the last sentence on p. 137 should read:

“the cachots noirs were never opened except at stated intervals,—once every morning for inspection, and once every thirty days for exercise and a medical examination of the prisoner.” i am glad to be able to state on the authority of the minister of colonies that this terrible punishment has now been made much less severe. every seventh day the prisoner is placed for a day in a light cell; he is also given an hour’s exercise every day; and the maximum sentence has been reduced to two years, subject to the medical veto. in the text i have described what i saw; but this atrocity is now, happily, a thing of the past.—g. g.