The Present Picture of New South Wales (1811) Part 2

_Idlers_--loitering about the wharfs, to be sent to hard labour; and if after sunset, to be imprisoned.

_Initials_--of the governor, commissary, and deputies, if forged, to be considered as full signatures.

_Interest_--not more than eight per cent. to be exacted; and any persons demanding more, are subject to the laws against usury.

_King's Stores_--articles granted for the use of families, comprising annual and extra supplies sent for barter, not to be retailed, under the penalty of forfeiting all further indulgences.

_Licenced Persons_--bound by recognizance to the due a.s.size of weight and measure; to permit no gaming, drunkenness, indecency, or disorder; to pay due respect to existing regulations; not to entertain persons from tap-too beating until the following noon, or during divine service, under the penalty of forfeiting licence and recognizances; the latter to informer, and five pounds to Orphans. Nor is any licenced person to credit more than twenty s.h.i.+llings, under forfeiture of debt; nor to sue soldiers, seamen, servants, or prisoners, under the penalty of nonsuit and treble charges. And any licenced person vending or receiving liquors distilled in the colony (that practice being strictly prohibited), they will forfeit their licence and recognizances; and all such persons receiving permits for spirits are to receive it themselves, and not to dispose of spirits on any other person's account, under the before-mentioned penalty, and all such spirits to become the property of the informer.

_Merchandize_.--Not more than twenty per cent. on the importer's prices admitted on the retail; in doubtful cases, to be estimated by courts, if sued for, by allowing from 80 to 100 per cent. on the prime cost of English or India goods, and 20 per cent. on the retail. Notes of hand for debts so contracted not cognizable as evidence, unless the account of articles be produced with prices annexed. All merchandize to be landed at the Hospital wharf, and no where else, under penalty of confiscation; and those articles which are brought from the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, are to pay five per cent. _ad valorem_ on the prices laid in at, exclusive of wharf.a.ge and wine and spirit duties. All British manufactures exempt.

_Musters_.--Persons neglecting to attend musters, if free, to be treated as vagrants; and, if prisoners, jail-gang twelve months. Persons returning false accounts, to be dealt with according to the decision of a bench of magistrates.

_Natives_--not to be treated with inhumanity or injustice, under the penalty of prosecution and indictment; and the natives of Otaheite, New Zealand, etc. are all to be considered as under the protection of the crown; to be properly treated and maintained by their employers, and not to be sent on any voyage without the governor's permission.

_Parramatta._--Persons pa.s.sing the barracks to give a satisfactory account of themselves to the commanding officer at that place, when required; and no person to carry a musket without permission from the magistrate.

_Pa.s.sage-boats._--Not to convey any person, unless a settler, without a pa.s.s; penalty, confiscation. The boats to be kept tight; carry four oars, one mast and sail; boatmen to treat pa.s.sengers civilly; to give notice half an hour before they depart, by bell ringing; not to stop more than ten minutes by the way, nor to go alongside a vessel, without acquainting the wharfinger; and the proprietors to keep entry-books, under the penalty of forfeiting the bond and recognizances entered into at the time their license was granted. The following charges to be made: Each pa.s.senger to pay 1s.; children 6d.; luggage 1s. per cwt.; wheat or sh.e.l.led maize 6d. per bushel; maize in cob 4d. per bushel; each chair 6d.; sheep and goats 6d. each; pigs and packages, according to their size; liquids 1d. per gallon; porter 3s. per hhd.; planks 2s. 6d. per 100 feet; fowls and ducks 1s.

per dozen; geese and turkies 1s. 2d. per dozen; parcels weighing 2lbs. 3d.; and private letters 2d. each. The hire of the whole boat 1l. 1s.

_Pa.s.ses_.--No person, unless a settler, to leave his place of abode without a pa.s.s, which he is to produce to the chief constable at the settlement expressed in it, and return it to the officer who granted it, under the penalty of three months hard labour, if free; and, if a prisoner, corporal punishment, at discretion of one magistrate, not exceeding one hundred lashes.

_Permits_--for removing half a gallon of spirits, etc.

to be granted by commissioned officers, superintendants, and licensed retailers; and if any spirits be obtained by fraud and collusion, by any licensed person, if free, he will suffer the penalty of one year's hard labour for the crown, and forfeit his license; and, if a prisoner, he will undergo such punishment as a bench of magistrates may direct.

_Pet.i.tions_--signed by more than one person, to be sanctioned by three magistrates, under the penalty of prosecution.

