anarchy and insubordination justified the fear that the whole island
would be involved in mutiny and bloodshed. He considered the commandant
deficient in the qualifications required by his arduous and perilous
post. This report occasioned the utmost alarm, and the executive council
resolved on the removal of Major Childs without delay.

On leaving Norfolk Island, Mr. Stewart, in obedience to his
instructions, recommended the commandant to a more stringent discipline.
Many colonial convicts, who constituted the "ring," exercised a power
over the less daring, which intimidated more than the authority of
their officers, or the fear of punishment. The "flash" men conspired
with the cooks to deprive their fellow-prisoners of their food, and were
permitted to prepare in their own dishes the produce of their frauds.

To end this scandalous robbery of the well disposed, Mr. Stewart
recommended that all should be deprived of cooking utensils, and receive
their rations dressed. Unhappily the stores on the island were not
sufficient to afford the stipulated quantity and kind of food. Many
suffered from dysentery, which the medical officer considered to be
aggravated by the state in which the maize was prepared. The sweet
potato, which mixed with the meal so greatly improved the diet, was no
longer attainable; pork was absurdly issued instead of vegetables; and
the deficiency of proper food--a greater grievance than any amount of
severity--provoked their murmurs and threatenings.

Among the leaders of the "ring," were Westwood, or Jacky Jacky, and
Cavannah, both bushrangers, recently re-transported. They were both able
to read and write, and possessed a sort of intelligence which renders
such men more dangerous. The conduct of the English prisoners at the
stations, where they were separated from the doubly-convicted, was far
from disorderly, and punishments were rare. There was no lack of
severity elsewhere. A stipendiary police magistrate, appointed shortly
after the system was changed, organised a body of police: twenty-five
thousand lashes were inflicted in sixteen months, beside other forms of
punishment. The men committed to the gaol were often tortured: iron-wood
gags were bridled in the mouth. Men were sometimes tied to bolts in the
walls, the arms being out-stretched, and the feet in contact fastened on
the floor: this was called the "spread eagle." The solitary cells, as
they were named, were often crowded, and the men ex