s to get away.

"Their food was of the poorest quality, and was supplied in such
insufficient quantities, that, whenever one of the prisoners died, the
survivors concealed the fact, in order that the dead man's allowance
might be added to theirs. The water which they were served to drink
was atrocious.

"From the time the _Yarmouth_ left New York till she reached Plymouth,
in a most tempestuous winter passage, these men were kept in this
loathsome dungeon. Eleven died in delirium; their wild ravings and
piercing shrieks appalling their comrades, and giving them a foretaste
of what they, themselves, might expect. Not even a surgeon was
permitted to visit them.

"Arriving at Plymouth, the pale, emaciated men were ordered to come on
deck. Not one obeyed, for they were unable to stand upright.
Consequently they were hoisted up, the ceremony being grimly
suggestive of the manner in which they had been treated,--like
merchandise. And what were they to do, now that they had been placed
on deck?

"The light of the sun, which they had scarcely seen for fifty-three
days, fell upon their weak, dilated pupils with blinding force; their
limbs were unable to uphold them, their frames wasted by disease and
want. Seeking for support, they fell in a helpless mass, one upon the
other, waiting and almost hoping for the blow that was to fall upon
them next. Captain Silas Talbot was one of these unfortunate
prisoners.

"To send them ashore in this condition was 'impracticable,' so the
British officers said, and we readily discover that this
'impracticable' served the purpose of diverting the indignation of the
land's folk, which sure would be aroused, if they knew that such
brutality had been practiced under the cross of St. George (the cross
upon the British flag).

"Waiting, then, until the captives could, at least, endure the light
of day, and could walk without leaning on one another, or clutching at
every object for support, the officers had them removed to the old
Mill Prison."

This story has been denied, for the reason that the log of the
_Yarmouth_ shows that she was forty-four and not fifty-three days at
sea, and the captain writes:

"We had the prisoners 'watched' (divided into port and starboard
watch) and set them to the pumps. I found it necessary so to employ
them, the ship's company, from their weak and sickly state, being
unequal to that duty, and, on that account to order them whole
allowance of provisions."