Natural History Sketches [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION.-ftO*---Amidst all the wonderful revolutions that have marked the present century, no country beneath the sun has experienced such, a rapid change, in so short a period, as the Australian colony of Port Phillip. Traeing the gradual development of this colony, we find that, in the year 1788, the first British convict-ships landed their melancholy freight on these shores, and until the year 1803 this country remained a penal settlement. In that year the convicts were transferred to the Derwent. The first Trench discovery-ships, under Capt. Baudin, entered "Western-Port Bay and christened one of the large islands there, French Island, which name it now bears. Capt. Sturt appears to have been the first European visitor to the banks of the Murray in 1829. Major Mitchell, however, was the discoverer of " Australia Felix " in 1836 ; but Batman was the founder of the colony of Port Phillip, and one of the earliest settlers in the Melbourne district. When lie first camped upon the hill overlooking the now flourishing town of Melbourne, and which to this day is