One may feel a little incredulous at some of the extraordinary yarns which one hears occasionally from living people concerning the doings of smugglers. A good deal has doubtless arisen as the result of a too vivid imagination, but, as we have shown from innumerable instances, there is quite enough that is actual fact without having recourse to invention. I know of a certain port in our kingdom where there existed a legend to the effect that in olden days the smugglers had no need to bring the tubs in with them, but that if they only left them outside when the young flood was making, those tubs would find their own way in to one particular secluded spot in that harbour. A number of amateur enthusiasts debated the point quite recently, and a wager was made that such a thing was not possible. But on choosing a winter's day, and throwing a number of barrels into the water outside the entrance, it was found that the trend of the tide was always to bring them into that corner. But, you will instantly say, wouldn't the Coastguard in the smuggling days have seen the barrels as they came along the top of the water?
The answer is certainly in the affirmative. But the smugglers used to do in the "scientific" period as follows, and this I have found in a document dated 1833, at which time the device was quite new, at least to the Customs officials. Let us suppose that the vessel had made a safe passage from France, Holland, or wherever she had obtained the tubs of spirits. She had eluded the cruisers and arrived off the harbour entrance at night just as the flood tide was making. Overboard go her tubs, and away she herself goes to get out of the sphere of suspicion. These tubs numbered say sixty-three, and were firmly lashed together in a shape very similar to a pile of shot—pyramid fashion. The tops of the tubs were all painted white, but the raft was green. Below this pyramid of tubs were attached two grapnel anchors, and the whole contrivance could float in anything above seven feet of water. It was so designed that the whole of the tubs came in on the tide below water, only three being partially visible, and their white colour made them difficult to be seen among the little waves. But as soon as they came to the spot where there were only seven feet of water the two grapnels came into action and held the tubs moored like a ship. And as the tide rose, so it completely obliterated them. Some one was of course on the look-out for his spirits, and when the tide had dropped it was easy enough to wade out and bring the tubs ashore, or else "sweep" them ashore with a long rope that dragged along the bottom of the harbour.
During the year 1834 smuggling was again on the increase, especially on the south and east coasts, and it took time for the officers to learn all these new-fangled tricks which were so frequently employed. Scarcely had the intricacies of one device been learnt than the smugglers had given up that idea and taken to something more ingenious still. Some time back we called attention to the way in which the Deal boatmen used to walk ashore with smuggled tea. About the year 1834 a popular method of smuggling tea, lace, and such convenient goods was to wear a waistcoat or stays which contained eighteen rows well stuffed with 8 lbs. weight of tea. The same man would also wear a pair of drawers made of stout cotton secured with strong drawing strings and stuffed with about 16 lbs. of tea. Two men were captured with nine parcels of lace secreted about their bodies, a favourite place being to wind it round the shins. Attempts were also made to smuggle spun or roll tobacco from New York by concealing them in barrels of pitch, rosin, bales of cotton, and so on. In the case of a ship named the Josephine, from New York, the Revenue officers found in one barrel of pitch an inner package containing about 100 lbs. of manufactured tobacco.
The accompanying plan of the smack Tam O'Shanter (belonging to Plymouth), which was seized by the Padstow Coastguard, will show how spirits were sometimes concealed. This was a vessel of 72 tons with a fore bulkhead and a false bulkhead some distance aft of that. This intervening space, as will be seen, was filled up with barrels. Her hold was filled with a cargo of coals, and then aft of this came the cabin with berths on either side, as shown. But under these berths were concealments for stowing quite a number of tubs, as already explained.
A variation of the plan, previously mentioned, for smuggling by means of concealments in casks was that which was favoured by foreign ships which traded between the Continent and the north-east coasts of England and Scotland. In this case the casks which held the supplies of drinking water were fitted with false sides and false ends. The inner casks thus held the fresh water, but the outer casks were full of spirits. After the introduction of steam, one of the first if not the very first instance of steamship smuggling by concealment was that occurring in 1836, when a vessel was found to have had her paddle-boxes so lined that they could carry quite a large quantity of tobacco and other goods.
