The History of the Convict Hulk "Success" and "Success" Prisoners; A Vivid Fragment of Colonial History (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 Excerpt: ...who patronisingly came on board, peered through the keyholes of the cells, sniffed contemptuously at their stuffed ancestors, disclaimed any relationship, and planned revenge. At midnight, on March 1oth, 1892, the vessel was stealthily boarded, and all the figures were mutilated and damaged beyond repair. The "Success" rose superior to this wanton outrage. Two months later, however, she was maliciously scuttled and disappeared--it was thought and hoped, by some, for ever--beneath the waters of the picturesque harbour of Port Jackson. Nothing daunted, the enterprise of the proprietors was equal to the occasion, and five and a half months later the raising of the vessel (which had had eight augur-holes bored through her fine teak timbers) was an accomplished fact. Grey with barnacles and bemantled with seaweed, the submersion only served to make the appearance of the centenarian convict-ship still more remarkable and grotesque; and since that time she has, as an exhibition ship, fully justified her name by everywhere creating immense interest as a unique relic of convict days. The " Success" serves as an antique and useful reminder of a condition of things that existed prior to the establishment of that high-water mark in the history of Australia--the absolute abolition of transportation. There are some who contend that no tradition attaches to, nor interesting remnants of bye-gone ages are to be found in, Australasia to reward the research of the historian. Colonial ruins are not, as in older countries, crumbling cathedrals and tottering abbeys which later generations regard with a religious reverence, but Britain's convict prisons in the last stage of decay, moss-grown corridors of cells, the regularity of which is broken by Time's effac...