King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 Part 17

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Let's ... have him over the cliff."]

The man who had come forward so miraculously and so dramatically to save Duke's life was James Cowland, and the reason he had so acted was out of grat.i.tude to Duke, who had taken his part in a certain incident twelve months ago. And this is the sole redeeming feature in a glut of brutality. It must have required no small amount of pluck and energy for Cowland to have done even so much amid the wild fanaticism which was raging, and smuggler and ruffian though he was, it is only fair to emphasize and praise his action for risking his own life to save that of a man by whom he had already benefited.

But Cowland did nothing more for his friend than that, and after the crowd had indulged themselves on the two men they went off to their homes. Duke then, suffering and bleeding, weak and stunned, crawled to the place where he had been first attacked--a little higher up the cliff--and there he saw Knight's petticoat trousers, but there was no sign of his officer himself.

After that he gradually made his way down to the beach, and at the foot of the cliff he came upon Knight lying on his back immediately below where the struggle with the smugglers had taken place. Duke sat down by his side, and the officer, opening his eyes, recognised his man and asked, "Is that you?" But that was all he said. Duke then went to tell the coastguards and Lieutenant Stocker on the beach, who fetched the dying man, put him into Lips...o...b..s boat, and promptly rowed him to his home at Lulworth, where he died the next day. It is difficult to write calmly of such an occurrence as this: it is impossible that in such circ.u.mstances one can extend the slightest sympathy with a race of men who probably had a hard struggle for existence, especially when the fishing or the harvests were bad. The most one can do is to attribute such unreasoning and unwarranted cruelty to the ignorance and the coa.r.s.eness which had been bred in undisciplined lives. Out of that seething, vicious mob there was only one man who had a sc.r.a.p of humanity, and even he could not prevent his fellows from one of the worst crimes in the long roll of smugglers'

delinquencies.

The days of smugglers were, of course, coincident with the period of the stage-coach. In the year 1833 there was a man named Thomas Allen, who was master and part-owner of a coasting vessel named the _Good Intent_, which used to trade between Dover and London. In February of that year Thomas Becker, who happened to be the guard of the night coaches running between Dover and London, came with a man named Tomsett to Allen, and suggested that the latter should join them in a smuggling transaction, telling him that they knew how to put a good deal of money into his pocket. At first Allen hesitated and declined, but the proposal was again renewed a few days later, when Allen again declined, as it was too risky a business. But at length, as "trade was very bad," both he and a man named Sutton, one of his crew, agreed to come into the scheme. What happened was as follows:--

The _Good Intent_ left Dover on February 23, went as far as the Downs about two miles from the coast, and under cover of darkness took on board from a French vessel, which was there waiting by appointment, about forty bales of silk. In order to be ready to deal with these, the _Good Intent_ had been provided with sufficient empty crates and boxes. The silks were put into these, they were addressed to some persons in Birmingham, and, after being landed at one of the London quays as if they had come from Dover, they were sent across to the Paddington Ca.n.a.l, and duly arrived at their destination. Allen's share of that transaction amounted to about 80. He had done so well that he repeated the same practice in April and May; but in June some tea which he brought in was seized, and although he was not prosecuted yet it gave him a fright. But after being entreated by the two tempters, he repeated his first incident, took forty more bales on board, and arrived at the Port of London. But the Custom House officials had got wind of this, and when the _Good Intent_ arrived she was searched. In this case the goods had not been put into crates, but were concealed in the ballast, the idea being not to land them in London but to bring them back under the ballast to Dover.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Under cover of darkness took on board ... forty bales of silk."]

The first remark the Customs officer made was, "There is a great deal more ballast here than is necessary for such a ship," and promptly began moving the same. Of course the goods were discovered, and of course Allen pretended he knew nothing about the forty bales being there concealed. They were seized and condemned.

Becker got to hear of this disaster and that a warrant was out for his own arrest, so he quickly hopped across to Calais. An officer was sent both to Deal and to Dover to find Tomsett, but found him not, so he crossed over to Calais, and among the first people whom he saw on Calais pier were Tomsett and Becker walking about together. The officer had no wish to be seen by Becker, but the latter saw him, and came up and asked him how he was and what he was doing there. The officer made the best excuse he could, and stated that he had got on board the steam-packet and been brought off by mistake.

"Oh, I am here in consequence of that rascal Allen having peached against us," volunteered Becker, and then went on to say that he was as innocent as the child unborn. However, the judge, at a later date, thought otherwise, and imposed a penalty of 4750, though the full penalty really amounted to the enormous sum of 71,000.