Another of those instances of ships fitted up specially for smuggling was found in the French smack Auguste, which is well worth considering. She was, when arrested, bound from Gravelines, and could carry about fifty tubs of spirits or, instead, a large amount of silk and lace. Under the ladder in the forepeak there was a potato locker extending from side to side, and under this, extending above a foot or more before it, was the concealment. Further forward were some loose planks forming a hatch, under which was the coal-hole. This appeared to go as far as the bulkhead behind the ladder, and had the concealment been full, it could never have been found, but in walking over where the coals were, that part of the concealment which extended beyond the locker which was empty sounded hollow: whereupon the officers pulled up one of the planks and discovered the hiding-place.
It was decided in 1837 that, in order to save the expense of breaking up a condemned smuggling vessel, in future the ballast, mast, pumps, bulkheads, platforms, and cabins should be taken out from the vessel: and that the hull should then be cut into pieces not exceeding six feet long. Such pieces were then to be sawn in a fore-and-aft direction so as to cut across the beams and thwarts and render the hull utterly useless. The accompanying sketch well illustrates the ingenuity which was displayed at this time by the men who were bent on running goods. What is here represented is a flat-bottomed boat, which perhaps might never have been discovered had it not been driven ashore near to Selsey Bill during the gales of the early part of 1837. The manner in which this craft was employed was to tow her for a short distance and then to cast her adrift. She was fitted with rowlocks for four oars, but apparently these had never been used. Three large holes were bored in her bottom, for the purpose which we shall presently explain.
Flat-Bottomed Boat found off Selsey.
The sketch shows longitudinal plan, the method of covering with net,
and midship section.ToList
Built very roughly, with half-inch deal, and covered over with a thin coat of white paint, she had a grommet at both bow and stern. She measured only 16 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a depth of 2 feet 2 inches. It will be noticed that she had no thwarts. Her timbers were of bent ash secured with common French nails, and alongside the gunwales were holes for lacing a net to go over the top of this boat. Her side was made of three deal planks, the net being made of line, and of the same size as the line out of which the tub-slings were always made. The holes in her floor were made for the water to get in and keep her below the surface, and the net, spreading from gunwale to gunwale, prevented her cargo of tubs from being washed out. It was in order to have ample and unfettered room for the tubs that no thwarts were placed. She would be towed astern of a smack or lugger under the water, and having arrived at the appointed spot the towrope would be let go, and the grapnels attached to both grommets at bow and stern would cause her to bring up when in sufficiently shallow water. Later on, at low tide, the smugglers' friends could go out in their boats with a weighted line or hawser and sweep along the bottom of the sea, and soon locate her and tow her right in to the beach.
In order to prevent certain obvious excuses being made by dishonest persons, all British subjects were distinctly forbidden to pick up spirits found in these illegal half-ankers, only officers of the Royal Navy, the Customs, and the Excise being permitted so to do. But it was not always that the Revenue cruisers were employed in catching smugglers. We have pointed out that their duties also included Quarantine work. In the spring of 1837 it was represented to the Treasury that there was much urgent distress prevailing in certain districts of the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland owing to the failure of the last harvest. Sir John Hill was therefore directed to proceed to Scotland and take such steps as might be necessary for the immediate supply of seed, corn, and potatoes, and the officers and commanders of the Revenue cruisers were directed to afford him every assistance.
In the previous chapter attention was called to the singular inappropriateness of calling a smuggling vessel the Good Intent. That was a smack belonging to the year 1824, which was found at Rye. But this name seems to have had a certain amount of popularity among these ingenious gentlemen, for there was a smuggling schooner named the Good Intent which was seized in the year 1837. How cleverly and effectively she was fitted up for a smuggling voyage can be ascertained by considering the accompanying longitudinal plan. She had a burthen of 72 tons, and was captured by the Revenue cruiser Sylvia in Mount's Bay on the 14th of March. The plan denotes her principal features, including her sail-room and general store right aft. Immediately forward of this was the first concealment on the port side only. Entrance was gained by means of a slide which was nailed up, and here many casks could easily be stored. Next to this came the after bulkhead, but forward of this was also a false bulkhead, the distance between the real and the false being 2-1/2 feet, and affording a space to contain 138 kegs.
