Complex sentence: On 4 April a food contractor attempted to work off some damaged hardtack on them in place of soft bread and was forced to yield by their insurrection, and the commandant, Capt. T. G. Shortland, suspected them of a design to break out of the gaol.
Split into simpler sentences: On 4 April, a food contractor attempted to work off some damaged hardtack on them in place of soft bread and was forced to yield by their insurrection. The commandant, Capt. T. G. Shortland, suspected them of a design to break out of the gaol.