The Express.
London, England, 1858-03-18 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1858.

A CONVICT SHIP.

LETTER FROM THB BISHOP OF PERTH
(AUSTRALIA).

Convict ship Nile, Bahia, Nov. 3, 1857.
MY DEAR FEII ND,—When you parted from me
alongside the Nile on the 23rd of September, you entertained
serious apprehensions that we should not accomplish our
voyage without disturbances. You bad heard from different
quarters the desperate character of some of the prisoners who
had embarked, and there appeared to be but too much ground
for your apprehensions. I send you below some account dour
' proceedings ; but I cannot help first making some observa-
tions on the conduct of prison officials in England, in sending
such characters as some of these wo have on board to people
a new colony. I firmly believe that the higher authorities
composing the home government are sincerely desirous of
deeding with Western Australia in a fair and honest manner;
but it is not enough for employers and heads of establish-
ments to intend honestly, they are bound to see to It that
their agents and subordinates act faithfully, and carry out
their intentions properly and correctly. Now the compact
with Western Australia with respect to the class of convicts to
be transported is, that they shall be men selected for their
good behaviour, 011111 whose antecedents allow a namable
hope that they will become refinsed persons in their new
country, end peeve is be mend mann of the eteamnalty.
That this is the unikesteaffing as tee eitseplii is day; eti
the eentrery, this IND and tally admitted by witness who
wen examined lent year before the Committee of the House
of Lords. But, nevertheless, the prison officials in Ragland
whose duty it is to select prisoners for transportation per- I
severe, in:dance of all obligation, in sending out many
meviets who ars utterly unfit fur the purposes of the °okay.
If this had happened only once or twice one might charitably
hop that it had occurred through Inadvertence ; but this
prised°e of seeding out desperate characters—men who have
just escaped hanging—has been persevered in now for up-
wards of two years, in spite of the strongest protests and re-
monstrances from a variety of different persons connected
with the colony, in addition to the official representation from
the present governor. The late governor, Captain Fitsgareld,
and the present comptroller-generel, Captain Henderson,
both protested in the strongest terms against this system in
the examinations above referred to. The gentleman last-
named, in answer to a question put to him, stated it to be his
conviction that if that system of sending out desperate chs-
teeters was not discontinued it must soon put an end to
transportation altogether. And assuredly this must be the
result. Can it be supposed for a moment that the inhabitants of
any colony, however dccile and tractable they may be,will suffer
themselves to be made for ever the victims of so gross and
fatal an injustice, and to have their country overrun with a
class of men who are certain, if set at large, to fill the land
with robbery and murder? Indeed there is no knowing to
what extent of crime and violence animals such as these, when
they have opportunities of acting upon large bodies of men
who are not under the restraint of right principle, may pro-
ceed. At the end of 1855 there were more able-bodied men of
the convict clams in the colony than able-bodied men of the
free class ; and no doubt the former class have at the present
time a still larger majority than they bad in 1855. Any
drunken row or accidental riot occurring in any part of the
colony might in a few hours be turned by a knot of deeps.
redoes into a general rising of the convict population.
. .

There is nothing in the condition or
colony to prevent such a catastrophe ; there is nothing to
prevent the frightful crimes lately perpetrated in India from
being again repeated in Western Australia. The handful of
soldiers and enrolled pensioners now in the colony, who may
be sufficient to uphold order and discipline in quiet times,
would be utterly unable to offer any sumenfol resistance to au
excited mob, which would reckon its numbers by thatmenda.
In fact the colonists live, as it were, continually with •
charged mine beneath their feet, and the system pursued by
the mother country, of sending out from time to time a re-
gular reapply of men ripe for any outrage, is a system exactly
suited to the purpose of springing that mine, and of bringing
ruin and desolation upon the whole country.

