Under no circumstance was a commander allowed to receive any gratuity above these sums, and to give effect to this he had to enter into a bond for £1000 before being sworn in. Similarly the third mate was equally forbidden to exact more than the sums mentioned under his category.
Some idea of the victuals which were carried on board a 1200-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 voyages the passengers and crew were not pampered with the luxuries of a modern liner. The accommodation was lighted with candles and oil-lamps, the food was plain, the cooking very English. Beside the amounts which an Atlantic liner takes on board for her short voyage these figures seem insignificant: 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.
[Illustration: THE EAST INDIAMAN CRUISER “PANTHER,” KNOWN AS A “SNOW,” LYING IN SUEZ HARBOUR ON AUGUST 15TH, 1794.
(From a sketch in the Journal of William Henry, a Midshipman serving in her at the time)]
For the use of the commander’s table 11 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 (additional 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, £65 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, 11 hogsheads 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, 2½ 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.