WAYS AND MEANS
There was a fixed rate of passage-money, and it was thought necessary
to forbid the captains to charge passengers any sum above that
specified for their rank. These were the respective rates, including
the passage and accommodation at the captain’s table.
General officers in the Company’s service were charged for the passage
from England £250, colonels or Gentlemen of Council £200, while
lieutenant-colonels, majors, senior merchants, junior merchants and
factors had to pay £150. Captains were charged £125. Writers in the
Company’s service paid £110, subalterns the same, assistant-surgeons
and cadets £95. If any of the two last mentioned proceeded to India
in the third mate’s mess, the latter was not to demand more than £55
for the passenger’s accommodation. The money was paid direct to the
paymaster of seamen’s wages at his pay office in London, who handed
these respective sums over to the commander or third mate. In the case
of military officers who were in his Majesty’s service and not in the
East India Company’s army, the charges were slightly different. Thus
general officers were charged £235, colonels £185, lieutenant-colonels
and majors £135, captains and surgeons £110, subalterns and
assistant-surgeons £95, for the voyage out.
For the homeward voyage the commanders of these East Indiamen were
allowed to charge 2500 rupees from Bombay for lieutenant-colonels
or majors, 2000 rupees for captains, and 1500 rupees for subalterns
when returning to Europe, either on sick certificate or military
duty, whether in his Majesty’s or the Company’s service. Regular East
Indiamen were bound, if asked, to receive on board at least two of
the above officers, and in this case the larboard third part of the
captain’s great cabin, with the passage to the quarter-gallery, was to
be apportioned off for their accommodation. In the case of an extra
ship one such officer was bound to be carried if the commander were
requested, and he was to be accommodated with a cabin on the starboard
side, abaft the chief mate’s cabin, and abreast of the spirit-room. His
cabin was to be not less than seven feet long and six feet wide. If the
whole of one of his Majesty’s regiments were returning to England, the
entire accommodation in the ship might be allotted as the Government
in India deemed advisable, the sums for the officers being paid to the
commander as just mentioned. Factors and writers homeward bound from
Bombay were charged 2000 and 1500 rupees respectively.
Under no circumstance was a commander allowed to receive any gratuity
above these sums, and to give effect to this he had to enter into a
bond for £1000 before being sworn in. Similarly the third mate was
equally forbidden to exact more than the sums mentioned under his
category.
Some idea of the victuals which were carried on board a 1200-ton
East Indiaman may be gathered from the following. Recollect that, of
course, there was no such thing as preserved foods or refrigerating
machinery in those days, but during these long voyages the passengers
and crew were not pampered with the luxuries of a modern liner.
The accommodation was lighted with candles and oil-lamps, the food
was plain, the cooking very English. Beside the amounts which an
Atlantic liner takes on board for her short voyage these figures
seem insignificant: and there were none of those manifold articles
for serving up the food in an appetising manner. For the strong, the
healthy and vigorous, this plain, substantial living was all right: but
for invalids, for delicate women, and for children naturally terrified
of the sea and unable to settle down to life on board, the voyage was
certainly not one long, delightful experience.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN CRUISER “PANTHER,” KNOWN AS A
“SNOW,” LYING IN SUEZ HARBOUR ON AUGUST 15TH, 1794.
