King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 Part 13

On the afternoon of this winter's day two small sailing craft had been noticed by the Preventive sh.o.r.e officers to be tacking about near the land, but did not appear to be engaged in fis.h.i.+ng. It was therefore reasonably supposed they were about to run some contraband ash.o.r.e after dark. A Mr. Samuel Stagg and a Mr. Joseph Pratt, stationed at Sidmouth in the Preventive service, were all the time keeping a smart look-out on these boats, and somewhere about five o'clock in the evening launched their oared-cutter and rowed off towards them. After a chase they came alongside the first, which was named the _Nimble_, and boarded her. They found therein three men consisting of John Newton, John Bartlett, and Thomas Westlake; but as they searched her and found no trace of any casks or packages of tobacco, the Preventive men left her to row after the other craft. It was now, of course, quite dark, and there was blowing a nice sailing breeze. Scarcely had they started to row away before the _Nimble_ hoisted sail and by means of flint and steel began to make fire-signals, and kept on so doing for the next half hour. This was, of course, a signal for the second boat, and as soon as the latter observed these signs she also made sail and hurried away into the darkness of the bay. It was impossible for the officers to get up to her, for they would stand every chance of losing themselves in the vast expanse of West Bay, and the craft might take it into her head to run down Channel perhaps into Cornwall or eastwards round to Portland, where goods often were landed. Therefore deeming one craft in arrest to be worth two sailing about in West Bay, they went back and seized the _Nimble_. The three men, whose names we have given, were taken ash.o.r.e, tried, and found guilty. But as ill.u.s.trative of the times it is worth noting that John Bartlett had before this occurrence actually been engaged for some time as one of the crew of that Revenue cutter about which we spoke some time back in this very bay. And so, now, "for having on the high seas, within six miles of the coast, made a certain light on board a boat for the purpose of giving a signal to a certain person or persons," he was, in company with his two colleagues, condemned.

That the age of lawless mobs was by no means past, may be seen from the incident which now follows. It had been thought that the Act which had been pa.s.sed, forbidding any boat built to row with more than four oars, would have put a considerable check to activities of the smugglers. But these boats not only continued to be built, but also to be navigated and used for the contraband purposes. The Revenue officers of the district of Christchurch, Hants, had reason in April of 1821 to believe that a boat was being constructed in their neighbourhood of such dimensions and capable of being rowed with such a number of oars as made her liable to seizure. Therefore, taking with them a couple of dragoons, two of these Revenue officers proceeded on their way to the district near Milton, which is, roughly speaking, the centre of that bay which is bounded on one side by Christchurch Head, and on the other by Hurst Point. They had not arrived long at their destination before it was found that about thirty men had concealed themselves in an adjoining wood. The officers had found the boat they were looking for in a meadow, and were about to seize it.

It was found to be covered over with sails, having been hidden in the meadow for safety's sake, for since it was made to row seven aside it was clearly liable to forfeiture. One of the two officers now went off to fetch a.s.sistance, and whilst he was away two of the smugglers came forth and fraternising with the two dragoons, offered them some brandy which they drank. In a short while both soldiers had taken such a quant.i.ty of the spirits that they became utterly intoxicated and helpless. One of the two smugglers then gave a whistle, and about thirty men issued forth from the wood, some of them in various forms of disguise. One had a deer's skin over his face, others had their faces and hands coloured with blue clay and other means. These men angrily demanded from the solitary officer the sails which he had removed from the boat, but their requests were met by refusal. The mob then seized hold of the sails, and a tussle followed, whereupon the officer threatened to shoot them. He managed to retain hold of one sail, while the mob held the other and took it away.

