Читать книгу The Life and Experiences of an Ex-Convict in Port Macquarie - Woomera - Страница 6

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"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew them how we will."

—Shakespeare.

My first assignment was to Mr. Sam Terry, on his station at Mount Pleasant. Here I had little or nothing to do, and this man was a good master—he would never have his men flogged. But I had the misfortune to be stricken with the sandy blight at this place, and I was sent to the Windsor Hospital, where I remained for 10 months. From here I was sent to Windsor Gaol, but instead of a bed, I had to lie on a flag-stone, which was not conducive to building up my health. From Windsor I was transferred to Parramatta, and eventually to the Barracks again. Shortly after this, I was sent on to that beautiful vessel known as the "Phœnix" hulk—prison ship. This was the first occasion on which I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Dr. ——, the man who conspired with two others to rob a house, and when they were in the act of doing so, he assailed them with a gun, fired and wounded one of them as he came out of the window, and secured his freedom for catching thieves. This was a very cunning trick, as he arranged the plot himself, and he afterwards became prominent. I saw him shortly after this took place, when he was assuming all sorts of things, and I said "Hulloa! how are you getting on?" He looked at me, and said, "Why, I never saw you before, sir." "That'll do," I said, "you forget that I saw you on the "Phœnix" hulk, and don't try to put on side before me." He said no more.