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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Experiences of an Ex-Convict
in Port Macquarie, by William Delaforce
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world 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 License included with this eBook or online at
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have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
this ebook.
Title: The Life and Experiences of an Ex-Convict in Port Macquarie
Author: William Delaforce
Release Date: October 27, 2018 [EBook #58176]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND EXPERIENCES OF AN EX-CONVICT ***
Produced by Gísli Valgeirsson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from scans of public domain works at The National
Library of Australia.)
THE
LIFE ...
AND
... EXPERIENCES
OF
AN EX-CONVICT
IN
PORT MACQUARIE
NEW SOUTH WALES:
R. DAVIDSON, Printer, Port Macquarie.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION iii
CHAPTER I. Farewell To My Native Land. 1
CHAPTER II. Arrival at Sydney. 5
CHAPTER III. "Fresh Fields and Pastures New." 6
CHAPTER IV. To Port Macquarie. 8
CHAPTER V. The Iron Gang. 11
CHAPTER VI. Assigned to Lake Innes. 22
CHAPTER VII. The Blind Mob. 33
CHAPTER VIII. The Road Parties. 35
CHAPTER IX. "Specials" and Others. 49
CHAPTER X. Some Notable Constables. 55
CHAPTER XI. At Rollands Plains. 65
CHAPTER XII. The Female Convicts. 68
CHAPTER XIII. Some Practical Jokes. 72
CHAPTER XIV. The Aborigines. 75
CHAPTER XV. A Free Man. 79
CHAPTER XVI. The Yacht "Wanderer." 84
CHAPTER XVII. Escape of Prisoners. 89
CHAPTER XVIII. A Last Word. 91
INTRODUCTION.
Port Macquarie, as is generally known, was one of the first Settlements
made in New South Wales. It is intended herein to give a full and
authentic synopsis of the Life of the Oldest Living Ex-Convict on
the Hastings River, near Port Macquarie, extending from the thirties
onwards. The information comes purely from memory, hence exact dates
on which certain events occurred cannot be given; nevertheless the
greatest care has been taken to give dates as near as possible.
The Life of an Ex-Convict.
CHAPTER I.
FAREWELL TO MY NATIVE LAND.
"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together; our
virtues would be proud if our faults whipped them not, and our crimes
would despair if they were not cherished by our virtues."
--SHAKESPEARE.
I was born at Shoreditch, near London, on the 28th of May, 1819, and
was nearing the age of sixteen when one day I was accused of committing
a paltry theft. Of this I was innocent, and naturally denied it, but
the constable who accosted me insisted, no matter what I said, that
I had to go with him. My feelings were anything but high-flown as I
passed along the street with him--what boy's feelings would be?--on
the other hand they were down almost below zero. It was no use; I
soon realised my position, it was this:--If I am found guilty of this
offence--and I have little hope of proving my innocence--Heaven only
knows where I may find myself. My trial came on before a Bench of
Magistrates in Worship Street, London, on July the 3rd, 1834, and I
was committed to take my trial. When a man had the bad luck to get
committed, he was sent to Clerkenwell, or to the Old Bailey, and if
he listened to the conversations of his associates at either of these
places, during intervals that he might be remanded, it was quite
possible that a previously innocent man would be converted into an
adept at picking pockets and house-screwing. I was a new-chum in places
of this kind, and also at such pursuits. New-chums generally fell into,
and were made the subject of, numbers of practical jokes, too, at the
hands of these fellows, and I was saved none the less in this respect.
"Go upstairs and get the bellows," one of them said to me: and when I
got to the top of the stairs, some others sent me to the far end of
the ward for it. On arrival there, another crowd met me with knotted
handkerchiefs, and 'pasted' me all the way back. "Pricking a crow's
nest," was another of their games. This consisted in making a round
ring on the wall with a piece of charcoal, and placing a black dot in
the centre of it. One was then blindfolded, and his object was to place
his finger on this black dot; but instead of doing this, another fellow
stood with open mouth to receive the finger, and he didn't forget to
bite it either. If anyone took money into this place they might as well
say 'au revoir' to it, for they were not asleep. After a few days of
this life my trial came on--I was sentenced to Australia for 7 years'
penal servitude. Then I was sent to Newgate, and when the door opened
there, I was met by a large number of "Jack Shepherds," all in irons,
and the place was as dismal-looking as the grave. First I entered the
receiving-room, and remained there a day; afterwards I was put in
with a fine assemblage of characters, and one might as well begin to
count the stars in the Heavens as attempt to define who was the worst
individual there. Night came on and I began to look around for a bed;
this I found consisted of a rug and a mat, of which I availed myself.
If a man was sentenced to seven years he was only kept there for a few
days, and was then taken in irons, by means of a van, to the "hulk" at
Portsmouth. This was the fate I shared. On arrival there I was stripped
of my clothes, and after the barber came round and cut my hair so
close that it was only with difficulty I could catch hold of it, I was
washed from two tubs of water which stood close by. Then I was dressed
in a pair of knee breeches, stockings, shirt, and a pair of shoes so
large that I could have almost crossed the Atlantic in them, and a hat
capable of weathering the greatest hurricane that ever blew. Whilst
on board the hulk an old Jew paid several visits, for the purpose of
buying up all the ordinary clothes of the men, and no matter how new a
suit might be, it was either a matter of take half-a-crown for it or
throw it away. Fortunately, my best clothes were left behind, and I
lost nothing by this.
