Hells Gates - holiday reading

I picked up Hells Gates by Paul Collins while I was in Hobart. I really do love a good second hand book shop, and the Imperial Bookshop in Collins St, Hobart, is a good one. I picked up this book to add to my collection of books about Tasmania, and Tasmanian history. This one tells the fascinating story of the convict, Alexander Pearce.


The title, Hells Gates, refers to two things. First, Hells Gates is the entrance to Macquarie Harbour on Tasmanias west coast. It's a narrow channel, and the tide roars in and out through it, across a series of shallow sand bars. It's a very dangerous crossing for any ships and so early sailors christened it Hells Gates.

Inside the harbour, though, is Sarah Island. This was the site of a convict station that imprisoned the worst of the worst convicts. It was one of the harshest convict regimes in colonial Australia, and the convicts called it a hell on earth. So Hells Gates was an appropriate name for them too.

The book follows the life of Alexander Pearce, from his early life and conviction in Ireland, through his transportation to Van Diemens Land and his continuing troubles with the law, to his exile at Sarah Island and eventual escape, recapture and execution. Along the way the author shows what life was like in colonial Tasmania. For convicts like Pearce, who could not adjust to the regime and serve their time, it was a very harsh existence.

The main event in the history is Pearce's escape from Sarah Island, a place that was supposed to be completely secure and isolated. The rainforests and mountains of the west coast of Tasmania were supposed to be uncrossable, and so provided the best prison walls available. But Pearce and his companions proved this to be wrong. But to do this, we also see what it cost them - they descended into some of the worst possible human behaivour. Only Pearce survived the escape attempt, and only by turning murderer and cannibal.

That's the heart of this book. It shows us how the worst of human nature can be brought out in people. It also includes a fascinating comparison between colonial and convict attitudes to the local environment compared to contemporary attitudes. The convicts and early settlers saw the pristine rainforests and rugged mountains as hostile and imprisoning, unnatural. Today we look at the same landscape and see beauty, unspoiled wilderness that inspires us. It's still the same place, almost unchanged, and still just as harsh, but how we look at it has changed dramatically. It's an interesting conclusion to the book, making us think about how society and people do change through time.

I think this is a good book, and I will be re-reading it at some point. It's a fascinating story in itself, and it combines that with being well written. Maybe it's just because I enjoy reading about Tasmanian history that I think this is such a good book, but I do think other people would enjoy it too.

3.5 stars, I think.