_Prisoners_--not to be conveyed on board any vessel about to depart: penalty for breach of this order, forfeiture of the boat, and the person rowing it to be subject to two months imprisonment. Nor is any prisoner to be seduced or diverted from the public harvest, under the penalty of ten pounds, half of which to be paid to the informer.

_Provisions_--including flour, bread, meat, wheat, etc. not to be sent on board vessels, but by permit for that purpose.

_Public Registers_--applications respecting them to be made to the secretary only.

_Public Roads_--not to be encroached upon: persons aggrieved thereby, to obtain redress by complaint to the nearest magistrate.

_Rations_--allowed to prisoners, prohibited to be purchased or exchanged, under the penalty of being indicted; and, if bartered for spirits, all such found in the house will be staved; if a licensed person, forfeiture of license also: And if the ration is not applied for at the time of issue, it will not afterwards be given.

_Sabbath_.--A strict observance of the sabbath, and general attendance at divine service required; during the performance of which all strollers are to be apprehended and confined.

_School-house and Chapel at Hawkesbury, erected by Gorvernment for the Benefit of Settlers in that District_.--Those for whom the benefit is designed, invited to become subscribers, for supporting the inst.i.tution, and maintaining the chaplain and preceptor, by the payment of two-pence for each acre of land they possess. All regulations to be determined by six subscribers, and two magistrates, one of whom to be the princ.i.p.al chaplain.

_Seamen_.--Any person trusting or retaining any seaman, shall lose his or her money, and be proceeded against; and forfeit five pounds for each day and night (after the first offence), should he be a deserter; but if ignorant of his being such, penalty ten s.h.i.+llings a day, only. And any seaman deserting a s.h.i.+p, and discovered after her departure, shall be subject to thirty-one lashes, and hard labour for the crown.

_Sedition_.--Transgressors amenable to existing laws; in addition to which the following regulations, for the effectual suppression of such crime against his majesty's government, and the public tranquillity, are strictly to be enforced; _viz_.

Persons using seditious words or actions to receive exemplary punishment; and all persons knowing but concealing such offence, to be treated as accomplices. Any house in which seditious meetings are held, to be demolished.

_Slop Clothing_--the sale and purchase thereof prohibited, under penalty of indictment for receiving stolen goods.

_Spirits, and other strong Drinks_.--If landed without permit, penalty, forfeiture to informer wherever found, and all such discovered in the house; nor is any to be removed but by permit, penalty from the original vender 5L. to Orphans.

Nor is any greater quant.i.ty of spirits to be removed than half a gallon, but by a permit, signed by a magistrate; penalty, forfeiture. And if spirits be landed by a master of a vessel without license, he will forfeit his bond, and be ordered immediately to depart the port. Persons licensed to retail spirits and other strong drinks, to pay 3L. for each license to the Orphans' fund, and 2s. to the clerk.

Spirits drawn for domestic purposes, forbid to be transferred; penalty, forfeiture; and, if bartered for wheat, the wheat to be forfeited to the crown, with the spirits and premises. Spirits prohibited to be smuggled, landed without permit, or sold without a license, under the penalty of confiscation. And should any spirits be brought, without the governor's permission, from the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, the following additional duties are to be paid; _viz_. If permitted to be landed, for every 100 gallons, 5L.; not to be charged more than 6s. per gallon, including duty of 2s. per gallon; 5L. per cent. _ad valorem_, and 5s. wharf.a.ge for each cask or case of 100 gallons. If not permitted to be landed, no colonial vessel within the limits to receive such spirits, under the penalty of confiscation, together with the vessel; half to the informer. Nor are any spirits to be sold or bartered for more than 20s. per gallon; penalty, the excess of 20s. to be returned, and future indulgence forfeited; and, if licensed, the license to be taken away.

_Stallions_--not to be suffered to run loose; penalty, 5L. to informer, and 10s. for each night they are held in charge: If not claimed within a week, forfeited to Orphans.

_Stock furnished by Government to Individuals_.--Oxen hired to such approved settlers as procure ploughs or carts, to be paid for in wheat each March quarter, in the proportion of ten bushels a year for two years, when each head is to be purchased for 70 bushels of wheat, or be returned to government; such cattle not to be ill-treated, or applied to any other than agricultural purposes, on pain of being reclaimed. In case of disease or accidental death, the superintendant of stock to be immediately informed thereof, or the settler responsible for the loss. Cows one remove from the Bengal breed valued at 28L.

per head, occasionally to be bartered for as follows: To be paid for in wheat into the store, on delivery of each cow, or, if accepted, in two half-yearly payments; in failure of payment when due, the stock to be reclaimed, and the payment already made forfeited. The stock and produce to the third generation unalienable, unless by the governor's permission; and no person to purchase any such stock without the governor's sanction.

