308 A HISTOKY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



for grazing a few cattle. The flat lands near the river were a 

 series of clay-pits and brickyards, from which Melbourne had 

 been mainly built, and the punt dues fell as heavily on the 

 brickmakers as on the wood-carters whom Howitt pictured. 



At length, in June, 1845, a contract was entered into for a 

 wooden pile bridge for the very moderate sum of 400. It was a 

 poor, rickety-looking affair, crossing the river in a slanting direc- 

 tion from the foot of Swanston Street, where a jutting reef of rock 

 had somewhat narrowed the channel. Although the tolls charged 

 were heavy, it served the citizens for upwards of four years, and 

 decidedly tended to the development of suburban residences in the 

 direction of South Yarra and St. Kilda. Neither of those suburbs, 

 however, comprised more than a few widely scattered private 

 houses, until after the gold discoveries had brought population, 

 and there was no attempt at road-making except in the direction of 

 Port Melbourne, then known as Liardet's Beach. 



The expectation that the Government would eventually build a 

 suitable and permanent bridge, which the citizens demanded should 

 be free, no doubt deterred the company from incurring any serious 

 outlay on their venture, and its mean aspect and danger of destruc- 

 tion by floods led at last to the authorities taking action. The 

 Legislative Council of New South Wales despatched an officer of 

 the Public Works Department to Melbourne to report what was 

 necessary to be done, and on his recommendation authorised the 

 erection of a stone bridge of one arch, with a span of 150 feet, at 

 an estimated cost of 10,000. The foundation-stone was laid with 

 Masonic ceremonies by Mr. Latrobe on 20th March, 1846, but it 

 took much longer to build than was contemplated, and was formally 

 opened for traffic, under the name of " Princes Bridge," on the 

 15th of November, 1850, during the separation rejoicings. It 

 was undoubtedly a very fine structure, the span of the arch being 

 unique in Australia, and excelled by few elsewhere. It had the 

 defect in site that, immediately after crossing the bridge, the road 

 fell away to a low level, so that in seasons of heavy floods the Yarra 

 occasionally cut off the approaches to the city from the southern 

 suburbs. The total cost was about 14,000, and it served Mel- 

 bourne for about thirty-eight years, when it was taken down to 



