It is not too much to say, that the immorality or dishonesty which appear among convicts, especially females, subsequently to their arrival in the colony, may often be traced, among the many other causes, to this harshness and want of confidence in the situations to which they are at first assigned. There will, however, be a great number of those annually transported, who will retain traces of their old habits in defiance of all the influence of moral instruction,—who are, it may be said, incapable of reformation; but it is impossible that individuals of such a disposition can pass unnoticed through all the stages of ordeal, from their first apprehension to trial and final judgement, and be unknown as to genuine character. They must of course be marked and recorded in their progress, and, if found incorrigible, can very easily be distinguished from the penitent and well conducted, and a separation be effected accordingly. Some badge of distinction should in all fairness be set upon them; and it would be highly honourable to the wisdom of that authority whose will is to be their guide, to hold out this segregation of the penitent from the profligate, were it only as a reward for good conduct, and an encouragement to the deserving. The foregoing statements have reference more particularly to the manner in which female convicts are treated in the colony: the condition of males is less severe. The mode of disposing of them in the first instance, does not differ in any considerable degree from that of the females. Like those, the men are marched into the prison yard for the Governor’s inspection, when His Excellency inquires minutely how they have been treated on the voyage, and whether they have any complaints against the Surgeon Superintendent, or the Captain and his officers, and had their full rations of provisions. Should any one fancy himself aggrieved in those points, or in any other respect, he is desired to come forward, and prefer his charge; to which the Governor gives a patient hearing, and decides as he thinks proper. If it appear that the Surgeon and the Commander have been careful, and have humanely discharged their respective duties, His Excellency fails not to pay a compliment to their assiduity: but should any neglect or harshness appear justly alleged, they are publicly reprimanded at the instant; and if further inquiry be deemed necessary, a bench of magistrates is ordered to investigate the case, and report their proceedings in writing to His Excellency, who sometimes transmits it to England for the consideration of the Government, the parties being sent home under arrest, should he think the affair deserving of such serious notice, to answer for their conduct.