One of the earliest (1824) and chief difficulties of Governor Arthur's
administration sprang from an out-break of prisoners at Macquarie
Harbour, who divided in their progress, and collected several formidable
bands. The efforts to escape from that dreary region had been numerous,
but unsuccessful: the unhappy beings who wandered into the woods, found
no sustenance, and died either from exhaustion or by the hands of each
other; or when they endeavoured to ford the Gordon, and attain by a more
direct course the settled districts, they were either drowned or taken.
During the first five years, when not more than two hundred were
confined there, one hundred ventured on this dangerous enterprise,
notwithstanding their ignorance of the route, and the almost certain
starvation which awaited them. Prisoners arriving from Hobart Town gave
them erroneous tidings respecting the absconders, and delusive hopes of
success, and thus the foolish and desperate were prompted to hazard the
perils of flight.
The first (1822) adventurers were John Green and Joseph Sanders; never
heard of more: six others followed a few days after, and encountered a
similar fate. They were pursued by two soldiers and three prisoners, who
took with them a fortnight's provision and hunting dogs. The rain
continued for seven weeks after their departure, and it was presumed
they perished from exhaustion.[167] Another party formed a catamaran,
but it parted when they had proceeded a short distance; and they were
rescued from its fragments by the soldiers. Eight others left in the
following September, and all lost their lives, except Pearce, whose
narrative will be noticed hereafter.
At Macquarie Harbour, the first commandant was Lieutenant Cuthbertson, a
soldier who had been in eighteen general engagements; yet was glad of an
appointment, to supplement the deficiency of his pay. His discipline was
severe, but of brief duration. A small vessel, built at the harbour, was
in danger, and Cuthbertson ordered out his own boat to its relief; this
he effected: on returning, his boat was upset, and all, except two, were
drowned. Cuthbertson was thrice raised by one of the crew; but finding
his strength unequal to retain his hold, he said, "man, save yourself;
never mind me--it is no use." On the death of the commandant, the chief
authority devolved on a non-commissioned officer. The prisoners were
disposed to question his right to obedience: his government was
vigorous, and he flogged with redoubled frequency.[168]
In June, 1824, two parties absconded from Macquarie Harbour: one,
consisting of three persons only, who seized the soldiers' boat,
provisions, and arms. They proceeded about twelve miles, when they
moored the boat to a stump of a tree, and wrote on its stern with chalk,
"to be sold:" of this party no tidings were ever heard, and it is
supposed that they perished. The second left five days afterwards, and
were, for a time, more fortunate. Having resolved to escape, they
proposed to capture the barge of commandant Wright; but suspecting their
intention, he pushed off before they could reach it, leaving behind the
surgeon. This gentleman they threatened to flog, and prepared the
instrument of punishment; Brady interposed, and thus began his fatal
career by an act of gratitude. He had experienced some kindness from the
surgeon when a patient, and forgave his official attendance at the
triangles. These men were usually friendly to the doctors: another
medical gentleman, afterwards taken prisoner by Brady and his gang, was
allowed to retain his lancet, and treated with respect, although robbed
of his money. A few days before, he had released one of the party from
punishment, by alleging his physical inability. It was thus in the power
of the surgeons to favor the prisoners, and to mitigate the sentence of
a rigorous magistrate.
The party having obtained a boat, proceeded towards the Derwent, and
were pursued by Lucas, the pilot, without success. They left on the 9th,
and appeared on the east coast of the Derwent on the 18th June, at the
residence of Mr. Mason: having beaten him with great violence and
cruelty, they next robbed a servant of Mr. Gunn of fire-arms. They were
pursued by this officer, and five were captured. These were instantly
placed on their trial, and were desirous of pleading guilty; but courts
have always manifested dislike to such evasions of trial, and they
retracted, on the persuasion of the chief justice. They attempted to
extenuate their crimes by the hardships they had suffered, but in vain.
The advice to a person accused to plead not guilty, though anomalous in
its aspect, is yet usually a proper protection to the ignorant and
defenceless: such, under an impression of general guilt, might admit an
aggravated indictment, and lose the advantage of those distinctions made
by legislators on public grounds, between crime and crime; or the
executive might delude a prisoner with fallacious hopes of mercy, to
prevent the disclosure of extenuating facts to conceal official wrong;
while ignorance of the details of a crime, might destroy the moral
weight of exemplary punishment.
With these men was executed Alexander Pearce, whose confessions to the
priest were, by his consent, published at his death. He formed one of
the second party who absconded from Macquarie Harbour (1822). They had
planned their escape with considerable skill: one was a sailor, and able
to direct their course: they possessed themselves of a boat, and
proposed to capture the vessel of the pilot, then laden for town. It was
the custom, when a prisoner was missing, to kindle signal fires along
the coast, thus giving notice to the sentinels: to prevent such
information, the absconders poured water on the embers kept in
readiness. This was not effectually done: and thus, when they had
proceeded half-a-mile, they saw the smoke rising, and their passage cut
off; they therefore landed, destroyed the boat, and entered the bush.
They now commenced a course of fatigue and horror: they began to murmur,
and then to discuss the terrible alternative of general starvation:
two, who overheard the proposition, returned to the settlement, but died
almost immediately, from exhaustion. The rest travelled on, lessened at
various stages in their course by their fatal necessity, till two only
survived; these were, Pearce and Greenhill--the last, the victim. They
spent two days and nights watching each other! Greenhill, who laid his
axe under his head, to guard against surprise, first slept! Pearce was
now alone, and destitute; but at length he came to a fire of the
natives, and obtained some fragments of the opossum: at last he reached
a flock of sheep, and seized on a lamb, which he proceeded to devour
undressed. He was discovered by a stock-keeper, and when he surrendered
was received with great kindness and sympathy. His host introduced him
to the bushrangers then abroad; but being afterwards captured, he was
again forwarded to Macquarie Harbour.
