Royal Hospital Buildings—An Adventure—Taken down with Small-pox—Three Prisoners escape—Re-taken—Severe Sickness—Second Death—Joseph Hatch—Recovery—Kind attention of the Nurses—Samuel Shriggings, the third of the company, died—Attempt to escape.
April 16. Within these hospital wards there are ten grand buildings, three stories high. Each building contains six wards, each ward can accommodate twenty-five patients—so that there is room for fifteen hundred patients, besides attendants.
To-day our food, with our names entered in a book, was sent, which was headed, “Upon such a day a ward was opened for the rebel prisoners;” I scratched out the word rebel and wrote American. When the book was returned, a messenger was sent with sixpence reward for any one who would tell who did it, but he returned no wiser than he came.
17. There are now fifteen of us in this ward, and seven are upon what they call half-diet, (on account of their drawing coals and candles;) so that every other day we draw a half a pound of mutton, a pound of bread, a pound of potatoes, and a pound of greens.
18. To-day there are two more of our company brought on shore, with the itch.
19. I am very unwell; I have a bad pain in my head and back—the symptoms of small-pox—and the doctor ordered me something to take, immediately.
20. I have had six applications for the itch, but am not half cured; and to-day when the doctor came in to see me, he told me I had the small-pox, and ordered the nurse to remove me immediately, into the small-pox ward, which she did. After I got there, I was ordered to strip off all the dirty clothes that I had upon me. I washed myself in warm water, and put on a clean linen shirt, a woollen gown, waistcoat and drawers, and turned into bed with clean sheets.
21. I feel something better, and my pock comes out very fast; but it is the small sort, which is the worst.
Also, last evening three prisoners made their escape from the fifty-sixth ward, which is the same I left yesterday.
22. This morning got up, but my pock has come out exceedingly thick.