CHAPTER XX

FORCE AND CUNNING

A smuggling vessel was usually provided with what was called a tub-rail--that is to say, a rail which ran round the vessel just below the gunwale on the inside. When a vessel was about to arrive at her destination to sink her tubs, the proceeding was as follows. The tubs were all made fast to a long warp, and this warp with its tubs was placed outside the vessel's bulwarks, running all round the ship from the stern to the bows and back again the other side. This warp was kept fastened to the tub-rail by five or seven lines called stop-ropes. Consequently all the smugglers had to do was to cut these stop-ropes, and the tubs and warp would drop into the water, the stone weights immediately sinking the casks.

Bearing this in mind, let us see the Revenue cutter _Tartar_, on the night between the 3rd and 4th of April 1839, cruising off Kimeridge, between St. Alban's Head and Weymouth, and a little to the east of where Lieutenant Knight was murdered, as we saw in the last chapter.

About 1.40 A.M. Lieutenant George Davies, R.N., the _Tartar's_ commander, was below sleeping with his clothes and boots on, when he heard the officer of the watch call for him. Instantly he went on deck and saw a smuggling vessel. She was then about thirty yards away and within a mile of the sh.o.r.e. Her name was afterwards found to be the French sloop _Diane_.

It was rather a warm, thick night, such as one sometimes gets in April when the weather has begun to get finer. By the time that the cruiser's commander had come up on deck, both the cutter and the _Diane_ were hove-to, and the vessels were close alongside. When first sighted by the boatswain the smuggler was standing out from the land.

The _Tartar's_ boat was now launched into the water, and the bo'sun and two men pulled off in her and boarded the _Diane_, and then came back to fetch Lieutenant Davies. The instant the latter boarded the _Diane_, he saw one of the latter's crew throwing something overboard.

He stooped down to pick something up, when Davies rushed forward and caught him round the body as something fell into the water, and a tub-hoop, new, wet, and green, was taken from him. Davies called to his bo'sun to bring a lantern, so that he might identify the seized man and then proceed to search the vessel.

A tub-rail and stop-rope were found on board, and, on going below, the hold was found to be strewn with chips of tub-hoops and pieces of stones for sinking. The upper deck was similarly strewn, while by the hatchway were found sinker-slings. These sinkers in actual employment were accustomed to be suspended and hitched round the warp at about every sixth tub. The _Diane's_ master was asked where his boat was since none was found aboard, but there was no satisfactory answer.

Tub-boards for fixing on deck so as to prevent the tubs from rolling overboard were also found, so altogether there was sufficient reason for seizing the vessel, which was now done. She was taken into Weymouth and her crew brought before a magistrate. And in that port the tub-boat was also found, for the smugglers had doubtless sent most of their cargo ash.o.r.e in her whilst the _Diane_ was cruising about between there and St. Alban's Head. It was significant that only three men were found on board, whereas smuggling vessels of this size (about twenty to thirty tons) usually carried eight or nine, the explanation being that the others had been sent out with the tub-boat. But the rest of the cargo had evidently been hurriedly thrown overboard when the _Tartar_ appeared, and because these casks were thrown over so quickly, fifty-nine of them had come to the surface and were subsequently recovered. But besides these, 154 casks were also found on one sling at the bottom of the sea close to where the _Diane_ had been arrested, for at the time when this occurrence had taken place the _Tartar's_ men had been careful at once to take cross bearings and so fix their position.

One of the most interesting of these smuggling events was that which occurred in the Medway. About eight o'clock on the evening of March 27, 1839, a smack called the _Mary_ came running into the river from outside. At this time it was blowing very hard from the N.E., and the tide was ebbing, so that of course wind would be against tide and a certain amount of sea on. But it was noticed by the coastguard at Garrison Point, which commands the entrance to this river, that the _Mary_ had got far too much sail up--whole mainsail as well as gaff-topsail. Considering it was a fair wind and there was a good deal of it, there was far more canvas than was necessary, even allowing for the tide.

It was a rule that all vessels entering the Medway should bring-to off Garrison Point, and allow themselves to be boarded and searched, if required by certain signals. In order to compel the _Mary_ so to do, the coastguard at this point fired a shot and rowed off to meet her.

But the smack held on. She was steering straight for the Isle of Grain, and showed no intention of starboarding her helm so as to get on a proper course up the Medway. Another shot was fired, and yet she held on. Now there were some of her Majesty's ships lying near the Grain, which is on the starboard hand as you pa.s.s up the river, viz.

the _Daedalus_ and the _Alfred_. These vessels were of course swung with the tide, and between the _Daedalus_ and the Isle of Grain the smack manoeuvred.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Another shot was fired."]

