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Title: The Old East Indiamen
Author: Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Old East Indiamen" ***
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Transcriber’s Notes:
The spelling, punctuation and hyphenation are as the original, with the
exception of apparent typographical errors which have been corrected.
Italic text is denoted _thus_.
See further note at the end of the book.
THE OLD EAST
INDIAMEN
[Illustration]
BOOKS OF TRAVEL
_Demy 8vo. Cloth Bindings. All fully Illustrated_
THROUGH UNKNOWN NIGERIA
By JOHN R. RAPHAEL. 15s. net.
A WOMAN IN CHINA
By MARY GAUNT. 15s. net.
LIFE IN AN INDIAN OUTPOST
By Major CASSERLY. 12s. 6d. net.
CHINA REVOLUTIONISED
By J. S. THOMPSON. 12s. 6d. net.
NEW ZEALAND
By Dr MAX HERZ. 12s. 6d. net.
THE DIARY OF A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT. 12s. 6d. net.
OFF THE MAIN TRACK
By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT. 12s. 6d. net.
WITH THE LOST LEGION IN NEW ZEALAND
By Colonel G. HAMILTON-BROWNE (“Maori Browne”). 12s. 6d. net.
A LOST LEGIONARY IN SOUTH AFRICA
By Colonel G. HAMILTON-BROWNE (“Maori Browne”). 12s. 6d. net.
SIAM
By PIERRE LOTI. 7s. 6d. net.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN “THOMAS COUTTS,” AS SHE APPEARED IN
THE YEAR 1826.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
BY
E. KEBLE CHATTERTON
Lieutenant R.N.V.R.
_Author of “Sailing-Ships and their Story,”
“Down Channel in the ‘Vivette,’”
“Through Holland in the ‘Vivette,’”
“Ships and Ways of Other Days,” etc._
_ILLUSTRATED_
[Illustration; Page Decoration]
LONDON
T. WERNER LAURIE LTD.
8 ESSEX STREET, STRAND
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. THE MAGNETIC EAST 10
III. THE LURE OF NATIONS 18
IV. THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 31
V. THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 46
VI. CAPTAIN LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 64
VII. THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY’S SHIPS 77
VIII. PERILS AND ADVENTURES 91
IX. SHIPS AND TRADE 106
X. FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 124
XI. EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 138
XII. THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE COMPANY’S SERVICE 152
XIII. THE EAST INDIAMEN’S ENEMIES 166
XIV. SHIPS AND MEN 180
XV. AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 198
XVI. CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 226
XVII. WAYS AND MEANS 248
XVIII. LIFE ON BOARD 265
XIX. THE COMPANY’S NAVAL SERVICE 281
XX. OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 291
XXI. THE “WARREN HASTINGS” AND THE “PIÉMONTAISE” 305
XXII. PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 316
XXIII. THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 329
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The East Indiaman _Thomas Coutts_ _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
The East India House 4
The Hon. East India Co.’s Ship _General Goddard_ with
H.M.S. _Sceptre_ and _Swallow_ capturing Dutch East
Indiamen off St Helena 12
The _Essex_ East Indiaman at anchor in Bombay Harbour 24
The East Indiaman _Kent_ 42
Dutch East Indiamen 54
The launch of the Hon. East India Co.’s Ship _Edinburgh_ 78
India House, the Sale Room 88
The Hon. East India Co.’s Ship _Bridgewater_ entering
Madras Roads 96
The _Halsewell_ East Indiaman 104
The _Seringapatam_ East Indiaman 120
A Barque Free-trader in the London Docks 130
The Press-Gang at Work 140
The East Indiaman _Swallow_ 182
Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance 190
Repulse of Admiral Linois by the China Fleet under
Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance 196
A view of the East India Docks in the early 19th Century 210
The _Thames_ East Indiaman 218
The _Windham_ East Indiaman sailing from St Helena 224
The _Jessie_ and _Eliza Jane_ in Table Bay, 1829 236
The _Alfred_ East Indiaman 242
The East Indiaman Cruiser _Panther_ in Suez Harbour 250
The East Indiaman _Triton_, rough sketch of stern 256
The East Indiaman _Earl Balcarres_ 262
Deck scene of the East Indiaman _Triton_ 266
The West Indiaman _Thetis_ 272
The _Kent_ East Indiaman on fire in the Bay of Biscay 276
The Cambria brig receiving the last boat-load from the
_Kent_ 282
The _Vernon_ East Indiaman 294
The _Sibella_ East Indiaman 306
The East Indiaman _Queen_ 318
The East Indiaman _Malabar_, built of wood in 1860 330
The _Blenheim_ East Indiaman 340
PREFACE
The author desires to acknowledge the courtesy of Messrs T. H. Parker
Brothers of Whitcomb Street, W.C., for allowing him to reproduce the
illustrations mentioned on many of the pages of this book; as also the
P. & O. Steam Navigation Company for permission to reproduce the old
painting of the _Swallow_.
Owing to the fact that the author is now away at sea serving under the
White Ensign, it is hoped that this may be deemed a sufficient apology
for any errata which may have been allowed to creep into the text.
THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In this volume I have to invite the reader to consider a special
epoch of the world’s progress, in which the sailing ship not only
revolutionised British trade but laid the foundations of, and almost
completed, that imposing structure which is to-day represented by the
Indian Empire. It is a period brimful of romance, of adventures, travel
and the exciting pursuit after wealth. It is a theme which, for all
its deeply human aspect, is one for ever dominated by a grandeur and
irresistible destiny.
With all its failings, the East India Company still remains in history
as the most amazingly powerful trading concern which the world has ever
seen. Like many other big propositions it began in a small way: but
it acquired for us that vast continent which is the envy of all the
great powers of the world to-day. And it is important and necessary to
remember always that we owe this in the first place to the consummate
courage, patience, skill and long-suffering of that race of beings,
the intrepid seamen, who have never yet received their due from the
landsmen whom they have made rich and comfortable.
Among the Harleian MSS. there is a delightful phrase written by a
seventeenth-century writer, in which, treating of matters that are
not immediately concerned with the present subject, he remarks very
quaintly that “the first article of an Englishman’s Politicall Creed
must be that he believeth in ye Sea etc. Without that there needeth
no general Council to pronounce him uncapable of Salvation.” This
somewhat sweeping statement none the less aptly sums up the whole
matter of our colonisation and overseas development. The entire glamour
of the Elizabethan period, marked as it unfortunately is with many
deplorable errors, is derived from the sea. With the appreciation
of what could be attained by a combination of stout ships, sturdy
seamen, navigation, seamanship, gunnery and high hopes that refused
persistently to be daunted, the most farsighted began to see that
success was for them. Honours, wealth, the founding of families that
should treasure their names in future generations, the acquisition
of fine estates and the building of large houses with luxuries that
exceeded the Tudor pattern—these were the pictures which were conjured
up in the imaginations of those who vested their fortunes and often
their lives in these ocean voyages. The call of the sea had in England
fallen mostly on deaf ears until the late sixteenth century. It is only
because there were some who listened to it, obeyed, and presently led
others to do as they had done, that the British Empire has been built
up at all.
Our task, however, is to treat of one particular way in which that call
has influenced the minds and activities of men. We are to see how that,
if it summoned some across the Atlantic to the Spanish Main, it sent
others out to the Orient, yet always with the same object of acquiring
wealth, establishing trade with strange peoples, and incidentally
affording a fine opportunity for those of an adventurous spirit who
were unable any longer to endure the cramped and confined limitations
of the neighbourhood in which they had been born and bred. And though,
as we proceed with our story, we shall be compelled to watch the
gradual growth and the vicissitudes of the East Indian companies, yet
our object is to obtain a clear knowledge not so much of the latter
as of the ships which they employed, the manner in which they were
built, sailed, navigated and fought. When we speak of the “Old East
Indiamen” we mean of course the ships which used to carry the trade
between India and Europe. And inasmuch as this trade was, till well on
into the nineteenth century, the valuable and exclusive monopoly of
the East India Company, carefully guarded against any interlopers, our
consideration is practically that of the Company’s ships. After the
Company lost their monopoly to India, their ships still possessed the
monopoly of trading with China until the year 1833. After that date
the Company sold the last of their fleet which had made them famous as
a great commercial and political concern. In their place a number of
new private firms sprang up, who bought the old ships from the East
India Company, and even built new ones for the trade. These were very
fine craft and acted as links between England and the East for a few
years longer, reaching their greatest success between the years 1850
and 1870. But the opening of the Suez Canal and the enterprise of
steamships sealed their fate, so that instead of the wealth which was
obtained during those few years by carrying cargoes of rich merchandise
between the East and the West, and transporting army officers, troops
and private passengers, there was little or no money to be made by
going round the Cape. Thus the last of the Indiamen sailing ships
passed away—became coal-hulks, were broken up; or, changing their name
and nationality, sailed under a Scandinavian flag.
The East India Company rose from being a private venture of a few
enterprising merchants to become a gigantic corporation of immense
political power, with its own governors, its own cavalry, artillery
and infantry, its own navy, and yet with its trade-monopoly and its
unsurpassed “regular service” of merchantmen. The latter were the
largest, the best built, and the most powerfully armed vessels in
the world, with the exception only of some warships. They were, so
to speak, the crack liners of the day, but they were a great deal
more besides. Their officers were the finest navigators afloat,
their seamen were at times as able as any of the crews in the Royal
Navy, and in time of war the Government showed how much it coveted
them by impressing them into its service, to the great chagrin and
inconvenience of the East India Company, as we shall see later on in
our story.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIA HOUSE.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
From being at first a small trading concern with a handful of factors
and an occasional factory planted in the East in solitary places, the
Company progressed till it had its own civil service with its training
college in England for the cadets aspiring to be sent out to the East.
It is due to the Company not only that India is now under the British
flag, but that the wealth of our country has been largely increased
and a new outlet was found for our manufactures. The factors who went
out in the first Indiamen sailing ships sowed the seed which to-day we
now reap. The commanders of these vessels made their “plots” (charts)
and obtained by bitter experience the details which provided the first
sailing directions. They were at once explorers, traders, fighters,
surveyors. The conditions under which they voyaged were hard enough,
as we shall see: and the loss of human life was a high price at which
all this material trade-success was obtained. Notwithstanding all
the quarrels, the jealousies, the murders, the deceits, the misrule
and corruption, the bribery and extortion which stain the activities
of the East India Company, yet during its existence it raised the
condition of the natives from the lowest disorder and degradation: and
if the Company found it not easy to separate its commercial from its
political aspirations, yet the British Government in turn found it
very convenient on occasions when this corporation’s funds could be
squeezed, its men impressed; or even its ships employed for guarding
the coasts of England or transporting troops out to India.
It is difficult to realise all that the East India Company stood for.
It comprised under its head a large shipping line with many of the
essential attributes of a ruling nation, and its merchant ships not
only opened up to our traders India, but Japan and China as well. And
bear in mind that the old East Indiamen set forth on their voyages
not with the same light hearts that their modern successors, the
steamships of the P. & O. line, begin their journey. Before the East
India Company’s ships got to their destination, they had to sail right
away round the Cape of Good Hope and then across the Indian Ocean,
having no telegraphic communication with the world, and with none of
the comforts of a modern liner—no preserved foods, no iced drinks or
anything of that sort. Any moment they were liable to be plunged into
an engagement: if not with the French or Dutch men-of-war, then with
roving privateers or well-armed pirate ships manned by some of the
most redoubtable rascals of the time, who stopped at no slaughter or
brutality. There were the perils, too, of storms, and of other forms
of shipwreck, and the almost monotonous safety of the modern liner was
a thing that did not exist. Later on we shall see in what difficulties
some of these ships became involved. It was because they were ever
expectant of a fight that they were run practically naval fashion. They
were heavily armed with guns, they had their special code of signals
for day and night, they carried their gunners, who were well drilled
and always prepared to fight: and we shall see more than one instance
where these merchant ships were far too much for a French admiral and
his squadron.
These East Indiamen sailing ships were really wonderful for what
they did, the millions of miles over which they sailed, the millions
of pounds’ worth of goods which they carried out and home: and this
not merely for one generation, but for two and a half centuries. It
is really surprising that such a unique monopoly should have been
enjoyed for all this time, and that other ships should have been (with
the exceptions we shall presently note) kept out of this benefit.
The result was that an East Indiaman was spoken of with just as much
respect as a man-of-war. She was built regardless of cost and kept in
the best of conditions; and all the other merchantmen in the seven seas
could not rival her for strength, beauty and equipment. It was a golden
age, a glorious age: an epoch in which British seamanhood, British
shipbuilding in wood, were capable of being improved upon only by the
clipper ships that followed for a brief interval. They earned handsome
dividends for the Company, they were always full of passengers, troops
and valuable freight; and, although they were not as fine-lined as the
clipper ships, yet they made some astounding passages. They carried
crews that in number and quality would make the heart of a modern
Scandinavian skipper break with envy. The result was that they were
excellently handled and could carry on in a breeze till the last
minute, when sail could be taken in smartly with the minimum of warning.
The country fully appreciated how invaluable was this East India
service, and certainly no merchantmen were ever so regulated and
controlled by Acts of Parliament. To-day you never hear of any merchant
skipper buying or selling his command, nor retiring after a very few
voyages with a nice little fortune for the rest of his life. But these
things occurred in the old East Indiamen, when commanders received even
knighthoods and a good income settled on them, for life, as a reward
of their gallantry. Those were indeed the palmy days of the merchant
service, and many an ill-paid mercantile officer to-day, wearied of
receiving owners’ complaints and no thanks, must regret that his lot
was not to be serving with the East India Company.
When we consider the two important centuries and a half, during which
the East Indiamen ships were making history and trade for our country,
helping in the most important manner to build up our Indian Empire,
fighting the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French, privateers and
pirates, and generally opening up the countries of the East, it is
to me perfectly extraordinary that the history of these ships has
never yet been written. I have searched in vain in our great national
libraries—in the British Museum, the India Office, the Admiralty
and elsewhere—but I have not been able to find one volume dealing
exclusively with these craft. In an age that sees no end to the making
of books there is therefore need for a volume that should long since
have been written. Many of the story-books of our boyhood begin with
the hero leaving England in an East Indiaman: but they say little or
nothing as to how she was rigged, how she was manned, and what uniforms
her officers wore.
I feel, then, that I may with confidence ask the reader who loves ships
for themselves, or is fascinated by history, or is specially interested
in the rise of our Indian Empire, to follow me in the following pages
while the story of these old East Indiamen is narrated. In a little
while we shall have passed entirely from the last of all surviving
ocean-going sailing ships, but during the whole of their period none
have left their mark so significantly on past and present affairs
as the old East Indiamen. I can guarantee that while pursuing this
story the reader will find much that will interest and even surprise
him: but above all will be seen triumphant the true grit and pluck
which have ever been the attributes of our national sailormen—the
determination to carry out, in spite of all costs and hardships, the
serious task imposed on them of getting the ship safely to port with
all her valuable lives, and her rich cargoes, regardless of weather,
pirates, privateers and the enemies of the nation whose flag they
flew. And this fine spirit will be found to be confined to no special
century nor to any particular ship: but rather to pervade the whole of
the East India Company’s merchant service. The days of such a monopoly
as this corporation’s trade and shipping are much more distant even
than they seem in actual years: but happily it is our proud boast, as
year after year demonstrates, that those qualities, which composed
the magnificent seamanhood of the crews of these vessels, are no less
existent and flourishing to-day in the other ships under the British
flag that venture north, south, east and west. The only main difference
is this:—Yesterday the sailor had a hundred chances, for every one
opportunity which is afforded to-day to the sons of the sea, of showing
that the grand, undying desire to do the right thing in the time of
crisis is one of the greatest assets of our nation.
CHAPTER II
THE MAGNETIC EAST
Within human experience it is a safe maxim, that if you keep on
continuously thinking and longing for a certain object you are almost
sure, eventually, to obtain that which you desire.
There is scarcely any better instance of this on a large scale than
the longing to find a route to India by sea, and the attainment of
this only after long years and years. As a study of perseverance it
is remarkable: but the inspiration of the whole project was to get at
the world’s great treasure-house, to find the way thereto and then
unlock its doors. For centuries there had been trade routes between
Europe and India overland. But the establishment of the Ottoman Empire
in the fifteenth century placed a barrier across these routes. This
suggested that there might possibly be—there was most probably—a route
via the sea, and this would have the advantage of an easier method of
transportation. It is very curious how throughout the ages a vague
tradition survives and lingers on from century to century, finally to
decide men’s minds on some momentous matter. It is not quite a literal
inspiration, for often enough these ancient traditions had a modicum of
truth therein contained.
In my last book, “Ships and Ways of Other Days,” I gave an instance of
this which was remarkable enough to bear repeating. A reproduction was
given of a fourteenth-century portolano, or chart, in which the shape
of Southern Africa was seen to be extraordinarily accurate: and this,
notwithstanding that it was sketched one hundred and thirty-five years
before the Cape of Good Hope had been doubled. Some might suppose this
knowledge to have been the result of second-sight, but my suggestion
is that it was the result of an ancient tradition that the lower
part of the African continent was shaped as depicted. For there is
a well-founded belief that about the beginning of the sixth century
B.C. the Phœnicians were sent by Neco, an Egyptian king, down
the Red Sea; and that after circumnavigating the African continent they
entered the Mediterranean from the westward.
The dim recollection of this voyage over a portion of the Indian Ocean,
coupled with other knowledge derived from the Arabian seamen, doubtless
left little hesitation in the minds of the seafaring peoples of the
Mediterranean that the sea route to India existed if indeed it could be
found. The various fruitless attempts, beginning with Vivaldi’s voyage
from Genoa in 1281, are all evidence that this belief never died. For
years nothing more successful was obtained than to get to Madeira or a
little lower down the west coast of Africa, yet almost every effort was
pushing on nearer the goal; even though that goal was still a very long
way distant. The East was exercising a magnetic influence on the minds
of men: India was bound to be discovered sooner or later, if they did
not weary of the attempt.
Then comes on to the scene the famous Prince Henry the Navigator, who
built the first observatory of Portugal, established a naval arsenal,
gathered together at his Sagres headquarters the greatest pilots and
navigators which could be collected, founded a school of navigation and
chart-making, and then sent his trained, picked men forth to sail the
seas, explore the unknown south with the hope ultimately of reaching
the rich land of India. I have discussed this matter with such detail
in the volume already alluded to that it will be enough if I here
remark briefly that though Prince Henry died in the year 1460 without
any of his ships or men attaining India, yet less than forty years
were to elapse ere this was attained, and his was the influence which
really brought this about. We must never forget that on the historical
road to India through the long ages from the earliest times down to the
fifteenth century the name of Prince Henry the Navigator represents one
of the most important milestones.
[Illustration: THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S SHIP “GENERAL
GODDARD,” COMMANDED BY WM. TAYLOR MONEY, WITH HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP
“SCEPTRE” AND “SWALLOW,” PACKET, CAPTURING SEVEN DUTCH EAST INDIAMEN
OFF ST. HELENA, ON 14TH JUNE, 1795.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
You know so well how that thereafter, in the year 1486, the King of
Portugal sent forth two expeditions with the desire to find an eastern
route to India, and that one of these proceeded through Egypt, then
down the Red Sea, across the Arabian Sea, and finally after some
hardships reached Calicut, in the south-west of India. The other
expedition consisted of a little squadron under Bartholomew Diaz, and
although it did not get as far as India, yet it passed the Cape of
Torments without knowing it—far out to sea—and even sighted Algoa Bay.
The Cape of Torments he had called that promontory on his way back,
remembering the bad weather which he here found: but the Cape of Good
Hope his master,
King John II., renamed it when Diaz reached home in safety. And then,
finally, the last of these efforts was fraught with success when Vasco
da Gama, in the year 1497, not only doubled the Cape of Good Hope, but
discovered Mozambique, Melinda (a little north of Mombasa), and thence
with the help of an Indian pilot crossed the ocean and reached Calicut
by sea in twenty-three days—an absolutely unprecedented achievement for
one who had sailed all the way from the Tagus.
This was the beginning of an entirely new era in the progress of the
world, and till the crack of doom it will remain a memorable voyage,
not merely for the fact that da Gama was able to succeed where so
many others had failed, but because it unlocked the door of the East,
first to the Portuguese, and subsequently to other nations of Europe.
The twin arts of seamanship and navigation had made this possible,
and it was only because the Portuguese, most especially Prince Henry,
had believed “in ye sea” that the key had been found. As Columbus,
by believing in the sea, was enabled in looking for India to open up
the Western world, so was da Gama privileged to unlock the East. And
since the sea connotes the ship we arrive at the standpoint that it is
this long-suffering creature, fashioned by the hand of man, which has
done more for the civilisation of the world than any other of those
wonderful creations which the human mind has evolved from the things of
the earth.
The first cargo which da Gama brought home was, so to speak, merely a
small sample of those goods which were to be obtained by the ships that
came after for generation after generation till the present day. It
showed how great and priceless were the riches of the East—spices and
perfumes, pearls and rubies, diamonds and cinnamon. The safe arrival
of these, when da Gama got back home, made a profound impression. But
it was no mere sentimental wonder, for the receipt of all these goods
repaid the cost of the entire expedition sixty-fold. From this time
forth the Portuguese were busily engaged in extracting wealth as men
get it out from a gold mine. Their ships went backwards and forwards in
their long voyages, sometimes narrowly escaping the attentions of the
Moslem pirates anxious to relieve them of their valuable cargoes. Some
Portuguese settled in India, and gradually there came into existence a
fringe of Portuguese nationality extending from the Malabar coast right
away to the Persian Gulf. Even as far as Japan was the East explored,
and the vast fortunes which were brought back ever astonished the
merchants of Europe. The first Portuguese factory was established at
Calicut in the year 1500. For about a hundred years they were able to
benefit, unrivalled, by their newly found treasure-house and to use
their best endeavours, unfettered, to empty it.
In 1503 they erected their first fortress and strengthened their
position. In their hands was the monopoly: theirs were the great
and invaluable secrets of this amazing trade. And considering
everything—the enterprise and training of Prince Henry, the far-sighted
prudence in believing in the sea, the years and years of distressful
voyages, the final attainment of the treasure-land only after many
vicissitudes and the loss of ships and men—we cannot marvel that the
Portuguese preserved these secrets, and held on to their monopoly,
to the annoyance of the rest of civilised Europe. The fact was that
Portugal was then the sovereign of the seas: she was far too strong
afloat for any other country to think of wresting from her by force
what she had obtained only by much study, skill and perseverance. What
she had obtained she was going to hold. Those who wanted these Eastern
goods must come to Lisbon, where the mart was held: and come they did,
but they went back home envious that Portugal should enjoy this secret
monopoly, and wondering all the time how India could be reached by a
new route.
Curiosity and envy combined have been the means of the unravelling of
many a secret. It was so now. Let us not fail to realise how greatly
these human feelings influenced many of the voyages during the next
hundred years. We justly admire the great daring of the Elizabethan
seamen, but though the spirit of adventure and the hatred of Spain
had a great deal to do with the cause of their setting forth to cross
the ocean, yet there was another reason: and this explains much that
is not otherwise quite clear. It is always fair to assume that men do
not act except at the instigation of some clear motive. They do not
persuade merchants to expend the whole of their small wealth in buying
or building ships, victualling them and providing all the necessary
inventories, without some rational cause. In the Elizabethan times,
when wealth was much rarer than it is to-day, the prime motive of these
expeditions was the pursuit of greater wealth.
But as England was not yet as expert at sea as the Portuguese, she
could not hope to obtain the treasures of distant lands. Before she was
ready there was, however, still Spain: and the latter was determined
to do her best to obtain on her own what Portugal was enjoying. In
a word, then, many of the sixteenth-century voyages which we have
attributed, rashly, solely to a hope for adventurous exploration were
in fact animated by the desire to find some new route to India. To
this inspiration must be attributed many of those long sea journeys to
the north, the north-east and the north-west. Men did not endeavour to
find north-east or north-west passages merely for fun, but in order to
discover a road to India. No one knew that it was impossible: if the
Portuguese had been able to go one way, why should not they themselves
go by another route? Remembering this, you must think of Spain sending
Magellan to the west; of England sending Davis to the north-west; and
of Holland sending Barentsz to the north-east to find a passage to the
treasure-land of India or China.
The Spaniards discovered a way to India through the straits which are
called after Magellan, and henceforth did their utmost to keep the
ships of other countries out of their newly found waters, until the
increase of English sea-power and the daring of our more experienced
seamen showed that this Spanish sovereignty on sea could not be
maintained by force. But still the English seamen had not yet reached
India. We must turn for a moment to the Dutch, who were destined to
become a great naval power. In the year 1580 the Spanish and Portuguese
dominions had become united under the Spanish crown, and the Dutch
were excluded from trading with Lisbon, their ships confiscated and
their owners thrown into prison. Now, one of these captains while
undergoing his imprisonment obtained from some Portuguese sailors a
good deal of information concerning the Indian Seas, so that when he
reached the Netherlands again he told the most wonderful accounts to
his countrymen. The latter were so impressed by what was related that
they decided to send an expedition to find the Indies themselves.
Presently, then, we shall see the Dutch not merely casting longing
eyes towards India, but actually getting a footing therein, building
up a very lucrative trade and employing great, well-built craft: but
before we come to that stage we must note the gradual and persistent
way in which the countries outside the Iberian Peninsula felt their
way to this land of spices and precious stones, and after groping some
time in the dark found that which they had been searching for during
generations.
CHAPTER III
THE LURE OF NATIONS
When once it was realised how wonderful was Portugal’s good fortune in
the East, the nations of Europe one and all desired to enjoy some of
these riches for themselves.
Even during the time of Henry VIII. one Master Robert Thorne, a London
merchant, who had lived for a long time in Seville and had observed
with envy the enterprise of the Portuguese, declared to his English
sovereign a secret “which hitherto, as I suppose, hath beene hid”—viz.
that “with a small number of ships there may bee discovered divers
New lands and kingdoms ... to which places there is left one way to
discover, which is into the North.... For out of Spaine they have
discovered all the Indies and Seas Occidentall, and out of Portingall
all the Indies and Seas Orientall.” His idea, then, was to seek a way
to India via the north. The same Robert Thorne, writing in the year
1527 to Dr Ley, “Lord ambassadour for king Henry the eight,” concerning
“the new trade of spicery” of the East, pointed out the wealth of the
Moluccas (Malay Archipelago) abounding “with golde, Rubies, Diamondes,
Balasses, Granates, Jacincts, and other stones and pearles, as all
other lands, that are under and neere the Equinoctiall”; for just as
“our mettalls be Lead, Tinne, and iron, so theirs be gold, silver and
copper.”
Now Master Thorne was a very shrewd investor. “In a fleete of three
shippes and a caravel,” he says, “that went from this citie armed by
the marchants of it, which departed in Aprill last past, I and my
partener have one thousand foure hundred duckets that we employed in
the sayd fleete, principally for that two English men, friends of
mine, which are somewhat learned in Cosmographie, should go 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
know especially.” His idea was that our seamen should obtain some of
the Portuguese “cardes” (_i.e._ charts) “by which they saile,” “learne
how they understand them,” and thus, in plain language, crib some of
the Portuguese secrets.
Thorne shows that he was no mean student of geography himself. Already
he possessed “a little Mappe or Carde of the world” and pointed out
that from Cape Verde “the coast goeth Southward to a Cape called Capo
de buona speransa” (the Portuguese name for the Cape of Good Hope).
“And by this Cape go the Portingals to their Spicerie. For from this
Cape toward the Orient, is the land of Calicut.” “The coastes of the
Sea throughout all the world I have coloured with yellow, for that
it may appeare that all is within the line coloured 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.” Now
Thorne had obtained this “carde” somehow by stealth: by rights he
should not have possessed it, for the Portuguese, as already mentioned,
were most anxious that their Indian secrets should not be divulged. He
therefore begs his friend not to show anyone this chart else “it may
be a cause of paine to the maker: as well for that none may make these
cardes, but certaine appointed and allowed for masters, as for that
peradventure it would not sound well to them, that a stranger should
know or discover their secretes: and would appeare worst of all, if
they understand that I write touching the short way to the spicerie by
our Seas.”
We see, then, the determined desire to obtain the required information
about a route to India obtained from the study of the very charts
which the Portuguese made after some of their voyages, and by sending
Englishmen out in their ships sufficiently expert in cosmography to
learn all that could be known. It must not be forgotten, at the same
time, that there were also land-travellers who journeyed to India and
brought back alluring accounts of India. Cæsar Frederick, for instance,
a Venetian merchant, set forth in the year 1563 with some merchandise
bound for the East. From Venice he sailed in a vessel as far as Cyprus:
from there he took passage in a smaller craft and landed in Syria, and
then journeying to Aleppo got in touch with some Armenian and Moorish
merchants whom he accompanied to Ormuz (on the Persian Gulf), where
he found that the Portuguese had already established a factory and
strengthened it, as the English East India Company’s servants were
afterwards wont, with a fort. From Ormuz he went on to Goa and other
places in India. Already, he pointed out, the Portuguese had a fleet
or “Armada” of warships to guard their merchant craft in these parts
from attack by pirates. Proceeding thence to Cochin, at the south-west
of India, he found that the natives called all Christians coming from
the West Portuguese, whether they were Italians, Frenchmen or whatever
else: so powerful a hold had the first settlers from the Iberian
Peninsula gained on the Indians. We need not follow this traveller on
his way to Sumatra, to the Ganges and elsewhere, but it is enough to
state that the accounts which he gave to his fellow-Europeans naturally
whetted still more the appetites of the merchant traders anxious to
get in touch with India by sea. He told them how rich the East was
in pepper and ginger, nutmegs and sandalwood, aloes, pearls, rubies,
sapphires, diamonds. It was a magnificent opportunity for an honest
merchant to find wealth. “Now to finish that which I have begunne to
write, I say that those parts of the Indies are very good, because that
a man that hath little shall make a very great deale thereof: alwayes
they must governe themselves that they be taken for honest men.”
When Magellan set forth from Seville to find a new route to India he
had gone via the straits which now bear his name, and then striking
north-west across the wide Pacific had arrived at the Philippine
Islands, where he was killed. But his ships proceeded thence to the
Moluccas, and one of his little squadron of five actually arrived back
at Seville, having thus encircled the globe. Englishmen, however, were
so determined that there was a nearer route than this that, in the year
1582, the Indian frenzy which enthralled our countrymen culminated
in the voyage of Edward Fenton that set forth bound for Asia. This
expedition consisted of four ships. It was customary in those days to
speak of the Commodore or Admiral of the expedition as the “Generall,”
thus indicating, by the way, that not yet had the English navy got
away from the influence of the land army. The flagship was spoken of
as the “Admirall.” These four ships, then, consisted, firstly, of the
_Leicester_, the “Admirall” of the squadron. She was a vessel of 400
tons, her “generall” being Captain Edward Fenton, with William Hawkins
(the younger) as “Lieutenant General,” or second in command of the
expedition, the master of the ship being Christopher Hall. The second
ship was the _Edward Bonaventure_, a well-known sixteenth-century craft
of 300 tons, which was commanded by Captain Luke Ward, and the master
was Thomas Perrie. The third ship was the _Francis_, a little craft of
only 40 tons, whose captain was John Drake and her master was William
Markham. The fourth was the _Elizabeth_, of 50 tons; captain, Thomas
Skevington, and master, Ralph Crane.
Before we proceed any further it may be as well to explain a point
that might otherwise cause confusion. In the ships of that time the
captain was in supreme command, but he was not necessarily a seaman
or navigator. He was the leader of the ship or expedition, but he
was not a specialist in the arts of the sea. As we know from Monson,
Elizabethan captains “were gentlemen of worth and means, maintaining
there diet at their own charge.” “The Captaines charge,” says the
famous Elizabethan Captain John Smith, the first president of Virginia,
“is to commaund all, and tell the Maister to what port he will go, or
to what height” (_i.e._ latitude). In a fight he is “to giue direction
for the managing thereof, and the Maister is to see to the cunning
[of] the ship, and trimming the sailes.” The master is also, with his
mate, “to direct the course, commaund all the saylors, for steering,
trimming, and sayling the ship”: and the pilot is he who, “when they
make land, doth take the charge of the ship till he bring her to
harbour.” And, finally, not to weary the reader too much, there is just
one other word which is often used in these expeditions that we may
explain. The “cape-merchant” was the man who had shipped on board to
look after the cargo of merchandise carried in the hold.
On the 1st of April 1582 the _Edward Bonaventure_ started from
Blackwall in the Thames, and on the nineteenth of the same month
arrived off Netley, in Southampton Water, where the _Leicester_ was
found waiting. On 1st May the four weighed anchor, but did not get
clear of the land till the end of the month, “partly of businesse, and
partly of contrary windes.” The complement of these ships numbered
a couple of hundred, including the gentlemen adventurers with their
servants, the factors (who were to open up trade), and the chaplains.
In selecting crews, as many seamen as possible were obtained, but
by this time these were not at all numerous in England: and even
then great care had to be taken to avoid shipping “any disordered or
mutinous person.”
The instructions given to Captain Fenton are so illustrative of these
rules then so essential for the good government of overseas expeditions
that it will not be out of place to notice them with some detail.
As for the “Generall,” “if it should please God to take him away,” a
number of names were “secretly set down to succeede in his place one
after the other.” These names were inscribed on parchment and then
sealed up in balls of wax with the Queen’s signet. They were then
placed in two coffers, which were locked with three separate locks,
one key being kept in the custody of the captain of the _Edward
Bonaventure_, the second in the care of the _Leicester’s_ captain, and
the third in the keeping of Master Maddox, the chaplain. If the general
were to die, these coffers were to be opened and the party named
therein to succeed him.
Fenton’s instructions were to use all possible diligence to leave
Southampton with his ships before the end of April, and then make for
the Cape of Good Hope and so to the Moluccas. After leaving the English
coast the general was to have special regard “so to order your course,
as that your ships and vessels lose not one another, but keep companie
together.” But lest by tempest or other cause the squadron should get
separated, the captains and masters were to be advised previously of
rendezvous, “wherein you will stay certaine dayes.” And every ship
which reached her rendezvous and then passed on without knowing what
had become of the other ships, was to “leave upon every promontorie
or cape a token to stand in sight, with a writing lapped in leade to
declare the day of their passage.” They were not to take anything
from the Queen’s friends or allies, or any Christians, without paying
therefor: and in all transactions they were to deal like good and
honest merchants, “ware for ware.”
[Illustration: THE “ESSEX,” EAST INDIAMAN, AS SHE APPEARED WHEN
REFITTED AND AT ANCHOR IN BOMBAY HARBOUR.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
With a view to inaugurating a future trade they were if possible to
bring home one or two of the natives, leaving behind some Englishmen
as pledges, and in order to learn the language of the country. No
person was to keep for his private use any precious stone or metal:
otherwise he was to lose “all the recompense he is to have for his
service in this voyage by share or otherwise.” A just account was to
be kept of the merchandise taken out from England and what was brought
home subsequently. And there is a strict order given which shows how
slavishly the Portuguese example of secrecy was being copied. “You
shall give straight order to restraine, that none shall make any charts
or descriptions of the sayd voyage, but such as shall bee deputed by
you the Generall, which sayd charts and descriptions, wee thinke meete
that you the Generall shall take into your hands at your returne to
this our coast of England, leaving with them no copie, and to present
them unto us at your returne: the like to be done if they finde any
charts or maps in those countreys.”
At the conclusion of the expedition the ships were to make for the
Thames, and no one was to land any goods until the Lords of the Council
had been informed of the ships’ arrival. As to the routine on board,
Fenton was instructed to set down in writing the rules to be kept by
the crew, so that in no case could ignorance be pleaded as excuse for
delinquency. “And to the end God may blesse this voyage with happie
and prosperous successe, you shall have an especiall care to see that
reverence and respect bee had to the Ministers appointed to accompanie
you in this voyage, as appertaineth to their place and calling, and
to see such good order as by them shall be set downe for reformation
of life and maners, duely obeyed and perfourmed, by causing the
transgressours and contemners of the same to be severely punished, and
the Ministers to remoove sometime from one vessell to another.”
But notwithstanding all these precautions this voyage was not the
success which had been hoped for. After reaching the west coast of
Africa and then stretching across to Brazil, where they watered ships,
did some caulking, “scraped off the wormes” from the hulls, and learnt
that the Spanish fleet were in the neighbourhood of the Magellan
Straits, they determined to return to England. This they accordingly
did. Before leaving England they had been instructed not to pass by
these straits either going or returning, “except upon great occasion
incident” with the consent of at least four of Fenton’s assistants. But
a conference had decided that it were best to make for Brazil. And then
the news which they received there of the Spanish fleet convinced them
that it were futile to attempt to get to India that way.
But as the Italian whom we mentioned just now got to India by the
overland route, so an Englishman named Ralph Fitch, a London merchant,
being desirous to see the Orient, reached Goa in India via Syria and
Ormuz. He set sail from Gravesend on 13th February 1582, left Falmouth
on 11th March, and then never put in anywhere till the ship landed him
at Tripoli in Syria on the following 30th April. After being absent
from home nine years, Fitch came back in an English ship to London in
April 1591. The reports which he brought were similar to the Italian’s
verdict. India was rich in pepper, ginger, cloves, nutmegs, sandalwood,
camphor, amber, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls, and so on. There
was not the slightest doubt that it was the country to trade with. But,
as yet, no English ship had found the way thither.
During the years 1585-1587 John Davis tried to find a way thither by
the North-West Passage. Davis had a fine reputation as “a man very well
grounded in the principles of the Arte of Navigation,” but none the
less his efforts were unavailing. In 1588 the coming of the expected
Armada turned the energies of the English seamen into another channel.
But already, in the year 1586, Thomas Candish had set out from Plymouth
with the _Desire_, 120 tons, the _Content_ of 60 tons and the _Hugh
Gallant_ of 40 tons, victualled for two years and well found at his own
expense. Journeying via Sierra Leone, Brazil and the Magellan Straits,
he reached the Pacifice and China, and after touching at the Philippine
Islands passed through the Straits of Java. From Java he crossed the
ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, was able to correct the errors in
the Portuguese sea “carts,” and in September 1588 reached Plymouth
once more, having learnt from a Flemish craft bound from Lisbon that
the Spanish Armada had been defeated, “to the singular rejoycing and
comfort of us all.”[A]
The value of this voyage round the world was, from a navigator’s
point of view, of inestimable advantage. For the benefit of those
English navigators who were, a few years later, to begin the ceaseless
voyages backwards and forwards round the Cape of Good Hope, between
England and India, Candish made the most elaborate notes and sailing
directions, giving the latitudes (or, as the Elizabethans called them,
“the heights”) of most of the places passed or visited. Very elaborate
soundings were taken and recorded, giving the depth in fathoms and
the nature of the sea-bed, wherever they went round the world, if the
depth was not too great. In addition, he gave the courses from place to
place, the distances, where to anchor, what dangers to avoid, providing
warning of any difficult straits or channels, the variation of the
compass at different places, the direction of the wind from certain
dates to certain dates, and so on. But this, valuable as it undoubtedly
was in many ways, did not exhaust the utility of the voyage. From
China, whither the ships of the East India Company some years later
were to trade, “I have brought such intelligence,” he wrote on his
return to the Lord Chamberlain, “as hath not bene heard of in these
parts. The stateliness and riches of which countrey I feare to make
report of, least I should not be credited: for if I had not knowen
sufficiently the incomparable wealth of that countrey, I should have
bene as incredulous thereof, as others will be that have not had the
like experience.”
And he showed in still further detail the fine opportunity which
existed in the East and awaited only the coming of the English
merchant. “I sailed along the Ilands of the Malucos, where among some
of the heathen people I was well intreated, where our countrey men may
have trade as freely as the Portugals if they will themselves.”
It is not therefore surprising that in the following year the English
merchants began to stir themselves afresh. The East was calling
loudly: and with the information brought back by Candish and some
other knowledge, gained in a totally different manner, the time was
now ripe for an expedition to succeed. For in the year 1587 Drake had
left Plymouth, sailed across the Bay of Biscay, arrived at Cadiz Roads,
where he did considerable harm to Spanish shipping, spoiled Philip’s
plans for invading England that year, and then set a course for the
Azores. It was not long before he sighted a big, tall ship, which was
none other than the great carack, _San Felipe_, belonging to the King
of Spain himself, whose name in fact she bore. This vessel was now
homeward-bound from the East Indies and full of a rich cargo. Drake
made it his duty to capture her in spite of her size, and very soon she
was his and on her way to Plymouth.
Now the most wonderful feature of this incident was, historically,
not the daring of Drake nor the value of the ship and cargo. The
latter combined were found to be worth £114,000 in Elizabethan money,
or in modern coinage about a million pounds sterling. But the most
valuable of all were the ship’s papers found aboard, which disclosed
the long-kept secrets of the East Indian trade. Therefore, this fact,
taken in conjunction with the arrival of Candish the year following,
and the wonderful incentive to English sea-daring given by the victory
over the Spanish Armada—the fleet of the very nation whose ships had
kept the English out of India—will prepare the reader for the memorial
which the English merchants made to Queen Elizabeth, setting forth the
great benefits which would arise through a direct trade with India.
They therefore prayed for a royal licence to send three ships thither.
But Elizabeth was a procrastinating, uncertain woman. She had in that
expedition of Drake in 1587 first given her permission and then had
sent a messenger post haste all the way to Plymouth countermanding
these orders. Luckily for the country, Drake had already got so far out
to sea that it was impossible to deliver the message: and it was a good
thing there was no such thing as wireless telegraphy in Elizabeth’s
time.
So, in regard to these petitioning merchants, first she would and then
she wouldn’t, and she kept the matter hanging indecisively until a few
months before April 1591. By that time the necessary capital had been
raised and the final preparations made, so that on the tenth of that
month “three tall ships,” named respectively the _Penelope_ (which was
the “Admirall”), the _Marchant Royall_ (which was the “Vice-Admirall”)
and the _Edward Bonaventure_ “Rear-Admirall”) were able to let loose
their canvas and sailed out of Plymouth Sound.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] Drake of course had previously encircled the globe in a voyage of
twenty-six months, having set forth from Plymouth in 1577, though his
was even more of a buccaneering expedition than that of Candish.
CHAPTER IV
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST
I want in this chapter to call your attention to a very gallant English
captain named James Lancaster, whose grit and endurance in the time of
hard things, whose self-effacing loyalty to duty, show that there were
giants afloat in those days in the ships which were to voyage to the
East.
The account of the first of these voyages I have taken from Hakluyt,
who in turn had obtained it by word of mouth from a man named Edmund
Barker, of Ipswich. Hakluyt was known for his love of associating with
seamen and obtaining from them first-hand accounts of their experiences
afloat. And inasmuch as Barker is described as Lancaster’s lieutenant
on the voyage, and the account was witnessed by James Lancaster’s
signature, we may rely on the facts being true. Hakluyt was of course
very closely connected with the subject of our inquiry. When the East
India Company was started he was appointed its first historiographer,
a post for which he was eminently fitted. He lectured on the subject
of voyaging to the Orient, he made the maps and journals which came
back in these ships useful to subsequent navigators and of the greatest
interest to merchants and others. And when he died his work was in
part carried on by Samuel Purchas of _Pilgrimes_ fame. The second of
these voyages, in which Lancaster again triumphs over what many would
call sheer bad luck, has been taken from a letter which was sent to
the East India Company by one of its servants, and is preserved in the
archives of the India Office and will be dealt with in the following
chapter. But for the present we will confine our attention to the
voyage of those three ships mentioned at the end of the last chapter.
After leaving Devonshire the _Penelope_, _Marchant Royall_ and _Edward
Bonaventure_ arrived at the Canary Isles in a fortnight, having the
advantage of a fair north-east wind. Before reaching the Equator
they were able to capture a Portuguese caravel bound from Lisbon for
Brazil with a cargo of Portuguese merchandise consisting of 60 tuns of
wine, 1200 jars of oil, about 100 jars of olives and other produce.
This came as a veritable good fortune to the English ships, for the
latter’s crews had already begun to be afflicted with bad health. “We
had two men died before wee passed the line, and divers sicke, which
tooke their sicknesse in those hote climates: for they be wonderful
unholesome from 8 degrees of Northerly latitude unto the line, at that
time of the yeere: for we had nothing but Ternados, with such thunder,
lightning, and raine, that we could not keep our men drie 3 houres
together, which was an occasion of the infection among them, and their
eating of salt victuals, with lacke of clothes to shift them.” After
crossing the Equator they had for a long time an east-south-east wind,
which carried them to within a hundred leagues of the coast of Brazil,
and then getting a northerly wind they were able to make for the Cape
of Good Hope, which they sighted on 28th July. For three days they
stood off and on with a contrary wind, unable to weather it. They had
had a long voyage, and the health of the crew in those leaky, stinking
ships had become bad. They therefore made for Table Bay, or, as it was
then called, Saldanha, where they anchored on 1st August.
The men were able to go ashore and obtain exercise after being cramped
for so many weeks afloat, and found the land inhabited by black
savages, “very brutish.” They obtained fresh food by shooting fowl,
though “there was no fish but muskles and other shel-fish, which we
gathered on the rockes.” Later on a number of seals and penguins were
killed and taken on board, and eventually, thanks to negro assistance,
cattle and sheep were obtained by bartering. But when the time came
to start off for the rest of the voyage it was very clear that the
squadron, owing to the loss by sickness, was deficient in able-bodied
men. It was therefore “thought good rather to proceed with two ships
wel manned, then with three evill manned: for here wee had of sound
and whole men but 198.” It was deemed best to send home the _Marchant
Royall_ with fifty men, many of whom were pretty well recovered from
the devastating disease of scurvy. The extraordinary feature of the
voyage was that the sailors suffered from this disease more than the
soldiers. “Our souldiers which have not bene used to the Sea, have
best held out, but our mariners dropt away, which (in my judgement)
proceedeth of their evill diet at home.”
So the other two ships proceeded on their way towards India: but not
long after rounding the Cape of Good Hope they encountered “a mighty
storme and extreeme gusts of wind” off Cape Corrientes, during which
the _Edward Bonaventure_ lost sight of the _Penelope_. The latter, in
fact, was never seen again, and there is no doubt that she foundered
with all hands. The _Edward_, however, pluckily kept on, though four
days later “we had a terrible clap of thunder, which slew foure of our
men outright, their necks being wrung in sonder without speaking any
word, and of 94 men there was not one untouched, whereof some were
stricken blind, others were bruised in their legs and armes, and others
in their brests, so that they voided blood two days after, others
were drawn out at length as though they had bene racked. But (God be
thanked) they all recovered saving onely the foure which were slaine
out right.” The same electric storm had wrecked the mainmast “from
the head to the decke” and “some of the spikes that were ten inches
into the timber were melted with the extreme heate thereof.” Truly
Lancaster’s command was a very trying one. What with a scurvy crew, an
unhandy ship, now partially disabled, and both hurricanes and electric
storms, there was all the trouble to break the spirit of many a man.
Still, he held determinedly on his way whither he was bound.
But his troubles were now very nearly ended in one big disaster. After
having proceeded along the south-east coast of Africa, and steering in
a north-easterly direction, the ship was wallowing along her course
over the sea when a dramatic incident occurred. It was night, and while
some were below sleeping, one of the men on deck, peering through
the moonlight, saw ahead what he took for breakers. He called the
attention of his companions and inquired what it was, and they readily
answered that it was the sea breaking on the shoals. It was the “Iland
of S. Laurence.” “Whereupon in very good time we cast about to avoyd
the danger which we were like to have incurred.” But it had been a
close shave, and though Lancaster was to endure many other grievous
hardships before his days were ended, yet but for the light of the
kindly moon his ship, his crew and his own life would almost certainly
have been lost that night.
But this was presently to be succeeded by the luck of falling in with
three or four Arab craft, which were taken, their cargo of ducks
and hens being very acceptable. They watered the ship at the Comoro
Islands; a Portuguese boy, whom they had taken when the Arab craft were
captured, being a useful acquisition as interpreter. But the master of
the _Edward Bonaventure_, having gone ashore with thirty of his men to
obtain a still further amount of fresh water, was treacherously taken
and sixteen of his company slain. It was just one further source of
discomfort for Lancaster now to have lost his ship’s master and more
of his crew. So thence, “with heavie hearts,” the _Edward_ sailed for
Zanzibar, where they learnt that the Portuguese had already warned the
natives of the character of Englishmen, in making out that the latter
were “cruell people and men-eaters, and willed them if they loved
safetie in no case to come neere us. Which they did onely to cut us off
from all knowledge of the state and traffique of the countrey.”
The jealousy of the Portuguese was certainly very great: they were
annoyed, and only naturally, that another nation should presume to
burst into the seas which they had been the first of Europeans to open.
Off this coast, from Melinda to Mozambique, a Portuguese admiral was
cruising in a small “frigate”—that is to say, a big galley-type of
craft propelled by sails and oars. And had this “frigate” been strong
enough she would certainly have assailed Lancaster’s ship, for she came
into Zanzibar to “view and to betray our boat if he could have taken at
any time advantage.”
It was whilst riding at anchor here that another electric storm
sprung the _Edward’s_ foremast, which had to be repaired—“fished,” as
sailors call it—with timber from the shore. And, to add still more
to Lancaster’s bad luck, the ship’s surgeon, whilst ashore with the
newly appointed master of the ship, looking for oxen, got a sunstroke
and died. But the sojourn in that anchorage came to an end on 15th
February. The progress of this voyage had been slow, but it had been
sure. Relying on what charts he possessed, and then, after rounding
the Cape of Good Hope, practically coasting up the African shore until
reaching Zanzibar, he had wisely remained here some time. For this was
the port whence the dhows traded backwards and forwards across the
Indian Ocean and the East, and it must be remembered that the Arabs
were skilled navigators and very fine seamen, who had been making these
ocean voyages for centuries, whilst Englishmen were doing little more
than coasting passages. Zanzibar was clearly the place where Lancaster
could pick up a good deal of valuable knowledge regarding the voyage to
India, and, incidentally, he took away from here a certain negro who
had come from the East Indies and was possessed of knowledge of the
country.
From Goa to Zanzibar the Arabian ships were wont to bring cargoes of
pepper, and it was now Lancaster’s intention to cut straight across
the Indian Ocean and make Cape Comorin—the southernmost point of the
Indian peninsula—as his land-fall. He then meant to hang about this
promontory, because it was to the traffic of the East what such places
as Ushant and Dungeness to-day are to the shipping of the West. He knew
that there was plenty of shipping bound from Bengal, the Malay Straits,
from China and from Japan which would come round this cape well laden
with all sorts of Eastern riches. He would therefore lie in wait off
this headland and, attacking a suitable craft, would relieve her of
her wealth. But the intention did not have the opportunity of being
fulfilled as he had wished it. “In our course,” says Lancaster, “we
were very much deceived by the currents that set into the Gulfe of the
Red Sea along the coast of Melinde”—that is to say, from Zanzibar along
the coast known to-day as British East Africa and Somaliland. “And the
windes shortening upon us to the North-east and Easterly, kept us that
we could not get off, and so with the putting in of the currents from
the Westward, set us in further unto the Northward within fourescore
leagues of” Socotra, which was “farre from our determined course and
expectation.”
Therefore, as they had been brought so far to the northward of their
course, Lancaster decided that it were best to run into Socotra or
some port in the Red Sea for fresh supplies; but, luckily for him, the
wind then came north-west, which was of course a fair wind from his
present position to the south-west coast of India. Being a wise leader
he of course now availed himself of this good fortune and sped over
the Indian Ocean towards Cape Comorin, when the wind came southerly:
but presently the wind came again more westerly, and so in the month
of May 1592 the Cape was doubled, but without having sighted it, and
then a course was laid for the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
But though they ran on for six days with a fair wind, and plenty of it,
“these Ilands were missed through our masters default for want of due
observation of the South starre.” It would be easy enough to criticise
the lack of skill in the Elizabethan navigators, but it is much fairer
to wonder rather that they were able to find their way as well as they
did over strange seas, considering that until comparatively recently
it was to them practically a new art. Excellent seamen they certainly
had been for centuries: but it was not till long after Prince Henry the
Navigator had taught his own countrymen, that this new sea-learning
of navigation had reached England and “pilots-major” instructed our
seamen in the higher branch of their profession. They were keen, they
were adventurous, and they knew no fear: but these mariners were
rude, unscientific men, who could not always be relied upon to make
observations accurately. They did the best they could with their
astrolabes and cross-staffs, but they lacked the perfection of the
modern sextant. The most they could hope for was to make a land-fall
not too distant from where they wanted to get, and then, having picked
up the land, keep it aboard as far as possible. Thus they would
approach their destined port, off which, by means of parleying with
one of the native craft, they might persuade one of the crew to come
aboard and so pilot them in.
