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THE OLD EAST
INDIAMEN
THE OLD EAST
INDIAMEN
BY
E. KEBLE CHATTERTON
Lieutenant R,N,V,R,
Author of" Sailing Ships and their Story"
" Down Channel in the ' VivetteJ "
" Through Holland in the ' Vivette,' "
" Ships and Ways of Other Days" etc.
ILLUSTRATED
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: T. WERNER LAURIE LTD.
EfeCA
HENRY MORSE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION ..... i
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
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XX. OFFENCE AND DEFENCE . . . .291
XXI. THE " WARREN HASTINGS " AND THE
" PIMONTAISE " .... 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 Com-
modore Sir Nathaniel Dance .... 196
A view of the East India Docks in the early igth 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
vii
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 illus-
trations 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.
Vlll
THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
IN this volume I have to invite the reader to con-
sider 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 com-
pleted, 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 con-
summate 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
2 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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, naviga-
tion, seamanship, gunnery and high hopes that
refused persistently to be daunted, the most far-
sighted 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 con-
jured 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
INTRODUCTION 3
Main, it sent others out to the Orient, yet always
with the same object of acquiring wealth, establish-
ing trade with strange peoples, and incidentally
affording a fine opportunity for those of an adven-
turous spirit who were unable any longer to endure
the cramped and confined limitations of the neigh-
bourhood 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, navi-
gated 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 mono-
poly of the East India Company, carefully guarded
against any interlopers, our consideration is prac-
tically 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, reach-
ing 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
4 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
instead of the wealth which was obtained (during
those few years by carrying cargoes of rich merchan-
dise between the East and the West, and transport-
ing 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 ser-
vice " 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 war-
ships. 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 Govern-
ment showed how much it coveted them by impress-
ing them into its service, to the great chagrin and
inconvenience of the East India Company, as we
shall see later on in our story.
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 pro-
gressed till it had its own civil service with its train-
ing 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,
INTRODUCTION 5
but that the wealth of our country has been largely
increased and a new outlet was found for our manu-
factures. 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 sail-
ing 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. Not-
withstanding 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 attri-
butes 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.
6 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 any-
thing 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 prac-
tically 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 5 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
INTRODUCTION 7
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 merchant-
men 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 fol-
lowed 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 merchant-
men 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 com-
manders 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 mercan-
tile officer to-day, wearied of receiving owners'
complaints and no thanks, must regret that his lot
8 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
was not to be serving with the East India
Company.
When we consider the two important centuries and
and a half, during which the East Indiamen ships
were making history and trade for our country, help-
ing 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 else-
where 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 fasci-
nated 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
INTRODUCTION 9
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 differ-
ence 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 prob-
ably 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 inspira-
tion, for often enough these ancient traditions had a
modicum of truth therein contained.
10
THE MAGNETIC EAST 11
In my last book, " Ships and Ways of Other
Days," I gave an instance of this which was remark-
able 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 sugges-
tion 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 Phoenicians were sent by Neco, an Egyptian
king, down the Red Sea; and that after circum-
navigating 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.
12 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 roa'd 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.
You know so well how that thereafter, in the year
1486, the King of Portugal sent forth two expedi-
tions 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,
II
3*8
THE MAGNETIC EAST 13
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 unprece-
dented 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 subse-
quently to other nations of Europe. The twin arts
of seamanship and navigation had made this pos-
sible, 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
14 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 senti-
mental 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 for-
wards 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 estab-
lished 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 can-
not marvel that the Portuguese preserved these
THE MAGNETIC EAST 15
secrets, and held on to their monopoly, to the annoy-
ance 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 persever-
ance. 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
16 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 attri-
buted 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 ? Remem-
bering 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
THE MAGNETIC EAST 17
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 kingdomes ... 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," con-
cerning " the new trade of spicery " of the East,
pointed out the wealth of the Moluccas (Malay
Archipelago) abounding " with golde, Rubies, Dia-
mondes, Balasses, Granates, Jacincts, and other
stones and pearles, as all other lands, that are under
18
THE LURE OF NATIONS 19
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,
:c that went from this citie armed by the mar chants of
it, which departed in Aprill last past, I ami 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 informa-
tions 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 Portu-
guese 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
20 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 dis-
cover 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 Portu-
guese 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.
Caesar 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 accom-
panied 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
THE LURE OF NATIONS 21
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 mag-
nificent 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 pro-
ceeded thence to the Moluccas, and one of his little
squadron of five actually arrived back at Seville,
having thus encircled the globe. Englishmen, how-
ever, were so determined that there was a nearer
route than this that, in the year 1582, the Indian
frenzy which enthralled our countrymen culminated
22 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 :c 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 con-
fusion. In the ships of that time the captain was in
supreme command, but he was not necessarily a sea-
man 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 theMaister to what port
THE LURE OF NATIONS 23
he will go, or to what height " (i.e. latitude). In a
fight he is " to giue direction for the managing there-
of, 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 ist 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 ist 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 adven-
turers 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
v
24 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
detail. As for the " Generall," " if it should please
God to take him away/ 5 a number of names were
" secretly set down to succeede in his place one after
the other." These names were inscribed on parch-
ment 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 dili-
gence 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."
With a view to inaugurating a future trade they
THE LURE OF NATIONS 25
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. 53 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 descrip-
tions of the sayd voyage, but such as shall bee deputed
by you the General!, which sayd charts and descrip-
tions, 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 in-
formed 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 delin-
quency. " 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 accom-
panie you in this voyage, as appertaineth to their
place and calling, and to see such good order as by
26 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 voy-
age 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 accord-
ingly 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 assist-
ants. 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 English-
man 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
I3th February 1582, left Falmouth on nth March,
and then never put in anywhere till the ship landed
him at Tripoli in Syria on the following 3Oth 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, sap-
THE LURE OF NATIONS 27
phires, 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 rejoycjng and comfort of us all." *
The value of this voyage round the world was,
from a navigator's point of view, of inestimable ad-
vantage. 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
* 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.
28 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 varia-
tion 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 f eare 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 Hands 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
THE LURE OF NATIONS 29
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 Ply-
mouth, sailed across the Bay of Biscay, arrived at
Cadiz Roads, where he did considerable harm to
Spanish shipping, spoiled Philip's plans for invad-
ing 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. There-
fore, 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 Eliza-
beth, setting forth the great benefits which would
arise through a direct trade with India. They there-
30 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
fore prayed for a royal licence to send three ships
thither. But Elizabeth was a procrastinating, uncer-
tain 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. \
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 wit-
nessed 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
32 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
was in part carried on by Samuel Purchas of Pil-
grimes 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 con-
fine 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 verit-
able 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 wonder-
ful 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 infec-
tion 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
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 33
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 ist August.
The men were able to go ashore and obtain exer-
cise after being cramped for so many weeks afloat,
and found the land inhabited by black savages,
" very brutish/ 5 They obtained fresh food by shoot-
ing 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 barter-
ing. 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 devastat-
ing disease of scurvy. The extraordinary feature of
the voyage was that the sailors suffered from this
disease more than the soldiers. :c 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
34 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 re-
covered 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. 3 ' 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.
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 35
He called the attention of his companions and in-
quired what it was, and they readily answered that
it was the sea breaking on the shoals. It was the
' Hand 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/ 5 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
86 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 " fri-
gate " that is to say, a big galley-type of craft pro-
pelled by sails and oars. And had this " frigate }i
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 isth
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 re-
mained 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 navi-
gators and very fine seamen, who had been making
these ocean voyages for centuries, whilst English-
men 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
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 87
from the East Indies and was possessed of know-
ledge 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 ship-
ping 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 oppor-
tunity of being fulfilled as he had wished it. " In
our course/ 5 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 anH
Easterly, kept us that we could not get off, and so
with the putting in of the currents from the West-
ward, 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
38 THE OLD EAST INBIAMEN
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 Hands 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 accur-
ately. They Hid the best they could with their astro-
labes 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,
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 39
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 Bonaventme had missed the
Nicobar Islands, it was decided to push on to the
southward, which would bring them into the neigh-
bourhood 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 en-
countered a 6o-ton ship, which they attacked and
captured, and, shortly after, a second was also taken.
Needless to say, the cargoes of pepper were (dis-
charged into the Edward, and even the sick men
were soon reported as " being somewhat refreshed
and lustie." Lancaster had not by any means for-
gotten 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
40 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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. Lan-
caster'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.
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 41
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 bring-
ing 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
42 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
but would take the ship to England direct. Lan-
caster, rinding that persuasion was useless and that
he could do nothing with them, had no other alterna-
tive 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 English-
man named Segar, like himself of Suffolk. He had
been left here eighteen months before by the
Marchant Roy all, 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 countrey-
men, 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."
