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to be obtained, but Williams secured the largest two-storey house in M e l b o u r n e — o n e built for Batman, at the south-west corner of Collins and Williams Streets—where he remained until the formation of an Auction Company, to which the premises were transferred. A s the most lucrative business was land selling, the sales took place in tents pitched on the ground, enlivened by the music of either a bellman or bugler, and fortified by such an overwhelming supply of " refreshments," of which everyone might partake, as to be responsible for the ruin of m a n y otherwise well-conducted individuals, w h o began as auction loungers, and ended as disreputable cadgers and confirmed drunkards. It would be no easy task to find in the whole world of English typography more amusing reading than a selection of " elegant extracts " from the auction advertisements of the period of which I a m treating, and the grandiloquent nonsense, which would be mere frothy rubbish in the case of a town of ordinary progression, is spiced with a genuine interest by the marvellous leap into greatness made by Melbourne in some years less than half a century. T h e most unblushing gasconade has been turned by it into prophetic veracity, the most conscious romancing into stern reality. With these introductory remarks I present a few specimens, without any further addition than may be needed to render them intelligible, and establish as far as possible the particular locality. In announcing a sale on the 20th April, 1839, Williams thus spouts over some land in West Collins Street, declared to be the most valuable allotment in the Township of M e l b o u r n e : — " Its advantages are peculiarly attractive; it faces the superb basin of the lovely Yarra, the favourite spot for mooring vessels upon their arrival at the capital of Australia Felix ; between the river and it is the ground to be converted into the Grand Foreign Import and Export Wharf, the erection of which will very shortly be undertaken, by orders from H e r Majesty's Government. In the immediate vicinity of the admirable allotment are the Queen's Custom House, the Cathedral about being erected, the Union Bank, the Market, the Melbourne Club House, the beautifully situated and elegantly arranged residences of the Postmaster-General and James Smith, Esq. Within a few chains are the extensive warehouses of Strachan and Co., Mason and Co., R. Reeves, Esq., and M r . Charles Williams. Lady Franklin has described this province as a ' Paradise.' General Bourke has declared it to be 'the Region of Fertility.' Surveyor-General Mitchell pronounced it 'a country prepared by the bountiful Creator of the Universe for the replenishing of the earth.' Sir George Gipps has at length determined that justice shall be done to us ; Courts of Sessions and Requests are already instituted; a Supreme Court of Judicature will be immediately established, and branches of all the Sydney offices; an entire Regiment will shortly be quartered here; the power of steam will lend its aid to the magic progress of this favoured region, and the effects of so extraordinary a combination of favourable circumstances to this attractive spot, will first be discoverable in the enhanced value of this peculiar locality, immediately opposite to which will land thousands of immigrants weekly, and the produce of every nation, and then an acre of this spot m a y not be attainable for ,£10,000."* In June, 1839, the same individual thus jubilates upon an area in Elizabeth Street, between Bourke and Little Collins Streets :— "Could the newly-arrived immigrant be conducted blindfold to the spot, his mind being unprepared by an anticipatory description, upon the darkening hand being removed, he would conceive himself translated to an enchanted scene, and when he would be then informed by authority, in which he could place confidence, that that spot was one of the best mercantile sites in the capital of Australia Felix, the annals of whose rising people stand unrivalled in the history of the world, he would surely endeavour to become a competitor to obtain a portion of this favoured spot." Three months later, Mr. Williams started an enterprise, which m a y be termed our First Land Lottery, and though the patriotic project did not take, the bombast with which it was launched 'o ™ y v ° f ? r e s e r v a t , o n as a n u n i c l u e specimen of its kind. It thus reads, as extracted from the Port Philip Gazette, 18th September, 1 8 3 9 : — "Enterprising Public of Australia Felix read-think for yourselves, for your children, for your f n e n d s ^ o p e n i n g is now within your grasp by one step to become, and to m a k e them, independentrae a kind of prophetic prevision in M r . Williams' remarks notwithstanding.—ED.