rejoice to see concert-rooms, public gardens, circuses, and even theatres, if well conducted, established in Swan River to provide innocent recreations for the large number of convicts sent out from England, there seems no hope of anything of the sort occurring, and things must remain as they are until the colony grows richer.
The principal feature in the fair was the show of horses, cattle, and sheep, prizes being given to the most successful exhibitors. One of our friends had won so many prize-cups that his children had not required the intervention of sponsors to supply them with silver mugs, since his sideboard was furnished with one apiece for the whole family. This, unfortunately, was the case only when we first visited our friend, for before we left the colony the cups had been stolen by a convict. As long as a thief could find no means of disposing of such plunder all articles of plate and jewellery had been safe, and money alone had presented any temptation to the evil-disposed. When, however, two or three silversmiths and jewellers of the bond or expiree class had been allowed to open shops, in which gold or silver bullion was a legitimate trade possession, the case was altered, and the thief was tempted to resort to the melting-pot if he could manage to lay his hands upon anything of value. I do not mean to say that any of these tradesmen would knowingly have received stolen goods, as I am aware of no grounds whatever for such a suggestion; what I wish to notice is that the thief now thought he had a chance of disposing of such property since it had become an article of daily sale and barter.
A popular form of entertainment often practised at the fair, and borrowed from the Wesleyans, possessed the ad-