of the

•
If the colonists possess even the most moderate share of
pradance, and any regard fir the peace and safety of their
families and their country (to say nothing of the moral con-
dition of the community), they will, without loss of time,
unite as one may and will, with profound respect but with
the utmost firmness, humbly petition her Majesty the Queen
either to cause persons who will faithfully fulfil her radon/
Intentions towards the colonists to be appointed to select the
prisoners for transportation, or eke to release them altogether
fro% the engagement which they have entered into to melee
sonvicts from the mother country. To subunit to • con-
tinuance of the present practice is to acquiesce in • course of
treatment which must lead to results most disastrous to the
colony and to all who are connected with it.
With respect to the conveyance of prisoners in convict
ships, perhaps it may be of some use if I mention some cir-
cumstances which have in our own case tended greatly to
promote the disorder and miarule which have unhappily pre-
vailed in this ship. In my narrative below I shall refer to
the want of an officer previously acquainted with the persons
of the prisoners. Where there he the slightest tendency to
insubordination it is absolutely necessary that the governing
powers should poses', or be able to obtain, • particular and
personal knowledge of individuals amongst the dangerous
closes. Either by means of their own eyes or the eyes of
others they might be able to keep • watch upon every pro-
bable disturber of the peace, to mark his every movement,
that so they might stop the very first commencement of
disturbance. It does not matter whether it is an empire or
a gathering of twenty half clothed children, this knowledge
of individuals must be the secret by means of which order
must be maintained wherever there is any tendency to dis-
order.

In this case there were 270 men, many of them of deep.-
rate character, and bent on mischief, turned loose together
into a low half-lighted prison between decks, without an officer
in the ship who had any previous aoluaietanee with the
worst characters. It was not until the warden had obtained
by dearly bought experience a knowledge of individuals that
they could possibly deal with this unruly multitude.
In the darkness of the prison it was perfectly easy for the
leading rioters to conceal themselves in the crowd, and to
avoid detection.

The chief warder Is apparently a very able man, and tho-
roughly acquainted with the duties of hie situation ; and if
opportunities had been afforded to him of forming acquaint-
mos with the whole body of convicts before they left their
respective prisons, I tlrmly believe that insubordination
might have been checked at ite very tint commencement.
The want of a place of separate confinement in refractory
prisons will also be hereafter refereed to ; and the evil conse-
quences arising from this want will be forcibly illustrated by
the circumstances which occurred.

The neglect of • strict and vigilant search of the men's
persons will also be noticed, and its evil consequences shown.
Having said thus much about the neglect of means which
might hors have been used to repress disorder, I will now
say • few word. about the means which might have beta
used to promote order, and to bring about a state of right
feeling amongst the men ; viz, • routine of useful and pro-
fitable employment, affording opportunities for imparting
moral and religious Midsection.
A scheme la Lad down by tho authorities at home, which
looks remarkably well upon paper, marking out three hears
and • half day for school. But this nice looking scheme
is completely destroyed by the actual posture of affairs. Is
the Bret place men are so closely packed in the prison that to
distribute them all Into darer, in such a way as to enable
them to perform their school duties Is quite out of the goes-
tion. In the next place, on account of the mutinous spirit
which has been manifested and the threats which have
been many times repeated of taking the "hip, it is not
considered safe to open the prison and allow the
duties of the day to be commenced before daylight, as Imp-
poied by the scheme already mentioned. The prisoners ere
kept below until there is light enough for the men to be
watched, and until the usual guard for the day is mounted.
This upsets the " time-table" at once.
In the next place, it must, under any circumstances, re-
quire • great amount of good humour amongst the rims, sad
their ready and active co-operation, to carry through the bu-
siness of the day in accordance with the "scheme." Where
this alacrity is wanting It will easily be conceived that the
performance of each duty will be prolonged beyond the time
assigned to it, and that some portions of the time will be
found quite unavailable for their intended purposes. In this
way, amongst other more forcible pretenses the three beers
and a half of school become 'queened away altogether.
In the next place, the mpply of books for school purposes
' is saisisshiy detrain, Beene of the men canoe reed at 511,

