31. To-day I received the books which myself and another sent out to buy. These are the “Preceptor,” in two volumes; the price of them was twelve shillings. The reason of its being so long after we sent out for them before we received them, was, they could not be bought in Plymouth, and the bookseller had to send to London for them.
April 1. To-day the two soldiers who went off with five officers, on the evening of the 31st of January last, received their punishment; one was shot, the other whipped; they belonged to the Light Infantry in the regiment.
2. Warm, and something pleasant, and the yard begins to be dry again, so that we can return to our former sports; these are ball and quoits, which exercise we make use of to circulate our blood and keep us from things that are worse.
3. This afternoon the agent and his clerk, the steward and doctor, seated themselves opposite the prison door and called over the roll, and ordered us one by one to pass out, and we were examined to see if we had our full compliment of clothing that was given us, and that they were clean and in order.
4. To-day each of us again received sixpence, which was back money, as before mentioned. Also, three of his Majesty’s ships sailed—the Queen, of ninety guns, the Ocean, of ninety guns, both three-deckers, and the Fieutryant, a two-decker of eighty-four guns, which was taken from the French, the last war; we are told that she is the longest ship in the navy.
5. Sunday. It is ten months to-day since I came to prison. One Sunday passes away after another, seemingly disregarded by us, to our shame.
6. We keep house to-day on account of it being wet weather, and the prison yard is very muddy.
7. Mr. Heath, one of our fathers, has been in London, for near a month, and Mr. Sorry is to set out in a few days. To-day the latter came to see us, and we desired him, for the future, to send us a fourpenny white loaf to each mess, per day, in place of a sixpenny one, for we have more provisions than many of us want to eat; and any person can easily conjecture that prisoners in our situation, who have suffered so much for the want of provisions, would abhor such an act as to waste what we have suffered so much the want of.