A third shot now came whizzing by from the boat that was rowing hard against the tide, and the smack came round between the _Alfred_ and _Daedalus_. The coastguard then boarded the _Mary_, and the master said he was from Brightlingsea. He pretended that he thought the firing was not from the coastguard, but from a ship at the Little Nore, which is the channel that runs up to Garrison Point from the Nore Lightship.

This was curious, for the _Mary_ had been in the habit of going up the Medway, and hitherto had always hove-to off Garrison Point for the coastguard to come aboard. Her skipper excused his action by stating that he was frightened of heaving-to as he might have carried away his mast and gone ash.o.r.e, if he had hauled up and gybed.

But it was pointed out that it was a foolish and unsafe course for the _Mary_ to steer between the _Daedalus_ and the Grain Island, especially as it was a dark night without any moon, and blowing very hard. But on going aboard, the coastguard was not surprised to detect a strong smell of gin, as if spirits had quite recently been removed from the smack. And after making a search there was nothing found on board except that she was in a great state of confusion. None the less it was deemed advisable to place a couple of officers on board her to accompany her up to Rochester. This was on the Friday night, and she arrived at Rochester the same day.

On the Sunday it occurred to the officers to search for the spirits which they were sure the _Mary_ had on board, so they proceeded to that spot by the _Daedalus_ where the _Mary_ had luffed round and met the coastguard boat. After sweeping for half-an-hour they found 115 tubs slung together to a rope in the usual manner. At each end of the rope was an anchor, and between these anchors was a number of tubs, and in between each pair of tubs were stones. So the _Mary_ had gone into that little bight in order that she might throw her tubs overboard, which would be sunk by the stones, and the two anchors would prevent them from being drifted away by the tide. The warp, it was thought, had been in the first instance fastened to the tub-rail in the manner we have already described, and at the third gun the stop-ropes were cut, and the whole cargo went with a splash into the water, and the vessel sailed over the tubs as they sank to the muddy bottom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Methods employed by Smugglers for Anchoring tubs thrown Overboard.]

The usual way to get these tubs up was of course by means of grapnels, or, as they were called, "creepers." But the spot chosen by the _Mary_ was quite close to the moorings of the _Daedalus_, so that method would only have fouled the warship's cables. Therefore the following ingenious device was used. A large heavy rope was taken, and at each end was attached a boat. The rope swept along the river-bed as the boats rowed in the same direction stretching out the rope. Before long the bight of this rope found the obstructing tubs, stones, warp, and anchor, and that having occurred, the two boats rowed close together, and a heavy iron ring was dropped over the two ends of the rope, and thus sank and gripped the rope at the point where it met with the obstruction. All that now remained, therefore, was to pull this double rope till the obstruction came up from the bottom of the water. And in this manner the articles which the _Mary_ had cast overboard were recovered.

She was obviously a smuggler, as besides this discovery she was found to be fitted with concealments, and fourteen tholes were found on board "m.u.f.fled" with canvas and spun yarn, so as to be able to row silently. Her skipper, William Evans, was duly prosecuted and found guilty; and it was during the course of this trial that the interesting dialogue occurred between counsel and the coastguard as to whether the first warning gun fired was always shotted or not. As we have already discussed this point, we need not let it detain us now.

The year 1849 was interesting, as it witnessed the seizing of one of the earliest steamcraft on a charge of smuggling. Very late in the day of May 15 the steam-tug _Royal Charter_, employed in towing vessels in and out of Portsmouth harbour, had been taken to Spithead without the permission of her owner, and information was given to the coastguard.

About midnight she was first discovered steaming towards the port with a small boat attached to her stern, being then about half a mile from the harbour. Chase was then made and the vessel hailed and ordered to heave-to. She replied that she would round-to directly, but in fact she held on and steamed at full speed, notwithstanding that several shots were fired at her. As she entered Portsmouth harbour she was pursued by the Customs boat, who asked them to shut off steam and be examined. Of course full speed in those days meant nothing very wonderful, and it was not long before she was boarded. She had a crew of three, and there were ten men in the boat towing astern, most of whom were found to have been previously convicted of smuggling. It seems strange to find a steamboat pursuing the old tactics of the sailing smacks, but in her wake there were found 150 half-ankers within about 300 yards of her and where she had pa.s.sed. The vessel and boat were seized, and the men taken before the magistrates and convicted.

