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Title: Criminal Statistics and Movement of the Bond Population of Norfolk Island, to December, 1843. Author: Captain [Alexander] Maconochie, R.N. * A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook * eBook No.: 1401821h.html Language: English Date first posted: April 2014 Date most recently updated: April 2014 Produced by: Ned Overton. Project Gutenberg Australia eBooks are created from printed editions which are in the public domain in Australia, unless a copyright notice is included. We do NOT keep any eBooks in compliance with a particular paper edition. Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this file. This eBook is made available at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg Australia Licence which may be viewed online.GO TO Project Gutenberg Australia HOME PAGE
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PART I. Nature and Capabilities of the Island. PART II.
The Bond Population. |
The highest of these returns is below a moderate average in
New South Wales, and the majority would be there considered
absolute failures. The causes, I apprehend, to be these:—1.
The surface soil is a rich, sharp, very fine mould, with scarcely
a pebble in it, calculated to start anything, but not
sufficiently heavy to carry the vegetation it thus produces to
maturity unless in very favourable circumstances. The crops on it
are thus liable in the open ground to be injured by the high
winds, which disturb the roots, and in the gullies to run to
straw. I have never seen them anywhere realize their early
promise. 2. This character of the soil is much increased by the
long almost exclusive use of the hoe in the agriculture of the
island, which disturbs the land too much. 3. It is further
increased by the too greedy system of cropping that has been
pursued, maize on maize, or wheat and maize alternately, for
years. 4. The colonial practice constantly pursued on the island
of burning off stubble, instead of digging or ploughing it in, is
further against the land. And 5. The difficulty of communicating
across the gullies, with the short time that the effects of
manure remain in land thus characterized, and perhaps the
indifference to rule evinced in all colonial farming, especially
where not stimulated by private interest, have prevented the
counteraction of these causes by artificial means. The remedy,
accordingly, is such counteraction, viz.:—1. The ground
that has been longest in culture, and which happens to be also
the most exposed to the prevailing winds, should be laid down in
grass and suffered to rest. 2. New ground should be taken in,
instead of this, in the central and northern part of the island,
lying from the prevailing winds. (I have myself cleared above 500
acres in this direction with this view.) 3. The plough should be
used on the upland and exposed grounds; the effect of the hoe is
on them peculiarly injurious. And 4. A regular rotation of
cropping, with occasional manure, should be adopted. By these
means I think that the returns could be made more uniform
and certain, but I doubt if they could by any means be
raised above a low general average, as compared with New South
Wales. The soil is so light, the declivities so steep, the
sub-soil (degraded porphyry, almost everywhere within two feet of
the surface of the consistence of stiff clay, with a strong acrid
salt in it, which, on exposure, evaporates and leaves the
residuum little better than dust,) is so hot in its character and
so favourable to the escape of water, that I do not think any
care can do more, than palliate these several inconveniences. It
is remarkable that even in the gardens on the island, with every
advantage of cultivation, the vegetables scarcely ever carry
their seed to perfection, however otherwise excellent. They grow
vigorously to root and herbage, but excepting maize, nothing can
be said to corn well. All seeds must be frequently renewed.
Stock of all kinds thrive well on the island; nothing can
surpass the mutton, pork, and poultry reared on it. The beef is
not so good, but undoubtedly it might be made so. At present it
is slaughtered from labour or grass, as it may happen; and no
artificial food being provided for the cattle, they are
alternately gorged or pinched according to the season. In the
long droughts with which the island is almost annually visited,
but especially within the last three years, they usually suffer
much, far more than the sheep. In 1842 we had considerable
difficulty in even carrying them through at all, and were forced
on the different runs to fell trees for their support. At this
time a woodman's axe in their neighbourhood brought them round in
hundreds.
The annexed table will show the quantity of stock on the
island belonging to Government at the end of 1843. Besides what
is thus shown, pigs are in all the officer's stock-yards, and at
most of the bush stations. They are an extremely profitable
stock, but should be slightly salted before being used
extensively as food, fresh pork being considered to promote the
dysenteric tendency otherwise on the island. No private
individual is allowed to keep cows or sheep, and only two have
private horses, one each. I think that the present flock of sheep
is as large as should be kept, but that the cattle, with care to
provide part artificial food for a portion, as the dairy,
working, and a small fatting herd, might be increased to 1000
head. It would be out of place to give here my reasons for fixing
on this number. I do not think it could be enlarged without great
risk of occasional loss, or that it could be even carried thus
far without much care. In the droughts, the cattle not
unfrequently even fall over the cliffs, stretching after a blade
of grass beyond their reach:—
The economical resources of the island may be thus, I think,
summed up. In the direction that I have indicated, from 1000 to
1200 acres may be brought into cultivation, and, with care, be
kept in better heart than the present farm for any time. On
two-thirds of this ground, from 20 to 30 bushels per acre of
maize, rye, or barley, may confidently be reckoned on, and, with
very good management, the return may even somewhat exceed this;
but wheat and oats will not answer so well, being always of very
inferior quality. The others are available whether as rations or
for the use of stock, and three crops of them at the above rate
may be obtained in two years,—the maize being a summer
crop, rye and barley winter ones; and by changing the ground, and
sowing the different crops late and early, this return is easily
effected. The remaining third of arable ground should be kept in
reserve for vegetables, pasture, and other local purposes,
contributing at the same time to the maintenance of stock and of
a suitable agricultural rotation, and should thus not be looked
to in each year as likely to turn produce into store. (It is the
want of such a reserve that in past years has both injured the
land and the stock, and it is my anxiety to introduce it that has
appeared to lessen recently in our returns the amount of land
under cultivation.) The average weight of sheep slaughtered on
the island is 55 lbs., and of bullocks 600 lbs. The sheep yield a
fifth of their entire number to the knife annually, and yet are
rather increasing in number. The cattle, once established in
sufficient numbers to kill from regularly without regarding
increase, will yield about a sixth; that is to say, by not
slaughtering under five years of age in any case, drafting off
the old as younger and better come forward to supply their
places, and making a large allowance for casualties, which will
always be numerous on the island, the violent changes of quantity
and quality of food, caused by the violent changes of season,
being peculiarly injurious, and often extensively fatal, to the
young calves. Breeding swine, kept in the best manner, will rear
easily three litters of six in two years, or nine pigs annually,
averaging within the year 120 lbs. each, or from 1200 lbs. to
1400 lbs. annually in all; and each sow, with its young, where a
number are kept together, will within the same time consume the
produce of an acre and third of ground, for which, accordingly,
the above is the return. But good management is indispensable
throughout. No stock depend so entirely on artificial keep as
swine, or are so much injured, consequently, by undue economy,
slovenliness, or neglect.
