The Reserve is at present under the control of a Committee of Management, consisting of the Honourable J. G. Dougharty, James Osborn, Samuel Griffiths, H . V. Duigan, and R. E. Jacomb, Esquires. I have, & c , & c ,
JNO. N. BROWNE, T o w n Clerk. "Garryowen," Herald Office, Melbourne. T o w n Clerk's Office, T o w n Hall, St. Kilda, l6th January, 1884. T o " Garryowen," Herald Office, Melbourne. Sir,—Referring to m y letter of the 7th inst. acknowledging the receipt of yours of the 31st ult. respecting the graves at Point Ormond, I have now the honour by direction of the Council to inform you that it was their intention to expend a sum of money to enclose the graves of the three persons buried at the Red Bluff in 1840, had the ground in question been placed under their control, instead of which the Government placed this reserve under the control of several gentlemen, whose names were indicated in m y previous letter. Whether those gentlemen will carry out the Council's intention in the matter I a m unable to state. I have, & c , &c., JNO. N.
BROWNE,
Town Clerk.
It seems tolerably evident from the above that the St. Kilda Council has done all that could be reasonably expected to discharge its responsibility in the matter, and whatever blame m a y arise from a discreditable neglect must be transferred to other shoulders. T o expend Borough funds in improving where no public ownership was legally vested, would amount to little short of a misappropriation. W h e n the Government placed the reserve in a special trust, it was no doubt with the view that the Trustees should do something in the way of amendment, and the gentlemen nominated to the position, if they would not rest content with a somewhat inglorious sinecure, should bestir themselves in the public interest, and insist upon being supplied with sufficient funds to do at least what the Council offered. N o outlay could possibly replace the Point in its condition in 1840, when the quarantine station was proclaimed there, for never again can it have the picturesquely umbrageous surroundings then so lavishly supplied by Nature. Civilization has not only shorn it of all its pristine attractions, but stripped it as bare as a picked bone. It is n o w a dreary, desolate, skeletony spot, though by a judicious and not excessive outlay, m a y be transformed into a most enjoyable and salubrious marine pleasure ground.
THE GRAVES AT KING'S ISLAND.
There is another old graveyard, now almost forgotten, around which gloomier memories associate than any of the preceding. Though not within the territorial circuit of the colony of Victoria, as the catastrophe through which it was inaugurated once overwhelmed Port Phillip with a profound feeling of sorrow, it m a y be regarded as coming within the legitimate scope of this narrative. O n a rising ground at King's Island, wrapt in the murmurs of the sad sea waves, and washed by the wild storm-spray, are five c o m m o n graves containing the relics of three hundred and four h u m a n beings, the melancholy remnants of three hundred and ninety-nine persons who, in August 1845, perished in the wreck of the "Cataraqui," an emigrant ship from Liverpool bound for Hobson's Bay. T h e spot was enclosed and a memorial tablet erected at the expense of the N e w South Wales Government. Unable to say if this mournful memento was kept in a proper state of renovation ; and desirous (if possible) of ascertaining its present condition, I sought for information on the subject in various quarters; but in vain, for no one could tell anything about it. At length I found a friend in need in M r . A. A. L e Soeuf, the Usher of the Legislative Council, to w h o m I a m m u c h indebted for valuable information in connection with several chapters of m y C H R O N I C L E S .
