Progress of shipping—_Thetis_, West Indiaman—A
“Free-trader”—Internal economy—Provisioning and manning—Shipping
the crew—Crimps and agents—Duties on departure of
ship—Watches—Duties of the Master,—Who has control over
navigation—Making and shortening sail—Tacking, etc.—Ordinary day’s
work, how arranged—Right of the Master over the cabin—Authority
and usages in the English, Dutch, and Prussian marine—Danish and
Norwegian system—Duties of Chief Mate—His duties in port—Tacking
“’bout ship”—Reefing topsails—Log-book—Mate successor in law to
the Master—Mode of address to Chief and Second Mates—Duties of
Second Mate—Ordinary day’s work—Care of spare rigging—Stores—Third
Mate—His general duties—Carpenter—Sail-maker—Steward—Cook—Able
seamen, their duties—Division of their labour—Duties of
ordinary seamen—Boys or apprentices—Bells—Helm—“Tricks” at the
helm—Relieving duty—Orders at the wheel—Repeating of orders at
wheel—Conversation not allowed while on duty—Colliers.
The close of the great European war, combined with the opening of
the trade to the East Indies, and other causes of minor importance,
produced various and somewhat important changes among the merchant
vessels of all nations. The greatly extended field for maritime
commerce, and the competition which arose, obliged the shipowners of
different countries, among whom those of the United States, towards
the close of the period to which we now refer, took the lead, to pay
more attention than they had hitherto done to the combination of
capacity with speed, and greater economy in the navigation of their
vessels. Attention also began to be directed to the substitution, as
far as practicable, of mechanical skill for manual labour. They saw
that the ships of the East India Company, however magnificent, were
not adapted to compete successfully or profitably in an unprotected
trade. That of the British West Indies, which had ever been open to
the free competition of British shipowners among themselves, had given
a greater scope for improvement in these respects than the protected
trade of the East; consequently in the trade with the West we find, at
a comparatively early period of the present century, a class of vessels
much better adapted for competition than any of the vessels in the
service of the East India Company. An illustration of one of these,
copied from Mr. Cooke’s interesting sketches, will be found on the
opposite page.
[Sidenote: _Thetis_, West Indiaman.]
Though the _Thetis_ is somewhat modern, she is a fair representation of
the type of vessels which had long been employed by the enterprising
merchants, more especially of Bristol and Liverpool, in their trade
with the West Indies. Unlike the vessels in the service of the East
India Company, her capacity for cargo was considerably in excess of
her registered tonnage, and her complement of crew less than one-half
in proportion to her tonnage. Nor were these vessels inferior to them,
either in speed or other sea-going qualities, though they too were
greatly surpassed by those of a later period, their owners as yet
understanding but imperfectly the advantages derived by increasing
the length of their vessels in proportion to the breadth.
[Illustration: THE ‘THETIS,’ WEST INDIAMAN.]
Hitherto vessels, for instance, of twenty-five feet beam, seldom
exceeded one hundred feet in length, keel and forerake, and although
the Americans, in their once famous “Baltimore clippers,” set the
example of increasing the length to five, and even to six times the
breadth of the beam, it was not until the English were thrown into
competition with the shipowners of that nation, in every branch of
their carrying trade, that they were induced, or rather obliged, to
adopt, in this respect, the improved models of their enterprising
transatlantic competitors.
After the trade to the East Indies had been thrown open, a number of
vessels, ranging from three hundred and fifty to seven hundred tons
register, were built. They were not, however, exclusively employed in
the trade with the East, but were free to seek employment wherever they
could obtain the most remunerative returns, and were to be found in
all parts of the world in search of freight. An illustration of one of
these vessels, known as Free-Traders, will be found on the following
page.[406]
[Illustration: FREE-TRADE BARQUE.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.]
[Sidenote: Internal economy.]
As sailing vessels of this description, in which we may include all
classes, from the Indiaman to the collier, are now in various branches
of trade being fast superseded by steam, and by the great changes which
the improvements of later years have created, we should ill perform the
duty we have undertaken did we not, though at the risk of wearying our
readers with detail, leave a record, however imperfect, of the internal
economy of the ordinary merchant vessels of a generation now rapidly
passing away, and attempt to furnish an account of the various duties
and responsibilities of the master, officers, and seamen, as they
existed prior to the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act. No special
code then existed, either in Great Britain or the United States, for
the maintenance of discipline, or the provisioning and treatment of
the crews of trading vessels when beyond the jurisdiction of the
Admiralty; but certain usages were, as a rule, recognised by the
courts of justice. In the marine of the United States discipline was
more stringent, and distinctions of rank more rigorously enforced than
in that of England.
[Sidenote: Provisioning and manning.]
But there was a great difference in different ports, among different
owners, as to the part the master was to take in supplying and manning
the vessel. In most cases the owner put on board all the stores,
furnishing the master with directions, sometimes in writing, as to the
manner in which he should dispense them, the directions being more or
less liberal, according to the character of the owner. In other cases
these details were left to the master’s discretion, who generally gave
the owner an inventory of all the stores and provisions he thought
necessary for the use of the crew and the navigation of the ship.
[Sidenote: Shipping the crew.]
[Sidenote: Crimps and agents.]
In the engagement of the seamen various modes prevailed. In most cases
the whole arrangement was left to shipping masters, who were paid so
much a head for each man they engaged, and were responsible for their
appearance on board at the time of sailing. The crews were generally
assembled by them two or three days, sometimes only one day, before
the ship sailed; neither the master nor owner, too frequently, knowing
anything of the men before the vessel went to sea. Occasionally the
seaman saw the ship before he joined her, but often not. In Liverpool,
however, when the men were unable to obtain employment for themselves,
they registered their names at an office opened for that purpose,
whence the captain chose his crew. Moreover, it was no uncommon thing
to see them taken to the ship’s side in cartloads, in such a state of
intoxication that they were unable to walk on board. Riggers generally
had charge of the vessel up to that time. In London the practice for
owners of vessels going on voyages round the Cape of Good Hope or Cape
Horn was to employ an agent, familiarly known as a “crimp,” who engaged
the greater part of the crew. If ten or twenty men were wanted, perhaps
double that number were brought on board, out of which the chief mate
selected a sufficient company; the agent receiving a note for two
months’ wages, a portion of which he had generally advanced previously
to the seamen, either in cash or in slops,[407] and also 5_s._, his
procuration fee. When the agents or crimps, who were too frequently
of questionable character, saw that the seamen had signed the ship’s
articles in due form, they paid them the balance of the advance, taking
care that another fee, varying from 5_s._ to 20_s._, was deducted
from the proceeds of the notes, and that they, or their substitutes,
were on board in time for sailing. In some instances the master, and
occasionally the owner, if he had himself been at sea, selected the
men; but a shipping master was even then needed to see them on board,
and generally to complete the business.
All respectable owners not only attended to the seaworthiness and
proper equipment of the ship, but were wont, in person, when they had
time, though too many of them had not, or did not allow themselves
the requisite time, to inspect the forecastle, to see it properly
cleaned, whitewashed, or painted, and furnished with every reasonable
convenience for the crew.[408]
[Sidenote: Duties on departure of ship.]
Everything being in readiness, the Custom-house and other regulations
complied with, and the crew on board, the vessel was placed under
charge of a pilot, the master having little else to do while the pilot
was on board than to see everything in order, and that his commands
were executed. When, however, the pilot left, the entire control and
responsibility of the crew, ship, and cargo devolved upon the master.
Soon after the pilot left, and when things were settled down, and
in something like order, it was usual for the master, especially if
the vessel was bound on a distant voyage, to call all hands aft, and
briefly address them about the voyage upon which they had entered, and
the respective duties they had to perform. After this the crew was
divided into “watches,” in two equal parts.
[Sidenote: Watches.]
In the generality of merchantmen there are but two watches—the
larboard, being under the charge of the chief, and the starboard, of
the second mate, the master himself not keeping watch, but coming
and going at his discretion. The starboard watch is sometimes called
the captain’s, no doubt from the fact that in the early days of the
merchant marine, when vessels were smaller, there was but one mate,
and then the master stood his own watch, as he does at present in
coasters, colliers, and similar craft. In dividing the crew into
watches the master usually allows the officers to choose the men, one
by one, alternately; but sometimes makes the division himself, after
consultation with his officers. The men are chosen as equally as
possible, with reference to their qualities as able seamen, ordinary
seamen, or boys; but if the number is unequal, the larboard watch
claims the odd “hand,” since the chief mate does not go aloft, or do
other duty on his watch, as the second mate does on his. The cook
always musters with the larboard watch, and the steward with the
starboard. If there is a carpenter, and the larboard watch is the
larger of the two, he generally goes aloft when required with the
starboard watch, otherwise with the larboard; and, as soon as the
division is made, if the day’s work is over, one watch is set, and the
other sent below.
Among many customs prevailing at sea which are difficult to trace to
their origin, we may notice that, on the first night of the outward
passage, the starboard watch takes the first four hours on deck, and on
the first night of the homeward passage the larboard does the same. The
sailors explain this by the old phrase, that the master takes the ship
out, and the mate takes her home. The dog watches, as already explained
in the case of the ships of the East India Company, are the two reliefs
which take place between four and eight o’clock, P.M., each of which
being only two hours on deck instead of four. The intention of these
watches is to change the turn of the night watch every twenty-four
hours; so that the party watching from eight to twelve one night shall
succeed on the following one from midnight till four in the morning.
[Sidenote: Duties of the Master,]
The master takes the bearing and distance of the last point of
departure from the land; from that point the ship’s reckoning begins,
and is regularly entered in the log-book, which is kept by the chief
mate, the master examining and correcting the reckoning every day. The
master also attends to the chronometer, azimuth-compass, and other
instruments on board, and takes the altitude of the sun at mid-day, or
the lunar observations, with the assistance of his officers. Every day,
a few minutes before noon, if there is the least prospect of being able
to get a sight of the sun, the master comes upon deck with his quadrant
or sextant, and the mates usually follow his example. The second mate
does not always perform this duty, but is ready to assist on Sundays,
or when no other work requires his attention. As soon as the sun
crosses the meridian “noon is made,” by striking eight bells, and a
new nautical day commences. The reckoning is then corrected by the
observation, which fixes the latitude of the ship, under the master’s
superintendence. In taking the lunar observations to correct the
longitude, as ascertained by the chronometer, the master is assisted by
both his officers; in which case he measures the angle of the moon with
the star or sun, the chief mate taking the altitude of the sun or star,
and the second mate that of the moon.
In regulating the hours of duty, sleep, meals, etc., the master has
absolute power; the usual times being nearly the same in all vessels.
The hour for breakfast is usually seven bells in the morning (half-past
seven), dinner at noon, and supper whenever the day’s work is over,
generally by six o’clock. If the voyage is of long duration, the crew
are, as a rule, put upon an allowance of food as well as water, the
dispensing of the stores and regulating of the allowance resting, of
course, with the master, though the duty of opening the casks, weighing
and measuring the contents falls upon the second mate. The chief
mate enters in the log-book every barrel or cask of provisions that
is broached. The steward takes charge of all the provisions for the
use of the cabin, and keeps them in his pantry, over which he has the
direct control. The average of allowance in merchant vessels was six
pounds of bread per week, three quarts of water, and one pound and a
half of beef, or one and a quarter of pork a day to each man. But from
want of some fixed scale of allowances in the British service, great
discontent frequently arose on the part of the crews, particularly on
long voyages. In coasting vessels, where the work is hard and constant,
the allowance of beef and bread was generally unlimited; but a large
amount of suffering was too frequently endured by the seamen on long
voyages from the paucity of provisions in store, especially in merchant
vessels of small size, and in particular trades. In the timber trade
the practice of carrying the water and wet provisions for the ship’s
company on deck frequently led to such serious consequences, that it
became necessary to secure the preservation of an adequate portion of
them in some part of the vessel accessible in cases of peril, so as to
prevent the dreadful scenes of hunger, misery, and lingering death to
which so many seamen were and are exposed from the loss of water and
provisions.
