CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Sydney. Married Emigrants.-High Wind.-Sudden Death.-Coach Travelling. -Delusion.-Hot Wind, &c.-Meetings in Sydney.-Destitute New Zealanders. -Visit to the Prisons in Sydney.-Hyde Park Barracks.-Carters Barracks. -Tread-mill.-New Jail.-Tunnel from the Botany Bay Swamps.-Phoenix Hulk.-Goat Island.-Address to the Prisoner Population.-Old Jail.-Colonial Hospital.-Prisoner's Letter.-Benevolent Asylum.-Books, &c.-Oaths and Affirmations.-Address to the Free Inhabitants.

ON returning to Sydney, at this time, we engaged apartments in the upper part of Pitt-street; for which, with board in the family, we paid £2 a week, each. Here we remained till we finally left the Colony, in the 3rd month, 1837.

10th mo. 29th. I had some conversation with an Independent Minister, appointed to Norfolk Island, who left England single, by the advice of his friends. In the majority of cases, great advantages arises to persons emigrating, from taking suitable wives before leaving their own country. Many have discovered their mistake, in coming out single, after arriving in these Colonies. Even if a man go into the interior, he is much more likely to succeed, if he have a wife to take care of what he may leave in his dwelling, be that ever so humble a one, while he is out attending to his flocks; if his residence be in a town, such a care taker is still necessary, for respectable house-keepers are not easy to be obtained, because persons of this class are generally soon sought out, by those wanting wives.

29th. A high wind raised such clouds of dust, as rendered it nearly impracticable to pass along the streets. The frequency of this annoyance in summer, is a great objection to a residence in the town, at this season.

30th. About twenty persons were present at our meeting. A large proportion of them, were of one family, lately arrived in the Colony, from amongst whom, a promising daughter died on the passage. In a little vocal service, I had to point out the imperative claims of religion, and the necessity of attending to the convictions of the Holy Spirit, if we would be led to Christ, and know him to abide with us. 11th mo. 1st. This morning, an assigned servant, who had resided some time in the family, and was remarkably sober, honest, and industrious, and possessed an unusual share of muscular strength, was suddenly taken ill, and died in about an hour and a half, in consequence of an affection of the heart. He had three attacks of spasm, and in the last exclaimed, "If I was only prepared to die!" he then cried for mercy, and almost instantly expired.-I was absent when the awful event took place, having a short time before taken a seat on the Liverpool coach, in order to visit the young man noticed on the 13th of 9th mo. On the coach, I met with a man, who was going to catch a horse, that had killed its rider, by dashing his head against a tree. After some very profligate persons, who, from their appearance and bad language, might be prisoners, had left the coach, I found an openness to speak with this individual, on the necessity and advantage of living in a state of preparation for death, and to explain to him the way of salvation. This man also left the coach before we reached Liverpool, and a woman got up, so drunk that I could not sit by her, either with propriety, or any degree of satisfaction; I therefore stepped over the roof, and found a place among some more sober people. The coach was not very strong, and the roads were rough, so that to some of the other passengers, as well as to myself, it was a great satisfaction to arrive safely at the end of our journey: this was perhaps, not an unfair specimen of Australian coachtravelling. Many of the roads are still mere tracks, and the practice of taking large quantities of strong drink, is very prevalent, and the proportion of persons of low morals, is great.

4th. I had some conversation with an intelligent settler,

who was awakened by shipwreck, to a consideration of the importance of eternal things; but like many others, he shrinks from taking up the cross, and practicing self-denial, and would rather trust solely to the death of Christ, for salvation, than esteem his propitiatory offering, as the means of redemption from sins that are past, and of perfecting for ever, those who submit to the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and who consequently, seek divine help continually, to keep the precepts of Christ. Such persons would be saved by what Christ has done for them, without troubling themselves much about the practice of what he has enjoined; they seem to settle themselves down under a kind of systematic delusion, forgetting the declaration of the Redeemer, "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

12th. The day was very warm, with a strong wind from the north, of the character called in the Colony, a Hot Wind. These Hot Winds often injure the crops greatly, especially those of wheat, which they have already blighted, in the Hunter and Bathurst districts. In the latter, the wheat crops are so completely destroyed, that the inhabitants will be dependent upon Sydney for supplies. The abundance of grass will, however, render this less inconvenient, than it would have been last year. A frost cut off the chief part of their crop, in the tenth month, and the remainder, in the lower grounds, was destroyed by a hot-wind in the eleventh month. Much of that which escaped, in the higher grounds, was destroyed by hail; and that which escaped the hail, was soon after, devoured by caterpillars! In the evening, the wind changed suddenly to the southward, blowing with violence, as is usual in such cases, as noticed at p. 236.