(From a sketch in the Journal of William Henry, a Midshipman serving in
her at the time)]
For the use of the commander’s table 11 tons of ale, beer, wine or
other liquors were carried in casks or bottles, allowing 252 gallons
or 36 dozen quart bottles to the ton. There were also 40 tons of
beef, pork, bacon, suet and tongues, 28 tons of beer (additional to
the above), 350 cwt. of bread, 30 firkins of butter, 500 gallons of
spirit for the commander’s table, 1040 gallons of spirit for the ship’s
company, 20 cauldrons of coals, 50 dozen candles, 50 cwt. of cheese,
£65 worth of “chirugery and drugs,” 6 cases of confectionery, 134
cwt. of flour, 21 cwt. of fish, 80 cwt. of groceries, 130 gallons of
lime-juice, 50 bushels of oatmeal, 300 gallons of sweet and lamp oil,
500 bushels of oats, 15 tons of potatoes, 5 barrels of herrings and
salmon, 2 chests of “slops” for the seamen to obtain new clothes, 11
hogsheads of vinegar, 6 chests of oranges and lemons and 70 tons of
drinking water. In addition, 63 barrels of gunpowder, 6 tons of iron
shot, 6 tons of iron for the store, 5 cwt. of lead shot, 20 barrels of
pitch, 6 cwt. of rosin, 7 tons of spare cordage, 2½ tons of sheet
lead, 30 cwt. of tobacco, 20 barrels of tar, 3 barrels of turpentine
and quantities of wood were also carried for the boatswain’s, gunner’s
and carpenter’s stores.
As to the passengers’ baggage, Gentlemen in Council were allowed
to bring three tons or twenty feet of baggage, two chests of wine
being included as part of this baggage if returning to India. Their
ladies were allowed to take one ton of baggage if proceeding with
their husbands: but if proceeding to their husbands two tons. General
officers were allowed the same as Gentlemen in Council, colonels were
allowed three tons, but only one chest of wine, and so on down the
scale. When a first-class passenger to-day goes aboard a liner he finds
that his state-room contains everything that is required in the way of
furniture: but had he lived in the days of the East Indiamen he would
have to have taken on board a table, a sofa (or two chairs), and a
wash-hand stand. This much he would have to acquire, and this much he
was allowed. But in addition to bedding, sofa, table and two chairs,
members of the Select Committee could take three tons of baggage,
supra-cargoes two and a half tons and writers proceeding to China one
and a half tons.
If there was no duty payable on the baggage it could be shipped at
Gravesend: but if otherwise it went aboard at Portsmouth. No other
articles than wearing apparel and such things as were really intended
for the use of the respective passengers on the voyage, including
“musical instruments for ladies” and books, were allowed to be taken as
baggage.
The East India Dock Company, which we have seen was a subsidiary
company of the East India Company, was governed by twelve directors,
and the three dock-masters lived at the docks. Before the vessels
were allowed to enter the dock they had to be dismantled to their
lower masts, take out their guns, ammunition, anchors and stores while
they lay at moorings. Before being permitted to enter, a report had
to be made by the captain to the dock-master of the amount of water
the ship was leaking every twelve hours for the previous three days.
Whatever stores remained in her after coming into the basin had to be
discharged before she was allowed to go into the inner dock. But all
ships from the East Indies or China unloaded their cargoes within the
docks, except in the case of the biggest ships, which had to unload
some of their goods in Long Reach, so as to lessen the draught of
water. Outward-bound East Indiamen used to load either in the dock
or in the river below Limehouse Creek. Gunpowder was always unloaded
before entering dock, and the Company’s servants would superintend the
unloading of the cargoes when finally moored alongside the wharf. The
goods were then taken away by the Company’s “caravans,” the tea being
conveyed to the Company’s warehouses without being weighed at the docks.
Tea, of course, was not the only, though the principal cargo which
these ships were bringing home. To give a complete list of the
commodities would take up too much space, but we may be allowed to
mention the following as being among those commonly found in the hold
of a homeward-bound East Indiaman:—Aloes, drugs, buffalo hides, bark,
coffee, camphor, cotton, cowries, silk, cochineal, coral, elephants’
teeth, ebony, green ginger, gum arabic, hemp, Japan copper, china-ware,
shells, myrrh, nutmegs, nux vomica, opium, pepper, rice, redwood,
spikenard, shellac, sugar, saltpetre, sago, sandalwood, as well as both
black and green tea.
