"I found, on my return on board the Jersey, more prisoners than when I
left her; and she being so crowded, they were obliged to send about
200 of us on board the John, a transport-ship of about 300 tons.
"There we were treated worse, if possible, than on board the Jersey,
and our accommodations were infinitely worse, for the Jersey, being an
old, condemned 64 gun ship had two tiers of ports fore and aft,
air-ports, and large hatchways, which gave a pretty free circulation
of air through the ship; whereas the John, being a merchant-ship, and
with small hatchways, and the hatchways being laid down every night,
and no man being allowed to go on deck * * * the effluvia arising from
these, together with the already contaminated air, occasioned by the
breath of so many people so pent up together, was enough to destroy
men of the most healthy and robust constitutions. All the time I was
on board this ship, not a prisoner eat his allowance, bad as it was,
cooked, more than three or four times; but eat it raw as it came out
of the barrel. * * * In the middle of the ship, between decks, was
raised a platform of boards about two and a half feet high, for those
prisoners to sleep on who had no hammocks. On this they used
frequently to sit and play at cards to pass the time. One night in
particular, several of us sat to see them play until about ten
o'clock, and then retired to our hammocks.
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