Total Words: 15,274 Omitted words: 4,800
Percentage of Omissions: 31
The percentage of omissions in Chapter 9 is exceeded only by the forty percent of omissions in the final chapter. The manuscript version of Norfolk Island totals 15,274 words of which 4,800 were omitted.34 Only extensive omissions will be examined
closely. An extended presentation of all omitted words and passages in the Norfolk Island chapter as found in the second (1880) edition and the following eleven editions is found in Appendix 10 (Omissions in Cash Narrative from Norfolk Island Period). They comprise what is referred to as ‗the book within the book‘.
Folios 327 & 328
This section deals with Major Childs, Commandant of Norfolk Island at the time. Cash has already introduced Childs in Folio 326, describing him as ‗a perfect gentleman in manner and principle whose only fault was a laxity of discipline, permitting them [the prisoners] to act as they pleased‘. The deleted section clarifies Cash‘s meaning with ‗this state of things gave rise to abominations which converted the Island into a state far worse than Sodom and Gomorrah‘. Phrases such as ‗fearful practices‘ and ‗depth of iniquity and immorality‘ are thinly veiled allusions to homosexuality, an idea abhorrent to Victorian mores. However, the 1880 editor saw fit to conceal this reference entirely by simply erasing it. Cash continues to protect Childs with reference to ‗that incarnate fiend, John Price‘ under whose rule the crime [homosexuality] ‗was carried out to a much greater extent‘, a passage omitted to possibly protect the reputation of Price and the system as well as delicate sensitivities. The readership is further protected from the abhorrent with the exclusion of a ‗most revolting murder‘ in which two escaped prisoners were observed killing a sheep, thereafter murdering a constable and placing ‗a portion of the dead sheep in his bowels‘. This tale illustrates the viciousness that had developed on the Island and, by the editor's removal of this section, an ‗insider‘s‘ first-hand view of the penal system on Norfolk Island is lost.
34 Burke's crossed out passages and bracketed words have made it difficult to determine the exact number of omitted words in this chapter.
Folios 329 & 330
This section returns to Commandant Price with the intent of highlighting the fairness of Major Childs and the viciousness of Price. Under Price ‗the greater the villain the more he got in favour‘ but ‗a man who he considered had a desire to behave himself was dealt with harshly‘; further, Cash claims that Price encouraged ‗the most unprincipled of his constables‘ to arrest an innocent man. This section proceeds to the arrival of the Hydrabad with its cargo of two hundred prisoners and an incident of murder in which ‗Mr Brown being struck with the steer oar was knocked overboard and never seen after‘. The manuscript moves on to another incident wherein ‗three…prisoners took it into their heads to rob the Coxswain‘s quarters‘, but Cash seems to protect them by claiming they were ‗driven by starvation and tyranny to the Commission of offences‘; however, he also claims ‗they had no excuse to offer‘ as they ‗had the facility in providing themselves with plenty of vegetables‘. Again, the 1880 editor seems to be hiding the degeneracy of the penal settlement under Price.
Folios 331–335
This long omission is of special interest as it is crossed out in the manuscript. Whether the decision was Burke‘s or Cash‘s is not clear and this passage merits close examination in order to uncover the reason for this exclusion.
The deletion returns to Cash‘s upbringing with reference to ‗my father, who in pursuit of his own pleasures did not interest himself much‘ and who ‗left the education of myself and a younger brother solely in the care of my mother who never contradicted anything‘. Cash continues to reveal more about his family: ‗My mother…began to evince symptoms of ill health, but this did not deter my father from indulging in his usual round of dissipation‘. Again Cash refers to his enlistment in the 8th Hussars. It would seem that this section was crossed out by Burke for reason of its repetition, or perhaps at the request of Cash because it gave information he considered private. In fact, the truth of Cash's claims is highly doubtful.