I remained on the hulk from Friday till Monday morning, and was then
transferred to what was known as the Bay Ship--the "Hoogly"--by means
of a cutter. There were 260 prisoners on board this ship altogether.
Before leaving the hulk, the irons worn in Australia were attached to
the legs, but these were removed on getting to sea. Men, however, were
branded all over--shirt, trousers, and everything else. The "Hoogly"
left Portsmouth harbour on the 28th July, 1834, and was 120 days coming
to Australia, and the passage on the whole was not unfavorable. Four
men, however, were flogged during the passage for misconduct. One of
those on board was transported for stealing articles from a Roman
Catholic Chapel, and he had by some means managed to get a quantity of
tobacco into his possession. One night whilst he was asleep some of the
others conspired to get this tobacco, and they put his big toe into the
bunghole of a cask. He used to sleep on the tobacco, and as soon as
he sat up to release his toe the tobacco was passed away through the
crowd, and that was the last he saw of it.
CHAPTER II.
ARRIVAL AT SYDNEY.
"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows."
--SHAKESPEARE.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Settlement at Sydney was now nearly
50 years old, my impression on arriving there in the summer of 1834
was anything but a bright one, and by no means came up to my faintest
expectations. It was a scattered-looking place--a house here and a
terrace there, but miserable enough to my mind. After we had been in
Sydney harbour a few days, a number of officials came aboard the ship,
and, as if 'to the manner born,' took a list of the marks on the men,
who were stripped to the waist. One of them, in particular, had some
writing on his arm, and he was told that if it was not quickly removed,
he would get 50 lashes for it when he reached shore, so he took the
advice. We remained aboard ship till three days later, we were marched
ashore in line, four deep, a little after daylight, and taken to Hyde
Park Barracks. Here we got a beautiful breakfast, "hominy," in little
tubs. At 2 o'clock the same day we were called out to witness a
punishment. There were no "25's" there; all "50's" and "75's"--goodness
knows what the offenders had been doing. After this, it was possible
for any one of us to be called out and sent to a master. If a man had a
seven years' sentence, he had to serve four years with a master before
he got a "ticket-of-leave;" but if he happened to prove himself a
success at any particular vocation, he would never get his "ticket," as
the master for whom he was working would arrange with one of the other
servants to quarrel with the handy man, and he would be sent to the
lockup to be flogged, and get an addition to his sentence. If a man was
sentenced to 14 years, he had to serve 6 years with a master before he
got a "ticket." All the master had to give a servant in the year was 2
suits of clothes, 2 pairs of boots and a hat, also his food. The latter
was supposed to be either 3-1/2 lbs. of maizemeal and 7 lbs. of flour,
or 9 lbs. of beef for the week.
CHAPTER III.
"FRESH FIELDS AND PASTURES NEW."
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will."
--SHAKESPEARE.
My first assignment was to Mr. Sam. Terry, on his station at Mount
Pleasant. Here I had little or nothing to do, and this man was a good
master--he would never have his men flogged. But I had the misfortune
to be stricken with the sandy blight at this place, and I was sent
to the Windsor Hospital, where I remained for 10 months. From here
I was sent to Windsor Gaol, but instead of a bed, I had to lie on a
flag-stone, which was not conducive to building up my health. From
Windsor I was transferred to Parramatta, and eventually to the Barracks
again. Shortly after this, I was sent on to that beautiful vessel known
as the "Phoenix" hulk--prison ship. This was the first occasion on
which I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Dr. ----, the man who
conspired with two others to rob a house, and when they were in the
act of doing so, he assailed them with a gun, fired and wounded one
of them as he came out of the window, and secured his freedom for
catching thieves. This was a very cunning trick, as he arranged the
plot himself, and he afterwards became prominent. I saw him shortly
after this took place, when he was assuming all sorts of things, and I
said "Hulloa! how are you getting on?" He looked at me, and said, "Why,
I never saw you before, sir." "That'll do," I said, "you forget that I
saw you on the "Phoenix" hulk, and don't try to put on side before
me." He said no more.
CHAPTER IV.
TO PORT MACQUARIE.
"O suffering, sad humanity!
O ye afflicted ones,
Steeped to the lips in misery."
--LONGFELLOW.
It was not long before my health had sufficiently repaired to allow
of my being sent to Port Macquarie, and as this journey had to be
accomplished by water, the steamer "Little Billy," (William the Fourth)
came into requisition. I left Sydney in this vessel on Monday, and she
reached her destination on the following Sunday, after we had been on
deck the whole time tossing about. There were a good number of us on
board, and sometimes we got tea, and more often we didn't. We were
inspected on arrival, and afterwards landed at the barracks, which
stood on the water's edge against the river. The first incident that
came under my notice on arrival was a lean, hungry-looking fellow named
"Nipper," going along with his head down, apparently in a tit, until
he reached and hit up against a wall, then he fell on his back like a
cockroach--he was bloated out nearly as large as a cask with "hominy."
Then I saw another man named "Larry" coming along; he was positively
mad, for he used to go along singing out "Larry! Larry!! Larry!!!" This
man was reputed to have knocked his wife's brains out with a saucepan.
