i;2 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



placed the convicts in the charge of a surgeon-superintendent 

 appointed by the Transport Board from the naval surgeons. 1 

 This officer was responsible, not to the master of the ship, but 

 to the Board. The guard of soldiers who always accompanied 

 the transports, and were usually under the command of a young 

 officer of the rank of lieutenant, was under the joint control of 

 the surgeon and the captain. The naval surgeon was a great 

 improvement on former transport doctors, and the death-rate 

 fell considerably. 2 At the same time the system introduced a 

 new difficulty by dividing the power between surgeon and 

 master. This difficulty was in no way lessened by the new 

 and more detailed Instructions issued by the Board in 1819. 



"The two points," wrote Bigge in his first Report, "on 

 which such a collision of authority have most frequently oc- 

 curred are the admission of the convicts to the deck, and the 

 taking off their irons at an early period after leaving England ; 

 both, it has been observed, of considerable importance to the 

 maintenance of their health and discipline. 



" It is to the interest of the surgeon-superintendent to de- 

 liver the number entrusted to him in a good state of health ; 

 it is to the interest of the master to deliver them only in safety ; 

 and the heavy penalty into which he enters, for the punctual 

 fulfilment of this part of his duty, must naturally outweigh the 

 contingent value of the remuneration that is promised for his 

 general good conduct and humane treatment ; or the considera- 

 tion of prejudice or loss that an opposite line of conduct may 

 occasion to his owners. It is the opinion of Mr. Judge- Advo- 

 cate Wylde, that to remedy these doubts and discussions which 

 take place between the masters and surgeon-superintendents 



1 This was done at the recommendation of Dr. Redfern (of N.S.W.), who had 

 reported to Macquarie on the case of the General Hewitt, and suggested this 

 amongst other improvements. See MS. letter in R.O. Correspondence for 1814. 

 3 From 1810 to 1815 



Number embarked . . . 5,178 

 Number of deaths . . . 131 

 From 1816 to 1820 



Number embarked . . . 13,583 

 Number of deaths . . . 105 



See Returns in Appendix, Bigge's Reports. R.O., MS. See Evidence of Dr. 

 Bromley, C. on G., 1819, which clearly shows the improvement which had taken 

 place. He used to keep the whole number of convicts on deck during the day, 

 but that was an unusual course. 



