It ie a large building, constructed principally of grey brick, and surrounded by glass-capped wall, eighteen feet in height, with watch-towers at the angles. Inside this wall, and immediately surrounding the present buildings, is another wall of the same height. Whenever any con-viers are at work in the space between the two walls armed Indian warders are on daty in the watch-towers.
Two massive iron gates must be unlocked by the warders on duty before the Gaol can be entered. and every gate and door on the premises is kept locked, and only opened to allowed officials or con-viers to enter or leave. Each warder, therefore, carries a jingling bundle of Keys, of which he must give strict account every time he goes off daty. In the office is a special safe for keeping the keys of the prison, and those which are not actually in use always repose here.
The cells for adalt convicts are contained in two large four-storey buildings, and there are four tiers of sixty cells each la both blocks. The upper tiers are surrounded by cement-floored galleries, which prevent the inmates from reaching the windows. Iron netting, just above the top gallery, prevents access to the roof, and there is a rope life-net all round the first floor gallery to prevent scoidenta or frustrate attempts fennide and 8 feet long, and are shut by Thecells are 11 feet high, 5
heavy iron grilles. Originally they were intended to accommodate one prisoner each, bat so many convicts are now sentenced to imprisonment for offences: formerly punished by the bamboo, that it has been found necessary to put. three men into " cell, This arrangement may be tolerable in winter, bot can be neither healthy, nor comfortable jin the hot weather. At the time of the writer's visit no fewer than 761 convices were imprisoned at the Gaol, and that this is a very large number may be gathered from the fact that only seven prisons in England accommodate more ennvicts. So rapid has bea the increase in the number of offenders sentenced to imprisonment by the Mixed Court that extensions are urgently needed, not only to the cell sccommodation, but in other directions, auloss the Manicipal Gaol is to become overcrowded to an impracticable extent.
It is almost unnecessary to state that every building at the Gaol is Kept scrupulously clean, there is a strong odour of pectant, and there is berdly a floor that does not always look as if it bad been well scrabbed a few minutes pre-To the wall watch-towers, locks, workshops, and at every fixed post where a warder may be on daty are electric alarms, by means of which immediate assistance can be obtained in any emergency. The cell gates are secured by massive locks, which can be double-locked by the key 33 of the warder on daty, and at vight are treble-locked by a master-key in the possession of the senior foreign warder. The workshops, in which parties of prisoners are constant-Ly employed making gaol uniforms and leaps, coir matting, basket work fa tare, carved tables and deck chairs, are' in the middle of the Gaol yard, and sre surrounded by an outer gallery, round which " warder marches during labour hours, Behind the workshop is the infirmary, where sick prisoners are carefully te ed, and visited by @ qualified Chinese doctor daily. Behind the infirmary is the Reformatory, a building originally intended for females. The ground floor is used for the confinement of refractory prisoners; youthful offenders live and perform their tasks on the first floor snd the top floor has been converted into labour room for prisoners who are too fold or infirm to do any work more strenuous than that of picking feathers.
The kitchens and bath-house are close to the Reformatory, and will be described in due course, Between the two prison walls is temporary workshop, where carpentering and tin-work are undertaken,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.