ordered him
to be lifted up, and his feet again placed on the wheel. But before he
had taken five steps, he again fell off, and was suspended as before. At
the same instant, a woman also fell off, and without a sigh or the
motion of a muscle, for she was too much exhausted for either, but with
a shocking wildness of the eye, hung by her half-dislocated arms against
the wheel. As the allotted time (fifteen minutes) had expired, the
persons on the wheel were released, and permitted to rest. The boy could
hardly stand on the ground. He had a large ulcer on one of his feet,
which was much swollen and inflamed, and his legs and body were greatly
bruised and peeled by the revolving of the wheel. The gentleman who was
with us reproved the superintendent severely for his conduct, and told
him to remove the boy from the treadmill gang, and see that proper care
was taken of him. The poor woman who fell off, seemed completely
exhausted; she tottered to the wall near by, and took up a little babe
which we had not observed before. It appeared to be not more than two or
three months old, and the little thing stretched out its arms and
welcomed its mother. On inquiry, we ascertained that this woman's
offence was absence from the field an hour after the required time (six
o'clock) in the morning. Besides the infant with her, she had two or
three other children. Whether the care of them was any excuse for her,
we leave American mothers to judge. There were two other women on the
treadmill--one was sentenced there for stealing cane from her master's
field, and the other, we believe, for running away.

The superintendent next took us to the solitary cells. They were dirty,
and badly ventilated, and unfit to keep beasts in. On opening the doors,
such a stench rushed forth, that we could not remain. There was a poor
woman in one of them, who appeared, as the light of day and the fresh
air burst in upon her, like a despairing maniac.

We went through the other buildings, all of which were old and dirty,
nay, worse, _filthy_ in the extreme. The whole establishment was a
disgrace to the island. The prisoners were poorly clad, and had the
appearance of harsh usage. Our suspicions of ill treatment were
strengthened by noticing a large whip in the treadmill, and sundry iron
collars and handcuffs hanging about in the several rooms through which
we passed.

The number of inmates in this house at our visit, was
forty-eight--eighteen of whom were