HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE,

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commercial property of Britain during the preceding reign. In the year 1690, themost disastrous and alarming epoch, perhaps, thatEngland had ever witnessed, when

her

lately informed by the prince’s council, that a sufficient convoy should be ready to depart with then:fleet in a proper time, they were obliged to acquaint the board that they had now but two ships inloading.

In respect to the Virginia trade : in O&ober, 1705, some ships sailed for Viginia, under convoyof the Woolwich and Avice, who were ordered to stay there till reinforced from England ; and themerchants were then promised, that the Greenwich and the Hazardous should sail with the first fairwind in January following; but these ships did not sail till May, 1706. This delay was the causethey did not reach Virginia till August, at which time the greatest part of this fleet had been sixteenmonths in their voyage. By this length of voyage, their whole freight was expended in wages, victuals,and other incidental charges.

Secondly, the ships lying there almost two whole summers, several of their bottoms were perishedby the worm, which, in those parts, always eats in the summer months.

Thirdly, to complete their misfortune, they were forced to make a winter passage home, and, bythe badness of the weather, &c. sixteen or more ships were sunk or foundered at sea, and above8000 hogsheads of tobacco lost; other ships, with above 2000 hogsheads of tobacco more, weretaken and carried into France, and divers of the ships were forced back into America, and since re-turning without convoy are lost, and not heard of.

A fourth head of the merchants complaint was, the great want of cruizers in the Channel andSoundings ; and a variety of instances were produced by different deponents.

In the year 1 704, few or no ships arrived safe for want of proper cruizers. The Jamaica traderslost fourteen ships in the Soundings and Channel.

Sir George Byng, and Admiral Jenings, in Jamaica, 1704-5, were at sea cruizing till the Octoberfollowing, during which time the English ships were protected ; and twenty sail of the enemies pri-vateers, and merchant ships, were taken; but, from that time till October or November 1706 , veryfew ships were cruizing.

Then Sir Thomas Hardy sailed with five men of war, which all returned in five or six weeks, andsoon after sailed for Ireland, and returned to the Downs in February or March, since which time, themerchants have had no knowledge of any ships cruizing till September, 1707-

The merchants gave an account of the vast advantages of the Mediterranean trade, which, for aconsiderable time, had been carried on with great success by nimble galleys, without putting thegovernment to the charge of convoys.

Mr. Gould informed, that, besides the Turkey-trade, and trade from several other places in theMediterranean, the customs of Leghorn, Venice, and Genoa, did amount to about 300,0001. ster-ling, per annum ; and an account was also given in by him, in particular, of the very great annual ex-ports to Leghorn alone, consisting of our manufactures, goods of our native growth, and other mer-chandizes ; which trade had continued for many years, while our Channel was better guarded ; but oflate it is in a manner quite interrupted for want of cruizers in the Channel and Soundings, andmany ships taken there. He mentioned, in particular, the Mazarine-galley from Turkey, worth4 above