On 1 2th 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
.,
y
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 43
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 com-
pany, 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 New-
foundland, 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 com-
pelled 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 Lan-
44 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
caster 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 car-
penter 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, after-
wards found to be from Dieppe, was espied. In
answer to a fire made on shore she dowsed her top-
sails, approached the land, hoisted out her ensign
and came to anchor. Some of the Edwards 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, Lan-
caster and his companions had returned to England
THE ROUTE TO THE EAST 45
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 Portu-
guese 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 expe'dition of those three tall ships
related in the previous chapter had been commer-
cially 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 diffi-
culty he had prevented his unruly crew from ex-
cesses, 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 ex-
pedition 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
46
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 47
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 pro-
ceeded 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 north-
ward 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
48 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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
f owle 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 navi-
gation, 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 Eng-
land 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
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 49
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 trea-
sures, with about six or seven hundred souls aboard,
and armed with thirty-two brass guns. This wonder-
ful 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 won-
derful 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
50 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany, 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 com-
mon 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 pres-
ently, 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
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 51
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. How-
ever, not merely England, but Holland, too, had
been growing strong in maritime ability. The Dutch
people had always been by nature seamen for cen-
turies, and were able to rival any English ability in
the maritime arts. They were intrepid mariners,
they were excellent shipbuilders, and they were care-
ful students of all the sea-knowledge which had
come forth from Portugal. The influence of Prince
Henry's cartographical school had spread north-
wards 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 Ley den 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 direc-
tions for entering various harbours. So also at Ant-
werp 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, Hol-
land 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.
52 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Briefly, this was brought about as follows. We
mentioned on an earlier page that though the Portu-
guese 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 Lis-
bon. The second was Antwerp, which was con-
venient 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 com-
mercially, 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 in-
valuable 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 FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 53
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 pub-
lished 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 Archi-
pelago. This voyage convinced even the most scep-
tical, 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 bril-
liant 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
54 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
our shipping. But this was the final straw which
broke the back of Englishmen's patience. They ha'd
looked on for some time with restraint at the pro-
gressive enterprise of the Dutch, and hacj 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 some-
thing 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.
This petition was not approved by the Privy
Council, but in the year 1609, anH 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, alder-
3 I
^ o
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 55
men, knights and esquires, who were made up by the
title of " The Governors and Company of the Mer-
chants trading unto the East Indies." The coun-
tries 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 Com-
pany : and the Company was furthermore granted
the privilege of making the first four voyages with-
out 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 cul-
minating in the amazingly dignified manner of the
Indian merchantmen in the early part of the nine-
teenth 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 Cumber-
land. He was one of those Elizabethan gentlemen
56 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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, ad-
venturous 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 (per-
haps 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, furnish-
ing 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 traHe 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 saline
James Lancaster whom we considered just now, and
his flagship was to be the Red Dragon. There was
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 57
no better leader for the job, and the reader will
shortly see how well he conducted himself in condi-
tions 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 I3th 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 ;i6oo), 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
/30Q.
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, spec-
tacles, 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
58 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 rioting in the
sea/ 5 And now scurvy attacked many of the squad-
ron'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 Qth 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
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 59
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 ist of November,
" having the wind West North-west a great gale."
Madagascar was reached on 1 7th 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 tcfane 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 hospit-
ably by some of the Dutch factors who had already
established themselves, and also obtained a con-
cession from the King of Acheen granting freedom
of trade and immunity from paying customs. Thus
a beginning was made, if not actually with India,
60 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 nth 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 ex-
pedition to the East Indies had been fitted out for
the purpose of opening up trade. But no Eliza-
bethan 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 FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 61
the Pacific and the Indian Ocean; and before long
he had descried a fine Portuguese craft of 900 tons
called the St Thome. It was a little unfortunate
that the day was nearly spent, as that meant that the
enemy might possibly escape under cover of dark-
ness. " 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 un-
fortunate shot might light betweene wind and water,
and so sinke her," which would mean that her valu-
able 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.
62 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
So full was this St Thome 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 gth 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/ 5 which he
reached on the i6th 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/ 5 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 Portu-
guese ship, and he obtained a 4<D-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 immedi-
ate 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
THE FIRST EAST INDIA COMPANY 63
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 voy-
age 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 bless-
ings towards us." On the I3th 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
64
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 65
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 morn-
ing, 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 con-
tinue 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
66 THE OLD EAST INBIAMEN
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. Conse-
quently, 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 habl 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,
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 67
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. 55
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 follow-
ing letter, having resolved to give it to the captain
68 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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, desir-
ing God to send us a merrie meeting in this world,
if it be his good will and pleasure.
1 The passage to the East India lieth in 62^
degrees, by the North West on the America side.
Your very loving friend,
" JAMES LANCASTER."
Such was the brief, matter-of-fact, intensely prac-
tical 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 Lan-
caster little expected to find his " chummy ship 5!
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
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 69
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
Dragoris carpenter had got to work again and
the rudder liaH 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 event-
ually 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 try-
ing. 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 roundeH, 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
70 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 nth 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. c 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 I3th February 1601 was
now brought to a finish on nth September 1603. It
had been a most successful voyage, and 1,030,000
Ib. of pepper had been brought to England by these
four ships. But, important as that was to the mer-
chants, 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
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 71
merchants. For a hundred years the Portuguese
had kept the secret to themselves and succeeded in
preventing other countries from coming as inter-
lopers. 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 2Oth 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
72 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 1 2th -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 " General! "
in this case was Captain Keeling. The latter left
England on I2th 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, 155., 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 ist of April, and, like those previous voyages
which we have noted, they again went round the
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 73
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 Com-
pany'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 Haw-
kins should remain at his Court as English repre-
sentative at a commencing salary of ^3 200 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 re-
gretted 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
74 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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, notwith-
standing 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 Com-
pany, 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
CAPT. LANCASTER DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 75
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 I3th of December 1609, her first
voyage being due to commence on the following ist
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 pro-
vided 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 noo 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
76 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 prac-
tically 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 com-
paratively 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. There-
fore 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 pur-
chases 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
77
78 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 tfiat still survived, in consequence of the
big financial success which the East India Company
had made from their first two voyages, were deter-
mined 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.
In this yard before very long the Company were
employing no fewer than five hundred ships 5 car-
penters, caulkers, joiners and other workmen. The
result was that by the year 1615 the Company had
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THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 79
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 sea-
men/ 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 ex-
ported woollen goods, lead, iron, tin and other com-
modities 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 ex-
pense, 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
80 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Euro-
pean 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 re-
muneration when we consider the amount of enter-
prise 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 thorough-
ness better shown than in the completeness and
organisation of her shipyard. The East India Com-
pany took itself very seriously and arrogated to
itself all the dignity and self-importance which its
unique prerogatives permitted. The Court was pre-
sided over by the Governor and it had its own rules
of procedure. " Every man," for instance, " speak-
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 81
ing 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 Com-
pany'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
82 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
times even of the Romans and tKe 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," car-
penters 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, <:c 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 work-
men 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
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 83
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. 55 " 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 pro-
portioning 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 addi-
tion 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, arid 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
84 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 condi-
_ tions 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 watch-
men came on duty in the yard, where they remained
until the bell rang next morning summoning the
labourers back to their work. The Company in-
sisted 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 Com-
pany'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 Deptf ord and Blackwall,
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 85
and at Erith, where hee shall also keepe a Deputy
with his Chest furnished, to remaine there contin-
ually, 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 com-
pelled 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
86 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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/ 5 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 Enter-
taining 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, con-
temptuous 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 sea-
men 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
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 87
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 Com-
mittees 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 boat-
swains, 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 J)oard 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
88 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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/ 5 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 circum-
stances permitted : but later on there were factors
resident in every port, just as each steamship com-
pany to-day has its own agents wherever the ships
touch.
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 condi-
tion. 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 ex-
pended in the construction of the Company's ships,
THE BUILDING OF THE COMPANY'S SHIPS 89
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 mono-
poly 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 cen-
tury 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
90 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 inter-
lopers. But it was a short-lived victory and had no
lasting effect.
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."
92 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
If there was ill-feeling ashore between the Eng-
lish 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 be-
tween Anthony Hippon, master of the Dragon, and
his mate, William Tavernour. Someone endeav-
oured 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 occupa-
tion. " 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,
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 93
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 pre-
vious 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 Novem-
ber 1 6 10, 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 mer-
chandise to be sould, and staved neare all our water."