About three o'clock in the afternoon the other officer returned with the Lymington Preventive officer, two Custom House men, and three dragoons. They found the intoxicated soldiers, one of whom was lying prostrate on the field, while the other was ludicrously and vainly endeavouring to mount his horse. The seven men now united, and got a rope by which they began to remove the boat from its hiding-place, when a great many more people came on to the scene in great indignation. As many as fifty, at least, were now a.s.sembled, and threats and oaths were bandied about. During this excitement some of the crowd cut the rope, while a man named Thomas Vye jumped into the boat, and rather than see her fall into the hands of the enemy, endeavoured to stave her in.

The remainder of the story is but brief. For, at last, the seven men succeeded in pulling the boat away in spite of all the crowd's efforts, and dragged it even across a couple of fields, where there was a road. Here a conveyance was waiting ready, and thus the boat was taken away, and at a later date Vye was duly prosecuted by the Crown for his share in the proceedings.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] "Gays" was evidently trade slang to denote bandanna silk handkerchiefs, which were frequently smuggled, and some of which were found on board.

CHAPTER XVI

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

By an Order in Council of May 5, 1821, it was directed that henceforth all sums which were awarded for arrests on sh.o.r.e of any person concerned in smuggling should be paid in the following proportions. He who made the arrest was to have three-quarters of the reward, which was to be divided into equal proportions if there were more than one person. If there were any officer or officers present at the time of arrest, these were to have one quarter of the reward. The officer commanding the party was to have two shares, each of the other officers having one share. The reward payable for a smuggler convicted and transferred to the Navy amounted to 20. And here let it be added that the persons liable to arrest in regard to smuggling were: (1) Those found on smuggling vessels; (2) Those found unloading or a.s.sisting to unload such craft; (3) Those found to be carrying away the landed goods or concerned in hiding the same. But before conviction it was essential to prove that the seized spirits were foreign; that the vessel had come from foreign parts; that the party who detained the smugglers was a Customs Officer; and that the offenders were taken before a proper magistrate.

We now come to the year 1821, when the Commissioners of Inquiry made an important report touching the Revenue service. They suggested that the Riding Officers were not valuable in proportion to their cost, and so it came about that the Inspectors and superior officers, as well as a large number of the inferior cla.s.ses, were dispensed with, but a small percentage of the lowest cla.s.s was retained as a Preventive Mounted Guard, the annual cost of this being only the modest sum of 5000. This Preventive Guard was to be employed in watching for any gatherings of smugglers, and whenever any goods might be landed and carried up into the country, they were to be followed up by the members of this guard. They were also to maintain a communication between the different stations.

Up to the year 1821, from those early days of the seventeenth century and earlier, the Revenue cruisers were the most important of all the means employed for suppressing smuggling. But the same inquiry which had made its recommendations regarding the Riding Officers also reported that the efficacy of the vessels employed in protecting the Revenue was not proportionate to the expense incurred in their maintenance. They advised, therefore, that their numbers should be reduced, and that whereas they had in 1816 come under the care of the Admiralty, they should now be restored to the control of the Customs.

But the officers and crews of these cruisers were still to be selected by the Admiralty. And thus in the year 1822 these recommendations were carried into effect, and a new order inaugurated.

It was by a Treasury Minute of February 15, 1822, that it was directed that the whole of the force employed for the prevention of smuggling "on the coast of this kingdom," was to be consolidated and transferred, and placed under the direction of the Customs Board. This force was to consist of the cruisers, Preventive Water-guard, and Riding Officers. And henceforth the commanders of cruisers were to receive their orders from the Controller-General of the Coastguard, who was to be responsible to the Board of Customs. The one exception to this change was that the Coast Blockade on the coast of Kent and Suss.e.x, which had shown itself so satisfactory that it was left unaltered. The Preventive Water-guard became the Coastguard, and this--rather than the cruisers--should form the chief force for prevention of smuggling, the Riding Officers, or Preventive Mounted Guard, being merely auxiliary by land, and the cruisers merely auxiliary by sea. To what extent the number of cruisers were reduced can be estimated by stating that whereas there were forty-seven of these Revenue craft employed in England in 1821, there were only thirty-three two years later, these consisting of the _Mermaid_, _Stag_, _Badger_, _Ranger_, _Sylvia_, _Scout_, _Fox_, _Lively_, _Hawk_, _Cameleon_, _Hound_, _Rose_, _Scourge_, _Repulse_, _Eagle_, _Tartar_, _Adder_, _Lion_, _Dove_, _Lapwing_, _Greyhound_, _Swallow_, _Active_, _Harpy_, _Royal George_, _Fancy_, _Cheerful_, _Newcharter_, _Fly_, _Seaflower_, _Nimble_, _Sprightly_, _Dolphin_.

