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feels it necessary to point out to them that it is the duty of all good soldiers to discountenance such a proceeding, and report it to their officers, as their concealing it may be attended with consequences very fatal to themselves, as well as injurious to the Service of their Sovereign, to w h o m every m a n has sworn and owes allegiance. " 17th January.—The detachment will parade at half-past eleven in the forenoon to-morrow, and at twelve o'clock fire three volleys, it being the anniversary of the day upon which H e r Majesty's birth is kept. T h e quarter-master will issue a n e w clothing to the detachment, w h o will wear it to-morrow." T h e penal settlement was broken up on 30th January, 1804, and Collins passed away for good from the harbour of Port Phillip. In consequence of the semi-convict element in the primitive population of Port Phillip, and the existence of un-manumitted prisoners in the Government and assigned service, the presence of a detachment of soldiers in Melbourne was indispensable, and consequently four days after the arrival of Captain Lonsdale, the first Police Magistrate and Commandant, the "Stirlingshire" from Sydney (5th October, 1836) brought Ensign King with a detachment of 30 m e n from the 4th Regiment, and such was Melbourne's first military garrison. In 1838 a slight augmentation was made, bringing the number up to 35 rank andfile,under two subalterns, with a " band" consisting of a drummer, minus a fife or other accompaniment. In January, 1839, there was a further increase, the town was m a d e the headquarters of a Company, and the Officers were—-Captain Smith, Lieutenant Vignolles, and Ensign M'Cormac. In December, 1840, the military establishment of Port Phillip is thus classified :—Captain : Charles F. H . Smith ; Lieutenant: Francis Durell Vignolles; Ensign: Samuel Rawsen. Present—fit for duty at Melbourne—1 Captain, 2 subalterns, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, 1 drummer, and 26 privates. At Geelong: 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and 6 privates. O n escort to Sydney—(not returned)—1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and 5 privates. Commissariat Department: Deputy Assistant Commissary General—Charles Howard. At the commencement of 1841 Captain Smith retired from the service, and the c o m m a n d for the time devolved upon Lieutenant Vignolles. In 1842 the military consisted of a detachment of the 80th Regiment, and there were stationed in Melbourne :—Captain : C. Lewis; Ensign : M . D. Freeman; with 2 sergeants, 1 corporal, and 37 rank and file. At Geelong : 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 6 rank and file; and at Portland: Lieutenant H . A. Hollinsworth, 1 sergeant, 6 rank and file. Commissariat, as before. Thus the number went on alternating, and in a few years substantially increasing, the Officers were popular, and identifying themselves with every sport, amusement, and reunion on the cards ; as ready to ride in a race as to participate in a duel; to dance at a ball as to assist in putting out a fire, and on the whole considered thorough good fellows. T h e Non-Commissioned Officers and privates also fraternized with the townspeople. Their duty mainly consisted in supplying gaol-guards and escorts, and only on a couple of occasions were they called out to quell a popular tumult. T h e military for several years were miserably barracked, the soldiers in hovels, and the Officers in huts with some, but small, pretensions to comfort. T h e first barracks was a clay, bark, and bush erection on the " Government block" between King and Spencer Streets ; the second the old brick gaol in Collins Street West, on its vacation as a prison; the third a corrugated iron range of buildings off Spencer Street, at the end of Latrobe Street, and the present barrack site on the St. Kilda Road was not thought of until January, 1849, when an Ordnance Officer from Sydney selected it. T h e first Court-Martial held in the colony was on the 25th August, 1839, presided over by Major Ryan, from Launceston, when a private named Stokes was tried for robbing a comrade, and received a sentence of seven years' transportation. T h e second occurred on the 9th June, 1846, when Private AVarrington was convicted of the double offence of drunkenness and using abusive language to Sergeant Leary. T h e Report of the Court was transmitted to the C o m m a n d e r of the Forces at Sydney, and thefinalresult was three months' imprisonment. uu 2