264 the "oxvicts. [1S39. 



be trellises made of rough slats or twigs, covered with climb- 

 ing plants, the fragrance of whose blossoms load the air with 

 perfume. 



(10.) Much has been written in regard to the misery, 

 wretchedness, and depravity, of the convicts in New South 

 Wales, and Van Diemen's Land. Some of these accounts 

 have, no doubt, been somewhat too highly colored ; but the 

 unvarnished truth possesses dark and repulsive features in 

 abundance. Vice and licentiousness, in every form and 

 shape, may be witnessed among the convicts in the penal 

 settlements, and with these odious characteristics, drunken- 

 ness, of the most bestial character, pretty surely goes hand 

 in hand. 



Criminals of the worst description are either confined in 

 prisons, or sent to the penitentiary on Norfolk Island. The 

 mode of discipline practiced here is what is called the social 

 system : the convict is first placed in solitary confinement 

 for a certain time, and then put at hard labor, in company 

 with his fellows. Daring the latter period, he is supplied 

 with books, and allowed numerous privileges and recreations, 

 which, unless he is beyond the reach of moral influences, are 

 calculated to bring him back to a correct way of life. All 

 the public work in Sydney and other towns in New South 

 Wales, is performed by convicts, and a strong body of 

 mounted police, and a large military force, are required to 

 keep them in subjection. They are driven through the 

 streets in gangs, accompanied by guards and sentinels, and 

 work chained together in pairs. Their dress consists of a 

 coarse canvas jacket and trowsers, of a peculiar fashion, 

 with " chain-gang" conspicuously marked on the back of the 

 former, and a jockey cap. 



Those convicts whose crimes are of an inferior grade, are 

 assigned to the settlers, on their application, who put -them 

 to such labor as they please, and are at the expense of their 

 maintenance alone. Those who behave well, for, perhaps, 

 half their term, often have their sentences mitigated, and are 

 furnished with tickets of leave. They are then called ticket- 