Such suffering might have been expected to overcome all future desire to
abscond; yet, in company with Cox, Pearce again left the settlement:
they remained several days in the neighbourhood, and then attempted to
reach the northern part of the island. Pearce slew his unsuspecting
comrade. Horror took possession of his mind; or, despairing to effect
his escape, he returned and made signals to the _Waterloo_, then passing
the coast. He confessed his crime, and professed a wish to die.[169]
These cases indicate the rapid process by which the habits of
cannibalism are formed: the details of his trial were given in the
_Gazettes_ of the period, and are contained in the parliamentary papers;
but who could bear to examine the diary of such a journey, or to
describe the particulars of those sacrifices which fill the soul with
unutterable loathing!
Arrests were constantly made, but did not diminish the number, or daring
of new adventurers. Their exploits were contagious: many fled from the
employ of government, and the service of settlers, and forfeited their
lives after a short career. An instance will show the extent of their
operations. By his spies the police magistrate was aware that a large
quantity of goods would be offered to a certain person for sale, whom he
instructed to purchase, and to pay partly by check and partly in cash.
At midnight he surrounded a house in Hobart Town, with soldiers and
constables: there he found the men he sought--their arms, their plunder,
and the check. They had pillaged the dwelling of Mr. Haywood at the
Macquarie, a district rarely free from depredations. One of the robbers
was formerly, and a second more lately, in the service of the
prosecutor, and a third was a neighbour. They had entered, by pretending
to deliver a message, and assaulted both Mr. Haywood and his wife: they
fired several shots, and left them with threats. They were promptly
tried and executed.
Not long after, the same establishment was visited by Brady: he took but
little, and assured the prosecutor he need not fear retaliation, for
Broadhead, the leader of the last party, _was not a bushranger_!
Eighteen were taken in one week, but they increased with equal rapidity.
The Governor, baffled by their lengthened defiance of the efforts to
quell them, attributed cowardice and corruption with an unsparing
bitterness; yet the difficulties even of the well-disposed were great,
and they were often ignorant of the movements of the robbers. Their
retreats were often in the forests, and known only to themselves; and at
some future time property will be detected, the relics of early robbers,
who carried with them to the grave the secret of their hidden spoil.
Occasionally, the hut of a bushranger has been observed: one, curiously
formed, was found by soldiers on the brow of Mount Wellington; and
before the door, a salting apparatus. The servants of the Van Diemen's
Land Company saw a hut at St. Patrick's Plains, beyond the Great Lake
(1826). At a distance it resembled a gigantic fallen tree, and in its
centre and side were doors, from which the whole plain could be surveyed
and surprise prevented.
The Governor denounced the miserable fear of personal danger--certainly
more natural in the bush than the council chamber. Doubtless many, equal
to the bravery of an actual conflict, preferred to pay black mail to
robbers, rather than risk their sudden inroads and secret vengeance. Nor
was it at all certain that a marauder, when captured, would be detained:
some broke from their prisons; from Launceston, a band together, who
renewed their pillage with increasing diligence. Among others, they
attacked the house of Mr. Harrison, and maintained a fire which riddled
his premises. These men attempted to fortify themselves by erecting
stone fences on the peak of a hill at the Macquarie: there they were
surprised and taken. The insecurity of the prisons, and the mode of
disposing of respited offenders, made it not unlikely that an officious
witness would be called to a future account: thus an old man, who
prosecuted a burglar, was visited by the culprit when he returned from
Macquarie Harbour; violently beaten, robbed, and threatened with death.
To distinguish these men was no slight difficulty: they often pretended
to be constables, and were in possession before the error was
discovered. One, still more serious, sometimes happened: thus two
constables saw two armed men enter a hut, and approaching challenged
them; answer not being promptly given, they fired, and severely wounded
both the astonished policemen. Nor were the settlers exempt from such
perils. The bushrangers, often well dressed and mounted, made every
traveller an object of suspicion: when riding over the Cross Marsh, Mr.
Hodgson was challenged by the military stationed there; his motions of
recognition they understood as defiance, and fired. To his remonstrances
they answered with insolence, and expressed a wish that the shot had
proved fatal. On a prosecution the rash soldier was acquitted, no malice
being presumed (1826); and the attack was deemed a contingency of
colonial life.
Among those whose crimes obtained them the greater notoriety, were
Brady, M'Cabe, Jeffries, and Dunne: well mounted upon horses, and armed
with muskets, they scoured the colony: murder, pillage, and arson,
rendered every homestead the scene of terror and dismay. Those settlers
most exposed, often abandoned the business of their farms: their
dwellings were perforated with loop-holes, their men were posted as
sentinels, and all the precautions adopted, necessary in a state of war.
But though not without supporters and accomplices, the bushrangers were
in far greater danger of betrayal and capture than at a former period.
The settlers, much more numerous, and of a higher class, felt that the
suppression of the robbers, or the desertion of the colony, were the
only alternatives. Governor Arthur exerted all the powers of government
against them. Thus the issue was not long doubtful, although the contest
cost many lives.
