That same day there were 4,000 people at the races and probably as many more at the various cricket matches and athletic games going on in the city and vicinity, so it can readily be seen that Melbourne was a decidedly sporty place and that we had pretty hard competition to go up against, even for New Year's day.

After luncheon at the cricket grounds we were treated to an exhibition of rope-skipping and boomerang throwing by a lot of aborigines that was little short of wonderful, and that must be seen to be appreciated.

The natives could make these curved pieces of wood do all kinds of seemingly impossible things, while for us they would simply do nothing, but I expect that with a set of billiard balls several of our party could have made them look as much like monkeys as they did us with their boomerangs.
We were booked to sail from Port Melbourne for Ceylon on Monday, June 7th, and Saturday afternoon we played our farewell game in the Victoria capital before a crowd that tested the capacity of the grounds, the gate count showing that 11,000 people had paid their way into the enclosure.
The program for the afternoon was a varied one, a two-inning game between the Australian Cricketers and the All-America team being the starter, and in this the American players easily demonstrated their superiority.

Next came a game of foot-ball between the Port Melbourne and Carleton teams that was played under a modification of the old Rugby rules, and that proved close and exciting.

A four-inning game between Chicago and All-America followed, Baldwin and Daly and Crane and Earle being the batteries, and it is safe to assert that a prettier exhibition of base-running and fielding was never witnessed in Australia than the one given on that occasion.