Still another I saw, who was called "Captain." He had been a pirate,
and used to walk about the roofs of houses with a piece of stick, using
it as a telescope, and giving orders. I heard him sing out "Chuck us
up that Jew ---- to deal with," and I don't know whom he meant, but
it was quite enough for me, so I left. Night came on, and one of the
men--Jack Sleet--had a few shillings in his pocket. Some of the others
heard the money jingle, and needless to say he was watched to bed, the
money being placed very safely underneath him. Everything was quiet
towards the middle of the night, when suddenly we were all awakened
by hearing a man sing out, "Oh! h----, Oh! h----, somebody's cut me."
It transpired that someone, in cutting the money from under him, had
forced the knife rather too much, and it had entered his flesh, but the
money was gone all the same, and every one appeared to be asleep.
When all the men retired to barracks at night, it was so crowded that
where to lie down became a puzzle, and it was dirty besides. Men still
kept on coming from Sydney, which made matters ten times worse. One
day while in these quarters, I was sent down to one of the wharves to
help unload a boat laden with produce. I worked very hard all day,
and it was late in the evening before I returned to the barracks.
On arrival I asked the master's permission to bake myself a "johnny
cake" for supper. In due course I had the cake mixed, and placed it
on the fire to cook in an old frying-pan that was more "hol(e)y than
righteous." Seated beside the fire watching my cake, I felt a nasty hit
with a stick from behind, and as there was no other weapon handy with
which to return the compliment, I grasped the frying-pan by the handle,
and, turning round, brought it down full force on to my assailant's
head. Needless to say, his head was harder than the bottom of the pan,
and the next thing I remember was seeing him wriggling about with the
hot pan on his neck, and exclaiming, "Oh! my G--, this pan is burning
me!" Then a by-stander came up with a bucket of water and poured it on
him, and afterwards the pan was removed. I turned to him, and said;
"The next time I am at the fire perhaps you'll leave me alone." But my
feet hardly had time to touch the ground before I was landed in the
lock-up, and the next day I was brought before the court and sentenced
to 36 lashes, and it would have been "100" only that the overseer
spoke up for me, and said that I was quite justified in my action. But
even "36" was a fine cure for the "prickly heat." I got full of this
and ran away to the Green Hills--15 miles distant--with a mate. When we
got there, it seemed that we were to get no peace, for the aborigines
came around us with their "yabber," and it was but a short time before
they were off to the police and informed them of our whereabouts. Two
days later we were caught, and I got "50" more to "clench the bargain."
CHAPTER V.
THE IRON GANG.
"To what base uses we may return."
--SHAKESPEARE.
Doctors, in the practice of their profession, not infrequently inform
their patients that there is an insufficiency of iron in their blood,
but no such assertion was ever known to be made to a man who at any
time occupied a position in the Port Macquarie Iron Gang, for if there
was no iron in their blood there should have been, if the "barking of
shins" went for anything. I was sent into this gang, and amongst the
men in it were a number termed "specials." These "specials" were sent
out principally for forgery or swindling, and many of them were so
flash that they used to look down upon the other class of men, and try
to play a game of "bluff." I was boiling my billy of tea one evening,
when one of them came up and threatened to do all sorts of things to
me if I did not remove my billy and allow him the fire. "What do you
want?" I asked. "I want the fire," he replied. "Well," I said, "you can
have it when I am finished." He took no notice of me, but persisted in
removing my billy and placing his own on the fire. At last I quietly
lifted his off, threw it into the swamp, and gave him a good thrashing.
I was then removed, and got a little peace.
Perhaps for a fortnight now I went to work with the hand-cart, bringing
firewood for the Government officers, and finally joined the iron gang
again. Shortly after I re-joined this gang a man named Arger, who had
been captain in a regiment, was attacked by a fierce looking fellow
named Lorrens, who went up, and, drawing a knife, stabbed Arger both
sides of the neck and in the ribs, then told him to "draw his sword
and defend himself." This man had not the slightest provocation to
commit such a murderous act, as the poor fellow never did him the least
injury, and he was sent to Norfolk Island for life.
Another man in the gang named Handersen, a carpenter, went up to a
Frenchman named Antonio, and knocked him down with a hammer; then,
turning round, he said: "I killed that b----, and I hope his soul has
gone wandering." These acts were done principally for tobacco, or for
half-a-loaf of bread, (even in those days "half-a-loaf" was considered
to be better than "no bread") and the object was generally to get some
of the flash "specials" a holiday to Sydney in charge of a man, and
this was called "jeeing" them.
When a man received six or 12 months in irons, he had to sleep on the
floor with one blanket, and a sleeper for a pillow; and if he got ever
so wet before going to bed in rainy weather, he had to put on the same
wet clothes next morning.
There was another cowardly thing done in the iron gang. A poor fellow
named Freeham was met by a member of the stone-breaking party, who
raised a hammer and struck him in the jaw, breaking it. This wretch
got 12 months added to his former sentence, but was afterwards sent
to Sydney on a charge of murder on his own word, for killing a man
at Ballengarra, situated some miles up the river; but as there was
no evidence except his own, he was sent back to Port Macquarie for
12 months--though he said that he would rather be hanged than serve
another 12 months in such a place of slavery and trials; for out of
about 50 or 60 men, 14 or 15 of them would be brought before the court
every week and punished, and they were all poor, harmless men. The
charge against them was usually neglect or disobedience. Fancy poor
wretches, with chains hanging about them being charged with neglect of
work, or even disobedience. Walking about in chains was hard enough
work without carrying hand-carts full of earth, and who could bring
themselves to obey flash "specials?"