[Sidenote: Who has control over the navigation.]
[Sidenote: Making and shortening sail.]
The entire control of the navigation and working of the ship lies with
the master. He gives the course and general directions to the officer
of the watch, who enters upon a slate, at the end of his watch, the
course made, and the number of knots each hour the ship has sailed,
together with any other observations he may think worthy of record.
The officer of the watch is at liberty to trim the yards, to make
alterations in the upper sails, to take in and set royals, topgallant
sails, etc.; but no important alterations can be made, such as reefing
or furling the courses, or topsails, without the special order of the
master, who in such cases always ought to be on deck and take the
command in person. When on deck the weather-side of the quarter-deck
belongs to him, and as soon as he appears the officer of the watch
usually leaves it, and goes over to leeward, or forward, into the
waist. If the alteration to be made is slight, the master usually
tells the officer to take in or set such a sail, and leaves to him
the particular orders as to the braces, sheets, etc. The principal
manɶuvres of the vessel, such as tacking, wearing, reefing topsails,
getting under way, and coming to anchor, require all hands. In these
cases the master ought himself to take the command, and to give his
orders in person, standing upon the quarter-deck. The chief mate
superintends the forward part of the vessel under the master, and the
second mate assists in the waist, the crew being at their respective
stations. The master, except in very small vessels, never goes aloft,
nor performs any work with his hands, unless at his own discretion.
[Sidenote: Tacking, etc.]
In tacking and wearing,[409] he gives all the orders as to trimming
the yards, etc., though the chief mate is expected to look out for the
head yards. Such is also the case in getting under way, and in coming
to anchor, the master taking the entire personal control of everything,
the officers acting under him in their respective stations.
[Sidenote: Ordinary day’s work, how arranged.]
In the ordinary day’s work, however, the state of things is somewhat
different. Here the master does not superintend personally, but
gives general instructions to the chief mate, whose duty it is to
see to their execution. In order to understand this distinction, it
is necessary to define the two great divisions of duty and labour
on shipboard. One is the working and navigating of the vessel; that
is, the keeping and ascertaining the ship’s position on the ocean,
directing her course, the making and taking in sail, trimming the yards
to the wind, and the various nautical manɶuvres and evolutions of a
vessel. The other branch is the work done upon the hull and rigging
to keep them in order, such as fitting, repairing, and tarring the
rigging; all of which, together with the manufacture of “small stuffs,”
to be used on board, constitute a part of “the day’s work” of the crew.
As to the latter, the master usually confers with the chief mate upon
the state of the vessel and rigging, and tells him, more or less in
detail, what he wishes to have done. It then becomes the duty of that
officer to see the work accomplished. If the master sees anything of
which he disapproves, or has any preference in the modes of performing
the work, he should convey his wishes to the officer, instead of giving
his orders direct to the men. The Americans, as especially exhibited
in every rank of their society, even where no rank is supposed to
exist, complain that this considerate conduct is not sufficiently
attended to in British merchant ships;[410] and we concur in the
opinion they have laid down, that a contrary course lessens the
authority of the chief mate over the crew, and indirectly also the
master’s own moral influence. The same remarks apply to any other work
doing upon the ship or rigging; such as bending or unbending sails,
knotting, splicing, serving,[411] etc., which constitute the day’s job
work of a vessel. If the chief officer is a competent man, the master
in person is not expected to trouble himself with the details of any of
these things; indeed, were he to do so to any extent, it would probably
lead to unpleasantness and difficulty.
In the packet ships, either from Liverpool to New York, or in other
important mail vessels, in which there were a considerable number
of passengers, the master had still less to do with the day’s work.
The navigation and working of the ship, with proper attention to his
passengers, being sufficient to occupy his entire thoughts.
[Sidenote: Right of the Master over the cabin.]
The master has the entire control of the cabin, and usually lives in
a state-room by himself. The chief mate dines with him in the cabin,
and the second mate looks out on deck while they are below, dining at
the second table afterwards. In large packet-ships, however, the mates
dine together, and the master looks out for the ship while they are at
dinner, dining with his passengers at a later hour.
[Sidenote: Authority and usages in the English,]
Everything of importance that occurs, as the descrying a sail, or
land, or the like, must be instantly reported to the master, who has
such entire control of the discipline of the ship that no subordinate
officer has authority to punish a seaman, or to use any force, without
the master’s order, except in cases of necessity not admitting delay.
He has also the complete direction of the internal arrangements and
economy of the vessel; and upon his character and the course of conduct
he pursues depend in a great measure the character and success of the
ship, and the conduct of the other officers and men. He has a power
and an influence, both direct and indirect, which may be the means of
much good and much evil. If he is profane, passionate, tyrannical,
indecent, and intemperate, more or less of the same qualities will
spread themselves or break out among officers and men; which would
have been checked if the head of the ship had been a man of high
personal character. He may make his ship almost anything he pleases,
and may render the lives and duties of his officers and men pleasant
and profitable to them, or may introduce disagreements, discontent,
tyranny, resistance; in fact he may make the situation of every one
on board as uncomfortable as can well be imagined. Every master of
a vessel who lays this to heart, and considers the greatness of his
responsibility, may not only be a benefactor to all those whom the
course of many years’ command will bring under his authority, but may
render a service to that very important part of the community to which
he belongs, and do much to raise the character of the merchant navy.
We have had many instances in the British mercantile marine of the
variable and opposite qualifications of masters.
[Sidenote: Dutch, and]
In the Dutch ships the qualifications for both masters and mates are
considerable.[412] Gentlemen of good families and superior education
enter the merchant service of that country, and, long prior to any
system of examination being established in England, the Dutch masters
and mates were subjected to one.
But these examinations were confined to the officers employed in their
largest description of vessels trading to India, or engaged on other
distant voyages. In their coasting vessels, or galliots, of which
on the following page there is an excellent illustration from Mr.
Cooke’s sketches, the masters and mates were not required to pass an
examination except so far as to satisfy the owners of their competency
for their respective duties.
[Illustration: DUTCH GALLIOT.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.]
[Sidenote: Prussian marine.]
In Prussia a mate, before he is licensed, must be twenty years of age,
and have been five years at sea. There are two different grades, for
each of which a licence is obtained. The first qualifies him for every
voyage; the second limits him to the Baltic, in vessels of any size,
but not exceeding forty lasts if they trade to the Cattegat, or the
Skager-rock, as far as the Naze of Norway. Captains have three grades:
the first class qualifying them to navigate to any part of the world;
the second restricting them to the seas of Europe, the Mediterranean,
the Black Sea, and the Atlantic; those who have only a third-class
certificate not being allowed to navigate beyond the Baltic, the
Cattegat, and Skager-rock. A captain of the first class must not be
less than twenty-eight years of age, and have sailed as captain of the
second class for not less than two years, or as mate beyond the limits
prescribed for captains of the next or lower grades. Captains of the
second class are required to be twenty-four years of age, and must
have sailed two years as mates of the first grade beyond the limits
prescribed for a mate of the second class; and no one can be licensed
as captain of the third class at a less age, and unless he has been
for two years a mate of the second class. The commissioners by whom
they are examined are generally shipowners, captains of vessels, and
ship-builders.[413]
Though the maritime commerce of Prussia has been chiefly confined to
the Baltic and Mediterranean, and is limited in extent compared with
that of nations greatly their inferior in other respects, German seamen
are in no way behind those of either Norway or Holland, and their
ordinary trading vessels, of which an illustration will be found on the
following page, are of a substantial and useful description.
[Sidenote: Danish and Norwegian systems.]
In Denmark, before any one can be licensed as a mate, he must have made
two voyages to the Mediterranean, and one to the East and West Indies,
besides being acquainted with the navigation of the Cattegat and the
Baltic. He has also to produce certificates from the captains with whom
he has previously sailed, as to his being a steady and good seaman,
as well as a navigator in all its details, and not under twenty-three
years of age. The qualifications for mate also qualify for captain; but
before being appointed to a command he is required to become a burgher
of the place where he usually resides, and to pay the fees securing him
the right of citizenship. The examinations are conducted by a captain
and two lieutenants of the navy.
Examinations in Norway only extend to mates, but those who are found
qualified as such may command merchant vessels. Their examination is
also conducted by a captain of the royal navy and two lieutenants. The
practice of Sweden is somewhat similar, except that a mate, who is
examined only once, is required to undergo a second examination before
he becomes master.
[Illustration: PRUSSIAN SNOW.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.]
[Sidenote: Duties of Chief Mate.]
We have seen that in all matters relating to the care or, and work done
upon, the ship and rigging, the master gives general orders to the
mate, who attends personally to their execution in detail. And this is
practically the custom prevailing in merchant vessels of all nations.
It is the duty of the chief mate in carrying on the day’s work to find
every man something to do, and to see that it is done. He appoints the
second mate his work, as well as the work of each common seaman; and
if the master is dissatisfied with anything, or wishes a change to be
made, the orders must be given to the chief mate, so as to avoid any
interference of the master with the men individually. It is likewise
his duty to examine all parts of the rigging, reporting anything of
importance which requires attention to the master; he must also see
that there are supplies and instruments ready for every kind of labour,
or for any emergency, although the more immediate care of these things,
when provided, belongs to the second mate or boatswain.
In getting under way, and coming to an anchor, it is his duty to attend
to the ground-tackle, and have everything ready forward for setting
sail. In the former case, stationing himself on some elevated position
on the forecastle where he can see the cable outside of the hawse-hole,
he orders and encourages the men in their work of raising the anchor
from the ground, and informs the master when he sees it is “apeak,”
at the same time ordering the men aloft to loose the sails. The sails
being loosed, he awaits the order from the master to have the windlass
again manned, and the anchor hove up to the bow. When the vessel is
under way, and there is no pilot on board, the master takes immediate
control, ordering the yards to be braced and sail set, the chief mate
seeing to the “catting and fishing”[414] of the anchors.
In coming to anchor, similar duties devolve upon the chief officer, who
must see the anchors and cables ready for letting go, and that spare
hawsers, kedges, and warps are at hand, the master ordering how much
chain is to be overhauled. As the vessel draws in towards her anchoring
ground, the master gives all the orders as to trimming the yards and
taking in sail, and has the entire charge of the man at the helm, it
being the mate’s duty only to see that a competent seaman is there. In
furling the sails the whole superintendence devolves upon the mate, who
sends the men aloft, remaining in his place on deck himself, and giving
his orders to them while on the yards as to the manner of furling, and
seeing the ropes hauled taut, or let go on deck, as may be necessary.
[Sidenote: His duties in port.]
These illustrations suffice to show the distinctions between the duties
of a master and a mate, in the principal evolutions at sea of an
ordinary moderate-sized merchant vessel. While in port the chief mate
has much more the control over the vessel than when at sea. As there is
no navigating or working the vessel to be attended to, the master has
little to engage him, except transactions with merchants and others on
shore, and the general directions as to the care of the ship. Besides
the work upon the ship and rigging, while in port, the chief mate has
the charge of receiving, discharging, stowing, and breaking out the
cargo. In these duties he has the entire control, under the general
direction of the master. It is the mate’s duty to keep an account of
all the cargo as it goes in and comes out of the vessel, and, as he
generally gives receipts, he is bound to use great care and accuracy.
