They were seldom
provided with more food than was sufficient for the day; and in their
treacherous visitations at night, for the purposes of revenge, the
European might be easily mistaken for, or confounded with, the savage.
But thus it was, to the great evil of the community to which these
unthinking wretches belonged.
The inhabitants of the town of Sydney having been assessed to supply
thatch for the roof of the new gaol, and completed their respective
proportions, the building was enclosed during this month with a strong
and high fence. A building such as this had certainly been long wanted.
It was 80 feet in length; the sides and ends were constructed of strong
logs, a double row of which formed each partition. The whole was divided
into 22 cells, the divisions of which were logs. The floor and the roof
were of the same solid materials, over which was a coat 8 inches deep of
stiff clay, and the roof besides was thatched. Every accommodation for
prisoners was to be found in separate buildings in the prison yard, in
which also was a distinct brick building for debtors, fenced off from the
_felon side_ (to use an Old Bailey distinction) by a strong and high
paling.
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