The first of the lower five of these dungeons is in the passage leading from, the Salla Livre, and next door to the privy of the prison; so that it is never used as a secret dungeon.  The lower four are enclosed as those above, and are much darker than that in the passage.  This latter is claimed by the book-keeper as his property, and I hired it of him to sleep in, and to be alone when I wished to be so.

The dungeons are all bomb proof, and over them is a terrace thickly formed of brick and stone; still I could distinctly hear the sentry walking over my head when all was quiet at night.

The walls of these cells are about six feet thick, with bars inside and out; the bars in the windows are three inches square, making twelve inches in circumference, and being crossed they form squares of about eight inches; the windows differ very much in size, some not being half so large as others.

Besides these double bars, there is a shutter immensely strong and close, so that when shut, light is totally excluded; the iron door has a strong bolt and lock, and outside of this there is a strong wooden door; in the front of the windows, and about six feet from them, there is a high wall; so that in the best of these dungeons, there is only a reflected light.

These are all the prisons on the ground floor, and when full (which they too often are) the wretched prisoners are forced to lie at night in two rows, with their feet to the wall, and their heads to the middle of the room; this position they adopt on account of the cold and damp of the stone walls; they touch each other, and the floor is completely covered.  Nay, at times, so full is the gaol, that they are obliged to lie on the corridors, and even on the steps.

The Saletta will hold forty prisoners, the Salla Livre more than sixty, the Salla Fechado one hundred, and the Enchovia, near one hundred and forty.  When one prison becomes too full, they remove some of the victims to another, or send them to the forts, or on board the ships in the river.

The first floor is divided into two parts, officers’ rooms, and the Sallao, (saloon or large hall.) This hall will hold about 150 persons, when full.  Besides the Sallao and officers’ rooms on the first floor, there is a room set apart for questioning people who are in the dungeons.  This room has an entrance from the street, and another through a passage from the dungeons, as well as one from the officers’ rooms.

The magistrate and his clerk enter from the street, and no one in the prison sees them.  The prisoner is taken up stairs from the dungeon, and the jailer or book-keeper enters from the officers’ apartments.  Every thing is done in the most secret manner.  If they cannot cause the prisoner to commit himself, by confessing to the offence with which he is charged, they send him back again to the dungeon.

The gaol of St. George’s has a second floor tier of offices; but that belongs to the governor and jailer; there are no prisoners above the ground and the first floor.