Early Australian History

Convict Life In New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, In Two Parts

 

by Charles White

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EARLY AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

CONVICT LIFE

 

In

 

New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

 

PARTS I & II

 

THE STORY OF THE TEN GOVERNORS,

AND

THE STORY OF THE CONVICTS.

 

By CHARLES WHITE

 

 

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1889.

 

 

 

 

 

Early Australian History.

A Series of Historical Sketches, bearing upon Australian Colonization and Convict Life in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

 

INTRODUCTORY.

How strangely the links fit in! Little did the British Government think when issuing the orders in Council in 1786 for establishing a Convict Settlement in New South Wales, that they were taking the initial steps towards founding a "New Britannia in the Southern World." Yet so it was. If the American War of Independence had not closed the plantations of Virginia against the reception of transported offenders, and cast upon the British Government the duty of fixing upon some other place to which they might send some of the prisoners who then filled the gaols of Great Britain to overflowing, the wonderful land of which Captain Cook had spoken as having been discovered by him, and concerning which the interest of the English people had been considerably excited at the time his narratives-were published—the land which now ranks as one of the richest, most populous, and most progressive of the British dependencies—might to this day have remained in the possession of the aborigines; producing nothing, promising nothing; locked up from civilization and all its blessings (and curses), and unknown save to the few thousands of blacks who might from year to year inhabit it. And what, then, would the world have lost—what, then, should we who live in it have lost?

Pessimists, time and again, have raised a lachrymose wail about the 'stain' which must always rest on the colony through the criminality of its early life; but these men can never see anything but the evil, and even that evil they would intensify for the sake of making their wailing more mournful. 'Tis true that the beginning was in some measure bad, but that bad beginning was better than no beginning at all; and, fresh from long and deep research among old records, I am bold to declare that the earlier convicts were not the worst criminals who came out to the colony, and that some of the darker and bloodier stains which deface the first pages of the colony's history were made by men who counted the poor chained wretches under them as worse than the offal in a charnel-house—men who came out free, who lived freely, lied and robbed and murdered freely, and who literally fattened on the blood of other mortals a thousand times better than themselves, although those mortals had been banished from their fatherland in chains. The facts in proof of this assertion will appear in proper order; at present we must deal with events that transpired before either bond or free from Britain's shores placed foot upon Australian land for the purpose of making it their home.

Great Britain had had experience of transport colonization before ever Australia was thought of. For upwards of a century and a half, historians tell us, great numbers of convicts were annually sent across the Atlantic to American plantations, most of them being sold to the planters for a term of years or for life, and from this source, for a considerable period, England is said to have derived a revenue as large at times as £40,000 a year, the convicts being sold to the planters at an average of £20 each. But here, also, out of evil good arose. Virginia, one of England's earliest and most successful attempts at colonization, is a remarkable instance of prosperity outflowing from beginnings of the darkest moral shade. In the case of Australia, the conditions were different, but the elements were the same, and now that the old order has changed, giving place to the new, we, from the midst of the free, beneficent and flourishing institutions now existing—from surroundings of the most favorable character—from conditions of private, social and public life of which any nation might be proud—look out upon the fast-fading picture of the past, and marvel exceedingly at the change.

"Read me anything but history," said Walpole; "that is sure to be false." And a good many in Australia living at the present day would give not a little of their possessions to be able to create a general distaste for and hatred of colonial history, and to induce those who cared to read that history to believe that it was false. They fear the record because of its truth, and because they have reason to know that in this case "truth is stranger than fiction." And I purpose giving only such facts, in this somewhat irregular narrative, as can be vouched for either by living witnesses or by written (some very badly written) official records. The reader can, of course, if he choose, keep in view the maxim of Epicharmus—"Be discreet, and bethink thee to be mistrustful, to disbelieve rather than otherwise;" but neither doubt nor distrust on the reader's part will render less true the records—some of which are written in ineffaceable letters of blood.

PART I.——The Story of the Ten Governors.

CHAPTER I.—GOVERNOR PHILLIP—1787 to 1792.

FIRST SIGHT OF THE ABORIGINES—THE LANDING—REGULAR FORM OF GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED—A COMPARISON—FIRST LIVESTOCK STATISTICS—UNLIMITED GUBERNATORIAL POWERS—PROGRESS OF CULTIVATION—TROUBLESOME CONVICTS—TROUBLES WITH THE BLACKS—STARVATION TIMES—STRINGENT REGULATIONS—THE LASH AND THE GALLOWS—FIRST GRANT OF LAND—FIRST SETTLERS—FIRST FREED CONVICTS—HIGH PRICES—MORTALITY TABLES—"TRUE PATRIOTS WE"—FIRST ATTEMPT TO PIERCE THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

IT was early in the year 1787 that a fleet of eleven sail could be seen rendezvousing off the Isle of Wight, the names of the vessels being the Sirius, frigate; the Supply, armed tender; the Golden Grove, Fishburn, and Barrowdale, storeships; and the Scarborough, Lady Penrhyn, Friendship, Charlotte, Prince of Wales, and Alexander, transports. On board were Captain Arthur Phillip, styled Governor and Commander-in-Chief of New South Wales, with other inferior officers—a Lieutenant-Governor, a chaplain, a commissary, judge advocate, surgeon, adjutant, quarter-master, two assistant surgeons and an agent for transports; a garrison of 200 marines, fully officered; 200 soldiers, forty of whom were allowed to take their wives and families; 81 other free persons and 696 convicts—making a total of 1044 persons. Of this number 1030 were safely landed in the colony in January, 1788, having been eight months on the water. Of the number landed about 300 were females, twenty-eight being wives of the military, and 192 convicts. It must not be supposed that these male and female convicts were criminals of the deepest die, for they were mostly young persons from the agricultural districts of England, and out of the whole 696, only 55 were sentenced for longer periods than seven years, and the sentences of a large number would expire within two or three years after their landing. The laws of England a century ago, and their administration, were very different from what they are now, and large numbers of those who crowded the gaols, and were sent from the gaols across the water to the new land, had never been accused of anything worse than poaching or smuggling, while many of them were suffering for political offences which in later days made statesmen, and crowned the 'transgressors' with imperishable glory. That there were some very bad men and women in the first batch, and in the batches that followed in their wake, is true; but the number was proportionately small, and their influence for evil was necessarily contracted.

The first ship of the fleet, the Supply, with the Governor on board, anchored in Botany Bay on 18th January, 1788, and was closely followed by the other ships. Concerning the landing we find the following record in the history of Governor Phillip's voyage, published in the following year:—"At the very first landing of Governor Phillip on the shore of Botany Bay, January 18th, 1788, an interview with the natives took place. They were all armed, but on seeing the Governor approach with signs of friendship, alone and un-armed, they readily returned his confidence by laying down their weapons. They were perfectly devoid of clothing, yet seemed fond of ornaments, putting the beads and red baize that were given them on their heads and necks, and appearing pleased to wear them. The presents offered by their new visitors were all readily accepted, nor did any kind of disagreement arise while the ships remained in Botany Bay." Well would it have been for the aborigines if Governor Phillip's spirit had animated all those who in after years, during the succeeding efforts of colonization and settlement, were brought into contact with them. Some of the facts detailed later on will prove that, in the fullest sense of the term, civilization to the blacks meant nothing more nor less than physical and moral ruin, and that in the sound of the first gun fired from a British piece on Australian soil the original occupants of that soil heard their death knell.

The story of the first landing of Governor Phillip's mixed party, and the subsequent removal of the settlement from Botany Bay to Port Jackson, whose harbour, from its sheltered position, deep water, and almost immeasurable bays and bold headlands, was seen to be the most desirable haven that anyone could wish, must be familiar to the reader; as also must be the formalities observed by the Governor on January 26th, 1788, in taking possession of the land—hoisting British colors on a flagstaff erected on the site now occupied by Dawes' Battery, drinking the King's health around the pole amid much excitement and cheering, while the blacks saw and heard from a distance the wonderful sights and sounds, little dreaming that the company of white-faced mortals upon whom they gazed would in so short a space of time push them off the land which Nature had given them to possess.

The work of clearing a sufficient space for tents and stores on the shores of Sydney Cove occupied about a fortnight, and this done, the work of establishing a regular form of Government was carried out in a very solemn manner by the Governor. The military was drawn up under arms, the prisoners stationed apart, and the Royal Commission and the Acts of Parliament authorising the establishment of the Courts of Judicature having been read by the Judge-Advocate, a volley was fired, and his Excellency delivered an address to the convicts. He reminded them that they were now so placed that by industry and good behaviour they might soon regain the advantages which they had forfeited, and promised that every assistance should be rendered them in their efforts to reach the position which they had lost by their offences; but he told them plainly that no mercy would be shewn to offenders against the law. He advised those of the convicts who were in a position to do so to marry, holding out to them promises of assistance; and he closed his address by declaring his earnest desire to promote the well being of all who had been placed under his control, and his determination, with the help of God, to render the colonization of the new land advantageous and honorable to the colony.

Speaking of this time, Collins, one of the earliest writers on the colonization of New South Wales, says: "The confusion that ensued will not be wondered at when it is considered that every man stepped from a boat literally into a wood. Parties of people were everywhere heard and seen variously employed; some in clearing ground for the different encampments, others in pitching tents or bringing up such stores as were more immediately wanted; and the spot which had so recently been the abode of silence and tranquility was now changed to that of noise, clamour and confusion; but after a time order gradually prevailed everywhere. As the woods were opened and the ground cleared, the various encampments were extended, and all wore the appearance of regularity." Let anyone now mix with the thousands of hurrying, bustling mortals, of every age and color and clime, who daily come and go to the water's edge where this landing took place, and as he gazes across the crowded harbour or turns back to pass through the mazes of buildings and the ever-thickening stream of people in the city of Sydney and the adjacent suburbs, the one great surprise of his life will be the marvellous change which has taken place in the short space of a hundred years.

Four months after the first landing—in May, 1788—the Governor directed every person in the Settlement to make a return of what live stock was in his possession, and this was the full record:—1 horse, 3 mares, 3 colts, 2 bulls, 5 cows, 29 sheep, 19 goats, 49 hogs, 29 pigs, 5 rabbits, 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks, 122 fowls, and 89 chickens. And only this from which the supply of fresh meat for more than a thousand persons was to be drawn! From this small stock, in the following month, the two bulls and four of the five cows were lost through the carelessness of the man who had charge of them; although the loss eventually proved a great and permanent gain, the stray animals being afterwards discovered—in November, 1795—on the other side of the Nepean River, a place there after called the Cowpastures, the seven having become nearly fifty. Governor Hunter, who had succeeded Phillip, in person went in search of the missing cattle and personally inspected the herd, satisfying himself that they were the descendants of the original importations by having one of them killed. These wild cattle were religiously preserved from destruction, and increasing greatly divided into mobs, each under the charge of a victorious bull, until the general increase of stock diminished their value. The surrounding small settlers consumed not a little of the wild beef, and, subsequently, when beef ceased to be a luxury, the remnants of this wild tribe, which had sprung from the original stock, were destroyed by order of the Government. It is recorded that about the time this wild herd was discovered three miserable cows of the Indian breed sold for £189, and two years afterwards two ships were employed eight months in bringing 51 cows, 3 bulls, and 90 sheep from the Cape, at enormous cost. Running along the years we find at the beginning of 1887, in the three colonies of Australia alone—New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland—the following record of live stock possessions:—

New South Wales:
............369,663 Horses
.........1,367,844 Cattle
.......39,169,304 Sheep
...........209,576 Pigs.

Victoria:
............308,553 Horses
.........1,303,265 Cattle
.......10,700,403 Sheep
............240,957 Pigs.

Queensland:
............278,694 Horses
.........4,071,563 Cattle
.........9,690,445 Sheep
..............61,861 Pigs.

TOTAL:
.............956,910 Horses
..........6,742,672 Cattle
........59,560,152 Sheep
............512,394 Pigs.

And this is not the only illustration that Australia has furnished of a 'little one' becoming 'a thousand.'

