CHAPTER V.

SITUATION AND DUTIES OF THE SURGEON SUPERINTENDENT.

As the welfare of the convicts, and their advancement or retrocession in moral reformation, depend materially upon the exertion, apathy, or capability of the Surgeon Superintendent, it may not be out of place, or destitute of interest, to say something regarding the duties attached to that appointment.

The transportation of convicts to the colony seems entirely a mercantile concern, in which the Government contracts, as a private individual would, with the ship-owner for the conveyance of a certain number of tons, at a fixed rate, and the tonnage is estimated according to the ship’s register. In this case, Government supplies provisions for the prisoners, besides other necessary stores, which are placed under the charge of the Master, to be afterwards issued on proper occasions.

A premium of fifty pounds is held out to the Master for a faithful discharge of his duty; and satisfactory vouchers for the correctness of his conduct, and humane treatment of the prisoners while on board, signed by the Governor of the colony, and the Surgeon Superintendent of the ship, must be produced for that purpose. This part of his duty is independent of his concerns as Commander, and the proper treatment of his sailors, with which the Government have no right to interfere, save as far as it relates to the state of discipline maintained on board, to prevent mutiny, or improper conduct of the sailors, by which the security and management of the prisoners may be endangered or interrupted.

The following extract from the printed Instructions furnished by the Navy Board to the Master, may serve to show the exactness required of him in this respect. “For your guidance in the particular line of duty allotted to the Surgeon of the Morley, we inclose a copy of our Instructions to him, in order that you may regulate yourself accordingly; and we refer you to the 24th article of those Instructions against the prostitution of the female convicts in the vessel under your command, which you are to consider as equally applying to yourself, and of which we enjoin your strictest observance, both in your own conduct, and in the exercise of your authority over all the persons under your controul; and the like certificate from the Governor of New South Wales, of your adherence to these directions, will be required before the gratuity allowed on your return will be taken into consideration.”

The article in the Surgeon’s Instructions, to which the above has reference, runs as follows: “In consequence of a communication from the Secretary of State, relative to the state of prostitution in which it is represented the female convicts, during the passage to New South Wales, have been permitted to live with the officers and seamen of the ships in which they were embarked, we desire that you will take the most particular care to _prevent_ the prostitution of the female convicts who may be embarked, as far as possible, and, independently of showing a good example in this respect, that you will _not_, under any pretence whatever, _suffer_ any officer or seaman to live with a woman on the passage; and we inform you that instructions have been given by the Secretary of State to the Governor of New South Wales, to examine whether these directions have been fully complied with; and that to enable you to receive your gratuity, it is necessary that you should procure a certificate from His Excellency, as to the measures taken by you to _enforce_ these regulations through the ship; when it will be considered how far your conduct entitles you to such gratuity.”

In former times the owners of ships chartered for the conveyance of convicts to the colonies, and used also to contract for victualling them during the voyage, and were even at liberty to provide persons of their own choice to act as surgeons. With what qualifications, intellectual or moral, those _medical gentlemen_ entered on the duties of this most important branch of the service, it is not my purpose here to inquire. But the ship-owner in those days contracted for a certain number to be embarked, without any stipulation being entered into for landing them safely at the place of destination;—a material distinction, as is evident when it is considered, that it was by no means uncommon for a ship of this description to have from forty to seventy deaths, and upwards, in the course of a voyage. The following statement, extracted from Collins’s History of New South Wales, is illustrative of this assertion.

“A contract,”—he says, page 102, “had been entered into by Government, with Messrs. Calvert, Cambden, and King, merchants of London, for the transporting of one thousand convicts; and Government engaged to pay 17_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._ per head, for every convict they embarked. This sum being as well for their provisions as for their transportation, no interest for their preservation was created in the owners, and the dead were more profitable (if profit alone was consulted by them, and the credit of their house was not at stake,) than the living. The following accounts of the numbers who died on board each ship were given in by the Masters:

Men. Women. Children. On board the Lady Juliana 0 5 2 On board the Surprise 42 0 0 On board the Scarborough 68 0 0 On board the Neptune 151 11 2

All possible expedition was used to get the sick on shore; for even while they remained on board many died.” Again, at page 436, the same author, speaking of the Hillsborough, which arrived the 26th July, 1799, says, “Ninety-five died during the voyage, and six more were added to the number in a few days after they were landed.”

Within the period since Naval Surgeons have been appointed to the superintendence of convict ships, the calamity has been considerably lessened; and now, if two or three deaths occur in a voyage, it is thought very unfortunate indeed. I may add of my own knowledge, that in 1818, when I was first in New South Wales in that service, out of 1,059 convicts embarked in England and Ireland, 1,057 were landed at Sydney in tolerably good health. This favourable result may have been influenced considerably, perhaps, by much greater attention having been given to ventilation and cleanliness, and the convicts being less crowded than they used to be for many years after the settlement of the colony.