Cash proceeds to speak of the fleecing of prisoners of ‗all superfluities in the shape of shirts, handkerchiefs, flannel shirts, stockings‘ where these ‗found a ready sale…in the military barracks …‘.' This occurred on the prisoners‘ arrival. Cash also observes the increasing number of deaths on the island, particularly among ‗all new hands‘. This, he says, was due to dysentery, the reason being ‗eating too freely of the fruit which grew abundantly on the island‘. Having detailed the types of fruit to be found, Cash turns to the venomous reptiles ‗which overran it …and who exercised their deadly influence upon all who came in contact with them‘. Having painted such a bleak picture, Cash expresses the opinion that Norfolk Island was deliberately selected as a penal settlement out of a ‗Spirit of Vindictiveness and with a view to crushing the hearts of those unfortunate wretches who left themselves open to the amenities of the law …‘.' The satire in this is obvious. Why Cash or Burke decided to delete this description, especially as it must have been their intention to condemn the penal settlement as much as possible, can only be conjectured; however, the words ‗but to resume to my narrative‘ bring an end to what Burke must have considered an unnecessary diversion and the narrative proceeds to Cash‘s situation which he describes as being relatively comfortable as the straw hats he made were in such demand that ‗I could not fulfil the numerous orders‘, thus enabling him to ‗provide the mess to which I belonged with an abundance of tea, sugar and provisions …‘.'
Why Cash or Burke decided to erase the passage concerning Kavanagh is another mystery. Perhaps it was because of the unsavoury description of Kavanagh who, Cash claims, appeared to ‗side with the delinquents‘ and who ‗appeared to assume a tone of superiority …‘.' Despite Cash‘s remonstrations and his avowal that Kavanagh still had a chance to ‗get back into society‘, this was rebuked by Kavanagh and led to a near- permanent rupture between the two men.
There are a number of possible reasons for the decision to cut four complete folios. The first section on Cash‘s childhood is fairly clear-cut as it had already been dealt with at the beginning of the manuscript. The decision to exclude conditions on the island is not so easily answered, but as this section places Cash in more favourable circumstances in
comparison with other prisoners, perhaps Cash had second thoughts on separating himself from the other ‗unfortunate wretches‘. Eliminating the rift between himself and Kavanagh may have been out of some sort of loyalty Cash felt towards Kavanagh or, again, because Cash did not wish to present himself as a type of traitor. In any case, it is important to remember that these decisions were Cash‘s and/or Burke‘s, not the 1880 editor‘s. Folios 331-335 have not been categorized as the decision to cross them out was not the 1880 editor's.
Folios 346 & 347
Two lines have been deleted near the beginning of Folio 346 which tell of the arrival of Mr Burgess, the Chief Magistrate, for ‗the purpose of adjudging one or two crimes that shall be nameless‘. This omission is obviously a further example of the 1880 editor‘s belief that a respectable readership should be protected from any possible allusion to homosexuality. The passage that follows tells the story of eighteen-year-old Jimmy Harrison who, with a party of others, attempted to escape the island, the result being for Jimmy ‗three years in heavy chains in gaol every third month of which was to be in solitary confinement‘. Like many other passages, the omission evaded criticism of the penal system under the rule of Price.
Folio 363
Folio 362 has just informed the reader that the making of hats had been taken up by other prisoners and that Cash had been returned to the stone heap, which was considered ‗light labour‘. Cash tells us that ‗my leisure hours were employed when in my cell in platting and making hats‘. The omitted section in Folio 363 tells us of the tyrant‘s (Price‘s) visit ‗with the intention of catching me platting on the Sabbath‘, which happened to be Easter Sunday. Cash quickly hid the evidence under the bed where, apparently, Price did not look. Cash takes this opportunity for a touch of satire with ‗had he been as fly as he imagined himself to be he could have accomplished his purpose by examining the end of the sennot(?) which he would have found wet and this would have been sufficient proof
that I had been at work‘. It is likely that Cash‘s mockery of Price was the major reason for the omission.