It was towards the close of 1792 that Governor Phillip resigned his command in the colony and returned to England; and here a word or two may be said in praise of his uprightness of character, kindness of heart, firm discipline, and administrative ability. His position was a peculiarly onerous one, his duties were most difficult, and the noble example of disinterestedness and self-sacrifice set by him on more than one occasion when actual starvation stared the colonists—free as well as bond—in the face, has never been surpassed by any ruler in ancient or modern times. After the lapse of a hundred years one can hardly conceive the difficulties attendant upon official life in the days when Governor Phillip held absolute sway. The rough and rude material which he had to shape into order and decency would under favorable circumstances have tested the humanity and statesmanship of the kindest of mortals and the most skilful of generals; but it was under the most unfavorable conditions that Governor Phillip successfully carried the people placed under his charge through the initial stages of colonization and settlement. The convicts at times gave great trouble, and had it not been for the strictness of the discipline enforced—although no approach was made to arbitrariness, much less official cruelty—it is more than probable that felony would have proved too much for the powers of militaryism, and lawlessness would have triumphed. It is not every man who, in a similar position, would have used his powers so wisely—powers the equal of which have, perhaps, never been held or exercised by any other official in the British dominions. He could sentence to 500 lashes, fine £500; the regulation of customs and trade were in his hands; he could fix prices and wages, could sentence a man to death and execute him, or grant an absolute pardon; he could bestow grants of land, or prevent a would-be purchaser from investing in any article for use or trade. As Samuel Sidney well puts it: "All the labour of the colony was at his disposal, all the land, all the stores, all the places of honor and profit, and virtually all the justice. His subjects consisted of his subordinate officers—for, as captain-general, the commandant of the troops was under his orders,—of the few who resorted to New South Wales to trade, whose profits were at his disposal, and the convicts, outcasts without civil rights. The distance from England, the few means of communication, the indifference of the English to the fate of the inhabitants of a penal colony, or of any colony, rendered the governor, so far as the control of law extended, actually irresponsible. As there was no law, so there was no publicity and no public opinion to restrain the despotism which was the only possible government in such a penal colony." More powerful than many Sovereigns, yet exercising that power more like a kind parent than a despotic king, what wonder that he should have succeeded in preserving order in a community and under conditions most unfavorable, and where failure would have attended the efforts of most men?

Under the unfavourable circumstances existing, it was not to be expected that during the four-and-a-half years of Governor Phillip's reign any great progress in the direction of proper settlement would be made; but there was progress, nevertheless. The work of cultivation was carried on by the Government as well as it was able on the public account, but the conditions of soil and labour were so unsuitable that the yield was not nearly sufficient at the best to provide for the wants of the inhabitants, whose numbers were ever increasing by the arrival of fresh ship-loads of convicts. On two or three occasions the colony was put in the greatest straits through the failure of the crops and the absence of provisions. During the first year nothing was produced in the colony except a few vegetables, and the stock of provisions brought out from England was in danger of being exhausted before fresh supplies could be procured. Everyone was put upon short allowance, and disaffection among the troops and the convicts speedily manifested itself. Some of the former entered into a conspiracy for plundering the public store, and succeeded in abstracting a quantity of provisions before the plot was discovered. As a warning to others the chief conspirators, seven in number, were hanged by the Governor straight off. Starvation stared the people in the face, and, regardless of consequences, the convicts broke regulation bounds and strayed into the bush in search of herbs and roots. The result was a natural one—scores of them were murdered by the blacks, and so many were being cut down in this way that an order was given for every one found beyond certain boundaries to receive one hundred and fifty lashes. If any of the unfortunates managed to get away from the aborigines only wounded they were sent to the hospital, and flogged as soon as they recovered. In those days death was not always the worst fate that could befall a prisoner.

The early records declare that one man who was caught by the solitary clergyman in the settlement stealing potatoes from a garden, was sentenced to 300 lashes, to have his ration of flour stopped for six months, and to be chained for that period to two others who had been caught robbing the Governor's garden.

During this trying period Governor Phillip lived on the same ration as was allowed to the meanest person under his charge, the weekly provision issued to everyone being simply two and a half pounds of flour, two pounds of rice, and two pounds of pork. The humanity of the Governor is seen in the fact narrated by Collins that he gave up 3 cwt. of flour which was his own private property, declaring that he did not wish to have on his table at such a time more than the ration that was received in common from the public stores.

When the people were on the very verge of despair and death, their eyes were gladdened by the sight of a provision ship sailing into the harbour, and bringing 127,000 lbs. of flour, being a four months' supply for the settlement. A few days afterwards four ships arrived bringing 1000 male and 250 female convicts. It can readily be imagined what would have happened had these transport ships discharged their living freight before the public larder had been replenished by the timely arrival of the vessel with provisions.

It is worthy of record that the first grant of land was made to a settler named Ruse in 1791, he having declared that he was able to support himself without aid from the Government stores on a farm which he had occupied fifteen months, the grant of land having been made as a reward for his industry. In December, 1792, there were 67 settlers holding under grant 3,470 acres, of which 470 acres were under cultivation and another hundred cleared. The bulk of this land was near Sydney, and was then, as it is now, looked at from an agriculturist's point of view, 'miserably barren;' and the little provision that was won from the soil was chiefly due to the fact that the work was done by convicts and without pay. These free settlers—most of them convicts free by servitude or pardon—were supported entirely for eighteen months by the Government, assistance being rendered as soon as they went on the land. They were clothed, received their tools and primitive implements of husbandry, and grain for seed, from the Government stores, together with the use of as many convicts as they would undertake to clothe, feed, and employ; while huts were erected for them also at the public expense.

The Government also did a little farming on its own account, and the site of the present Botanical gardens was one of the first plots to be brought under cultivation.

Among the first settlers were some of the marines who had formed the first garrison and whose places were filled by detachments of the corps raised expressly for service in the colony, afterwards called the 102nd Regiment. Those who chose to stay had quantities of land granted to them in proportion to their rank, and several of those who availed themselves of the advantages offered became wealthy colonists in the course of a few years. The regulations under which land was granted to non-commissioned officers and privates on the expiry of their terms of service were as follows:—To every non-commissioned officer, an allotment of 130 acres of land, if single; and 150 if married. To every private 80 acres if single and 100 if married; and ten acres for each child at the time of granting the allotment—free of all taxes, quit-rents, and other acknowledgments for the term of five years; at the expiration of which term to be liable to an annual quit-rent of one shilling for every fifty acres. As a further inducement to engage in public service, a bounty was offered of £3 per man to every non-commissioned officer and private who would enlist in the new corps; and an allotment of double the above proportion of land if they behaved well for five years, to be granted them at the expiration of that term, the allotments not to be subject to any tax for ten years. And at their discharge at either of the above periods, they were to be supplied with clothing and one year's provisions, with seed-grain, tools, and implements of agriculture. The service of a certain number of convicts was to be assigned to them for their labour when they could make it appear that they could feed and clothe them.

A list of the prices of agricultural stock and produce at the close of Governor Phillip's reign will shew how scarce were some of those things which now are almost beyond counting. Flour (ship's) was 9d per lb., potatoes 3d per lb., tea 8s to 16s per lb., sugar 1s 6d per lb., (and black at that!), porter 1s per quart, spirits 12s to 20s per gallon, sheep (the Cape breed) £10 10s each, milch goats £8 8s, breeding sows £7 7s to £10 10s, laying fowls 10s each. Of cattle and horses there were none for sale.

The rough mortality table for 1792 shews that there died two persons of the civil department, six soldiers, 418 male convicts, 18 female convicts, and 79 children. The marvel is that under such unfavourable conditions of life the mortality was not much greater. Referring to this subject Collins says:—"The weakest of the convicts were excused from all kinds of labour; but it was not hard labour that destroyed them; it was an entire want of strength in the constitution, which nothing but proper nourishment could repair. This dreadful mortality was confined to this class of people; and the wretches who were detected (stealing) were in general too weak to receive a punishment adequate to their crimes. Their universal plea was hunger; a plea which, though it could not be contradicted, imperious necessity deprived of its due weight, and frequently compelled punishment to be inflicted when pity was the prevailing sentiment." When, however, the settlement was again placed on full rations (July, 1792), there were better filled stomachs, more contentment, and fewer deaths.

The year of Governor Phillip's departure was made remarkable also by the arrival of the first foreign trading vessel. She was from the United States, and entered Port Jackson in November, loaded with goods which the enterprising American skipper considered suitable to the new market. As it happened, the goods forming his cargo were in great demand, and he disposed of them at a high profit. In the same month one of the first warrants of emancipation was made out in favour of the notorious London pick-pocket, Barrington, to whom the credit of composing the prologue to one of the first dramatic representations attempted in the colony was given, and which contained the oft-quoted lines:

"True patriots all, for be it understood,
We left our country for our country's good."

The following is the full text of that peculiar document:—

From distant climes, o'er wide-spread seas we come,
Though not with much eclat, or beat of drum;
True patriots all, for, be it understood,
We left our country for our country's good:
No private views disgrac'd our generous zeal.
What urg'd our travels was our country's weal;
And none will doubt, but that our emigration
Has proved most useful to the British nation.
But you inquire, what could our breasts inflame.
With this new passion for theatric fame;
What in the practice of our former days,
Could shape our talent to exhibit plays?
Your patience, Sirs, some observations made.
You'll grant us equal to the scenic trade.
He, who to midnight ladders is no stranger,
You'll own will make an admirable ranger.
To seek Macheath we have not far to roam,
And sure in Filch I shall be quite at home.
Unrivalled there, none will dispute my claim,
To high pre-eminence and exalted fame.
As oft to Gadshill we have ta'en our stand,
When 'twas so dark you could not see your hand.
Some true bred Falstaff we may hope to start,
Who, when well-holster'd well will play his part,
The scene to vary, we shall try in time.
To treat you to a little pantomime.
Here light and easy columbines are found,
And well-bred harlequins with us abound;
From durance vile our precious selves to keep
We often had recourse to th' flying leap;
To a black face have sometimes ow'd escape,
And Hounslow Heath has proved the worth of crape.
But how, you ask, can we e'er hope to soar
Above these scenes, and rise to tragic lore?
Too oft, alas! we've forced th' unwilling tear,
And petrified the heart with real fear.
Macbeth a harvest of applause will reap,
For some of us, I fear, have murdered sleep;
His lady too with grace will sleep and talk,
Our females have been used at night to walk.
Sometimes, indeed, so various is our art.
An actor may improve and mend his part;
"Give me a horse," bawls Richard, like a drone,
We'll find a man would help himself to one.
Grant us the favour, put us to the test,
To gain your smiles we'll do our very best;
And, without dread of future Turnkey Lockits,
Thus, in an honest way, still pick your pockets.

It is worthy of note also that the first attempt to penetrate the Blue Mountains was made during Governor Phillip's reign. In the month of December 1789, Lieutenant Dawes and a party essayed the task, but returned to Sydney after nine days' absence without having as much as touched the cover of that sealed book which in future years was to open up to the people of all countries such a vast area of wealth-producing soil. For many years thereafter the Blue Mountains were looked upon as a curtain hiding from view a most mysterious land; but it is safe to say that no dream of wealth and beauty then crossing the mind even approached the reality which many thousands at the present day both feel and know.

Governor Phillip embarked for England on the 11th December, 1792, and settled in Bath on a pension of £500 a year, which was granted by the British Government, for his services in establishing the colony. He died at Bath in 1814.

CHAPTER II.—THE INTERREGNUM—1792 to 1795.

MAJOR GROSE AND CAPTAIN PATTERSON—A MILITARY DESPOTISM—THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS—DIVIDING THE SPOILS—FOUNDING A COLONIAL ARISTOCRACY—JOHN MACARTHUR, CAPTAIN AND PAYMASTER—IMPROVING THE BREED OF SHEEP—AN UNSCRUPULOUS "RING"—OFFICIAL HUCKSTERERS AND EPAULETTED DEALERS—A CURRENCY OF RUM—COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY—MONOPOLY AND EXTORTION—500 PER CENT.—DISTRIBUTION OF CONVICTS—HIGH PRICES—OUTDOING THE CONVICTS IN LICENTIOUSNESS—THE RUM HOSPITAL—SELLING A WIFE—EMANCIPATED CONVICTS IN BUSINESS—A GAOLER PUBLICAN—KILLING THE TRAFFIC—INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.