The first-cla.s.s cruisers were of 140 tons and upwards, the second cla.s.s of from 100 to 140 tons, and the third cla.s.s were under 100 tons. In 1824 the cruisers on the Irish coast and the Scotch coast were also transferred to the Customs Board, and from that date the entire Coastguard service, with the exception of the Coast Blockade, was directed, as stated, by the Controller-General.

In the year 1829, the instructions were issued to the Coastguard.

Afloat, these applied to the commanders, mates, gunners, stewards, carpenters, mariners, and boys of the cruisers. Ash.o.r.e, they were applicable to the Chief Officers, Chief Boatmen, Mounted Guard, Commissioned Boatmen, and Boatmen, both sections being under their respective commanders. Each member of the Mounted Guard was provided with a good horse and sword, with an iron scabbard of the Light Cavalry pattern, as well as a couple of pistols and ammunition. The cruiser commanders were again enjoined to keep the sea in bad weather and at night, nor were they permitted to come to harbour except when really necessary.

In 1831 came the next change, when the Coastguard took the place of the Coast Blockade, which had done excellent duty for so many years in Kent and Suss.e.x. The aim was to make the Coastguard service national rather than departmental. To promote the greatest efficiency it was become naval rather than civil. It was to be for the benefit of the country as a nation, than for the protecting merely of its revenues.

Thus there was a kind of somersault performed; and the whole of the original idea capsized. Whereas the Preventive service had been inst.i.tuted for the benefit of the Customs, and then, as an after-thought, became employed for protection against the enemy across the Channel, so now it was to be exactly the other way on. The Revenue was to be subservient to the greater and national factor.

In this same 1831, the number of cruisers had risen to thirty-five in England, but many of them had tenders. There were altogether twenty-one of these latter and smaller craft, their tonnage varying from twenty-five to sixty. And the next year the Mounted Guard was reorganised and the Riding Officers disappeared. With the cordon of cruisers afloat, and the more efficient Coastguard service ash.o.r.e, there was a double belt round our coasts, which could be relied upon both for national and Revenue services. By this time, too, steam was invading the domain of the s.h.i.+p, and in 1839, besides the old-fas.h.i.+oned sailing cutters and tenders, there was a steamer named the _Vulcan_, of 200 tons, taken into the service, her duty being to cruise about and search for suspicious vessels. In some parts of the country, also, there was a.s.sistance still rendered by the Mounted Guard for watching the roads leading inland from the beach to prevent goods being brought up.

With this increased efficiency it was but natural that a change should come over the character of the smuggling. Force was fast going out of date. Except for a number of rather startling occasions, but on the whole of exceptional occurrence, violence had gone out of fas.h.i.+on. But because of the increased vigilance along the coast the smuggler was hard put to devise new methods of running his goods into the country without being surprised by the officials. Most, if not all, of the old syndicates of French and Englishmen, who made smuggling a roaring trade, had died out. The armed cutters had long since given way to the luggers as the smuggling craft. Stealth had taken the place of violence, concealments and sunken goods were favoured rather than those daring and outrageous incursions which had been in the past wont to take place.

