ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS
By an Order in Council of May 5, 1821, it was directed that henceforth
all sums which were awarded for arrests on shore of any person
concerned in smuggling should be paid in the following proportions. He
who made the arrest was to have three-quarters of the reward, which
was to be divided into equal proportions if there were more than one
person. If there were any officer or officers present at the time of
arrest, these were to have one quarter of the reward. The officer
commanding the party was to have two shares, each of the other
officers having one share. The reward payable for a smuggler convicted
and transferred to the Navy amounted to £20. And here let it be added
that the persons liable to arrest in regard to smuggling were: (1)
Those found on smuggling vessels; (2) Those found unloading or
assisting to unload such craft; (3) Those found to be carrying away
the landed goods or concerned in hiding the same. But before
conviction it was essential to prove that the seized spirits were
foreign; that the vessel had come from foreign parts; that the party
who detained the smugglers was a Customs Officer; and that the
offenders were taken before a proper magistrate.
We now come to the year 1821, when the Commissioners of Inquiry made
an important report touching the Revenue service. They suggested that
the Riding Officers were not valuable in proportion to their cost, and
so it came about that the Inspectors and superior officers, as well as
a large number of the inferior classes, were dispensed with, but a
small percentage of the lowest class was retained as a Preventive
Mounted Guard, the annual cost of this being only the modest sum of
£5000. This Preventive Guard was to be employed in watching for any
gatherings of smugglers, and whenever any goods might be landed and
carried up into the country, they were to be followed up by the
members of this guard. They were also to maintain a communication
between the different stations.
Up to the year 1821, from those early days of the seventeenth century
and earlier, the Revenue cruisers were the most important of all the
means employed for suppressing smuggling. But the same inquiry which
had made its recommendations regarding the Riding Officers also
reported that the efficacy of the vessels employed in protecting the
Revenue was not proportionate to the expense incurred in their
maintenance. They advised, therefore, that their numbers should be
reduced, and that whereas they had in 1816 come under the care of the
Admiralty, they should now be restored to the control of the Customs.
But the officers and crews of these cruisers were still to be selected
by the Admiralty. And thus in the year 1822 these recommendations were
carried into effect, and a new order inaugurated.
It was by a Treasury Minute of February 15, 1822, that it was directed
that the whole of the force employed for the prevention of smuggling
"on the coast of this kingdom," was to be consolidated and
transferred, and placed under the direction of the Customs Board. This
force was to consist of the cruisers, Preventive Water-guard, and
Riding Officers. And henceforth the commanders of cruisers were to
receive their orders from the Controller-General of the Coastguard,
who was to be responsible to the Board of Customs. The one exception
to this change was that the Coast Blockade on the coast of Kent and
Sussex, which had shown itself so satisfactory that it was left
unaltered. The Preventive Water-guard became the Coastguard, and
this--rather than the cruisers--should form the chief force for
prevention of smuggling, the Riding Officers, or Preventive Mounted
Guard, being merely auxiliary by land, and the cruisers merely
auxiliary by sea. To what extent the number of cruisers were reduced
can be estimated by stating that whereas there were forty-seven of
these Revenue craft employed in England in 1821, there were only
thirty-three two years later, these consisting of the _Mermaid_,
_Stag_, _Badger_, _Ranger_, _Sylvia_, _Scout_, _Fox_, _Lively_,
_Hawk_, _Cameleon_, _Hound_, _Rose_, _Scourge_, _Repulse_, _Eagle_,
_Tartar_, _Adder_, _Lion_, _Dove_, _Lapwing_, _Greyhound_, _Swallow_,
_Active_, _Harpy_, _Royal George_, _Fancy_, _Cheerful_, _Newcharter_,
_Fly_, _Seaflower_, _Nimble_, _Sprightly_, _Dolphin_.
The first-class cruisers were of 140 tons and upwards, the second
class of from 100 to 140 tons, and the third class were under 100
tons. In 1824 the cruisers on the Irish coast and the Scotch coast
were also transferred to the Customs Board, and from that date the
entire Coastguard service, with the exception of the Coast Blockade,
was directed, as stated, by the Controller-General.
