mud is almost impassable. Melbourne proper
is situated in the centre, and stands to the rest of the city
somewhat as the City of London does to the various vestries. In
Melbourne, however, each of the suburbs--15 in number--has a Mayor,
Corporation, and Town Clerk of its own. Any municipality with a
revenue of L25,000 or above, is styled a "city." There is, however,
no body here like the Metropolitan Board of Works, consequently no
united system of drainage and other works in which the whole
community is interested. This is a great defect, and the want of
some central authority is much felt. Each municipality manages its
own district only. I remember, on landing the first time at
Sandridge Pier, some of us drove from there into Melbourne. Someone
complaining of the badness of the road to the driver, "Yes," he said
pathetically, "they spend all the money in drainage."

In public buildings Melbourne can compare well with any other city
of its size. The Public Library, the Law Courts, the Town Hall, the
Post Office, the Exhibition building, are all architectural
ornaments. In the streets there is a want of regularity in the size
of the houses, which will be corrected in the course of time, and
which is incidental to all new cities where people cannot at first
afford to erect lofty structures. Most of the city is on the north
side of the Yarra, which winds very much and empties itself into
Hobson's Bay, about six miles from Melbourne. The intercolonial and
local steamers start from wharves on the river, and passengers by
them have, therefore, to endure the bad smells which always prevail.
The Thames is bad enough sometimes, but the Yarra can only be
compared to the Clyde at Glasgow. A large piece of the river will be
cut off by a canal now in course of construction. Hobson's Bay is
the north-eastern part of Port Philip Harbour, a noble expanse of
water of 800 square miles, with a narrow entrance at the "Heads."
There are sharks in it, so that bathing is carried on in parts that
are fenced off. There used to be a reward offered by the Government
for every shark-skin above 2ft. long. There is a tale of an old
loafer round the Harbour called "Paddy Lynch," who having caught a
shark of 1 ft. 11 in., stretched its skin the required inch. He is
now commonly accosted by the question "Who stretched the shark?" The
Public Library is probably one of the largest and completest of its
kind to be found anywhere. It now contains about