Page:A colonial autocracy, New South Wales under Governor Macquarie, 1810-1821.djvu/202

 came, not from the disciplined prisons of the present day, but from the ill-regulated gaols and hulks of a hundred years ago. There life had been brutal and squalid, but full of excitement. On the transport there were long days of idleness, varied by agonies of sea-sickness. As they became used to the movement of the ship they found no way of filling the hours save gambling (nominally forbidden), quarrelling and plotting. The plots ranged from mean tricks to get another man's rations or to get an extra hour on deck, to conspiracies to gain possession of the ship and sail to far-off climes. The surgeon usually kept a school for the boys and such of the men as cared to learn to read or write. Far more fascinating must have been the school of crime of which the old and seasoned convicts were and ushers. There they learned a new tongue, that strange and debased English which has a peculiar vigour in spite of its sordidness. Some of the surgeons compiled vocabularies of this thieves' patter or "flash" slang. These, and some rather frivolous collections of anecdotes, are all that remain of their observations—for a unique opportunity for the student of criminal psychology was wasted in the hands of the naval surgeons.

A scanty supply of bibles formed the prison library, and a few of the convicts hoarded greasy volumes, telling tales of crime and horror, which would have been confiscated on discovery. No occupation could be permitted for which tools which could be turned into weapons of offence were necessary, and by 1820 no surgeon had discovered any employment not requiring them. The men were in this respect worse off than the women, for the latter could at least sew.

The fear of mutiny made convict transports insecure for the conveyance of passengers, though as a matter of fact no mutiny did actually occur in these years. It was, however, a good introduction to service in the Colony, for the voyage provided ample opportunity for gaining a knowledge of part of the population. While probably the worst type of convict was most prominent on board the ship, it must be admitted that many