conscious of guilt: but here, we cannot but fear that these mounds of earth cover more than the ordinary proportion of unrepentant of fenders. We shudder as we reflect upon the mad career of crime and reckless depravity which has here been closed; the cares and sufferings, the ungodliness and ingratitude which lie interred within this narrow space. A modern writer has inquired, "What occasion is there now to extend life to a patriarchal age, when a man contrives to comprise all crime within seventy years?" How many examples are here afforded, in which a far briefer career has exhausted wickedness, in all its most hideous forms? How large a proportion of the occupants of this abode of the dead have met an untimely and violent end? Here, a range of parallel mounds marks where thirteen mutineers fell in one day, by the fire of the military. There, and there again, a cluster of graves indicates that the perpetrators of coldblooded murders have passed, not singly, but in bands of ten or twelve, from the gallows to the grave. Accident has concurred, with more than usual frequency, to assist the turbulence of passion and premature decay in filling up this cemetery. Many soldiers are noted on their head-stones, as having been drowned on the bar," when employed on duty as a boat guard; some accidentally shot when capturing absconders in the bush. It was erossing the bar," on his return from a shooting excursion at Philip Island, that the Honorable Captain Best, 50th regiment, met his death at an early age. A heavy mass of masonry marks his grave and records his fate. 46 Upon the principle, I persume, that death is a universal leveller, or that all here have died for their country's good, all ranks and condition, bound as well as free, are interred almost indiscriminately in the same enclosure; the aristocrat sleeps in death within a few yards of the felon fresh from the drop. "There they alike in tremling hope repose." On our arrival at the island, the number of prisoners on the settlement was about eleven hundred; in these were comprised all the socalled "old hands," which term is applied to colonially convicted prisoners, sent here from Sydney and Hobart Town, in contradistinction to the arrivals direct from England, who are known as "new hands." It would, of course, scem judicious to retain on the settlement, where means of coercion are more readily available, the most desperate characters in this lawless community; in addition to these, all the prisoners who profess Romanism are located here, to afford them ac cess to the chapel or building, which has been fitted up in accordance with their form of worship. The prisoners' barrack, which is only used as a dormitory, consists in a three-story building of a centre and two wings; the wards vary in their capacity to accommodate from 30 to 100 men; each man is provided with a hammock and two blankets. The hammocks are lashed in double tiers, not slung, but drawn out by lanyards to the stanchions; the greatest number sleeping in one room, at this time, was eighty-two, a number far too great for discipline, or for the effectual repression of that odious crime, whose prevalence is the most revolting feature in the Statistics of the Probation System This growing evil has not escaped the notice of legislations at home, but beyond deprecating its existence, and censuring colonial subordinates, no remedy has hitherto been advised or suggested; the, difficulties for providing such are manifest, where the crime has almost ceased to be held other than venial by these degraded classes. In Norfolk Island the practice seemed to confer an influence and preeminence in this commonwealth of infamy; perhaps the true cause of its continuance and increase is to be found in the grand and fundamental error of the Probation System; that aggregation of criminals in large bodies for labor by day, and to sleep at night, without sufficient and trustworthy supervision, or suitable arrangements of dormitories. The utmost cleanliness is preserved with regard to the rooms and bedding, to attend to which, wardsmen are appointed who are exempt from other labor. The overseers were housed in the right wing of the building, in two rooms, somewhat more comfortably fitted, having standing berths and additional bedding. On the table were a lamp and a Bible, and against the wall I noticed a board of instructions for religious exercises, compiled and signed by an ex-chaplain. On inquiry, I found that the practice of morning and evening prayer, (exclusive of the regular daily services), which formerly prevailed in this ward, had fallen into desuetude; my informant, the wardsman, said he could not give any particular reason, he only knew it was so. They still agreed very well, but they had given up the Bible. In the morning they were too sleepy to read, and in the evening too tired! This was candid, at the least, and it recurred to me that a similar state of affairs was rather prevalent in other communities, where the excuse was less admissible. A lofty wall surrounds the barrack, which is built near the sea, not many yards from highwater mark. Within the enclosure are several ! detached buildings; on one side