and they opened a slaughter-house there. T h e primitive retail victuallers of the period were four individuals known respectively as Paddy Smith, Jim Cawley, Dick Tancred, and Bob Fleming (after yvhom Flemington yvas named), and these " cleaverites " purchased the H a w d o n beef at 8d. per lb, and re-sold it for a shilling. After m u c h discussion in the Council Chambers, and opposition from Councillor J. P. Fayvkner, yvho stuck " as a limpet to a rock " to the Batman Hill locality, the recommendation yvas approved and transmitted to the Superintendent. It was confirmed by His Honor, and in February, 1846, the reservation of the present site was announced. M r . John Arthur was appointed head gardener, and the undertaking progressed so yvell under his watchful care, that in May, 1847, the Garden was in excellent condition, and a welcome walk from Melbourne. M r . Latrobe yvould not consent to the T o w n Council having anything yvhatever to do yvith the Garden management, and the Reserve remained under the direct control of the Government, subsequently passing into the surveillance of the Public AVorks Department, as represented by Mr. Henry Ginn, the Colonial Architect. In January, 1849, Arthur died, and Mr. Daniel Bunce, a well-knoyvn botanist applied for the post without success. T h e Garden reflected credit upon Arthur's skill and industry, considering his limited means and appliances. A Mr. John Dallochy was, subsequently, appointed Curator, and under his regime the Garden so progressed, that at the end of 1851 it yvas m a d e the subject of a progress report submitted in November of that year to thefirstSession of the first Legislature of Victoria. A portion of the lagoon had been excavated, the margin formed with a line of borders 1800 yards long, and planted yvith shrubs and floyvers. A rustic bridge yvas ornamented yvith plants. AValks had been extended and neyv ones formed. There yvere about 5000 varieties of exotic and 1000 indigenous plants. Packets of seeds had been sent from Ceylon, Bombay, Madras, Singapore, Calcutta, England, and other parts of the yvorld. T h e attractions of the Garden yvere proved by the numbers which daily frequented it, especially on a Sunday, yvhen an average of upyvards of 800 visited there. T w o Shows of the Horticultural Society had been held there, and attended by over 700 persons. T h e estimated expenditure for the year 1852 yvas as follows:—Superintendent, £ 1 0 0 ; two Gardeners at £ 5 0 each per annum, £ 1 0 0 ; two Under Gardeners at £ 1 is. each per yveek, £ 1 0 9 4s. ; Carter, £ 5 2 ; eight Labourers at £ 1 each per yveek for six months, £ 2 0 8 os. od. ; Contingencies, £ 4 9 1 12s.—Total, £ 1 0 6 0 16s. A n d now having yvritten thus far I drop m y pen, for it will tax a more fluent hand, and more picturesque style than I can command, to depict in sufficiently gloyving colours the botanical reigns of the Baron von Mueller, and the present ruling Curator, Mr. Guilfoyle. THE YARRA BEND ASYLUM.
Originally the provision made for the unfortunates afflicted yvith insanity was, after committal by the Police Bench, to be immured in some part of the wretched gaols of Melbourne, sometimes separately, but oftener mixed with the other prisoners! W h e n the incommodious brick prison (before referred to) was erected in West Collins Street, a small wooden apartment was attached to it as a lunacy yvard, where unfortunate patients would be stowed ayvay to live or die, or recover, according to chance, for anything like proper nursing or attendance was out of the question. But in the old times the death rate in the Melbourne "Bridewells" was of an infinitesimal character, and spoke volumes for the skill of Cussen, the Colonial Surgeon, and the humanity of AVintle, the first Gaoler, and his wife, thefirstMatron. In the course of time, a watch-house built in the Eastern Market, occasionally served as a temporary asylum. Violent or incurable lunatics were sent to the Tarban Creek Asylum, the public hospital for the insane near Sydney. T h e Superintendent of Port Phillip, though nominally the Governor of the Province, could not move a finger without orders from headquarters, and there was as m u c h circumlocution, and far greater delay, in procuring the necessary passport for the transfer of an insane prisoner, as in issuing a warrant for the execution of a malefactor. In 1847, £1,000 was voted, and a movement m a d e towards the erection of a small wing of a projected new building. T h e romantic bend of the river at Studley Park was selected as the site, and this beautiful spot, for centuries a favourite haunt of the Aborigines, yvas reserved for the establishment of an infirmary. Insanity was a malady quite unknown amongst the Blacks, though essentially a concomitant of civilization. T h efirstSuperintendent of the " Yarra B e n d " yvas a Captain Watson, a
