History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 2 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

Pensions, and their conditions.

But the liberality of the Company was not confined to the most ample remuneration to their commanders and officers while in active service. It extended to them in their retirement, and provided for those of their widows and children who required its aid. In 1800 the Court of Directors[394] resolved that every commander, officer, seaman, or other person who had served in any of the Company’s ships, or any of its freighted vessels, for eight years, and who had regularly contributed to what was known as the “Poplar Fund,”[395] should be entitled to a pension, subject to the following conditions: that is to say, where a commander was not worth 3,000l., or did not possess a fixed income of at least 150l. per annum, he became entitled to a pension of 100l.; and in cases where the chief or second mate had not 2,000l., nor a clear income of 100l., he received a pension of 60l. per annum. The other officers, down to the midshipmen, were also allowed pensions of from 30l. to 18l. per annum if they did not possess a certain fixed income, or were not worth 600l. Commanders’ widows who stood in need of aid received 80l. per annum, and 16l. for each child under five years of age; and their orphans were each allowed 33l. 6s. 8d. per annum. In these allowances were included the widows, children, and orphans of all mates, pursers, surgeons, and midshipmen who had served in the Company’s own or chartered ships, for the period of eight years; or who had been killed, or maimed, or wounded in the service, so as to be rendered incapable of further service at sea.

Internal economy of the ships.

Watches and Duties.

The internal economy and discipline on board of the Company’s ships were much more perfect than in any other merchant vessels of the period. The crew or seamen of each were divided into two watches, starboard and larboard; the officers into three watches. Each watch of the former had, during the night, four hours’ rest below, and four hours’ duty on deck. At half-past six A.M. the watch on deck commenced to wash and clean decks; at half-past seven the hammocks were piped up, and stowed in the hammock nettings round the waist by the quartermasters. At eight o’clock all hands breakfasted, after which they commenced the ordinary duties of the day. These consisted, when the men were not required to set, shorten, or trim sails, of work of the most multifarious description, such as setting up rigging, shifting or repairing sails, splicing ropes, making spun yarn, weaving mats, painting, tarring, greasing masts, and so forth. Twice every week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, they cleaned and holy-stoned[396] the ’tween-decks, in the fore part of which they slept and had their food, the whole crew being divided into messes of eight men each, who had a space allotted to them between the guns, where their mess utensils were arranged. When these cleaning and scouring operations were finished, the ’tween-decks were carefully inspected by the commander and surgeon, to see that everything was clean and in order, and that all mess kids, brass pots, and kettles, tin pannikins, and other utensils were properly scoured and polished.

On Sunday no work was allowed to be performed except what was urgent and necessary; and on the morning of that day the crew were mustered and inspected before assembling at prayers, which every person on board was expected to attend in his best attire. Dinner was served at noon; after that the men, on week-days, resumed their work until the “dog watches,” which commenced at four P.M. These, no doubt, derived their name from the fact that they were (according to Theodore Hook) cur-tailed, that is, lasted for only two, instead of four hours each watch, viz., from four to six, and from six to eight, when the crew, instead of going below to rest, usually employed themselves in sorting the contents of their sea-chests, or in making or repairing their clothes, and frequently in games or other amusements, which every good commander encouraged. On Saturdays, during these hours, if the weather permitted, they had their dance or songs and music, drinking health and wealth, long life and happiness to their “wives and sweethearts.” In harbour the crews of the Company’s ships performed, without the assistance, as now, of the natives, all the work on board, such as discharging, loading, and stowing cargo, as well as stripping and refitting the rigging of their ships, and keeping the boats in order. In China they rowed guard, on Sundays, among the ships in harbour. One day every week was allotted to washing their clothes; and once every month they scrubbed their hammocks. These were known as “washing” days.

Courts-martial.

Nor did their duties end here. The Company’s ships were ships of war, as will be seen by the many gallant actions they fought, as well as merchantmen. Each of them mounted from twelve to twenty-six guns, chiefly eighteen-pounders, and the men were drilled to gun-exercise with almost as much care as the gunners of the royal navy. They had likewise to go through a regular course of musket, cutlass, and other small-arms drill, in which they were expected to be thoroughly efficient, as also in the art of handling the boarding-pike, more especially for the purpose of defence. Courts-martial were held on board, as in ships of war, the members of which were composed of the commander and the four senior or sworn officers, the fourth or junior mate giving his opinion of what the verdict ought to be before any of the other members. And when punishments were inflicted, which was too frequently the case for the most trifling offences, the lash from the brawny arm of a boatswain’s mate over the bare back and shoulders of the delinquent was much more severely felt than would have been the lash of a drummer’s mate. Three dozen of such lashes was no uncommon punishment.

Change in the policy of the East India Company.

The renewal of the Company’s charter in 1814, until 1831, though granted by Parliament, was, as we have seen, so stoutly opposed by the representatives in Parliament of the out-ports and the great manufacturing districts, that various concessions were offered to the growing intelligence of the people and to their increasing wants. But the granting of licences and the extension of conditional privileges did not satisfy the demands of a people who were beginning to ask their rulers the unanswerable question why they should not be allowed to purchase what they required in the cheapest markets; and who saw that though the territory of the Company had increased to an enormous extent, its commerce, considering the extent of the land and the richness of the soil now in the Company’s possession, was altogether insignificant; in a word, that territorial aggrandisement had now become the Alpha and Omega of the Company’s policy.