A CONVICT SETTLEMENT 13 



The Governor, accompanied by two English- 

 men who manage the telegraph and Lloyd's 

 signal station, had come down to meet us, and, 

 thus accompanied, we proceeded to the settle- 

 ment, where arrangements were made for a collect- 

 ing expedition on the following day. 



WhUe we were at the Governor's house a bugle 

 was sounded to summon the convicts. There 

 were about 200 of them, aU under long sentences, 

 most of them having been convicted of murder. 

 One man, who was told off as a guide to our party, 

 was said to have committed seven murders, and 

 as he owned to five of them, I have no doubt that 

 we were correctly informed. 



After their names had been called, the convicts 

 dispersed for the night, about fifty being locked 

 up in the gaol, and the rest going off to their own 

 houses. Most of these men have wives and 

 families, and, as far as we could judge, their 

 lives were not hard. They have to work three 

 hours a day for the State, but the rest of the day 

 they can spend as they like, though aU have to 

 appear when the bugle is sounded in front of the 

 Governor's House. 



Shortly after the convicts had dispersed we 

 started for the landing place. At its best this is 

 a difficult place from which to embark without 

 getting wet, and it was seldom that we landed 

 there or got away without getting soaked by the 

 waves. 



