A correspondent of the French paper _L’Intermédiaire_, the equivalent of our _Notes and Queries_, gives some details. The Portchester Theatricals originated with the prisoners who came from Cabrera and the Isle de Léon. On these awful islands the prisoners played entirely as amateurs, but at Portchester the majority of the actors were salaried; indeed, only three were not. I give a list of the actors in or about the year 1810: 1. _Sociétaires_ (salaried subscribers). Hanin, an employé in the English prison office, with the purely honorary title of Director. Breton, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris Comique. Reverdy, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris père noble. Lafontaine, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris jeune premier. Gruentgentz, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris mère et duègne. Moreau, Captain 2nd Garde de Paris les Colins. Blin de Balue, Sergeant, Marine Artillery les tyrans. Sutat (?), Maréchal des logis jeune première. Wanthies, Captain, 4th Legion soubrette et jeune première. Defacq, fourrier, chasseurs à cheval jeune premier en séconde. Siutor or Pintor, marin jouant les accessoires. Palluel, fourrier, 2nd Garde de Paris bas comique. Carré, soldat, 2nd Garde de Paris machiniste. Montlefort, Marine artificier. 2. _Amateurs._ Gille, fourrier, 1st Legion jeunes premiers. Quantin, fourrier, 1st Legion les ingénues. Iwan, chasseurs à cheval les confidents. The orchestra consisted of four violins, two horns, three clarinets, and one ‘octave’. In the above list both Gille and Quantin wrote memoirs of their stay at Portchester. The former I have quoted. A French writer thus sarcastically speaks of the dramatic efforts of these poor fellows: ‘Those who never have seen the performances of wandering _troupes_ in some obscure village of Normandy or Brittany can hardly form an idea of these prison representations wherein rough sailors with a few rags wrapped about them mouth the intrigues and sentiments of our great poets in the style of the cabaret.’ No doubt the performances on the hulks were poor enough. The wonder to us who know what life was on the hulks is, not that they were poor, but that there was any heart to give them at all. But there is plenty of evidence that the performances in such a prison as Portchester, wherein were assembled many men of education and refinement, were more than good. At any rate, we have seen that they were good enough to attract English audiences to such an extent as to interfere with the success of the local native theatres, and to bring about the exclusion from them of these English audiences. CHAPTER XIII THE PRISONS ASHORE 5. LIVERPOOL