and other' can (sly just put together short and eery words.
For the seen in this stags three eves no books at all. There
are other impedimenta to school-i:orPinff, which have arisen
out of the disturbed state of the prisoners. It is not con-
sidered prudent to allow more than one-third of the men to
be on deck at the same time; so that they are obliged to come
up for their airing in three different divisions. This tends
greatly to destroy regularity of routine, and operates against
a steady settling down to books. Again, elates cannot be
used amongst the men. The first lime the chaplain took the
slates into the prison ten were stolen; they were, no doubt,
taken by the riotous party; and there is every reason to be-
lieve that they were taken to be used u offensive weapons.
The surgeon, therefore, boa prohibited the use of slates.
Them circumstances may serve to illustrate what an in-
calculable amount of injury and injustice is done to a large
body of men by mixing amongst them in a convict ship a
certain number of rioters and desperate characters.
With respect to the performance of our own
ministerial olden ; the prisoners have always two
full services on Sunday, and prayers in the prison every
evening. The chaplain is constantly amangat the men,
talking to and adoseedaking them, either singly or three or
tow together. He Ire been most persevering in his endea-
MOB to moan the school, bat the utmost that he has been
Ws to socomplhh has bon to induce the men, whilst they
ssojejlsolt far Asir Wag, to assemble in domes for a short
time ma Ike fortmastle. Bach class is presided over by a mo-
Ma& sod the chaplain remains amongst them to exercise a
general enuelntendenoe.

_ .
For my own part, I take a dem from the men remaining
below. lam going regularly through the whole number, in
order that I may become personally acquainted with every
prisoner in the ship. When the class ceases reading I con-
clude with a short lecture, or an exposition of some passage
which has been read, adding some words of personal advice
sr mama to the men.

Our Sundays have generally not been fine ; on the two oc—
casions when the weather has been favourable in the morning
WI hands have been assembled in the after-part of the ship
as guard under arms and the ship's crew on the poop ; and
the prisoner, on the quarter-deck. Mr. Wright read t►e
service sad I preached on both these occasions. The other
Sundays, when the weather wee not tine, Mr. Wright and I
divided oar services, orte officiating in the middy, and the
other in the prison.

The prisoners' service, in the aftemoon, is always held
below.

I also addressed the prisoners on the occasion of their giv-
ing up the leading rioters when these latter were secured in
the forecastle, as will be hereafter described. The surgeon-
superintendent and the chaplain accompanied me to
the prison, and I endeavoured to point out the folly as
wall as the wickedness of those who had occasioned the late
riots. I commended warmly those who had stood forward In
the cause of order and had given up the disturbers of peace.
I spoke of the oolony, from my own personal knowledge, as a
place affording them excellent opportunities of redeeming
their characters and retrieving their lost position; and,
finally, entreated them to make their peace with God through
Jesua Christ, and to strive to prepare for a future life.
I meat now proceed to give you some account of what has
actually oocurred in the ship. I have already alluded to the
very unfavourable reports which we heard upon our first
arrival at Plymouth; and on going on board I certainly
did not find things better than I expected. It was quite cer-
tain that there were amongst the prisoners a certain number
of very desperate characters, and that thou put on board at
Portsmouth were especially, taking them all together, a very
had set. The warder who came to the ship with these men
said that they were about as bad • body of menu their prison
could produce. It was here also that a singular want of care
and vigilance was manifested with rerpect to articles which
the prisoners were allowed to bring on board with them.
One of the soldiers of the guard in the ship discovered a life-
preserver in the possession of one of the convicts as he came
over the ship's aide. Subsequently knives and flee were
found in possession of the prisoners ; and it ia not easy to
account for their having these articles unless they
brought them late the ship. Some implements of
this description they retained amongst them undiscovered;
and by these means some of the men who afterwards were put
in Irons were able to get the irons off, and thus to defy au-
thority at a most important criele. There can be no doubt
that this successful resistance to the arm of the law contri-
buted in no slight degree to aggravate the disturbances
which eventually took place.
I think it very important to call attention to the circum-
etencethat acertain portion of the convicts showed grill of in-
mbordinationfrom the timeof their first entrance into the ship.
They seemed bent upon mischief; and not only were insolent
and troublesome, but declared boldly that the ship should
never reach Australia.

