Part 20

The name of _Macquarie Harbour_ is associated exclusively with remembrance of inexpressible depravity, degradation, and woe. Sacred to the genius of torture, nature concurred with the objects of its separation from the rest of the world; to exhibit some notion of a perfect misery. There, man lost the aspect, and the heart of man!

Macquarie Harbour was explored by Captain Kelly, at the expense of a merchant whose name is borne by Birch's River, and that of his wife by Sarah Island. It is an inlet of the sea, on the western coast: by water, about 200 miles from Hobart Town. It penetrates the country twenty miles to its junction with Gordon River, where, diverging to the right, Sarah Island becomes visible--once the principal station, now deserted and desolate. This region is lashed with tempests; the sky is cloudy, and the rain falls more frequently than elsewhere. In its chill and humid climate animal life is preserved with difficulty: half the goats died in one season, and sheep perish: vegetation, except in its coarsest or most massive forms, is stunted and precarious. The torrents, which pour down the mountains, mingle with decayed vegetable matter, and impregnated with its acids discolour the waters of the harbour; and the fish that approach the coast, often rise on the waves, and float poisoned to the shores.[144]

The passage to this dreary dwelling place was tedious, and often dangerous. The prisoners, confined in a narrow space, were tossed for weeks on an agitated sea. As they approached, they beheld a narrow opening choked with a bar of sand, and crossed with peril.[145] This they called "Hell's gates,"--not less appropriate to the place, than to the character and torment of the inhabitants: beyond, they saw impenetrable forests, skirted with an impervious thicket; and beyond still, enormous mountains covered with snow, which rose to the clouds like walls of adamant: every object wore the air of rigour, ferocity, and sadness.

The moment the prisoner landed, if the hours of labor had not expired, he joined his gang. The chief employment was felling the forest, and dragging timber to the shore: these gigantic trees, formed into rafts, were floated to the depot. In this service, life was sometimes lost; and the miserable workmen, diseased and weakened by hunger, while performing their tasks, often passed hours in the water. They were long denied vegetables and fresh food: they were exposed to those maladies which result from poverty of blood, and many remained victims long after their release. On a breakfast of flour and water, they started from their island prison to the main land, and pursued their toil, without food, till the hour of return: they then received their chief meal, and went to rest. Those who were separated to punishment still more severe, lodged on a rock: the surf dashed with perpetual violence on its base, and the men were compelled to pass through, wet to the waist, and even to the neck. They were destitute of bedding, sometimes in chains; their fires were extinguished, and they laid down in their clothes, in a cold and miserable resting place.[146]

They were subject to a single will; moved often by perjury, and sometimes by passion. One man, Alexander Anderson, a convict overseer,[147] delighted in human suffering--this was his qualification for office; yet seventeen persons have been flogged in one day, at his single report. The instrument of torture was special; double twisted and knotted cords: 100 lashes were given, and repeated at short intervals. Even to repine was criminal: an expression of _anger from the sufferer_, was a punishable offence: a second infliction has been known to follow, by a sentence on the spot.[148]

The alleviations of religious instruction were unknown. The commandant was found, by the earliest clerical visitor, living in profligacy, and he returned at once, despairing.[149] Women were, at first, sent there, and four were dispatched to gather shells, under the charge of one man, in whose hut they lodged. The forms of devotion depended on the surgeon, and were detested by the prisoners. They were, mostly, desperate men, and required a strong restraint; some were there, however, for offences of no deep die, who, while the least spark of humanity remained, felt the association more horrible than the place. To escape this dread abode, they gambled for life; and, with the deliberation of actors, divided the parts of a meditated murder, and sinister testimony. They loathed existence, and were willing to shorten its duration, if the excitement of a voyage and a trial might precede the execution. It was their proverb, that all who entered there, gave up for ever the hope of Heaven.[150] Death lost its terrors, and when some unhappy victims were brought down to terrify the rest, they saw them die as many see friends depart on a desirable but distant journey.[151] Some were detained for years by a succession of punishments; perhaps, for the possession of a fish-hook, of a potato, or an inch of tobacco. Some were flogged; until this species of punishment lost, not only its terror, but its power: the remnant of the understanding settled down into one single faculty--the ability to endure. It will be our painful task to turn to the results of this experiment, since elsewhere repeated, of what nations can inflict, and man can suffer: excusable, had the Rhadamanthus of those regions been always just, and those subject to his lash always the worst of criminals.[152]

The improvement of the assigned service, by raising the qualifications of the masters, and increasing the dependance of the men, was another great project of the Commissioner. There were, indeed, no employers, except those who had been convicts, or officers of government; and the first and larger class, possessed neither capital nor discretion. They were rather patrons than masters. There were but two changes practicable: the vast establishments projected at Moreton Bay, and introduction of a class of settlers, who might exercise the authority requisite to restrain the vagrant indolence of the men; and whose capital might give them constant employment and proper sustenance. Several military settlers, such as Macarthur, had large establishments, chiefly for cattle and sheep; and their management exemplified the superior facilities of control, where the men were both dispersed and guarded--divided in their occupations, but subject to a vigilant supervision.