The shores of Norfolk Island abound with fish, many of
considerable size, and of good quality, and are found both in
shoals and single fish. Of the former the principal are
king-fish, averaging from 30 to 70 lbs.; trevally, from 5 to 25
lbs.; salmon, from 1 to 10 lbs.; grouper and skip-jacks, from 1
to 5 or 6 lbs.; and mackerel, not very abundant, yet not
unfrequently caught, in all respects resembling the English, and
as good. Of the single fish, there are two specimens of cod,
black and brown, (the first often rising above 100 lbs. weight);
trumpeter 8 to 14 lbs., and many others smaller. Were there a
boat harbour, which boats could leave and enter in all weathers,
with a free boat's crew, or other arrangements made by which they
could be reasonably secured from seizure by the prisoners with a
view to escape, I have little doubt that a considerable addition
would be gained to the economical resources of the island from
fishing. The banks round the island extend above 20 miles from it
in all directions, and fish are caught over nearly the whole
extent.
One of the greatest defects of Norfolk Island is, indeed, its
want of a harbour, and the consequent delay and difficulty in
maintaining its sea communications. From 15 to 30, and even 40
days, are common periods of detention, when in ordinary
circumstances from 4 to 6 days would be a fair average; and all
beyond this may be considered as representing so much labour,
anxiety, and expense thrown away. Nothing can be more vexatious;
nor does it admit of a complete remedy, though it would be much
palliated by adding Ball's Bay, on the east side of the island,
to the other landing-places on it, cutting a road to this either
over the hill from the Settlement, or, which I think much
preferable, round under the cliffs, along the sea-shore, and
laying down heavy moorings on a clean sand-bank, just outside the
bay. This work I accordingly strongly recommend.
The following is a list of the principal woods of the island,
with their economical uses. For these, the supply of them is
ample for many years, with the exception, perhaps, of the
cherry-tree, which cannot stand long the demand made on its bark
for tanning, and wood for charcoal; and the hopwood, which is
already become rare. As the cherry-tree is a peculiarly valuable
wood, being the toughest and best adapted for making agricultural
implements on any of the island, some protection is urgently
required for it. The other is unimportant.
Description of Trees found on Norfolk
Island, and the Purposes to which they are applied.
The following two tables show the prevailing winds and
distribution of rain throughout the year on the island. The winds
are always high. I regret that it did not occur to me in 1840,
when I began to keep a meteorological journal,* to construct a
rain-gauge, so as to determine also the absolute fall of rain;
but even if I had, it would have given but little idea of the
real supply. In the summer droughts the ground becomes so hot
that slight showers rise from it in steam almost as they fall;
and in the same season heavy rain runs off the steep declivities
for several hours, scarcely penetrating at all, till the
superficial crust is dissolved. After this, the loose nature of
the soil imbibes a great deal; and thus, not unfrequently, our
rills, which swell instantly on a first fall of rain, and
sometimes even precede this, giving note of its coming, subside
with its continuance. They run off more rapidly than they again
fill.
[* An abstract of this journal was annexed to my
last year's report. The most remarkable thing in it is the
equality of temperature and atmospheric pressure in all seasons
of the year. The variations are very small. The following still
more condensed abstract will show within what limits this is to
be understood.]
Abstract of Meteorological Journal kept at
Norfolk Island, from May, 1840, to31st December,
1843, inclusive.
Statement of the Number of Days in each
Quarter the Wind has blown from the under-mentioned Points of the
Compass at Norfolk Island from May, 1840, to December,
1843.
Table showing the Number of Days on which
Rain has fallen at Norfolk Island, from May, 1840, to
December, 1843.
The second row of figures in the four last years in this table
indicates the prisoners sent direct from England in 1840, and who
were proposed to be placed under my own particular plan of
management. Besides other interest in the table, its columns will
conveniently class my other statements on the subject; and I
proceed, therefore, now to fill up details in regard to each.
1. Men arrived from Sydney. The total
number of these is 3,593; distributed, as seen in the table, into
2,916, under the old system, and 677 under the new; who are
further classed out in the following table, according to their
countries, religion, and original sentences, so far as we can
gather all these from our records, which in earlier years are
meagre, and in some particulars imperfect.
Return, showing the Country, Religion,
and Original Sentences of all Prisoners who have arrived at
Norfolk Island, from25th June 1825, to the31st December, 1843.
The principle of classification adopted in this table,
somewhat modified, is still further carried out in the following
one, which is otherwise interesting, viz.:—
Return showing the Places and Courts
where First Convicted, of all Prisoners who have arrived at
Norfolk Island, from June, 1825, to December,
1843.
Return showing the Places and Courts,
&c.—continued.
Return showing the Places and Courts,
&c.—continued.
Return showing the Places and Courts,
&c.—continued.
Return showing the Places and Courts,
&c.—continued.
First Recapitulation.
Second Recapitulation.
Third Recapitulation.—Showing the
proportions in which Men have arrived from different Places and
under different Sentences.
It would be rash, to consider a classification of the men who
came here direct from home in 1840, as necessarily giving a
correct example of the proportions in which they come to the
colonies generally of different countries, and under different
sentences; for, on the contrary, the several quantities may
differ widely. Yet, taking the above tables and their
recapitulations for just what they are worth, the following facts
appear on them. 1. A larger proportion of English and Scotch, and
a smaller of Irish, appears in the second convicted class than in
the first. 2. The increase is in the convicts from the large
towns, for, on the contrary, many of the rural districts
decrease; and Dublin increases, though Ireland generally
decreases. 3. Though the proportion from Edinburgh and Scotland
increases, that from Glasgow will be seen to decrease, possibly
owing to the number of Irish convicted from the latter, whose
robust frames enable them to support hardship without
inconvenience, and consequently without resistance, and who, in
this respect, are more a rural than urban population. 4. The
mining districts all over England are honourably low in these
returns; and the densely peopled agricultural, as Surrey, Sussex,
Kent, Somersetshire, and some others are high. 5. Beyond all the
great towns the proportion increases most, in the second
convicted class, from Yorkshire. But to make these observations,
as already observed, really of value, more ample returns are
required of first convicted men; and a reference to the
population returns of each district at home is also
indispensable, which is not at present in my power.
