It is not as if the country were extensively populated; there are not a very large number of settlers there yet, and therefore very small scope for robbers.

These people would keep very little money with them, and the amount of plunder to be got would be small indeed.
Therefore, I take it that the main object of any escaped convict would be to get away from the place.
"That is one of the reasons why the fellow might come back to England in spite of the risks.

The other is that I believe him to be so diabolically vindictive that he would run almost any peril in order to obtain revenge upon me or his father.

Twice he has threatened me, the first time when we captured him, the second time as he left the court after he had received his sentence.

I am not a coward, so far as I know, Mark, but I am as certain as I stand here that he meant what he said, and that, during these years of imprisonment and toil out there, he has been cherishing the thought of coming home some day and getting even with me.