was with extreme reluctance they gave over. One huge fellow stowed away so much that he was only saved from bursting by a couple of his companions rolling him up and down the hill until the excessive food was subjected to a process of' packing. T h e food provided consisted of heaps of bread and beef cut into junks, and two large boilers of strong, unmilked, yet well-sugared, tea ; and though no knives nor forks were provided, the blacks easily dispensed with the latter, preferring Nature's fork, a goodfinger,to toys which, even in England in the middle of the seventeenth century, were sneered at as a piece of affectation. There was a general turn-out of the townspeople to witness the day's doings, and such a sight has possibly not been since witnessed in Melbourne. T h e Aborigines, polite and grateful in their own way, gave a Corroboree for the gratification of the white fellows, with about 40 black performers.
GYMNASTICS.
In 1850 a movement was commenced for the initiation of an annual gathering, as a means of fostering a taste for the useful and salubrious exercises of the gymnasium. It was taken up with much favour, and it was announced as being " under the patronage of His Honor the Superintendent, His Honor the Resident Judge, and His Worship the Mayor." T h e meeting was to be held on the Melbourne Racecourse, commencing at 11 o'clock on Monday, 12th August. Those games excited fully as m u c h interest as the Annual Races, and nearly as many persons were assembled to witness them. At the appointed hour a bugle sounded to prepare, and, according to the newspaper report, there must have been from five to six thousand persons on the course. T h e Stand wasfilledwith ladies, and the carriages opposite gave brilliancy to the meeting; which, judging from the eager smiling faces, was one of very pleasurable excitement. First Prize: Quoits, 21 yards. Entrance, 10s. 1st prize, £& ; 2nd, £$• T h e competitors were : Messrs. Hamilton, Sutcliffe, Cooper, Hervey, W o o d , Swanston, and Rankin. A H U N D R E D Y A R D S L E V E L R A C E , £$. Entrance, 2s. 6d. T h e starters were Messrs. F. Stephen, Pinkerton, G. Meredith, J. Johnson, Davies, J. M'Lean, T. Butler, G. Barnes, J. Holmes, W . Richardson, J. Benstead, H . Manuel, C. Frazer, H . Stephen, G. Ross. Manuel passed at a winning pace, which he kept up to the winning-post, increasing his distance from the rest as he drew to the close. Pinkerton made a good second, and indeed the whole field made a capital run of it. T h e ground was covered in 11 seconds. J U M P I N G I N L E N G T H , £5. Entrance, 2s. 6d. Competitors : Messrs. Toner, Lyall, Bruce, Ryan, and Clements. Ryan, w h o was an athletic, well-formed m a n of m u c h elasticity, won, though not without great competition, by about two inches only. T h e jumps were very close, and the winning one was ten feet two inches. T H R E E R U N N I N G JUMPS IN L E N G T H . ^"3. Entrance, 2s. 6d. Messrs. Patrick Ryan, George Meredith, W . Lyall, M . Keogh, Robert Fenton, and William Toner competed, and the winner was Ryan, who covered thirty two feet four inches in the three jumps. PUTTING T H E H E A V Y S T O N E of 22 lb., £5. Entrance, 5s. Entries :—Messrs. Ritchie, M'Dougall, Toner, Grant, and Bell. A deal of interest was excited by this contest. T h e cast of M'Dougall, thirty feet in hisfirstthrow, tested the metal of the others, and no one could compete with him, until Bell, without divesting himself of his coat, very coolly pitched the stone two feet further. M'Dougall strained every nerve in his after throws, and although near the mark could not come up to Bell, w h o was declared the conqueror. P U T T I N G T H E L I G H T S T O N E of 14 lb., £2. Entrance 2s. 6d. Entries:—Messrs. Shumack, Bruce, Ebzer, Grant, Hogan, Crocker, Manuel, M'Kenzie, Mason, Ritchie, M'Dougall, Armstrong, M'Nabb, and Heffernan. This game was but indifferently contested; the throwing was inferior to that of the heavy stone, and the furthest throw, that of Mason, the winner, was little further than Bell's cast with the 22 lb. T h e winning cast was ^ ft. 4 in.