The reference to the " unbuilt pinnasse " is ex-
94 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
plained 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 per-
fectly 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 wait-
ing 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 inspira-
tion and enthusiasm of Prince Henry the Navigator,
all the heroic voyages of the first Portuguese navi-
gators 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 un-
less the aggressive Englishmen, who had penetrated
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 95
their secrets, were to be thwarted now with deter-
mination. The Portuguese were expecting Middle-
ton'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 inaugu-
rated, 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 opposi-
tion 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
96 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 treat-
ment 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.
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 adven-
turous career. Middleton had gone ahead in the
Peppercorn, and the Trade's Increase had been
ordered to follow after. Unfortunately she needed
f
1^ i
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 97
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 cen-
tury, was to careen a ship if she required any atten-
tion 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 con-
temporary 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 in-
forced 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 con-
temporary 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 instiga-
tion of a renegade Spaniard, :c 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
98 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Japan-
ese 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 Trades
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
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 99
shot/' he writes, " having no more pieces out nor
ports uncaulked " that is to say, he had pre-
pared 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 ex-
tent 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
100 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 im-
pressions jotted down by a choleric captain. The
name of this " o'erguzzled " cook was Richard Han-
cock, 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
PERILS AND ADVENTURES
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 essen-
tially 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 allow-
ing 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 Pepper-
corn 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 Down-
ton, " 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 labour-
ing 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
102 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 buifding 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
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 103
obtained all that they possess through his achieve-
ments.
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 suffi-
ciently 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 wit-
nesses to that note." Similarly on 2ist 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 mem-
bers 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 surfer ill luck right to the
end of her voyage. She ought, of course, to have
104 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 instru-
ments 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 any-
thing, 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 oppor-
tunity 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 Lon-
don, 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.
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
<r< 0,
cc
< I'
PERILS AND ADVENTURES 105
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 adde'd 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 sys-
tematised, and as time went on and the voyages
became more numerous still there was thus accumu-
lated 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. Eng-
land has never had any corporation like it : and it
is pretty certain it never will.
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
106
SHIPS AND TRADE 107
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, ol 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 Nico-
bars, 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 establish-
ing a factory at Surat. This was to become the chief
English station in India until the acquisition of
Bombay. In establishing these factories, the Eng-
lish were but copying the example of the Portuguese
108 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 aggres-
sive influence occurred which resulted in acquisition
of territory as well as trading rights.
Captain Best had sailed from Gravesend on ist
February 1612, with the Red Dragon and the Hose-
ander, and arrived in the Swally, the roadstead for
Surat, on 5th September. Here also were the Portu-
guese fleet a few weeks later ready to thwart the
English, but Best was ready for them, and event-
ually 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 an'd
asks the weak man for certain favours. The latter
SHIPS AND TRADE 109
replies that he would be willing to make the con-
cessions 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 Portu-
guese 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 Eng-
lish 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
110 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 trad-
ing 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, collect-
ing native craft called grabs and gallivats and com-
manded 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 Mas-
sacre of Amboyna, when the English Company's
agent and nine more Englishmen were executed on
a trivial charge. Nor were the Portuguese ships
SHIPS AND TRADE 111
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 plea-
sure 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 Com-
pany. 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
112 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 inaugura-
tion 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 especi-
ally 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 sum-
moned 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 Portu-
guese 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
SHIPS AND TRADE 113
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 an<i 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 incep-
tion 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
H
114 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 hap-
pened 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
; 1 0,000 had to be paid before the ships were re-
leased. About this time, also, the Company were
attacked in Parliament on three grounds : (i) 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
SHIPS AND TRADE 115
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 loth 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 India-
man, 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 i2th 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 nth, we
116 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 sprit-
sail 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
SHIPS AND TRADE 117
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 like-
wise : 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 cap-
tured. 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 com-
plained in any part," they put the Royal James
118 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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.
SHIPS AND TRADE 119
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 hope-
less 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.
O"f 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
1 2th February had they weathered the North Fore-
land and brought up in the Downs, where they
remained for weeks waiting till a fair wind should
oblige them. On the gth of March the longed-for
120 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 iQth 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."
The squadron duly arrived in Swally Roads on
the 1 8th 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 Green-
ford, 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, Under-
shaft, 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 unex-
pected mercy " after a " long, and tedious, and
SHIPS AND TRADE 121
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 mer-
chants 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 use'd aboard the East India-
man ships of the late seventeenth century. It is
called " A prayer for the Honourable English Com-
pany trading to the East Indies, to be used on board
their ships," and bears the imprimatur of the Arch-
bishop 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
122 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
to be used, for the purpose expressed 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 Tem-
poral 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 espe-
cially 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
SHIPS AND TRADE 128
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/ 5
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 com-
mon, 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 tne Commissioners of the Navy con-
strained 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 Portu-
guese 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.
124
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 125
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 tne 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 stipula-
tions 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 pay-
ing ; 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.
126 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany'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 establish-
ments 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 Com-
pany'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 subse-
quently in other years. But such was the jealousy,
such the covetousness which were aroused by the
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 127
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 associa-
tion was the New East India Company, and pres-
ently 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.
128 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany 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 subse-
quently 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 Eng-
lish 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 . . . . 7 50 150 50
Resolution .... 650 130 40
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 129
In later years one of the most valuable com-
modities which India was to produce and send to
England in these ships was tea. The first importa-
tion 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 excee_ded. How-
ever, 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 en-
courages 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
130 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Deptf ord 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.
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 131
For the East India Company did not literally own
their ships, even though they were called East India-
men, 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 un-
fettered 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 con-
cerned 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 num-
ber 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 voy-
ages 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 Com-
pany's ships. This latter was an important modifica-
tion. 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
132 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
expression in this case was to " sell the ship," and a
captain would sometimes pay as much as ^8000 or
; 1 0,000 for the privilege of the appointment, be-
cause 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 be-
came 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 interest-
ing 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
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 133
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 re-
quired 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 em-
ployed, 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 emolu-
ment."
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 con-
sist of certain scheduled goods, and duties were pay-
able thereon to the Company. As the rate of freight
184 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
in those days was about 2$ a ton, this privilege
was a very valuable one. Of course much depended
upon the skill and good management of the in-
dividual commander, the risk of the market, his
knowledge of its requirements, and his own con-
nections 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 Com-
pany, there being a certain number of passengers
assigned to each vessel, and their fares duly deter-
mined, 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
; 1 0,000 and ,12,000. The time occupied from
the period of a ship commencing receipt of her out-
ward cargo to her being finally cleared of her home-
ward 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 re-
muneration 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
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 135
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 Com-
pany'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 main-
tenance."
Whenever an Indiaman became worn out, or con-
demned, 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 pre-
136 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
vented a ship from being engaged for the Com-
pany'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, 145. 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 em-
p'oyed. So, after a certain amount of mutual indig-
nation had cooled off, and the usual haggling had
proceeded, both parties were wont to come to a com-
promise 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 re-
solved not to suffer the intolerable humiliation of
being dictated to by these owners, so the Company
FREIGHTING THE EAST INDIAMEN 137
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 ex-
amined 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 harass-
ing 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 posi-
tion was not easy of solution. On the one hand, it
was obvious that the Company's trade was likely to
138
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 139
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 be-
tween 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 2ist 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
140 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
same month, " on a pretence of searching for sea-
men." 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 per-
formance 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.
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 ware-
houses 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 con-
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 141
sisting 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, con-
sequent 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 CardoneWs crew, with the exception
only of the ship's officers. The skipper of the mer-
chantman 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 CardonelVs
second mate.
The only way in which this annoyance and danger
could be overcome was for the Admiralty to issue
142 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 iden-
tification. 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 unfor-
tunate 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 in-
debted 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 I4th of August
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 143
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 Chris-
topher 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 Com-
pany 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 Honour-
able the Lords of the Admiralty may be inform'd
thereof."
But if the East India Company thought it neces-
sary 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 Com-
pany write to the Admiralty asking for convoys of
the East Indiamen both outward and inward bound.
The French were very much on the qui vwe, but
unless the regular income of the East India Com-
pany were for the present to be stopped, and the
144 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 confiden-
tial signals to be employed, and so on. The follow-
ing letter sent by the Company to the Admiralty on
1 2th 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 Spit-
head. 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 India-
man were able to arrive singly and run into the
Hamoaze (Plymouth Sound) on her way home, hav-
ing successfully eluded hostile ships roving off the
mouth of the English Channel, it was deemed ad-
visable for her to wait at Plymouth until she could
be escorted by the next man-of-war bound eastward
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 145
to the Thames. There were plenty of French priva-
teersmen 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 English-
man 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 desper-
ate 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
K
146 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 practic-
able these East Indiamen were wont, in those stren-
uous 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 French-
men had come here in order to fall upon the
homeward-bound fleet who would soon be seen. But
the longboat* of one of these merchantmen was fitted
out, and under the command of a midshipman suc-
ceeded 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 longboat carried by these East Indiamen measured from
twenty-seven to twenty-nine feet in length.