When cargo is coming in or going out he stands in the gangway to keep
an account, while the second mate is in the hold with some of the crew,
breaking out or stowing, he being responsible for the proper stowage
and delivery of the cargo. When the master is on shore, the chief mate
is necessarily commander of the ship for the time, and though the law
will extend his power proportionably for cases of necessity, yet,
except in instances which will not admit of delay, he must not attempt
to exercise any unusual powers, but should refer everything to the
master’s decision. The mate has no right, for instance, to punish a man
during the master’s absence, unless it be a case in which delay would
lead to serious consequences.
Neither of the mates stand watch at night when in harbour, but the
chief should always be the first to be called in the morning, as it
his duty to summon the men to their work, and apportion to them their
respective duties. In cleaning the ship, such as washing down decks,
etc., which is done the first thing in the morning, each mate, while at
sea, takes charge of it in his watch, in turn, as the one or the other
may have the morning watch; but in port the second mate oversees the
washing down of the decks, under the chief mate’s general orders.
[Sidenote: Tacking “’bout ship.”]
We have furnished, in a preceding part of this work, a specimen of the
orders given, and of the language employed by masters two hundred years
ago; we now give a description of an ordinary manɶuvre in the present
century. While at sea, in tacking, wearing, reefing topsails, etc.,
and in every kind of “all-hands work,” when the master is on deck,
the chief mate’s place, as we have said, is forward. In the evolution
of tacking ship, the master, finding that the ship will not “lay her
course,” instructs him to “see all clear for stays,” or “ready about.”
The chief mate then goes forward, orders all hands to their stations,
and sees everything clear and ready on the forecastle. The master asks,
“All ready forward?” and being answered, “Ay, ay, sir,” motions to the
man at the helm to put the wheel down, and calls out, “Helm’s alee,”
to which the mate, in order to let the master know he is heard and
understood, responds, “Helm’s alee,” and sees that the head sheets are
let go. The master then gives the order to “raise tacks and sheets,”
which is executed by the mates and the men with them, loosening all
the ropes which confine the corners of the lower sails, in order that
they may be more readily shifted to the other side. When the ship has
turned her head directly to windward, the order is given by the master
to “brace about,” turn round all the yards on the main and mizen-masts;
the mate attending to the foretack, letting go the bowlines and braces
on one side, and as expeditiously drawing them in on the other side, so
as to wheel the yards about the masts; the lower corner of the mainsail
is then, by means of its tack, pulled down to its station at the
chess-tree; and all the after sails are at the same time adjusted to
stand upon the other board. Finally, when the ship has fallen off five
or six points, the master exclaims, “Let go and haul;” then the sails
on the foremast are with great rapidity wheeled about by their braces.
In this manɶuvre the mate will see to the adjustment of the fore-yards,
while the master usually trims the after-yards, guiding the men at the
work by such exclamations as, “Well! the main yard;” “Topsail yard, a
small pull on weather braces;” “Topgallant yard, well;” so that every
sail may be trimmed up sharp to the wind.
[Sidenote: Reefing topsails.]
In reefing topsails, the chief mate, except in small vessels, keeps his
place forward, and looks out for the men on the yards. But he sometimes
goes aloft with the men in vessels of 500 or 600 tons, and takes his
place at the weather earring. If both topsails are reefed at once, his
place is at the main; but if one sail is reefed at a time, he leads
the men from one yard to the other, in all cases taking the weather
earring,[415] acting in a similar manner when the courses require to
be reefed; but he is not required, as a rule, to work with his hands,
except in an emergency, like the second mate and the seamen, his time
and attention being sufficiently taken up with superintending and
giving orders.[416]
[Sidenote: Log-book.]
The law looks upon the chief mate as standing in a different relation
to the master from that of the second mate or the men. He is considered
a confidential person, to whom the owners, shippers, and insurers
look, in some measure, for special duties and qualifications. The
master, therefore, cannot remove him from office, when abroad, except
under very peculiar circumstances, and then must be able to prove his
action in the matter justifiable. One of these duties which the law
throws upon him, as we have shown, is the keeping of the log-book. This
is a very important trust, as the record of the evidence of everything
occurring during the voyage, the position of the ship, the sail she
was under, the wind, and so forth, at any one given moment, may become
matters of great consequence to all concerned. So it is in like
manner with reference to anything that may occur between the master
or officers and the crew. Each officer, at the end of his watch, not
merely enters on the log-slate, which usually lies on the cabin table,
or in some convenient place, the courses, distances, wind and weather
during his watch, and anything worthy of note that may have occurred,
but it is the duty of the chief mate once in twenty-four hours to
copy from the slate the entries into the log-book, and to vouch for
their accuracy, although the master usually examines it, making any
corrections or observations he may consider necessary. The practice,
however, of copying from the slate after it had been submitted to the
master, led, in many instances, to great abuse, as the chief mate then
became only the instrument of the master, and, too frequently, entered
in the log-book whatever the latter might dictate. But these abuses
have been remedied by the authorization, under the Merchant Shipping
Act, of official logs, to which we shall refer hereafter, as well as
to the numerous important changes in the merchant service of England
which have since been made.
[Sidenote: Mate successor in law to the Master.]
[Sidenote: Mode of address to Chief and Second Mates.]
The law also makes the chief mate the successor to the master in
case the latter should die, or be unable to perform the duties of
his office; and this without any action on the part of the crew when
at sea, or of the consignees of the vessel when in harbour abroad.
It is always important, therefore, that to the practical seamanship
and activity necessary for the discharge of the proper duties of his
office the mate should add a sufficient knowledge of navigation, to
be able to carry the ship on her voyage should anything happen to the
master. In the case of a ship coming from the East Indies, there is
a decision that no ship insured can be deemed _seaworthy_ unless she
have on board, at the time of sailing, a mate competent to take command
of the ship in the event of the death or sickness of the master. This
principle, however, can in strictness only be applied to long voyages,
and a high American authority calls it in question.[417] Both the
chief and second mates are always addressed by their surnames, with
the courteous prefix of “Mr.,” and are answered with the addition
of “Sir.” This is a requirement of ship’s duty, and an intentional
omission of such courtesies constitutes an offence against the rules
and understanding of the service.
[Sidenote: Duties of Second Mate.]
The duties of the second mate are to command the starboard watch when
the master is not on deck, and to lead the crew in their work. It
was not formerly deemed indispensably necessary that he should be a
navigator, or even be able to keep a journal; but it is obvious that
many advantages must have resulted from his being acquainted with
navigation, together with a general competency to keep the log, so
that he might have the chance of promotion, in the contingency of any
accident happening to the chief mate, or of his removal from office.
The second mate, however, does not even now, either by law or custom,
necessarily succeed to the office of chief mate in the same manner that
the chief mate succeeds to that of master: it lies in the discretion
of the master, for the time being, to appoint whom he pleases to the
office of chief mate; nevertheless, if the second mate be really fit to
perform the duties of the office, he is usually appointed.
When the starboard watch alone is on deck, and the master is below, the
whole of the duties devolve on the second mate, he alone being then in
charge of the ship. In furling sails, the second mate also goes aloft
to the topsails and courses, and takes the “bunt,”[418] that being an
important place in all such operations. He is not expected to go on the
mizen topsail-yard for any service, and though, in bad weather, and in
case of necessity, he would do so, yet it would be out of the usual
course. He might also, in heavy weather, assist in furling the jib, but
he never furls a top-gallant sail, royal, or flying-jib. In short,
the fore or main-topsail and the courses are the only sails which the
second mate is expected to handle, either in reefing or furling.
Although the proper place for the second mate on a yard is the bunt in
furling, and at the weather earring in reefing, when the first mate is
not aloft [and it is the custom to give him every chance] yet he cannot
retain them by virtue of his office; and if he has not the necessary
strength or skill for the stations, it is no breach of duty in a
seaman to take them from him; on the contrary, he must always expect
in such a case to give them up to a smarter man. If the second mate
is a youngster, as is sometimes the case, being put forward early for
the sake of “promotion,” or if he is not active and ambitious, he will
refrain from attempting to take the bunt or weather earring.
[Sidenote: Ordinary day’s work.]
In the ordinary day’s work on shipboard the second mate works with his
hands like a common seaman. Indeed he ought to be the best mechanical
seaman on board, and be able to take upon himself the nicest and most
difficult jobs, or to show the men how to do them. Among the various
pieces of work constantly going forward on the vessel and rigging there
are some that require more skill and are less irksome than others. The
assignment of all these duties belongs to the chief mate, and if the
second mate is a good seaman, he will have the best and most important
work allotted to him; as, for instance, fitting, turning in, and
setting up rigging, rattling[419] down, and making the neater straps,
coverings, graftings,[420] pointings, etc.; but if he is not, he will
have to employ himself upon the inferior jobs, such as are usually
assigned to ordinary seamen and boys. But whatever may be his capacity,
he “carries on the work,” when his watch alone is on deck, under
directions previously received from the chief mate or commander.
It is a common saying among seamen that a man does not get his hands
out of the tar-bucket by becoming second mate. The obvious meaning of
which is, that as a great deal of tar is used in working upon rigging,
and it is always put on by hand, the second mate is expected to put
his hands to it as the others do. If the chief mate were to manipulate
any piece of work, and it should be necessary to put any tar on it,
he might call some one to tar it for him, as all labour by hand is
voluntary with him; but the second mate would be expected to do this
for himself, as a part of his work. These matters, however trivial
in themselves, serve to illustrate the different lights in which the
duties of the officers are regarded by all seafaring men. But there are
some inferior services, such as slushing down masts and sweeping decks,
in which the second mate takes no part; and if he were ordered to do so
it would be considered as a punishment, and if resisted might lead to a
difficulty.
In working ship, making or taking in sails, the second mate pulls and
hauls about deck with the rest of the men. Indeed, in all the work he
is expected to join in, he should be the first man to take hold, both
leading the men and working himself. In one point, however, he differs
from the seamen, in that he never takes the helm. That duty is left
to the men, who steer the vessel under the direction of the master or
officer of the deck. He is also not expected to go aloft to reeve or
unreeve rigging, rig in and out booms when making or taking in sail, or
other minor duties. In the event, however, of any accident, as carrying
away a mast or yard, or if any unusual work is going on aloft, as the
sending up or down of topmasts or topsail yards, or getting rigging
over the mast-head, sending down or bending a heavy sail in a gale of
wind, or the like, then the second mate should be there to take charge
of the work.
[Sidenote: Care of spare rigging.]
[Sidenote: Stores.]
Another important part of the duties of a second mate, when there
is no boatswain on board, is to take charge of the spare rigging,
hawsers, blocks, sails, and small stuffs, and of the instruments for
working upon rigging, as marlinspikes, serving-boards, and so forth.
If, for instance, the chief mate orders a man to do a piece of work
with certain implements and certain kinds of materials, the man will
apply to the second mate for them, and he must supply them. If there is
no sail-maker on board, the second mate is required to attend to the
stowing away of the spare sails, and whenever one is called for it is
his duty to go below and find it. So also with the stores. It is his
duty to see to the stowing away of the water, bread, beef, pork, and
all the provisions of the vessel; and whenever a new cask of water or
barrel of provisions is to be opened, the second mate must attend to
it.
While in port, when cargo is taking in or discharging, the place of
the second mate, as we have pointed out, is in the hold; but if the
vessel is lying at anchor, so that the cargo has to be brought on or
off in the boats belonging to the ship, then the boating duty falls
upon the second mate, who goes and comes in the boats, and looks after
the landing and taking off of the goods. The chief mate seldom leaves
the vessel when in port; he is considered as the shipkeeper. So if a
warp or kedge is to be carried out, or a boat is lowered at sea, as in
boarding another vessel, or when a man has fallen overboard, in all
such cases the second mate should take charge of the boat.
[Sidenote: Third Mate.]
[Sidenote: His general duties.]
