being there joined by the Supply, the Reliance was to fail to the
Cape o f Good Hope, to return with cattle for the colony, and the
Britannia was to proceed to England.
The frequent commiflion o f the moft atrocious crimes, together
with the diffipated, turbulent, and abandoned difpofition o f the
convidts, which had more than ever at this time been manifeft, determining
the governor to enforce the moft rigid difcipline, he re-
folved on conftrudting a ftrong and capacious Log Prifon at each of
the towns of Sydney and Parramatta, It being abfolutely necelfary
that thefe Ihould be eredfed as expeditioufly as poffible, the
fafety o f the inhabitants and fecurity o f their property, rendering,
any delay extremely dangerous, and the public gangs being very
weak, he called upon every officer, fettler, and houfekeeper within
the above-mentioned diftridts, to furniffi a certain number o f logs
for this purpofe, which were to be delivered at Sydney, or Parramatta,
as might be moft convenient to each perfon’s refidence ; and
he had, in a very ffiort time, the fatisfaction o f feeing the materials
which were required brought in much falter than the carpenters
could put them together.
Among other crimes committed by thefe people, mull be mentioned
a variety of impofitions which were pradtifed to deceive the
commiffary in the iflue o f provilions." To detedt thefe, an order
was given about the end o f the month, which diredted that every
perfon belonging to each different mefs Ihould attend perfbnally at
the ftore on the next ferving-day. The convidts had always been
divided into meffes, containing a certain number o f perfons; one
o f whom out o f each mefs was to attend at the ftore, and receive
provilions for the whole number belonging to it.
On the day appointed, it appeared that many were vidtualled
both at Sydney and Parramatta, and feveral other impofitions were
detecled and abolilhed.
In a fettlement which was ftill in a great meafure dependant
tipon the mother country for food, it might have been fuppofed
that
that thefe people would have endeavoured by their own induftry to
have increafed, rather than by robbery and fraud to have leffened,
the means o f their fupport: but far too many o f them were moft
incorrigibly flagitious. The moft notorious o f thefe were formed
into a gaol gang, which was compofed o f fuch a fet of hardened
and worthlefs characters, that, although Saturday was always given
up to; the convidts for their own private avocations, as well as to
enable them to appear clean and decent on Sunday at church, this
gang was ordered, as an additional punilhment, to work on the Saturday
morning in repairing the roads and bridges near the town.
At the clofe of this month the ftone tower o f the Wind Mill, and
the ftone foundation o f the Log Prifon, were much advanced.
October.] The governor, ftill turning his thoughts toward rectifying
the abufes which had imperceptibly crept into the colony,
arranged in the beginning o f the following month (October) the
mufter lifts which had lately been taken; and, many more impofitions
being detedled, he ordered the delinquents to labour, after
inflidfing on them fuch puniffiments as their refpedive offences
feemed to demand ; by which means he was enabled confiderably
to increafe the number o f labouring people in the public gangs. On
his going up to Parramatta, whither he was attended by Captain
Johnfton as his aid-de-camp, and Mr. Balmain (the furgeon) as a
magiftrate, he recovered at leaft one hundred men for government
work.
Exclufive o f the advantage which attended the recruiting o f
the public gangs in this way, another point was eftabliffied by this
examination, the difcovering of feveral who had been vidualled
from the ftores beyond the period (eighteen months) which had been
fixed and conftdered by government as a fufficient time to enable an
induftrious man to provide for himfelf.
Diredting his attention alfo toward the morality o f the fettlement,
'a point which he could not venture to promife himfelf that
he Ihould ever attain, he iffued fome neceffary orders for enforcing
B 2 attendance