AN OLD CONVICT SETTLEMENT REVISITED.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, Volume 2, Issue 118, 6 March 1895, Page 4

AN OLD CONVICT SETTLEMENT REVISITED.

Port Arthur, sis described by a v t- ti fi ( > • idnrv T- \i er-nnll. 1-

I . i.- I I ii n , ..i viewing ibe delightful rv in that remarkable 'region. n:;i' the trip is generally a ratbi usi'i (me, mice the v< ssel oi ters the oth waters of the bay all difcoui■t ih forgotten, and only admiration for the lovely rcenery which meets the eye is experienced. For it is. indeed beautiful beyond compare. All around, thickly-wooded hills, Rome rising to lofty peaks, rugged and bave looking, and then sloping gently away into valleys, dense with luxuriant undergrowth, whoso varied greens are ipteimingled with such rich harmony of tint that you stand lost in admiration of the transcendency beautiful scene before you, and wonder that

such a place, so richly endowed by the hand of Nature, could ever have reechoed the groans, and cries of suffering and depraved humanity. Dead Island, which lies jus!' off the shore, takes its name from the fact of its having been used, as a burial place for the dead. It is remarkably small, a mere knoll, and covered with tombstones and rough wooden crosses, which mark the last resting place of those who once inhabited those now silent shores. A feeling of horror takes possession of the oulooker when he is informed that on that diminutive island some thousands of unfortunate human beings are taking their last long sleey Heaven knows what tales of sorrow ami suffering a v e buried with them. The settlement at Port Arthur is very small, and the inhabitants scattered, while its principal place? of interest were the ruins of the old prisons, a few of which were almost intact prior to the lale 'Visitation by the firo lieud. The Government had sold most of them, and they were being fast demolished, On the flat near the landing jetty stood the large penitentiary, containing rows upon rows of small celis, where men wero once confined in a space scarcely larger than a good sized dog kennel ; while each iron door was furnished with heavy bolts and bars, us well as a little slide through which the warder could .inspect the inmate of the cell.

One phico, in little Norfolk Bay, is shown as the spot where fire escaped convicts, after divesting themselves of their prison garb and tying the bundles upon their beads, essayed to swim across the channel to the opposite shore. But only one Janded there, tho other four falling victims to ihe sharks, which were, by the disclk/'gc of offal at tho place, encouraged to infest the waters of the bay. The other poor wretch, after tossing his clothes into ihe water, threw himself after them, thinking it better to die by that means than to meet the inevitable death by slow starvation which awaited him in those then barren wilds, or else be recaptured. But, strange to relate, he did not meet the fate of his companions, for he regained the Port Arthur side once more in safety, and after wanderi' g for days through ihe bush, naked, he eventually returned to the Port Arthur coal mines, which he reached in a terrible state, tori', blinding, and gaunt with hunger. He there gave himself up to the authorities, and, as a reward for his pains was immediately ordered to be flogged for attempting to escape !