On the evening of 14 August 1829 the government brig 'Cyprus' was sheltering
in Recherche Bay on the remote south-east coast of Tasmania when she was
captured by eighteen convicts under the leadership of William Swallow, a
prisoner for life. Eight years earlier he had stowed away on a ship to England
only to be eventually arrested and sent to Hobart for the second time. After
marooning the crew, military guard and passengers on the desolate shore, Swallow
skilfully sailed the brig across the Pacific to Tahiti then back to the Tongan
Islands and on to Japan before finally scuttling her off the Chinese coast.
This epic of endurance was matched by the adventures of the people left
behind in Recherche Bay. They were saved from starvation, not by their
vacillating officers, but by an enterprising little cockney convict named John
Pobjoy, who one year later would do his best to betray Swallow and his
companions.
Five of the 'Cyprus' convicts, including Swallow, eventually made
their way to London where they were recognised and put on trial for piracy at
the Old Bailey. The chief witness against them was Pobjoy, who had turned up in
England after receiving a pardon for his efforts in rescuing the castaways.
Following on from his earlier book, 'Great Convict Escapes in Colonial
Australia', Warwick Hirst has written a fascinating account of a rogue whose
undoubted leadership, determination and resourcefulness might, in different
circumstances, have led him to a far more favourable fate.
Contents:
Acknowledgements and Metric Conversions
1. 'Caught and banish'd'
2. To the Edge of the World
3. Convict No. 323
4. 'Flogg'd and punish'd'
5. 'To lifelong slavery'
6. 'Sent to Macquarie Harbour, that place of Tyranny'
7. 'On the 'Cyprus' brig convey'd'
8. Wind-bound in gloomy Recherche Bay'
9. Marooned
10. Rescued
11. Court-Martial
12. Cloudy Bay
13. The Wide Blue Sea
14. Towards Japan
15. Adventures in China
16. Homeward Bound
17. The Return of the Hero
18. On the Run in London
19. Caged
20. The Trial
21. 'A full statement of the facts'
22. A Raft of Petitions
23. Execution Dock
24. Van Diemen's Land
25. Through Hell's Gates
26. 'Swallow of Celebrity'
Postscript
Notes
Bibliography
Index
