AustLit

In June, a chain gang's attempted escape from Port Arthur takes advantage of heavy fog. A gravel escapes; they force a signalman to give an all clear semaphore; one kills his enemy from Hobart days - the muster master. At Eagle Hawk Neck they swim across an ocean passage where one has his leg bitten off by a shark - and is killed at his own request to avoid recapture. They shelter in a hut where they kill and rob an officer and capture his men before escaping into the bush. Their bids on Tasmania's settlers continue for six months and involve more killings until they are captured and killed at Christmas 1837. (PB)