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 Dædalus. 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 ashore, 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 Dædalus 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 Dædalus 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.
Methods employed by Smugglers for Anchoring tubs thrown Overboard.[ToList]
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 Dædalus, 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 "muffled" 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 passed. 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.