9M ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. Xlf, 
" labourers from this place. Thanks to our exertions 
" and those of the Colonel, he has been almost entirely 
" unsuccessful, except in one solitary instance, and 
" that was a Cornish man who came out in the Rox- 
" burgh. The man was employed by me at the time, 
*' and had been so ever since he had been here, and was 
" very well satisfied, so that I felt I had a just cause to 
" feel aggrieved. I therefore went and told Shortland 
** my opinion of his conduct before the whole assem- 
" blage of his officials. From the manner in which he 
" received my remarks, I presume he felt their truth." 
The Bench of Magistrates had been particularly 
remarkable for their summary infliction of large fines 
in almost every case brought before them. Five or 
ten pounds were very often required in cases of com- 
mon assault, and from three to five pounds for drunk- 
enness and breach of the peace. It appeared a very 
convenient way of recruiting the public revenue ; and 
as none of the settlers knew anything of New South 
Wales law, or to what court they could appeal against 
the decisions, a very plentiful harvest was reaped. 
Complaints of the arbitrary nature of the proceedings 
were often made ; but then, no one knew how to get 
them investigated, and as money was plentiful in those 
early days, the affair was soon forgotten. 
Sam Phelps, a drunken, foul-mouthed bullock-driver 
from one of the neighbouring colonies, was a frecjuent 
contributor to the public revenue. He was an excellent 
hand at his profession, which is a very flourishing one 
in all new settlements, and his pockets were always 
well lined with money. If he made it like a good 
bullock-driver, however, it was his pride that he 
spent it in the same way, in drinking large doses of 
ardent spirits. The Magistrates and constables of 
course interfered with this predilection. Sam appeared 
