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HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

bargaine, w‘ h out any damage to the shipps in that time. But allowing £.2500for the £. 1200, in reguard of the encrease of price, and £.2000 for the NarrowSeas service, (which is a great proportion for ordinary expence if remaines werepreserved) then deducting seaven times £.4500, which is £-3 i j 5 00 » out£.65,851 ys. 6 d. paid for cordage after 1611, the sume remayning, whichmight have been employed upon more necessary use, is £-34>35 I 7 J * 6*/.

Another excessive provision is of masts, wherein wee cannot looke back forwant of accompts, but wee finde 541 now remayning in store, for which theking hath paid £.6768 i8r. 4 d. and yet by the judgement of y e shipwright,a third part of them will perish before they can bee used, and as many as wouldhave served to repaire all y e shipps, and build ten new shipps more, might havebeen bought for £.2000, soe as the superflous expence in this kinde is£.4768 18r. 4 d.

6th Cause.

Besides the quantity, the price of things are no lesse exorbitant, some beingbought by art, and not by the markett, as masts and anchors. Masts by anold rule, which hath cost the state deare, are rated according to the soiled num-bers produced by multiplying y' circumference at partners in y* circumferenceat the topp end, y e product by the length of the mast after such rate as y e mastof 20 hands is prised. Now this mast of 20 hands, which is the ground,and which the merchant buyeth for nine and ten pounds, and twenty markesat y e most, they rate at £.20 and £.22, and from thence rise and fall, accord-ing to the rule, and sometimes beyond the utermost extent of y* table of theirrule, which is £.25, they raise the 20 hand mast to £.3o, and accordinglyhave paid £.65 for masts of 25 hands high. Now in some masts wee findey e reason to bee this, that shipwrights, with y* encouragement and moneys ofthe officers, have bought bargaines of masts, and thereupon have had pricesallowed to gaines of neere halfe in halfe, as they confesse, whereof they havereturned to the officers for their favours and money, besides some presents, athird part of the profitt. And wee finde this charitty much used by someinferior officers, to lend out his moneys upon use to workemen and othersupon their bills, when they say they have no moneys of the kings in their handsto pay them.

For anchors and others wee will parallel their prices with the prices paid bythe merchants.

Anchors