All the revenue went to Sydney, and very
little of it found its way to Melbourne, so that Mr. Latrobe's
Government was sometimes deprived of the necessaries of life.
Alberton was gazetted as a place for holding Courts of Petty
Sessions, and Messrs. John Reeve and John King were appointed
Justices of the Peace for the new district.
Then Michael Shannon met James Reading on the Port Albert Road,
robbed him of two orders for money and a certificate of freedom, and
made his way to Melbourne. There he was arrested, and remanded by
the bench to the new court at Alberton. But there was no court
there, no lock-up, and no police; and Mr. Latrobe, with tears in his
eyes, said he had no cash whatever to spend on Michael Shannon.
The public journals denounced Gippsland, and said it was full of
irregularities. Therefore, on September 13th, 1843, Charles J. Tyers
was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands for the district. He
endeavoured to make his way overland to the scene of his future
labours, but the mountains were discharging the accumulated waters of
the winter and spring rainfall, every watercourse was full, and the
marshes were impassable.
The commissioner waited, and then made a fresh start with six men and
four baggage horses. Midway between Dandenong and the Bunyip he
passed the hut of Big Mat, a new settler from Melbourne, and obtained
from him some information about the best route to follow.
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