THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT GOVERNMENT 169 



posed increased expenditure, he ventured the belief that the whole 

 of the charges for Port Phillip would for some time at least be 

 defrayed by the sale of land within the district, and the customs 

 revenue, the latter having amounted in the first three months to 

 329. The estimate which accompanied the despatch was not 

 framed on very extravagant lines, though it charged the whole salary 

 of the extra Judge, 1,500 a year, to the district which was only 

 to have his services at intervals of six months. The Lieutenant- 

 Governor was to have 800 a year and forage for two horses ; a 

 clerk of the Crown at 400 per annum, and two other clerks at 150 

 each, completed the cost of the establishment. The Home author- 

 ities duly approved of these recommendations, with the exception 

 of the official steamer, which they esteemed a rather luxurious 

 extravagance. Nor did they concur in Bourke's recommendation 

 of Colonel Snodgrass as his deputy, though he held office for a short 

 time as interim Governor of New South Wales. They took time 

 to consider, and it was fully two years before they carried out the 

 suggestions made to them, and appointed Mr. Latrobe. 



The long-looked-for land sale (of which particulars are given in 

 a subsequent chapter) came off at last, and the flimsy huts of the 

 adventurers began to be replaced by more substantial structures of 

 timber and of brick. During the two years which intervened be- 

 tween the first land sale and the arrival of Latrobe the impetus 

 given to the settlement was enormous, and the rapid growth 

 seemed to have turned the heads of the first-comers. When Mr. 

 Kobert Hoddle called the settlers together to compete for their 

 freehold sites there were only about thirty-six buildings of every 

 kind in the settlement, many of which were removed or demolished. 

 This was in June, 1837, and when Mr. Latrobe landed in Septem- 

 ber, 1839, he was received by a population of over 3,000 persons 

 in a town that had fully 500 houses and at least one street, which, 

 if it fell short of excellence in the matter of roadway, was suggestive 

 of aspiration in the respectable display of shops. 



And with the requirements of such a rapidly growing popula- 

 tion came the desire for readier communication with the outside 

 world. In addition to the regular overland mail to Sydney, steam 

 communication was established in June, 1837, the James Watt 



