ng
under the system a little more than six months, and had lost some
twenty-five pounds in weight. And I should judge this to be a fair
general average, according to their appearance, of the change in most of
the prisoners.[3]

[Footnote 3: The Bill of Fare at the prison for this year can not be
given, as it was not, to the writer's knowledge, published.]

And why not this result? A large number did not pretend to eat any
dinner on Mondays, and many more ate but little. There was such a
general carrying back of the food at this meal, that I decided to count
particularly and see exactly what the facts were. On two consecutive
Mondays in April, I think, I did this and found a dozen or over, not
even taking their dishes to their cells, so had nothing to eat;
thirty-two each day, returned their basins, all, I think, with the bit
of bread gone, a large number not having touched the wheat part, some
having eaten a very little, and others more, but all returning more or
less of that; then the dishes of the remaining prisoners would be empty.
Those were the only days I counted so carefully in the spring, but
judged them to be fair samples for that time of the year. But the number
was not small who did not pretend to take this meal while the cracked
wheat appeared. Then, as informed, they would pursue a similar course
with certain other meals, for instance, when the fish was served. Some
would not take the soup meal. The Sabbath morning repast of baked beans
was ever spoken of as good, satisfactory both in quality and quantity.
One man said his custom was to save some of the beans as a relish for
his meals early in the week. The peas were complained of as bad. One
overseer said to a prisoner, who was making his dinner of these, "I
would as soon take so much shot into my stomach." The lack of vegetables
was severely felt, especially that of onions, though I was informed they
purchased a bushel, or so, in the winter, of very small onions, or
scullions, as many call them. In the spring, I found a man in his cell
sick, who said he was having symptoms of the scurvy, a difficulty he had
in the army, that he was suffering much for the want of vegetables, and
that he knew of others also suffering from these scurvy symptoms.

The warden, of course, well knew of this dislike of the food, but the
men must take what he allowed or go without. A man asserted, on leaving
prison, that the warden said to him, "All I have against you is, that