The Company had their warehouses in Fenchurch Street, Haydon Square,
Cooper’s Row, Jewry Street, Crutched Friars, New Street, Leadenhall
Street, and elsewhere in London. As to the private trade allowed to
the commanders and officers by the Company, we have already shown
what spaces were granted in these ships, but it may not be out of
place to mention that the goods under this category used to include
such articles as the following, which were much in demand in the
East:—Carriages, ale and beer, earthenware, hosiery, anchors, books,
charts, bar iron, looking-glasses, ironmongery, Manchester goods,
cutlery, millinery, hats, clocks, chronometers and watches, boots and
shoes, jewellery, saddlery, lead, port wine, stationery, window glass,
wines, and so on.
Smuggling still went on even well into the nineteenth century from
these homeward-bound ships, and commanders, officers and men were
just as bad as each other. The Company and the Board of Customs did
their best to stop it by regulations and threats, but there was a
certain amount of satisfaction in cheating the State, and good prices
were always offered and received for these goods from the East. The
officers were always reminded when being sworn in that if they took any
part in this illicit trade they would be dismissed the service, but
it was most difficult to put an end to the offence, the chief goods
illegally thus imported being tea, muslins, china-ware and diamonds:
and the professional smuggler was always glad to give what help he
could in running his small craft alongside the East Indiaman as she
came up the English Channel and anchored in the Downs. It was for this
reason that the Company took every care that their ships did not loiter
off the British coasts when returning. But very often it happened that,
after the officers of these ships had been detected smuggling by the
Board of Customs officials, the Company never learned anything of the
matter, for although suits were brought against the offending parties
the latter used to compound and the matter ended, though not without
loss to the Company itself.
The biggest East Indiaman in existence about the year 1813 was the
_Royal Charlotte_ of 1518 registered tons. She measured 194 feet long,
43 feet 6 inches wide, and had been built as far back as the year 1785.
About the same size were the _Arniston_ (1498 tons), _Hope_ (1498
tons), _Cirencester_ (1504 tons), _Coutts_ (1504 tons), _Glatton_ (1507
tons), _Cuffnells_ (1497 tons), _Neptune_ (1478 tons), _Thames_ (1487
tons) and _Walmer Castle_ (1518 tons). There were about 116 ships in
the Company’s service at the time we are speaking, and these had been
built either on the bottoms of other ships, or by open competition
(in pursuance of the late eighteenth-century Act which had made this
compulsory), or they were those much smaller “extra” ships. Some
again had been built as a speculation, and had been taken up by the
Company, whilst at least one—the _Thomas Grenville_—had been built at
Bombay for the Company in the year 1809. And there were in process of
construction in this year four vessels in India, and one in England for
the season 1813-1814. The India-built ships were being constructed in
Bombay, Bengal and Calcutta, and all these ships were of 1200 tons. The
following, which is an example of a tender made under the new system
of free and open competition, and accepted by the Company, indicates
the prices per ton which were paid for engaging these East Indiamen in
September 1796:—
“To China, and the several parts of India.
“_Ganges_, 1200 tons, William Moffat, Esq.,
for six voyages £17 10
Surplus tonnage, peace and war. £8 15
For difference of outfit, difference of Insurance
beyond eight guineas per cent.,
maintaining seamen, returning lascars,
and every other contingency and expence £18 10.”
The Company had its own hydrographer, who inspected the journals of
the commanders and officers on the arrival home of the ships. Happily
some of these are still in existence, and from them we are able to
gather a good many details of the work which went on in the ships.
Let us take, for example, the journal of Griffin Hawkins, who was a
midshipman in the _Triton_ during the years 1792-1794. This was one of
the more moderate-sized East Indiamen of 800 tons. We have not space
to go through the whole of this journal, which occupied a good many
large and closely written pages, but it is merely to illustrate the
Company’s standing orders which we have already chronicled, and to show
the preparations which were made in getting these East Indiamen ready
for sea, that the following brief extracts are made. You must think
of her as lying off Deptford, and in order that you may be able to
picture her the more easily, the accompanying sketch of her at anchor
by young Hawkins himself is here reproduced. The time of which we are
now to speak is the autumn of 1792, when the ship was in hand for the
1792-1793 season.