2. Men sent to Sydney on
Indulgence.—A great addition will be observed
in the numbers in this column in 1839 and 1840. These were the
two first years after the Act of New South Wales Council, 2 Vict.
c. 1, was passed, regulating the conditions on which colonial
sentences to the island might be commuted and ultimately
remitted; and when the greatest degree of benefit to the men was
consequently derived from it, by facilitating the removal of
nearly all the well-conducted who had served over the periods
required by it. The original purpose of the Act was not thus to
clear the island, nor, as has usually since been considered, to
fetter or direct the exercise of mercy by his Excellency the
Governor; it was merely to enable men that might be so called up
to be worked in irons in the colony in commutation of the
remaining portions of their several sentences. But by fixing
certain periods (one, three, and five years, for men under
sentences for 7 years, 14 years, and life respectively) when
application might be made to obtain for them the commutations
prescribed by this Act, it did in fact altogether change the
prospects of the whole body, and greatly improve their condition.
The worst horrors of Norfolk Island may, in truth, be thus said
to have terminated with the passing of this Act. Before it, men
sent here had little or no prospect before them, except what was
contingent on a capricious recommendation; and according to their
several tempers they either sought to earn this by treachery,
hypocrisy, or other unworthy service; or, despairing of attaining
it at all, they became reckless, violent, mutinous, and
insubordinate. Since, this has been much changed; with good
conduct on the island every one has been certain of
recommendation at the allotted period of his service proportioned
to his sentence. The answer has not been always favourable; on
the contrary, 260 men are here now who have been refused, besides
158 others, who having been once refused, have served two years
more with good conduct, and been not less than 8 years in all on
the island, (the conditions prescribed,) and who, thus again
recommended, have been since allowed up. But even thus, hope has
been extended nearly to all, and the effect has been
excellent.
Up to September last (1843), 1200 men have thus been forwarded
to Sydney from the beginning of 1839, and it is extremely
interesting to trace their further progress, as exhibited in the
following return, laid officially before the Legislative Council
of Sydney:—See Table, page 21 [below].
Return of the Number of Prisoners that
have been landed in Sydney from Norfolk Island between 1st
January, 1839, and 1st September, 1843; distinguishing
those who have become Free, either by the expiration of their
original Sentences, or by Pardon, and those who are still serving
their Sentences in New South Wales; and showing the Number who
have, since their return, been Re-Convicted, either in Supreme
Court or by the Court of Quarter Sessions, throughout the
Colony.
On this return some very important observations occur: 1. The
entire number of re-convicted, considering the description of
men, their going penniless from this island, the suspicion with
which they are regarded in Sydney, and the associates to whom
they there return, appears to me very small. 2. The proportion,
however, in 1839 and the first three months of 1840, before I
came here, is not so small; it is 20 out of 512 men in one year,
or above 4 per cent. 3. The remaining 17 are distributed over
four years of my administration, which by its laxity has been
accused of encouraging crime in the colony; yet the proportion,
even on this showing, is in three years and a half little more
than 2 per cent, on the 688 men within this time discharged. 4.
But much more striking is this fact when it is further considered
that 6 of the 8 men stated in this list to have been re-convicted
in September 1842, were not men who went from this on indulgence
and abused it, but men sent for trial for offences committed on
the island (the attack on the "Governor Philip, &c." 1842),
and who thus do not bear on this question at all. 5. Deducting
them, accordingly, the proportion of my men reconvicted (11 out
of 688) is little more than 1½ per cent, in nearly four years, or
⅓ per cent, per annum. 6. And it will place these facts in
a still more striking light to state—first, that they were
the best and ablest men who went away in 1839—so many more
were then eligible than could immediately be removed that only
the best were sent; secondly, during the year 1839 by far the
severest system of discipline was maintained on the island that
appears anywhere on its records: under if, with the same
population, about 1300, the number of cases tried in court rose
from a previous average of 462 to 811, and of lashes inflicted
from a previous average of 9000 annually to 11,420; and further,
if the example of severity can deter from crime at all,
these men had themselves both witnessed and experienced it in
this extreme; yet in this instance, as in so many others, it
failed. Lastly, my greater success with the men has not been due
to my own plans of discipline, which have never been fully tried
on the island, but simply to the object by which alone I have
been animated, whether in trying or temporarily abstaining from
them, viz., their reform. This idea had scarcely ever before been
suggested to them; but they could all sympathise with it when it
was proposed, and carry it as a rule of conduct with them. Would
but the law adopt it, and modify its arrangements according to
it, how much farther would it go! How many thousands now steeped
in misery and vice would it thus save! and at the same time
lessen crime, not increase it.*
[* From a communication received from Norfolk
Island, dated 26th June last, I learn that an additional return
of the same nature with the above had been laid before the
Legislative Council in April, showing 240 more sent up, of whom
not one had been then re-convicted. Four were awaiting
trial.]
3. Men sent to Sydney for
Trial.—The following is a list of these, with
their ages when first convicted, countries, original sentences,
crimes for which transmitted for trial, degree of education and
general intelligence, and ultimate fate, being the principal
particulars regarding them:—See Table, page 23.
[below,]
23
Men sent to Sydney for Trial.
Recapitulation.