As the _Edward Bonaventure_ had missed the Nicobar Islands, it was
decided to push on to the southward, which would bring them into the
neighbourhood of Sumatra. There they lay two or three days, hoping
for a pilot from Sumatra, which was only about six miles off. And
subsequently, as the winter was approaching, they made for the Islands
of Pulo Pinaou, which they reached in June, and there remained till
the end of August. Many of the crew had again fallen sick, and though
they put them ashore at this place, twenty-six more of them died. Nor
were there many sources of supplies, but only oysters, shell-fish and
the fish “which we tooke with our hookes.” But there was plenty of
timber, and this came in very useful for repairing masts. When the
winter passed and again they put to sea, the crew was now reduced to
thirty-three men and one boy, but not more than twenty-two were fit
for service, and of these not more than one-third were seamen: so the
_Edward_ was scarcely efficient.
But those which remained must have been of a resolute character, for in
a little while they encountered a 60-ton ship, which they attacked and
captured, and, shortly after, a second was also taken. Needless to say,
the cargoes of pepper were discharged into the _Edward_, and even the
sick men were soon reported as “being somewhat refreshed and lustie.”
Lancaster had not by any means forgotten the fact that richly laden
ships from China and Japan would pass through the Malacca Straits, and
having arrived here he lay-to and waited. At the end of five days a
Portuguese sail was descried, laden with rice, “and that night we tooke
her being of 250 tunnes.” This was a big ship for those days, and so
Lancaster determined to keep her as well as her cargo. He therefore put
on board a prize crew of seven, under the command of Edmund Barker.
The latter then came to anchor and hung out a riding-light so that
the _Edward_ could see her position. But the English ship was now so
depleted of men that there were hardly enough men on board to handle
her, and the prize had to send some of the men back to help her to make
up the leeway. It was then decided to take out of the prize all that
was worth having, and afterward, with the exception of the Portuguese
pilot and four other men, she and her crew were allowed to go.
But it was not long before the _Edward_ fell in with a much bigger
ship, this time of 700 tons, which was on her way from India. She had
left Goa with a most valuable cargo, and a smart engagement ended in
her main-yard being shot through, whereupon she came to anchor and
yielded, her people escaping ashore in the boats. Lancaster’s men
found aboard her some brass guns, three hundred butts of wine, “as
also all kind of Haberdasher wares, as hats, red caps knit of Spanish
wooll, worsted stockings knit, shooes, velvets, taffataes, chamlets,
and silkes, abundance of suckets, rice, Venice glasses,” playing-cards
and much else. But trouble was brewing in the _Edward_, and a mutinous
spirit was afoot. Lancaster’s men refused to obey his orders and bring
the “excellent wines” into the _Edward_, so, after taking out of her
all that he fancied, he then let the prize drift out to sea.
From there the _Edward_ sailed to the Nicobar Islands, and afterwards
proceeded to Punta del Galle (Point de Galle, Ceylon), where she
anchored. Lancaster’s intention was again to lie in wait for shipping.
He knew that more than one fleet of richly laden merchantmen would
soon be due to pass that way. First of all he was expecting a fleet
of seven or eight Bengal ships, and then two or three more from
Pegu (to the north-west of Siam); and also there ought to be some
Portuguese ships from Siam. These, he had learned, would pass that way
in about a fortnight, bringing the produce of the country to Cochin
(in the south-west of India), where the Portuguese caracks, or big
merchantmen, would receive the goods and carry them home to Lisbon.
It was a regular, yearly trade, the caracks being due to leave Cochin
in the middle of January. A fine haul was certain, for these various
fleets were bringing all sorts of commodities that were well worth
having—cloth, rice, rubies, diamonds, wines and so on.
But Lancaster was again bound to bow to ill-luck. First of all, he had
brought up where the bottom was foul, so he lost his anchor. He had
on board two spare anchors, but they were unstocked and in the hold.
This meant that a good deal of time was wasted, and meanwhile the
ship was drifting about the whole night. In addition, to make matters
worse, Lancaster himself fell ill. The current was carrying the ship
to the southward, away from her required position, so in the morning
the foresail was hoisted and preparations were being made to let loose
the other sails, when the men mutinied and said they were determined
they would remain there no longer but would take the ship to England
direct. Lancaster, finding that persuasion was useless and that he
could do nothing with them, had no other alternative but to give way
to their demands: so on 8th December 1592 the _Edward_ set sail for
the Cape of Good Hope. On the way Lancaster recovered his health, and
even amused himself fishing for bonitos. By February they had crossed
the Indian Ocean and made the land by Algoa Bay, South Africa, where
they had to remain a month owing to contrary winds. But in March they
doubled the Cape of Good Hope once more, and on 3rd April reached St
Helena. And here an extraordinary thing happened. When Edmund Barker
went ashore he found an Englishman named Segar, like himself of
Suffolk. He had been left here eighteen months before by the _Marchant
Royall_, which you will remember had been sent home from Table Bay on
the way out. On the way home he had fallen ill and would have died if
he had remained on board, so it had been decided to put him ashore.
When, however, the _Edward’s_ men saw him this time, he was “as fresh
in colour and in as good plight of body to our seeming as might be, but
crazed in minde and halfe out of his wits, as afterward wee perceived:
for whether he were put in fright of us, not knowing at first what we
were, whether friends or foes, or of sudden joy when he understood we
were his olde consorts and countreymen, hee became idel-headed, and for
eight dayes space neither night nor day tooke any naturall rest, and so
at length died for lacke of sleepe.”
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN “KENT,” 1,000 TONS.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
On 12th April 1593 the _Edward_ left St Helena, and the mutinous
spirit was not yet dead on board. Lancaster’s intention was to cross
the Atlantic to Pernambuco, Brazil, but the sailors were infuriated
and wished to go straight home. So, the next day, whilst they were
being told by the captain to finish a foresail which they had in
hand, some of them asserted determinedly that, unless the ship were
taken straight home, they would do nothing: and to this Lancaster was
compelled to agree. But when they were about eight degrees north of the
Equator the ship made little progress for six weeks owing to calms and
flukey winds. Meanwhile the men’s victuals were running short, and the
mutinous spirit reasserted itself strongly. They knew that the officers
of the ship had their own provisions locked away in private chests—this
had been done as a measure of precaution—and the men now threatened to
break open these chests. Lancaster therefore determined, on the advice
of one of the ship’s company, to make for the Island of Trinidad in
the West Indies, where he would be able to obtain supplies. But, being
ignorant of the currents of the Gulf of Paria, he was carried out of
his course and eventually anchored off the Isle of Mona after a few
days more.
After refreshing the stores and stopping a big leak, the _Edward_ next
put to sea bound for Newfoundland, but a heavy gale sent them back
to Porto Rico, the wind being so fierce that even the furled sails
of the ship were carried away, and the ship was leaking badly, with
six feet of water in the hold. The victuals had run out, so that they
were compelled to eat hides. Small provisions were obtained at Porto
Rico, and then five of the crew deserted. From there the ship went to
Mona again, and whilst a party of nineteen were on shore, including
Lancaster and Barker, to gather food, a gale of wind sprang up, which
made such a heavy sea that the boat could not have taken them back to
the _Edward_. It was therefore deemed wiser to wait till the next day:
but during the night, about midnight, the carpenter cut the _Edward’s_
cable, so that she drifted away to sea with only five men and a boy
on board. At the end of twenty-nine days a French ship, afterwards
found to be from Dieppe, was espied. In answer to a fire made on shore
she dowsed her topsails, approached the land, hoisted out her ensign
and came to anchor. Some of the _Edward’s_ crew, including Barker and
Lancaster, went aboard, but the rest of the party to the number of
seven could not be found. Six more were taken on board another Dieppe
ship and so reached San Domingo, where they traded with the people for
hides. Here news reached them of their companions left in Mona. It was
learnt that, of the seven men there left, two had broken their necks
while chasing fowls on the cliffs, three were slain by Spaniards upon
information given by the men who went away in the _Edward_, but the
remaining two now joined Lancaster by a ship from another port.
Eventually Lancaster and his companions took passage aboard another
Dieppe vessel, and arrived at the latter port after a voyage of
forty-two days. They then crossed in a smaller craft to Rye, where they
landed on 24th May 1594.
What good, then, had this expedition done? In spite of losing two out
of the three ships, in spite of the losses of many men and the whole
of the rich cargoes which had been obtained by capture, Lancaster and
his companions had returned to England with something worth having.
How had English trade with India been benefited? The answer is simple.
If nothing tangible had been obtained, this expedition had been a
great lesson. If it had brought back no spices or diamonds, it had
brought much valuable information. Once again it showed to the English
merchants that there was a fortune for all of them waiting in the
Orient, and it showed by bitter experience the mistakes that must be
avoided. The voyage had been begun at the wrong season of the year;
it would have to be better thought out, and better provision would
have to be taken to guard against scurvy. The route to India was now
well understood, and it was no longer any Portuguese secret. England
was just on the eve of sharing with the Portuguese their fortunate
discovery, which eventually the latter were to lose utterly to the
former.
CHAPTER V
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY
Although the expedition of those three tall ships related in the
previous chapter had been commercially such a dismal failure, it had
shown that James Lancaster was the kind of man to whom there should be
entrusted the leadership, not only of a single ship, but of an entire
expedition. With the greatest difficulty he had prevented his unruly
crew from excesses, he had taken his ship most of the way round the
world, he had shown that he could put up a good fight when needs be,
and that he possessed a capacity for finding out information—a most
valuable ability in these the first days of Indian voyaging. He had
obtained information about winds, tides, currents, places, peoples and
trade. He had got to know where the Portuguese ships were usually to be
found, where they started from and at what times of the year. Clearly
he was just the man for the big expedition which was shortly to start
from England, after but a few years’ interval.
We mentioned on an earlier page the travels of Ralph Fitch to India,
though even prior to his setting forth another Englishman named Thomas
Stevens had been to the East. This was in the year 1579, and although
he was the first of our countrymen to reach India, yet he went out in
a Portuguese ship, and is therefore entirely indebted to the Portuguese
for having reached there at all. He had first proceeded from England
to Italy, and then made his way from that country to Portugal. Having
arrived in Lisbon, he went aboard and started eight days later when the
Portuguese East Indian fleet sailed out. This was towards the beginning
of April, which was very late for their sailing, but important business
had detained them. Five ships proceeded together, bound for Goa, with
many mariners, soldiers, women and children, the starting off being a
solemn and impressive occasion, accompanied by the blowing of trumpets
and the booming of artillery. Proceeding on their way via the Canaries
and Cape Verde, they rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards
steered to the north-east. And then occurred just that very incident
which afterwards we have seen was to happen to Lancaster. Not knowing
the set of the currents they got much too far to the northward and
found themselves close to Socotra (at the entrance to the Gulf of
Aden), whereas they imagined they were near to India. But eventually,
having sailed many miles, and noticed birds in the sky which they knew
came from their desired country, and then having seen floating branches
of palm-trees they realised that they were now not far from their
destination, and so on 24th October they arrived at Goa.
Stevens had watched the Portuguese navigators closely, and he had
marvelled that these ships could find their way over the trackless
ocean. “You know,” he wrote to his father in England, telling him all
about the voyage, “you know that it is hard to saile from East to
West, or contrary, because there is no fixed point in all the skie,
whereby they may direct their course, wherefore I shall tell you what
helps God provide for these men. There is not a fowle that appereth or
signe in the aire, or in the sea, which they have not written, which
have made the voyages heretofore. Wherefore, partly by their owne
experience, and pondering withall what space the ship was able to make
with such a winde, and such direction, and partly by the experience of
others, whose books and navigations they have, they gesse whereabouts
they be, touching degrees of longitude, for of latitude they be alwayes
sure.”
It was a real difficulty in those early Indian ships to ascertain
their longitude with any correctness. Longitude was reckoned from the
meridian of St Michael, one of the Azores, on the grounds that there
was no variation of the compass there. It was not, in fact, till
the chronometer was invented in the latter half of the eighteenth
century that the difficulty could be overcome. But these early East
Indiamen were by no means devoid of the instruments of navigation,
which included an astrolabe and cross-staff, as already mentioned, a
celestial globe, a terrestrial globe, a calendar, a universal horologe
for finding the hour of the day in every latitude, a nocturne labe for
telling the hour of the night, one or more compasses, a navigation
chart corrected according to the last voyagers who had used it: and, a
little later on, printed charts, as well as a general map.
But whilst Lancaster had been away from England on his voyage to the
East, Englishmen at sea had fallen in with two of the Portuguese East
Indian caracks—the _Santa Cruz_ and the _Madre de Dios_—homeward-bound
from Goa. The former had been burnt and the latter taken into
Dartmouth. When she arrived in that port her immense size and wealth
made a great sensation. Even in Elizabethan money the value was
assessed at £15,000. She was of no less than 1600 tons and chock-full
of Oriental treasures, with about six or seven hundred souls aboard,
and armed with thirty-two brass guns. This wonderful East Indiaman had,
besides a number of precious stones, a cargo consisting of spices,
drugs, silks, calicoes, quilts, carpets, canopies, pearls, ivory,
Chinese ware and hides. In fact when all this cargo was taken out of
her in Dartmouth and sent by sea to London, it freighted ten coasters.
As you can well imagine, these west-country seamen were careful to note
all her details when once they had her in port. She was completely
surveyed, and found to be 165 feet long, and 46 feet 10 inches wide,
and drew 26 feet, though when she left India she was drawing 31 feet.
She had seven decks at the stern, the length of the keel being 100
feet, the height of the mast 121 feet, and the length of the main-yard
106 feet.
The consternation caused by the sight of the wonderful goods which
eventually arrived at Leadenhall, London, fired the imaginations of the
London merchants afresh. When, in September 1592, they observed the
vast quantities of pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, incense,
damasks, golden silks, and saw with their own eyes the very goods which
had come all the way from that Eastern land of wealth, they marvelled
greatly. One of the results of all this was that the Levant Company,
which had been founded in 1581 to trade with Turkey and the eastern
ports of the Mediterranean, now became expanded into a more ambitious
venture. Realising full well the amazing riches of the East Indies, it
succeeded in obtaining from Elizabeth, in 1593, a charter to trade now
with India, but via the overland route.
In passing we may just say a word about the English trading companies,
some of which were of great antiquity. The oldest was the Hamburg
Company, which consisted of English merchants trading to Calais,
Holland, Zealand, the Low Countries, the Baltic and the inhabitants of
modern Prussia. It had been first incorporated by Edward I. in 1296,
and enjoyed special privileges during successive reigns. There was
also the Russian Company, which had been inaugurated at the end of the
reign of Edward VI. and the beginning of the reign of Philip and Mary,
though its charter was received from Queen Elizabeth. This company had
arisen from the enterprise of a number of English merchants, who had
sent three ships to find, if possible, a north-east passage into Asia
and the East. So, also, the Turkey or Levant Company, mentioned just
now, had been founded in 1581 with a view of trading to the part of
the world designated. All these various companies were just so many
societies of merchant-adventurers who were bound together with one
common interest by the royal charter. But the greatest of all was to
be the celebrated East India Company, founded in 1600, about which we
shall speak presently, though we may sufficiently anticipate matters by
asserting that it grew out of the Levant Company.
But England was by no means to have the whole field to herself. If the
Portuguese power was in the descendant: if her precious secrets of
this East Indian trade had been ruthlessly revealed: if her ships and
her rich cargoes had been repeatedly taken with the same determination
that the Armada had been defeated; yet she was still active in India,
and the only European nation there established. However, not merely
England, but Holland, too, had been growing strong in maritime ability.
The Dutch people had always been by nature seamen for centuries, and
were able to rival any English ability in the maritime arts. They were
intrepid mariners, they were excellent shipbuilders, and they were
careful students of all the sea-knowledge which had come forth from
Portugal. The influence of Prince Henry’s cartographical school had
spread northwards from Sagres, and Flemish printers had done much for
map-making and thus made known this knowledge of the world far and
wide. This was the final blow to the closely guarded Portuguese secrets
of India. The first atlas ever printed was published by the Dutch at
Leyden in the year 1585. The man to whom belongs the credit of this was
named Wagenaer, and, according to the crude knowledge and the still
more elementary buoyage, the Narrow Seas were well shown. The charts
which Holland published were also brought out in English, together with
little sketches of the various headlands, their latitude, distances,
and so on, including sailing directions for entering various harbours.
So also at Antwerp and at Bruges excellent schools of cartography grew
up just as they had in Portugal and Spain: and fired with the amazing
stories of the East, Holland was not merely anxious but well prepared
for asserting herself in India and coming back with a series of rich
cargoes for those prepared to venture.
Briefly, this was brought about as follows. We mentioned on an earlier
page that though the Portuguese jealously guarded the secret of the
India route, they were quite willing to dispose of these Indian goods.
One of these marts, to which merchants came from other countries in
order to purchase, was Lisbon. The second was Antwerp, which was
convenient for the merchants of Northern Europe. England, by the way,
had done a good deal of overseas trade between London and Antwerp for
centuries, so this additional East Indian trade made the visits of our
merchantmen even more important, and thus many first realised what
India meant commercially, and could mean to them. And similarly the
people of the Low Countries became equally impressed with what they
learned. Thus very naturally we see in 1593—the actual year in which
the Levant Company had obtained their extended charter—the first of
a series of efforts made by Dutchmen to reach Asia by a north-east
passage. And we must not omit to mention the very great influence which
Jan Huygen von Linschoten, a native of Haarlem, had. The latter was
a great student of geography, at a time when all knowledge of this
kind was rare. For a while he was resident in Lisbon, where he amassed
a large amount of invaluable data concerning the East—its harbours,
configuration, trade-winds, and so on. Lisbon, in fact, was just the
place in which all the East Indian information naturally collected
itself. Later on Linschoten himself proceeded to India and dwelt at
Goa, in the train of the Portuguese Archbishop, but in the year 1592 he
returned to Europe, and the tales which this traveller told concerning
India astonished the slow-reasoning minds of his fellow-countrymen.
In the year 1596 he published a most valuable book dealing with the
East, affording charts and maps and no end of information which would
be priceless to any who might venture on a voyage to India. An English
translation appeared two years later, and it certainly had a great
influence on the founding of our first East India Company. So important
was the book, indeed, that it was also translated and published in
French, in Latin and German.
As for Holland, the tangible result was that four ships were fitted
out, and under Cornelis Houtman were sent in 1595 to the countries
situate the other side of the Cape of Good Hope, beyond the Indian
Ocean. Houtman’s voyage had been a success, for in the year 1597 he
returned, bringing with him a treaty made with the King of Bantam,
which was the means of opening up to Holland the Indian Archipelago.
This voyage convinced even the most sceptical, and a new era had
begun, in which Holland was to grow rich and powerful, a great
commercial country and of considerable strength at sea. The handsome
seventeenth-century buildings which you still find standing in Holland
to-day, and the brilliant seventeenth-century Dutch painters of
portraits and shipping scenes, are surviving evidences of a wonderful
prosperity derived for the most part from the East India trade of that
time.
It came about, then, that England was to find a keen rival for the
possessions of the East. There was going to be a very hard struggle
as to which would win the race. One voyage succeeded another, so that
actually the Dutch were wanting in big craft and had to come over to
England to buy up some of our shipping. But this was the final straw
which broke the back of Englishmen’s patience. They had looked on for
some time with restraint at the progressive enterprise of the Dutch,
and had become very jealous of their commercial prosperity. It was a
condition to which the present Anglo-German rivalry is very similar in
kind. But it was clear something must be done now. The London merchants
who were interested in the Levant Company had found that their charter
of extension granted in 1593 for overland trading with India availed
them but little. Therefore, arising out of this company it happened
that a number of merchants met together in London in the year 1599
and agreed to petition Elizabeth for permission to send a number of
well-found ships to the East Indies, for which they prayed a monopoly,
subscribing the sum of £30,133 for an East Indian voyage. It was
certainly high time to be moving, for the Dutch were gaining all the
foreign freight—they were nicknamed the “waggoners of the sea”—whilst
English ships were rotting away in port, or doing little more than mere
coasting.
[Illustration: DUTCH EAST INDIAMAN.
The vessel on the right shows the type of craft in the employment of
the Dutch East India Company of about 1647.]
This petition was not approved by the Privy Council, but in the year
1609, and on the last day in that year, it received the Queen’s
assent. More capital had been obtained, the exclusive privilege of
this Indian trade had been granted for fifteen years, so there was
nothing to do but obtain the necessary ships and men and hurry on
the fitting-out. The Company was managed by twenty-four directors,
under the governorship of Alderman James Smith, who was subsequently
knighted, but altogether there were two hundred and eighteen of these
merchants, aldermen, knights and esquires, who were made up by the
title of “The Governors and Company of the Merchants trading unto the
East Indies.” The countries prescribed by this charter showed a rather
extended area, embracing all ports, islands and places in Asia, Africa,
America, between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan.
The Company were promised that neither the Queen nor her heirs would
grant trading-licences within these limits to any person without the
consent of the Company: and the Company was furthermore granted the
privilege of making the first four voyages without export duty, and the
permission was further granted to export annually the sum of £30,000 in
bullion or coin.
This “privilege for fifteen yeeres” “to certaine Adventurers for the
discoverie of the Trade for the East-Indies” was to be a spirited
reply to the action of the Dutch, and marks the beginning of that
series of English East India companies which were in effect the means
of acquiring India for the British crown after the Indian Mutiny in
the nineteenth century. From now onwards the East Indiamen ships have
a standing and importance which were not previously possessed, and we
shall find this culminating in the amazingly dignified manner of the
Indian merchantmen in the early part of the nineteenth century.
Among those who had agreed together for this expedition “at their owne
adventures, costs and charges as well for the honour of this Our Realme
of England, as for the increase of Our Navigation, and advancement of
trade,” was the Earl of Cumberland. He was one of those Elizabethan
gentlemen who were wont to fit out a small squadron of ships for
roving the seas and attacking the well-laden ships of the Spanish and
Portuguese. It was a fine, adventurous game and there was a good chance
of coming home with a fortune. Of those ships which the noble earl
owned for this purpose one was a craft named the _Red Dragon_, and as
she was built for fighting and ocean cruising she was just the ship
for the first voyage of the East India Company, being of 600 tons. She
was therefore purchased from her owner by this Company for the sum of
£3700. Her name at one time had been the _Mare Scourge_ (perhaps to
suggest the terror of the sea which was thus exhibited), but at any
rate in the year 1586 she was known as the _Red Dragon_.
Under their charter the Company were allowed to send “sixe good ships
and sixe good pynnaces” and “five hundred Mariners, English-men, to
guide and sayle.” But not more than four ships were sent actually, for
it was a costly venture. These London merchants had “joyned together
and made a stocke of seventie two thousand pounds, to bee employed in
ships and merchandizes”; but the purchase of four ships, the expense of
fitting them out, furnishing them with men, victuals and munitions for
a period of twenty months had eaten up the sum of £45,000. This left
£27,000, which amount was taken out in the ships, partly in merchandise
(with which to trade in Asia) and partly in Spanish money, with which
the natives would be familiar. Advance wages were paid to the crew
before setting forth.
The “Generall of the Fleet” was that same James Lancaster whom we
considered just now, and his flagship was to be the _Red Dragon_. There
was no better leader for the job, and the reader will shortly see
how well he conducted himself in conditions that were not less trying
than in his previous voyage to the East. To him Elizabeth entrusted
letters of commendation addressed to “divers Princes of India,” the
vice-admiral being John Middleton; and the celebrated John Davis, of
Arctic fame, was to go as pilot-major, or navigating expert—another
excellent man for the undertaking. After a busy winter the four ships
were ready and fitted out, so that on 13th February 1601 they were
able to leave Woolwich, their crews amounting to 480. In addition to
the _Red Dragon_ there were the _Hector_, of 300 tons and 108 men; the
_Ascension_, 260 tons and 82 men; the _Susan_ (which had been bought
from a London alderman for £1600), 240 tons and 88 men; and in addition
they took a victualling ship called variously the _Guift_ or _Guest_.
The latter was a ship of 130 tons, but had cost only £300.
In their holds these ships carried such English products as were
likely to be appreciated in the East. Such commodities were taken as
iron, lead, tin, cloth; while the presents to be given to the Indian
princes comprised a girdle, a case of pistols, plumes, looking-glasses,
platters, spoons, glass toys, spectacles, drinking-glasses and a plain
silver ewer. But the progress of this squadron was distinctly slow.
From the Thames they had dropped down to the mouth and anchored in the
Downs. Here they waited so long for a fair wind that already it was
Easter Day before they reached Dartmouth, where they “spent five or
sixe dayes in taking in their bread and certaine other provisions,” as
one of the letters received by the East India Company has it. Leaving
Dartmouth they “hoysed their anchors” and sped across the Bay of
Biscay, and continued to the south. Off the coast of Guinea they fell
in with a Portuguese vessel, which they captured, and from her they
took much wine, oil and meal for the good of the squadron.
During the month of June they crossed the Equator, and in the following
month discharged the _Guest_ victualler—that is to say, they took out
of her the masts, sails and yards and whatever else was worth keeping,
and then broke down her “higher buildings for firewood, and so left her
floting in the sea.” And now scurvy attacked many of the squadron’s
crew, so that there were hardly men enough to handle the sails. Even
the “merchants tooke their turnes at the Helme: and went into the top
to take in the top-sayles, as the common Mariners did.” However, on the
9th of September 1601 they arrived at Saldanha (Table Bay), where they
anchored and “hoysed out their boats.” (There were of course no such
things as boat davits in those days, the boats being lifted out from
the waist of the ship by blocks and ropes.) But so weak were the crews
of three of the ships that Lancaster’s crew had to go aboard the other
craft and do the work of getting these boats into the sea.
How was it, then, that the flagship’s crew had kept so free from scurvy
and were in better health than the other men? The answer is that
Lancaster had learnt a lesson from the terrible death-roll which this
disease had caused in his previous voyage already noted. “The reason,”
runs the document, “why the Generals men stood better in health then
the men of other Ships was this: he brought to sea with him certaine
Bottles of the Juice of Limons, which hee gave to each one, as long as
it would last, three spoonfuls every morning fasting: not suffering
them to eate any thing after it till noone. This Juice worketh much
better, if the partie keepe a short Dyet, and wholly refrains salt
meate, which salt meate, and long being at the sea is the only cause
of the breeding of this Disease. By this meanes the Generall cured
many of his men, and preserved the rest.” Considering this practical
proof of the value of lime juice as an anti-scorbutic, it is surprising
that it was not till many years later lime juice was, as it is to-day,
always carried in English ships and given out to the men, especially in
wind-jammers.
After allowing the men shore leave and laying in very necessary
provisions, the squadron got under way and left again on 29th October,
doubling the Cape of Good Hope on the 1st of November, “having the wind
West North-west a great gale.” Madagascar was reached on 17th December,
and they remained there until 6th March. Actually they did not even
sight India, but held on across the Indian Ocean until they reached
those Nicobar Islands visited in the previous voyage. A short stay was
made and then they pushed on to the southward till they came to Acheen,
which is at the north-west extremity of Sumatra, arriving there on the
5th of June 1602. Here Lancaster was entertained hospitably by some
of the Dutch factors who had already established themselves, and also
obtained a concession from the King of Acheen granting freedom of trade
and immunity from paying customs. Thus a beginning was made, if not
actually with India, at any rate with a part of the East Indies. Trade
between England and the Orient was established, only to be developed in
the years that were to follow.
In order to proceed with their trade, Lancaster put ashore two of the
factors who had come out with him from England, these employing their
time now in getting together a cargo of pepper against the date of
Lancaster’s return. Meanwhile the squadron sailed from Acheen on 11th
September 1602, and then engaged in that favourite occupation of roving
about till some well-filled merchantman fell into his hands, relieving
her then of her valuable cargo. Strictly speaking, as the reader is
aware, this expedition to the East Indies had been fitted out for the
purpose of opening up trade. But no Elizabethan sailor could content
himself with such lawful limits. Privateering was in his blood: he was
always spoiling for a fight at sea, especially against any Spanish
or Portuguese ship. It was a much quicker way of winning wealth and,
incidentally, of paying back old scores to the people who had tried to
keep Englishmen out of the strange seas of the world. And Lancaster was
a sufficiently good strategist to know that if he selected some pivot
of a busy trade-route, such as some narrow straits, all that he had to
do was to hang about there long enough and it was only a question of
time as to whether a big haul would be made. He could rely implicitly
on his own men and their gunnery, even against superior strength. It
only wanted the opportunity, and that, again, demanded merely a little
patience.
So whilst his factors were busy at Acheen buying a cargo, he betook
himself to the Straits of Malacca, the gateway for the shipping which
voyaged between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean; and before long he
had descried a fine Portuguese craft of 900 tons called the _St Thomé_.
It was a little unfortunate that the day was nearly spent, as that
meant that the enemy might possibly escape under cover of darkness.
“And being toward night,” wrote one who was there at the time, “a
present direction was given that we should all spread our selves a
mile and a halfe one from another, that she might not passe us in the
night.” So the four English ships did as the admiral wished them. The
_Hector_ shot two or three “peeces of ordnance,” and this warned the
other three ships, who now closed in and surrounded the Portuguese
carack on all sides. Then the _Red Dragon_ began to fire at her from
the bow guns, with the satisfactory result that the carack’s main-yard
came tumbling down.
That was deemed enough for the present: it would be better to wait till
the night had passed, thought Lancaster, for he feared “least some
unfortunate shot might light betweene wind and water, and so sinke
her,” which would mean that her valuable cargo would be for ever lost.
He therefore stayed his hand for a little while: but next morning at
daybreak he again attacked and this time took the prize. Only four
of Lancaster’s men were placed on board, “for feare of rifling and
pillaging the good things that were within her ... and their charge
was, if any thing should be missing, to answer the same out of their
wages and shares.” For he knew full well that when once a band of these
rough seamen were aboard they would stop at nothing, and no threats
could prevent them from helping themselves to the rare cargo in the
holds.
So full was this _St Thomé_ of Eastern goods that it took six days to
unload her of her 950 packs of calicoes, etc. And then, as a storm
came up, she had to be left behind, so Lancaster returned to Acheen,
and took in his cargo of pepper, cinnamon and spices, together with a
letter and presents from the King of Acheen to Elizabeth. He then set
sail for Bantam, in the Island of Java, on the 9th of November, and
soon after sent home to England the _Ascension_ and the _Susan_, which
had completed their cargoes. In the meantime Lancaster continued his
cruise with the _Dragon_ and _Hector_, and arrived at Bantam, “in the
island of Java major,” which he reached on the 16th of December. Here,
as was the routine of the venture, he put his merchants ashore with
their goods and began trade with the natives. And although the English
reckoned the Javanese “among the greatest pickers and theeves of the
world,” yet our merchants were able to do some very good business; and
so again the ships were laden with cargoes of pepper, and a regular
factory was here established for further trade between England and the
East. Lancaster had as fine an ability for trading enterprise as he
had for capturing a Portuguese ship, and he obtained a 40-ton pinnace
laden with merchandise, which was sent to the Moluccas to trade and
establish a factory there, in charge of Master William Starkey. When
the next English ships should come out they would thus find immediate
opportunity for getting rid of their lead, iron, tin, cloth, and
another cargo waiting to be taken on board.
Such, then, was the completion of the business in the Orient. The first
voyage under the East India Company had done its work in the East
Indies. It had got there in safety, it had established factories, it
had disposed of its freights and obtained very valuable goods to take
home. It had certainly been fortunate, the only real calamity being
the sickness and death of Captain John Middleton of the _Hector_. It
was a long period since they had set out from the Thames, and the time
had now arrived when they must weigh their anchors and start back to
England: so early in the new year they took on board stores and made
their final preparations for the long voyage back over lonely seas.
CHAPTER VI
CAPTAIN LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF
On the 20th of February the two ships were ready for sea. “We went
all aboord our ships, shot off our ordnance, and set sayle to the sea
toward England, with thankes to God, and glad hearts, for his blessings
towards us.” On the 13th of March they crossed the Tropic of Capricorn,
steering south-west “with a stiff gale of wind at south-east,” and this
was sending them over the Indian Ocean towards the African coast in
fine style. But “the eight and twentieth day we had a very great and
a furious storme, so that we were forced to take in all our sayles.
This storme continued a day and a night, with an exceeding great and
raging sea, so that in the reason of man no shippe was able to live in
them: but God (in his mercie) ceased the violence thereof, and gave us
time to breath: and to repaire all the distresses and harmes we had
received, but our ships were so shaken, that they were leakie all the
voyage after.”
This was, in fact, to be a return full of excitement and those serious
incidents which bring out all the seamanship and resource of the real
sons of the sea. If it be true that a man’s real character is exhibited
only in big crises, then we see Lancaster standing out magnificently
as a cool, resourceful, self-sacrificing leader of men, for whom we
cannot help having the highest admiration. These Elizabethans were very
far from perfect. They were guilty of some abominable and atrocious
acts of sacrilege on occasions: their hatred of the Portuguese and
Spaniards knew few bounds. They imagined that might on the sea was
right, and honesty was deemed not always the best policy. But among
their virtues they were the very opposite of cowards. They knew how
to bear all kinds of pain with a courage and resignation that are to
be extolled. And if things went against them they knew how to die as
bravely as they had fought and striven. There was no panic, no kicking
against the inevitable: they did their best, and according to their own
rough morality left the rest to God.
Another “very sore storme” overcame them on the 3rd of May, “and the
seas did so beate upon the ships quarter, that it shooke all the iron
worke of her rother [_i.e._ rudder]: and the next day in the morning,
our rother brake cleane from the sterne of our shippe [_i.e._ the
_Red Dragon_], and presently sunke into the sea.” Here was a terrible
predicament, for of all the casualties which can befall a ship at
sea not one is more awkward than this. And to-day only the steamship
with more than one propeller can continue on her way without worrying
much about such an occurrence. If, however, the vessel is a sailing
ship, or has only one propeller, the only recourse is to tow a spar or
sea-anchor (cone foremost) with a rope from each quarter. Then, if an
equal strain is kept on both ropes, the spar will be thus in line with
the ship’s keel, but as soon as one rope is slacked up and another
tightened, the vessel’s quarter will be pulled to one side and her head
pay off to the opposite.
Let us now see what they attempted in the _Dragon_. You will of course
understand that the rudder was attached to the stern-post by means of
irons on either side of the former, these working on their respective
pins attached to the stern-post. Consequently, if these irons carried
away, either through rust or the violence of the waves, there was
nothing to hold the rudder in place and the ship was not under command.
This is exactly what had happened in the present instance, and the
means of steering was vanished. Naturally, therefore, the _Dragon_
“drave up and downe in the sea like a wracke,” but all the while
the _Hector_ stood by, though unable to do anything. At length the
commander of the _Dragon_ decided to do exactly what the master of a
modern sailing vessel would set about. Her mizen-mast was unstepped,
and they then “put it forth at the sterne port to prove if wee could
steere our shippe into some place where we might make another rother to
hang it, to serve our turnes home.” The spar was placed over the side
and lashed to the stern, but it was found to put such a heavy strain on
the latter that the mast had to be brought on board again.
Lancaster then ordered the ship’s carpenter to make the mast into a
rudder, for in those days the shape of the latter was very long and
narrow: but when they wanted to fix it in position it was noticed
that the rudder irons “wherewith to fasten the rother” had also
gone. However they were not to be dismayed by this very inconvenient
discovery, and were determined to do what they could. One of the crew
accordingly went overboard to make an examination, and found that two
of the rudder irons were still remaining and that there was one other
broken. This was a slice of luck, so, when the weather eased down a
little later, the new rudder was able to be fixed into position and
once more the _Dragon_ got on to her course. However, this good fortune
was but short-lived, and after three or four hours “the sea tooke it
off againe, and wee had much adoe to save it. Wee lost another of our
irons, so that now we had but two to hang it by.”
Matters began to look pretty desperate by now, the men wanted to
abandon the ship and be picked up by the _Hector_, and the position
of Lancaster was no easy one. On the one hand, he knew that they
could not continue like this, making no headway and with provisions
running out and a dissatisfied crew against him. On the other hand, he
was responsible to the East India Company for the safety of the ship
and all that valuable cargo that was in her hold. It was sheer hard
luck that for the second time in his life he should be returning from
the Orient well laden with riches, only to be brought up short by an
unexpected event that boded ill. Still, he was not the type of man to
give way in such a critical time, and he for his part was going to
stand by his ship, whatever else might happen. He appreciated quite
fully the seriousness of the case, and yet for all that he was prepared
to go through with it. There must be no sort of flinching.
He went below into the privacy of his cabin, and unknown to the crew
sat down and wrote the following letter, having resolved to give it
to the captain of the _Hector_, sending her home at once, and on her
arriving back to have this letter handed over to the directors of the
Company. This epistle read thus:
“RIGHT WORSHIPFULL,—What hath passed in this voyage, and what
trades I have settled for this companie, and what other events have
befallen us, you shall understand by the bearers hereof, to whom
(as occasion hath fallen) I must referre you. I will strive with
all diligence to save my ship, and her goods, as you may perceive
by the course I take in venturing mine own life, and those that are
with mee. I cannot tell where you should looke for mee, if you send
out any pinnace to seeke mee: because I live at the devotion of the
wind and seas. And thus fare you well, desiring God to send us a
merrie meeting in this world, if it be his good will and pleasure.
“The passage to the East India lieth in 62½ degrees, by the North
West on the America side. Your very loving friend,
“JAMES LANCASTER.”
Such was the brief, matter-of-fact, intensely practical letter which
he indited—the very letter which we should have expected from a leader
of this type. He succeeded presently in getting it put aboard the
_Hector_, with the order to her captain to proceed. Night came on and
when the morning broke Lancaster little expected to find his “chummy
ship” still by his side. But he had forgotten that the _Hector’s_
commander was a man like himself, and being a real good fellow he
declined to leave a friend in distress, even though it was disobeying
the orders of his admiral. So with excellent seamanship the _Hector_
was kept at a reasonable distance from the _Dragon_, determined to
stand by. Meanwhile the _Dragon’s_ carpenter had got to work again and
the rudder had been repaired. As if to encourage them, the weather
after two or three days began to get better, and the sea to go down.
The admiral therefore made a signal ordering the _Hector_ to come
nearer. This she did, and then her master, Sander Cole by name, was
able to come aboard the flagship, bringing with him the best swimmer
in the ship, and the best divers. These men were of the greatest
assistance, and did their work round the stern of the ship to such good
effect that the rudder was eventually hung again on the two remaining
hooks. It was a triumph of patience, persistence and pluck, that the
_Dragon_ was able once again to go ahead and let her sheets draw.
But all this time things on board had been very trying. The ship had
been buffeted about ceaselessly by many storms for week after week. Men
had fallen sick and the ship could not be worked as she ought. However,
the Cape of Good Hope was rounded, and then there had to be endured the
weary, agonising experience of being becalmed. Still they knew “by the
height wee were in to the Northward” that they had long since passed
the dreaded Cape of storms. Just one more casualty convinced them that
they were not yet out of danger, and this occurred when the main-yard
fell down and knocked a man into the sea, drowning him.
But on the 5th of June they passed the Tropic of Capricorn, and on
the sixteenth of that month sighted St Helena, where they let go in
twelve fathoms. Here they took on board fresh water, shot some wild
goats and hogs, refitted the ships and inspected the _Dragon’s_ rudder,
“which wee hoped would last us home.” During the sojourn here all the
sick recovered their health, and on the 5th of July they set out again
to the north-west. Five days more they were becalmed, but before that
they had succeeded in passing Ascension, on 11th July, and then fell in
with a favourable south-east wind. Thus they proceeded until the 7th
of September, when they imagined themselves near to home. “Wee tooke
sounding, judging the Lands end of England to be fortie leagues from
us. The eleventh day we came to the Downes, well and safe to an anchor:
for the which, thanked be almightie God, who hath delivered us from the
infinite perils and dangers, in this long and tedious Navigation.” Thus
the voyage which had been begun on 13th February 1601 was now brought
to a finish on 11th September 1603. It had been a most successful
voyage, and 1,030,000 lb. of pepper had been brought to England by
these four ships. But, important as that was to the merchants, still
more admirable was the achievement of Lancaster in getting his ship
home at all. However, he was not to go without his reward. He had had
the responsibility of bringing this first voyage of the English East
India Company to a conclusion that was as happy as financially it was
successful, and he was granted a knighthood by James I. Those who
had invested their money in this concern could scarcely regret their
decision, for they eventually received 95 per cent. on their capital,
and it was now established beyond doubt that henceforth the East Indian
trade was the thing for enterprising London merchants. For a hundred
years the Portuguese had kept the secret to themselves and succeeded
in preventing other countries from coming as interlopers. But that was
now all past and done with. The future rested not with the Portuguese,
whose Indian colonial system proved to be an utter failure, but with
the English or the Dutch, between whom the contest would soon become
keen. For already the latter had formed so many associations for trade
that by the year 1602 they were amalgamated by the States-General into
one corporation entitled the Dutch East India Company.
As this first voyage had been so fortunate, it was not long before a
second was inaugurated by the English East India Company. During that
winter preparations went ahead, and on the following Lady Day 1604
another expedition left Gravesend, this time under the leadership
of Henry Middleton, a kinsman of the Middleton who had died during
Lancaster’s voyage. This project consisted of the same ships as before,
and these duly arrived at Bantam on the 20th of December. From here
two of the ships were sent home—namely, the _Hector_ and the _Susan_,
eight months ahead of the other couple, which proceeded first to the
Moluccas before leaving Bantam finally for England. Middleton found
that trading was not quite as easy as it might be, for the Dutch gave
him a great deal of opposition in the East. However, you will realise
that this second voyage was far from being a failure when it is stated
that the profits were just under 100 per cent. to those who had raised
the capital. And this in spite of the fact that the _Susan_ was lost
on her way home. It is a singular coincidence that when this ship had
been purchased, as already noted in the preceding chapter, from a
London alderman at the price of £1600, the condition was that he should
buy her back from the Company at the end of the voyage, for half the
purchase price. Middleton had reached the Downs on 6th May 1606, and
it was not long before preparations began to be made for next year’s
voyage. The second expedition had necessitated a capital of £60,000,
of which only £1142 had been spent in goods, so you will understand to
what extent privateering was responsible for swelling the profits.
On 12th March 1607 an expedition was off again, for the third voyage.
This time the sum of £53,000 had been subscribed, £7280 being expended
in merchandise to take out. There were only three ships on the present
occasion, consisting of those two veterans, _Red Dragon_ and _Hector_,
and a vessel named the _Consent_, of 105 tons. The “Generall” in this
case was Captain Keeling. The latter left England on 12th March, alone,
and reached the Moluccas. Although he was unable to obtain a cargo from
there, yet he purchased from a Java junk a cargo of cloves for £2948,
15s., which on their arrival in England fetched the considerable sum
of £36,287. The reason why spices of the East were so readily bought
up by the West is explained at once by the fact that a great demand
existed throughout civilised Europe at that time for their employment
in cookery and in certain expensive drinks.
The _Dragon_ and _Hector_ had left the Downs on the 1st of April,
and, like those previous voyages which we have noted, they again went
round the Cape of Good Hope and then as far north-east as Socotra,
where the two ships separated, the _Dragon_ proceeding to Sumatra and
Bantam, while the _Hector_ went on to Surat, just north of Bombay.
Thus, at last and for the first time, one of the Company’s ships had
brought up in a port of the Indian continent, as distinct from those
East Indian islands which had been previously visited. The captain of
the _Hector_ was Hawkins, whilst the _Dragon_ was under the command of
Captain Keeling. Some historians assert that Captain Keeling himself
went to Surat, where he landed a Mr Finch to form a factory, and then
sent Captain Hawkins to persuade the Great Mogul at Agra to order his
officers to deal justly with the English: but at any rate Hawkins
remained ashore, as there was a fine opportunity for inaugurating a big
business, and sent the _Hector_ on to Bantam to join Captain Keeling.
Hawkins had come out from England with a letter from King James I.
to the Great Mogul, and the latter promised to grant the Company all
the privileges asked for. This Indian potentate further suggested
that Hawkins should remain at his Court as English representative at
a commencing salary of £3200 a year. This offer Hawkins accepted, but
not unnaturally the appointment aroused a good deal of jealousy both
among the Portuguese and the officials of the Court. In a little time
the Great Mogul had regretted his decisions both as to Hawkins and the
East India Company. The Englishman therefore was compelled to leave
Agra (minus his promised salary), and then went down to the coast again
at Surat. As to the privileges which had been promised to the Company,
these also vanished. Trouble was obviously brewing. But this third
voyage, yielding a profit of 234 per cent., had not by any means been a
failure, but a great financial success. The _Dragon_ had been sent home
with a good cargo, and then Captain Keeling (this time in the _Hector_)
had visited the Moluccas and Bantam, where the factory had been more
firmly established, subsequently reaching England on 9th May 1610.
It will be remembered that the original charter granted to the Company
by Elizabeth was for a period of fifteen years. But in the year 1609
the Company were compelled to petition James I. for a renewal, or
rather for much greater powers, notwithstanding that the original
charter had still six years to run. The reason for this application is
not hard to appreciate. The Portuguese now began to realise that the
Englishmen were very serious rivals, and they must be met by force.
The East India Company, on the other hand, were equally determined
that they would not give up such a valuable trade that had paid them
so handsomely during these few years. Therefore opposition must be
met by other force: in other words, a greater number of ships would
be required. King James also recognised this, so the application was
granted, the number of merchant-adventurers was increased from 218 to
276, the Crown to have the power of repealing the Company’s charter
after three years’ notice.
So three new ships were fitted out for the sixth voyage. (There had
in the meanwhile been two “separate” voyages, about which we shall
speak presently.) The cost of these three new ships, together with
the merchandise which they carried out, was £82,000, this large sum
being rendered possible only by the increased members of the Company.
The leader of this voyage was that same Henry Middleton whom we saw
taking out the second voyage: but since that time he had received a
knighthood. This time his flagship was to be the _Trade’s Increase_.
And as this was one of the most famous of all the seventeenth-century
ships, and certainly the largest East Indiaman built up till then, we
must say something about her.
At the time of her launch she was the biggest merchantman of any kind
that had been built in England. She created, in fact, to the Jacobeans
something of the sensation which the launch of the _Mauretania_ in our
own time created. James I. attended the ceremony, together with other
members of the royal family, and attended by his nobles. This was on
the 13th of December 1609, her first voyage being due to commence on
the following 1st of April. In consequence of the high position which
the East India Company had now begun to occupy, and not less owing
to the phenomenal size of this ship, the incident was made the most
of. After the ship was afloat in the water, the King and his retinue
were entertained on board with a magnificent dinner provided at the
Company’s expense and served on some of those dishes and plates of
China ware which had been brought home from the East by the Company’s
ships and were then looked upon as something rare and wonderful,
nothing of the kind having yet been seen in the country. But the
_Trade’s Increase_, with her 1100 tons, was a clumsy, unwieldy ship and
somewhat top-heavy. She was anything but a lucky craft, and we shall
see presently that her end was to be tragic. For English shipbuilding
was in a transition stage, which lasted about another two hundred
years or more. It was trying hard to get away from the unscientific,
rule-of-thumb method which had come down from the Middle Ages and had
not yet come under the influence of science and the principles of true
naval architecture.
CHAPTER VII
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY’S SHIPS
Now, before we proceed with the further voyages and trading of these
Indiamen, we shall find it very interesting if we attempt to paint the
picture of the building of these ships. Happily the data handed down
are of such a nature that we can learn practically all that we should
like to know on the subject.
The reader will remember that the ships which went on the first and
second voyages had been obtained by purchase. But, then, since it was
obvious that more ships would be required as the trade increased and
losses occurred by wrecks, the Company had to look out for additions
to their small fleet. It was then that they were confronted with a big
problem. First of all, England was still a comparatively new-comer into
the position of an ocean-going shipowner, as distinct from Portugal,
Spain, Venice and Genoa. Practically all her shipping consisted either
of fishing or coasting craft. Therefore she possessed only a very small
supply of what could be called in those days large vessels. This supply
had been still further depleted by the purchases which the Dutch East
India companies had made from English owners at the beginning of the
East Indian boom. The result was that those very few big ships which
remained in England were at a premium. To voyage round the Cape of Good
Hope and across the Indian Ocean, able to fight stalwart Portuguese
craft and to carry well a heavy cargo, in addition to provisions for
many months, demanded a big-bellied ship of exceptional strength; and
that was why the _Mare Scourge_ (which had been built for privateering)
was just the thing.
But now the owners of the small amount of big shipping that still
survived, in consequence of the big financial success which the East
India Company had made from their first two voyages, were determined
not to let them have any more ships except at very high prices. The
rates which these sellers now asked were preposterous—as much as £45
a ton being demanded. The East India Company, being therefore in
the position of needing ships and yet unable to purchase such at a
reasonable figure, were compelled to decide on building for themselves.
This dates from the year 1607, and a yard was leased at Deptford, the
first two craft thus built being the _Trade’s Increase_, mentioned in
the last chapter, and the _Peppercorn_, both of which went out under
Sir Henry Middleton in the spring of 1610. From the first this change
of policy was found to be justified, for the Company was able to build
their ships at £10 a ton instead of £45, which meant the very handsome
saving of £38,500 in the case of a ship the size of the _Trade’s
Increase_—or two ships equal to her tonnage.
[Illustration: THE LAUNCH OF THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S SHIP
“EDINBURGH”
(CAPTAIN HENRY BAX).
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
In this yard before very long the Company were employing no fewer than
five hundred ships’ carpenters, caulkers, joiners and other workmen.
The result was that by the year 1615 the Company had built more ships
in those short eight years than any other trade had done. Altogether
they had owned during that period twenty-one able ships, and by the
year 1621 the Company owned not less than 10,000 tons of shipping,
employing as many as 2500 seamen. When we consider that even as late as
the year 1690 the whole population of England was less than 5,500,000,
and that of this number the seafaring people were a very small figure,
it is obvious what this great East India Company meant to the country,
with its wealth, enabling large sums of money to be spent in wages to
seamen, workmen and factors. After the Company had been trading only
twenty years there were about 120 of these factors alone. But, in
addition, the Company was paying out large sums of money for the relief
of seamen’s widows and their children. I will not burden the reader
with statistics, but I may be allowed to state that up to November
1621 the Company had exported woollen goods, lead, iron, tin and other
commodities from England to the value of £319,211. From the East these
ships had brought back cargoes which had been purchased in the East
for the sum of £375,288. But you will appreciate the profit when it is
stated further that these cargoes were sold in England for £2,044,600.
As against this there was always the possibility of losing the ships
and the cargoes in their holds either outward or homeward bound. There
was the cost of building and upkeep of ships and dockyard. There was
the heavy expense, too, of victualling the ships for many months, the
purchasing of English merchandise, the various stores, the wages of
captains, officers and crews, and factors, as well as the payment of
customs. And though it is perfectly true that the average profit made
by the first twelve voyages was not less than 138 per cent., yet we
must remember that the voyages were never made in less than twenty
months and often extended to three and four years.
So also we must remember that after the arrival in this country of
the goods from India they were sold at long credits—even as much as
eighteen months and two years. Owing to the irregularity of the factors
in keeping and transmitting their accounts, the concerns of the voyage
could not be finally adjusted under six or eight years. “Taking the
duration of the concern at a medium of seven years,” says Macpherson
in his “History of European Commerce with India,” “the profit appears
to be somewhat under twenty per cent. per annum.” The current rate of
interest in those days was about 8 per cent., so that 20 per cent.
could not be deemed for that time a very abnormal rate of remuneration
when we consider the amount of enterprise required at the outset, and
the vast risks which necessarily had to be run. Included in these
profits were also the results of privateering and bartering. Between
the years 1601 and 1612 the profits ranged from 95 to 234 per cent.,
with the exception of the year 1608, when both ships were wrecked.
Nowhere was the Company’s system of thoroughness better shown than
in the completeness and organisation of her shipyard. The East India
Company took itself very seriously and arrogated to itself all the
dignity and self-importance which its unique prerogatives permitted.
The Court was presided over by the Governor and it had its own rules
of procedure. “Every man,” for instance, “speaking in the Court
shall stand up and be bareheaded, and shall addresse his speach to
the Gouernour or Deputy in his absence.” So runs one of the Company’s
rules. Now the connecting link, so to speak, between the Company and
its ships was the man who was known as the ship’s husband, one of
its salaried servants. When the Court were met to discuss the plans
for the yearly voyages to India, the husband had to attend in order
to learn what shipping would be required. He then had to draw out a
table of the proportion of victuals and other necessaries for each
ship and to see that such were provided. After being got together
these stores were then placed in the Company’s warehouses. In addition
to being the victualler of the ships he was responsible also for
providing the amount of iron likely to be required—“yron both English
and Spanish”—and had to deliver it to the smiths at Deptford yard
for the rudder irons and other purposes, and also to the coopers for
making the hoops of the casks. The husband was also responsible for
the supervision of the clerks and for keeping the account-books, the
stores in the London warehouses being under the care of a “Clerke of
the Stores.”
