They boasted a bishop too amongst the
convicts at Toulon, a merry little fellow, that bore his fate gaily, and
who still contrived to exercise a kind of spiritual supremacy over his
unfortunate comrades.
The ingenuity and hardihood of these men is surprising. Despite the
vigilance, the ramparts, the fetters, and the logs, they escape hourly
and daily;--at what risk is manifest from the regulations, by which
three cannon shots always announce the disappearance of a convict,
serving to warn the peasants, and call them to earn the handsome reward
given to whoever arrests one of the branded fugitives. They are easily
recognised by the halt in one limb; as they are wont to drag after them
that which has been accustomed to the bullet.
The only pursuits that seem to pervade the _bagne_, are those of
_eating_ and _dying_: with the exception of escape, all others are
denied. And those who have given up the latter hope, confine their
thoughts either to bettering their meagre fare of beans, or to getting
rid of existence in the most advantageous way. It is remarkable and
degrading to observe the utmost human ingenuity and industry employed,
in order to procure a dish of potatoes fried in grease once in the week.
Yet such is the luxury of a _forcat_, and he must labour for it harder
than even an Hibernian peasant, or a poet of the same line.
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