A Convict's Life
By: Elijah Leo
Person: Heffision Lecardo age 27 (pronounced heff e shion le car do)
Date: 09/05/1787
Dear Diary
Ever since I was found with a knife at the age of 9 I have been on this ship for 18 years. Half of those years were spent on the river in London or somewhere in Great Britain! I can’t remember too well. Now we are sailing to a new land called New South Wales. This land was discovered by Captain Cook and us convicts are on a fleet there commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip. The food on the ship is terrible and we are not treated very well, we’re treated like cockroaches on board. And the Marines aren’t helping either; they keep giving us dirty looks and blaming us on things we didn’t do and after that we get worse punishments. The worst punishment was flogging. Flogging is where we were whipped by a cat-o'-nine tails which cut into our skin and made blood flecks fly everywhere! When we passed out the officers would get a bucket of seawater and throw it over our wounds. We would scream in agony as the water rushed onto the wounds. Then after that we were put into a cage which hung over the bow and when the ship went under the waves we had to hold our breath. I think New South Wales will be much better than this, it just has to be! I think I’ll be set free when we get there! I can’t wait to be set free. THE END
