Custom-house and wharf were cut off from dry land, and there was an almost total cessation of business there, and in the low-lying streets. T h e trans-river brickmakers had to run for their lives from their beds, losing all their household valuables, and several large kilns of bricks, which were carried away by the flood. A dozen families located on the borders of the Western S w a m p were also rendered houseless; there was quite an encampment of " miserables" on Batman's Hill, and their condition excited m u c h commiseration. T h e crops for miles around Melbourne suffered severely, and were in some places utterly destroyed, especially at the Moonee Ponds, the Merri and Darebin Creeks; and, more disheartening still, where cereals had been ruined by the Julyflood,and the ground re-sown, the farmers' hopes were again blighted. With reference to this flood, M r . Frank Liardet wrote from Rosedale (Gippsland), in February, 1881, to a Melbourne newspaper:—"There was a still greater flood if m y m e m o r y serves me, in November, 1842, when the Sandridge lagoon overflowed, and a deep channel was formed from it to Hobson's Bay, a few chains east of the Victoria Sugar Company's works, since built there. I was contractor for the ship mails at the time. A heavy southerly gale blowing at the time backed the flood. T h e sea ran so heavy in the Bay that I could not venture to go alongside a ship that arrived, but had to get the mails slung over the poop. T h e above vessel was the "Royal George," T h o m a s Greaves, commander. In consequence of the gale being directly opposed to the current from the lagoon, the surf was too heavy to risk running. I beached m y fine old whaleboat, safely landed the mails, carried the boat about 300 yards, and landed the mails in safety in William Street, between the present Yarra Yarra Hotel and the Sydney Hotel. M y crew having been some hours exposed to wet and cold, I gave them some stimulants. This was supplied from the balcony, as w e stood up in the boat alongside. M y recollection is that there must have been four feet of water on the top of the Queen's Wharf." T h e writer, drawing, as he admits upon his memory, evidently mistakes the month, for there is no record of a flood in November of that year.
Flood No. 4 — in 1844.
The greatest flood ever known in Melbourne occurred on the 1st October. For two or three days it had rained heavily, though intermittently, but during the entire night of the 30th September it fell literally in torrents, the wind blowing stiffly from the north-east. Business was practically at a stand-still, and the general dullness was only relieved by the amusement created by witnessing the efforts of wayfarers to m a k e their way through the rain, water and m u d abounding everywhere. It rained continuously during the day, and towards evening the Yarra was very high. A general clearance of the brick-fields was effected, and on the northern side much havoc was m a d e amongst the boiling-down establishments and slaughter-houses westward of the city. In some of the houses over the river, the inhabitants during the early part of the day, were in a state of terrible uncertainty, the Yarra rising gradually, and the w o m e n and children dreading
