STATE OF THE CONVICTS. 233 



succeed on an extended scale ; therefore, so far as 

 I can see, Australia must ultimately depend upon 

 being the centre of commerce for the southern 

 hemisphere, and perhaps on her future manufac- 

 tories. Possessing coal, she always has the moving 

 power at hand. From the habitable country ex- 

 tending along the coast, and from her English ex- 

 traction, she is sure to be a maritime nation. I 

 formerly imagined that Australia would rise to be 

 as grand and powerful a country as North Ameri- 

 ca, but now it appears to me that such fixture gran- 

 deur is rather problematical. 



With respect to the state of the convicts, I had 

 still fewer opportunities of judging than on the 

 other points. The fii-st question is, whether their 

 condition is at all one of punishment : no one will 

 maintain that it is a very severe one. This, however, 

 I suppose, is of little consequence as long as it con- 

 tinues to be an object of dread to criminals at home. 

 The corporeal wants of the convicts are tolerably 

 well supplied : their prospect of future liberty and 

 comfort is not distant, and, after good conduct, cer- 

 tain. A " ticket of leave," which, as long as a man 

 keeps clear of suspicion as well as of crime, makes 

 hiin free within a certain district, is given upon good 

 conduct, after years proportional to the length of 

 the sentence; yet with all this, and overlookino- 

 the previous imprisonment and wretched passage 

 out, I believe the years of assignment are passed 

 away with discontent and unhappiness. As an in- 

 telligent man remarked to me, the convicts know 

 no pleasure beyond sensviality, and in this they are 

 not gratified. The enormous bribe which govern- 

 ment possesses in offering free pardons, together 

 with the deep horror of the secluded penal settle- 

 ments, destroys confidence between the convicts, 

 and so prevents crime. As to a sense of shame. 



