ON THE HIGH SEAS. 179 



prison where it was cooler than in the bunks. When the alarm 

 was given the soldiers fired and continued to fire for some time 

 through the grating. They killed three men and wounded 

 twenty-two. Frightened to go down in the dark, the surgeon 

 left the wounded and the dead uncared for through the long 

 stifling night. From that time only half rations were served out, 

 and every night seventy (sometimes a hundred) men had been 

 chained naked to an iron cable in the prison. These were the 

 chief facts reported by Campbell to the Governor in one of the 

 most terrible documents of the convict times. 



The master and surgeon had acted throughout without wait- 

 ing for proofs and in blind terror. There was much reason to 

 doubt whether there had ever been any real cause for this terror, 

 whether a plot had ever been formed, and whether the story of 

 two tale-bearers, confirmed by conversations overheard by 

 terrified and suspicious men, had not been a complete fabrica- 

 tion. 



When Macquarie received the report he was much disturbed. 

 An examination of the hatchways made it quite certain that no 

 attempts had been made to force the gratings. 1 That much being 

 known, he determined to detain the Chapman until further in- 

 quiries had been made, and Captain Piper, the naval officer, was 

 instructed to retain the ship's register and not to let it out of his 

 hands without special authority from the Governor. " The 

 object of this injunction," wrote Campbell, " is to guard against 

 any risk of the master of the Chapman endeavouring to escape 

 from the harbour, which would be facilitated by his possessing the 

 register." 2 This was on the 9th of August, and four days later 

 Macquarie appointed by warrant a Court of Enquiry, consisting 

 of Judge- Advocate Wylde, D'Arcy Wentworth, Superintendent 

 of Police, and J. T. Campbell, the Secretary, to investigate the 

 occurrences of the voyage. The court had power to demand the 

 presence of witnesses, to administer oaths and require the pro- 

 duction of documents. 3 



" Not having any court in this Colony," wrote the Governor 

 to Lord Bathurst, " competent to take final cognisance of crimes 



1 4th August, 1817, D. 29, 1817. R.O., MS. 



2 Campbell to Piper, gth August, 1817. Enclosure, D. 29, 1817. R.O., MS 



3 I3th August, 1817. Enclosure, D. 29, 1817. R.O., MS. 



