see a team of four horses with a driver, his
assertion produced a loud laugh; but when
its motion was distinctly observable, and
nearer approach confirmed the fact that it
actually was a man driving a waggon with
four horses, the excitement was immense.
The weather was very fine. The bay is in the
form of a horse-shoe, shut in with mountains,
the slopes of which are green to the water's
edge, and dotted far and wide with white
villas.

I cannot express the intense desire I felt to
land and to explore the regions beyond those
mountains; which, to my imagination,
concealed a paradise. I would at that moment
have accepted my liberty, even if the country
had been inhabited by cannibals. I cannot,
therefore, be surprised -- with the beautiful
shores stretched so temptingly around us --
at the numerous plans of escape which
were anxiously discussed during the few
days we remained in the bay; especially
as it was the first and last time in the
course of the voyage that such a temptation
would occur. A party of four of the prisoners
made a desperate effort. Three of them
were employed about the ship, and had, therefore,
facilities for making arrangements for
flight. They were not compelled to descend
into the prison dungeon, like the rest of us,
an hour before sunset. The fourth answered
to his name at the evening muster, but
slipped back instead of descending the ladder,
and concealed himself upon deck until
midnight; when all four glided stealthily down
the ship's side, and struck out for the shore.
Whether they eluded the sentinels, or were
in collusion with them, was not known; but, as
it was one of the brilliant moonlight nights of
those latitudes, and the bay was perfectly calm,
they could hardly have escaped the observation
of the sentinels on duty. The vessel
lay at anchor in the centre of the bay, which
at that part is three miles broad; so that
land, at the nearest point, which they could
hardly have ventured to approach -- guard
being constantly on duty there -- was a mile
and a half distant. But they calculated upon
getting rest upon the anchor chains of other
vessels lying between our ship and the
shore. They found their strength, however,
less than they had expected, for they had not
allowed for the weakening effects of a two
months' voyage upon wretched and unvaried
diet. Three of them turned back, and with
great difficulty regained the ship -- indeed, but
for the help of one of them, who was a good
swimmer and a man of extraordinary
muscular power, the other two would have been
drowned. The fourth man firmly refused to
turn, back, preferring, as he said, death itself
to Norfolk Island. The three who returned
were found at daylight upon deck, their
clothes saturated with the salt water, and
were reported. The surgeon, upon
discovering the escape of one of his men was
much excited; information was given to the
authorities ashore; scouts were despatched to
Cape Town, and in all directions, but no
tidings were obtained of the runaway. By
some it was conjectured that he had been
snapped under by one of the sharks with
which the bay abounds. This was the man
to whom I had been chained leg to leg at
Newgate. He had been a steward on board a
ship, and had frequently been at Cape Town.
There is no doubt, therefore, that he had
planned all along to get away at this point.
He was transported a second time for house-
breaking; the commission of which crime he
did not deny. Indeed, it was by no means usual
for the prisoners among themselves to deny
their guilt; nor was there any inducement
to do so. On the contrary, such a pretence,
if credited, only produced distrust, from the
want of community of feeling, views, interests,
and principles, which form the only bond
among those unhappy men. A convict who
said, " I am innocent," was in danger of the
fate of the white crow, whose brethren picked
out his eyes simply from the different colour
of his plumage.

Like all the other offences of my fellow-captives,
this escape drew down upon the whole of
us increased privations. The surgeon hastened
our departure; and, during the rest of our stay,
we were almost always kept below; getting
only an occasional peep at the magnificent coast
through the port-holes. We were restricted
from making little purchases -- which had
been permitted before -- of oranges, eggs, salt
fish, and Cape wine; all of which were
extremely cheap, and were brought alongside
by a very fine specimen of the Hottentot race,
who spoke English about as well as the
Chinese Comprador at Canton, or the market
women at Boulogne or Calais. Nearly all my
leisure, during my stay here, was spent in
writing letters to my friends and to persons
of influence in England; no less than nineteen
of which I despatched by different
opportunities.

On the seventh day after entering this
beautiful bay a favourable breeze sprang up,
and we set sail for Norfolk Island. After
doubling the Cape, we got into the Trade
Winds; which continued with us -- although
at times very light almost to a dead calm -- for
the rest of our voyage. Flights of albatrosses
and other sea birds accompanied us; wheeling
about the ship in graceful circles, and
occasionally darting down and soaring up again
with some small fish in their beaks. To shoot
them was a favourite amusement with the
civil and military officers aboard.

We had left the Cape about three weeks,
when there was a general murmuring among
the men, which some of the more desperate
sought to kindle into open mutiny. At the
commencement of our voyage, there had been
exhibited on deck a table showing the rations
to which we were entitled under the
contractor's agreement with the Government;
and in it was the item of " two gallons of wine