e convicts, on their arrival in
the colony, were "assigned"--that is, sent to work as shepherds or
farm-labourers for the free settlers in the country; but prisoners of
the worst class were chained in gangs and employed on the roads, or on
the Government farms. One of these gangs, consisting of three or four
hundred convicts, was stationed at Castlehill, a few miles north of
Parramatta. The prisoners, emboldened by their numbers and inflamed by
the oratory of a number of political exiles, broke out into open
insurrection. They flung away their hoes and spades, removed their
irons, seized about two hundred and fifty muskets, and marched towards
the Hawkesbury, expecting to be there reinforced by so many additional
convicts that they would be able to overpower the military. Major
Johnstone, with twenty-four soldiers of the New South Wales Corps,
pursued them; they halted and turned round to fight, but he charged with
so much determination into their midst that they were quickly routed,
and fled in all directions, leaving several of their number dead on the
spot. Three or four of the ringleaders were caught and hanged; the
remainder returned quickly to their duty.

#5. Origin of Wool-growing.#--During Governor King's term of office a
beginning was made in what is now an industry of momentous importance to
Australia. In the New South Wales Corps there had been an officer named
Macarthur, who had become so disgusted with the service that, shortly
after his arrival in Sydney, he resigned his commission, and, having
obtained a grant of land, became a settler in the country. He quickly
perceived that wool-growing, if properly carried on, would be a source
of much wealth, and obtained a number of sheep from the Dutch colony at
the Cape of Good Hope, with which to make a commencement. These were of
a kind which did not suit the climate, and his first attempt failed; but
in 1803, when he was in England on a visit, he spoke so highly of New
South Wales as a country adapted for wool-growing, that King George III.
was interested in the proposal, and offered his assistance. Now, the
sheep most suitable for Macarthur's purpose were the merino sheep of
Spain; but these were not to be obtained, as the Spaniards, desirous of
keeping the lucrative trade of wool-growing to themselves, had made it a
capital crime to export sheep of this kind from Spain. But it so
happened that, as a special favour, a few had been given to King George,
who