Merchant vessels bound on long voyages, in which there are many
vicissitudes to be anticipated, sometimes carry a third mate; this
practice has only obtained of late years, and his precise duties
have scarcely become settled by usage. He does not, however, command
a watch, except in very large vessels, but belongs to the larboard
watch, and assists the chief mate in his duties. He goes aloft with
the larboard watch to reef and furl, as the second mate does with the
starboard, and performs very nearly the same duties aloft and about
decks. If he is a good seaman he will take the earring and bunt on
the head-yards, as the second mate does on the after-yards; and in
the allotment of work he will be favoured with the most important
jobs, if fit to perform them; otherwise he will be put upon the work
of an ordinary seaman. He is not expected to handle the light sails.
He stands no helm, lives aft, and will look out for the vessel at
meal-times, if the second mate dines with the master and chief mate.
While in port he should be in the hold or in the boats, as his services
may be needed, thus dividing the labour with the second mate. Perhaps
his place would more properly be in the boats, as that is considered
more in the light of fatigue duty. He also relieves the second mate of
the charge of the stores, and sees to the weighing and measuring of the
allowances; and in his watch on deck he relieves the chief mate of the
inferior parts of his duty, such as washing decks in the morning, and
looking after the boys in clearing up the decks at night.
Here it may be remarked that the expression _mate_ implies, in its
general sense, an assistant, as boatswain’s mate, carpenter’s mate,
sail-maker’s mate, steward’s mate, cook’s mate, and when a surgeon is
on board, and has an assistant, he too is designated a mate.
[Sidenote: Carpenter.]
Almost every merchant vessel of a large class, or bound upon a long
voyage, carries a carpenter. His duty is to work at his trade under the
direction of the master, and to assist in all-hands work, according to
his ability. If he ships for an able seaman as well as carpenter, he
must be capable of doing seaman’s work upon the rigging, and taking
his turn at the wheel, if called upon. If he does not expressly ship
for seaman as well as carpenter, no nautical skill can be required of
him; but he must still, when all hands are called, or if ordered by
the master, pull and haul about decks, and go aloft in the work usual
on such occasions, as reefing and furling. Though not an officer,
and unable to give an order to the smallest boy, he is nevertheless
a privileged person. He lives in the steerage with the other petty
officers, has charge of the ship’s chest of tools, and in all things
connected with his trade is under the sole direction of the master.[421]
[Sidenote: Sail-maker.]
Almost all ships of the largest class carry a sail-maker, although
usually the older seamen are sufficiently skilled in the trade to make
and mend sails, and the master or chief mate should know how to cut
them out. With regard to the duties of the sail-maker, the same remarks
apply to him that were made upon the carpenter. If the sail-maker
ships also for seaman, he must do an able seaman’s duty, if called
upon; and if he does not so ship, he will still be required to assist
in all-hands work, according to his ability; and in bad weather, or
in case of necessity, he may be put with a watch, and required to
do ship’s duty with the rest. In all-hands work he is mustered with
either watch, according to circumstances. He usually lives in the
steerage[422] with the carpenter, and always, like him, takes his food
from the galley. He has no command, and when on deck his place is on
the forecastle with the rest of the crew. In the work of his trade he
too is under the sole direction of the master, or of the chief mate in
the master’s absence; and in ship’s work he is as strictly under the
command of the mates as is a common seaman.
[Sidenote: Steward.]
The duties of steward vary according to the description of merchant
or passenger vessel in which he may be employed. In the higher class
of packet-ships, where there are numerous first-class passengers, and
where a good table is kept, the steward has waiters or under-stewards,
who perform most of the labours of attendance, the chief having the
general superintendence of the whole. It is his duty to see that
the cabin and state-rooms are kept in order; to see to the laying
and clearing of the tables; to take care of the dishes and utensils
appertaining thereto; to provide the meals, under the master’s
directions, preparing the most delicate dishes himself; to keep the
general charge of the pantry and stores for the cabin; to look after
the cook in his department, and generally to attend to the comfort and
convenience of the passengers. These duties generally absorb all his
time and attention, and he is not called upon for any ship’s duty.
In ordinary merchant vessels the steward performs the work which
falls to the under-stewards of the large packets; cleans the cabin
and state-rooms; sets, tends, and clears away the table; provides
everything for the cook; and has charge of the pantry, where all
the table furnishings and the small stores are kept. He is also the
body-servant of the master. His relation to the chief mate is not,
it appears, quite settled; but the general understanding is, that,
although he waits upon him at table, and must obey him in all matters
relating to the ship’s work, yet he is not in any respect his servant.
If the mate wished any personal service done, he would solicit it, or
make some compensation.
In small vessels the steward must come on deck whenever all hands
are called, and in working ship pulls and hauls about decks with the
men. The main sheet is called the steward’s rope, and this he lets go
and hauls aft in tacking and wearing. In reefing and furling he is
expected to go upon the lower and topsail yards, and especially the
mizen topsail yard of a ship. No seamanship is expected from him, and
he stands no watch, sleeping in at night, and turning out at daylight;
yet he must do ship’s duty according to his ability when all hands are
called for working ship, or for taking in or making sail. In these
things he obeys the mates in the same way that a common seaman would,
and is punishable for disobedience.
[Sidenote: Cook.]
The cook almost always lives in the forecastle, though sometimes in the
steerage. He stands no watch, sleeping in at night, and working at his
business during the day. He spends his time mostly in the cook-house,
which is called the “galley,” where he cooks both for the cabin and
forecastle. This, with keeping the galley, boilers, pans, kids, and
other cooking utensils in order, occupies him during the entire day. He
is, however, called with all hands, and in tacking and wearing, works
the fore-sheet. He is also expected to pull and haul about decks in
all-hands work, and is occasionally called from his galley to give a
pull at a tackle or halyards.[423]
Seafaring persons, before the mast, are divided into three classes:
able seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, or “green hands.” If any man is
found incompetent to perform the duty he contracts for, his wages can
not only be reduced to the grade for which he is fitted, but something
additional is occasionally deducted for the deception practised, and
for the loss of service, besides the difficulties which too frequently
arise from his misrepresentation, the crew justly deeming it a sort of
fraud upon themselves. If, for instance, the articles provide for six
able seamen, the men expect as many; and if one of them proves unequal
to his assumed rating, the duties which would be commonly done by six
seamen will fall upon the five, leaving the vessel short-handed for
the voyage. But the hardship is felt still more in the watches, for
if the delinquent is not a capable helmsman, the increased duty at
the wheel alone would of itself be a serious evil. The officers also
feel at liberty to punish a man who has so imposed upon all hands, and
accordingly every kind of inferior and disagreeable duty is put upon
him; and as he finds no sympathy from the crew, his situation on board
is made very unpleasant.
[Sidenote: Their duties.]
To “haul, reef, and steer” constitute a sailor in ordinary phraseology,
but something more is required from an able seaman, who should, in
addition to these duties, be a good workman on rigging; and a man’s
skill in this work is the chief test of his seamanship; a competent
knowledge of steering, reefing, furling, and the like being taken for
granted, and being no more than is expected from an ordinary seaman,
though there is, of course, a great deal of difference in the relative
skill and neatness of the work of different men; but no man will pass
for an able seaman, in a square-rigged vessel, who cannot make a
long and short splice, fit a blockstrap, pass seizings[424] to lower
rigging, and make the ordinary knots in a fair and workmanlike manner.
[Sidenote: Division of their labour.]
In working ship the able seamen are stationed variously; though for the
most part upon the forecastle, at the main tack or fore and main lower
and topsail braces; the light hands being placed at the cross-jack, and
fore and main top-gallant and royal braces. In taking in and making
sail, and in all things connected with the working of the vessel, there
is no duty which may not be required of an able seaman; yet there are
certain things requiring more skill and strength, to which he is always
put, and others which are as invariably assigned to ordinary seamen and
boys.[425] In reefing, the able seamen go out to the yard-arms, and
the light hands stand in toward the slings; while in furling, the bunt
and quarters belong to the able seamen, and the yard-arms to the boys.
The light hands are expected to loose and furl the light sails, such
as royals, flying-jib, and mizen top-gallant sail, and the men seldom
go above the cross-trees, except to work upon the rigging, or to send
a mast or yard up or down. The fore and main top-gallant sails, and
sometimes the flying-jib of large vessels, require one or more able
seamen for furling, but are loosed by light hands.
[Sidenote: Duties of ordinary seamen.]
An ordinary seaman is expected to hand, reef, and steer, under the
usual circumstances, and to be competent to “box the compass.”[426]
He must likewise be acquainted with all the running and standing
rigging of a ship; be able to reeve the studding sail gear, and set
a top-gallant or royal studding sail out of the top; loose and furl
a royal, and a small top-gallant sail or flying-jib; and perhaps
also send down or cross a royal yard. But he need not be a complete
helmsman, and if an able seaman should be put into his place at the
wheel in bad weather, or when a ship is steered with difficulty, it
would be no imputation upon him, provided he could take his turn[427]
creditably under ordinary circumstances. But his duty depends a good
deal upon whether there are boys or green hands on board or not. If
there are, he has a preference over them, as an able seaman has over
him in the light work; and since he stands his helm regularly, and
is occasionally set to work upon rigging with the men, he will be
favoured accordingly in the watch, and in common duty about decks. The
distinction, however, between ordinary seamen and boys is not very
nicely observed in the merchant service, and an ordinary seaman is
frequently called upon for boy’s duty, though there are boys on board
and at hand. If an officer wished for some one to loose a royal, take
a broom and sweep the decks, hold the log-reel, coil up a rope, or the
like, he would probably first call upon a boy, if at hand; if not, upon
an ordinary seaman; but upon either of them indifferently before an
able seaman.
[Sidenote: Boys or apprentices.]
We have already defined the term _boys_, as embracing all green hands
of whatever age; as well as boys who, though they may have been at
sea before, are not strong enough to rate as ordinary seamen. It is a
common saying that a boy does not ship as knowing anything. Accordingly
if any one enters as a boy, and upon boy’s wages, he cannot be blamed,
although he may not know the name of a rope in the ship, or even the
stem from the stern. In the ordinary day’s work the boys are taught to
draw and knot yarns, make spun yarn, foxes, sennit, and so forth, and
are employed in passing a ball, or otherwise assisting the able seamen
in their jobs. Slushing masts, sweeping and clearing up decks, holding
the log-reel, coiling up the running rigging, and loosing and furling
the light sails are duties which are invariably put upon the boys or
green hands. They stand their watches like the rest, are called with
all hands, go aloft to reef and furl, and work whenever and wherever
the men do, the only difference being in the description of work upon
which they are put. In reefing, the boys lay in towards the slings of
the yard, and in furling go out to the yard-arms. They are sent aloft
immediately as soon as they get to sea, to accustom them to the motion
of the vessel, and to moving about in the rigging and on the yards.
Setting top-gallant studding sails, and reeving the gear, shaking
out reefs, learning the names and uses of all the ropes, and how to
make the common hitches, bends, and knots, are also included in the
knowledge first imparted to beginners. There is some difference in the
manner in which boys are put forward in different vessels. Sometimes
in large vessels, where there are plenty of men, the boys never take
the wheel, and are seldom put upon any but the most simple and inferior
duties. In others, they are allowed to take the wheel in light winds,
and gradually, if they are of sufficient age and strength, become
regular helmsmen. So also, in their duties aloft, if they are favoured,
they may be kept at the royals and top-gallant sails, and gradually
come to the earring of a mizen topsail.
[Sidenote: Bells.]
Bells mark the time at sea. At noon, eight bells are struck, that is
eight strokes are made upon the bell: and from that time it is struck
every half-hour throughout the twenty-four, beginning at one stroke,
but never exceeding eight. A watch of four hours runs out the bells.