One poor wretch got a month in the cells on bread and water for having
a piece of writing paper in his pocket, and another unfortunate fellow
was sentenced to "100 lashes" for having a letter in his pocket which
he was endeavouring to send to a friend. Still these officials went to
Church, offered up prayer (?) and aped religion.
Tom ---- was sentenced to two months on bread and water for running
away; but although Tom bolted he only went a little way and brought
himself to an anchor on a farm, which he never left. He used to go
into a hollow tree in the day time, and, opossum-like, come out at
night and eat the corn. Half-an-acre of this grain disappeared in a
fortnight, and then he gave himself up, as there was no more corn to
eat. This man had great storage capacity, as one Sunday morning I saw
him eat eight men's allowance for a ration of corn bread whilst going a
distance of about 200 yards. He was transported for taking a man-o'-war
boat, in company with five others, and was a 7-year man. But he was a
fearful glutton, for his allowance of food was no more satisfaction to
him than a straw is to a bottle. I remember one day, returning from
work, he saw a woman lying drunk on the road, and he picked her up,
lifted her on to his shoulder, and ran away into the bush with her. The
Police Magistrate who was in the vicinity, noticing what was taking
place, sang out, "Put that woman down!" "If I do," said Tom, "the d----
police will have her" and he took no further notice, but continued on
his journey, and there was not a sign of him till the next day. Then he
was arrested and locked up by the police, and received 14 days on bread
and water for his trouble. When he came out he bore a half-starved
appearance--the bread and water did not suit him.
About the year 1839 the gang had completed the first road, and the
lame, the blind, and those with wooden legs were furnished with a clean
bed in honor of the occasion. These cripples were employed principally
in taking goods to the settlers without payment, and the poor wretches
often went short when their journey's end was reached. When not
employed, they used to lounge about on the hills overlooking the sea
sunning themselves, and it was not infrequent that they had quarrels
amongst themselves. Just picture to yourself a man with wooden legs
offering to "fight any b---- man on timber" as they used to put it.
When these wooden-legged men had a quarrel in a boat they sat on the
seats, with a man propped against the back of each, and in this fashion
they would fight away in great style. I saw two of them on one occasion
fight till they could not see each other. There were also one-armed men
amongst them; these were employed in breaking stone, and they had a Jew
for a boss, who was also a wooden-legged man. One day he went to sleep
in the sun on one of the hills above the harbour, and another Jew
named Lewis collected a quantity of old maize stalks and other fuel,
and set fire to his wooden legs whilst he was asleep. They were not
burning long, however, before he awoke and found one to be shorter than
the other; and it was a sight for sore eyes to see him walking down to
the Old Broken Barracks, singing out to everyone that he met--"That
Jew-looking b---- down there has burnt my legs nearly off."
Just after this a poor fellow died in the barracks. A coffin was made
for him, and his remains were being carried away for interment by four
of his fellow-prisoners. After they had proceeded some little distance,
two of them had a quarrel, when they threw the coffin down, and it
burst, and out rolled the corpse on to the ground. They fought their
quarrel out, and after receiving satisfaction at each other's hands,
they picked the body and coffin up and carried it back to the barracks,
where it was tacked together again, and four other men were sent to
bury it.
The making of roads in the streets of the Settlement was now being
actively proceeded with, and in some instances the hills which had to
be cut through were so steep that a man could not comfortably ascend
one of them without irons on his legs, let alone with them--but the
hills had to be broken down by men with sore backs, and if one man
happened to collide with another who had been recently flogged, it
would be--"Oh, G----! mind my sore back." These were hard times; hard
worked and half starved.
Six men once got "50" for refusing their allowance of beef--it being
of inferior quality; but good meat was brought to court when they were
being tried, not the kind that was refused. They were questioned, "What
have you to say?" but were only allowed to get one word out when the
order would be "50." And so it appeared to be "no use going to law with
the Devil when the court was held in H----." Some men seemed to have a
harder skin than others; a few would stand "50" like a piece of wood;
they would sooner die than allow anyone to hear a groan. There was
one poor little fellow named Mick whom the wretched overseer used to
take a delight in bringing before the court; he would never pick out a
flash-looking rascal, but only poor men who could just crawl about.
I remember one terrible schemer who came into the gang. He met Mr.
---- one morning, and said, "If you do not give me five 'bob' I'll lay
a charge against you for buying rations off the Government men." He was
thereupon caught by the collar and taken off to the watchhouse, and
was sentenced to two months in the iron gang. It was about 11 o'clock
in the day when he came into the gang, and that evening he got "50"
for doing something. The next day he tried the same dodge, but was
walked off again and got another "50." The third day he went up to the
overseer and said: "Do you expect me to work after the flogging I got
yesterday?" The answer was a smack with a big stick. He was compelled
to go to work with the other men, dragging hand-carts full of earth.
There were three men to each cart, and a soldier always accompanied
the men to keep them from running away or receiving tobacco, as if any
of the weed were found on a man he would get "50." No spoons, knives,
or forks were allowed men in the iron gang, for if they had them they
would stab each other. Some used to eat their "hominy" with a piece of
iron hoop, which they used as a spade-scraper. Others used a piece of
bone. One fellow had a hat with a double-crown, and he used to secrete
tobacco and other things in it. The overseer once picked this hat up
and said to him: "You have a hat with two crowns." "Yes," he replied,
"It's a good job you have nothing in it to-day," added the overseer.
