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44
minutes later, on the ringing of a second bell, the dormitories were
unlocked and the convicts gathered on the muster ground from which they
\'lent in groups of ten to the backyard to wash under the supervision of nn
officer . Fifteen minutes later, on the ringing of a third bell, they all
mus tered again and were carefully inspected;
then prayers were read by the
schoolmaster and several parties were formed and marched off to work until
breakfast time, while others stayed in the camp to clean the dormitories ,
messrooms and other buildings and prepare breakfast .
Medical Officer examined and attended those who were sick.
It was then that the
At five minutes
to eight, a fourth bell assembled all in the yard for breakfast, except
those in working parties at some distance from the camp, in which case they
ate breakfast at work .
On entering the mess room each man hung his cap on
the hook provided, and while all stood up ,grace was said before and after
the meal.
After breakfast all assemb led in the yard again, and , on a fifth
bell, working parties were formed and the men marched off to work .
11.55 a.m. they were recalled for dinner for an hour and then returned to
work again until time for the evening meal .
down for the conduct of the evening.
At
Strict regulations were set
After the evening meal the men
immediately went to their sleeping berths or mustered in the yard
preparatory to going to school .
Those who were not attending schoo l, after
going to their berths , carefu lly placed their boots in front of their berth
and arranged their caps on top of their boots in a neat and orderly fashion ,
Each man sat or lay on his palliasse and was not al lowed to walk about the
ward or engage in conversation with another.
Each ward was provided with
a step ladder to enab le a man who was ab le to read well to read aloud to
his fellows with the aid of the lamp .
religious instructor were passed from ward to ward .
Library books selected by the
Fifteen minutes
before the silence bell rang , those attending school returned to their
wards quietly in order not to disturb the reading still in progress .
the silence bell all the prisoners sat up in their berths and sang the first
and last verses of the evening hymn or psalm chosen by the religious
instructor.
enforced in the wards .
kept burning all night.
From then on for the rest of the night complete silence was
A watchman was on duty in each ward and a lamp was
One constab le and two watchmen guarded the who le
camp, visiting each ward several times each hour , the watch being changed
at midnight .
On Saturday evenings there was no school, the convicts being
expected to repair their clothing .
On
On Sundays the convicts \'lere marched
to Divine Service in the morning and in the afternoon, and in the evening
attended classes in which Scriptures were read by fellow prisoners and
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