Such, it appears, was formerly the mode in which the transportation of convicts used to be conducted; but at present, under the superintendence of men regularly educated in the profession, it has become a point of duty for the Surgeon to take cognizance of every circumstance connected with the care of the convicts. To this intent, the Instructions issued to him from the Navy Board require the strictest attention to ascertain that the convicts’ stores are economically expended, and to see that every tendency to waste, irregular distribution, and improper application of the Government property, is instantly checked and prevented. Under these circumstances, his professional respectability becomes unavoidably merged, in some degree, in the character of a spy, in which odious light he is liable to be viewed by the commander, over whose actions he is directed to exercise this disagreeable, and in many cases unnecessary, controul.

The situation, therefore, of a Surgeon in a convict ship, besides being one of great responsibility, is subject to serious inconvenience and embarrassment from many existing circumstances, which are independent of his power or choice, and which, deriving influence from long established custom, have become inveterately incorporated with the present system of the service, and render the appointment by no means a _sinecure_. This is more strikingly evident in a female convict ship, where delicacy of management must be combined with a firmness of discipline bordering upon severity, which is at all times disagreeable, but becomes peculiarly odious when enforced, as must generally be the case, where corporal punishment is excluded. To regulate and duly restrain minds of ordinary purity and habitude of obedience, is not unattended with difficulty: but the duty is palpably irksome, though exercised with the utmost discretion, over dispositions vitiated and turbulent, as those which are generally found among female convicts; so much so, indeed, that few, knowing the extent of this painful responsibility, will be found willing to give the trial a repetition.

If he sanction, for instance, or connive at, the prostitution of the women, he is liable not only to severe animadversion, but even to be cashiered, and otherwise punished, by the authority under which he serves. On the other hand, his embarrassments are equally pressing; for, if he “enforce” the orders of the Navy Board, which will often involve the commission of an act of violence, he may subject himself to a criminal prosecution, the consequences of which may be fatal. Strange as this may sound, it is perfectly correct. During the _forty nights_ I kept watch in the prison of the Morley, it was my firm determination to obey the letter and spirit of the orders I received in my Instructions, persuaded then that in so doing I should have acted _legally_; and had any of the seamen broken in, as they frequently threatened to do, I would most assuredly have shot at the first that entered; which as I have lately learned, would have been felony. Here is _Charybdis_ on one hand, and _Scylla_ on the other.

In fact, the Surgeon in those ships has no means whatever but his own physical strength to carry his instructions into effect; and should the opposition he meets with in the discharge of his public duty be formidable enough to trample down his authority, he can obtain no redress, as the law has provided no remedy against the licentiousness of sailors: consequently, to prefer complaints so as to give grounds for prosecution against them, would only be a useless waste of his time. It will, perhaps, be expected that the authority and co-operation of the Master will be effective in support of the Surgeon’s intentions; such expectation can only arise from the supposition that the Master’s authority over his seamen is absolute, or at least that his orders are promptly obeyed; but this supposition has been shown, in the journal, to be unfortunately without foundation.

To act up closely to his Instructions, a Surgeon must examine every bale, cask, parcel, or article which is to enter the ship, as will appear from the subjoined extract from the Instructions.

“You are to take particular care that neither the Master nor any other person be suffered, under any pretence whatsoever, to put on board any private goods or articles of any kind, without the special permission of the Board; and as the whole of the tonnage of the stores which may be permitted to be shipped will be reported to the Governor of New South Wales, the ship will be liable to seizure, if any greater quantity should be found on board.”

Would not this duty be better performed by a Custom-house officer during the continuance of the ship at any British port? If the vessel do not depart without the stipulated quantity of water, which ought to be determined by previous inspection, there will seldom be occasion to touch at any other place during the voyage, and consequently no opportunity can occur to take in goods without permission. The time which must be given to matters of this nature, will be found to interfere with the more immediate and important claims upon his attention as Superintendent, such for instance as the following: “You are to be careful that the convicts and passengers have their due rations of provisions without any deduction whatever, and to see that the victuals are properly cooked, and regularly issued at the usual meal-times, as also that they have a sufficient proportion of water. You are also to attend the opening of every cask of provisions supplied to the vessel by Government, and to notice in your journal its mark, numbers, and contents.”

