"I see her red funnel6 right across the harbour," said the chief officer, looking through infinite darkness. I disbelieved him, and accused him of hoaxing7 me. "Look yourself," said he, handing me his glass. But all the glasses in the world won't turn darkness into light. I know not by what educational process the eyes of sailors become like those of cats. In this instance the chief officer had seen aright, and then, after a visit to the 'Delta,' made at 2 a.m., I went to bed a happy man.
We started the next day at 2 p.m., or rather I should say the same day, and I did no more than breakfast on shore. I then left that favoured island, I trust for the last time, an island which I believe may be called the white man's grave with quite as much truth as any place on the coast of Africa. We steamed out, and I stood on the stern taking a last look at the three hills of the panorama9. It is certainly a very pretty place seen from a moderate and safe distance, and seen as a picture. But it should be seen in that way, and in no other.
We started, and I, at any rate, with joy. But my joy was not of long duration, for the 'Delta' rolled hideously10. Screw boats—propellers as the Americans call them with their wonted genteel propriety—always do roll, and have been invented with the view of making sea passages more disagreeable than they were. Did any one of my readers ever have a berth11 allotted12 to him just over the screw? If so, he knows exactly the feeling of being brayed13 in a mortar14.
In four days we reached Bermuda, and made our way into St. George's harbour. Looking back at my fortnight's sojourn there it seems to me that there can be no place in the world as to which there can be less to be said than there is about this island,—sayings at least of the sort in which it is my nature to express itself. Its geological formation is, I have no doubt, mysterious. It seems to be made of soft white stone, composed mostly of little shells; so soft, indeed, that you might cut Bermuda up with a handsaw. And people are cutting Bermuda up with handsaws. One little island, that on which the convicts are established, has been altogether so cut up already. When I visited it, two fat convicts were working away slowly at the last fragment.
But I am no geologist15, and can give no opinion favourable16 or otherwise as to that doctrine17 that these islands are the crater18 of an extinct volcano; only, if so, the seas in those days must have held a distance much more respectful than at present. Every one of course knows that there are three hundred and sixty-five of these islands, all lying within twenty miles in length and three in breadth. They are surrounded too by reefs, or rocks hidden by water, which stretch out into the sea in some places for eight or ten miles, making the navigation very difficult; and, as it seemed to me, very perilous19.
Nor am I prepared to say whether or no the Bermudas was the scene of Ariel's tricksy doings. They were first discovered in 1522, by Bermudez, a Spaniard; and Shakespere may have heard of them some indistinct surmises20, sufficient to enable him to speak of the "still vexed21 Bermoothes." If these be the veritable scenes of Prospero's incantations, I will at any rate say this—that there are now to be found stronger traces of the breed of Caliban than of that of Ariel. Strong, however, of neither; for though Caliban did not relish22 working for his master more keenly than a Bermudian of the present day, there was nevertheless about him a sort of energy which is altogether wanting in the existing islanders.
A gentleman has lately written a book—I am told a very good book—called "Bermuda as a Colony, a Fortress23, and a Prison." This book I am sure gives accurately24 all the information which research could collect as to these islands under the headings named. I made no research, and pretend only to state the results of cursory25 observation.
As a fortress, no doubt it is very strong. I have no doubt on the matter, seeing that I am a patriotic26 Englishman, and as such believe all English fortifications to be strong. It is, however, a matter on which the opinion of no civilian27 can be of weight, unless he have deeply studied the subject, in which case he so far ceases to be a civilian. Everything looked very clean and apple-pie; a great many flags were flying on Sundays and the Queen's birthday; and all seemed to be ship-shape. Of the importance to us of the position there can be no question. If it should ever come to pass that we should be driven to use an armed fleet in the Western waters, Bermuda will be as serviceable to us there, as Malta is in the Mediterranean28. So much for the fortress.
As to the prison I will say a word or two just now, seeing that it is in that light that the place was chiefly interesting to me. But first for the colony.
Snow is not prevalent in Bermuda, at least not in the months of May and June; but the first look of the houses in each of its two small towns, and indeed all over the island, gives one the idea of a snow storm. Every house is white, up from the ground to the very point of the roof. Nothing is in so great demand as whitewash29. They whitewash their houses incessantly30, and always include the roofs. This becomes a nuisance, from the glare it occasions; and is at last painful to the eyes. They say there that it is cleanly and cheap, and no one can deny that cleanliness and economy are important domestic virtues31.
