out, ran down the room, and had swallowed his porter before he had
discovered that he had left his crutches behind him.

Such cases as these injure the really sick, particularly those whose
symptoms are not very apparent. Many prisoners adopt these schemes in
order to get into hospital, where they get better food, less work, and
have the chance of being with a favourite "pal." Others will make
themselves ill by swallowing tobacco, soap pills, or anything they know
will make them sick. There are others again who are afraid to enter the
hospital lest they should be poisoned with a sleeping draught, or some
other medicine carelessly administered; and when they hear of any
sudden death in hospital they are ready to swear "his light has been
put out by the doctor." On the other hand I have known it to happen
that a prisoner went and complained to the doctor, who roughly told him
he was a "schemer," and the following week the prisoner was dead.
Another time a healthy looking old man, with chest disease, complained
to the doctor of pain in that region. He was dosed repeatedly with
salts and senna--the medicine for schemers--and in less than a
fortnight he was buried.

I could mention many cases similar to the above, and also others where
the prisoner was his own murderer--if I may use the expression--but I
will merely mention one of them. The patient in this case was afflicted
with dropsy, and some affection of the heart. He had been receiving two
ounces of gin for a short time, which he fancied was doing him good,
and being partial to that variety of medicine, he was annoyed when it
was ordered to be discontinued. Accordingly he resolved to make himself
ill again, in order to get the allowance of gin, and swallowed a large
piece of tobacco, which brought an increase to his heart complaint; and
notwithstanding that the greatest attention was paid to his case by the
doctor, before morning he was dead.

This prisoner lay in the next bed to mine, and among the many death-bed
scenes I witnessed while in prison, I never saw one where the fear of
death was so apparent, or the state of mind so appalling to the
beholder.

The man had been a bully, and an avowed infidel. The prospect of death
had now come upon him with awful suddenness. Fear and trembling took
hold upon him, and as he thought of his past life, and the possible
judgment seat, before which he might the next moment be summoned to
appear, remorse and doubt seemed to to