An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 1: With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The; Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some; Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From; The Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King.Collins, David
History
An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 1: With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The; Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some; Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From; The Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King.
Collins, David
New South Wales -- Description and travel
On the morning of their execution, one of them declared to the clergyman
who attended him, that the like practices had been carried on at the
store at Rose Hill by similar means and with similar success. He named
two soldiers and a convict as the persons concerned; these were
afterwards apprehended, and underwent an examination of several hours by
the lieutenant-governor and the judge-advocate, during which nothing
being drawn from either that could affect the others, they were all
discharged. It was, however, generally believed, that the soldier would
not in his dying moments have falsely accused three men of a crime which
they had never committed; and that nothing but their constancy to each
other had prevented a discovery of their guilt.
While these transactions were passing at Sydney, the little colony at
Norfolk Island had been threatened with an insurrection. The _Supply_
returned from thence the 24th, after an absence of five weeks, and
brought from Lieutenant King, the commandant, information of the
following chimerical scheme. The capture of the island, and the
subsequent escape of the captors, was to commence by the seizure of Mr.
King's person, which was intended to be effected on the first Saturday
after the arrival of any ship in the bay, except the _Sirius_. They had
chosen that particular day in the week, as it had been for some time Mr.
King's custom on Saturdays to go to a farm which he had established at
some little distance from the settlement, and the military generally
chose that day to bring in the cabbage palm from the woods. Mr. King was
to be secured in his way to his farm. A message, in the commandant's
name, was then to be sent to Mr. Jamison, the surgeon, who was to be
seized as soon as he got into the woods; and the sergeant and the party
were to be treated in the same manner. These being all properly taken
care of, a signal was to be made to the ship in the bay to send her boat
on shore, the crew of which were to be made prisoners on their landing;
and two or three of the insurgents were to go off in a boat belonging to
the island, and inform the commanding officer that the ship's boat had
been stove on the beach, and that the commandant requested another might
be sent ashore; this also was to be captured: and then, as the last act
of this absurd scheme, the ship was to be taken, with which they were to
proceed to Otaheite, and there establish a settlement. They charitably
intended to leave some provisions for the commandant and his officers,
and for such of the people as did not accompany them in their
escape--this was their scheme. Not one difficulty in the execution of it
ever occurred to their imagination: all was to happen with as much
facility as it was planned; and, had it not been fortunately revealed to
a seaman belonging to the _Sirius_, who lived with Mr. King as a
gardener, by a female convict who cohabited with him, there was no doubt
but that all these improbabilities would have been attempted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account