In the year 1829, the instructions were issued to the Coastguard.
Afloat, these applied to the commanders, mates, gunners, stewards,
carpenters, mariners, and boys of the cruisers. Ashore, they were
applicable to the Chief Officers, Chief Boatmen, Mounted Guard,
Commissioned Boatmen, and Boatmen, both sections being under their
respective commanders. Each member of the Mounted Guard was provided
with a good horse and sword, with an iron scabbard of the Light
Cavalry pattern, as well as a couple of pistols and ammunition. The
cruiser commanders were again enjoined to keep the sea in bad weather
and at night, nor were they permitted to come to harbour except when
really necessary.
In 1831 came the next change, when the Coastguard took the place of
the Coast Blockade, which had done excellent duty for so many years in
Kent and Sussex. The aim was to make the Coastguard service national
rather than departmental. To promote the greatest efficiency it was
become naval rather than civil. It was to be for the benefit of the
country as a nation, than for the protecting merely of its revenues.
Thus there was a kind of somersault performed; and the whole of the
original idea capsized. Whereas the Preventive service had been
instituted for the benefit of the Customs, and then, as an
after-thought, became employed for protection against the enemy across
the Channel, so now it was to be exactly the other way on. The Revenue
was to be subservient to the greater and national factor.
In this same 1831, the number of cruisers had risen to thirty-five in
England, but many of them had tenders. There were altogether
twenty-one of these latter and smaller craft, their tonnage varying
from twenty-five to sixty. And the next year the Mounted Guard was
reorganised and the Riding Officers disappeared. With the cordon of
cruisers afloat, and the more efficient Coastguard service ashore,
there was a double belt round our coasts, which could be relied upon
both for national and Revenue services. By this time, too, steam was
invading the domain of the ship, and in 1839, besides the
old-fashioned sailing cutters and tenders, there was a steamer named
the _Vulcan_, of 200 tons, taken into the service, her duty being to
cruise about and search for suspicious vessels. In some parts of the
country, also, there was assistance still rendered by the Mounted
Guard for watching the roads leading inland from the beach to prevent
goods being brought up.
With this increased efficiency it was but natural that a change should
come over the character of the smuggling. Force was fast going out of
date. Except for a number of rather startling occasions, but on the
whole of exceptional occurrence, violence had gone out of fashion. But
because of the increased vigilance along the coast the smuggler was
hard put to devise new methods of running his goods into the country
without being surprised by the officials. Most, if not all, of the old
syndicates of French and Englishmen, who made smuggling a roaring
trade, had died out. The armed cutters had long since given way to the
luggers as the smuggling craft. Stealth had taken the place of
violence, concealments and sunken goods were favoured rather than
those daring and outrageous incursions which had been in the past wont
to take place.
And yet, just as a long-standing illness cannot be cured at once, but
keeps recurring, so there were periods when the smuggling disease kept
breaking out and seemed to get worse. Such a period was that between
1825 and 1843, but it was pointed out to the Treasury that so long as
the high duties continued, "Your Lordships must look only to the
efficiency of the Coastguard for the continued absence of successful
enterprises, and that smuggling would immediately revive upon the
slightest symptom of relaxation on the part of the Commissioners of
Customs." The service was therefore glad to encourage Naval
Lieutenants to serve as Chief Officers of the Coastguard.
Among the general instructions issued to the Coastguard of the United
Kingdom in 1841, were definite orders to the commanders of cruisers.
Thus, if ever a cruiser ran aground the commander was to report it,
with full particulars of the case and extent of damage. During the
summer season the Inspecting Commanders were to take opportunities for
trying the comparative speeds of these cruisers. Whenever cruisers
should meet at sea, in any roadstead or in any harbour, they were to
hoist their ensigns and pendants as an acknowledgment that each had
seen the other; and when both had thus hoisted their colours they
might immediately be hauled down. This was also to be done when one
cruiser should pass another at anchor.
