Alexander Pearce was one of our more notorious convicts, and one of very few convict escapees from Macquarie Harbour, who survived attempting to reach the settled districts.   As the last man standing from the eight that absconded together, his survival was only possible because he resorted to cannibalism. In Part 1 we look at his background, and what lead him to be shipped to Sarah Island, a place of harsh secondary punishment, attempting an unlikely escape.  We consider the terrain and conditions they had to face and consider his fellow escapees.