In the discharge of duties so multifarious as are those of the Surgeon Superintendent in a convict ship, any leaning to remissness justly subjects him to the displeasure of the Board from whom he has the honour of receiving his appointment and instructions; or he incurs the liability of quarrelling perpetually with the Commander, when ever the conduct of the latter may be thought to require his interference; which becomes a constant source of uneasiness and vexation. Some men might be driven by such annoyance to study their own comforts, and self-interest grow importunate for a large share of consideration: in this case, sense of public duty may perhaps become weak in proportion as self predominates, and necessity, which rarely admits of compromise, compels to an acquiescence with the Master’s views, in order to conciliate his friendship, and cultivate a disposition to reciprocal concession on his part.

Should this mutual understanding fail to be established very early in the voyage, there is likely to be continual bickering between them, and endless thwarting on every trifling occasion, until at length an open rupture takes place, and the Master takes his revenge by dispensing with the Surgeon’s future services as soon as the convicts have been disembarked, and leaves him on shore to find a passage home in the best manner he can. It is fair, however, to state, that the Navy Board so far makes the Surgeon independent of such an unpleasant casualty, as to allow him fifty pounds by way of passage money returning from the colony: but whether this liberality be an equivalent for the severe discharge of an ungracious duty, by which he is subject to that emergency, is more than questionable, as it is a well known fact, that the sum demanded for a passage from New South Wales to England is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. To remain at the colony is productive of manifold inconvenience, as the allowance of fifty pounds will soon be expended for the necessaries of living, while the same demand and difficulty to return will still continue.

This representation, although a bare recital of facts, may be objected to as being the very worst state of the case supposed, and that the argument rests upon a contingency which has but seldom occurred: but this objection, far from weakening the position, gives an additional weight to the statement, and claims for it a greater degree of attention. For it can be said without fear of refutation, that nineteen out of twenty of the Surgeons who go out in convict ships would return involved in debts, which it would be utterly beyond their power to discharge by any other means than an apprenticeship in the King’s Bench, were they to rely solely on the fifty pounds to meet the expenses of the passage home, which it may be seen requires four times that sum.

It should be considered, moreover, that convict ships return very rarely from New South Wales directly, as they are mostly chartered to distant ports in India, or are directed by their owners to proceed in quest of cargo, after their engagement with Government is completed. In this case, a considerable time usually elapses in preparing for this fresh destination before the vessel can leave Sydney; and should the Surgeon be entered as a passenger, he must abide by the regulations existing on those occasions, by which he is bound to maintain himself on shore as long as the ship remains in any port. The heavy expenses which this must create, in addition to that of passage, must be seriously felt by the time the vessel will have arrived in England. Either, then, the Surgeon must subdue his honourable feelings by silencing scruples as to the duties of Superintendent, or he must abide by such consequences as leave him the inmate of a prison.

In order to avoid this horrible alternative, he generally enters into an engagement with the ship-owners, before the vessel sails from England, to give his professional attention to the crew during the voyage, and thus secures a passage home without much expense; but this, it should be observed, is to be effected only when no misunderstanding has taken place between himself and the Commander, as otherwise he is liable to be removed at the pleasure of that officer on the passage home. This arrangement is doubtless convenient enough for both parties: but it may be questioned whether the public service is benefited by it; for it can hardly be expected, that the same vigilance and firmness which would characterize the conduct of a Surgeon Superintendent, were he perfectly independent, will be observed when bound by interest, by private compact, and by necessity, to obey the Master’s orders, or at least give implicit attention to his suggestions, thereby compromising that dignity of character which properly belongs to his rank[30].

I wish this observation not to be construed into an insinuation against the honour or honesty of the Masters of convict ships generally. If all may be judged of from those with whom I had the pleasure of being connected, they ought to stand very high indeed in public estimation; for I firmly believe, that there could not be found in Britain men possessed of more upright and honourable principles than they are; and an acquaintance moderately extensive with others in that particular service has impressed me strongly with sentiments of respect for their integrity and general character.

On the other hand, it is very remote from my intention to throw the slightest shade on the character of those professional gentlemen who have been latterly employed in this service. Many of them possess well cultivated minds, and are meritorious and valuable members of society; actuated by that high sense of honour which would detain them in obscurity for life rather than forfeit their principles; but some of them have, at the same time, wives and children looking up to them for support, to provide which, and to give them the advantages of education, the utmost exertions of industry and economy are required. The procedure, however, having been dictated, and in some degree made general, by necessity, has never been considered disreputable.

There are one or two other points regarding the situation of Surgeons on board of convict ships, which seem to me worthy of consideration: and as they concern the respectability of the service, and the efficiency which ought ever to attend that branch of duty, the mention of them, it is hoped, will not be deemed disrespectful to the authority that watches over such affairs.

