ugh to the captain's cabin, fired
through the gratings: several mutineers were wounded. The convicts then
proposed to send the sailors on shore, and demanded the surrender of the
captain, who answered with a shot, which struck the leader in the mouth,
and passed through his brain: the remainder instantly ran below, and the
vessel was retaken. One soldier, who had attempted to reach the shore,
had been compelled to swim back, and had been saved by a mutineer; but
in ascending the side of the vessel was shot by the sergeant in mistake.
The prisoners now asked quarter, which was granted; but one, on reaching
the deck, received a shot in the thigh: another raised his arms, and
cried "spare me!" Either by mistake, or in revenge, his head was blown
off by the fire of the soldiers. Thus the deck was covered with the
dying and the dead. The wounded were landed, and the bodies of those
slain were buried by moonlight.

The prisoners were confined together in a large room of the gaol, where
they were visited by the chaplain and commandant, who both labored to
awaken them to a sense of their guilt. Several were remarkable for their
misfortunes and their crimes. They were conveyed to Sydney in the vessel
they attempted to capture. On their arrival, crowds met them, anxious to
catch a glimpse of the men who had dared, unarmed, so bold an
enterprise. They met their fate with fortitude, and their last words
were in grateful remembrance of Maconochie. The chaplain who attended
them, has described[236] the gratifying change of which he was the
witness; and mentions with natural indignation the negligence which
suggested the attempt, the cowardice with which it was resisted, and the
cruelty displayed in its suppression.

Before deciding the merits of Maconochie's system by the result at
Norfolk Island, it is proper to estimate the disadvantages under which
it was tried. The island was not cleared of its former occupants, and
thus its corrupting traditions were perpetuated. The officers employed
had been formed under another system: several regarded the process with
contempt, and were involved in quarrels with its projector. They
resented the diminution of personal consequence, by an attempt to give
prisoners the air of free men.[237]

The application of marks in redemption from a time sentence, was
forbidden in cases of second conviction: thus, while some were spurred
on to labor by the prospect of earlier liberty, the older and worst