Even bells come at the full hours, and the odd bells at the half-hours.
For instance, eight bells is always twelve, four, or eight o’clock;
and seven bells always half-past three, half-past seven, or half-past
eleven. They are sounded by two strokes following each other quickly,
and then a short interval: after which two more; and so on. If it is an
odd number, the odd one is struck alone, after the interval. This is to
make the counting more sure and easy; and by such means the distinction
between a full hour and a half-hour is more plainly indicated.
[Sidenote: Helm.]
Each watch steers the ship in its turn, and the watch on deck supplies
the helmsman, even when all hands are called. Each man stands at the
helm two hours, which is called his “trick.” Thus there are two tricks
in a watch. Sometimes, in very cold weather, the tricks are reduced
to one hour, and if the ship steers badly in a gale of wind, two men
are sent to the wheel at once. In this case the man who stands on the
weather side of the wheel is the responsible helmsman, the other at the
lee side merely assisting him by steadying it or aiding its more rapid
revolution.
[Sidenote: “Tricks” at the helm.]
The men in the watch usually arrange their tricks among themselves,
the officers being satisfied so long as there is always a man ready to
take the helm at the proper time. In steering, the helmsman stands on
the weather side of a wheel, and on the lee side of a tiller. But when
steering by tiller-ropes with no hitch round the tiller-head, or with a
tackle, as in a heavy gale and a rough cross sea, when it is necessary
to ease the helm a good deal, it is better to stand up to windward and
steer by means of the tiller-ropes.
[Sidenote: Relieving duty.]
In relieving the wheel, the man should come aft on the lee side of the
quarter-deck, as indeed he almost invariably does, and go to the wheel
behind the helmsman, taking hold of the spokes so as to have the wheel
in command before the other lets go. Before letting go the helmsman
gives the course in an audible voice to the man that relieves him, who
repeats it aloud, just as it was given, so as to make it sure that he
has heard it correctly. This is especially necessary, since the points
and half-points are so much alike that a mistake might easily be made.
It is the duty of the officer of the watch to be present when the wheel
is relieved, in order to see that the course is correctly reported and
understood; which is another reason why the course should be spoken in
a loud tone of voice.
[Sidenote: Orders at the wheel.]
If a vessel is sailing close-hauled and does not lay her course, the
order is “Full and by;” which means, by the wind, yet all full. If she
lays her course, the order then is her course, as N.W. by W. or W.S.W.,
and the like. When a man is at the wheel he has nothing else to attend
to but steering the ship, and no conversation should be allowed with
him. If he wishes to be relieved, it should not be done without the
permission of the officer, and the same form of giving and repeating
the course must be gone through, even though absent from the helm for
only a few minutes.
[Sidenote: Repeating of orders at wheel.]
If an order is given to the man at the helm as to his steering, he
should always repeat the order distinctly, that the officer may be sure
he is understood. For instance, if the order is a new course, or “Keep
her off a point,” “Luff a little,” “Ease her,” “Meet her,” or the like,
the helmsman should answer by repeating the course or order, echoing
the precise words, and should not answer, “Ay, ay, sir,” or simply
execute the order as he understands it. This practice of repeating
every word, even the most minute order at the wheel, is well understood
among seamen, and a failure or refusal to do so is an offence sometimes
leading to disagreeable results. If, when the watch is out and the
other watch has been called, all hands are detained for any purpose,
such as reefing topsails, setting studding sails, or the like, the helm
should not be relieved until the work is done and the watch ready to go
below.
[Sidenote: Conversation not allowed while on duty.]
In well-disciplined vessels no conversation is allowed among the
men when they are employed at their work; that is to say, it is not
allowed in the presence of an officer or of the master; and although,
when two or more men are together aloft, or by themselves on deck,
a little low conversation might not be noticed, yet if it seemed to
take off their attention, or to attract the attention of others, it
would be considered a misdemeanour. In this practice variations occur
in different vessels. Coasters, colliers, or other small vessels on
short voyages, do not preserve the same rule; but no seaman who has
been accustomed to first-class ships will object to a strictness as
to conversation and laughing, while at the day’s work, very nearly
as great as is observed in a school. While the crew are below in the
forecastle great licence is given them; and the severest officer will
never interfere with the noise and sport of the forecastle, unless it
is an inconvenience to those who are on the deck. In working ship,
when the men are at their stations, the same silence and decorum are
observed. But during the dog-watches, as already noticed, and when the
men are together on the forecastle at night, and no work going forward,
smoking, singing, spinning yarns (telling stories), and so forth are
allowed; and, in fact, a considerable degree of noise and skylarking is
permitted, unless it amounts to positive disorder and disturbance.
It is a good rule to enforce, that whenever a man aloft wishes anything
to be done on deck, he should hail the officer of the deck, and not
call out, as is sometimes done, to any one whom he sees about the deck.
The proper place for the seamen when they are on deck, and are not at
work, is on the forecastle, which comprises so much of the upper deck
as is forward of the after fore-shroud. There the crew may have their
meals, if they choose, in fine weather. Their food is cooked in the
galley. It is placed in wooden tubs, or “kids,” by the cook and taken
away by the men. Tea or coffee is also served out to the men, each of
whom provides his own eating utensils, usually consisting of a tin pot,
an iron spoon, and his “jack-knife,” which serves alike for fork and
carver, and numerous other purposes. Such was, and still is to a large
extent, the internal economy of the ordinary merchant sailing vessels
of all nations.
Before closing our remarks on the vessels of other days, there is one
class which ought to receive more than a passing notice, and that is
the English collier. Mr. Cooke furnishes an admirable illustration
of one of these vessels, now being fast superseded by steam, in the
following sketch.
[Illustration: COLLIER.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.]
The average size of the regular collier has long been about 230 tons
register, with a capacity of from fourteen to seventeen keels of
coals;[428] and they were chiefly employed in the trade between the
northern coal ports and London, although a considerable number of them
were required to supply the wants of the outports (especially before
the introduction of railways), and to these many of them still trade
as well as to London. The crew of each vessel generally consisted
of ten persons, all told, comprising the master, mate, and cook—who
also performed seaman’s duty—five sailors, and two boys. Their duties
were of the most arduous description. They were usually engaged for
the voyage at a sum which included the discharge of the cargo, and
sometimes the supply of their own provisions. Mr. Cooke furnishes an
illustration of one of these vessels discharging her coals in the
Pool (see below). The men are employed, as will be seen, “jumping” the
coals in baskets, which, after passing through the weighing machine,
are delivered into barges alongside. This jumping operation required a
good deal of practical skill, and greenhorns often got awkward falls.
It consisted of four men who held in their hands whip lines, attached
to a rope, which was passed over a single pulley with a basket fastened
to the end of it. As the basket was being lowered into the hold the men
walked up a temporary platform, not unlike an ordinary four-barred
gate placed slightly on the incline. When the basket was filled with
coals they “jumped” from the top of this stage on to the deck, the
weight of their bodies raising the basket in one whip to a point where
a man in attendance could instantaneously capsize its contents into the
weighing machine; thus the operation of discharging the coals proceeded
with extraordinary rapidity.
[Illustration: COLLIER DISCHARGING.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.]
Perhaps no branch of maritime commerce ever produced hardier or more
alert seamen than that of the Northern coal trade. During her great
naval engagements England looked to that trade more than to any other
for the best, or at least the hardest and most daring seamen for her
navy. Indeed, it afforded a supply of men who could go aloft in any
weather and fight the guns, with the green sea frequently rolling
through the port-holes. They never saw danger. Accustomed to work their
way amongst shoals and sandbanks, and along iron-bound coasts in their
frail craft, and during the most tempestuous weather, the shelter of a
man-of-war was like a haven of rest to them. But though they frequently
faced dangers without a thought which would have made the regular
man-of-war’s man tremble, they stood sadly in want of discipline, and
were with great difficulty trained to order, so that the comparatively
easy life of a man-of-war’s man had few attractions for them. On board
of the collier, master, mate, and men smoked their pipes together; and
if they did not mess from the same kid, they were in all other respects
pretty much alike, creating an equality and freedom more in accordance
with their habits and tastes than the drill and daily routine of the
royal navy.
FOOTNOTES:
[406] It was not until 1850, when the English Navigation Laws were
repealed, that any material advance was made by the shipowners of Great
Britain in the improvement of their vessels. In that year, when they
were in a very desponding state, seeing nothing before them but “ruin,”
the result, as they conceived, of an entirely free-trade policy, the
author had the hardihood to order to be built, for his own use in the
trade between London, Australia, and India, six ships, each of an
average size of eight hundred tons register, and with a capacity of
from eleven hundred to fourteen hundred tons, according to the nature
of the cargo. The crew of each of these vessels consisted of the
master, first and second officers, steward, cook, boatswain, carpenter,
sail-maker, seventeen seamen, and five apprentices, or thirty “all
told;” a very great difference, as will be seen, in the capacity
and current expenditure, but no great advance in the proportionate
dimensions, for the length was only one hundred and forty-five feet
to a beam of thirty-one feet, and twenty-two feet depth of hold. Such
was the popular prejudice even then among British shipowners against
any material increase in the length. The impression had prevailed for
centuries that a long ship must be weak, and a narrow one dangerous,
from her “liability to capsize;” and no amount of argument would
convince the old school of shipowners to the contrary. At last the
author, anxious to practically test this question, built in 1853,
contrary to the advice of numerous well-meaning friends, an iron
sailing ship, which in length measured close upon seven times the width
of her beam. Such a “monstrous” deviation from “established rules,”
and that, too, in a “tin kettle,” the name by which the comparatively
few iron ships then built were familiarly known, created considerable
discussion, mingled with many gloomy forebodings as to the result. The
ship, when finished, loaded in London and sailed, with a general cargo
and her full complement of passengers, for Australia. She encountered
rough weather, and meeting with some slight accident, had to anchor
in the Downs for repair. The captain, officers, and crew were fully
satisfied with the strength, safety, and good sea-going qualities of
the ship; but after this trivial accident the popular outcry against
her became so strong that the author recalled her, and despatched
the passengers to their destination in another vessel. Though his
pecuniary loss was very considerable, he resolved to make it rather
than encounter the howl of indignation which must have arisen had he
sent the ship to sea and any disaster befallen her, which might have
happened to any other ship, whereby the lives of the passengers were
lost or placed in jeopardy. The crew remained by her. No alteration
whatever was made in her construction. She proceeded almost immediately
afterwards, with a full cargo of general merchandise, to Bombay, and
on her return the captain reported that he never sailed in a finer or
safer sea-going vessel. Such vessels are now very common, and many
of them, especially steamers, are much more extreme in length in
proportion to their beam.—So much for popular prejudice.
[407] “Slops,” general term for ready-made clothes (Maydman, 1691). In
a MS. wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth there is an order to John Fortescue
to deliver some fustian for “sloppe for Jack Green, our foole” (Adm. W.
H. Smyth, p. 633).
[408] These duties were too frequently overlooked, and the
accommodation for seamen when at sea, or in harbour abroad, is
still far from being as comfortable as the ordinary run of cheap
lodging-houses on shore, although it has been greatly improved of
late years, more especially since the Merchant Shipping Act came into
operation. Previously it was generally of a wretched description, and
as the Author has the most vivid recollection of the forecastle of the
ship in which he served his apprenticeship, a description of it may
serve to illustrate an ordinary specimen of the sea homes of sailors
forty years ago.