During the greater portion of the three years following Governor Phillip's departure the Government of the settlement was practically a military despotism. The Government devolved, first upon Major Francis Grose, and secondly upon Captain Patterson, senior officers of the 102nd Regiment of the New South Wales Corps, and these officers by incompetency on the one hand and wretched militaryism on the other succeeded in establishing an order of things the whole tendency of which was evil, and the results of which have extended down the whole line of the hundred years which have now passed since the foundation of the colony.

A word or two here concerning the "New South Wales Corps," of which these officers were distinguished members, must be said. The corps had been raised in England in 1790-1 for service in the colonies—a service which was not considered at that time either dignified or honourable for any British officer of much repute to engage in; and consequently many of those who found their way into it possessed a very low estimate of morality and honesty. They were, therefore, quite prepared to engage in any work, however dirty, or unjust, or arbitrary, that would bring pecuniary profit to themselves or satisfy the gross sensuality of their natures. And they found in the convict settlement a splendid field for the exercise of their evil inclinations.

The first use Grose made of his power was to issue an order merging the civil in the military authority. From this time forth the officers of the Corps held the reins of power, and they were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunities thus offered for self-aggrandisement; and so firmly did they batten themselves on the life of the colony—social, civil, and political—that for nearly a quarter of a century after the issue of Grose's first order they literally wielded the helm of State, against Governors and people alike.

Their first division of the 'spoils' consisted in land appropriation. Although Governor Phillip had only alienated about 3,000 acres of the public land to private individuals, these military robbers appropriated more than 15,000 acres to themselves within a very short time, their own immediate friends coming in for a share of the plunder. And for long after their messmates had vacated the gubernatorial seat this small but powerful class continued to 'grab' the public estate with greedy fingers, and those of them who were steady as well as unscrupulous thus became the founders of wealthy families who, even at that early day, and with the dirt still clinging to their fingers, assumed the powers and privileges of a 'landed aristocracy.' The leader of the class which assumed such privileges was Mr. John Macarthur, who was captain and paymaster of the Corps, but who after a few years service left the ranks of honour and developed into a large landed proprietor and owner of stock; subsequently becoming so powerful as to disturb even the seat of Government, and plunge the whole colony into confusion. The one redeeming feature in his career was the successful attempt he made to improve the breed of sheep; but it is questionable whether, even in this act, he had any higher patriotic motive than that furnished by the possibly louder jingle of coin in his own pocket. It is but just to say, however, that he set a virtuous example in private and social life which put the conduct of many of his fellow-officers to the blush, his family being one of the best-regulated in the colony.

The position occupied by the officers of the New South Wales Corps furnished them with singular advantages in the matter of mercantile speculations, and history supplies no record of any more unscrupulous or successful 'ring' than that formed by them. They had absolute control of the King's stores, which were supplies from England and contained all that was supposed to be necessary for the comfortable sustenance of the settlement, and from these stores they would obtain supplies of useful articles at cost price, to retail them out at an enormous profit; and in time they established a monopoly that was as immoral as it was vexatious and disastrous. At first they confined their operations to the wholesale line of business; but as time went on and they saw emancipated convicts amassing wealth by petty dealing among their fellows, they plunged into that business and established a monopoly in that line also, their official command of appliances and facilities giving them great advantages over honest, fair-dealing men. They formed a guild among themselves, having for its object a monopoly of the profits on all importations, by levying a sort of blackmail on all goods landed in the colony, and particularly of such stores as were sent out by the Home Government for disposal to the settlers. The moment a cargo of goods was stored in the Government Warehouse these official hucksterers assembled and divided the goods among themselves; they then placed their marks, and the prices at which the public would be allowed to purchase, on each packet or article; and by this plan, although no money was actually paid, they reaped enormous profits, as all the money above the prices fixed by the Government or the private importers went into their own pockets. They were also in a position to compel the settlers to sell to them, at their own prices, produce which they afterwards re-sold to the Government at the higher rates which had been fixed through their influence; and if a settler raised any objection to this one-sided bargain they literally shut the door of the public store against him. To such a pitch did these commercial weevil carry their scheme that in some years it is said not a single bushel of grain or pound of pork found its way into the Government stores except through their hands. What wonder, then, that the poor settlers should grow poorer and that natural production should fall off! This nefarious system was carried out after the following fashion:—No private person was allowed to enter the public store unless he produced a written order from a Government officer, which order, owing to the officer having a 'finger in the pie,' had to be purchased at a very high rate; so that only those able and willing to pay the heavy premium to the privileged selling class could procure the article they required from the store.

These epauletted dealers also traded in another way.

Rum was the article then, and for many years afterwards, in most frequent requisition throughout the colony. Spirits were, in fact, the currency of the colony. Almost all extra work was paid for in spirits, and the diligence of prisoners even, in unloading a vessel laden with Government stores, was stimulated by giving half a pint of rum to each. Among free and bond, drunkenness was a prevailing vice—a natural result of the system introduced under this military-cum-trading crowd, of officially making rum the currency. How universal became the practice was proved on oath by a gentleman who knew all about it, when giving evidence in 1811 at the trial of Colonel Johnston for his connection with the forcible deposition of Governor Bligh. Mr. John McArthur's evidence was as follows:—

Question:—"Has not the barter of spirits been always practised by every person in the colony, as a matter of necessity, from the want of currency?"

Answer:—"I know of no exception; as far as my observation went it was universal; officers civil and military, clergy, every description of inhabitants, were under the necessity of paying for the necessaries of life, for every article of consumption, in that sort of commodity which the people who had to sell were inclined to take: in many cases you could not get labour performed without it."

Captain Kemp, another of the New South Wales Corps, on the same occasion, under catechism, made a similar reply:—

Question:—"Was the barter of spirits prohibited by Governor Macquarie; or were the officers of the 73rd Regiment allowed to barter spirits?"

Answer:—"The Governor, clergy, officers civil and military, all ranks and descriptions of people, bartered spirits when I left Sydney—viz., in May, 1810."

A rule was established that there should be periodical issues of rum to the officers of the Corps, in quantities according to rank. But they supplemented this 'allowance'(self-granted, be it remembered) by first purchase of the cargo. When a merchant ship arrived in the harbour, the officers of the Corps got the first sight of her manifest and first choice of her cargo; but they were kind enough to allow the free or emancipated convict-merchants to follow in their wake. And they were as vigorous in the retail trade as in the wholesale. Most of the non-commissioned officers had licenses to sell spirits; and in this manner the superfluous rum of the Regiment was disposed of.

But to narrate in detail all the actions of these men, and their results, would fill a bulky volume. It must suffice to say that after they had pursued their system of spoliation for some twenty years they received a check. The injustice they were inflicting upon the free settlers at length became so notorious as to attract the attention of the British Parliament, and in 1812 a Committee of the House of Commons sat to consider the matter. The following extracts from the evidence taken before that Committee will shew the extent to which these gentry carried their depredations:—

MAURICE MARGAROT called in and examined:—

"In what year did you sail to New South Wales? In 1794. And to what period did you remain? Till the year 1810.

"Did you observe that in consequence of the mode in which the convicts at Botany Bay were treated, that their morals and conduct were improved by their treatment? No.

"What do you conceive to be the obstacle to their improvement? The selection of the officers by Government who are sent out there, and the arbitrary mode in which that Government is carried on, for as much as they have no rule to go by but one Act of Parliament, which enjoins them to keep as near to the laws of England as they can.

"Point out what you conceive to be the principal defects in the system adopted by the officers sent out by this country.—Trade and personal interests; for to nothing else can their behaviour be attributed; it is barbarous and cruel in the extreme.

"Do the majority of the officers to whom the Government of the colony is entrusted embark in trade? All, to a man.

"What is that trade? In consists, first of all, of monopoly, then of extortion; it includes all the necessaries of life which are brought to the colony. The trade in which the officers are engaged is, first, the supply of the stores with wheat and pork, sometimes beef and mutton, to the exclusion of the settlers; next, vessels arrive from different parts of Europe, and from India, with such articles as may be deemed luxuries; tea, sugar, rum, wine, little matters for clothing, silk handkerchiefs, &c., and a variety of articles; the officers purchase them and retail them at perhaps 500 per cent. profit. There is likewise another monopoly; the Government has been very kind to the colony, and sent out various articles for the use of the settlers and prisoners, such as sieves, hats, clothes, linen, coarse cloth, and a thousand other articles; when a ship of that kind has arrived, and the goods have been landed in the King's stores, after a few days the stores are opened to the officers, who go in, lay their hands upon every thing of value, and have their names affixed to it as purchasers, and they leave nothing but the refuse for the colony; having so done, by themselves or by their agents, they retail that, as I said before, at 500 per cent. profit. I believe that I am not out when I say that a sieve, to sift meal, which cost them 5/9, has been sold for three guineas, and rum I have known sold at £8 per gallon, which cost 7/6.

"Do you mean that civil officers, or military, or both, are engaged in this trade? All of them to a man. In the year 1797 a combination bond was entered into by them, by which they were neither to underbuy nor undersell the one from the other.

"How was that known in the colony? Because it was offered me to sign, and I refused it, and from thence began my persecutions; some of the upper inhabitants had that bond tendered them to sign; it was brought to me, I refused signing it; it went in fact to do what they have done ever since without it; there was an esprit de corps among them, that although they might jar between one another, if you offended one you offended the whole; and any poor prisoner that had the misfortune to offend any one officer would be sure to get a flogging from some other.

"Are not the settlers supplied with servants upon the first arrival of the convicts? No, they are not; they must wait until all the officers are served; they must wait until they can make interest with some person in office to obtain one.

"Do you think the colony was in a more flourishing state when you came away than when you went there first? Proportionately less. There were about 4000 inhabitants when I went there; there were but about 11,000 or 12,000 when I left it.

"Did the respectable part of the colony appear to you to be increasing? There was very little respectable there."

WILLIAM RICHARDSON called in, and examined:—

"In what year did you go to Botany Bay? I do not recollect the year; I went out with Governor Phillip in the first fleet.

"Till what year did you remain there? I came home last Christmas was twelve months—Christmas 1810.

"Were the articles you bought for yourself expensive to you? Very expensive; shoes 20/- a pair; for a shirt 20/-; sugar 7d. per lb., and tea a dollar an ounce; spirits, generally 20/- a bottle.

"Were those high prices owing to a temporary scarcity, or was it a general thing? It was general for the poor; the rich could get it cheaper.

"Are you able to account for these high prices? No, I cannot; but from gentlemen having an opportunity of going aboard, and buying things of the captain; we could not go on board because we were always paid with copper coin, and therefore we could buy nothing; if I had got £10 soldier's pay I could not get one individual thing from a ship."

[N.B.—This man had gone out as a convict for seven years, and had enlisted as a soldier on becoming free.]

Mr. ROBERT CAMPBELL called in and examined:—

"In what year did you go to Botany Bay? In the year 1798, from Bengal.

"To what year did you remain? I was there, with the exception of two or three short intervals, down to the year 1810.

"For what purpose did you go? On a mercantile speculation, to procure seal skins for the China market, and supply the colony with necessary articles of merchandise from Bengal.

"Did you receive that encouragement from the Governor which you had reason to expect? When I first arrived, in 1798, no class of settlers were allowed to purchase any articles of merchandise but the officers on the establishment, civil and military.

"Were you allowed to sell your merchandise at your own price? No.

"In what manner were the prices fixed? In 1798, the officers fixed the price of all articles of merchandise which I had then for sale. In 1800 and from that time till my departure, in 1810, the Governor fixed the price of spirits and wine; the other articles we were allowed to dispose of to the best advantage.

"Had you an opportunity of seeing the manner in which the merchandise sold to the military and civil officers was afterwards retailed in the colony? Yes.

"At what profit were the articles retailed? Spirits sometimes at 500 per cent., at least; on other articles generally about from 50 to 75 per cent."

And, as these gentlemen were not honest, neither were they virtuous in other respects. Let Dr. Lang speak:—"The officers of the New South Wales Corps were neither all married nor all virtuous men. Some of them, it is true, lived reputably with their families, and set a virtuous example to the colony, even in the worst times; but the greater number took female convicts of prepossessing appearance under their protection, and employed them occasionally in the retail business. In so small a community as that of New South Wales, at the period in question, a liaison of this kind could scarcely be concealed: decency was outraged on all hands; and the prison population laughed at their superiors for outdoing them in open profligacy, and naturally followed their example.. .. .. A large proportion of the civil and military officers of the settlement were unmarried men, of loose principles and dissolute habits; who, setting at defiance the laws of God and the opinions of virtuous men, lived in a state of open and avowed profligacy, thereby setting an example which was but too generally followed by the convicts, and the demoralising and debasing influence of which was long widely perceptible throughout the territory."

