Ixxviii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



boxing' in the pnblic streets. The roads leading to the country 

 were often strewed with drunken men, laying insensible, both 

 white and black. When the means of purchasing spirits were 

 exhausted, some of those abandoned wretclies had no other re- 

 source than in theft and burglary. Of their nightly depredations 

 I had numerous complaints: but so cunning and dexterous were 

 the band of thieves, at that time in garrison, that I could never 

 obtain sufficient evidence to convict them. At length, in addi- 

 tion to restrictions, and afterwards the abolition of the spirit 

 houses, I determined, as the only expedient of rooting out such 

 licentiousness, to get rid of the most notorious characters. 

 Officers commanding corps were directed to furnish lists of all 

 who had been tried by courts martial for " irregular behaviour ;" 

 connected with suspicions of theft and house-breaking. Tlie 

 number was 42, of whom 23 were selected and sent to Bengal, 

 enlisted for tive years : this had the desired effect, and depreda- 

 tions on the Company's store rooms, and on the dwellings of 

 individuals, ceased. 



St. Helena, besides being valuable for refreshment to the East 

 India Company's fleets, might become of considerable utility as 

 a place of seasoning for their troops destined for India. Its 

 appropriation to this purpose was suggested by Governor Brooke, 

 about the year 1796, after he had, at different periods, forwarded 

 drafts to Madras to the number of 1210. These disciplined sol- 

 diers, prepared for a warm climate, by a few years residence on 

 St. Helena, were found far less liable to diseases (as might natu- 

 rally be supposed), than those who were sent direct from Eng- 

 land. The havoc that was made amongst some of His Majesty's 

 regiments, about the year 1781-2, when they took the field, 

 immediately (»n their arrival, compared with the healthiness of 

 the St. Helena detachments, aftbrds a striking proof of the good 