In the Deptford yard large stocks of “timber, planckes,
sheathing-boards, and treenayles” had to be maintained by officials
called “purveyers,” or, as we should name them nowadays, “buyers.”
These men had to see to the purchasing of all kinds of wood used. It
was kept in the Company’s private timber-yards at Reading, whence it
was put into barges and so brought down the Thames to Deptford. The
trenails were the old-fashioned means of fastening a ship’s timbers and
planking and had existed from the times even of the Romans and the
Vikings. They were small wooden pegs—“tree-nails”—driven in something
after the appearance of the modern rivet, but minus the head. The
sheathing-boards were a very necessary protection for the ship’s hull
in hot climates against the insidious attacks of the worm. (In another
chapter will be found an instance of this.) There was also employed
a “measurer of timber and plancke,” whose job was to go down to the
waterside and mark the timber.
But it was the “Clarke of the Yard” who had the supervision of the
shipwrights, the “cawlkers,” carpenters and labourers, and one portion
of his duties was to see that the men “doe not loyter in the Taphouse.”
For the Company certainly allowed such a tap-house in their yard,
which was “lycensed by the Companie from yeare to yeare” to certain
persons on condition that they retailed the beer at not more than six
shillings the barrel and not less than “three full pynts of Ale measure
for a penny.” The tap-house also sold to the workmen of the yard such
victuals as bread, “pease,” milk, porridge, eggs, butter, cheese, but
they were not allowed to sell anything else, nor were they allowed to
sell to any person other than one of the Company’s workmen in the yard.
The whole of the work at the yard was subdivided under so many
responsible heads of departments, just as it is to-day in any shipyard.
The Master Shipwright’s duties were to build and repair the Company’s
ships and to design the “plots and models compleat, of all the new
ships.” And he was forbidden to build ships for anyone else except this
Company. It is significant of our modern system of extreme division of
labour that the duties of ship-designer and ship-builder have become
quite separate and distinct.
Then there was another important official attached to the Company,
known as the “Master-pilot.” “The Mr Pylot his office is to commaund
and order the workes which concerne the setting up and taking downe
of Masts, Yards, Rigging, unrigging and proportioning the quantities,
sorts and sizes of Cordage to the Companies ships ... and to use care
and diligence ... that the Company may not be ouercharged with idle,
unskilfull, or a needlesse number of workmen, or in the rate of their
wages.” This same master-pilot had to survey the Company’s ships at
Deptford and Blackwall and to see that, after being launched, they were
safely moored. He had also to see that the canvas given out was duly
made into sails, and was further responsible that the Company’s ships
set forth up to time from Deptford, Blackwall and Erith. In addition he
took charge of them whilst in the Thames to “pylot downe the Companies
ships to Eirth and Grauesend, attending them there untill they shall be
dispatched into the Downes.” So also when they came back from India he
would pilot them up from Gravesend “untill they be safely moored at an
Anchor, or indocked at Blackwall.” This official was assisted in the
supervision of cordage by a man called the “Boatswaine Generall.”
The treasurers looked after the Company’s accounts, and once a week
they handed to the “Purcer-Generall” the sums of money for paying
the wages of the sailors and labourers: also the “harbour wages” to
“officers and Maryners, who goe the Voyage.” Every ship of course
also carried its own “purcer,” who with their mates had to look after
the lading, the ship’s accounts and the conditions of the victuals on
board, etc.
After the end of the day’s work the Clerk of the Works would go round
the yard to see that there was no risk of fire breaking out owing to
negligence in respect of the pitch cauldrons or other instances. The
yard boasted of a “porter of the lodge,” and as soon as the workmen had
done for the day watchmen came on duty in the yard, where they remained
until the bell rang next morning summoning the labourers back to their
work. The Company insisted on these watchmen doing their supervision
thoroughly, “often calling one to another to prevent sleepe, and euery
houre when the clocke strikes” they were bidden to “walke round” and
ring a bell in the yard.
The “Clarke of the Cordage” looked after the ropes, marlin, “twyne,”
ordnance, “great shot,” pulleys, blocks and the like. The “Clarke of
the Iron Works” was similarly responsible for all the anchors, nails,
bolts, chain-plates, and so on, and had to look to these when the ships
came home from the East. He was further responsible for the lead and
copper. If an anchor or anything had to be made or repaired in this
metal it was done by the Company’s smith on the yard.
The “Chirurgion Generall” and his deputy had their lodgings in the
yard, and one or the other was bound to be in attendance daily from
morning till night “to cure any person or persons who may be hurt in
the Service of this Company, and the like in all their ships riding
at an anchor at Deptford and Blackwall, and at Erith, where hee
shall also keepe a Deputy with his Chest furnished, to remaine there
continually, until all the said ships be sayled downe from thence
to Grauesend.” And it is amusing to read that the duties of the
“chirurgion” included that of cutting the “hayre of the carpenters,
saylors, caulkers, labourers” and other workmen once every forty days
“in a seemely manner, performing their works at Breakfast and Dinner
times, or in raynie weather, and in an open place where no man may
loyter or lye hidden, under pretence to attend his turne of trimming.”
In addition this same surgeon had to report all persons who seemed to
be decrepit or unfit: and every carpenter, sailor, labourer or workman
in the yards or ships had to pay twopence every month out of his wages
to the said “Chirurgion Generall”; so you may take it as certain that
he was not the most popular of beings. He was also compelled to find
“skilfull and honest chirurgions and their Mates” for the ships. The
Company took special precautions to see that these vessels set out with
all the medical comforts and supplies of those days, having regard to
the changing climates and the heavy losses of life through scurvy and
dysentery (or flux). Thus these medicine-chests had to be brought into
the Company’s house fourteen days before the ships sailed, so that the
doctors and apothecaries and other people appointed by the Committee
dealing with this subject might make a full inspection.
In addition to the officials on the Thames there was also a “Keeper
of Anchors and Stores in the Downes,” at Deal, who looked after the
cables, hawsers, anchors and ships’ boats sent to the Downs, so that
whenever any of the Company’s ships arrived there lacking any of these
articles they could always be supplied. At Deptford yard there was
every single trade represented that was employed in the construction
and fitting out of a seventeenth-century ship. There were coopers and
boatmakers and the carvers who deftly gave those fantastic decorations
to the ships’ hulls. There were smiths and painters and riggers, but
in addition to the large staff which were concerned with the ships
themselves, there was another staff who had to look after the providing
of the salt meat for the voyages. For the Company was determined to
keep the profit of victuals to itself. This department was under the
management of the “Clerk of the Slaughter-house,” his duties being to
look after the killing, salting, pickling and packing of the “beefes
and hogges.” This salt beef and pork comprised the main food of these
sailormen to the Far East and back. They had no vegetables except dried
peas and beans, no bread other than mouldy ship’s biscuit, and no fruit.
The Company included a “Committee for Entertaining of Marriners,”
and they were on the look-out for “able men, unmarryed and approved
saylors.” Many of these fellows were of the reckless, dare-devil type,
coarse of morals and frequently drunk when ashore: yet heroic in a
crisis, imprudent, contemptuous of danger, brutal and unruly. Many a
young man—sailor and factor alike—was sent in these ships in order that
he might be got out of the way after disgracing his family: and numbers
of them never again set foot in England. If the seamen who were shipped
happened to be married, the “Clarke of the Imprest” paid the wages
allowed to their wives whilst the men were at sea. This official was
also bound to pay the wages to the “marriners which shall returne home
in the Companies ships, or to their Assignes.”
After the masters and their mates of the respective ships had
been hired for a voyage, their names were entered under the list
of harbour-wages, and they took their oaths openly in the Court
of the Committees of the Company. After this they sought able and
good mariners “whom they shall preferre for entertainment unto the
Committees appointed to that businesse.” These masters were bound
to sleep on board the ships to which they had just been appointed,
every night, and there keep good order. They were also to appoint
quartermasters and boatswains, who were to see that the victuals,
provisions, stores and merchandise were properly stowed. The boatswain,
gunner, cook, steward, carpenter and other officers were each
responsible for their own special stores.
Within ten days after the arrival of their ship in the Thames from
India the master was bound to deliver to the Governor of the Company
four copies of his journal and other “worthy observations” of his
voyage. When the ship was bound out the master was always to be on
board and to assist the master-pilot. When the ship returned home, a
Committee of the Company for the Discharge of the Ships was always
present on board in order to see the hold opened. This was to prevent
theft. The goods were then placed in lighters and one of the Company’s
“trusty servants” then went in the latter to watch that no embezzlement
occurred. The goods were then taken to Leadenhall, where they were
sold. “The custome hath been used heretofore [_i.e._ prior to 1621]
in selling the wares of this Company at a Generall Court, and the
Remnants of small value in the Warehouses by the light of a candle,”
and this custom was continued. Selling by the “light of a candle” was
as follows:—The article was put up for auction, a small piece of candle
burning the while. So long as that piece of candle was there the bids
could go on, but as soon as it burned out the last bid was completed
and no more could be made for that commodity.
Before the crew put to sea, two months’ wages were allowed ahead,
and “gratifications” were also paid “unto worthy and well deserving
persons.” In these ships there went out also the merchants, factors
and supercargoes. Some, as we have already seen, founded factories
where they landed and circumstances permitted: but later on there were
factors resident in every port, just as each steamship company to-day
has its own agents wherever the ships touch.
[Illustration: INDIA HOUSE—THE SALE ROOM.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
The Deptford yard, which the Company leased from the year 1607 and
used for the next twenty years, was of the greatest assistance to
the Company. The best merchant ships in the country there came into
being, were fitted out, repaired on their return, resheathed and then
sent to sea in excellent condition. It was true that the saving in
building for themselves was to the Company’s great benefit; but, on
the other hand, the yard with all this staff and detail was found in
the long run to be so costly that it swallowed up too much of the
capital, which could more profitably have been employed in hiring
ships. It was seen also that even with the carefulness expended in the
construction of the Company’s ships, the latter became worn out after
four voyages: so at the end of twenty years it was decided to give up
this expensive yard and to revert to the original custom of hiring
vessels as required. Later on we shall see that this system developed
in a curious manner, but for the present we must go back to see the
progress which the voyages of these early East Indiamen brought about
in the Eastern trade. It took four months to fit out these ships for
sailing again to the East, and the refit was very thorough. A large
magazine of warlike stores to the value of £30,000 was kept always
ready, and this was really a very useful asset in the country, since in
the time of necessity the material could be used by the English navy.
Even in the year 1626, within a few months of the closing down of the
shipyard, the Company were so enterprising as to erect mills and houses
for the manufacture of their own gunpowder, obtaining the saltpetre
from the East, which of course came home in their own ships. If ever
monopoly was allowed to have its own way, surely it never had such good
opportunity as was vouchsafed to the East India Company, with its own
shipyards, victualling, and its own particular trade with full cargoes
each way and a high percentage almost assured. We are accustomed in
this twentieth century to bewail the existence of “corners” and trusts:
yet these are as nothing compared with the privileges which the East
India Company enjoyed and so jealously guarded through generation after
generation, through two centuries and well into a third. And that meant
more than was really apparent. The whole world had not been developed
and opened out as it is to-day. Rather this exclusive privilege
meant the granting of about half the world to a select few, and the
democratic spirit of the twentieth century would instantly revolt
against any such condition of affairs. It must not be thought that
there were not those who protested even in the seventeenth century.
Some did certainly protest—in a very forcible manner—by cutting in
as interlopers. But it was a short-lived victory and had no lasting
effect.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER VIII
PERILS AND ADVENTURES
It is only by examining the official correspondence which passed
between the Company’s servants and themselves that we are able to get
a correct insight into the lesser, though usually more human, details
connected with these ships. In the last chapter but one we saw that
the third voyage had been financially satisfactory. But there are a
few sidelights which show that these voyages were not mere pleasure
cruises. If this particular one earned 234 per cent. it was by sheer
hard work on the part of the men and of the ships. Captain Keeling
writes that he had, whilst in the East, to buy “of the Dutch a maine
top-sayle (whereof we had extreame want) and delivered them a note to
the Company, to receive twelve pounds twelve shillings for the same.”
So also it was with men as with sails. Anthony Marlowe writes home to
the Governor of the Company, under date of 22nd June 1608, from on
board the _Hector_, that during the voyage “there hath died in our ship
two foremast men—Wallis and Palline: and two lost overboard, Goodman
and Jones: also there hath died Dryhurst, steward’s mate, John Newcome,
John Asshenhurst, purser’s mate, Mr Quaytmore, purser, and Mr Clarke,
merchant.”
If there was ill-feeling ashore between the English and the Portuguese,
and the English and Dutch, so all was not ever as happy as wedding
bells in the English ships. One June day in 1608, during this third
voyage, a violent enmity had broken out between Anthony Hippon, master
of the _Dragon_, and his mate, William Tavernour. Someone endeavoured
to get them to make up their quarrel, but Hippon was obdurate, and “was
heartened forward in his malice against the said Tavernour by Matthew
Mullynex the master of the _Hector_.”
And there is a further letter, dated 4th December 1608, which was sent
by another of the Company’s servants named James Hearne, which again
calls attention to the _Dragon’s_ want of sails, the ship then being
at Bantam. There was no canvas procurable out there, “therefore,” he
suggests, “one hundred pound more or less, would not be lost in laying
it out in spare canvas in such a voyage as this.” And then he concludes
his letter with a postscript, which shows that the life of a factor
in the Company’s service ashore out in the East was not a lucrative
occupation. “That it may please your worships,” he petitions, “to
consider me somewhat in my wages, for I have served 2 years already at
£4 a month, and in this place I am in, my charge will be greater than
otherwise.”
We have already alluded to the setting forth of the sixth expedition
under Sir Henry Middleton in 1607. Middleton was instructed to proceed
to the west coast of India with the intention of obtaining from Surat
Indian calicoes which would find a ready sale at Bantam and the
Moluccas. Having set forth from England in the year 1610, he arrived at
Aden, where he left the _Peppercorn_, and then with his flag in the
_Trade’s Increase_ sailed for Mocha, which is at the southern end of
the Red Sea. No English vessel had yet thrust her bows into this sea,
though the Portuguese had been there even during the previous century.
And here the _Trade’s Increase_, which had received such an ovation
when she was first launched at the Deptford yard, was to begin the
first of her serious mishaps. Like many another ship that came after
her, famous for unprecedented size, she was destined to be unlucky.
She was making for Mocha with the assistance of native pilots when
she had the misfortune to get badly aground. She was a clumsy,
unhandy ship, and it was natural enough that the natives who had been
accustomed only to their smaller craft might get her into trouble. The
incident occurred in November 1610, and the following account sent home
by one who was on board her at the time may be taken as representative
of the facts. “About five a clocke,” runs the account, “in luffing in
beeing much wind, we split our maine toppe sayle, and putting abroad
our mizen, it split likewise: our Pilots brought our shippe a ground
upon a banke of sand, the wind blowing hard, and the Sea somewhat
high, which made us all doubt her coming off ... we did what we could
to lighten our ship, sending some goods a-land and some aboard the
_Darling_ ... we land as well our Wheat-meale, Vinegar, Sea-coles,
Pitch and Tarre, with our unbuilt Pinnasse, and other provisions which
came next hand, or in the way, as well as Tinne, Lead, Iron, and other
merchandise to be sould, and staved neare all our water.” The reference
to the “unbuilt pinnasse” is explained by the fact that it was the
custom of the Elizabethan and later voyagers to take out from home the
necessary timber and planks and to build the little craft on board as
they proceeded. This kept the men occupied and was a saving in wages,
besides not involving the risk of losing such a craft before the end of
the voyage was being approached. Such a top-heavy, cumbrous vessel as
the _Trade’s Increase_ would need very careful “nursing” in a squall to
prevent her from capsizing, and it is perfectly clear that the sudden
luffing up into the wind to ease her was too much for the canvas that
had already been considerably worn and chafed during the voyage across
the Equator and round the Cape of Good Hope up to the Gulf of Aden.
After some anxious hours the ship was eventually got afloat again, but
Middleton was taken prisoner by the Arabs. For a long while he was
compelled to endure his captivity, but was eventually released and
sailed for Surat, where he arrived with his ships on 26th September
1611, a great deal of valuable time having been lost. Here again he
was unlucky, for a Portuguese squadron of seven ships was waiting
outside. The Portuguese were now so indignant and jealous of the
English interlopers that they were resolved to resist them to the
utmost: otherwise it was obvious that the hard-won wealth of the East
would before long slip right away. All the inspiration and enthusiasm
of Prince Henry the Navigator, all the heroic voyages of the first
Portuguese navigators to the East, all the capital which had been
expended in building and fitting out their expensive caracks would
assuredly be thrown into the sea unless the aggressive Englishmen,
who had penetrated their secrets, were to be thwarted now with
determination. The Portuguese were expecting Middleton’s arrival, for
they had already heard of his being in the Red Sea, and now they were
in sufficient and overwhelming strength to oppose him: for besides
the big ships outside, there were nearly twice as many smaller craft
waiting inside the bar. The Portuguese contention was that they alone
had the right to trade with Surat: the English were not wanted and had
no justification to be there at all.
Middleton’s position was that he had come out from the King of England
bearing a letter and presents to the Great Mogul to put on a firm
footing that trade which Englishmen had already inaugurated, and that
India was open to all nations who wished to trade with her. But, of
course, Middleton did not know at the time the incident which has
already been mentioned in connection with Hawkins and the Great Mogul.
When, however, the news presently reached him, it was to modify his
plans entirely: there could be no good object attained in endeavouring
to establish trade against the opposition of the Mogul and the
Portuguese. The natives were clearly under the thumb of the Portuguese,
and, however willing they might have been, no trade with them was
possible.
So, after taking Hawkins on board, together with the Englishmen who
had been left at Surat, a council was held and ultimately it was
decided to return to the Red Sea so that he could there trade with
the ships from India, since to deal with them in their own country
was not practicable. This decision was carried out, and whether the
traders liked it or not they were compelled to barter the goods
which Middleton required to take farther eastwards to the Indian
Archipelago as previously indicated. But meanwhile there had set out
from England another expedition, consisting of the three ships _Clove_,
_Thomas_ and _Hector_, under the command of Captain Saris, bound for
the Red Sea, having previously obtained a firman, or decree, from
Constantinople which would grant him and his merchants kindly treatment
in the neighbourhood of Mocha and Aden. But on arriving at Socotra,
Saris found a letter from Middleton giving warning of the treacherous
treatment to expect. In spite of this, however, Saris found that the
firman was respected, but eventually deemed it prudent to make for the
Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, where he met Middleton and agreed with him to
engage in privateering the ships of India. If you had questioned these
English seamen they would have replied unhesitatingly that they were
merely engaged in trade by barter, and that as they had been prevented
by circumstances from carrying on this direct with the Indian continent
they had no other opportunity than to do it at sea. They had been sent
out by the English Company to get the cloths and calicoes to exchange
farther east and they were merely fulfilling their instructions. But in
plain language there was little difference between this and robbery,
or, at the best, compulsory sale at the buyer’s own price.
[Illustration: THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S SHIP “BRIDGEWATER”
ENTERING MADRAS ROADS UNDER JURY-RIG AFTER ENCOUNTERING GALES OF WIND.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
But when all this “trading” was finished and the _Trade’s Increase_
went to Malay Archipelago, she was to bring to a tragic end her short
and adventurous career. Middleton had gone ahead in the _Peppercorn_,
and the _Trade’s Increase_ had been ordered to follow after.
Unfortunately she needed some repairs to her hull. It was customary
before an East Indiaman left the East on her homeward voyage for the
sheathing outside to be attended to, in order that she might make as
fast a passage home as possible. But there were no dry docks out there,
and very few anywhere, even in England or Holland. The practice, which
lasted well into the nineteenth century, was to careen a ship if she
required any attention below the water-line—her seams caulked, or her
bottom tarred. This was done in the case of the _Trade’s Increase_
whilst she was at Bantam, where her sheathing was being seen to. But
she fell over on to her side and became a total loss. One contemporary
account states that whilst the repairs were being done “all her men
died in the careening of her,” and that then some Javanese were hired
to do the job, but five hundred of these “died in the worke before
they could sheath one side: so that they could hire no more men, and
therefore were inforced to leave her imperfect, where shee was sunke
in the Sea, and after set on fire by the Javans.” This was towards the
end of the year 1613. Another contemporary account states that she was
laid up in the ooze, and was set on fire from stem to stern, having
been previously fired twice, at the supposed instigation of a renegade
Spaniard, “which is turned Moor.” She blazed away during the whole of
one night, and her wreck was eventually sold for 1050 reales. When Sir
Henry Middleton heard the news of the loss of his famous flagship, the
pride of all the seas, he was so heart-broken that he died. Thus both
admiral and flagship had perished: it had been a calamitous voyage.
As for Captain Saris, he had sailed to Japan in order to establish
a factory. Notwithstanding the opposition of the Dutch, who were as
jealous of his arrival in the Far East as the Portuguese had been in
India, the Emperor received him favourably and the seeds were sown
for future trade with England which, to change the metaphor, were to
prepare the way for the adoption of Western ideas by the Japanese
during the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Strictly speaking,
Japan and China have nothing to do with India. But historically, so
far as our present subject is concerned, they are to an extent bound
together. Not merely did these first captains of the English East
India Company sail thither, but, as the reader will see further on in
this volume, a great deal of trade was done with those parts by the
Company’s servants: and at least one interesting engagement took place
on sea near by, in which the Company’s merchant ships distinguished
themselves.
Notwithstanding the sad loss of the costly _Trade’s Increase_,
Middleton’s voyage had yielded to the Company a profit of 121 per cent.
Captain Saris’s voyage had done even better still, earning 218 per
cent.; but, as we have shown, this was not all earned by legitimate
trade.
The journal of Captain Nicholas Downton of the homeward voyage of the
_Peppercorn_ (which you will remember had been built at the Deptford
yard and went out in company with the _Trade’s Increase_) shows the
kind of hardships which our sailors had to endure whilst earning such
handsome profits for their owners. With thankful hearts this craft
started back from Bantam, though it was to be no pleasant voyage. On
getting under way Downton saluted the admiral by way of farewell. “I
gave him 5 shot,” he writes, “having no more pieces out nor ports
uncaulked”—that is to say, he had prepared his ship for sea, having
run inboard most of his guns and caulked up the ports. The ship had
previously had her sheathing attended to, and all the stores were
aboard. The meat was kept in casks, while the bread and corn were
kept in a “tight room” in order to avoid the ravages of the cacara—“a
most devouring worm,” as Downton quaintly calls it, “with which this
ship doth abound to our great disturbance.” The drinking-water to the
extent of twenty-six tons had also been brought aboard, where it was
kept in casks. But as these were decayed, weak, rotten and leaky the
crew were bound to suffer before they reached home. He did his best to
make her what he calls “a pridie ship”—that is, a trim ship—but though
this was her first homeward voyage she leaked like a basket through
the trenail holes in the stern, owing to the negligence of the wicked
Deptford carpenters, who had scamped their work. The result was that
there were soon twenty inches of water “on our lower orlop.” Certainly
the Company’s yard had not earned much real credit for the way they had
designed and built the _Peppercorn_ and the _Trade’s Increase_.
And so this leaky, crank, badly built ship came fighting her way
along over the trackless ocean, a continuous source of anxiety to her
commander. Troubles often enough come not singly, and the _Peppercorn_
was another unlucky ship. By sheer carelessness she and all hands
barely escaped ending all things by fire at sea. “At noon,” says
Downton, “our ship came afire by the cook his negligence, o’erguzzled
with drink, digged a hole through the brick back of the furnace and
gave the fire passage to the ship’s side, which led to much trouble
besides spoil to our ship.” The punctuation of this sentence needs
no modification to show the short, sharp impressions jotted down by
a choleric captain. The name of this “o’erguzzled” cook was Richard
Hancock, and no doubt he had so undermined his health with drink, or
had been so severely punished by his commander that he could not long
survive, for he died shortly after one day at noon and was buried at
sea.
But he was not the only careless member of the ship’s company. At least
one of the watch-keeping officers was just as bad in his own sphere.
“The 27th at 2 after noon we were suddenly taken short with a gust from
the SE, which by neglect of the principal of the watch not setting in
time, not only put us to much present trouble but also split us two
topsails at once, and blew a third clean away.” The following month
on the eleventh the _Peppercorn_ was at midnight overwhelmed by heavy
squalls which “split our main bonnet and fore course, whereby we were
forced to lie a try with mainsail, the sea very violent, we mending our
sail.”
The meaning of this may not be quite apparent to those unfamiliar with
the ships of those days. The “bonnet” was an additional piece of canvas
laced on to the foot of these square-sails. It had been long in use
by the ships of the Vikings and the English craft of the Middle Ages,
and continued to be used during the Tudor period and the seventeenth
century. Even in the twentieth century it is not quite obsolete, and
is still used on the Norfolk wherries and on some of the North Sea
fishing vessels. It was such a canvas as certainly ought to have been
taken in quickly if the _Peppercorn_ was likely to be struck by a heavy
squall, being essentially a fine-weather addition. And whenever it was
unlaced the equivalent was obtained of putting a reef in the sail. To
“lie a try” was a well-known expression used by the Elizabethan seamen
and their successors: it meant simply what we mean to-day when we
speak of heaving-to. The ship would just forge ahead very slowly under
her mainsail only, being under command but making good weather of the
violent sea of which Downton speaks, and allowing most of the hands to
get busy with the sails, which had to be sent down and repaired.
They had barely begun to resume their voyage when, on the thirteenth of
the month, the _Peppercorn_ broke her main truss—that is to say, the
rope which kept the yard of the mainsail at its centre to the mast. The
main halyards also carried away and again the main bonnet was split,
but this time the mainsail as well. The “main course,” says Downton,
“rent out of the bolt rope”—that is to say, blew right away from the
rope to which it is sewn—and so they were, owing to “want of fit sail
to carry, forced to lie a hull,” which means that they had to heave-to
again. Meanwhile the _Peppercorn_ was still leaking away merrily. “This
day again,” reads an entry in the journal a little later on, “by the
labouring of the ship and beating of her bows in a head sea, whereby we
found in the powder room in the fore part on the lower orlop, 20 or 24
inches water, which have so spoiled, wet and stained divers barrels, so
that of 20 barrels of powder I do not now expect to find serviceable
2 barrels, besides all our match and divers other things.” It would
therefore have gone ill with the _Peppercorn_ if she had fallen in with
a big, powerful Spanish ship on the high seas ready to blaze away at
her.
It took thirty-six hours to get these sails repaired and new ropes
spliced. This mending became in fact the rule rather than the
exception. “Our daily employment either mending of our poor old sails
daily broken, or making new with such poor stuff as we have.” There can
be no doubt whatever that these ships were sent to sea with all too
few stores to allow of accident. We have already seen that additional
canvas could not be obtained in the East, except with the indulgence
of some Dutch captain, who would naturally charge the English the full
value of a new sail, and a bit more. One wonders, indeed, how often
those London merchants realised how dearly these big percentages had
been bought—how only the dogged determination of the captains and
masters, the sufferings of the crews in the leaky, ill-found ships
could provide fortunes and luxuries for those who stayed at home in
ease. However, little though they knew it at the time, it was these
ill-faring mariners who were really building up the foundations of
England’s Eastern wealth and her Eastern Empire. Human lives in those
harsh days were rated low enough, and a poor, common sailor was not
slobbered over. He was merely one of the meshes of the big net cast
into the sea to bring in large spoil to the financiers of that time.
But it has always been thus, and the more long-suffering the seaman
has shown himself, the more courageous and patient he has been, the
more he has been treated with contumely by those very persons who have
obtained all that they possess through his achievements.
It cannot be supposed that these seventeenth-century Indiamen were on
the whole happy ships. The captains feared mutiny all the time, and the
men were compelled to live and work under trying conditions which were
enough to break the spirit of any landsman. Downton’s journal shows
this all too well. Take the following entries, which are sufficiently
expressive:—
“July 2. Mr Abraham Lawes conceives he is poisoned for that his stomach
falls away, and he hath often inclination to vomit, for he saith he was
so at Venice, when he was formerly poisoned.”
Three days later Thomas Browning died, and on 27th July comes this
entry:
“This day Mr Lawes died and is opened by the surgeon who took good
note of his inward parts which was set down by the surgeon and divers
witnesses to that note.” Similarly on 21st August: “Men daily fall
down into great weakness”; and, again, four days later: “Edw. Watts,
carpenter, died at midnight.” Under the twenty-ninth of the same month
we find the following entry:—“Stormy weather, dry, the night past
Thomas Dickorie died. Most of my people in a weak estate.” The last
day of the month we read that “John Ashbe died by an imposthume at 7
o’clock after noon,” and other members of the ship’s company continued
to die almost daily. An “imposthume,” by the way, is an abscess.
But the _Peppercorn_, though she had long since crossed the line, and
was even now beyond the Bay of Biscay, was destined to suffer ill
luck right to the end of her voyage. She ought, of course, to have
rounded Ushant and then squared away up the English Channel. But as a
fact Downton got right out of his reckoning. He rather imagined that
his reckoning was wrong and suspected “all the instruments by which we
observed the variation by.” The result was that he got farther to the
north than he expected. He therefore ran right across the western mouth
of the English Channel without sighting anything, so that eventually
he found himself between Wales and Ireland—miles and miles out of his
course. All too late he realised the mistake, so determined to put in
to the nearest port. He thought of Milford, but as the _Peppercorn_
would not fetch thither, he decided to run for Waterford in Ireland. He
ran down to the coast, but when off the entrance a thick fog enshrouded
the land, so he had to put out to sea once more, being able eventually
to run into Waterford river when a more favourable opportunity
presented itself. He had got his ship safe back into the Narrow Seas,
but he had arrived a long way short of the River Thames and the port
of London, and it would mean the wasting of further delay before the
_Peppercorn’s_ rich cargo could be sold in the metropolis. But with
what success this voyage concluded to the stock-holders we have already
seen.
[Illustration: THE “HALSEWELL,” EAST INDIAMAN.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
Apropos of this voyage there is still preserved a letter written by
Downton “aboard the _Peppercorn_ to the Right Worshipful the Indian
Company in Philpot Lane, September 15, 1613,” in which this captain
asks for “3 cables and other cordage of divers sizes, a set of sails,
sail needles and twine, and some Hamburrough lines for sounding lines.”
With regard to the bad land-fall which Downton made coming home, there
can be no doubt that he had reason to suspect those crude, inaccurate
navigation instruments to which we have already called attention. In
addition, of course, the early seventeenth-century charts bristled
with errors. As for Eastern waters, the English skippers were much
indebted to the charts which the Dutchmen had made for themselves, the
Dutch at this time being the best cartographers in the world. There is
at least one instance of a navigator of one of the English East India
Company’s ships “finding it to be truely laid down in Plat or Draught
made by Jan Janson Mole, a Hollander, which he gave to Master Hippon,
and he to the Companie.” To this knowledge received by the Company
were added the “plots” (_i.e._ charts) which their own masters of
ships brought home at the end of every voyage, amended and added to as
their experience dictated. We have already seen that it was compulsory
for the master of every East Indiaman to deliver to the Governor of
the English East India Company four copies of his journal and other
“worthy” observations of his voyage within ten days of his arrival
back in the Thames. The information thus derived was systematised, and
as time went on and the voyages became more numerous still there was
thus accumulated a number of invaluable sailing directions which were
to be condensed into “Rules for our East India Navigations” by the
famous John Davis of Limehouse, who had himself made no less than five
voyages. The East India Company thus not only built its own ships at
its own dockyard, victualled them from its own stores, but conducted
its own hydrography department. It was therefore positively unique
in its monopolies and self-dependence. England has never had any
corporation like it: and it is pretty certain it never will.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER IX
SHIPS AND TRADE
We alluded on an earlier page to what were known as “separate” voyages.
In the year 1612 the owners of the different stocks joined together
and made one common capital of £740,000. Until that year the custom
had been for a number of men to subscribe together for one particular
voyage out and home. This was found by no means satisfactory, for it
meant there was too much rivalry and no co-operation. Before one voyage
was completed another would be sent out, and it happened that out in
the East several agents in their zeal to obtain cargoes for their ships
would be found bidding against each other, to the great advantage of
the natives and the loss of the English stock-holders. Then, again,
it would also happen that the ship of one particular voyage might be
lying empty at some Indian port waiting till her factor had obtained
the spices and other goods destined for England. Meanwhile the factor
of a second voyage had _his_ goods ready but no ship in which to send
them home. Each “voyage” was thus a separate and distinct concern,
declining to have anything to do with any other “voyage,” or group of
adventurers. When, therefore, this practice came to an end, the union
made for strength and did away with the ill feeling and waste of energy
till then so noticeable. The first joint stock began in the year 1613
and ended in 1617.
During this period twenty-nine ships of the Company were employed, and
by the end of the year 1617 eight had returned with cargoes, four had
been either lost or broken up, two had fallen into the hands of the
Dutch, and fifteen were still in the East Indies. When the new stock
was undertaken, most of these ships still in India were taken over at
valuation. The biggest East Indiaman craft at this time were the _Royal
James_, of 1000 tons; the _Anne Royal_, of 900 tons; and _The New
Year’s Gift_, of 800 tons.
The Master Hippon, of whom we made mention in the last chapter, had
command of the _Globe_, which set forth from England alone and made
direct for the Coromandel coast (the south-east portion of India).
He called neither at the Red Sea, the Nicobars, nor the East Indian
Archipelago. His mission was to inaugurate a new sphere of trade, and
in so doing he was laying the foundations of those rich commercial
centres of Madras and Calcutta. His work was not easy, for the Dutch
would not allow him to operate in their neighbourhood, but he left
a little band of men near Masulipatam to found a factory, and then
went on to establish other factories in the Malay Peninsula and Siam.
In the year 1612 Captain Best had obtained from the Court of Delhi
considerable privileges, including that of establishing a factory at
Surat. This was to become the chief English station in India until
the acquisition of Bombay. In establishing these factories, the
English were but copying the example of the Portuguese and Dutch.
They were essential as depots for the goods brought from home and the
commodities which had been obtained from the natives, and were awaiting
the arrival of the Company’s ships. In charge of these factories were
the Company’s agents and their clerks. But it is well to bear in mind
that these factories and factors were destined to undergo development.
As a measure of precaution the former were in the course of time
strengthened, and at a still later stage they became even forts, so
that the agents and clerks developed into a garrison. And from a
strictly defensive policy a more aggressive influence occurred which
resulted in acquisition of territory as well as trading rights.
Captain Best had sailed from Gravesend on 1st February 1612, with
the _Red Dragon_ and the _Hoseander_, and arrived in the Swally, the
roadstead for Surat, on 5th September. Here also were the Portuguese
fleet a few weeks later ready to thwart the English, but Best was ready
for them, and eventually hostilities were inevitable. But Best had the
true English spirit in him, and besides being an excellent leader of a
trading expedition, he was also no mean tactician, taking advantage of
tide and the proximity of sandy shoals. The result was that the English
were victorious and the Portuguese admiral defeated. But this meant
something more than was immediately apparent. In a word it was to have
a considerable influence on the future Anglo-Indian trade, and so give
a still greater demand for the Indian merchant ships. In order properly
to realise the position, you have to think of a weak man over-awed by
a giant. Another giant comes along and asks the weak man for certain
favours. The latter replies that he would be willing to make the
concessions if the second giant could conquer the first, for whom the
weak man has no real love. In the present instance the first giant is
represented by the Portuguese, the weak man is the Great Mogul, and the
second giant the English. The latter had been thwarted from trading
with Surat by the Portuguese. What the Mogul had said amounted to this:
“Defeat the Portuguese and I will give you and yours every opportunity
to trade in my dominions: your merchants shall not be molested, the
customs imposed shall be as light as possible, and if there is any
delinquency by which my people shall in any way injure your men, I will
see that the matter is soon set right and redress given. Your country
shall be allowed to send its ambassador and reside at my Court—but you
must first exhibit your strength by conquering the hated Portuguese.”
So Best’s victory succeeded as only success can. The mighty power of
the Portuguese was now broken like a reed. They had been defeated on
sea who prided themselves on sea-power. They had lost their prestige
with the natives, who had had the first Europeans in awe. The whole of
the Portuguese Indian system, which had amounted to piracy, oppression
and native ruin, had been, in the words of India’s great modern
historian, Sir Wm. Wilson Hunter, “rotten to the core.” It was now
to receive its death-blow, and a new order of things was to follow.
Instead of the previous opposition, the English were now allowed to
open their trade and to start factories both at Surat and elsewhere,
and the English East India Company obtained a most firm footing—not as
interlopers doing the best they could against Portuguese vigilance,
but recognised by the Great Mogul as an important and powerful trading
corporation. It was after these concessions had been made and various
factories set up that the latter needed obvious protection both from
the Portuguese and the pirates who were greatly harassing the trading
ships. Thus on land the nucleus was formed of an Indian army: thus
afloat the nucleus also was formed of the Bombay Marine, afterwards to
be known as the Indian navy.
For the latter the Company’s Surat agent was compelled to do the
best with local material, collecting native craft called grabs and
gallivats and commanded by officers who volunteered from the Company’s
merchant ships. As these craft, like all other local craft, were the
most suitable for the conditions of the place, the Company was well
able to patrol the Gulf of Cambay and protect the vessels loaded
with merchandise. This Indian marine had come into being during the
year 1613, and two years later consisted of ten local craft. In the
same year arrived from England four of the Company’s ships, under
Captain Keeling, with Sir Thomas Roe, who had been sent by James I.
as ambassador to the Great Mogul, and the treaty with the latter was
ratified.
So the voyages continued to be made between England and the East. There
was still opposition on the part of the Dutch, who would occasionally
seize the Company’s ships, and in the year 1623 this opposition reached
its crisis in the notorious Massacre of Amboyna, when the English
Company’s agent and nine more Englishmen were executed on a trivial
charge. Nor were the Portuguese ships swept from the Eastern seas. The
sea-power was broken, but it still existed in its weakly condition, and
nothing gave the English seamen greater pleasure than to meet any of
their big caracks in the Indian Ocean or elsewhere and attack them. But
the factors who had been installed at Surat were in no way deficient
in enterprise. They were doing an excellent trade, not merely between
England and India, but between India and Bantam. This was not enough:
they were determined to open up commerce with the Persian Gulf.
Now this meant that trouble was inevitable. If the Portuguese had lost
their hold on India, they were certainly just as strong as formerly at
Ormuz and other parts of the Persian Gulf. To traffic, or to attempt
to traffic, with this part of the Orient was certain to mean further
conflict with the nation which had received so much injury from Captain
Best. For most of a hundred years the Portuguese had been enjoying
their monopoly up the Gulf. However, neither this nor the certainty
of conflict could turn aside the ambition of the English East India
Company. Their ships were sent from Surat with Indian goods, the
Portuguese vessels opposed them, the victory went to the English, and
thus once more, as it had been in the territory of the Great Mogul,
so the result was to be in regard to the Persian trade. The natives
realised that the English were worth listening to, and their prestige
was raised to the height from which the Portuguese simultaneously
dropped. Henceforth the English factors could bring from Surat their
calicoes and take back silks. A little later Ormuz was destroyed—Ormuz
which had been the seat of Portuguese supremacy in the Persian Gulf
and the centre of its wealthy trade in that region—and thus once more
the nation which had been the first of European countries to unlock the
secrets of the East was told to quit. By the year 1622—a short enough
period since the inauguration of the East India Company in London—the
Portuguese had thus been driven out from those very places in the East
which had been so dear to them and the means of so much wealth. By the
year 1654 they had been compelled to agree that the English should
have the right to reside and trade in all these Eastern possessions.
It was a terrible blow to Portuguese pride, a grievous disappointment
to a nation which had done so much for the discovery of the world, and
enough to make Prince Henry the Navigator turn in his grave. But it
was inevitable, for the reason that as the Portuguese had declined in
sea-power, so the English had been rising ever since the mid-sixteenth
century, though more especially during the latter half of Elizabeth’s
reign. The call of the sea to English ears was being listened to
more attentively than ever, and when that call summoned men to such
profitable trade it continued to be heard through the centuries. Each
success added zest and gave an increased enthusiasm. Men who wanted
to see the world, or to increase their meagre incomes, or to get away
from the narrow confines of their own town or village were eager to
take their oath to the Company and go East, where a more adventurous
life awaited them. But with the Portuguese it was not so. Most of their
Latin enthusiasm had run out: they had begun well, but they had been
unable to sustain. And the series of blows—the capture of their finest
caracks, the revelation of their East Indian secrets, the colossal
defeat of the Armada, the persistent and successful impertinence
of English interlopers in India, the glaring proof that English
seamanship, navigation, naval strategy, tactics and gunnery were as
good as their own—this succession of hard facts tended to break their
spirit, made them compelled to bow to the inevitable. _Sic transit
gloria mundi._
Between the years 1617 and 1629 the English East India Company had sent
out no fewer than 57 ships, containing 26,690 tons of merchandise. In
addition they employed eighteen pinnaces which spent their time trading
from port to port in the East Indies. We have already alluded to the
inception of the Indian navy by the Surat factory. As time went on this
flotilla of local craft was strengthened by big ships sent out from
England. But as this volume is not a history of either the East India
Company or of the development of the Indian navy, we must confine our
attention to the story of the Company’s merchant ships during the many
years in which they existed with such marvellous and unprecedented
benefit to India and the English nation. Those who are interested
merely in the rise of the Indian navy will find the account in Captain
Low’s volumes.
Now covetousness is a sin which is peculiar not merely to individuals,
but to corporations and even nations. You may be sure that all this
success on the part of the East India Company’s ships and of their
trading ashore led to no small amount of jealousy and longing at home.
It is true that the State had assisted and encouraged the Company in
every way: for it was obvious that it was for the nation’s welfare
generally, and in particular a fine support for the navy in respect
of ships, men and stores. But the time arrived when the Company began
to be pinched and squeezed by the power that hitherto had given only
assistance. Covetousness was at the bottom of it all, but the actual
opportunity had arisen over the capture of Ormuz, from which, it had
been reported, a large amount of spoil had been taken. It was easy
enough to invent some excuse, and this came in the year 1624 when the
Company, understanding that the Portuguese were preparing a fleet
against them in Indian waters, began to get ready a squadron of seven
ships to leave England. When these ships were ready to sail, the Lord
High Admiral of England, who happened to be the Duke of Buckingham,
obtained from Parliament an order to lay an embargo on these ships,
lying at Tilbury. A claim was made for a portion of the spoil supposed
to have been taken at Ormuz and elsewhere. And in spite of protests
the sum of £10,000 had to be paid before the ships were released.
About this time, also, the Company were attacked in Parliament on
three grounds: (1) For exporting the treasure of the kingdom, it
being alleged that £80,000 had been sent out yearly in money: (2) For
destroying the invaluable timber of the country by building exceedingly
great ships, the timber being wanted for the navy: (3) For causing
the supply of mariners to become injured by these voyages. The last
item was certainly unreasonable: for, as a fact, about one-third, or
sometimes one-half, of every ship’s complement consisted of landsmen,
who went on board “green” to sea life. But as happens over and over
again, even in our luxurious times, many a green-horn discovers after
a while that the life of a seaman is just what really suits him: and
it was so with these landsmen to a large extent. The service opened up
a new career for them, and these fellows were to add to rather than
diminish the country’s supply of sailors.
The ships were getting slightly more habitable and better built, though
no very great change was taking place. How unseaworthy were some of
the Company’s best vessels may be seen from a letter sent on 10th
June 1614 by Robert Larkin, who murmurs bitterly of his craft, the
_Darling_. “The _Darling_,” he writes, “complaineth sore, but I hope to
God she will carry us well to Puttam, and further tediousness I omit.
But I wish to God I were well rid of my captainship, or the _Darling_
a sounder vessel to carry me in.” So also that big East Indiaman, the
_Royal James_, during the year 1617 sprang a serious leak, and the way
in which this was stopped makes most interesting reading to all lovers
of ships. Her commander at that time, Captain Martin Pring, wrote to
the Company on the 12th of November of the year mentioned that about
a fortnight before the _Royal James_ had reached Swally—the port of
Surat—“we had a great leak broke upon us in the _James_, which in four
hours increased six foot water in hold, and after we had freed it and
made the pumps suck, it would rise thirteen inches in half-an-hour. It
was a great blessing of God that it fell out in such weather, by which
means we had the help of all the fleet, otherwise all our company had
been tired in a very short time. The 9th, we made many trials with a
bonnet stitched with oakum under the bulge of the ship, but it did
no good. The 11th, we basted our spritsail with oakum and let it
down before the stem of the ship and so brought it aft by degrees: in
which action it pleased God so to direct us that we brought the sail
right under the place where the oakum was presently sucked into the
leak: which stopped it in such sort that the ship made less water the
day following than she had done any day before from the time of our
departure out of England.”
The device here employed was well known to the old-fashioned sailor,
and designated “fothering.” Briefly the idea was as follows. In order
to stop the leak a sail was fastened at the four corners and then let
down under the ship’s bottom, a quantity of chopped rope-yarns, oakum,
cotton, wool—anything in the least serviceable for the job—being also
put in. If you were lucky you would find that after the first few
attempts the leak would have sucked up some of the oakum or whatever
was put into the sail, and so the water would not pour in as badly.
This device certainly saved Captain Cook during one of his voyages
after his ship had struck a rock and the sea poured in so quickly
that the pumps were unable to cope with it. In the description given
above by Captain Pring you will notice that he used his spritsail for
this purpose. This was a quadrilateral sail set at the end of the
bowsprit, but was abolished from East Indiamen and other ships in the
early part of the nineteenth century. At first, you will observe,
the bonnet—doubtless the bonnet of the mainsail—the use of which we
described on an earlier page, was tried and lowered under the “bulge”
(or, as we now say, the “bilge”) of the ship. “Stitched with oakum”
means that the little tufts of oakum were lightly stitched to the
canvas just to keep them in position until the suction of the leak drew
them up the hole away from the canvas. When he says he “basted” the
spritsail with oakum he means again that the latter was sewn with light
stitches. This spritsail was lowered down at the bows till it got below
the ship’s forefoot and then brought gradually aft till the position of
the leak was reached, and then the oakum was sucked up with the happy
result noted. This all reads much simpler than it was in actuality: and
you can imagine that it was no easy matter getting this sail into its
exact position while the ship was plunging and rolling in a seaway.
Eventually the _Royal James_ got over the bar at Swally, and a
consultation was then held aboard her by Captain Pring and a number
of other captains as to what had now best be done. One opinion was to
careen her so as to get at the leak and caulk it. Another opinion was
to “bring her aground for the speedy stopping of her dangerous leak.”
But these captains had before their minds the recollection that the
_Trade’s Increase_ had been lost whilst being careened, and another
ship named the _Hector_ likewise: so they unanimously agreed that the
best thing would be to put the _Royal James_ ashore, first taking out
of her the merchandise. They were more than a little nervous as to how
this big ship would take the ground, so “for a trial” they brought
ashore the _Francis_, an interloping vessel which they had captured.
When it was seen that the _Francis_ seemed to take the ground all
right and that she lay there three tides without apparent injury “and
never complained in any part,” they put the _Royal James_ ashore
also. Unluckily this was not with the same amount of success, “for she
strained very much about the midship and made her bends to droop: which
caused us to haul her off again so soon that we had not time to find
the leak. Yet (God be praised) since we came afloat her bends are much
righted and she hath remained very tight: God grant she may so long
continue.”
When Sir Thomas Roe went out from England in the year 1615 to Surat as
English Ambassador to the Great Mogul, he was accompanied by Edward
Terry, his chaplain. The latter has left behind an account of his
voyage to India, and though we cannot do much more than call attention
thereto, we may in passing note that this setting forth shows how
much valuable time was wasted in those days waiting for a fair wind.
For these seventeenth-century ships had neither the fine lines nor
the superiority of rig which was afterwards to make the East Indiamen
famous throughout the world. The Company’s seventeenth-century ships
were clumsy as to their proportions, they were built according to
rule-of-thumb, the stern was unnecessarily high, the bows unnecessarily
low. Triangular headsails had not yet been adopted, except by
comparatively small fore-and-aft-rigged craft, such as yachts and
coasters. The mizen was still of the lateen shape, but all the other
sails were quadrilateral, even to the spritsail, which was suspended
at the outer end of the bowsprit and below that spar. Above the latter
on a small mast was hoisted another small squaresail, and then at the
after end of the bowsprit (which was very long and practically a mast)
came the foremast, stepped as far forward as it could go.
With this unhandy rig, the bluff-bowed hulls with their clumsy design
and heavy tophamper could make little or no progress in a head wind.
They were all right for running before the wind, or with the wind on
the quarter: but not only could they not point close to the wind,
but even when they tried they made a terrible lot of leeway. It was
therefore hopeless to try and beat down the English Channel. Most
seamen are aware that the prevailing winds over the British Isles are
from the south-west, but that often between about February and the
end of June, more especially in the earlier part of the year, one can
expect north-east or easterly spells. The old East Indiamen therefore
availed themselves of this. For a fair wind down Channel was a thing
much to be desired, and a long time would be spent in waiting for it.
As these awkward ships had to work their tides down the River Thames,
then drop anchor for a tide, and take the next ebb down, their progress
till they got round the North Foreland was anything but fast.
Of all this Edward Terry’s account gives ample illustration. He was a
cleric and no seaman, but he had the sense of observation and recorded
what he observed. It was on the 3rd of February 1615 that the squadron,
including the flagship _Charles_—a “New-built goodly ship of a thousand
Tuns (in which I sayled) ... fell down from Graves-send into Tilbury
Hope.” Here they remained until 8th February, when they weighed anchor,
and not till 12th February had they weathered the North Foreland and
brought up in the Downs, where they remained for weeks waiting till
a fair wind should oblige them. On the 9th of March the longed-for
north-easter came, when they immediately got under way and two days
later passed the meridian of the Lizard during the night. With the wind
in such a quarter these Indiamen would bowl along just as fast as their
ill-designed hulls could be forced through the water, making a lot of
fuss and beating the waves instead of cutting through them as in the
case of the last of the East Indiamen which ever sailed.
By the 19th of May they had passed the Tropic of Capricorn and
Terry marvelled at the sight of whales, which were “of an exceeding
greatnesse” and “appear like unto great Rocks.” Sharks were seen, and
even in those days the inherent delight of the seaman for capturing and
killing his deadly enemy was very much in existence. As these cruel
fish swam about the _Charles_ the sailors would cast overboard “an iron
hook ... fastened to a roap strong like it, bayted with a piece of
beefe of five pounds weight.”
[Illustration: THE “SERINGAPATAM,” EAST INDIAMAN, 1,000 TONS.]
The squadron duly arrived in Swally Roads on the 18th of September. Sir
Thomas Roe performed his mission to the Great Mogul, and eventually
reached England again. So also Edward Terry, after having been for
some time in the East India Company’s service, was made rector of
Great Greenford, Middlesex, and in the year 1649 we find him one day
in September preaching a “sermon of thanksgiving” in the Church of St
Andrew’s, Undershaft, before the Committee of these East India Company
merchants. The occasion was the return of seven of the Company’s ships
which had arrived from the Orient together—“a great and an unexpected
mercy” after a “long, and tedious, and hazardous voyage.” Terry’s
discourse is typical of the pompous, obsequious period. We can almost
see these worthy East India merchants strolling into the church and
taking their places by no means unconscious of their self-importance,
yet not ashamed to do their duty and give thanks for the safe arrival
of ships and their rich cargoes. Many of them, if not all, had never
been out of England. Terry had been to India and back: he was therefore
no ordinary rector, and he rose to the occasion. He hurls tags of Latin
quotations at his hearers and then, after referring to the great riches
which they were obtaining from the East, reminds these merchants that
there are richer places to be found than both the East Indies and the
West, better ports than Surat or even Bantam, and so went on to speak
of the land where “nor rust, nor moth, nor fire, nor time can consume,”
where the pavement is gold and the walls are of precious stones. And
then, after this simple, direct homily, the Committee came out from
their pews and went back to their daily pursuits.
If these seventeenth-century men were crude and had lost some of the
religious zeal of the pre-Reformation sailors, they still retained as
a relic of the Puritan influence a narrow but sincere personal piety.
