Chapter VIII: The Road Parties

"More sinned against than sinning."

--SHAKESPEARE.

When a man had finished his sentence in the chain gang, he was sentenced to a road party, and it was Heaven to the chain gang. There was not so much slavery, and it was possible to get a sort of bed to lie down on at night, if it were only a sheet of ti-tree bark. The men got a little more food, too, and they were allowed to cook it themselves; but it was often a straggling piece of meat with about as much fat on it as would grease the eye of a packing-needle. One man always remained to mind the camp while the others were at work, and very often he used to do what was known as "weeding"--that was, taking a little out of each man's allowance of provisions, and then he had a little to sell and get money to buy himself some tea and sugar. But one of them went too far at this game at last and was caught; then there was a fearful uproar. The overseer was going to take him to court straight away, but the other men said they would rather settle it amongst themselves, and this they did by each man giving him three blows on the back with a knotted handkerchief; for if he had been taken to court, he was almost certain to get six months in irons, as the authorities did not believe in the men robbing one another of their food. I gave him three good hits, and the handkerchief used to rebound like India-rubber.

In the road party it was a funny sight to see some of the flash "specials" using a cross-cut saw. Their hands were very soft, and they used to tie pieces of old shirts round the handles at each end to protect them. They generally liked a saw that would 'pinch,' so that they would have an excuse to go to the camp for a maul and wedges to drive into the cut and prevent the pinching; thus they schemed and wasted their time. In the middle of work I often heard them commence to talk about the fine wine they had drank at some of the big inns in London--"The Angel at Islington," "The Hole in the Wall," or "The Elephant and Castle," for instance, and some of them had never tasted wine in their lives. At night they began to 'blow' about how they had done some of the honest merchants in England out of large and small sums of money; but it was a different tale now--they saw very little money in the road party.

But some of them had fine times of it during one boss's term of office, for he did not abuse them. It was different when old Major S---- came along to inspect them. He came along once while I was there, and said to one fellow, "Hulloa! what did you get sent out for?" "Forgery on Mr. So and So," was the answer. "Dear me! he's a particular friend of mine. Here, constable, take the tail off his coat and brand him all over."

The constable then cut the tail of his coat close off around the waist and branded him all over, leaving such a smell of paint from the brands that the flies would keep off him for a good many days afterwards.

Proceeding further the overseer pulled another fellow up--"And what was your occupation at home, and how came you to be sent out here?" "I was a schoolmaster, and was sent out for embezzlement," he answered. "A fine fellow to teach scholars how to rob people. Here, constable, take and brand him," and he shared the same fate.

A third fellow, in answer to a similar question, said, "I used to drive my carriage and four at home, sir." "Then you will drive a wheelbarrow and one out here!" He was branded, too.

They looked first-class with a pick and shovel, and at making a damper--they had no more idea of this than a kangaroo. Some of them frequently said that they were well off in England, and yet they were the greatest villains under the sun. If a man were possessed of any little thing out of the common they tried all sorts of plans to get it from him, and if unsuccessful by fair means, they would steal it from him. Every man had to do his own washing, and these "specials" would rub away at their duck pants with a piece of soap about the size of a halfpenny. The soap was something like the sugar they got for their "hominy"--it was visible, and that was all.

The Police Magistrate came along once and heard one of the party pass a remark which he did not like, so he said, "Jack, if I could find a man to give you 50 lashes, you would get it." Up sprang a short fellow, named Ned ----, and exclaimed, "I will give it to him for you; if you'll promise me he won't have the satisfaction of flogging me afterwards."

"I promise you he will not have that privilege," said the P.M.

"Well, then," said Ned, "I'm in office."

He got Jack on the "three-legged mare," as they used to call it, and started flogging.

Jack sang out, "You're not hitting me properly."

"I'm doing my best to please you," he said, "so you must take it as it comes."

He gave him another lash and said, "There, does that please you?"

"No," exclaimed Jack.

"My G----," he said, "it seems you're hard to please, but you will have to take it as well as I can give it to you."

This Jack was a well-educated man, and a frightful rogue into the bargain; for if he got a man drunk he would pick his pocket and then take him to the lock-up afterwards.

The chief constable said to him one day, "Jack, the men tell me that you rob them."

"Well, sir, I might as well have the money as them; for they only kill themselves with drink and put the Government to more expense."

As soon as this man got free, he went home to his friends.

Old Major ---- was hard on these "specials;" if they did the least thing it meant "50," and he would sing out to the flogger, "Tip it into him," and afterwards they were sent to a road party.

