I remember reading a significant number of people got released early from their sentences which has me wondering, what did their sentence look like in a new colony?

Were they in some sort of makeshift jail? Were they setup in a chain gang for labour or did they simply just wander around without shackles but essentially still a "prisoner" at the whim of "guards"?

Additionally, what did the earliest days (first few months) look like in terms of accommodation for prisoners and what did the transition look like into the next few years?