the said chiefs taking up part of the soil of the said tract of land, and delivering the same to the said John Batman in the name of the whole.
Jagajaga, his x mark. Jagajaga, his x mark. Jagajaga, his x mark.
Cooloolock, his x mark. Bungarie, his x mark. Yanyan, his x mark.
Moowhip, his x mark. Monmarmalar, his x mark.
In the presence of (Signed) John Batman. James Gumm, Alexander Thomson, Wm. Todd.
THE FIRST AWARD IN THE COLONY.
Reference has been made to an arbitration of a Fawkner-cum-Batman dispute —
The arbitrators were Dr. Thomson (the first medico), Messrs. John Aitken (the first stock-breeder), and James Simpson (the first magistrate); and after a thorough consideration of the pros and cons, the following judgment, which is in fact the first legal decision given in the colony, was pronounced.
"We award in the dispute between Mr. Henry Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, on the first claim thirty shillings, on the second claim, nothing; although a strong presumption is on our minds that some hasty expressions of Mr. Batman may have led Bullett to destroy the rabbits. On the third claim, damages five shillings, and a fine of twenty shillings in consideration of its being an act of unauthorised aggression; and in the fourth claim nothing, as it does not appear that Mr. Batman set the dogs on the calf. We cannot omit remarking that there has been a degree of forbearance on the part of Mr. Fawkner highly gratifying to us, and, if generally practised, very conducive to the general good.
(Signed) A. Thomson, John Aitken, James Simpson.
May 2nd, 1836.
Mem.—The fines to be appropriated to some general purpose."
The Henry Batman in question was the brother of John Batman, and the following year, the first appointed Chief-Constable of Melbourne. Though the order in which the names are placed in the award would indicate the contrary, it would appear from the context that Fawkner was the complainant, and Batman the defendant. The "Bullett," referred to as a rabbit-killer, was one of the New South Wales blackfellows brought over by John Batman from Van Diemen's Land, to facilitate his land purchasing transactions with the Port Phillip aborigines. It is manifest also that the rabbits belonged to Fawkner, and to him, therefore, must be assigned the merit, or otherwise, of being the introducer of the first of a species, destined, in the not very distant future, to prove anything but a blessing to the land of their acclimatisation.
The document is also remarkable as bearing testimony to Fawkner's good temper, the only instance on record where it was possible to pay him such a compliment during his long, varied, and useful career. Good qualities he certainly did possess, but "forbearance" was an unknown quantity in his organisation, certainly since May, 1836.