In July, 1824, a party under James Crawford, appeared on the river, and
having robbed the house of Mrs. Smith, they loaded her servants with
their plunder, and drove them towards the establishment of Mr. Robert
Taylor: meeting his son, they compelled him to bear part of the burden.
The family observed the party approach, and armed to meet them. Young
Taylor called to his father not to fire; and when he came near his
friends, he managed to escape from the robbers: a general skirmish
ensued. The young man seeing a piece levelled at his father, seized the
assassin by the throat, and pulled him down: this brought a comrade to
the robber's assistance: one of the servants became alarmed for young
Taylor, and fired; unhappily, the shot was fatal to the youth for whose
protection it was intended. The robbers now made their escape, leaving
behind, beside two of their companions, their arms and plunder. Governor
Arthur addressed a letter of condolence and praise to the sorrowing
family: their neighbours expressed admiration of their courage, and
presented a piece of plate to them, in testimony of their sympathy and
esteem. Their example was exhibited by the Governor to the imitation of
the colonists, notwithstanding its terrible issue.
The overseer of Mr. Kemp was met by Brady and his party, and taken to
his master's house; there he was ordered to gain admission, which he did
by answering the challenge of his employer: the bushrangers having
possession, robbed the house, in the presence of seven assigned servants
and two free persons. Yet it was not a small risk to begin the _melee_;
and it was not reasonable to expect men, in their civil condition, to
hazard life to protect the property of a master, for whom, perhaps, they
did not entertain much love. Thus the settlers could not always depend
upon their men: many of whom saw, with pleasure, the vengeance inflicted
on masters who had sometimes procured their punishment; and, partly by
sympathy and partly by fear, they were deterred from rendering effectual
assistance. Three men, with blackened faces, visited the residence of
Captain Allison at Sandy Bay: he met them with uncommon courage, but
was struck down and beaten; he appealed to his servants, who only
muttered a reply to his calls for aid. Mrs. Allison joined her
entreaties, when at length an atrocious woman (Hannah Bell, afterwards
notorious) said to the robbers, in a tone of sarcasm,--"Come men, don't
kill him quite out."
One of their most daring exploits was the taking of the town of Sorell,
and the capture of the gaol. They entered the premises of Mr. Bethune,
of which they kept possession until dusk on the following evening. Two
gentlemen, who arrived there during the day, they detained: they
stripped them of their clothing, and tendered the prisoner dress in
exchange; this being, however, declined, one of the gentlemen wore no
other covering than a blanket. These, and others, eighteen in number,
they compelled to accompany them to Sorell. A party of soldiers, who had
been employed in pursuit all the day, and who were worn out with
fatigue, while cleaning their guns, were surprised in the gaol. Brady
locked them up in a cell, and offered liberty to the prisoners he found
there; one of whom, who was charged with a capital offence, for which he
was afterwards executed, declined the opportunity to escape. The gaoler
hastened to inform Lieutenant Gunn, who was in the neighbourhood, and
thus prepared for the arrival of the robbers: while raising his arm, he
received a shot above the elbow, which rendered amputation necessary.
This officer had been employed in the pursuit of the marauders for a
considerable time, and his gigantic stature, courage, and energy,
rendered his name formidable: he received from the public a valuable
present, and a pension from the colonial fund.
The roads were infested, and communication was dangerous: travellers
were arrested and tied to trees; and sometimes, though not frequently,
treated with cruelty. To preserve their property, the settlers resorted
to concealment and stratagem: among the rest, the contrivance and
coolness of an old woman, merits remembrance, who knowing that the
robbers were on the road provided a paper of blank notes, which she
delivered to them, and thus saved a considerable sum, the result of her
marketing.
Their close pursuit at length filled them with a spirit of mischief, and
they perpetrated various acts of cruelty and wanton devastation. Among
their most ordinary pleasantries, was forcing the people of an
establishment to drink to drunkenness: thus their recollection became
confused; they could not follow, and the robbers enjoyed the scene of
their helpless intoxication. They held a pistol to a servant of Mr.
Hance, of the river Plenty, and compelled him to drink a large quantity
of rum: they then led him off the farm and left him. He was discovered
some time after by a shepherd, his dog fondly licking his face: when
raised up, he called for water, and died. Inflammation caused
mortification of the intestines;--the tender mercies of the wicked are
cruel! Not content with pillage, they destroyed the wool of three years'
clip, the corn stacks, and the barns on the establishment of Mr.
Lawrence, by fire. Several other settlers experienced similar
visitations. The Governor issued a proclamation, five hundred copies of
which were scattered through the colony. He threatened with death all
persons who might afford them countenance. He offered rewards to a large
amount: for every bushranger mentioned in the notice one hundred
guineas, or three hundred acres of land; or to prisoners, money and a
free pardon, whether directly or indirectly engaged in the capture; and
to the chief constable in whose district the robber should be taken, one
hundred acres. He complained that sufficient energy and co-operation had
not been employed, and called upon the magistrates and other persons to
combine for the liberation of the country. He himself resolved to fix
his residence at Jericho, to direct the operations; and the inhabitants
of Hobart Town formed themselves into a guard, that thus the soldiers
and constabulary might be wholly employed in this important service. The
robbers, however, being mounted, were enabled to move with considerable
rapidity, and carried on their depredations in every part of the island.