Although not in proper chronological order, it may be as well to bring this unsavory subject to a close, to prevent re-opening. Under the pernicious system introduced by the New South Wales Corps, lands, houses, and property of every description, real and personal, were bought and paid for in rum. The first large and substantial hospital in Sydney was built by three gentlemen under a contract with the Governor which gave them a monopoly of the sale and importation of rum for a certain time; hence its title of 'The Rum Hospital.' This happened in Governor Macquarie's time, and the 'rummy' contractors who entered into this agreement with him were Messrs. D'Arcy Wentworth, Blaxcell, and Riley. The simple conditions were that in return for erecting the building they were to receive a certain quantity of rum from the King's store, and have granted to them the right to purchase and retail 15,000 gallons of ardent spirits annually for four years!

The workmen of the colony were as much as possible paid in rum. It is recorded of one of the officers of the New South Wales corps that 100 acres of land having been distributed in half-acre allotments as free grants amongst some soldiers of the regiment, he planted a hogshead of rum upon the ground, and bought the whole hundred acres with the contents of the hogshead. Years afterwards a moiety of this land was sold in Sydney and realised £20,000. Judge Therry, in his 'Reminiscences,' when referring to this period, says:—"Not only was concubinage thought no shame, but the sale of wives was not an unfrequent practice. A present owner of broad acres and large herds in New South Wales is the offspring of an union strangely brought about by the purchase of a wife from her husband for four gallons of rum!"

When Governor Hunter arrived he vainly attempted to check this vicious barter. But the evil was too deeply rooted and the official traffickers too strong in wealth and numbers to be easily corrected. His successor. Governor King, sought to apply the homeopathic principle of like curing like to the evil, but instead of curing the disease by such a course he intensified it. He saw that the military influence was dangerously active in the colony, and he endeavoured to counterbalance it by attempting to bring forward the emancipated convicts as competitors in the rum market against the Corps, by granting to them licenses to sell. "Such licenses," says Dr. Lang, "were accordingly dispensed with a liberality and profusion above all praise; for even the chief constable of Sydney, whose business it was to suppress irregularity, had a license to promote it, under the Governor's hand, by the sale of rum and other ardent liqours; and although the chief jailer was not exactly permitted to convert the jail into a grog-shop, he had a licensed house, in which he sold rum publicly on his own behalf, right opposite the gaol door." Governor King's successor, however, (Captain Bligh) applied the lancet to this social gangrene with better effect. He came armed with full instructions from the Home authorities, and immediately on his arrival applied himself to the work of destroying the military monopoly existing, and especially in the article of ardent spirits. Governor Hunter had recommended the Imperial Government to withdraw the New South Wales Corps, but the latter were powerful in the colonial office across the water as well as in New South Wales, and the recommendation was not adopted, although Governor Bligh received instructions to prevent the landing of any spirits from any vessel coming to the settlement, 'without your consent, or that of our Governor-in-Chief for the time being, previously obtained for that purpose.'

Within six months of his advent Governor Bligh issued the following stringent General Order:—

"His Excellency the Governor regrets to find, by his late visit through the colony, that the most calamitous evils have been produced by persons bartering or paying spirits for grain of all kinds, and the necessaries of life in general, and to labourers for their hire; such proceedings depressing the industrious, and depriving the settlers of their comforts. In order, therefore, to remedy these grievous complaints, and to relieve the inhabitants who have suffered by this traffic, he feels it his duty to put a total stop to this barter in future, and to prohibit the exchange of spirits or other liquors as payment for grain, animal food, wearing apparel, or any other commodity whatever, to all descriptions of persons in the colony and its dependencies. If a prisoner is convicted before a bench of magistrates of any of the offences above stated, he shall receive a punishment of one hundred lashes, and be sentenced to hard labour for twelve months:—If a settler, free by servitude, pardon, or emancipation, he is to be deprived of all indulgences from the Crown, sentenced to three months imprisonment, and to pay a fine of £10 to the King:—If a settler who came free into the colony, or any other free inhabitants, masters, or any other descriptions of persons on board of ships or vessels, they are to lose all indulgences granted them by the Crown, and pay a fine of £50 to the King; all of which fines, on conviction, shall be levied by the provost-marshal, one moiety to be given to the informer, and the other to be at the disposal of the Government. His Excellency has the strongest confidence, from the known distress of the colony in consequence of this pernicious barter, that all officers, civil and military, will be aiding and assisting in carrying this order into execution, which ultimately must tend to relieve the distresses of the people, and to give credit and stability to the settlement at large.

"By command of His Excellency,

"E. Griffin, Sec.

"Government House, Sydney,

"February 14th, 1807."

It was, undoubtedly, through his energetic efforts to suppress this traffic that Governor Bligh was subsequently forcibly deposed. He caused a notice to be served upon Mr. Macarthur to deliver up a large still, which had arrived in a ship of which he was part owner, in order that it (with another still which had come for a Captain in the Corps) might be re-shipped to England. Macarthur at first refused to comply, but subsequently the still was taken by the Government officer. Then commenced a war between the Governor (who had the misfortune to be in the hands of incompetent legal advisers) and Macarthur. The latter was eventually charged with sedition, but several of the military officers comprising the court ousted the Judge-Advocate, against whose presidency Macarthur had protested, and sought to pronounce judgment favourable to their friend. This proceeding was, however, upset by the provost-marshal, who procured a warrant for Macarthur in order to his being lodged in gaol; the six friendly officers shortly thereafter also being summoned to answer a charge of inciting to rebellion. His Excellency had in the meantime sent for Major Johnston, commander of the New South Wales Corps, who lived about four miles out of town on his easily-acquired estate; but that gentleman excused himself on the score of illness. On the following day, however, he made his appearance at the military barracks, but instead of supporting the Governor in preserving order he allowed the officers of the corps to induce him to usurp the Government of the colony, and place the Governor under arrest, himself marching to the performance of the valorous deed at the head of the Regiment. The Governor having been forcibly deposed. Major Johnston assumed the reins of Government, to the unbounded delight of the military and civil grog-sellers whose craft he had endangered; but to the disgust of the respectable portion of the free populace, who were, however, powerless to remedy matters. Subsequently Johnston was ordered under arrest to England where he was tried and cashiered. With his fall also fell the gallant New South Wales Corps, which was disbanded, the 73rd Regiment, the lieutenant-colonel of which was Lachlan Macquarie, relieving them. The officers had, of course, feathered their nests in the colony and the majority of them retired to sleep therein, or if not to sleep to hatch a little more mischief. Their official power was gone, but the evil wrought by money-grabbing, licentious practices still remained, and might be seen working its way out in descendants half a century afterwards. The fathers had eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth were set on edge!

During the three years, 1793-4-5, which followed Governor Phillip's departure, and for which term the settlement was virtually in the hands of the New South Wales Corps—serving its apprenticeship in a greater moral degradation than that imposed by the presence and incoming of convicts—signs of material progress were not wanting. At the end of 1795 there were 5000 acres of land under cultivation; the horses had increased from 11 to 57, the horned cattle from 23 to 229, the sheep from 105 to 1553, the pigs from 43 to 1869, and the goats to 1427. The work of coastal exploration had also been prosecuted in a small way; but the period was chiefly remarkable for the breaking of all rules of decorum and morality by the very men who should themselves have rightly observed them and enforced their observance upon others under their control.

CHAPTER III.—GOVERNOR HUNTER.—1795 to 1800.

A WELL-MEANING MAN, BUT WEAK—PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT—STIMULATING CULTIVATION—HIGH PRICES—RECOVERY OF THE LOST HERD—FIRST SCHOOL AND CHURCH—COASTAL EXPLORATION—ILLAWARRA AND THE HUNTER—POPULATION—LAND ALIENATION—THE GOVERNOR'S HUMANITY.

It was on the 7th September, 1795, that the new Governor-in-Chief, Captain John Hunter, arrived, and, as may be imagined, his arrival was hailed with joy by all the inhabitants of the settlement, excepting the military officers and their friends. He was a man of good judgment, benevolent character, and blameless private life, but he lacked that firmness which was necessary to enable him to successfully cope with the growing evils among the military, and keep the convict element free from fresh taint. He occupied the office until September, 1800, and during his administration agriculture made considerable progress, the prospects of the colony consequently becoming brighter. In order to stimulate the cultivation of the soil he allotted to each of the Government or military officers who had agricultural establishments ten convicts as farm-servants and three as house servants; to each free emigrant settler five convicts; to superintendents, constables, and storekeepers, four each; to mariners who had become settlers, two; to emancipated convicts, one; and to sergeants of the New South Wales Corps, one each.

Most of the cattle shipped from England had died on the voyage, but a number of horses, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry had been introduced successfully. In 1796 the price of a cow was £80, a horse £90, a sheep of the Cape breed £7 10s., a breeding sow £5, geese and turkeys £1 1s. each. Goat's flesh was sold at 1/6 per lb., butter at 3/-, and two years later as much as 22/- were paid for a common cup and saucer.

A small printing-press brought out in the First Fleet was used for the first time by Governor Hunter, in 1795, for printing public notices and Government orders, George Howe being the first Government Printer. This event, together with the discovery of the lost herd of cattle, the discovery of the Hunter River, and the establishment of a settlement at Newcastle, the erection of the first school and church (St. Phillip's), and further coastal exploration, formed the most noteworthy events of this epoch. The plan adopted by Governor Phillip of granting farms to emancipated convicts of good character, as well as to free settlers, was followed by Governor Hunter, and there can be no doubt that the number of good-conduct men was thus largely increased.

Maritime discovery received great impulse and encouragement from Governor Hunter, and he personally engaged in short voyages of research between the southern portion of Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson. Collins states that he had been frequently heard to say that, with a few small vessels, perhaps three or four, if he could have obtained them, or if his instructions would have permitted his building them, he would in the course of a short period have gained some acquaintance with all that part of the coast which Captain Cook had not an opportunity of examining minutely. It was under his sanction and with his assistance that Messrs. Bass and Flinders entered upon their adventurous work of coastal exploration, resulting in the discovery of an inlet to the fertile district of Illawarra, and, subsequently, of the Shoalhaven River, Twofold Bay, and Wilson's Promontory. The first voyage of discovery was made in a small whale boat called the Tom Thumb, only about eight feet long, but the later voyages were made in a whale boat, manned by a crew of volunteers from the ships in harbour, and having only six weeks' provisions on board. But the adventurous explorers lengthened out their provisions to eleven weeks and returned safely at the end of that time, having covered a distance of 600 miles in an open boat. In the following year, 1798, Governor Hunter despatched these two enterprising sailors to follow up their discoveries, and they then completely circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land, Bass Straits being then found and named.

The Hunter River was discovered and proved navigable during Governor Hunter's rule, and it received its name from him, while the William and Paterson rivers were called after the Lieutenant-Governor, and the locality around the harbour was called Newcastle, from the abundance of pit-coal in its vicinity. The importance of these discoveries to the opening colony, in a commercial sense, was then but little understood.

It was only in after years that the fertility and extent of these northern districts became the subject of thought and conversation among the men in whose hands the work of settling the country was placed.

The population of the colony at the close of 1800, when Governor Hunter embarked for England, was 5,574 persons, including 776 children; in Norfolk Island (where a second settlement had been formed by Governor Phillip) there were 961; making a total of 6,535 souls. Of this population about one-third was located in Sydney, and the rest at Parramatta, Toongabbie and Castlehill, the land about which was being gradually brought under cultivation.

The following figures relate to this time also:—Horses in the colony 203, cattle 1,044, hogs 4,017, sheep, 6,124, goats 2,182, acres of land under cultivation 7,677. From February, 1792, to September, 1800, the extent of land granted was as follows:—

By Governor Phillip.................... 3,389 acres
By Lieut.-Governor Grose.......... 10,674 "
By Lieut.-Governor Patterson........ 4,965 "
By Governor Hunter....................28,650 "
Total.........................................47,678 acres.

