by Aborigines from Sydney who were working for John Batman. On 4 February, he travelled to the Geelong region, guided by William Buckley, an ex-convict who had lived with the local Wathaurong people for over thirty years. He assessed the land there, finding that the Aboriginal people were being driven away by a property manager who threatened to shoot them for stealing potatoes. He then proceeded back to the Yarra River and conducted an exploration up this river to the north-east where he named the Plenty River. When he returned to Melbourne he conducted an informal inquiry into the abduction and rape of an Aboriginal woman by a shepherd, which resulted in some protection being given to the victim. Despite Gellibrand's efforts, the Batman Treaty was deemed invalid and overruled by Governor Richard Bourke in 1836. The lands purchased by the Association were judged to be owned by the Crown and not by the members of the Port Phillip Association nor by the Aborigines. The Port Phillip Association members however, were recompensed £7,000 from the colonial government. Gellibrand subsequently returned to Van Diemen's Land. Exploration and disappearance to the west of Port Phillip Gellibrand, in company with George B. L. Hesse, again crossed to Port Phillip and landed near Geelong on 21 February 1837. They decided to explore the un-colonised land to the west and planned to follow the Barwon River to its junction with the Leigh River, and afterwards make their way back to Melbourne across country mostly unknown to the British. The two men set out with a guide but managed to miss the junction with the Leigh River and continued up the Barwon. Their guide became fearful of continuing and returned, while Gellibrand and Hesse decided to travel further west alone. They failed to arrive at Melbourne and a search party consisting of five prominent Geelong pastoralists including Frederick Armytage and Thomas Roadknight was immediately organised. This group followed their tracks but lost all sign of them in a forest that existed between what is now Winchelsea and Birregurra. The search party then turned north and became the first Britishers to view Lake Colac before returning to Geelong. Another search party, led by Gellibrand's son, set out on 31 March 1837 but again lost sight of the tracks within the same forest as the previous group. In April, a larger group of 14 men funded by Gellibrand's