174 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



came, not from the disciplined prisons of the present day, but 

 from the ill-regulated gaols and hulks of a hundred years ago. 

 There life had been brutal and squalid, but full of excitement. 

 On the transport there were long days of idleness, varied by 

 agonies of sea-sickness. As they became used to the move- 

 ment of the ship they found no way of filling the hours save 

 gambling (nominally forbidden), quarrelling and plotting. The 

 plots ranged from mean tricks to get another man's rations or 

 to get an extra hour on deck, to conspiracies to gain possession 

 of the ship and sail to far-off climes. The surgeon usually kept 

 a school for the boys and such of the men as cared to learn to 

 read or write. Far more fascinating must have been the school 

 of crime of which the old and seasoned convicts were dominies 

 and ushers. There they learned a new tongue, that strange 

 and debased English which has a peculiar vigour in spite of its 

 sordidness. Some of the surgeons compiled vocabularies of 

 this thieves' patter or " flash " slang. These, and some rather 

 frivolous collections of anecdotes, are all that remain of their ob- 

 servations for a unique opportunity for the student of criminal 

 psychology was wasted in the hands of the naval surgeons. 



A scanty supply of bibles formed the prison library, and a 

 few of the convicts hoarded greasy volumes, telling tales of 

 crime and horror, which would have been confiscated on dis- 

 covery. No occupation could be permitted for which tools 

 which could be turned into weapons ot offence were necessary, 

 and by 1820 no surgeon had discovered any employment not 

 requiring them. The men were in this respect worse off than 

 the women, for the latter could at least sew. 



The fear of mutiny made convict transports insecure for the 

 conveyance of passengers, though as a matter of fact no mutiny 

 did actually occur in these years. 1 It was, however, a good in- 

 troduction to service in the Colony, for the voyage provided 

 ample opportunity for gaining a knowledge of part of the popu- 

 lation. While probably the worst type of convict was most 

 prominent on board the ship, it must be admitted that many 



'Judge Field wrote in reference to the Chapman in 1817 : "... The question 

 is not whether the free men believed the convicts intended to take the ship, which 

 I make no doubt the former did believe, and think it very likely the latter did in- 

 tend, as perhaps there never was a ship full of convicts yet that did not intend 

 if they could ". See Field to Wylde, 2gth September, 1817. R.O., MS. 