The vessel in which he served was about four hundred and twenty tons
register, and of North American build. She was ship-rigged, and had a
flush deck, that is, there were no erections upon the deck except the
galley or cook-house, which stood before the long-boat; on each side of
both were lashed, to ring-bolts in the deck, the spare spars, and to
these were again lashed a row of puncheons or butts filled with fresh
water. This vessel was employed in the trade between Great Britain
and Demerara, making occasionally a voyage to the Bay of Fundy (Nova
Scotia) for lumber, a description of boards used for the heading of rum
and molasses casks and sugar hogsheads. Her crew (she had more than the
usual complement) consisted of twenty-one persons all told, comprising
the master, or “captain,” first and second mates, and steward, all
of whom lived in the cabin. Besides these there were the carpenter,
cooper, and cook—who with the steward were expected to assist in
seaman’s duties—ten seamen, and four apprentices. One of the latter
lived with the carpenter and cooper in a place called the “steerage,”
that is, a small space temporarily separated by some rough stauncheons
and boards from the cargo in the square of the after-hatch. Here their
tools, with various rope and sail stores, were also kept. The cook,
ten seamen, and three apprentices had their abode in the forecastle.
This place, which was in the “’tween decks” at the extremity of the
bow, may have been about twenty-one feet in width at the after or
widest part, tapering gradually away to a narrow point at the stern.
The length in midships was somewhere about twenty feet, but much less
as the sides of the vessel were approached. The height was five feet
from deck to beam, or about five feet nine inches from deck to deck at
the greatest elevation between the beams; the only approach to it being
through a scuttle or hole in the main deck, about two and a half feet
square. Beyond this hole there were no means of obtaining either light
or ventilation, and in bad weather, when the sea washed over the deck,
the crew had to do as best they could without either, or receive the
air mixed with spray, and sometimes accompanied by the almost unbroken
crest of a wave, which, in defiance of all the tarpaulin guards, too
frequently found its way through the scuttle. Here fourteen persons
slept in hammocks suspended from the beams, and had their daily food.
There was no room for tables, chairs, or stools, so that the tops
of their sea-chests in which they kept their clothes and all their
possessions, were substituted for those useful and necessary household
articles. In fact so closely were these chests packed that it was
difficult to sit astride them, the mode which the sailors found most
convenient for taking their meals, especially in rough weather. But
the whole of this limited space was not appropriated to the use of
the crew, for it contained a rough deal locker, in which the beef and
soup-kids and other utensils were kept, while the stout staunchions
or knight-heads which supported the windlass on the upper deck came
through the forecastle, and were bolted to the lower beams; and too
frequently, when the ship was very full of cargo, a row of water-casks
and provisions were stowed along the after-bulkhead, which was a
temporary erection; while on the top of these, cables, coils of rope,
and numerous other articles were piled. At all times it was a foulsome
and suffocating abode, and in bad weather the water and filth which
washed about the deck and among the chests and casks created the most
intolerable and loathsome stench. Here, however, these fourteen sailors
and apprentices slept, washed, dressed, and had their food, except in
fine weather, when they took their meals on deck, their food consisting
almost entirely of inferior salted pork, beef, which was sometimes
nearly as hard and unpalatable as the kids in which it was served, and
brown biscuits, too often mouldy and full of maggots. To make matters
worse, the forecastle of the ship to which the Author refers was full
of rats, and he has the most vivid recollection of one of these animals
on more than one occasion finding its way into the hammock where he
slept. In the West Indies the place was so suffocatingly hot that
the sailors invariably slept wherever they could find a clear place
upon deck or in the tops; and in winter, when approaching the English
Channel, or when on an intermediate voyage to the Bay of Fundy, it was
as bitterly cold, no stoves or fires of any kind being allowed on board
except in the galley and in the cabin. No Siberian slaves ever suffered
so much from the intensity of the cold as did those of the sailors and
apprentices of that ship, who had not deserted, during two months of
a winter when she lay at anchor in one of the roadsteads of the Bay.
The bow ports were then obliged to be open to receive the cargo, and
could only be covered with matting during the night. One of these ports
opened upon the forecastle, so that its occupants might almost as well
have slept upon deck, their damp clothes as they lay upon the chests or
hung suspended from the beams being frequently frozen to such an extent
that the ice had to be beaten from them before they could be again used.
[409] “Wearing” is the reverse of tacking. The head of the vessel in
this operation is put away from the wind and turned twenty points of
the compass, instead of twelve, and without strain is brought up on
the opposite tack. Lords St. Vincent, Exmouth, and other distinguished
naval officers preferred “wearing” when possible, as less damaging
to the sails and spars than tacking; but in merchant vessels, where
progress is an object, tacking, when practicable, is invariably adopted.
[410] Dana’s ‘Seaman’s Friend.’
[411] “Serving,” or service-rope, is spun yarn wound round a rope by
means of a serving board or mallet (Adm. W. H. Smyth, p. 608).
[412] The Dutch government do not compel the owners of merchant vessels
to take any fixed number of seamen, as was required in British ships
under the Navigation Act, but the Dutch Commercial Society, a very
large trading company, appears to have made a regulation in the year
1843, that every Dutch ship which went out to Batavia should take on
board one ass for every hundred tons! Evidence of Mr. William von
Houten before a Committee of the House of Commons, 1843.
[413] Evidence given before a Committee of the House of Commons, 1843.
[414] Nautical terms for raising and stowing the anchor.
[415] The “earrings” are small ropes to fasten the upper corners of the
sail to the yard. The “courses” are the sails hanging from the lower
yards of a ship, viz, the mainsail, foresail, and mizen. A ship is said
to be “under her courses” when no other sails are set (Admiral W. H.
Smyth, pp. 270 and 218).
[416] In a man-of-war there is always a lieutenant of the watch on the
weather side of the quarter-deck, but it is not so in the merchant
service. When the ordinary day’s work is going forward the mates must
be about the decks or aloft, like the petty officers of a ship of war;
and it is only while the work is going forward, or in bad weather, on
Sundays, or at night, that the officer of the watch, if the master is
not there, keeps the quarter-deck.
[417] Chancellor Kent impugns this decision, and says the warranty of
seaworthiness implies no more than that the assured must have a sound
and well-equipped vessel, with reference to the voyage, and have on
board a competent person as _master_, a competent person as _mate_,
and a competent crew as _seamen_; and he cites cases where, as regards
the American coasting and West India trades, this doctrine has been
discarded. (See Arnold’s work, p. 721.)
[418] The “bunt” is the middle part or cavity of the square sails, that
is, of the mainsail, foresail, topsails, and top-gallant sails.
[419] “Ratlings,” or rat-lines, are small ropes crossing the shrouds
parallel with the deck, and answering the purpose of the rounds of a
ladder.
[420] “Graftings” are ornamental weavings of fine yarn, etc, on the
strop of a block; applied also to the tapering ends of ropes, sometimes
called “pointings” (Admiral W. H. Smyth, pp. 562 and 345).
[421] The chief mate has no authority over the carpenter _in his
trade_, except in the case of the master’s absence or disability. In
all things pertaining to the working of the vessel, however, and as far
as he acts in the capacity of seaman, he must obey the orders of the
officers as implicitly as any of the crew; though, perhaps, an order
from the second mate would come somewhat in the form of a request.
Nevertheless there is no doubt, in point of discipline, he must obey
the second mate in his proper place, as much as he would the master in
his. Although the carpenter lives in the steerage, he gets his food
from the galley, from the same mess with the men in the forecastle,
having no better or different fare in any respect, and he has no right
on the quarter-deck, but must take his place on the forecastle with
the common seamen. In many vessels, during fine weather and on long
voyages, the carpenter stands no watch, but “sleeps in” at night, is
called at daylight, and works all day at his trade.
[422] “Steerage” generally means the portion of the ’tween-decks just
before the gun-room bulk-head in ships of war, and below the after
hatchway in merchant vessels.
[423] In regular passenger-ships the cook is not required to do any
duty about decks, except in case of necessity, or of common danger. In
other vessels, if strongly manned, neither the cook nor steward is sent
upon the yards, yet it can, without doubt, be required of them, by the
usage and understanding of the Merchant Service, to go upon a topsail
or lower yard to reef or furl. In a merchant vessel where all hands are
called the order applies to every one on board except the passengers.
Those of the crew who do not keep watch are termed “idlers,” who
besides turning out with all hands, are sometimes called up to help the
watch on deck in any heavy or difficult duty in cases, when it is not
desirable to call the other watch, who may have had severe service.
[424] “Seizings,” the fastening of any two ropes, or of different parts
of the same rope, with turns of small stuff (Admiral W. H. Smyth, p.
606).
[425] In allotting the jobs among the crew, reference is always had to
a man’s rate and capacity, and it is considered a decided imputation
upon an “able seaman,” to put him upon inferior work, such as turning
the spunyarn winch, knotting yarns, or picking oakum, while there are
boys on board, or other work to be performed more within the line of
his knowledge and capacity.
[426] To repeat the names of the thirty-two points of the compass
in order and backwards, and to answer any questions relative to its
subdivisions (Admiral W. H. Smyth, ‘Sailor’s Word Book,’ p. 127).
[427] A seaman’s spell at the wheel is called his “trick.” (Ibid. p.
697.)
[428] A keel is 21 tons 5 cwt.
LIST OF ARTICLES IN APPENDIX.
No. PAGE
1. Letter of Mr. Robert Thorne to Dr. Ley, ambassador of
Charles V 541
2. Letter of Advice and Instruction from the Merchant Adventurers
Co. 555
3. Inventory of ye Great Barke, A.D. 1531 557
4. Furniture of the Harry Grâce à Dieu, in Pepysian Library
at Cambridge 559
5. Names of all the King’s Majesty’s Shippes, Galleys, etc.,
(official return, 1 Edw. VI.) (Archæologia) 561
6. Note of all Shippes bound to Turkey, etc., etc. 563
7. Mersey Docks and Harbour board 564
8. Extracts from Charter Party of E. I. C. 570
9. Ships of E. I. Company, etc., 1700-1819 572
10. Ships of E. I. C. in 1820 576
11. Historical Abstract of services of E. I. C. 578
12. List of Wages, E. I. C. 583
13. Victualling Bill of E. I. C. 585
14. List of Large Ships of E. I. C. in 1831 586
15. Memorial of Capt. George Probyn 588
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX No. 1, Vol. ii., p. 70.
_The Booke made by the Right Worshipful Mr. Robert Thorne, in the
yeere 1527, in Sivil, to Doctour Ley, Lord ambassadour for King
Henry the Eight, to Charles the Emperoar, being an information
of the parts of the world, discovered by him and by the King of
Portingal: and, also of the way to the Moluccaes by the North._
Right noble and reverend in I.C. I have received your letters, and have
procured and sent to know of your servant, who, your Lordship wrote,
should be sick in Merchena. I cannot there, or elsewhere heare of
him, without he be returned to you, or gon to _S. Lucar_, and shipt.
I cannot judge but that of some contagious sicknesse hee died, so
that the owner of the house, for defaming his house, would bury him
secretly, and not be knowen of it. For such things have often times
happened in this countrey.