There are two towns, situated32 on different islands, called St. George and Hamilton. The former is the head-quarters of the military; the latter of the governor. In speaking of the place as a fortress I should have said that it is the summer head-quarters of the admiral in command of the Halifax station. The dock-yard, which is connected with the convict establishment, is at an island called Ireland; but the residence of the admiral is not far from Hamilton, on that which the Bermudians call the "Continent."
I spent a week in each of these towns, and I can hardly say which I found the most triste. The island, or islands, as one must always say—using the plural33 number—have many gifts of nature to recommend them. They are extremely fertile. The land, with a very moderate amount of cultivation34, will give two crops of ordinary potatoes, and one crop of sweet potatoes in the year. Most fruits will grow here, both those of the tropics and of the more northern latitudes35. Oranges and lemons, peaches and strawberries, bananas and mulberries thrive, or would thrive equally well, if they were even slightly encouraged to do so.
No climate in the world probably is better adapted for beetroot, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. The place is so circumstanced geographically36 that it should be the early market-garden for New York—as to a certain small extent it is. New York cannot get her early potatoes—potatoes in May and June—from her own soil; but Bermuda can give them to her in any quantity.
Arrowroot also grows here to perfection. The Bermudians claim to say that their arrowroot is the best in the world; and I believe that none bears a higher price. Then the land produces barley37, oats, and Indian corn; and not only produces them, but produces two, sometimes three crops a year. Let the English farmer with his fallow field think of that.
But with all their advantages Bermuda is very poor. Perhaps, I should add, that on the whole, she is contented38 with her poverty. And if so, why disturb such contentment?
But, nevertheless, one cannot teach oneself not to be desirous of progress. One cannot but feel it sad to see people neglecting the good things which are under their feet. Lemons and oranges there are now none in Bermuda. The trees suffered a blight39 some year or two since, and no effort has been made to restore them. I saw no fruit of any description, though I am told I was there in the proper season, and heard much of the fruit that there used to be in former days. I saw no vegetables but potatoes and onions, and was told that as a rule the people are satisfied with them. I did not once encounter a piece of meat fit to be eaten, excepting when I dined on rations40 supplied by the Convict establishment. The poultry41 was somewhat better than the meat, but yet of a very poor description. Both bread and butter are bad; the latter quite uneatable. English people whom I met declared that they were unable to get anything to eat. The people, both white and black, seemed to be only half awake. The land is only half cultivated; and hardly half is tilled of that which might be tilled.
The reason of this neglect, for I maintain that it is neglect, should however be explained. Nearly all the islands are covered with small stunted42 bushy cedar43 trees. Not cedars44 such as those of Lebanon, not the cedar trees of Central America, nor those to which we are accustomed in our gardens at home. In Bermuda they are, as I have said, low bushy trees, much resembling stunted firs. But the wood, when it can be found large enough, is, they say, good for shipbuilding; and as shipbuilding has for years been a trade in these islands, the old owners of the property do not like to clear their land.
This was all very well as long as the land had no special virtue—as long as a market, such as that afforded by New York, was wanting. But now that the market has been opened there can be no doubt—indeed, nobody does doubt—that if the land were cleared its money value would be greatly more than it now is. Every one to whom I spoke45 admitted this, and complained of the backwardness of the island in improvements. But no one tries to remedy this now.
They had a Governor there some years ago who did much to cure this state of things, who did show them that money was to be made by producing potatoes and sending them out of the island. This was Sir W. Reid, the man of storms. He seems to have had some tolerably efficient idea of what a Governor's duty should be in such a place as Bermuda. To be helped first at every table, and to be called "Your Excellency," and then to receive some thousands a year for undergoing these duties is all very well; is very nice for a military gentleman in the decline of years. It is very well that England can so provide for a few of her old military gentlemen. But when the military gentlemen selected can do something else besides, it does make such a difference! Sir W. Reid did do much else; and if there could be found another Sir W. Reid or two to take their turns in Bermuda for six years each, the scrubby bushes would give way, and the earth would bring forth46 her increase.
