needful for such a voyage, during which she must be manned with seven men and a boy, to every 100 tons register-measurement. It may, therefore, be inferred, that ships employed in this service are exceedingly well equipped.
When the vessel is nearly ready for the reception of the prisoners, application is made for a guard, which consists of thirty men of a regiment under orders for Sydney. Formerly, a guard of fifty men was considered requisite, when the prisoners amounted to 300; but it now never exceeds thirty, however great the number may be[1]. As soon as the guard embarks, the ship sails either for Woolwich, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Cork, or Dublin, to receive the prisoners.
The expense of transportation, of late years, has been greatly diminished; insomuch, that, calculating the freight, provisions, superintendence, and, in short, every contingency, the amount for each individual does not exceed £14.
Various systems have been adopted in the transportation of convicts. In the first instance, the owners of the transport supplied provisions, medicines, medical attendance, &c., for a certain sum per head; but the mortality being so excessive while this system was in operation, other arrangements were deemed necessary, and Government determined to provide everything; by which salutary change the comfort of the prisoners, during the voyage, is rendered superior to that of any steerage-passenger.
The Master of the vessel has the same allowances, in the issue of provisions, as the Purser of a man-of-war. He also receives, as a reward for humane conduct, a gratuity of £50; and, should the vessel convey female convicts, the first mate receives £20, and the second and third mates £15 each, from Government, on their producing a certificate from the Surgeon Superintendent that they have conducted themselves to his satisfaction.
The individual, appointed by the Admiralty as Surgeon and
- ↑ Last year (1834), I had charge of 400 prisoners (the greatest number ever sent in one ship), without any additional guard.
