COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 283 



them to get the ring off. My hands were then 

 fettered together, and my elbows pinioned by a rope ; 

 the chain connecting my hands also passed through 

 the chain from my neck. After giving me a small 

 cup of tea, which tasted better than anything I had 

 ever remembered drinking before in my life, I was 

 taken to the place where I was to sleep. On either 

 side the room, about two and a half feet from the 

 ground, were rude wooden shelves, not unlike guard- 

 room beds, extending from the walls about eight 

 feet towards the centre of the room, leaving a passage 

 between them running the whole length ; in the 

 centre there was a slight division with better accom- 

 modation for the jailers, with a table, etc. I was 

 placed on the shelf under a chain that descended 

 from a beam, to which the chain that passed from 

 my neck to my heels was made fast, but leaving me 

 sufficiently at liberty as to be able to lie on my back. 

 About half a dozen only were chained up in this 

 manner besides myself, and these were criminals of 

 the most dangerous description, who were in prison 

 for murders and the worst kind of crimes. I did 

 not find much room my neighbours on either side 

 being pressed so close to me I could not have turned, 

 even if my chains would have permitted of my doing 

 so. Exhausted from want of food, and fatigue both 

 of mind and body, I fell almost immediately asleep. 

 About four o'clock I awoke cold and faint. As I 

 woke and heard the rattle of my chains and felt the 

 strange place I was in, with the almost certainty of a 

 speedy death, the prospect before me seemed dismal 



