When England was using Australia as a convict colony would they attempt to track down escapees?
Yes, attempts would be made to track them down. One famous escapee is Alexander Pearce. He escaped along with seven other convicts. When recaptured over three months later, he claimed to have cannibalised some of his fellow escapees in order to survive. He escaped again with another convict, and when again he was re-captured, he was found with the other man’s remains in his pockets, thereby proving his cannibalism (and this was despite having other food available). Pearce was hanged. Another famous escapee was Martin Cash. He escaped several times, including from the seemingly impregnable Port Arthur. Eventually he was sentenced to hang, but was given a last minute reprieve, and finally finished his sentence and was released. As for the Aborigine question: many Aborigine communities were vitually wiped out. I would say the hostility was all one-way.
