66 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



where a generation later much Victorian capital was unprofitably 

 sunk in the attempted development of this industry. On his 

 return he made a twelve days' excursion to the north, and suc- 

 ceeded with some difficulty in penetrating to the fine open grazing 

 country which lies between the present township of Cranbourne 

 and Western Port Bay. He made a third start in a north-easterly 

 direction, but soon got entangled in the boggy thickets surrounding 

 the great Koo-wee-rup Swamp, and striking west made his way over 

 the timbered ridges behind Mount Eliza, until he struck the coast 

 of Port Phillip in the neighbourhood of Frankston. In his official 

 report he says he continued "along the coast till near the head 

 of the bay, and having ascertained the spot which terminated the 

 journey of Mr. Hume and myself," returned, keeping" a course 

 about the centre of the range which separates Western Port from 

 Port Phillip " to Sandy Point. The language is ambiguous, proba- 

 bly designedly so, for he might have "ascertained the spot" by 

 looking across the bay at Station Peak directly opposite ; but if he 

 intended to imply that he visited and identified the spot, it is of 

 course untrue, as he was not within fifty miles of it by land. The 

 general tenor of his report was not unfavourable. There was 

 abundance of good grazing country, easily accessible, but for the 

 purposes of cultivation and populous settlement he failed to dis- 

 cover a sufficiently permanent supply of good water. Governor 

 Darling, in forwarding HovelFs report to the Home authorities in 

 April, 1827, says that he does so rather with a view of showing 

 what steps he has taken to obtain information about Western 

 Port, than with any idea of the importance of the result. Indeed, 

 generally, he does not appear to have been impressed with Hovell's 

 success as an explorer, and says emphatically that in this district 

 at least his services were of very little value. He concludes by 

 saying : "I have not found any disposition on the part of the 

 inhabitants to settle that part of the country, which, should your 

 Lordship consider that the object of taking formal possession of 

 it has been answered, might be a sufficient reason for withdrawing 

 the persons sent to establish the settlement ". 



The Colonial Office had, however, acted on the receipt of the 

 previous reports by Captains Wetherall and Wright, and sent out 