Governor Hunter left the colony at the close of 1800, and shortly after his arrival in England he was appointed to the command of the Venerable, seventy-four. One event which happened while he was serving in that capacity will shew what manner of man he was. He was cruising with his vessel in Torbay when one of the seamen accidentally fell overboard. Captain Hunter ordered the vessel to be put about to pick the man up, but in executing the manoeuvre she missed stays, ran ashore, and was wrecked. Hunter was afterwards brought before a court-martial and tried for the loss of the vessel. During the trial, when asked what had induced him to put the ship about in such circumstances, he replied that "he considered the life of a British seaman of more value than any ship in His Majesty's navy." The brave man—not less brave because humane—was honourably acquitted, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of rear-admiral.

Hunter died in Scotland, the land of his birth, at an advanced age.

CHAPTER IV.—GOVERNOR KING.—1800 to 1806.

DAYS OF LOOSE MORALS—INEFFICIENT POLICE SYSTEM—OUT-RAGES BY BUSHRANGERS—ABANDONMENT OF NORFOLK ISLAND—REVOLT OF CONVICTS—FOUNDING THE FEMALE ORPHAN SCHOOL—FIRST ISSUE OF COPPER COIN—FIRST NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED—SCOTCH IMMIGRANTS ARRIVE—PECULIAR GENERAL ORDERS—CONVICTS AT PORT PHILLIP—REMOVAL OF THE SETTLEMENT TO VAN DIEMEN'S LAND—DEVASTATING FLOOD IN THE HAWKESBURY—WHEAT 80S. PER BUSHEL AND BREAD 5S. PER LOAF—OPENING UP SUBSTANTIAL INDUSTRIES—THE GOVERNOR'S LITTLE JOKE—MUTUAL ACCOMMODATION—THE LAND AND ITS PRODUCE—POPULATION AND OTHER STATISTICS.

Governor King followed Hunter, and he administered the Government until August, 1806. In manner and disposition he was the opposite of his predecessor, being rough and uncouth, and lacking in perseverance. It was during his administration that the rum-selling business reached its full vigour, and he was powerless to check it. Concerning this period Dr. Lang writes:—"A general dissolution of morals and a general relaxation of penal discipline were the result of a state of things so outrageously preposterous. Neither marrying nor giving in marriage was thought of in the colony; and as the arm of the civil power was withered under the blasting influence of the miserable system that prevailed, the police of the colony was wretchedly administered, and virtuous industry was neither encouraged nor protected. Bands of bushrangers or runaway convicts traversed the country in all directions, and, entering the houses of the defenceless settlers in open day, committed fearful atrocities."

Governor King, who had served under Captain Phillip on the first voyage to the colony, had done good service in the establishment of Norfolk Island, but during his administration all the good work he had then accomplished was undone by the temporary abandonment of that subordinate settlement, which had made considerable advancement, and upon which a large sum of money and much labour had been expended.

The year 1804 was rendered remarkable by a conspiracy among the convicts at Castlehill. They were 250 strong, but were defeated in fifteen minutes by Major Johnston at the head of twenty-four soldiers of the New South Wales Corps. Sixteen of the convicts were killed during the 'engagement,' twelve were wounded, and thirty were made prisoners. The rest surrendered at discretion. Five of the ringleaders were afterwards executed.

Under Governor King the Female Orphan School was founded, the first issue of copper coin took place, the Sydney Gazette (the first Australian newspaper) was published, a number of free emigrant settlers, (chiefly from the Scottish border) arrived in the colony on free passages and received a grant of 100 acres of land each and rations from the King's Stores.

A glance at some of the 'General Orders' published in the Gazette is sufficient to shew that it was simply an organ for the powerful classes. These general orders regulated the words, the habits, the conduct, and almost the looks of the people; they fixed the time to rise and go to bed; enacted that 'idlers' were to be imprisoned and kept at hard labour; that persons guilty of seditious words or actions were to receive exemplary punishment, and their houses to be demolished; that free persons neglecting to attend musters were to be treated as vagrants and sent to hard labour. The profits of both importers and retailers were also regulated by general orders. Those of the former were not to exceed one hundred per cent., and those of the latter ten per cent.—the difference in favour of the former class proving how tender the officials were to themselves, they being the principal importers.

It was during Governor King's administration also that the attempt was made to found a convict settlement at Port Phillip; two vessels—one with stores for three years, and the other with 300 convicts, 50 marines, a few free settlers, twenty-five women, ten children, and the proper complement of officers—being sent out by Lord Hobart, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who desired to immortalise his name in this way. The site of the settlement was chosen at Point Nepean, near the heads, and the people all landed; but finding that the site was unfavorable Lieutenant-Colonel Collins, the officer in charge, represented to Governor King the desirability of removing the settlement to Van Diemen's Land, and, permission being granted, the settlement was removed accordingly. This was, perhaps, the event of greatest importance under the rule of Governor King. Subsequently the population of Van Diemen's Land was increased by the transportation of convicts from Sydney, and not a few of the free Norfolk Islanders also found a home there, when, much to their disappointment, the settlement on that island was broken up. The records of the early days of Tasmanian colonization resemble in their general features those of New South Wales—being periods of hardship, privation, famine, crime, and conflicts with the natives.

The month of March, 1806, was rendered remarkable by the occurrence of the heaviest flood that up to that time had visited the Hawkesbury. The rain continued for nearly a month without intermission, and flooded the country, causing not a little loss of life and immense destruction of property. Two hundred stacks of wheat were stated to have been carried out to sea, many of them covered with poultry, pigs, and other animals, which had taken refuge upon them. The total loss of property was estimated at £35,000, and the unfortunate settlers only escaped from the waters to find starvation staring them in the face. But the Government came to their assistance, and by regulating the consumption of food generally, made provision for their immediate wants, compelling those who had saved their grain to share it with their less fortunate neighbours. During the period of scarcity resulting from this sudden overflowing of the waters, the price of the two-pound loaf rose to 5s., and wheat was hardly procurable at 80s. per bushel.

"The six years of Governor King's rule," says Bennett, "notwithstanding the occurrence of serious civil disturbances and the prevalence of drinking habits to a degree probably never before witnessed in any community, were marked by a steady advancement in the development of the material resources of the colony. The sealing trade and whale fishery were carried on with energy and profit, the foundation of what proved a lucrative intercourse with New Zealand and the South Sea Islands was opened up, new settlements were formed, and a large quantity of land was brought under cultivation, and pastoral enterprise received an impetus which, a few years after, placed the growing of fine wool amongst the most extensive and lucrative of colonial pursuits. The progeny of the choice merino rams imported some years before by Mr. John Macarthur had gradually but steadily continued to improve, and at length to supersede the worthless breed of sheep which had been introduced, chiefly at the public expense, from India and the Cape of Good Hope. The natural woods of the colony were found to be useful for something more than firewood, and brewing, salt-making, boat, ship and carriage building commenced."

There was a funny side to Governor King's character, and he occasionally exhibited that side to those under him. A story is told illustrative of his inclination for practical joking. He was one day standing under the verandah of Government House, when a man, who had once been in the marines, presented himself and petitioned for a grant of land. The Governor recognised the petitioner, and questioned him thus: "You have been a marine?" "Yes, please your Excellency," replied the man. "Can you go through the manual exercise yet?" enquired the Governor, smiling. "Yes, please your Excellency," was the reply. "Stand at ease, then," said the Governor, and the man obeyed with alacrity. "Shoulder arms!" "Right about face!" were the next commands, each of which the man performed—pleased no doubt, though perhaps a little astonished, at his Excellency's playfulness. While standing thus he received a final order—"March!" and the now discomforted marine stepped out on the return journey, while the Governor turned into his apartments laughing at his little joke. It is said, however, that the man afterwards received his grant of land from the Governor as a reward for his obedience to orders.

In one of the old records relating to this period I find the following significant statement:—Governor King, just before his resignation, gave Governor Bligh a grant of 1000 acres of land; and subsequently, Governor Bligh gave Mrs. King a grant of 1000 acres. There was no joking about this sort of mutual accommodation.

From the Official Returns for 1806 the following statistical notices are extracted:—

ACRES

Quantity of land occupied by Government or
granted to private individuals ... 125,476
Quantity of land cleared ... ... 16,624
Quantity of land In wheat... ... ... 7,118
Quantity of land In barley, maize, &c., ... 5,279

The average produce of wheat land was 18 bushels per acre.

Number of Horned Cattle ... 3,264
Number of Sheep ... ... 16,501
Number of Pigs ... ... 14,300
Number of Horses ... ... 458
Number of Goats ... ... 2,900

The administration of Governor King was barren of good fruit, owing in great measure to the strong antagonism of the military 'ring' whose influence he was powerless to break. It is said that the baneful Corps had something to do with shortening the period of his service in the colony.

The population of the colony and its dependencies at the period of Governor King's departure (August, 1806) was about 9000, of which 7,200 were in New South Wales, 528 at Hobart Town, and 1084 at Norfolk Island.

CHAPTER V.—GOVERNOR BLIGH.—1806 to 1809.

HIS FIGHT WITH THE MILITARY HUCKSTERS—MR. JOHN MACARTHUR—MAJOR JOHNSTON—COWARDLY POLTROONS—CLEVER, WEALTHY, AND UNSCRUPULOUS—BLIGH'S STORY OF THE REBELLION—THE COLONY'S TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY—THE JOHNSTON-MACARTHUR ADMINISTRATION—SANCTIMONIOUS SOLDIERS—REV. H. FULTON, AN IRISH EXILE—AN ATTORNEY-GENERAL TRANSPORTED FOR SEVEN YEARS—DISTRIBUTING FAVOURS—ANARCHY, RESULTING IN IDLENESS AND PROFLIGACY—THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS ORDERED HOME—JOHNSTON CASHIERED AND MACARTHUR KEPT IN ENGLAND.

Governor Bligh succeeded Governor King, and imparted a vigour into the conduct of public affairs which furnished a marked contrast to the policy of hesitation pursued by King. His conduct under the mutiny of the ship Bounty, of which vessel he was in command, fully proved that he was a man of dauntless courage and stern determination. If he had been a man of tact as well, his term of office would have been fruitful of more pleasure to himself and more immediate good to the colony over which he was sent to preside. He was full of zeal, but his zeal being accompanied frequently by excessive bluntness and outbursts of passion, it occasionally brought forth evil rather than good. Judging from his conduct towards them at the start, it may be inferred that Governor King, who had not then left the colony, had given him a fair knowledge of the unscrupulous character of the military and official hucksters, some of whose movements have already been recorded, and he was prepared to play at cross purposes with them from the commencement of his rule.

He manifested a violent dislike towards Captain John Macarthur, whom he evidently looked upon as the chief sinner, the leading spirit, in the camp of spoliators, whose names were being daily cursed by the poor and struggling settlers of the colony. Within a month of the Governor's landing Macarthur proceeded to Government House in order, as he afterwards put it, "to speak to him of my affairs." He sought to button-hole the Governor when walking in the garden, but the Governor gave him to understand, in language not of the mildest kind, that his affairs were of very secondary importance indeed, and roared out at him—"What have I to do with your sheep, sir? what have I to do with your cattle? I have heard of your concerns, sir; you have got 5000 acres of land in the finest situation in the country; but, by God, you shan't keep it?"

From this out Macarthur and the Governor were sworn foes. The former deserved some credit for his energy in the sheep-breeding line, but there were two sides to his character, and the Governor looked at the side which was certainly the largest—the side which revealed his connection with a clique who have been described as 'clever, not very scrupulous, and wealthy men, of whom John Macarthur was undoubtedly the cleverest, the most wealthy, and perhaps in some respects the most unscrupulous.' It was not to be supposed that such a man would submit to a snubbing with impunity, especially as he was backed up by powerful influence in England, which had secured for him, on representations that he would be able in time to supply the British woollen manufacturers with all the fine wool required, a grant of 5000 acres of land, with shepherds and 'every other reasonable and proper means' for advancing his object. And as Macarthur was the leader of the class who had been bound together so closely by the promptings of self-interest, war with him meant war with that class—the officers and ex-officers of the New South Wales Corps. The Governor at once proceeded to deal heavy blows at the spirit monopoly established by these men, among whom he at once became most unpopular, although by the small settlers and the wealthy emancipists he was held in high esteem.

