210 HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, ETC., 



supplied. Those assigned to private employers, are sent to the interior 

 under the charge of a constable or overseer. 



They build their own huts, and the climate being very fine, require 

 but little shelter. The hours of labour are from six to six, and the 

 quantity of labour exacted from them is about two-thirds of what 

 would be required in England. They are treated in all respects as if 

 they were free, and no restraint is imposed, except that they cannot 

 leave their masters, who, when they have no further use for them, 

 return them to the government to be reassigned. 



When on ticket of leave, they may reside in any place they choose 

 to select. 



The convict's time of probation depends upon the original term of 

 his sentence ; but on a commission of crime within the colony, it begins 

 from his last conviction. For refractory conduct, they may be takers 

 to the nearest magistrate, who orders punishment on the oath of the 

 master. The magistrate has also power to send them to the nearest 

 chain-gang employed on public works. Here they are worked in 

 irons, and kept on scanty food for a limited period, after which they 

 may be returned to their masters. If badly treated, the convict may 

 have the affair investigated, but redress comes slowly. 



One of the great evils of the system is, that many of the convicts 

 on arriving are assigned to persons in Sydney and other towns, the 

 consequence of which is that they are exposed to the contaminations 

 and temptations that are likely to beset them in those thickly-peopled 

 places, and this too only a few months after their conviction in the 

 mother country. This influence removes all hopes of reform, and they 

 are usually soon found among the criminals of New South Wales. 



All persons who are landholders may receive convicts as assigned 

 servants, in the proportion of one to every three hundred and twenty 

 acres, but no one proprietor can have in his employ more than seventy- 

 five convicts. 



Written application for labourers is made to the Board of Assignment, 

 and the applicants must bind themselves to keep the assigned convict 

 for at least one month, and to furnish him with food and clothing 

 agreeably to the government regulations, which are as follows, viz. : 



The weekly rations consist of twelve pounds of wheat, or nine 

 pounds of seconds flour; or, in lieu thereof, at the discretion of the 

 master, three pounds of maize meal, and nine pounds of wheat, or 

 seven pounds of seconds flour ; with seven pounds of beef or mutton, 

 and four pounds of corned pork, two ounces of salt, and two ounces 

 of soap. 



The clothing for a year is as follows, viz. : two frocks or jackets, 