Under the cabin were coals, and around the coals under the cabin deck were placed some kegs. The fore bulkhead had also a false bulkhead 2 feet 5 inches apart, and this space held as many as 148 kegs. Under the deck of the forepeak were also 21 kegs. The length of these kegs was 17 inches, and they were nearly a foot in diameter. Each cask contained 4-1/2 gallons of French brandy. This vessel was found to have merely limestone ballast in her hold, but her illicit cargo was more valuable to her than if she had been fully laden with the commodity which she usually and legitimately traded in. Later in the same year, and by the same cruiser Sylvia, this time off Land's End, the Jersey schooner Spartan, a vessel of 36-1/2 tons, was seized, as she was found to be fitted up with similar concealments (see sketch).
One day about the middle of the last century a 16-ton Grimsby fishing-smack named Lord Rivers left her native port and journeyed south. Her owner and master was in a dismal frame of mind, and complained to his mate that things were pretty bad, and he was becoming remarkably poor. The fishing was not prospering so far as he was concerned, and so after thinking the matter over he was proposing to take the ship over to Boulogne and get a cargo of between thirty and forty gallons of spirits. His mate heard what he had to say and agreed to go with him. So to Boulogne they proceeded, where they purchased the spirits from a dealer, who brought the spirits on board, not in casks but in skins and bladders, making about fifty in all. These were deposited in the smack's hold, and she then cleared out of harbour and went to the fishing-grounds, where, to make matters appear all right, she remained twenty-four hours, for the purpose of obtaining some oysters by dredging. Whilst on the fishing-grounds the spirits were stowed in a neat concealment at the stern of the vessel on both sides abaft the hatchway. Before long the smack got going and ran into Dover with the oysters and her spirits, lowered her sails, and made everything snug. In due course the bladders of spirits were got out of the hold in small numbers, and placed in baskets and covered over with a sufficiently thick layer of oysters to prevent their presence being detected. These baskets were taken to a neighbouring tap-room, the landlord of which bought as much as he wanted, and a local poulterer bought the rest of the spirits and oysters as well.
But the local Coastguard had for a long time been suspicious of this vessel, and evidently this was not her first voyage in the smuggling trade. He had watched and followed the man who took the bladders ashore, and now came on board to see what he could find. The deck plan will clearly convey to the reader the way in which the smack was fitted up with concealments. The letters A and A indicate two portions of the deck planking, each portion being about a couple of feet long. These were movable, and fitted into their places with a piece of spun-yarn laid into the seams, and over this was laid some putty blackened on the top. At first sight they appeared to be part of the solid planking of the deck, but on obtaining a chisel they were easily removed. There was now revealed the entrance to a space on each side of the rudder-case in the false stern capable of containing thirty or forty gallons of spirits. This in itself was conclusive, but when the Coastguard also found that the putty in the seams was soft and fresh, and that a strong smell of spirits emanated from this cavity, it was deemed that there was more than adequate reason for arresting the smack even though the hold was quite empty.
Thus the Lord Rivers came to a bad end.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] The ceiling of a ship signified the inside planks.
CHAPTER XVIIIToC
BY SEA AND LAND
Having now seen the evolution of the smuggling methods from brute force and superiority of ships and crews to the point where the landing of dutiable goods became a fine art, and having been able to obtain an idea of the manifold changes which occurred in the administration of the Preventive service between the years 1674 and 1856, we may now resume our narrative of the interesting encounters which occurred between the smugglers on the one hand and the Preventive force on the other. Up to the year 1822 we have dealt with the different incidents which used to go on around our coast, and we shall now be in a position to appreciate to their full the notable exploits of cruisers and smugglers in that late period between the years 1822 and 1856. This covers the epoch when improved architecture in regard to the craft employed, greater vigilance on the part of the cruisers, and a keener artfulness in the smugglers themselves were at work. Consequently some of these contests represent the best incidents in the whole history of smuggling.
