thing to be done by the commissioners was to take the required oath, arrangements for doing so were ordered to be made. The next thing to be done was the appointment of a secretary, but as nothing could be legally done until the oath were taken, Mr. Rowland Hill was requested to act as secretary pro tempore. A sub-committee, consisting of Hutt, Angas, and Lefevre, was appointed for the purpose of considering and reporting to the Board on the best mode of selling land. Torrens, as chairman, is, of course, on all sub-committees. Adjourned to 2 o'clock on Monday. The best feeling pervaded the Board; a good deal of conversation took place on the formation of a Joint Stock Company for the purchase of land; the general feeling was in favour of the measure; but on the necessity of an Act of Parliament being urged, and the disinclination of the colonists to such a proposal, the conversation ended in nothing.
"May 11th.—The commissioners were to-day sworn into their office before Mr. Baron Gurney, and at one o'clock the Sub-committee on Land met. Again the best feeling was evinced by them, and consequently much progress was made. The price was fixed at twelve shillings, and Hill's plan of allotting half-an-acre of town land to every £50 subscription to the sum of £35,000, required by the Act of Parliament, was agreed to. The mode of distribution of town lots to be determined by the subscribers to the fund. The mode of tender for land purchased in the colony was also adopted, and the matter would soon have been finally determined, had not the hour of the Board arrived. Six members attended—Torrens, Hutt, Angas, Palmer, and Hills. A resolution requesting me to attend the meetings of the Board during my stay in England was passed unanimously. Palmer mentioned Biddulph's wish to be the treasurer, and to supply all money required for present purposes, and Hutt mentioned my brother's readiness to attend the Board at their next meeting, to
