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uniformly good since my late arrival, and I trust that will bear the test of inquiry.”
I have since learned that Edwards, after his being committed to jail, having heard that I had given up the money he left with me, conceived I had acted treacherously towards him; and, therefore, with the double motive of injuring me, and palliating his own guilt, had the next day requested to be taken before his master, and feigning contrition, had then fabricated the vile and improbable story recited by Cubitt to the court; artfully judging that I being much older than himself, should be considered the most culpable, and he as an innocent youth, led astray by my machinations.
After receiving our sentence, the corporal part of which was severely inflicted on Edwards. I continued to labour in the jail-gang for about three weeks, when, by an order from the Governor, as I understood, both myself and Edwards were double-ironed, put on board a government vessel, with several other prisoners, and transported to Newcastle, commonly called the “Coal river,” without any definite term being fixed for our exile; and as we were both prisoners for life, it was uncertain how long our banishment might be protracted.