And this comes out in the following prayer which was wont to be used
aboard the East Indiaman ships of the late seventeenth century. It is
called “A prayer for the Honourable English Company trading to the East
Indies, to be used on board their ships,” and bears the imprimatur of
the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who append their
signatures to the statement that “we do conceive that this prayer may
be very proper to be used, for the purpose express’d in the tittle
of it.” It has none of the beautiful English of the Middle Ages, for
liturgical ability, like stained-glass window painting, was at this
time a lost art. But for its simple sincerity, its suggestive deep
realisation of the terrors of the sea, its true pathos and its plain
religious confidence, it is characteristic of the period and the minds
of the men who joined in this prayer:—
“O Almighty and most Merciful Lord God, Thou art the Soveraign
Protector of all that Trust in Thee, and the Author of all Spiritual
and Temporal Blessings. Let Thy Grace, we most humbly beseech thee, be
always Present with thy Servants the English Company Trading to the
East Indies. Compass them with thy Favour as with a shield. Prosper
them in all their Publick Undertakings, and make them Successful in all
their Affairs both by Sea and Land. Grant that they may prove a common
Blessing, by the Increase of Honour, Wealth and Power ... by promoting
the Holy Religion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be more especially at this
time favourable to us, who are separated from all the world, and have
our sole dependance upon thee here in the great waters. Thou shewest
they wonders in the Deep, by commanding the Winds and the Seas as thou
pleasest, and thou alone canst bring us into the Haven where we would
be. To they Power and Mercy therefore we humbly fly for Refuge and
Protection from all Dangers of this long and Perilous voyage. Guard
us continually with thy good Providence in every place. Preserve our
Relations and Friends whom we have left, and at length bring us home to
them again in safety and with the desired Success. Grant that every
one of us, being always mindful of thy Fatherly Goodness, and Tender
Compassion towards us, may glorifie thy Name by a constant Profession
of the Christian Faith, and by a Sober, Just and Pious Conversation
through the remaining part of our Lives. All this we beg for the sake
of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with thee and the Blessed Spirit
be ascrib’d all Honour, Praise and Dominion both now and for evermore.
Amen
CHAPTER X
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN
The joint stock arrangement, as distinct from the separate voyages,
which had been instituted in 1613 worked very well: and after the
Restoration the practice of buying and selling shares became common,
the system approximating to that of modern times. The Company’s
ships were continuing to bring back much wealth to the shareholders,
but again covetous desires had to be appeased. In the year 1649 the
Commissioners of the Navy constrained the East India Company to lend
them £4000. It was in the year 1654 that Cromwell, by means of his
treaty with the Portuguese, obtained the right of English ships to
trade with any Portuguese possessions in the East Indies. Now this
meant a very handsome additional benefit to the East India Company’s
ships. Cromwell was shrewd enough to know what he was about, and
accordingly in the following year got his _quid pro quo_ when he
succeeded in borrowing £50,000 from the Company, seeing that the latter
had gained so much from national successes; and a little later on in
the same year obtained from the same source another £10,000 to pay
Blake’s seamen, whose wages were in arrears. And this was not the last
instance of the Company being fleeced by the State.
In the year 1640 permission had been obtained from the native
authorities to build the first of the Company’s forts in India. This
became known as Fort St George (Madras), and in the year 1658 the
Madras settlement was raised to a presidency. In 1645 the Company had
begun to establish factories in Bengal, so the ports for the East
Indiamen were now becoming more numerous, and the area from which the
cargoes could be obtained was being widely extended. The Portuguese,
as we have seen, were now out of the running as regards the East. And
as for the repeated collisions which the English had with the Dutch,
the three Anglo-Dutch wars which had been long foreseen, as they were
destined long to last, had given quite a new complexion to affairs in
India, leaving the English East India Company in a position stronger
than ever. One of the stipulations had been that the Dutch should
indemnify the English merchants and factors in India with regard to the
massacre at Amboyna, and the guilty parties therein concerned were to
be punished. In 1664 the French East India Company had been formed, and
ten years later the foundation of their settlement at Pondicherry was
laid.
In the year 1681 the Company had developed their fleet to such an
extent that they now owned about thirty-five ships, ranging in size
from 775 to 100 tons. In customs alone the Company were paying £60,000
a year, and they were carrying out to India £60,000 or £70,000 worth of
lead, tin, cloth and stuffs every year, bringing back raw silk, pepper
and other goods of the East. By the year 1683 so profitable were the
annual results of the Company’s trading that a £100 share would sell
for £500. Before long the size of the ships just mentioned was to
increase to 900 and even to 1300 tons, such was the demand for Indian
products; and between the years 1682 and 1689 no fewer than sixteen
East Indiamen varying in size from 900 to 1300 tons were constructed.
All the East Indiamen were well armed, for even in the year 1677, when
the Company owned from thirty to thirty-five ships of from 300 to 600
tons apiece, these vessels each mounted from forty to seventy guns.
It will be recollected that Bantam had been the first headquarters
or chief factory whither the Company’s ships went for their trade.
This continued until 1638, when Surat had developed so much, thanks
to the concessions by the Great Mogul, that it replaced Bantam in
pre-eminence. The last-mentioned factory, together with Fort St George
in Madras, Hooghly in Bengal, and those establishments in Persia were
all made subservient to Surat. A far-sighted person could have foreseen
that all these scattered strongholds of trade might not improbably
develop eventually into something very much more important politically.
But it was Sir Josiah Child, the principal manager of the Company’s
affairs at home, who was one of the first to project the forming of a
territorial Empire in India.
We had reason to mention just now a ship which we described as being
an interloper. The reader is well aware that in the first instance the
charter granted to the English East India Company by Queen Elizabeth
conveyed to them the exclusive privilege of trading to the East. This
charter was renewed in the years 1609, 1657, 1661 and subsequently
in other years. But such was the jealousy, such the covetousness
which were aroused by the Company’s successful voyages that a number
of interlopers, quite contrary to the terms of the charter, fitted
out expeditions of their own. These were evidently successful, too,
especially during the latter part of the reign of Charles II., for
the number of these private adventurers increased considerably. The
result, of course, was that the Company became exceedingly indignant
and had to exert themselves to put an end to the trouble. But this,
again, opened up the whole of the question as to whether the Company
should continue to enjoy such a fine monopoly. There was a good deal of
resentment against India being restricted to a favoured few. However
the Government favoured the Company, for it had been found more than
useful to the country in times of crisis, so again in the year 1693 it
received its fresh charter.
But between the years 1694 and 1698 this Eastern trade practically
was thrown open. And then the State happened to require a loan of
£2,000,000. This was found by a newly formed company of associated
merchants who had been very vigorous in opposing the East India
Company’s privilege. And since this new company wanted only eight
per cent. (not a high rate for those days) for their loan, they also
received a charter. The result was that there were two companies
trading to India and each with its own charter. The title of this
fresh association was the New East India Company, and presently a kind
of third company arose as an offshoot from this second one. All this
competition had a most disastrous effect and brought both the old and
new companies almost to ruin. Each company hated the other, while the
public detested both most heartily. There were only two possibilities
open. Either both companies must be wrecked or they must amalgamate.
It was wisely decided to choose the latter. They therefore adjusted
their differences, and in the year 1708 were amalgamated into one
corporation, calling themselves “The United Company of Merchants of
England Trading to the East Indies.” The capital was increased to
£3,200,000. They were the means of aiding the Government by advancing
to the latter £1,200,000 without interest, and the Government in turn
agreed to extend the Company’s charter till the year 1726, with three
years’ notice of termination. And it was subsequently extended till
1766.
During the last decade of the seventeenth century when hostilities
existed between England and France the East India Company laid before
the House of Lords an account of the great losses which the former
had incurred at sea, owing to the lack of English cruisers. Those
were no easy times for the ships bound either to or from the Orient,
for, besides possible attacks from French men-of-war, the English
Channel and approaches thereto were alive with privateers, to the great
detriment of the Anglo-Indian trade. Some idea of the size and strength
of the East India Company’s ships about this time may be gathered from
the following list of craft which the French captured from them during
the year 1694 alone:—
Name of Ship Tonnage Men Guns
Princess of Denmark 670 133 40
Seymour 500 — —
Success 400 80 32
Defence 750 150 50
Resolution 650 130 40
In later years one of the most valuable commodities which India was
to produce and send to England in these ships was tea. The first
importation by us was in the year 1667. Only a small amount, consisting
of 100 lb., was sent, but it was not long before this was greatly
exceeded. However, the early years of the eighteenth century were
marked by a disappointment in the trade which the Company was doing.
Although the latter’s ships were now trading also with China, yet
the value of our exports to the East were less than £160,000 a year:
and this, let it be remembered, included also military stores for
the Company’s settlements in the East and at St Helena. The reason
for this slump is easily explained. Every authority will admit that
the finest tonic for trade is competition. Monopoly is death to
enterprise, while a spirit of rivalry encourages progress. The East
India Company was suffering from the decaying, deadening influence of
its exclusive privilege and this went on till about the middle of the
eighteenth century. The first half of that century is decadent, not
merely with regard to India, but most things English. Art was at its
lowest, manners were never less sincere, morals were corrupt, politics
were little better. It almost seems as if England had lost the fair
wind which had carried her through the Tudor times and then become
gradually becalmed in the Stuart era till she rolled about with no
progress, making only stern-way. And then, after a period of profitless
existence, she seems to have picked up another breeze which has sent
her along through the successful industrial age, the great wars, the
Victorian and Edwardian years of prosperity up till to-day. The end
of the eighteenth century is a period quite different from its first
portion. And if it was so generally it could scarcely be different in
regard to a corporation directed and managed by men of this period.
Just for a moment let us go back to that time when the East India
Company decided it were best to close the Deptford yard and obtain
their ships ready built. Now as time went on the hiring of ships to
the Company for this Eastern trade led to great abuses. Officially the
Company did no longer build their ships. But the Company’s directors
used to build them privately and then hire them out to the Company, to
the great personal gain of the directors. There were few other ships
big enough or strong enough. The directors would know how many to build
and to what extent prices could be demanded from the Company: and
altogether they feathered their nests very nicely. This went on till
the year 1708, when the old and new East India companies had become
amalgamated. After this year the directors were prohibited by Act of
Parliament from supplying ships to the Company.
Instead of the former corrupt arrangement, ships for the East India
Company were to be hired in the future by open tender from the
commander and two owners. But here again was a difficulty. Inasmuch
as a special type of stalwart ship was required for this trade, the
supply was small and in the hands of a ring called the Marine Interest.
Therefore the Company was just about as badly off as before. And
throughout the eighteenth century there was one continued contest
between the East India Company and the shipbuilders, who did their
level best to fleece the former as it had been fleeced by the State at
different dates.
[Illustration: A BARQUE FREE-TRADER IN THE LONDON DOCKS.]
For the East India Company did not literally own their ships, even
though they were called East Indiamen, flew the Company’s flag and made
their regular voyages. A shipping company to-day buys and owns its
own ships, but the East India Company had quite a different method.
Up to the time when the old and new companies were amalgamated, in
the year 1708, the owners and the Company were unfettered by any
legislative provision. They could settle and adjust the points between
themselves, and since the directors were part owners you may be sure
there was little cause for dispute! But the by-law which came into
force after the union of the two companies, prohibiting directors from
being concerned in hiring ships to the Company, brought about a rather
curious order of things. They were hired for so many voyages at so
much a ton, the Company binding itself to freight a stipulated number
of tons. These, by the way, were generally less than the official
measurement. About the year 1700 the largest East Indiamen were under
500 tons, though their burthen was one-third greater.
Under the new arrangement the ships were to be taken up by the Company
and their respective voyages agreed to in a Court of Directors by
ballot. No tenders were to be accepted except such as had been made by
the commander and two owners of each ship. Furthermore, the sale of
the post as captain or any other office was forbidden in the Company’s
ships. This latter was an important modification. The actual owner of
the ship from whom the vessel was hired was termed the ship’s husband,
and the practice had been for him to sell the command of the ship to
a captain whom he would select. The expression in this case was to
“sell the ship,” and a captain would sometimes pay as much as £8000 or
£10,000 for the privilege of the appointment, because this position
afforded him unique opportunities of making some handsome profits
by the goods he brought home from the East in his ship as his own
perquisites. To such an extent did this practice become established
that the sale of a command became transferable property of the captain
who had bought it. Whenever he died or resigned his heirs or he himself
had the undoubted right to dispose of the billet to the highest bidder.
The reason for the abolition of this custom was that it was largely
responsible for the high rates of freight which the Company was forced
to pay. A compensation was paid to the captains in the service at the
time of the abolition, but henceforth money could not buy the command
of a ship for a man that was not adequately qualified for the post.
Previously commands of ships had been held in some cases by men who
possessed no right to such responsible tasks. Captain Eastwick, a
master mariner of the eighteenth century, who has happily left behind
his autobiography, relates among a number of interesting personal
reminiscences that he married the niece of a man who was sole owner of
one East Indiaman and part owner of two more of these ships. It was
therefore suggested that Eastwick should enter the Honourable Company’s
service, and a command was promised as soon as he was qualified. “This
was a very tempting offer,” writes the old sailor, “as there was no
service equal to it, or more difficult to get into, requiring great
interest.”
“It was the practice of the Company in those days to charter ships
from their owners; these vessels were especially built for the service,
and were generally run for about four voyages, when they were held to
be worn out, and their places taken by others built for the purpose.
About thirty ships were required for the Company every year,” he
states, and then goes on to say that “there was never any written
engagement on the part of either the owners or the Company as to the
continuance of these charters, but the custom of contract was so well
established that both parties mutually relied upon it, and considered
themselves bound by ties of honour to observe their implied customary
engagements. When, therefore, a ship’s turn arrived to be employed,
the owner, as a matter of form, submitted a tender in writing to be
engaged, and proposed a particular person as captain, and this tender
and proposal were always accepted. Thus the owners of these East
Indiamen had everything in their own hands, and the favour of one of
them was a fine thing to obtain, leading to appointments of great
emolument.”
Some idea of the value of the East Indiaman captain’s appointment may
be gathered from what Eastwick remarks under this head. “The captain
of an East Indiaman, in addition to his pay and allowances, had the
right of free outward freight to the extent of fifty tons, being only
debarred from exporting certain articles, such as woollens, metals,
and warlike stores. On the homeward voyage he was allotted twenty tons
of free freight, each of thirty-two feet; but this tonnage was bound
to consist of certain scheduled goods, and duties were payable thereon
to the Company. As the rate of freight in those days was about £25 a
ton, this privilege was a very valuable one. Of course much depended
upon the skill and good management of the individual commander, the
risk of the market, his knowledge of its requirements, and his own
connections and interest to procure him a good profit. In addition to
the free tonnage, he further enjoyed certain advantages in the carrying
of passengers, for although the allowance of passage money outward and
homeward was arbitrarily fixed by the Company, there being a certain
number of passengers assigned to each vessel, and their fares duly
determined, ranging from £95 for a subaltern and assistant-surgeon
to £235 for a general officer, with from one and a half to three and
a half tons of free baggage, exclusive of bedding and furniture for
their cabins, yet it was possible for captains, by giving up their
own apartments and accommodation, to make very considerable sums for
themselves. In short, the gains to a prudent commander averaged from
£4000 to £5000 a voyage, sometimes perhaps falling as low as £2000,
but at others rising to £10,000 and £12,000. The time occupied from
the period of a ship commencing receipt of her outward cargo to her
being finally cleared of her homeward one was generally from fourteen
to eighteen months, and three or four voyages assured any man a very
handsome fortune.”
But though these commands were very expensive to purchase and highly
remunerative when obtained, yet like the professional man to-day this
high remuneration was preceded by years of bad pay. Before a man could
obtain the command of an East Indiaman he must necessarily have made a
voyage as fifth or sixth mate, then another voyage as third or fourth
mate, and finally a third voyage as first or second mate. Now these
junior officers in the Company’s service were quite unable to live on
their pay “and it required a private capital of at least five hundred
pounds to enable a man to arrive at the position of second mate, which
was the lowest station wherein the pay and allowances afforded a
maintenance.”
Whenever an Indiaman became worn out, or condemned, another ship was
hired to replace her, and was said to be “built upon the bottom” of the
first. The member or members of the Marine Interest who had built the
first ship claimed the right of building the second, and so it went
on. The result was that there arose what were known as “hereditary
bottoms.” This went on till the year 1796, when some of the more
public-spirited of the directors and shareholders of the East India
Company put their heads together and determined to have this system
entirely altered. It is indeed most extraordinary that the principle of
monopoly seemed to pervade every feature of the Company’s transactions,
from the broad, important principle of exclusive trade with the East
down to the building of ships and the exclusive privileges of their
commanders. In any other line of commerce the rate of freight found its
own level, but in the East India Company there was but one bidder, and
that also a monopoly. As the voyage was long and difficult and full of
dangers, it was natural enough that good commanders should be desired.
If an owner had a good captain, the Company were only too pleased to
have him.
The passing of a by-law in the year 1773 prevented a ship from being
engaged for the Company’s service for more than four voyages at a
certain freight, this being calculated on an estimate of the building
and the cost of fitting out a vessel with provisions and stores for
a certain number of months. In the years 1780 and 1781 differences
of opinion arose between the owners of the ships and the Court of
Directors of the East India Company as to the rate of freight demanded.
Owing to the hostilities with the Dutch, the rates of insurance and
fitting out were stated to have caused an additional charge of £10,
14s. a ton. The contest between these two opposing sets of monopolists
was always amusing to an outsider. The Company wanted the ships badly,
for their very existence depended on their ability to carry cargoes
between England and India. On the other hand the owners had built these
ships especially for the Company’s service. They represented a great
outlay of capital, and they were so big and efficient that there was
practically no other trade in which they could be profitably employed.
So, after a certain amount of mutual indignation had cooled off, and
the usual haggling had proceeded, both parties were wont to come to a
compromise and matters went on as before till the next dispute occurred.
Thus, for instance, in the year 1783 the Court of the East India
Company’s directors fixed the rate of freight at £32 per ton for
a ship of 750 tons. To this the owners replied that it was quite
impossible to provide the ships under £35 a ton. The Court then showed
their independence. They were resolved not to suffer the intolerable
humiliation of being dictated to by these owners, so the Company
advertised for tenders. Eventually twenty-eight ships were offered the
Company by various private owners in respect of this advertisement. But
after the Company’s inspecting officer had carefully examined these
vessels he had to report that they were either foreign-built, or weak
of structure, or else almost worn out: in any case quite unfitted for
the long voyage to India and back. This placed the Company in rather
a dilemma, and gave something of a shock to their independent spirit.
Meanwhile the owners who had hitherto provided the Company with ships
had taken alarm at thus throwing open the tender for competition. They
were in serious danger of losing their own monopoly: so they began to
climb down and offered the Company the rate of £33 a ton. And inasmuch
as the latter required as much as 10,000 tons the two parties agreed
on this last-mentioned price, more especially as the ships were known
to be sound in every respect, having actually been built under the
direction of the Company’s officials.
CHAPTER XI
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY
The East India Company’s progress was anything but a straight, easy
path. We must never forget that if it made big profits—and when
examined these figures, taken on an average, are not so colossal as
they seem at first sight—the risks and responsibilities were very far
from insignificant. Quite apart from the difficulties out in India, and
the absence of the invention of telegraphy thus making it difficult to
keep a complete control over the factors and trade; quite apart, too,
from the pressure which was harassing the Company from all sides—public
opinion which grudged this monopoly: shipowners who wanted to raise
the cost of hire: and Parliament which kept controlling the Company by
legislation—there were two other sources of worry which existed.
The first of these was the continued insults by the press-gangs,
and the consequent inconvenience to the East India Company and the
great danger to their ships and cargoes. The second worry was the
ever-present possibility during the long-drawn-out wars of losing
also ships and goods by attack from the enemy’s men-of-war. In both
respects the position was not easy of solution. On the one hand, it was
obvious that the Company’s trade was likely to be crippled; but, on
the other, the Government must come first in both matters. The navy was
in dire need of men. All that it had were not enough. Men who had been
convicted and sentenced for smuggling—some of the finest sailors in
the country—were shipped on board to fight for the land that gave them
birth. All sorts of rough characters were rounded up ashore and sent
afloat by the press-gangs, but even then the warships needed more.
Now the crews of these eighteenth-century East Indiamen were such
skilled seamen, so hardened to the work of a full-rigged ship, so
accustomed to fighting pirates, privateers and even the enemy’s
men-of-war, that it was no wonder the Admiralty in their dilemma
overstepped the bounds and shipped them whenever they could be got.
A favourite custom was to lie in wait for the homeward-bound East
Indiamen, and when these fine ships had dropped anchor off Portsmouth,
in the Downs, or even on their way up the Thames, they would be boarded
and relieved of some of their crew: to such an extent, sometimes, that
the ship could not be properly worked. I have carefully examined a
large number of original manuscripts which passed between the Admiralty
and the East India Company of the eighteenth century, and there runs
through the period a continuous vein of complaint from the latter to
the former, but there was very little remedy and the Company had to put
up with the nuisance.
On the 21st of December 1710, for instance, the Company’s secretary,
Thomas Woolley, sends a letter from the directors complaining to
the Admiralty of the press-gang actually invading East India House,
Leadenhall Street, one day during the same month, “on a pretence of
searching for seamen.” As a matter of fact the press-gang had come to
carry off the most capable of the Company’s crews, who happened to be
present at that time. Very strongly the Company wrote complaints to the
Admiralty that the press-gangs would board the East Indiamen lying off
Spithead (bound for London) and take out all the able-bodied seamen
they could lay their hands on. These men had to go whether they liked
it or not, and the Company’s officers were indignant but powerless.
But it added injury to insult that the press-gangs replaced the picked
men taken out by “such as have been either unskilful in their duty
or careless and refractory in the performance of it,” as one of the
letters remarks. The Company therefore begged that no man might be
taken out until the East Indiamen should arrive at their moorings, or
at least till they came into the London river: for, they pointed out,
the ships had very valuable cargoes on board, and this seizing of men
exposed them to very great danger, it being often impossible to replace
the men taken out.
[Illustration: THE PRESS GANG AT WORK.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
When the Company’s ships at length reached the Thames, the directors
would often send down hoys to meet them and to bring the goods up to
London, where they could be placed on view in the warehouses to show
the buyers before the sale opened. But the naval authorities had given
the crews of these hoys such a fright that they refused to go even
down towards the mouth of the river, fearing that the press-warrants,
which were out, would be put into execution and they themselves would
be sent to serve in the warships. These hoys were fore-and-aft-rigged
vessels of about 40 or 50 tons, the crew consisting of a skipper and
two men. Such craft were sloops—that is to say, practically cutters,
the only difference being purely technical and legal—and were built for
the purpose of carrying passengers and goods from one place to another
along the coast or up estuaries, where ordinary lighters were not able
to be taken with convenience or safety. The Margate hoy, for instance,
was very well known to Londoners at this time.
But the need for naval seamen was so urgent, consequent on the wars,
that the Admiralty had to go to even further extremities. They actually
sent to sea a press smack with a naval officer on board, and this
craft would cruise up and down the English Channel. On one occasion
Captain Mawson of the Company’s ship _Cardonell_, homeward bound, was
followed all the way from Portsmouth to the Downs by such a smack. And
when the bigger ship brought up off Deal, Lieutenant Hutchinson, R.N.,
came aboard and used his best endeavours to take away every one of the
_Cardonell’s_ crew, with the exception only of the ship’s officers. The
skipper of the merchantman naturally resented this very strongly, but
offered to let Mr Hutchinson have most of his men provided the naval
officer would supply him with others to take their place so that the
ship might be safely brought to her moorings in the Thames. But it
was no good. Hutchinson absolutely declined to make a compromise, and
according to Mawson’s account behaved very rudely and, not content with
the able seamen, carried off also the _Cardonell’s_ second mate.
The only way in which this annoyance and danger could be overcome
was for the Admiralty to issue what were known as “protections.”
The holder of a protection was thus made immune from arrest by a
press-gang. It was a document which gave the name of the man, his
age, stature, stated whether he wore a wig or his own hair, and other
particulars of identification. No man with this authorisation could
be forced into his Majesty’s service, but it was valid only for three
months or the period written thereon. There is preserved an original
protection certificate in the archives of the Public Record Office, and
it is a quaint document which must have been very keenly appreciated by
its eighteenth-century owner. On the other hand, when the East India
Company had lost some of their seamen by desertion, they would petition
the Admiralty to allow naval men to be lent.
Every student of history is aware of the unfortunate friction which
existed at this time between the officers of the Royal Navy and the
officers of the Mercantile Marine. Happily in the present century this
slow-dying spirit is almost extinct. In my volume, “King’s Cutters
and Smugglers,” I showed what altercations used to arise, what petty
jealousies existed between the officers of the Revenue cutters and
those of his Majesty’s navy. The captains and officers of the East
India Company were often indebted to the protection and assistance of
naval officers, but the latter were often overbearing in the exercise
of their duties, and despised any seaman who was not in the King’s
navy. On the other hand, the East Indiamen’s officers most heartily
disliked these gentlemen, and the insults from the press-gangs were too
poignant to be forgotten easily.
As an instance, let us refer to the 14th of August 1734, when the East
India Company complained to the Admiralty of what seems certainly a
very high-handed action. It appears that the Company’s ship, the _Duke
of Lorrain_, had arrived in the Downs on the previous Sunday, and her
master, Captain Christopher Wilson, sent in a very indignant report
to the Court of Directors to the effect that “the men of war at the
Nore treated him more like an enemy than a Merchant Ship coming into
Port in such weather as he had, it being very bad, they firing near
Twenty Shott at his Ship, some of which came among the Rigging, might
have been of dangerous consequence to the Ship, and to the Company
who had a Cargo on board to the Value of Two hundred thousand Pounds.
This action being what the Company did not expect from any of the Men
of War, as the Captain of the _Duke of Lorrain_ has assured the Court
that he lowered his sails, and did what was safe to be done, they have
commanded me to signify the same to you,” continued the Company’s
letter to the Admiralty, “that so the Right Honourable the Lords of the
Admiralty may be inform’d thereof.”
But if the East India Company thought it necessary sometimes to
complain of the treatment at the hands of the Admiralty the former
were none the less glad to have the assistance and protection of the
navy in the time of war. There is a voluminous correspondence still
preserved in which the Company write to the Admiralty asking for
convoys of the East Indiamen both outward and inward bound. The French
were very much on the _qui vive_, but unless the regular income of the
East India Company were for the present to be stopped, and the entire
Anglo-Indian trade suspended, the Company’s ships must go on their way.
This could be done only with the assistance of his Majesty’s ships. In
order to deal with this matter there was a special department of the
Company designated the Secret Committee, which communicated with the
Admiralty as to where the East Indian merchant fleet were to rendezvous
and the convoy join them, the confidential signals to be employed, and
so on. The following letter sent by the Company to the Admiralty on
12th December 1740 is typical:—
“Secrett Committee of the United East India Company do humbly
represent to your Lordships That they do expect a considerable
fleet of ships richly laden will return from the East Indies the
next summer and do therefore earnestly beseech your Lordships That
three or four of His Majesty’s ships of good force may be appointed
to look out for and convoy them safe to England.”
These convoys took the East Indiamen sometimes even from the Thames
down Channel as far as Spithead. Sometimes they picked the latter
up only at the Downs, escorting them for several hundred miles away
from the English coast out into the Atlantic. These merchantmen were
similarly met at St Helena and escorted home, the men-of-war being
victualled for a period of two months. Even if an East Indiaman were
able to arrive singly and run into the Hamoaze (Plymouth Sound) on
her way home, having successfully eluded hostile ships roving off the
mouth of the English Channel, it was deemed advisable for her to wait
at Plymouth until she could be escorted by the next man-of-war bound
eastward to the Thames. There were plenty of French privateersmen
lurking about the Channel, and, at any rate about the year 1716, there
were also Swedish privateers on the prowl in the same sea ready to fall
upon any East Indiaman going in or out of the Downs.
One notorious Swede of this occupation was _La Providence_, of 26 guns.
She was commanded by Captain North Cross. The latter was an Englishman
who had been tried and sentenced to death for some crime, but he had
succeeded in making his escape from Newgate, and had fled the country.
He had crossed the North Sea and had obtained from Sweden letters of
marque to rove about as a privateer. His crew were a rough crowd of
desperate fellows of many nations, and this ship was very fond of lying
in Calais roads ready to get under way and slip across the English
Channel so soon as an outward-bound East Indiaman was known to be in
the Downs. Now, in the month of November 1717, the skipper of _La
Providence_ was lying in his usual roadstead, and tidings came to him
concerning one of the Company’s ships then in the Downs.
The privateer was kept fully informed by means of those fine seamen,
but doubtful characters, who lived at Deal. They were some of the
toughest and most determined men, who stopped at nothing. For
generations the men of Deal had been the most notorious smugglers of
the south-east corner of England: and that was saying a great deal.
They were a brave, fearless class of men, but brutal of nature and
always ready to get to windward of the law, if ever a chance presented
itself. They handled their open luggers with a wonderful dexterity, for
which their successors are even yet famous. But they were lawless to
their finger-tips. So on the present occasion when the East Indiaman
was in the Downs, one of these Deal men sailed his little craft across
the strong tides of Dover Straits and brought the information to the
privateer. The messenger asserted that the East Indiaman had nearly
£60,000 on board in cash, so Cross got under way, averring that he
would get this amount or “Loose his Life in the Attempt.” Whether he
succeeded in his attempt I regret I am unable to say. As far as was
practicable these East Indiamen were wont, in those strenuous times,
to wait for a convoy, but there were times when they could not afford
to wait till one of his Majesty’s ships was at liberty. On those
occasions the ships would wait till they numbered a small squadron,
and then voyaging together would resolve to run all risks. There is
on record the case of a French squadron consisting of a “64” and two
frigates arriving off the island of St Helena, where the East Indiamen
were wont to call. The Frenchmen had come here in order to fall upon
the homeward-bound fleet who would soon be seen. But the longboat[B]
of one of these merchantmen was fitted out, and under the command
of a midshipman succeeded in getting to windward of the Frenchmen
unperceived and was able to give the approaching English ships warning
of the danger that awaited them. Six of the Company’s fleet fell in
with the enemy and kept up a running fight for several days, until they
anchored in All Saints’ Bay. Here the French blockaded them, but it was
to no purpose, for these merchantmen succeeded in escaping and reaching
England in safety.
The Royal Navy assisted the Company’s ships in quite another manner as
well. Often enough after enduring heavy weather in the Bay of Biscay or
English Channel these East Indiamen would put into Plymouth and obtain
permission from the Admiralty to obtain from the latter’s stores a new
bowsprit, a new mast, or other spar, the Company of course paying for
the expense. The royal dockyard also on the Medway was similarly found
of great service, as, for instance, early in the eighteenth century,
when the Company’s ship _Hannover_ had the misfortune to run on to
a sandbank whilst going down the Thames to the Downs. The ship thus
suffered damage and was not in a fit condition to proceed to the East.
Permission was asked and obtained for her to be taken into Sheerness,
where the naval authorities could admit her into dry dock, warehouse
her cargo, supply materials and repair the injuries that had been made.
So also on another occasion, in September 1720, the East Indiaman
_Goodfellow_ was lying at Gravesend outward bound. It was discovered at
the last moment that unfortunately all the beer on board was spoilt,
and since there was no time “to detain her till more can be brew’d,”
the Company’s directors had to request the Admiralty victualling office
to furnish the ship with 12 tons of beer at the Company’s expense.
But the naval officials were not always so obliging as this. Towards
the end of the year 1721 the East Indiaman _Cæsar_, outward bound for
Mocha, had the misfortune to damage by friction one of her cables[C]
owing to the latter getting foul of the wreck of the _Carlisle_. Those
were the days when cables were still made of hemp, and were always
liable, except when special steps were taken, to injury when rubbing
along foul ground. As she lay in the Downs, the _Cæsar’s_ master,
Captain Mabbott, asked the naval storekeeper at Deal if he would spare
him a new cable in case another storm should spring up. Mabbott was
by no means pleased when the storekeeper replied very properly that
inasmuch as he had received no orders to oblige merchant ships in that
manner, he was not able to comply with the request. However matters
were eventually set right by the Company obtaining the Admiralty’s
permission.
A voyage in an East Indiaman of those days was often full of adventure.
After proceeding from the Downs the ship cleared the western mouth of
the English Channel and then steered “W and to WSW.” It took three
months to reach the Cape of Good Hope, and even then it was not too
far south to fall in with French men-of-war. After calling at Spithead
outward bound they were wont to sail through the Needles passage. The
seamen were probably better situated in these East Indiamen than in
any other merchant ship, but they were not allowed a soft time. They
were kept at it with setting and stowing of canvas, spreading stuns’ls
in fair weather or taking in upper canvas in heavy gales. There were
plenty of guns on board to be served, so drill formed no small part
of their duties. A seaman went on board with his sea-chest and his
bedding, and in those rough, hard-swearing days, long before ever the
sailor had his trade union, he was treated with no light hand. There is
an instance of the way slackness was wont to be punished on board the
East Indiaman _Greenwich_. This particular occurrence belongs to the
year 1719 and happened when the watch had been called. As some of the
men did not turn out as smartly as they ought, the boatswain took out
his knife and cut down their hammocks, to their great discomfort and
indignation. So infuriated in fact were the crew that they declined to
go on the next voyage until the boatswain had been discharged.
Some idea of the kind of vessels which the Company were hiring for
their service about the year 1730 may be gathered from the following
list, which has been taken direct from the original official documents:—
Name of Ship Commander Tons Men Guns
Devonshire Lawrence Prince 470 94 30
Prince Augustus Francis Gostlin 495 99 36
Lyell Charles Small 470 94 30
Princess of Wales Thomas Gilbert 460 92 30
Middlesex John Pelly 430 86 30
Mary Thomas Holden 490 98 34
Derby William Fitzhugh 480 96 32
London Robert Bootle 490 98 34
Dawsonne Francis Steward 480 96 32
Craggs Caleb Grantham 380 76 26
Bridgwater Edward Williamson 400 80 28
Prince William William Beresford 480 96 30
Lethieullier John Shepheard 470 94 30
Hartford Francis Nelly 460 92 30
Macclesfield Robert Hudson 450 90 30
Cæsar William Mabbott 440 88 30
Harrison Samuel Martin 460 92 30
Walpole Charles Boddam 495 99 32
Frances John Lawson 420 84 30
Duke of Cumberland Benjamin Braund 480 96 30
George George Pitt 480 96 30
Aislabie William Birch 400 80 26
Stretham George Westcott 470 94 30
Ockham William Jobson 480 96 30
It will be noticed that not one of these is really a big ship and that
while the average is somewhere between 400 and 500 tons, yet not one
exceeds 495 tons. The directors settled the size of ship required and
the owners saw that it was supplied. The size of the crews will be seen
to be very large, but this is explained not only because wages were low
in those days and safety was a dominating factor—allowing plenty of men
in each watch for handling sail—but because each ship carried about
thirty guns, and though both broadsides would not be fired at once, yet
even half those guns would necessitate a good number of the crew. At
various dates during the eighteenth century, when the country needed
ships, the Admiralty commissioned a number of these East Indiamen and
also gave commissions in the Royal Navy to their commanders.
Those were the days, too, when merchantmen frequently obtained letters
of marque for acting against the ships of a nation with which our
country was at war. During the year 1739 Britain declared war against
Spain, and so one comes across a document of that year in which the
directors of “The United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the
East Indies”—for this was the official style of the East India Company
at that time—petition for “Letters of Marque or General Reprizals
against Spain.” The request is made on behalf of their ship, _Royal
Guardian_, 490 tons, 98 men and 30 guns; and for other vessels of their
fleet. These were duly granted, and such stout, well-armed craft were
able to render an excellent account of themselves against the foe.
They were necessarily built of great strength, they carried so many
guns, their crews were such seasoned men, and their commanders such
determined fellows, that they formed really a most valuable reserve
to the Royal Navy. They were not individually a match for the biggest
of the enemy’s battleships, but none the less they were equal to any
frigate and of far greater utility to the King’s service than any
merchant liner would proportionately be to-day in the time of war.
FOOTNOTES:
[B] The longboat carried by these East Indiamen measured from
twenty-seven to twenty-nine feet in length.
[C] The East Indiamen of about the middle of the eighteenth century
rode to fifteen-inch cables.
CHAPTER XII
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE COMPANY’S SERVICE
In order that the East Indiamen might be able to make themselves known
on the high seas to the British men-of-war, a special code of signals
was accustomed to be arranged by the Admiralty for the former. This was
for use during war-time, so that the Company’s vessels on meeting with
other craft might know at a distance whether these were the friends who
would convoy them or the enemy who would assail them. Some time during
the autumn, during these eighteenth-century wars when England always
seemed to be engaged in hostilities, the custom was for the Admiralty
to appoint a fresh code so that the naval and the Company’s ships might
know each other. This code was then sent sealed to the Secret Committee
of the East India Company, and handed over to the latter’s commanding
officers. Similarly special signals were arranged so that when calling
at St Helena the Governor of that island might be able to recognise the
homeward-bound East Indiamen.
The following document, dated 5th November 1733, from the Admiralty
will give some idea of the nature of these signals:—
“Signals to be observed by the East India Company’s ships in their
next homeward-bound passage upon their meeting with any ships near
the Channell or else where which they may supose to be the King’s
Ships, the better to know.
“The Company’s ships whether to Windward or to Leeward, shall make
a Signal by hailing up their Foresail, and lowering down the Main
Top Sail, and spreading an English Ensign, the Cross down-ward,
from the main Top Mast head down the Shrouds; and They shall be
answered by the King’s ships by lowering down their Fore top sail,
and spreading an Ensign, in the same manner, from their Fore
topmast head downward, hailing up their Main Sail, and hoysting
their Mizen top sail, with the Clue lines hail’d up.
“In the case of Blowing weather that the Top Sails are in, the
other Signals will be sufficient.
“Signals by Night.
“The Company’s Ships shall make a Signal by hoysting three Lights
one over another on the Ensign Staff, and One at the Bolt sprit end.
“The King’s ships will answer by shewing three Lights of equal
height, One of ‘em in the Fore, One in the Main, and One in the
Mizen shrouds.”
And in order to know any of his Majesty’s ships when encountered in
the East Indian waters the signal was to be as follows:—The ship to
windward was to hoist an English Jack at the fore t’gallant masthead,
and the ship to leeward was to answer by furling the mizen topsail and
hoisting a French Jack at the mizen topmasthead.
The Company had their own agent at Deal, and considering the number of
days that were spent by the East Indiamen in the Downs, both outward
and homeward bound, his presence was very necessary. The ships were
taken down the Thames by the Company’s own pilots, and this corporation
owned its own pilot-cutter, which was a 60-ton craft with a master and
six men, her cruising ground being between Gravesend and the Downs.
However, even then, the Company’s ships were by no means immune from
getting ashore, although it ought to be mentioned that by the middle
of the eighteenth century a really good chart of the Thames estuary
did not exist, and the exact nature of some of the numerous shoals was
unknown. It is not surprising, therefore, to find casualties occurring
as these big ships went up and down the London river. For instance,
in March 1734 the East Indiaman _Derby_, outward bound in charge of a
“Pylot,” ran aground “on the Mouse Sand below the Nore.” (This shoal is
a few miles to the east of Southend pier.) She sustained so much damage
that she had to put into Sheerness for dry-docking and repairs.
So also, a few days before Christmas in the year 1736, the East
Indiaman _Lyell_ “by the Unskilfulness of the Pilote has been Onshore
on the Spaniard Sand,[D] in going down for the Downs.” So she also had
to use Sheerness dock for repairs. Captain John Acton, the commander
of the _Lyell_, in his report stated that the “Pylots” pretended not
to have seen the “Buoy of the Spill,” and “borrowing too near on the
Kentish Shore, he run us aground on the Spaniard at High Water, the
wind blowing fresh N.W.” The “Spill,” or, as it is now called, the
“Spile” buoy, marks the western end of the Spile Sand. The pilots had
clearly got out of their course, for these East Indiamen, drawing as
they did 20 feet of water, would never have taken the inner passage
along the Kentish shore known as the Four Fathoms Channel. They should
have left the Spile buoy to starboard and not to port, as clearly was
the case in the present instance among the shoals. The north-west was
a fair wind from the Thames to the Downs all the way, so that no one
except by accident would have chosen to take such a ship so far out of
the main, deep-water channel.
The ship was hard and fast on the Spaniard, and the conditions could
scarcely have been worse—a fresh onshore wind, and the accident
occurring at top of high water. All night the ship lay on the shoal
bumping and injuring herself so that there were soon seven feet of
water in the hold, and the pumps could not cope with it. But on the
morning of Christmas Eve by a great piece of luck the ship was got
off, for the wind veered to the north and sent in a bigger tide, as of
course it would, and a local fisherman—doubtless from Whitstable or the
East Swale—came and assisted with his local knowledge so that “thank
God the ship floated and we got her off here.” Making a fair wind of it
the _Lyell_ then ran into the East Swale and anchored off Faversham.
And a very handsome sight she must have looked lying to her hempen
cable in that winding river.
One bleak day in January 1737 the East Indiaman _Nassau_ had the
misfortune to run on the south end of the Galloper in a “hard gale at
SW,” as her captain reported. The Galloper is a treacherous bank in
the North Sea off Harwich, and many a ship used to get picked up here
in the olden days. The _Nassau_ was now in a critical position, and
every moment those on board expected her to go to pieces: “but,” wrote
her skipper, “by the Providence of the Almighty in about an Hours time
we forc’d her off again with her head sails, but had the misfortune
at the same time of losing our Rudder, Main and Mizen Top Mast which
obliged us soon after to come to an anchor.” But here again, just as
had been the case with the _Lyell_, local assistance came to them.
For after a time the Harwich packet passed them bound for Holland,
and her captain, seeing the _Nassau_, hailed her skipper and advised
her to stand in for Orfordness, and even sent on board his mate, as
he knew every inch of that coast. However, the wind now veered to the
north-north-west, which made it fair for running down the North Sea,
so the _Nassau_ sailed down towards the North Foreland and anchored in
Margate Roads, whence her captain was able to send information to the
East India Company, where also he would wait for orders.
Another peril which these East Indiamen had to remember was the
presence of pirates. These consisted not merely of local Eastern
craft, but of such people as Captains Avery and Kidd, two of the most
notorious men in the whole history of piracy. In the early part of the
eighteenth century the latter were found in many parts of the Indian
Ocean. Madagascar was a favourite base for these rovers, but they
would be found off Mauritius, or at the mouth of the Red Sea awaiting
the East Indiamen returning from Mocha and Jeddah. Not content with
this, these European pirates would hang about off the Malabar coast,
and the East India Company’s ships suffered considerably, and feared
a repetition of these attacks. And yet, when we consider the matter
dispassionately, were Avery, Kidd and his fellow-pirates very much
worse than some of those captains who first took the English ships out
to the Orient, who thought it no wrong but a mere matter of business
to stop a Portuguese ship and relieve her of her cargo just as these
eighteenth-century pirates would assail the ships of the present
monopolists of the Eastern trade? The only difference that seems
obvious is that Lancaster and those other early captains were acting on
behalf of a powerful corporation having a charter from the sovereign:
whereas Avery, Kidd and the like were acting on their own and were
outlaws. And even this cannot be pushed too far, seeing that at one
time of his career Kidd received a commission from William III. to go
forth and, as “a private man-of-war,” capture other notorious “pirates,
free-booters and sea-rovers,” on the old principle of setting a thief
to catch a thief.
Sometimes these East Indiamen were taken for the enemy even by English
men-of-war. You will remember the famous voyage of Lord Anson round
the world in the years 1740-1744. One day whilst they were in the
South Atlantic they saw a sail to the north-west, and the squadron
began to exchange signals with each other and to give chase “and half
an hour after we let out our reefs and chased with the squadron ...
but at seven in the evening, finding we did not near the chace ...
we shortened sail, and made a signal for the cruisers to join the
squadron. The next day but one we again discovered a sail, which on
nearer approach we judged to be the same vessel. We chased her the
whole day, and though we rather gained upon her, yet night came on
before we could overtake her, which obliged us to give over the chace,
to collect our scattered squadron. We were much chagrined at the escape
of this vessel, as we then apprehended her to be an advice-boat sent
from Old Spain to Buenos Ayres with notice of our expedition. But we
have since learnt that we were deceived in this conjecture, and that
it was our East India Company’s packet bound to St Helena.” This is
certainly a fair proof of the sailing qualities of the Company’s ships,
seeing that not even the English cruisers could overhaul the merchant
ship.
At this time the chief cargoes which these East Indiamen took out to
the East still included those woollen goods which had been sent ever
since the foundation of the first Company, and they continued to bring
back saltpetre, but now tea was becoming a much more important cargo.
But in addition to that tea which came home in the Company’s ships and
paid custom duty, there was a vast amount brought in by smugglers. And
one argument used to be that this had to be, because the East Indiamen
brought back chiefly the better, higher priced kind, compelling the
dealers to send to Holland for the cheaper variety.
The East Indiamen’s captains were not above engaging in the smuggling
industry, at any rate as aiders and abettors. One of the methods was
to wait until the ship arrived in the Downs. Men would come out from
the Deal beach in their luggers and then take ashore quantities of
tea secreted about their person. This was the reason why the Revenue
cruisers were told to keep an especial watch on the Company’s ships
when homeward bound, because of “the illicit practices that are
continually attempted to be committed by them.” So notorious indeed and
so ingenious were the methods to land goods without previously paying
duty, that the Revenue cutters were ordered to follow these bigger
ships all the way up Channel, keeping as close to them as possible
as long as they were under sail, and when the East Indiaman came to
anchor, the cutter was to bring up as near as possible to her. This
was to prevent goods (such as silk and tea) being dropped through the
ship’s ports into a friendly boat that had come out from the beach, a
practice that was by no means unknown on board these merchant craft
home from the Orient.
Just as there was serious friction sometimes between the Revenue
cutters and the ships of his Majesty’s navy concerning the wearing of
pendants, so these incidents were not unknown to happen to the ships
of the Honourable East India Company. As an instance, Captain Balchen,
R.N., during the year 1726 wrote to the latter complaining that one of
their ships had hoisted a broad red pendant at the main topmast head.
There was certainly no possible defence, and the Company were compelled
to reply that they were “entire strangers” to the complaint, and
would give directions to prevent this occurring again. But otherwise
these East Indiamen were treated with far more respect than any other
merchant ships. No finer ships other than men-of-war sailed the seas.
On arriving at their port in India they were always saluted, and their
captains ranked as Members of Council, being saluted with thirteen
guns when they landed, and the guard turning out when they entered
or left the fort. No one, in fact, other than officers of the Royal
Navy received such respect. Under the captain were from four to eight
officers in the bigger ships, who all wore uniforms, the duties on
board being carried on with just the same discipline as in a man-of-war.
Some of the Company’s servants were making handsome profits even when
the Company itself was doing badly. Eastwick mentions the name of a
purser who had such nice little perquisites out of his office that he
left the service and became owner of a ship which traded between London
and Calcutta. She was a ship of no mean size, for she carried thirty
cabin passengers and 300 lascars, together with a large mixed cargo
of the value of £13,000. And you may judge of the profits from the
passenger source alone when it is stated that one of these cabins cost
four hundred guineas for the voyage. The affairs of the Company had
for some years been in a rather bad way. Instead of being able to pay
to the Government the stipulated sum of £400,000 a year, the directors
were actually compelled to ask the Government for a loan of £1,000,000.
This was in the year 1772. The affairs of the Company were brought
before Parliament, and a Committee exposed a series of intrigues and
crime. It was to remedy this rotten condition of things that in June of
1773 two Bills were introduced, of which one authorised the loan just
mentioned, and the other, celebrated as the India Act, effected most
important changes in the Company’s constitution and its relations to
India. A Governor-General was appointed to reside in Bengal, to which
the other presidencies were to be made subordinate. A supreme court
of judicature was inaugurated at Calcutta. The salary of the Governor
was to be £25,000 a year, and that of the Council members at £10,000
each, the chief judge receiving £8000 a year. From this time forth the
Company’s affairs were brought under the control of the Crown, all the
departments were reorganised, and all the territorial correspondence
had to be laid before the British Ministry.
It was certainly high time that the Company’s affairs were taken in
hand. Our present inquiry is concerned only with its merchant shipping,
so we may confine ourselves strictly thereto. Had it not been for the
wonderfully popular taste which the United Kingdom had now shown for
tea, the Company’s ships would have been compelled to cease trading
with the East. When, in 1773, the Company’s charter was once more
renewed, a grant was made of a monopoly also to China. From about the
middle of the eighteenth century, however, the Company had become more
of a military than a trading concern, yet the latter was anything but
insignificant. Enormous tracts of land had been obtained in India. The
governments of the native princes were corrupt, and the East India
Company was strong. The British Government was some thousands of miles
across the sea, so gradually but surely, without much interference, the
Company had obtained a strong grip on the natives. From that followed
extortion, and when the Company’s servants returned home they came with
fortunes, even though the Company itself was doing badly.
In the year 1772 the East India Company were employing fifty-five ships
abroad, aggregating 39,836 tons. At home they owned, and there were
being built for its service thirty ships of an aggregate of 22,000
tons. In 1784 the number of its ships at home and abroad was sixty-six.
The chief object of the inquiry into the Company’s trade with the East
by the Committee just alluded to was apparently to see if the ships
could be built and run more cheaply than under the present method of
chartering. It was seen from the evidence of Sir Richard Hotham that
the existing method of freighting the Company’s ships could be improved
upon to effect greater economy, for whereas the Company were paying in
the year 1772 as much as £32 a ton for the carriage of fine goods, this
expert witness expressed himself as willing to bring goods from any
part of the East at £21 a ton.
The result of this inquiry was that important changes had to be made.
The Company began to put its shipping business into proper condition.
The Company decided to build for its own use a number of bigger ships
than they had been wont to use, and thus those wonderful East Indiamen,
for which the eighteenth century will ever be famous, came into being.
They were of 1200 to 1400 nominal tons, though their real measurement
was greater than this. Such ships began to be built about the year
1781, though in earlier days, as the reader is aware, the ships had
recently averaged between 400 and 500 tons, not exceeding the latter
figure. The new type, of course, did not entirely drive the smaller
ones straight off the sea, but the two classes existed side by side.
We alluded just now to the terrible national evil of smuggling. This
vice had reached amazing limits during the eighteenth century, and the
country was in such a state of alarm, and honest traders complained
so bitterly of the disastrous effects on their prosperity, that in
the year 1745 a beginning was made of an inquiry by a Parliamentary
Committee into the causes of smuggling and the most effectual methods
to stop it. We have seen that tea, because of its recent popularity,
was especially an article beloved by these smugglers. We need not enter
further into this inquiry, but evidence showed that one of the best
means of ending this illicit trade would be to reduce the duties, thus
not making it worth while for the illicit trader to carry on his work.
Now when Pitt did reduce the duties on various Indian productions, but
especially on tea, it was found that a complete change was made in the
demand for this commodity. Many thousand more pounds’ weight were now
required, the sales were trebled, and thus there was a much greater
shipping business. The export trade to China now began to be most
important also, and the Company was prospering.
But before we proceed any further we must just see the conditions which
were in existence up to 1773 in regard to the method of chartering
ships by the Company from the owners. It was agreed that these hired
ships were to be surveyed by the Company whenever the latter desired,
and it is typical of the times that the proviso had to be inserted that
the Company’s surveyors “are to be civilly treated.” In order that the
ship might be efficiently armed, the commander and owners were liable
to a fine of £40 for each gun that was wanting. If any of the guns
were sold, the owners and commander were to be fined £100 for each gun,
and the commander to be dismissed the Company’s service. The commander
was also to obey the Company’s orders during the voyage, as well as
their agents and factors. In order to encourage the seamen, the Company
agreed to reward them when the ship returned to the Thames from the
East Indies at the end of the voyage—that is to say, if they had been
able to prevent any wilful damage to the Company’s property, or save
them from being lost, a reward suitable for the benefit was to be made.
If a seaman were to lose his life in defending the ship, his next of
kin was to receive £30. If he lost a limb, he himself was to have the
same sum. If he received minor wounds he was to be given some smaller
monetary reward and to be “cured of his wounds” at the Company’s
expense.
The Company expressly forbade these hired ships from calling at places
other than those which it ordered, or to take any foreign coin or
bullion, goods or provisions at any place short of her consigned port.
The cargo was to be disposed in the best manner to prevent damage, and
so that the working of the ship and her efficient defence would not be
interfered with. Pepper was not to be shot loose between decks or the
freight would not be paid for. If the ship should touch at St Helena
or the island of Ascension she was not to sail without the permission
of the Governor and Council. Nor was she to touch at Barbadoes, or any
American port, or any of the western islands, or even Plymouth, without
orders or some unavoidable danger of the sea, under a penalty of £500.