By acts of wantonness and vengeful barbarity, they intended to
intimidate the prisoners. They called Thomas Preston from his hut, on
the South Esk, and deliberately shot him. They took Captains White and
Smith prisoners: the last, they made to kneel--their usual preparation
for murder; but were induced to spare his life, by the intercession of
his companion, who appealed to their humanity on behalf of his wife and
children! They endeavoured to capture the _Glory_, belonging to one of
these gentlemen; but finding the wind unfavorable, they relinquished
that purpose. While Brady was on a hill, watching that vessel, a
confederate escaped, intending to betray them to Colonel Balfour: one of
the party, stationed as sentinel, was tried by a sort of court martial,
for permitting his elopement; he was shot, and flung into the Tamar.
They sent word that they would visit Launceston gaol, carry off
Jeffries, and put him to death. Their message was of course treated
with contempt, but they landed and advanced to the residence of Mr.
Dry, who was then entertaining a number of his friends. The banditti
plundered the house, and were packing up their booty when Colonel
Balfour, to whom a messenger had been dispatched, arrived with ten
soldiers and surrounded the house: the robbers retreated to the back
part of the premises, and fired into the rooms. It was dark, and when
the firing ceased, they were supposed to have retreated. The colonel,
with four of his men, hastened to protect the town, to which a division
of the robbers had been sent by Brady. As soon as he departed, some of
the party again showed themselves: Dr. Priest joined Mr. Theodore
Bartley, and the remaining soldiers; unfortunately, his clothing being
partly white, enabled the robbers to take aim. His horse was shot dead:
he himself received a musket ball, which wounded him above his knee; and
refusing to submit to amputation he lost his life.
Exasperated by these crimes, the whole country rose against them: they
were sought in every quarter. The settlers, and soldiers scattered over
the colony, at the first notice of their appearance, were prepared to
follow them. The Governor himself took the field, and infused vigour
into the pursuit; and in less than a month the chief robbers were in the
hands of justice. Brady, wounded in the leg, was overtaken by the
soldiers, and surrendered without a struggle. With Jeffries, he was
conveyed to Hobart Town. A large crowd assembled to see robbers, who
were admired for their boldness by many, as much as they were detested
for their crimes.
The most ferocious of the bushrangers was Jeffries: he obtained his
reprieve in Scotland, to act as executioner.[170] Being transported to
this country, he was employed as a scourger, and thus trained to
cruelty, entered the bush. He robbed the house of Tibbs, a small
settler, and after wounding, compelled him, with his wife, to proceed to
the forest. The woman carried her infant: Jeffries was disturbed by its
cries; perhaps, fearful that the sound might conduct his pursuers. He
took the child from the arms of its mother and dashed out its brains
against a tree! When captured, he was taken to Launceston, where the
people, exasperated by his unusual guilt, were scarcely restrained, from
summary vengeance, by the presence of a strong guard. While in prison he
made sketches of his murders, and wrote memoirs of his life! His
countenance was an index of his character. Not so with Brady; who,
though guilty of heavy crimes, pretended to something like magnanimity:
he was drawn into the plan to escape, contrary to his own judgment, and
then said the _die_ was cast. His robberies were skilfully planned and
deliberately executed: he often restored such articles as the sufferers
specially valued. To every indictment he pleaded guilty: it was thought
in contempt of justice; but certainly in the full conviction that it was
useless to expect either mercy or acquittal.
An instance of his persevering vengeance, which rests on the authority
of a magistrate, may be worth remembering. A man, who had been a
confederate, determined to entrap him: Brady on approaching his hut felt
a presentiment of treachery; but at length was persuaded to advance. The
constables were in ambush: they fired, and both himself and his
companion were arrested. Brady, wounded, was left bound in the hut with
his betrayer, while the constables conducted his comrade to a place of
confinement. He now requested to lie on the bed, and that a kangaroo rug
might be thrown over him: this done, he disentangled his arms and asked
for water. The guard laid aside his gun to procure it; this Brady
seized, and in his turn became captor. While bound, he reproached the
man for his perfidy, who said that he could but die; and that there was
neither God nor devil! But being now in Brady's power, he fell upon his
knees, and prayed him, for _God's sake_, to spare his life. Brady
reminded him, that he had just said, "there was no God;" but added, that
the report of the gun might give warning of the state of affairs. He
bade him beware of their next meeting, and departed. Afterwards, in
company with his gang, he met this man, and holding a pistol to his
head, told him to say his prayers: the man, finding remonstrance
useless, coolly placed his head against the door of the hut, and said,
"fire!" and was shot dead.
Permission being given for prisoners to unite with the bushrangers, to
betray them, men in irons left the town secretly, joined the gang, and
gave intelligence to the police. This manoeuvre was soon worn out. A
prisoner, who escaped from gaol, desired to join them in good faith; but
believing him a decoy, the gang adjudged him to suffer death. He was
compelled to drink a quantity of laudanum: they then left him; but his
stomach rejected the drug, and after a sound sleep he recovered. He
again met Brady and his gang: two pistols were discharged at him: he
fell, and was left for dead; but the wound was not mortal, and reviving
he determined to deliver himself up. He was, however, again unfortunate:
he met Brady and his companions once more, who again fired; but the
bullet, instead of entering the skull, glanced round it. He fell
senseless to the ground, and was thrown into a dry creek; he, however,
recovered, and long survived these adventures.[171] The high authority
on which this anecdote rests, is quite necessary to suppress the
question of its truth.