But the following is an instance of steam being employed against smugglers. One Sunday towards the end of October 1849, about nine o'clock in the morning, the local receiver of duties informed the tide surveyor at St. Heliers, Jersey, that there was a cutter which (from information received) he was convinced was loaded with brandy. This cutter was in one of the bays to the N.W. of the island. But as the wind was then blowing from the W.N.W. and a very heavy surf was rolling in, the consent of the harbour-master was obtained to use the steam-tug _Polka_ to go round in search of her, the understanding being that she was to be paid for if a seizure were made. The wind and sea were so boisterous that the Revenue boat could not have been used.

Steamer and officers therefore proceeded round the coast till they reached Plemont Bay, about twenty miles from St. Helier, and there they found a small cutter lying at anchor close under the cliff, but with no one on board. The steamer lowered a boat and found the cutter to be the _Lion_ of Jersey, five tons, with four hogsheads and seven quarter casks of brandy. The officers then weighed anchor, and by sailing and towing got her round to St. Helier harbour, where she was dismantled, and the brandy and her materials lodged at the Custom House. This little craft had come from Dielette in France, and as Plemont Bay was a very secluded locality, she would have run her goods there with perfect success, had she not been discovered while her crew were on sh.o.r.e, whither they had probably gone for the purpose of making arrangements for getting the cargo landed.

But by the middle of the nineteenth century so thoroughly had the authorities gripped the smuggling evil that these men were actually sometimes afraid to take advantage of what fortune literally handed out to them. The schooner _Walter_ of Falmouth was bound on a voyage from Liverpool to Chichester with a cargo of guano on May 30, 1850.

Her crew consisted of Stephen Sawle, master, Benjamin Bowden, mate, Samuel Banister, seaman, and George Andrews, boy. On this day she was off Lundy Island, when Andrews espied a couple of casks floating ahead of the schooner and called to the master and mate, who were below at tea. They immediately came up on deck, and the master looked at the kegs through his gla.s.s, saying that he thought they were provisions.

The three men then got out the ship's boat, rowed after the casks and slung them into the boat, and brought them on board. In doing so the mate happened to spill one of them, which contained brandy. This gave the skipper something of a fright, and he directed the mate and seaman to throw the casks overboard. They both told him they thought he was a great fool if he did so. He gave the same orders a second time and then went below, but after he had remained there for some time, he said to his crew, "If you will all swear that you will not tell anybody, I will risk it." They all solemnly promised, the master swearing the mate, the seaman, and the boy on the ship's Bible that they would not tell the owner or any living creature.

Presently the mate and Banister removed the hatches and handed up about two tiers of guano, sent the casks of brandy below and placed bags on their top. After the master had been below a couple of hours, he asked whether the casks were out of sight. The mate and Banister replied that they were, whereupon the master took a candle, examined the hold, and afterwards the sleeping-berths, but he could not see anything of the brandy. He then went to the boy and said, "Mind you don't let Mr. Coplin [the owner] know anything about this business, for the world."

The vessel arrived at Falmouth on Sunday morning, the 2nd of June, and brought up off the Market Strand. At six in the morning the boy went ash.o.r.e and returned about midnight. The mate was on board and addressed him thus, "You knew very well what was going on and ought to have been on board before this." For at that time both the master and Banister were ash.o.r.e. On Monday the boy went down to the hold and saw the brandy was gone, and the same night about half-an-hour before midnight the mate and Banister brought four gallons of the brandy to where the boy was lodging, as his share. The youngster complained that it was very little, to which Banister replied that one of the casks had leaked amongst the cargo of guano or he would have had more.

Ostensibly the schooner had put into Falmouth for repairs. Later on the Custom House officers got to hear of it, but it was then the month of July, and the schooner had since sailed and proceeded to Liverpool.

On the 1st of October of this same year a highly ingenious device was discovered through a hitch, which unfortunately ruined the smugglers'

chances. In its broad conception it was but a modification of an idea which we have already explained. In its application, however, it was unique and original. At half-past six on this morning a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel was observed to be sailing into Chichester harbour. When first discovered, she was about a mile from Hayling Island. She was boarded, as smuggled goods were supposed to have been taken by her from a raft at sea. Manned by a master and a crew of two, all English, she was well known in that neighbourhood. She was registered at Portsmouth as the _Rival_.

Her cargo was found to consist of a few oysters and thirteen tubs of spirits, but these were attached to the stern in a most ingenious manner. By her stern-post was an iron pipe, and through this pipe ran a chain, one end of which was secured at the top, close to the tiller, the other end running right down into the water below the ship.