Stock, if impounded, a description to be sent to the nearest magistrate, or constable of the district, immediately; to be properly fed, and, if near a town, made public thrice a week for one month by the common crier, under the penalty of 2L.

for each head, and all other costs; but owners of stock running at large to pay all damage sustained. Any person who has received stock from government, and obtained permission for the sale thereof, must first tender the same to government at market prices, under the penalty of forfeiture, with twice the value from seller and buyer; the original stock to the crown, the other penalties to informer.

_Stills_--prohibited to be used; penalty, if free, privation of indulgence and removal; if prisoners, at discretion of a bench of magistrates: Also all liquors and utensils found, to be seized and destroyed.

_Stream running through the Tanks at Sydney_--no person to throw filth into, nor to wash, clean fish, or erect pigsties near; nor to take water up but at the tanks; under the penalty of 5L. to Orphans, if free, and the house razed; if a prisoner, imprisonment, and hard labour for the crown for twelve months.

_Strikes_.--No strikes are to be used for measuring grain, but such as are stamped by superintending carpenters, who are to charge one s.h.i.+lling each; and in case of any other strike being used, the person offending to forfeit five pounds, and one s.h.i.+lling for every bushel which has been measured.

_Sureties_.--Persons becoming sureties for individuals of indifferent character, to forfeit the full amount of their recognizance, if such decision is given before a bench of magistrates.

_Swine_--found at large without ring and yoke, will be forfeited to the Orphans.

_Taptoo-beating_.--Persons pa.s.sing after, to answer centinels when challenged, and to carry a lantern. None but known householders to pa.s.s, except officers of vessels, who are to make themselves known, under penalty of confinement.

_Timber_--to be taken, if wanted for government purposes, wherever found growing on grounds located by the crown to individuals. No private individual to damage or remove any timber, but by permission from the owner of the land, or from the governor, upon crown lands; penalty, prosecution. And all timber exported, to be paid for to Orphans 3L. per 1000 feet solid; returns of all embarked to be made to the wharfinger, under the penalty of 5L. for each neglect. Exotic timbers exempted from the general claim of government, and to be the exclusive property of the owner; but, if disposed of, the crown to have the preference.

_Vagrants, and idle and disorderly Persons_--to be sent to public labour, for a time to be limited by the magistrates.

_Vendue_--no person to sell goods by, unless licensed, those exempt by act of parliament excepted, under the penalty of 50L. to the Orphans.

_Vendue Master_--to give a daily account of sales to the treasurer of the Orphan fund, to which inst.i.tution 1 1/2 per cent. is to be paid from the proceeds of sales. He is also to furnish a list of articles to the treasurer, previous to the auction, under the penalty of forfeiture of recognizances he enters into at the time he is appointed to that situation.

_Vessels_--to pay the following dues and fees on entry: To Orphans, an English merchant s.h.i.+p with merchandize, in government service, 15s.; ditto, not in government service, 1L. 10s.; a whaler, with merchandize, 15s.; ditto, with no articles for sale, 10s.; a foreign s.h.i.+p 2L. 10s. General permission to trade 10s.; each bond 3s. 6d.; to water on Orphan lands 10s.; to wood on ditto, or on government grounds, 10s.; on clearance and bonds being returned 5s.; for every permit to land or remove spirits 6d. To the Gaol fund: For every gallon of spirits landed, or removed from the vessel, 1s.; ditto for wine 6d. and beer 3d.

Wharf.a.ge for every cask or package 6d. No vessel to break bulk until reported and entered at the naval officer's office; and every s.h.i.+p to hoist her colours on public days; in case of refusal, all intercourse to cease. Vessels taking spirits from hence, not to be allowed communication with any dependent settlement, unless the master produces a letter from the governor, or officer in command (to relieve distress excepted); and no spirits to be landed at the settlement he may touch at, unless the governor's certificate of price, etc. be produced.

