226 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



He also allotted to each of them two convict servants, whom they 

 were to ration and clothe in return for services. 



The Port Phillip district was mapped into four protectorates, 

 and Mr. Sievewright was given charge of the Geelong or western 

 district, which extended from Corio Bay to the South Australian 

 boundary, and northward to an imaginary line from Mount Black- 

 wood to the Glenelg Eiver. The headquarters were fixed at Mount 

 Bouse. 



The north-western district, placed under Mr. Parker's control, 

 extended westward from Mount Macedon to the South Australian 

 border, and northward to the Murray, with its reserve for head- 

 quarters on the Loddon River at Mount Franklin. The Goulburn 

 River district adjoined this on the east, and extended with un- 

 defined boundaries away to the mountain ranges of the Buffalo, 

 and northward to the upper waters of the Murray. This was 

 placed in charge of Mr. Dredge, whose quarters were fixed on the 

 Goulburn River, at a site now surrounded by populous towns, 

 and admittedly the granary of Victoria. Finally, the Melbourne, or 

 Western Port, district was given to Mr. Thomas, whose supervision 

 extended from the eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay into the un- 

 known regions of Gipps Land, and northward to the frowning 

 barrier of the Australian Alps. His official quarters were fixed at 

 Narree- Warren, at the foot of the south point of the Dandenong 

 Ranges, twenty-five miles from Melbourne. 



But the plotting out of the districts on paper was an easy 

 business compared to that of getting the machinery started. There 

 were endless complaints all round, and fresh difficulties raised at 

 every move. The Government was committed to an expenditure 

 of fully 3,000 a year and wanted to see some return for it. The 

 original intention had been to form a reserve of ten square miles 

 around the headquarters of each protectorate, and to gradually 

 induce all the tribes of the respective districts to settle within that 

 boundary under surveillance. Of course, such a proposal was hope- 

 less of execution from the first, but it also set up a new antagonism. 

 In the attempt to carry it out it was quickly found that these 

 reserves necessarily embraced much country for which the squat- 

 ters were paying license fees, and they resented being dispossessed 