And yet, just as a long-standing illness cannot be cured at once, but keeps recurring, so there were periods when the smuggling disease kept breaking out and seemed to get worse. Such a period was that between 1825 and 1843, but it was pointed out to the Treasury that so long as the high duties continued, "Your Lords.h.i.+ps must look only to the efficiency of the Coastguard for the continued absence of successful enterprises, and that smuggling would immediately revive upon the slightest symptom of relaxation on the part of the Commissioners of Customs." The service was therefore glad to encourage Naval Lieutenants to serve as Chief Officers of the Coastguard.

Among the general instructions issued to the Coastguard of the United Kingdom in 1841, were definite orders to the commanders of cruisers.

Thus, if ever a cruiser ran aground the commander was to report it, with full particulars of the case and extent of damage. During the summer season the Inspecting Commanders were to take opportunities for trying the comparative speeds of these cruisers. Whenever cruisers should meet at sea, in any roadstead or in any harbour, they were to hoist their ensigns and pendants as an acknowledgment that each had seen the other; and when both had thus hoisted their colours they might immediately be hauled down. This was also to be done when one cruiser should pa.s.s another at anchor.

Cruisers were again reminded that they were to wear only the ensigns and pendants appointed for the Revenue service, and not such as are used in the Royal Navy. Nor were salutes to be fired by cruisers except on particular and extraordinary occasions. It was further ordered that no alteration was to be made in the hull, masts, yards, sails, or any fitments of the cruisers, without the sanction of the Controller-General. To prevent unnecessary expense on fitting out or refitting of any of the cruisers, the use of leather was to be restricted to the following: the leathering of the main pendants, runners in the wake of the boats when in tackles, the collar of the mainstay, the nip of the main-sheet block strops, leathering the bowsprint traveller, the spanshackle for the bowsprit, topmast iron, the four reef-earings three feet from the knot. All old copper, copper-sheathing, nails, lead, iron and other old materials which were of any value, were to be collected and allowed for by the tradesmen who perform the repairs. New sails were to be tried as soon as received in order to ascertain their fitness. Both boats and cruisers were also to be painted twice a year, above the water-line, this to be done by the crews themselves.

A general pilot was allowed for two months when a cruiser arrived on a new station, and an occasional pilot was permissible in cases of necessity, but only licensed pilots were to be employed. General pilots were paid 6s. a day as well as the usual rations of provisions.

The cruisers were provided with charts of the coast off which they were employed. Naval officers holding appointments as Inspecting Commanders of cruisers, Chief Officers of stations and Mates of cruisers were ordered to wear the greatcoat established by any Admiralty regulation in force for the time being, with epaulettes, cap, and side-arms, according to their ranks. Commanders of cruisers, if not naval officers, were to wear a blue lappel-coat, b.u.t.toned back with nine Coastguard uniform b.u.t.tons and notched b.u.t.ton-holes, plain blue stand-up collar with gold lace loop and b.u.t.ton on each side thereof--the loop to be five inches long, and the lace three-quarters of an inch in breadth. There were also to be three b.u.t.tons and notched b.u.t.ton-holes on each cuff and pocket, as well as three b.u.t.tons in the folds of each skirt.

The waistcoat was to be white or blue kerseymere, with uniform b.u.t.tons, white or blue pantaloons or trousers, with boots, a blue cloth cap similar in shape to those worn in the Royal Navy, with two bands of gold lace three-quarters of an inch broad, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the headpiece. The sword was to have a plain lace knot and fringe ta.s.sel, with a black leather belt. White trousers were worn on all occasions of inspection and other special occasions between April 23 and October 14. Blue trousers were to be worn for the other months.