is a range appropriated as the Romish Chapel; the corresponding one, on the opposite side, is the Protestant place of worship. The vestry-room serves as the receptacle for the few works which constitute the prisoners' library; the books were a very indifferent selection, chiefly landed from the convict ships, from my experience of which, I had come to the conclusion that they were supplied by contract, without reference to any other object than the advantage of the contractor. Adjacent to this building, a wretched stone-paved room serves as court-house or police office, by day, and as a school-room in the evening; there is instruction daily, from 6 to 8, P. M., for such as choose to attend. The numbers of these fluctuate; at the time I inquired, the average daily attendance was forty, out of seven hundred. Rather a discouraging result this, for the enthusiasts of the Probation system, the moral and religious regenerators. The schoolmaster (a convict) is assisted by instructors, volunteers from their own body, whose attendance seemed to be irregular. The chaplains, of course, exercise a general superintendence over the schools, of which there is one at each of the three stations. The hours of labor are from sunrise to sunset, one hour is allowed for breakfast, and one for dinner, in the winter: during the six summer months, an additional hour used to be allowed for the latter meal, but the practice no longer exists. The bell for rising rings at 5, A. M.; after prayers, the different gangs are mustered out, and start, in charge of overseers, to labor at their respective posts, in various parts of the island. At 5, P. M., they knock off work, and at six o'clock are rung into prayers, preparatory to muster and locking up. The prisoners' breakfast consists of "hominy," i.e., maize-meal boiled with water and a little salt, to render it more palatable, it is usually eaten with a small quantity of fat or "slush," the skimming of the flesh pot: habit has reconciled the "old hands" to this hominy, but, to the new comers, it is so distasteful that the stomach frequently rejects it. The dinner is of salt beef, usually of very inferior quality, losing much in the cooking. Supper the same as breakfast. The prescribed daily ration for convicts, as extracted from the book of local regulations, 1 lb. of salt beef 1 oz. of sugar 1 1-2 lb. of maize-mcal 1-2 oz. of soap 2 lbs. of sweet potatoes 1-2 oz. of salt. At Norfolk Island this is liable to variation. The most valuable and palatable part of the ration is the sweet potatoes, and these, for many months during our sojourn, the agricul tural department was unable to supply; an instance of gross neglect or mismanagement. It was necessary, however, to furnish an equivalent; but it will scarcely be credited. elsewhere, that a few ounces of salt pork were issued to each man, as a substitute for vegetables; much dissatisfaction was excited by this forced and unholy alliance between varieties of junk, but there was no alternative but to receive this new version of the Barmecides' feast, to swallow the pork, and applaud the beef and greens. A fresh ration, usually pork, is issued about ten times, perhaps, during the year; with these exceptions, the convicts on Norfolk Island do not get fresh meat, reserving always that to which they help themselves on divers occasions. This sort of appropriation would seem to be by no means uncommon, for on reference to a commissariat memo, I find that during the first quarter in 1846, there were illegally killed one head of horned cattle, seventy-four sheep, and three pigs. At one time, this irregularity was very prevalent, and led to crimes of a still more serious nature. Previous to an arrival, a constable had detected two prisoners with a portion of a sheep, recently killed; having shouldered the mutton, he desired the culprits to accompany him; on the read, the devil tempted these miscreants to treat the constable as they had already served the sheep; his body was found lifeless and mutilated in a thicket not far from the settlement. Two men were tried for the murder at the next Criminal Commission Court; the case, resting entirely upon circumstantial evidence, was one of great difficulty, but it ended in a conviction, and both parties suffered the extreme penalty of the law, protesting their innocence to the last. To complete our survey of the prisoners' accommodation. — Adjoining the barrack is another enclosure, known as the "lumber yard." A portion of this is devoted to workshops for carpenters, coopers, twiners, and other handicraftsmen employed in the Engineer Department. In the remainder of the enclosure some miserable sheds are raised against the walls in these the prisoners take their meals, and worse accommodation for that purpose was certainly never beheld. Tables and forms, black with age and dirt, out of repair, and insufficient in number, were scattered about without arrangement or uniformity. The sheds open to the wind and clouds of dust, the roofs not water tight, the walls and rafters black and filthyno shelves, nor conveniences of any kind for stowing away utensils; the floor of mud, full of holes and fissures, no facilities