Folio 367
This folio follows the story of Thomas Williams, a particularly stubborn individual who refused to take the oath for which Price sentenced him to fourteen days in solitary confinement. Upon his repeated refusals to swear, Williams was sentenced to a succession of fourteen days in solitary. Cash tells us that ‗the last sentence having expired, the man was found in a dying state …‘.' The opening line signals a diversion with the words ‗it will here be necessary to observe‘, a sign that may have been taken up by the editor. The omission is a repetition of the Westwood story, but it also takes the opportunity to highlight Price‘s determination to manipulate the rule that ‗convict officials in meting out their period of solitary confinement are restricted by medical authority from passing a sentence longer than thirty days‘. Perhaps the editor was also masking Price‘s contempt of the law.
Folios 376-381
The first approximately thirty lines of this passage reflect rumours which flourished at the time concerning whether or not the Norfolk Island penal settlement was about to close; indeed, debate concerning the cessation of transportation was underway in England at the time. The ‗verry large number [who were] forwarded to Hobart Town‘ suggests that closure was in its early stages. Cash observes that Price was still determined to delay abandonment by selecting those to stay on as constables. Cash‘s claim that he ‗always rejoiced on seeing unfortunate prisoners leave this abode of wretchedness earnestly hoping that the time would arrive that it would be my turn‘ indicates Cash‘s bleak state of mind, but he also takes the opportunity to promote himself as someone who puts others before himself, which may or may not have been true. Cash is aware that ‗the slightest mistake would place me again in the gaol gang where I might have to remain like so many of my fellow prisoners‘. To emphasize his point, Cash states that prisoners ‗instead of lessening the term of their bondage were daily increasing it by receiving fresh sentences for the most trivial offence‘, claiming that in Price‘s time many prisoners on
short sentences ‗never returned until the establishment was broken up…some ten or twelve others (had) as much as twenty years of a sentence yet to perform …‘.' The story of Pine Tree Jack, who, from the vantage of a tree, spied upon work gangs serves as an example: ‗On the occasion in question he [Pine Tree Jack] took a prisoner named Stephen Sutton to the office and charged him with having a chew of tobacco in his mouth‘. Despite Sutton‘s denials, Price sentenced him to ‗fifty lashes and nine months addition‘. Cash continues with ‗as I have introduced Pine Tree Jack I will mention another adventure‘, indicating a continuation of the diversion. Sarcasm continues. Pine Tree Jack is ‗a man of infinite resources and worthy to fill the important office of constable under that verry important and far seeing personage, John Price‘. Pine Tree was a man of cunning who was at the bid of Price. He developed a method of catching convicts stealing forbidden tobacco by means of a long black thread which was tied to hidden tobacco pouches he had discovered. The story of the black thread is undoubtedly extraneous to the Cash adventure, but it is not extraneous to the recollections of an insider. Cash‘s humour is not funny; it is revenge. Taking hold of the thread, Pine Tree Jack ‗is like an angler at a brook looking for the dip of a cork‘ until ‗the jerk of the thread apprised him that the time for action had arrived‘. Feigned humour becomes bitterness with ‗Pine Tree Jack‘s artifices and contrivances…would fill a volume as he appeared to live for no other purpose but that of getting prisoners flogged and placed in solitary confinement‘. Cash makes it clear that Pine Tree Jack was a newly arrived probationer who preyed on others to curry favour with Price, but when put on pay ‗he relaxed wonderfully in his vigilance‘.
