Читать книгу Old Convict Times to Gold Digging Days - William Derricourt - Страница 15

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In the Sandy Bay road party I was allotted with four others to one of the carts. Weak as I was I tried to keep up with my work; but unless backed up by my mates, I found it impossible. They were a right down idle lot, and our cart was always getting behind. The rations here too were not of a kind to make me pick up strength. The bread was made of a mixture of flour, ground corn, and rice, and although the meat was good enough there was very little of it. I was once more accused of laziness, and sentenced to fourteen days' solitary.

Into the Sandy Bay party assigned servants were being constantly sent by their masters for punishment, receiving sentences of three, seven, or nine months. The sub-overseer messed with the cook, and to the latter the assigned men, who generally had a little money, would give sums of four or five shillings for an extra supply of food. This really consisted of parts of the regular rations stolen by the cook, who shared his gains with his messmate. On one occasion my supply of meat seemed so very small that I went to the overseer to get it weighed. It was found light, but the cook said, "Oh, that's all meat and no bone." He then and there cut my meat in two, took away half, and gave me instead a piece of bone that made up the full weight. After my last-mentioned punishment on a charge of laziness, the magistrate threatened that should I come before him again he would give me six month's in irons in the hulks. My mate was a very strong man, but would not exert himself or work for others, and our constantly being behindhand seemed to make it likely that the magistrate would have a chance to put his threat into execution. However, a way of evading him seemed at this time to offer.