On October 16th, 1803, the crews of His Majesty's shivs Calcutta and Ocean landed at a spot in Port Phillip, which the chaplain then described as an unknown and apparently, infertile land. That particular locality is now known as Sorrento, one of the most favoured seaside resorts in Victoria. On the following Sunday, October 23rd, the first divine service wax held, and this was recently commemorated in the parish church at Sorrento. The Bishop of Melbourne attended and dedicated a handsome pulpit erected in the church to mark the centenary. At a meeting held later in the day, ts Bishop gave a lucid description of the arrival of the two old-time warships. He then referred to the proposal to establish penal settlement in the new colony. This was subsequently abandoned, and the prisoners were removed to what was then known as Van Diemen's Land. In connection with this item of history the Bishop remarked: "I think the time has now come, when the fuct that certain settlers Australin and Tasmania_are descended from prisoners sent from Eng-Innd 100 years ago, may be relegated to the region of things forgotten, or at all events the mention of the fact to the region of bad manners and unjust reproach. 'The English criminal code of a century ago was bitterly cruel. and many " man was sentenced to the gallows or life-long transportation, whose offence would have been expiated in the present day by a fine, or at the most a few days' imprisonment."
The Yacht " Ariadne."
The wreck of the yacht Ariadne which occurred on the New Zealand coast in 1901, has been revived through an action brought in London by Mr. Kerry, the owner, against Lloyds. Mr. Kerry sued the underwriters for £10,000, the amount of the policy effected on the vessel. Recent cable news reports that in the middle of the hearing defendant's counsel suddenly dropped the case, saying that his clients had received their information from untrustworthy sources, and had decided to meet the claim and costs plus 4 per cent interest on the dain from March 1901. The wreck was the cause of much interest at the time owing to the proceedings that followed the Board of. nquiry report. Tu consequence of statements made by the skipper, Mumford, the Crown prosecutor instituted proceeding against. Kerry, Mumford, and anot member of the crew for conspiracy wilfully casting the ship away. Mumford was convicted, but Kerry and the third party were acquitted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.