The open rupture which took place between the Governor and the Macarthur 'clan,' and which resulted in an act of rebellion and the deposition of the Governor has already been briefly sketched.

The events following Macarthur's liberation from gaol by his fellow officers are thus described by the Governor in the evidence given by him before the court martial at which Colonel Johnston was tried, in the year 1811:—

"Immediately after the order for the release of Macarthur, there followed an operation of the main guard close to the gate of Government House, and the regiment marched down from the barracks, led on by Major Johnson and the other officers, with colours flying and music playing as they advanced to the house. Within a few minutes after the house was surrounded; the soldiers quickly broke into all parts of it, and arrested all the magistrates, Mr. Gore, the provost-marshal; Mr. Griffin, my secretary; and Mr. Fulton, the chaplain. I had just time to call to my orderly-sergeant to have my horses ready while I went upstairs to put on my uniform, when on my return, as I was standing on the staircase waiting for my servant with my sword, I saw a number of soldiers rushing upstairs with their muskets and fixed bayonets, as I conceived to seize my person. I retired instantly into a back room to defeat their object, and to deliberate on the means to be adopted for the restoration of my authority, which in such a critical situation could only be accomplished by my getting into the interior of the country adjacent to the Hawkesbury, where I knew the whole body of people would flock to my standard. To this situation I was pursued by the soldiers, and after experiencing much insult was conducted below by Lieutenant Minchin, who told me that Major Johnston was waiting for me. We passed together into the drawing-room, every part being crowded with soldiers under arms, many of whom appeared to be intoxicated.

"I then received a letter brought by Lieutenant Moore, and signed by Major Johnston, (calling himself Lieutenant-Governor), requiring me to resign my authority, and to submit to the arrest under which he placed me, which I had scarcely perused, when a message was delivered to me that Major Johnston wished to speak to me in the adjoining room, at the door of which he soon afterwards appeared, surrounded by his officers and soldiers; and in terms much to the same effect as his letter, he there verbally confirmed my arrest. Martial law was proclaimed, my secretary and my friends were prevented from seeing me, and I was left alone with my daughter and another lady.

"By Major Johnston's orders several persons seized my cabinet and papers, with my commission, instructions, and the great seal of the colony. These were locked up in a room guarded by two sentinels, and several others were placed around the house to prevent my escape.

"The same evening committees were formed with a pretended view of examining into my government, but in reality to discover all such persons as were attached to me. In this Macarthur took an active part. On the following day Lieut. Moore came with Major Johnston's orders and carried away my swords and what firearms he found in the house; at noon three volleys were fired by the soldiers and twenty-one guns from the battery, while the royal standard was displayed; His Majesty's Commissary, the Provost-Marshal, the Judge-Advocate, and the Chaplain were suspended from their offices; all the magistrates were dismissed, and others appointed in their room; the most extraordinary and mutinous proclamations were issued, and even my broad pendant as Commodore on the station was ordered by Major Johnston to be struck. Thus was the mutiny complete; those who were concerned in it had got possession of the government, had turned out all the civil officers and substituted others in their room, and imposed on me an arrest which continued from the time of the mutiny till the 20th February, 1809."

It may be mentioned here, as a rather curious fact that Governor Bligh's arrest took place on the twentieth anniversary of the foundation of the settlement—26th January,1808.

Some of Bligh's enemies have charged him with cowardice on the occasion of his arrest, declaring that when the soldiers went to Government House he ran to the servants' room and hid under a bed; but this was clearly disproved by him at Major Johnson's trial in England.

After the Governor's arrest Major Johnston assumed the reins of Government, but the very men who had made a catspaw of him in leading the rebellion were the first to thwart his efforts to properly conduct public affairs. Macarthur was virtually the Governor, although only holding office as Colonial Secretary, to which position he had appointed himself. Every officer and magistrate who was known to be favorable to Bligh was dismissed from office, and personal friends, and members of 'the mess,' were put in their places. Even the chaplain. Rev. Henry Fulton, was suspended, the meek-faced rascals who had usurped authority and power having issued the following pious 'General Order':—

"The Rev. Henry Fulton, is suspended from discharging in future the office of Chaplain in the colony."

"The officers, civil and military, are ordered to attend divine worship on Sunday next, at the New Church; and every well-disposed inhabitant is requested to be present to join in thanks to Almighty God, for his merciful interposition in their favour, by relieving them without bloodshed from the awful situation in which they stood before the memorable 26th instant."

Referring to this case, Bennet says—"The fate of this gentleman was singular. He had been exiled from Ireland for some participation in the rebellion of 1798. Here, on the contrary, he was punished for his loyalty!" He was father of one of the first settlers on the western side of the Blue Mountains, which had not at that time been crossed, and the name of Fulton is yet held in the highest esteem in the Bathurst and O'Connell Plains district.

The provisional Johnston-Macarthur Government carried matters with a rather free hand. They sent the deposed provost-marshal to gaol for a term, and sentenced the attorney who had drawn up the indictment against Macarthur to seven years' transportation. Thus they dealt with their enemies; but their friends they rewarded. Rum from the King's store; permits to land and licenses to retail ardent spirits; grants of land and Government cattle—these were distributed largely to that part of the free population who expressed approval of their measures; while friends not free were freely pardoned and received lesser indulgences. "In this way," says Dr. Lang, "a number of persons of the worst character were turned loose upon the colony, to the great annoyance of the free settlers, and as an idea also got abroad among the convicts that the colony had now become free, and that it was no longer obligatory to labour, the result was a state of anarchy that produced a general neglect of the cultivation of the soil, and was otherwise distressing in the extreme to the well-disposed part of the population."

Governor Bligh was kept in confinement until he was superseded by Lieutenant-Colonel Foveaux, who had returned from England with the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor, and who in turn was superseded by Colonel Patterson. Bligh was then offered the command of a vessel to proceed to England, and after delays of little historical interest he sailed for England on 12th May, 1810, about six months after the arrival of the next Governor proper of the colony—Macquarie.

As previously recorded, Johnston was subsequently tried before a court-martial in England and cashiered; and Macarthur was prohibited for eight years from returning to the colony.

And the New South Wales Corps, or the 102nd Regiment, were ordered home; but not a few of the officers stayed behind to live upon the wealth which they had accumulated by extortion, violence and fraud. If for nothing else, Governor Bligh deserves to be held in everlasting remembrance by the colonists for the part he played in breaking up this band of wholesale plunderers.

CHAPTER VI.—GOVERNOR MACQUARIE—1809 to 1821.

MACQUARIE'S PERSONAL CHARACTER—BRICKS AND MORTAR—ENERGY AND SELF-CONCEIT—RESTORATION OF ORDER—REINSTATEMENT OF THE OLD OFFICIALS—SMALL SETTLERS AND EMANCIPISTS—HIS PARTIALITY FOR THE LATTER—FIRST CONVICT MAGISTRATE—COLLISIONS WITH THE OFFICERS—THE GOVERNOR AND THE JUDGE—DISCOURAGING IMMIGRATION—LIBERAL GRANTS OF LAND—THE "EXCLUSIVES" COMPLAIN TO THE HOME GOVERNMENT—A COMMISSIONER OF INQUIRY SENT OUT—MINGLING OF THE MASS—ENCOURAGING SETTLEMENT—IMPROVING THE ROADS—OPENING THE COUNTRY—SKILLED LABOUR MONOPOLISED—GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY—CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS—THE CONVICT EXPLORER—RAPID INCREASE OF STOCK—NEW SOURCES OF WEALTH—DEATH AGONY OF THE CONVICT SYSTEM—MACQUARIE'S RECORD—HIS RECALL.

Governor Macquarie followed Bligh, and he assumed the Government of the colony on 28th December, 1809. Briefly put, he was a man of energetic action, self-reliance and determination, but a poor financier; a man of good intentions but terribly self-conceited, his chief weakness being the delight of affixing his name to everything requiring a name in the colony, whether public buildings, streets, rivers, or mountains. His hobby was bricks and mortar, and he rode it most unmercifully. The records show that during his administration, extending over twelve years, he caused to be erected in New South Wales upwards of two hundred buildings and in Van Diemen's Land about fifty, on the front stone of nearly every one of which the name of 'Macquarie' was carved. Yet, not without reason, his era has by many been looked upon as the commencement of the prosperity and rising greatness of New South Wales; for he did more than any other Governor to open up the yet unexplored country and develop its natural resources.

One of Macquarie's first acts was the issue of a proclamation declaring the King's displeasure at the mutinous proceedings which had just previously taken place; and this was speedily followed by another declaring null and void all the acts of the interim Government. All the officers who had been removed when Bligh was arrested were reinstated, and the power of the once dominant clique having been completely broken, the Governor himself being colonel of the regiment of the line which formed the garrison (the 73rd), the small settlers and emancipists were encouraged to hope for a season of quiet enjoyment of rights and privileges to which they had long been strangers. Their hope was more than fulfilled, as will be seen further on.

Macquarie's administration was chiefly remarkable for (1) the elevation of the emancipist class into higher positions of social, civil, and political life; (2) the stimulus given to agricultural pursuits; and (3) the successful exploration and settlement of new country.

He had a great partiality for the emancipated convicts, and went to extremes in seeking to raise them to the highest level of respectability. Within a month of his arrival he appointed to the office of the magistracy a Scotch convict named Thompson, who had amassed not a little wealth by dealing, and who, although possessed of considerable natural ability, was nevertheless not a man of good reputation. This act naturally gave great offence to the 'aristocracy,' whose pride and position had thus been literally dragged in the dust.

They protested and threatened, but the Governor met all their objections by the simple remark that there were but two classes in the colony to choose from—those who had been transported, and those who ought to have been. As a further mark of favour Thompson was admitted to the table of the Governor, and to that of the officers of the 73rd Regiment, although the members of the mess went as far as they dare in the direction of resistance. Other similar appointments followed, the object of making them evidently being to shew the convict class that good behaviour would bring its reward. Had the Governor used wise discrimination in distributing his favours the good results hoped for might have followed; but he was not wise, and the opposition of the wealthy free colonists appeared but to goad him to excess of foolishness. His whole conduct towards the convicts may be described as foolish and dangerous favouritism, and one writer has declared that 'the circumstance of being notorious for a life of open and outrageous profligacy was no impediment to promotion or employment under the government of Major-General Macquarie,' who at times appears to have acted on the principle that 'prosperous vice ought to be rewarded and encouraged.'

One of the first collisions which Macquarie had with the officers of his government occurred in connection with the establishment of the Supreme Court, shortly after the arrival in the colony of the first judge, on account of certain attorneys who had originally been transported, but whose sentences had expired, claiming the right to practice in the court. The Governor wrote to the judge strongly recommending the petition of the emancipist attorneys; but the judge declared that he would not admit as attorneys, nor administer the oath to persons, who had been transported to the colony as felons. The business of the court was suspended; Macquarie reported the judge to Earl Bathurst, then Secretary of State for the Colonies; and the strait-laced judge was recalled 'on account of conduct which could admit of no justification.' Thus, in the highest quarters, Macquarie fought for and with those who wished to regain the positions which they had lost in the old country.

But he did not rest with this, and here it is that his folly was made more apparent. From the first he appears to have discouraged the influx of free settlers, a steady though small stream of which had set in towards the colony, the attraction doubtless being the liberal offers of grants of land and cheap labour made by the Home Government to those who chose to try their fortunes at 'Botany Bay,' those who came being for the most part small capitalists; and while doing this he did everything in his power to 'bring on' the convicts who were not in chains.

Referring to this period, Bennett says:—"The opposition which the wealthier portion of the free settlers shewed to Macquarie's policy of elevating some of the emancipists to the magisterial bench and to social equality with themselves, was met on his part by daily-increasing-manifestations of favour towards those on whose support he was in a great measure driven to rely. He saw that his predecessor had been deposed by a few wealthy colonists and their military friends, and self-preservation suggested the desirability of raising up a class on whom he could calculate with certainty; and whose numbers, rapidly increasing wealth, and daily extending influence, would be sure to be exerted in opposition to those who had so long been dominant. With the view of encouraging the class of emancipists, Macquarie did not hesitate to depart from the practice of his predecessors, which had been to give grants of land only to free or freed persons of good character. His opponents say that he bestowed farms on all whose sentences had expired, without requiring the slightest evidence that they were worthy of such favours. Many of these men—indeed, the majority of them—averse to the practice of honest industry, soon disposed of land so easily acquired. A few quarts of rum, or any other means of gratifying their passion for present and sensual indulgence, offered too great a temptation to be resisted by people of their habits and character.. .. .. .. .. .. .. . The opposition he manifested to the introduction of a free immigrant population and his avowed opinions in favour of the prison class, were so strong as not only to put a complete stop to the influx of the former during the greater part of his administration, but to create and sustain an opinion among the latter that they alone had any right in the colony, and that the others were intruders whose presence ought scarcely to be tolerated."

