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HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

The Causes of Waste.

This being the present case of the navy before wee proceed to y* meanes ofredresse, wee thinke it necessary for youi Honours better satisfacon, to settdowne the cause why the charge is soe great, and yet the shipps in no comendablestate, which are briefly these :- »

ist Cause.

Great workes are taken in hand, and multitude kept in pay, when neithermatterialls nor money are provided, and this made y* waiges of shipwrights andcaulkers grow to these sums in the yeare of our medium, as by certificateappeareth :—

Anno £. s. d.

1614161 C

1616

1617

4831 14 3

5032 9 4

3975 7 5

353 2 11 4

With which charges there might have been built for carpentry and caulkeingworke, 8 new shipps, of 800 tons a peace, as the accompts of the East IndiaCompany doe prove ; yet all this while the king’s shipps decayed, and if theMcrhonour were repaired, she was left so imperfect, that before her finishingslice begins againe to decay.

2d Cause.

When provisions are made, the best are not chosen, nor the worst refused :this appeareth at Deptford by y* store of unserviceable timber, and 14,800*foote of shells, and 2400 foote of rotten planck, and a whole house of otherrefuse stuff. But especially in the cordage, whereof though some be better thanthe last that came from Muscovia, yet part (in the judgement of skillfull mastersand roapemakers) is neither good hempe, nor well dressed, nor well spun, andsoe long jawed, and ill layd, that a cable of 19 inches was thought to wantneere fourty mens worke : Besides, compared with y e best cordage in manysizes, these have not much above halfe soe many threads in a strand, andwithall six or seven pounds too much tarr in every cwt. at least. These theboateswaines complained of, as they say, yet no stay nor redresse, though themerchants tell us they were, and are ready to receive back what shall justly berefused.

3d Cause.