Cruisers were again reminded that they were to wear only the ensigns
and pendants appointed for the Revenue service, and not such as are
used in the Royal Navy. Nor were salutes to be fired by cruisers
except on particular and extraordinary occasions. It was further
ordered that no alteration was to be made in the hull, masts, yards,
sails, or any fitments of the cruisers, without the sanction of the
Controller-General. To prevent unnecessary expense on fitting out or
refitting of any of the cruisers, the use of leather was to be
restricted to the following: the leathering of the main pendants,
runners in the wake of the boats when in tackles, the collar of the
mainstay, the nip of the main-sheet block strops, leathering the
bowsprint traveller, the spanshackle for the bowsprit, topmast iron,
the four reef-earings three feet from the knot. All old copper,
copper-sheathing, nails, lead, iron and other old materials which were
of any value, were to be collected and allowed for by the tradesmen
who perform the repairs. New sails were to be tried as soon as
received in order to ascertain their fitness. Both boats and cruisers
were also to be painted twice a year, above the water-line, this to be
done by the crews themselves.
A general pilot was allowed for two months when a cruiser arrived on a
new station, and an occasional pilot was permissible in cases of
necessity, but only licensed pilots were to be employed. General
pilots were paid 6s. a day as well as the usual rations of provisions.
The cruisers were provided with charts of the coast off which they
were employed. Naval officers holding appointments as Inspecting
Commanders of cruisers, Chief Officers of stations and Mates of
cruisers were ordered to wear the greatcoat established by any
Admiralty regulation in force for the time being, with epaulettes,
cap, and side-arms, according to their ranks. Commanders of cruisers,
if not naval officers, were to wear a blue lappel-coat, buttoned back
with nine Coastguard uniform buttons and notched button-holes, plain
blue stand-up collar with gold lace loop and button on each side
thereof--the loop to be five inches long, and the lace three-quarters
of an inch in breadth. There were also to be three buttons and notched
button-holes on each cuff and pocket, as well as three buttons in the
folds of each skirt.
The waistcoat was to be white or blue kerseymere, with uniform
buttons, white or blue pantaloons or trousers, with boots, a blue
cloth cap similar in shape to those worn in the Royal Navy, with two
bands of gold lace three-quarters of an inch broad, one at the top and
the other at the bottom of the headpiece. The sword was to have a
plain lace knot and fringe tassel, with a black leather belt. White
trousers were worn on all occasions of inspection and other special
occasions between April 23 and October 14. Blue trousers were to be
worn for the other months.
In 1849 the Select Committee on the Board of Customs expressed the
opinion that the number of cruisers might be reduced, and the
Landguard practically abolished; but it was deemed advisable that
these protections being removed, the coastline of defence ought to be
strengthened by securing the services of Naval Lieutenants who had
retired from the Navy on half-pay. So the number of cruisers and
tenders which in 1844 had reached seventy-six, and in 1849 were
fifty-two, had now sunk to fifty in the year 1850. In 1854, on the
outbreak of war with Russia, 3000 men were drafted into the Navy from
the Coastguard, their places being filled by pensioners. During the
war considerable service was also rendered by the Revenue cruisers, by
capturing the Russian ships in the Northern Seas, for we must
recollect that, just as in the wars with France, there were two
centres to be dealt with, viz., in the north and south. The war with
Russia, as regards the sea service, was prosecuted both in the Narrow
Seas and in the Black Sea, and the Russian trade was badly cut up. As
many as eleven Russian ships were captured by means of these British
cutters, and no less than eight of these prizes were condemned. The
fact is worthy of being borne in mind when considering the history of
these craft which have long since passed from performing active
service.
The next modification came in 1856, when it was resolved to transfer
the control of the Coastguard to the Admiralty; for in spite of the
great change which had been brought about in 1831, all the Coastguard
officers and men while being appointed by the Admiralty, were none the
less controlled by the Customs. However, this condition was now
altered, but in the teeth of opposition on the part of the Customs,
who represented to the Treasury that considerable inconvenience would
result from this innovation. But on the 1st of October 1856, the
control of the Coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty, as it had
been foreshadowed. And with that we see practically the last stage in
the important development which had been going on for some years past.
It was practically the finale of the tendency towards making the
service naval rather than civil.