Two blind men were brought before him one day on a small charge, and he asked, "What have you two to say for yourselves?" Their reply was the throwing of two half-bricks at him, and one struck him above the eye. For this they were committed for trial, and afterwards sentenced to three years at Norfolk Island.

H---- was the name of one of these "specials," and when using the spade he stood as upright as a yard of pump-water; but when the overseer spoke to him, he had the appearance of a goose looking down a bottle. When this fellow became free, he went to Sydney, and used to walk about with a gold-headed cane selling eye-lotion.

Most of the "specials" were merely clerks and were sent to this Settlement so that they would not be able to write home and tell how things were going on. They appeared to just do as they liked with those who were under them. If a man did not put his hand to his hat when passing of the bosses, and pay them what was termed "respect," he was liable to "50;" if he gave any of them a sharp answer he was sure of "50," and if he said nothing at all, it was considered to be "silent contempt," and this meant the same "50," so a man might as well do something as be punished for nothing. This is how men who had to work for them were treated. It was a singular thing, however, that not one of these bosses died worth as much money as they could "jingle on a tombstone."

The worst wretches that a man could be put to work under were those who had been sent to the country themselves. They were far worse than men who came out free, and how men put up with the tyranny of these brutes is far beyond my conception.

In those days there were very few guns procurable, and it was a rare thing to see even an old flint musket. Pat ---- was ordered to get "50" every morning for a week for taking to the bush with one of these muskets. He begged of the boss to let him have the whole week's flogging at once, and so he got it. This old brute used to glory in seeing a man being literally chopped to pieces, and stood by, saying, "Tip it into him!"

The bosses in these road parties were often men with wooden legs, and were put over these men as they were considered unfit for any other purpose. If annoyed, they thought nothing of taking a stick--sometimes their wooden legs--and striking the men with them. One noted cripple turned on me one morning, but I retaliated with an axe-handle, and gave him a good thrashing. After this I bolted, but was caught a few days afterwards, and received 12 months in irons for my trouble. I could not put up with hard work, and be knocked about by a hopping dog of a man as well.

These cripples were only allowed a few men to gather shells, cut bridle tracks for them, and so on, in remuneration for their labor as overseers; but a man like H----, the notorious overseer, got 3s 3d per day, his rations, a hut-keeper to cook for him, and another man to get wood and water. These fools would almost stand the flesh being cut off their bones rather than lose their billets.

One mean-looking fellow in the road party was sent to this country for obtaining money under the garb of a priest, and there was one poor simple Irishman in the gang from whom he used to get flour on the pretence that he would give him his blessing. But it was the flour he was blessing--not poor O'Brady.

Perhaps the most gentlemanly and refined man in the gang was a tall and stately fellow named R----, who was a great friend of the Rev. Mr. ----. This poor wretch was to be pitied. He used to go about with two old caps tied up round his feet for shoes, and his 1lb. of "staggering bob," when cooked and eaten, was almost as nothing to him by way of checking hunger. On more than one occasion he walked to Kathie Creek--10 miles along the sea-beach south from the Settlement--and there he got a meal of 'clams' or 'cockles;' he would also bring some back to the camp with him. The times were hard on a man of this kind, especially when he would walk 10 miles for a feed; but hunger was a sharp thorn, and "as a man's bed was made he had to lie on it."

There was another fine-looking man in the gang, but he was a terrible villain, and it was supposed that he murdered a man not far from the Settlement. Afterwards he went to Sydney and there met his doom, which was to be hanged for another murder, and thus ended his career.

Port Macquarie seemed to be a depot for rogues and villains such as these, for there were some noted scoundrels amongst them. The friend of a fellow named T---- was doing some thieving once, and he gave T---- a box to mind, which was supposed to contain the stolen goods, until the robbery blew over. But T---- felt the weight of the box, and thought there was something wrong, so he opened it, and instead of finding the different articles, it was full of brickbats. T---- then went and informed, and got the thief 7 years. He always passed as "Brickbat T----" after that, and left Port Macquarie for the goldfields near Bathurst about the year 1851; so a very handy man to mind anything was lost.