The commander, chief and second mates were to keep journals of the
ship’s daily proceedings, from the time when she first took in cargo
in the River Thames to the time of her return and discharge of her
cargo in England. Wind, weather, and all the remarkable transactions,
accidents and occurrences during the voyage were to be noted in these
journals, as also of everything received into the ship. These journals
were to be delivered up to the Company afterwards, on oath, if required.
No unlicensed goods were to be carried in the ship nor any passengers
to be taken without permission. The ship was to have her full
complement of men during the voyage, and none of these crews was
to be furnished by the master or officers with money, liquor, or
provisions beyond the value of one-third of what the wages of such
seamen should amount to at that particular time. The paymaster (who was
appointed by the Company and owners jointly) was to pay the seamen’s
wives one month’s wages in six. The commander was to have the use of
the ship’s great cabin, unless it were required for the Company’s
servants voyaging out or home. It was the duty of the part-owners
or the master to send in the ship always the sum of £500 in foreign
coins or bullion for use in the case of extraordinary expenses during
the voyage. The commander was also to be supplied with £200 a month
for paying wages and provisions while in India or China. And whenever
lascars were hired, the Company were to pay for their hire. We shall
refer to the subject of these lascars again presently, but we may now
go on to witness the development of the Company’s shipping after the
inauguration of those reforms at which we hinted just now.
FOOTNOTE:
[D] The Spaniard is a treacherous patch off the north-east corner of
the Isle of Sheppey.
CHAPTER XIII
THE EAST INDIAMEN’S ENEMIES
The East India Company had recovered from their period of desolation.
They had set their house in order, had been granted a further extension
of their monopoly, were opening up a good trade with China, and had
received fresh capital for their operations in wider spheres. The trade
of the East was practically now in the hands of England, the Dutch
East India Company having suffered very heavily, and the French East
India Company after languishing had come to an end in 1790. Although
there had been formed the first Danish East India Company as far back
as 1612, and a Spanish Royal Company for trading with the Philippines
incorporated in 1733 and an Ostend East India Company incorporated
by the Emperor of Austria in 1723; yet the last-mentioned had become
bankrupt in 1784, and now the English East India Company, after many
vicissitudes, was left practically the sole surviving trading power in
the Orient.
Under Pitt’s Act the directors of the English Company were allowed to
superintend their shipping and matters of commerce as before, yet the
Board of Control exercised its influence both in England and India.
Each year the Company settled the number of ships to be built and
their sizes. For instance, in 1784, as they saw that at least four more
ships would be required, they ordered six to be built. The keels were
to be laid down within six months, and the ships were to be launched
within twelve months of the laying of the keel. The following year they
decided to have three sets of shipping with about thirty ships in each
class, so leave was given for eight ships to be built. Tenders were
therefore advertised for in January 1786, much to the indignation of
the owners, who complained that this advertisement was directed against
their interests. They denied that hitherto their rates for freight
had been exorbitant, and protested that they had embarked on immense
shipbuilding programmes expressly for the Company’s benefit. The
Company therefore replied, inviting them to send in tenders, which was
done, the same rate being offered as in the preceding season—viz. £26 a
ton to China direct, £27 for coast and China, Bombay £28, coast and bay
£29. On 9th June of that year a tender was offered the Company to build
a 1000-ton ship at £22 a ton for the first two voyages, and £20 for the
third and fourth voyages.
Up till the year 1789 the size of the Company’s recent big ships had
been from 750 to 800 tons. But in this year it was decided to build
five ships of from 1100 to 1200 tons. The following May the Court
resolved that from past experience ships could quite well make three
voyages without stripping off their sheathing. And, further, those
ships which had been accustomed to make the fourth trip their repairing
voyage might with perfect safety perform even six voyages. A by-law of
1773 had restricted the employment of ships for more than four voyages,
but this was now modified, and instead of four voyages agreements were
entered into with the owners for the ships to run six.
It was decided also by the Company in the year 1789 to allow the
commanders and officers of their ships to fill, freight free, all such
outward tonnage as might be unoccupied by the Company, and to allow
the Company’s servants and merchants residing under the Company’s
protection in India to fill up such homeward tonnage as might be
unoccupied by the Company, at a reasonable freight. When we come to
the year 1793 we have to deal with an important Act of the reign of
George III., which had far-reaching effects. The Company’s charter
was extended until 1814, but provision was made for opening up the
Indian trade to private individuals, and thus the long-lived monopoly
of the Company was doomed. At length the agitations of the Liverpool
and Bristol shipowners to be allowed to participate in the East India
trade were to have some sort of effect, though it was far from what was
desired. However, one of the conditions of the renewal of the Company’s
exclusive privilege under this Act was that any of the Company’s civil
servants in India, and the free merchants living in India under the
Company’s protection, might be permitted to send to Europe on their own
account and risk in the Company’s ships all kinds of Indian goods with
the exception of calicoes, dimities, muslins and other piece-goods.
And “for insuring to private merchants and manufacturers the certain
and ample means of exporting their merchandize to the East Indies, and
importing the returns for the same, and the other goods, wares and
merchandize, allowed by this Act, at reasonable rates of freight,” the
Company was ordered to set apart at least 3000 tons of shipping every
year. The charge was to be £5 a ton on the outward voyage in times of
peace, and. £15 homeward. But in the time of war the rates should be
increased if the Board of Control approved. It was further stipulated
that his Majesty’s subjects might be allowed to export from England
to India any produce or manufactured goods except military stores,
ammunition, masts, spars, cordage, pitch, tar and copper. But in all
cases of exports and imports in this Anglo-Indian trade the goods must
travel in the Company’s ships. These vessels, provided under the Act,
thus became known as “extra East Indiamen,” and sometimes in reading
books of voyages and travel of this period you will find the narrator
informing the reader that he travelled to the East on board the “extra”
East Indiaman so-and-so. It may be stated at once that though the Act
was obeyed, it produced little result, for considering that the Company
still had such a powerful monopoly of trade in the East, it was quite
impossible for home merchants to compete with such a corporation.
Most manufacturers and merchants declined to avail themselves of
this privilege, full well realising beforehand how useless it would
be. However, the Company fulfilled their obligation to provide this
additional tonnage, though it entailed a heavy expenditure without much
benefit to the public. The people who benefited most were the servants
of the Company, who, being homeward bound, were able to bring back to
England Indian produce that would find a ready market here.
In the year 1793 the Company had only thirty-six vessels of 1200
tons each and forty of 800 tons each. This of course represented the
whole of the British shipping trading to the East. Some idea of the
shipbuilding programmes of the next few years may be gathered from
the following facts, bearing in mind that the Company were trading to
China as well as to India, and that both big and moderate-sized ships
were deemed necessary. Thus in October of 1793 the Court decided that
sixteen ships of from 700 to 800 tons were necessary, and one of 1200
tons for the annual imports from India in their regular commerce; and
that fifteen large ships of 1200 tons would be required for imports
from China. When a ship became worn out by age, accident or inability,
an advertisement was published, describing the size of the ship
required, inviting tenders and specifying the rate of freight to be
paid for six voyages, the ship to be commanded by the captain of the
ship whose bottom was worn out. In December of the following year it
was resolved that ships of 1400 tons were the most suitable for the
Company’s trade to China, but that these ships should be tendered at
1200 tons only. So also the regular ships (as distinct from the extra
East Indiamen) which brought home their rich cargoes from Bengal and
Madras were not to exceed 820 tons and to be chartered at 799 tons. It
was further settled that ships of from 480 to 520 tons were the most
suitable craft for bringing home what were known as “gruff” goods—that
is, cargoes of Indian goods consisting of such raw materials as
cotton, rice, sugar, pepper, hemp and saltpetre. The silks, muslins,
tea and fine goods were carried in the Company’s larger ships, which
carried also the passengers. From the latter quite a large revenue
was obtained, as soon as the Company’s rule in India became fully
established.
The public were still very jealous of the Company’s private monopoly,
and the country was deluged by pamphleteers and tractarians giving
vent to this indignation. However, some benefit had been obtained by a
reduction in the freights, and it was brought about in the following
manner. The suggestion was made that great advantages would result if
India-built ships were employed by the Company for the spare freight
which was lying ready for shipment to Europe. English oak was getting
scarcer, and therefore dearer, and could ill be spared so long as the
Royal Navy continued to be wooden walls: whereas out in India the
Company owned inexhaustible forests. So from the year 1795 India-built
ships were for the first time allowed to take exports and imports. They
were commonly known as “country-built” ships, and in the year mentioned
twenty-seven of these craft were despatched from India with cargoes
of rice. The cost of engaging these ships was at £16 a ton for rice
and other deadweight goods and £20 a ton for light goods, the ships to
arrive and discharge in the Thames. As a result a saving in one season
alone was made of £183,316 in respect of freights. But there occurred
some keen disappointment to the owners of these India-built ships.
The arrangement had been that, having delivered the goods mentioned
in the Thames, they should be allowed to take back to India whatever
merchandise they cared to put aboard. Many of these ships had been
built as a speculation, their owners believing that they would be taken
into the Company’s regular service and so be employed permanently.
Notwithstanding that they had been warned against any such supposition,
it came as a bitter grief to them when they realised that after the
Company’s immediate requirements were completed the services of these
ships were no longer required; but for all that the day was now not far
distant when trade to India was to be thrown open altogether. It is the
last straw which breaks the camel’s back, and the load which had been
accumulating ever since the year 1600 was soon to reach the point when
something would have to give way.
It should be explained that this was one of the most critical periods
in the whole of England’s naval chronicle and therefore of her very
existence. The Battle of the Glorious First of June had been fought
in 1794, and in this same year Martinique had been captured from the
French. The year 1795 was to be even still more replete with naval
doings. Ships and men were required as they had never been wanted
before, and it was just in this respect that the existence of the East
India Company was of the greatest direct benefit to the country and
the navy. It must always be to its honour that the Company which had
for so long enjoyed the privilege of the Indian monopoly was on this
especial occasion to have the privilege of assisting the nation in
a most valuable manner. At the opening of the year France possessed
advantages which she had never previously enjoyed. She had made peace
with Prussia, she had reduced Holland to submission and made a treaty
with the latter, the result of which was that the Dutch fleet of about
120 ships was placed at France’s disposal. These were well-built
craft, manned by excellent crews who were seamen to their finger-tips.
As against this, England was in a condition of isolation and there was
a tremendous amount of work to be done and too few ships at hand. For
Brest had to be watched, and the Mediterranean fleet had to look after
the French based on Toulon. Admiral Duncan had to be sent across the
North Sea to prevent any Dutch ships from emerging out of the Texel,
but in the southern part of the world something much more historic
was destined to occur, for the Cape of Good Hope was captured from
the Dutch, and just at the time when our success hung in the balance
a strong squadron of East Indiamen arrived with a reinforcement of
British troops. The result was that against this force the Dutch
could no longer stand. The Dutch settlement (and incidentally a brig
belonging to the Dutch East India Company) now became British.
Never had the East India Company been more useful to the navy than
in this year. Ships and seamen cannot be got by the mere signing of
documents unless they already exist, and it was lucky for the nation
that such fine, stout craft, accustomed to long voyages and fighting,
manned with such able crews, should already be at hand under the East
India Company. At the time of which we speak no fewer than six of their
finest vessels were taken into the nation’s service straight away.
Eight others which had not quite finished building were also assigned
to the Government. In addition to these fourteen handsome craft, the
Court of Directors also decided on the 13th of March to raise 3000 men
at their own cost for the Royal Navy. This meant a loss of £57,000,
but the nation needed it and the Company did their duty. During the
ensuing July the Company further decided that fourteen East Indiamen
should be placed at the disposal of the Government in September ready
to carry troops across the ocean—a work for which they were extremely
well fitted—and we have just seen to what advantage this was done.
England at this time was distressed by the scarcity of corn, but in
order to relieve this distress in some measure large quantities of rice
were brought home by twenty-seven ships which the Company purposely
added to their fleet for the emergency, and these were the India-built
ships of which we spoke just now. Thus in more ways than one, but
certainly to the utmost of their ability, the East India Company had
come to Britain’s aid when she was passing through a time of great
crisis.
During this year the seas which wash the Indian coast were really
unsafe to merchantmen by reason of the presence of both French and
Dutch cruisers and privateers. The British naval strength in those
waters was very inadequate, and we had suffered some naval disasters
which were neither a credit to our seamanship nor likely to maintain
our prestige as gallant sea-fighters. The whole of the Bay of Bengal
was being scoured by French men-of-war ready to fall upon any merchant
craft that dared show herself. The privateers were both numerous,
well manned, well armed, well commanded and very fast sailers. The
consequence was that the East Indiamen never completed their voyages
without having some excitement. Nor were pirates exterminated;
especially along the Malabar coast, where they had many fastnesses,
their strongholds being protected by forts. These men feared nothing,
and had actually come out and defeated English, French and Dutch
men-of-war that had been especially sent out to punish them, in some
cases even capturing their enemy’s ships. A French 40-gun frigate had
been compelled to haul down her colours to these robbers of the sea:
one of the East India Company’s ships, armed with twenty guns, had also
been taken after a fair fight, and three Dutch men-of-war. For some
years they were crushed by the wholesome effect of a regular expedition
which the English had sent against them, but after a few years they
broke out again in their piracy and by the year 1798 they were freely
capturing European ships.
On at least one occasion, however, they made a serious mistake, which
might have been even still more grievous for them but for a piece
of luck. It happened that H.M.S. _Centurion_, a 50-gun frigate, was
cruising in the neighbourhood, and her the pirates mistook for a
merchantman, for the East Indiamen were very similar in appearance to
the frigates of the Royal Navy. One of the favourite devices of these
rovers was to creep up under cover of darkness and wedge the rudder
of the ship they intended to attack, their victim being thus rendered
unable to manœuvre. In the present instance they had succeeded in
carrying out this tactic to the _Centurion_, and then surrounded the
ship and began their attack. The frigate was certainly surprised, but
she soon had her guns loaded and brought them to bear on the pirates,
and so punished them with a hot fire, which had not been expected, that
they were glad to take to flight. It was only the fact of the wedged
rudder which prevented the _Centurion_ from being steered in pursuit
and capturing their craft. However, it was a lesson to them in the
future, and they attacked only when they were certain of their victim.
Of the privateers which hung about in Indian waters, one of the most
notorious was the _Malartic_, which had captured two of the East
Indiamen, _Raymond_ and _Woodcot_, of 793 and 802 tons respectively.
Whenever it was known that this ship was in the offing, no merchantman
dared put to sea. She eventually captured the _Princess Royal_, an
805 tonner, and other East Indiamen, but was herself finally taken by
the Company’s ship _Phœnix_. So great was the relief occasioned by
this deliverance that Captain Moffat, the _Phœnix’s_ commander, was
afterwards publicly presented with a sword of honour. But an even more
dangerous privateer was the _Confiance_. This was a very beautiful
ship, and the envy of every captain who set eyes on her. Captain
Eastwick, who knew her well, and to whose account I am indebted,
described her as follows:—“She sat very low upon the water, and had
black sides with yellow moulding posts, and a French stern all black.
She carried a red vane at her maintopgallant masthead, very square
yards and jaunt masts, upright and without the smallest rake either
forward or aft. Her sails were all cut French fashion, and remarkable,
having a great roach and steering sail, very square. There was not a
ship in those seas that she could not overtake or sail away from. It
was the custom of her commander, Captain Sourcouff, to ply his crew
with liquor, and they always fought with the madness of drink in them.”
It was this ship which attacked the East Indiaman _Kent_, and after
a heavy engagement killed or wounded no fewer than sixty of the
merchantman’s crew, with the result that the latter was forced to haul
down her flag. When the news of this occurrence reached Calcutta, two
of the Company’s frigates were sent in pursuit of the privateer, and
both coming up with her began to attack with such determination that
it was certain the _Confiance_ would have to yield. This, however, she
refused to do, and though she had only twenty-two guns, her captain
fought his ship with great gallantry, and even though his losses were
necessarily great, he was able at the end to escape by the speed
of his ship. The _Kent_, however, was retaken from the clutches of
the _Confiance_ and brought into Calcutta, and a few years later
the _Confiance_ herself was also captured. And you may imagine with
what joy the news of her capture was received when it was reckoned
that within one single twelvemonth not less than £2,000,000 worth of
British shipping had been captured or sunk by the French privateers or
men-of-war.
And there was the curious incident of the _Lord Eldon_ being nearly
captured right on the doorstep, so to speak, of her home. This ship
was an East Indiaman outward bound to India. At the moment of which we
are speaking she had backed her sails and was lying off the Needles
hove-to, as she awaited some passengers who had been delayed in joining
her. But whilst she was thus hove-to a sea fog suddenly came down. Not
far off was a French privateer hovering about, and this was the chance
of a century. Under cover of this fog he approached the East Indiaman
unobserved, so that he came right alongside. When the men on board the
_Lord Eldon_ discovered this big ship close up to them in the haze
they were alarmed, but not for the reason that you might suppose. It
did not occur to them that she was a privateer, but they assumed she
was one of the King’s ships and was now about to impress the East
Indiaman’s crew into the navy in the manner that we saw in an earlier
chapter. As the crew had no desire to come under impressment, they at
once hid, with the result that the privateer’s men had no difficulty in
coming on board the _Lord Eldon_. The captain was below at the time,
and hearing a noise and clamour came on deck to see what it was all
about: and then to his amazement found that his ship was in the hands
of the enemy. However, he was not one easily to be daunted, even by
such a surprise as this. His life was made up of things unexpected,
and knowing that his men were well drilled he called to them to repel
boarders. They at once responded to the command and came out from their
hiding-places, and after a sharp fight drove the invaders overboard.
One Frenchman had even got possession of the _Lord Eldon’s_ wheel,
but the East Indiaman’s captain killed him with his own hand, cutting
off his head with one stroke of the sword. In a very short time the
privateer, who was now more surprised than the crew of the merchant
ship, hurriedly made sail and disappeared into the fog. The incident
well shows the fighting efficiency of the commanders and men of the
Company’s vessels at this period.
During the early part of the eighteenth century about a dozen or
fifteen of the Company’s ships would sail to the East Indies from
London, but this average gradually rose till, about the year 1779,
there were about twenty vessels going out each year. But thereafter
the numbers increased to such an extent that in some years there were
as many as thirty or forty: and in the year 1795 as many as seventy-six
did the voyage. After that date the numbers became again normal, so
that up to about the end of 1810 the average was more like forty or
fifty. But even this meant a great deal of trade from which the country
and Company were to benefit largely.
CHAPTER XIV
SHIPS AND MEN
Bombay had been first so called by the Dutch, meaning Good Bay. Owing
to its spaciousness, excellent depth of water and other facilities it
was well designated. By the end of the eighteenth century it had its
dry and wet docks and every facility for careening and repairing ships,
being of great utility to the Company’s merchant ships and its navy as
well. Its dockyard was furnished with all kinds of necessary stores.
Here there was always on hand plenty of timber and planking, here
anchors could be forged, here new cables and ropes were made of all
kinds. The cables were of hemp, but for the smaller ropes the external
fibres of the cocoanut, so abundant in India, were made up into that
inferior type of rope known as kyah or coir.
We called attention on another page to the introduction of India-built
vessels into the Company’s service. India of course is famous for its
teak, and every shipman knows what excellent material this wood is
for building craft, owing to its hardness and durability. The vessels
which Bombay built were fine, stout ships and excellently finished,
and Indian shipbuilders even constructed some battleships and frigates
for the British navy which were in every way splendid vessels. One
vessel named the _Swallow_, which was built out here and launched in
April 1777, was actually in use till she was lost on a shoal in the
Hooghly in June 1823. But during this lengthy period of usefulness
she had served in many seas and in various capacities. She was first
employed as one of the Company’s packets between India and England.
After that she was in the Bombay Marine, or the East India Company’s
navy. After that she again resumed service as one of the Company’s
merchantmen, where she remained for many years. About the beginning of
the nineteenth century she was sold to the Danes, and from Copenhagen
proceeded to the West Indies, where she was arrested as a prize by a
British man-of-war. She was then employed in the King’s service and
became a sloop-of-war, and afterwards sold out of the service to some
merchants. In this capacity she again made several voyages between
London and Bombay, and eventually brought her fine career to an end as
stated.
Before the close of the eighteenth century the Battle of the Nile had
been fought and won. The importance of this to India was tremendous.
For had the result been otherwise Napoleon would have possessed
himself of all that the English East India Company had done there. Our
Anglo-Indian trade would have come to an end, and the ships which are
the subject of our present study would have been no longer required,
or else compelled to sail under the French flag. Nelson, in fact, had
despatched a messenger overland to the Governor of Bombay, informing
the latter of the arrival of the French in Egypt, for he knew well
that Bombay was the objective of the enemy if they could get there.
However, Nelson’s victory at the Nile quite altered all this, and when
the East India Company afterwards voted the gallant admiral the sum of
£10,000, it was to show how deeply indebted was this corporation for
the welcome relief from catastrophe.
Before we leave the eighteenth century we have to consider some of the
more important changes and developments which were taking place. We
have seen that the size of these East Indiamen had gradually increased
during the century. About the year 1700 the biggest vessels were under
500 tons. Some were even much smaller, as, for instance, the _Juno_, of
180 tons, and the _Success_ and the _Borneo_ of similar size, but there
was also the _Arabella_, of only 140 tons, and the _Benjamin_, of 160
tons. Between the years 1748 and 1772 all the Company’s merchant ships
are of one size—499 tons. There are very few exceptions indeed to this,
and in those few instances you get an occasional ship of 180, 300,
350, 370 or 380 tons. Otherwise there is nothing but this stereotyped
499-ton ship year after year, season after season. This curious fact
has puzzled many people, including those who in later days served in
the Company’s service. Why was it?
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN “SWALLOW.”
This vessel was of about 700 tons, and armed with eighteen guns. She is
here seen in the year 1788 in different ways—hove-to for a pilot, under
plain sail, and before the wind under all sail.
(By kind permission of the P. & O. Steam Navigation Company)]
The answer is quite simple, and I give it on the authority of an old
skipper contemporary with these ships, named Hutchinson, who at one
time of his life had been a privateer. The reader will remember that
in an earlier chapter I drew attention to the slackness of morals and
general spirit of irreligion which were notorious of the mid-eighteenth
century, at any rate so far as English people were concerned. Naturally
enough this spirit spread to the ships of the East India Company, so
that the corruption ashore had its counterpart afloat. Now these
craft, when they were of 500 tons and over, were compelled to carry
a chaplain. And it was just in order to be able to dispense with the
latter, and so save expense, that the owners used to cause these ships
to be rated at 499 tons, and so keep within the letter of the law.
These 499-ton ships carried a captain, four mates, a surgeon and a
purser. They would sail from the Downs about January or March of one
year, proceed to India or China, and then be back again in the London
river by June or July of the following year, though sometimes they were
away for much longer periods. When homeward bound they had called at
Portsmouth—where the more wealthy passengers went ashore and proceeded
home by road—and the Downs, they eventually made fast to moorings at
one of three places—Blackwall, Deptford and North-fleet.
We spoke, also, some time back of what were known as “hereditary
bottoms,” by which it was meant that an owner who had been accustomed
to charter one of his ships to the Company had a proprietary right to
supply other ships when this one had been worn out. Thus one finds,
for instance, a ship called the _Brunswick_ built on the bottom of the
_Atlas_, the _Hindostan_ built on the bottom of the _Grosvenor_, and so
on. This went on for year after year, so that you could make out a kind
of genealogical tree of East India ships. It was a very clear instance
of eighteenth-century monopoly which would be hard to beat. But this
principle of perpetuity came to an end on 6th February 1796, when
open competition was introduced. There can be no question that this
decision, together with that of abolishing the sale of commands, was
all for the good of the service. The Company themselves recognised that
it was the only way in which they could have an efficient fleet, always
ready and consisting of vessels built on the best principles, inspected
during construction by the Company’s own surveyors, and commanded by
officers “of acknowledged character, talents and experience,” and
various by-laws were passed to this effect. The following list will
afford the reader some idea of the size and dimensions of these East
Indiamen ships at the close of the eighteenth century. The difference
between the burthen tonnage and the chartered tonnage is noticeable:—
Name of Ship Length Beam Burthen Chartered
Tonnage Tonnage
ft. in. ft. in.
Ganges 149 0 43 6 1502 1200
Hope 144 0 43 6 1471 1200
Neptune 144 0 43 6 1468 1200
Hindostan 144 0 43 6 1463 1248
Walmer Castle 144 0 43 6 1460 1200
Warley 144 0 43 6 1460 1200
Earl of Abergavenny 144 0 43 6 1460 1200
Royal Charlotte 144 0 43 6 1460 758
Coutts 144 0 43 6 1451 1200
Cirencester 144 0 43 0 1439 1200
Arniston 144 0 43 0 1433 1200
Glatton 144 0 43 0 1432 1200
Thames 144 0 43 0 1432 1200
Ceres 144 0 43 0 1430 1200
Cuffnells 144 0 43 0 1429 1200
Earl Talbot 144 0 43 0 1428 1200
Nottingham 130 0 40 0 1152 1152
Dorsetshire 134 0 42 0 1200 1200
Alfred 134 0 41 0 1221 1189
David Scott 134 0 42 0 1257 1200
Alnwick Castle 133 11½ 42 0 1257 1200
Exeter 132 0 41 0 1265 1200
Carnatic 132 0 40 6 1169 1169
Boddam 128 0 38 6 1021 1021
Albion 125 0 38 0 961 961
Royal Admiral 120 2 37 10 914 914
Belvidere 123 0 38 8 986 987
Earl Howe 117 10 37 4¾ 876 876
Sulivan 116 0 35 0 876 876
Middlesex 116 0 35 0 852 852
Princess Charlotte 102 0 33 6¾ 610 610
Earl of Wycombe 101 10¾ 34 5¾ 643 655
Princess Mary 93 11 34 5¾ 643 462
The science and art of shipbuilding in England during the eighteenth
century were very defective compared with France. But during the
last decade of this, and the early part of the nineteenth century,
improvements were taking place. Papers were being read before the
Royal Society, treatises were being published, a number of valuable
experiments were being made and the best lessons of the French were
being studied. To all this must be attributed the better type of East
Indiaman which was to follow. The continued demand for tea made it
necessary to have fine, big ships which could get the cargoes of this
perishable commodity to London as soon as possible. It was always
reckoned that an 800-ton ship would be able to bring home about 750,000
lb. of tea, and a 1200-ton ship nearly 1,500,000 lb. Some idea of the
increased popularity of this commodity in England will be ascertained
when it is stated that during the year 1765 five million lbs. were
brought home and sold by the Company. By 1784 the average was about six
million lb., the following year this figure was more than doubled, and
by the end of the century it was nearly twenty-four million lb. There
was, therefore, every need for fine, big ships of good lines. And by an
Act of 1799 the Company were restricted from employing in their service
any ships but those contracted for six voyages to India or China and
back. Whenever they wished to have more ships built, they were to give
public notice of this by advertisement four weeks ahead, inviting
tenders for building and freighting.
But in the year 1803 the Company were empowered to engage ships for two
additional voyages, making eight in all. Two reasons were given for
this innovation. First, if was found that the ships now being built
were of such a character that they could be repaired and refitted
to perform these two additional voyages with great advantage. And
secondly, it was contended that if fewer ships were built, this would
“be the means of lessening the consumption of ship-timber.” It will be
recollected that in the year 1803 Napoleon had openly and intentionally
insulted the British Ambassador, and that in the month of May war was
again declared, and both nations made elaborate preparations for the
resumption of hostilities, the British taking time by the forelock and
sending squadrons to watch Brest and Toulon. All this warlike activity
on sea made it not any easier for the East Indiamen to go about their
lawful business. In effect it meant that they must be fitted out with
even greater care and that they must be armed as strongly as ever they
could be. And this, in turn, meant that the cost to the owners of the
ships was much increased. “War extraordinaries,” as they were called,
were always a source of keen dispute during those anxious years,
between the Company and the shipowners, and in this present case the
Company were authorised to pay higher rates owing to the increased
expense to the owners.
But such was the improvement in the class of vessel now built that in
the year 1810 they were allowed by Act of Parliament to engage ships
even beyond the allotted eight voyages, provided that after being
repaired they were found fit for service. The Company were also allowed
to take up by private contract certain other ships in order to bring
home the cargoes from China and India. Under this class were chartered
vessels which had taken out to New South Wales convicts and stores. The
East India Company had already come to the country’s aid again during
that year, 1803. Ten thousand tons of shipping did they lend to the
State for six months free of charge, though this meant a loss to the
Company of £67,000. These ships were employed in guarding the British
coast against the threatened invasion by the French; and in other ways
they were found very useful to the Admiralty.
In peace time they would go out to India with troops and stores,
calling at St Helena on the way, and then return home with cargoes from
China and India. In the last-mentioned territorial waters they were
almost as likely to be annoyed by the attentions of the press-gangs as
they were in English waters, for his Majesty’s ships out there were
sadly in need of men. Repeated complaints were made by the Company in
regard to this, even as they had previously complained of what used
to take place at home. But repeated and indignant representations
proved ineffectual. Captains of the Royal Navy must have men for their
ships, and the distance between England and India was too great for
much interference under this category, so things went on pretty much as
before.
It will have been noticed from the list of the East India Company’s
ships given on an earlier page in this chapter that the size had
immensely increased. Big ships always necessitate big accommodation
when they reach port. These particular craft were far and away the
biggest merchant ships in the world, for no other trade either required
or could afford such vessels. This being so, the East Indiamen when
they now arrived in the Thames were compelled to lie many miles down
the river, since there was no accommodation for them higher up. But
this was to subject them to a grave risk. They came home with most
valuable cargoes which meant not only very much to the Company, but
were actually of some national importance. As they lay out in the river
a good deal of pilfering went on, and the loss was very serious, not
merely to the Company and the shipowners, but to the State, which lost
a good deal of customs duty thereby, since the goods thus pilfered were
then smuggled ashore. It was therefore realised that the only remedy
was to have a sufficient area of wet docks in which the ships could be
loaded and unloaded. A number of gentlemen therefore decided to form a
joint-stock company with a capital of £200,000 in order to provide wet
docks to be enclosed by proper walls and ditches, and communicating
with the Thames. These docks were to be appropriated solely for the
ships in the India trade, who should pay a duty of 14s. a ton in the
case of a registered English ship, and 12s. a ton for every India-built
ship navigated by lascars. It was ordered that the hatches of every
ship arriving from India or China should be locked down before the ship
reached Gravesend, and the captain, and one of the two officers next
to him in command, must remain on board until such time as the ship
was moored in the docks, and the keys of the hatches handed over to an
officer of the East India Company. Of the thirteen directors of these
docks, four must be directors of the East India Company.
The result of this was that the East India Docks, so well known to all
who take any interest in the port of London, were brought into being.
During the early part of the year 1914, whilst alterations were being
made in connection with the elaborate scheme for the improvement of
London’s shipping facilities, the original foundation-stone of the
undertaking was discovered. This had been laid as far back as 4th March
1804. It had been submerged in the import dock, but was revealed at the
base of one of the old quay walls, from which it slightly projected. On
its top were found recorded the names of Mr Joseph Cotton, who was then
Chairman of the East India Dock Company, and of Mr John Woolmore, the
deputy chairman. The inscription stated that the stone had been laid
by Mr Joseph Huddart, F.R.S., and the names of the engineers, Mr John
Rennie and Mr Ralph Walker, were added. After the dock was opened there
were for many years seen therein the pick of the world’s shipping. But
now, with the overwhelming conquest of the steamship the whole aspect
has been quite changed. Gone are those fine old wind-jammers, gone
is the romance of these ships from the Orient, gone is the stately,
naval system under which these vessels were run, gone are the handsome
opportunities for making fortunes which were then open to the captains
and officers of the mercantile marine.
In some years these ships were very unfortunate. The years 1808
and 1809 were particularly unhappy for the Company’s craft. Ten
homeward-bound East Indiamen were lost, and with them vanished over
a million sterling. The months of November 1808 and March 1809 were
notoriously stormy. Even such big craft as the _Britannia_ (1200 tons)
and the _True Briton_ (1198 tons) were lost during this period. The
former went down off the South Foreland on 25th January 1809. The
latter had parted company from the Bombay ships on 13th October in that
year, whilst sailing in the China seas, and was never heard of again.
The _Admiral Gardner_ had set forth from the Downs on 24th January
1809, and also foundered off the South Foreland on the same day as the
_Britannia_. The _Calcutta_ parted company with the other East Indiamen
off Mauritius on 14th March 1809, and was never seen again. Other ships
were captured by the enemy, some were blown up, others ended their days
by fire, some ran ashore, but as a rule these old East Indiamen managed
to get their freights into the London river with safety.
[Illustration: COMMODORE SIR NATHANIEL DANCE.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
About the year 1809 the rates of insurance between Bengal and England
were £7, 7s. for the regular East Indiaman, and £7 on her cargo. In
the case of “extra” ships the premium was £9, 9s. on the ship and £9
on the cargo. India-built ships were not insured at all, but the cargo
was insured at £15, 15s. If the Company’s ships were convoyed home,
then the “extra” craft were charged only £1 from Bengal to St Helena,
and another £1 from St Helena to England. If there were more than one
ship then only 19s. was charged in both cases, but India-built ships in
these instances were charged £2, 10s.
The number of ships employed for the India and China trade during
the years 1803 to 1808 will be found indicative of the Company’s
activities. These varied from forty-four to fifty-three, and their
burden from 36,671 to 45,342 tons. They ran great risks sometimes, but
in spite of occasional casualties they were often more than able to
look after themselves, when no naval force could be spared to convoy
them. One of the most famous instances on record is that in which the
exploits of a certain Captain Nathaniel Dance figured prominently. This
gallant commander was in charge of the Company’s ship _Earl Camden_.
This vessel was of 1200 tons charter, and had sailed from England in
the season of 1802-1803. She had put into Torbay, and left there on
4th January 1803, and proceeded to Bombay and China. On the last day
of January in the following year she had filled up her holds and began
her return voyage from China. With her sailed also fifteen other East
Indiamen, named respectively the _Warley_, _Alfred_, _Royal George_,
_Coutts_, _Wexford_, _Ganges_, _Exeter_, _Earl of Abergavenny_, _Henry
Addington_, _Bombay Castle_, _Cumberland_, _Hope_, _Dorsetshire_,
_Warren Hastings_ and _Ocean_. And inasmuch as Captain Dance was
the senior commander he acted as commodore for this China fleet. In
addition to these sixteen vessels a number of other vessels were put
under his charge to convoy them as far as their courses were the same.
These vessels included a dozen “country” ships.
The “country” trade, by the way, was the trade between India and the
East as far as China and Manila. It was largely carried on by civil
servants of the East India Company and the free merchants living under
the Company’s protection. In effect the Company resigned this trade
to these people, the scope of this commerce to the westward extending
as far as the Red Sea, the principal commodities being indigo, pepper
and cotton. Of the East India Company’s ships the _Ganges_ was a
fast-sailing brig, which was to be employed by Dance in any way that
might tend to the safety and convenience of the fleet until it had
passed through the Straits of Malacca, when he was to send her on to
Bengal.
On the 14th of February at daybreak the _Royal George_ made a signal to
the commodore that she had sighted four strange sail to the south-west.
Thereupon Dance signalled that the _Alfred_, _Royal George_, _Bombay
Castle_ and the _Hope_ should run down and examine them. It happened
that among the passengers aboard Dance’s ship was Lieutenant Fowler,
R.N., and the latter, who had recently been commander of the
_Porpoise_, offered to go in the _Ganges_ brig and, getting quite close
up to the strange craft, examine them carefully. To this the commodore
assented, and away she went too. After a while Dance learned by signal
that the four strange vessels were none other than a squadron of the
enemy, consisting of a line-of-battle ship, two frigates and a brig. At
one P.M. Dance signalled to his scouts to return, and formed
the line of battle in close order. Now this merchant captain was a
decidedly able tactician, and it is most interesting to note the way he
disposed his forces for battle.
When the enemy saw that they could “fetch” in the wake of the East
Indiamen, they went about, but the commodore held on his course,
keeping under easy sail. About sunset the enemy were close up to the
rear of the English fleet, and as Dance momentarily expected his rear
ships would be attacked, he stood by to succour them. But as the day
ended no attack came, and the enemy hauled off to windward. Meanwhile
the commodore sent Lieutenant Fowler in the _Ganges_ to station the
twelve country ships to leeward of the line of East Indiamen, so that
the latter were between the enemy and the country ships. This was duly
carried out and Mr Fowler returned, bringing with him some volunteers
from the latter to help work the East Indiamen in the fight. All night
long the ships lay in their line of battle, and at daybreak the enemy
were descried about three miles to windward hove-to. The English ships
now hoisted their colours and offered battle. The enemy’s four ships
hoisted French colours. These ships consisted of the _Marengo_, an
84-gun ship with 1200 men; the _Belle Poule_, 44 guns and 490 men; the
_Semilante_, 36 guns and 400 men; and the _Berceau_, 32 guns and 350
men. The _Marengo_ was seen to be flying the flag of a rear-admiral. In
addition there was an 18-gun brig under Dutch colours.
At nine A.M., as the enemy showed no signs of engaging, the commodore
formed the order of sailing and resumed his course, still under easy
sail. But the enemy now filled his sails and edged towards the China
fleet. At 1 P.M. it was obvious that the rear-admiral’s intention was
to cut off the English rear, so Dance made the signal to tack and bear
down on him and engage him in succession, the _Royal George_ being the
leading ship, the _Ganges_ second, and the _Earl Camden_ (flagship)
next. This was done and then under a press of sail the British ships
ran towards the enemy—a very magnificent sight for those privileged
to behold it. The enemy then formed in a very close line, and opened
fire on the first ships, but this was not returned until the distance
was much reduced. The _Royal George_ had to bear the brunt of the
engagement, being in the van, and in consequence suffered, but she got
as close as she could to the enemy. As soon as their guns could have
effect, the _Ganges_ and _Earl Camden_ opened fire, and the rest of the
ships were ready to go into action as soon as their guns could bear.
But before this was possible the French rear-admiral had taken alarm,
the enemy hauled their wind and made away to the eastward, with every
stitch of sail they could set. They had been beaten—and by merchantmen.
Dance then made the signal for a general chase. This was at 2 P.M.,
and the retreating enemy were pursued for two hours, but as the
commodore feared that further pursuit would take his fleet too far
from the Straits, and that his first duty was to preserve his ships
rather than give the enemy any further beating, he made the signal to
tack, and at 8 P.M. anchored for the night, so as to be able to make
for the entrance of the Straits in the morning. The casualties were
confined to the _Royal George_, which had lost one man killed and one
more wounded. Her sails and hull had received many shot, but both the
_Ganges_ and the _Earl Camden_ were practically untouched. The enemy’s
gunnery was distinctly bad, the shot falling either short or over.
Every man who took part in this extraordinary engagement had done his
duty handsomely. Captain Timins of the _Royal George_ had taken his
ship into action most gallantly, but every ship in the English line had
been cleared and prepared for action, anxious to have the opportunity
of showing their worth. As the enemy had now long since disappeared
there was nothing for Dance to do but continue on his homeward voyage.
From Malacca he despatched Fowler in the _Ganges_ brig to Pulo Penang,
asking the captain of any of his Majesty’s ships to convoy this
exceedingly valuable fleet—the value of the sixteen ships together with
their cargoes and private property amounting to nearly eight million
pounds sterling. It was learned at Malacca that the squadron which
had just been encountered was that of Admiral Linois, comprising a
battleship, two heavy frigates, a corvette and the brig.
On the 28th of February, whilst in the Straits of Malacca, Dance’s
fleet fell in with two of his Majesty’s ships, _Albion_ and _Sceptre_,
and the _Albion’s_ captain was prevailed upon to take charge now of
the fleet, considering its national importance, and on the 9th of
June these treasure ships reached St Helena, still under the convoy
of the two British men-of-war. There the latter parted company from
the merchantmen, and instead H.M.S. _Plantagenet_ convoyed them to
England, where they arrived early in the month of August. The news of
this successful engagement, the circumstance that an enemy’s fleet had
been put to flight and chased by a fleet of East Indiamen caused the
greatest acclamation in London. The Patriotic Fund Committee presented
Commodore Dance with a sword of the value of £100, and a silver vase of
the same worth; to Captain Timins a sword of the value of £50, and each
of the other captains, as well as to Lieutenant Fowler.
As for the directors of the East India Company, they showed their
appreciation of the gallantry and the preservation of their property
in the most handsome manner. Setting aside about £50,000 they rewarded
Commodore Dance with the sum of 2000 guineas, and a piece of plate
valued at 200 guineas. To Captain Timins 1000 guineas and a piece
of plate valued at 100 guineas. To Captain Moffat 500 guineas and a
piece of plate valued at 100 guineas. The other thirteen captains were
each awarded 500 guineas and a piece of plate valued at 50 guineas.
The chief officers received each 150 guineas, the second officers 125
guineas, and so on down to the boatswains, who got 50 guineas, and
the seamen and servants 6 guineas each. The Company also presented
Lieutenant Fowler with 300 guineas and a piece of plate, as well as 500
guineas to the captain of the _Plantagenet_, who had convoyed them home
from St Helena.
[Illustration: REPULSE OF ADMIRAL LINOIS BY THE CHINA FLEET UNDER
COMMODORE SIR NATHANIEL DANCE.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance was offered a baronetcy, which he
refused, but accepted a knighthood: and thus ended the last chapter in
an incident that was the pride and subject of yarning among the men
of the East India Company’s service for many a long day. It certainly
shows the British merchant sailor at his best—ready for a fight,
going into the engagement gallantly, and yet all the while remembering
that his first duty is to his owners and to get ships and cargoes
safely to port without unnecessarily wasting valuable time.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER XV
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN
The first decade of the nineteenth century had been very unfortunate
for the East India Company. There had been the losses of those ships
already mentioned, owing to disasters at sea. This meant not only the
loss to the Company of the rich cargoes, but of the advances to the
owners amounting to thousands of pounds. The French war had also not
merely interfered with the coming and going of the merchant ships, but
it had thrown the whole of Europe into such a state of bewilderment
that commerce generally was paralysed, and therefore the trade in
Indian goods to the different parts of the Continent was exceedingly
curtailed. Notwithstanding all that had been done by the Act of 1796,
and the superintendence which was exercised over the Company, the
latter was anything but prosperous. It had been engaged in hostilities
with the Mahrattas and other Eastern powers. The result had been the
acquisition of vast territory which was shortly to be for the good of
the British Empire. But the immediate result of all this was that the
Company’s finances were in a crippled condition. Later on we shall
see what a wholesale effect the abolition of the monopoly had on the
Eastern trade, dating from the year 1813: but before we come to that
I desire to give the reader a fair account of the conditions of life
in the East Indiamen of the first part of the nineteenth century. We
shall presently proceed to examine these in greater detail, but it will
greatly assist the imagination if we look into contemporary accounts
left behind by officers who put to sea in these craft.
And first of all let us take the account of that Captain Eastwick
whom we introduced to the reader on an earlier page. This time he was
proceeding to India, not in his capacity of mercantile officer, but
as a passenger. Nevertheless his ripe knowledge and experience were
of the greatest value to these East Indiamen, as will be seen. It was
a tedious business in those days to get down to Portsmouth, where the
wealthier passengers used to join the East Indiamen. Eastwick was
taking out to India his sister-in-law on a visit to her brother-in-law,
Colonel Gordon. The journey was made to Portsmouth by road, of course,
and those who have motored along this Portsmouth road scarcely realise
how tedious and risky the journey was in those days. In the month of
January 1809 Eastwick and his sister-in-law set out on their journey
with a good deal of luggage and jewellery, as well as a hundred pounds
in money. They had to cross Hounslow Heath, which was then infested
with robbers, and there was every probability of the post-boys
being held up, the horses shot and the passengers relieved of their
possessions. However, in the present case the journey to Portsmouth was
made without adventure, where it was learnt that the _Neptune_ East
Indiaman would not sail for another ten days.
This was a vessel of 1200 charter tons, and one of the largest of the
East India Company’s fleet, being employed for the voyage to Bombay and
China, this being her sixth trip thereto. She was owned by Sir William
Fraser, Bart., and commanded by Captain William Donaldson, under whom
were a chief officer and three mates, a surgeon and a purser. After
the _Neptune_ and her fellow-ships of the Company’s fleet had at last
got under way a storm came up—the reader will remember that this year,
1809, was notorious for its virulent weather—and as a result the _Henry
Addington_, another East Indiaman of about the same size, got driven
to the eastward round Selsey Bill and struck the Bognor Rocks to the
north-eastward of the Bill, and it was only with difficulty that she
got off and reached Portsmouth again. This storm had dispersed the
whole of the Company’s fleet outward-bound, and the _Neptune_ had
found herself in the vicinity of the Channel Islands, where she was in
extreme danger. Captain Donaldson ordered the second mate to go aloft
and help to take in the foretopsail, but this the officer refused to
do, and he was instantly “broke.”
Eastwick thereupon volunteered to fill his place, and this offer was
gladly accepted temporarily, the _Neptune_ eventually sailing across
the English Channel once more and let go anchor on the Mother Bank
(to the west of Ryde, Isle of Wight). Here the ship was refitted for
a second attempt, and the second mate had his place now taken by a Mr
Richard Alsager, who had lately been M.P. for Surrey. At length the
_Neptune_ was ready for sea once more, the heavy weather had given way
to beautiful summer, and the wind was fair for making a quick passage
down the English Channel: so on 21st June the East India fleet weighed
anchor and proceeded, consisting of the _Neptune_, _Henry Addington_,
_Scaleby Castle_ and the _True Briton_. These ships were all pretty
much of the same size, though the _True Briton_ was of 1198 charter
tons. So fine did the weather continue that when the fleet was two days
out from England the captain of the _Neptune_ gave a dance on board to
the passengers of _all_ the ships, and the following evening another
dance was given by the captain of the _Henry Addington_. Fortunately
the passengers were safely rowed across the ocean to the entertaining
vessel, and back. But most people will agree with Eastwick’s criticism
of this foolish proceeding. “I did not consider it prudent at such a
season of the year to do these things at sea.”
So the voyage continued as far as Table Bay with everything in their
favour. After rounding the Cape, the _Neptune_, the _Scaleby Castle_
and the _True Briton_ shaped a course for Bombay, but the _Henry
Addington_ was compelled to stay behind in order to repair a bad leak
that had broken out afresh. This was doubtless a relic of the incident
on Bognor Rocks. Whilst approaching Madagascar Captain Donaldson
invited the other two captains to come on board and dine with him, and
during the conversation the subject came up of the disagreeable weather
met with during the south-west monsoon on going into Bombay. Eastwick
offered that if no pilot were available he would take the squadron in,
and this the three captains accepted. The next day they encountered
just that experience which the reader will remember occurred to some
of the first English sailors when bound to India. For a heavy clap of
thunder—“so loud it sounded as though a hundred great guns were going
off”—broke over the _Neptune_ and an extraordinary flash of lightning
took place, and so close that Eastwick declares he saw many electric
balls darting into the water. The chief officer was on watch at the
time, and came running aft. He announced that the ship had been struck
in the foremast and that the lightning had knocked down four of the
men. It took the crew afterwards sixteen hours to repair the damage,
get up the new foretopmast, foretopgallant mast and yard, for the
original ones had been rendered useless.
As the squadron approached Bombay they got into the south-west monsoon,
with very thick, dirty weather and a tremendous sea running. It was
when they were just a day’s sail off Bombay that the captain of the
_True Briton_, who was acting as commodore of the squadron, made the
signal: “Will Eastwick stand by his promise?” This was immediately
answered by the affirmative signal, and then the commodore ran up
another: “_Neptune_, go ahead, and lead the way.” So, although a
passenger, Eastwick had the honour of taking the squadron into Bombay
harbour and never picked up a pilot until ready to let go anchor.
But even more illuminating than Eastwick is a man named Thomas Addison,
who was born on 18th December 1785, and made a dozen voyages in the old
East Indiamen, entering the service as a midshipman of the _Marquis
Wellesley_ in February 1802, and eventually rising to fifth mate, and
so to first mate by May 1817. There are of course plenty of log-books
and journals still existing, but one has to wade through many pages
before one finds anything of real interest. In the case of Addison,
however, there is so much in his journals that reveals to us the life
and the incidents on board these old ships of the Company’s service
that we cannot feel other than grateful that the MS. still exists.
After his death these journals eventually passed into the hands of a
Norfolk rector, who was good enough to place them in the hands of the
Navy Records Society, and a few years ago they were edited by Sir John
Laughton and published under the auspices of that Society. It is to
this source that I am indebted for the information which is afforded by
Addison, though space will not allow of more than a brief outline of
his experiences.
He was able to obtain a berth in the Honourable Company’s “Maritime
Service” (as it was called, in contradistinction to the Company’s
Marine) owing to the influence of a Mr Edmund Antrobus, a teaman and
banker in the Strand. The latter took the sixteen-year-old youth and
introduced him to a Mr Matthew White, who was the managing owner of the
ship _Marquis of Wellesley_, by whom the midshipman’s appointment had
been granted. She was a vessel of 818 charter tons and was now about to
start on her second voyage to India, her commander being Captain Bruce
Mitchell. Mr White gave Addison a letter of introduction to the chief
officer, named Le Blanc, and after the boy had completed his sea-going
kit he was taken down to the ship at Gravesend by Mr Antrobus. Addison
was now handed over to his future messmates, and then began his
initiation. As so many of these old-time ceremonies have long since
passed away, it may not be out of place to say Addison was sent up
into the mizen top, outside the futtocks, where according to custom he
should have been seized up to the rigging by a couple of seamen, had he
not received the tip to promise them beforehand a gallon of beer. “In
lieu of which, by the by, five gallons was afterwards demanded of me by
my messmates, stating that the mizen top was their sole prerogative.
This is a very old usage practised on board all ships, considered a
fair claim from all strangers on first going aloft.”
In addition to the captain, there were the chief officer, three mates
and a large crew. In all there were thirty officers and petty officers,
the whole complement amounting to 151, which nowadays would be thought
enormous for a ship of her size. The men received two months’ wages
in advance before sailing, and in February 1802 made sail down the
Thames from Gravesend under the charge of one of the Company’s pilots,
who brought her safely into the Downs, where the wind was blowing
hard from the south-west, sending in a high sea. Addison was destined
at once to have excitement, for about sundown, whilst his Majesty’s
frigate _Egyptienne_ was coming to anchor in the Downs, she had
shortened sail and left herself too little way to shoot ahead of the
Indiaman, with the result that she fell broadside on to the _Marquis
Wellesley’s_ bows, tearing away the latter’s cutwater and bowsprit,
bringing down the foretopmast also, making in fact a clean sweep of
the ship forward. The merchantman was lying to a single anchor at the
time, but although it blew most of a gale during the night the ship
rode it out all right, and next morning, the weather having moderated,
the frigate’s commander sent some hands on board to give the ship
a temporary refit. After this the Indiaman proceeded to Portsmouth,
where she was fully repaired alongside a man-of-war hulk. On the 4th
of March she went out of harbour and anchored at Spithead, where she
took on board a number of his Majesty’s dragoons, as well as forty-nine
of the East India Company’s troops and their wives for India. The next
day, having received the Company’s packet from the India House and the
despatches for Bengal and Madras, she weighed anchor in the afternoon
and proceeded down Channel.
The last of old England was sighted the following day, and then anchors
were unbent and all harbour gear stowed away for the long voyage.
Madeira was sighted on the 14th of that month—not a bad passage for a
sailing ship—and on the 4th of April the Equator was passed, where the
usual ceremonies of crossing the line were undergone. “It being my own
and Newton’s [a young messmate’s] first trip into Neptune’s dominions,
we underwent the accustomed and awful ordeal of shaving by the hands
of his Majesty’s barber, thereby rendering us free mariners of the
ocean.” On 24th April they were off the Cape of Good Hope, and on 21st
June sighted Ceylon, and three days later arriving at Madras, “Found
Admiral Rainier’s squadron riding here, consisting of eight sail.
Shortly afterwards a sham fight took place with the fleet and shore,
followed by a grand illumination displayed from ships as well as the
shore, likewise fireworks and rockets, in commemoration of the Peace of
Amiens.”
