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 CONVEYANCE BY PRINCIPAL CHIEFS TO BATMAN OF 100,000 ACRES BETWEEN GEELONG AND QUEENSCLIFF.

The lithograph opposite to this page is a fac-simile of a parchment conveyance of certain land near Geelong to John Batman from eight chiefs, who affixed their marks, or signatures, to the deed, and at the same time symbolized the transfer of the land by taking up some of the soil and handing it to Batman. The original document is in the custody of Messrs. Taylor, Buckland and Gates, who have kindly given their permission to its publication. The heading is not in the original document. Another conveyance of 500,000 acres between Geelong and the Yarra was made to Batman. A copy of this conveyance is to be found in the Record Office, in the Van Diemen's Land Correspondence, and has been published by Dr. Lang, by Mr. Bonwick, by Mr. Arden, and by Mr. Labelliere, in their several accounts of the early settlement of Victoria. Both of the transactions represented by these documents were disallowed by the Colonial Secretary, in London. The marks made by the chiefs on the parchment were their genuine and usual signatures, which they were in the habit of carving on the bark of trees and on their message sticks. The reader will be interested in these traces of civilization among a people who have hitherto been considered the least civilized of all nations.