g taken out, it was no larger than a
small-sized tea-cup. The pound of bread was not much larger: it was made
of barley, slack-baked, and very dark, though sweet. Indeed it was good
enough, what there was of it. On Fridays the fare was varied by the same
amount in fish and potatoes.

As some require more nutriment than others, the same quantity of fare did
not satisfy all the prisoners alike. I frequently saw many of them devour
their day's allowance at one meal without appeasing their hunger; and
before the next day's rations were served out, they would be almost
frantic from starvation. Some became so exhausted that they were compelled
to go to the hospital until they recovered strength. Those who possessed a
little money fared somewhat better, as they could indulge in the luxury of
bullock's liver, fried in water for the want of fat, or a hot pumgudgeon
fried in the same material. This exquisite dish is not appreciated
according to its merits. It commonly bears the undignified title of
'codfish-balls;' and is well known at the present day among our eastern
brethren, though not held in the same veneration by them as clam-chowder.
'Dartmoor pippins,' or potatoes, were also held in high estimation with
us.

Dartmoor prison was a world in miniature, with all its jealousies,
envyings and strife. How shall I describe the scenes enacted within its
walls? how portray the character of its inhabitants? If I but held the pen
of DICKENS or the pencil of MOUNT, I might hope so to bring the objects
before the mind's eye of the reader, that they would stand forth in full
relief, inducing him almost to imagine that he stood in their midst.
Though many years have rolled by since those events occurred, they still
linger in my memory like the vivid scenes of a high-wrought drama; and
often in the 'dead waste and middle of the night' do I revisit in my
dreams scenes which I should be sorry to survey when awake.

I think it one of the greatest blessings granted by an all-wise and
benevolent CREATOR, that He has bestowed upon man an intellectual and
physical capacity, which enables him to pass in comparative happiness many
a lonely hour. Many were the aerial maps and charts laid down for our
future journeyings through life, and plans formed, which were never to be
realized. And perhaps all was for the best; for we are all creatures of
circumstance. Not one in a thousand follows out his plans through life.
Half of our existence is imagin