According to the regulations now existing, the Surgeon is not allowed a servant, which reduces him to the alternative of applying to the Master to permit one of the ship’s company to do that duty; and this favour, if granted, necessarily places him under personal obligations to the man whose actions he is required to inspect, and often to control; or else he must perform those offices himself; which cannot be less repugnant to his feelings as a gentleman, than it must eventually prove injurious to the service.

Let the situation of a Surgeon Superintendent in a convict ship be compared with that of an officer in the army of the same rank, and it will readily be seen how widely different are their comparative comforts and respectability. A naval Surgeon ranks with a Captain of the land forces; but this equality of rank, if not an absolute inconvenience, is, under the presently existing circumstances, nothing but an empty name. For instance, while the lowest commissioned officer in the army is allowed a servant, exclusively of the attentions he can command from his guard, the Surgeon Superintendent in the same ship enjoys the proud privilege of ministering to his own wants.

Who would not sympathize with a gentleman driven to the necessity of discharging the office of a menial, and that, too, in the presence of those very persons of whom he has charge, and over whom he is commissioned constantly to exercise authority? I beg to be understood distinctly, in drawing the above comparison, not to imply any thing of an invidious nature towards officers of the army doing duty in convict ships, every one of whom, I am persuaded, justly merits whatever comfort can be enjoyed in such a situation.

It is in place here to observe, that misunderstandings are likely to occur from the first moment of sending the convicts on board. The Master of the ship having signed a bond making himself responsible for the safe custody of the prisoners, he alone is held accountable in the event of any of them escaping; which would seem to give him a strong claim to regulate them as he may think necessary during the voyage, while the instructions given to the Surgeon appear to have a different import, thus: “You are not to consider yourself as Naval Agent for Transports, nor authorized in any way to interfere with the management or navigation of the ship, your duty as Surgeon and Superintendent extending only to the _care_ and _management_ of the convicts, and to see that the Master fully complies with the terms of his charter party, a copy of which is inclosed for your information.”

A military officer is ordered on board in command of a guard, without any instructions whatever, it appears, as to his particular line of duty; and he naturally enough imagines that the prisoners and every other person in the ship are under his charge. Each of these, desirous of securing respect for his authority, regards any interference of the others with a jealous eye; which has given rise to many unpleasant incidents, that have ultimately led to investigations in the colony, where it was decided that the Surgeon Superintendent has the sole charge over the prisoners. It would prevent much inconvenience, were the respective duties of these officers clearly defined before the commencement of the voyage; for at the end of it information must always be too late for any useful purpose.

In consequence of a late regulation, Surgeons in this branch of the service, before they can receive their pay, are obliged to produce a certificate from the principal Surgeon of the Colony, “stating, that no unnecessary expenditure was made of the medicines and necessaries supplied for the voyage.” There is something excessively derogatory of that respect which is due to professional character, in compelling a Surgeon to apply for such a certificate as that here required. The very application, moreover, involves an unbecoming insinuation, that neither the word nor the oath of the individual is to be believed; for every Surgeon, before he obtains his pay, is obliged to make affidavit that the medicines and necessaries have been _faithfully_ expended: but it is evident that even this solemn testimony, although squaring with every cautionary purpose for which it was originally designed, is questioned as to its truth, the recent regulation making it requisite to produce another stronger voucher to the same purport. With the profoundest deference to superior wisdom and official prudence, an additional document of this nature appears superfluous; and no absolute necessity therefore existing to demand its production, such a requisition, it is presumed, might be omitted without injury to His Majesty’s service.

It would seem trifling and ridiculous to dwell longer on a subject of such apparent insignificance; but let it not be forgotten, that of such trifles is the greater part of human happiness or affliction composed: neither ought it to be looked upon as an unreasonable wish, that those professional men who have devoted the prime of life to their country’s service, should, at least in some degree, be screened from unnecessary humiliation.

Footnote 30:

The Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy, finding that the allowance of fifty pounds is wholly inadequate to satisfy the demand for a passage home, have lately increased it to one hundred and ten pounds, and also granted ten shillings a day during the time a Surgeon is obliged to remain in the colony. Since these sheets were put to press, I have ascertained, that the subject of convict management, generally, has received considerable attention, and undergone some improvements. The structural weakness, and consequent insecurity, _so severely felt in the Morley_, have in some degree been remedied in fitting up the last female convict ship, Mary Anne. Some of the locks supplied to that ship were fitted in a more efficient manner, and appeared of a better quality than those which were formerly furnished. Those useful and highly necessary arrangements reflect credit on their authors, and cannot fail to benefit the service. It is earnestly to be hoped that they will be followed up with others which are still very requisite.