for cleaning or drain. ing a wretched, comfortless stye. In no other manner can it be fully designated. This certainly struck me as the most defective item in the interior economy; whatever may be the quantity or quality of the meals, they should be served with decency. We can conceive nothing more calculated to brutalize and foster a spirit of discontent and recklessness, than a disregard of these minor morals, the common decencies of life. Near to the entrance to the prisoners' barrack is a police station and a military guardroom the latter is raised, and so constructed as to command the external approach and the interior of the enclosure. On this, as on all other military parts of the Island, the utmost vigilance and the most rigid precautions are necessarily enforced. half-pay of the Royal Navy; the Assistants were many of them retired non-commissioned officers; no objection can be raised to the classes from whence these appointments are filled. All that we have to say on the subject is, that they are anything but sinecures, and that where the duties are conscientiously performed, the salary is merely remunerative. The free police constitute a very small portion of the entire number; the majority of the force is selected from the most active and trustworthy of the convict body: most of the Sub-Overseers are drawn from the same source, and many of the Overseers, although perhaps free, or ticket-of-leave men, have recently emerged from the convict class. This we submit to be an error in practice, for we have reason to conclude that these men, whatever their merits, and these are often doubtful, are at the best inconvenient instruments to work with, owing to the feelings of jealousy and aversion with which they are almost universally viewed by those over whom they are placed in authority. Such appointments are the mischievous results of a mistaken economy. In Van Dieman's Land prisoners are frequently worked under a military guard. Soldiers so employed receive payment (one shilling per diem) for this arduous and responsible duty, which involves, likewise, the de It became at one time a practice for the inmates of the barracks, after being locked up for the night, to annoy in various ways, both by word and deed, the sentry posted on a platform in rear of the barracks. One night a sentry was pelted on his post with lemon peel and other missiles from the windows: the usual steps taken to repress irregularities were without effect. After repeated warnings that he would fire unless the offenders desisted, and being dared to do so, the sentry at length did fire, and with such effect that the ball passed through the jaw of one man and the leg of another, a result affording pretty good evi-struction of additional clothing. At Norfolk dence of the close packing of the inmates, if of nothing else. Unfortunately, it proved that neither of the wounded men were the offending parties, but a salutary effect was equally produced, and the matter rested here. Nor let me not be accused of levity in thus alluding to so untoward an occurrence. The position of the military on Norfolk Island was at that time one of peculiar difficulty; owing to incapacity and defective judgment in the Civil Administration, a state of affairs had grown up which threatened the subversion of all subordination amongst the convict population, and which soon after led to a crisis, eventful of horrors at the time, but a harbinger of change, and of a more tranquil future. The prisoners on Norfolk Island are formed in four divisions, whereof two are at the Settlement, and one each at the remaining stations, Longridge and Cascade. The discipline and arrangement of these are vested (under the chief civil authority) in Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Overseers, and Sub-Overseers. There is, in addition, a strong body of Island police. Of the four Superintendents, two were retired officers of the line, and the other two, Lieutenants on Island, the receptacle of the most desperate ruffians, the gangs are rarely placed under immediate military supervision; here again the penny-wise and pound-foolish policy prevails. Overseers are beaten and stabbed for want of protection; there is a lavish expenditure of human life, but a most penurious oulay of diurnal shillings. Facts are said to be stubborn arguments, and of these, in the shape of assaults upon Overseers, there was no lack during our short experience. Within a few months we saw seventeen individuals brought to the gallows for offences of this nature. I think it was on the second or third Sunday after our arrival, that a messenger entered the barrack-room in which divine service was performed to the military; a note was handed to the clergyman, who did not immediately open it, as there was an evident stir outside; some impatience and excitement were manifested. The note was now opened and read; it was a requisition from the civil commandant for the aid of the military. The congregation were dismissed, and in a few minutes a subaltern's party was under arms, and proceeded to the prisoners' barracks. On the evening before, a constable had been stabbed and beaten by five men. An attempt to