its
publication; and to allow for the hesitation of the penitent, a distant
day was appointed for closing the door.

This singular document was prepared by his Majesty's judge, who was thus
himself bound in honor to its unexampled conditions; but the legal
acumen of the robbers soon detected the error: its effect was not only
pardon for the past, but, with the exception of murder, a license to
ravage the colony until the date expired. Thus, they gathered the
harvest of crime, and continued their depredations to the last. Nor was
another advantage foreseen, although eagerly embraced by the robbers:
they almost universally submitted, and having cleared with the law, were
prepared again to abscond, and risk once more the chances of the field;
but if the document was absurd, the conduct of the local authorities was
not less impolitic. The removal of men, so well acquainted with the
colony and its hundred retreats, was an obvious, yet neglected,
precaution: some were satisfied with their past experience, but others
lost no time in returning to the bush.

For several years the settlement suffered the utmost mischief from these
bands of robbers: among those celebrated for daring, for resolute
resistance, and for frequent escapes, Michael Howe, a seaman, obtained
the largest share of fame. Formerly in the royal navy, and afterwards
owning a small coal craft, he had acquired some notion of order and
command. On his arrival in Van Diemen's Land, in 1812, he was assigned
to Mr. Ingle, a merchant and stock-holder; but he had declared, that
having served the king, he would be no man's slave, and to cast off the
yoke of such subjection was, perhaps, the main object he contemplated.
Such was his pretence. Having received the benefit of the amnesty, he
soon joined a gang, of which one Whitehead was the leader; among whom
was a deserter of the 73rd regiment, and two aboriginal women. The
settlers of New Norfolk, they deprived of all their portable property,
their arms and ammunition; and shortly after, thus equipped, they burned
the wheat stacks and barns of the police magistrate, Mr. Humphrey, and
those of Reardon, the district constable at Pittwater. The following
month they appeared again at New Norfolk, and pillaged the residence of
Mr. Carlisle, who advising his neighbour, Mr. M'Carty, of their
vicinity, induced him to arm for the protection of a vessel, the
_Geordy_, which he presumed they would endeavour to capture. M'Carty,
a