176 
WRONGS OF 
Governments themselves, who have found it neces- 
sary, sometimes, to prohibit fire-arms at out-stations, 
words ; and will prove our statement, if public justice should, 
in our opinion require it.” 
The following letter from His Honour the Superintendent of 
Port Philip shews, that even in 1843, suspicions were entertained 
in the colony, that this most horrible and inhuman cruelty 
towards the Aborigines had lately been practised there. 
“ Melbourne , 1 7th March, 1843. 
“ Sir, — I have the honour to report, for his Excellency’s in- 
formation, that in the month of December last, I received a 
letter from the Chief Protector, enclosing a communication 
received from Dr. Wotton, the gentleman in charge of the Abori- 
ginal station at Mount Rouse, stating that a rumour had reached 
him that a considerable number of Aborigines had been poisoned 
at the station of Dr. Kilgour, near Port Fairy. 
“ I delayed communicating this circumstance at the time, as I 
expected the Chief Protector and his assistants would find it 
practicable to bring the crime home to the parties accused of 
having perpetrated it ; but I regret to state, that every attempt 
to discover the guilty parties has hitherto proved ineffectual, and 
that although there may be strong grounds of suspicion that 
such a deed had been perpetrated, and that certain known parties 
in this district were the perpetrators, yet it seems nearly impos- 
sible to obtain any legal proof to bear on either one point or the 
other. 
“ I beg leave to enclose copies of two communications which 
I have received from Mr. Robinson on the subject. 
“ I have, &c. 
(Signed) “C. J. La Trobe.” 
“The Honourable the Colonial Secretary, 
&c. &c. &c.” 
Rumours of another similar occurrence existed in the settle- 
ments north of Sydney, about the same time. To the inquiries 
