OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 219 



its general plan. For a more full account of it, I would refer to 

 Captain Maconochie's papers, published at difFerent times. I spent 

 several agreeable hours with him ; and am satisfied that with the well- 

 educated description of criminals, and with those who may have 

 friends to return to, it will probably answer ; but I am disposed to 

 think that the great objection lies in the feelings of society, and its 

 reluctance to readmit its outcasts on any terms, much less place thetn 

 on a footing of equality. 



There are two forms of social management proposed, one by 

 Captain Maconochie, the other by Lord Howick : the former has been 

 sufficiently explained; the latter includes both punishment and train- 

 ing in the insular penitentiaries, from which release may be complete, 

 or merely through the medium of a ticket-of-leave in the colonies. 



The latter form I believe is that which has been adopted, and from 

 what I learn, it seems to be succeeding, although I have not been 

 informed that any public account has yet been given of it. The 

 system is about being adopted in Van Diemen's Land, which is a 

 convincing proof that government has become somewhat satisfied 

 with its efficacy ; and it is noticed in one of the late Gazettes, that 

 Captain Maconochie had treated his prisoners, on the Queen's birth- 

 day (with the approbation of the government), to a play and punch ; 

 which is a proof that some had already reached the probationary state. 



The ration of the soldiers in New South Wales consists of one 

 pound of meat, one pound of bread, two-thirds of a pint of rum, and 

 an allowance of five-pence for small stores, consisting of salt, sugar, 

 tea, &c. They receive as pay eight-pence per day, and are obliged 

 to serve twenty years before they can claim their discharge. 



The convict gets one pound of bread, one pound and a quarter of 

 meat, and one pint of meal. Indeed, there is very little difference in 

 the condition of a soldier and a convict, and were it not for the name, 

 one would be almost induced to prefer the situation of the latter. 



There is a description of convicts, as has been mentioned, known 

 under the title of ticket-of-leave men. These, from good behaviour 

 before the expiration of their term of sentence, are permitted to hire 

 themselves out, upon the employer entering into a stipulation to main- 

 tain a strict watch over them. This custom has no doubt been forced 

 upon the community by the want of servants, and the necessity of 

 obtaining them. The action of this part of the system will be shown 

 more clearly by the following anecdote. 



One day, passing along George Street with a friend, my attention 

 was called to a fashionable equipage, with a well-dressed man driving 

 i On my asking to whom it belonged, I was informed that the person 



