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 ? 
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 2Gth 
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 witli 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 tlirown 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 ou account of the promises 
wdiich 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 cany 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 laud 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. 1 ask you, as individuals, and 
