Besides the Sallao and officers' rooms on the first floor,
there is a room set apart for questioning people who are in the
dungeons. This room has an entrance from the street, and another through
a passage from the dungeons, as well as one from the officers' rooms.
The magistrate and his clerk enter from the street, and no one in the
prison sees them. The prisoner is taken up stairs from the dungeon, and
the jailer or book-keeper enters from the officers' apartments. Every
thing is done in the most secret manner. If they cannot cause the
prisoner to commit himself, by confessing to the offence with which he
is charged, they send him back again to the dungeon.
The gaol of St. George's has a second floor tier of offices; but that
belongs to the governor and jailer; there are no prisoners above the
ground and the first floor.
None of the authorities ever inquire whether he has any means of
subsistence; there is neither bed blanket, nor even straw, unless the
prisoner can buy it, and then he must pay the guards to let it pass to
him.
Amongst the many thousands of unfortunate beings who are now confined
in Portugal, great numbers of them are without money or any other means
of subsistence; and were it not for the charity of people in general,
starvation would necessarily ensue.
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