"Volume 2B continues the fully-documented story of relations between Aborigines and Europeans in the years when permanent government was being established in Port Phillip. It depicts the Government's policy of resolving the problem by appointing a Protector of Aborigines with four Assistant Protectors. Their duty was to maintain constant contact with the tribes, and to help in imposing a civilized system of law and order upon blacks and whites alike. It shows the extraordinary difficulties faced by the Protectors who frequently displayed great courage and tenacity as they struggled to bring an often-brutal pastoral frontier under control. A combined index to volumes 2A and 2B appears in this volume."