224
two wards first mentioned open into a court measuring some 60
feet by 24, at the extreme end of which is another ward open in
front and used as the hospital ; so that, practically, the sleeping
accommodation for the prisoners, whose strength averaged for the
past year 130, is limited when the two wards last described are un-
available to the two other ones with the adjoining court, a small
cook-room situated at one side of it, and the covered space or
verandah, as it may be called, of the ward used as the hospital. In
warm weather, doubtless, the greatest number of the prisoners are
glad to sleep in the open court ; but during the cold season, when this
is deserted, the atmosphere of the densely crowded wards, cook-
room, and hospital, for this also will be packed, must be highly
poisonous, and cannot fail to act most injuriously, especially upon
the patients. There can be no question that the accommodation for
the prisoners should be largely increased, and not one of them, ex-
cept as patients, should be allowed to sleep in the hospital verandah,
which is, in fact, a part of the hospital ; but under existing arrange-
ments, as the two wards and the hospital have the court in common,
there is no means of preventing this. I would recommend that a
new hospital be built, to which the prisoners could not obtain access
as they now do every night, and the present hospital converted into
an additional ward for general use. This measures 25 feet by 24,
and is 15 feet high, and would therefore hold 14 more ; but even
with this addition, unless the greatest number of the prisoners slept
all the year round in the open court, the accommodation would still
be totally insufficient for the average strength.
49. In commenting upon the principal jails in the province, the
one situated on the Narra must not be overlooked. This one is
quite exceptional in its character, both as regards the entire absence
of any building, and the prisoners being all engaged in out-door
work. The nature of the operations in which the men are en-
gaged, that of digging canals and erecting bunds, necessitate their
being moved about in the Narra District. The accommodation re-
quired. for them therefore is of a temporary description, and consists
of pendals rudely constructed of jungle timber and covered with reeds
and coarse tatties. Although the climate of these districts is charac-
terized by extreme severity, being in the hot season intensely hot, the
thermometer indicating often 120° in the shade, and in the winter
months frequently sinking below the freezing point, yet the accom-
modation thus provided seems to be sufficiently good for the class of
prisoners who make use of it, seeing these are chiefly from the agricul
- t u r a l a n d s h e p h e r d t r i b e s , w h o a r e a c c u s t o m e d t o l i v e m u c h i n t h e o p e n
air while tending their cattle and seeking fresh pastures. Their
labour, which is of course entirely out of door, is not severe, but it
is daily and regular ; their food is good, both in respect to quality
and quantity, and contains every constituent that is physiologically
requisite for nourishment . and maintaining the prisoners in good
health. The clothing supplied them is likewise sufficient, and the
material suited to the seasons of the year ; cleanliness and sanitary
arrangements also have not been neglected. Taking into considera-