The sleepiness of the people appeared to me the most prevailing47 characteristic of the place. There seemed to be no energy among the natives, no idea of going a-head, none of that principle of constant motion which is found so strongly developed among their great neighbours in the United States. To say that they live for eating and drinking would be to wrong them. They want the energy for the gratification of such vicious tastes. To live and die would seem to be enough for them. To live and die as their fathers and mothers did before them, in the same houses, using the same furniture, nurtured48 on the same food, and enjoying the same immunity49 from the dangers of excitement.
I must confess that during the short period of my sojourn there, I myself was completely overtaken by the same sort of lassitude. I could not walk a mile without fatigue50. I was always anxious to be supine, lying down whenever I could find a sofa; ever anxious for a rocking-chair, and solicitous51 for a quick arrival of the hour of bed, which used to be about half-past nine o'clock. Indeed this feeling became so strong with me that I feared I was ill, and began to speculate as to the effects and pleasures of a low fever and a Bermuda doctor. I was comforted, however, by an assurance that everybody was suffering in the same way. "When the south wind blows it is always so." "The south wind must be very prevalent then," I suggested. I was told that it was very prevalent. During the period of my visit it was all south wind.
The weather was not hot—not hot at least to me who had just come up from Panama, and the fiery52 furnace of Aspinwall. But the air was damp and muggy53 and disagreeable. To me it was the most trying climate that I had encountered. They have had yellow fever there twice within the last eight years, and on both occasions it was very fatal. Singularly enough on its latter coming the natives suffered much more than strangers. This is altogether opposed to the usual habits of the yellow fever, which is imagined to be ever cautious in sparing those who are indigenous54 to the land it visits.
The working population here are almost all negroes. I should say that this is quite as much a rule here as in any of the West Indies. Of course there are coloured people—men and women of mixed breed; but they are not numerous as in Jamaica; or, if so, they are so nearly akin8 to the negro as not to be observed. There are, I think, none of those all but white ladies and gentlemen whose position in life is so distressing55.
The negroes are well off; as a rule they can earn 2s. 6d. a day, from that to 3s. For exceptional jobs, men cannot be had under a dollar, or 4s. 2d. On these wages they can live well by working three days a week, and such appears to be their habit. It seems to me that no enfranchised56 negro entertains an idea of daily work. Work to them is an exceptional circumstance, as to us may be a spell of fifteen or sixteen hours in the same day. We do such a thing occasionally for certain objects, and for certain objects they are willing to work occasionally.
The population is about eleven thousand. That of the negroes and coloured people does not much exceed that of the whites. That of the females greatly exceeds that of the males, both among the white and coloured people. Among the negroes I noticed this, that if not more active than their brethren in the West Indies, they are at least more civil and less sullen57 in their manner. But then again, they are without the singular mixture of fun and vanity which makes the Jamaica negro so amusing for a while.
These islands are certainly very pretty; or I should perhaps say that the sea, which forms itself into bays and creeks58 by running in among them, is very pretty. The water is quite clear and transparent59, there being little or no sand on those sides on which the ocean makes its entrance; and clear water is in itself so beautiful. Then the singular way in which the land is broken up into narrow necks, islands, and promontories60, running here and there in a capricious, half-mysterious manner, creating a desire for amphibiosity, necessarily creates beauty. But it is mostly the beauty of the sea, and not of the land. The islands are flat, or at any rate there is no considerable elevation61 in them. They are covered throughout with those scrubby little trees; and, although the trees are green, and therefore when seen from the sea give a freshness to the landscape, they are uninteresting and monotonous62 on shore.
I must not forget the oleanders, which at the time of my visit were in full flower; which, for aught I know, may be in full flower during the whole year. They are so general through all the islands, and the trees themselves are so covered with the large straggling, but bright blossoms, as to give quite a character to the scenery. The Bermudas might almost be called the oleander isles63.
The government consists of a Governor, Council, and House of Assembly; King, Lords, and Commons again. Twenty years ago I should thoroughly64 have approved of this; but now I am hardly sure whether a population of ten or twelve thousand individuals, of whom much more than half are women, and more than half the remainder are negroes, require so composite a constitution. Would not a strict Governor, with due reference to Downing Street, do almost as well? But then to make the change; that would be difficulty.
