no skull yvas cracked from on high. The Celestials were under the generalship of an unheavenly-looking sample of a mad-drunken bushman named Francis Kimber. H e rushed into the St. John Tavern, and bellowed out that " he was delighted with having given the place next door such a tearing." S o m e police dashed after him, when he was overpowered and locked up. A s Kimber was leaving the police office after the enquiry, a Mrs. C h a p m a n recognized him as the person w h o had some ten months previously robbed her husband at their residence near the West Melbourne S w a m p , and for w h o m a warrant was out. Kimber yvas returned to the yvatchhouse on a charge of felony, and served a sentence of imprisonment for it afterwards. There yvas a good deal of briskness at Christmas, and the Old Year was boyved out by the appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Mereton, from Launceston, and their "celebrated dog, 'Dragon,'" an animal whose gifts lay more in promise than in practice. O n the 17th January, 1848, the " W o o d D e m o n " yvas placed on the stage in a manner believed to be something unapproachable in the yvay of scenic accessories and effects. T h e scenery yvas all new and freshly painted by a Mr. Lightwood, and the mechanical contrivances yvere the brain and handiwork of Capper. This branch of the establishment was authoritativelypronounced " to have no superior in the colonies—not even in Sydney."
MORTON KING.
The intimation that Mr. Morton King, a tragedian of established colonial repute, yvas engaged for a limited number of nights, stirred up the expectations of the play-going community, and he m a d e his Melbourne debut in Hamlet, on the 23rd February, 1848. At this time Mr. King was believed to be unrivalled in his line on this side of the Equator, and his impersonation of some of the principal Shakesperian characters amply sustained this high reputation in Port Phillip. Still his ability yvas handicapped by inefficient co-operation, yvhich shoyved an unaccountable laxity in the management, but succeeded so far as to remove all doubt as to his being an actor of sterling ability. Morton King yvas in the silk trade in the old country, but gave it up to folfoyv the dramatic profession, in yvhich he held a very good position prior to emigrating to N e w South Wales in 1842. U p o n arriving in the colonies he joined his brother-in-layv (a Mr. Scott) in the timber trade, but subsequently returned to the stage, playing in Sydney and Adelaide. His line yvas tragedy, and his favourite characters Hamlet, Shylock, and Richard the Third. H e yvas of the Charles K e a n school, and though not afirst-classone, yvas a very good actor. M r . King subsequently returned to Melbourne, and resumed his connection with the stage, which in the lapse of time yvas abandoned, yvhen he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and prospered for several years. A s Mr. Mark Last King he held a seat 111 the Legislative Assembly of Victoria, and was an M.P. at the time of his death. A s the annual carnival time, the race meeting approached, great preparations yvere m a d e to present attractive entertainments, and for thefirstyveek in April the theatre yvas opened every night and yvell patronised. " Ondine " and the " W o o d D e m o n " yvere the chief pieces, and the Saturday night yvound up with a grand musical display. In M a y a Mr. W a r d (a neyv arrival) appeared two or three times in "Macbeth." A Mr. Lee yvith a brace of educated dogs next turned up. This individual and his animals had previously performed at the Pavilion ; the dogs knew their business better than their master, yvho, a quiet little man, was useful as a sort of small change in those old times. BATTERS ON " THE BURST."
Another of those striking episodes which imparted a fillip to the otherwise often tame entertainments of the age, occurred on the 2nd June, the sole cause of yvhich yvas big " Dick " Batters, the yvhilom tinker tra°edian of the Pavilion. This yvorthy was in a fully developed state of drunkenness, and butted and " battered" everyone about in the pit. Smith ordered the pannikin-mender to quit the place; and undaunted by the slang and menacing attitude ofthe disturber, turned out the yvhole posse comilalus of the
