An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales Volume I Part 32

To the male convicts were served, women and children receiving in the proportions always observed, (of biscuit or flour, none, and for the first time since the establishment of the colony) wheat 3 pounds; Indian corn 5 pounds; paddy 2 pints; gram 2 pints.

This was universally felt as the worst ration that had ever been served from his Majesty's stores; and by the labouring convict particularly so, as no one article of grain was so prepared for him as to be immediately made use of. The quant.i.ty that was now to be ground, and the numbers who brought grain to the mill, kept it employed all the night as well as the day; and as, from the scarcity of mills, every man was compelled to wait for his turn, the day had broke, and the drum beat for labour, before many who went into the mill house at night had been able to get their corn ground. The consequence was, that many, not being able to wait, consumed their allowance unprepared. By the next Sat.u.r.day, a quant.i.ty of wheat sufficient for one serving having been pa.s.sed through the large mill at Parramatta, the convicts received their ration of that article ground coa.r.s.e.

The lumber yard near Sydney being completed, the convict millwright Wilkinson was preparing his new mill with as much expedition as he could use; and John Baughan, an ingenious man, formerly a convict, had undertaken to build another mill upon a construction somewhat different from that of Wilkinson's, in which he was a.s.sisted by some artificers of the regiment. Both these mills were to be erected on the open spot of ground formerly used as a parade by the marine battalion.

Short as was the quant.i.ty of flour in store, we did not, however, despair of being able to issue some meal of this season's growth before it could be entirely expended. About the middle of the month, the wheat that was sown in April last, about ninety acres, being perfectly ripe, the harvest commenced, and from that quant.i.ty of ground it was calculated that upwards of twenty-two bushels an acre would be received. Most of the settlers had also begun to reap; and they, as well as others who had grown that grain, were informed, that 'Wheat properly dried and cleaned would be received at Sydney by the commissary at ten s.h.i.+llings the bushel; but that none could be purchased from any other persons than those who had grown it on their own farms; neither could any be taken into the stores at Parramatta.'

The precaution of receiving wheat only from those persons who had raised it on their own farms was intended to prevent the petty and rascally traffic which would otherwise have been carried on between free people off the stores and persons who might employ them to sell the fruits of their depredations on the public and other grounds.

December.] Early in this month a criminal court was a.s.sembled, at which Charles Williams, a boy of fourteen years of age, and John Bevan, a notorious offender, though also very young, were tried for breaking into a house at Toongabbie; but, for want of evidence, were acquitted. John Crow was also tried for the burglary in the hut at Parramatta, out of which he had stolen a quant.i.ty of wearing apparel and provisions; and, being clearly convicted, he received sentence of death.

An idea very generally prevailed among the ignorant part of the convicts, that the lieutenant-governor was not authorised to cause a sentence of death to be carried into execution, a notion that was in their minds confirmed by the mercy which he had extended to Samuel Wright, who was pardoned by him in July. It became, therefore, absolutely necessary, for their own sakes, to let them see that he was not only possessed of the power, but that he would also exercise it. On this account the prisoner, after pet.i.tioning more than once for a respite, which he received, was executed on Tuesday the 10th, eight days after his trial. There did not exist in the colony at this time a fitter object for example than John Crow. Unfortunately, the poor wretch to his last moment cherished the idea that he should not suffer; and consequently could have been but ill prepared for the change he was about to experience. He had endeavoured to effect his escape by jumping down a privy a few hours before his execution; and it was afterwards found, that he had with much ingenuity removed some bricks in the wall of the hole in which he was confined, whence, had he obtained the respite of another day, he would easily have escaped.

Independent of the consideration that this man had long been a proper object of severe punishment, to have pardoned him (even on any condition) would only have tended to strengthen the supposition that the lieutenant-governor had not the power of life and death; and many daring burglaries and other enormities would have followed. Crow pretended that he was in the secret respecting the watches which were stolen from the hospital in October last; but all that he knew amounted to nothing that could lead to a discovery either of them or of the thief. He did not appear to be at all commiserated or regretted by any of his fellow prisoners; a certain proof of the absence of every good quality in his character.

In the night of the 6th, during a violent storm of rain and thunder, a long-boat, which had arrived in the evening from Parramatta with grain for the next day's serving, and was then lying at the wharf on the west side under the care of a sentinel, filled with the quant.i.ty of water which ran from the wharf, and sunk. By this accident two hundred and eighty bushels of Indian corn in cob, and a few bushels of wheaten meal, were totally lost. The natives who could dive availed themselves of the circ.u.mstance, and recovered a great quant.i.ty of the corn, of which they were very fond. The boats were not injured.

Sudden storms of this kind were frequent; and gusts of wind have been so sudden and violent, that s.h.i.+ps, loosely moored, have driven at their anchors in the cove.

