On this occasion the governor pardoned all culprits, except James McCarthy, who was under orders for Norfolk Island.  It might be looked upon as a sort of encouragement to the commission of crimes, thus by a periodical pardon to render punishment less certain.  If men were led to suppose, that on the King’s birthday all culprits would be pardoned, they would be emboldened to offend, at least for a month or two previous to that time; but the governor did not mean to extend this act of mercy beyond the present occasion, being the first birthday of his sovereign that had occurred since his arrival.

Several daring thefts were committed early in this month.  William Waring, a prisoner who had been allowed to cultivate a farm of thirty acres on the banks of the Hawkesbury, having occasion to move a cask of salted provisions, which he had purchased from the master of a ship riding in this cove, entrusted it to the care of two people his servants, to convey it from his farm to that of a neighbouring settler.  The temptation was too great to be resisted, and the cask was stolen out of the boat, while the servants landed for the night at some farm by the way.  They pretended to have no concern in it; but as that was too improbable to be believed, they were ordered to make restitution by their labour.

About the same time the brick hut occupied by Thomas Clark, a superintendant of convicts, was broken into; and, notwithstanding the door of the room in which he slept with his wife was open, they plundered the house of several articles to a great amount.

Some runaways from the jail gang at this place were suspected; and our watch, being dispatched immediately on receipt of this information, were very near falling in with the thieves; but these latter descried them in time to make their escape.  Information being afterwards received, that two runaway vagabonds were concealed at a house near the brick-fields, some of the watch repaired to the spot, and found two notorious offenders, James McManus and George Collins.  These two people had repeatedly broken out of the jall-hut, and one of them, McManus, had some time since been fired at and wounded in an attempt to commit a burglary.  On the present occasion, he had sufficient address to effect his escape from the watch; the other was secured and brought in.  The hut in which they were found was pulled down the following morning, to deter others (if possible) from harbouring thieves and vagabonds.

The settlers in the different districts, and particularly those at the Hawkesbury, had long been supposed to be considerably in debt; and it was suspected, that their crops for two or more seasons to come were pledged to pay these debts.  As this was an evil of great magnitude, the governor set on foot such an inquiry as he thought would ascertain or contradict the report.  By this inquiry, it appeared, that the settlers at the districts of Prospect Hill, the Ponds, the Field