Macquarie distributed his land grant favours with a most liberal hand, and identified himself so closely with the emancipists' cause as to incur the undying enmity of the wealthy freemen, or 'exclusives,' who harassed him continually, and whose murmuring even found utterances in the House of Commons. They formulated charges against him of various kinds, and a special commissioner (Mr. Bigge) was despatched by Lord Bathurst to inquire into the condition of the colony. That gentleman's report was very exhaustive and voluminous, and to it may be attributed Macquarie's recall, it being considered that three things, at least, had been proved against him, namely:—excessive expenditure upon useless or unnecessary buildings; the want of proper checks, and the consequent waste in the disposal of the public stores and materials; and the glaring disregard of cleanliness, propriety, and decency in the management of the female convicts. The list of public works executed under his orders fills ten closely-printed pages of a Parliamentary Report, and includes not fewer than 250 items, the chief being barracks for troops, stores for provisions, hospitals, public offices, churches, school-houses, quays, wharfs, watch-houses and police offices. During his administration 276 miles of road were constructed, with all necessary wooden bridges, some of them being of large dimensions.

But although Macquarie's efforts to elevate the emancipists were not directly successful, in after years the fruit appeared, and the 'tainted herd' became merged in the general mass of the population; their descendants, if not themselves, enjoying all the privileges and blessings obtainable by the descendants of the 'Pure Merinos' who had bleated so loudly during Macquarie's rule; so that as to-day one class stands cheek by jowl with the other in private, social, and public life, not even a policeman of the olden time (if there be one living) can tell the difference between them.

In no direction was Macquarie's energy more vigorously exercised than in improving the condition of the rural population. From the first he took a deep interest in their welfare, and shortly after his arrival personally went through most of the country districts, in order to see for himself the condition of the people and what improvements in their habits, mode of living, and pursuits could be effected. The result of his observations was published in a General Order on his return to head quarters, and the following paragraph from that Order will shew the condition of affairs rural during the first year of his administration:—"His Excellency cannot forbear expressing his regret that the settlers in general have not paid that attention to domestic comfort which they ought to do, by erecting commodious residences for themselves, and suitable housing for the reception of their grain and cattle; nor can he refrain from observing on the miserable clothing of many of the people, whose means of providing decent apparel, at least, are sufficiently obvious to leave them without any excuse for that neglect. His Excellency therefore earnestly recommends and trusts that they will pay more attention to those very important objects; and, by a strict regard to economy and temperance, that they will, on his annual tour, enable him to give a more unqualified approbation to their exertions."

And he did not simply preach to them. He acted with and for them, working to bring them within easy reach of the only market available by improving the roads leading thereto, and which had received but scant attention before his arrival. He also set an example in the building line, already referred to, and employed nearly all the skilled labour available from the ranks of the Government; but the buildings being for the most part in and around Sydney, those settlers who lived away from the centre did not derive any advantage from the erections. Even when, through his vigorous encouragement of exploration and settlement, the operations of the settlers were carried beyond the mountains, he did not awake to the fact that he was preserving a monopoly of the labour requisite to the carrying out of his advice; and in this way he really hampered the general building work, private enterprise being cramped for want of the assistance of the mechanics who were kept by the Governor under his own eye while carrying out his building hobby. The settlers complained loudly, but to no purpose—all the skilled labour was kept in Sydney and the other towns which were growing up, and an official account shews the Governor's folly in this respect.

Of the skilled mechanics who arrived in the colony during the years 1814 to 1820, the Government retained 269 blacksmiths out of 284; out of 337 carpenters, all but 16; and out of 284 bricklayers and brickmakers, all but five. Hence the perpetuation of bark and slab hovels, and the slow growth of private buildings with any pretensions to decency or stability in fact or appearance. With this exception, however, Macquarie's efforts to improve the condition of the settlers—immigrants and emancipists alike—were honest and earnest, and they were fruitful of good, a stimulus being given to intelligent cultivation of the soil, which not only benefitted the individual settler, but the now rapidly developing colony whose history was being built up. He granted cattle, sheep and goats from the Government herds, to be paid for in grain, with eighteen months' credit, and offered every inducement possible to the rural population to rise to a higher level in profitable industry and social life.

The work of geographical discovery in which Governor Macquarie engaged, and which he pursued with remarkable determination and vigour, was in itself sufficiently meritorious to place his name on the first page of the history of Australian colonization. When he assumed the Government the colony consisted simply of a narrow strip of land, extending about eighty miles along the coast to the north and south of Port Jackson, and bounded on the west by the hitherto impenetrable barrier of the Blue Mountains.

Repeated attempts had been made to pierce this barrier, but without success. The first attempt was made by Captain Paterson, the African traveller, in 1793, but he met so many obstacles in the shape of impassable precipices, &c., that he returned after having covered only a dozen miles from the junction of the Grose and the Hawkesbury Rivers. About this time other unsuccessful attempts were also made by Lieutenant Dawes, Captain Tench, and others. In 1794 one Hacking, quarter-master of the Sirius, essayed the task, but returned foiled after penetration about 30 miles beyond the Hawkesbury. Two years later Mr. Bass, the discoverer of the straits bearing his name, made the attempt, entering upon the work with ropes, ladders, cords, iron hooks, and every other appliance which he deemed necessary for accomplishing the task; but after fifteen days of unparalleled fatigue and suffering from hunger and thirst, he also returned defeated and crestfallen—the country to the westward of the giant hills remaining still secret and mysterious. And when the mountains were pierced a little later on the record of the fact was too strange for acceptance, and it was cast aside by the authorities as unworthy of credit. In 1799, during Governor Hunter's administration, a convict named Wilson, who had lived for several years with the blacks, undertook the work of exploration, taking with him a free servant of the Governor and four other convicts, to carry provisions and render other assistance.

That Wilson succeeded, not only in crossing the Blue Mountains, but in penetrating the country westward as far as the Lachlan river, does not admit of doubt, and the writer believes that to him must the credit be given of being the first white man to scale the heights and pierce the gloom of that ponderous curtain of rocks and trees which for so many years had hidden the beautiful lands of the western interior from the eyes of the men who had assumed possession of Australian soil. On his return he gave to the Governor an account of the distance he had travelled, the nature of the country through which he had passed, and the adventures he had met with—and his story, although discredited by everyone but the Governor, in after years received ample confirmation. He estimated the most remote place which he reached as 130 miles south-west by west from Parramatta, and said that eighty miles west he had found coal and limestone, and twenty miles beyond, to the north, an open and thinly wooded country. The stream at the termination of his journey he described as almost as wide as the Hawkesbury, and sluggish, but running apparently from south-east to north-west. It was apparently this fact which caused the wise men and mighty of that day to discredit Wilson's story. They could not understand that a large river should run backwards from the sea, and their faith was then as small a quantity as their knowledge and experience. They afterward learned that the river did really run inland, but it is questionable whether they even then bethought them of Wilson's wonderful services and story. So little value was attached to the account given by this enterprising convict that not only was no action taken to follow up his work, but no authentic narrative thereof was preserved. Had Governor Hunter been cast in Macquarie's mould, who knows but that his name would have been perpetuated in the waters of a river in the west, instead of one in the north; that Macquarie Plains would have been Hunter's, and that the City of the Plains—Bathurst—would have been twenty years older than it is!

Between this time and 1813, two other attempts were made to cross the mountains, but without success, and then followed the courageous and successful journey of Messrs. Gregory Blaxland, W. C. Wentworth and William Lawson—three names which will live as long as the mountains which they crossed shall stand, although the credit given to them of being the first white men to accomplish the feat is not properly theirs. In more senses that one the debt the colonists owe to the convicts is greater than that they owe to the free men for whom those convicts worked.

The effort of the three gentlemen named was rendered necessary by the rapid increase of the live stock of the colony, which at that time amounted to 65,121 sheep, 21,543 cattle, and 65,121 horses, and the limited pasturage of which had been rendered more limited by reason of a serious and long-protracted drought. The exploring party ascended the mountain ridge that abuts upon Emu Plains on the banks of the Nepean River; and following that ridge in all its multitudinous windings, they at length, after encountering great difficulties and hardships, reached its termination at Mount York, twenty-five miles due west of Emu Plains, and which looked down upon the valley afterwards called the Vale of Clwyd. This was the limit of their discoveries, and they returned to Sydney to report progress to the Governor, who without loss of time despatched Deputy-Surveyor Evans to follow up their track and explore the unknown country to the westward. The result of this expedition was the discovery of the famous Bathurst Plains, and the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.

Three years later the Governor despatched the Surveyor-General of the colony, Mr. John Oxley, on an exploring expedition on the Lachlan, and he traced that river down for upwards of 400 miles to what he considered its termination in extensive morasses; although had he continued his journey for a few hours longer he would have discovered where it joined the Murrumbidgee, one of the finest rivers of interior. It was on his return journey that he crossed that fine tract of country, Wellington Valley. During the following year Oxley followed the Macquarie until it lost itself in the level country, spreading out, as he supposed, as the commencement of a great inland sea.

In the meantime the country to the south was being explored and opened up by Hume and others, and two-years before Macquarie's departure the discoveries in that direction had been pushed as far as the Murrumbidgee. In these journeys Goulburn plains and a great part of the county of Argyle was opened up. By these important discoveries the area of the colony was increased enormously, and new sources of wealth were brought within reach of those enterprising colonists who were panting for larger room and freer air.

Macquarie took the greatest interest in this work of exploration, and it is more than probable that he would himself have been found pushing through bushes, fording rivers, and scaling rocks in the search for new country, if his presence had not been necessary at headquarters. As a proof of the interest he took in the work, as soon as the discoveries were made known, he saddled horse and visited the new land to the west and to the south, going as far as Bathurst in one trip and Goulburn in the other. The full account of these discoveries, which formed such an important stepping-stone to the accomplishment of that colonization which has been one of the chief events of the nineteenth century, will be given when the subject of life in the interior is being dealt with further on. Suffice it now to say that under Macquarie's administration the key was found of that barrier which had shut out from the world a land containing within itself possibilities of wealth and greatness second to those enjoyed by no other country in the world.

It has been well said of Macquarie by one writer:—"He found New South Wales a gaol, and he left it a colony; he found Sydney a village and he left it a city; he found a population of idle prisoners, paupers, and paid officials, and he left a large free community, thriving on the produce off flocks and the labour of convicts." Yet, even then the tone of society in the population centres was horrible. There was no educated or honourable class, no church worthy of the name; no schools except for the wealthy, and those taught chiefly by convicts; there were slave masters who sold rum, and slaves who drank it; an autocrat surrounded by parasites, whose fortunes he could make by a stroke of the pen. Virtue and honour were as scarce as freedom, and wretchedness and prosperity embraced in the persons of individuals and the community.

Macquarie had been in the colony about ten years when the commissioner of inquiry, Mr. John Thomas Biggs, was sent out from England to report fully upon the condition of life in the new possessions, the institution of this inquiry being partly the result of representations made in a work published by Mr. W. Wentworth, during a visit paid by him to England for the purpose of being called to the Bar. The inquiry occupied two years, and its publication for the use of the House of Commons had considerable effect in directing the attention of the British public to the resources of Australia, eventually leading to the influx of a superior class of emigrants; and from this date there was a marvellous outreach towards prosperity.