“Tuesday Oct. 30th ... at 11 A.M. came on board Mr Upham, Inspector,
with Mr Bale, Surveyor, overhauld the limbers &c. Left Mr Bale on
board. Employed taking in empty butts, and stowing them, also the
ship’s coals. Chief and fourth officers on board....
“Wednesday 31st.... Received on board the best and smallest bower
cables, and sundry stores, filled 43 butts with water. Do. officers.
“Thursday Nov. 1st.... Employed taking in tin and iron, on account of
Honble. Company, also the ship’s shott and sundry old stores, filling
water etc. Do. officers.
“Friday 2nd.... Clapt a mooring service on the small bower cable, set
up the rigging for and aft, filling water etc. Do. and 6th officers on
board.
[Illustration: AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY EAST INDIAMAN.
This rough sketch of the East Indiaman “Triton’s” stern is from her
Quarter Bill, as will be noticed, the date being 1792.]
“Saturday 3rd.... Employed taking in shot on account of the Honble.
Compy. and 45 tons of kentledge for the ship, and also some small
stores, filling water etc. Clapt a mooring service on the best bower.
2nd, 4th and 6th officers on board.”
On the following Monday the ship took in a quantity of copper as
well as sundry stores. On the Tuesday she shipped three new cables,
her pitch, tar and chandlery stores. On the Wednesday she saw to her
anchors and bent on her cables. On the Thursday her pilot came aboard
and took her down the river as far as Gravesend. And finally—to skip
over the ensuing weeks—after leaving the Thames and the Isle of Wight,
she had to put in to Torbay, quitting the latter not till 13th January
1793. The setting forth of ships was thus a very leisurely, slow
business as compared with the dispatch that attends the modern liner.
The tea which came in these ships was disposed of at the quarterly
sales, the duty being paid thirty days later. Some idea of the length
of time these vessels were away from home may be gathered from one
or two voyages at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Thus,
the 1200-ton _Glatton_ left the Downs for China on 29th March 1802,
proceeded to China, disposed of her cargo, took on board a fresh
one, and was back at her moorings in the Thames by 24th April of the
following year. Another ship, the _Marquis of Ely_ (whose managing
owner was Mr Robert Wigram, a name that became famous during the
clipper period), also of 1200 tons, left Portsmouth on 20th March 1804,
proceeded to Ceylon and China, transacted her business, and was back
at her moorings in the Thames on 12th September of the following year.
Some of the smaller vessels made good voyages too, when we consider
that these ships were not well designed nor built with the kind of hull
that makes for speed. Their first object was to carry safely a large
amount of cargo, rather than to get a small cargo home in the quickest
time. Thus, the 600-ton ship _Devaynes_ left Portsmouth on 17th
September 1808 for Bombay, loaded and unloaded and was back at moorings
on 6th July 1810. The _General Stuart_, of the same tonnage, left
Portsmouth on the same day and was back in the Thames on 16th April
1810. These passages may be conveniently compared with the hustling
days of sixty or seventy years later, when the famous China clipper
_Ariel_ made her record passage out to China. Leaving Gravesend on 14th
October 1866, she arrived in Hong Kong the following 6th of January and
was back again in the Thames on 23rd September.
The East India Company had their agents in different ports, both
at home and abroad, and it is worth mentioning in passing that the
Company’s agent at Halifax a few years later on in the century—that is
to say, about the year 1830—was that Samuel Cunard who was afterwards
to found the great line of Atlantic steamships which still bear his
name.
It was in the year 1814 that a most momentous development occurred.
