10 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



about a month they had a very trying time, and were doubtless 

 glad enough to get into more southern latitudes. 



On the day after the arrival of the fleet at Bio, a convict, named 

 Thomas Barrett, passed to a boatman who was selling fruit along- 

 side the ship some spurious quarter dollars, which it was alleged 

 he had manufactured since leaving Teneriffe out of some old 

 uniform buttons and pewter spoons. It seems almost incredible 

 that a convict who was never allowed near a fire and always kept 

 under surveillance, who could not do any hammering or filing 

 without attracting the sentinels' attention, should have been able 

 to complete such a piece of skilled work. Surgeon White, who 

 examined the coins himself, says that the impression, milling and 

 general appearance were so good that had they been made of 

 better metal they would have deceived an expert. The mystery of 

 the process has never been cleared up, but enough was manifest 

 to show that Mr. Barrett was a dangerous man to be at large in 

 any country where coins were the circulating medium. The his- 

 torians of the voyage do not say what punishment was meted out 

 to Barrett and his accomplices, but about a month later a marine, 

 named James Baker, received 200 lashes for endeavouring to pass 

 off a similar coin knowing it to be bad, having, doubtless, got it 

 from the same convicts. 



The fleet remained at Eio for a whole month, and during that 

 time the prisoners were supplied daily with a pound of rice, a 

 pound and a half of fresh beef, with abundance of fresh vegetables. 

 Oranges, too, were freely distributed amongst them, and, as might 

 have been expected, the general health was pronounced very good. 

 They had an additional treat provided for them while in port in 

 the presence of their chaplain, who, in the words of David Collins, 

 " performed divine service " on two of the transports every Sunday. 



At daybreak on the 4th of September the flotilla once more got 

 under way, and laid the course for the Cape of Good Hope. The 

 passage across the South Atlantic was marked by variable and 

 squally weather, accompanied by a good deal of rain, and what, 

 after the experience of the last three months, appeared to the ill- 

 clad prisoners to be very cold winds. On the afternoon of the 

 13th of October the whole fleet was safely anchored in Table Bay, 