The first fitful throbbings indicating the death agony of the penal system of the colony were now heard, and the first breathings of that free national life now in full vigour were observed. When Macquarie was recalled in the latter part of 1821, after having held the reins of government for twelve years, the colony was undergoing a change which in its completion was to exhibit New South Wales to the world as the grandest instance of successful colonization ever recorded in history, and not a few of the blessings this day enjoyed may be traced to the vigor of Macquarie's administration. Even in his day the progress towards freedom and greatness was well marked, and he had the satisfaction of recording to the Home Government a few facts indicating the material progress that had eventuated during his term of office. Here are a few extracts from a communication which he addressed to Earl Bathurst almost immediately after his his return to England:—

"I found the colony barely emerging from infantile imbecility, and suffering from various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond forty miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened with famine; distracted by faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation and mouldering to decay; the few roads and bridges formerly constructed rendered almost impassable; the population in general depressed by poverty; no public credit, nor private confidence; the morals of the great mass of the population in the lowest state of debasement, and religious worship almost totally neglected. Such was the state of New South Whales when I took charge of its administration on 1st January, 1810. I left it in February last (his communication is dated July, 1822), reaping incalculable advantages from my extensive and important discoveries in all directions, including the supposed insurmountable barrier called the Blue Mountains, to the westward of which are situated the fertile plains of Bathurst; and, in all respects, enjoying a state of private comfort and public prosperity, which I trust will at least equal the expectation of His Majesty's Government. The change may indeed be ascribed in part to the natural operation of time and events on individual enterprise: how far it may be attributed to measures originating with myself, as hereinafter detailed, and my zeal and judgment in giving effect to my instructions, I humbly submit to His Majesty and his ministers.

"Statement of Population, &c., (including Van Diemen's Land):—

Population,......................March, 1810..................Oct. 1821.
including military.................11,590.....................38,778
Horned Cattle..........................12,442....................102,939
Sheep.......................................25,888....................290,158
Hogs..........................................9,544......................33,906
Horses......................................1,134.........................4,564
Acres cleared and in tillage......7,615.......................32,267

"On my taking the command of the colony in the year 1810, the amount of port duties collected did not exceed £8000 per annum, and there were only £50 or £60 of a balance in the Treasurer's hand; but now duties are collected at Port Jackson to the amount of from £28,000 to £30,000 per annum. In addition to this annual colonial revenue, there are port duties collected at Hobart Town, in Van Diemen's Land, to the amount of between £8,000 and £10,000 per annum."

Governor Macquarie may have been fussy and conceited, but he was withal active, energetic, prudent and patriotic; and at this long distance from the time when he administered the affairs of the colony we can look back and share in the honest pride which he displayed when rendering an account of his stewardship. He died in England in 1824, two years after leaving the colony for whose material advancement he had so diligently laboured.

CHAPTER VII.—GOVERNOR BRISBANE—1821 to 1825.

WEAK ADMINISTRATOR—STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY—EMIGRANTS VERSUS CONVICTS—RELIEF IN STAR-GAZING—MILITARYISM AGAIN RAMPANT—REVIVAL OF MONOPOLY—IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES—TRIAL BY JURY—FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE—LIBERTY OF THE PRESS—REACHING AFTER SELF-GOVERNMENT—FIRST CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL—FLUCTUATING MARKETS—A FINANCIAL CRISIS—GREAT DISTRESS—PROTECTION TO CABBAGE STALKS—DINING WITH EMANCIPISTS—AN INTERREGNUM—"GOVERNOR" STEWART—THE TRUE STORY OF HIS LAND GRANT.

Governor Brisbane succeeded Macquarie, and entered upon his duties on 1st December, 1821. He was eminently unfitted for his position, for although a soldier he was weak and vacilating, and too much given to transferring to others the duties which he himself should have performed. At this time the struggle for supremacy between the different classes was at its height, and it required the vigorous brain and strong determination of a powerful, courageous man to guide the affairs of State, between the unscrupulous grasping of the disappointed military, the forceful demands of the wealthy emancipists for the restitution of legal and other rights, and the clamoring of the free settlers of the humbler class—retired soldiers and sailors and emigrants—who, although generally taking sides with the emancipists against the 'pure merinos,' as the official aristocrats were called, were not unmindful of the claims of 'Number One.' Brisbane neither had the courage nor the tact to manage matters properly. He was tossed hither and thither between the contending forces, and in order to escape from the clamour he made himself a retreat at Parramatta, where he established an observatory and devoted himself to the pursuit of scientific studies, seeking rest from the turmoil and strife of active official life in the quiet contemplation of the stars. Events did not stand still, however, and during his administration several important changes took place. The old monopolising and domineering spirit, which had been checked by Macquarie, broke out stronger than ever, and militaryism re-asserted itself, the Governor having practically to stand aside while officials help themselves and each other to place and power, and divided the land in great slices between them.

Concerning this matter one writer says:—"The little clique of exclusives appear to have regarded themselves as the only persons whose claims to grants of land, to convict labour, or to social recognition by the Governor, ought to be considered for a moment. Already many of them were possessed of enormous landed properties; their farms were cultivated by prison labour, their houses built by prison labour, there furniture made by prison labour, and all their servants were prisoners. There was a constantly increasing commissariat expenditure on account of convict management and for the supply of convict food and necessaries; and a large part of this expenditure went into the pockets of the more wealthy settlers, in payment for maize, wheat, beef, and other food grown, and articles of clothing made, by the labour of the very class on whose account the expenditure was incurred. In fact, the Government gave the land, supplied the labour to cultivate it, and then purchased the produce. It was barely possible for persons with such singular advantages to escape becoming wealthy.. .. .. When again in possession of the reins of power (during Brisbane's rule) all the influence that they could exercise in their recovered position was fully taken advantage of, and this, bearing in mind what has been stated respecting the wealthy land-grasping emancipists (one well-known Sydney grog-seller being possessed of over 20,000 acres of freehold land, purchased from grantees for a few gallons of rum), will afford an insight into the circumstances under which a comparatively small number of colonists were enabled to acquire estates which, whether regarded in reference to their wants or to their means of turning them to useful account, were enormous in extent; and, being the pick in point of soil and situation of the whole country, were of vast prospective value."

It must be remembered that at this time the land to the westward was open and available; and that large slices of that territory should be seized by these insatiable sharks was a very natural circumstance. And it was also a very natural circumstance that the communal interests created in years following in that territory should suffer through the locking-up of the land so easily 'grabbed.'

Among the most important events during Governor Brisbane's term of office were the following:—The institution of a Legislative Council; the establishment of trial by jury; the formal acknowledgment of the liberty of the press; important discoveries of new country; and the steady inflow of immigration from the mother country.

The publication of Commissioner Bigg's report had, as already stated, awakened the public of Great Britain to the fact that the far-off South Land furnished a splendid field for enterprise, and towards the latter part of Macquarie's administration a tide of emigration set in which was at full flow when Brisbane arrived, and it continued with steadily increasing volume during the whole period of his government. As it was chiefly persons who could afford employment to convicts who were desired by the Government, the Home authorities held out grants of land to those only who could produce certificates of their possessing capital of at least £500, and consequently the greater number who came were possessed of means to enter at once upon the work of development. Concerning these, Dr. Lang says:—"Some of them had been gentleman farmers, others were the sons of respectable land-holders in the mother country; some of them had been unfortunate in mercantile speculations, and others had just saved the remains of a property which they found daily diminishing at home, to form the nucleus of a better fortune abroad; some were actuated by a spirit of adventure, while others had been impelled to emigrate by the pressure of the times. These emigrants, according as each preferred a particular locality, settled, for the most part, either in the agricultural and pastoral country adjoining the Cowpastures, or on the open plains of Bathurst, beyond the Blue Mountains, along the thickly-wooded banks of the Hunter and its two tributary river, or in what was then called the New Country, or the district of Argyle. The general extent of their grants was from 500 to 2,000 acres. Rations from the King's stores were at first allowed to each settler, and a certain number of convict servants apportioned according to the extent of his grant, for the term of six months after he had taken possession of his land; and he was also allowed a certain number of cattle from the Government herds, as a loan to be repaid in kind in seven years; but, in consequence of the number of emigrants rapidly increasing, these indulgences were afterwards discontinued." Thus it was that a superior class of settlers—many of them with the requisite knowledge and energy to make the new soil smile its loudest in fruitfulness—were located in the opening districts west, south and north of the populated centre.

Four very important discoveries inland were made during Brisbane's administration. In 1823 the Maneroo Plains were explored by Captain Currie, R.N. In the same year Mr. Oxley, Surveyor-General, explored Moreton Bay and discovered the Brisbane River, leading to the fine semi-tropical country of Queensland. In the year following Hovel and Hume made their overland journey to Port Phillip; and in 1825 Mr. Allan Cunningham discovered Pandora's Pass, affording the only practicable road from the Upper Hunter to the pastoral uplands of Liverpool Plains. The full importance of these discoveries was not seen until 'after many days,' but they were neither more nor less than the opening of the most important doors leading from the smaller to the greater.

The Imperial Act under which civil juries were first impanelled in New South Wales was 4th Geo. IV., cap. 96, and Mr. Francis Forbes was appointed thereunder first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. That gentleman arrived in Sydney in March, 1824, but soon after his arrival found that the Act and Charter contained no authority whatever for impanelling civil juries in criminal cases, and only in civil actions where both parties to the suit were agreed that such a course should be adopted. The Act was to continue in force four years, and under its authority crimes and misdemeanours were to be prosecuted by information in the name of his Majesty's Attorney-General, and tried by the Chief Justice and a jury of seven commissioned officers of his Majesty's sea or land forces; while all civil cases were to be tried by the Chief Justice and two magistrates, sitting as assessors, unless, as before stated, both parties to the suit agreed to have a jury, in which case the trial was to be before the Chief Justice and a jury of twelve civilians. In the interests of all parties Chief Justice Forbes extended the principle to the lower court, and civil jurors sat in Courts of Quarter Sessions, although the magistrates offered strong objection—so hard is it for mortals to renounce arbitrary power when once they have experienced the pleasure of its exercise.

There was a long and bitter struggle, extending over a considerable period, between the different sections of the community—the 'exclusivists' fighting for the retention of power and the judge fighting with the people for the first instalment of constitutional liberty. In this struggle the exclusive few, who wished to retain power over the liberty and property of their fellows, were eventually successful, and in 1828 there was a return to the old system of military juries in Courts of Quarter Sessions as well as in the Supreme Court, a system which existed until the principle of self-government began to operate in the colony.

The year 1824 was also rendered remarkable by liberty of the press being conceded, and the publication of the Australian, the first colonial newspaper independent of Government aid, published by Mr. Wentworth and Dr. Wardell. The Monitor was also shortly afterwards established, Mr. E. S. Hall being editor and proprietor. "Both these newspapers," says Bennet, "were conducted with far more than average ability, and their editorial columns presented a marked contrast to the fulsome flattery of Government officials, and the inane twaddle on other matters, which characterised their older rival, the Sydney Gazette." Concerning the press it may now be said 'the little one has become a thousand!'

During this period, also, the first step towards that large share of self-government which Australia now enjoys was taken. On 11th August, 1824, there appeared in the Sydney Gazette, a proclamation announcing that his Majesty had been pleased to institute a Legislative Council for New South Wales. The first members of this Council consisted exclusively of Government officers, and were only six in number, namely:—William Stewart, Lieutenant-Governor; Francis Forbes, Chief Justice; Frederick Goulburn, Colonial Secretary; James Bowman, Principal Colonial Surgeon; and John Oxley, Surveyor-General. Subsequently Mr. John Macarthur, of Camden, was added to the list. The first session of the new Council was a very short one, and only one Act of a single clause was passed—an Act to legalise promissory notes and bills of exchange made payable in Spanish dollars, which were then the ordinary currency of the colony.

Governor Brisbane was peculiarly unfortunate in his financial measures, but in this matter, as in others, he appears to have been simply the means of giving effect to the schemes of interested parties in power. It had been usual under previous governors to purchase the surplus grain from farmers at the current prices of the day. The Government was almost the only purchaser, and to the Government the agriculturists looked for a certain share of their profits, the only cash received by the smaller settlers during the year being from the commissariat. The Government needed the provisions to feed the large number of 'children' born to the heritage across the water. But Brisbane adopted the contract system and invited tenders for the quantity required at the lowest price. The small farmers, unused to calculate the effects of open competition, rushed forward to the Government stores with such eagerness that the price of wheat speedily fell

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.05.2014
ISBN: 978-3-7368-1034-1

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