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 147
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 Graves-
end 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 Ccesar, outward bound for Mocha,
had the misfortune to damage by friction one of her
cables * owing to the latter getting foul of the
wreck of the Carlisle. Those were the days when
* The East Indiamen of about the middle of the eighteenth
century rode to fifteen-inch cablei.
148 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
cables were still made of hemp, and were always
liable, except when special steps were taken, to
injury v/hen rubbing along foul ground. As she lay
in the Downs, the Ccesar'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 permis-
sion.
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
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 149
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 Com-
pany 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 docu-
ments :
Name of Ship
Devonshire
Prince Augustus
Lyell
Princess of Wales
Middlesex
Mary
Derby
London .
Dawsonne
Craggs .
Bridgwater
Prince William.
Lethieullier
Hartford .
Macclesfield .
Caesar
Harrison .
Walpole .
Frances .
Duke of Cumberland
George
Aislabie .
Stretham .
Ockham .
Commander
Lawrence Prince
Francis Gostlin
Charles Small .
Thomas Gilbert
John Pelly .
Thomas Holden
William Fitzhugh .
Robert Bootle
Francis Steward
Caleb Grantham
Edward Williamson
William Beresford .
John Shepheard
Francis Nelly .
Robert Hudson
William Mabbott .
Samuel Martin
Charles Boddam .
John Lawson .
Benjamin Braund .
George Pitt .
William Birch
George Westcott .
William Jobson
Tons Men Guns
470
94
30
495
99
36
470
94
30
460
92
30
430
86
30
49
98
34
480
96
32
490
98
34
480
96
32
380
76
26
400
80
28
480
96
30
470
94
30
460
92
30
450
90
30
440
88
30
460
92
30
495
99
32
420
84
30
480
96
30
480
96
30
400
80
26
47
94
30
480
96
30
150 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 fre-
quently 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
EAST INDIAMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY 151
crews were such seasoned men, and their com-
manders 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.
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 command-
ing 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 Com-
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 158
pany'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 top-
mast head downward, hailing up their Main Sail,
and hoysting their Mizen top sail, with the Clue lines
hall'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
154 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany's own pilots, and this corporation owned its
own pilot-cutter, which was a 6o-ton craft with a
master and six men, her cruising ground being be-
tween Gravesend and the Downs. However, even
then, the Company's ships were by no means immune
from getting ashore, although it ought to be men-
tioned 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 Unskilful-
ness of the Pilote has been Onshore on the Spaniard
Sand,* 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
* The Spaniard is a treacherous patch off the north-east corner
of the Isle of Sheppey.
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 155
" 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 know-
ledge 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 India-
man 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
156 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
sisted 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. Mada-
gascar 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 return-
ing from Mocha and Jeddah. Not content with this,
these European pirates would hang about off the
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 157
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 busi-
ness 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 cor-
poration 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 squad-
ron. The next day but one we again discovered a
158 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 squad-
ron. 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, compel-
ling 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
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 159
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 be-
tween 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 mer-
chant 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
160 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Cal-
cutta. 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
; 1 3,000. 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 com-
pelled 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 Parlia-
ment, 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 intro-
duced, of which one authorised the loan just men-
tioned, and the other, celebrated as the India Act,
effected most important changes in the Company's
constitution and its relations to India. A Governor-
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 161
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
; 1 0,000 each, the chief judge receiving ;8ooo 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 terri-
torial 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 Com-
pany's ships would have been compelled to cease
trading with the East. When, in 1773, the Com-
pany'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 Com-
pany 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.
162 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 163
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 com-
plained 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
164 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
were sold, the owners and commander were to be
fined ;ioo 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 per-
mission 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
THE WAY THEY HAD IN THE SERVICE 165
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 gooHs were to be carried in the
ship nor any passengers to be taken without per-
mission. 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. Anc}
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.
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 prac-
tically 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 vicissi-
tudes, 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
1 66
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 167
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 pro-
tested that they had embarked on immense ship-
building 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 looo-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
noo 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 em-
ployment of ships for more than four voyages, but
168 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 resid-
ing 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 Liver-
pool and Bristol shipowners to be allowed to partici-
pate 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 Com-
pany's ships all kinds of Indian goods with the
exception of calicoes, dimities, muslins and other
piece-goods. And " for insuring to private mer-
chants 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
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 169
this Act, at reasonable rates of freight/' the Com-
pany 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 ap-
proved. 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, pro-
vided 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 pro-
vide 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-
170 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Octo-
ber of 1793 the Court decided that sixteen ships of
from 700 to 800 tons were necessary, and one of
1 200 tons for the annual imports from India in their
regular commerce; and that fifteen large ships of
1 200 tons would be required for imports from China.
When a ship became worn out by age, accident or
inability, an advertisement was published, describ-
ing 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 Decem-
ber of the following year it was resolved that ships
of 1400 tons were the most suitable for the Com-
pany'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 J:
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
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 171
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 Com-
pany'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 sug-
gestion was made that great advantages would result
if India-J^uilt ships were employed by the Company
for the spare freight which was lying ready for ship-
ment 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 inex-
haustible 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 dead-
weight 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
172 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 clay was now
not far distant when trade to India was to be thrown
open altogether. It is the last straw which breaks
the earners 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 pre-
viously 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,
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 173
manned by excellent crews who were seamen to their
finger-tips. As against this, England was in a con-
dition 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 Medi-
terranean 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 sea-
men 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 1 3th 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
174 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 cer-
tainly 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 exter-
minated; especially along the Malabar coast, where
they had many fastnesses, their strongholds being
protected by forts. These men feared nothing, and
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 175
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 captur-
ing their enemy's ships. A French 4O-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 SO-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 manoeuvre. 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.
176 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Phoenix. So
great was the relief occasioned by this deliverance
that Captain M off at, the Phoenix'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 maintop-
gallant masthead, very square yards and jaunt masts,
upright and without the smallest rake either forwani
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 Sour-
couff, 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
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 177
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 occur-
rence reached Calcutta, two of the Company's fri-
gates were sent in pursuit of the privateer, and both
coming up with her began to attack with such deter-
mination 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 Needle: liove-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
178 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 he 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
THE EAST INDIAMEN'S ENEMIES 179
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 cocoa-
nut, 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 intro-
duction 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
180
SHIPS AND MEN 181
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 pro-
ceeded 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 objec-
tive of the enemy if they could get there. However,
182 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 1 80 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. Be-
tween 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,
35> 37 or 3^ 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?
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 remem-
ber 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
a- ? r
If I
SHIPS AND MEN 183
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 pro-
prietary 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 genea-
logical 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 per-
petuity 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
184
THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
sisting of vessels built on the best principles, in-
spected during construction by the Company's own
surveyors, and commanded by officers " of acknow-
ledged 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
Tonnage
Chartered
Tonnage
ft.
in.
ft.
in.
Ganges .
149
43
6
1502
1200
Hope
144
43
6
1471
1200
Neptune .
144
O
43
6
1468
I20O
Hindostan
144
o
43
6
1463
1248
Walmer Castle
144
o
43
6
1460
1200
Warley .
144
o
43
6
1460
1200
Earl of Abergavenny
144
43
6
1460
1200
Royal Charlotte
144
43
6
1460
758
Coutts .
144
o
43
6
1451
1200
Cirencester
144
o
43
1439
1200
Arniston .
144
o
43
o
1433
1200
Glatton .
144
o
43
1432
1200
Thames .
144
o
43
1432
1200
Ceres
144
43
o
1430
I20O
Cuffnells .
144
o
43
o
1429
1200
Earl Talbot .
144
o
43
o
1428
1200
Nottingham .
130
40
1152
1152
Dorsetshire
134
42
o
I20O
I20O
Alfred .
134
o
41
o
1221
1189
David Scott .
134
o
42
o
1257
I20O
Alnwick Castle
133
"i
42
1257
I20O
SHIPS AND MEN 185
Name of Ship
Length
Beam
Burthen
Tonnage
Chartered
Tonnage
ft.
in.
ft.
in.
Exeter
132
O
41
O
1265
I2OO
Carnatic .
132
40
6
1169
1169
Boddam .
128
O
38
6
IO2I
1021
Albion
125
O
38
O
961
961
Royal Admiral
I2O
2
37
10
914
914
Belvidere
123
38
8
986
987
Earl Howe
117
IO
37
41
876
876
Sulivan .