Also to write unto your Lordship of the new trade of Spicery of the
Emperour, there is no doubt but that the Islands are fertile of cloues,
nutmegs, mace, and cinnamom; and that the said islands, with other
there about, abound with golde, rubies, diamonds, balasses, granates,
jacincts, and other stones and pearls, as all other lands that are
under and near the Equinoctiall. For we see where nature giveth
anything she is no nigard. For as with us, and other, that are aparted
from the said Equinoctiall, our mettals be lead, tin, and iron, so
theirs be gold, silver, and copper. And as our fruits and grains be
apples, nuts, and corne, so theirs be dates, nutmegs, pepper, cloues,
and other spices, and as we have jeat, amber, cristal, jasper, and
other like stones, so have they rubies, diamonds, balasses, saphyres,
jacincts, and other like. And though some say that of such precious
mettals, graines, or kind of spices, precious stones, the abundance
and quantity is nothing so great as our mettals, fruits, or stones,
above rehearsed; yet if it be well considered, how the quantitie of
the earth under the equinoctiall to both the Tropicall lines (in which
place is found the said golde, spices, and precious stones), is as
much in quantity as almost all the earth, from the Tropickes to both
the Poles; it cannot be denied but there is more quantitie of the sayd
mettals, fruites, spices, and precious stones, then there is of the
other mettals, and other things before rehearsed. And I see that the
preciousness of these things is measured after the distance that is
between us, and the things that we have appetite unto, for in this
navigation of the Spicerie was discovered, that these Islands nothing
set by golde, but set more by a knife and a nayle of iron, then by his
quantitie of golde, and with reason, as the thing more necessary for
mans service. And I doubt not but to them should be as precious our
corne and seeds, if they might have them, as to us their spice; and
likewise the pieces of glasse that here we have counterfeited are as
precious to them as to us their stones; which by experience is seen
daylie by them that have trade thither. This of the riches of those
countries is sufficient.
[Sidenote: Doctor Ley’s letters.]
[Sidenote: This was the fleet wherein Cabot discovered the river of
Plate, 1526.]
Touching that your Lordship wrote, whether it may bee profitable to
the Emperor or no; it may be without doubt of great profite; if, as
the king of _Portingal_ doth, he would become a merchant, and prouide
shippes and their lading, and trade thither alone, and defend the trade
of these Islands himselfe. But other greater businesse withholdeth
him from this. But still, as now it is begunne to be occupied, it
would come to much. For the shippes coming in safetie, there would
thither many every yere, of which to the Emperour is due of all the
wares and jewels that come from thence the fifth part for his custome
cleare without any cost. And besides this, hee putteth in every note a
certaine quantitie of money, of which hee enjoyeth of the gaines pound
and pounds like as other adventurers doe. In a fleete of three shippes
and a carauel that went from this city armed by the merchants of it,
which departed in April last past, I and my partener have one thousand
four hundred duckets that we employed in the said fleete, principally
for that two Englishmen, friends of mine, which are somewhat learned in
the Cosmographie, should goe in the same shippes, to bring me certaine
relation of the situation of the countrey, and to be expert in the
navigation of those seas, and there to have informations of many other
things, and advise that I desire to knowe especially. Seeing in these
quarters are shippes, and mariners of that countrey, and cardes by
which they saile, though much unlike ours, that they should procure to
have the said cards and learne how they understand them, and especially
to know what navigation they have for those islands northwards, and
northeastwards.
[Sidenote: The Newe found Islands discovered by the English.]
[Sidenote: Mappe of the World.]
For if from the said islands the sea did extend, without interposition
of land, to saile from the north point to the northeast poynt, one
thousand seven hundred, or one thousand eight hundred leagues, they
should come to the Newfound Islands that we discovered, and so we
should be neerer to the sayd Spicerie by almost two thousand leagues
then the Emperour, or the King of _Portingal_ are. And to advise your
Lordship whether of these Spiceries of the King of _Portingal_ or the
Emperours is nearer, and also of the titles that either of them hath,
and howe our New found lands are parted from it (for that by writing
without some demonstration it were hard to give any declaration of it)
I have caused that your Lordship shall receive herewith a little Mappe
or Carde of the World: the which I feare me shall put your Lordship
to more labour to understand than me to make it, onely for that it is
made in so little roome, that it cannot be but obscurely set out, that
is desired to be seene in it, and also for that I am in this science
little expert: yet to remedy in part this difficulty it is necessary
to declare to your Lordship my intent, with which I trust you perceive
in this Card part of your desire, if, for that I cannot expresse mine
intent, with my declaration I doe not make it more obscure.
First, your Lordship knoweth that the Cosmographers have divided the
earth by 360 degrees in latitude, and as many in longitude, under the
which is comprehended all the roundnes of the earth: the latitude being
divided into foure quarters, ninetie degrees amount to every quarter,
which they measure by the altitude of the Poles, that is the north and
south starres, being from the line Equinoctiall till they come right
under the north starre the said ninetie degrees, and as much from the
said line equinoctiall to the south starre be other ninety degrees. And
as much more is also from either of the said starres, agayne to the
Equinoctiall. Which imagined to bee round, is soone perceived thus,
360 degrees of latitude to be consumed in the said foure quarters of
ninetie degrees a quarter: so that this latitude is the measure of
the worlde from north to south, and from south to north. And the
longitude, in which are also counted other 360, is counted from west to
east or from east to west, as in the Card is set.
[Sidenote: To know the latitudes.]
The sayd latitude your Lordship may see marked and divided in the
ende of this Card on the left hand, so that if you would know in what
degrees of latitude any region or coast standeth, take a compasse, and
set the one foot of the same in the Equinoctial line, right against
the said region, and apply the other foote of the compasse to the said
region or coast, and then set the sayd compasse at the end of the
Card, where the degrees are divided. And the one foote of the compasse
standing in the line Equinoctial, the other will show in the scale the
degrees of altitude or latitude that the said region is in. Also the
longitude of the world I have set out in the nether part of the Card,
containing also 360 degrees which begin to be counted after _Ptoleme_
and other Cosmographers from an headland called _Capo Verde_, which is
over against a little crosse, made in the part occidental, where the
division of the degrees beginneth, and endeth in the same _Capo Verde_.
[Sidenote: To know the longitudes.]
Now to know in what longitude any land is, your Lordship must take a
ruler or a compasse, and set the one foot of the compasse upon the
land or coast whose longitude you would know, and extend the other
foot of the compasse to the next part of one of the transversal lines
in the Oriental or Occidental part: which done, set the one foot of
the compass in the said transversal line at the end of the nether
scale, the scale of longitude, and the other foot sheweth the degree of
longitude that the region is in. And your Lordship must understand that
this Card, though little, containeth the universal whole world betwixt
two collaterall lines, the one in the occidentall part descendeth
perpendicular upon the 175th degree, and the other in the orientall on
the 170th degree, whose distance measureth the scale of longitude. And
that which is without the two said tranversall lines, is onely to show
how the Orientall part is joined with the Occident, and Occident with
the Orient, for that that is set without the line in the Oriental part,
is the same that is set within the other line in the Occidentall part;
and that that is set without the line in the Occidental part, is the
same that is set within the line in the Orientall part, to show that
though this figure of the world in plaine or flatte seemeth to have an
end, yet one imagining that this said Card were set upon a round thing,
where the endes should touch by the lines, it would plainely appeare
howe the Orient part joyneth with the Occident, as there without the
lines it is described and figured.
And for more declaration of the said Card, your Lordship shall
understand, that beginning on the part occidental within the line,
the first land that is set out is the maine land, and islands of the
Indies of the Emperour. Which maine land or coast goeth northward, and
finisheth in the land that we found, which is called here _Terra de
Labrador_. So that it appeareth the said land that we found, and the
Indies, to be all one maine land.
[Sidenote: Now called the straight of Magelane.]
The sayd coast from the sayd Indies southward, as by the Card your
Lordshippe may see, commeth to a certaine straight sea, called
_Estrecho de Todos Santos_: by which straight sea the Spainiards goe to
the Spiceries, as I shall declare more at large; the which straight sea
is right against three hundred fifteene degrees of longitude, and is
of latitude or altitude from the Equinoctiall three and fifty degrees.
The first land from the sayd beginning of the Card toward the Orient
are certaine islands of the _Canaries_, and islandes of _Capo Verde_.
But the first maine land next to the line Equinoctial is the sayd
_Capo Verde_, and from thence northward by the straight of this sea of
_Italie_. And so followeth _Spayne_, _France_, _Flanders_, _Almaine_,
_Denmarke_, and _Norway_, which is the highest part toward the north.
And over against Flanders are our islands of _England_ and _Ireland_.
Of the landes and coastes within the streights I have set out onely the
regions, dividing them by lines of their limits, by which plainely I
thinke your Lordship may see, in what situation everie region is, and
of what highnesse, and with what regions it is joyned. I doe thinke few
are left out of all _Europe_. In the parts of _Asia_ and _Affrica_ I
could not so well make the sayd divisions: for that they be not so well
knowen nor need not so much. This I write because in the said Card be
made the said lines and strikes, that your Lordship should understand
wherefore they doe serve. Also returning to the aforesaid _Capo Verdo_,
the coast goeth southward to a cape called _Capo de buona Speransa_,
which is right over against the 60 and 65 degree of longitude. And
by this cape go the Portingals to their Spicerie. For from this cape
toward the Orient, is the land of _Calicut_, as your Lordship may see
in the headland over against the 130 degree. Fro the sayd Cape of
_Buona Speransa_ the coast returneth toward the line equinoctiall, and
passing forth, entreth the Red Sea, and returning out, entreth again
into the gulfe of Persia, and returneth toward the Equinoctiall line,
till that it commeth to the headland called _Calicut_ aforesayd, and
from, thence the coast making a gulfe, where is the river of _Ganges_,
returneth toward the line to a headland called _Malaca_, where is the
principal Spicerie: and from this Cape returneth and maketh a great
gulfe, and after the coast goeth right toward the Orient, and over
against this last gulfe and coast be many Islands, which be Islandes of
the Spiceries of the Emperour. Upon which the Portingals and he be at
variance.
[Sidenote: Doctor Ley’s demand.]
The said coast goeth toward the Orient, and endeth right against the
155 degrees, and after returneth toward the Occident northward: which
coast not yet plainely knowen, I may joyne to the New found lande
found by us that I spake of before. So that I finish with this briefe
declaration of the Card aforesayd. Well I know I should also have
declared how the coasts within the straights of the Sea of _Italie_
runne. It is playne that passing the straights on the north side of
that Sea after the coast of _Granado_, and with that which pertaines
to _Spaine_, is the coast of that which _France_ hath in _Italie_. And
then followeth in one piece all _Italie_, which land hath an arme of
the sea, with a gulfe which is called _Mare Adriaticum_. And in the
bottome of this gulfe is the citie of _Venice_. And on the other part
of the sayd gulfe is _Sclavonia_, and next _Grecia_, then the streights
of _Constantinople_, and then the sea called _Euxinus_, which is within
the sayd streights: and coming out of the said streights, followeth
_Turciamaior_ (though now on both sides it is called _Turcia_). And
so the coast runneth southward to _Syria_, and over against the sayd
_Turcia_ are the Islands of _Rhodes_, _Candie_, and _Cyprus_. And over
against _Italie_ are the Islands of _Sicilia_ and _Sardinia_. And over
against _Spaine_ is _Majorca_ and _Minorca_. In the ende of the gulfe
of Syria is _Judea_. And from thence returneth the coast toward the
Occident, till it commeth to the streights where we began, which all
is the coast of _Affrike_ and _Barbarie_. Also your Lordship shall
understand that the coastes of the sea throughout all the world, I
have colored with yellow, for that it may appeare that all that is
within the line colored yellow is to be imagined to be maine land or
Islands, and all without the line so coloured to bee Sea: whereby it
is easie and light to know it. Albeit in this little roome any other
descriptions would rather have made it obscure than cleere. And the
sayd coasts of the sea are all set justly after the maner and forme as
they lie, as the navigation approveth them throughout all the Card,
save onely the coastes and Isles of the Spicerie of the Emperour which
is from over against the 160, to the 215, degrees of longitude. For
these coastes and situations of the Islands every of the Cosmographers
and pilots of _Portingal_ and _Spayne_ do set after their purpose.
