THE FOUNDING OF MELBOURNE 123 



intercourse were not interfered with, for Mr. Wedge breakfasted 

 with Captain Lanoey next morning, and received a supply of flour 

 from the ship's stores, while the following letter which he addressed 

 to them shows no indication of active hostilities : 



"I beg leave to inform you that the situation on which you 

 have fixed your encampment is within the limits of the tract of 

 land obtained by Mr. Batman, on behalf of other gentlemen and 

 myself, by a treaty with the natives. I trust, therefore, upon 

 receiving this information you will see the propriety of selecting 

 a situation that will not interfere with the boundaries described in 

 the deed of conveyance," which he proceeds to set out in the 

 language of the deed. The protest could hardly have been more 

 courteously worded had it been made under the shadow of a 

 Supreme Court, instead of in a country where every man was 

 a law unto himself. 



Having delivered this business-like intimation, Wedge proceeded 

 on his survey, and the quasi-trespassers devoted their best atten- 

 tion to making themselves at home. Within the week they had 

 completed their sod buildings, pitched their tents on Batman's Hill, 

 and cleared a patch of about five acres, between King and William 

 Streets, which was promptly ploughed and sown with wheat by 

 Fawkner's servants. Adjoining this, to the westward, they enclosed 

 a small garden for vegetables, and complacently regarded the embryo 

 city as well begun. And their anticipations were fully justified, for 

 from that day forward the busy hum of civilised life which had 

 broken the solemn stillness of the forest never ceased from the 

 land, but grew in volume until the echoes of its vitality reached 

 to all the important centres of the habitable globe. 



Meanwhile the Enterprise, having discharged all her stores, 

 started back for Launceston, taking with her William Jackson and 

 E. H. Marr. Thus the strength of the settlement was reduced to 

 seven persons, George Evans and his servant Evan Evans, Captain 

 Lancey, Wise and Morgan, Fawkner's labourers, and the blacksmith 

 Gilbert and his wife. In the pleasant spring days they led a life 

 of Arcadian simplicity and healthful toil, their larder replenished 

 with abundant fish and game, dreaming away the sunny hours in 

 anticipations of the prosperous future. At times they had misgiv- 