For the moment, I am seeking to put the reader in possession of a
general idea of the administrative features of the service, which is
our subject, during the period between 1822-1856. At the
last-mentioned date our period devoted to cutters and smugglers
practically ends. But before proceeding to deal with the actual
incidents and exciting adventures embraced by this period, it may be
convenient just to mention that these changes were followed in 1869,
when the services of civilians employed in any capacity in the
Coastguard were altogether dispensed with, and since then the general
basis of the Coastguard development has been for the better defence of
our coasts, so as to be vigilant against any disembarkation by a
foreign power, at the same time providing to a certain extent for the
manning of the ships of the Royal Navy when required. Thus, the old
organisation, with which the Customs Board was so closely and for so
long a time connected, changed its character when its sphere became
national rather than particular. Its duty henceforth was primarily for
the protection of the country than for the prevention of smuggling.
But between 1822--when the Admiralty yielded up their responsibilities
to the Customs Board--and the year 1856, when again the control was
returned to the Admiralty, no material alterations were made in the
methods of preventing smuggling, the most important event during that
period--apart altogether from the actual smuggling incidents--was the
change which had been brought about in 1831.
During the different reigns and centuries in which the smuggling evil
had been at work, all sorts of anti-smuggling acts had been passed. We
can well understand that a certain amount of hasty, panic-driven
legislation had from time to time been created according to the sudden
increase of contraband running. But all these laws had become so
numerous, and their accumulation had made matters so intricate, that
the time had come for some process of unravelling, straightening out,
and summarising. The systematising and clarification were affected by
the Act of January 5, 1826 (6 Geo. IV. cap. 108). And one of the most
important features of this was to the effect that any vessel belonging
wholly or in part to his Majesty's subjects, found within four leagues
of the coast of the United Kingdom, with prohibited goods on board,
and not proceeding on her voyage, was to be forfeited. Any vessel or
boat, not square-rigged, belonging wholly or in part to his Majesty's
subjects, and found in the British (as it was then frequently
designated) Channel or Irish Channel, or elsewhere within 100 leagues
of the coast, with spirits or tobacco in casks or packages of less
size than 40 gallons; or tea, tobacco, or snuff, in any package
containing less than 450 lbs. in weight--this craft was to be
forfeited. And vessels (not square-rigged), if found unlicensed, were
also to be forfeited. But whale-boats, fishing-boats, pilot's boats,
purely inland boats, and boats belonging to square-rigged ships were
exempt.
But, of course, smuggling was still very far from being dead, and the
Revenue cruisers had always to be on the alert. Some idea of the
sphere of activity belonging to these may be gathered from the
following list of cruiser stations existing in the early 'twenties.
The English cruiser stations consisted of: Deptford, Chatham,
Sheerness, Portsmouth, Cowes, Weymouth, Exmouth, Plymouth, Fowey,
Falmouth, Penzance, Milford, Berwick, Grimsby, Boston, North
Yarmouth, Harwich, Gravesend, Dover, Poole, Brixham, Ilfracombe,
Douglas (Isle of Man), Alderney, Dover, Seaford, Dartmouth, Holyhead,
Southend (in the port of Leigh). In Scotland there were: Leith,
Montrose, Stranraer, Stornoway, Aberdeen, Cromarty, Campbeltown,
Greenock. In Ireland there were: Kingstown, Larne, Killibegs,
Westport, Galway, Cork, and Dunmore East.
It was to such places as the above that the cruisers repaired for
their provisions. When smugglers had been captured and taken on board
these cruisers they were allowed not to fare as well as the crew, but
to have only two-thirds of the victuals permitted to the mariners. In
1825 additional instructions were issued relating to the victualling
of his Majesty's Revenue Cruisers, and in future every man per diem
was to have:--
One pound of biscuit, 1/3 of a pint of rum (wine measure), until the
establishment of the imperial measure, when 1/4 of a pint was to be
allowed, the imperial gallon being one-fifth greater than the wine
gallon. Each man was also to have 1 lb. beef, 1/2 lb. flour, or in
lieu thereof 1/2 pint of oatmeal, 1/4 lb. suet, or 1-1/2 oz. of sugar
or 1/4 oz. of tea, also 1 lb. of cabbage or 2 oz. of Scotch barley.