ap prehend the offenders and remove them to jail was resisted, and a determination to screen them was shown by the rest of their comrades. The bayonets of the military restored order, and enforced obedience; it would appear, however, that the spirit of resistance was only repressed by the actual presence of the troops, for combined acts of insubordination were of frequent occurrence, keeping us constantly on the qui vive. But a short time elapsed after the incident before mentioned, when some Overseers were again assaulted; the chief constable going to their rescue, was thrown down and jumped upon; he escaped on this occasion with four broken ribs, and recovered, only to perish miserably, a few months after, at the hands of the same miscreants. Enough has been said to show the insecurity of human life here, and to afford grounds for assuming that a small sum disbursed to the military for extra duty, as in other penal settlements, would have been well bestowed. But at Norfolk Island, where the services of the military are most valuable, and their duties most arduous, it is to be observed that the least regard is paid to their comfort and welfare. Every article of island produce sold by the Government, bears a comparatively high price; even extra fresh meat and flour are dearer than in Van Dieman's Land; vegetables are not procurable by the soldiers, except such as they may cultivate themselves, and their military duties will not admit of their doing this without inconvenience. Milk and butter used formerly to be supplied gratuitously, but this boon has been withdrawn. The number of convict servants allowed to officers for out door work has been reduced to one, and having already alluded to the scanty barrack accommodation, the want of a school, library, or even a suitable place for divine worship, it must be conceded that the military here are placed on the most disadvantageous footing. Assuredly one of the greatest sources of discomfort to the free residents on Norfolk Island, is the uncertainty and irregularity of the communication with Van Dieman's Land. We have understood from the older residents that whilst the island was a dependency of Sydney, the Government vessel might be calculated on,with tolerable certainty. At any rate, there was a regularity in the despatch, and the only delay originated in the chances of wind and weather; but during our residence we have known a period of six months to elapse with only two arrivals from Hobart Town. Setting aside the privation of all correspondence, an evil of no inconsiderable magnitude in the present day, we incurred the more serious in convenience of impending famine, running short of all such supplies and provisions as the island cannot furnish, and in this is included everything beyond the bare ration. The garrison was more than once without sugar, not even a particle for the sick in hospital. At one time the spirits ran short, the men were put on half allowance, and it was only on the day that the last gallon was issued, that a vessel arrived with a fresh supply. Again, on another occasion, all the wheat and flour in store proved to be damaged and musty, so that for some weeks we were existing on food of a most unpalatable and unwholesome nature. This was not a state of things tending to render men contented in a position where all else was intolerable, and where the excitements of honorable ambition, with the prospect of reaping honors and promotion, were wanting to brace the energies and sustain the spirits. Policy, if not justice, might in such a case dictate the necessity of carefully providing at least for the physical comfort of men, nor are the above remarks applicable solely to the matter of eating and drinking. By neglect in the despatch of vessels, the clothing both for the convicts and the garrison has been delayed long after the time of issue, and in the case of the military, shirts and shoe-leather became commodities which no wealth could purchase. From the above facts, coupled with the inevitable loss and waste upon the periodical supplies of stores laid in from Van Dieman's Land, the expense of insurance, &c., thereby enhancing the price of everything, we are justified in urging that an island allowance should have been, and must eventually be, granted to both men and officers of the garrison of this island. I cannot but smile on recording, that prior to embarking for Norfolk Island, and then a stranger in the colony, a high authority in Van Dieman's Land, who might have been better informed, after condoling with me on my evil fortune in being doomed to such unenviable service, wound up with this morsel of consolation, that at any rate it would prove an economical quarter, since local circumstances rendered it impossible to spend any money. I hope that I have sufficiently exposed this fallacy; still, as we have heard of a solitary exception, which might be quoted in disproof of the argument in favor of the grant of an island allowance, we feel bound in conscience to record it. There is, then, a tradition on Norfolk island, of some subaltern, who, during a residence of two years, saved one hundred pounds out of his pay! Though this was