But it was not always that the Revenue cruisers and Preventive boats were in the right. There were occasions when the commanders suffered from too much zeal, though certainly these were quite exceptional. There is the case of the Drencher which well illustrates this. She was a Dutch vessel which had been on her voyage to Italy, and was now returning home up the English Channel with a cargo of oil, bound for Amsterdam. Being somewhat square and ample of form, with the characteristic bluff bows much beloved by her countrymen, and being also very foul on her bottom through long voyaging, she was only a dull sailer.[23] And such being the case, when she fell in with head winds her skipper and part-owner, Peter Crook, decided to let go anchor under Dungeness, where many a sailing craft then, as to-day, has taken shelter in similar circumstances.
Whilst she was at anchor waiting for a favourable slant, one of the numerous fishing-boats which are always to be seen hereabouts came alongside the Drencher[24] and asked the skipper if he required any assistance. Crook replied that if the wind was still ahead, and he was compelled to remain there till the next day, he would want some fuel for his stove. The fisherman sold some of his catch to the Dutchman, and then went on his way.
But soon after this a boat in the Preventive service, commanded by a Mr. MacTavish, a midshipman, came alongside and boarded the Drencher. The midshipman inquired what the Dutchman had had to do with the fishing-boat, and Crook answered that he had done nothing except to purchase some fish. But this did not satisfy Mr. MacTavish, who proceeded now to examine what was on board. Of course he found some casks of spirits, and asked Crook how they came to be there, to which Crook answered that they had been found floating in a former voyage and he had picked them up. This looked doubtful, but it was quite probable, for often the weights of stones from sunken tubs broke adrift and the tubs floated up to the surface. Especially was this the case after bad weather.
We can well understand the midshipman's suspicions, and need not be surprised to learn that he felt justified in seizing the ship because of these tubs found on board. He had the anchor broken out, the sails hoisted, and took her first into Dover, and afterwards from Dover to Ramsgate, where most of her cargo was unloaded. But after a time she was ordered to be released and allowed to proceed to Holland, and later still her skipper brought an action against MacTavish for having been wrongfully detained for thirty days, for which demurrage he claimed four guineas a day, besides damage to her cable and other things, amounting in all to £208.
The reader will recollect that in another chapter we saw a couple of sailing craft dodging about suspiciously in West Bay, one of which began to fire signals to the other in order to warn her of the Preventive boat: and we saw that the crew of three men in the offending craft were arrested and found guilty. One of these men, it will be remembered, was John Bartlett, who had at one time been a boy on a Revenue cutter. From the incident which led to his arrest in 1819 let us pass to the 14th of September 1823. The scene is again West Bay, and the old passion is still strong in Bartlett notwithstanding his sentence. A little to the west of Bridport (Dorset) is Seatown, and just beyond that comes Golden Cape. On the night of the above date one of the Seatown Revenue officers about 1 A.M. noticed flashes coming from the cliff between Seatown and Golden Cape. He proceeded to the cliff, which at high-water runs straight up out of the sea. It was a dark night with no moon, a little breeze, and only slight surf on the shore—ideal conditions for any craft bent on smuggling.
On the cliff the officer, named Joseph Davey, espied a man. He hailed him, thinking it was some one else, and asked him if he were Joey Foss. "Yes," came back the answer, but when the officer seized him he discovered it was not Foss but the notorious John Bartlett. Up came another Revenue man named Thomas Nines to assist Davey, but in a few minutes Bartlett gave a loud whistle, whereupon Nines looked out seaward and exclaimed, "There's a boat."
