第16章

Several regulations for the more effectual preservation of gardens,and other private property,were proposed,and adopted and after some interchange of opinion,the following ration was decreed to commence immediately,a vigorous exertion to prolong existence,or the chance of relief,being all now left to us.

Two pounds of pork,two pounds and a half of flour,two pounds of rice,or a quart of pease,per week,to every grown person,and to every child of more than eighteen months old.

To every child under eighteen months old,the same quantity of rice and flour,and one pound of pork.

[When the age of this provision is recollected,its inadequacy will more strikingly appear.The pork and rice were brought with us from England.

The pork had been salted between three and four years,and every grain of rice was a moving body,from the inhabitants lodged within it.

We soon left off boiling the pork,as it had become so old and dry,that it shrunk one half in its dimensions when so dressed.Our usual method of cooking it was to cut off the daily morsel,and toast it on a fork before the fire,catching the drops which fell on a slice of bread,or in a saucer of rice.Our flour was the remnant of what was brought from the Cape,by the 'Sirius',and was good.Instead of baking it,the soldiers and convicts used to boil it up with greens.]

The immediate departure of the 'Supply',for Batavia,was also determined.

Nor did our zeal stop here.The governor being resolved to employ all the boats,public and private,m procuring fish--which was intended to be served in lieu of salt meat--all the officers,civil and military,including the clergyman,and the surgeons of the hospital,made the voluntary offer,in addition to their other duties,to go alternately every night in these boats,in order to see that every exertion was made,and that all the fish which might be caught was deposited with the commissary.

The best marksmen of the marines and convicts were also selected,and put under the command of a trusty sergeant,with directions to range the woods in search of kangaroos,which were ordered,when brought in,to be delivered to the commissary.

And as it was judged that the inevitable fatigues of shooting and fishing could not be supported on the common ration,a small additional quantity of flour and pork was appropriated to the use of the game-keepers;and each fisherman,who had been out during the preceding night had,on his return in the morning,a pound of uncleaned fish allowed for his breakfast.

On the 17th instant,the 'Supply',captain Ball,sailed for Batavia.

We followed her with anxious eyes until she was no longer visible.

Truly did we say to her "In te omnis domus inclinata recumbit."We were,however,consoled by reflecting,that every thing which zeal,fortitude,and seamanship,could produce,was concentred in her commander.

Our bosoms consequently became less perturbed;and all our labour and attention were turned on one object--the procuring of food."Pride,pomp,and circumstance of glorious war"were no more.

The distress of the lower classes for clothes was almost equal to their other wants.The stores had been long exhausted,and winter was at hand.

Nothing more ludicrous can be conceived than the expedients of substituting,shifting,and patching,which ingenuity devised,to eke out wretchedness,and preserve the remains of decency.The superior dexterity of the women was particularly conspicuous.Many a guard have I seen mount,in which the number of soldiers without shoes exceeded that which had yet preserved remnants of leather.

Nor was another part of our domestic economy less whimsical.If a lucky man,who had knocked down a dinner with his gun,or caught a fish by angling from the rocks,invited a neighbour to dine with him,the invitation always ran,"bring your own bread."Even at the governor's table,this custom was constantly observed.Every man when he sat down pulled his bread out of his pocket,and laid it by his plate.

The insufficiency of our ration soon diminished our execution of labour.