116
O
35
o
876
876
Middlesex
116
O
35
o
852
852
Princess Charlotte .
IO2
33
6|
610
610
Earl of Wycombe .
101
I Of
34
51
643
655
Princess Mary .
93
II
34
51
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 8oo-ton
ship would be able to bring home about 750,000 Ib.
of tea, and a i2oo-ton ship nearly 1,500,000 Ib.
Some idea of the increased popularity of this com-
modity in England will be ascertained when it is
stated that during the year 1765 five million Ibs. were
brought home and sold by the Company. By 1784
the average was about six million Ib., the following
186 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
year this figure was more than doubled, and by the
end of the century it was nearly twenty-four million
Ib. 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 voy-
ages 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 em-
powered 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 addi-
tional 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 resump-
tion 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. c War
extraordinaries," as they were called, were always a
SHIPS AND MEN 187
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 em-
ployed 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 pre-
viously complained of what used to take place at
home. But repeated and indignant representations
188 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 com-
pelled 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 there-
fore 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 Bitches, 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 145. a ton in the
SHIPS AND MEN 189
case of a registered English ship, and 125. 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
190 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Fore-
land on 25th January 1809. The latter had parted
company from the Bombay ships on I3th 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 1 4th 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.
About the year 1809 the rates of insurance between
Bengal and England were ^7, 75. for the regular
East Indiaman, and j on her cargo. In the case
of " extra " ships the premium was ^9, 95. on the
ship and ^9 on the cargo. India-built ships were
not insured at all, but the cargo was insured at
COMMODORE SIR NATHANIEL DANCE.
(By courtesy of Messrs. T. H. Parker Brothers)
SHIPS AND MEN 191
^15, 155. If the Company's ships were convoyed
home, then the " extra " craft were charged only
i from Bengal to St Helena, and another i from
St Helena to England. If there were more than one
ship then only 195. was charged in both cases, but
India-built ships in these instances were charged
2, IDS.
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 them-
selves, 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 Bom-
bay 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, W ex ford,
Ganges, Exeter, Earl of Abergavenny, Henry
'Addington, Bombay Castle, Cumberland, Hope,
Dorsetshire, Warren Hastings and Ocean. And
inasmuch as Captain Dance was the senior com-
mander he acted as commodore for this China fleet.
In addition to these sixteen vessels a number of
192 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany'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 1 4th 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 Ho-pe 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
SHIPS AND MEN 193
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 i8-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
194 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
the China fleet. At i 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 mer-
chantmen.
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
oeating, 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.
SHIPS AND MEN 195
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 disap-
peared there was nothing for Dance to do but con-
tinue 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 axi&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 merchant-
men, and instead H.M.S. Planta genet convoyed
them to England, where they arrived early in the
month of August. The news of this successful
196 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Lon-
don. The Patriotic Fund Committee presented
Commodore Dance with a sword of the value of
;ioo, 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 hand-
some 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 Moifat
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.
Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance was offered a
baronetcy, which he refused, but accepted a knight-
hood : 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
SHIPS AND MEN 197
sailor at his best ready for a fight, going into the
engagement gallantly, and yet all the while remem-
bering that his first duty is to his owners and to get
ships and cargoes safely to port without unneces-
sarily wasting valuable time.
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 com-
merce generally was paralysed, and therefore the
trade in Indian goods to the different parts of the
Continent was exceedingly curtailed. Notwithstand-
ing 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 im-
mediate 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
198
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 199
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. .
200 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany'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 Addingion, 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 201
a quick passage down the English Channel : so on
2 ist June the East India fleet weighed anchor and
proceeded, consisting of the Neptune, Henry
Addington, Scale by 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 East-
wick'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 Adding-
ton 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 sub-
ject came up of the disagreeable weather met with
during the south-west monsoon on going into Bom-
bay. 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
202 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 extra-
ordinary 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 fore-
mast 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 foretop-
mast, 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 com-
modore of the squadron, made the signal : " Will
Eastwick stand by his promise? '' This was im-
mediately answered by the affirmative signal, and
then the commodore ran up another : " Neptune, go
ahead, and lead the way/ 5 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 i8th
December 1785, and made a dozen voyages in the
old East Indiamen, entering the service as a midship-
man of the Marquis Welle si ey 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 203
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 Welle sley, 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 com-
mander being Captain Bruce Mitchell. Mr White
gave Addison a letter of introduction to the chief
officer, named Le Blanc, anU after the boy had com-
pleted 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
204 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
He 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 com-
plement 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 sun-
down, 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 205
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 i4th 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 accus-
tomed 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 2 ist 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 com-
memoration of the Peace of Amiens."
The Marquis Wellesley left Madras again in
February 1803, after visiting ports on the coast, and
206 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
in July fell in with an American bound from Gib-
raltar 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 ex-
periences. A few days after the previously men-
tioned 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 (appar-
ently of the sea-lawyer type which still survives)
protested " against the legal propriety of such pro-
ceeding 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 207
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
manoeuvred his ship to prevent a raking broadside,
but before leaving he " impressed a few hands from
us."
On the ist 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 Welle sley, 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 mid-
shipman, this time in the Brunswick. The latter was
a ship of 1 200 charter tons, and was about to make
her sixth voyage out to Ceylon and China. On
being introduced to Captain James Ludovic Grant,
208 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
the latter made him senior midshipman and his cox-
swain, as none of the other youngsters had yet been
to sea. The midshipmen were allowed a cabin, ser-
vant 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. 55 " There were five of us; two were
stationed as signal midshipmen, as he was commo-
dore; 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. 55
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 5 s
service, Grant feeing now commander of the Bruns-
wick, whilst Lindsay had the Lady Jane Dundas, a
vessel of 820 tons.
During the month of February, then, the Bruns-
wick, having taken on board her cargo and stores,
dropped down the Thames to the Lower Hope,
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 209
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 2Oth 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, Addi-
son'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 set-
ting 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
210 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
making it much easier for the enemy to inflict inj ury
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) con-
stantly exercised great guns, and small arms fre-
quently, 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
" Qth. John McDonald, seaman, was punished
with a dozen for insolence to the boatswain. . . .
"i2th. Punished T. Botler, seaman, with a dozen
for neglect, etc."
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
PS P*
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 211
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. Event-
ually, 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 handejd 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
212 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 I3th of August H.M. frigate Caro-
line, 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 Dedaigneuse,
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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDTAMEN 213
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 rilled
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 an'd various
expenses, the second captain in seniority being
allowed ^300 for the same purposes. The ships
took their turn to act as guarHship, 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
214 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
made their visits to these English ships in state they
were received with great ceremony, which is curi-
ously absent from the modern merchant ship.
Many hundred local craft would put off to the
East Indiamen. The English captains were on
boarH 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 dis-
pleased him. Having come alongside the East
Indiaman, the great man always refused to trust his
valuable life to the ropes and accommodations sup-
plied 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 lucra-
tive affair. But there was a good deal of trouble with
the crew, many of the men deserting to the warships,
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 215
until at last Captain Grant sent every man he had in
the launch on board a British frigate. The latter 5 s
captain selected from these all that were worth hav-
ing and then sent the rest back to the Brunswick.
When the latter set sail from Bombay for China
on ist July 1805 she was very ill-manned, conse-
quent 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. How-
ever, 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-
216 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
manoeuvred. 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 Rus-
sians 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 Eng-
land 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 217
Nile, was actually escorting, in H.M.S. Blenheim,
eleven more Indiamen. The two courses were con-
verging 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.
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, con-
sequently we have no claim upon the owners of the
late Brunswick for at least twenty months' hard duty
218 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
on board of her." However, he was now wedded to
the sea, and the next time he went in his first ship,
the Marquis Welle sley, 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 con-
nection, 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 per-
fect, 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 main-
tains a punctuality almost equal to that of a pas-
senger 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 com-
mand, 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 her-
self, 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
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 219
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 careU to
acknowledge. In the history of Eastern develop-
ment 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 pas-
senger 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-
220 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
temporary accounts are to be trusted, the mere antici-
pation was a kind of terrible nightmare. The pas-
senger 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 under-
going 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 respec-
tively. 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.
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 221
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 1 8th November 1831, arrived at St Helena on
28th January 1832, and was in the English Channel
on the following i3th 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 dis-
comforts and trepidations which were the essential
conditions of the long journey to the Orient in those
days.
" On Thursday the 3Oth 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 quan-
222 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
titles of provisions, on board, to supply the neces-
sities of so long a voyage.