And so it was, for if there had been it would have meant trouble. Some
of the men used to watch the boss, and scheme when his back was turned;
but if he caught any of them they were sure of "50," for he never said
a word--only just held up a stick and a policeman would come to the
rescue.
Every Sunday the men got a small piece of soap with which to wash
their clothes, and if rain happened to come on whilst they were doing
it, orders were given to just gather up the clothes, and, wet or dry,
they were brought into the room. These clothes then had to be worn to
church by the men, who were safeguarded by a tyrannous overseer and a
soldier: and there they sat listening to a minister preach, and looking
at the hard-hearted wretches who were ruling them. If the men had got
something to eat, it would have done them more good than hearing about
the next world, for they thought very little about religion in their
sad state.
Poor ---- was sentenced to 12 months in the chain gang for running
away, and he was only in the gang two days when the overseer brought
him to court and got him "50." He then took the sulks, and would
neither work nor eat. Then he was handcuffed and dragged up and down
the street till some of the more tender-hearted officials could stand
it no longer; and he was eventually chained to a bed-post, where he lay
down, like an over-worked ox, and died. It was the custom to chain men
to their bed when they became sick and were sent to the hospital, for
fear that they would run away in the night. One man did bolt at night,
and was not heard of again, the supposition being that he perished
in the bush. This was a fine man, too, and once belonged to the Life
Guards in London.
I was amongst a batch of men who were once marched down from
the barracks to assist in unloading a little vessel--the
"Waterwitch"--laden with corn, which had become wrecked whilst crossing
the bar. We worked all day and were brought back at night, receiving
cornmeal and water for our supper. All our clothes were wet, and we had
either to sleep in them or else lie on the floor with nothing. Such was
life in the iron gang.
CHAPTER VI.
ASSIGNED TO LAKE INNES.
"Double, double toil and trouble,"
--SHAKESPEARE.
Shortly after Port Macquarie was made a Penal Settlement, several men
of considerable wealth visited and settled in the district, and were
granted large areas of land in and around the Settlement. Amongst these
was Major Innes, who became the possessor of a large area of land
about six miles from the town, which was and is known as Lake Innes.
On this property the "Major" built a beautiful residence, with all
the conveniences that money could command. It was not long before he
commenced to breed horses for the Indian market, and frequently sent
shipments of valuable horses to India. Besides this, he occupied large
stores in the Settlement, and used to contract with the Government for
supplying soldiers and men with provisions. A man of the "Major's"
calibre could, by applying, get numbers of what were termed "assigned
servants" to work on his property, and of this labour he availed
himself to a great extent.
In the year 1838 I and two others were sent to Lake Innes to dig water
holes for cattle, the seasons being so dry at the time that water had
become a scarcity. We dug drains through the swamps, and made provision
for ample water for the famishing cattle. Slopes were also made leading
into the drains, so that any cattle which fell into the water, and
were too weak to get out themselves, could be pulled out. One day,
while there, the boss came down to see how we were progressing with the
work, and after a while one of us said to him: "You ought to allow us
a little more tea and sugar, for this is hard work; to say nothing of
being up to our knees in water all day."
"Go on with your work," he said, "I think a good flogging would do you
more good than tea and sugar. Did you get tea and sugar in the road
party?"
"No, sir; but we had not to work in the water; and we left off work at
3 o'clock to cook our food, but here we have to work till 6." At this
he turned and walked away.
A few days afterwards I pretended to be sick, and went up to the
overseer and said: "I want a pass for the hospital."
"I can't give you one," he replied, "but if you'll bring up a pot I'll
give you some castor-oil."
I went down to the hut and brought up the "Royal George"--the big pot
that we used to cook in, laid it at the door and sang out.
The overseer came out, and seeing the pot, asked, "What the devil did
you bring that for?"
"That's the only pot I can find," I said, "except what we make our tea
in, and I could not put oil in that." Then he gave me some oil in a
bottle. He came down the next day to see if the oil had done me any
good. I told him that it had, but it was a fowl that I had the night
before that did me good, for I went about with my eyes open and knew
where they roosted--in the castor oil bushes. I did not want oiling
like a steam engine.
Rain now came, and we relinquished the drain-digging; I was then
sent into the vegetable garden to work. I was there but a very short
time when the milkman lost his billet, and I succeeded him in that
position. This job did not suit me; all the other men were comfortable
in huts, and I was stuck, out in the milk yard in all sorts of weather,
knee-deep in muck, as well as being growled at by the other men if I
did not let them take the milk. It was a bad job for a fellow if he
were caught at anything like this, and at the very least it meant "50."
I was in great dread, as I had to please the men by letting them take
the milk, and I also had to please the master by preventing them. One
morning I hit upon a plan to get out of this billet. It was raining
very heavily this morning, and I was wet through. When I had finished
milking I dipped my hands into the muck in the yard, and then into the
milk, carried it up to the house, and gave it to the butler. He looked
at me for a second, then at the milk, and said, "You d----, dirty
brute! Whom do you think can drink that milk?" "Well, I can't help it,"
I said, "look at the yard, up to my knees in filth, and the boss won't
give me time to clean it out." "Then you shall not milk any more," said
the butler.