They were to be provided with pure West India rum, of at least twelve
months old. Further regulations were also taken as to the nature of
the men's grog. "As it is considered extremely prejudicial to the
health of the crew to suffer the allowance of spirits to be drank raw,
the Commanders are to cause the same to be served out to them mixed
with water, in the proportion of three parts water and one part
spirits, to be so mixed and served out in presence of one of the
mates, the boatswain, gunner, or carpenter, and one or two of the
mariners."
Smugglers detained on board were not to have spirits. Before
proceeding to sea each cruiser was to have on board not less than two
months' supply of salt beef, spirits; suet or sugar and tea in lieu,
as well as Scotch barley. With reference to the other articles of
food, they were to carry as large a proportion as could be stowed
away, with the exception of fresh beef and cabbages. But two years
prior to this, that is to say on April 5, 1823, the Board of Customs
had reduced the victualling allowances, so that Commander and mates
and superintendents of Quarantine received 2s. 6d. a day each;
mariners 1s. 3d.; and mariners of lazarettes (hospitals 1s. for
quarantine) 1s. 3d. a day.
As to the methods of the smugglers, these continued to become more and
more ingenious, though there was a good deal of repetition of
successful tricks until the Revenue officers had learnt these secrets,
when some other device had to be thought out and employed. Take the
case of a craft called the _Wig Box_, belonging to John Punnett. She
was seized at Folkestone in the spring of 1822 by a midshipman of the
Coast Blockade. There were found on her six gallons of spirits, which
were concealed in the following most ingenious manner. She was quite a
small vessel, but her three oars, her two masts, her bowsprit, and her
bumpkin, had all been made hollow. Inside these hollows tin tubes had
been fitted to contain the above spirits, and there can be little
doubt but that a good many other small craft had successfully employed
these means until the day when the _Wig Box_ had the misfortune to be
found out. There is still preserved in the London Custom House a
hollow wooden fend-off which was slung when a ship was alongside a
quay. No one for a long time ever thought of suspecting that this
innocent-looking article could be full of tobacco, lying as it was
under the very eyes of the Customs officers of the port. And in 1820
three other boats were seized in one port alone, having concealed
prohibited goods in a square foremast and outrigger, each spar being
hollowed out from head to foot and the ends afterwards neatly plugged
and painted. Another boat was seized and brought into Dover with
hollow yards to her lugsails, and a hollow keel composed of tin but
painted to look like wood, capable of holding large quantities of
spirits.
But there was a very notorious vessel named the _Asp_, belonging to
Rye, her master's name being John Clark, her size being just under 24
tons. In 1822 she was seized and found to have a false bow, access to
which was by means of two scuttles, one on each side of the stem.
These scuttles were fitted with bed-screws fixed through false timbers
into the real timbers, and covered with pieces of cork resembling
treenails. The concealment afforded space for no fewer than fifty flat
tubs besides dry goods. But in 1824 another vessel of the same name
and port, described as a smack, was also arrested at Rye, and found to
have both tobacco and silk goods concealed. This was effected by means
of a false bottom to the ship, which extended as far aft as the
ballast bulkhead. The entrance to the concealment was by means of a
couple of scuttles on each side of her false keelson, these scuttles
being screwed down in such a manner as also to be imperceptible. Also
on either side of her cabin there were other hiding-places underneath
the berths, and so constructed that they deceived more than one
Revenue officer who came aboard to rummage her. The latter had bored
holes through the lining, so as to try the distance of that lining
from the supposed side of the vessel. Finding this distance not to
exceed the fair allowance for the vessel's scuttling, the officers had
gone ashore quite satisfied. From the number of gimlet-holes in the
lining it was clear that the officers had been imposed upon
considerably. But what these officers had taken for the side of the
ship was only an intermediary planking, the actual concealment being
between that and the vessel's side.