Next day several young people came on board,
inlisted to go in the service of the East India Com-
pany, 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 loth we received on board our treasure
from Portsmouth, and, among the rest, a fine large
stone-horse, designed as a present from the Com-
pany 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;
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 223
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 i6th we were employed in
putting everything in order aboard, and, on the 1 7th,
the Mermaid man of war was appointed our convoy,
and gave a signal for unmooring the same night.
" On Sunday the 2oth 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 Qth October, when in lat. 37 32' N., and
long. 22 1 6', " 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
224 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 1 7th, 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.
" 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
s
W CO
S 5'
K Q 2
is *
^ cc
^5 I
Is I
O
OQ O
AT SEA IN THE EAST INDIAMEN 225
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 oppor-
tunities for obtaining fresh supplies and drinking
water. The illustration which is here reproduce*!
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 pas
senger. 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 perform-
ing 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 Com-
pany's exclusive monopoly, did not permit woollen
226
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 227
goods and warlike stores, but otherwise the ship's
officers could reap a fine income by taking out Eng-
lish 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, sur-
geon's mate, fourth mate, fifth mate, sixth mate,
boatswain, gunner, carpenter, four midshipmen, one
midshipman (who was also the commander's cox-
swain), 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 midship-
man. 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 : Com-
mander, ^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,
228 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
arrack, arsenic or other poisonous drugs. But other-
wise 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 i ton.
But the other homeward ships allowed the commander
30 tons or thirty-two feet, the chief mate 6 tons or six-
teen 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 effec-
tively. 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 neces-
sary 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
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 229
brought home on paying the customs and $ per
cent, for warehouse room. These articles were dis-
posed 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 i4OO-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 com-
manders 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 indul-
gence 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
230
THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 him-
self. But, of course, in addition to all these " privi-
leges," everyone received his salary or wages. The
following is a list of the monthly pay to the com-
mander, 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
Commander . . ;io o C
Chief Mate .
5 o
C
Second Mate .
4 o
C
Third Mate
3 10
C
Fourth Mate .
2 10
6
Fifth Mate
2 5
Sixth Mate
2 5
Si
Surgeon .
5
A
Purser
2 O
B
Boatswain
3 10
B
Gunner .
3 10
P
Master-at-Arms
3 o
2
Carpenter
4 10
Midshipman and
I
Coxswain
2 5
4 Midshipmen, each
2 5
I
Surgeon's Mate
3 10
Caulker .
3 i5
I
Cooper .
3 o
I
Captain's Cook
3 5
Ship's Cook
2 10
I
REGULAR EAST INDIAMAN
Carpenter's 1st Mate ^3 5
Carpenter's 2nd Mate 2 10
Caulker's Mate . 2 15
Cooper's Mate . 2 10
Quartermasters,
each . . . 2 10
Sailmaker . . 2 IO
Armourer . . 2 10
Butcher ... 2 5
Baker ... 2 5
Poulterer . . 25
Commander's Ser-
vants, each . . 15
Chief Mate's Ser-
vant ... I o
Second Mate's Ser-
vant . . . o 18
Surgeon's Servant o 15
Boatswain's Ser-
vant . . . o 15
I Gunner's Servant . o 15
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 231
MONTHLY PAY, ETC. continued
Captain's Steward . 2 o I Carpenter's Ser-
Ship's Steward . 2 10 vant . . . Q 15
2 Boatswain's Mates, 50 Foremast Men,
each . . . 2 10 each ... 2 5
2 Gunner's Mates, each 2 10
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, ios., the sur-
geon ;5, the boatswain ^3, ios., the gunner
^3, ios., the carpenter ^4, ios., the two midship-
men were paid 2, 53. each, the cooper and steward
got ^3, the captain's cook ^3, 55., the ship's
cook 2, ios., the boatswain's mate and the
gunner's mate were each paid 2, ios., the
carpenter's mate and caulker 3, 155., the two
quartermasters received each 2, ios., the
two commander's servants i, 53. each, and the
thirty foremast men 2, 55. 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 goo-ton ship was to carry no
men, a looo-ton ship 120 men, a noo-ton ship 125
men, and a i2OO-tonner 130 men.
Five supernumeraries were allowed to be carried,
of whom two were to be allowed to walk the quarter-
deck. No commander was allowed to increase the
232 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
number of midshipmen under pain of being sus-
pended 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 safe-
guard, 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 Com-
pany, 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 con-
dition 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
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 283
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 consider-
able 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 dis-
charged. 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 coulcT 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 Com-
pany's regular service as chief or second mate, or
284 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
else have commanded a ship in the extra service.
A chief mate ha'd to be twenty-three years old, have
voyaged to India or China in the Company's ser-
vice 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
an3 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 voy-
ages 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 Com-
pany'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 mid-
shipman 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 naviga-
tion nowadays to have entrusted to them the work
and responsibilities commensurate with those with
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 285
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 quali-
fied 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.
286 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Mar en go. 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.
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
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 237
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 appear-
ing 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 com-
mander 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 in-
structions to see that his new hands " recruits >:
the Company called them wore the clothes which
238 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 pos-
sibility 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 pre-
vious 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 omis-
sion 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 men-
tioning the performance of divine service, or assign-
ing 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
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 239
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 regula-
tion, 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 con-
form 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 con-
tributed 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.
240 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Thus, if a commander stated that he was not worth
^2500, or ^125 a year, he received a pension of
;ioo. 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 sur-
geon 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 privi-
lege 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. Volun-
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 241
teers 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 re-
marks of the carpenter and officers when they found
the assistant-surgeon had been romancing.
The passengers in these ships were made as com-
fortable 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 Com-
242 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
pany'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 pos-
sibility 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 extin-
guished 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 Parlia-
ment to carry sidelights. In fact, just as in
mediaeval 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."
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 comfort-
able accommodation and liberal treatment of the
passengers, " at the same time setting them an
example of sobriety and decorum, as he values the
fjf
O ^--.
5 --
EH
1 I
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 243
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 coulg! appeal
to the Governor and Council of the first of the Com-
pany'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.
244 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Certainly up to the second decade of the nine-
teenth 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 sheath-
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 245
ing 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 indi-
cate 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 : con-
sequently 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
246 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
structed 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 Hid 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 after-
wards given ten i8-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
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 247
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 c 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 ad-
miration 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, includ-
ing 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 1 10, 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 respec-
tive 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
248
WAYS AND MEANS 249
surgeons 110, subalterns and assistant-surgeons
: ^95, for the voyage out.
For the homewar'd 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 bounH to
He carried if the commander were requested, and he
was to be accommodated with a cabin on the star-
board 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, an'd to give
effect to this he had to enter into a bond for ^"looo
before being sworn in. Similarly the third mate was
equally forbidden to exact more than the sums men-
tioned under his category.
Some idea of the victuals which were carried on
250 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
board a i2OO-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 voy-
ages the passengers and crew were not pampered
with the luxuries of a modern liner. The accom-
modation was lighted with candles and oil-lamps,
the food was plain, the cooking very English. Be-
side the amounts which an Atlantic liner takes on
board for her short voyage these figures seem in-
significant : 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.
For the use of the commander's table 1 1 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 (addi-
tional 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, 6$ 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, 1 1 hogsheads
WAYS AND MEANS 251
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, 2\ 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 pas-
senger 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 pro-
ceeding 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
252 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 prin-
cipal cargo which these ships were bringing home.
To give a complete list of the commodities would
WAYS AND MEANS 253
take up too much space, but we may be allowed to
mention the following as being among those com-
monly found in the hold of a homeward-bound East
Indiaman : Aloes, drugs, buffalo hides, bark, coffee,
camphor, cotton, cowries, silk, cochineal, coral, ele-
phants' 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 Com-
pany, 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 nine-
teenth 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 satisfac-
tion in cheating the State, and good prices were
always offered and received for these goods from the
254 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
East. The officers were always reminde'd 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 India -
man 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 with-
out 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), Cirenc ester (1504 tons), Coutts
(1504 tons), Glatton (1507 tons), Cuffnells (1497
tons), Ne-ptune (1478 tons), Thames (1487 tons) and
W aimer 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
WAYS AND MEANS 255
as a speculation, and had been taken up by the
Company, whilst at least one the Thomas Gren-
ville had been built at Bombay for the Company in
the year 1809. And there were in process of con-
struction 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
1 200 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, indi-
cates 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 Moifat, Esq.,
for six voyages . . . ij 10
Surplus tonnage, peace and war . ^815
For difference of outfit, difference of In-
surance beyond eight guineas per cent.,
maintaining seamen, returning lascars,
and every other contingency and ex-
pence . . . ;i8 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
256 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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. 3Oth . . . at 1 1 A.M. came on board
Mr Upham, Inspector, with Mr Bale, Surveyor, over-
hauld 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 3ist. . . . Received on board the
best and smallest bower cables, and sundry stores,
filled 43 butts with water. Do. officers.