4. Men who have Absconded.—At
different times six boats have been carried off from the island;
and, considering the anxiety with which a chance of escape is
watched for, and the daring with which, if offered, it is
embraced, it is surprising that there have not been more. As
illustrative of the state of society here, a few details
regarding each of these successful enterprises may be
interesting:—1. (1830). Ten men left their huts at night
and repaired to the boat-harbour. One of them, who represented
himself to be the coxswain, and who, as a skilful active seaman,
was occasionally trusted to steer a boat, told the sentry that
they were going to Philip Island for Mr. Cunningham, the
botanist, then residing there. The soldier wished to call out the
guard, the usual precaution when a boat is taken out; but being
kept in conversation by one of the prisoners in his native tongue
(Irish), he delayed till the boat was launched. It was then too
late to stop them, and they proceeded first to Philip Island,
where they plundered Mr. Cunningham of his watch and all his
supplies, and afterwards put to sea. After being out nearly six
weeks, during the last of which they were nearly without food,
they were picked up almost exhausted by the "John Bull" whaler,
identified on board of her as prisoners, and placed in
confinement, but otherwise well treated. As their strength
returned, however, so did their spirit of enterprise. They
conceived a plan of seizing the vessel, in which they were
assisted by one of the crew who had previously known some of
their number. They are believed to have murdered every other on
board excepting him; after which they plundered and scuttled the
vessel, and proceeded to Pleasant Island, whence they all, with
one exception, found means of departing, and have been heard of
since, some in England others in America. The one who remained at
Pleasant Island was elected chief there; and in this situation is
said to have committed many murders and other excesses through
jealousy and rapacity. At last he was expelled, and when last
heard of was working in irons at Manilla. His name, if still
alive, is Coil: he is a native of Ireland, of the lowest
caste.—2. (1833). Two Government vessels, a brig and
schooner, were at anchor off the settlement, and a launch was
working each. One of these boats was coming from the one vessel
with maize, while the other was carrying water to the other; and,
when they met, 16 stout hands, as previously concerted, seized
the boat with the maize, took on board what water they could
safely carry, double-banked their oars, and pulled away, leaving
the other boat with only one oar. The brig immediately weighed
anchor in pursuit, but the wind was very light, and they were
soon lost from sight, the night coming on. Notwithstanding that
there was an experienced navigator among them, these men are said
to have been 28 weeks at sea; and when they made the land to the
northward of Moreton Bay, only three of the sixteen were alive,
one a native of New South Wales, the other two Englishmen, from
London. They all got safely into the interior, and were for some
years afterwards about the colony, but are believed to be now
either dead or gone from it. A story is current that one of them
was afterwards a prisoner for some time in Bathurst Gaol, where
the coxswain from whom he took the boat was gaoler, and having a
false name he was not detected; but such tales of narrow escapes
are favourites with prisoners, and should not be very much relied
on.—3. (1840). A party of officers proceeded in a
whale-boat to Philip Island, about six miles distant, for the
purpose of shooting. The crew consisted of six prisoners and a
free coxswain. After the day's sport, the officers were about
returning, and incautiously handed in their fire-arms first to
the prisoners in the boat, who immediately seized them, marched
them back to a hut at some distance from the beach, tied them
there, and having collected whatever suited their purpose,
returned to the boat and put to sea. One prisoner who was
otherwise near his liberty, refused to join them. They are said
to have made New Zealand in seven days, where they dispersed, and
most of them are believed to be now whaling. With one exception,
they were all well conducted here; the opportunity given them was
irresistible.—4. (1841). The Government brig with stores
was at Cascade, and being thus above five miles by water from the
settlement, only one boat was working her. Nine men snatched this
just at nightfall, and put to sea. Some time was necessarily lost
before the alarm could be given to the brig, it was thus quite
dark, and the following morning proved thick. This party also
made New Zealand. Jordan, the notorious Custom-house robber, was
of their number, and has been heard of since in the United
States, where he is said to have again committed some successful
robberies. His companion, Sullivan, has also since effected his
escape from New South Wales, and they are thus probably again
together. The other men have been also heard of, doing well and
honestly, engaged in fishing, but I have no particulars of
them.—5. (1842). A cave having been dug in an officer's
garden, behind a stock-house built against a steep bank, the
servants attached to it, in combination with six other prisoners,
making eight in all, built a boat in this, and succeeded in a
dark night in getting to sea in her. A very heavy gale, however,
arose the following day, which it is not believed that the boat
could outlive. The leader in this enterprise deserved a better
fate. He was a Scotchman, named M'Dougall, of singularly daring
and intrepid character, and with many good points about him, and
good impulses, but all misdirected. He was a very old prisoner on
the island, and had been one of the mutineers in 1826, when the
boats were seized and taken across to Philip Island, where he,
with a few others, managed to secrete himself during many months
before he could be recaptured. He had been once sent to Sydney in
the interval on indulgence, but being re-convicted, was returned
within two years. He was a very bold, daring man, who set his
face against petty theft, and would even expose and detect it,
but could not resist the temptation of what was striking or
hazardous. Some little time before he went away he earnestly
dissuaded some of his companions from a proposed theft of
sacramental plate from the quarters of the Protestant clergyman.
He said that "such a theft would bring a curse with it;" and
meditating, as he must then have been, his other enterprise, it
is possible that a touch of early reverence for things sacred may
in this instance have kept him back. But, in general, he would
refuse what did not involve danger or striking enterprise, and
nothing that did. Had he been a soldier, in stirring times, his
career might have been very different.—6. (1843). Three
soldiers on duty, one over the gaol, which is near the
boat-harbour, another over the boat-sheds, and the third at the
door of the harbour guard-room, deserted their posts in the
middle of the night, and, in concert with six prisoners, who had
previously made all necessary preparations, carried a whale-boat
to the harbour, and succeeded, with the exception of one of the
soldiers, now waiting a court-martial, in getting away. They were
first discovered making off by a prisoner, who slept in the
neighbourhood, and who was awaked by the noise made by a dog
about his house. He alarmed the police-runner, who called out the
guard, and so little time was thus lost that a heavy, and it was
thought not ineffectual, fire was poured into the boat as the men
in her were endeavouring to haul in their companion, the soldier
left behind, who in the bustle had got overboard. It was thus
that he was retaken. The others got away. Two boats were
instantly sent after them, but, the night being dark, they were
not seen; and the following morning proved also thick. They were
not discovered till sunset, when they were seen from Mount Pitt,
on the extreme verge of the horizon, W.N.W., and thus far beyond
pursuit.
It will be observed that these casualties have been much more
common of late years than formerly, and this may, perhaps, be
attributed to the want of old precautions. But on considering the
circumstances attentively, this will not appear so certain a
solution. The navigation of the Pacific is now so well known,
that enterprises of this kind are stripped of half their old
terrors; and the tendency of public opinion in England has of
late years been so pronounced in favour of the amelioration of
prisoners' condition and prospects, that those of them who, from
accidental circumstances, have no very favourable prospect before
them, are much more impatient in this position than they used to
be. The prospects of escaped men are also fairer now than they
were. When all capital and trade were in this neighbourhood
confined to the penal colonies, eventual escape appeared so
difficult, that all but the very stoutest shrank from attempting
it; but now New Zealand, many extensive whaling establishments,
and a better knowledge of the islands and inhabitants of the
Pacific, all open more extensive views, and excite to more active
enterprise. I thus doubt much whether any measures will entirely
prevent absconding from this island in future, unless the
prospects of the prisoners confined on it are materially
improved; but the most efficient means and the most likely to be
successful would, I think, be the maintaining the communication
with head-quarters by two small vessels, instead of one, and
keeping one of them constantly about the island till relieved by
the other, which should then take her turn. The constant presence
of a cruizing vessel would, in some degree, deter from such
attempts; and when made she could not but sometimes overtake and
bring the delinquents back, which would still farther contribute
to damp succeeding enterprise.
5. Men who have died from natural
causes.—For use in this report I have obtained
a detailed account of all diseases treated in the Civil Hospital
here since 1837, with the number of deaths and medical remarks,
furnished by Mr. Colonial Surgeon Graham, the senior medical
officer. The records of the hospital do not go farther back. I
have further, however, obtained from the other records of the
island a detailed account of men (150 penal prisoners and 80
belonging to the new establishment), who have died since the
beginning of 1833; and in the following tables I condense the
chief information so afforded. Dr. Graham's recapitulation of
hospital cases since 1837 is as follows:—See Table, page
27. [below.]