stated to us in sober seriousness, we tremble whilst we record the fact, lest some of the Williamses and Joe Humes of the House should make it the groundwork for a proposition to reduce by one half the pay of officers at Norfolk Island. But to proceed this history, which borders upon romance, does not stop here, but goes on to record that this exemplary disciple of economy remitted the amount so saved to his respected parent or "Governor," to adopt the phraseology of the day. We have heard pretty often of "Governors" being bled to the tune of four or five-hundred per annum, to pay for champagne and cigars, breast-pins and bull-dogs, pastry-cooks and livery stable keeper's bills, but this event of making a remittance to such a quarter, we would humbly submit to be unique and unprecedented, and to argue a degre: of self denial, and an originality of conception which entitles the performer to a distinguished place in the annals of military finance. Perhaps, after all, the young gentleman was a bit of a wag, and intended this feat as one of those practical jokes for which the age is so remarkable. Whatever his motive, we can only say that he has shown himself worthy of a niche in the museum of the United Service Institution. We should, however, reserve him for more useful purposes, and should we ever meet with him, shall surely pounce upon him, and send him to the Horse Guards, there to be exhibited in a glass case, as a model for the officers of the British army, a sealed pattern for subalterns. The apparently defective means of transport and communication at the disposal of the government of Van Dieman's Land, induce me to revert for a moment to the subject, for the purpose of pointing out that it can only be effectually remedied by the establishment of steam communication. None of the Australian governments have any steam power at command, nor is this deficiency supplied or mitigated by private speculation, or commercial enterprise. In Van Dieman's Land, the colonial marine consists, we believe, in three small craft, which, to judge from results, are inadequate for the service of Norfolk Island alone. Steam navigation is truly in its infancy in this part of the world, and a puny and sickly infancy it is. New South Wales, after half a century of commercial progression, can still boast of only a few small steamers, for coasting and river service; whilst the existence of only one steam-boat of inferior capacity, plying between Sidney and Van Dieman's Land, is sufficiently indicative of the want of capital and commercial enterprise in the Australian Colonies. It rests not, however, with the community at large, but with the government, o guard against an evil which endangers the health and safety of the residents, both bond and free, on a penal settlement, endangered, by the precarious and uncertain voyages of sailing vessels. Nor is this a contingency of recent date, or without precedent. A writer on Van Dieman's Land, some four years ago, in describing a visit to Macquarie Harbor, on the west coast of Tasmania, formerly the colonial penal settlement, speaks strongly of the inconvenience and danger arising from the defective system we have deprecated. We learn from him,*.... Macquarie Harbor is a post as difficult of egress as of access, and from the self-same cause, the prevalence of westerly winds. When occupied as a penal settlement, the inhabitants were frequently in a state of extremity, nearly bordering on starvation, the vessels of the colonial marine having repeatedly been wholly unable to round South West Cape, and forced to bear up before the fury of the gale. A passage of two months' duration has more than once occurred; and there have been instances of whale-boats having crawled along the coast, in the hope of expediting relief. This difficulty of transit, and the time inevitably consumed, rendered inspection by the chief authority next to an impossibility, and no doubt tended materially to the abandonment of the place; but neither westerly winds, shoals nor bars, are sufficient reasons for such a step, seeing that, in this age of steam, the run from Hobart Town and back might easily be accomplished once a week, and with ample time to load and unload. A couple of powerful steamers of three hundred tons, drawing from seven to eight feet of water, placed at the gov ernor's disposal, would render the most invaluable aid in the furtherance of government measures, an aid of the most profitable and beneficial description, saving a large expenditure and a vast amount of time, of necessity most wastefully consumed by sailing vessels in the transport of convicts, stores, supplies, &c., &c. If steam communication were desirable in the case of Macquarie Harbor, it is doubly necessary for the isolated settlement of Norfolk Island. With a population of desperate characters, guarded by a scanty military force, without the means of making known their wants under any emergency, it is highly injudicious to allow more than eight weeks to elapse without communication. That period should be the maximum. On the score of economy, the present system of transporting troops and stores in the *U. S. Mag. No. 178, Sept., 1843. |