During two years ending with 1826, one hundred and three persons
suffered death, being 3 8-15ths in proportion to one thousand of the
population: more than in Great Britain. He who looks at these statistics
alone, will conclude not only that the people were wicked, but that the
government was cruel. At one sitting of the court thirty-seven persons
were sentenced to death; and of these, twenty-three were executed in the
course of a fortnight: nine suffering together, and fourteen others on
two days closely following. A sacrifice of life so unusual, could only
be justified by the peculiar circumstances of the colony, and the
character of the criminals; and the notions which then prevailed
respecting the punishment of death.
We are forcibly reminded of a passage in Lord Coke:--"If a man could see
all the _Christians_, that in one year come to that untimely and
ignominious death--if there were any spark or grain of charity in him,
it would make his heart bleed!" The extreme pains taken to reconcile the
unfortunate beings to their lot; the assiduity of the clergy to make up,
by the assurance of divine mercy, the inexorable fate which awaited
them; proved that these awful slaughters were onerous to the colonial
conscience, and vindicable only as the last resort of the last
necessity. The Governor must be acquitted of great blame. A discussion,
of considerable warmth, arose (1825-6) on an address being presented
from fifty persons, who complained of the delays of justice on
bushrangers already condemned. The gaol was crowded, and the prisoners
seemed not unlikely to escape: several did actually break out of prison.
This memorial was transmitted by the government to the chief justice,
who, while he disdained giving reasons to the colony, vindicated his
court: the magistrates neglected the depositions; the attorney-general
the indictments, and the jury their summons. He had sat in a silent
court until ashamed, while prisoners awaited deliverance. He had often
felt disposed to discharge them; some of whom were detained longer for
trial than for punishment. He could not perceive how the delay of
execution could facilitate the evasion of capture by those at large. In
transmitting this reply, Arthur took occasion to refer to the colonial
press, supported by several of the memorialists, as largely implicated
with the crimes of the bushrangers. He traced, with some artifice, the
violence of the robbers to political dissensions, as inspiriting men who
easily confounded "the liberty of writing and the liberty of acting." To
be satisfied that the Governor did not seize an occasion of rebuke,
rather than account for a public misfortune, is difficult; and not less,
to sympathise with the petitioners. It is common for private individuals
to deprecate the severities of public justice, but the awful state of
the colony must be admitted, when fifty persons, among its most opulent
and even humane inhabitants, were anxious to hasten the offices of the
executioner.
The ignorant and brutal among the prisoners rushed into violence and
crime, with a recklessness of life scarcely credible. Not less than one
hundred were in arms at that time:[172] most of them were absconders
from the various penal stations, and had exhausted all those forms of
severity which stopped short of the scaffold. Of seventy-three sentenced
together, nine were for sheep-stealing, four for forgery, five for
murder, and twelve for robbery; besides four for the offence known in
gaols under the name of blanketing, who were ordered for execution--a
punishment which was commuted, being even then thought too severe for a
theft committed in gaol. They threw over the man whom they robbed a
blanket, and raised loud outcries; and in this form effected their
design.
A few of the cases tried on this occasion, will better illustrate the
condition of the colony than any general description. The murderers of
Alexander Simpson, a settler at Pittwater, pillaged his shop, where he
was accustomed to sleep for the protection of his property: his body was
found in the river, decapitated, and his flesh torn from his bones; in
many places literally bare. On closer examination, the mark of a cord
was observed round his neck, which probably occasioned his death. The
mangling of his body was intended to destroy the proof of identity: no
marks or signs of struggling were visible, nor was the head discovered.
One of the murderers dropped an expression, from which guilt was
inferred. Suspicion was directed to several of the neighbours: articles,
such as the deceased possessed, were found in their dwelling, _wet_;
others were discovered in a house adjoining the deceased's, _also wet_;
the accused were seen together, on the night of the murder. Twenty-two
witnesses gave evidence to facts, all of a circumstantial nature; but
sufficient to secure a verdict against them. This crime was considered
but a type of many, committed in a neighbourhood, the traditions of
which furnish many a tale of blood.
Among those who suffered death, were several whose captors acquired
considerable reputation for their courage. Three were taken by Lucas,
the pilot, assisted by a man and a boy, to whom they surrendered with
arms in their hands: they had just before committed a robbery at the
house of Mr. Holdship. On his defence, one of their number told the
judge, that whatever might be law, he himself could not consider that to
hold a pistol at the head was to offer violence! Several others belonged
to a party which had escaped from Maria Island, a new penal settlement.
On their landing, they advanced to the house of Mr. Gatenby, and were
seen approaching by his son, who took up his gun and went out to meet
them: he called upon their leader to lay down his arms, which he
answered by a discharge. Mr. Gatenby returned the shot, which proved
mortal. The companions of the robber endeavoured to carry him off; but
finding this useless, they retreated, and re-appeared at the premises of
Mr. James Robertson, on the South Esk, whose lands, and those of his
assigned servants, they tied, excepting one who was lame. Mr. W. Gray
coming up on horseback, they made prisoner, and bound him in a similar
manner. The leader of the robbers mounted his horse, while the rest
guarded the gentlemen and servants, and marched them on towards the
river. Mr. Gray disengaged his arm, and by a signal seized one
bushranger, while the lame man assailed another. Mr. Robertson also
released himself, and got possession of the guns. The robbers were
overpowered: one only escaped, but was captured the following day.
The Governor was not slow to acknowledge these instances of gallantry.
The courage of the masters, and the fidelity of their men, were held up
to the colony as brilliant examples, and to the robbers as a proof that
persons of the same civil condition had no sympathy with their crimes;
that their career would be short, and their capture certain.
