make them share this trouble with us also. Was it not sufficient that they had shared the prison with us? So we began to talk to the Governor on their behalf. We told him, we were prepared to take any kind of food, but the later batches could not do so. He thought over the matter, and said that he would allow them to cook separately, if they put it on the ground of religion, but the articles of food would be the same, it did not rest with him to make any changes in them.
In the meantime, fourteen others had joined us, and some of them elected to starve rather than take mealie pap. So I read the jail rules and found out that applications in such matters should be made to the Director of Prisons. I asked, therefore, the Governor to be permitted to apply to him, and sent a petition accordingly.
We, the undersigned prisoners, beg to state that we are all Asiatics, 18 Indians and 3 Chinese.
The 18 Indians get for their breakfast mealie pap, and the others, rice and ghee; they get beans thrice and "pap" four times. We were given potatoes on Saturdays and greens on Sundays. On religious grounds, we cannot eat meat: some are entirely prohibited from taking it, and others cannot do so because of its not being religiously slaughtered.
The Chinese get maize-corn instead of rice, All the prisoners are mostly used to European food, and they also eat bread and other flour preparations. None of us is used to mealie pap, and some of us suffer from indigestion.
Seven of us have eaten no breakfast at all; only at times, when the Chinese prisoners who got bread, out of mercy, gave them a piece or two out of their rations, have we eaten the same. When this was mentioned to the Governor, he said we were guilty of a jail offence in thus accepting bread,
In our opinion this kind of food is entirely unsuitable to us. So we have to apply that we should be given food according to the rules for European prisoners and mealie pap be left out entirely; or, in the alternative, such food should be given as would support us, and be in consonance with our habits and customs.
This is an urgent matter and a reply be sent by wire.