"We have them pretty well in hand," a gentleman whispered to me who was in some shape connected with the governing powers. He was alluding65, I imagine, to the House of Assembly. Well, that is a comfort. A good majority in the Lower House is a comfort to all men—except the minority.
There are nine parishes, each returning four members to this House of Assembly. But though every parish requires four members, I observe that half a clergyman is enough for most of them. But then the clergymen must be paid. The council here consists chiefly of gentlemen holding government offices, or who are in some way connected with the government; so that the Crown can probably contrive66 to manage its little affairs. If I remember rightly Gibraltar and Malta have no Lords or Commons. They are fortresses67, and as such under military rule; and so is Bermuda a fortress. Independently of her purely68 military importance, her size and population is by no means equal to that of Malta. The population of Malta is chiefly native, and foreign to us;—and the population of Bermuda is chiefly black.
But then Malta is a conquered colony, whereas Bermuda was "settled" by Britons, as the word goes. That makes all the difference. That such a little spot as Bermuda would in real fact be better without a constitution of its own, if the change could only be managed, that I imagine will be the opinion of most men who have thought about the matter.
And now for the convict establishment. I received great kindness and hospitality from the controller of it; but this, luckily, does not prevent my speaking freely on the matter. He had only just then newly arrived from England, had but now assumed his new duties, and was therefore neither responsible for anything that was amiss, or entitled to credit for what had been permanently69 established there on a good footing. My own impression is that of the latter there was very little.
In these days our penal70 establishments, and gaol71 arrangements generally, are, certainly, matters of very vital importance to us. In olden times, and I include the last century and some part of this among olden times, we certainly did not manage these matters well. Our main object then was to get rid of our ruffians; to punish them also, certainly; but, as a chief matter, to get rid of them. The idea of making use of them, present or future use, had hardly occurred to us; nor had we begun to reflect whether the roguery of coming years might not be somewhat lessened72 by curing the rogues73—by making them not rogues. Now-a-days, we are reflecting a good deal on this question.
Our position now has been all altered. Circumstances have done much to alter it; we can no longer get rid of the worst class of criminals by sending them to Botany Bay. Botany Bay has assumed a will of its own, and won't have them at any price. But philanthropy has done more even than circumstances, very much more. We have the will, the determination as well as the wish, to do well by our rogues, even if we have not as yet found the way; and this is much. In this, as in everything else, the way will follow the will, sooner or later.
But in the mean time we have been trying various experiments, with more or less success; forgiving men half their terms of punishment on good behaviour; giving them tickets of leave; crank-turning; solitary75 confinement76; pietising—what may be called a system of gaol sanctity, perhaps the worst of all schemes, as being a direct advertisement for hypocrisy77; work without result, the most distressing punishment going, one may say, next to that of no work at all; enforced idleness, which is horrible for human nature to contemplate78; work with result, work which shall pay; good living, pound of beef, pound of bread, pound of potatoes, ounce of tea, glass of grog, pipe of tobacco, resulting in much fat, excellent if our prisoners were stalled oxen to be eaten; poor living, bread and water, which has its recommendations also, though it be so much opposed to the material humanity of the age; going to school, so that life if possible may be made to recommence; very good also, if life would recommence; corporal punishment, flogging of the body, horrible to think of, impossible to be looked at; spirit punishment, flogging of the soul, best of all if one could get at the soul so as to do it effectually.
All these schemes are being tried; and as I believe that they are tried with an honest intent to arrive at that which is best, so also do I believe that we shall in time achieve that which is, if not heavenly best, at any rate terrestrially good;—shall at least get rid certainly of all that is hellishly bad. At present, however, we are still groping somewhat uncertainly. Let us try for a moment to see what the Bermuda groping has done.
I do not in the least doubt that the intention here also has been good; the intention, that is, of those who have been responsible for the management of the establishment. But I do not think that the results have been happy.