I was laughing up my sleeve to think how well I had done the business.
They put another milkman on, but he soon went to the hospital with
pains in his legs. A third man was put on, and after a few days he was
recalled to help make bricks, so the old milkman was then engaged, and
that ended the trouble.
One morning the signal bell pealed out, and all the men had to go up
and see what they were wanted for. There was a terrific storm raging,
and we were told that we had to cut wood for the dining-room and
parlour fires, but not one would stand out in such weather to do the
work. We went to the boss and told him that we would cut the firewood
as soon as the storm was over. "How often am I out in the rain?" he
said, "it won't melt you--you're not sugar." Turning to the overseer,
he ordered us to be put on Government rations, and we were then the
recipients of 7 lbs. of flour, 3-1/2 lbs. of cornmeal, and 7 lbs. of
meat--what the men used to call "staggering bob"--in the week. Saturday
came--ration day--and I went up for my allowance as usual; but when
it came to the donation of meat, I was shown a large piece of bone
with a small piece of meat attached to it. "Is that what I am going
to get?" I asked. "Yes," replied the overseer, "and if you don't like
it, leave it!" I left it, declaring to myself to have some more of the
fowls and turkeys out of the castor-oil bushes. Two nights passed; the
third was showery, and very convenient for the job; it was also very
dark. I armed myself with a bag, and proceeded up to where they used
to roost. My bag was soon half-full of poultry, and some of them were
cooked and eaten in double-quick time, for the others had onions out
of the vegetable garden cooking while I was away. The remainder of the
poultry, not eaten that night, was hidden in the swamp and eaten as
required. It was very convenient to have the vegetable garden handy,
and the gardener had just planted out a hundredweight of onions, but
when he went to see how they were growing there were but very few left.
This was the only way to cure hunger after a day's toil. One night
about a week afterwards I went up to the castor-oil trees for another
pair of fowls, and who should I see on the other side of the bushes but
----, the constable, helping himself to a fowl also. I did not have
to wait long, for he soon got his, and then the coast was clear, so I
got mine and departed. The constable was looked upon as a very honest
fellow, but he was caught at last taking two sacks of flour and some
other provisions, and 12 months in irons was his lot. At this time
it took as much material to make a pair of trousers for him as would
make two pairs for an ordinary man, and when his hair was cut and his
whiskers shaven, he looked like a "mountain in a fog." But the hard
boards and one blanket, with only a sleeper for a pillow, soon told
on him, for in less than three months, after good doses of "hominy"
and the pick, he became as thin as a whipping post, although he was
fortunate enough to escape without a flogging. Some men had wonderful
luck in this way; the greatest rogue generally got off the lightest.
About half-a-dozen men were assembled in the shoemaker's shop one day,
and the conversation drifted on to persons who were living in a state
of adultery. "Now we will count," said the shoemaker to the boys, "all
the people about here who are living in a state of adultery." "And we
will commence," said another, "with you and your mother. Let me see,
how many more has she got besides you, Harry?" This was a hit for a
start, and poor Harry walked out of the shop as if he had committed a
murder. After this there was no more talk about people living on the
cross.
Flour at this time was £10 per 200 lb. sack, and, as it was so scarce,
Sir George Gipps, the Governor, recommended that those who had the
supplying of provisions for the prisoners should grind rice and mix
it with the flour. This course was adopted, but when it was baked the
loaf resembled a brick outside and a piece of clay inside. The meat
was horrible. This, however, could not be remedied, as there was no
feed for the cattle; and as for mutton--when a sheep was skinned and
dressed, if a candle were put inside of the carcase it would serve all
the purposes of a lantern.
There was a screw loose at Lake Innes one morning; the store containing
the provisions had been broken into and robbed. All the men's huts
were searched--even the floors taken up--trying to get the slightest
clue to the robbery. The police were busy as bees, but they could not
get the least hint. The value of the stolen goods was estimated at
£50, and they comprised a good assortment of the various household
requisites. The Port Macquarie police were sent for, and the boss flung
about first in one place and then in another. At last the bell rang,
and all hands had to stand out before the "Lord of the Lake." It was
a real field day--men strutting about as though in a field of battle.
The boss offered sums of money to anyone who would tell who the robbers
were, for he said that no rascal could do it single-handed. At last two
suspects were picked out and sent to the lock-up, but they returned in
a week, as no case could be got against them.
About three weeks afterwards I was at work with the pick and shovel,
making a road down to the boat-house, for there were pleasure boats on
the Lake. The constable came down to me, and said: "Ah! my boy, I've
got you and ----, now; it was you two who robbed the store, and now you
will have to pay for it. You were seen at the head of the tree where
the bag of sugar was found." I told him that I had no hand in robbing
the store, but I was marched up to the house before the boss, who said:
"So you are one of the scoundrels who broke into the store and stole
all that you could get your hands on, and I'll make it a bad job for
you and that other scoundrel. I will teach you a lesson this time, you
thieving dogs!"
Who should I see there, however, but the man that should have been at
work with me, and another fellow. They had just gone up to the house
and informed that I was a culprit. One of these two was to get his
freedom a few days later, and he evidently thought that £5 reward would
be very nice to have a spree on, no matter what an innocent man might
suffer. The other man and I were taken to Port Macquarie in a cart, and
brought before the Bench. The informer was as deaf as a post, but the
magistrate said that although the man could not hear him, he could tell
what he said by the quiver of the magistrate's lips. And so we got six
months added to our former sentence.