On Sat.u.r.day the 7th a change took place in the ration; this was, the discontinuing of the three pints of peas which were served to the civil and military, and the three pints of gram which were served to the convicts, and giving them instead an equal quant.i.ty of wheat.

Notwithstanding every supply of flour which had been purchased, or received into the store from England, it was at length entirely exhausted; the civil and military receiving the last on Monday the 9th.

This total deprivation of so valuable, so essential an article in the food of man happened, fortunately, at a season when its place could in some measure be supplied immediately, the harvest having been all safely got in at Toongabbie by the beginning of this month. About the middle of it, eight hundred bushels were threshed out, and on Monday the 16th the civil and military received each seven pounds of wheat coa.r.s.ely ground at the mill at Parramatta. This mill, from the brittleness of the timber with which it was constructed, was found to be unequal to the consumption of the settlements. The cogs frequently broke, and hence it was not of any very great utility. To remedy this inconvenience, a convict blacksmith undertook to produce one iron hand-mill each week, for which he was to be paid at the rate of two guineas; and by his means several mills were distributed in the settlements.

The salt meat being the next article which threatened a speedy expenditure, on Sat.u.r.day the 28th one pound was taken from the weekly allowance of beef; and but a small quant.i.ty of Indian corn remaining in store, the male convicts received eight pounds of new wheat, whole; and only three pounds of Indian corn, or paddy, were served.

On Christmas day, the Reverend Mr. Johnson preached to between thirty and forty persons only, though on a provision day some four or five hundred heads were seen waiting round the storehouse doors. The evening produced a watchhouse full of prisoners; several were afterwards punished, among whom were some servants for stealing liquor from an officer.

The pa.s.sion for liquor was so predominant among the people, that it operated like a mania, there being nothing which they would not risk to obtain it: and while spirits were to be had, those who did any extra labour refused to be paid in money, or any other article than spirits, which were now, from their scarcity, sold at six s.h.i.+llings per bottle.

Webb, the settler near Parramatta, having procured a small still from England, found it more advantageous to draw an ardent diabolical spirit from his wheat, than to send it to the store and receive ten s.h.i.+llings per bushel from the commissary. From one bushel of wheat he obtained nearly five quarts of spirit, which he sold or paid in exchange for labour at five and six s.h.i.+llings per quart.

McDonald, a settler at the Field of Mars, made a different and a better use of the produce of his farm. Having a mill, he ground and dressed his wheat, and sold it to a baker at Sydney at fourpence per pound, procuring forty-four pounds of good flour from a bushel of wheat, which was taken at fifty-nine pounds. This person also killed a wether sheep (the produce of what had been given to him by Governor Phillip) at Christmas, and sold it at two s.h.i.+llings per pound, each quarter weighing about fifteen pounds.

The town of Sydney had this year increased considerably; not fewer than one hundred and sixty huts, beside five barracks, having been added since the departure of Governor Phillip. Some of these huts were large, and to each of them upwards of fourteen hundred bricks were allowed for a chimney and floor. These huts extended nearly to the brickfields, whence others were building to meet them, and thus to unite that district with the town.

About the latter end of the month a large party of the natives attacked some settlers who were returning from Parramatta to Toongabbie, and took from them all the provisions which they had just received from the store.

By flying immediately into the woods, they eluded all pursuit and search.

They were of the Hunter's or Woodman's tribe, people who seldom came among us, and who consequently were little known.

The natives who lived about Sydney appeared to place the utmost confidence in us, choosing a clear spot between the town and the brickfield for the performance of any of their rites and ceremonies; and for three evenings the town had been amused with one of their spectacles, which might properly have been denominated a tragedy, for it was attended with a great effusion of blood. It appeared from the best account we could procure, that one or more murders having been committed in the night, the a.s.sa.s.sins, who were immediately known, were compelled, according to the custom of the country, to meet the relations of the deceased, who were to avenge their deaths by throwing spears, and drawing blood for blood. One native of the tribe of Cammerray, a very fine fellow named Carradah*, who had stabbed another in the night, but not mortally, was obliged to stand for two evenings exposed to the spears not only of the man whom he had wounded, but of several other natives. He was suffered indeed to cover himself with a bark s.h.i.+eld, and behaved with the greatest courage and resolution. Whether his princ.i.p.al adversary (the wounded man) found that he possessed too much defensive skill to admit of his wounding him, or whether it was a necessary part of his punishment, was not known with any certainty; but on the second day that Carradah had been opposed to him and his party, after having received several of their spears on his s.h.i.+eld, without sustaining any injury, he suffered the other to pin his left arm (below the elbow) to his side, without making any resistance; prevented, perhaps, by the uplifted spears of the other natives, who could easily have destroyed him, by throwing at him in different directions. Carradah stood, for some time after this, defending himself, although wounded in the arm which held the s.h.i.+eld, until his adversaries had not a whole spear left, and had retired to collect the fragments and piece them together. On his sitting down his left hand appeared to be very much convulsed, and Mr. White was of opinion that the spear had pierced one of the nerves. The business was resumed when they had repaired their weapons, and the fray appeared to be general, men, women, and children mingling in it, giving and receiving many severe wounds, before night put an end to their warfare.

