1 76 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



caused Macquarie to order a magisterial inquiry. 1 Already one 

 inquiry had been held into the conduct of officers and crew at 

 St. Helena by a British admiral stationed there. But the 

 surgeon wrote to the Governor " from whatever circumstances 

 that transpired at the investigation the effrontery of the ag- 

 gressors was considerably increased, and every act of profligacy 

 appeared to have received the sanction of law, ocular demonstra- 

 tion being considered indispensably necessary for conviction ; 

 and even then it was held that there was no power vested in 

 the authority of New South Wales to punish the offenders." * 



The Bench of Magistrates at Sydney absolved the master of 

 the ship and the surgeon-superintendent of all blame, saying that 

 they had done what they could to restrain the officers and crew. 3 



In his report to Lord Bathurst, Macquarie said : " Your Lord- 

 ship will perhaps conceive . . . that I have been aware of these 

 abuses having frequently existed heretofore, and of course that 

 I should have reported them before the present time. In ex- 

 planation, I have only to observe that the present time is the 

 first occasion where the facts have been brought to view at all, 

 whilst there is reason to apprehend that on similar occasions the 

 officers were as generally guilty as the crews, and that a good 

 understanding was thereby preserved between all parties, and 

 of course no complaints were made." 4 " It is true," he continued, 



1 These inquiries were not infrequent and were held at the Governor's 

 order to investigate complaints made by any of the officers or by the convicts 

 at the Secretary's muster or afterwards. Thus in the case of the Janus 

 in 1819, an inquiry was held in consequence of complaints made by Bayly, to 

 whom two women who had been assigned from that ship as domestic servants 

 confessed that they had lived with the captain and surgeon throughout the 

 voyage. See Bigg'e, I., and Bayly to C.O. 1819, R.O., MS. The right of the 

 magistrates to hold these inquiries was based on the instruction which allowed 

 the Governor to make the surgeon swear to the truth of his report. See above. 

 See also Wylde's Evidence, Appendix to Bigge's Reports, R.O., MS. and Bigge's 

 Report, I. 



2 D. i, 3rd March, 1818. Enclosure, R.O., MS. *IbiJ. 



4 D. i, 3ist March, 1818. R.O., MS. When convicts and those who were 

 set over them conspired together it was difficult to punish the guilty. Several 

 times the men, e.g., were given short rations and then bribed or promised bribes 

 so that they should not complain at the muster. On two occasions these 

 promises were not fulfilled, and then the men complained. The magistrates 

 held in such case the masters and surgeons were no more guilty than the 

 prisoners who had been, as it were, accomplices, and therefore dismissed the 

 complaints. This was, of course, an error, for the masters and surgeons had 

 been guilty of dereliction of duty in disobeying the instructions of the Board 

 whose servants they were, and in not carrying out the stipulations of the 

 Charter-party. 



