Population.
There are nine thousand three hundred and fifty-six inhabitants in the settlement, out of which number upwards of six thousand support themselves, and the rest are victualled and clothed at the expense of the crown. Most men of a trade or profession pursue their calling; and labourers are either employed by settlers to cultivate their lands, and in various occupations, or work in different gangs, where they can be serviceable.
When a transport arrives with prisoners, their irons are immediately knocked off (if this has not been previously done), unless some powerful reason exists to justify an exception from this rule. The muster is taken by the commissary, who gives receipts for every thing belonging to the crown; the list, with remarks, is given to the governor, who orders them to what part of the settlement he thinks proper, where the deficiency of hands in agricultural or other employments renders such an acquisition desirable.
The behaviour of the prisoners has recently been much less exceptionable than in the earlier days of the settlement, and they seem to have accommodated their dispositions, in a great degree, to their new situations; those who are guilty of theft have latterly been transported to some remote settlement, and this system of punishment has been found more efficacious than the infliction of castigation, or any other corporal punishment, since they feel an unconquerable repugnance to the idea of a separation from their old connections and companions, and a removal to a solitary scene, where they cannot hope for any opportunities of re-commencing those pursuits which are so truly congenial to their dispositions.