Tickets-of-leave were granted to the men, with a promise of full
freedom, as a reward of one year's service in the field police. The
_Government Gazette_ observed, that such presence of mind and personal
bravery, in another age would have entitled the captors to armorial
bearings; they, however, received donations of land, perhaps not less
valuable in this meridian.
Amongst others who received a reprieve, was William Kerr, convicted of
forging, in the name of the chief justice, an ingenious device, which,
if it did not preserve him from conviction, perhaps rescued him from a
severer fate. He was advanced in years, and said to be a near relative
of the Earl of Roxborough, and a brother to Lord Kerr. In gaol, he was
conspicuous for his zeal in attempting the instruction of his fellow
prisoners, performing the office of chaplain in the absence of a better!
These unfortunate beings were placed together in cells, too narrow to
allow retirement or freedom from interruption: their attempts at escape,
once or twice nearly successful, rendered it necessary to load them with
irons. The time of execution was fixed, ere they wholly despaired of
liberty. There was not, however, deficiency of clerical attention: Mr.
Corvosso, the wesleyan minister, joined with Messrs. Bedford and
Knopwood, in this awful task.
Large crowds assembled to witness the first execution; but when the
novelty was over, the interest subsided. The last assembly was more
select: in the description given by Dr. Ross, we seem rather to read of
a martyrdom than an expiation. They came forth, he observed, with
countenances unappalled: the light of truth rendered that ignominious
morning the happiest of their lives. They prayed in succession, in a
devout and collected manner: one in particular, with a countenance
serene and placid, expressing his thanks to the chief justice for his
impartial trial; and to the Governor for rejecting his petition for
life. In this tranquil frame they submitted to the executioner. The
spectators were affected to tears: the officers and clergymen,
overpowered, hurried from the scene: the criminals died, as they were
singing--
"The hour of my departure's come,
I hear the voice that calls me home;
Oh, now my God, let troubles cease,
And let thy servant die in peace."
About this time Dunne, the bushranger, was executed: he attained a
considerable distinction by his crimes; more, by his protracted evasion
of pursuit, and his sanguinary resistance of capture; and still more, by
the ceremonies of his execution and the honors of his funeral. He came
forth to the scaffold, arrayed in a robe of white, adorned, both before
and behind, with a large black cross. He wore a cap with a similar
token, and carried a rosary in his hand. He was presented with a coffin
of cedar, ornamented with the devices of innocence and sorrow; and
bearing a plate, which told his name and the time of his death! As he
advanced, with several youthful fellow sufferers (of whom it is only
said, that they seemed _much terrified_), he continued to exclaim,
smiting his breast with theatrical expression of grief--"O, Lord,
deliver us!" He was followed by forty couples to the grave. Such were
the honors paid to a murderer. It is not astonishing, that witnesses
were insulted, and had to appeal for protection. A proposition was made
by the government newspaper, to render penal the taunts which prisoners
were accustomed to use against such as assisted in the suppression of
outrage.
The public effect of these exhibitions will be extremely questionable by
sober-minded and pious men. To see a criminal depart from this life in a
hardened and contemptuous spirit is, indeed, appalling; but the
serenity, and even rapture, thus common when terminating a career of
guilt and cruelty, often entered into the calculation of transgressors.
Among the miserable forms of vanity, is the triumph of boasting
penitence; and even when nothing else remains, the _eclat_ of a public
execution. Some were anxious to commit to writing their own last
confessions of guilt, to secure a posthumous interest in the terror or
pity of mankind.[173] The fullest appreciation of that system of mercy,
which never separates religious hope from the living, would scarcely
justify confidence, founded on such demeanour and language between the
cell and the scaffold.
Scarcely had this scene closed, when the prisoners in the penitentiary,
allured by the prospect of escape, broke through the gaol, and seized a
boat: as they approached the _Emma Kemp_, a premature display of muskets
convinced them that their plan was discovered. It was, indeed, known by
the officers of the gaol prior to their departure; who, calculating on
their arrest, permitted the consummation of their plans. This cost them
their lives: they retreated to the shore, robbed Mr. Mortimer of eight
stand of arms, and commenced their career as bushrangers. They were
evidently unwilling adventurers, and soon taken. The Governor, at their
execution, compelled the attendance of the prisoners, in the fallacious
belief that the sight would prove admonitory as well as terrible.
Several were mere youths: their obituary, furnished by the indefatigable
chronicler of executions, Dr. Ross, is not without interest. There was
Dunhill, six feet three inches high and handsome, a frequent attendant
at criminal courts; whose father was a prisoner for life, and whose
family, once the terror of Yorkshire, were mostly transported or
executed. There was Child, the son of a Bristol merchant, who, as the
rope was adjusting, said, "I know I shall go to heaven!" There was a
Scotch boy, who sang as he went; but said he was ruined in the
penitentiary. Another had driven his mother to self destruction.
Nine men were executed towards the close of the following year, for the
murder of a constable, named George Rex, at Macquarie Harbour: their
leader, James Lacy, a person of considerable talent, was saved on a
former occasion by the mediation of the Rev. W. Bedford, who represented
that to Lacy's influence a settler owed his life. Having planned an
escape, they seized the constable; and having bound and gagged some
fellow prisoners, whom they rejected as accomplices, they took Rex and
pushed him into the water, and held down his head until life was
extinct. They then formed a raft, but it was insufficient to convey
them: three only landed on the main, and were pursued and retaken. The
sole witnesses summoned against them were prisoners, who prevaricated in
their testimony; but the presence of surgeon Barnes supplied the
evidence they thought proper to conceal, and insured the conviction. At
the close of the trial, Lacy leaned over the bar and said, "had it not
been for you, doctor, we should have pulled through."
