the shirt I felt as if I were indeed doing penance
in sackcloth, but, without complaint, I left the
room, and went up to the place appointed for me.
It was a room large enough to contain about thirty
persons, but it was made to serve for the
accommodation of seventy; and it was black and
smoky, like a forge. The floor was of flags, with
here and there one missing. A large bench ran
around the walls. This was for prisoners to
sleep on; upon it, lay in one place a heap of rotten
straw; in another, a miserable old mattress;
in another, a sickening heap of rags. A dirty lamp
hung from the centre of the ceiling, and four
sinks, one in each corner of the room, uncovered,
and exhaling a revolting odour, served as receptacles
for the refuse of everything. The large
gate opening into this den was of dark oak.
Through a wicket in it, the prisoners passed in
and out one by one, bending their bodies, and
putting in, first the unchained foot and next the
other— a mode of proceeding which occupied so
much time that it took nearly an hour for all
of us to enter or pass out. Opposite this
entrance was the door to a closet, uncovered,
and kept without care or decency, yet in
which ten prisoners actually lived. All round
our walls were driven numberless nails, from
which hung everything belonging to the criminals
— plates, porringers, saucepans, clothes—
affording refuge to millions of bugs, which
came down by night to suck our blood. In one
corner of the room was a bed, far different from
the rest, with a little cupboard beside it, within
which were a few wine-glasses and a large bottle
of wine. Above the head of the bed, hung some
pictures of saints, before which a small lamp
was at night kept burning. This spot belonged
to the chamber-keeper; that is to say, to a
prisoner notorious for his crimes, who was set
in power and authority over his comrades.
During the night, the atmosphere of this room
was so utterly abominable and stifling, that the
new inmates instinctively leaped out of bed and
approached the windows; but even this relief
could not always be indulged in where the
prisoners were chained in couples. What rendered
it still more difficult and dangerous to breathe the
poisonous air, was the cloud of dust produced by
the constant spinning of hemp— a dust which,
penetrating into the lungs, caused incessant
irritation, and often severe inflammation. I went
out to walk a little in the yard, and met among
the criminals some whom I knew to be chamber-
keepers, and through whom I was enabled to
obtain part of the money which had been taken
from me. This was a great convenience to me.
It was now about two hours before sunset, and
a large number of turnkeys knocking furiously
at the door, ordered the prisoners to muster and
arrange themselves round the circular yard,
to be counted. They obeyed at once, standing
with their caps off; and this performance, called
"la conta," being over, they again returned to
their former walking, talking, and noise.

One hour after "la conta" the bell was rung
several times, and the prisoners began to withdraw.
A little while afterwards, the turnkeys
again struck at the door, screaming aloud like
peacocks; but the most horrible sound of all
was the captain's voice, who cried, " In! In,
rascals!" The orders of the "secondini" had
small influence over the criminals, but those of
the captain were very much respected and feared;
for he was often in the habit of using his
stick, and enforcing his commands with a blow
on the head. Before sundown, all prisoners were
in. There was some confusion at first, but the
voice of the chamber-keeper soon made everything
right. " The rosary! To the rosary!"
he exclaimed, and then there was silence. The
rosary (a form of Roman Catholic prayer) being
over, cries, screams, laughter, songs, curses, oaths,
whistling, noise of all kinds were freely indulged
in, all blended with the horrid rattle of chains.
My temples throbbed with pain as if they were
beaten with hammers. Two or three hours
passed before this dreadful din began to abate,
when, by degrees, it lessened, and was succeeded
by the silence of death. I cannot say how long
I had been dozing, when I was aroused by a
sense of being stung with stinging-nettle. I
thought the suffering might be caused by the
coarse shirt I had neglected or forgotten to
change. I threw it off, and returned to bed again;
but I was worse off than before. At length,
unable to bear the torment any longer, I screamed
aloud for a light, and, on its being brought, saw
that the lesser vermin had been draining that
blood which King Ferdinand had not himself
sucked. For three days, able to buy food, I
only ate a little bread soaked in wine, for I had
become as ill in body as in mind. I could not
force my thoughts away from home, where I
had been so happy; where I had always enjoyed
every comfort, been accustomed to see kind
faces around me, and to hear the tender names
of brother, son, friend, constantly sounding in.
my ears; where I had so often advised my
patients, and given them comfort and hope. This
thought of home was my chief torture. On the
fourth day of my imprisonment I was seized
with bronchitis. It was a very severe attack;
and, added to the other usual symptoms, there
was intolerable thirst. I had been for three days
unable to drink the muddy water of the place,
and now when, in my fever, I petitioned for a
cooling drink, they brought me a jug filled with
this same water, which I set down, shrinking
from its smell as I put it to my mouth. I asked
for a glass, into which I poured it, and found it
to be green and teeming with insect life. In the
mean while the doctor was sent for, and I was
transferred to hospital, where, after some days,
I recovered.

A month after I had been taken to hospital,
an order reached the Bagnio that I and the other
political prisoners should be removed to Procida,
and we were accordingly desired to keep
ourselves in readiness to start at any moment.
Now the political prisoners were unchained from
the others. No man can understand unless he
has felt it in his own person how horrible is the
condition, of one prisoner chained to another.
I have seen, under such circumstances, a son