Some of these fellows were made constables in one boss's time, but when a change occurred and another boss came, they were sent to the roads to work with a pick and shovel. And fine specimens they were at work, too; it took them nearly all their time to look at the blisters on their hands. Some of them appeared to have been brought up well, though, and one of these was Harry ----, a noted highwayman. This man had no nose; some said that he cut if off to avoid recognition, others said that it was bitten off by an assailant. However, he had a silver nose, and if he happened to lose it, had to go without till a new one came from Sydney. There was a road party at work about two miles out of the town and one day Harry came riding along on his favourite mare "Biddy." On nearing the camp the mare took charge of him and bolted, and in the confusion that ensued, his nose fell off. He went some distance before the animal got controllable; then he came back and asked the road party's assistance to look for the silver "snozzle." After they had been looking a while, an old black crow arose from amongst the ferns with something (presumably a grub) in its beak. One and all then declared that this was his silver snout the bird had, and at this Harry got in a fearful rage and went off on his horse without a nose at all. He was not a bad-hearted man to his fellow prisoners, though; he would not send them to the lock-up, but rather advise them to keep out and escape the punishment that invariably followed.

A prominent figure in the Settlement in those days was a man named H----, who was sent to the country for forging a will to rob his orphan niece and nephew out of their property; and a poor miserable player he looked, carrying the "hominy" about on his head. But finally he got out of the Government, and his family came to the country and started business. After this he got on well, and one of his daughters married to advantage. The man whom this girl became the wife of was, however, an obstinate fellow, and if everything did not go his way, there was always trouble. He was expecting his father to die, and frequently went to the post office in anticipation of news to that effect, but when he did not get a letter, he used to say: "My G--! how much longer is that old wretch going to live?" At last the poor old fellow did "shuffle off," and, although he had comfortable means, he did not leave the son a penny, only some tools. H---- was a wide-awake old fellow, and at one time had a boot and tannery business; but he had a man working for him who was equally wide awake. This fellow used to cut hides down the back, and take strips out of them wide enough to make soles for boots or shoes. He was caught at last, however, and received two months in the iron gang. After this he returned to his old master. One day, not long afterwards, the boss went out, and this fellow was making a pair of boots for sale on the sly. When the boss returned, he popped in rather suddenly, and only for the presence of mind of his employer, a bowl out was certain. In a second he threw himself on the floor and pretended to be in a fit. The boss walked in, and, seeing him, immediately went for help--not noticing the boots he was working at or anything else. As soon as the boss made his exit, he got up, hid the boots he was working at, and put another pair in their place; and on the master's return, he was just coming out of the fit, and soon got alright. This man got on well afterwards in the Settlement.

The notorious "special," H----, brought twelve men to court one day for neglect of work, but Mr. G----, the Police Magistrate, said that he and another gentleman had been looking at the poor men at work, and they could not understand how men ran down the slopes where they were making the road without falling, more especially in irons; they looked as if they were worked to death, and he could not see in what way it would be possible for them to neglect their work. From the appearance of them, he thought something to eat would do them more good than a flogging. Then, turning to the notorious H----, he said; "You are a prisoner yourself, I suppose?"

"Yes, Your Worship," he answered.

The P. M.: "I thought so; you get so much a day for bossing the men?"

"Yes," replied H----.

The P. M.: "Take them away, and don't bring them before me again on such a charge!"

The men turned to the Magistrate and thanked him. They told him it was only tyranny, and said it was a wonder how they escaped without broken limbs, running down such hills with loaded carts behind them.

This put an end to flogging, for the residents of the town commenced to talk about it. But the place did not seem to thrive, for as soon as the Government men had gone, and no more were coming, things were on a downward move. There was no more convict labor; no more fashionable balls and parties; no more cases of wines, spirits, and beers--nay, it was all bread, meat, and tea, and lucky these tyrannous wretches were if they could get that, for they had to "look ere they leaped" too far, lest they should fall.

Some of the flash officials lived at the rate of about £500 a year, but as soon as the prisoners were removed their harvest was finished, and it was as much as they could do to keep the bailiff out. It was not, "Go on, you rascal, or I'll take you to court," then; but if they wanted a man to work they had to pay him wages. And although employers were supposed to pay men wages, they soon adopted another method of doing them out of their earnings. This was done by hiring men for six months, and, just before their term had expired, find some fault with them, take them to court, and get their agreement cancelled and their pay stopped. So it will be seen that use had bred such habits in them that it was hard to discontinue bringing the men to court. However, this did not bring back the beer and wine; a store account would soon be upon them for the necessaries of life, and if this were not paid within a reasonable time there would soon be a bailiff from Sydney. Thus they found out the loss of the poor prisoners, whom they treated worse than most men treat a dog, and it eventually ended in selling off their cattle and horses for what they would bring.