35 



sufficiently noble to secure the sympathies of every good man. 

 And of parents in particular, they would ask, what may not be 

 made of this fine Colony, when the seed this Society is now 

 diligently seeking to sow shall have had time to fructify in a 

 complete harvest 1 



LETTER FROM MR. DUFFIELD. 



Melbourne Club, Oct. 18. 



" Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Council of the Acclimatisa- 

 tion Society, — I leave Melbourne for Europe by the mail of the 26th 

 inst. I would not do so without first communicating with you on the 

 subject of the undertaking with which I am connected, and asking 

 from you a continuance of the interest you, as a body, have ever 

 shown in the work we are engaged in. The introduction of the 

 alpacas in Victoria has become of late more beset with difficulties 

 than ever. The public, impatient of success, have grown sceptical 

 on the value of the alpaca ; and the losses and disasters we have 

 already suffered, as well as yourselves, have thrown a wet blanket 

 on our enterprise. Notwithstanding those disasters, it is our inten- 

 tion to carry out our designs, and I ask you for your support in 

 doing so. The Government has promised to submit a proposition to 

 the Legislative Assembly for helping us with a subsidy of £10 a 

 head for each animal we may introduce, provided the number do not 

 exceed 1,000. I expect that proposition will be discussed during 

 my absence, and I ask you to watch its discussion, so as that at 

 least it shall have fair play. I might appeal to you on account of 

 what we have already done, as well as on account of the promises 

 which have been made to us by no less than three different Admin- 

 istrations at three different times, none of which have been kept, 

 owing to political changes, but which we were led to act upon and 

 did act upon them in doing a great public work. I prefer, how- 

 ever, to enlist your sympathies for our future operations, the more 

 as it is our intention to carry them out on a larger scale than we in- 

 tended at first. We believe that to ensure a permanent footing for 

 the alpaca in this colony, it will be necessary to farm our flocks our- 

 selves, to form our own alpaca stations, and bear the labour and 

 responsibility of demonstrating that this animal can be established 

 in Victoria as one of the enduring sources of its wealth. To do 

 this will demand considerable money, and a large amount of 

 valuable time. I have asked that the Government should deal with 

 us in this our endeavour to plant a new industry in the colony in 

 the spirit of the Land Act, which grants long leases of land to 

 growers of cucumbers and the cultivation of flax. If the public 

 and the press support us, I believe that the Legislature of the colony 

 will vindicate its own policy, and place ours at least on an equal 

 level with those other undertakings. I ask you, as individuals, and 



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