It was the opinion of the Commissioner that none, having small estates and trivial resources, should be placed in the responsible position of masters; but that the inducements offered in former times should be renewed and extended. He calculated, that the employers of convict laborers, for each, relieved the treasury of England to the extent of L24 10s. per annum. Thus every consideration commended the system of assignment beyond any other. To attract the attention of settlers, he advised that the emigrant should be entitled to a grant, to purchase an addition at a low price, and to receive a bonus in land, for the stock he might rear, or according to the industry and skill he might otherwise exhibit.

It has been stated, that the ministers who founded these colonies, intended that free emigration should accompany transportation with equal steps. The despatches of Governor Phillip, addressed to the secretary of state[153] in 1790, proved that he felt the want, and perceived the value, of such auxiliaries; but the early determination to raise expirees to the condition of landholders, seems to imply the form the settlement at Port Jackson was expected to assume. It is obvious that the immediate design of the Governor, was to provide such free settlers, as might act in different official capacities, at little or no expense.[154] The reply to these communications was favorable, and the prospect of emigration cheering; but the result was insignificant. It is stated by Collins, that several families, members of the Society of Friends, proposed to accept the offers of government, but were deterred by the reputation of the colony, and the disorders which prevailed.[155]

The _Bellona_ at length arrived, with free settlers and their families, including a millwright and blacksmith; one of whom had been already in the colony, under other auspices! An authority to the Governor was now conveyed, to establish such persons as were eligible on terms highly advantageous. They chose a fertile spot, and to mark their civil condition, called their locations "Liberty Plains" (February, 1793). The British government provided their passage, an assortment of tools and implements, provisions for two years; their lands free of expense; and the service of convicts, with two years' rations and one year's clothing. It is difficult to imagine a more alluring offer; yet, except a Dorsetshire farmer, the rest were not _bona fide_ settlers: two formerly belonged to the _Sirius_, and a third to the _Lady Juliana_ transport; in short, they were sailors. Concluding, then, the secretary of state had sought settlers in earnest, the presumption is strong that no considerable number of persons could be found to engage in such an enterprise: one which seemed to comprehend all the perils of distance, of official tyranny, and of social corruption.[156]

The additions, thus made to the free population, were generally of persons connected with the merchant service or the military profession; and who, by a residence intended only to be temporary and official, contracted a preference for the climate; where they found great respect and deference, by the paucity of their numbers. It was their example which finally overcame the reluctance to settle, which no mere offers of the crown were sufficient to conquer.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 138: _Bigge's Report._]

[Footnote 139: Colonial Fund (1820): Quarter's salary, A. P. Humphrey, superintendent, L25; government printer, L7 10s.; Mr. Fitzgerald, schoolmaster, L6 5s.; G. Northam, chaplain's clerk, L3 5s.; James Charlton, executioner, L6 5s.!]

[Footnote 140: "Report of Oxley."--_Barrow Field's Collection._]

[Footnote 141: _Breton's New South Wales._]

[Footnote 142: The following "Instructions" were laid before parliament: being a return to an address to his Majesty, dated 2nd February, 1832; they were, however, only partially acted upon:--

"_Copy of Instructions issued by the Governor of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, for the Regulation of Penal Settlements._

"As an aversion to honest industry and labor has been the chief cause of most of the convicts incurring the penalties of the law, they shall be employed at some species of labor, of an uniform kind, which they cannot evade, and by which they will have an opportunity of becoming habituated to regular employment.

"With this view, all labor of a complex nature, the quantity of which cannot be easily determined, is to be studiously avoided: and the convicts are to be employed exclusively in agricultural operations, when the public buildings or other works of the settlement do not absolutely require their labor.

"In these operations the use of the hoe and spade shall be as much as possible adopted; and where the number of men who can be employed in agriculture is sufficient to raise food for the settlement with these implements, the use of the plough shall be given up; and no working cattle are to be employed in operations which can be effected by men and hand carts.

"The principle of dividing the workmen at regular distances from each other, as established for field labor, is also to be adopted whenever it is found applicable; and with the view of affording a more complete and effective superintendence, the different gangs are, as much as possible, to be employed in one place.

