ractice
to give provisions to obtain entrance, if money was scarce; and
thus, by the frequent privations of their regular food, many of
the convicts were unable to pursue their labour with proper
energy and activity. Other abuses also resulted from the
establishment of the theatre, which induced the governor to recal
the permission which had been given for the performances, and the
playhouse itself was soon afterwards levelled to the ground.

Since the destruction of this building, the sources of
amusement have been confined to cricket, cards, water-parties,
shooting, fishing, hunting the kangaroo, etc. or any other
pleasures which can be derived from society where no public place
is open for recreations of any description. The officers of the
colony have also built a private billiard-room, by subscription,
for their own use; and if these amusements possess not that
degree of attraction which is attached to dramatic
representations, they cannot, on the other hand, be liable to
those abuses, and produce those injurious consequences, which
previously existed.

Amongst the convicts, indeed, gaming is carried, too
frequently, to the most deplorable excesses; and, in some cases,
the most abandoned of the prisoners have actually staked the
clothes which they wore, and when those were lost, stood amongst
their companions in a state of nudity, thus reducing themselves
to a level with the natives of the woods. The most severe
measures were called for by this unprincipled practice, and the
most gross part of the custom was done away; but it was
impossible to put a total stop to the gratification of this
gaming disposition, which is still pursued with equal avidity in
some way or other, and which may be said, next to drinking, to
constitute the chief pleasure and amusement of the lowest classes
of the prisoners.

The amusements of the natives need no recital here, as they
have been fully detailed in other publications.

Military Force.

The whole of the military in the colony consists of the New
South Wales corps (now the 102d regiment), two volunteer
associations, and a body-guard of troopers for the governor,
commanded by a serjeant. In fact, the inutility of a larger
military force must be obvious to every man of common reflection,
since it is merely required for the purposes of preserving
domestic peace, which might be in danger of continual
interruptions, in case of the absence of military power
altogether, from th