Men who have died from Natural
Causes.
On which the following observations occur:—1. By
referring to the population return, p. 11, it will be seen that
the collective population within the period here embraced, viz.,
from the beginning of 1837, is 10,476; the cases have accordingly
been 1 in 2½, and deaths 1 in 56⅚. 2. The rate of sickness
and mortality, it will be observed, however, has been very
different among the penal and new prisoners, 2429 cases having
occurred among 8059 arrivals, or 1 in 3⅓, with 109 deaths,
or 1 in 74 among the former; and 1622 cases among 2417 arrivals,
or 1 in 1½, with 80 deaths, or 1 in 30½, among the latter. 3.
This great difference I apprehend to have been caused mainly by
the penal prisoners having been seasoned to the climate before
coming on the island, and seasoned also in favourable
circumstances, viz., on a full ration of food, consisting of
fresh meat, wheaten flour, tea, and other luxuries, in private
service in New South Wales; while the latter have here had only
the Government ration of salt meat and maize meal, in itself not
adequate to support the constitution under a change of climate,
with labour, after a long sea voyage, and further rendered
insufficient by the great repugnance felt by the men at first to
the maize meal. 4. I consider this point, then, of great
importance in the future appropriation of this island. I doubt if
men should be sent to it direct from England at all, but at any
rate they should not exceed in number what can be supplied from
the resources of the island with two or three meals of fresh meat
(beef and mutton) weekly; and for the first six or eight months
they should have a proportion of wheaten bread with their maize.
5. In the peculiar circumstances, the mortality among the penal
prisoners appears to me low. (The peculiar circumstances to which
I allude may be thus summed up:—On the one hand there are
no young lives here, and the proportion of old is small. The
climate is fine, and the temperature, in particular, is very
equable. Exposure to sudden changes of any kind is thus rare.
Vegetable food is good and abundant. Medical attendance is
constantly at hand; and from circumstances connected with their
penal condition, the men are disposed to complain soon and thus
to give it fair play. On the other hand, having mostly passed a
vicious youth, and many of them being the offspring of vicious
parents, there is a strong scrofulous and scorbutic tendency in
the constitutions of most of them. This is fostered by the
salt-meat ration, to which they are confined. Excluding the bone,
this is generally deficient in quantity for the support of
labouring men, and it is not unfrequently of inferior quality
also; and some of the most prevalent habits among prisoners, as
smoking and concocting trashy messes to eat and drink, as well as
some of their too frequent vices, and the depression and
despondency which cannot but weigh at times on all their minds,
must be prejudicial. The balance is undoubtedly against them.) 6.
The prevailing ailments have been fevers, inflammation of the
bowels and other intestines, dysentery, and consumption. 7. Cases
are generally numerous in proportion to population. Among the new
prisoners they are one-half more numerous even than the
population. 8. With the exception of consumption generally, and
dysentery among the new prisoners, cures are also numerous in
proportion to cases. The previously detailed circumstances appear
sufficiently to explain both facts.
Of the 150 penal prisoners who have died since 1833, and the
80 new prisoners who have died since 1840, the following is a
distribution according to their countries, age when first
convicted, and at death, and length of time that they
respectively survived their original convictions. I add, also,
the proportion of deaths in the several classes to arrivals in
the same classes. Some of the facts so brought out appear to me
interesting:—
1. Among the penal prisoners the total deaths are by this
table about 5 per cent, of the total arrivals. The deaths among
the English proper in the same class are to their arrivals in the
same proportion. The Irish are above it, being rather more than 6
per cent., and the Scotch below, being under 4 per cent. 2. Among
the new prisoners these proportions differ widely. The total
deaths in this class are above 13 per cent, of the total
arrivals. The English deaths are 16 per cent, of their arrivals,
the Irish not more than 9 per cent., and the Scotch 10. 3. From
this comparison may it not be inferred that the English
constitution does not stand a violent change of climate and diet
so well as the Irish? In other words, it is likely to suffer more
in all cases in seasoning than the other; but when seasoned, as
originally the better fed, it is hardier and longer lived. The
inference seems fair, but the premises are narrow. 4. Among the
penal prisoners, above a third (53) of the whole number of deaths
is of men convicted under 20 years. Diseased parentage, with
early vice and irregularity in themselves, and early experience
of the hardships and initiation into the vices and practices of a
prison life, abundantly explain this. Yet the proportion of this
class is under a sixth among the new prisoners, and is not quite
a half, even including men convicted between 20 and 25. 5. On the
other hand, a list of aged prisoners now here, or who have died
here, which I have now before me, shows that nearly all were
convicted late in life. Only one of them was convicted under 33;
he was 22: and the average of the whole is 47⅙. 6. The
average value of life in a penal condition here (38½ years) is
low; that was to be expected: but there is a remarkable agreement
in the average periods that those convicted under 35 years of age
have survived their conviction, that deserves notice. These are
precisely the individuals who suffer most under the existing
principles of prison management,—who are considered
strongest to bear the inflictions directed by them,—whose
wills are strongest and consequently most strongly pressed on by
them,—and whose animal spirits are likely to carry them to
the greatest lengths in resisting, evading, or solacing
themselves under them by vicious indulgence. Does this
combination of circumstances, then, constitute such an external
pressure as to make the chance of life after conviction the same
from 16 to 35 years of age, and reduce it to 11 years? I think it
not improbable that something like this is the real effect; yet
the facts here cited are too few entirely to confirm the
inference.
In general the men here die very quietly and composedly,
resigning themselves with little apparent reluctance to their
fate, and receiving and applying, even the worst of them, to
their own cases the consolations of religion with little apparent
doubt or hesitation. There are exceptions,—men who die
utterly obdurate and impenitent, and men who show great
uneasiness about their future prospects; but the reverse is the
rule: and it is, I think, much to be lamented. A more painful
death in the case of very wicked men would be salutary to
survivors, and probably more beneficial to themselves. The
circumstance proceeds, I think, from two causes:—First, the
ties of a prisoner to life are not strong, and his habits of
enterprise reconcile him readily to any change; and secondly, the
moral guilt of their several offences is very little felt by the
body at large. They have for such a length of time looked to them
as their only sources of indulgence and subsistence, that they
have almost ceased to consider them as involving moral guilt at
all. The degree in which I can trace this in the minds even of my
best men is wonderful, and it proceeds, in a great degree, from
the system of measuring sentences by time instead of by conduct.