Ever since the time of Elizabeth the East India Company had possessed
this wonderful monopoly of trading to the East. In spite of the
march of time, in spite of all the improvements in commerce and the
development of the world, in spite of the spread of industrialism
and the growing demands of democracy, in spite of all the vast sums
of money which had been on the aggregate extracted from the East, in
spite, finally, of the many abuses of which the East India Company
or its servants had been guilty, this exclusive privilege of trade
had been withheld for over two centuries from the other persons or
corporations of the kingdom.
But now all this was banished. For a long time merchant enterprise had
realised that Eastern trade would be extended, and that considerably,
if it were thrown open and competition were allowed to have its way.
So in the year mentioned the monopoly was done away with as regards
India. The British public were henceforth allowed to trade with that
country unconditionally, except that it must be done in vessels of not
less than 350 tons. But China was reserved as the exclusive trading
preserve of the East India Company, and the Company still retained the
control of the supply of tea, which had become now a common article of
consumption, and therefore the importing of this commodity was of great
value to this ancient corporation.
It was not without a great effort that the Indian monopoly was done
away with. This was a time when the interests of private individuals
in high power were considered even more than they would be to-day.
The character of social life has changed a great deal since then,
so that it is not immediately easy to appreciate the revolutionary
nature of this change from a close preserve, strictly guarded for
many a generation, to become an open area common to all and sundry of
the British nation. The merchants of Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow
had been agitating for years: now at last the desired object had been
attained. All sorts of arguments were spoken and printed concerning
the reasons on behalf of the monopoly. Some of these were utterly
ridiculous, and obviously not sufficiently disinterested to appear
sincere. The argument of the monopolists was largely of the kind which
says practically: “You may not like it, but allow us to tell you that
it is really all for your good that we want the monopoly ourselves.”
Merchants outside the Company were too wide-awake to see it in that
light. And when this monopoly was removed in 1814, what was the result?
The result was this. As soon as the barrier was thrown down, private
shipowners entered, and a number of excellent ships were built for
the voyages to India and back. Commerce received a great impetus, and
eventually (as had been foreseen) the private traders gained ascendancy
over the East India Company, and the trade with India became trebled.
The effect of this new element of competition was to cause a reduction
in the average rate of freights per ton. The East India Company had
been paying £40 a ton for their ships, while better ships could be
built and equipped for £25 a ton. By the year 1830 the cost of freights
from India to England had dropped to £10 a ton. There can be no doubt
that the Company had been managing their affairs with too little regard
to economy. Their ships were fitted up with too much expense for the
passengers. They were paying £40 a ton as against £25 paid by other
traders. The East India Company’s ships carried much larger crews than
other ships. The former used to have one man to every ten or twelve
tons, though the ships engaged in the West Indian trade carried one
man to every twenty-five tons. And whilst we are making comparisons
let us show how much beamier these East Indiamen were. Four beams to
the length was their rule, as compared with five or six beams to the
length in the case of the famous Clyde and American clippers which were
to come after. To-day in the twentieth century the biggest Atlantic
liners have between nine and ten beams to their length. It should be
mentioned at the same time that these East Indiamen had necessarily
to carry large numbers of men because they must needs be well armed
to fight their enemies on an equal footing. But the long years of
warfare were now giving way to peace, and instead there was to come a
century of industrial progress, invention and commercial development.
Privateers, hostile ships, pirates—these were to be withdrawn, and
simultaneously the need for arming merchantmen disappeared. It is only
quite recently, with the Anglo-German tension, that our merchant ships
have begun to be armed again on any extensive scale.
The abolition of the monopoly gave a new impetus to British
shipbuilding, and the firm of Scotts, of Greenock, turned out some
fine vessels for the East, such as the _Christian_, launched in 1818,
the _Bellfield_ of 478 register tons—the latter being built in 1820.
