Such was the weakness of the public gangs, that it often became necessary
to require the assistance of the officers and other persons who were
allowed servants from government. In this way, by calling on each officer
and settler to send in a certain number of men for three days in the
week, the public roads between the different districts were put into good
order. This, besides very much facilitating the carriage of goods by
land, conduced very essentially to the detecting of thieves and vagrants,
who in general were found to be very quick in their motions.
Among other crimes which had been committed in this colony, that of
forgery was by no means neglected. To this, the currency of the
settlement, consisting almost entirely of paper, had opened a door. On
the 20th one man was found guilty of uttering a bill, knowing it to be
forged, and condemned to suffer death. The prisoner, whose name was
Lawrence Davoran, had been sent from Ireland, with other convicts from
that kingdom, where he had practised as an attorney, and had, it was
said (unfortunately for them, if true) respectable connections by
marriage.
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