Reid's New South Wales. 63fj 
for (he fate of their offspring would 
naturally weigh heavily;—(he younger 
delinquents, whose attachments must 
have been warm and lively, would also 
suffer much from the idea of their in¬ 
evitable loss of many a tender tie ; foi 
even the most depraved cannot be 
divested of those feelings, which, in 
dispositions better regulated and guided 
by virtuous precept, constitute the 
happiness of social life. Even the in¬ 
fidel, whom unhappy waywardness has 
rendered unfit for Christian society, 
may have had some connection to 
sweeten his cup of misery, and en¬ 
lighten the gloom that shrouds his 
soul :*— the dissipated felon, whose 
lightly-acquired wealth procured him 
many an hour of delusive jollity, must, 
at such a prospect, sigh after his idle 
and profligate companions:—all seemed 
to me likely to have their particular 
grounds of sorrow, grief, regret, or 
lamentation. On visiting them, with 
(he intention of administering consola¬ 
tion to those whom I presumed to find 
distressed, to my very great sur¬ 
prise, and indeed pleasure, all seemed 
thoroughly reconciled to their situa¬ 
tion, and almost to a man signified the 
satisfaction, and even the pleasure they 
felt at. the idea of the voyage, removed 
from temptations and dangers of the 
worst kind, surrounded as they were 
with every comfort, and every want 
bountifully supplied. 
I took this opportunity of reading to 
them an appropriate sermon, and never 
have I witnessed more respectful at¬ 
tention, correctness and regularity of 
conduct, than on that occasion. I re¬ 
marked with much satisfaction the 
daily visible improvement which every 
individual appeared to make in morals 
and behaviour. Having adopted and 
put in effect the only means of reforma¬ 
tion, I left its perfection to time and 
•circumstances, watching their progress 
with the most anxious care. Of one 
point, however, I was always very 
mindful, never to fatigue their atten¬ 
tion with tedious harangue, or sour 
th^ir disposition by unnecessarily find¬ 
ing fault, or seeking out trivial or un¬ 
necessary causes for censure. I rather 
wished to encourage them always to 
have a good opinion of themselves ; 
which, if not strictly deserved, at least 
urged them to attain it. 
Reconciled as the prisoners were to 
* It seems some man on board who did 
not believe with the author on some reli¬ 
gious topics was thus characterized.—E d. 
their immediate condition, still the 
love of liberty naturally clung to them ? 
embittered recollection, and made 
many anticipate that severer evils 
awaited them than any they had been 
accustomed to endure. Although con¬ 
vinced of the justice of their sentence, 
and the leniency of the laws, and that 
they really merited the captivity to 
which they were consigned, yet an in¬ 
stance occurred which showed that 
their doom was irksome to them, and 
that liberty was the feeling most near 
to their heart under circumstances of 
any kind. 
STATE OF THE CONVICTS. 
Many of theconvictscontinued sickly, 
andafflicted with chronic diseases, which 
were often aggravated by the damp oc¬ 
casioned by the heavy working of the 
ship through high seas and boisterous 
weather. The greatest care was taken 
to stop the temporary leaks which thus 
appeared ; and the stoves were kept in 
daily and constant use, to prevent any 
bad cansequences arising from wet 
decks and damp bedding. 
A certain number of the healthy pri¬ 
soners were allowed to exercise a suffi¬ 
cient time every day upon deck, for the 
benefit of the fresh air ; these were re¬ 
gularly succeeded by another division, 
usually one third of the whole; these 
afterwards by another, so that all en¬ 
joyed air and exercise a certain number 
of hours every day. This arrangement 
also produced a good deal of bustle 
amongst them, by removing from the 
prison to the deck, and relieving each 
other in a manner from the irksome¬ 
ness of confinement; and formed a sort 
of substitute for employment during 
the day, by the temporary movements 
and changes it created among them¬ 
selves. The convalescents were not 
limited to any particular number of 
hours upon deck, aud whenever the 
weather would permit, they were al¬ 
lowed to remain as long as they liked. 
The conduct of the convicts gene¬ 
rally w 7 as such in every respect as to 
merit approbation. A muster of the 
different articles, books, &e. belonging 
to each mess was regularly observed ; 
and on such occasions correctness and 
cleanliness were so observable as almost 
invariably to preclude censure ; rarely 
w r as there any necessity of now r with¬ 
holding their allowance of w ine, or in¬ 
flicting any other punishment. 
REGULATIONS IN THE MORLEY FE¬ 
MALE TRANSPORT. 
With a view to ensure the health and 
comfort 