Lacy was conspicuous in the press-yard for his fervour, and delivered an
animated warning to the multitude, who were drawn together to witness an
unusual sacrifice of life at one drop! Dr. Ross, who still endeavoured
to rally round the scaffold some special interest, gave an artistic
description of their end; but he was astonished to observe how the
sufferers themselves were but little affected, and the spectators less.
He mourned over the unmeaning countenances of the mob, who felt little
but curiosity when they saw them step from the full bloom of life to the
grave! Nor was it perceived by that zealous defender of lenity, when the
government was lenient, and of the severity, when the government was
severe, that the execution of nine persons for an act, in which three
only actually participated, or perhaps contemplated, could only be
possible among such a people. It is rather a matter of exultation, that
there is a limit, beyond which executions become the dullest of all
entertainments. At that time no one would have thought a single sufferer
worth a glance of the eye.
It is remarked, that the most notorious of these offenders were rather
prepossessing, except that their looks, by long residence in the bush,
had acquired an air of wildness. The indicative theories of Lavater were
negatived by the usual aspect of these crowds of victims; but the most
impatient of penal restraint, have been not only violent and corrupt,
but often of resolute and generous dispositions; often possessing the
elements of a mental character, which, had it not been perverted by
crime, might have been distinguished for the energy of virtue. On the
primary treatment of such men, everything depends; and their first
master determined whether they were to become active and intelligent
agriculturists, or by pernicious indulgence, and not less ill-judged
severity, to pass rapidly, by a reckless and resentful temper, from the
triangle to the scaffold.
Such severe exhibitions of penal vengeance were intended to crush the
insurgent spirit; to prove to the prisoners that any forms of
combination or resistance would be followed by severer suffering. The
re-action of that excitement assisted the future success of discipline.
It convinced the masters that a neglected or careless management was
equally pernicious. But the natives, also became objects of terror: the
outlaw could not wander far without risk from their spears, or hover
near the settled districts without encountering the roving parties
employed in their pursuit. Thus the ravages of white men almost wholly
ceased, during the conflict with the aboriginal tribes: the constables
and the blacks together beat up the quarters of absconders.
But the precautions of the government were more effectual than its
severity. Hitherto many had lived at large. At night their own masters;
when not seduced by more serious temptations, their drunkenness exposed
them to the lash; and dread or resentment precipitated them into open
crime. In 1827, the enlargement of the penitentiary, and its better
order, enabled the government to recall from private dwellings those
least worthy of trust; and to make the indulgence of a home a reward for
orderly and industrious habits. The prisoners employed by the crown were
divided into seven classes. Some were permitted to labor one day weekly
for their own advantage: these were the mechanics, who were detained
only because they were artisans; others, on the roads, were allowed half
that time, and by great exertions often obtained very considerable sums.
The rest were in irons, or sent to the penal settlement under a
magisterial sentence.
The fate of many who had suffered death was traced by the Governor to
the imprudence and guilty connivance of the masters, or to the irregular
methods of payment long interdicted by the crown; such as cattle,
allotments, or a portion of time. The executive council professed to
follow up these evils through every stage of their growth, until they
were finally consummated on the scaffold.[174] During twenty years they
had been often condemned; but they were not extinguished until the
market was enlarged, and labor became scarce--so much do moral questions
depend on material revolutions.
The distribution of servants was made with more prudence, and some
reference to their previous habits and mode of life; and a stand was
opposed to the sole superintendence of prisoner overseers, who were
often the occasion of unjust punishments and criminal laxity. The
impounding laws gradually cut off another occasion of mischief.
Heretofore, large herds of cattle were under the charge of prisoner
herdsmen, who were armed with guns. The wild and exciting employment
exposed the men to many temptations: their daring spirit and fearless
riding, rendered them objects of admiration; and created discontent in
the minds of prisoners who were tied down to the more quiet labor of a
farm. Of eight men employed by Mr. Lord, a wealthy colonist, five
suffered death for various crimes.[175] Such persons lived remote from
the civilised community and the inspection of their employers: often
the channel of communication between the town receivers and country
thieves; nor this alone. The large herds wandering far beyond the limits
of the settled country, and without a recognised owner, suggested to the
discontented servant a resource, and led him to abscond where he could
subsist on the flesh of slaughtered spoil.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 167: From Barnes' and Lempriere's account: compared, they
differ in statistics; but Barnes copied his statements from the official
records at the Harbour.]
[Footnote 168: _Par. Pap._
Of 182 prisoners, 169 were sentenced in 1822 to 7,000 lashes; that is,
all were punished, except 13: and received each, upon an average, 400
lashes--inflicted with the severity unknown elsewhere.]
