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able capital, say £3,000 and upwards, who will have one or more 

 stations ashore, with every appliance for curing as well as fishing ; 

 and second single fishing vessels, which will confine themselves to 

 fishin°- selling their fish as far as possible in the Melbourne market, 

 and the remainder to the curers, unless when they can cure on board. 

 The body of the fishing fleet will consist of such single vessels, fitted 

 out by a few individuals, as in the Newfoundland and Scotch fisheries, 

 The cost of a thirty-ton vessel with trawl, well, &c, would be 

 about .£400 or £500, and there are many in this community whom 

 such an investment would suit — men in various capacities, who 

 have accumulated money beyond the requirements of their business, 

 which they have now great difficulty in investing profitably. Mining 

 has proved too much of a lottery for most prudent men ; agriculture 

 requires personal superintendence, and has generally proved ruinous 

 at least to those not brought up to it ; squatting requires too much 

 capital ; ordinary shares giving too small a profit. Whereas, a sound 

 fishing-smack, fitted out by a few partners under the Limited Liability 

 Act, insured, and under a skilful master, part owner, would be not 

 only a safe but a profitable investment. Second, the pioneers in 

 establishing a national deep-sea fishery must encounter considerable 

 risk and many difficulties, so that a company such as I have alluded 

 to, and such as is now actually being formed, would be much more 

 suitable for the enterprise than one individual. As this preliminary 

 loss was incurred by me twenty years ago, I shall give the result of 

 my dearly-bought experience for the benefit of these second pioneers. 

 On arriving here in 1841, I had been struck by the fact that there 

 was no article to exchange for the enormous quantities of sugar, tea, 

 and rice, &c, imported from the East ; and, further, I learned that 

 the East India Company had for years found a most profitable market 

 for a large quantity of Newfoundland cod, in Mauritius, India, China, 

 and the Phillipines, &c, and had given up the trade only on account 

 of the very long voyage then usual, during which the fish became 

 unsaleable. Having partners to manage my sheep stations, I deter- 

 mined to establish a deep-sea fishery, and addressed a memorial to 

 Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe, pointing out these facts, and the 

 advantages that would arise to the colony. The Government almost 

 at once granted me a squatting licence at the mouth of the Yarra, 

 where I established what I intended should be my head station. I 

 set to work with a body of Scotch Highland fishermen and curers, and, 

 before the season ended, proved to my satisfaction that the supply 

 of schnapper was unlimited, and so cheaply cured that a most exten- 

 sive and profitable export to the places above-mentioned could be 

 established. The men then offered to hire the boats, and fish for 

 the Melbourne market during the winter, and I agreed, for the sake 

 of keeping them together ; but this at once brought them into col- 

 lision with the other fishermen, and led to my giving up the scheme 

 altogether. These men did not object to the deep-sea fishing, but 

 declared that no gentleman or company had any right to interfere 



