TRAVERSE 104
established shipyards with the aid of the convicts . Slavery ? Yes , however a level of respect formed , Hoy treated the convicts as tradesmen agreeing to better conditions if they helped and in return the prisoners turned Sarah Island into Australia ’ s largest ship constructing facilities .
Despite the perceived improvements many convicts still looked to escape , some successfully making it all the way to Hobart , their knowledge of the land put to use with pardons and internments as government surveyors . Alexander Pearce escaped twice and on both occasions turning to cannibalism , there had been a reason he ’ d taken fellow prisoners with him . Yet no escape had such audacity as that of the men who built the brig Frederick .
The Frederick was the last ship to be constructed at the Sarah Island shipyards , and although the penal settlement had closed the shipyards remained open to construct the last ship . Twelve men remained , four of whom were sailors , including James Porter , a whaler who had once lived in Chile with a wife and child .
Once completed the Frederick began trials in the harbour and with the help of no others , Porter overthrew the guards , disarmed
TRAVERSE 104