The _Marquis Wellesley_ left Madras again in February 1803, after
visiting ports on the coast, and in July fell in with an American
bound from Gibraltar to Boston, and learned from her that war had
been declared between England and France, so cartridges were filled
and every preparation made on board the East Indiaman for defending
herself. On the nineteenth of that month a strange sail appeared. The
Indiaman made her private signal, but the stranger did not answer
and sailed away. But at midnight she returned and was coming up
fast, so the Indiaman at once prepared for action, Addison acting
as powder-monkey. But presently she was found to be H.M. frigate
_Endymion_, and sent a boat to the Indiaman in charge of a lieutenant
and pressed eight of the merchant ship’s men, for the frigate had
captured so many prizes that he had more prisoners on board than
all his ship’s company. But before the mouth of the English Channel
was reached the _Marquis Wellesley_ was to have further exciting
experiences. A few days after the previously mentioned incident, two
ships were descried one morning while the people were at breakfast. At
first Captain Mitchell bore up to assist one which was flying English
colours, but one of the passengers (apparently of the sea-lawyer type
which still survives) protested “against the legal propriety of such
proceeding on the part of an Indiaman volunteering her services in
such an affair,” so Mitchell put his ship again on her course, much to
the indignation of a choleric colonel, for the ship with the English
colours was subsequently captured.
Later on a large ship hove in sight on the weather bow and stood down
towards the _Marquis Wellesley_. It was now night and the latter at
once cleared for action and showed two tiers of lights. The stranger
was hailed seven times before it could be ascertained that she was
H.M.S. _Plantagenet_ with a sloop-of-war as tender in company. Her
captain came on board and complimented Captain Mitchell on the good
arrangements made for the defence of the ship, and as he walked round
the decks the men remained at quarters. He was good enough also to
compliment Mitchell on the clever manner in which he had manœuvred his
ship to prevent a raking broadside, but before leaving he “impressed a
few hands from us.”
On the 1st of August the Indiaman anchored in the Downs, and one of the
Company’s pilots came aboard and took charge of her, bringing with him
a number of “ticket-men” to work the ship up the Thames. These were men
who were sent from a man-of-war in place of such as had been impressed.
On the third of the month the ship had reached her moorings off the Gun
Wharf, Deptford, and four days later discharged the ship’s company and
hired gangs to deliver the cargo. And then came the final, dramatic
touch to this voyage: “Shortly afterwards found that Mr White, managing
owner of the _Marquis Wellesley_, had become bankrupt and was unable to
pay the ship’s company.”
Addison’s first voyage had thus begun and ended with adventures. He
had got back in the summer of 1803 and soon began to prepare for a
second voyage. Through the good offices of his friend Mr Antrobus he
once more obtained a berth as midshipman, this time in the _Brunswick_.
The latter was a ship of 1200 charter tons, and was about to make her
sixth voyage out to Ceylon and China. On being introduced to Captain
James Ludovic Grant, the latter made him senior midshipman and his
coxswain, as none of the other youngsters had yet been to sea. The
midshipmen were allowed a cabin, servant and every comfort, and though
Captain Grant was regarded as a martinet and disciplinarian, yet he was
by no means unpopular among Addison’s messmates, “supporting his mids
as officers and gentlemen.” “There were five of us; two were stationed
as signal midshipmen, as he was commodore; the other three in three
watches, one in each. I was in the latter; never allowed to quit the
lee side of the quarter-deck, except on duty or on general occasions
of reefing or furling. Two of us dined with him every day, and nothing
could exceed his politeness and kindness at table.”
Captain Grant had served as midshipman in the Royal Navy in the _Prince
George_ with the Duke of Clarence, who at the time we are speaking of
was now George III. Grant had reached the rank of lieutenant in the
navy, and was serving aboard a frigate in the West Indies in the year
1786. The captain died and then it was decided to continue the cruise,
Grant as first lieutenant, and a brother officer named Hugh Lindsay as
captain. However, when at length they reached England their conduct was
so badly criticised that they had to resign their commissions. Both
officers therefore did the next best thing and joined the East India
Company’s service, Grant being now commander of the _Brunswick_, whilst
Lindsay had the _Lady Jane Dundas_, a vessel of 820 tons.
During the month of February, then, the _Brunswick_, having taken
on board her cargo and stores, dropped down the Thames to the Lower
Hope, where she received on board passengers and the remainder of
her crew, who received their usual advance. Colonel Hatton and staff
of the King’s 66th Regiment came on board, together with about 350
privates: and a little later the ship sailed to Portsmouth. Here she
remained till the 20th of March, when she came out of harbour and ran
across to the Motherbank, where she anchored. Here the whole fleet
of East Indiamen, together with their naval convoy, were assembled.
This consisted of nine ships—his Majesty’s frigate _Lapwing_, and the
Company’s ships _Brunswick_, _Marquis of Ely_, Addison’s former ship
the _Marquis of Wellesley_, the _Lady Jane Dundas_ (Captain Hon. Hugh
Lindsay, Grant’s old shipmate), the _Marchioness of Exeter_, the _Lord
Nelson_, the _Princess Charlotte_ and the _Canton_. The captain of the
_Marquis Wellesley_ was now Charles Le Blanc, who had been “chief” when
Addison first went to sea.
It must have been a magnificent sight to have witnessed this fine fleet
getting under way and setting their canvas that afternoon at a signal
from the frigate. Under close-reefed topsails they ran down the Solent
and past the Needles with a fresh breeze from north by east. Four and a
half hours after leaving the Motherbank they had dropped their pilot in
the English Channel, and by eleven that night they were nine miles off
the Portland lights, with a gale working up and thick, hazy weather.
This caused the fleet to be scattered and topsails were taken in, but
towards morning the weather moderated. Getting into the north-east
trade-wind the _Brunswick_ soon reeled off the miles, though the units
of the fleet were still much dispersed, thus making it much easier for
the enemy to inflict injury if met with.
On the 7th of April Addison has this entry in his journal:—
“Trimmed ship by the head with 200 pigs of lead. The missing ships
rejoined the convoy with two whalers. On a Saturday (weather
permitting) constantly exercised great guns, and small arms frequently,
with powder blank cartridges. My station at quarters was aide-de-camp
to the captain.”
And then there are several instances of the way discipline was
maintained on board in those days of flogging:—
“9th. John McDonald, seaman, was punished with a dozen for insolence to
the boatswain....
“12th. Punished T. Botler, seaman, with a dozen for neglect, etc.”
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE EAST INDIA DOCKS AS THEY APPEARED IN THE
EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
On the following day the frigate parted company with the fleet
to return to England, so the _Brunswick_ became commodore ship.
On the 23rd of June the squadron was in the Mozambique Passage,
and at daylight espied a strange brig to the south-east. Sail was
therefore made, the _Lord Nelson_ having been signalled to chase
with the _Brunswick_, and the _Dundas_ to lead the fleet on a
north-east-by-north course. At 7 A.M. the brig tacked, and
half-an-hour later the _Brunswick_ also tacked. At eight o’clock
Grant ordered his squadron to heave-to, and at noon was coming up
fast with the brig. Half-an-hour later he had reached her and found
her to be the French _La Charlotte_ of four guns and twenty-nine men.
She had left the Isle de France twenty-eight days previously and
was bound for the Mozambique. She was now a prisoner, and Commodore
Grant accordingly sent on board the _Brunswick’s_ second officer, Mr
Benjamin Bunn, Addison, five seamen and twenty soldiers in the cutter
to take possession of her. Her captain, a lieutenant, a midshipman and
ten seamen were brought off to the _Brunswick_, and at three in the
afternoon the brig was taken in tow, but two hours later she was cast
off. Eventually, after the captains of the other English ships had come
aboard and joined in a consultation, Grant decided that the prize was
not worth keeping. So all her cargo of muskets were thrown into the
sea, and afterwards she was handed over again to her French captain,
who went aboard her with his men, very thankful to be allowed to take
possession once more.
About the middle of June the East Indiamen reached Trincomalee and
saluted H.M.S. _Centurion_ with eleven guns, which respect was
returned. But it is typical of the time that the following day a
lieutenant came off from the _Centurion_ and pressed ten of the
Indiamen’s men, and a little later three more seamen deserted and
joined H.M.S. _Sheerness_. Having disembarked the troops and baggage,
assisted by the boats of his Majesty’s ships, the _Brunswick_ once
more put to sea, and two days later brought up in Madras Roads, where
she saluted the fort with nine guns, and received a similar salute in
return. Here also a lieutenant from H.M.S. _Wilhelmina_ came aboard
and pressed four more men. Here the _Brunswick_ remained some weeks,
landing the Company’s cargo, taking on board cotton and other goods for
Captain Grant’s own account—on a later page the reader will learn how
much cargo a captain was allowed to ship for himself—and after the
vessel’s rigging had been refitted, and her hull painted, she prepared
for sea.
Meanwhile the Company’s ships which had come out with her bound for
Bengal had sailed to the north, but on the 13th of August H.M. frigate
_Caroline_, which was now to convoy the East Indiamen bound for China,
made the signal for the fleet to unmoor, and then proceeded on the
voyage. The fleet went through the Singapore Straits, the convoy being
kept in close order of sailing as Admiral Linois was known to be
cruising in the China Sea. It was now September, and the reader will
recollect that in February of that year his squadron had been put to
flight by Commodore Dance. The East India squadron now consisted of the
Company’s ships _Brunswick_, _Glatton_, _Cirencester_, _Walmer Castle_,
_Marquis of Ely_, _Thames_, _Canton_, _Winchelsea_, ten country ships,
and convoyed by five of his Majesty’s ships—the _Caroline_, _Grampus_,
_La Dédaigneuse_, _Russell_ and _Dasher_, the first-mentioned being the
commodore’s ship.
Arrived at the mouth of the Tiger, permission was obtained from two
mandarins to pass, as was the custom in those days when China was
still so little open to the European. And the way the fleet was able
to navigate the river by night at the last quarter of the flood is
most interesting. Two Chinese pilots had been taken on board the
_Brunswick_, and in order to denote the channel across the bar by
night a row of fifty boats with lights was placed on one side, and
another fifty on the other, the ship of course to sail between. When
the _Brunswick_ was about in mid-channel one of the pilots sang out
“port littee,” while the other contradicted him by shouting “starboard
littee.” Captain Grant was not the man to be humbugged in this manner,
so he kicked one of these men overboard, and the other immediately
jumped after. The lights were at once put out and the _Brunswick_
grounded on the bar. The tide soon began to fall, and in spite of
carrying out a kedge she refused to budge. So the top-gallant yards
and masts were sent down, the guns were put into the launches which
were sent by the other ships of the fleet, and eventually next day the
_Brunswick_ was floated at high water, but at once swung round and took
the ground again, and the tide ebbed out.
In order to lighten her forward, the bower anchors were made fast
between boats, and the stream anchor was taken out in the launch
ready for the next flood, and with the last quarter of that tide she
came off; the hawsers were slipped, and while the anchors were being
recovered Captain Grant backed and filled across the channel and
finally came to anchor again.
Addison tells us of an interesting custom in the Company’s service at
that time. For each season the senior captain was allowed £500 “table
money,” as we should call it, for public dinners and various expenses,
the second captain in seniority being allowed £300 for the same
purposes. The ships took their turn to act as guardship, naval fashion,
and whichever ship’s turn it was so to act on a Sunday, the captain
was to attend on board together with his surgeon. And during the whole
day, up till eight o’clock in the evening, one of his sworn officers
was to row guard up and down the fleet, after which he was to make his
report to the senior ship. But when the viceroy and the leading Chinese
authorities made their visits to these English ships in state they
were received with great ceremony, which is curiously absent from the
modern merchant ship.
Many hundred local craft would put off to the East Indiamen. The
English captains were on board to receive them, the yards were manned
and every possible display was made. An officer was first sent in full
uniform to compliment the great man—John Tuck, as the English sailor
nicknamed him, owing to the fact that in the fore end of his boat he
kept gallows to tuck up any unfortunate who displeased him. Having come
alongside the East Indiaman, the great man always refused to trust his
valuable life to the ropes and accommodations supplied for entering the
ship, but used his own long ladders. Business was duly contracted, and
then he would make a present to the ship’s company of bullocks, flour,
fruit and a vile, maddening spirit of a most intoxicating nature, which
the men were made to exchange for something better. After this the
captains all dined together on board a large chop boat.
The fleet remained here from October till the first day of 1805, and
then got under way with fine cargoes of teas for England. But the
_Brunswick_ never reached England. Doubtless owing to the damage
sustained when she got aground on the bar she developed a serious leak,
and made for Ceylon and Bombay, where she was docked and repaired, her
tea being sent to England in another ship. The _Brunswick_ was now sent
back to China again with a cargo of cotton, which would have been a
very lucrative affair. But there was a good deal of trouble with the
crew, many of the men deserting to the warships, until at last Captain
Grant sent every man he had in the launch on board a British frigate.
The latter’s captain selected from these all that were worth having and
then sent the rest back to the _Brunswick_.
When the latter set sail from Bombay for China on 1st July 1805 she was
very ill-manned, consequent on nearly the whole of the ship’s company
having been pressed by the navy. There were not twenty European seamen
on board to work this big ship. The guns had to be manned by Chinamen,
with only one European seaman at each. For the rest lascars had to be
relied upon. In such a weak condition she put to sea, together with
a couple of country ships, keeping as near each other as possible.
But a few days later at break of day two strange sail were discovered
to the eastward. The _Sarah_ made a signal that the strangers looked
suspicious. Later on the _Brunswick_ perceived that one was a
line-of-battle ship and the other a frigate. But the _Sarah_ signalled
that she thought they were friends. However, the _Brunswick_ was much
less credulous and had already cleared for action, hoisting her private
signal (which was not answered) and hoisting her British colours.
The stranger presently answered by showing St George’s colours. The
line-of-battle ship then tacked in order to get into such a position
as to rake the _Brunswick_ from aft. The frigate passed to leeward
and exchanged St George’s colours for the French national colours,
giving the _Brunswick_ a broadside as she passed. This was immediately
returned, but as the ship was heeling over at a great angle, the lee
guns could not be elevated sufficiently to do any damage to the enemy.
But the _Brunswick_ was clearly to be out-manœuvred. The frigate went
about just astern of the Indiaman, and as she was then observed to
be coming on fast, Captain Grant kept his ship as full as possible,
hoping to be able to run her ashore. The frigate, however, approached
at such a pace, and the line-of-battle ship was also so close that
the _Brunswick_ would assuredly have been sunk by the line-of-battle
ship’s broadside before taking the ground. After consultation with his
officers Grant was reluctantly compelled to strike his colours and
surrender to the enemy off the coast of Ceylon. A boat came off—and
then, well the line-of-battle ship was none other than Admiral Linois’
_Marengo_, and the big frigate was the _Belle Poule_, which had fought
and run away the previous year from Commodore Dance. Linois was
stationed in those Eastern waters for the express purpose of harassing
and cutting up our trade, avoiding the British ships-of-war. Any modern
strategist would tell you that whilst this kind of hostility is very
annoying to the power attacked, it cannot afford any lasting good. The
same kind of folly was attempted, you will remember, by the Russians
interfering with Japanese merchantmen in the East during the late war,
and the practical value of this measure was nil.
However, Linois may have remembered that he who fights and runs away
will live to fight another day. He had been compelled to fly before
Dance, but this time he got his revenge. You may ask what England was
doing to leave those seas unpoliced. The answer is that as a matter
of fact Indiamen had to rely on naval convoys when they could be got,
and Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, who had been one of Nelson’s
captains at the Battle of the Nile, was actually escorting, in H.M.S.
_Blenheim_, eleven more Indiamen. The two courses were converging and
presently we shall see them meet.
Needless to say, it was with great grief that Captain Grant, all his
officers and midshipmen (excepting the chief officer and surgeon) were
put on board the _Marengo_, whilst the frigate went in pursuit of the
_Sarah_. The latter, however, ran herself ashore with all sail set,
but the crew were saved. Admiral Linois received Captain Grant with
every courtesy, and the _Brunswick_ was ordered to a rendezvous nearer
the Cape of Good Hope. Before the month was out, when a fog which had
settled down lifted for a while, the _Marengo_ suddenly found herself
close to a large convoy of Indiamen. The former instantly cleared for
action and firing began. It was Troubridge with his convoy! But nothing
much came of this, and the contending forces separated during the
night. To cut the story short, Addison and his shipmates were landed
in South Africa, whence they were taken to St Helena by an American
brig. From there they reached England in a British frigate, landing
at Spithead, and so making their way to London. As for the poor old
_Brunswick_, she drove ashore on the South African coast, and so ended
her days.
[Illustration: THE “THAMES,” EAST INDIAMAN, 1,424 TONS.
This was one of the finest vessels employed in the East Indian trade.]
If Addison had been unfortunate in the ending of his first voyage, so
in this he was again unlucky. “According to the Company’s law,” he
writes in his journal, “having been captured by an enemy, or the ship
in any way wrecked or destroyed, the captain, officers and crew forfeit
their pay and wages, consequently we have no claim upon the owners of
the late _Brunswick_ for at least twenty months’ hard duty on board of
her.” However, he was now wedded to the sea, and the next time he went
in his first ship, the _Marquis Wellesley_, as fifth mate, with Charles
Le Blanc as captain, and in her he served during the following years
till he went as second mate in another of the Company’s ships. I make
no apology to the reader for giving so much detail in this connection,
for Addison’s and Eastwick’s accounts tell us just those intimate
details which show the risks of many sorts which had to be encountered
in the old days when the sailing ship was still far from perfect, and
those handsome, fast China tea-clippers had not yet come into being
to startle the world with their record runs. No doubt the captains of
these East Indiamen of which we are speaking were often hated by their
men for their severity: but those were no kid-glove days, and a voyage
was not a thing of certainty as with the modern liner, which maintains
a punctuality almost equal to that of a passenger train. If a captain
retired after a few voyages with a nice little fortune, he certainly
deserved it. For he was a long time before he reached a command, and
there was scarcely a day during the whole of those long voyages when he
was not plunged into some sort of anxiety. Anything might happen; from
having his sails blown out of his ship and carrying away his best spars
to losing the ship herself, her cargo, her men. Every force seemed to
be up against him—gales of wind, uncharted seas, coasts and rivers,
privateers, warships of the enemy: even the warships of his own country
snatched out of his vessel his best men. And then, to add insult to
injury, he came home to find either his managing owners gone bankrupt
or a by-law which prevented him from receiving his hard-earned pay.
Yes, taking it by and large, he deserved his good luck when it came
his way; but when it was absent, he did his best and more for the
British capitalist and merchant princes than the latter ever cared to
acknowledge. In the history of Eastern development and civilisation
the shipmaster of these old Indiamen ought to occupy a high place of
respect and admiration. He has left behind a magnificent example for
his successors to follow.
When a passenger in the olden days joined an East Indiaman as she
lay in the Downs he had to be rowed off by one of the Deal boatmen.
These “sharks” often made a fine thing out of such passengers, for the
latter were completely at the mercy of the former. In calm weather
the boatman was willing to row the passenger aboard for the sum of
five shillings (or more if he could get it). But in the case of dirty
weather and the nasty lop which gets up here with onshore winds the
passenger had to pay as much as three guineas and sometimes even five:
it was all a question of bargaining between himself and the boatman.
Inasmuch as the passenger had to get aboard the big ship at all costs,
and since the only method possible was to employ one of these Deal
boatmen, the competition was solely between the boatmen themselves.
But these fellows were so closely bound together, owing to the ties of
relationship and their co-operation in extensive smuggling, that the
passenger could scarcely help being fleeced.
Having at last arrived on board, weary of his coach drive from
London, drenched with the sea-spray scooped up by the Deal galley,
the passenger bound for India in those days set forth with not the
light heart and eagerness with which the modern traveller embarks on
an East-bound liner. If contemporary accounts are to be trusted, the
mere anticipation was a kind of terrible nightmare. The passenger
often enough would retire at once to his cot, and remain there for
days prostrate with sea-sickness. The cuddy would not see him at meals
until the Bay of Biscay had been passed and finer, warmer weather
encountered. Some of the Company’s cadets bound out to enter this
corporation’s Indian army were utter scamps, and the only way to get
them out of their cots was to cut the lanyards which kept the latter
up. Before they had reached the Equator they had begun to find their
sea-legs, and they were compelled to take part in the usual ceremonies
of crossing the line. In the accompanying illustration will be found
one of these young gentlemen undergoing this initiation in one of the
East Indiamen ships.
These ships, because of their bad lines and clumsy proportions, could
scarcely rely on keeping up an average of more than three or four
knots an hour, and their performances when compared with the voyages
of the celebrated clippers in the mid-nineteenth century show the
essential difference in the capabilities of the old and the new types
respectively. Let the following table show how slow the old-time craft
were. The reference is to an East Indiaman which left the Thames in
1746, and after voyaging to the East arrived off Scotland in 1748:—
Left England, September 20, 1746.
Arrived at St Helena, December 25, 1746.
Left St Helena, January 14, 1747.
Arrived at Batavia, April 19, 1747.
Left Batavia, June 9, 1747.
Arrived in China, July 8, 1747.
Left China, January 12, 1748.
Arrived at St Helena, April 4, 1748.
Left St Helena, April 25, 1748.
Arrived off Scotland, July 9, 1748.
Even one of the Company’s own ships—the _Thames_—which was not as
fast as the China clippers presently to be started by private firms,
performed the voyage between Canton and England in 115 days a little
time before the East India Company lost their China monopoly. This
vessel left Canton on 18th November 1831, arrived at St Helena on 28th
January 1832, and was in the English Channel on the following 13th
March.
An anonymous writer who flourished about the middle of the eighteenth
century, on whose authority the details of the length of voyages have
been given above, has left us a detailed account of a voyage to the
East Indies about this time. I need not try the patience of the reader
by following the entire journey, but it will suffice if we, so to
speak, voyage with this traveller from England as far as St Helena. The
account, which is written with great restraint, leaves the reader every
opportunity to imagine the discomforts and trepidations which were the
essential conditions of the long journey to the Orient in those days.
“On Thursday the 30th of July 1746, I set out from London for
Gravesend, where I was agreeably entertained to see a great number of
people on board the vessel, in which I was appointed to go to the East
Indies, and the vast preparations, and quantities of provisions, on
board, to supply the necessities of so long a voyage.
“Next day several young people came on board, inlisted to go in the
service of the East India Company, where they were to remain for the
space of five years at least....
“On the 2d of August we weighed anchor, passed the Nore, saluted the
_Royal Sovereign_ with nine guns, and came to an anchor in the Downs
on the 3d. As the wind was variable, we were obliged to come to an
anchor every now and then. On the 5th, at night, we passed Dungeness
lighthouse, and, on the 8th, anchored in St Helen’s road [Isle of
Wight].
“On the 10th we received on board our treasure from Portsmouth, and,
among the rest, a fine large stone-horse, designed as a present from
the Company to the Sultan of Benjar, an Indian Prince on the island of
Borneo. After taking in more fresh provisions, we weighed anchor, and
made the best of our way towards Plymouth. On the 29th we came to an
anchor in Cawson [Cawsand] Bay, where, not caring to break upon our
store, we sent our long-boat ashore for fresh water. Here we were to
wait for a convoy. We were supplied at this place with plenty of bread,
fish, etc., in small boats, rowed by a parcel of the stoutest and most
masculine women I ever saw.
“On the 5th of September we had very thick weather, with hard gales
of wind from S.W. so that we were obliged to lower our fore and main
yards, and give great scope of cable, and even to strike our topmasts.
“On the 6th in the morning the weather abated; but, in the evening of
that day, it blowed very hard. We heard the _Norfolk_ fire several guns
as signals of distress. She had parted her cable, and had run adrift
before it was discovered: and she was obliged to anchor within the
beacon, on the east side of the Sound, in foul and rocky ground. But,
by the assistance of some of the men of war, she was again brought to
an anchor in Cawson Bay.
“From the 7th to the 16th we were employed in putting everything in
order aboard, and, on the 17th, the _Mermaid_ man of war was appointed
our convoy, and gave a signal for unmooring the same night.
“On Sunday the 20th of September we got under sail, the wind at NNE.
When at sea, we cleared our ship fore and aft, and exercised our great
guns and small arms....
“On the 27th we parted with our convoy, and made the best of our way
for the island of St Helena, for which we had several stores on board.”
And so they proceeded on their journey to the south. On 9th October,
when in lat. 37° 32´ N., and long. 22° 16´, “we were now beginning to
feel the hot climate, so that the allowance of water, with the greatest
economy, was little enough to quench thirst. We put an awning on the
quarter-deck, to keep off the scorching heat of the sun.”
As to the kind of shipmates this traveller had, the following statement
is sufficiently illustrative:—
“We could hardly put a stop to the frequent thefts that were committed
by the soldiers, though every day one or two of them were tied to the
shrouds, and severely whipt. It is indeed the less to be wondered at,
as these wretches, who go as soldiers in the company’s service, are
for the most part the scum of the three kingdoms, and generally go to
India to screen themselves from justice at home. By their laziness and
inactivity, they were over-run with vermine, and began to complain of
swellings in their legs, soreness in their bones, and other symptoms
of the scurvy. To prevent their infecting the ship’s company, they
were brought up on deck, put into a large vessel of hot water, brushed
with scrubbing brushes, and all their clothes and bedding thrown
over-board....
“On the 2d of December, we had a large swelling sea, with easterly
winds. At five in the morning we were surprised with a large
waterspout, within three ships-length of our starboard-side. It had
no sooner passed our ship, than a sudden puff of wind laid us gunwale
to, which was over before we could lower our sails. We had frequent
dewfalls in the night, which are very dangerous, and often mortal, if
they happen to rest on the naked breast or body of a man, while asleep
on the deck. A great deal of our salted pork was so rotten, that we
threw several casks of it over-board.
“On the 17th, had cloudy weather, employed our cooper to set up all the
water-casks, which we had knocked down as soon as they were empty, for
the sake of room.
[Illustration: THE “WINDHAM,” EAST INDIAMAN, WITH THE FLEET SAILING
FROM ST. HELENA UNDER CONVOY OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP “MONMOUTH.”
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
“The 22d, we kept a good look-out for St Helena, and found ourselves to
be in Lat. 16° 6´, and, on the 23d, we observed several pigeons flying
about the ship, a sure indication that we were near land.” This island
they eventually sighted the following morning, and arriving off the
fort saluted the Governor with nine guns, everyone in the ship being
heartily relieved to see land once more. It should be recollected
of course that St Helena had long been in the possession of the East
India Company, and its geographical position was of great convenience
to the ships bound to or from the Orient, giving opportunities for
obtaining fresh supplies and drinking water. The illustration which is
here reproduced shows the appearance of St Helena at the time of which
we are speaking, together with a contemporary East Indiaman lying at
anchor.
Such, then, is the kind of life which had to be endured on board
these vessels, depicted as we have shown by men of entirely different
interests and tastes—the captain, the midshipman and the passenger.
But if these voyages were unpleasant and even risky, it is to them and
the determination of those on board that the wealth of the East India
Company was due, and the fortunes of so many private individuals as
well. Ocean travel in those days was not pleasure, but a long-drawn-out
martyrdom, except for a very few and in exceptional weather. To-day,
even the worst-appointed liner would seem luxurious to the voyager
of the eighteenth century, although more comfortable deep-sea ships
were not to be found than those which flew the naval pennant of the
Honourable East India Company.
CHAPTER XVI
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
We have seen something of the lives of the officers and men in the
Company’s ships at sea: we desire now to learn more of their conditions
of employment—what was their uniform, what were their rates of pay,
privileges, pensions according to their different ranks, the kind of
accommodation for the passengers, the nature of their cargoes, and so
on. In other words, we are to endeavour to fill in those details of the
picture already roughly sketched.
Dating back from the time of the first East India Company, the
commanders were always sworn into the service. So likewise were the
first four officers. Before being allowed to proceed to his duty on
board, an officer had to sign a contract for performing the voyage,
and a petition for his “private trade” outwards. As the latter was so
very lucrative to him, it may be well to give details. Particulars had
to be sent in this petition to the Committee of Shipping of the East
India Company, giving the dead-weight of the articles they proposed to
take out to the East. These consisted of almost anything, from wines to
carriages. This “private” trade allowed to the commanders and officers
of the East India ships, allowing them to participate in the Company’s
exclusive monopoly, did not permit woollen goods and warlike stores,
but otherwise the ship’s officers could reap a fine income by taking
out English goods and bringing back Eastern products which would be
sure of a market at home.
There was a proper schedule, and the following were the
officers and petty officers enabled to avail themselves of this
privilege:—Commander, chief mate, second mate, third mate, purser,
surgeon, surgeon’s mate, fourth mate, fifth mate, sixth mate,
boatswain, gunner, carpenter, four midshipmen, one midshipman (who
was also the commander’s coxswain), six quartermasters, commander’s
steward, ship’s steward, commander’s cook, carpenter’s first mate,
caulker, cooper, armourer and sailmaker. Reckoned for a ship let for
755 tons and upwards, the commander was allowed as much as 56 tons, or
20 feet of space, for all articles (excepting liquors) which weighed
more than they measured were reckoned according to their weight. The
chief mate was allowed eight tons, the second mate six tons, and so on
down the list, even a midshipman being allowed a ton, the purser three
tons, the surgeon six, and each quartermaster as much as a midshipman.
In the case of the China ships only, if it was not practicable to
invest in goods to the following amounts respectively, the Company
allowed them to carry out bullion to make up the amount:—Commander,
£3000, chief mate, £300, and so on down to carpenter, £50.
Homeward-bound East Indiamen were similarly allowed privileges to their
officers. Ships lading from India might not bring back tea, china-ware,
raw silk, or nankeen cloth: and ships lading from China might not bring
back China raw silk, musk, camphor, arrack, arsenic or other poisonous
drugs. But otherwise the commanders of China ships were allowed
homeward 38 tons, the chief mate 8 tons, the second mate 6 tons,
and so on down to the carpenter 1 ton. But the other homeward ships
allowed the commander 30 tons or thirty-two feet, the chief mate 6
tons or sixteen feet, and so on down to the carpenter, who was allowed
thirty-two feet. These importers, of course, had to pay the customs and
also three per cent. to the Company for warehouse room on the gross
amount at the sale of the goods in the case of Indian products, and a
bigger percentage in the case of goods from China. But the wily old
commanders were not always content with these privileges. The reader
is doubtless familiar with the word dunnage. This consists of faggots,
boughs, canes or other similar articles, which are laid on the bottom
of a ship’s hold and used for stowing the cargo effectively. Now
when it was found that there was a good demand in London for Eastern
bamboos, ratans, and canes a commander would see that his dunnage
consisted of a very ample amount of these realisable articles, and far
beyond what was necessary for the protection of the cargo. The result
was that the Company had to step in and make very strict regulations
to stop this abuse, so that if the dunnage did not seem absolutely
necessary and _bona fide_ it was charged against the amount of tonnage
allowed to the commander and officers.
Tea was allowed to be brought home from China and Bencoolen according
to a schedule, the captain being allowed as much as 9336 lb., down
to the carpenter, 246 lb., but a big percentage was charged on its
sale value. Piece-goods were allowed to be brought home on paying
the customs and £3 per cent. for warehouse room. These articles were
disposed of at the Company’s sales, which took place in March and
September. Although the importation of china-ware was reserved to the
Company, yet “as the Company do not at present import any China-ware on
their own account” they allowed their officers to do so, “during the
Court’s pleasure,” provided it was brought as a flooring to the teas
and did not exceed thirteen inches in height. This made, therefore,
another source of revenue to the officers, for as much as 40 tons of
this ware could be permitted in the 1400-ton ships and 30 tons in a
1200-tonner. The commander could also bring home two pipes of Madeira
wine in addition to the above allowances.
When outward bound the chief, second, third, fourth and fifth mates,
the surgeon and his mate, the pursers, boatswains, gunners and
carpenters were allowed as indulgence a liberal amount of stores,
consisting of wine, butter, cheese, groceries, pickles, beer and
also spirits for the respective messes. In the case of “extra” ships
the commanders and officers were usually allowed 5 per cent. of the
chartered tonnage, but the chief mate was always allowed three tons,
the second mate two, the third mate one ton, and the surgeon two. The
fourth officers and pursers in these ships were not acknowledged in
this respect. As regards indulgence in stores, the chief mate, second
mate and surgeon were allowed the same amounts as in the regular ships
just mentioned, but the third mate was allowed not quite so much.
On the whole, it will be seen that every officer and petty officer
of an East Indiaman, whether trading to India or China, had the
opportunity of putting by very handsome perquisites, and so you can
now easily believe Eastwick’s statement that a purser friend of his
had retired and bought a ship for himself. But, of course, in addition
to all these “privileges,” everyone received his salary or wages. The
following is a list of the monthly pay to the commander, officers,
petty officers, “tradesmen” (_i.e._ coopers and the like), and the
able-bodied seamen, called foremast men. It will be found that this
makes up a complement of 102 men, such as were employed in one of the
big regular East Indiamen. The pay in the case of “extra” ships will be
given after this list:—
MONTHLY PAY ON BOARD A REGULAR EAST INDIAMAN
Commander £10 0
Chief Mate 5 0
Second Mate 4 0
Third Mate 3 10
Fourth Mate 2 10
Fifth Mate 2 5
Sixth Mate 2 5
Surgeon 5 0
Purser 2 0
Boatswain 3 10
Gunner 3 10
Master-at-Arms 3 0
Carpenter 4 10
Midshipman and Coxswain 2 5
4 Midshipmen, each 2 5
Surgeon’s Mate 3 10
Caulker 3 15
Cooper 3 0
Captain’s Cook 3 5
Ship’s Cook 2 10
Carpenter’s 1st Mate 3 5
Carpenter’s 2nd Mate 2 10
Caulker’s Mate 2 15
Cooper’s Mate 2 10
6 Quartermasters, each 2 10
Sailmaker 2 10
Armourer 2 10
Butcher 2 5
Baker 2 5
Poulterer 2 5
2 Commander’s Servants, each 1 5
1 Chief Mate’s Servant 1 0
1 Second Mate’s Servant 0 18
1 Surgeon’s Servant 0 15
1 Boatswain’s Servant 0 15
1 Gunner’s Servant 0 15
Captain’s Steward 2 0
Ship’s Steward 2 10
2 Boatswain’s Mates, each 2 10
2 Gunner’s Mates, each 2 10
1 Carpenter’s Servant 0 15
50 Foremast Men, each 2 5
In the case of an “extra” ship the commander received £10 a month,
the chief mate £5, the second mate £4, the third mate £3, 10s., the
surgeon £5, the boatswain £3, 10s., the gunner £3, 10s., the carpenter
£4, 10s., the two midshipmen were paid £2, 5s. each, the cooper and
steward got £3, the captain’s cook £3, 5s., the ship’s cook £2, 10s.,
the boatswain’s mate and the gunner’s mate were each paid £2, 10s.,
the carpenter’s mate and caulker £3, 15s., the two quartermasters
received each £2, 10s., the two commander’s servants £1, 5s. each,
and the thirty foremast men £2, 5s. each. As to the last-mentioned,
a vessel of from 400 to 500 tons carried twenty foremast hands. A
ship of 500 to 550 had thirty hands, and the next size, from 550 to
600 tons, carried thirty-five. A 600 to 650 tonner had forty men, and
a 650 to 700 tonner forty-five men. But a 700 to 800 ton ship had
fifty-five men, and an 800 to 900 tonner sixty-five of these hands.
The Company’s rule was that regular vessels of 750 to 800 tons were to
carry a total complement of 101 officers and men. A 900-ton ship was to
carry 110 men, a 1000-ton ship 120 men, a 1100-ton ship 125 men, and a
1200-tonner 130 men.
Five supernumeraries were allowed to be carried, of whom two were to be
allowed to walk the quarterdeck. No commander was allowed to increase
the number of midshipmen under pain of being suspended for three
years. This was to prevent him from taking a raw young officer out of
consideration for a monetary reward. In order to act as a safeguard,
if any person borne on the ship’s books as part of her complement were
discharged in India, China or St Helena without permission of the
Company, or if the commander were to act in collusion and allow him
to quit his vessel, the commander was liable to a fine of £300. Nor
could he bring home or carry out any passenger or person without the
directors’ leave.
Owing to the fact that the men out of these East Indiamen were so
frequently pressed into the British men-of-war whilst in the East, it
was often enough necessary to ship a lot of lascars in order to get
the vessel home at all. But these feeble-bodied men were accustomed
only to voyages of short duration, and that in the fine weather season.
They could not bear the cold, neither were they dependable when the
East Indiaman had to defend herself against a privateer, pirate or
enemy’s warship. Ignorant of the English language, they were not easy
to handle. It was always reckoned that eighty or ninety of them were
not quite the equal of fifty British seamen, and for every hundred of
them employed four British seamen must be also. It was the India-built
ships which were manned almost exclusively by these lascars, and a new
problem arose, for these fellows used to remain behind in England,
where their condition became piteous. There was an obligation that
these lascars were always to be sent back to India, but in practice
many of them “are turned off in London, where they beg and perish.”
So wrote Macpherson in 1812. “The appearance of these miserable
creatures,” he remarked, “in the streets of London frequently excites
the indignation of passengers against the Company, who, they suppose,
bring them to this country and leave them destitute,” whereas, in
reality, these Easterns actually preferred to sink into degradation
in our land rather than return to their own. Many of them never
reached England, or, if they did, died on the return voyage: for the
bad weather off the Cape of Good Hope and the rigours of the English
climate caused considerable sickness and death.
English gentlemen who had been for some years under the Company in
India, either in a civil or military capacity, were often wont to
bring black servants home with them, and after these servants had been
some time in England they were discharged. The result was that, under
the terms of their obligation, the Company were put to great expense
in sending them back to their native country. It was with a view to
protecting themselves from this possibility that the Company used to
cause the master of such a servant to take a bond in India as security
for the cost of returning these coloured people, these bonds being
sent to the commander of the ship in which the master and his servant
was travelling to England. Otherwise, the commander was ordered by the
Company to refuse to have the black man on board.
Before an officer could become commander of one of the Company’s ships
it was necessary that he should be twenty-five years old and have
performed a voyage to and from India or China in the Company’s regular
service as chief or second mate, or else have commanded a ship in the
extra service. A chief mate had to be twenty-three years old, have
voyaged to India or China in the Company’s service as second or third
mate. A second mate had to be twenty-two years old and have made a
similar voyage as third mate. To become a third mate he had to be aged
twenty-one and been two voyages in the Company’s service to and from
India or China. A fourth mate had to be twenty years old and been one
voyage of not less than twenty months to India or China and back in the
Company’s service, and one year in actual service in any other employ,
and of the latter he had to produce satisfactory certificates.
In the case of the extra ships the commander had to be twenty-three
years old at least, have made three voyages to India or China and
back in the Company’s service, one of which must have been as chief
or second mate in a regular ship, or as chief mate in an extra ship.
The chief mate must be at least twenty-two, and have made two of these
voyages as officer in the Company’s regular service. The second mate
had to be at least twenty-one and have performed two voyages as officer
in the Company’s service to India or China and back. The third mate
must be twenty years and been one voyage in the Company’s service, or
two voyages as midshipman in the extra service.
It would not be untrue to say that officers of the early part
of the nineteenth century in this service were excellent seamen
and fair navigators, but many of them would not be sufficiently
expert in navigation nowadays to have entrusted to them the work
and responsibilities commensurate with those with which they were
charged. It was in the year 1804 that the Company issued the following
regulation:—
“That such of the officers as have not been already instructed in
the method of finding the longitude of a ship at sea, by lunar
observations, do immediately perfect themselves under Mr Lawrence
Gwynne, at Christ’s Hospital, previous to their attending the Committee
to be examined for their respective stations; and that they do produce
to the Committee a certificate from that gentleman of their being
qualified in the method.”
And within six weeks after each ship had arrived home, the commander
and officers had to attend a Committee of the Company which dealt with
the reasons for any deviation which the ship might have made during the
voyage.
As touching the accommodation in these ships, the officers had
canvas berths only, laced down to battens on the deck, with upright
stanchions, a cross-piece, and a small door, with canvas panels, the
canvas being capable of being rolled up. On the gun-deck the chief
mate’s berth was on the starboard side from the fore part of the
aftermost port, to the fore part of the second port from aft, the space
being eight feet broad. The second mate was located on the opposite
side to correspond, but his space was six inches narrower. Between the
second and third ports two similar berths, each six feet long and seven
feet broad, were fitted up for the third and fourth mates: and two more
for the purser and surgeon between the third and fourth ports. Two
others, slightly smaller still, were located between the ports on this
deck for the boatswain and carpenter. And no alteration from this was
allowed to be made during the voyage. The captain’s “great cabin” was
in the steerage, and he was forbidden to partition it off in any way
without special orders from the Company. When a ship went into action,
those canvas berths or cabins of the officers just alluded to were
taken down. The reader will recollect the capture some pages back of
the _Brunswick_ by the _Marengo_. Addison in his journal mentions that
when he and his fellow-officers were taken on board the latter they
were marched below to the ward-room. He then adds that, “being cleared
for action, the cabins were all down, and the whole deck clear fore and
aft, open to the seamen.”
The full uniform for the commander of one of the Company’s ships was
as follows:—Fine blue coat, black Genoa velvet round the cuffs, four
holes by two’s, three outside, one inside. Black velvet lapels, with
ten holes by two’s. Black velvet panteen cape, with one hole on each
side, straight flaps, with four holes by two’s. The fore parts were
lined with buff silk serge, black slit and turns faced with the same.
One button on each hip, and one at the bottom. The buttonholes were
gold embroidered throughout and gilt buttons with the Company’s crest.
The chief mate wore a blue coat with black velvet lapels, cuffs and
collar, with one small button to each cuff. The buttons gilt, with the
Company’s crest. The second, third and fourth mates’ uniforms were
similar to that of the chief mate, except that the second had two small
buttons on each cuff, the third had three, and the fourth had four.
[Illustration: THE “JESSIE” AND “ELIZA JANE” IN TABLE BAY, CAPE OF GOOD
HOPE, 1829.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
In the extra ships the commander wore a blue coat with black velvet
lapels, cuffs and collar, with only one embroidered buttonhole on each
cuff, and on each side of the collar. His buttons were gilt with
the Company’s crest. The chief mate’s uniform in these extra ships
consisted of a blue coat, single-breasted, with a black velvet collar
and cuffs, and one small buttonhole on each cuff, with gilt buttons as
before. The second and third mates’ were like this with the difference
of two or three small buttons on each cuff as mentioned. And it was
strictly ordered that officers were always to appear in this uniform
whenever they attended on the Court of Directors, their Committees, any
of the Presidents and Councils in India, or at St Helena, or the Select
Committee of Supra-Cargoes in China.
Some of the officers when they came up to be sworn in before the Court
of Directors did not always appear in the prescribed uniform, and the
Company sent out a warning against coming into their presence in boots,
black breeches and stockings, except in the case of deep mourning. When
appearing before the Court of Directors the officers were compelled to
wear full uniform, but when attending the Committee they were to wear
undress.
Whenever the ship dropped down from Deptford or Blackwall to Gravesend
the captain was to be on board. There were two sets of pilots. One took
the ship from Deptford or Blackwall to Gravesend, and another took her
from Gravesend to the Isle of Wight. Whilst the ship lay at Gravesend
the commander was ordered to go aboard her once a week in order to
report her condition to the Committee. Before sailing, the ship took on
board a sufficient amount of lime-juice to last the crew through the
whole voyage. And the commander had strict instructions to see that his
new hands—“recruits” the Company called them—wore the clothes which
the Company provided, and that the men did not sell them for liquor;
also that these men did not desert. For this reason no boats were
allowed to remain alongside the ship without having been made fast by
a chain and lock—thus preventing any possibility of the men escaping
to the shore. No boat was allowed to put off from the ship until every
person in her had been examined, lest one of the crew might be in her.
And a quarter watch was to be kept night and day to prevent the loss
of recruits. If any did desert, then the commander would most probably
have to pay the cost which this involved.
During the course of every watch the ship was to be pumped out, and
entries made in the log. And as regards divine worship, the slackness
of the previous period mentioned in an earlier chapter was no longer
tolerated. “You are strictly required to keep up the worship of
Almighty God on board your ship every Sunday, when circumstances will
admit, and that the log-book contain the reasons for the omission when
it so happens; that you promote good order and sobriety, by being
yourself the example, and enforcing it in others; and that you be
humane and attentive to the welfare of those under your command, the
Court have resolved to mulct you in the sum of two guineas for every
omission of mentioning the performance of divine service, or assigning
satisfactory reasons for the non-performance thereof every Sunday, in
the Company’s log-book.”
From the Company’s India House in Leadenhall Street the commander
was supplied with charts. These had to be returned at the end of the
voyage, together with the commander’s journals and track charts. What
were known as free mariners must have performed two voyages to India
or China and back in the Company’s ships, or else have used the sea
and been in actual service for at least three years. The reader is
aware that many a time the Company’s ships were endangered by the naval
authorities impressing so many men from them. At last, after many
protests, the Admiralty instituted a new regulation, so that, although
it was still not possible to abolish this impressment, yet the evil so
far as the East Indiamen were concerned was mitigated and controlled.
A letter was sent to the Rear-Admiral of the Red on the East Indies
station instructing him to order his captains and commanders to conform
to this new regulation. A proper scheme was drawn up, showing what
officers and men in East Indiamen ships of varying tonnages were to be
exempt from impress, though this protection applied only until the ship
should reach Europe. However, even if the whole exemption could not be
obtained, a portion thereof was better than nothing at all, especially
as the Company attributed so many of the losses of their ships to
having been deprived of their best men.
In addition to their wages, the men became entitled to a pension from
what was known as the Poplar Fund. Any commander, officer or seaman, or
anyone else who had served aboard any of these East Indiamen for eight
years and regularly contributed to this fund was entitled to a pension.
But if a man had been wounded or maimed so as to be rendered incapable
of further service at sea, he could still be admitted to a pension even
under eight years. The size of the pension was based on the amount of
capital which the officer possessed. Thus, if a commander stated that
he was not worth £2500, or £125 a year, he received a pension of £100.
Similarly, if a chief mate had not been able to amass £1300, or had £65
coming in every year, he was granted a pension of £60. And so the scale
descended down to the rank of midshipman, who was granted a £12 pension
if he was not worth £400, or £20 a year. Allowances were also made for
the widows and orphans of those who had served the Company for seven
years.
Before a candidate could be appointed as ship’s surgeon, those who
had already made one voyage in the Company’s service, or acted twelve
months in that capacity in his Majesty’s service in a hot climate were
given priority. After a qualified surgeon had served in one of the
extra ships for one voyage to India and back he was eligible for the
regular service. Both surgeon and a surgeon’s mate had to produce a
certificate from the examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons and
also from the Company’s own physician. The surgeons were allowed,
in addition to their salary and their privilege of private trade,
fifteen shillings per man on the voyage for medicine and attendance
on the military and invalids. But they were no longer required, as
part of their duties, to cut the hair of the Company’s servants! The
assistant-surgeon had to be at least twenty years old, and possess a
diploma from the College of Surgeons of London, Edinburgh or Dublin,
and a certificate from the Company’s own physician.
The gunner and his mate were examined as to their efficiency by the
Company’s master-attendant, who after approval gave them a certificate.
Volunteers for the Company’s Indian Navy, otherwise known as the
Bombay Marine, had to be between the ages of fourteen and eighteen; for
their cavalry and infantry, between sixteen and twenty-two.
To many passengers this voyage to the East was one of terror. Eastwick
tells a yarn about an assistant-surgeon in one of these ships. For five
days on the way out a great storm had been raging. This had evidently
so impressed this surgeon that the night after the storm abated he
dreamt that there was a great hole in the ship’s side. Jumping out of
his cot with alacrity, he knocked over the water-jug, and feeling the
cold water about his toes he ran headlong up on deck, clamouring that
the ship was sinking. For some time he was believed. The carpenter and
some of the officers hurried to his cabin, and meanwhile the passengers
had become alarmed and left their cabins, congregating by the boats.
The story, however, does not give the remarks of the carpenter and
officers when they found the assistant-surgeon had been romancing.
The passengers in these ships were made as comfortable as possible,
though they had to pay fairly heavily for the same. We have seen that
they were entertained with dances whenever possible. They brought with
them on board their servants, their furniture and their wines. But
the conduct of some of these passengers became so highly improper at
times that the Company found it necessary to frame regulations for
the preservation of good order on board, and these had to be enforced
strictly by the commander. In the words of the Court of Directors,
they bewailed the fact that “the good order and wholesome practices,
formerly observed in the Company’s ships, have been laid aside, and
late hours and the consequent mischiefs introduced, by which the ship
has been endangered and the decorum and propriety, which should be
maintained, destroyed.”
One of the great terrors on board these vessels was the possibility of
fire at sea. We shall have the account presently of the loss of the
_Kent_ East Indiaman in the Bay of Biscay, through that species of
disaster, in the year 1825, and there were other instances. It was in
order to guard against this possibility that no fire was allowed to
be kept in after eight at night except for the use of the sick, and
then only in a stove. Candles had to be extinguished between decks by
nine o’clock, and in the cabins by ten at the latest. This was before
the days when ships were compelled by Act of Parliament to carry
sidelights. In fact, just as in mediæval days not even the boatswain
was allowed to use his whistle, nor a bell to be sounded, nor any
unnecessary noise made after dark, lest the ship’s presence should be
betrayed to any pirate in the vicinity, so in the case of these East
Indiamen, not only were there no sidelights, but the commander was
enjoined that the utmost precautions be used to prevent any lights
‘tween decks or from the cabins being visible “to any vessel passing in
the night.”
[Illustration: THE “ALFRED,” EAST INDIAMAN, 1,400 TONS.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
The passengers used to dine not later than 2 P.M. And such was
the authority of the captain that when he retired from the table after
either dinner or supper, the passengers and officers must also retire.
The captain was to pay due attention to the comfortable accommodation
and liberal treatment of the passengers, “at the same time setting
them an example of sobriety and decorum, as he values the pleasure
of the Court.” Any improper conduct of the ship’s officers towards the
passengers or to each other was to be reported quietly to the captain,
and the decision left with the latter. But if anyone thought himself
aggrieved thereby, he could appeal to the Governor and Council of the
first of the Company’s settlements at which the ship should arrive, or,
if homeward bound, to the Court of Directors.
And the following brief, common-sense paragraph summed up the whole
situation:—
“The diversity of characters and dispositions which must meet on
ship-board makes some restraint upon all necessary; and any one
offending against good manners, or known usages and customs, will, on
representation to the Court, be severely noticed.”
We can well believe that those military officers or civil servants of
the Company who came on board homeward bound, after spending years
in India without benefit to their livers and tempers, if to their
pecuniary advantage, and were as ill-accustomed to the conditions of
ship life as they were bereft of an adaptable spirit, needed all the
tact and patience of the commander and ship’s officers to prevent
matters being even more uncomfortable than they were. Those who had
spent their lives wielding authority in India, and both honestly and
otherwise making fortunes, were not the kind of mortals most easy to
live with in the confined area of a ship not much over 1200 tons.
However, every passenger who came on board was given a printed copy of
the regulations, which had been formed for the good of all, and they
were told very pertinently to observe them strictly, and the captains
had to see that they did as they were told.
Certainly up to the second decade of the nineteenth century, the
ships themselves also were in great need of supervision, as to their
construction, though there were not many capable critics then in
existence. All the Company’s ships were of course built of wood, but
iron was already being extensively used for the knees. The idea was
excellent, but in practice inferior material was actually employed and
not the best British iron. And the same defect was noticeable with
regard to anchors and mooring chains. Of those various losses which
occurred to the East Indiaman ships about the year 1809, it was thought
by some that the cause was traceable to these weak iron knees which had
been put into the vessels. A certain Mr J. Braithwaite wrote a letter
to the East India Company in December of 1809, in which he stated that
he had been employed to recover the property of the _Abergavenny_,
which had been lost off Weymouth; and he found, on breaking up the
wreck, that many of the iron knees were broken, owing to having been
made of such poor, inferior material. This, he noticed, snapped quite
easily, and he was convinced that ships fitted with such knees would,
on encountering gales of wind, be lost owing to the knees giving way.
The East Indiaman _Asia_ was thought to have perished owing to that
reason.
But there was also another reason why the ships of this period were
unsatisfactory. They were built not under cover but outside, exposed
to all the weather. But, in addition, there was a bad practice at
that time which unquestionably caused a great deal of serious injury
to the ship. When the ship was approaching completion, and before the
sheathing had been put on, the sides and floor were deluged with
water, the intention being to see if there were any shake in the
plank, or butt or trenail holes, or if any of the seams had been left
uncaulked. If the water poured through anywhere this would indicate
that there was need for caulking before the ship was set afloat.