"When it becomes necessary to employ mechanics or tradesmen in their respective callings, such arrangements shall be made (by appointing as many as possible to the work) as will insure their strict superintendence, and a speedy return to the employment of common laborers.

"In order that the convicts may be deprived of all opportunities of procuring spirits, or any luxury or article beyond the government allowance, and with the view the more effectually to prevent their escape, it becomes necessary to establish the strictest regulations with regard to shipping.

"The commandant is vested with the control of every department on the settlement; every person, whether free or bond, being subject to his orders.

"No officer, or other free person, employed at the penal settlement, shall be permitted to derive any advantage from his situation, either directly or indirectly, beyond the amount of his salary and fixed allowances. Each individual will be _required to furnish quarterly, a declaration upon honor to this effect_, to the commandant, who will certify that the whole of the officers borne upon the salary abstract, have furnished the same.

"No officer, or other free person, shall be allowed to cultivate any ground on his own account, excepting for the purpose of a garden, for the exclusive supply of his own family.

"No officer shall be allowed to raise stock of any description for sale, or for any other purpose than the immediate use of his own family; such stock to consist exclusively of pigs and poultry, which shall be secured within the premises of the proprietor.

"No officer, or other person, shall be allowed to employ any convict at any time whatever for his personal advantage, or otherwise than on the public account, excepting always such men as may be appropriated to his service.

"No officer, or other free person, is on any account to leave the settlement, without the written sanction of the commandant.

"The commandant is vested with full authority to remove, at his discretion, any free person from the settlement, whose conduct shall appear to him to render this proceeding necessary for the due maintenance of discipline.

"The officers, and other free persons, shall be allowed to purchase grain from the public stores, to maintain the livestock they are permitted to keep, according to the following scale:--

"Commandant, not to exceed five bushels per month; civil and military officers, three bushels per month; inferior free persons, one bushel per month.

"To enable the officers of the settlement to cultivate their gardens, they shall be allowed to have convicts appropriated to their service in the following proportion:--

"Commandant, three men; military and civil officers, two ditto.

"These men are not to be mechanics or tradesmen, and are to be allowed in addition to any servants they may have been permitted to take with them to the settlement.

"When work is required to be done by the mechanics for the absolute comfort and convenience of any of the officers on the settlement, the following regulations shall be observed:--

"The officer to make a written requisition, which will, if approved by the commandant, be given to the overseer of the mechanics, who will receive the whole of the materials from the officer. The work to be performed in the lumber-yard during government hours.

"No remuneration of any kind is to be given the mechanic for his services. This indulgence is not to extend to any article of furniture, or any thing else that can be dispensed with, or procured in any other manner. A separate book is to be kept, and entries made of the work so done, and quarterly returns sent to the colonial secretary. It must be understood that no government materials, even of the most trifling nature, will be allowed for any such purpose.

"All trafficking and trading between the free and bond on the settlement, shall be strictly prohibited, and severely punished.

"The convicts under colonial sentence, shall be steadily and constantly employed at hard labor from sunrise till sunset, one hour being allowed for breakfast, and one hour for dinner, during the winter six months; but two hours will be allotted for dinner during the summer.

"The convicts shall be worked in field labor, with the hoe and spade, in gangs, not fewer than fifteen or more than twenty. No task work shall be allowed.

"There shall be an overseer attached to each gang, and to every five gangs a constable, who shall assist the overseers in the superintendence of the men.

"The constables and overseers, are not to push or strike the convicts, and no punishment is to be inflicted but by the express orders of the commandant.

"If a convict should have any thing to represent or complain of to the commandant, it shall be the duty of the constable to bring him before him.

"No prisoner is to be permitted to receive, or to procure, any article of luxury, or any addition to the established ration of the settlement.

"As a reward of and encouragement to good conduct, the prisoners shall be divided into two classes, to be called the first and second classes respectively.

"No prisoner is to be admitted into the first class, who shall not have served on the settlement for two years, if a prisoner for seven years; for four years, if for fourteen years; and for six years, if for life. But convicts, who have been respited from a capital sentence, shall in no case be admitted into this class until, upon the representation of the commandant, their sentence shall have been mitigated by the governor.

"The commandant will make a monthly return to the colonial secretary of the prisoners, whose conduct has induced him to admit them to the first class, and he will inform the officer of the commissariat officially.

"The prisoners in the first class will receive, in addition to the usual ration, one ounce of tobacco weekly.

