render punishment less certain. If men were led to
suppose, that on the King's birthday all culprits would be pardoned, they
would be emboldened to offend, at least for a month or two previous to
that time; but the governor did not mean to extend this act of mercy
beyond the present occasion, being the first birthday of his sovereign
that had occurred since his arrival.

Several daring thefts were committed early in this month. William Waring,
a prisoner who had been allowed to cultivate a farm of thirty acres on
the banks of the Hawkesbury, having occasion to move a cask of salted
provisions, which he had purchased from the master of a ship riding in
this cove, entrusted it to the care of two people his servants, to convey
it from his farm to that of a neighbouring settler. The temptation was
too great to be resisted, and the cask was stolen out of the boat, while
the servants landed for the night at some farm by the way. They pretended
to have no concern in it; but as that was too improbable to be believed,
they were ordered to make restitution by their labour.

About the same time the brick hut occupied by Thomas Clark, a
superintendant of convicts, was broken into; and, notwithstanding the
door of the room in which he slept with his wife was open, they plundered
the house of several articles to a great amount.

Some runaways from the jail gang at this place were suspected; and our
watch, being dispatched immediately on receipt of this information, were
very near falling in with the thieves; but these latter descried them in
time to make their escape. Information being afterwards received, that
two runaway vagabonds were concealed at a house near the brick-fields,
some of the watch repaired to the spot, and found two notorious
offenders, James McManus and George Collins. These two people had
repeatedly broken out of the jall-hut, and one of them, McManus, had some
time since been fired at and wounded in an attempt to commit a burglary.
On the present occasion, he had sufficient address to effect his escape
from the watch; the other was secured and brought in. The hut in which
they were found was pulled down the following morning, to deter others
(if possible) from harbouring thieves and vagabonds.

The settlers in the different districts, and particularly those at the
Hawkesbury, had long been supposed to be considerably in debt; and it was
suspected, that their crops for two or more seasons to come were pledged