But such marriages as these were the exception. As a general rule the assigned servant, whether in town or country, paid a visit to Parramatta factory, and made his case known to the matron by whom it was governed. "Turn out the women of such and such a class," forthwith cries Mrs. G., and the marriageable ladies come trooping down, to be ranked up in a row like soldiers, or like cattle at a fair. Benedict walks down and inspects, then throws his handkerchief, and if the bride be willing, the two retire to a corner to talk a little together. If the conversation is not quite satisfactory to "Smith, _Aboukir_," or "Jones, _Lady Dacre_,"[1] he makes a second selection; and so on, perhaps, with three or four. Cases were known of fastidious men who had run through several hundreds, and had declared in the end that there was not a single woman to suit. Others were less particular. Men up country have been known to leave the choice to their masters, upon the latter's next visit to Sydney. There was of course no security against bigamy: often both parties to the colonial marriage had wife or husband alive at home, and just as inevitably the conduct of these factory brides was most questionable after the new knot was tied. FOOTNOTE: [1] A convict in Australia was always known by his name and the name of the ship in which he had come out. CHAPTER IV A CONVICT COMMUNITY Convicts in public hands--How employed--Road parties--Chain gangs and the penal settlements--Life and labour in each--Classes of convicts--The emancipists--Many acquire great wealth--Irritation among the free settlers--Growing party pledged to abolish transportation--Deplorable state of the Colony--Crime prevalent--Drunkenness the besetting sin--Judge Burton's charge: "Transportation must cease"--Arguments against it.