On Sundays church was held at the Lake, and Mrs. ---- used to preach.
I was sent for one morning to go to church, so I blackened myself and
went up without a shirt. The boss met me on the way up, and asked,
"Where are you going to?" "Well," I said, "I'm going to chapel." "Do
you think you are going to chapel without a shirt?" he continued. "My
shirt is out on the fence drying," I answered. "Then go on back again,
and don't come up in that plight any more." This was all I wanted; the
church did not trouble me.
During my term here my eyesight became bad again--it never had been
very good from the time that I had sandy blight some years before--and
it got that way at last that it was almost impossible for me to see.
The life there was not improving it, either, so I informed the boss,
and after a little conversation he gave me two letters--one to the
Police Magistrate in the town, and the other to the doctor. I started
off with the letters, not knowing what was in them, for my sight
was too bad to read; but on the way in I met someone who could, and
soon got over the difficulty. The letter to the P.M. came first, and
ran thus: "Dear ----, Inflict some severe punishment on this man and
return him to me at once, for I cannot get him to work." The other one
to the doctor was just asking him to have a look at my eyes, and do
what he could to them. Now it was not very likely that I was going to
take a note to the Magistrate to perhaps get "50" over it, so without
hesitation I tore it up, and went down to the doctor, whom I did not
fear, and knew to be a good man. He read the letter, looked at my eyes,
and then said: "Well, if you want to see you can; and if you don't want
to see you can go about with the blind mob." So I decided to give the
"blind mob" a trial.
In the spring of 1847, Governor and Lady Fitzroy visited Port
Macquarie, and were the guests of Major Innes at the Lake. When the
steamer by which they travelled arrived at the wharf, there were two
rows of soldiers drawn up on each side of the road leading from it,
and waiting a little distance away was the carriage of the "Major,"
with six horses in it--two bays, two grays, and two chestnuts--and the
distinguished visitors were driven straight away to the Lake. There
was high life at this place now for about a month--balls, parties,
pic-nics, &c.--when they returned to Sydney again. But it was the
Governor's misfortune to lose his good lady soon afterwards, for she
was killed through a carriage accident in Parramatta Park in December
of the same year.
CHAPTER VII.
THE BLIND MOB.
"He that is stricken blind, cannot forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost."
--SHAKESPEARE.
The day after the doctor told me that I could go with the "blind mob,"
I joined them. These blind people used to carry on a little gardening
and other occupations, such as the blind were suited for. And goodness
knows what they were not suited for--they could play cards, dice, toss,
and all sorts and conditions of things.
I had not been in the camp ten minutes before a notorious character,
named "Teddy," came up and said to me: "Come on, come on, we will go
and 'shake' some melons!" "Where abouts?" I inquired. "Oh! I'll show
you," he answered, "out on the Glebe." Just fancy a man as "blind as a
bat" asking me to go stealing melons. "No," I said, "I'm not going to
get into any trouble over melons," and he called me all the crawling
hounds and scoundrels that he could think of. Shortly afterwards he
said to me, "Do you ever kill snakes?" "Not often," I said; "Why, what
do you want to know that for?" "Well," he returned, "I want to get a
snake's head to put teeth upwards in the overseer's boot--I'll do for
him yet." I told him to be careful, or he would pull up on the scaffold.
I soon found out that I had got amongst the biggest lot of thieves and
robbers in the place. I became possessed of a few pence, and they knew
it. That night I retired, as usual, and put my trousers under my head.
As soon as things were quiet the trousers were eased from under my
head. I knew it but said nothing, and as soon as they found there was
no money in them, back came the pants. I came from London as well as
they did, and the money was hidden in a place that they dreamt not of.
This was quite enough of the "blind mob" for me. The next day at
dinner time I went up to the boss and told him I would rather go into
the road party than stay with thieves.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ROAD PARTIES.
"More sinned against than sinning."
--SHAKESPEARE.
When a man had finished his sentence in the chain gang, he was
sentenced to a road party, and it was Heaven to the chain gang. There
was not so much slavery, and it was possible to get a sort of bed to
lie down on at night, if it were only a sheet of ti-tree bark. The
men got a little more food, too, and they were allowed to cook it
themselves; but it was often a straggling piece of meat with about as
much fat on it as would grease the eye of a packing-needle. One man
always remained to mind the camp while the others were at work, and
very often he used to do what was known as "weeding"--that was, taking
a little out of each man's allowance of provisions, and then he had a
little to sell and get money to buy himself some tea and sugar. But
one of them went too far at this game at last and was caught; then
there was a fearful uproar. The overseer was going to take him to
court straight away, but the other men said they would rather settle
it amongst themselves, and this they did by each man giving him three
blows on the back with a knotted handkerchief; for if he had been taken
to court, he was almost certain to get six months in irons, as the
authorities did not believe in the men robbing one another of their
food. I gave him three good hits, and the handkerchief used to rebound
like India-rubber.
