THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIE HENRY BARKLY 97 



had been made. The insanitary, half-paved, ill-lighted city in 

 which Sir Henry Barkly set foot in 1856 had developed by the 

 date of his departure into a bright, bustling Metropolis. The few 

 scattered oil lamps had given place to gas ; an abundant supply 

 of pure water, from the noble Yan Yean reservoir, was laid on 

 to the houses ; substantial buildings were everywhere in course 

 of erection ; and the handsome mansions and trim gardens of the 

 well-to-do citizens were making picturesque the rapidly filling 

 suburbs. The University and the Public Library had been started 

 before bis arrival, but he viewed with a genuine interest their 

 steady progress and growing usefulness. He saw the foundation 

 of the National Art Gallery, with a modest vote of 1,000, in 

 1862 ; and the beginnings of scientific arrangement in the National 

 Museum, under the charge of Professor McCoy. His undoubted 

 leaning towards scientific research led him to take a prominent 

 interest in the establishment of the Eoyal Society of Victoria, in 

 the Acclimatisation or Zoological Society, and in the building and 

 equipment of the National Observatory, which, under the control 

 of Mr. Ellery, has done probably the most important astronomical 

 work of the Southern Hemisphere. 



The flagstaff on the hill in the western garden of the city, the 

 signals whereon had been Melbourne's first warning of approaching 

 ships, was superseded by the establishment of telegraphic com- 

 munication with Queenscliff; and so rapid was its extension, that 

 before Sir Henry retired there were 2,500 miles of electric wire 

 connecting all the more important towns in the colony with 

 Melbourne, and beyond its borders the lines were completed to 

 Sydney, Adelaide and across the Strait to Hobart. 



The mining industry had undergone great changes during this 

 same period. In 1856 the value of the gold raised, 11,950,000, 

 was within a trifle of that of the wonder year 1853, when 12,600,000 

 was recorded, plus a considerable sum privately conveyed out of 

 the colony. Though these magnificent figures were not long main- 

 tained, yet the seven years which ended with 1863 were generous 

 contributors to the wealth of the community, for the official returns 

 record the huge total of 60,000,000 sterling for that period. The 

 exciting days of sudden individual fortune were, it is true, mainly 

 VOL. IL 7 



