Читать книгу The Flogging Parson - George Forbes - Страница 5

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"I was born in the year 1756, in the County of Wicklow, in Ireland, where I remained in comfortable circumstances until the year 1798, that fatal year of the rebellion which brought upon Ireland so much misery and misfortune.

"My acquaintance with rebels, and appearance among the principal actors in the rebellion, was accidental. If I had not been placed exactly in the circumstances in which I stood, I would, in all probability, have been on the other side of the question. But I will not dwell upon the history of what took place up to the time of my leaving Ireland; suffice it to say that, with others equally unfortunate, I was exiled to Australia for political offences, not as a convict, but as a prisoner of State, my wife being allowed to accompany me, and suitable provision being made for our passage out to Sydney Cove.

"The Minerva transport, which was chartered for our conveyance to New South Wales, was well found and fitted for the voyage, and, in this respect, differed greatly from the convict ships which were subsequently employed in the degrading transport service; and the captain gave orders for the carpenters to fit up a little cabin for me and my wife (for whose passage I paid £120) off the steerage, and here we were most comfortable.

"On the 24th August, 1799, we weighed anchor, and sailed from the Cove of Cork, and on the 4th September we were in sight of Madeira, where we fired a gun for a pilot, but none came off to us. We bore away from that island, steering our course for Rio de Janeiro, where we arrived, in eight weeks, without any occurrence worthy of particular mention. We remained at Rio for three weeks, and then, in due course, made the South-West Cape of New Holland, and shortly after saw Storm Bay passage. We then sailed along the coast, keeping in sight of land, sometimes so close that we could see the people on it by help of a glass. We sailed above 3000 miles on the coast, and passed by the head of Old St. Patrick, and through Bass Straits.

"Just at daylight one morning in the month of January, we entered Sydney Heads, and fired a gun for a pilot, but none appeared. We then sailed by Pinchgut Island, and the first remarkable object I saw was the skeleton of a man named Morgan on a gibbet; he had been executed for murder, and sentenced to hang in chains at this spot, where he became a subject of ridicule to the convicts, and terror to the natives, who, though hitherto particularly partial to that spot, now totally abandoned it lest the malefactor should descend and seize them in the same manner as their superstition prompted them to imagine spirits did. We then passed by Garden Island, and came to anchor in Sydney Cove at about 11 o'clock a.m. on the 11th January, 1800.

"Soon after we had come to anchor the ship was visited by Captain Johnston, Nicholas Devine, and a naval officer, with several spectators. The prisoners were then brought upon deck, their irons taken off, and placed in three rows on the deck. Captain Johnston held the indent in his hand, on which he inserted the name of every prisoner, the place of trial, length of sentence, and the cause of conviction. Each man's trade or profession was now enquired into, by which means the authorities were able to select such as they wanted for Government employ, and then the military officers had their choice. The remainder were taken by the residents, according to their station, and influence, while some were sent at once to Norfolk Island, as being considered too bad for the settlement at Sydney.

"It was now that I had an opportunity of observing, at close quarters, some ladies who had accompanied us on the voyage out from England. I had occasionally noticed them upon the aft deck of the vessel and one of them had particularly attracted my attention. She was a young English girl not older, I would say, than about eighteen years, and very beautiful I thought her both in face and form. From her custom of invariably appearing in black, I concluded her to be in mourning for some near relative, and later I learnt that she was an orphan on her way to join her uncle, a clergyman, at Parramatta.

"Among the first to board the vessel when we had come to anchor, was a portly cleric who greeted the young emigrant affectionately, and, after some little delay, they went on shore together.

"Captain Johnston now came to me, and very civilly addressed me, for I had kept myself from association with the convicts. Mr. Harrison, the chief mate, stepped forward and introduced me, and spoke of me in such high terms that Captain Johnston told me he would place me in a situation where I could realise five hundred pounds a year by superintending a large farm and a great quantity of stock, and I have no doubt he spoke the truth. I returned him my thanks, and said I would give him an answer in a few days.

"I had received, the day before, an invitation from Mr. Maurice Margarot to go to his house when I should land. This gentleman had been convicted of sedition at Edinburgh in 1794, and transported to New South Wales for fourteen years; having hailed a boat, I determined to leave the vessel and take advantage of his hospitality.

"Mr. Margarot received us with every kindness. He was a man of great conversational powers, and of literary attainments, being well educated. Mrs. Margarot was of the same rank and character, a lady of elegant manners. They were both of hasty tempers, and very irritable.

"About one o'clock an Englishman named Barnes came in with a basket of beautiful peaches and nectarines, and an animal somewhat like a rabbit, called a bandycoot, on which we afterwards dined, and found it to be good flavor. Barnes was parish clerk, and came from England with the Rev. Mr. Johnson, the first clergyman who reached this colony.

"Mr. Margarot said he regretted his means did not permit him to furnish his house with better fare for my entertainment, but what he had he was happy to share with me. I then asked permission to send out for some spirits. I gave the servant a guinea, and he brought us a wine bottle of rum, for which he paid fourteen shillings, and I received three small pieces of silver as change, cut in a triangular shape, the value of which I did not know. We drank our rum-punch, and chatted over our adventures; and, after providing this entertainment for my host, I found myself left with but four guineas on which to begin the world."