To get to the entrance of these concealments, the bedding had to be
taken out, which they had no doubt omitted to do. But if they had done
this they would have been able properly to get to the lining, when two
small pieces of wood about an inch square let into the plank made
themselves apparent. And these, if removed with the point of a knife
or chisel, brought small pieces of cork (circular in shape) to become
visible. As soon as these corks were removed, the heads of bed-screws
were observable, and these being unscrewed allowed two boards running
the whole lengths of the berths to be taken up, by which means were
revealed the concealments capable of containing a considerable
quantity of dry goods.
Somewhat reminiscent of this ship was the French vessel, _St.
Antoine_, which was seized at Shoreham. She had come from Dieppe, and
her master was named A. Fache. The after part of her cabin was fitted
with two cupboards which had shelves that took down, the back of which
was supposed to be the lining of the transom. But on taking the same
up, timbers showed themselves. On examining the planks closely, it
was noticed that they overlapped each other, the timbers being made to
act as fastenings. On striking the lower end of the false timbers on
one side, it moved round on a bolt, and one plank with a timber was
made to shift on each side of the false stern-post, forming a
stern-frame with the other. Below the cupboards down to the run of the
vessel the same principle was followed. The entrance to this was by
taking down the seats and lockers in the cabin, and a false stern-post
appeared to be fastened with a forelock and ring, but by unfastening
the same, the false stern-post and middle plank could be taken down.
Two ingenious instances of the sinking of contraband goods were found
out about the year 1823, and both occurred within that notorious
south-east corner of England. The first of these belongs to Sandwich,
where three half-ankers of foreign spirits were seized floating, being
hidden in a sack, a bag of shingle weighing 30 lbs. being used to act
as a sinker. Attached to the sack were an inflated bladder and about
three fathoms of twine, together with a small bunch of feathers to act
as a buoy to mark the spot. When this arrangement was put into use it
was found that the bladder kept the sack floating one foot below the
surface of the water. The feathers were to mark the spot where the
sack, on being thrown overboard, might bring up in case any accident
had occurred to the bladder. At spring tides the rush of the water
over the Sandwich flats causes a good deal of froth which floats on
the surface. The reader must often have observed such an instance on
many occasions by the sea. The exact colour is a kind of dirty yellow,
and this colour being practically identical with that of the bladder,
it would be next to impossible to tell the difference between froth
and bladder at any distance, and certainly no officer of the Revenue
would look for such things unless he had definite knowledge
beforehand.
[Illustration: The Sandwich Device.
In the sack were three half-ankers. A bag of shingle acted as sinker,
and the bladder kept the sack floating.]
The second occurrence took place at Rye. A seizure was made of twelve
tubs of spirits which had been sunk by affixing to the head of each a
circular piece of sheet lead which just fitted into the brim of the
cask, and was there kept in its place by four nails. The weight of the
lead was 9 lbs., and the tubs, being lashed longitudinally together,
rolled in a tideway unfettered, being anchored by the usual lines and
heavy stones. The leads sank the casks to the bottom in 2-1/2 fathoms
of water, but at that depth they in specific gravity so nearly
approximated to their equal bulk of fluid displaced that they could
scarcely be felt on the finger. The leads were cast in moulds to the
size required, and could be repeatedly used for the same purpose, and
it was thought that the smuggling vessels, after coming across the
Channel and depositing their cargoes, would on a later voyage be given
back these pieces of lead to be affixed to other casks.
A clinker-built boat of about 26 tons burthen named the _St.
François_, the master of which was named Jean Baptiste La Motte, of
and from Gravelines, crossed the North Sea and passed through the
Forth and Clyde Canal in the year 1823 to Glasgow. Nominally she had a
cargo of apples and walnuts, her crew consisting of six men besides
the master. She was able to land part of her cargo of "apples" at
Whitby and the rest at Glasgow, and afterwards, repassing safely
through the canal again, returned to Gravelines. But some time after
her departure from Scotland it was discovered that she had brought no
fruit at all, but that what appeared to be apples were so many
portions of lace made up into small boxes of the size of apples and
ingeniously painted to resemble that fruit.
