The deceptions and impositions which were daily in practice among the labouring part of the colony, to the great injury of the concerns of government, rendered it highly expedient that the governor, who had those concerns to attend to, should be assisted by trusty and active persons in every situation where public works might be carrying on. Having made some discoveries of this nature in the department of the sawyers, he issued a public order, specifying the hours which should be employed in every branch of public labour. This had by no means been the first attempt to check the impositions of these people; but it was found, that the private concerns of those who should superintend the various public works occupied so much of their time, that their duty was either wholly neglected or carelessly performed. This created such a relaxation of discipline, that a repetition of orders and regulations were from time to time published, to keep the labouring people constantly in mind that they were the servants of the crown, and remind those who were appointed to look after them, that they had neglected that duty which should ever have been their first and principal consideration.
The expected signal for a vessel was at length made at the South Head on the morning of the 18th; and in the afternoon the ship _Barwell_ arrived from England, with male convicts, some stores, and provisions. It must be supposed, that while the mother country was engaged in such a war as then subsisted, she would not spare from the service of the state any other than the most worthless characters, who, instead of assisting in the public defence against the common enemy, were employed in perpetrating private injuries. The weakness of the public gangs, however, was such, that this allotment of villainy was considered as an acquisition to the general strength, and it was hoped that they might be employed to advantage.
The _Barwell_, touching at the Cape of Good Hope, brought an account of the loss of the _Lady Shore_ transport in her passage to this settlement, having on board about 60 convicts, three only of whom were males, and a large assortment of all kinds of stores which had been so long and so much wanted. There was also a complete company of recruits for the New South Wales Corps on board, to whom was owing the loss of the ship; for, after murdering the commander, Mr. Wilcox, and his first mate, they took possession of the ship, and carried her into Rio de la Plata, where she was delivered up to the Spaniards. This ship, besides the public stores, had a great deal of private property on board, and was a serious loss to the colony.