1 Thursday Nov. ist. . . . 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.
" Saturday 3rd. . . . Employed taking in shot on
account of the Honble. Compy. and 45 tons of kent-
ledge 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
WAYS AND MEANS 257
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 i3th 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 nine-
teenth century. Thus, the i2OO-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 Ports-
mouth on 2oth March 1804, proceeded to Ceylon
and China, transacted her business, and was back at
her moorings in the Thames on i2th 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,
258 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
the 6oo-ton ship Devaynes left Portsmouth on I7th
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
1 6th April 1810, These passages may be con-
veniently compared with the hustling days of sixty
or seventy years later, when the famous China clipper
Ariel made her record passage out to China. Leav-
ing Gravesend on i4th 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 improve-
ments 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 aggre-
gate 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
WAYS AND MEANS 259
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 re-
tained 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 dis-
interested 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
260 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 com-
petition 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 2$ 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 pas-
sengers. They were paying ^40 a ton as against
^25 paid by other traders. The East India Com-
pany'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
WAYS AND MEANS 261
anH ten beams to their length. It should be men-
tioned at the same time that these East Indiamen
had necessarily to carry large numbers of men be-
cause 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 merchant-
men 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 Bell field
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 men-
tioned the following. Their biggest ship, then, was
the Lowther Castle, of 1507 tons. She was built in
the year 181 1, 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 un-
able to get away from the mediaeval 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
262 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 pen-
nant. 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.
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 thir-
teen 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
S 6C
WAYS AND MEANS 263
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 ;6ooo
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 know-
ledge 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 inter-
est in the freight of cotton and other produce con-
veyed from India to China. And, having examinee!
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
264 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
honesty in commerce was a rare virtue. Of course,
the mere existence of this trade monopoly was in
itself an unhealthy influence, breeding jealousy, cor-
ruption, 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 Com-
pany'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.*
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.
* 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. i.
265
266 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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.
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 sand-
stone 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 Bern-
bridge, 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 dis-
covered 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 sacri-
legious days there was little respect for hallowed
LIFE ON BOARD 267
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." *
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 com-
mander 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 ii A.M. and 9 P.M. Champagne was drunk
twice a week. There was a cow carried, and later on
the caff , 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
* Mentioned in Captain E. du Boulay's " Bembridge, Past and
Present."
268 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 Com-
pany'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 mediaeval 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
LIFE ON BOARD 269
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 con-
temporary 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-
270 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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, how-
ever 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
w'e 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
LIFE ON BOARD 271
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 decora-
tive 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 cum-
brous and clumsy impressive rather than beautiful,
strong rather than fine. But in any case she would
have been a pretty tough proposition for a contem-
porary hostile ship to tackle, especially with such
crews as she carried. Compared with her contem-
porary, 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
272 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Downs on the iqih 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 3ist 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 occa-
sionally 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 ist
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.
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
1
, tf
LIFE ON BOARD 273
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 out-
side 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, ex-
hausted and almost senseless. He reported that he
had just stumbled over some dead bodies, who must
have perished in the suffocating smoke. With diffi-
274 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
culty the lower ports could be opened owing to the
atmosphere, but when the passengers at last suc-
ceeded 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 ex-
plosion, 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 sea-
sickness 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 accord-
ing 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
LIFE ON BOARD 275
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 clown 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 con-
tinuous 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 steam-
276 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
ships 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 dis-
tance, 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 oppor-
tunity. To thwart this, some of the military officers
stood over them with drawn swords, and this had a
wholesome effect.
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 live-?, 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 Cam-
LIFE ON BOARD 277
bria, 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 moun-
tain 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 un-
willingly 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,
278 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 lands-
men, 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 exist-
ence 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
LIFE ON BOARD 279
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 diffi-
culty 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 some-
what 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 har-
bour. 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.
280 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
At Falmouth the survivors disembarked, being
met on the beach by huge crowds, and were hospit-
ably 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 ship-
mates 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 seaman-
ship 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, us. to the captain of the
Cambria for payment of the bill of provisions,
^287, IDS. on account of the owners for the food of
the passengers, and ^300 for demurrage. In addi-
tion, they presented the Cambria's captain with the
sum of ;6oo, 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.
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 care-
fully between what became known subsequently as
the Indian Navy and the Company's merchant ships.
The former existed to protect the latter, by suppress-
ing 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 Bom-
bay 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 pass-
ing and repassing of valuable freights over seas
frequented by hostile ships some sort of local force
281
282 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 neces-
sary 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.*
Throughout most of the seventeenth and eigh-
teenth 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.
The year 1697 was marked by attacks on the
* I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness in this chapter to
Captain Rathbone Low's " History of the Indian Navy."
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THE COMPANY'S NAVAL SERVICE 283
Company's ships, not merely by pirates, but by the
French. Three of these East Indiamen were
attacked, plundered and burned by pirate craft fly-
ing English colours. Two more of the Company's
ships were captured by the French, so things were
serious enough. The matter was reported to Eng-
land, 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 arrange-
ment 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 mer-
chant 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
284 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
indeed fought against privateers, pirates, Portuguese,
Dutch and French, to defend both ships and fac-
tories 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 pro-
tection 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
THE COMPANY'S NAVAL SERVICE 285
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 eigh-
teenth century the Marine consisted of about twenty
ships, and these were essential for protecting the
progress of the mercantile East Indiamen, for with-
out 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 ser-
vice, 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
286 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
the nineteenth century was that in which the Morn-
ington sloop-of-war figures conspicuously. The
French privateers, especially La Confiance (of
which we spoke on an earlier page) and U Eugenie,
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? Eugenie 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 hover-
ing, 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, ask-
ing the ship's name, ordering them to heave-to. Too
late the privateer discovered that he had been en-
snared and fired into the Mornington, mortally
wounding a seaman and injuring the running gear.
THE COMPANY'S NAVAL SERVICE 287
Captain Frost now determined to injure the enemy's
rigging and sails aloft, and thus cripple him to such an
extent that U Eugenie 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 French-
man'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
288 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
trolled this Company's naval force consisted of the
Superintendent, the Master-Attendant, the Com-
modore 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 ^45 a year
Captain of the First Class . 360
Captain of the Second Class . . 270
First Lieutenant . 180 ,,
THE COMPANY'S NAVAL SERVICE 289
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 regi-
ment 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 ist 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 pro-
tected 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. How-
ever, it had long survived the existence of the Com-
290 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
party'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 compara-
tively small force doing wonders for two and a half
centuries, showing great gallantry, enterprise, and
enduring much hardship. Its last years were con-
spicuously 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.
CHAPTER XX
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE
WE have made reference during the course of our
story to the grave risks which were run by the mer-
cantile East Indiamen in regard to pirates and priva-
teers. 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
291
292 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 con-
cern : 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 over-
come, 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 May-
otta 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
1 6th 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
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 293
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 con-
cluding 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 I7th 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 Green-
wich, 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 * 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
* That is to say a ship belonging to the Ostend East India
Company.
294 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
to and looked on, yet both he and the Ostender
basely deserted us, and left us engaged with bar-
barous 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 other-
wise : for notwithstanding their superiority, we en-
gaged 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.
" 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 broad-
side 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
1 I
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 295
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 Green-
wich 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
296 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 297
consort of the Greenwich done his duty, we had
destroyed both of them, and got two hundred
thousand pounds for our owners and selves : where-
as 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 mer-
chant 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 diffi-
culty 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
298 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 ship-
masters. In the month of January 1797 the French
R ear-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
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 299
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 Com-
pany'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 recon-
noitring frigate Cybele, 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 mis-
fortune 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 Cybele 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
300 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
strategical position, was another favourite resort.
There is on record an incident belonging to the year
1696, when the pirates attacked a Bombay ship com-
manded by an Englishman named Sawbridge, whose
cargo consisted of Arab horses for Surat. The
pirates were able to seize the ship, whereupon Saw-
bridge 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, keep-
ing 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 sea-
men 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 con-
cern, 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 war-
ships was lying at anchor in the inner roads of
Bushire (on the Persian side of the Gulf). Her
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 301
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 manoeuvr-
ing. 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 hand-
kerchief 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 mercan-
tile ships it is well to see how they were armed to
withstand the attacks of their enemies. On another
302 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 6J 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 i8-pounders
on her middle deck and ten i8-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
OFFENCE AND DEFENCE 303
of these East Indiamen, he says : " Some of the
ships carried upon the main deck 26 medium
i8-pounders, or ' carronades/ weighing about 28
cwt. and of very little use : guns of this description,
indeed, have long since been exploded. Ten
i8-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. More-
over in fitting the ships, so much more attention had
been paid to stowage than to the means of attack
and defence, that one and sometinles two butts of
water were lashed beween 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 ton-
nage 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 arma-
ment, 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 diffi-
culty 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
304 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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.