Conduct has thus no prominent value attached to it in their
every-day life, and misconduct no directly injurious effect;
while other circumstances also conspire. Men long kept without
personal property, have little sympathy with the moral reasoning
which would protect property; and where submissiveness is the
only virtue directly rewarded, the others speedily lose value by
comparison. The precepts of religion in vain struggle with
circumstances so unhappily combined. They are respectfully and
attentively listened to. The demeanour of the men here in church
would contrast advantageously with that of most free
congregations, and their minds are thus prepared at the last to
receive the consolations of religion with intelligence and faith.
But meanwhile the moral maxims of religion are unheeded. The
wheat is sown among so many tares, that it is unable to yield a
crop; nor is there any view of prison management more interesting
than this, or which exhibits existing evil more clearly, or
points so unerringly to its remedy.
6. Men killed
accidentally.—There have been in all 30 of
these, of whom 2 have been new prisoners drowned fishing. The
following Table gives all principal particulars regarding
them:—
7. Men murdered.—There have been
five of these, as under:—
Everything considered, this number appears to me very
small.
8. Men executed.—The following
is a list of these, with particulars:—
Recapitulation.
No fewer than 13 of these men having been executed for the
mutiny here in January, 1834, while in a preceding table, of men
sent to Sydney for trial, 4 were for murder of a soldier in that
of 1826, some details regarding these acts seem here
appropriate.—1. (1826.) The men at this time lived in huts,
nor were barracks yet constructed for either them or the
military. The latter were stockaded at two points—by the
commissariat store close to the boat-harbour, and the
commandant's house, about a quarter of a mile distant. Early in
the morning of the 25th September the former of these stockades
was surprised and carried with the loss of one corporal killed
and two soldiers wounded; and the abler and more resolute
prisoners then proposed to proceed to attack the other with the
arms so obtained. But while they were urging this, the
commissariat store was broken open, and rum being thus obtained,
it soon appeared impossible to organize the men for such a
purpose; while, on the other hand, the alarm being given, the
commandant's detachment was seen turning out, and preparing to
attack them. It was resolved, therefore, to take the boats and
proceed to Philip Island, there to remain, and seize any vessel
from it that might come in; and, had all the boats been so taken,
the plan might have succeeded; but one was under repair at the
time and unfit for immediate use, and the mutineers, instead of
floating her off and sinking her in deep water, or otherwise
completely destroying her, contented themselves with merely
further damaging her; and in this boat, accordingly, patched up
as was at the moment possible, they were pursued the following
day by the commandant, Captain Donaldson, 57th regiment, in
person. They made no effective resistance. They had intoxicated
themselves over-night, and the charges in their pieces having got
wet did not go off when they attempted to fire them. The boats
were thus immediately recaptured, and 21 of the 50 men who had
absconded in them were brought back. Two days afterwards more
were got; and within a few weeks all were recovered excepting 18,
who remained out several months. The last and longest out was a
man named Story, who proved afterwards a quiet, orderly man, and
as such has since returned to Sydney under the Act of
Council.—2. (1834.) This mutiny was more deliberately
planned than the other; and had it proved equally successful at
the outset, the consequences might have been very serious. The
commandant, Colonel Morisset, 3rd regiment, was ill in bed; an
inferior officer temporarily commanded. The harbour guard was
again to have been rushed; and it was arranged that the farm
labourers, so soon as the tools were issued to them at Longridge,
should hasten back to the settlement to aid in the contemplated
attack. The whole attempt, however, failed in the beginning. The
harbour guard successfully resisted the attack made on it. The
officer temporarily in charge, Captain Foster Fyans, 4th
regiment, promptly turned out his men, and directed a heavy fire
on every body of prisoners he saw anywhere collected. The
ring-leaders were thus speedily either wounded or killed; and in
a few hours all was again quiet. Besides those sent to Sydney for
trial there, 27 ring-leaders had heavy sentences in irons added
to their other sentences on the island for the mutiny of 1826;
and besides the 13 executed, 17 sentenced to death were respited,
and had other sentences on the island for their share of that of
1834. The following table gives the chief particulars regarding
both:—
9. Men killed resisting lawful
authority.—In one sense, these may be
considered as in the same predicament with men executed. Their
offence was as complete, though, had it come to a judicial trial,
it might not have terminated so fatally to them. There have been
11 of them, as follows:—
Recapitulation.
10. Suicides.—Considering the
history of this place, and frequent attempts at self-destruction
made in all similar establishments, it is somewhat remarkable
that there are here only two successful instances of it on the
records. Even the most desperate in early times appear to have
shrunk from it; and when weary of their lives, rather took
another to be hanged than hanged themselves. Instances of this,
or of its appearance at least, have been given in the reports
concerning all penal stations; and expressions threatening it
rise readily to the lips of irritated prisoners, partly, I have
little doubt, in momentary purpose; but it is not in general to
be feared where thus threatened.
The two unhappy men who accomplished the act here were in very
different circumstances. One was an absconder to Philip Island in
1826, who, being pursued by the military to a cliff overhanging
the sea, and having no means of escape, deliberately drew his
frock, over his head, and, plunging down, was dashed to pieces.
Neither the body nor any fragment of it was ever found. The other
was a man named Lockage, who had been transported in 1819 for
forgery, and lived some years afterwards in Sydney with his wife,
a very pretty woman, to whom he was much attached. Being of good
education (it is said, previously a lawyer), he had many other
indulgences also, as was usual in that day; but, abusing these
(as he alleged under the influence of jealousy), he was very
grossly disrespectful to some of the officers placed over him,
and was sent here in 1828 under a three years' sentence. He was,
however, only three months on the island, always in a state of
the deepest dejection, and succeeded at last in hanging himself.
He was much regretted among the men, and the sympathy expressed
for him even yet among the older prisoners who knew him is
remarkable.
11. Bond population on the island on the31st December in each year.—Under this head
I propose to give some more minute information regarding the men
now or very recently on the island than could be furnished
regarding all the arrivals. The general composition of the whole
may be inferred from that of this portion.
On the 1st September last (when I began to collect these
returns) the composition of 796 penal prisoners on the island is
shown in the following tables:—
Table I.
Table II.
Table III.
Table IV.
