LATEST FROM MELBOURNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 642, 19 March 1864, Page 10

LATEST FROM MELBOURNE.

(PKOK THB DAILT TIMES COBKKSPONDBNT. ) Melbourne, 10th March.

The measure which is intended to act as an antidote to "all the numerous ills" introduced into the land legislation of this colony by the Duffy Bill of 1862, namely, Mr Heales's Land Act Amendment Bill, has at length pas3ed through committee, and, after a formal re-com-mital for verbal amendments, it will be read a third time and passed \n the course of next week. The only question of interest in connexion with this bill which has arisen since the dispatch of my letter by the Omeo, has baen that of the " industrial industries" clause. A novel feature in the Duffy Act was the creation of a new kind of leaseholders under the Crown, who were allowed to take up a limited quantity of land for the purpose of cultivating certain exotic and other produce, such as tobacco, flax, maize, &c. The number of leases of this nature to be issued in any one year was limited to one hundred, but the experiment having proved so lar successful, that the numbsr? of applications far exceeded that amount, the present ministry considered themselves justified in increasing the number to three hundred issuable per annum. Even this did not satisfy many members of the Assembly, and a proposal was made to increase them to a thousand, and that proposition having been rejected, to five hundred. The latter number having been negatived by a narrow mrjority, a compromise was ultimately effected, accordingto the terms of which it was resolved that four hundred should be thfe number of " Industrial Leases" which the ministry might issue in a single year. Hitherto, land has been taken up dnder these leases, chiefly for the culture of the vine, and there is no doubt that in conjunction with the additional facilities about to be opened up for the retailing of colonial wines, here the increase in the number of them will be the means of giving a great impetus to that particular industry.

At the Royal, Mr Barry Sullivan, faithful to the tactics which he has pursued ever since the first appearance of the Keans at the rival Theatre has als^ produced " King John," and has succeeded in attracting good audiences.

The grand concluding Cricket Match of the All England Eleven commenced on the Melbourne Ground on Saturday last, and was brought to a conclusion on Tuesday. The weather was very fine, and the ground in excellent order, but the attendance of the general public, was much smaller than on the occasion of the previous match in which the English Cricketers appeared before the Melbourne public. The pleasure of the first day's proceedings was somewhat marred, and the patience of the spectators severely tried, by a delay of about an hour and a half after the hour fixed as the time for the commencement of the game. It soon transpired that a serious misunderstanding jof some kind or other between the English players, and the Victorians who were to play with them, was the cause of the delay. It appears that some of the Victorian professional players b"t down to play under the respective banners of the divided Englishmen, had felt themselves aggrieved by the low rate of remuneration offered to them by Mr Marshall for their services, namely, !L3 each man for the gamp, and demanded double that sum, but had ultimately agreed to play for L 5 each, a sum which it is said the Melbourne Club, for the sake of its own credit, guaranteed to them. At the last moment, however, a further misuuderstapding arose in connection with the subject, and it was found necessary to substitute gentlemen players for five of the professionals originally announced to play in the match. As your readers are no doubt aware, the match in question was arranged to be played by two sixes of the All England team taking opposite sides, the eleven on j each side being mode up by local players As at first arranged the two sides weie to be composed aa follows : —Mr Parr's side. Parr (Captain 1 , Caffyn. Carpenter, Casar. Tan-ant, Tinley, Bryant, Cameron, Hewitt, Huddlestnu, and Marshall. Anderson's side : Anderson (Captain), Clarke, Grace, Hay ward, Jackson, Lockyer, Cosstick, Greaves, Simmonds, Wardell, and Wills. In the game, as actually played, on Anderson's side, Greaves aud Cosstick were replaced by O'Brien and Hope, while in Parr's team the places vacated by Bryant, Hewitt, and Huddleston, were filled by Kelly, Ma<*pherson, and Tait. The play of the Englishmen was excellent throughout the match, the highest scores being made by Lockyer and Caffyn, the former carrying out his bat at the conclusion of the match, with a total score ci 84, and the latter making a total of 74. The AllEngland men leave us today for Sydney, where satisfactory arrangements have at length been made for an exhibition of their skill in the noble game. Fiom an inspection of the following score it will be seen that in the concluding match of Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday last, Parr's side scored, in their two innings, a total of 282, a score which Mr Andersou's team passed with only six wickets down. PARR'S SIDE. FIRST INNINGS. Csesar, st Lockyer, b Grace ... 9 Tinley, c Simmonde, b Hay ward . . 24 Tarrant, b Jackson... 9 Carpenter, b Hay ward 22 Caffyn, b Grace 34 Marshall, st Lockyer, b Jackson... 1 , Parr, not out ..26 Cameron, c and b Grace 1 Kelly, b Grace 0 Tait. b Grace 4 M'Pherson, c Clarke, b Hay war J 12 Byes 2 Leg byes 9 163 SECOND INNINGS. Tarrant, c. Hay ward, b Jackson . . 17 Kelly, b Wills - 13 Ca33ar, b Wills 0 Carpenter, b Wills 0 Caffyn, b Grace 40 Parr, b Wills, c Grace . . . . 4 Tait, b Wills 3 Marshall, c and b Srace 9 Macpherson, 1 b w 7 Cameron, not out .. .. .. C /.O Tinley, b Hay ward 13 Bye 1 Leg bye 2 129

ANDERSON'S SIDE. PIBST INNINGS. Grace, b Tarrant 21 Wardill, c b Tinley 9 Wills, b Tinley 4 Hayward, c Wardell, b Tinley ... 17 Anderson, st Marshall, b Tinley ... 5 O'Brien, st Marshall, b Tinley J. . 0 Lockyer, b Caffyn 44 Clarke, b Caffyn 40 Jackson, c Kelly, b Tinley 12 Simmonds, b Tinley 3 Hope, (not out) 2 Byes 3 Leg Byes ... .. ,„ 8 168 SECOND INNINGS. Grace, b Caffyn 0 Wardill, b Tarrant 7 Jackson, b Tarrant .. ... 12 Hayward, c Carpenter, b Tarrant. . 1 Anderson, b Caffyn 33 O'Brien, b Caffyn ... . . 6 Lockyer (not out) 40 Clarke (not out) 6 Byes 4 Leg Byes ... „ ... 1 With six wickets down. H5 His Excellency Sir Charles Darling is making a vice-regal progress through the gold fields districts of Castlemaine and Sandhurst, fie has been very well received at the various localities which he has visited, and banquets and public rejoicings of various kinds have been the order of the day at the chief centres of the population at which he has halted during the journey. An ingenious inventor here, named Groundwater, has been engaged for some time past in I planning a kind of submarine boat, tor the purpose of more easily getting at the golden sands [ supposed by many persons to exist in large quan- | tities at the bottom of your auriferous rivers,such as the Molyneux, the Arrow, and the Shotovor, with their tributaries. A working- model of the invention or adaptation— for I remember both to have read of, and to have seen a pictorial representation of something of the same kind invented by a native of the United, States — ia now said to be completed, so that its' actual capabilities and uses will probably be put to the test before long. The Keans have made a great sensation amonp our play-going public, by their finished performance in Shakspeare'a play of King John. Mra Kean, by her wonderful impersonation of the Lady Constance, completely carrying her audience away with her, and bringing down such prolonged applause as actually to interfere with the progress of the performance. These highly talented artistes are to appear this evening in " King Lear," the part of the mad monarch will of course be enacted by Mr Kean, while Mrs Kean is announced to appear as the #001. The novelty implied in this latter csst of characters will no doubt draw a crowded house.