"is Bourke Street. I
wonder who Bourke was?"

"Bourke was the governor of the colony in 1836," the doctor replied,
"and that is why he was honored with a street."

"We know about Captain Flinders," said Harry, "after whom Flinders
Street was named. He was a daring explorer who accompanied Captain Bass
when the latter discovered Bass's Strait, that separates Australia from
Tasmania. There is also a range of mountains named after him."

"Captain Lonsdale, who was in command of some of the troops at the time
that the city was laid out," said the doctor, "was honored with a
street, and Swanston Street commemorates one of the early settlers. Then
there are King Street, Queen Street, William Street, Elizabeth Street,
which explain themselves, as they indicate the feelings of the early
settlers towards the royal family."

"This street is certainly as attractive to the eye as Broadway or Fifth
Avenue in New York," Ned remarked, as they strolled slowly along Collins
Street. "See these magnificent buildings. You have only to shut your
eyes and imagine yourself on Broadway, and when you open them again the
illusion does not require a great stretch of the imagination. And all
this has grown up since 1835. Just think of it!"

"Yes," replied the doctor; "it was about the middle of 1835 that one
John Batman came here with a small sailing vessel, and made a bargain
with the chief of the tribe of blacks then occupying this neighborhood,
by which he purchased about twelve hundred square miles of ground for a
quantity of goods worth, perhaps, one hundred dollars."

"That beats the purchase of Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars,"
remarked Harry as the doctor paused.

"Yes, it does," was the reply; "the government afterwards repudiated
Batman's trade, and took possession of the ground he had purchased."

"A pretty mean piece of business, wasn't it?" queried Harry.

"As to that," said the doctor, "there are arguments on both sides of the
question. Batman felt that he had been unfairly dealt with, although the
government paid him about thirty-five thousand dollars for his claim. At
the time they paid the money to him the land was worth very much more
than that amount."

"Did he stay here and go to building a city at once?" queried one of
the youths.

"No; he went back to Tasmania, whence he had come, in order to get a
fresh supply of provisions, and while he was gone John Fawkner came here
with a schooner called the _Enterp