six o'clock
The new gaol is barely completed , is of pentagonal shape , and has eighteen radiating cells of a pattern approved by some wiseacre in England , who thinks that to prevent a man from seeing his fellowmen is not the way to drive him mad . In the old gaol are twenty-four prisoners , all heavily ironed , awaiting trial by the visiting Commission , from Hobart Town . Some of these poor ruffians , having committed their offences just after the last sitting of the Commission , have already been in gaol upwards of eleven months ! At six o'clock we saw the men mustered . I read prayers before the muster , and was surprised to find that some of the prisoners attended , while some strolled about the yard , whistling , singing , and joking . The muster is a farce . The prisoners are not mustered outside and then marched to their wards , but they rush into the barracks indiscriminately , and place themselves dressed or undressed in their hammocks .