He said the prison was infested with mice and vermin, and that, during the five years he was there, he had never lain down one night to undisturbed slumber.

The sufferings endured in summer for want of air, he said, were indescribable.

In this prison the cells were in the center of the building, the corridors running all around by the windows, so the prisoners had no outlook and no direct contact with the air.

Hence, if a careless keeper forgot to open the windows after a storm, the poor prisoners panted for air in their cells, like fish out of water.

My informant worked in the mattress department, over the room where prisoners were punished.