At Bermuda there are in round numbers fifteen hundred convicts. As this establishment is one of penal servitude, of course it is to be presumed that those sent there are either hardened thieves, whose lives have been used to crime, or those who have committed heavy offences under the impulse of strong temptation. In dealing79 with such men I think we have three things to do. Firstly, to rid ourselves of them from amongst us, as we do of other nuisances. This we should do by hanging them; this we did do when we sent them to Botany Bay; this we certainly do when we send them to Bermuda. But this, I would say, is the lightest of the three duties. The second is with reference to the men themselves; to divest80 them, if by any means it may be possible, of their roguery; to divest them even of a little of their roguery, if so much as that can be done; to teach them that trite81 lesson, of honesty being the best policy,—so hard for men to learn when honesty has been, as it were, for many years past out of their sight, and even beyond their understanding. This is very important, but even this is not the most important. The third and most important object is the punishment of these men; their punishment, sharp, hard to bear, heavy to body and mind, disagreeable in all ways, to be avoided on account of its odiousness82 by all prudent83 men; their condign84 punishment, so that the world at large may know and see, and clearly acknowledge,—even the uneducated world,—that honesty is the best policy.
That the first object is achieved, I have said. It is achieved as regards those fifteen hundred, and, as far as I know, at a moderate cost. Useful work for such men is to be found at Bermuda. We have dockyards there, and fortifications which cannot be made too strong and weather-tight. At such a place works may be done by convict labour which could not be done otherwise. Whether the labour be economically used is another question; but at any rate the fifteen hundred rogues are disposed of, well out of the way of our pockets and shop windows.
As to the second object, that of divesting85 these rogues of their roguery, the best way of doing that is the question as to which there is at the present moment so much doubt. As to what may be the best way I do not presume to give an opinion; but I do presume to doubt whether the best way has as yet been found at Bermuda. The proofs at any rate were not there. Shortly before my arrival a prisoner had been killed in a row. After that an attempt had been made to murder a warder. And during my stay there one prisoner was deliberately86 murdered by two others after a faction87 fight between a lot of Irish and English, in which the warders were for some minutes quite unable to interfere88. Twenty-four men were carried to the hospital dangerously wounded, as to the life of some of whom the doctor almost despaired. This occurred on a day intervening between two visits which I made to the establishment. Within a month of the same time three men had escaped, of whom two only were retaken; one had got clear away, probably to America. This tells little for the discipline, and very little for the moral training of the men.
There is no wall round the prison. I must explain that the convicts are kept on two islands, those called Boaz and Ireland. At Boaz is the parent establishment, at which live the controller, chaplains, doctors, and head officers. But here is the lesser89 number of prisoners, about six hundred. They live in ordinary prisons. The other nine hundred are kept in two hulks, old men-of-war moored90 by the breakwaters, at the dockyard establishment in Ireland. It was in one of these that the murder was committed. The labour of these nine hundred men is devoted91 to the dockyard works. There is a bridge between the two islands over which runs a public road, and from this road there are ways equally public, as far as the eye goes, to all parts of the prison. A man has only to say that he is going to the chaplain's house, and he may pass all through the prison,—with spirits in his pocket if it so please him. That the prisoners should not be about without warders is no doubt a prison rule; but where everything is done by the prisoners, from the building of stores to the picking of weeds and lighting92 of lamps, how can any moderate number of warders see everything, even if they were inclined? There is nothing to prevent spirits being smuggled93 in after dark through the prison windows. And the men do get rum, and drunkenness is a common offence. Prisoners may work outside prison walls; but I remember no other prison that is not within walls—that looks from open windows on to open roads, as is here the case.
"And who shaves them?" I happened to ask one of the officers. "Oh, every man has his own razor; and they have knives too, though it is not allowed." So these gentlemen who are always ready for faction fights, whose minds are as constantly engaged on the family question of Irish versus94 English, which means Protestant against Catholic, as were those of Father Tom Maguire and Mr. Pope, are as well armed for their encounters as were those reverend gentlemen.
The two murderers will I presume be tried, and if found guilty probably hanged; but the usual punishment for outbreaks of this kind seems to be, or to have been, flogging. A man would get some seventy lashes95; the Governor of the island would go down and see it done; and then the lacerated wretch96 would be locked up in idleness till his back would again admit of his bearing a shirt. "But they'll venture their skin," said the officer; "they don't mind that till it comes." "But do they mind being locked up alone?" I asked. He admitted this, but said that they had only six—I think six—cells, of which two or three were occupied by madmen; they had no other place for lunatics. Solitary confinement is what these men do mind, what they do fear; but here there is not the power of inflicting97 that punishment.
