THE PASTORALIST AND THE CONVICT 103 



of the time, throw a flood of light on all the problems 

 connected with them. 



The conditions of servitude were minutely regulated 

 by the Colonial Government in a succession of ordinances, 

 chiefly in 1804, 1814, and 1816. A master was required 

 to feed and clothe his servant in a suitable manner, and 

 similarly to a Government servant. The convict-servant 

 was, moreover (and this is a feature of the institution 

 that differentiates it from slavery), given a wage of 

 £10 a year, on the assumption that this sum was paid 

 for work done after three o'clock p.m., when, in theory, 

 the servant was supposed to be " on his own hands " ; 

 and the money was generally to be paid in coin, not in 

 kind. If he was assigned to one of the smaller settlers, 

 he sat at his master's table and partook of the same 

 food (the origin, possibly, of the practice of the colonial 

 Boniface to sit always at the head of his own table) ; 

 and compared with the English peasant of the period, 

 who seldom saw butcher-meat, the Australian convict- 

 servant, who had a pound of meat and a pound of 

 flour, with tea, sugar, and spirits, daily given him, was 

 handsomely bestowed. He associated with his master's 

 family, and often married his master's daughter.* 

 Evidently, the absorption of the convict-element began 

 early in the history of the Colony. 



When convicts began to be assigned as servants to 

 settlers, their labour was regulated in an order issued 

 by Governor Hunter in 1798-9, and in 1804, at the 

 instance of Governor King, an indenture was made 

 out. The working-day ended at 3 p.m. — a limit that 

 had its origin in a kind of accident. During the times 

 of famine that occurred so frequently in the early days 

 convicts were often ph3^sically unable to labour till 

 sunset. Hence, they were released at 3 p.m., and the 

 practice hardened into a rule. If an amount of labour 

 additional to that required by the Order or stated in 

 the Indenture was exacted of them, they were to be 

 paid at a rate fixed by Governor King, which remained 

 * BiGQE, Beport, 1822, pp. 75-8. 



