TO PORT MACQUARIE.
"O suffering, sad humanity!
O ye afflicted ones,
Steeped to the lips in misery."
--LONGFELLOW.
It was not long before my health had sufficiently repaired to allow
of my being sent to Port Macquarie, and as this journey had to be
accomplished by water, the steamer "Little Billy," (William the Fourth)
came into requisition. I left Sydney in this vessel on Monday, and she
reached her destination on the following Sunday, after we had been on
deck the whole time tossing about. There were a good number of us on
board, and sometimes we got tea, and more often we didn't. We were
inspected on arrival, and afterwards landed at the barracks, which
stood on the water's edge against the river. The first incident that
came under my notice on arrival was a lean, hungry-looking fellow named
"Nipper," going along with his head down, apparently in a tit, until
he reached and hit up against a wall, then he fell on his back like a
cockroach--he was bloated out nearly as large as a cask with "hominy."
Then I saw another man named "Larry" coming along; he was positively
mad, for he used to go along singing out "Larry! Larry!! Larry!!!" This
man was reputed to have knocked his wife's brains out with a saucepan.
Still another I saw, who was called "Captain." He had been a pirate,
and used to walk about the roofs of houses with a piece of stick, using
it as a telescope, and giving orders. I heard him sing out "Chuck us
up that Jew ---- to deal with," and I don't know whom he meant, but
it was quite enough for me, so I left. Night came on, and one of the
men--Jack Sleet--had a few shillings in his pocket. Some of the others
heard the money jingle, and needless to say he was watched to bed, the
money being placed very safely underneath him. Everything was quiet
towards the middle of the night, when suddenly we were all awakened
by hearing a man sing out, "Oh! h----, Oh! h----, somebody's cut me."
It transpired that someone, in cutting the money from under him, had
forced the knife rather too much, and it had entered his flesh, but the
money was gone all the same, and every one appeared to be asleep.
When all the men retired to barracks at night, it was so crowded that
where to lie down became a puzzle, and it was dirty besides. Men still
kept on coming from Sydney, which made matters ten times worse. One
day while in these quarters, I was sent down to one of the wharves to
help unload a boat laden with produce. I worked very hard all day,
and it was late in the evening before I returned to the barracks.
On arrival I asked the master's permission to bake myself a "johnny
cake" for supper. In due course I had the cake mixed, and placed it
on the fire to cook in an old frying-pan that was more "hol(e)y than
righteous." Seated beside the fire watching my cake, I felt a nasty hit
with a stick from behind, and as there was no other weapon handy with
which to return the compliment, I grasped the frying-pan by the handle,
and, turning round, brought it down full force on to my assailant's
head. Needless to say, his head was harder than the bottom of the pan,
and the next thing I remember was seeing him wriggling about with the
hot pan on his neck, and exclaiming, "Oh! my G--, this pan is burning
me!" Then a by-stander came up with a bucket of water and poured it on
him, and afterwards the pan was removed. I turned to him, and said;
"The next time I am at the fire perhaps you'll leave me alone." But my
feet hardly had time to touch the ground before I was landed in the
lock-up, and the next day I was brought before the court and sentenced
to 36 lashes, and it would have been "100" only that the overseer
spoke up for me, and said that I was quite justified in my action. But
even "36" was a fine cure for the "prickly heat." I got full of this
and ran away to the Green Hills--15 miles distant--with a mate. When we
got there, it seemed that we were to get no peace, for the aborigines
came around us with their "yabber," and it was but a short time before
they were off to the police and informed them of our whereabouts. Two
days later we were caught, and I got "50" more to "clench the bargain."