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shapes, which seem to have been belched up from the plain by volcanic agency. A great deal of
soil has accumulated amid the interstices of these rocks, and there are to be found rare plants,
and shrubs, and heaths.
'8 August: Returned to Geelong.
'9 August: Intended to return to Melbourne, but the day was so transparently lovely, and the
bay smiled so brightly, that I determined to stop to-day. Wandered on the banks of the river,
which meanders prettily through the valley after emerging from the Barrabool Hills. The soil
seems of indescribable fertility, but the sad-coloured foliage of the trees throws a dusky veil
over an otherwise brilliant landscape. And the leaves of the trees do not droop, but stick out
quite stiff. They are small, too, and give little shade. As scarcely any of the trees in Australia are
deciduous, every landscape is saddened at all seasons by this dull green tint everywhere
prevailing. All is monotony. With us, on the contrary, the changes of our foliage keeping pace
with the seasons, the annihilation in winter, the new birth in spring producing the radiant green of
youth, mellowing into the rich summer tint, followed up by the "sere and yellow leaf of autumn,
bring forth those strong contrasts which so much delight the lovers of
nature. Called on a Mr C
, the worthy incumbent of the church here, who
received me with much hospitality. This excellent clergyman has laboured in the cause of his
Master as a missionary in South Africa.
'10 August: Returned to Melbourne in a little steamer called the Vesta. The voyage took us six
hours. The bay looked as brilliant as ever. The mornings are crisp and cold. The thermometer in
the sun at noon is 105°.
'11 August (Sunday): Assisted the incumbent at St Peter's Church, Collingwood, a suburb of
Melbourne. I read prayers in the morning and preached in the afternoon. The behaviour of the
people was as perfect as could be - no whispering, no fidgeting, no sleeping. They joined
heartily in the singing and responding. I could hardly realise to myself that I was out of England.'
101
Before leaving Melbourne for Sydney and the bush, the Rev John Mereweather wrote a
pamphlet entitled The Type and Anti-type on Circumcision and Baptism. But there we leave
him, in St Peter's Church, glorying in his vocation and English values.
Who knows - perhaps he advised William Honeycombe, at a chance or arranged meeting,
about the better situation of Geeiong? Perhaps he was instrumental, in part, in the Honeycombes
making Geeiong their first Australian home.
11. Melbourne and the Three Elizabeths
Although we have no knowledge of the activities of the Honeycombes in their first months in
Melbourne, we know that they were living there until at least the end of 1852.
We also know what the Rev Mereweather was doing, some of the time. And as his views,
impressions, and brief descriptions coincide with the Honeycombes' stay, his diary entries may
still pertain to them.
The day after he left the Sea Queen and settled into the Prince of Waies Hotel, he Galled on the
Anglican Bishop, and the Governor, but found neither at home. He noted that they lived in
'pretty cottages surrounded by grounds and gardens, on the banks of the Yarra.'
Two days later, on 11 July, he was invited to become an honorary member of the Melbourne
Club and dined there that night with a man, unnamed, who introduced him to the club, and six
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