In Table I. the most interesting column is that showing the
age at which the men were severally first convicted. A large
proportion appear to have been then very young, and the following
details showing the age at which the men have incurred their
several original sentences throughout may be found
interesting:—
The following are particulars regarding the 15 men in the
first of these columns, showing their original and colonial
sentences, and ages at first and second conviction:—
A melancholy precocity of crime and early experience of its
fruits, which will be set more clearly in view by the following
tabular analysis of the second column also, viz., of men
convicted from 15 to 20. Their age at second conviction and
second sentences are here given:—
Almost two-thirds re-convicted under 22 years of age, and with
such sentences additional in all cases to those under which they
were sent to New South Wales recorded against them.﹃Facilis
descensus Averno!﹄May not the small number shown in this
table, however, re-convicted between the ages of 21 and 24 be
held to indicate a hesitation on first attaining the years of
manhood and discretion to plunge into a life of confirmed vice
and crime, which, if watched in individual cases, might be turned
to profit? One would fain catch at even the slightest hint in the
difficult art of recovering young offenders.
In Table II. it is worth observing that almost two-thirds of
the entire number (796) have been above 10 years prisoners, and
between a third and fourth have been above 5 years on Norfolk
Island. The proportion of married, and consequently of suffering
families, is above a fifth. The number of educated may appear
remarkable; but from the facts before me on this island, I am not
inclined to consider prisoners generally ignorant of the first
elements of education. The degree in which they possess them is
low. Among all the men here who can read and write, not above a
dozen could really act as clerks, and we are often inconvenienced
in consequence. But sufficient writing to discharge the ordinary
duties of an overseer, or in some way to take an account of work,
is common; and this power, as also that of reading a newspaper or
amusing book, where not originally possessed, is generally
eagerly sought. It is not power, but principle, that is really
wanted among them.
The following tables give a nearly similar return of 586 new
prisoners on the island at the same time. Fewer particulars,
however, require to be included in these. The men are all about
five years convicted, and nearly four on this island; 29 of them
are known to be old prisoners re-convicted, but are not so stated
in our books, and thus only their last offences and sentences
appear against them; 46 are soldiers from India and other
colonies:—
The following observations occur on these tables:—1. The
number of young convicts is again very great; 2 are under 16,
having been convicted at 14 and 15 respectively, while 112 more
are under 20. 2. If it be, as above surmised, that when an early
conviction has taken place, a hesitation is felt, after attaining
years of discretion, before plunging still deeper into crime and
misfortune, no such hesitation appears where there has been no
such warning; for, on the contrary, the greatest number of all,
226, appears here to have been convicted between 20 and 25; and
on a further analysis I find the proportion to stand
thus—48 convicted at 20, 52 at 21, 59 at 22, 39 at 23, and
28 at 24. 3. The number of married and of families thus left
destitute appears among this body of men excessive; out of a
total of 586, 163 husbands have left 428 children (73 per cent,
of the entire number of men at this time transported) to deplore,
probably through life, the influence of their parents' vices on
their after destinies. 4. I have a nominal list of, these married
men, with their wishes in regard to their families, as taken from
their own mouths, and observations in regard to them which seem
to me worthy attention; but here I place only the numerical
results, 75 are English, 84 Irish, and 4 Scotch. Of the first, 52
wish to return to their families at home at the expiration of
their several sentences, 20 desire to have their families sent
out to them, and 4, the wisest, prefer to see what is likely to
be their fortune in Van Dieman's Land before deciding. Of the
second, the Irish, 51 desire to return, 30 to have their families
sent to them, and 3 to wait before deciding. Of the last, the
Scotch, 3 desire to return home and 1 only to settle in the
colonies. These numbers do not speak highly of the pleasures of
even the most genial climate and mildest form of transportation
to which these men have as yet alone been subjected. 5. The
married men have been generally well conducted, and, in
particular, have only in very rare instances been suspected of
unnatural offence; yet nearly the worst two of the whole number
(though not in this latter way) have been of this class. 6. It is
remarkable that amidst all the mortality among these English
prisoners (80 deaths in four years), only 3 married have died,
who are thus not included in this list. "Many circumstances which
have come under my observation here, and this among the number,
make me think that warm affections, extended to distant objects,
thus drawing off the mind from present hardships, and probably at
times filling it with pleasing thoughts, contribute to sustain
life; and if this observation, otherwise extremely probable, be
correct, it is gratifying to think that the feelings most
impartially distributed in life, and which most beautify and
adorn it, contribute also to its preservation, while a provision
is thus also made, by which in cases of epidemic the most
valuable lives are preserved. 7. The proportion of educated in
these tables is smaller than that among the older prisoners,
which may be partly accounted for by the great mortality among
them, 72 of those who died having been able to read, and 56 to
write also. In a separate report on the epidemics that have twice
prevailed among us (transmitted last year), I considered this
fact as, among others, showing that deficient nourishment, which
would first affect the originally best fed, was a principal cause
of the disease; and I still retain this opinion. 8. The degree of
education among these English prisoners is, however, higher than
among the old ones. When they read or write at all, they do both
better than the others. Their minds are also generally more
active and educable; they covet a better class of books, and more
readily acquire general, though superficial, information from
them. It would appear as though the spirit of advancing
intelligence in the age has touched, even where it has not
directly seized on particular individuals. I have never known a
voluntary adult school so generally, and at the same time, for
the most part, so profitably attended, as was ours at Longridge,
till the formation of the establishment at Cascade, and the
distribution of the men holding tickets of leave into farms,
unavoidably broke it up. The desultory information now afloat
among the lower classes in England seems thus to prepare the
minds of the young for the reception of more correct information,
and thus to improve them, even when the latter is not imparted;
and perhaps this is the most interesting point of view in which
this information can be regarded.
On the other hand, I am sorry to add, that these same young
English prisoners, who are thus distinguished among us for
superior education and educability, are not less remarkable for
indifference to their religious duties and careless reception of
religious instruction. In both particulars it is curious to say
that they not unfrequently even give offence to the older hands.
Whatever the cause, the older prisoners, without being always the
better men for it, are peculiarly accessible to religious
exhortation and impression, and show much respect to religious
addresses. They thus come readily to church, they listen with
extreme attention to any sermon in the least suited to them, and
they are frequently even deeply moved by one bearing on their
individual circumstances. Is it that religious exhortation, being
the only form in which persuasion is familiarly addressed to
them, is, in proportion, grateful to their feelings? Or because
in this form only they are considered as equals of their
fellow-men? Or because their intellects otherwise crave
occupation, and this supplies it? Or are their minds thus cast
back on their young days, and made agreeably to recognise accents
familiar to them when young, and comparatively innocent and
happy? Or does conscience love to be stimulated, even when its
dictates are systematically disobeyed? Or does a secret hope
always exist, that while the voice of admonition is heard and
attended to, it may some day prove efficient, and that there is
thus safety in listening to it? I do not pretend to analyze the
whole modus operandi, but the effect is certain; and I
have frequently seen even very bad men exhibit considerable
religious sensibility, not hypocritically or ostentatiously, but
striving to conceal it, and perhaps the first afterwards to laugh
at it, to escape the jeers of, at the moment, their less
sensitive companions. But as a class, the young English prisoners
exhibit here appearances almost the reverse of these. They come
unwillingly to church; they not unfrequently misconduct
themselves there. I have had occasion to sentence many to sit for
different periods on the front benches, immediately in my own
view; and several even have been brought before me by their
better-minded companions for arguing that religion was a hoax,
supported by the better classes in order to control the
lower.