What a piece of work for a man to step down upon;—the amendment98 of the discipline of such a prison as this! Think what the feeling among them will be when knives and razors are again taken from them, when their grog is first stopped, their liberty first controlled. They sleep together, a hundred or more within talking distance, in hammocks slung99 at arm's length from each other, so that one may excite ten, and ten fifty. Is it fair to put warders among such men, so well able to act, so ill able to control their actions?
"It is a sore task," said the controller who had fallen down new upon this bit of work; "it is dreadful to have to add misery100 to those who are already miserable101." It is a very sore task; but at the moment I hardly sympathized with his humanity.
So much for the Bermuda practice of divesting these rogues of their roguery. And now a word as to the third question; the one question most important, as I regard it, of their punishment. Are these men so punished as to deter74 others by the fear of similar treatment? I presume it may be taken for granted that the treatment, such as it is, does become known and the nature of it understood among those at home who are, or might be, on the path towards it.
Among the lower classes, from which these convicts do doubtless mostly come, the goods of life are chiefly reckoned as being food, clothing, warm shelter, and hours of idleness. It may seem harsh to say so thus plainly; but will any philanthropical lover of these lower classes deny the fact? I regard myself as a philanthropical lover of those classes, and as such I assert the fact; nay102, I might go further and say that it is almost the same of some other classes. That many have knowledge of other good things, wife-love and children-love—heart-goods, if I may so call them; knowledge of mind-goods, and soul-goods also, I do not deny. That such knowledge is greatly on the increase I verily believe; but with most among us back and belly103, or rather belly and back, are still supreme104. On belly and back must punishment fall, when sinners such as these are to be punished.
But with us—very often I fear elsewhere, but certainly at that establishment of which we are now speaking—there is no such punishment at all. In scale of dietary among subjects of our Queen, I should say that honest Irish labourers stand the lowest; they eat meat twice a year, potatoes and milk for six months, potatoes without milk for six, and fish occasionally if near the shore. Then come honest English labourers; they generally have cheese, sometimes bacon. Next above them we may probably rank the inhabitants of our workhouses; they have fresh meat perhaps three times a week. Whom shall we name next? Without being anxious to include every shade of English mankind, we may say soldiers, and above them sailors; then, perhaps, ordinary mechanics. There must be many another ascending105 step before we come to the Bermuda convict, but it would be long to name them; but now let us see what the Bermuda convict eats and drinks every day.
He has a pound of meat; he has good meat too, lucky dog, while those wretched Bermudians are tugging106 out their teeth against tough carcasses! He has a pound and three ounces of bread; the amount may be of questionable107 advantage, as he cannot eat it all; but he probably sells it for drink. He has a pound of fresh vegetables; he has tea and sugar; he has a glass of grog—exactly the same amount that a sailor has; and he has an allowance of tobacco-money, with permission to smoke at midday and evening, as he sits at his table or takes his noontide pleasant saunter. So much for belly.
Then as to back, under which I include a man's sinews. The convict begins the day by going to chapel108 at a quarter-past seven: his prayers do not take him long, for the chaplain on the occasion of my visit read small bits out of the Prayer-book here and there, without any reference to church rule or convict-establishment reason. At half-past seven he goes to his work, if it does not happen to rain, in which case he sits till it ceases. He then works till five, with an hour and a half interval109 for his dinner, grog, and tobacco. He then has the evening for his supper and amusements. He thus works for eight hours, barring the rain, whereas in England a day labourer's average is about ten. As to the comparative hardness of their labour there will of course be no doubt. The man who must work for his wages will not get any wages unless he works hard. The convict will at any rate get his wages, and of course spares his sinews.
As to clothes, they have, and should have exactly what is best suited to health. Shoes when worn out are replaced. The straw hat is always decent, and just what one would wish to wear oneself in that climate. The jacket and trousers have the word "Boaz" printed over them in rather ugly type; but one would get used to that. The flannel110 shirts, &c., are all that could be desired.
