342 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

were, were frequently not given to the prisoners in time to be boiled on the same day, thus obliging them often to fast for another twentyfour hours, or to consume it raw, as they sometimes did. The cooking was done “under the forecastle, or, as it was usually called, the Galley, in a boiler or ‘great copper,’ which was enclosed in brickwork, about eight feet square. This copper was large enough to contain two or three hogsheads of water. It was made in a square form, and divided into two separate compartments by a partition. In one side of the copper, the peas and oatmeal for the prisoners were boiled, which was done in fresh water; in the other side, the meat was boiled. This side of the boiler was filled with the salt water from alongside of the ship, by which means the copper became soon corroded, and consequently poisonous, the fatal consequences of which are obvious.1 After the daily rations had been furnished to the different messes, the portion of each mess was designated by a tally, fastened to it by a string. Being thus prepared, every ear was anxiously waiting for the summons of the cook’s bell. As soon as this was heard to sound, the persons having charge of the different portions of food thronged to the galley; and in a few minutes after, hundreds of talleys were seen hanging over the sides of the brick-work by their respective strings, each eagerly watched by some individual of the mess, who always waited to receive it.” Whether cooked or not, the food must be immediately taken from the boiler when the cook’s bell again rang out the warning note, and each mess then received its measured portions of peas and oatmeal.2 Some, more careful than others, and fearful of

Americans, to escape starvation. If the Hessians at this time received bread which the hogs refused, what may be supposed to have been the quality of that given to the prisoners?”—Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, in Star, Dec. 12, 1836.

1 This is corroborated by Fox, who says: “The inside of the copper had become corroded to such a degree that it was lined with a cost of verdigris,” and that the effects of this was evident “in the cadaverous countenances of those emaciated beings who had remained on board for any length of time.” He also says: “The Jersey, from her size, and lying near the shore, was embedded in the mud; and I do not recollect seeIng her afloat during the whole time I was a prisoner. All the filth which accumulated among upwards of a thousand men, were daily thrown overboard, and would remain there until carried away by the tide. The impurity of the water may be easily conceived, and in this water our meat was boiled.”

2 Sterburne (111) says: “The beef was all put into a large copper, perhaps five feet square and four feet deep. The beef would fill the copper within a few inches of the