Macquarie Harbour. 
207 
passed within a few yards of them. Satisfied however that 
they had got a-head of the prisoners, they crossed the river 
and waited for them. It appears that these men, alarmed at 
seeing their pursuers as they had passed on the beach so close 
to them, abandoned their provisions, &c., and were afraid to 
look for them afterwards, not knowing in which direction the 
party had proceeded. They made the best of their way to 
the Pieman’s River, crossed it, and fell into the hands of 
Mr. Lucas and his party. Taylor and Waters were sent to 
Ilobart Town, tried, and executed. 
On another occasion, some runaways had been apprehended 
by a military party. On their way to the settlement, the 
soldiers kindly allowed them to rest, and make a cup of tea. 
This grateful beverage, so much esteemed by people in the 
bush, became a w'eapon of war in the hands of these mis¬ 
creants ; for taking advantage of a moment of abstraction on 
the part of the soldier who stood centinel, they discharged a 
volley of tea into his face, overpowered and disarmed him: 
the remainder of the soldiers came to the rescue, and suc¬ 
ceeded in recovering both arms and prisoners; but not until 
one of their own party had been shot in the hand by one of 
these prisoners. 
There were few cases of reform amongst the prisoners, yet 
the labours of the pious and worthy chaplain were not alto¬ 
gether lost; some sheep were found amongst the goats. I 
can myself, and I do it with great satisfaction, render justice 
to one individual, who from an outrt vavrien became a re¬ 
spectable member of society. This man had been a bush¬ 
ranger, and was not taken until he was severely wounded in 
three places. He was sent to Macquarie Harbour, and there 
became (according to Tasmanian parlance) a real “ out and 
outer.” He several times attempted to escape, and on one 
occasion was nearly shot by the military. He had been 
absent some days, and no tidings could be bad of him, when 
one morning something of an extraordinary form appeared to 