"The prisoners of the first class are to be employed in the lighter and least laborious operations; and it is from this class exclusively that men are eligible to be selected for constables and overseers, to be employed as clerks, to be assigned as servants to the officers of the settlement, and to be entrusted with the charge of the live stock or working cattle, or with any other light employment.

"No convict shall be employed as a clerk in the commandant's office, or have access to any of the records kept there.

"No prisoner transported for life, or for any heinous or atrocious offence, shall be employed in any other way than as a common laborer, except, being a mechanic, his services may be urgently required. In this case the commandant will permit his being temporarily employed in his trade, or on any of the public works.

"Prisoners of the first class, who shall be selected by the commandant for constables or overseers, will be allowed the usual distinction of dress, and shall receive in addition to their rations, two pounds of flour per week, and one ounce of tobacco; but in no case shall any convict at a penal settlement be allowed to receive a pecuniary reward.

"As a further encouragement to constables and overseers to be faithful and diligent in the discharge of their duty, two years' service as a constable or overseer, shall be considered equivalent to three years' servitude on the settlement; but in case of misconduct, they shall forfeit all such benefit arising from their services as constables or overseers.

"As there may be found some individuals whose conduct may be deserving of reward, but who nevertheless may not be qualified to fill the situation of overseers, the commandant will transmit annually to the colonial secretary, a return of the names of such convicts who, having served two-thirds of the period of their sentence, may by a long continuance of good conduct, be considered to merit indulgence. To this return there shall be annexed a detailed statement of the circumstances which have induced the commandant to recommend the individuals respectively.

"A return will in like manner be transmitted by the commandant, of any prisoners under sentence for life, who shall have conducted themselves to his entire satisfaction for six years (or of capital respites for ten years) after their arrival in the settlement, annexing, as before, a detailed statement of the circumstances which have induced him to recommend the individuals respectively; and should the governor be satisfied that they are deserving of reward, his excellency will mitigate their sentence to that of seven or fourteen years, from the date of such mitigation; after which the individuals will, of course, be eligible to all the privileges of prisoners of the first class.

"The wife of a convict shall, in no case, be allowed to join her husband, until he shall have been placed in the first class, and the commandant shall have recommended him for this indulgence.

"The wives and children of convicts shall be allowed rations and slop clothing from the public stores.

"The wives and children of convicts are not to be allowed to convey money or property of any kind to the settlement, nor to possess any live stock or poultry, and they are strictly to be prohibited from carrying on any trade or traffic in the settlement; but they will be furnished with employment in spinning flax, making straw hats or bonnets, making up slops, and such other work as they may be capable of performing, the materials for which will be supplied from the government store. They will receive credit in the books of the settlement, at the market or factory prices, on such work being returned to the stores; and the amount of their earnings will be annually placed in the savings bank, to be received by them on their return from the settlement, as a means of support on their arrival.

"Married convicts, whose families have been permitted to join them, shall be allowed to live in separate huts.

"A portion of ground shall be allotted as a prisoners' garden, the extent of which shall be determined by the commandant.

"If any money or property shall be found in possession of a convict, or the family of a convict, it shall be seized and forfeited to the Benevolent Asylum.

"The labor of all convicts, excepting only those assigned to the officers, shall be wholly and exclusively applied to the service of the settlement generally, and the indulgence of working on their own account, after the usual hours of public labor, shall be strictly prohibited.

"No convict shall be allowed to wear any other clothing than that which is issued to him by the government; and the number of each convict on the settlement is to be painted on each article of his dress, before and behind.

"The commandant will see that due attention is paid to the cleanliness of the convicts, and that those whose state of health admit of it, bathe regularly.

"A separate barrack is to be provided for the female convicts; and if employed in field labor, they are to be kept separate from the men.

"A washing gang from among the female convicts shall be appointed, to wash and mend the clothes, and air the blankets and palliasses of the prisoners.

"The convicts are not to be allowed to possess knives or any sharp instruments; the knives, forks, and spoons, are to be under the charge of the barrack overseer, and he will be held responsible that they are duly collected from each convict before he is allowed to quit his seat at the mess table. This, however, is not to apply to those married convicts or overseers, who shall have been allowed to live in separate huts.

"The whole of the convicts will be mustered on Sunday morning, arranged in their several gangs, and attended by their respective overseers and constables, when they will be inspected by the commandant. The wives and families of the convicts will also be required to attend the Sunday morning musters.

"The prisoners will be mustered daily by the superintendent of convicts, at sunrise, before they proceed to labor, when they return to meals, and again when the work for the day is closed.

"No convict shall be allowed to receive or transmit any letter, excepting through the commandant, who is to exercise his discretion in opening such letters, and perusing their contents.