[* So he was called among his own people before he knew us; but having exchanged names with Mr. Ball (who commanded the _Supply_,) he went afterwards by that name, which they had corrupted into Midjer Bool.]

What rendered this sort of contest as unaccountable as it was extraordinary was, that friends.h.i.+p and alliance were known to subsist between several that were opposed to each other, who fought with all the ardour of the bitterest enemies, and who, though wounded, p.r.o.nounced the party by whom they had been hurt to be good and brave, and their friends.

Possessing by nature a good habit of body, the combatants very soon recovered of their wounds; and it was understood, that Carradah, or rather Midjer Bool, had not entirely expiated his offence, having yet another trial to undergo from some natives who had been prevented by absence from joining in the ceremonies of that evening.

About this time several houses were attempted to be broken into; many thefts were committed; and the general behaviour of the convicts was far from that _propriety_ which ought to have marked them. The offences were various, and several punishments were of necessity inflicted. The Irish who came out in the last s.h.i.+ps were, however, beginning to show symptoms of better dispositions than they landed with, and appeared only to dislike hard labour.

Among the conveniencies that were now enjoyed in the colony must be mentioned the introduction of pa.s.sage-boats, which, for the benefit of settlers and others, were allowed to go between Sydney and Parramatta.

They were the property of persons who had served their respective terms of transportation; and from each pa.s.senger one s.h.i.+lling was required for his pa.s.sage; luggage was paid for at the rate of one s.h.i.+lling per cwt; and the entire boat could be hired by one person for six s.h.i.+llings. This was a great accommodation to the description of people whom it was calculated to serve, and the proprietors of the boats found it very profitable to themselves.

The boat-builders and s.h.i.+pwrights found occupation enough for their leisure hours, in building boats for those who could afford to pay them for their labour. Five and six gallons of spirits was the price, and five or six days would complete a boat fit to go up the harbour; but many of them were very badly put together, and threatened destruction to whoever might unfortunately be caught in them with a sail up in blowing weather.

On the 24th ten grants of land pa.s.sed the seal of the territory, and received the lieutenant-governor's signature. Five allotments of twenty-five acres each, and one of thirty, were given to six non-commissioned officers of the New South Wales corps, who had chosen an eligible situation nearly midway between Sydney and Parramatta; and who, in conjunction with four other settlers, occupied a district to be distinguished in future by the name of _Concord_. These allotments extended inland from the water's side, within two miles of the district named Liberty Plains.

The settlers at this latter place appeared to have very unproductive crops, having sown their wheat late. They were, indeed, of opinion, that they had made a hasty and bad choice of situation; but this was nothing more than the language of disappointment, as little judgment could be formed of what any soil in this country would produce until it had been properly worked, dressed, cleansed, and purged of that sour quality that was naturally inherent in it, which it derived from the droppings of wet from the leaves of gum and other trees, and which were known to be of an acrid destructive nature.

Another barrack for officers was got up this month at Sydney; but, for want of tiles, was only partly covered in. The millwrights Wilkinson and Baughan had got up the frames and roofs of their respective mill-houses, and, while waiting for their being tiled, were proceeding with preparing the wood-work of their mills.

The great want of tiles that was occasionally felt, proceeded from there being only one person in the place who was capable of moulding tiles, and he could never burn more than thirty thousand tiles in six weeks, being obliged to burn a large quant.i.ty of bricks in the same kilns. It required near sixty-nine thousand bricks to complete the building of one barrack, and twenty-one thousand tiles to cover it in. The number of tiles rendered useless by carriage, and destroyed in the kilns, was estimated at about three thousand in each kiln, and fifteen thousand were generally burnt off at a time.

To furnish bricks for these barracks, and other buildings, three gangs were constantly at work, finding employment for three overseers and about eighty convicts.

To convey these materials from the brickfield to the barrack-ground, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, three brick-carts were employed, each drawn by twelve men, under the direction of one overseer.

Seven hundred tiles, or three hundred and fifty bricks, were brought by each cart, and every cart in the day brought either five loads of bricks, or four of tiles. To bring in the timber necessary for these and other buildings, four timber-carriages were employed, each being drawn by twenty-four men. In addition to these, to each carriage were annexed two fallers, and one overseer, making a total of two hundred and twenty-eight men, who must be employed in any such heavy labour as the building of a barrack or a storehouse, exclusive of the sawyers, carpenters, smiths, painters, glaziers, and stonemasons, without whose labour they could not be completed.

