THE FOUNDING OF MELBOURNE 119 



Samuel Jackson, all preceded him to spy out the land and select 

 the site of the settlement. The vessel purchased by Fawkner was 

 a schooner of fifty-five tons called the Enterprise. Unexpected 

 delays in getting possession of the ship intervened, and while he 

 was chafing under the delay caused by her non-arrival from Sydney, 

 John Batman burst upon the astonished town with the news of his 

 great possessions, actually conveyed in legal form, and duly paid 

 for. " The largest landholder in the world," the claimant for nearly 

 the whole of Port Phillip, did not dismay the resolute Fawkner, 

 but only stimulated his ardour to go and do likewise. 



It was not until the 29th of July that the Enterprise was ready 

 to put to sea, and then she cleared out from Georgetown, having on 

 board Fawkner, Marr, Evans, Lancey and William Jackson, ac- 

 companied by two servants of Fawkner's, Charles Wise and Thomas 

 Morgan, a blacksmith in his employ named James Gilbert, whose 

 wife went with him, and Evan Evans, a servant of George Evans. 

 Three days of tempestuous weather and foul winds kept them mis- 

 erably buffeted about within sight of Tamar Heads, by which time 

 Fawkner was so utterly prostrated by sea-sickness that he ordered 

 the captain to return to port and put him ashore. He says that 

 he left specific written directions for the guidance of the expedition, 

 the primary base of operations being Western Port. At any rate, 

 that was the destination they arrived at, and on the 8th of August 

 they reached its sheltered waters, thankful for a chance of tem- 

 porary tranquillity. 



A week passed in examining this of ten- explored port, a week of 

 cold, rain, fog and discomfort. Amidst the chill wintry surround- 

 ings the prevalent swamp and marshy shores looked more than 

 usually discouraging, and on the 15th of August this oft-tried spot 

 was once more abandoned as unfit for settlement. The Enterprise 

 negotiated the passage of Port Phillip Heads in safety, and almost 

 immediately afterwards her passengers were greatly surprised to 

 see a whale-boat, manned by four Sydney natives and steered by a 

 white man, heading them off and demanding their business. The 

 European was one of John Batman's bailiffs, who with unswerv- 

 ing loyalty to his master formally intimated to the newcomers that 

 the whole of the western side of the bay and the river at the head 



