have been swamped in a heavy gale which lasted for several days thereafter. A vessel proceeded in pursuit, however, and later in the month sighted the fugitives in Sharks Bay. The ship, Les Trois Amis, with the men on another boat, the Preston, effected the capture, but not before it was necessary to fire upon the convicts in retaliation for a volley levelled at the Preston. Only four convicts were in the boat; they reported that the fifth had died of dysentery. This man's body was subsequently found, and presented evidence to the perpetration of a diabolical murder. It would seem that he was first shot through the head, and then had his brains dashed out with the butt end of a musket. One of the party was hung for the murder; the rest were found guilty of robbery under arms.
The remaining escape of any importance had a humorous aspect. Late in 1860 a convict named James Lilly, of known housebreaking proclivities, managed to baffle arrest for some time. He had two revolvers in his possession, and threatened and intimidated residents in the York district. He stole a horse, and with this animal roamed the bush freely, occasionally descending on lonely settlers when in want of food. To obtain the revolvers he sold his horse to a shepherd, and with the money proceeded to a store, where he was unknown, and purchased the firearms. Returning with them to the shepherd he made him saddle the horse just sold and rode it away. In October or November he wrote a letter to the Inquirer:—"I, James Lilly, wish to inform the settlers of my going into the bush, through Henry Mead asserting at the Police Station, on the Canning, and brought accusations against me for stealing his horse and calling me a d——— convict in the presence of the policeman's wife and family and several more besides in the district, which I could not bear, and forced me to the bush and to take up arms, and I do not intend doing any harm at present, if His Excellency be pleased to allow me to go to my friends in another colony, and what I have done I will restore to everyone uninjured, and, if not, would sooner die than come in out of the bush, and do intend making Mead and a few others remember me. I hope His Excellency will take me into his clemency, which will prevent me committing any more crime." On 14th November Lilly was captured while asleep at night at Horton's Roadside Inn, near York. Early that day he confronted on horseback Mr. S. S. Parker, who was driving from Perth to York, and from the manner of his handling his revolver Mr. Parker assumed that it was useless. Finally Lilly jocularly asked Mr. Parker to inform the police that he had seen him; which was done, with results that the convict did not reckon on.
Convict officers were not exempt from crime and insubordination, and some serious charges were brought against them. In July, 1856, a court martial, the first in the colony, was held on Captain Foss, staff officer of pensioners, for selling the same property twice, and for embezzlement. In May, 1857, a soldier of the 12th Regiment was found guilty by court martial of stealing from a comrade; he received fifty lashes, was drummed out of his regiment, and handed over to the civil authorities to undergo twelve months imprisonment. The surgeon at the Establishment in Fremantle was placed under arrest in August, 1859, for disobeying the rules and regulations. At the prisoner's request a court martial was countermanded, and he was ordered to England to abide the pleasure of the Commander-in-Chief. The Superintendent of the Convict Establishment was suspended in April, 1859, and committed for trial for fraudulent insolvency; a nolle prosequi was entered. In June or July, 1859, several sappers and other officials were arrested and charged with stealing the property of the Establishment.
From 1854 to 1860 the number of convicts in the colony was doubled. Year after year ships dumped their tainted passengers on Western Australian soil, until, in 1860, England had relieved herself of 5,509 of her sinning children. The number of free men in the colony in 1850 was but 5,734, exclusive of military; in 1860 settlers, soldiers, and pensioners numbered about 16,000. The convict ships arrived in the following order:—
| Ship. | Convicts. | Date. |
| General Godwin ... | 15 | … 30th March, 1854 |
| Sea Park ... | 304 | … 5th April, 1854 |
| Ramillies ... | 277 | … 7th August, 1854 |
| Guide ... | 9 | … 9th January, 1855 |
| Stag ... | 225 | … 24th May, 1855 |
| Adelaide ... | 269 | … 18th July, 1855 |
| Wm. Hammond ... | 250 | … 29th March, 1856 |
| Runnymede ... | 248 | … 1st September, 1856 |
| Clara (1) ... | 262 | … 3rd July, 1857 |
| City of Palaces ... | 4 | … 8th August, 1857 |
| Nile ... | 270 | … 1st January, 1858 |
| Caducius ... | 1 | … 5th February, 1858 |
| Lord Raglan ... | 270 | … 1st June, 1858 |
| Albuera ... | 11 | … 26th October, 1858 |
| Edwin Fox ... | 280 | … 20th November, 1858 |
| Sultana ... | 224 | … 19th August, 1859 |
| Francis ... | 1 | … 11th November, 1859 |
| 2,911 | ||
| Previous arrivals, | 2,598 | |
| Total, | 5,509 |
Those vessels with one prisoner each, or other small numbers, came from India, conveying men court-martialled at the naval station, or convicts from Bermuda.
The expectations of advantages to be derived from convict money and convict labour were warranted. Colonists were attaining their objects. Revenue and export grew abundantly; labour was plentiful and cheap; a market was almost at the settler's doors; estates were being developed and new country opened up. Scores of thousands of pounds of British capital entered the colony annually, and an increase was taking place in the population of free men. After the first few years of doing nothing the growth was tremendous.
With ships regularly arriving at and leaving Western Australian ports, and with ample labour and more capital, people could produce and export with monetary advantage. In 1854 the total exports exceeded those of 1853 by only a few thousand pounds; but from that year, with only two exceptions, the figures mounted by tens and twenties of thousands. Wool and timber were the primary mediums; next came horses and whale oil. From 1850, when convicts were first introduced, to 1860, the value of exports was quadrupled; the difference in amount was £67,112. In 1850 the exports were valued at £22,134; in 1854 at £34,109; in 1855 at £46,314; in 1856 at £43,907; in 1857 at £59,946; in 1858 at £78,648; in 1859 at £93,037; and in 1860 at £89,246. Thus, with £89,246 received in 1860 from foreign buyers, and nearly an equal amount as the Imperial share of convict expenditure, the colony was enriched by considerable outside capital. The value of imports in 1860 was £169,074; but while this amount does not suggest an altogether healthy position as a colony, and while part of it absorbed convict expenditure in provisioning convicts, individuals were gaining rapidly. What with an increased colonial expenditure, export, Imperial expenditure, and revenue from lands, storekeepers, officials, and producers were reaping an encouraging harvest. Storekeepers gained the first share of convict expenditure, and a large amount of the direct export trade—people held that storekeepers got too much. Farmers and gardeners had a better local market for their perishable products, and pastoralists