"I sees him," answered Davey as the craft was approaching the shore. By this time, also, there were ten or twelve men coming towards the officers, and Bartlett managed to run down to the shore, shouting "Keep off!" "Keep off!" as loudly as he could. The officers ran too, but the boat turned round and put off to sea again. In the course of a few minutes there rose up a large fire on the cliff, about a hundred yards from where the officers were. It was another signal of warning to the boat. For Bartlett, having got away from the officers, had doubtless lit this, since it flared up near to where he was seen to run. The officers remained on the coast until daylight, and then launching their boat rowed a little way from the shore, and found a new buoy moored just by the spot where the lugger had been observed to turn round when hailed and warned. It was clear, on examination, that the buoy had not been in the water many hours, and after "creeping" along the sea bottom hereabouts they brought up sixty kegs, which were also quite new, and had evidently only been sunk when Bartlett sung out his warning. The latter was again arrested, and found guilty when subsequently tried. So again Bartlett had to retire from smuggling.
It happened only a few weeks before this incident that a seaman named Willis was on shore with his officer. Willis belonged to H.M.S. Severn, which was moored off Dover for the prevention of smuggling. The officer was a naval midshipman named Hope, stationed ashore. Whilst on their duty they began to notice a man, whose name was William Clarke, near Chalk Fall, carrying a basket of nets and fishing lines. For a time both Willis and Hope took shelter under the Chalk Cliff as it was raining, but presently Willis separated from his officer to go to his appointed station. It occurred to him that Clarke appeared to be unnecessarily stout, and he was sure that he was trying to smuggle something. Willis went up to him and said he intended to search him, to which Clarke replied, "Certainly." He admitted he had some liquor there, but he hoped Willis would take no notice of it. The seaman insisted that he must take notice, for if it turned out to be foreign spirits he must seize it: whereupon Clarke flung down a couple of half-crowns and asked him to say nothing about it.
Willis again protested that he must see what the man had beneath his gabardine. But at this Clarke took a knife from his pocket and cut a large bladder which he had under his clothes, containing half a gallon of spirits, and a spirituous liquor poured out on to the ground. Willis put his finger to it and found that it was foreign brandy. But the amusing legal aspect of this incident was that this foreign liquor could not be seized, nor could the man be prosecuted for having it, and it could not be condemned. But Clarke had indeed destroyed that which he had so early brought safely home. This was just one instance of the good work which the Coast Blockade was performing, Willis and other seamen being landed every night from H.M.S. Severn to act as guard at different points along the coast.
In the annals of smugglers and cruisers there are few more notable incidents than that which occurred on the 13th of January 1823, in the English Channel. On this day the Revenue cutter Badger was cruising off the French coast under the command of Lieutenant Henry Nazer, R.N. He was an officer of the Excise, but the cutter at that time was in the service of the Customs, her station being from the South Foreland to Dungeness. About 7.30 A.M. the officer of the watch came below and told him something, whereupon Nazar hurried on deck and observed a suspicious sail on the starboard tack, the wind being E.S.E. The Badger was at that time about nine or ten miles off the French coast, somewhere abreast of Etaples, and about six or seven leagues from the English shore. The craft which was seen was, to use the lieutenant's own language, "a cutter yawl-rigged," which I understand to signify a cutter with a small lug-sail mizzen, as was often found on smugglers. At any rate, he had every reason to believe that this was a smuggling craft, and he immediately made sail after her. At that hour it was just daybreak, and the smuggler was about three or four miles off—to the eastward—and to windward, but was evidently running with sheets eased off in a westerly direction.
But when the smuggler saw the Badger was giving chase he also altered his course. It was a fine, clear, frosty morning, and the Badger quickly sent up his gaff topsail and began to overhaul the other, so that by nine o'clock the two vessels were only a mile apart. The Badger now hoisted his Revenue pendant at the masthead, consisting of a red field with a regal crown at the upper part next the mast, and he also hoisted the Revenue ensign (that is to say "a red Jack with a Union Jack in a canton at the upper corner and a regal crown in the centre of the red Jack") at his peak. These signals instantly denoted that the ship was a Revenue cruiser. Lieutenant Nazar also ordered an unshotted gun to be fired as a further signal that the smuggler was to heave-to, but the stranger paid no attention and hoisted no colours. Ten minutes later, as it was perceived that his signals were disregarded, the Badger's commander ordered a shot to be fired at her, and this was immediately returned by the smuggler with one of her stern guns. From this time a running fire was kept up for nearly three hours, but shortly before midday, whilst the cutter was still chasing her and holding on the same course as the other, the Badger came on at such a pace that she ran aboard the smuggler's starboard quarter whilst both ships were still blazing away at each other.