Attached to the chain in the water were thirteen tubs wrapped in canvas. The theory was this. As the vessel sailed along, the chain would be hauled as tight as it would go, so that the casks were kept under the vessel's stern and below water. Now, having arrived in Chichester harbour, the helmsman had suddenly let go the chain, but the latter had unhappily jammed in the pipe, and the tubs were thus dragged with a large scope of chain. The coastguard in coming alongside used his boat-hook underneath, and thus caught hold of the chain and tubs. The vessel was now soon laid ash.o.r.e, and when her bottom was examined, the whole device was discovered. It had only quite recently been added, but the crew were notorious smugglers, so they got themselves into trouble in spite of their ingenuity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The _Rival's_ Ingenious Device (see text).]

And now let us bring this list of smuggling adventures to an end with the activities of a very ubiquitous French sloop named the _Georges_, which came into prominent notice in the year 1850. Her port of departure was Cherbourg, and she was wont to run her goods across to the south coast of England with the greatest impudence. In piecing together this narrative of her adventures, it has been no easy task to follow her movements, for she appeared and disappeared, then was seen somewhere else perhaps a hundred miles away in a very short time.

It appears that on April 19 the _Georges_, whose master's name was Gosselin, cleared from Cherbourg, and two days later was sighted by the commander of the Revenue cutter _Cameleon_ off Bembridge Ledge, about one o'clock in the afternoon, about eight or nine miles E.S.E.

After she had come up she was boarded by the _Cameleon_, and was found to have one pa.s.senger, whom the _Cameleon's_ commander described as an Englishman "of a most suspicious appearance." But after being searched she was found perfectly "clean" and free from any appearance of tubs or smell of spirits. The Revenue cutter's commander therefore formed the opinion that the _Georges_ was fitted with some concealments somewhere. In order to discover these, it would be essential for the craft to be hauled ash.o.r.e. He therefore did not detain her, but, as she was bound for Portsmouth, put an officer and a couple of men aboard her till she should arrive at that port. One thing which had aroused suspicions was the finding on board of exceptionally large fend-offs. These were just the kind which were used by smuggling ships accustomed to be met at sea by smaller craft, into which the casks were transferred and then rowed ash.o.r.e. And what was more suspicious still was the fact that these fend-offs were found wet; so they had most probably been used recently in a seaway when some tub-boats had been alongside the _Georges_.

Somehow or other, when she arrived at Portsmouth, although the matter was duly reported, it was not thought necessary to haul her ash.o.r.e, but she was carefully examined afloat. The English pa.s.senger found aboard gave the name of Mitch.e.l.l, but he was suspected of being Robinson, a notorious Bognor smuggler. And it was now further believed that the _Georges_ had sunk her "crop" of tubs somewhere near the Owers (just south of Selsey Bill), as on the morning of the day when the _Cameleon_ sighted her a vessel answering her description was seen in that vicinity.

On that occasion, then, the _Georges_ could not be detained, and we next hear of her on May 3, when again she set forth from Cherbourg.

She had no doubt taken on board a fine cargo, for she had a burthen of thirty-one tons, and this she managed in some mysterious manner to land in England. There can be no doubt that she did succeed in hoodwinking the Revenue service for a time, but it is probable that she employed largely the method of sinking the tubs, which were afterwards recovered in the manner already familiar to the reader. At any rate, Lieutenant Owen, R.N., writing on May 9 from the Ryde coastguard station to Captain Langtry, R.N., his inspecting commander, reported that this _Georges_ had arrived off Ryde pier that morning at seven o'clock. She had five Frenchmen on board besides Gosselin. It was found that her tub-boat was a new one, and when she arrived this was on deck, but it had since been hoisted out, and Gosselin, having been brought ash.o.r.e, crossed by the Ryde steamer to Portsmouth at 9 A.M.

What business he transacted in Portsmouth cannot be stated definitely, but it is no foolish guess to suggest that he went to inform his friends at what spot in the neighbourhood of the Isle of Wight he had deposited the casks of spirits a few hours previously. However, Gosselin did not waste much time ash.o.r.e, for he had returned, got up anchor and sails, and was off Bembridge Ledge by five in the afternoon, at which time the _Georges_ was sighted by Captain Hughes, commanding the Revenue cutter _Petrel_. The _Georges_ was boarded and searched, and there was a strong smell of brandy noticed, and it was clear that her tub-boat had been recently used. Somewhere--somehow--she had recently got rid of her "crop," but where and when could not be ascertained. The _Georges'_ master protested that he was very anxious to get back to Cherbourg as quickly as possible; and as there was nothing definite found on board this foreign craft, Captain Hughes decided to release her.