This was all very well in theory, but in practice it was very bad
indeed, for the water thus admitted settled down into the innermost
recesses, and the result was that the cargoes were always more or
less affected injuriously by the damp. Similarly, it injured the ship
herself, and dry-rot eventually shortened the vessel’s life. Damp,
badly ventilated, these old East Indiamen were frequently the source
of much anxiety to their managing owners or “ships’ husbands,” as they
were usually called. Then there was another defect. The influence of
the Middle Ages was not yet departed from shipbuilding: consequently
trenails were still used. This meant that the ship was riddled with
holes for the insertion of these wooden pegs. Speaking of an East
Indiaman of this time, a contemporary says that thus “she appears like
a cullender,” and “there is hardly a space of six inches in small ships
that is not bored through” by a trenail of one and a half inches in
diameter, being only six inches apart from the next trenail. Thus, of
course, the timbers were weakened, and at a later date when the ship
needed to be re-bored with holes for more trenails on the renewal of
decayed planking, there were so many holes in the timbers that the ship
was very considerably weakened thereby.
The method of the French in building ships had formerly been to
use iron fastenings, but the plank grew nail sick, and the iron
having corroded became very weak. Indian-built ships, however, were
constructed in such a way that there were no numerous series of holes
bored, and thus the hulls remained strong and stout. The planking was
secured to the timbers by spikes and bolts of iron, yet—owing to the
oleaginous sap of the teak from which they were built—the iron did
not corrode as it did in the case of oak-built ships. So about the
year 1810 the introduction of metal nails and bolts was advocated in
connection with the building of ships.
After the Company had lost their China monopoly the class of ship that
was built by the Greens, for instance, was composed of oak, greenheart
and teak, and excellently constructed. Mr F. T. Bullen has written of
such a ship, the _Lion_, which was launched in 1842 from the famous
Blackwall yard. He tells us that this was the finest of all the great
fleet that had been brought into being at that yard up to this date:
how, decked with flags from stem to stern, with the sun glinting
brightly on the rampant crimson lion that towered proudly on high from
her stem, she glided down the way amid the thunder of cannon and the
cheers of the spectators. She was afterwards given ten 18-pounders,
with many muskets and boarding-pikes stowed away in a small armoury in
the waist. This famous vessel, so characteristic of the best type of
East Indiaman which succeeded the Company’s ships, was, in spite of
her great size—as she was then regarded—far handier than any of those
“billy-boys” which used to be such a feature of the Thames. “There was
as much intriguing,” says Mr Bullen, “to secure a berth in the _Lion_
for the outward or homeward passage as there was in those days for
positions in the golden land she traded to. Men whose work in India
was done spoke of her in their peaceful retirement on leafy English
country-sides, and recalled with cronies ‘our first passage out in the
grand old _Lion_.’ A new type of ship, a new method of propulsion, was
springing up all round her. But whenever any of the most modern fliers
forgathered with her upon the ocean highway, their crews felt their
spirits rise in passionate admiration for the stately and beautiful old
craft whose graceful curves and perfect ease seemed to be of the sea
_sui generis_, moulded and caressed by the noble element into something
of its own mobility and tenacious power.”
Like many other of the later-day East Indiamen, she was eventually
taken off the route to India and ran to Australia with emigrants. With
her quarter-galleries, her far-reaching head, her great, many-windowed
stern, she would seem a curious kind of ship among twentieth-century
craft. But she held her own even with the new steel clippers, and made
the round voyage from Melbourne to London and back in five months and
twenty days, including the time taken up in handling the two cargoes,
finally being sold into the hands of the Norwegians, like many another
fine British ship both before and since her time. The last act of her
eventful life came when she crashed into a mountainous iceberg and
smashed herself to pieces. It was a sad end to a ship that had begun so
gloriously.
CHAPTER XVII
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.
CHAPTER XVIII
LIFE ON BOARD
At 6.30 A.M. in these East Indiamen the crew began to wash down decks,
and an hour later the hammocks were piped up and stowed in the nettings
round the waist by the quartermasters. At eight o’clock was breakfast,
and then began the duties of the day.[E] The midshipmen slept in
hammocks also, but the chief mate and the commander were the only
officers in the ship to have a cabin of their own.
In no other ships outside the navy, excepting perhaps some privateers,
was discipline so strict. The seamen were divided into two watches, the
officers into three. The crew had four hours on duty and four hours
off. There was always plenty of work to be done. After saying good-bye
to the English coast cables had to be put away and anchors stowed for
bad weather. Sails were being set, men were sent aloft to take in sail,
and sheets and braces required trimming. The East Indiamen from the
latter part of the eighteenth century had all been steered by wheels,
and the accompanying illustration shows the wheel on board the East
Indiaman _Triton_. The rigging also had to be set up occasionally,
and among the confidential signals to be used by these ships when
proceeding in a convoy, you will find one which asks permission of the
commodore to be allowed to heave-to and set up rigging. In addition,
ballast sometimes required shifting, sails had to be repaired, leaks
stopped, masts greased, new splices made and so on. This was in normal
voyages: but in the case of bad weather there was much more besides.
[Illustration: DECK SCENE OF THE EAST INDIAMAN “TRITON.”
This contemporary sketch shows the wheel and mizzen mast and two gun
carriages of an East Indiaman of 1792, and is used as a decorative
heading to the ship’s list of signals employed when convoying.]
On Wednesdays and Saturdays the ‘tween decks were cleaned and
holystoned. The origin of the word “holystoned” has been variously
derived. To “holystone” is to rub the decks with sandstone or
“prayer-books.” When ships, both of the East India Company, his
Majesty’s navy and other craft, used to anchor in St Helen’s Roads
(off Bembridge, Isle of Wight, facing Portsmouth) the place was found
convenient for two reasons. There was a convenient dip-well close to
the shore, which still exists to-day: and this water kept in wooden
butts used to keep so well, and unlike much other water did not turn
putrid when the ships had been at sea some time, that East Indiamen
were actually known to have brought back some of it home quite
fresh after being out to the East and remaining in the ship about a
twelvemonth. But besides the excellent water, the men used to be sent
ashore here to obtain sand for scrubbing the decks. One day it was
discovered that there was nothing so good as a piece of the stone of
the old St Helen’s Church, which had recently been abandoned, the relic
of which survives to-day only as a sea-mark. In those sacrilegious days
there was little respect for hallowed things, such as churches or
graves, and before long every ship that came to these roads would send
men ashore as a matter of course to fetch bits of the church and even
gravestones in small blocks. The suggestion is that thus when the decks
were rubbed with them the work was known as “holystoning,” and the
blocks themselves called “Bibles” or “Prayer-books.”[F]
The men in these East Indiamen were divided into messes, of eight men,
their allotted space being between the guns, where the mess-traps were
arranged. The ‘tween decks had to be kept scrupulously clean, and
were inspected by the commander and surgeon. No work was allowed to
be performed on Sunday except what was necessary, though manuscript
journals rather show that this regulation was not much respected.
The crew were mustered in their best clothes, and then everyone that
could be spared was present at prayers. Dinner was served at noon,
and the passengers were given three courses and dessert, but without
fish. There was plenty of wine and beer, and there was also grog at
11 A.M. and 9 P.M. Champagne was drunk twice a week. There was a cow
carried, and later on the calf, which was always brought on board with
its mother, became veal when the ship had crossed the line and was
nearer India. In addition there were also ducks and fowls, sheep and
pigs, so that the ship’s boats and decks were often mildly suggestive
of a farmyard. The crew had grog served out to them at dinner-time
and on Saturday nights, when the time-honoured custom of “sweethearts
and wives” had not begun to die out. As we have seen from Addison’s
journals the ceremonies of crossing the line were kept up, and Eastwick
has instanced dances: and in addition theatricals were also given on
board to relieve the monotony of the long voyage.
The men often employed their dog-watches to “make and mend,” or going
through their sea-chests, games or amusements. On Saturday nights there
would be songs and dancing. When they reached their Eastern port, the
men would unload the ship themselves without the assistance of natives.
And a ship in those days was far more independent of the shore than
even a sailing ship is to-day. There were no better riggers in the
world, and steel rope had not taken the place of hemp. We have seen
from Addison that in China the crews of the Company’s ships rowed guard
on Sundays among the ships in the harbour. The number of guns which
these ships carried has been mentioned at various dates throughout
these pages, and the men were drilled with about as much persistency
as in the Royal Navy of that time. The mediæval boarding-pike was
still in use, and they were drilled also in musket, cutlass and other
small-arms. Also quite naval fashion was the custom of holding courts
martial on board, the members being composed of the captain and
the four senior officers, the latter having always been sworn when
the captain took his oath prior to the ship’s sailing from London.
Discipline was strict even to harshness and cruelty, and punishments
were sometimes inflicted for the merest trivialities. At the same time
these crews were not as mild as a porcelain shepherdess, and they were
a tough, virile, desperate class as a whole. The reader will recollect
Addison’s entry in his journal that such and such a seaman was punished
“with a dozen” for insolence or neglect. This punishment was inflicted
over the bare back and shoulders by the brawny boatswain’s mate armed
with a cat-o’-nine-tails, the victim being triced up by the thumbs. And
when it was all over a bucket of salt water washed the blood away. Yes,
these men were reckless, they were a coarse lot of dare-devils, they
were ever ready to break all the laws and regulations which concerned
them. They would desert or cheat his Majesty’s customs, knock a man
down, drink far more than was good for them, yet for all that they were
true seamen to their finger-tips, who could be relied upon to go aloft
in all weathers, and the very fellows on whom you could rely when it
was a question of nerve and pluck. In battle, stripped to the waist,
they would fight with the utmost courage: and when punishment was
whacked out to them they bore it like true sons of Britain.
They were kept fairly busy on board, yet as there were so many hands
no one could justly complain of being overworked as in the case of the
modern man-of-war. They had always plenty of food and grog, and they
knew that if they were killed in the Company’s service their wives and
dependents would be looked after.
As for the ships themselves, they were of course all built of wood.
From roughly 1775 to well on into the nineteenth century they were
not only rigged, fitted out, manned and handled like the contemporary
frigates of the Royal Navy, but they were, in the first place, built
after their model, with one exception. The East Indiamen were a
fuller-bodied type, but the naval frigates, inasmuch as they were
built for speed and not for cargo, could afford to have finer lines. A
great deal of valuable room had to be wasted in the excessive amount
of pig-iron ballast which these ships had to carry. To call them fast
would not be truthful, but then there was no competition before the
year 1814, and so there was little need to hurry, and they certainly
were not driven. At the approach of night they snugged down, for there
was no premium awaiting them, however fast they made the voyage. If,
however, they endangered the ship or damaged the cargo they would not
only incur the East India Company’s displeasure, but detract from their
own privileges.
Therefore before darkness overtook them these ships would always take
in their royals and fine-weather sails, and the royal yards would be
sent down on deck. If bad weather threatened them t’gallantsails and
mainsail would also be stowed, and a precautionary reef tucked in the
topsails. Thus these vessels never made record-breaking runs, and were
never given the opportunity of showing their fullest speed. Caution
was the dominating factor, and not speed. In other words, the policy
was the exact opposite of the clipper ships which were to follow: but
then the clippers were built for speed, and not for fighting. There was
in essentials very little difference between the hulls of the time of
James I. and of the early nineteenth century, if we omit the somewhat
elaborate external decoration which was peculiar to the Stuart times,
and give the ships their later triangular headsails, staysails and a
spanker instead of the old lateen mizen. The cumbrous hull was really
but little modified. Built of English oak, elm, and Indian teak,
copper-fastened throughout, the later ships of the Company were strong
and well-found, with good spars, stout rigging and canvas. Sometimes
they were built by the very men and on the very yard that had witnessed
the building of the King’s ships.
One of the finest ships ever built for the Company was the famous
East Indiaman _Thames_. Happily that great marine artist of the early
nineteenth century, E. W. Cooke, sketched her in all her beauty, and
the accompanying illustration shows how she appeared in the year 1829.
This was a vessel of 1424 tons, with her general, massive appearance,
the strength of her gear, the gun-ports, the decorative stern with
its windows—the East Indiaman with all her striking characteristics
of picturesque power. A boat hangs in davits on either quarter, the
topsails are still single and very deep, with plenty of reef-points,
but the hull is certainly unnecessarily cumbrous and clumsy—impressive
rather than beautiful, strong rather than fine. But in any case she
would have been a pretty tough proposition for a contemporary hostile
ship to tackle, especially with such crews as she carried. Compared
with her contemporary, the West Indiaman _Thetis_ (which is here shown
in the act of getting under way off the Needles), the _Thames_ is a
more powerful fighting ship. But the West Indiamen were essentially
more suited for trade, and their capacity for cargo was very great.
They were mercantile craft pure and simple.
One of the greatest disasters which ever befell any of these East
Indiamen was the loss of the _Kent_. This was a fine new ship which had
left the Downs on the 19th of February 1825. She was of 1350 tons,
so very similar to the _Thames_. She was bound out to China, calling
first at Bengal, and in her were travelling officers, troops, women and
children of the 31st Regiment, as well as twenty private passengers and
a crew of 148 officers and men.
Favoured with a fine north-east wind the _Kent_ made, for her class of
vessel, a quick passage down the English Channel, and on the 23rd was
out in the Atlantic pitching to the swell. Interrupted occasionally
with bad weather the stately ship pursued her way across the Bay of
Biscay for another five days, when a heavy gale from the south-west
sprang up, and the following morning the weather got worse: the fair
wind which had brought them down Channel now headed them and tormented.
The bigger sails were taken in, and others were close reefed.
Topgallant-yards had to be struck, and so violent was the gale that
by the morning of the 1st of March the vessel had to be hove-to under
a triple-reefed main-topsail only. In other words, there was only the
merest patch of canvas allowed on her.
[Illustration: THE WEST INDIAMAN “THETIS” (CAPTAIN BURTON).
This shows an Early Nineteenth Century first-class ship employed in the
West Indian trade.]
She was rolling very badly, and life-lines were run along the deck
for the whole watch of soldiers to hang on by. For the women and
children below, matters were alarming and unpleasant in those cooped-up
quarters. So heavily did the _Kent_ roll that at every lurch her main
chains were well below the water. Things were bad enough on deck, but
below the furniture and other articles had broken away from their
cleats and were being violently dashed about both in the cabins and
the cuddy. In order to see whether everything was all right below in
the hold, one of the ship’s officers went down with a couple of
seamen, in case anything might have broken adrift and be endangering
the hull. He took with him a patent safety lantern, but as the lamp
was burning dimly he handed it up to the orlop deck to be trimmed. He
then discovered that one of the spirit casks had got adrift, and sent
the two men to get some wood to wedge it up. Soon afterwards the ship
gave a heavy lurch, so that the officer most unfortunately dropped the
lantern. In his eagerness to recover it he let go his hold of the cask,
and there was a smash. Instantly the spirits reached the lamp and the
whole of the afterhold was in a blaze.
Here was a terrible position: a raging storm outside and a raging fire
within. Clouds of smoke came up the hatchway and were blown violently
to leeward as the wind fanned the flames. The captain of the ship
gave his orders, and both the seamen and the troops worked their very
hardest with buckets, pumps, wet sails, hammocks—anything in fact that
could be employed to put the fire out. But far from decreasing the
conflagration was spreading, and smoke came up in volumes from all four
hatchways. The captain now ordered the lower decks to be scuttled, the
combings of the hatches to be cut, and the ports to be opened, so that
all the sea possible might have a free entry. Meanwhile some of the
sick soldiers, a woman and several children, unable to gain the upper
deck, had perished.
As some of the passengers went below they met one of the mates
staggering up the hatchway, exhausted and almost senseless. He reported
that he had just stumbled over some dead bodies, who must have
perished in the suffocating smoke. With difficulty the lower ports
could be opened owing to the atmosphere, but when the passengers at
last succeeded the sea came pouring in, carrying chests and bulkheads
before it. Happily the tons of water which made their way into the
hold checked the fury of the flames and decreased the possibility of
explosion, which had been the greatest fear. But now the ship was
fairly water-logged, and death from explosion was apparently to give
way to death by drowning. Efforts were therefore made to close the
ports again, and batten down the hatches and stifle the fire. The
occasion was terrifying in the extreme, for it was merely a question as
to how long the grave position could be tolerated. Six or seven hundred
human beings in the agony of suspense—often more trying than physical
pain itself—were on the upper deck. Some had been suffering the pangs
of seasickness for days, many had rushed up from below with no time
to slip on warm clothes, others were seeking out husbands, wives or
children. Some were standing resigned to their fate, while others, as
is always the case on such occasions, were indulging in despair and
frenzy. Some were saying their prayers, while some of the toughest of
the soldiers and seamen took up their positions immediately over the
magazine in the hope that when the explosion came at any moment they
might be blown into eternity without delay. Every man, woman and child
was, to use a fitting expression, “bump up against the inevitable,” and
everyone acted according to his or her character in this time of crisis.
Meanwhile the seas were making game of the ship, and suddenly the
_Kent’s_ binnacle broke away and was dashed to pieces on the deck. This
was taken as a particularly bad omen by some, and the end was being
awaited as certain. But just then the fourth mate decided to send a man
up to the foretop in case—and it was not even a slender hope—that a
distant ship might be descried. With dramatic suddenness the man, after
scanning the horizon, began waving his hat and shouting.
“A sail on the lee bow!” he exclaimed, and the announcement was
received with three cheers. Flags of distress were at once hoisted,
minute guns began to be fired, and setting the three topsails and
foresail the _Kent_ ran down to the direction of the stranger. This was
found to be the brig _Cambria_, of 200 tons burthen, on her way from
Falmouth to Vera Cruz with a number of Cornish miners on board. After
the _Kent’s_ signals had been hoisted there followed a further period
of suspense. Had the brig seen the signals? Had the sound of the guns
reached her in the violence of the gale? But presently the stranger was
seen to hoist British colours and to crowd on all sail, in spite of the
gale. Her captain was evidently determined to assist if he could.
There are those who say that the age of miracles has ended, but the
good fortune of falling in with the _Cambria_ was really far more
extraordinary than may seem to the modern reader. To-day the continuous
stream of traffic across the Bay of Biscay—liners, men-of-war, tramp
steamers and a few sailing ships—is something very considerably
greater than at the time of which we are speaking. To-day, if such an
occurrence took place in a ship bound for India, there would always
be shipping in the vicinity and wireless would summon assistance
before very long. But at this time there were no lines of steamships
ploughing their regular furrow across the Bay. There were few
ocean-going vessels of any sort, and you might cross the ocean time
after time without sighting another craft. It was therefore one of
those rare instances that the _Cambria_ should have chanced to be
anywhere in the neighbourhood.
As the ships were lessening the intervening distance, the _Kent’s_
boats were being got ready. The ship’s commander consulted with the
colonel and major of the regiment, and provision was made to prevent
that dreaded incident in such a case as this, which has sometimes
marred the whole picture of self-sacrifice and resignation. Some of the
soldiers and seamen in the _Kent_ seemed to give evidence of being the
ones to rush the boats at the first opportunity. To thwart this, some
of the military officers stood over them with drawn swords, and this
had a wholesome effect.
[Illustration: THE “KENT,” EAST INDIAMAN, ON FIRE IN THE BAY OF BISCAY.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
The starboard boat was filled with women and children so far as its
capacity allowed, these people getting into her through the cuddy-port
on that side. The boat was then lowered away into a sea that was so
awful that it seemed impossible for the little craft to live many
minutes. Even as it touched the water the usual difficulty occurred—and
it must have been much worse in those days when there were no patent
davits or disengaging gear. The tackle was unhooked only with
difficulty, and the boat narrowly escaped being dashed to fragments
against the great, heavy hull of the _Kent_. Over the sea the people
in the _Kent_ watched the load of human lives, now on the summit of
a wave crest, now disappearing in the trough. But at length, after
this further suspense, strong British arms pulled her alongside the
_Cambria_, and the first human being to be lifted into the _Cambria_
was an infant of only a few weeks old.
The passage had taken twenty minutes between the sinking and rescuing
ships, and after this load had been received on board, the other boat
came off. One of the passengers in the _Cambria_ who watched the
incident afterwards stated that the seas were so big that when the two
ships happened to be in a trough of sea at the same time, the _Kent_,
great as she was, could not be seen for the intervening mountain wave.
The _Cambria_ had wisely taken up her position some distance from the
_Kent_, fearing that if there were an explosion she might be badly
injured. But evidently the _Kent’s_ boats on their return journey
had to row to windward, and this was not easy. Owing to the seas now
running these boats could not come alongside the _Kent_ again: so the
women and children had to be tied together in twos and then lowered
from the stern, the boat doing its best to be immediately underneath at
the right time. Everyone who has had experience of the sea knows how
difficult this must have been, and it happened that many of these poor
women were unwillingly ducked several times in the sea before being
received half-drowned and half-dead with terror into the boats. Still,
not one of this sex was lost thereby, though some of the children
perished with exhaustion and shock.
Some of the soldiers behaved with great gallantry, and worked hard to
save the women and children, to their own danger. The _Kent_ had six
boats, but three had been swamped or stove in during the trips between
the two vessels. All this time the flames were spreading worse than
ever, and as the daylight was drawing to a close it became a race
against time, for there were still many passengers on board, although
many had been taken off to the _Cambria_. The _Kent’s_ captain had a
rope made fast to the outer end of the spanker-boom, and after walking
out to the end of this spar the men had to slip down by the rope into
the remaining boats below. Many landsmen, however, dreaded this means
of escape so much that they preferred to throw themselves out of the
stern windows. Rafts were constructed out of spars, hen-coops and other
materials, and acted as a means of reaching the boats. But now night
had fallen over the wreck. Some of the baser passengers who remained
still on board had drunk themselves speechless: others were prowling
about for spoil, whilst the ship’s poultry and pigs were turning the
ship into a mad farmyard.
As the darkness came down the work of rescue was the more difficult.
The _Kent_ was now sunk ten feet below her marks, and squalls of wind
and rain together with the big seas made her hours of existence fewer.
The guns had burst their tackle owing to the action of the flames, and
as they fell into the hold exploded. There were still a few people left
in the ship, including the captain, but the latter, having in vain
tried to persuade the others to leave, left them too terror-stricken
and dumbfounded to move. Crawling out along the spanker-boom and
steadying himself by the topping lift, he dived into the sea and was
picked up by one of the boats. As the last boat left the side of the
_Kent_, flames burst through the cabin windows. Some of those who had
feared to leave the ship had also a miraculous escape. Driven by the
flames, they sheltered as best they could on the chains (where the
rigging joins the ship’s hull) and stood there till the masts went by
the board. They then clung to one of these masts until a ship named
the _Caroline_, bound from Egypt to Liverpool, saw the explosion when
three miles away and made all sail in its direction, and so picked
up fourteen survivors. The captain of the _Caroline_ stood by till
daylight, but was unable to find any more people.
The magazine (which in East Indiamen ships was placed under the
forecastle) had exploded about 1.30 A.M., and portions of the old East
Indiaman that had set forth so well with a fair wind now rose into the
air like rockets. As for the survivors in the _Cambria_, they had been
hauled on board with difficulty by the Cornish miners standing in the
chains as the heave of the sea lifted the boats up to that level. The
women, surviving children and men were made as comfortable as possible,
in spite of the fact that 600 people in a brig of only 200 tons put a
somewhat heavy strain on the accommodation at their disposal, with a
heavy Atlantic gale blowing too. In a few days all the food and water
on board would give out, so, at the risk of carrying away his masts,
the captain of the brig drove her for all she was worth before the
gale, so that by the afternoon of 3rd March the Scillies were sighted,
and soon after midnight the ship had cast anchor in Falmouth harbour.
It was another miracle that the _Cambria_ arrived in Falmouth when
she did, for an hour after she had dropped anchor the wind flew right
round to north-east and remained there for several days. This would
have meant a head-wind for the brig, and meanwhile in this delay—for
those bluff old craft were very slow beating and could not sail very
close—many of her passengers must have died of starvation.
At Falmouth the survivors disembarked, being met on the beach by huge
crowds, and were hospitably received in the houses of the inhabitants,
who also got up a subscription for the relief of the sufferers. A
service of thanksgiving was held, and a few days later the passengers
and sailors were sent to their homes, the troops embarking for Chatham,
while the sick and injured remained in hospital. Notwithstanding that
about six hundred had been saved, yet eighty-two had perished in this
disaster. Some of the seamen belonging to the _Kent_ had certainly
behaved in a cowardly manner by refusing to go back and fetch the
remainder of their shipmates until they were compelled by the captain
of the _Cambria_. It is such instances as these which make one wonder
whether those rough characters were always as brave as we have
preferred to hope they were.
The captain of the _Cambria_ for his fine seamanship and the excellent
manner in which he directed the rescue was awarded the sum of £150
from the War Office, with smaller sums to the mate, crew and miners.
The East India Company, in compensation for the losses and expenses
caused by this rescue, sent the sum of £287, 11s. to the captain of the
_Cambria_ for payment of the bill of provisions, £287, 10s. on account
of the owners for the food of the passengers, and £300 for demurrage.
In addition, they presented the _Cambria’s_ captain with the sum of
£600, the first mate £100, and varying sums to the crew and miners.
Other presents were also made by Lloyd’s, the Royal Humane Society, the
Royal Exchange Assurance, and the Liverpool underwriters.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] For some details in this connection I am indebted to Lindsay’s
“History of Merchant Shipping,” as well as to an article in _The
Mariner’s Mirror_, vol. i., No. 1.
[F] Mentioned in Captain E. du Boulay’s “Bembridge, Past and Present.”
CHAPTER XIX
THE COMPANY’S NAVAL SERVICE
Primarily, of course, the East Indiamen were built fitted out and
manned for the purpose of trade: but owing to circumstances they were
compelled to engage in hostilities both offensive and defensive. The
result was that these ships figured in more fights than any essentially
mercantile ships (as distinct from pirates, privateers and other
sea-rovers) that have ever been built.
It is necessary at the outset to distinguish carefully between what
became known subsequently as the Indian Navy and the Company’s merchant
ships. The former existed to protect the latter, by suppressing both
local and nomadic pirates of all kinds, by convoying East Indiamen and
even carrying troops when necessary, and by performing other duties,
such as surveying, in addition to existing as a defence against any
aggressive projects of rival nations. The Indian Navy evolved from
the Bombay Marine. It is not necessary to recapitulate the history
of the East India Company and the rise of its mercantile fleet: it
is sufficient to state that with the establishment of factories on
shore and the passing and repassing of valuable freights over seas
frequented by hostile ships some sort of local force was essential.
The Portuguese had their Indian Navy, consisting of large, ocean-going
vessels and small-draught craft for operating in shallow local waters,
the crews being composed of Portuguese, slaves and Hindoos. It was
therefore natural enough that the English should soon find it necessary
to fit out ships capable of meeting the enemy on a fairly even basis.
Furthermore, the Bombay trade had been so much interfered with by the
attacks from Malabar pirates that it became essential to build small
armed vessels to protect merchant craft. The result was that Warwick
Pett, of that famous shipbuilding family which had been building
vessels in England from the early Tudor times, was sent out in the
seventeenth century to Bombay to construct suitable ships. Local craft
were also employed, and very useful they were found in negotiating
shallow waters.[G]
Throughout most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the East
India Company’s cruisers were kept actively employed in suppressing
the native pirates who roamed the Indian Ocean and attacked with great
daring and ingenuity. They hung about off the entrance to the Red Sea,
found a snug base near the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, strengthened
it with fortifications for the protection of themselves and their
shipping, and eventually moved to Madagascar, which was to be a famous
base for those notorious eighteenth-century pirates of European and
North American origin, whose names are familiar to most schoolboys.
[Illustration: THE “CAMBRIA” BRIG, RECEIVING ON BOARD THE LAST
BOAT-LOAD FROM THE “KENT,” EAST INDIAMAN, WHEN THE LATTER WAS BEING
BURNT.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
The year 1697 was marked by attacks on the Company’s ships, not
merely by pirates, but by the French. Three of these East Indiamen were
attacked, plundered and burned by pirate craft flying English colours.
Two more of the Company’s ships were captured by the French, so things
were serious enough. The matter was reported to England, and a squadron
of four well-armed ships was accordingly sent out to extirpate these
robbers of the sea. In fact, the pirate problem became so great that
by a mutual agreement the English, French and Dutch eventually agreed
to an arrangement for policing the Eastern seas for the purpose of
destroying their common foe. Thus the English looked after the southern
Indian Ocean, the Dutch were responsible for the Red Sea, and the
French for the Persian Gulf.
The English Indian Marine had sometimes to be strengthened by seamen
from the Company’s merchant ships, and very gallant fighters they
proved themselves to be. Arabian pirates roamed about over the whole
of the Indian seas, and having become emboldened with success actually
built more ships and formed what was in fact a navy of their own. Their
ships were well armed and their men were excellent both as seamen and
fighters, and as soon as ever the English men-of-war moved off, these
pirates, swooping down on coast or ship, would act as they liked.
After the occupation by the English of Bombay and that island becoming
a presidency, the naval force there developed under the name of the
Bombay Marine, under the command of an admiral, drafts of officers and
men being obtained from ships arriving from Europe. For years this
service had indeed fought against privateers, pirates, Portuguese,
Dutch and French, to defend both ships and factories of the Company.
In a smaller, but still an important, degree they had been called upon
also to keep out those interloping English ships which had no lawful
right to trade with India. Looking back through the first century
of the Company’s existence, its ships had captured the Island of St
Helena in 1601. Eight years later the _Solomon_ had defeated several
Portuguese ships. In 1612 the Company’s fleet had again defeated the
Portuguese fleet in India, and the year after this incident had been
repeated. In 1616 a valuable Portuguese frigate had been taken and the
Dutch severely defeated at Batavia. Four of the Company’s ships in 1619
and 1620 defeated yet another Portuguese fleet. The capture of Ormuz
in 1622 had been made by the Company’s fleet acting with the King of
Persia’s forces. In 1635 Bombay had been recaptured by the Company’s
fleet, but it was not till 1662 that England sent out men-of-war to
India for the protection of the Company’s interests. Therefore, during
its first sixty years the Company had to act both as merchants and a
naval power without any external aid, such as trade had a right to
demand.
If the Bombay Marine was distinctly a small service as regards numbers,
it was certainly very gallant, and many a fine incident bright with
bravery and daring belongs to its history. During the war with France
a number of ships belonging to the Bombay Marine were attached to the
Royal Navy on service in the waters that wash the coasts of India, and
rendered good service in this capacity. For although the real theatre
of war between England and France was not in the Orient, yet some
severe, if indecisive, engagements were here fought, and the Company’s
ships, if smaller in size, were a valuable form of assistance. About
the middle of the eighteenth century the Marine consisted of about
twenty ships, and these were essential for protecting the progress
of the mercantile East Indiamen, for without such convoys it was
impossible for those rich freights ever to have traversed the Indian
Ocean. It was the Bombay Marine, also, who made surveys of part of the
Arabian, Persian, the west coast of Media and other coasts, and all
this was to be for the benefit of navigation and trade generally.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century the Bombay Marine consisted
of a couple of frigates, three sloops-of-war, fourteen brigs, in
addition to prizes and vessels specially purchased for the service, and
a few years before that, when Napoleon was contemplating his big scheme
in connection with Egypt, which was to be the stepping-stone to India,
a naval force was sent from England to cruise in the Red Sea. But, as
everyone now knows, the Battle of the Nile prevented these vessels from
having any serious work to perform. And when eventually hostilities
were resumed, the Bombay Marine had to protect the trade in the Bay
of Bengal. This they did with such thoroughness that British merchant
ships were singularly free from capture. In spite of the opposition in
some quarters, and the prejudice against India-built ships, some of the
biggest vessels of the Bombay Marine were built in India, and excellent
craft they proved themselves to be.
One of the most interesting incidents connected with the Bombay Marine
during the early part of the nineteenth century was that in which the
_Mornington_ sloop-of-war figures conspicuously. The French privateers,
especially _La Confiance_ (of which we spoke on an earlier page) and
_L’Eugénie_, were most harassing to any craft navigating the vicinity
of the East Indian coast. The commander of the _Mornington_ was Captain
Frost, and he was determined to bring _L’Eugénie_ to book. For a time
the latter evaded him, and he then hit upon a smart idea. He succeeded
in altering the _Mornington’s_ appearance so that even her own builder
would scarcely have recognised her. In order to prevent any suspicion
of her seeming a warship, Captain Frost added to his ship a false
poop, so that she looked just like a country ship. He changed also
the painting of the hull and added patches of dirty old canvas to
the sails, and after a while she seemed to be anything but the smart
sloop-of-war which she really was.
When this transformation had been completed, the _Mornington_ took
up her position to cruise about the track where the French ship was
likely to be hovering, and before long the look-out aloft espied
the privateer. The _Mornington_ then continued her game of bluff
and altered her course as if she was anxious to get away from the
Frenchman. The latter, unsuspecting, began to work up towards the
English ship, and by sunset was getting quite near. After darkness
had fallen the _Mornington_ ran under easy sail, and presently the
Frenchman hailed, asking the ship’s name, ordering them to heave-to.
Too late the privateer discovered that he had been ensnared and fired
into the _Mornington_, mortally wounding a seaman and injuring the
running gear. Captain Frost now determined to injure the enemy’s
rigging and sails aloft, and thus cripple him to such an extent that
_L’Eugénie_ would not be able to get the windward berth. So chasing
him he blazed away at the Frenchman. It was an exciting chase and
lasted for three hours. So anxious was the privateer to escape that
she threw overboard guns and boats and spars as she went: but at
the end of this time the _Mornington_ had come up alongside and the
Frenchman’s captain hailed and begged the Englishman to cease firing
as they had surrendered. Very shortly the privateer became an English
prize, though she was found to be so crippled that she could not beat
to windward. But it was a great relief when the news reached India that
this mosquito craft had been taken away from any further possibility
of preying on the peaceful merchant ships; and by the irony of events
she who had formerly spent her time in attacking these trading craft
was now to become their protector, for the Government added her to
the service and the command was given to the senior lieutenant of the
_Mornington_.
The Bombay dockyard by the end of the second decade of the nineteenth
century was building such big warships as a ‘74 and ‘84 gun
line-of-battle ship, the latter being of 2289 tons. Other big warships
were also being constructed, and even those most conservative of
sailormen who had always believed exclusively in oak were able after
trial to concede that better ships than these Indian teak craft could
not be desired. And the men and officers were like their ships.
Continuously they seemed to be subject to service, and always they came
through it well. French and Dutch, pirates of the Indian Ocean or the
Persian Gulf, privateers of France, England or America, it was much
the same; the Bombay Marine had to do its work, being hurried here and
there to fight and conquer. And when the short intervals of respite
occurred these hard-worked people took up again their surveying duties
between those distant regions of the Cape of Good Hope and the Sea of
Japan and northwards to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. At the close
of the Burmese War the officers and men of the Bombay Marine received
the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, for no fewer than five of the
Company’s cruisers had served throughout the campaign.
But the time was at hand for a series of changes in the Bombay Marine.
First of all we must call attention to the law passed in the year
1826 by which it was decreed that henceforth any naval force that
was sent out from England by his Majesty to the East Indies on the
representation of the East India Company’s Court of Directors, for the
purpose of hostilities against native powers, was to be paid for by the
Company. The Marine Board which controlled this Company’s naval force
consisted of the Superintendent, the Master-Attendant, the Commodore of
the Harbour and the senior captain. To be Commodore at Surat or in the
Persian Gulf, or Master-Attendant at Calcutta was also to enjoy one of
the plums of the service reserved for those who had served long years.
But after twenty-two years’ service an officer could retire with the
following pay:—
Master-Attendant and Commodore £450 a year
Captain of the First Class 360 “
Captain of the Second Class 270 “
First Lieutenant 180 “
If an officer were to retire after ten years’ service, owing to
ill-health, he was granted one-half of the above allowance. But except
from the cause of ill-health no officer was allowed to come home on
furlough under ten years.
During the year 1827 the whole condition of the Bombay Marine was
inquired into, and as a result the service was changed from a Marine
established purely for war purposes into something of a curious
character. The officers were embodied into a regiment called the
Marine Corps, and a regular packet service was established. The larger
warships of the service were made more efficient, new ships were
added, and a uniform approximating more to that of the Royal Navy was
sanctioned. Finally, from the 1st of May 1830 the Bombay Marine was
changed to the Indian Navy, and this in turn came to an end in the year
1863. Beginning as an adjunct of the East India Company it rendered
a varied and important series of services during a period extending
over two and a half centuries. It had combated the hostility of the
Portuguese and Dutch in those early days when the English Company was
struggling to get a secure foothold in India. It had made history
along the Persian Gulf, it had inflicted punishment on privateers and
pirates, it had protected the mercantile East Indiamen, it had assisted
the British navy wrestling with the French foe in the Orient. The
Company’s cruisers were, in fact, excellent fighting ships for their
size, commanded by gallant officers and well manned by able crews.
And when at last this service was abolished, many were the indignant
outcries against such a step. However, it had long survived the
existence of the Company’s maritime service, both as regards India
and China, and a new order of things in India had already begun to be
inaugurated. The story of the East India Company’s navy, as distinct
from its maritime or mercantile service, is that of a comparatively
small force doing wonders for two and a half centuries, showing great
gallantry, enterprise, and enduring much hardship. Its last years were
conspicuously marked by red tape, yet the time had clearly come for
a change, and the last link was snapped that had connected the old
East Indiamen of historic memory with the period of steamships and the
modern men-of-war. Sentiment is an excellent thing in its way, and one
of the undoubted forces of the world, yet when it comes into collision
with efficiency it is not the latter which must give way. To-day the
Royal Indian Marine contains just as gallant and able a personnel as
in the past, and the name of Lieutenant Bowers of this service, who
died in Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole, will at once be
remembered.
FOOTNOTES:
[G] I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness in this chapter to Captain
Rathbone Low’s “History of the Indian Navy.”
CHAPTER XX
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE
We have made reference during the course of our story to the grave
risks which were run by the mercantile East Indiamen in regard to
pirates and privateers. It will now be our duty to give some instances
of these and to show that if the captains and officers of the Company’s
ships received big rewards for their few voyages, they were certainly
entitled to a high rate of remuneration considering the dangers which
had to be encountered as regards ships, cargoes and human lives. The
very essential basis of overseas trade is that trade-carriers shall be
able to go about their lawful business with some certainty of not being
attacked on the way. To-day, if a war broke out between our own and
some other country possessing a navy, the merchant ships would be so
endangered that they would either have to remain in port or else wait
till our cruisers could convoy them.
To a certain extent this happened in the time when the East Indiamen
flourished. But some say that to-day privateering could not be revived,
and in any case piracy, if not quite dead in the East (and for that
matter off the north coast of Africa), has been so heavily crushed,
thanks to the good work of the Royal Navy, that it would not avail
much against our big modern liners and freight-carriers. But in the
days with which this present volume is concerned, piracy was a very
real, flourishing concern: and quite apart from all the long-drawn-out
hostilities between our country and other powers this remained an
eternal source of anxiety to an East Indiaman captain. If he could not
meet the pirate on an equal footing the end would come quickly and
decisively, for the pirate captains were often enough of British origin
and just as fine seamen and fighters as any in the employ of the East
India Company.
Take the case of Captain John Bowen, who about the year 1700 used to
cruise over the Indian Ocean between the Malabar coast and Madagascar,
making piracy his serious trade. One day he fell in with an English
East Indiaman homeward bound from Bengal under the command of a Captain
Conway. In a very short space of time she had been overcome, made a
prize of, taken into port, and both her hull and her cargo put up
for sale to the highest bidders, which consisted of three merchants
glad to obtain the spoil at their own price. A little later on the
East Indiaman _Pembroke_, having put into Mayotta for water, and
being promptly boarded by the boats of the pirates, whose men killed
the chief mate and one seaman, the ship was taken. Some idea of the
experiences which beset the East Indiamen may be gathered from a letter
dated from Bombay on 16th November 1720 by a certain Captain Mackra,
who was in command of one of the Company’s ships.
“We arrived on the 25th of July last,” he writes, “in company with the
_Greenwich_, at Juanna, an island not far from Madagascar. Putting in
there to refresh our men we found fourteen pirates who came in their
canoes from the Mayotta, where the pirate ship to which they belonged,
viz, the _Indian Queen_, two hundred and fifty tons, twenty-eight guns,
and ninety men, commanded by Captain Oliver de la Bouche bound from
the Guinea Coast to the East Indies had been bulged [_i.e._ “bilged”],
had been lost. They said they left the captain and forty of their men
building a new vessel to proceed on their wicked designs. Captain Kirby
and I concluding that it might be of great service to the East Indian
Company to destroy such a nest of rogues, were ready to sail for that
purpose on the 17th of August, about eight o’clock in the morning,
when we discovered two pirates standing into the bay of Juanna, one of
thirty-four, and the other of thirty-six guns. I immediately went on
board the _Greenwich_, where they seemed very diligent in preparation
for an engagement, and I left Captain Kirby with mutual promises of
standing by each other. I then unmoored, got under sail, and brought
two boats ahead to row me close to the _Greenwich_: but he being open
to a valley and a breeze, made the best of his way from me: which an
Ostender[H] in our company, of twenty-two guns, seeing, did the same,
though the captain had promised heartily to engage with us, and I
believe would have been as good as his word, if Captain Kirby had kept
his. About half-an-hour after twelve, I called several times to the
_Greenwich_ to bear down to our assistance, and fired a shot at him,
but to no purpose: for though we did not doubt but he would join us
because, when he got about a league from us he brought his ship to
and looked on, yet both he and the Ostender basely deserted us, and
left us engaged with barbarous and inhuman enemies, with their black
and bloody flags hanging over us, without the least appearance of ever
escaping, but to be cut to pieces. But God, in his good providence,
determined otherwise: for notwithstanding their superiority, we engaged
them both about three hours: during which time the biggest of them
received some shot betwixt wind and water, which made her keep off a
little to stop her leaks. The other endeavoured all she could to board
us, by rowing with her oars, being within half a ship’s length of us
above an hour: but by good fortune we shot all her oars to pieces,
which prevented them, and by consequence saved our lives.
[Illustration: THE “VERNON,” EAST INDIAMAN, 1,000 TONS.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
“About four o’clock most of the officers and men posted on the
quarter-deck being killed and wounded, the largest ship making up to
us with diligence, being still within a cable’s length of us, often
giving us a broadside, there being now no hopes of Capt. Kirby coming
to our assistance, we endeavoured to run ashore: and though we drew
four feet more of water than the pirate, it pleased God that he struck
on a higher ground than happily we fell in with: so was disappointed
a second time from boarding us. Here we had a more violent engagement
than before: all my officers and most of my men behaved with unexpected
courage: and, as we had a considerable advantage by having a broadside
to his bow, we did him great damage: so, that had Captain Kirby come
in then, I believe we should have taken both the vessels, for we had
one of them sure: but the other pirate (who was still firing at us)
seeing the _Greenwich_ did not offer to assist us, supplied his consort
with three boats full of fresh men. About five in the evening the
_Greenwich_ stood clear away to sea, leaving us struggling hard for
life, in the very jaws of death: which the other pirate that was afloat
seeing, got a warp out, and was hauling under our stern.
“By this time many of my men being killed and wounded, and no hopes
left us of escaping being all murdered by enraged barbarous conquerors,
I ordered all that could to get into the long-boat, under the cover of
the smoke of our guns: so that, with what some did in boats, and others
by swimming, most of us that were able got ashore by seven o’clock.
When the pirates came aboard, they cut three of our wounded men to
pieces. I with some of my people made what haste I could to King’s
town, twenty-five miles from us, where I arrived next day, almost dead
with the fatigue and loss of blood, having been sorely wounded in the
head by a musket-ball.
“At this town I heard that the pirates had offered ten thousand dollars
to the country people to bring me in, which many of them would have
accepted, only they knew the king and all his chief people were in my
interest. Meantime I caused a report to be circulated that I was dead
of my wounds, which much abated their fury. About ten days after, being
pretty well recovered, and hoping the malice of our enemy was near
over, I began to consider the dismal condition we were reduced to:
being in a place where we had no hopes of getting a passage home, all
of us in a manner naked, not having had time to bring with us either a
shirt or a pair of shoes, except what we had on. Having obtained leave
to go on board the pirates with a promise of safety, several of the
chief of them knew me, and some of them had sailed with me, which I
found to be of great advantage; because, notwithstanding their promise,
some of them would have cut me to pieces, and all that would not enter
with them, had it not been for their chief captain, Edward England, and
some others whom I knew. They talked of burning one of their ships,
which we had so entirely disabled as to be no farther useful to them,
and to fit the _Cassandra_ in her room. But in the end I managed the
affair so well, that they made me a present of the said shattered ship,
which was Dutch built, and called the _Fancy_: her burden was about
three hundred tons. I procured also a hundred and twenty-nine bales
of the Company’s cloth, though they would not give me a rag of my own
clothes.
“They sailed on the 3rd of September: and I, with the jury masts, and
such old sails as they left me, made a shift to do the like on the 8th,
together with forty-three of my ship’s crew, including two passengers
and twelve soldiers: having no more than five tuns of water aboard.
After a passage of forty-eight days, I arrived here on the 26th of
October, almost naked and starved, having been reduced to a pint of
water a day, and almost in despair of ever seeing land, by reason of
the calms we met with between the coast of Arabia and Malabar.
“We had in all thirteen men killed and twenty-four wounded: and we were
told that we destroyed about ninety or a hundred of the pirates. When
they left us, there were about three hundred whites and eight blacks
in both ships. I am persuaded had our consort of the _Greenwich_ done
his duty, we had destroyed both of them, and got two hundred thousand
pounds for our owners and selves: whereas the loss of the _Cassandra_
may justly be imputed to his deserting us. I have delivered all the
bales that were given me into the company’s warehouse, for which the
governor and council have ordered me a reward. Our governor, Mr Boon,
who is extremely kind and civil to me, had ordered me home with the
packet: but Captain Harvey who had a prior promise, being come in with
the fleet, goes in my room. The governor had promised me a country
voyage to help to make up my losses, and would have me stay and
accompany him to England next year.”
This Captain England was a notorious sea-pirate and had made many a
capture of an innocent merchant ship, and now commanded the _Victory_,
which as the _Peterborough_ he had previously captured. He used
Madagascar as his base for attacking East Indiamen, though he had
sailed into most of the seas of the world on the look-out for his
victims. It was only after remaining a short time at Madagascar that
they had proceed to Juanna and fallen in with the two English East
Indiamen and one Ostender. Captain Mackra was certainly lucky to have
got off with his life and also with even a crippled ship to reach
India. But England, villain that he was, respected Mackra as a brave
seaman, and with difficulty succeeded in restraining the pirate crew
from exhausting their fury upon the East Indiaman captain. In fact this
generosity towards Mackra was eventually the undoing of England, for
the crew considered the treatment had not been in accordance with the
severe traditions of pirates, and England was deprived of his command.
Captains of the East Indiamen had to be masters of resource no less
than able tacticians and shipmasters. In the month of January 1797 the
French Rear-Admiral Sercey was splendidly outwitted by the captain of
one of the East India Company’s merchant ships. It happened on this
wise. Admiral Sercey was commanding a squadron of six frigates and was
returning to the Isle of France. When he was off the east end of Java
he descried what appeared to be a considerable force, and before the
day had ended counted himself very fortunate to have escaped them.
That, indeed, was how it appeared to him. But looked at from the
opposite point of view we have to consider half-a-dozen homeward-bound
East Indiamen all richly laden, and not one of them a warship. The
commodore of this merchant squadron was Captain Charles Lennox, whose
ship was the _Woodford_. On the morning of the day mentioned he was
alarmed to see Admiral Sercey’s frigate squadron and feared for the
safety of the Indiamen under his own charge. Here was a dilemma indeed.
These six merchantmen were not the equal of the six frigates in a
fight: therefore an engagement must be avoided. But, on the other hand,
if the merchantmen attempted to crowd on all sail and run away this
would be an admission of inferior strength and the Frenchman would be
bound to attack at once.
So with much ingenuity Lennox devised a piece of bluff. In order to
deceive Sercey, the English commodore hoisted the blue flag of the
French Rear-Admiral Rainier at the mizen, and made all the other five
ships to hoist pennants and ensigns to correspond, for it must be
remembered that in appearance a French frigate and one of the Company’s
East Indiamen were very similar at a distance. In addition he had the
audacity to detach two of his ships and send them on to reconnoitre
the French squadron. These approached the French reconnoitring frigate
_Cybèle_, and the latter’s captain, having had a good look at the
enemy, made the signal at her mast-head, “The enemy is superior in
force to the French,” and crowding on sail rejoined Sercey’s squadron.
The French admiral therefore caused his ships to make sail and escape,
though when one of his vessels—the _Forte_—had the misfortune to carry
away her maintopmast he was more than surprised to notice that the
English did not continue their chase. But inasmuch as the captain of
the _Cybèle_ had assured him that the enemy’s force consisted of two
line-of-battle ships and four frigates he felt that he was justified
in retreating and declining fight. So it came about that the six East
Indiamen were able to congratulate themselves on escaping, and the
French rear-admiral was no less pleased to have avoided an engagement.
But you may judge of the latter’s anger and chagrin four weeks later
when, on arriving at the Isle of France, he learned that Admiral
Rainier had not been near the straits (where the East Indiamen were
sighted), and that therefore six rich merchant ships which ought to
have been captured had been allowed literally to slip through his
fingers.
From time immemorial the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Persia had been
the happy hunting-ground of pirates, and the mouth of the Red Sea,
from its strategical position, was another favourite resort. There
is on record an incident belonging to the year 1696, when the pirates
attacked a Bombay ship commanded by an Englishman named Sawbridge,
whose cargo consisted of Arab horses for Surat. The pirates were able
to seize the ship, whereupon Sawbridge began to expostulate with them
as to their manner of life. On this they ordered him to be silent, but
as he continued to speak they took a sail-needle and twine and sewed
his lips together, keeping him like this for several hours with his
hands tied behind him. They then at length unloosed both his hands and
his lips and took him on board their own ship, and having successfully
plundered Sawbridge’s vessel they set it on fire, burning both her and
the horses. Sawbridge was set ashore at Aden, together with his people,
but it is not surprising to learn that he soon died.
Now the pirate in this case was not an Oriental, but that notorious
blackguard Captain Avery, who certainly knew better. The pirates,
however, of whom we are now to speak as enemies of the East Indiamen
ships were those Easterns who dwelt on the Arabian side of the Persian
Gulf and were known by the name of Joassamees. They were seamen by
nature and occupation, trading with their vessels to Bussorah, Bushire,
Muscat and India. Finding that to plunder the big merchant ships which
now came to the Persian Gulf was a profitable concern, they applied
themselves with great assiduity to that task, and became even more
ambitious. About the year 1797 one of the East India Company’s warships
was lying at anchor in the inner roads of Bushire (on the Persian side
of the Gulf). Her name was the _Viper_ and she carried ten guns.
Anchored in the harbour were some Joassamee dhows, but as they had
always respected or feared the British flag no hostile measures had
been taken against them by British ships. The commanders of these
dhows had applied to the Persian agent of the East India Company for a
supply of gunpowder and cannon shot, and as the agent had no suspicion
of their intentions he furnished them with an order to the commanding
officer on board for the quantity required.
The captain of the _Viper_ was ashore at the time in the agent’s house,
but as the order was produced to the officer on board the powder and
shot were delivered and the dhows subsequently made sail. At this
moment the crew of the _Viper_ were below at breakfast, when suddenly
they were alarmed by a cannonade from two of the dhows directed at the
_Viper_. The Joassamees attempted to board, but the English officers
leaping on deck sent the crew to quarters, cut the _Viper’s_ cable and
got sail upon her so that she might have the advantage of manœuvring. A
regular engagement now followed between the _Viper_ and four dhows, all
being armed with guns and full of men. The commanding officer of the
_Viper_ was wounded, but after tying round a handkerchief still kept
the deck, till he fell with a ball entering his forehead. The command
then devolved on a midshipman, who continued the fight with great
bravery, and the result was that the dhows were beaten off and chased
out to sea.
Reverting now to the Company’s purely mercantile ships it is well to
see how they were armed to withstand the attacks of their enemies. On
another page the reader will find the lines of one of the finest East
Indiamen of the early nineteenth century. This was one of the Company’s
ships which carried freight and passengers between England and India
and was not one of their cruisers belonging to the Bombay Marine. We
may take this vessel as typical of the biggest and most formidable type
of their ships at the time of which we are speaking. She measured 165
feet 6½ inches long. Her length of keel (measured for tonnage) was
134 feet. Her extreme breadth was 42 feet, and the depth of her hold 17
feet, her burthen working out at 1257 tons. Such a ship was armed with
twenty-six 18-pounders on her middle deck and ten 18-pounders on her
upper deck, with two more guns in the after ports as stern-chasers. One
of the greatest authorities on shipbuilding and naval architecture of
that time, who himself was a Fellow of the Royal Society, went so far
as to state that the biggest East Indiamen were not safe owing to their
bad design below water, adding that whenever these vessels got ashore
in bad weather they usually broke their floors and then filled with
water—so weakly constructed were they below.