The smuggler's crew then cried out for quarter in English. This was granted by the Badger's commander, who had a boat lowered, but whilst in the act of so doing the treacherous smuggling craft recommenced firing. It was a cowardly thing to do, for Reymas, their own captain, had particularly asked the Badger's commander to forgive them and overlook what they had done, whilst other members of the crew cried out to the same effect. This had caused a cessation of fire for about five minutes, and was only reopened by the smugglers' treachery. One of the Badger's mariners named William Cullum, was in consequence shot dead by a musket aimed at him by one of the smugglers. Cullum was standing by the windlass at the time, and died instantly.
The Badger, therefore, again began to fire into the other ship, but in about another five minutes the smuggler again called for quarter, and this was again granted. The cruiser sent her boat aboard her, and brought off the smuggler's crew, amounting to twenty-three men, though two others had been killed in the affray. The Badger's chief mate, on boarding the smuggler, sent away the latter's crew in their own boat, and seven of these men were found to be wounded, of whom one died the following morning. The name of the vessel was seen to be the Vree Gebroeders. She was of 119 tons burthen, and had the previous day started out from Flushing with a cargo of 42 gallons of brandy, 186 gallons of Geneva—these all being in the 3-1/2 gallon half-ankers. But there was also a good deal of other cargo, consisting of 856 bales of tobacco which contained 51,000 lbs., thirteen boxes of tea, and six bags of sugar. All these goods were made up in illegal-sized packages and she had nothing on board except what was contraband. The chests of tea were found all ready slung for landing with small ropes.
The Vree Gebroeders was provisioned for three months, and was armed with four carronades, 9-pounders, and two swivel muskets, bayonets, and other arms of different kinds. Her destination had been for Ireland. When the chief mate of the Badger boarded her he found that the cruiser's guns had shot away the mizzen-mast, but the smuggler's skipper remarked to the chief mate that the spare topmast on deck would serve for a mizzen and that the square-sail boom would make an outrigger, and that the trysail would be found below, but so far, he said, this sail had never been bent. Later on the chief mate found also the deck-log of the Vree Gebroeders, which had been kept on two slates, and it was a noticeable fact that these were kept in English. They read thus:—
N.W. by N.
Remarks, Monday 13th.
N.W. by W. At 6.30 Ostend
Light bore S.E. distant
12 miles.
At 4 a.m. Calais Light
bore E. by S.
So when the Badger first sighted this craft the latter had made her last entry in the log, only three and a half hours before. It was significant that English charts were also found among the ship's papers, though her manifest, her certificate, her bill of lading, and other certificates were all in Dutch. The books found included Hamilton Moore's Navigation, another similar work by Norie, the British Channel Pilot, and Navigation of the North Seas. There was also found a Dutch ensign and a Dutch Jack on board, but there was even an English Prayer-book.
The prisoners remained on board the Badger until next day, when they were transferred to H.M.S. Severn. The Vree Gebroeders was taken into Dover, and was valued, together with her cargo, at the handsome sum of £11,000, which would have been a fine amount of prize money; but in spite of the clear evidence at the trial, the jury were so prejudiced in favour of the smugglers that they found the prisoners not guilty, their contention being that the ship and cargo were wholly foreign, and that more than half of the crew were foreigners.
It had been an unfortunate affair. Besides the death of Cullum and the two smugglers killed and the seven smugglers wounded, Lieutenant Nazer, James Harper, William Poppedwell, Daniel Hannibel, and James Giles were all wounded on the Badger, Nazer being wounded on the left shoulder by a musket ball. The smuggler's crew had made ludicrous efforts to pretend they were Dutch. Dutch names were assumed, but witnesses at the trial were able to assign to them their proper appellations, and it was significant that the crew spoke English without a foreign accent. Her commander insisted his name was Reymas, but his real name was Joseph Wills, and he had been foremost in the calling for quarter. Another of the crew, who pretended his name was Jan Schmidt, was found to be an Englishman named John Smith. The vessel herself had been built by a Kentishman, living at Flushing, the previous year.
