361 
Macquarie Harbour. 
that many of these men underwent in attempting to make 
their escape would scarcely he credited. I should have 
selected a few of the most extraordinary cases, had I 
not feared extending this narrative to too great a length. 
About the latter end of the year a party of natives 
made their appearance near the hut of a man burning 
shells for lime near the Gates, but were, as the man 
says, frightened away at sight of his formidable ap¬ 
pearance,—a man four feet eleven inches in his shoes, 
armed with a rake ! 
The settlement was occasionally on very short rations, 
owing to the uncertainty of the passages made by the 
vessels. The distance from Macquarie Harbour to Ho¬ 
bart Town is about two hundred and twenty miles, and 
has been made in thirty-six hours; but the voyage from 
ITobart Town could never be depended upon. Vessels 
have been detained at Recherche Bay and Port Davey 
for six and seven weeks. I was fortunate enough to 
make one of the shortest passages, and that was twelve 
days : it has been done in eleven. 
On the 22nd December, 1822, it blew a complete gale, 
and a small schooner, the first vessel built at the settle¬ 
ment, appeared to labour hard, when all at once she 
parted from her anchor, and drifted rapidly towards the 
Gordon River. Captain Cutkbertson, who had been for 
some time in his verandah observing the circumstances, 
immediately ordered his boat, and went to her assistance. 
His coxswain was in the boat, but she was steered by a 
man named Anderson, a convict overseer, who had been 
mate of a ship. They succeeded in reaching the schooner, 
and with some exertion got her through the surf to the 
other side of the flats, at the mouth of the Gordon River, 
•—there they anchored her in smooth water. 
On the boat’s return the surf was beating with great 
violence on the flats : there was a chaim" 1 through these 
