in Sydney in 1794, while Grose was there, and they said^ jin a x^etition to Grose (1794):^ —
- 'For obvious reasons your petitioners did not wish to come out at the
fixpense of governinewt ; they according'lj' caused to be paid to tlio said "Patrick CampbeU (master of the Surprisf), for their aceooiniodation as fabiu-pfisaengera, a sum of money greater than that allowed liy governiuent lor those in the same ship, either in ita iminediate employ ot' those who "*mve come out as settlers. * The Record Office in London (New South Wales, vol. ix.) "contams proof that kind treatment of the exiles wae en- joined, A comfdaint from the Sfirprhe transport at Spit- head (21st April 17*J4) was sent hy the surgeon, hy a passenger, and an ensign of the New South Wales Corps^ who objected to heing associated with Margaret in the officers' cabin, Margarot^s wife heing free, and the captain having received an order from Mr. Dmidas^^ for her free passage in the ship, they did not remonstrate against her presence, but they objected to his. Campbell, the master, however, saw no objection, having (he wrote) "high authority to make these people as comfortable as possible/' Nevertheless Pitt has been repeatedly reviled for associ- ating the Scotch Martyrs with burglars and felons. Gerald was sent out subsequently. Muir, Palmer, Skirving, and Margarot bad some trouble in the Surprise, but it was doe to Margarot 's intrigues. To ingratiate himself with the master, he accused Palmer and Skirving of conspiring with the convicts to seize the vessel and take her to a French or American port. Another Scotch convict, exiled for forgery, told the captain that lie heard some irishmen speaking in Erse of the plot, and that his actpiaintance with Gaelic enabled him to understand tliem. Margarot the abettor, if not the concoctor of the sell erne to injure his companions, was profusely praised by CampbelL A guard was put over Palmer and Skirving, and others were confined in irons/ ^ Palmer and Skirving repelled ** with horror" the accusation " af complicity in the plot ; they even averred that Margarot " Diiiidas, who was savagely attacked for alleged harslmess to the Scotch convicts, directed that the ** master of the Surprise shouW be ItUowed £'Si} for the passage of Mi*a. Margarot with a view to her better ccommodation on board that transport/^ Ifistorical Records, N,S»W., Toi n., p. S54.
- Record Office. N.S.W., Vol IX.