Cash‘s recollections shift to ‗one of the cruelest acts…that even that tyrannical ruler committed‘. The incident involves an altercation between two wives which was reported to Price and, accordingly, Mrs Stewart ‗was sent off the island at the earliest conveyance‘ leaving ‗a young family among which was a girl some twelve months old‘. According to Cash‘s story, the complainant was ‗highly reprehensible, it being notorious that she lived in a state of adultery with Pine Tree Jack‘; however, Pine Tree Jack's de facto was ultimately murdered by her husband in Hobart. There is a humorous touch to this story,
but with the focus returning to Price‘s ‗secret dislike…toward the good and the virtuous‘ and his preference for ‗the most treacherous and unprincipled villains‘, the mood becomes sardonic. The passage ends with bitter scorn: ‗a man possessing such a comprehensive knowledge of the world as Mr Price gave himself the credit of must be aware that truth could not be expected to come from the lips of such a double dyed ruffian‘(presumably Pine Tree Jack). Of course Cash exaggerated, but the passage scorns Price; hence the decision to omit was probably to defend an officer of the Crown.
Folios 385 & 386
The 1880 version ends Chapter 9 with Cash‘s account of an incident in the platters‘ shop wherein he was charged with ‗neglect of duty‘ for allowing prisoners to talk and for which he was sentenced to nine months in irons. During this period of punishment, Cash rescued a constable ‗who appeared to be in bad health‘ from a severe beating at the hands of ‗a very notorious character‘ in spite of calls from a number of prisoners ‗to let Irwin settle him‘. The closing words depicting Cash‘s heroism are fitting for an adventure story:
The Chief Constable and a strong party of police had now arrived on the scene and the Constable declared in the presence of them all that had it not been for my interference Irwin would have killed him.
The omitted Folios continue the theme of heroism with Cash‘s words of self praise, claiming to have exposed himself ‗to the enmity of the most disaffected of my class‘, and perhaps there is a touch of false modesty when he says ‗I had done nothing than what any other man should do‘. The main reason for the exclusion of this section was very likely because of its repetition; however, the subsequent twenty-four lines end the manuscript version of Chapter 9 with further criticism of Price‘s vindictiveness. Cash tells us that, in spite of having saved a constable, ‗I did not even get my irons knocked off‘ and ‗had it been any other prisoner on the island he would have been given a ticket-of-leave and removed off the island by the next vessel‘. The theme of persecution continues with Cash‘s assertion that Price‘s motive was revenge for being ‗baulked in his intention to
persecute me by the talisman words of the doctor: permanent light labour‘. The scene now shifts to the platters‘ workshop and the thinly-masked theme of homosexuality. In this case, a veil is drawn ‗over the acts of which daily and may I say hourly took place, but…I dare not describe‘. The theme continues with reference to the blanket screen behind which ‗acts had been committed which for the sake of common humanity shall rest in oblivion‘. Once more there is an element of self-congratulation in Cash‘s statement that he ‗would decline to prosecute them, my sole object being to put a stop to practices which evoked the vengeance of heaven‘. The final sentence is Cash‘s protection of the men by evading Price‘s request for an opinion, to which Cash answers ‗I…do not believe it [the blanket] was placed there for any good motive‘.
Commandant Price is a major character in Chapter 9 and is dealt with in very uncomplimentary terms; therefore, the high percentage of omissions should not be surprising as the aim was probably to protect Price (Folios 327 & 328, 329 & 330, 346 & 347, 363, 367, 376-381, 385-386) by muting his excessively harsh and unfair treatment of prisoners. In addition, references to homosexuality are considerable necessitating the protection of Victorian sensibilities (Folios, 327, & 328, 346 & 347, 385 & 386). Although the editor was obviously protecting the niceties of society, it should be expected that such acts occurred in an all-male prison by men under very long sentences and with very little hope of release (Folio 327 & 328, 329 & 330, 367, 376-381, 385 & 386). Self-aggrandisement features (Folios 376 -381, 385 & 386). Whilst there are probably exaggerations, this chapter has the ring of truth which is lost in the 1880 and subsequent editions. It is apparent that the omissions in this chapter take on a different hue as the need to protect a polite readership from unsavoury material arises, hence the exclusion of homosexual relations between prisoners. Additionally, the scene has shifted to the notorious Norfolk Island and Price which accounts for passages eliminating Price's cruelty in the treatment of prisoners. Folios 385 & 386 seem to have been excluded because of repetition and hence the need for brevity.