CHAPTER XXI
THE " WARREN HASTINGS " AND THE " PIEMONTAISE '
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 1 805 : and though event-
ually the former was at last captured, yet the engage-
ment none the less remains to her credit, since the
fight lasted for four hours and the enemy was com-
pelled 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 1 7th 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
u 305
306 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
to a crisis. It was obvious that in consequence of
the eventful times no ship, not even an East India-
man, 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.
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 i8-pounders,
fourteen carronades (i8-pounders) on her upper
deck, and four carronades (i2-pounders) on her
poop. The medium gun was six feet in length, and
weighed about 26| cwt. It will be seen that this was
a smaller weapon than that used in the Royal Navy,
for the common i8-pounder of the latter measured
nine feet long, and weighed 42 cwt. The East India-
man's medium i8-pounder when run out did not
reach out more than a foot from the ship's side. The
i8-pounder carronade was five feet long, and
weighed about 15^ cwt. The i2-pounder was $\
feet long and weighed about 8J cwt. The Warren
Hastings' carronades were mounted, says James,
:t upon a carriage resembling Cover's in every par-
ticular but the only essential one, the having of
rollers adapted to a groove in the slide. The con-
sequence 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 black-
lead upon the upper surface of the slide lessened the
WARREN HASTINGS AND PI&MONTAISE 307
friction, and, with the aid of an additional hand,
enabled the gun to be run out. On account, how-
ever, 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 reliev-
ing the Warren Hastings of eighteen English sea-
men : 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 i8-pounder carron-
ades 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 2ist 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 Piemontaise 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 InHia-
man it will be well to notice these details. The
308 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Piemontaise had the usual twenty-eight long
i8-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 Q-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 mediaeval 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. In 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,
WARREN HASTINGS AND PI&MONTAISE 309
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 board-
ing, 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, how-
ever, 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
310 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 India-
man could bring her guns to bear this fire was re-
turned. 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 addi-
tion the whole of the port fore shrouds, the foretop-
sail 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 India-
man 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
WARREN HASTINGS AND PI&MONTAISE 311
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 India-
man, 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
312 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 undam-
aged 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 Ib. as
against the Indiaman's 312 Ib. 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 contem-
plate 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
WARREN HASTINGS AND PI&MONTAISE 313
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 Piemontaise"
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 lieuten-
ant, poured aboard the merchant ship. But they
came not as conquerors, but as assassins, with up-
lifted 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 intoxi-
cated at the time and so cannot be held fully
responsible for their base treatment of their victims.
314 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 lieuten-
ant. 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
Piemontaise 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 Piemontaise had been
able to overhaul the Warren Hastings so quickly
and to manoeuvre 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 Piemontaise, 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
WARREN HASTINGS AND PI^MONTAISE 315
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 en-
trusted to their care. They were men of whom the
Company and the country had every right to be
proud.
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 deter-
mined 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 what-
soever 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,
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 317
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
manoeuvred 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 Con-
fiance 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 electrify-
ing force to a band of desperadoes, and then having
manoeuvred his ship with no little cleverness,
brought her alongside the Indiaman. Just as he did
318 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 cap-
tain, 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 India-
man'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.
We come now to the year 1810. About this time
f
y
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 319
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 5
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
320 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 tele-
graphed 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 Indiameri and
at about six miles away. Soon afterwards theBellone
and the Victor also went about. When Captain
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 321
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 approach-
ing 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 be-
tween 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
322 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
war broke out to-morrow every officer in the British
mercantile marine would render an excellent account
of himself for resource and bravery. Recent dis-
asters 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 India-
men 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 im-
posed 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
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 323
immediate successors, who made such wonderful pass-
ages 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 tide-
way 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 4O,ooo-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 manoeuvre so as to fight a superior enemy with-
out losing one's ship or cargo.
This was always the anxiety which an East India-
man'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 be incur the displeasure
of the Honourable East India Company's directors?
324 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 manoeuvre. 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 stern-
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 825
most and leewardmost vessel of the three, and the
Minerve, true to the best tradition of tactics em-
ployed by Nelson and other great admirals, endeav-
oured to cut the Windham off from the other two :
but the best laid schemes of clever tacticians some-
times 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 Wind-
ham. Taking up her position presently a little
farther on, the Bellone began to attack the commo-
dore'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. Penning. 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
326 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
passed astern of the Bellone, which was engaging
the Windham all the time. And then there appears
to have been some misunderstanding. The Wind-
ham 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 ha'd 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
PIRATES AND FRENCH FRIGATES 327
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 splen-
didly against heavy odds. The commodore had ful-
filled 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 pre-
senting 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 AsteWs seamen, a
man named Andrew Peters, nailed the pennant to
328 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
the maintopmast-head and was killed as he was on
his way down : and the AsteWs colours were shot
away no fewer than three times.
To show their appreciation of the AstelVs 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.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
IT must not be thought that even after that momen-
tous 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 inven-
tory 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 dis-
charged " men a vessel had not the required number
of crew in her that she ought to have. So now these
329
330 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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 mono-
poly : too long it had been permitted to enjoy these
privileges and keep back the stream of trade. Dis-
content increased both in vehemence and volume,
and so at length the Company were powerless to
hold on to thefr China monopoly. Private ship-
owners 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 com-
merce 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 pro-
ceeded to close its business as soon as possible.
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
I
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 331
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 sub-
mit 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, arriv-
ing 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. Prob-
ably 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
332 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
aboard cargo in the Thames. It ends on 3rd Sep-
tember 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 :
c 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 dur-
ing 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
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 333
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 fore-
sail . . . 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 pump-
ing during the above period, I apprehend consider-
able 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 i3th 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
334 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
Cape of Good Hope and droppe<d anchor off St
Helena on igth June 1834, eventually arriving in
Halifax harbour on i8th August 1834, where she
proceeded to Mr Cunard's wharf Mr Cunard was
the East India Company's agent, as we have men-
tioned 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 Cal-
cutta to see what could be done in this respect, and
the outcome was that a steamship called the Enter-
prise 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 i6th August 1825, and after a voyage
of 113 days reached Calcutta, though ten of these
days were spent in taking on board fuel. Her aver-
age 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 Enterprise was really the first Anglo- Indian
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 335
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 steam-
ships 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 Com-
pany 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
336 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
camels had to be employed for transporting a single
steamer's loading, and every package had to be sub-
jected 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 pre-
datory 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 Cann-
ing. On ist 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 insti-
tuted. 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 i5th May 1873, came the resolution
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 337
to dissolve the Company altogether, as from ist 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. 5 ' 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 im-
printed 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 Com-
pany 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 Bal-
carres, 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,
Y
338 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
obtaining ,10,700 as her price. The Buckingham-
shire 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
72001 the Atlas, ^4100; the Canning, ^5750;
the Princess Charlotte, ^3000; the London, ^5900;
General Harris, ;66oo; 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 ship-
ping 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 pre-
decessors when crossing the sea. But they were run
commercially on more sensible lines, and the extra-
vagant privileges to the captains were largely
curtailed.
And inasmuch as many of the captains, officers
and crew who had served in the East India Com-
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 339
pany'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 contem-
porary naval frigates : in design and scantlings they
were identical with a 4O-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 J -
very high. With their overhanging stern, figure-
head, row of square ports, stuns'ls, and dolphin-
striker they were very picturesque craft. As regards
speed these were an improvement on the ships pos-
sessed 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 icoo-ton ship cost about
340 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
,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 Newfound-
land 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.
At the time when the East India Company lost
their China charter and sold off their fleet, the com-
manders 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 sea-
men otherwise known as the Maritime Service in
contrast with the Bombay Marine or East India
Company's navy had been employed for over two
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 841
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 Com-
pany's service in the confident expectation that it
was a provision for life. But now they found them-
selves 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 accus-
tomed to navigate only vessels of the size and
expensive equipment of those of the East India
Company. Only one-fifth of these men were there-
fore at once taken over by the shipowners, who were
now buying up the Company's ships or building new
342 THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN
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/ 5 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 India-
men skippers, and the latter were not anxious to
degrade themselves by signing on in these inter-
lopers.
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 com-
mander 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
THE LAST OF THE OLD EAST INDIAMEN 343
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 con-
cerned 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.
TUB RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
