ne service, which it
must be observed was generally performed in the open air, alike
unsheltered from wind and rain, as from the fervor of the summer's sun,
it was ordered that three pounds of flour should be deducted from the
ration of each overseer, and two pounds from that of each labouring
convict, who should not attend prayers once on each Sunday, unless some
reasonable excuse for their absence should be assigned.

Toward the latter end of the month a criminal court was held for the
trial of Hugh Low, a convict, who had been in the _Guardian_, and who was
in custody for stealing a sheep, the property of Mr. Palmer the
commissary. Being most clearly convicted of the offence by the evidence
of an accomplice and others, he received sentence of death, and, the
governor not deeming it advisable to pardon an offence of that nature,
suffered the next day, acknowledging the commission of the fact for which
he died.

The preservation of our stock was an object of so much consequence to the
colony, that it became indispensably necessary to protect it by every
means in our power. Had any lenity been extended to this offender on
account of his good conduct in a particular situation, it might have been
the cause of many depredations being made upon the stock, which it was
hoped his punishment would prevent.

On the 28th a pair of shoes were served to each convict. The female
convicts were employed in making the slops for the men, which had been
now sent out unmade. Each woman who could work at her needle had
materials for two shirts given her at a time, and while so employed was
not to be taken for any other labour.

The storehouse which was begun in July was finished this month, and was
got up and covered in without any rain. Its dimensions were one hundred
feet by twenty-two.

At Rose Hill the convicts were employed in constructing the new town
which had been marked out, building the huts, and forming the principal
street. The governor, who personally directed all these works, caused a
spot of ground for a capacious garden to be allotted for the use of the
New South Wales corps, contiguous to the spot whereon his excellency
meant to erect the barracks for that corps.

In addition to the flagstaff which had been erected on the South Head of
the harbour, the governor determined to construct a column, of a height
sufficient to be seen from some distance at sea, and the stonemasons were
sent down to quarry stone upon the s