[Footnote 169: It has been suggested to the author, since the above was
in type, that the disclosures of this unfortunate being are not without
a moral, which may compensate for the disgust their perusal may
occasion. They are therefore given in a note, which the reader may pass
over:--
"The Rev. Mr. Connoly, who attended this unfortunate man, administering
to him the consolations of religion, addressed the crowd assembled
around the scaffold, a few minutes before the fatal drop was let to
fall, in words to the following effect: He commenced by stating that
Pearce, standing on the awful entrance into eternity on which he was
placed, was desirous to make the most public acknowledgment of his
guilt, in order to humble himself, as much as possible, in the sight of
God and man; that to prevent any embarrassment which might attend Pearce
in personally expressing himself, he had requested and directed him to
say, that he committed the murder of Cox, under the following
circumstances:--Having been arrested here, after his escape from
Macquarie Harbour, Pearce was sent back to that settlement, where the
deceased (Cox) and he were worked together in the same gang. Cox
constantly entreated him to run away with him from that settlement,
which he refused to do for a length of time. Cox having procured
fishhooks, a knife, and some burnt rag for tinder, he at last agreed to
go with him, to which he was powerfully induced by the apprehension of
corporal punishment, for the loss of a shirt that had been stolen from
him. For the first and second day they strayed through the forest; on
the third made the beach, and travelled towards Port Dalrymple, until
the fifth, when they arrived at King's River. They remained three or
four days in an adjoining wood, to avoid soldiers who were in pursuit of
them, and were all the time, from the period they started, without a
morsel to eat. Overcome by famine, Pearce determined to take Cox's life,
which he effected by the stroke of an axe while Cox was sleeping. Soon
after the soldiers had departed, Pearce occupied the place they had been
in, where he remained part of a day and a night, living on the mutilated
remains of Cox; he returned to the settlement, made signal, and was
taken up by the pilot, who conveyed him to Macquarie Harbour, where he
disclosed to the commandant the deed he had done, being weary of life,
and willing to die for the misfortunes and atrocities into which he had
fallen.
The reverend gentlemen then proceeded to state, that he believed it was
in the recollection of every one present, that eight men had made their
escape, last year, from Macquarie Harbour. All these, except Pearce, who
was of the party, soon perished, or were destroyed by the hands of their
companions. To set the public right respecting their fate, Pearce is
desirous to state that this party, which consisted of himself, Matthew
Travers, Bob Greenhill, Bill Cornelius, Alexander Dalton, John Mathers,
and two more, named Bodnam and Brown, escaped from Macquarie Harbour in
two boats, taking with them what provision the coal-miners had, which
afforded each man about two ounces of food per day, for a week.
Afterwards they lived eight or nine days on the tops of tea tree and
peppermint, which they boiled in tin-pots to extract the juice. Having
ascended a hill, in sight of Macquarie Harbour, they struck a light and
made two fires. Cornelius, Brown, and Dalton, placed themselves at one
fire, the rest of the party at the other; those three separated,
privately, from the party, on account of Greenhill having already said,
that lots must be cast for some one to be put to death, to save the
whole from perishing. Pearce does not know, personally, what became of
Cornelius, Brown, and Dalton: he heard that Cornelius and Brown reached
Macquarie Harbour, where they soon died, and that Dalton perished on his
return to that settlement. After their departure, the party, then
consisting of five men, lived two or three days on wild berries and
their kangaroo jackets, which they roasted; at length they arrived at
Gordon's River, where it was agreed, that while Mathers and Pearce
collected fire-wood, Greenhill and Travers should kill Bodnam, which they
did. It was insisted upon, that every one should partake of Bodnam's
remains, lest, in the event of their ultimate success to obtain their
liberty, any of them might consider himself innocent of his death, and
give evidence against the rest. After a day or two, they all swam across
the river, except Travers, whom they dragged across by means of a pole,
to which he tied himself. Having spent some days in distress and famine,
it was proposed to Pearce, by Greenhill and Travers, that Mathers be
killed, to which he agreed. Travers and Pearce held him, while Greenhill
killed him with an axe. Living on the remains of the deceased, which
they were hardly able to taste, they spent three or four days, through
weakness, without advancing beyond five of six miles; Travers being
scarcely able to move from lameness and swelling in his foot. Greenhill
and Pearce agreed to kill Travers, which Greenhill did while Pearce
collected fire-wood. Having lived some time on the remains of Travers,
they were for some days without any thing to eat; their wants were
dreadful: each strove to catch the other off his guard, and kill him.
Pearce succeeded to find Greenhill asleep; took his life--and lived upon
him for four days. He was afterwards for three days without any
sustenance; fell in, at last with the Derwent River, and found some
small pieces of opossum, &c., at a place where the natives had lately
made fires. More desirous to die than to live, he called out as loudly
as he could, expecting the natives would hear him, and come to put an
end to his existence! Having fallen in with some bushrangers, with whom
he was taken, Pearce was sent back to Macquarie Harbour, from whence he
escaped with Cox, as has been already stated, for whose death he is now
about to suffer."--_Hobart Town Gazette_, 1824.]
[Footnote 170: _Ross's Almanack._]
[Footnote 171: "The fact was also corroborated by Brady, when examined
by the gentleman from whom I got the account; and, strange as it may
appear, it is perfectly correct."--_Breton's New South Wales_, p. 340.]
[Footnote 172: _Gazette_, 1825.]
[Footnote 173: The author is assured by a clergyman, that he has been
dismissed his attendance upon a prisoner, within a few days of his
execution, for refusing to write down the particulars of his life.]
[Footnote 174: "The flagitious proceedings of several of these men were
clearly traced to have had their source in the weakness or improper
treatment of their employers, whose ill-judged neglect of discipline, or
corrupt toleration of irregularity, had contributed to entail
consequences so awful to those victims to offended justice. If it shall
be ascertained, any settler makes payment to convict servants in stock,
or apportions to them land for their exclusive benefit, or suffers them
to be employed in any other than his immediate service, every support
and indulgence of the crown will be withdrawn."--_Gazette Notice, Sept.
1826._]
[Footnote 175: _Ross's Almanack._]