As showing that, even as late as the year 1824, the last of the armed
cutters had not been yet seen, we may call attention to the
information which was sent to the London Custom House through the
Dublin Customs. The news was to the effect that in February of that
year there was in the harbour of Flushing, getting ready for sea,
whither she would proceed in three or four days, a cutter laden with
tobacco, brandy, Hollands, and tea. She was called the _Zellow_, which
was a fictitious name, and was a vessel of 160 tons with a crew of
forty men, copper-bottomed and pierced for fourteen guns. She was
painted black, with white mouldings round the stern. Her boom also was
black, so were her gaff and masthead. The officers were warned to keep
a look-out for her, and informed that she had a large strengthening
fish on the upper side of the boom, twenty cloths in the head, and
twenty-eight in the foot of the mainsail. It was reported that she was
bound for Ballyherbert, Mountain Foot, and Clogher Head in Ireland,
but if prevented from landing there she was consigned to Ormsby of
Sligo and Burke of Connemara. In the event of her failing there also
she had on board two "spotsmen" or pilots for the coast of Kerry and
Cork. There was also a lugger at the same time about to proceed from
Flushing to Wexford. This vessel was of from 90 to 100 tons, was
painted black, with two white mouldings and a white counter. She
carried on her deck a large boat which was painted white also.
Tobacco was discovered concealed in rather a curious manner on another
vessel. She had come from St. John, New Brunswick, with a cargo of
timber, and the planks had been hollowed out and filled with tobacco,
but it was so cleverly done that it was a long time before it was
detected. All sorts of vessels and of many rigs were fitted with
places of concealment, and there was even a 50-ton cutter named the
_Alborough_, belonging to London, employed in this business, which had
formerly been a private yacht, but was now more profitably engaged
running goods from Nieuport in Belgium to Hull. The descriptions of
some of these craft sent to the various outports, so that a smart
look-out for them might be kept up, are certainly valuable to us, as
they preserve a record of a type of craft that has altered so much
during the past century as almost to be forgotten. The description of
the sloop _Jane_, for instance, belonging to Dumbarton in 1824, is
worth noting by those who are interested in the ships of yesterday.
Sloop-rigged, and carvel built, she had white mouldings over a yellow
streak, and her bulwark was painted green inside. Her cross-jack
yards,[21] as they are called, her bowsprit-boom, her gaff and
studding-sail boom were all painted white, and she had three black
hoops on the mast under the hounds. Her sails were all white, but her
square topsail and topgallant-yards were black. The _Jane_ was a
90-tonner.
The reader will remember considering some time back an open boat which
was fitted with hollow stanchions under the thwarts, so that through
these stanchions ropes might pass through into the water below. I have
come across a record of a smack registered in the port of London under
the singularly inappropriate name of the _Good Intent_. She was
obviously built or altered with the sole intention of being employed
in smuggling. I need say nothing of her other concealments under the
cabin berths and so on, as they were practically similar to those on
the _Asp_. But it was rather exceptional to find on so big a craft as
the _Good Intent_ a false stanchion immediately abaft the fore
scuttle. Through this stanchion ran a leaden pipe about two inches in
diameter, and this went through the keelson and garboard strake, so
that by this means a rope could be led through and into the vessel,
while at the other end a raft of tubs could be towed through the
water. By hauling tightly on to this line the kegs could be kept
beautifully concealed under the bilge of the vessel, so that even in
very clear water it would not be easy to suspect the presence of these
tubs. The other end of this pipe came up through the ship until it was
flush with the deck, and where this joined the latter a square piece
of lead was tarred and pitched so as scarcely to be perceived.
There must indeed have been a tremendous amount of thought, as well as
the expenditure of a great deal of time and money, in creating these
methods of concealment, but since they dared not now to use force it
was all they could do.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] The cro'jack yard was really the lower yard of a full-rigged ship
on the mizzen-mast, to the arms of which the clews or lower corners of
the mizzen-topsail were extended. But as sloops were fore-and-aft
craft it is a little doubtful what is here meant. Either it may refer
to the barren yard below the square topsail carried by the sloops of
those days--the clews actually were extended to this yard's arms--or
the word may have been the equivalent of what we nowadays call
cross-trees.