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in supplying Melbourne, and refused to supply any hawker who 

 bought from the "company's" boats, and as my boats could not 

 guarantee a constant supply, my men were stopped. To meet this 

 I established a depot in Melbourne, and put one of their own coun- 

 trymen to manage it, but instead of confining himself to his own 

 business, when he did very well he turned it into a general store. 

 On my return from a long exploring voyage I found everything 

 paralyzed ; a regular war by the fishermen generally against my men, 

 burning and cutting nets, setting boats adrift, &c. ; the men were so 

 interrupted that they demanded daily wages, and the hawkers de- 

 manded to be guaranteed a supply, while considerable liabilities had 

 been incurred in the store, and its contents distributed on credit to 

 all the Highlanders in Melbourne. The crisis of 1843 coming, I 

 wound up the fishery and went to the bush, but not before I had 

 ascertained to my perfect satisfaction that there was an opening for 

 a great national fishery. I would suggest that this pioneer fishing 

 company should establish at first, not ten, as they propose, but two 

 stations — one at Queenscliff and the other at the eastern entrance of 

 Western Port or near it; each, of course, supplied with row boats, 

 seines, set nets, drift nets, crab pots, &c; also appliances for salting, 

 drying, and smoking, and in due time preserving fish in tins — the 

 modern substitute for salting. Each station should have one, or 

 perhaps two, trawling cutters, or, rather, fore-and-aft schooners, as 

 being more easily handled, and first-rate sea-boats, so as to hold their 

 own in any weather. They would thus be able to employ their men 

 in almost any weather, in any wind, and at all seasons, either inside 

 or outside the Heads, and, in case of a large take, could always secure 

 the surplus. In the sohnapper fishing, alone, they would have a 

 stand-bye that would secure them a profit ; the hawkers and salesmen 

 now object to this fish on account of its weight in proportion to the 

 profit upon it, and only the smaller sizes are acceptable. Now these 

 are not suitable for salting, but a company could keep the curers 

 and preservers in tins going with the large fish, sending the smaller 

 to Melbourne with the general take ; in the same way, when the cutter 

 is not trawling she can lay-to on the banks and fill herself with 

 schnapper and rock-cod, either to cure on board or preserve on 

 shore, besides keeping the men employed in the winter when fish 

 have left the bay for the deep water. They should strictly confine 

 themselves to their own particular business on the sea and the beach ; 

 they must certainly establish a means of rapid communication with 

 the railway, but even that they should do by contract, if there is no 

 public conveyance ; sell the fresh fish in the public market, and the 

 rest through an agent, until the business is in full working order, 

 when they may extend it as they please, and more particularly and 

 legitimately by curing the fish caught by other boats. Let them be 

 content at first with plain bush buildings ; they are cheap, and will 

 serve for years. Companies generally neglect their men ; it is a great 

 mistake in any business, but more particularly in a fishery, as it is 



