The Great Escape

---

For the past few weeks I have been basking in a delicious haze of virtual inactivity - by this I do not mean that I have shunned all electronic devices and remained at a distance from the net. Reading, writing, strolling around the neighbourhood......not weighed down by heavy boots and other arctic survival gear.....really haven't needed or wanted anything more.

By Sunday afternoon my nephew decided it was "time we did something"....so he packed me into the car and we drove off to Mount Coot-tha, the highest peak in the Brisbane area, offering a panoramic view of the city and Moreton Bay.

In the last 1820's a penal colony was established at Moreton Bay, where only the most hardened criminals and recidivists were sent. The Official Regulations for Penal Settlements, issued by, Governor Darling in 1829, stated:

"As an aversion to honest Industry and Labour has been the Chief Cause of most of the Convicts incurring the penalties of the Law, they shall be employed at some species of Labour which they cannot evade. The Convicts are to be employed exclusively in Agricultural operations, when Public Buildings or other Works of the Settlement do not absolutely require their Labour.

It has consequently been directed that the Spade and Hoe shall be substituted for the Plough, which will greatly diminish the demand for Horses and Oxen, and be the means of keeping the Convicts constantly and usefully employed. Convicts under Colonial Sentence shall be steadily and constantly employed at Hard Labour from Sunrise till Sunset, One Hour being allowed for Breakfast and One Hour for Dinner during the Winter Six Months; but Two Hours will be allotted for Dinner during the Summer."

The settlement was described as a place where some of the most vicious portion of the population of Great Britain and Ireland was placed. Men chosen to be in charge were known for their cruelty and brutality, and offenders were routinely flogged and beaten. The convict settlement was closed down in 1835.

Mount Coot-tha was the home of the Turrbal Aboriginal people, before the establishment of the penal colony. Early Brisbane people called it One Tree Hill when bush at the top of the hill was cleared, except for one large eucalytus tree.

A panoramic view of Brisbane and surrounding area can be seen from the look-out at the top of the hill:

---

Comments

[bbilodeau]

whatever
Would be awesome at night.