The Sun.
London, England, 1811-10-23 00:00:00

S',4 ATE AA') t itEATAMAT.-

OF
FRENCH PRisotipt(B U VAR AT GILLING-
HAM, N A CALA HAM.

The public will recollect the hensation excited
10tte t;me since by the occurrence of an alarming
spirit of tuutiny, C (,trioailicl 'with nvet,t acts of
.triol,..itce, on board he Sampson prison Siiip at Gil-
, Aloghar», near ham, and by the untortunlite
terra nation -01. that affair in the dealt) of some ()t-
-itre I,r•soners. It Was a duty owing as, well to
the unhappy men wh,nn the fortnne at war has
reducedsto a state of captivity amongst us, as to the
character of our own countrytnee, to make every
ioquii y at the time into all the circonistances..of the
transaction, Alter a' most seruputoos search, for
into,rnation, it appears that the wh(ile of, the fatal
cons quences welch ensued, was to be attributed
solely to the violent and ferocious spirit of insubor-
dination which drove the prisoners to oiteinv, and
• urged tine of them to attempt the life at the Officer
Who had at the time the charge of them. 11 full
and impartial and repeated griVellig4iion of the at.
‘4.a. (I,rected and t arriea on by the express orders
of the B and Atimirally,probaoly at the insiance,
but certainly Conlorarably to the wishes of the Trans-
pert Board.
By one of those ads, the Measures-taken to
repress which led to the mutiny, three French pri
soners contrived a short time since to effect their"
escape into Fiance.- Six of them got out of the
ship by a hole which they,cet through its side.. Ofi
-these, three were retaken, and the others succeeded
in gettingover to Dunkirk. During Etionaparte's„
stay at.Boulogne, a memorial was presented to Witte
by theses tnee, exhibiting the trans:talon in a most
flagitious way, and accusing the British Officers ,of
hastog ordered the :marines to tire upon the French
prisotiers without any other provocation than the an-
noyatice giVen by their cries when confined capri-
cious-I)ra° the hold of the ship. It is ,impossible,
decided as Ins enmity may be to this country, that
Buoaaparte could for a thomedt believe such a state.
mem to be cooed. 'Yet us other representations,
or tatter misrepresentations of a similar character
may possibly, reach him front other quarters, and
our unfortunate countrymen, at present prisoners in
France, may he exposed to unusual severities it such
account* should make any serious impressien upon
his mind, we feel it incumbent upon us to make
public all the particulars which may have at any
time reached us upon the subjeet. •
For the reception of these unfortunate men `ten
old. Kines ships have been prepared in a commo-
dious intone!. They are moored off the village of
Gillingtiarn, and are. situate near to each other.--
The following are the. names of, the ships :—The
Sampson, the Glory, the Crown Prince, the Fyau,
the Bahama; the Buckingham, the Canada, time
.Nassau, the irresistible, ehci the Trusty, which last
prepared as an hospital ship. The of these
vessels are various, some being B.4's, some 74's some
64's, and some' of a smaller
.number of guts.—
Each ship is 'wider the command of a Navy Lieute-
pant and a.Lieutenant of Marines, under whom ate
other officers, some. sailors, and a detachment of rue-
Tines. "l'he prisoners, ott being received on boars,
if required, receive a.complete suit oiclothin4, con-
sisting to a teal, 040, waistcoat, trowsers, 2 shit ts, 2
pair cut stockins and shoes ; wVft:ls, accrirding to the
estabiished regelation, ought; to last, them eighteen
Inortih4. This'allots wee of clothing is similar to
that I; von by the French Government to the 131itish
prkotp is in France. They are Abu each allowed a
hamite ek and bedding. Their provisions, whickt
sue inroislied by contracts, are of excellent quality
end sufficient quantity, being on some days a pound
and a halt of bread, half a pound of. meat and ves
get,ibles; while ,on the ambers they have fish or
shell other ratioll3 as t.t:e pnihted out in a regular
table of diet approved tied directed by the Trans-
port Beard. "To dress their victuals Certain persons
are selec...e,d (tom amoogst themselves, who are
tereished 'with coppers, fuel; and :inch Other culi-
nary oppasatris. as may Ve deernedatecessary.for that
purpose. The prisoners are divided into nieSties of
six euch, and certain officers attend on all occasions
to superintend and enforce a fair distribution of the
rations.

The only duty imposed on the prisoners is that.al
I(erpitie, themselves cleani' of keeping the decks
'whit h they no. upy pure from filth, and of. hi-n. 61111;
their h.oinnocks. on deck, eery inorninglor the
pticoose of having then* aired, in order' to prevent
any ti.he.lso beiilg engendered from the want ..01
c c.totine,,s. On board etuth vessel there is a. large
space, incl,sed with ,wooden rails, called the pound,
which is completely open to the air, and within
which the 1): ,ners .ai& allowed to walk and amuse
themselves during the day. Here too they expose
for saie 'sue!, 'trifles as their ingenuity may enable
thvni to manufacture. At' a 'certain hour in., the
evening; within the discretion of the Commanding
,Olbeer,Oei art; ordered .down to their births, anti
atter being counted retire to •test.. The :hatches
are then fahtertAl down, and on the ensuing morning
tbey are agoin ,tiernuitted to pursue their several 4VO-
-

The number of prisoners on board each vessel
seldom Of never equals the complement of men
w h ell the vessel would carry. weft she commission-
ed aIA employed iu actual service ; there is cone
fluently at all time 3 a sufficient space for slinging
haexiinocks, and no danger of intettion can be in p-
preheadect from the decks being in too cruwded Is
stmt.!,