Many of them spoke
cheerfully, and endeavored to restrain their feelings, but the
furrows upon their haggard countenances needed no tongue to utter
its tale.
Hunger was the great grievance of which they complained; and if
their stories were true--and we afterward had strong proofs that
they were--there was a wanton disregard of common humanity, and an
abuse of power the most reprehensible. The allowance per day was a
loaf of bad bread, weighing about nine ounces, and a pint of thin,
repulsive soup, so nauseous that only the most necessitated appetite
could be forced to receive it, merely to sustain animal life. This
was served in a dirty-looking tin pan, without even a spoon to serve
it. One man told us that he had subsisted on bread and water for
nearly five weeks-that he had lain down to sleep in the afternoon
and dreamed that he was devouring some wholesome nourishment to stay
the cravings of his appetite, and awoke to grieve that it was but a
dream. In this manner his appetite was doubly aggravated, yet he
could get nothing to appease its wants until the next morning. To
add to this cruelty, we found two men in close confinement, the most
emaciated and abject specimens of humanity we have ever beheld. We
asked ourselves, "Lord God! was it to be that humanity should
descend so low?" The first was a forlorn, dejected-looking creature,
with a downcast countenance, containing little of the human to mark
his features.
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