The difficulty of forming an estimate of the numbers increases year by year. There are several natives employed occasionally, and some continuously, on sheep stations and farms, and the natives of Victoria now travel a good deal, and many cross the border.
The number of natives under the direct control of the Board, and living continuously at the stations formed for the support and education of the Aborigines is, at the present time (1876), as follows:—
| Coranderrk | 137 |
| Lake Hindmarsh | 67 |
| Lake Condah | 89 |
| Framlingham | 63 |
| Lake Wellington | 81 |
| Lake Tyers | 63 |
| 500 |
An epidemic of measles carried off a large number of natives both in Victoria and in the Colony of South Australia during the early part of the year 1876.
Now that the natives are no longer able to follow their old pursuits, now that they are cut off from those enjoyments which in their natural state kept them in health, now that they are held in restraint either at the stations established by the Government or where living in the neighbourhood of places peopled by whites, it is probable that the numbers will decrease, and that, as a race, they will ultimately be extinguished in Victoria. Nothing that can be provided for their sustenance and comfort can compensate for the loss they experience in being deprived of their lands, the society of their friends, and the delights of the chase.
