312 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



averaged only 40. Unfortunately, the control of the immediate 

 future of the town fell into the hands of the speculators in Sydney, 

 where the sale was held, for they secured the bulk of the offerings, 

 mostly with the intention of holding for a rise. Only six local 

 residents succeeded in purchasing lots; amongst them were Dr. 

 Thomson and Foster Fyans, who thus retained their houses. Most 

 of the other buildings had to be moved when the survey was 

 made. 



A special illustration of the unreliability of Dr. Lang's state- 

 ments occurs in connection with this sale. In his Port Phillip 

 (Glasgow, 1853, p. 107) he commends the decision of Lord John 

 Eussell to fix 100 per acre as the price of town lands, and then, 

 referring to the foundation of Geelong, thus denounces what he 

 calls the hawker- and-pedlar action of Sir George Gipps : 



" Now, if this judicious policy had been pursued at Geelong, or 

 even if the uniform price of 100 an acre proposed by Lord John 

 Eussell had been changed into a minimum price of that amount, 

 so as to admit of competition for particular sites, a large number of 

 town allotments would have been purchased in that locality, and 

 a flourishing town, with a concentrated population, would have been 

 formed. But Sir George Gipps, thinking this was much too good 

 an opportunity for raising a large revenue from the sale of town 

 allotments, fixed the minimum price of such allotments in Geelong 

 at 300 an acre, and those who purchased at that rate were obliged 

 either to cut up their allotments into the minutest fragments, or to 

 expend the capital, which might otherwise have been employed in 

 rearing for themselves respectable and comfortable houses, in the 

 mere purchase of sites. But as this profound scheme for screwing 

 out the last shilling from an enterprising and industrious people 

 did not answer, and the Geelong town allotments hung upon the 

 Government auctioneer's hands, His Excellency hit upon another 

 notable scheme for raising the wind, namely, by drawing an ima- 

 ginary line from east to west, through what should have con- 

 stituted the township, and calling the portion next the harbour 

 North Geelong, and the other portion South Geelong, the minimum 

 price in the latter being lowered to 150 an acre. Of course, those 

 who could not afford to purchase allotments in North Geelong, where 



