365 
Macquarie Harbour. 
him : one man in particular, named Burke, would have 
put the threats into execution, but was prevented by 
another named Thomson ; who, however, observed, that 
he wished he had the Commandant there instead of Mr. 
Lucas, as they would teach him how to flog men, and 
behave better to his boat’s crew. 
They then made away with the mainsail of the sloop, 
and let go a second anchor : whilst some were thus em¬ 
ployed, four went on shore to the boat’s crew hut, and 
took away all the provisions they could obtain. After 
their return to the sloop, they got into Mr. Lucas’s 
whale-boat, and steered to the northward. 
Mr. Lucas broke through the bulk-heads which 
separated the cabin from the hold : he there found two of 
his boat’s crew, Tait and Mordicais, who had scrupled to 
join the mutineers. Mr. Lucas asked them to assist in 
retaking the vessel, but they declined, urging the odds 
against them. The names of the men who had absconded 
were Peering, Burke, Appleby, Colvin, Day, and Thom 
son. They were all of them apprehended, two by Mr. 
Lucas himself, at Circular Head. The first three were 
executed; the others had their sentence commuted to 
transportation for seven years, and sent back to Mac¬ 
quarie Harbour, when Colvin and Thomson again at¬ 
tempted to make their escape: Colvin was retaken, but 
the other got clear off. 
About this time the skeleton of a man, with his clothes 
on, was found near Mount Sorell, supposed to be one of 
the former runaways. 
Another melancholy death by drowning took place 
shortly after. Mr. George Lusk, a respectable and 
promising young gentleman attached to the Commissariat 
Department, went out on the 25th April, 1829, to try a 
new dingy (or small gig), built for the Cyprus; he had 
been bred to the sea, and was supposed to be a good 
