The regular hours of work are from sun-rise to sun-set; but so few
settlers get up to see that this time is kept, that a much shorter period
is generally employed in labour. The expense of maintaining a convict is
rather a difficult calculation: where there are many men, they are, of
course, supported at much less per man than where there are but few, from
being able to buy slop clothes, tea, and the other necessaries, at
wholesale prices, of the importing merchant. The waste, also, made by the
convicts in their meat, &c. is a serious consideration: the head and
entrails of animals slaughtered for their use, and which an English
labourer would be glad of, are thrown away as only fit for the dogs;
nothing but the body and legs are deemed sufficiently good for these
dainty characters. Taking all expenses into consideration, I think that
from 25l. to 30l. per man may be estimated as the annual
cost--_Widowson's Present State of Van Dieman's Land_.
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