but to withstand the unseemly attentions of
the Navy surgeon, who had charge of the
convicts, and who had become enamoured of
her extreme beauty. The captain of the
vessel, also, fell desperately in love with her,
and on several occasions proposed to marry
her, abandon the sea, and settle in the
colony. The surgeon having heard of this,
quarrelled with the captain, and threatened
Kate that if she ever spoke or listened to the
captain again, he would have her hair cut off,
and that she should be publicly flogged. (He
had the power, you know, of inflicting such
punishment upon any female convict who
incurred his displeasure.) The captain
being informed by one of his officers of
this threat, thrashed the surgeon on the
quarter-deck, to the delight of the women
who looked on and cried 'Bravo! ' The
surgeon called the guard— fifty soldiers
(recruits). But as each man had his sweetheart
on board, and as the cause was regarded
as the 'woman's cause,' the guard declined
to interfere in the matter. This was a sad
state of affairs, no doubt, so far as discipline
was concerned; but it tended very
materially to Kate Crawford's advantage.
Amidst the strife and contending passions of
the two men, she was safe in that sense of
the word most desirable to herself. When
the ship arrived in the harbour, the surgeon
preferred a complaint against the captain
and his officers. There was an investigation,
which resulted in a manner rather prejudicial
to the surgeon, and the Governor gave an order
that he was not to be permitted to depart
the colony until the pleasure of his Majesty's
Government was known. Such pleasure was
known about a year afterwards. It was to
the effect that the surgeon was to be sent to
England, under an arrest, in the first man-of-
war that touched at Port Jackson. He had
made several statements and admissions at
the investigation, to warrant and insure his
dismissal from the service of the state.

"Soon after her arrival, Kate had to undergo
fresh persecutions. She was 'applied for' by
at least twenty unmarried oflicers, each of
whom was anxious to have her 'assigned' to
him as a servant. It was not uncommon in
those days for officers to marry their assigned
servants, and make them sell rum at the back
doors of their private houses, or quarters,
to private soldiers and convicts at a dump
(fifteen pence) a glass. It was by these means
that many of them amassed their large
wealth in ready money."

"Did the Government know of this?" I
asked.

"That is a question I decline to answer,"
replied the old lady. " But this I know, that
when the duty was taken off rum imported
to the colony, very few people were licensed
to keep public houses. However, none of
these gentlemen were destined to be the
master of Kate Crawford. The statement
she made at the investigation aroused the
sympathy of Mrs. Macquarie (the Governor's
wife), who enlisted the respect and affection
of all who knew her. Mrs. Macquarie was
driven in her private carriage to the Factory
at Paramatta— an institution to which all
unassigned convicts were taken on their
arrival in Sydney— and had an interview
with the unfortunate girl. I accompanied
Mrs. Macquarie on that occasion.

"When Kate was brought by the matron
superintendent into the little room in which
Mrs. Macquarie and myself were seated, she
was dressed in the uniform garb of females
under sentence of transportation; the
commonest calico print gown, a white apron,
white cap without frills or strings, thickly-
soled shoes, and no stockings. The dresses
were made short, so that the ankles and the
lower part of the legs were visible, while the
arms were perfectly bare from the elbow
joint. Nevertheless, in those hideous
garments, Kate still preserved the bearing of a
well-bred gentlewoman. There was no low
curtsey— no 'May it please your ladyship'—
no folding of the hands; but there was a
gentle inclination of the head and of the
body, and an honest, modest look, which
would at once have satisfied the most
suspicious person in the world that the girl was
incapable of committing any crime. And
when Mrs. Macquarie, with a graceful movement
of the hand, requested her to be seated,
she thanked, and obliged the old lady,
simultaneously.

"' I have not come to see you out of mere
curiosity,' said Mrs. Macquarie, ' nor have I
come to gloat over the sight of a young lady
in such a position as that in which you are
now placed. I simply come, armed with the
authority of the Governor, to know by what
means your sojourn in this colony may be
rendered the least painful.'

"On hearing these words of unexpected
kindness, the poor girl burst into passionate
tears, and Mrs. Macquarie and myself
followed her example.

"When she was calmed, and in a condition
to listen, Mrs. Macquarie again put the
question to her, and the poor girl replied, in
broken accents: ' Do with me, or for me,
whatever your kind heart may dictate.'

"'Then you shall live,' said Mrs. Macquarie,
' in private apartments, in the house of Mr.
Kherwin, the chief constable of Paramatta,
whose wife shall make you as comfortable as
circumstances will admit of. Under that
roof you will be perfectly safe, and protected
from every species of annoyance. And if you
will allow me, I will send you the means
of providing yourself with more suitable
apparel than that you are now wearing.'

"Poor Kate expressed her gratitude in
becoming terms, and we took our departure.
Mrs. Macquarie then ordered the coachman
to drive to the house of the chief constable,
and expressed to that functionary her wishes,
which were tantamount to orders; and that