And here is another of those occasions when there was displayed an excess of zeal, though under the circumstances who would blame the Preventive officer for what he did? In February of 1824, a man named Field and his crew of three came out from Rye—that hotbed of smugglers—and intended to proceed to the well-known trawling ground about fifteen miles to the S.W. of Rye, abreast of Fairlight, but about five or six miles out from that shore. Unfortunately it fell very calm, so that it took them some time to reach the trawling ground, and even when with the assistance of the tide they did arrive there, the wind was so scant that it was useless to shoot the trawl in the water. Naturally, therefore, it was a long time before they had obtained their cargo of flat fish, and when a little breeze sprang up they had to get back to Rye, as their provisions had run short.
On their way back, when they were only about four or five miles from their harbour, they fell in with a small open sailing-boat named the Rose, containing four or five men. Field's bigger craft was hailed by the Rose and asked to be taken in tow, as they also had run short of provisions, and were anxious to get back to harbour at once. Field's boat took one of their crew on board, whilst the rest remained in the Rose and were towed astern. It was now about four or five in the morning, and they had not proceeded more than another couple of miles before they were hailed again, but this time by a boat under the command of a Preventive officer named Lipscomb, who had been sent by Lieutenant Gammon, R.N., from the revenue cruiser Cameleon. The cutter's boat bumped alongside Field's craft, which was called the Diamond. After making fast, Lipscomb and his boat's crew jumped aboard, and announced that they suspected the Diamond was fitted with concealments, and he wished to examine her. But after rummaging the ship nothing suspicious was found. Lipscomb then explained that he had been ordered by Lieutenant Gammon to take the Diamond and to bring her alongside the Cameleon and then to order Field and his crew to go aboard the cruiser as prisoners.
This, of course, did not lead to harmony on board. Lipscomb attempted to seize hold of the tiller, so as to steer the vessel back to Hastings Roads, where the cruiser was lying. But Field turned to him and said—
"I don't know about your having the helm. You don't know where the cutter is any more than I do."
With that, Field pushed the man aside, grasped hold of the tiller, and shoved it hard up, and bearing away, ran the vessel out seawards. But after keeping on this course for twenty minutes they fell in with the Cameleon, and the two vessels came near to each other. The cruiser's commander shouted to Lipscomb, and ordered him to get into the cruiser's galley, which had been towing astern of the Diamond all this time, and to row to the cruiser. This was done, and then Lipscomb received his orders. He was to return to the trawler and seize the hands and bring them to the Cameleon. So the galley returned again and brought the Diamond's crew as ordered. It was now 7 A.M., and they were kept as prisoners on the cutter till 9 A.M. the following day. Lipscomb and his boat's crew of four now took charge of the Diamond, and began to trim sheets, and before long the two craft got separated.
When Field proceeded on board the Cameleon he took with him his ship's papers at the lieutenant's orders. He then ventured to ask how it was that his smack had been detained, to which Gammon replied that he had received information from the Collector of Customs at Rye. Field, however, was incredulous. "I rather doubt your word," he said, whereupon the officer took out of his pocket a letter, doubled the page down one or two lines, and showed the doubting skipper that it was as the lieutenant had stated. Gammon then went below and took Field's papers with him, and there they remained till the following morning.
The Cameleon went jogging along, and having arrived abreast of Hastings, Gammon sent one of his crew ashore in the cutter's boat, and later on fetched him back. The object, no doubt, was to send the Diamond's papers ashore to be examined as to their veracity, though nothing was said to Field on the subject. It is clear that the reply from the authorities came back that the papers were found in order, and that Field was not known as a smuggler; for after the man who had been sent ashore returned, the Cameleon made sail, and stood out to sea for a distance of eighteen miles. She had lost sight of the Diamond and her prize crew, and it was not till about breakfast time the following day that the cruiser found the smack again. When at length the two craft did come together, Lipscomb was called on board the cruiser and summoned below to Gammon. What exactly the conversation was never came out, but from subsequent events it is fairly clear that Gammon asked what opinion Lipscomb had been able to form of the Diamond, and that the latter had to admit she was a genuine trawler; for soon after, the lieutenant sent the steward for Field and one of his men to go below. The two men did as they were ordered.
