9 
man, who involved himself by his writings deeply in the last 
negro conspiracy. The prisoners received their food while we 
were present: it consisted of very good soup, and three-quarters 
of a pound of beef. Upon the ground floor is the dwelling of the 
keeper, who was an Amsterdam Jew, and the state-rooms in 
which gentlemen, who are lodged here, receive accommodation 
for money and fair words. The cleanliness of the house was not 
very great; upon the whole it left an unfavourable impression 
upon me. 
I found the other prison, destined for the punishment of mi¬ 
nor offences of the negro slaves, in a better condition. In it 
there were about forty individuals of both sexes. These slaves 
are either such as have been arrested during the night by the po¬ 
lice, or such as have been sent here by their masters for punish¬ 
ment. The house displays throughout a remarkable neatness; 
black overseers go about every where armed with cow-hides. In 
the basement story there is an apparatus upon which the negroes, 
by order of the police, or at the request of their masters, are 
flogged. The latter can have nineteen lashes inflicted on them 
according to the existing law. The machine consists of a sort of 
crane, on which a cord with two nooses runs over pullies; the 
nooses are made fast to the hands of the slave and drawn up, while 
the feet are bound tight to a plank. The body is stretched out 
as much as possible, and thus the miserable creature receives the 
exact number of lashes as counted off! Within a year, flogging 
occurs less frequently:- that is to say, a tread-mill has been 
erected in a back building of the prison, in which there are two 
tread-wheels in operation. Each employs twelve prisoners, who 
work a mill for grinding corn, and thereby contribute to the sup¬ 
port of the prison. Six tread at once upon each wheel, while 
six rest upon a bench placed behind the wheel. Every half mi¬ 
nute the left hand man steps off the tread-wheel, while the five 
others move to the left to fill up the vacant place; at the same 
time the right hand man sitting on the bench, steps on the wheel, 
and begins his movement, while the rest, sitting on the bench, 
uniformly recede. Thus, even three minutes sitting, allows the 
unhappy being no repose. The signal for changing is given by 
a small bell attached to the wheel. The prisoners are compelled 
to labour eight hours a day in this manner. Order is preserved 
by a person, who, armed with a cow-hide, stands by the wheel. 
Both sexes tread promiscuously upon the wheel. Since, how¬ 
ever, only twenty-four prisoners find employment at once on 
both wheels, the idle are obliged in the interval to sit upon the 
floor in the upper chambers, and observe a strict silence. One 
who had eloped several times from a plantation, was fastened by 
a heavy iron ring, that passed over his leg to the floor. To pro- 
Vol. II. 2 