The Spanards more toward the Orient because they should appeare to
appertain to the Emperour: and the Portingals more toward the Occident,
for that they should fall more within their jurisdiction. So that the
pilots and navigants thither, which in such cases should declare the
truth, by their industrie do set them falsely every one to favour his
prince. And for this cause can be no certaine situation of that coast
and islands till this difference betwixt them be verified. Now to come
to the purpose of your Lordships demand touching the difference between
the Emperour and the king of _Portingal_, to understand it better, I
must declare the beginning of this discoverie. Though peradventure your
Lordship may say that in that I have written ought of purpose, I fall
in the proverbe, _a gemino ouo bellum_. But your Lordship commanded
me to be large, and I take license to be prolixious, and shall be
peradventure tedious, but your Lordship knoweth that _Nihil ignorantia
verbosius_.
[Sidenote: The Pope reprehended.]
In the yeere 1484 the king of _Portingal_ minded to arme certaine
Carvels to discover this Spicerie. Then forasmuch as he feared that
being discovered, every other prince woulde sende and trade thither, so
that the cost and peril of discovering should be his, and the profite
common; wherefore first he gave knowledge of this his mind to all
princes Christened, saying that hee would seeke amongst the infidels
newe possessions of regions, and therefore would make a certaine armie:
and that if any of them would helpe in the cost of the sayd armie,
he should enjoy his part of the profite or honour that should come
of it. And as then this discovering was holden for a strange thing
and uncertaine; nowe they say that all the Princes of Christendome
answered, that they would be no part of such an armie, nor yet of
the profit that might come of it. After the which he gave knowledge
to the Pope of his purpose, and of the answere of all the Princes,
desiring him that seeing that none would helpe in the costes, that
he would judge all that should bee found and discovered to be of his
jurisdiction and command that none other princes should intermeddle
therewith. The Pope said not as Christ saith, _Quis me constituit
judicem inter vos?_ He did not refuse, but making himself as Lord and
judge of all, not onely granted that all that should be discovered
from Orient to Occident should be the kings of _Portingal_, but also,
that upon great censures no other Prince should discover but he. And if
they did, all to bee the kings of _Portingal_. So he armed a fleete,
and in the yeere 1497 were discovered the Islands of _Calicut_, from
whence is brought all the spice he hath.
After this in the yere 1492, the kinge of Spaine willing to discover
lands toward the Occident without making any such diligence, or taking
licence of the king of _Portingal_, armed certaine carvels, and then
discovered this _India_ Occidental, especially two Islands of the sayd
_India_, that in this Card I set forth, naming the one _La Dominica_,
and the other _Cuba_, and brought certaine golde from thence, of the
which when the king of _Portingal_ had knowledge, he sent to the king
of _Spaine_, requiring him to give him the sayd islands. For that by
the sentence of the Pope all that should be discovered was his, and
that hee should not proceede farther in the discoverie without his
licence. And at the same time it seemeth that out of _Castil_ into
_Portingal_ had gone for feare of burning infinite number of Jewes
that were expelled out of _Spaine_, for that they would not turne to
be Christians, and carried with them infinite number of golde and
silver. So that it seemeth the king of _Spaine_ answered, that it was
reason that the king of _Portingal_ asked, and that to be obedient to
that which the Pope had decreed, he would give him the sayd Islands
of the _Indies_. Nowe for as much as it was decreed betwixt the sayde
kings that none should receive the others subjects, fugitives, nor
their goods, therefore the king of _Portingal_ should pay and returne
to the king of _Spaine_ a million of golde or more, that the Jewes
had caryed out of _Spaine_ to _Portingal_, and that in so doing he
would give these Islands and desist from any more discovering. And not
fulfilling this, he would not not onely not give these Islands, but
procure to discover more where him thought best. It seemeth that the
king of _Portingal_ would not, or could not with his ease pay this
money. And so not paying, that he could not let the king of _Spaine_
to discover: so that he enterprised not toward the Orient where he had
begun and found the Spicerie, and consented to the king of _Spaine_,
that touching this discovering they should divide the worlde betweene
them two. And that all that should be discovered from _Cape Verde_,
where this Card beginneth to be counted in the degrees of longitude, to
180 of the sayd scale of longitude, which is halfe the world toward
the Orient, and finisheth in this Card right over against a little
crosse made at the said 180 degrees, to be the king of _Portingals_.
And all the land from the said Crosse towarde the Occident, until it
joyneth with the other Crosse in the Orient, which containeth the other
hundreth and eightie degrees, that is the other halfe of the worlde, to
be the king of _Spaines_. So that from the land over against the said
hundreth and eighty degrees untill it finish in the three hundred and
sixtie on both the ends of the Card, is the jurisdiction of the king of
Spaine. So after this maner they divided the world betweene them.
[Sidenote: The Longitudes hard to be found out.]
Now for that these Islands of Spicery fall neere the terme and limites
betweene these princes (for as by the sayd Card you may see they
begin from one hundred and sixtie degrees of longitude, and ende in
215), it seemeth all that falleth from 160 to 180 degrees should be
of _Portingal_: and all the rest of _Spaine_. And for that their
Cosmographers and Pilots coulde not agree in the situation of the sayde
Islandes (for the _Portingals_ set them all within their 180 degrees,
and the _Spanards_ set them all without): and for that in measuring,
all the Cosmographers of both partes, or what other that ever have bene
cannot give certaine order to measure the longitude of the worlde,
as they doe of the latitude: for that there is no starre fixed from
East to West, as are the starres of the Poles, from North to South,
but all mooveth with the mooving divine: no maner can bee founde howe
certainly it may bee measured, but by conjectures, as the Navigants
have esteemed the way they have gone. But it is manifest that _Spaine_
had the situation of al the lands from _Cape Verde_, toward the Orient
of y’e _Portingals_ to their 180 degrees. And in all their Cardes they
never hitherto set the saide Islands within their limitation of the
sayd 180 degrees, (though they knew very well of the Islands,) till
now that the _Spaniards_ discovered them. And it is knowen that the
king of _Portingal_ had trade to these Islands afore, but would never
suffer _Portingal_ to go thither from _Calicut_: for so much as he knew
that it fell out of his dominion: least by going thither there might
come some knowledge of those other Islands of the king of _Spaine_, but
bought the cloves of marchants of that countrey, that brought them to
_Calicut_, much deerer than they would have cost, if he had sent for
them thinking after this maner it would abide alwayes secret. And now
that it is discovered he sendes and keepes the Spaniards from the trade
all that he can.
Also it should seeme that when this foresaid consent of the division
of the worlde was agreede of betweene them, the king of _Portingal_
had already discovered certaine Islandes that lie over against _Cape
Verde_, and also certaine part of the maine lande of _India_ toward
the South, from whence he sette _Brasill_, and called it the land of
_Brasil_. So for that all should come in his terme and limites, hee
tooke three hundred and seventie leagues beyond _Cape Verde_: and
after this, his 180 degrees, being his part of the worlde, should
begin in the Carde right over against the 340 degrees, where I have
made a little compasse with a crosse, and should finish at the 160
degree, where also I have made another little marke. And after this
computation without any controversy, the Islands of the Spicery fal out
of the _Portingals_ domination. So that nowe the _Spaniards_ say to the
_Portingals_, that if they would beginne their 180 degrees from the
sayde _Cape Verde_, to the intent they should extende more toward the
Orient, and so to touch those Islandes of the Spicerie of the Emperour,
which is al that is betweene the two crosses made in this Card, that
then the Islands of _Cape Verde_ and the lande of _Brasil_ that the
_Portingals_ nowe obtaine is out of the said limitation, and that they
are of the Emperours. Or if their 180 degrees they count from the 370
leagues beyond the said _Cape Verde_, to include in it the said Islands
and lands of _Brasil_, then plainely appeareth the said 180 degrees
should finish long before they come to these Islands of the Spicerie
of the Emperour: As by this Carde your Lordship may see. For their
limits should begin at the 340 degrees of this Carde, and ende at the
160 degrees, where I have made two little markes of the compasse with
crosses in them.
So that plainely it shoulde appeare by reason, that the _Portingals_
should leave these Islands of _Cape Verde_ and land of _Brasil_, if
they would have part of the Spicerie of the Emperours: or els holding
these, they have no part there. To this the _Portingals_ say that
they will beginne their 180 degrees from the self same _Cape Verde_:
for that it may extende so much more toward the Orient, and touch
these Islandes of the Emperours: and woulde winne these Islands of
_Cape Verde_ and land of _Brasil_ neverthelesse, as a thing that they
possessed before the consent of this limitation was made.
So none can verely tell which hath the best reason. They be not yet
agreed. _Quare sub Judice lis est._
But without doubt (by all conjectures of reason), the sayd Islands fall
all without the limitation of _Portingal_ and pertaine to _Spaine_,
as it appeareth by the most part of all the Cardes made by the
_Portingals_, save those which they have falsified of late purposely.
[Sidenote: New found land discovered by the Englishmen.]
But now touching that your Lordship wrote, whether that which we
discovered toucheth anything the aforesayd coastes: once it appeareth
plainely, that the Newefound land that we discovered, is all a maine
land with the _Indies_ occidentall, from whence the Emperour hath all
the gold and pearles; and so continueth of coast more than 5000 leagues
of length, as by this Carde appeareth. For from the said New lands it
proceedeth toward the Occident to the _Indies_, and from the _Indies_
returneth toward the Orient, and after turneth southward up till it
come to the Straits of _Todos Santos_, which I reckon to be more than
5000 leagues.
[Sidenote: Note.]
So that to the _Indias_ it should seeme that we have some title, at
least that for our discovering we might trade thither as others doe.
But all this is nothing neere the Spicerie.
[Sidenote: To sail by the Pole.]
[Sidenote: Of the Straites of Magelane.]
Now then if from the sayd New found lands the sea be navigable, there
is no doubt, but sayling northward and passing the Pole, descending to
the Equinoctiall line, we shall hit these Islands, and it should be a
much shorter way, than either the _Spanards_ or the _Portingals_ have.
For we be distant from the Pole but thirty and nine degrees, and from
the Pole to the Equinoctiall be ninetie, the which added together,
bee an hundred twenty and nine degrees, leagues 2489, and miles 7440:
Where we should find these Islands. And the Navigation of the Spaniards
to the Spicerie is, as by this Card you may see, from _Spaine_ to the
Islandes of _Canarie_, and from these Islandes they runne over the line
Equinoctiall southwarde to the Cape of the maine land of the Indians,
called the _Cape of Saint Augustine_, and from this Cape southwards
to the straites of _Todos Santos_, in the which navigation to the
said straites is 1700 or 1800 leagues; and from these Straites being
past them, they return towarde the line Equinoctiall to the Islands
of Spicerie, which are distant from the saide Straites 4200, or 4300
leagues.
The navigation of the Portingals to the said Islandes is departing
from _Portingal_ southward toward the _Cape Verde_, and from thence
to another Cape passing the line Equinoctiall called _Capo de Bona
Speransa_, and from _Portingal_ to the Cape is 1800 leagues, and from
this Cape to the Islands of Spicerie of the Emperour is 2500 leagues.
So that this navigation amounteth all to 4300 leagues. So that (as
afore is sayd) if between our Newe found lands, or _Norway_, or Island,
the seas towards the north be navigable, we should goe to these Islands
a shorter way by more than 2000 leagues.
[Sidenote: Note.]
[Sidenote: Benefite to England.]
And though we went not to the sayd Islandes, for that they are the
Emperours or kings of _Portingal_, wee shoulde by the waye and comming
once to the line Equinoctiall, finde landes no lesse riche of golde and
Spicerie, as all other landes are under the sayd line Equinoctiall: and
also should, if we may pass under the North, enjoy the navigation of
all _Tartarie_. Which should be no lesse profitable to our commodities
of cloth than these Spiceries to the Emperour, and king of _Portingal_.
[Sidenote: Objection.]