"Good morning," said the cruiser's commander as they came into the cabin, "here are your papers, Field."
Field hesitated for a moment; then answered—
"I don't know, sir, as to taking them. I'm not altogether satisfied about being detained so long. And had I been aboard the smack, and you had refused to let me have the tiller," he continued, getting angrier every moment, "I would have shot you as sure as you had been a man."
"You may do as you please," came the commander's cool reply, "about taking them, but if you do not choose to take them, I shall take you away to Portsmouth and give you up to the Port Admiral, and let him do with you as he thinks proper."
Thinking therefore that it were better to be discreet and hold his tongue, Field took the papers, went up again on deck, collected his men, went back to his smack, and the incident ended—for the present. But the Revenue men had clearly made an error this time, and had acted ultra vires. About a year later Field, as a master and part-owner of the Diamond, brought an action against Gammon for assault and detention, and was awarded a verdict and £5 damages.
It is curious to find what sympathy the smugglers sometimes received in a section of society where one would hardly have expected this to exist. There are at least three instances of men of position and wealth showing their feelings undisguisedly in favour of these lawless men. There was a Lieut.-Colonel Chichester, who was called upon for explanations as to his conduct in this respect; there was the case also of the naval officer commanding H.M. sloop Pylades being convicted and dismissed the service for protecting smugglers, and, most interesting of all, was the incident which centred round Sir William Courtenay.
The facts of this case may be summarised as follows. On Sunday afternoon, the 17th of February 1833, the Revenue cutter Lively was cruising at the back of the Goodwins, when about three o'clock she descried a vessel about five or six miles off which somehow aroused suspicions. The name of the latter was eventually found to be the Admiral Hood. At this time the sloop was about midway between England and France, her commander being Lieutenant James Sharnbler, R.N. The Admiral Hood was a small dandy-rigged fore-and-after, that is to say, she was a cutter with a small mizzen on which she would set a lugsail. The Lively gave chase, and gradually began to gain on the other. When the Admiral Hood was within about a mile of the Lively, the former hauled across the latter, and when she had got on the Lively's weather-bow the Revenue craft immediately tacked, whereupon the Admiral Hood put about again and headed for the French coast. After vainly attempting to cause her to heave-to by the usual Revenue signals, the Lively was compelled to fire on her, and one shot was so well placed that it went clean through the dandy's sail, and thinking that this was quite near enough the Admiral Hood hove-to.
But just prior to this, Lieutenant Sharnbler had ordered an officer and two men to take spyglasses and watch her. At this time they were about fifteen or sixteen miles away from the North Foreland. One of the men looking through his glass observed that the Admiral Hood was heaving tubs overboard, and it was then that the first musket was fired for her to heave-to, but as the tubs were still thrown overboard for the next three-quarters of an hour, the long gun and the muskets were directed towards her. The two vessels had sailed on parallel lines for a good hour's chase before the firing began, and the chase went on till about a quarter to five, the tide at this time ebbing to the westward and a fine strong sailing breeze. There was no doubt at all now that she was a smuggler, for one of the Lively's crew distinctly saw a man standing in the Admiral Hood's hatchway taking tubs and depositing them on deck, whilst some one else was taking them from the deck and heaving them overboard, the tubs being painted a dark green so as to resemble the colour of the waves. As the Lively came ramping on, she found numbers of these tubs in the wake of the Admiral Hood, and lowered a boat to pick them up, and about twenty-two were found a hundred yards from the smuggler, and the Lively also threw out a mark-buoy to locate two other tubs which they passed. And, inasmuch as there was no other vessel within six miles distance, the Admiral Hood beyond a shadow of doubt was carrying contraband.