In 1849 the Select Committee on the Board of Customs expressed the opinion that the number of cruisers might be reduced, and the Landguard practically abolished; but it was deemed advisable that these protections being removed, the coastline of defence ought to be strengthened by securing the services of Naval Lieutenants who had retired from the Navy on half-pay. So the number of cruisers and tenders which in 1844 had reached seventy-six, and in 1849 were fifty-two, had now sunk to fifty in the year 1850. In 1854, on the outbreak of war with Russia, 3000 men were drafted into the Navy from the Coastguard, their places being filled by pensioners. During the war considerable service was also rendered by the Revenue cruisers, by capturing the Russian s.h.i.+ps in the Northern Seas, for we must recollect that, just as in the wars with France, there were two centres to be dealt with, viz., in the north and south. The war with Russia, as regards the sea service, was prosecuted both in the Narrow Seas and in the Black Sea, and the Russian trade was badly cut up. As many as eleven Russian s.h.i.+ps were captured by means of these British cutters, and no less than eight of these prizes were condemned. The fact is worthy of being borne in mind when considering the history of these craft which have long since pa.s.sed from performing active service.

The next modification came in 1856, when it was resolved to transfer the control of the Coastguard to the Admiralty; for in spite of the great change which had been brought about in 1831, all the Coastguard officers and men while being appointed by the Admiralty, were none the less controlled by the Customs. However, this condition was now altered, but in the teeth of opposition on the part of the Customs, who represented to the Treasury that considerable inconvenience would result from this innovation. But on the 1st of October 1856, the control of the Coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty, as it had been foreshadowed. And with that we see practically the last stage in the important development which had been going on for some years past.

It was practically the finale of the tendency towards making the service naval rather than civil.

For the moment, I am seeking to put the reader in possession of a general idea of the administrative features of the service, which is our subject, during the period between 1822-1856. At the last-mentioned date our period devoted to cutters and smugglers practically ends. But before proceeding to deal with the actual incidents and exciting adventures embraced by this period, it may be convenient just to mention that these changes were followed in 1869, when the services of civilians employed in any capacity in the Coastguard were altogether dispensed with, and since then the general basis of the Coastguard development has been for the better defence of our coasts, so as to be vigilant against any disembarkation by a foreign power, at the same time providing to a certain extent for the manning of the s.h.i.+ps of the Royal Navy when required. Thus, the old organisation, with which the Customs Board was so closely and for so long a time connected, changed its character when its sphere became national rather than particular. Its duty henceforth was primarily for the protection of the country than for the prevention of smuggling.

But between 1822--when the Admiralty yielded up their responsibilities to the Customs Board--and the year 1856, when again the control was returned to the Admiralty, no material alterations were made in the methods of preventing smuggling, the most important event during that period--apart altogether from the actual smuggling incidents--was the change which had been brought about in 1831.

During the different reigns and centuries in which the smuggling evil had been at work, all sorts of anti-smuggling acts had been pa.s.sed. We can well understand that a certain amount of hasty, panic-driven legislation had from time to time been created according to the sudden increase of contraband running. But all these laws had become so numerous, and their acc.u.mulation had made matters so intricate, that the time had come for some process of unravelling, straightening out, and summarising. The systematising and clarification were affected by the Act of January 5, 1826 (6 Geo. IV. cap. 108). And one of the most important features of this was to the effect that any vessel belonging wholly or in part to his Majesty's subjects, found within four leagues of the coast of the United Kingdom, with prohibited goods on board, and not proceeding on her voyage, was to be forfeited. Any vessel or boat, not square-rigged, belonging wholly or in part to his Majesty's subjects, and found in the British (as it was then frequently designated) Channel or Irish Channel, or elsewhere within 100 leagues of the coast, with spirits or tobacco in casks or packages of less size than 40 gallons; or tea, tobacco, or snuff, in any package containing less than 450 lbs. in weight--this craft was to be forfeited. And vessels (not square-rigged), if found unlicensed, were also to be forfeited. But whale-boats, fis.h.i.+ng-boats, pilot's boats, purely inland boats, and boats belonging to square-rigged s.h.i.+ps were exempt.

But, of course, smuggling was still very far from being dead, and the Revenue cruisers had always to be on the alert. Some idea of the sphere of activity belonging to these may be gathered from the following list of cruiser stations existing in the early 'twenties.

