368 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OP VICTORIA 



and also a few illegitimate accessories, where the excise and licensing 

 regulations were not slavishly observed. It was a rough and ready 

 solution of a pressing difficulty, and though naturally there was 

 much that was unpleasant in the swarming crowd and the semi- 

 publicity in which it had to conduct its domestic duties, it was at 

 least a present relief to have somewhere to sit down and plan out 

 the future. As in the days of the Canvas Town of 1840, which 

 Eichard Howitt described, there was an admixture of the squalor 

 and rowdiness of the dissolute and improvident with the refined neat- 

 ness and extemporised comfort which the resourceful can call out of 

 the meanest surroundings. Eepresentatives of every social grade 

 of the British Isles were huddled together on a footing of equality, 

 intermixed with the wandering types of most of the languages and 

 creeds of Europe and America. Many respectable families, and 

 some men who made their mark in the country, dwelt awhile in 

 these flimsy domiciles until they could take firmer root. Amongst 

 others Mr. James Service, whose entry into public life was as mayor 

 of Emerald Hill, thus obtained the first knowledge of the district 

 he was called upon to administer when canvas gave way to brick 

 and stone, and Mr. George Higinbotham was his near neighbour. 



Despite the enormous cost of material, and the high rate of 

 wages prevailing, building operations were pushed on in and around 

 Melbourne with restless activity. According to an article in the 

 Argus in 1853, there had been erected in Melbourne alone during 

 the first six months of that year no less than 1,027 new buildings 

 of various description, without taking into account the number 

 erected in the numerous suburban townships. The breezy shores 

 of the bay at St. Kilda and Brighton, the pleasant hill slopes of 

 South Yarra, and the sandy heath-clad plains of Prahran, began 

 to be dotted with small cottages and villas, for the most part of 

 timber, with here and there what might by comparison be called 

 a mansion of more enduring material. On Emerald Hill, as in 

 Collingwood, Eichmond and the nearer suburbs, the cost of the land 

 was prohibitive of picturesque display, and crowded blocks of 

 cottages, tightly fitting the allotments and flimsy terraces, were 

 the order of the day in 1853. Bricks, even at 20 per thousand, 

 could not be turned out fast enough for the demand, hence they 