The following list shows the offences, original and colonial,
for which both classes are here. The second row of figures
against each offence, as in former tables, exhibits the English
prisoners. There are 13 more offenders in the column of colonial
prisoners than there are first convictions in the same class.
This arises from 13 men under colonial convictions having come
out free, notwithstanding which, having arrived before I came,
and before there was any specific class of first-convicted men on
the island, they have always here been considered and treated as
penal prisoners:—
40-41
[Click on the table to enlarge it.]
42-43
[Click on the table to enlarge it.]
44-45
[Click on the table to enlarge it.]
46-47
[Click on the table to enlarge it.]
1. The first point of note in this table is the great
proportion and aggravated character of offences against the
person among the new, as compared with the old prisoners. This
may be accidental, but it coincides with an opinion which I have
other grounds for entertaining, viz., that in existing
circumstances men transported for slight offences have a worse
chance of behaving well in the penal colonies, and thus escaping
further conviction, than the men who have committed greater
original crimes. This may be explained in two or three ways, and
is intelligible in them all. A man who has committed a great
offence in his youth may be partly shocked, partly penitent on
account of it, and may thus resolve earnestly to behave better in
future; and, which is of still greater importance, he can afford
to do so without losing caste among his companions. In the
present unhappy tendency among prisoners to proceed from bad to
worse, not to have committed some great offence is often
considered to indicate a want of spirit. An original' minor
offender is thus under a temptation (the strength of which no one
can estimate who does not know his class well) to hazard gross
misconduct to avoid being looked down upon; and hence the penal
settlements have a disproportionate number in them of this class,
and the original sentences of men under second convictions to
them are comparatively light. There can be no doubt that these
circumstances are connected with very many acts of continued, and
thus progressive, wickedness among young transports, and their
influence is aggravated by the presumption of youth and
inexperience, and by the liability of both to be duped and thrust
forward into danger and detection by the older and craftier
prisoners who may league with them. 2. The next point of interest
in the table is the youth of very many convicts in both classes
for the offences of burglary, housebreaking, and even highway
robbery. The first two are intelligible, but not the last. 3. The
great preponderance of English over Irish in these same offences
is also remarkable. 4. In crimes of personal violence, on the
contrary, unconnected with property, the Irish predominate; 15
cases of manslaughter, 6 of rape, 15 of aggravated assault, and 7
of murder, are from that country, to only 6 in all guilty of
these offences among the English. 5. The Scotch are low in these,
and in crimes against property with violence; but their
proportion is high in crimes against property without violence.
Other observations will occur on a minute consideration of the
tables; but these are, I think, the most important.
At three several times, viz., December, 1841, December, 1842,
and September of this present year, 1843, I have taken a detailed
account of the united age of the two classes, and of the average
of years thus assignable to each; and though the result of this
is not of much value as regards a community of this description,
which fluctuates both in number and age irrespective of death,
and through circumstances entirely foreign to itself, yet as
giving a general idea of the relative standing of the two
classes, it may be interesting. At the first of these periods,
then, the united ages of 1113 old prisoners amounted to 40,427
years, which, taking the average in every 10 years separately,
gave as a common average 34½. At the second period, the ages of
966 of the same class amounted to 32,989 years, which, similarly
distributed, gave a common average of 34⅓ years; and at the
third period, the joint ages of the 796 men now on the island
amounted to 30,061 years, which gave an average of 37¾. This
remarkable rise was owing to a number of young men having just
before been forwarded to Sydney on indulgence. The average ages
of the new prisoners at the same periods were 27¼, 29⅓, and
30⅙. This rapid rise with them is attributable to the
disproportionate loss of young life in the last epidemic.
But though the old prisoners are thus the older men, and in a
considerably greater degree older looking, they are yet for
present purposes the more efficient body. They owe this partly to
their better state of health, partly to their better acquaintance
with colonial labour, which makes their strength, as it were, go
further. According to a medical report made to me for insertion
here, 645 of their number (796) are considered by the surgeon
effective, 110 more are moderately effective, and only 41 are
quite inefficient. Of 576 new prisoners, on the contrary, only
374 are effective, 146 moderately effective, and no fewer than 56
are considered altogether useless. On the other hand, there can
be little doubt that for ulterior purposes the new are the
superior body. With a change of climate, and still more of diet,
many will, probably, recover their health, while the older
prisoners, on the contrary, being already well used up and long
accustomed to a warm climate, will more probably sink under a
change to Van Dieman's Land. Among the new, moreover, there is a
larger proportion of useful tradesmen (carpenters, bricklayers,
sawyers, blacksmiths, butchers, bakers, tailors, shoemakers,
&c.,) than among the old. From the general educability of the
body the original number of these has much increased even here,
and with a stronger stimulus it will probably increase still more
in Van Dieman's Land. They are generally much more prudent and
calculating than the older prisoners. Imperfect as the
application of the mark and ticket-of-leave system has been to
them, yet the qualified possession of what has been, within its
limits, money and property to them, has had its natural effects
on them. They do not, in general, surrender everything to a
passing impulse, as is too common among the older prisoners.
Of the two classes, as may naturally be supposed, the English
prisoners are the better looking. The lines of care, sorrow, and
hardened guilt, are less deeply carved on them, and in some of
the younger men there is even a peculiar springiness of gait,
indicating, as I think, combined intelligence and hopefulness,
such as I have not seen elsewhere in any prisoners. On the other
hand, the whole body are comparatively slovenly and careless in
their dress, and in this respect are much excelled by the older
prisoners. I think that the climate has much to do with this. The
old prisoners, accustomed to the heats of New South Wales, do not
find the temperature here excessive, while the English prisoners
are universally relaxed by it; and the severity and character of
the disease (dysentery) under which they have almost universally
laboured, have probably further tended to impair their attention
to personal neatness and cleanliness. They are deficient also in
economy in regard to their clothing, which thus does not last
them nearly so long as it should do. There are exceptions; but
the majority have given much trouble in these respects.
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