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of ,£20 was offered for her recovery, and all other possible measures taken for her rescue, it was to no effect. On 7th December, Mr. Mason, from Geelong, was driving two ladies in a carriage belonging to a once well-known M r . H u g h Glass; and whilst proceeding through East Collins Street, the horses, becoming unmanageable, dashed to the south side and in upon the footpath, where the vehicle was pitched clean over a low fence, into the playground of a school kept by a Mr. Butterfield. Though the carriage was broken, and the horses m u c h injured, Mason and the ladies miraculously escaped injury. In January, 1851, there were in Melbourne 2 steam mills, 7 breweries, 1 soap-boiling establishment, 1 blacking manufactory, with 3 iron and 1 brass foundries. O n 7th March, 1851, " A gentleman by Act of Parliament," named Taggart, an Attorney, whilst suffering from delirium tremens, rushed out of his lodgings, in no wearables but shirt and socks, through Collins Street about seven in the evening. Bursting into the shop of Pelescini, a jeweller, he astonished the good folk there ; but he bounded out again, and there was quite a man-hunt along Swanston Street, but Taggart landed himself in a watery grave by jumping into the Yarra. At this time the Melbourne butchers (twenty-eight in number) issued a trade notice that there was to be a rise in the prices of meat in consequence of the increased price of fat stock. Their tariff was moderation itself compared with the ruling rates of the present day, for the scale was :—Roast beef, legs, loins, and shoulders of mutton, 3d. per lb. ; rump steak and loin chops, 3j4d; prime corned beef, 2j^d., &c. In April, 1851, things wore a very discouraging aspect in various parts of the interior. Cattle were dying in hundreds in consequence of the drought, and sheep were going off in thousands on several stations. Feed had nearly altogether disappeared, and some of the most productive plains were as grassless as the streets of Melbourne. Catarrh had broken out in several quarters, and it was feared that if the unfavourable weather continued flecks never before afflicted with the pestilence would become its victims. Most of the waterholes were completely dried up, and there was scarcely a drink of water to be found in the Loddon for a considerable way up its course. T h e settlers were looking forth with m u c h apprehension for the next lambing, which would be materially injured should there be m u c h more dry weather. T h e intelligence from the Western District was not so gloomy, though the want of feed and water was beginning to be felt. T h e last week of the month, however, tended m u c h to alleviate, if not completely banish, such forebodings, for ere May-Day set in there was plenty of rain, especially in the Western Port and Western Districts, and the rainfall was pretty general inward. Mr. Cunninghame, a tinsmith in Elizabeth Street, constructed an ingenious sort of p u m p for emptying cellars. It was estimated as capable of, with the power of one person, lifting water 32 feet and conducting it 500 feet. T h e brass castings for it were manufactured in South Australia, the price was moderate, and several of the articles were ordered. Mr. Cole, a Richmond gardener, exhibited grapes from a two-year old vineyard, which, considering the season, were never before equalled in the province. They were of three kinds, and a bunch of black St. Peter's weighed 4 lbs. They were kept on show for some days in the shop of Mr. H . W . Mason, of Collins Street. Soon after he exhibited what he named the " Defiance" pea. From one pea planted in the preceding year he had as seed for the current year two bushels (less five quarts). In size the pea resembled the "Marrowfat," required no sticking, should not be sown before June, and then dibbled into the earth at intervals of nine inches. NNN 2