Both these ships were for the London-Calcutta trade. The Company were
of course still trading to India and China, and among the ships which
they owned or hired about the last-mentioned date may be mentioned
the following. Their biggest ship, then, was the _Lowther Castle_, of
1507 tons. She was built in the year 1811, carried 26 guns and 130
men. Another fine ship was the _Earl of Balcarres_, built at Bombay in
1815. She had the same number of men and guns as the _Lowther Castle_,
though of 1417 tons register. Such a vessel was ship-rigged with three
masts, triangular headsails and stuns’ls. Still unable to get away from
the mediæval influence, the jibboom was “steeved” very high. With her
rows of square ports, her figurehead, her enormous anchors, which were
stowed over the side by the fore rigging, she was very similar to a
British man-of-war of that period. Boat-davits had now come into use,
and a boat was thus hung on each quarter.
Contemporary manuscript records of the late eighteenth-century
Company’s ships show them wearing a long pennant at one mast and a
square flag at another. Each of the East Indiamen ships in a convoy
would have its own distinguishing pennant. Sometimes this was flown at
the main with a square flag at the fore, at other times you find a ship
with the square flag at the mizen and the pennant at the fore. And a
most elaborate code of signals both for day and night was provided for
use between the flagship and the respective units.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN “EARL BALCARRES.”
This fine ship was built at Bombay in 1815, and was sold out of the
Honourable East India Company’s service in 1834. Her tonnage was 1,417,
she carried 130 men, and was armed with twenty-six 18-pounder guns.]
Promotion in the Company’s own ships was by seniority, though in the
case of the ships which the Company hired from private owners for a
certain number of voyages, promotion depended rather on ability and
influence. The East India Company were wont to appoint commanders to
their ships before the latter were completed, in order that they might
be fitted out under the captain’s personal supervision. Midshipmen
had to be between thirteen and eighteen years of age. Pursers were
appointed by the commander, subject to the approval of the Committee of
Shipping. We have shown that if the pay in these ships was not great,
yet the privileges were so lucrative that a commander could afford to
retire after four or five voyages with a fortune that would render him
independent for the rest of his life. What with being allowed to engage
extensively in the Eastern trade, plus the amount of free space allowed
them for this purpose on board, and the receipt of passage-money
from the various officials who voyaged between England and India,
a commander was remarkably unlucky if he had not made about £20,000
in his five voyages in that rank. In some cases his revenue amounted
to about £6000 a voyage and even more. This is the figure for what he
obtained by honest means. To this must be added in many cases that
which he obtained by illicit trade, better known as smuggling. Lindsay
mentions the instance of one commander within his own knowledge who in
one voyage from London to India, thence to China and so back to London,
realised no less than £30,000, this captain having a large interest in
the freight of cotton and other produce conveyed from India to China.
And, having examined the records of the custom-house, I can assure the
reader that whatever a captain made legally he also made additional
sums by stealth, to the loss of the nation’s customs.
These ships would go out of their voyage to call at foreign, English,
Irish and Scottish ports, or to meet with smuggling craft at sea in
order to unload some of their goods stealthily, and that was why the
Company were so particular in inquiring into the deviations made
during the passage. It speaks very little for the honour of some of
these captains that, in spite of such handsome remuneration from one
source and another, they were always ready to go out of their way to
earn a little more by dishonest methods that would bring themselves,
their ship and the Company into disgrace. But it is never fair to
judge men except when taking into consideration the moral standard of
the time: and the less said about the eighteenth and early nineteenth
century in this respect perhaps the better. Might was right, and
honesty in commerce was a rare virtue. Of course, the mere existence
of this trade monopoly was in itself an unhealthy influence, breeding
jealousy, corruption, greed and avarice. And this seems to have
permeated the Company’s service generally, not merely afloat, but
ashore. But a better type of man of good family and high character
entered the Company’s service in the nineteenth century. This, and the
rigorous determination of the Company and of the Board of Customs, made
smuggling practically non-existent in these East Indiamen.
Let us pass now to a more pleasant subject and see how these ships were
worked at sea.