The English cruiser stations consisted of: Deptford, Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Cowes, Weymouth, Exmouth, Plymouth, Fowey, Falmouth, Penzance, Milford, Berwick, Grimsby, Boston, North Yarmouth, Harwich, Gravesend, Dover, Poole, Brixham, Ilfracombe, Douglas (Isle of Man), Alderney, Dover, Seaford, Dartmouth, Holyhead, Southend (in the port of Leigh). In Scotland there were: Leith, Montrose, Stranraer, Stornoway, Aberdeen, Cromarty, Campbeltown, Greenock. In Ireland there were: Kingstown, Larne, Killibegs, Westport, Galway, Cork, and Dunmore East.

It was to such places as the above that the cruisers repaired for their provisions. When smugglers had been captured and taken on board these cruisers they were allowed not to fare as well as the crew, but to have only two-thirds of the victuals permitted to the mariners. In 1825 additional instructions were issued relating to the victualling of his Majesty's Revenue Cruisers, and in future every man per diem was to have:--

One pound of biscuit, 1/3 of a pint of rum (wine measure), until the establishment of the imperial measure, when 1/4 of a pint was to be allowed, the imperial gallon being one-fifth greater than the wine gallon. Each man was also to have 1 lb. beef, 1/2 lb. flour, or in lieu thereof 1/2 pint of oatmeal, 1/4 lb. suet, or 1-1/2 oz. of sugar or 1/4 oz. of tea, also 1 lb. of cabbage or 2 oz. of Scotch barley.

They were to be provided with pure West India rum, of at least twelve months old. Further regulations were also taken as to the nature of the men's grog. "As it is considered extremely prejudicial to the health of the crew to suffer the allowance of spirits to be drank raw, the Commanders are to cause the same to be served out to them mixed with water, in the proportion of three parts water and one part spirits, to be so mixed and served out in presence of one of the mates, the boatswain, gunner, or carpenter, and one or two of the mariners."

Smugglers detained on board were not to have spirits. Before proceeding to sea each cruiser was to have on board not less than two months' supply of salt beef, spirits; suet or sugar and tea in lieu, as well as Scotch barley. With reference to the other articles of food, they were to carry as large a proportion as could be stowed away, with the exception of fresh beef and cabbages. But two years prior to this, that is to say on April 5, 1823, the Board of Customs had reduced the victualling allowances, so that Commander and mates and superintendents of Quarantine received 2s. 6d. a day each; mariners 1s. 3d.; and mariners of lazarettes (hospitals 1s. for quarantine) 1s. 3d. a day.

As to the methods of the smugglers, these continued to become more and more ingenious, though there was a good deal of repet.i.tion of successful tricks until the Revenue officers had learnt these secrets, when some other device had to be thought out and employed. Take the case of a craft called the _Wig Box_, belonging to John Punnett. She was seized at Folkestone in the spring of 1822 by a mids.h.i.+pman of the Coast Blockade. There were found on her six gallons of spirits, which were concealed in the following most ingenious manner. She was quite a small vessel, but her three oars, her two masts, her bowsprit, and her b.u.mpkin, had all been made hollow. Inside these hollows tin tubes had been fitted to contain the above spirits, and there can be little doubt but that a good many other small craft had successfully employed these means until the day when the _Wig Box_ had the misfortune to be found out. There is still preserved in the London Custom House a hollow wooden fend-off which was slung when a s.h.i.+p was alongside a quay. No one for a long time ever thought of suspecting that this innocent-looking article could be full of tobacco, lying as it was under the very eyes of the Customs officers of the port. And in 1820 three other boats were seized in one port alone, having concealed prohibited goods in a square foremast and outrigger, each spar being hollowed out from head to foot and the ends afterwards neatly plugged and painted. Another boat was seized and brought into Dover with hollow yards to her lugsails, and a hollow keel composed of tin but painted to look like wood, capable of holding large quant.i.ties of spirits.

But there was a very notorious vessel named the _Asp_, belonging to Rye, her master's name being John Clark, her size being just under 24 tons. In 1822 she was seized and found to have a false bow, access to which was by means of two scuttles, one on each side of the stem.

