a more serious scale in the office of the male partners, when the finale was that the younger m a n had the unmanliness to threaten lo kick the other, but he was himself (metaphorically) kicked out of the establishment. S o m e portions of the career of that colonial notable " Johnny " Bourke are most interesting, and amongst them is the following :— Just half a century ago, M r . Bourke offered his services to M r . John H a w d o n , the contractor of thefirstoverland mail to and from Melbourne and Sydney, to convey the post bag from Melbourne to Howlong on the Murray and back. This perilous task Bourke performed for a year, aided solely by a few good stock-horses, the water to be found on the route, a supply of suet "damper," and a case of pistols. These "fire-irons" were the most historical twins that ever helped in a blaze-up in the colony— for a year or so after Bourke had done with them, they figured in thefirstduel fought in Port Phillip, the belligerents being the once well-known Peter Snodgrass and William Ryrie, the battlefield the Spencer Street Railway Station, then (the since demolished) Batman's Hill* I have in m y possession an autograph account of "Johnny" Bourke's twelvemonths' letter-carrying, which m a y yet appear in print, when its perusal will satisfy any impartial reader that the post courier must have possessed a charmed life to have escaped death from either drowning, hunger, or thirst, or being murdered by the blacks. Through one of the many whirligigs of time which no one can foresee, Bourke, in after years a wealthy publican, succumbed to the pressure of adversity to such a degree as to be glad to accept a subordinate position in the General Post Office, for which he did so m u c h in its infancy. H e has now (1888) left the Government service; and, though a sexagenarian, it was a burning shame for the Public Service Board to get rid of such a man, so long as he was capable of performing his duty. Amongst the numerous arrivals from England in the early years was a gentleman, a B.A. of Oxford University. After a short residence in Melbourne he invested his capital, which was by no means large, in the purchase of sheep, and with three motherless children—a son and two daughters—• he joined a squatter w h o had a partially-stocked run in the Geelong district. Here he had the misfortune to lose one of his daughters, w h o was accidentally drowned in the Barwon River. A year or two later in company with his partner, he purchased a run in the neighbourhood of the Grampians, but at that time m u c h infested with blacks, w h o were very numerous and warlike, and naturally resisted the approach of the white man. O n e of thefirstsights that met the gaze of the n e w arrivals were two skulls—one that of a young m a n of about eighteen, and the other that of a female somewhat older, sticking on the bush chimney of their future dwelling. Their original possessors had been surprised and killed by the natives, and their bodies devoured. Driven from their hunting grounds, deprived of their supply of food, and often hunted and killed by the settlers like wild beasts, the natives watched every opportunity for retaliation; hence huts were robbed, the hut-keepers tomahawked, the shepherds speared, the sheep driven away and slaughtered, and vengeance wreaked on any white m a n or w o m a n w h o unguardedly wandered from home. Fawkner, from his V a n Diemonian experiences, had an absolute horror of convictism in any shape or form, and the " Ticket-of-Leave" men, whenever they got a chance, did not spare him. In the 6th number of his Advertiser he thus proclaims one of his early grievances :—" Sunday night or early this morning, six prisoners of the Crown absconded from their respective masters, taking with them a large boat belonging to J. P. Fawkner, and a Mariner's compass." O n the 26th he delivers himself of the annexed elegant announcement in connection with the same scoundrels :—" O n Friday last the six bushrangers w h o some time past stole a Boat from this town entered the hut of Mr. O'Connor's station near Western Port and took three guns, one Pistol and a quantity of gunpowder and Shot, Pair of Boots, S o m e Flour, Tea, Sugar, etc. U p o n Mr. O'Connor
Chapter LVL, page 775.