All commanders are also strictly forbid entering seamen from other s.h.i.+ps, under the penalty of 15L. for each man; half to the king, and half to the informer. Masters of vessels, not colonial, to give security previous to any communication, themselves in 500L. and two sureties in 50L. each, to take no person away without regular authority, nor to depart without leave, under an additional penalty of 50L. The usual bond, not to lade from hence to India, China, etc.

without certificate, to be also exacted. Masters s.h.i.+pping seamen, to make application to the secretary in writing, stating whether such men have been prisoners, and if so, the s.h.i.+p they came in, and where tried; nor is any communication to be held with any vessel after the clearance has been obtained, under the penalty of forfeiture of boat so trespa.s.sing, and two months imprisonment. The crews of all vessels to be put on ration, agreeable to existing circ.u.mstances.--Vessels not to be built within the limits of the territory, exceeding 14 feet keel, without permission from the governor (unless in case of s.h.i.+pwreck), under the penalty of confiscation.--Vessels under foreign colours not to be cleared for any sealing voyage, or to return hither, but to clear out for a port of discharge. And if any master disregard the colonial regulations, all intercourse to cease; to depart the port immediately, and not permitted to return.

_Vouchers for Grain, etc. furnished the King's Stores_--to be finally settled quarterly, otherwise not cognizable; _viz_. 31st of March, 30th of June, 30th of September, and 31st of December.

_Weights and Measures_--to be true, and stamped as such, under the penalty of ten pounds to Orphans, for every weight or measure which is defective.

The internal regulations, from which the preceding abridgment was taken, are the leading features of the General Orders issued by all those who have administered the government of the colony up to the secession of Governor King, and are frequently altered, or annulled, according to the variations in the local circ.u.mstances of the country: since which period, however, a number of other orders and proclamations have been issued, by those who have subsequently held the command in the settlement; but the notice of which, as well as of all political matters, must unavoidably be deferred until some future period, from the peculiar circ.u.mstances under which I am at present placed.

On the 12th of August, 1806, Governor King was succeeded in his command at the settlement by Governor Bligh, who arrived from England for that purpose; at which period the colony was in a state of growing prosperity, notwithstanding the progress of cultivation was considerably r.e.t.a.r.ded by the frequent overflowings of the Hawkesbury, which never failed to produce such extensive injury to the settlers on its banks, as would have been sufficient to discourage men of much more industry and perseverance than many amongst them.

The death of Mr. George Barrington, who, for a long time, was in the situation of chief constable at Parramatta, ought to have been previously adverted to, as his decease took place some time before this period. During his residence in the colony, he had conducted himself with singular propriety of conduct; and, by his industry, had saved some money; but, for a considerable time previous to his death, he was in a state of insanity, and was constantly attended by a trusty person. The general opinion of those around him was, that he brought on this malady, so destructive to the majesty of man, by his serious and sorrowful reflexions on his former career of iniquity. His death, however, was that of a good man, and a sincere christian. He expressed a very considerable degree of displeasure, when he was in a state of sanity, at his name being affixed to a narrative, which he knew only by report, as being about to be published, and which subsequently did appear, under a deceptious mask.

The Blue Mountains have never yet been pa.s.sed, so that beyond those tremendous barriers, the country yet remains unexplored and unknown. Various attempts have, at different periods, been made to exceed this boundary of the settlement; but none of them have been attended with the wished-for effect. M. Barrallier, a French gentleman, late an engsign in the New South Wales corps, has been further across than any other individual; but he was compelled to return unsatisfied, before he had obtained any knowledge of the trans-mountaneous territory which he longed to behold. I myself made an excursion to these mountains, in the year 1807, accompanied by an European and three natives; but after mounting the steep acclivities for four days, until I found my stock of provisions sensibly diminis.h.i.+ng, I thought it most prudent to re-trace my way to the habitable part of the settlement, and to leave the task of exploring them to some person more qualified, mentally as well as physically, for the arduous undertaking. In fine, from the specimen I had acquired during this journey, of the difficulties which surround this task, I think that, after travelling a few miles over them, their appearance (although so amazingly grand) is sufficiently terrific to deter any man of common perseverance from proceeding in his design.

In the progress of my undulating, I ascended about four or five stupendous acclivities, whose perpendicular sides scarcely permitted me to gain the ascent. No sooner had I attained to the summit of one of these cliffs, flattering myself that I should there find the termination of my toil, than my eye was appalled with the sight of another, and so on to the end of my journey; when, after mounting with the utmost difficulty a fifth of these mountainous heights, I beheld myself, apparently, as remote from my ultimate object, as at the first hour of my quitting the level country beneath. Some of these ridges presented to the eye a brilliant verdure of the most imposing nature, while others had the appearance of unchanging sterility, relieved by the interposition of pools of stagnant water and running streams; there shrubs and trees enlivened the scene, and here barrenness spread its dreary arms, and encircled the s.p.a.ce as far as the eye could reach. On my return, in sliding down the steep declivities, I so completely lacerated my clothes, that they scarcely contained sufficient power to cover me. I saw no other animals or reptiles, during this excursion, than those which are common throughout the country.