In the course of the 11th and 12th months, we held meetings of a religious character, with the inhabitants of Sydney, who were invited to our meeting-house, in Macquarie Street, by notice from house to house, the town being divided into districts. The young man who gave the notice, distributed tracts at the same time, and

frequently entered into conversation on religious subjects. He found several persons in Sydney, who had escaped from their creditors in the adjacent Colony, and many, in an exceedingly degraded, ignorant, and demoralized state. One man, who professed to be a Roman Catholic, told him, that he liked his own religion best, because he could get drunk two or three times a week, and then confess to one of their priests, and obtain absolution, which set all to right again! Another, calling himself a Protestant, said, he supposed no one would engage in such labour without being pretty well paid for it; but he thought the diligence of the young man, in going from house to house, was more than most would exercise for their money, and that he therefore deserved attention. In one of the districts of the town, two New Zealanders were found lying, without shelter, in a yard, exposed to the rain, and very ill medical assistance was obtained for them; but one of them died before morning, as another had done a short time before. On the case being made known, an order was immediately given, to admit the survivor into the Benevolent Asylum, to which, however, he declined going.

We also visited the prisoners retained in the employment of the Government, in the Hyde Park Barracks, the Carters' Barracks, the Tread Mill, the New Jail, and the Hulks, as well as those on Goat Island, and in the Old Jail, and the patients in the Colonial Hospital, having the sanction of the Governor, in this service. In these visits, we were accompanied, to our comfort, by John C. S. Handt, who was at Wellington Valley, when we visited that Missionary station, and who was now, remaining with his family, in Sydney, for an opportunity to proceed to Moreton Bay, on a mission to the Aborigines there. The Hyde Park Barrack is the principal depôt of prisoners, in the Colony. It is a substantial, brick building, rather handsome, and of three stories, enclosed in an open area, formed by buildings of one story, with sloping roofs resting against the outside walls, at the angles of which there are circular, domed, small buildings. Some taste is also displayed in the gateway and other parts. The lower story of the central building,

is chiefly devoted to the offices of the Assignment-board, &c. The second and third stories are divided into large wards, in which the prisoners sleep in hammocks, in single tiers. Those who arrive by one ship, occupy one ward, till taken away by the masters to whom they are assigned. This is a good regulation; it keeps them in some measure, from the contamination of the "old hands." The mechanics, retained in the employment of the government, and some others, are also lodged in separate wards. One ward, in a side-building, has a barrack-bedstead, or platform, on which the prisoners sleep side by side, without any separation. There are only ten solitary cells in this prison, in which, flagellation is the usual punishment. One of the officers, who had been there only about fifteen months, said, that upwards of one thousand men had been flogged in the course of that period! He stated his opinion to be, that how much soever men may dread flagellation, when they have not been subjected to it, they are generally degraded in their own esteem, and become reckless, after its infliction. This, we have' found to be a very prevailing opinion, in the Colony.

The Carters' Barracks are at the south end of Sydney, and are now used as a debtors' jail, and as a barrack for an ironed-gang, of about one hundred men, who, like the other ironed-gangs in the district of Sydney, are under the superintendence of a military officer. The prisoners sleep on platforms, that allow only one foot and a half to each man; they are under a close, military guard, in brick buildings, opening into a separate yard, and the place is very clean. The treadmill is contiguous, but is under distinct superintendence. It has one wheel, for eighteen men, and another, for ten; and when the mill is not at work, the men are kept running round a circle, in the yard. There are now about eighty men, under sentence to this punishment.

The new Jail is an unfinished building, upon a good plan. It is at present occupied by an Ironed-gang, and about 130 prisoners, employed in the Mineral Surveyor's Department. The Ironed-gang is employed in quarrying stone, &c. They are lodged in "boxes," in the Jail-yard, accommodating twenty-five men in each, and are under