OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 211 



three shirts, of strong linen or cotton, two pairs of trousers, three pairs 

 of shoes, of stout durable leather, one hat or cap, and the use of a good 

 blanket and mattrass belonging to the master. 



Custom, however, has extended the above allowances, and the 

 quantity of luxuries added in tobacco, sugar, tea, and grog, makes 

 the amount nearly double. These additions have become absolutely 

 necessary in order to procure work from the convicts, and the free 

 supply of them is the only way in which they can be made to work 

 in the harvest season. I was informed that a settler considered it all- 

 important to have a large stock of these luxuries on hand at the season 

 of pressure ; for although the assigned servants do not actually refuse 

 to work, they do so little, that, in order to save his crop, the master 

 must yield them the extra indulgences. 



Another evil attendant on the assignment system is the difference in 

 the treatment they receive from those to whom they are assigned. 

 On the arrival of a convict-ship, a large number of persons who have 

 made applications to the Board, are in waiting; they of course know 

 nothing of the character of the convicts, and, as I learned from a good 

 source, no record is kept, or sent with the convicts themselves. The 

 Board is entirely ignorant of their character or crimes, and thus can 

 exercise no discrimination in assigning the convict to the hands of a 

 good or of a hard master. The greatest villains may, therefore, fall 

 into kind hands, while one who is comparatively innocent may suffer 

 much more than he deserves. 



The punishment of transportation must continue very unequal until 

 a classification be resorted to. Many convicts, by bad treatment, are 

 confirmed in their vices. 



For any misbehaviour, they are, as has been seen, subject to severe 

 castigation upon their master's making oath before a magistrate. This 

 not unfrequently drives the culprit or convict to further crime, and in 

 revenge for these wrongs, he either neglects his master's interest, or 

 has been known to set fire to his harvest when gathered. 



The present system appears fitted to entail evil and misery on the 

 colony, and there are few disinterested men who do not view it as 

 calculated to prevent any moral improvement. Murders, robberies, 

 and frauds are brought about by it, for which extreme punishments 

 are of such frequent occurrence that it is a matter of astonishment 

 that a stranger should remark that an execution had taken place. 

 The day before our arrival five criminals had been hung, and more 

 w r ere to suffer in a few days. 



These executions take place without causing any unusual excite- 

 ment. There is little doubt that the convict population contains 



