"Ducharme was among the French Canadian rebels transported to New South Wales on the Buffalo in 1839-40. He and his fellow exiles were sent to a penal settlement at Longbottom on arrival, and stayed there for some 20 months, working in road gangs. Ducharme was then assigned to Alexander George Dumas, a clerk in the office of the Principal Superintendent of Convicts, and following the granting of his ticket-of-leave, worked for himself. He was pardoned in 1844 and returned to Canada via London. His account corroborates much of what is contained in the Notes of fellow exile Francois Xavier Prieur (q.v.), but is not as personal or as detailed. Apparently written up from a journal and occasionally reverting to journal form, it deals thoroughly with the voyage on the Buffalo and conditions at Longbottom, where the Canadians were eventually able to work the system to suit themselves. It deals only cursorily with the author's time as an assigned and ticket-of-leave convict. At the close of his narrative, Ducharme includes a general description of the colony of New South Wales, including climatic conditions, agriculture and resources, commerce, wildlife and Aborigines, describing the last as 'the most stupid and most disgusting race of men in the world'" (Walsh and Hooton 55).
Source
Walsh, Kay and Joy Hooton. Australian Autobiographical Narratives : An Annotated Bibliography. Canberra : Australian Scholarly Editions Centre, University College, ADFA and National Library of Australia, 1993.