Their beds are hammocks like those of sailors, only not subject to be swung about by the winds, and not hung quite so closely as those of some sailors. Did any of my readers ever see the beds of an Irish cotters establishment in county Cork111? Ah! or of some English cotter's establishments in Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, and Somersetshire?
The hospital arrangements and attendance are excellent as regards the men's comfort; though the ill-arrangement of the buildings is conspicuous112, and must be conspicuous to all who see them.
And then these men, when they take their departure, have the wages of their labour given to them,—so much as they have not spent either licitly in tobacco, or illicitly113 in extra grog. They will take home with them sixteen pounds, eighteen pounds, or twenty pounds. Such is convict life in Bermuda,—unless a man chance to get murdered in a faction fight.
As to many of the comforts above enumerated114, it will of course be seen that they are right. The clothes, the hospital arrangements, and sanitary115 provision are, and should be, better in a prison than they can, unfortunately, be at present among the poor who are not prisoners. But still they must be reckoned among the advantages which convicted crime enjoy.
It seems to be a cruel task, that of lessening116 the comforts of men who are, at any rate, in truth not to be envied—are to be pitied rather, with such deep, deep pity! But the thing to look to, the one great object, is to diminish the number of those who must be sent to such places. Will such back and belly arrangements as those I have described deter men from sin by the fear of its consequences?
Why should not those felons—for such they all are, I presume, till the term of their punishment be over—why should they sleep after five? why should their diet be more than strong health requires? why should their hours of work be light? Why that drinking of spirits and smoking of tobacco among men whose term of life in that prison should be a term of suffering? Why those long twelve hours of bed and rest, spent in each other's company, with noise, and singing, and jollity? Let them eat together, work together, walk together if you will; but surely at night they should be separated! Faction fights cannot take place unless the fighters have time and opportunity to arrange them.
I cannot but think that there should be great changes in this establishment, and that gradually the punishment, which undoubtedly117 is intended, should be made to fall on the prisoners. "Look at the prisoners' rations!" the soldiers say in Bermuda when they complain of their own; and who can answer them?
I cannot understand why the island governor should have authority in the prison. He from his profession can know little or nothing about prisons, and even for his own work,—or no work, is generally selected either from personal favour or from military motives118, whereas the prison governor is selected, probably with much care, for his specialities in that line. And it must be as easy and as quick for the prison governor to correspond with the Home Office as for the island governor to correspond with the Colonial Office. There has undoubtedly been mischief119 done by the antagonism120 of different authorities. It would seem reasonable that all such establishments should be exclusively under the Home Office.
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entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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6
funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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hoaxing
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| v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的现在分词 ) | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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11
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brayed
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的过去式和过去分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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14
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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15
geologist
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| n.地质学家 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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18
crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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19
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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20
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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22
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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23
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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24
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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29
whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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30
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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31
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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32
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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33
plural
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| n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的 | |
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34
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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35
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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36
geographically
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| adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面 | |
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37
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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38
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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39
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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41
poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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42
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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43
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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44
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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45
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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46
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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47
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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48
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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49
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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50
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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51
solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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52
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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53
muggy
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| adj.闷热的；adv.（天气）闷热而潮湿地；n.（天气）闷热而潮湿 | |
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54
indigenous
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| adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的 | |
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55
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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56
enfranchised
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| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的过去式和过去分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
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57
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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58
creeks
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| n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪 | |
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59
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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60
promontories
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| n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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61
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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62
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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63
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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64
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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65
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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66
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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67
fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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68
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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69
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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70
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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71
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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72
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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73
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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74
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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75
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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76
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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77
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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78
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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79
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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80
divest
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| v.脱去，剥除 | |
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81
trite
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| adj.陈腐的 | |
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82
odiousness
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| n.可憎；讨厌；可恨 | |
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83
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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84
condign
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| adj.应得的，相当的 | |
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85
divesting
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| v.剥夺( divest的现在分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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86
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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87
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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88
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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89
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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90
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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91
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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92
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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93
smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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94
versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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95
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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96
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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97
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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98
amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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99
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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100
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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101
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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102
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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103
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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104
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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105
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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106
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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107
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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108
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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109
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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110
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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111
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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112
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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113
illicitly
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| 违法地，不正地 | |
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114
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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116
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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117
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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118
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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119
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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120
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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