These scuttles were fitted with bed-screws fixed through false timbers into the real timbers, and covered with pieces of cork resembling treenails. The concealment afforded s.p.a.ce for no fewer than fifty flat tubs besides dry goods. But in 1824 another vessel of the same name and port, described as a smack, was also arrested at Rye, and found to have both tobacco and silk goods concealed. This was effected by means of a false bottom to the s.h.i.+p, which extended as far aft as the ballast bulkhead. The entrance to the concealment was by means of a couple of scuttles on each side of her false keelson, these scuttles being screwed down in such a manner as also to be imperceptible. Also on either side of her cabin there were other hiding-places underneath the berths, and so constructed that they deceived more than one Revenue officer who came aboard to rummage her. The latter had bored holes through the lining, so as to try the distance of that lining from the supposed side of the vessel. Finding this distance not to exceed the fair allowance for the vessel's scuttling, the officers had gone ash.o.r.e quite satisfied. From the number of gimlet-holes in the lining it was clear that the officers had been imposed upon considerably. But what these officers had taken for the side of the s.h.i.+p was only an intermediary planking, the actual concealment being between that and the vessel's side.

To get to the entrance of these concealments, the bedding had to be taken out, which they had no doubt omitted to do. But if they had done this they would have been able properly to get to the lining, when two small pieces of wood about an inch square let into the plank made themselves apparent. And these, if removed with the point of a knife or chisel, brought small pieces of cork (circular in shape) to become visible. As soon as these corks were removed, the heads of bed-screws were observable, and these being unscrewed allowed two boards running the whole lengths of the berths to be taken up, by which means were revealed the concealments capable of containing a considerable quant.i.ty of dry goods.

Somewhat reminiscent of this s.h.i.+p was the French vessel, _St.

Antoine_, which was seized at Sh.o.r.eham. She had come from Dieppe, and her master was named A. Fache. The after part of her cabin was fitted with two cupboards which had shelves that took down, the back of which was supposed to be the lining of the transom. But on taking the same up, timbers showed themselves. On examining the planks closely, it was noticed that they overlapped each other, the timbers being made to act as fastenings. On striking the lower end of the false timbers on one side, it moved round on a bolt, and one plank with a timber was made to s.h.i.+ft on each side of the false stern-post, forming a stern-frame with the other. Below the cupboards down to the run of the vessel the same principle was followed. The entrance to this was by taking down the seats and lockers in the cabin, and a false stern-post appeared to be fastened with a forelock and ring, but by unfastening the same, the false stern-post and middle plank could be taken down.

Two ingenious instances of the sinking of contraband goods were found out about the year 1823, and both occurred within that notorious south-east corner of England. The first of these belongs to Sandwich, where three half-ankers of foreign spirits were seized floating, being hidden in a sack, a bag of s.h.i.+ngle weighing 30 lbs. being used to act as a sinker. Attached to the sack were an inflated bladder and about three fathoms of twine, together with a small bunch of feathers to act as a buoy to mark the spot. When this arrangement was put into use it was found that the bladder kept the sack floating one foot below the surface of the water. The feathers were to mark the spot where the sack, on being thrown overboard, might bring up in case any accident had occurred to the bladder. At spring tides the rush of the water over the Sandwich flats causes a good deal of froth which floats on the surface. The reader must often have observed such an instance on many occasions by the sea. The exact colour is a kind of dirty yellow, and this colour being practically identical with that of the bladder, it would be next to impossible to tell the difference between froth and bladder at any distance, and certainly no officer of the Revenue would look for such things unless he had definite knowledge beforehand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Sandwich Device.

In the sack were three half-ankers. A bag of s.h.i.+ngle acted as sinker, and the bladder kept the sack floating.]