The minds both of the sailors and warden appear to
have been unsettled by the state of things pre-
vailing. Nine sailors refused to work, on the plea that
when they signed articles they were not aware that the
ship was to carry convicts. These men woe landed and
taken before the magistrates at Plymouth, sal were sen-
tenced to one month's imprisonment. Two warders like-
wise refused duty, and they also were put ashore at Ply-
mouth.

After we got to sea it was evident that the prisoners were
in a very unsettled and unsatisfactory state of mind. There
was a constant tendency to insolence, and several depreda-
tions were committed by them whilst they were upon dock for
their airing.
Upon one occasion the harness cart in which the meat
for the caddy table was kept, was plundered. Upon another
occasion the chief mate discovered a prisoner in the act of
carrying off a goose from the longboat; he pursued him and
recovered the goose. This gave rise to jeers and taunts from
other prisoners upon deck ; some shouted to him that he
had better count the sheep and see whether they were all
right. This offender was punished by being put into the
"black box," which is a box something larger than a coffin,
and when a man is pat into it it is either left standing in a
perpendicular position or laid down upon the deck, close by
the station of a sentry. Another Min was detected in the
set of pawing down an iron crowbar from the deck into the
prison; he also was punished by a period of incarceration in
the black box.

The evening of Thursday, October 1, Mr. Wright went
below to the prison to conduct the terries as usual. The
prisoners sang some verses of a hymn, and then commenced
a row of a most disgraceful character, souls of the men
screaming, whistling through their fingers, using abusive
language, shouting out, "Well do for you," and uttering
other threats of a similar character. The surgeon-superin-
tendent was standing under the hatchway, • little behind
Mr. Wright ; and after a time they both retired, finding it
impassible to proceed with the service. Mr. Wright in-
formed me that a similar disgraceful scene had been enacted,
upon • previous occasion, before I joined the ship at Ply-
mouth.

The night of the 4th of October one of the warden on
duty in the prison wee assaulted and injured, and another
warder also received a blow. Fur this end other disorderly
conduct six men were seized on deck the neat afternoon,
Monday, October 5, just as it was getting dark. These men
received corporal punishment, and one, who eppeared to Do
ringleader, wait detained in the "black box." The other Ave
were ironed and sent below with the rest of the prisoners. In
a vary short time, however, they all five freed themselves
from the hone, no doubt by means of the files which had re-
mained undiscovered in their possession. Whilst we were
sitting at tea in the cuddy, a little before seven o'clock, an
alarm wss raised of a disturbance in the prison; everything
was immediately in confusion, and the cuddy-table deserted.
It was impossible to entertain at the time what really was
the matter; the women and families of the sadists and
I warden ware afraid to rennin in their own place, and came
in great alarm into the caddy and on the poop. In about
fifteen or twenty minutes the chief warder was led forward
from the hatchway bleeding, and apparently amiderably
injured. _ _ _

It appeared that the surgeon superintendent whilst below
in the:prison heard a missile whiz forcibly put him, and on
looking round saw the chief warder bad received a violent
Wow on the jaw. The missile was immediately picked
up, which proved to be a piece of sand-stow attached
to an old handkerchief in such a way u enabled the thrower
to hurl it hke a sling. The chief warder was obliged to re-
main off duty for some days. The surgeon has now reason
to believe that the blow was intended for him, and he ha.
been told that a deliberate plan had been at one time in course
of formation to take his life.
The following night, Tuesday, Oct. 6, the rioting was
mowed, owl lhlo time curled to *WI greater lengths. As