With respect to the armament of these ships, James, the famous naval
historian, in commenting on that incident in which Commodore Dance beat
off the French Admiral Linois (already related in another chapter),
says that each of the Indiamen under Dance carried from thirty to
thirty-six guns apiece, but the strongest of them was not a match for
the smallest 36-gun French frigate, and some of these East Indiamen
would have found it difficult to avoid yielding to the 22-gun corvette.
Speaking of these East Indiamen, he says: “Some of the ships carried
upon the main deck 26 medium 18-pounders, or ‘carronades,’ weighing
about 28 cwt. and of very little use: guns of this description, indeed,
have long since been exploded. Ten 18-pounder carronades on the
quarter-deck made up the 36 guns. Others of the ships, and those among
the largest, mounted long 12 and 6 pounders. No one of the crews, we
believe, exceeded 140 men, and that number included Chinese, Lascars,
etc. Moreover in fitting the ships, so much more attention had been
paid to stowage than to the means of attack and defence, that one and
sometimes two butts of water were lashed between the guns, and the
decks in general greatly lumbered.”
The fact was that the old East Indiamen had to go about their work
under very trying conditions. They could not be built of more than a
certain tonnage for the reason that shipbuilders were not equal to the
task. Within their limited size of about 140 feet on the keel a very
great deal had to be got in. First and most important of all, the ship
must be able to carry a large amount of cargo. Without this she would
not be of service to the East India Company. Secondly, she carried
passengers and a large crew. This meant that the designer’s ingenuity
was further taxed to find accommodation for all. Then, although she
had to be strong enough to carry all her armament, yet she had to make
as fast a passage as she could with safety and caution. In short, like
all other ships she was a compromise, but the real difficulty was to
combine space, speed and fighting strength without one item ousting
the other. To-day the designer of our merchant ships has a difficult
problem; but he has not to consider so much how his ship would fare
in an engagement, but how he can get out of her the greatest speed
combined with the maximum amount of room for passengers and cargo.
He has to work on all sorts of data obtained from actual experience
of years and experiments made in tanks with wax models. But the
designers and builders of the old East Indiamen were tied down to the
frigate type and bound by convention. There was very little science in
shipbuilding, and practically all that they could do was to modify very
slightly the models which had been in vogue for so many generations. If
they had been in possession of greater theoretical knowledge, if they
could have been allowed to eliminate all thought of the ship being a
fighting unit, we should have seen, no doubt, the clipper era appearing
some years before it actually did. It is easy enough to find fault with
the old East Indiamen for their clumsiness, but it is much more just
to remember the conditions which were handicapping the designers and
builders of those times.
FOOTNOTES:
[H] That is to say a ship belonging to the Ostend East India Company.
CHAPTER XXI
THE “WARREN HASTINGS” AND THE “PIÉMONTAISE”
One of the most gallant duels which was ever fought between a merchant
ship and a man-of-war is that which occurred in the year 1805: and
though eventually the former was at last captured, yet the engagement
none the less remains to her credit, since the fight lasted for four
hours and the enemy was compelled to haul off several times during the
action. The incident, in fact, affords an excellent example of the
readiness for hostilities which was so marked a feature of the old East
Indiamen. James has happily preserved to posterity a full account of
this, although in some instances he has not always done full credit to
the gallantry and determination of these merchant ships. And I shall
make no apology for availing myself of his detailed story.
The _Warren Hastings_ was a vessel of 1200 tons, was armed with 44
guns, and her crew consisted of 196 men and boys. She was therefore in
size, in armament and crew a distinctly formidable ship, her commander
being Captain Thomas Larkins. On the 17th of February 1805 she left
Portsmouth bound for China. This was one of the most historic years
in the whole history of the sea, and a few months later the Battle
of Trafalgar brought matters to a crisis. It was obvious that in
consequence of the eventful times no ship, not even an East Indiaman,
could dare to begin a voyage unless special precautions had been taken
to render her as fully equipped against a French frigate as both money
and the ship’s own limitations would permit.
[Illustration: THE “SIBELLA,” EAST INDIAMAN, 721 TONS.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
In the case of so valuable a ship as the _Warren Hastings_
extraordinary precautions had been taken to make her as powerful as
possible. Her forty-four guns were composed as follows. She carried
on her main or lower deck twenty-six medium 18-pounders, fourteen
carronades (18-pounders) on her upper deck, and four carronades
(12-pounders) on her poop. The medium gun was six feet in length, and
weighed about 26¾ cwt. It will be seen that this was a smaller
weapon than that used in the Royal Navy, for the common 18-pounder
of the latter measured nine feet long, and weighed 42 cwt. The East
Indiaman’s medium 18-pounder when run out did not reach out more than
a foot from the ship’s side. The 18-pounder carronade was five feet
long, and weighed about 15½ cwt. The 12-pounder was 3¼ feet long
and weighed about 8½ cwt. The _Warren Hastings’_ carronades were
mounted, says James, “upon a carriage resembling Gover’s in every
particular but the only essential one, the having of rollers adapted
to a groove in the slide. The consequence of this silly evasion of an
ingenious man’s patent was, that the whole of the ship’s quarter-deck
and poop guns became utterly useless, after only a few rounds had been
fired from them. The first discovery of any imperfection in the new
carriage occurred at exercise: but a plentiful supply of blacklead
upon the upper surface of the slide lessened the friction, and,
with the aid of an additional hand, enabled the gun to be run out. On
account, however, of the rain, and the salt water in washing the deck,
the application of blacklead was obliged to be repeated every time of
exercise.”
The _Warren Hastings_, after leaving Portsmouth on the day mentioned,
made a safe and uneventful passage to China and duly began her return
journey. But this time she was armed not quite so strongly. Four of her
main-deck ports had been caulked up so as to afford additional space
for a storeroom, and the four guns had been put away in the hold. Nor
had she so good a crew, for forty Chinamen had decided to remain at
Canton, and there was the usual impressment from the British navy, a
warship relieving the _Warren Hastings_ of eighteen English seamen: and
you can be sure they were some of the best men in the ship. In addition
to the four guns already mentioned, four of the 18-pounder carronades
were also transferred to the hold. The net result was that when she put
to sea for her homeward voyage she mounted 36 guns only and carried a
crew of 138 men and boys.
It was on the 21st of June at 7.30 in the morning that, while this
ship was foaming along under a smart press of canvas before a strong
breeze, she descried a strange ship under treble-reefed topsails and
courses. This turned out to be the French frigate _Piémontaise_ of 40
guns, commanded by Captain Jacques Epron. This ship was armed rather
differently from the rest of French frigates which were so famous
at this period, and as we are about to watch the contest between
her and the Indiaman it will be well to notice these details. The
_Piémontaise_ had the usual twenty-eight long 18-pounders on her
main-deck. On her quarter-deck and forecastle she mounted ten iron and
two brass 36-pounder carronades, two long French 8-pounders, and four
long English 9-pounders, these having belonged to the British frigate
_Jason_, which had been compelled to throw them overboard when she
grounded off Pointe de la Trenche at the capture of the Seine in 1798.
In addition to her forty-six carriage guns, the Frenchmen also carried
swivel guns and musketoons in her tops and along her gunwales. On each
fore and main yard-arm there was fixed a tripod to contain a shell
weighing a quarter of a ton, the idea being that when in combat she
got alongside another ship, the shell was to have its fuse lighted by
a man lying out on the yard. It would then be thrown from the tripod,
fall on the enemy’s deck, pass through to the deck below, and then
exploding would cause wholesale destruction. Meanwhile, the French crew
would rush on board, profiting by this confusion, and the capture of
the Frenchman’s enemy would be an easier matter. The French crew would
also be armed each with a dagger in the buttonholes of his jacket in
addition to the boarding-pike which he would hold in his hand. These
tactics were, even at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a
curious survival of the mediæval methods of fighting. Gunnery was not
the chief reliance, but was looked upon merely as a means for quelling
the enemy so that she might be boarded and a hand-to-hand fight begun.
It seems strange in this twentieth century, when a battleship would
open fire at six miles and be pretty sure to keep a good distance from
its opponent, that the older fashion should have survived so long.
If the French frigates of yesterday were the German light cruisers of
to-day, and the old East Indiamen were the crack ships of the Cunard
Line of the P. & O., the latter could, if desired, be attacked and sunk
without the vessels ever getting within several miles of each other,
let alone any thought of boarding, unless the German was determined
to spare human life, keep within the limits of international law and
take the merchant ship captive. Thus have the conditions changed in the
course of time.
But to return to the incident before us. An hour and a half after
sighting the Frenchman, the _Warren Hastings_ noticed that the frigate
was shaking out her reefs from her topsails and was approaching the
English ship, the latter still keeping on her course. At half-past
nine that morning the frigate was fast gaining on the Indiaman,
and nevertheless set her topgallant-sails as well as her fore and
maintopmast stuns’ls. Her next act was to hoist an English blue ensign
and pennant. However, the skipper of the _Warren Hastings_ was far too
experienced in the ways of the sea to be taken in by this piece of
bluff, and still kept his ship on her way. He replied to the signals by
hoisting his English colours and making the private signal, of which we
have spoken elsewhere in this volume. The Frenchman, however, made no
reply to this private signal, so it was pretty certain that there was
treachery.
On came the frigate, tearing through the water with the smart breeze,
doing good work all the time. Meanwhile, the East Indiaman’s commander
was seeing that everything was in readiness for obvious impending
trouble. At eleven o’clock he shortened sail, hauled up a point and
cleared his ship for action. One hour later the frigate also took
in her “fancy” canvas—her stuns’ls and her staysails, but also her
mainsail too. And having approached to within one mile hauled down her
English colours and sent up her French flag. She had intentionally
chosen the leeward position, because of the high wind, and opened fire
at the Indiaman’s port quarter within musket-shot distance—that is to
say, about four hundred yards away; and so soon as the Indiaman could
bring her guns to bear this fire was returned. This firing went on for
about a quarter of an hour, when the frigate bore away, let her sails
fill, and went on ahead. The only damage that had been done to the
Indiaman was to carry away part of the rigging.
After the frigate had got about a mile and a half ahead the latter
tacked, passed close to leeward of the _Warren Hastings_ again,
and once more a smart fire was exchanged. This time several of the
_Warren Hastings’_ crew were killed and wounded, and in addition
the whole of the port fore shrouds, the foretopsail tie, her chief
running gear, her stays and her ensign were cut away and her foremast
seriously injured. The ensign, however, was quickly rehoisted at the
maintopgallant-masthead. Quickly the Indiaman repaired her damage, but
then the frigate having put about astern of the Indiaman began the
action a third time, though this did little more damage than crippling
the merchant ship’s foremast altogether. Owing to this fact and the
heavy sea and high wind the _Warren Hastings_ could carry sail only on
her main and mizen masts. The result was that the Frenchman could run
round her even more easily than before.
This time she went ahead again, tacked, and was about to make a further
onslaught when the _Warren Hastings_ opened a hot fire. The Frenchman
replied, but it was seen that the Englishman was being injured still
more and more. She was now injured not merely at her foremast, but
at her main too. Her standing and running rigging had also been
considerably damaged, two quarter-deck guns were disabled, five men
had been killed and others were wounded. However, in this crippled
state she had to sustain a fifth attack. For the frigate, coming on the
Indiaman’s port quarter, poured in a heavy and destructive fire which
smashed the driver-boom to splinters, and soon the mizen-mast went. And
as it fell it succeeded in disabling every effective gun on the upper
deck. Troubles seldom come singly, and in addition to these misfortunes
the lower deck was on fire from the shot which had entered the counter,
and as the nail of the tiller rope on the barrel of the steering wheel
had drawn, the rudder became useless.
The surgeon was in the act of amputating and dressing the wounded when
a shot entered and destroyed the whole of his instruments. Altogether
it was a bad business, and the poor, crippled Indiaman, after having
done her best to fight against a superior foe, was reluctantly
compelled to lower her colours just before five o’clock that evening.
She had been rendered almost a mere hulk, she had lost her purser and
six men all killed. Thirteen more, including her chief, third and
sixth officers and her surgeon’s mate had been wounded, whereas the
Frenchman out of her enormous crew of 385 men and boys had lost only
seven men killed and five badly wounded. Her hull was practically
undamaged and her rigging and sails were only partially injured. But
this, of course, was natural enough, for the frigate’s weight of
broadside was 533 lb. as against the Indiaman’s 312 lb. The Indiaman
carried only 138 men and boys, as against the Frenchman’s 385.
But it is necessary also to bear in mind that a warship exists solely
for the purpose of being an efficient fighting unit. This frigate had
to think of nothing else. Whenever she cruised about, her intention
was to find some opportunity of inflicting injury on an English ship.
The Indiaman, on the other hand, had to consider primarily how best
she could carry the greatest amount of cargo, how she could get this
to port in the quickest manner: and then only in a secondary sense
had she to contemplate being an able fighter. Necessarily, therefore,
the frigate was always better armed and more ready for war. It so
happened that the _Warren Hastings_ was still further handicapped by
the fact that she could make very little use of her upper deck and poop
batteries after the second or third round of shot. Owing to lack of
men she could man only eight out of her eleven guns on her lower deck,
while the frigate was in no way impeded.
“Under these circumstances,” says James, “the defence made by the
_Warren Hastings_, protracted as it was to four hours and a half,
displayed a highly commendable zeal and perseverance on the part
of Captain Larkins, his officers, and ship’s company, but with all
their gallant efforts, the latter could never have succeeded in
capturing—although, had the ship’s guns been in an effective state,
they might, in beating off—an antagonist so well armed, manned, and
appointed as the _Piémontaise_.”
But we have not yet concluded. The _Warren Hastings_ being dismasted,
and a heavy sea running, the ship was allowed to fall off. And as the
French frigate was lying close to leeward, under three topsails, with
the mizen one aback and the main one on the shake, this warship had to
bear up to avoid collision with the Indiaman. The former filled her
maintopsail, but as there was none left at the helm she luffed up into
the wind and fouled the _Warren Hastings_ on the latter’s port bow.
You can readily imagine that with such a sea running there followed a
series of sickening thuds as these two heavy ships banged against each
other’s sides. But the situation was now suitable for boarding tactics,
and the Frenchmen, led by the first lieutenant, poured aboard the
merchant ship. But they came not as conquerors, but as assassins, with
uplifted daggers and threatening the lives of all.
One of these villains dragged the English captain about the ship,
accusing him of an attempt to run the frigate down in order to cripple
her masts. The first lieutenant also stabbed the captain on the right
side. It was a brutal affray, which cannot be said to redound to
the credit of any naval officer. Captain Larkins, brave man though
he was, soon fainted through loss of blood, and was then ordered on
board the frigate. It should be added that the first lieutenant and
many of his men were highly intoxicated at the time and so cannot be
held fully responsible for their base treatment of their victims.
The second officer, the surgeon and the boatswain’s mate were also
stabbed, and a midshipman was pierced in seven different places by the
first lieutenant. The ship was afterwards pillaged by this drunken
gang, but after such excesses had been allowed to have their way the
French captain did his best to make the survivors comfortable. The
_Piémontaise_ then steered for the Isle of France, taking her fine
prize in tow, one of the handsomest vessels which the Honourable
East India Company ever possessed. Captor and captive arrived at the
Isle of France on the 4th of July, and a strange sight these two
must have made as they proceeded. The reader may have marvelled that
the _Piémontaise_ had been able to overhaul the _Warren Hastings_ so
quickly and to manœuvre so easily when she kept returning to make one
attack after another. But these French frigates were splendid craft and
wonderfully fast, for although the East Indiamen were built on frigate
lines more or less, yet they were modified to allow of a large cargo
being carried, and this of course could be done only by sacrificing
speed possibility. Some idea of the pace which these French frigates
could reach may be gathered from the statement that the _Piémontaise_,
in a moderate breeze, carrying three single-reefed topsails, foresail
and mizen staysail, was able to tow her prize, a deeply laden ship of
bigger tonnage than herself, having very small jury-sail set, at the
rate of seven and a half knots an hour.
This fight and capture show the kind of adventure that was always
imminent during a great portion of the East Indiaman period. It is
almost difficult for us who travel with safety and punctuality in
modern steamship liners to realise the uncertainty, the danger and
anxieties with which the old merchant ships to the East proceeded on
their way. There was not a species of disaster peculiar to maritime
travel that was not ready to bring the career of such fine ships to
a speedy end. Every conceivable kind of enemy seemed to be lying in
wait for these craft: and the wonder really is, not that they were so
often lost, but that they got to port. Knowing, as we do, something of
the characters of the commanders who took these East Indiamen over the
ocean, we need not be altogether surprised that their sagacity, their
determination, leadership, seamanship and ability as navigators and
tacticians when tested did so much for the honour of their service and
for the safety of the ships and cargoes which the Company entrusted to
their care. They were men of whom the Company and the country had every
right to be proud.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER XXII
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES
Another pirate who was a thorn in the flesh to the East Indiamen was
a man named Jean Lafitte, who was born at St Malo. This man was no
stranger to the Eastern seas. He had been appointed mate of a French
East Indiaman which was bound from Europe to Madras. But on the way out
the ship encountered bad weather off the Cape of Good Hope, by which
she was so damaged that the captain determined to call at Mauritius:
and a quarrel having sprung up between Lafitte and the captain, the
former decided to quit the ship at the island. Now there were several
privateers or pirates fitting out at this island, and before long
Lafitte became captain of one of these vessels.
For a time he cruised about the seas robbing whatsoever ships he could,
but was eventually chased by an English frigate as far north as the
Equator: and from there he later on came south and proceeded to the
Bay of Bengal to obtain provisions. His ship was of 200 tons, with
only two guns and twenty-six men. This should be noted, because it
shows how much inferior as a fighting unit she was to any Indiaman.
Nevertheless whilst off the Bengal coast he fell in with the East
Indiaman _Pagoda_, which was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders and
had a crew of a hundred and fifty men. With this disparity in strength
it was obvious that Lafitte could only hope for victory by employing
artifice. So he manœuvred as if he were a pilot for the Ganges ready
at his station cruising about. The _Pagoda_ came along and was quite
taken in by this trickery, and, to cut the story short, when it was
all too late to get out of the trap, the East Indiaman found Lafitte’s
ship alongside, and the pirate, together with his men, suddenly leapt
on board the merchant ship, overcame every opposition and very speedily
captured the ship. And it was this same pirate who at a later date
became skipper of that notorious _Confiance_ of which we have had need
to speak in this volume.
We pass over the intervening period until we come to the year 1807,
when we find Lafitte during the month of October still on the prowl.
Off the Sand Heads he fell in with the East Indiaman _Queen_, a vessel
of about 800 tons, a crew of nearly four hundred, and carrying forty
guns. She was such a fine ship that this Frenchman determined to become
her owner. Compared with the pirate the _Queen_, with her tall masts
and high freeboard, her guns and crew, seemed absurdly superior to
the smaller vessel. But Lafitte was as plucky as he was adventurous,
and this apparent inequality only added zest to his plans. As the two
ships were getting nearer and nearer, he exhorted his men with that
wild, almost fanatical enthusiasm which was usually an electrifying
force to a band of desperadoes, and then having manœuvred his ship
with no little cleverness, brought her alongside the Indiaman. Just as
he did this the English vessel greeted him with a broadside, but the
Frenchman was expecting this, and ordered his men to lie flat on the
deck. And when the first fire had been made, the pirates all got up
again, and from the yards and tops hurled down bombs and grenades into
the Indiaman’s forecastle.
These tactics entirely surprised the _Queen’s_ captain, and great
havoc was wrought. Lafitte realising the amount of consternation which
had now been caused sent aboard the _Queen_ forty of his men with
pistols in their hands and daggers between their teeth, and as soon
as their feet touched the Indiaman’s deck they drove the terrified
and astonished crowd into the steerage, where the latter endeavoured
to defend themselves as best they could. Lafitte now reinforced his
forty men with another division, and himself went as their leader,
and the result was that the _Queen’s_ captain was killed and the rest
of the survivors were swept into one terror-stricken crowd. He then
caused a gun to be loaded with grape and pointed to the place where the
crowd were gathered, and threatened to blow them into eternity. Upon
this the English determined that further opposition was useless, and
surrendered. Lafitte therefore ceased his bloody slaughter, and became
possessor of the ship. The incident, when the news reached India,
caused a deep sensation, and the name of this scoundrel was spoken of
with horror. But as East Indiamen now began to traverse the Indian
Ocean only under powerful convoys, Lafitte found his opportunities very
few and rare, so he betook himself to other waters, to end his days
with a violent death.
[Illustration: THE “QUEEN,” EAST INDIAMAN.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
We come now to the year 1810. About this time the French frigates
were very actively on the _qui vive_ for our East Indiamen and other
merchant ships, and the neighbourhood of Madagascar and Mauritius was
popular for setting forth to lie in wait for the victims. When any
prisoners were brought in here from the Company’s ships they were made
to form part of the crews of these French frigates. And if any British
soldiers were also found on board they were likewise destined to become
part of the frigates’ complement. Some were made so to do only by
vehement threats if they declined: while some others were base enough
to desert the English flag.
On the 3rd of July of the year just mentioned, just as the day was
dawning, the French frigates, _Bellone_ and _Minerve_, and the corvette
_Victor_, having stood leisurely up the Mozambique Channel, were about
thirty-six miles off the island of Mayotta, when they were sighted
by three outward-bound East Indiamen, who were steering to the north
before a fresh breeze from the south-south-east. The frigates were
about nine miles off to the north-north-east, close-hauled on the port
tack. A signal was made by the senior officer or commodore of the
British ships half-an-hour later, and the three Indiamen hauled their
wind on the port tack under double-reefed topsails, courses, jib and
spanker. The names of these vessels were the _Ceylon_ (commodore’s
flagship), _Windham_ and _Astell_, the commodore being Captain Henry
Meriton. At half-past seven the _Ceylon_ made the private signal, as
was customary. This was in accordance with the secret code provided by
the Admiralty: and if the strange ships had been British naval frigates
or fellow East Indiamen they would have answered in accordance with
the code. Failure to reply would have indicated that they were hostile.
Inasmuch as there was no reply in this case the East Indiamen’s
commodore ordered his ships to clear for action. There could be no
sort of doubt now, and every minute was valuable, for the enemy was
passing on the opposite tack. At half-past nine the _Astell_ was
carrying rather more sail than she could do with and made a signal to
that effect: the _Ceylon_ and _Windham_ therefore shortened sail to
keep her company. Captain Meriton now telegraphed to his two consorts
the following message: “As we cannot get away, I think we had better
go under easy sail and bring them to action before dark.” It was the
only thing to be done: otherwise the _Astell_ might have been lost.
The _Windham_, however, replied thus: “If we make all sail and get
into smooth water under the land we can engage to more advantage.” But
half-an-hour later, as the force of the wind had increased, it became
necessary for the East Indiamen to heave-to and take in a third reef
in their topsails. But even under this shortened canvas the ships
were making heavy weather of it. As a fact, they heeled over so much
that the high sea that was running made it quite impossible for the
lower-deck ports on the lee side to be kept open.
James, with his characteristic love of detail, has given full
particulars of this incident, and we can well watch with him what
followed. At 11.30 A.M. the _Minerve_ tacked in the wake of
the Indiamen and at about six miles away. Soon afterwards the _Bellone_
and the _Victor_ also went about. When Captain Meriton had watched
these tactics and observed the _Minerve_ coming up at a great rate
astern he made the following signal: “Form line abreast, to bear on
ships together, _Ceylon_ in the centre.” So the _Windham_, _Ceylon_
and _Astell_ formed a close line in the order named and awaited the
oncoming of the enemy, and the _Victor_ and _Minerve_ were approaching
rapidly on the starboard quarter, which was also the weather side.
Presently the _Minerve_ arrived abreast of the British centre, the
_Victor_ being ahead. Up went French colours, a shot was fired at the
_Windham_ and then a whole broadside was fired into the _Ceylon_,
which was so close astern of her consort as almost to touch her.
The _Astell_, however, was a long way to leeward and astern of the
_Ceylon_. When the corvette opened fire the action became general
between the _Minerve_ and _Victor_ of the one side and the _Windham_,
_Ceylon_ and _Astell_ on the other. But inasmuch as the _Ceylon_, by
reason of her situation, was just abeam of the frigate, this Indiaman
received a pretty hot time. After a little while the corvette found the
fire of the British too warm, so bore up and passed to leeward of the
_Astell_, and the captain of the latter becoming wounded severely, the
chief mate had to take command. It is quite certain that an officer
of a modern steamship liner is a much abler navigator than those who
served in the old East Indiamen. But it is unquestionable that even if
he were a Royal Naval Reserve officer, and had served for a year in
his Majesty’s fleet, he would not be such a master of tactics as his
forefathers who served in the “John” Company. I have not the slightest
doubt in asserting that if a European war broke out to-morrow every
officer in the British mercantile marine would render an excellent
account of himself for resource and bravery. Recent disasters and
rescues in mid-ocean have shown that the fine old British stuff still
goes to the making of our sailors. But if their ships were attacked
by cruisers the merchantman would have no opportunity for displaying
fighting tactics, since there is to-day a far greater difference
between the fighting qualities of a liner and a navy’s cruiser than
there existed between an armed East Indiaman and a French frigate. And
this even if we include the recently built _Aquitania_ of the Cunard
line, which happens to be the most heavily armed British liner which
ever put to sea.
In these sea-fights, then, between the Indiamen and their foreign
enemies we have a condition that is not comparable with anything
to-day. It belongs to the past absolutely, and therefore the difference
between the captains of yesterday and to-day is also different, and
that not merely owing to the fact that one commanded a ship propelled
by sails, whereas his successor handles a steamship. We cannot help
admiring the many-sided ability of the East Indiamen captains. Taking
them by and large, with all their defects in respect of smuggling
and other delinquencies which need not be enlarged upon, they were
extraordinarily successful in most complicated circumstances. It
is characteristic of any kind of seaman, in whatever service he is
enrolled, that he is adaptable, but could you find a greater strain
imposed on any man than that which had to be borne by the commanders
of the vessels whose history we are considering? As exponents of
the art of pure seamanship they were never beaten, unless by their
immediate successors, who made such wonderful passages during the
clipper-ship era. And certainly as tacticians and fighting men they
had few superiors even in the Royal Navy of that time. I feel that
it is only just to emphasise these points, for with the transition
from one period of the ship to another the ability of our mercantile
officers has changed not in degree but in kind: and very shortly the
last link—in the person of a steamship captain who formerly commanded
a sailing ship—connecting the ships of yesterday with to-day will
have been broken for ever. No one can fail to admire the consummate
cleverness with which a modern mercantile captain brings a gigantic
liner through a narrow, twisting channel in a strong tideway and berths
his ship so quietly as not to break the proverbial eggshell. No one can
help being struck with the scientific and practical ability by which
perfect land-falls are made and punctual voyages are carried through
even in thick weather. The captains of the Indiamen of yesterday were
never called upon to bear the kind of responsibility which attaches to
a man who has a 40,000-ton ship and 5000 lives under his care. But at
the same time our modern commanders in the merchant service have never
yet been called upon to think out battle tactics and manœuvre so as to
fight a superior enemy without losing one’s ship or cargo.
This was always the anxiety which an East Indiaman’s skipper had to
think of. Was he justified in remaining to fight: or was his chief duty
to run away? His command was not primarily a fighting ship, but a means
of trade. And even if he got his ship safe in port would he incur the
displeasure of the Honourable East India Company’s directors? His job
was too valuable to be thrown away by an error of judgment. It would be
a fine feather in his cap if he could follow the example of Commodore
Dance, and he was sure to be well rewarded by his Company. To deal a
smashing blow at the nation’s enemy would ensure fame for this captain
to the end of his days and after. But—_if_ he should forget that his
first duty was to get the valuable cargo home he might find himself a
broken man and not a hero.
Such, then, was the position of Captain Meriton in the incident we are
discussing. He had to take in the situation at a glance and form a
quick but not hasty judgment, and then act accordingly, flinging out
his signals and disposing his squadron. At four o’clock the _Minerve_
went ahead and then bore down as if intending to get alongside the
_Windham_. Now this was a mode of attack which the Indiamen in the
present instance had reason to fear least of all, for they chanced to
have plenty of soldiery on board. The _Windham_ therefore made sail so
as to strike the French frigate on the port side at the quarter, whilst
the _Ceylon_ and _Astell_ closed on their consort so as to assist in
this manœuvre. However, the _Windham_ had been greatly damaged in
regard to her sails and rigging, so did not possess enough way to act
as she had hoped. The result was that the _Minerve_ was able to cross
her bows only a few yards away. All this time the three Indiamen had
kept up an incessant and well-aimed musketry fire from their troops on
board.
Just as the _Minerve_ got out of gun-shot—that is to say, about a
mile away—the _Astell_ passed astern of the _Windham_ and became the
headmost and weathermost ship. The _Windham_ was now the sternmost
and leewardmost vessel of the three, and the _Minerve_, true to the
best tradition of tactics employed by Nelson and other great admirals,
endeavoured to cut the _Windham_ off from the other two: but the best
laid schemes of clever tacticians sometimes do not fructify: for the
_Minerve_ now lost her main and mizen topmasts, and there came a lull
in the contest, though not for long. It was now six in the evening, and
the _Bellone_, followed by the _Victor_, began a most destructive fire
on the _Windham_. Taking up her position presently a little farther
on, the _Bellone_ began to attack the commodore’s ship, whilst with
her foremost guns she attacked the _Astell_. The _Victor_ was some
distance away, and so her fire at the _Windham_ was not so effective.
Captain Meriton now endeavoured to close with the French frigate in
order that he might be able to give full opportunity to the troops’
musketry, but had the misfortune to receive a severe wound in the neck
from grape-shot. The command therefore fell to the chief mate, Mr T. W.
Oldham. But the latter, being himself wounded not many seconds later,
was obliged to yield the command to the second mate, Mr T. Fenning. By
seven o’clock the poor _Ceylon_, which had endured much, was in a sorry
plight. Her two principal officers had been wounded, her masts, rigging
and sails were all damaged badly, all the guns on her upper deck had
been disabled and five on the lower deck. Her hull, too, had been so
badly holed that she was leaking to such an extent that she made three
feet an hour. In addition, many of her people had been killed and
wounded.
She therefore came out of the firing-line and passed astern of the
_Bellone_, which was engaging the _Windham_ all the time. And then
there appears to have been some misunderstanding. The _Windham_ hailed
the _Astell_ time after time, asking her to join in making an attempt
to board the _Bellone_: but the _Astell_ put out her lights, crowded on
sail, and went off, receiving a heavy parting fire from the frigate.
As for the _Ceylon_, there was nothing left for her to do but to haul
down her colours, and she then had the humiliation of being taken
possession of by a prize crew sent off in a boat from the _Minerve_. As
the _Ceylon_ passed the _Windham_, the former hailed the latter that
she had struck. The _Windham_ was therefore now left alone: and since
she, too, was considerably damaged as to her masts and rigging, so that
it was impossible to set sail, she doggedly continued the action, so
that the _Astell_ might be able to make good her escape. Nine of the
_Windham’s_ guns had been put out of action, many of her crew had been
killed or wounded, so finally she too had to haul down her colours, and
was taken possession of by the _Bellone_. Meanwhile the _Victor_ had
gone in pursuit of the _Astell_, but the latter was able to get right
away owing to the extreme darkness of the night and the length of time
which had been taken in securing the two prizes.
The result of this fight, which had lasted almost from dawn till after
dark, was melancholy: but the Indiamen had fought very gallantly, and
it is not always that success comes to those who seem assuredly most
to deserve it. Each of these merchant ships was of 800 tons, and their
armament was quite unequal to that of the French frigates, which had
no cargo to carry and could mount more numerous guns. There were
about two hundred and fifty troops on board each of these Indiamen,
in addition to a hundred lascars, but there were only about twelve
or a score of British seamen. So in respect of numbers the merchant
ships were quite inferior to the trained men-of-war’s-men of the
French. The _Ceylon_ lost four seamen, one lascar and two soldiers
killed. Her captain, chief mate, seven of her seamen, one lascar, one
lieutenant-colonel and ten soldiers had been wounded—a pretty heavy
toll to pay. The _Windham_ had a seaman, three soldiers and two lascars
killed: and seven soldiers, two lascars and three of her officers and
half-a-dozen others wounded. The _Astell_ had four seamen and the same
number of soldiers killed: whilst her captain, her fifth mate, nine
seamen, a lascar, five cadets and twenty soldiers were all wounded.
Everyone in these Indiamen had fought splendidly against heavy odds.
The commodore had fulfilled his part as well as the difficulty of
the situation allowed him. Soldier and sailor alike had done their
level best. How did the East India Company eventually consider this
forlorn fight? It may be said at once that, in spite of the result, the
directors showed their appreciation of their servants by presenting
each of these three captains with the sum of £500, whilst the rest of
the officers and men were also handsomely rewarded. The captain of the
_Astell_ received a pension of £460 a year from the East India Company,
whilst the officers and crew were presented with the sum of £2000
between them. It is said that one of the _Astell’s_ seamen, a man named
Andrew Peters, nailed the pennant to the maintopmast-head and was
killed as he was on his way down: and the _Astell’s_ colours were shot
away no fewer than three times.
To show their appreciation of the _Astell’s_ fine defence the Admiralty
granted the ship’s company protection from impressment for three years.
But even all this exhibition of approbation must have been unable to
wipe out from officers and men the miserable recollection of having
been compelled to yield to the nation’s deadly enemy.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER XXIII
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
It must not be thought that even after that momentous change of 1834,
when the “free traders,” as they were called, began to send their ships
to India, the Company were freer of anxiety. It has already been shown
that they were being badly defeated in the new competition. But this
was not all. In the year 1816 the owners of thirty-four ships which had
been engaged by the Company under the Act of 1799 for six voyages on a
settled peace freight now complained that these rates were inadequate
to meet the increased charge of outfit and repairs. For since the
Treaty of Paris the cost and equipment of ships had gone up, and to an
extent that could not have been expected. The long duration of the war,
and the extraordinary price of articles of a ship’s inventory continued
long after the cessation of hostilities: and therefore it was but
natural that an improved rate should be granted for the remainder of
the voyages.
And with the much larger number of men required for the bigger ships
it was frequently found when lying in an Indian port that with “dead,
run, or discharged” men a vessel had not the required number of crew in
her that she ought to have. So now these East Indiamen were allowed
to sail with less than their full complement. Great Britain had won
her fights chiefly on the sea, yet for all that she was not abundantly
blessed with seamen.
And then came the final change, which had really been foreshadowed by
that event of 1814. True the East India Company had been bereft of
their Indian monopoly, but China had been reserved to them. However,
in 1832 the subject had to be faced again in Parliament. The mind of
the public was distinctly adverse to the Company and its monopoly: too
long it had been permitted to enjoy these privileges and keep back the
stream of trade. Discontent increased both in vehemence and volume,
and so at length the Company were powerless to hold on to their China
monopoly. Private shipowners desired to trade with all parts of the
Orient, and this desire had to be met. From the year 1833, then, the
East India Company lost their exclusive trading privilege. And inasmuch
as the free traders had done so much, and were determined to do more,
it were useless for the Company to continue in commerce at all. Instead
they became entirely a political body and permitted British subjects to
settle in India. Actually the Company’s commercial charter came to an
end in April 1834, and thereafter it proceeded to close its business as
soon as possible.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN “MALABAR.”
Built of wood in 1860 at Sunderland for Mr. Richard Green. Her tonnage
was 1,350, her length 207.2 feet, beam 36.6 feet, depth 22.5 feet. She
was copper fastened and her bottom sheathed.]
For a Company that had always relied for its success on protection from
competition, paying high prices for its ships, and being squeezed very
tightly by many of its servants, it could not be expected that when the
free traders introduced their voyages to China and a strong, sensible
spirit of competition that this ancient but decaying Company could
hold its own. The new blood would be too vigorous, the enterprise
would be irresistible, and in any case the Company would be doomed
to further humility. No other course, therefore, was possible than
to submit to what had come as the result of the advance of time. In
a word, that East India Company which had ruled the Eastern seas for
so long now resolved to get rid of the whole of their fleet. Some of
these were condemned and some were bought up by those new aspirants
to Eastern wealth. Some of these old “tea-waggons,” as they were
nicknamed, were broken up for their valuable copper fastenings, and the
rest were sold, not at once, but after they had completed their voyages
to India and China.
One of the very last of the Company’s ships to make the voyage to
China in the employ of this ancient corporation was the _Elizabeth_,
which sailed from the Thames in the spring of 1833, arrived in China
in January 1834 and left there in March. From there she proceeded to
St Helena, where she arrived in June, and then crossed the Atlantic,
arriving in Halifax the following August. Probably this was the very
last of the Company’s ships to leave China. I have examined her
log-book and have been able to verify the dates, but what happened
after she reached Halifax I cannot find out. Probably she was sold
there. But, at any rate, there is a sentimental interest attached to
her voyage, and the following few abstracts from her log may form a
connecting link with the last voyages of a fleet whose inception dates
back to the time when Elizabeth was on the throne.
The log opens on 23rd May 1833 with the usual details of getting the
ship ready for sea and taking aboard cargo in the Thames. It ends
on 3rd September 1834, when the last of the cargo had been landed at
Halifax. Her master was John Craigie, and, as was the custom at this
time, the manuscript log-book is prefaced with a page of black-faced
print which read as follows:—
“The Honourable Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants
of England trading to the East Indies have ordered me to send you this
log book, in which pursuant to your Charter-party, you are to take care
that a full, true, and exact account of the ship’s run and course, with
the winds, weather and her draught of water at the time of leaving
every port, and all occurrences, accidents and observations, that
shall happen or be made during the voyage, from the time of the ship’s
first taking in goods, until the time of her return, be duly entered
every day at noon, in a fair and legible manner. And that the officer
commanding the watch from eight o’clock till noon, do, before he dines,
sign his name at length to every day’s log so entered....”
This vessel drew 17 feet 6 inches forward and 17 feet 4 inches aft when
she left Gravesend, and after bringing up in nine fathoms off Margate
rode to forty-eight fathoms of cable until she received the Company’s
dispatches which she was taking out to the East. As she proceeded down
Channel she was handicapped by light easterly breezes and calms, so
that although she passed Beachy Head on 28th July, it was not till 2
P.M. of the following day that she was off Brighton, where she
dropped her pilot. Six hours later she had passed the Owers Lightship
(off Selsey Bill), and so after leaving the Wight made her way past
Portland Bill and out into the Bay of Biscay. We need not follow her
throughout her passage, but on Sunday, 6th October 1833, she was caught
in very bad weather, as the following extracts show:—
“3 A.M. Hard squalls attended with most tremendous gales. In
fore and mizen topsails. Reef’d fore sail and close reefed main topsail.
“5 A.M. Heavy sea running, ship labouring much. Hove to under
close reefed ... topsail, reefed foresail ... staysail and fore-topmast
staysail. Housed fore and mizzen topgallantmasts.
“Noon. Hard gales and a tremendous sea running. Ship labouring much.”
Two days later there is this entry:
“During the late severe gale I find from the heavy labouring of the
ship many seams in the upper and lower decks much opened and the
caulking worked out, and from the great quantity of water ship’d over
all and the ship requiring constant pumping during the above period, I
apprehend considerable damage is done to the cargo.”
However, she got safely across the ocean to China, and brought up
on 28th January 1834 at her port with small bower anchor in seven
fathoms, giving her thirty-five fathoms of cable to ride to. As the
ship approaches her port we see interesting little details entered in
the log, such as these: “Bent larboard bower cable and unstowed the
anchor”; then a little later on, “bent starboard chain”; and again,
“bent the sheet cable.” On the 13th of March she weighed anchor,
proceeded south, crossed the Indian Ocean, as so many of the Company’s
ships had done for over two centuries, rounded the Cape of Good Hope
and dropped anchor off St Helena on 19th June 1834, eventually arriving
in Halifax harbour on 18th August 1834, where she proceeded to Mr
Cunard’s wharf—Mr Cunard was the East India Company’s agent, as we have
mentioned—and thus brought her voyage to an end. By 3rd September the
whole of her cargo was taken out of her.
But already, long before the East India Company had decided to sell
their fleet, the death-knell of the steamship had been sounded in the
Orient, though actually the decease was to be preceded by a wonderful
rally in the famous China clippers. In the year 1822 a public meeting
had been called together in London to discuss the practicability of
running steamships to the East, and as a result a steam navigation
company was formed. Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) J. Johnson was
sent out to Calcutta to see what could be done in this respect, and
the outcome was that a steamship called the _Enterprize_ was built
at Deptford and proceeded to India under the command of this Captain
Johnson. She was of only 470 tons and 120 nominal horse-power. She
started on 16th August 1825, and after a voyage of 113 days reached
Calcutta, though ten of these days were spent in taking on board fuel.
Her average speed was only a little under nine knots: but here was a
precedent. She had come all the way under steam, and some day soon this
speed would be improved upon. Already in that same year the _Falcon_,
of 176 tons, had also voyaged round the Cape to Calcutta. But this
vessel was an auxiliary steamship, using partly steam and partly sails;
so the _Enterprize_ was really the first Anglo-Indian steamship. It
was not till the year 1842 that the P. & O. Company started sending
their steamers to India via the Cape of Good Hope. This was another
nail in the coffin of the sailing ships which had been trading to
the East for so long a time. The name of the first ship was the
_Hindostan_. She was a three-master with a long bowsprit, setting yards
on her foremast for foresail, topsail and top-gallant sails, while her
main and mizen were fore-and-aft-rigged: and before long other steamers
followed her.
But before the Government built its transports specially for trooping
the modern sailing Indiamen—that is to say, the successors of the East
India Company’s ships—carried all the military to the East. Even when,
in the days before the opening of the Suez Canal, the P. & O. were
the only steamships voyaging to India, most of the passengers still
travelled to the Orient in the East Indiamen, with the exception of
the wealthy and the principal officials. Therefore, though the East
India Company was dead as a commercial concern, those private firms who
had bought up the Company’s ships or built new ones were doing a good
business both in freights and passengers.
Before the Suez Canal was opened there were three ways of reaching
India. You could go by a sailing East Indiaman round the Cape of Good
Hope or in a P. & O. steamship by the same route, or you could go by P.
& O. steamship to Alexandria, then overland by camels, and then by boat
on the Mahmoudieh Canal to the Nile, whence passengers proceeded to
Cairo by steamer. From there they went across the desert to Suez. Three
thousand camels had to be employed for transporting a single steamer’s
loading, and every package had to be subjected to no fewer than three
separate transfers. The opening of the Suez Canal, therefore, in the
year 1870, made all the difference in the world, and by the end of the
next year scarcely any passengers went round the Cape in sailing ships,
but journeyed to the East in steamships via the canal. Troops were also
taken through the latter, and so the old and the new East Indiaman
sailing ships passed out of existence.
After April 1834 the directors of the East India Company were not
traders, but rather a council advising and assisting in the control of
the political India. In 1857 occurred the Indian Mutiny. The martial
races began suddenly to move, the native army of Bengal revolted, and
the northern predatory races rebelled. As everyone knows, the Mutiny
was eventually quelled, but for our present consideration the most
important result was that it was to bring to an end the great career of
the East India Company. It was deemed best that Queen Victoria should
assume the direct government and rule through a Viceroy, the first of
whom was Canning. On 1st November 1858 proclamation was made throughout
India that the government had been transferred from the East India
Company to the British Sovereign. The Board of Control was abolished
and a Council of State for India instituted. Thus, having ceased
to be either traders or a political power, this unique corporation
came to an end. It had lost its prestige, lost its privileges and
strength in India and China, sold its fleet, and at length, on 15th
May 1873, came the resolution to dissolve the Company altogether,
as from 1st June 1874. East India House, which had been built in the
year 1726, enlarged in 1799, was sold with its furniture in the year
1861 and pulled down in the following year. Of course there had been
a much earlier East India House in Leadenhall Street also, and the
accompanying reproduction of an old print shows the house which stood
from 1648 to 1726. The reader will notice on the building a picture of
a seventeenth-century ship.
By many of the Indian natives the East India Company had been known as
the “Honourable John Company.” The origin of this designation is not
quite clear, but it was in effect a personification of the corporation
taken quite seriously by the natives. John he knew as a man’s name, for
was not his English master called John? Naturally enough, therefore,
the Company might also be called the “John” or “Honourable John.” The
idea imprinted in the native’s mind was that the Company was one mighty
prince, who had to be respected.
But before we close this chapter we want to know what became of the
ships and men. If the Company had come to an end the East Indiamen
and those who used to work her across the ocean were not _ipso
facto_ wiped out of existence. Some of the ships fetched quite good
prices, considering that the sale was virtually compulsory. The _Earl
of Balcarres_, for instance, that big ship of which we spoke on a
previous page, fetched the sum of £10,700, and she sailed the seas for
fifty-two years before being turned into a hulk. The _Lady Melville_
also was sold for £10,000; that fine, handsome ship, the _Thames_, of
which we have given an illustration, obtaining £10,700 as her price.
The _Buckinghamshire_ fetched £10,550; the _General Kyd_, £9100;
the _Asia_, £6500, whilst other ships fetched sums from about £4500
upwards. Of those sold for breaking up were the _Waterloo_, which
fetched about £7200; the _Atlas_, £4100; the _Canning_, £5750; the
_Princess Charlotte_, £3000; the _London_, £5900; _General Harris_,
£6600; _Farquharson_, £6000. Of course, not all these were sold at the
same time. In some cases, the Company having foreseen the inevitable,
began to sell as far back as 1830, and they went on selling until the
end of 1834. Those shipowners who were out looking for bargains knew
that these vessels would not fetch the highest prices, yet they were
known to be soundly put together of first-class material. The best
prices were obtained by the Company, not in auction, but privately.
Among the buyers one finds such well-known shipping names as Joseph
Somes, Wigram & Green. The former was one of the founders of Lloyd’s
Register. Robert Wigram and Richard Green built and owned some of the
finest sailing ships which ever floated in the Thames, and these men,
together with the Smiths of Newcastle and other shipowners, began to
construct more modern frigate type of ships for the China and India
trade now that all privileges had been thrown on one side. These ships
used to snug down at night like their predecessors when crossing the
sea. But they were run commercially on more sensible lines, and the
extravagant privileges to the captains were largely curtailed.
And inasmuch as many of the captains, officers and crew who had served
in the East India Company’s craft were now employed in the ships
of the new firms there was not such a vast change in the conditions
as might have been imagined. Gone was the stately dignity, gone the
semi-naval character of the East Indiamen, but in most other respects
matters were much the same. Gradually as the newer types of ships began
to be built, improved models were effected with finer lines, and the
old kettle-bottom type of the Company’s ships gave place to that which
was to become historic as the China tea-clippers of 1850 to 1870.
With these, however, our present story has no concern. But it was a
long time before the main traditions of the East India Company died
entirely. Frigate-fashion had been the motto of the shipbuilder for
too long for this to be thrown over at once. The _Blenheim_ and the
_Marlborough_, for instance, which came out in 1848, were constructed
exactly like the contemporary naval frigates: in design and scantlings
they were identical with a 40-gun ship of that class, the Government
surveying them and reporting them as fit to carry armaments. These two
ships had been built by Messrs T. & W. Smith of Newcastle-on-Tyne. They
carried enormous jibbooms “steeved” very high. With their overhanging
stern, figurehead, row of square ports, stuns’ls, and dolphin-striker
they were very picturesque craft. As regards speed these were an
improvement on the ships possessed by the East India Company, and
represent the intermediate stage between the latter and the famous
China clippers which were to come in a few years’ time. The new type
of East Indiaman, frigate-built and copper fastened, cost about £40 a
ton to build, so that a 1000-ton ship cost about £40,000. The ships
of Messrs Wigram & Green were not pierced for guns, the square windows
in these vessels at the poop being used for lighting the passengers’
cabins. These were ships of finer lines than the old East Indiamen or
even the vessels which Smith built. Duncan Dunbar also owned a number
of fine East Indiamen; in fact, he became at one time the largest
shipowner in Great Britain, and many of his vessels were constructed in
India, as, for instance, the _Marion_, of 684 tons, which was launched
at Calcutta in 1834, and from that date sailed the seas until she was
wrecked off Newfoundland nearly fifty years later. But even before the
East India Company lost their China monopoly they possessed a very few
ships whose speed was just about as good as any of the more modern
successors until the coming of the first tea-clippers of about 1840
onwards. The East Indiaman _Thames_, of which we give an illustration,
was certainly one of the fastest.
[Illustration: THE “BLENHEIM,” EAST INDIAMAN, 1,400 TONS.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)]
At the time when the East India Company lost their China charter and
sold off their fleet, the commanders and officers considered themselves
very much aggrieved. It is quite true, as we have stated, that a good
many of them afterwards shipped on board the modern East Indiamen, who,
of course, did not fly the naval pennant which the Company’s ships had
been allowed to wear. But these officers, in July 1834, banded together
and sent a letter to the directors of the East India Company, in which
it was pointed out that the Company’s ships and seamen—otherwise known
as the Maritime Service in contrast with the Bombay Marine or East
India Company’s navy—had been employed for over two hundred years.
These ships and men had been instrumental to a great degree in securing
the vast territory of British India. These commanders and officers of
the present day had entered the Company’s service in the confident
expectation that it was a provision for life. But now they found
themselves deprived of their profession owing to the sudden ceasing
of the Company’s trade. Although the commanders and officers were in
the first instance recommended by the shipowners to the Company, yet
the latter examined and approved them, and into the latter’s service
they were sworn. They were paid, fined, suspended or dismissed by the
Company—and not by the owners. They wore the Company’s uniform, enjoyed
rank and command under the latter, and became eligible to offices of
high honour and emolument. And the extraordinary fact was that they
even took precedence of the Company’s Bombay Marine. These maritime
commanders ranked with the field officers in India, were saluted with
guns, and were eligible for important offices of profit in India.
The position now was therefore not one which seemed to have a bright
outlook. They had served in capacities of great trust, and many of
them had devoted the whole of their lives to service in the Company’s
ships. But when the “free traders” now came on to the scene the latter
did not care to employ captains and officers who had been accustomed to
navigate only vessels of the size and expensive equipment of those of
the East India Company. Only one-fifth of these men were therefore at
once taken over by the shipowners, who were now buying up the Company’s
ships or building new ones. As for the rest of these officers they had
enjoyed the dignity and privileges of the Company for so long a period
that they did not care to be employed in “free trade,” considering it
derogatory. In any case they could not obtain, from the new owners,
the same amount of remuneration as they had been accustomed to receive
from the Company. For the latter’s extravagant methods were to give
place to a more business-like method. In plain language, the rest
of the merchant service rather fought shy of employing these former
East Indiamen skippers, and the latter were not anxious to degrade
themselves by signing on in these interlopers.
So the captains and officers appealed to the East India Company for
compensation in the shape of pensions. The petition was received with
little enthusiasm, but the directors could not deny that there was a
good deal of truth in what was set forth by these men, and ultimately
decided to grant compensation to all commanders and officers who had
been actually employed in the Maritime Service for five years on 22nd
April 1834. Thus a commander received a monetary payment of £1500,
with lesser sums for the other officers. In addition to this, each
commander received £4000 for three unexpired voyages, £3000 for two
voyages and £2000 for one voyage which they would have made had they
continued in the service. Besides these sums, commanders who had served
for ten years were granted a pension for life of £250 a year, the chief
mate receiving a pension of £160, and so on down to the carpenter and
gunner. The condition being that these men assured the Company of
their inability to obtain further employment, and that any income
which they possessed was to be in abatement of these pensions.
Thus, at last, the historic East India Company came to an end, its
ships and men scattered or employed by other owners. No company in the
world, no fleet of mercantile vessels can boast of such a long and
adventurous story as this: no ships of commerce were so closely and
continuously concerned in establishing political power in the East.
For this reason the old East Indiamen sailing ships, whether of the
seventeenth, eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, must always possess a
unique interest for Britons generally, for Anglo-Indians in particular,
and for all who take an interest in the world’s development. People
ordinarily do not realise the full extent of their indebtedness to
the ships and sailors of the past in respect of discovery, empire,
power and wealth. Such men as worked the vessels which we have been
considering in this volume were very far from perfect in respect
of many virtues. But they are deserving of our great respect and
admiration for their pluck, their endurance and their enterprise:
for without them India would have been the possession of some other
European nation.
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH
Transcriber’s Note:
With reference to paragraph fifteen in Chapter XV, Captain Grant
most likely served with William Henry, Duke of Clarence, the third
son of George III., who succeeded his older brother George IV. as
king, reigning as William IV. George III. never joined the Royal
Navy and is of an earlier generation than Grant.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Old East Indiamen" ***
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