The second occurrence took place at Rye. A seizure was made of twelve tubs of spirits which had been sunk by affixing to the head of each a circular piece of sheet lead which just fitted into the brim of the cask, and was there kept in its place by four nails. The weight of the lead was 9 lbs., and the tubs, being lashed longitudinally together, rolled in a tideway unfettered, being anch.o.r.ed by the usual lines and heavy stones. The leads sank the casks to the bottom in 2-1/2 fathoms of water, but at that depth they in specific gravity so nearly approximated to their equal bulk of fluid displaced that they could scarcely be felt on the finger. The leads were cast in moulds to the size required, and could be repeatedly used for the same purpose, and it was thought that the smuggling vessels, after coming across the Channel and depositing their cargoes, would on a later voyage be given back these pieces of lead to be affixed to other casks.

A clinker-built boat of about 26 tons burthen named the _St.

Francois_, the master of which was named Jean Baptiste La Motte, of and from Gravelines, crossed the North Sea and pa.s.sed through the Forth and Clyde Ca.n.a.l in the year 1823 to Glasgow. Nominally she had a cargo of apples and walnuts, her crew consisting of six men besides the master. She was able to land part of her cargo of "apples" at Whitby and the rest at Glasgow, and afterwards, repa.s.sing safely through the ca.n.a.l again, returned to Gravelines. But some time after her departure from Scotland it was discovered that she had brought no fruit at all, but that what appeared to be apples were so many portions of lace made up into small boxes of the size of apples and ingeniously painted to resemble that fruit.

As showing that, even as late as the year 1824, the last of the armed cutters had not been yet seen, we may call attention to the information which was sent to the London Custom House through the Dublin Customs. The news was to the effect that in February of that year there was in the harbour of Flus.h.i.+ng, getting ready for sea, whither she would proceed in three or four days, a cutter laden with tobacco, brandy, Hollands, and tea. She was called the _Zellow_, which was a fict.i.tious name, and was a vessel of 160 tons with a crew of forty men, copper-bottomed and pierced for fourteen guns. She was painted black, with white mouldings round the stern. Her boom also was black, so were her gaff and masthead. The officers were warned to keep a look-out for her, and informed that she had a large strengthening fish on the upper side of the boom, twenty cloths in the head, and twenty-eight in the foot of the mainsail. It was reported that she was bound for Ballyherbert, Mountain Foot, and Clogher Head in Ireland, but if prevented from landing there she was consigned to Ormsby of Sligo and Burke of Connemara. In the event of her failing there also she had on board two "spotsmen" or pilots for the coast of Kerry and Cork. There was also a lugger at the same time about to proceed from Flus.h.i.+ng to Wexford. This vessel was of from 90 to 100 tons, was painted black, with two white mouldings and a white counter. She carried on her deck a large boat which was painted white also.

Tobacco was discovered concealed in rather a curious manner on another vessel. She had come from St. John, New Brunswick, with a cargo of timber, and the planks had been hollowed out and filled with tobacco, but it was so cleverly done that it was a long time before it was detected. All sorts of vessels and of many rigs were fitted with places of concealment, and there was even a 50-ton cutter named the _Alborough_, belonging to London, employed in this business, which had formerly been a private yacht, but was now more profitably engaged running goods from Nieuport in Belgium to Hull. The descriptions of some of these craft sent to the various outports, so that a smart look-out for them might be kept up, are certainly valuable to us, as they preserve a record of a type of craft that has altered so much during the past century as almost to be forgotten. The description of the sloop _Jane_, for instance, belonging to Dumbarton in 1824, is worth noting by those who are interested in the s.h.i.+ps of yesterday.

Sloop-rigged, and carvel built, she had white mouldings over a yellow streak, and her bulwark was painted green inside. Her cross-jack yards,[21] as they are called, her bowsprit-boom, her gaff and studding-sail boom were all painted white, and she had three black hoops on the mast under the hounds. Her sails were all white, but her square topsail and topgallant-yards were black. The _Jane_ was a 90-tonner.