The poor fellow held out his hand as we passed him, and said, “Massa, gin poor Abe a piece o’ ’bacca’?” We freely gave him all in our possession.

On the left side, after passing the main iron door, are the jailer’s apartments.  Passing through another iron door, you ascend a narrow, crooked stairs and reach the second story; here are some eight or nine miserable cells-some large and some small-badly ventilated, and entirely destitute of any kind of furniture:  and if they are badly ventilated for summer, they are equally badly provided with means to warm them in winter.  In one of these rooms were nine or ten persons, when we visited it; and such was the morbid stench escaping from it, that we were compelled to put our handkerchiefs to our faces.  This floor is appropriated for such crimes as assault and battery; assault and battery, with intent to kill; refractory seamen; deserters; violating the statutes; suspicion of arson and murder; witnesses; all sorts of crimes, varying from the debtor to the positive murderer, burglar, and felon.  We should have enumerated, among the rest, all stewards, (colored,) whether foreign or domestic, who are committed on that singular charge, “contrary to law.”  And it should have been added, even though cast away upon our “hospitable shores.”  Among all these different shades of criminals, there must be some very bad men.  And we could recount three who were pointed out to us, as very dangerous men, yet were allowed the favor of this floor and its associations.  One was an Irish sailor, who was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment by the United States court, for revolt and a desperate attempt to murder the captain of a ship; the next was a German, a soldier in the United States army, sentenced to one year and eight months’ imprisonment for killing his comrade; and the third was an English sailor, who killed a woman-but as she happened to be of doubtful character, the presiding judge of the sessions sentenced him to a light imprisonment, which the Governor very condescendingly pardoned after a few weeks.

The two former acted as attendants, or deputy jailers; with the exception of turning the key, which privilege the jailer reserved for himself exclusively.  The principle may seem a strange one, that places men confined upon such grave charges in a superior position over prisoners; and may be questionable with regard to the discipline itself.

From this floor, another iron door opened, and a winding passage led into the third and upper story, where a third iron door opened into a vestibule, on the right and left of which were grated doors secured with heavy bolts and bars.  These opened into narrow portals with dark, gloomy cells on each side.  In the floor of each of these cells was a large iron ring-bolt, doubtless intended to chain refractory prisoners to; but we were informed that such prisoners were kept in close stone cells, in the yard, which were commonly occupied by negroes and those condemned