The expense of victualling and clothing these people (both their provisions and the materials for making their clothes being augmented above their prime cost, by freight and by the cost of what might be damaged and useless) must be supposed to be considerable; and must be taken into account, together with the cost of tools and of such materials as were not to be procured in the country, when calculating the expenses of the public works erected in this colony.

There died between the 1st of January and 31st of December, both inclusive, two settlers, seven soldiers, seventy-eight male convicts, twenty-six female convicts, and twenty-nine children. One male convict was executed; six male convicts were lost in the woods; one male convict was found dead in the woods; one male convict was killed by the fall of a tree, and two male convicts were killed by lightning; making a decrease by death and accidents of one hundred and fifty-three persons. To this decrease may be added, four male convicts, who found means to escape from the colony on board of some of the s.h.i.+ps which had been here.

The following were the prices of grain, live and dead stock, grocery, spirits, etc. as they were sold or valued at Sydney and Parramatta at the close of the year 1793:

AT SYDNEY

GRAIN Wheat per bushel, for cash, 10s Ditto, in payment for labour, 14s Maize per bushel, for cash, 7s Ditto, in payment for labour, 12s 6d Caffre corn 5s English flour per lb 6d Flour of this country, for cash, 3d Ditto, for labour, 4d

VEGETABLES Potatoes per cwt 10s Ditto per lb 1d

LIVE AND DEAD STOCK Ewes (Cape) from 6 to 8 8s Wethers (Cape) from 4 to 5 10s She goats, full grown, 8 8s Ditto, half grown, 4 4s Male goat, full grown, 2 Breeding sows from 3 to 6 Sucking pigs 6s A full grown hog from 3 to 3 10s Turkeys per couple, nearly full grown, 2 ss Ducks per couple, nearly ditto, 10s Laying hens, each 5s A full grown c.o.c.k 4s Half grown fowls 2s Chickens, six weeks old, per couple 2s Fresh pork per lb 9d Mutton per lb from 2s to 2s 6d Kangaroo per lb 4d Salt pork per lb 9d Salt beef per lb 6d

GROCERIES Tea (green) from 12s to 16s Tea (black) from 10s to 12s Loaf sugar per lb 2s 6d Fine moist sugar per lb 2s Coa.r.s.e moist sugar per lb 1s 6d b.u.t.ter from 2s per lb to 2s 6d Cheese from 2s per lb to 2s 6d Soap per lb from 2s to 3s Tobacco per lb from 1s to 1s 6d Lamp oil, made from shark's liver, per gall 4s

WINE--SPIRITS--PORTER Jamaica rum per gallon from 1 to 1 8s Rum (American) from 16s per gall to 1 Coniac brandy per gallon from 1 to 1 4s Cape brandy per gallon from 16s to 1 Cherry brandy per dozen 3 12s Wine (Cape Madeira) per gallon 12s Porter per gallon from 4s to 6s

AT PARRAMATTA

GRAIN Wheat per bushel, for cash, 10s Ditto, in payment for labour, 14s Maize per bushel, for cash, 7s 6d Ditto, in payment for labour, l0s Caffre corn, none English flour per lb 6d Flour of this country, for cash, 4d Ditto, for labour, 6d

VEGETABLES Potatoes per lb 3d Greens per hundred 6s

LIVE AND DEAD STOCK Ewes from 4 to 10 Wethers from 2 10s to 4 She goats from 4 to 10 10s A young male goat 3 Breeding sows from 3 to 7 Sucking pigs from 4s to 7s 6d Turkeys per couple, nearly full grown, 2 2s Ducks per couple, full grown, 1 1s Laying Hens, each from 4s to 7s 6d A full grown c.o.c.k 5s Half grown fowls 3s Chickens, six weeks old, per couple 2s Fresh pork per lb 9d Mutton per lb from 2s to 2s 6d Kangaroo per lb 4d Salt pork per lb 9d Salt beef per lb 5d

GROCERIES Tea (green) from 16s to 1 1s Black tea from 10s to 16s Moist sugar (coa.r.s.e) 2s b.u.t.ter per lb 2s 6d Cheese per lb 2s 6d Soap per lb 3s Tobacco per lb 2s Lamp oil, made from shark's liver, per gall 4s

WINE--SPIRITS--PORTER Neat spirits per gallon from 1 10s to 2 Wine of the most inferior quality per gall 16s

The high prices of wine, spirits, and porter, proceeded not only from their scarcity, but from the great avidity with which they were procured by the generality of the people in these settlements, with whom money was of so little value, that the purchaser had been often known (instead of asking) to name himself a price for the article he wanted, fixing it at as high again would otherwise have been required of him.