In the road party it was a funny sight to see some of the flash
"specials" using a cross-cut saw. Their hands were very soft, and they
used to tie pieces of old shirts round the handles at each end to
protect them. They generally liked a saw that would 'pinch,' so that
they would have an excuse to go to the camp for a maul and wedges to
drive into the cut and prevent the pinching; thus they schemed and
wasted their time. In the middle of work I often heard them commence
to talk about the fine wine they had drank at some of the big inns
in London--"The Angel at Islington," "The Hole in the Wall," or "The
Elephant and Castle," for instance, and some of them had never tasted
wine in their lives. At night they began to 'blow' about how they had
done some of the honest merchants in England out of large and small
sums of money; but it was a different tale now--they saw very little
money in the road party.
But some of them had fine times of it during one boss's term of office,
for he did not abuse them. It was different when old Major S---- came
along to inspect them. He came along once while I was there, and said
to one fellow, "Hulloa! what did you get sent out for?" "Forgery on Mr.
So and So," was the answer. "Dear me! he's a particular friend of mine.
Here, constable, take the tail off his coat and brand him all over."
The constable then cut the tail of his coat close off around the waist
and branded him all over, leaving such a smell of paint from the brands
that the flies would keep off him for a good many days afterwards.
Proceeding further the overseer pulled another fellow up--"And what was
your occupation at home, and how came you to be sent out here?" "I was
a schoolmaster, and was sent out for embezzlement," he answered. "A
fine fellow to teach scholars how to rob people. Here, constable, take
and brand him," and he shared the same fate.
A third fellow, in answer to a similar question, said, "I used to drive
my carriage and four at home, sir." "Then you will drive a wheelbarrow
and one out here!" He was branded, too.
They looked first-class with a pick and shovel, and at making a
damper--they had no more idea of this than a kangaroo. Some of them
frequently said that they were well off in England, and yet they were
the greatest villains under the sun. If a man were possessed of any
little thing out of the common they tried all sorts of plans to get it
from him, and if unsuccessful by fair means, they would steal it from
him. Every man had to do his own washing, and these "specials" would
rub away at their duck pants with a piece of soap about the size of a
halfpenny. The soap was something like the sugar they got for their
"hominy"--it was visible, and that was all.
The Police Magistrate came along once and heard one of the party pass
a remark which he did not like, so he said, "Jack, if I could find
a man to give you 50 lashes, you would get it." Up sprang a short
fellow, named Ned ----, and exclaimed, "I will give it to him for you;
if you'll promise me he won't have the satisfaction of flogging me
afterwards."
"I promise you he will not have that privilege," said the P.M.
"Well, then," said Ned, "I'm in office."
He got Jack on the "three-legged mare," as they used to call it, and
started flogging.
Jack sang out, "You're not hitting me properly."
"I'm doing my best to please you," he said, "so you must take it as it
comes."
He gave him another lash and said, "There, does that please you?"
"No," exclaimed Jack.
"My G----," he said, "it seems you're hard to please, but you will have
to take it as well as I can give it to you."
This Jack was a well-educated man, and a frightful rogue into the
bargain; for if he got a man drunk he would pick his pocket and then
take him to the lock-up afterwards.
The chief constable said to him one day, "Jack, the men tell me that you
rob them."
"Well, sir, I might as well have the money as them; for they only kill
themselves with drink and put the Government to more expense."
As soon as this man got free, he went home to his friends.
Old Major ---- was hard on these "specials;" if they did the least
thing it meant "50," and he would sing out to the flogger, "Tip it into
him," and afterwards they were sent to a road party.
Two blind men were brought before him one day on a small charge, and he
asked, "What have you two to say for yourselves?" Their reply was the
throwing of two half-bricks at him, and one struck him above the eye.
For this they were committed for trial, and afterwards sentenced to
three years at Norfolk Island.
H---- was the name of one of these "specials," and when using the spade
he stood as upright as a yard of pump-water; but when the overseer
spoke to him, he had the appearance of a goose looking down a bottle.
When this fellow became free, he went to Sydney, and used to walk about
with a gold-headed cane selling eye-lotion.
Most of the "specials" were merely clerks and were sent to this
Settlement so that they would not be able to write home and tell how
things were going on. They appeared to just do as they liked with those
who were under them. If a man did not put his hand to his hat when
passing of the bosses, and pay them what was termed "respect," he was
liable to "50;" if he gave any of them a sharp answer he was sure of
"50," and if he said nothing at all, it was considered to be "silent
contempt," and this meant the same "50," so a man might as well do
something as be punished for nothing. This is how men who had to work
for them were treated. It was a singular thing, however, that not one
of these bosses died worth as much money as they could "jingle on a
tombstone."
The worst wretches that a man could be put to work under were those who
had been sent to the country themselves. They were far worse than men
who came out free, and how men put up with the tyranny of these brutes
is far beyond my conception.
In those days there were very few guns procurable, and it was a rare
thing to see even an old flint musket. Pat ---- was ordered to get
"50" every morning for a week for taking to the bush with one of
these muskets. He begged of the boss to let him have the whole week's
flogging at once, and so he got it. This old brute used to glory in
seeing a man being literally chopped to pieces, and stood by, saying,
"Tip it into him!"
The bosses in these road parties were often men with wooden legs, and
were put over these men as they were considered unfit for any other
purpose. If annoyed, they thought nothing of taking a stick--sometimes
their wooden legs--and striking the men with them. One noted cripple
turned on me one morning, but I retaliated with an axe-handle, and gave
him a good thrashing. After this I bolted, but was caught a few days
afterwards, and received 12 months in irons for my trouble. I could not
put up with hard work, and be knocked about by a hopping dog of a man