VICTORIA.

West Coast Times, Issue 378, 8 December 1866, Page 3

VICTORIA.

" Our escort," remarks the v Wood's P*oint Times," "has at last been stuck up by a well-known class of bushrangers, having four legs. In one of the narrow passes between this and Raspberry, two wild bullocks which had been separated from a mob of cattle came along at full speed, and, as it was impossible to turn either to the right or left, these infuriated auimals made a charge upon the escort, and upset one horse down the sideling with a large quantity of gold on his back ; one of the troopers was put hors de combat, and another fled before the enemy for a distance of nearly two miles. One bullock, the more ferocious, fortunately had no horns ; otherwise some serious injury would haye been done."

"A friend of a gentleman residing near Ararat, writing from one of the back stations," says the " Ararat Advertiser," " states that among the 'travellers' who have of late partaken of his hospitality, was a broken-down professor of electrobiology, who has afforded much amusement to all residing on the home station by his experiments in the science which he professes. He has operated effectually on some of the men, and has achieved quite a success in bringing one or two of the aboriginals under the influence. One of the young men of the tribe, named ' Julius Caesar,' has proved himself a particularly good subject, and has been so worked upon as to place the truth of the science beyond much doubt in the minds of these wbo witnessed the power which the magnetic influence exerted over him. ■ Julius Cscsar,' it appears, has been much looked up to by his people, who on seeing how completely the travelling professor enforced his almost impossible commands, have' exhibited the greatest wonder, and many of them have evinced a strong desire to possess the secret by which they might be enabled to obtain such an ascendency. ' Julius,' or ' July,' as he is familiarly called, was made to stand rigid in all sorts of contorted attitudes, and perform the antics of nursing babies, drinking water for rum, reaching a state of hilarious intoxication by imbibing a spoonful of tea, and sitting a buck- jumper astride of a walking-stick, &c. He also ' divined,' it is said, several things in the language of the tribe, which have been received and cherished with the most profound veneration. He is now looked up to as some some_ sort of supernatural being, whose initiaion into the mysteries has rendered him the most popular and envied amongst them. Shortly after tho exhibition at which 'July' so eminently distinguished himself, the professor missed a number of his copper and zinc coins, and though a narrow scaich was instituted they were not found. It turned out, however, that the tribe had puiloined them, with the view of practising on their own account. The theft was revealed by one of themselves, for the sake of a lesson in the art, the informer atsuring the owner of the coins that 'ho look at 'em like berry debbil for three night, but stiff leg no come. 1 They had all been trying it seems to stiffen each other's legs and arms, and make each other drunk on water, after gazing at the pieces of zinc and copper, but with no effect ; and the amateur who pointed out the whereabouts of the stolen property, offered, besides the information, a fabulous quantity of 'possum skins, together with valuables of a similar descriptioD, to purchase the great secret. ' Me make him stiff leg along o' them fellows,' said the enthusiast. 'Me big one boss — you give it ? Me make tribe ovpithere (a hostile one) stiff legs. No move ; we lick 'em.' The ingenious tactics of the enquirer after knowledge were, no doubt, creditable to his skill as a leader of his people, .but his ambition, and the great ambition of his fellows, it has oozed out, is not in the ' divination line, 1 or the bestowing of btiff legs to their enemies, though this is a csnsideration, but they want ' to get big one drunk along o' water' — a cheap and convenient mode of dissipation which presents rare charms to them, and opens up a vista of interminable corroborees which must be intensely attractive."

We observe from the Tasmanian papers that Dr Officer has been re-elected Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament for the third tim?.