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13
But wh ile you are on the way to your brief domicile, you cannot,
if it is the first time you have landed here, but be struck with
wonder at seeing six or seven men working and drawing along a
moderate sized cart upon two wheels with a pole at ' the centre in
front for its guidance and you observe their habiliments are grey
jacket, trousers and vest, but others are composed of patches of
black and yellow cloth with a black leather cap ; these are
prisoners of the crown , most of whom have , by misconduct after
their arrival in the colony, been subjected to additional punishments
and you observe a portion of the many that you pass are in chains ,
which are of the third or worst class of convicts , who have incurred
that ignominy and debasure by encroachments on the pub lic peace
and defiance of the necessary restraint imposed upon these hapless
bei
Many new arrivals were deeply shocked at their first s_ight of fellow human
bei
ankles in such a way that freedom of movement was circumscribed.
They felt
themselves by the sheer act of observation to be infected with some of the
egradation beng suffered, no matter how well merited.
to accept the clank of the chains and the s_igh t
on the_ grey or tawny uniforms as part of their dai ly lives .
Most people came
of the broad arrow stamped
They adopted
a commonsense viewpoint and went about their own affairs , doing th eir best
to _ignore a distasteful situation.
However depressing and debasing the
continual presence of chai gngs ight be, the free settlers by 1833 had
contrived to achieve some measure of security, which was further increased
by the removal of dnger to life and property from aboigines and bushrangers .
Arthur wrote :
.... I am now enabled again to repeat the as sertion that in
Hobart Town property is as efficiently protected as in any other
town with which I am acquainted in His Majesty 's Dominions and
the res p ectab le inhabitants are as safe from any danger of
insult . 1°
With personal safety secured an greater prosperity obtained by
the success of the wool and whale industries , more time was devoted to
pursuits other than earni_ng a livi _
ng .
In their small, isolated community
many settlers suffered from homesickness and hunger for news of the outside
world , especially Britain.
To supply such needs in 1834 there were six
newspapers , two advertisi_ng papers , one official_ gazette, one magazine and
two pocket almanacks ;
there were six printing offices emp loying eleven
presses, four bookbindi_ng establishments , two stationer' s shops and two
circulati_ng libraries.
In addition, the Mechanics ' Institute, founded 1n
1827, was flou-r:ishi_ng , providi_ng weekly lectures on various topics; likewi se
J. Syme , Nine Years in Van Diemen 's Land, (Dundee , 1845), p. 12.
10 GO 33/17 p. 44 .