FAMINE AND FLOGGING.
43
50, 75,—beside my house, and some fine cattle. We are never without a chest ot tea in the house; we use two in the year. I have paid £40 for a chest of tea in this colony. Tea is a great comfort."
Mrs. Smith's Statement.
"I have seen Dr. —— take a woman who was in the family way, with a rope round her, and duck her in the water at Queen's-wharf. The laws were bad then. If a gentleman wanted a man's wife, he would send the husband to Norfolk Island. I have seen a man flogged for pulling six turnips instead of five. One —— was overseer, the biggest villain that ever lived delighted in torment. He used to walk up and down and rub his hands when the blood ran. When he walked out, the flogger walked behind him. He died a miserable death maggots ate him up; not a man could be found to bury him. I have seen six men executed for stealing 21 lbs. of flour. I have seen a man struck when at work with a handspike, and killed on the spot. I have seen men in tears round Governor ———, begging for food. He would mock them with ' Yes, yes, gentlemen; I'll make you comfortable; give you a nightcap and a pair of stockings!'"
Mrs. Smith was blind: she acted as she spoke, and wept on recalling the horrors of her early life. The house was large, and crowded with furniture. Smith presented Mrs. C. with a pistol as a souvenir, which he pulled out of his belt, saying, " You may depend on it!"
Henry Hale.
Well's Creek, Hawkesbury River, 4th Oct., 1845.