A voyage in an East Indiaman of those days was often full of adventure. After proceeding from the Downs the ship cleared the western mouth of the English Channel and then steered “W and to WSW.” It took three months to reach the Cape of Good Hope, and even then it was not too far south to fall in with French men-of-war. After calling at Spithead outward bound they were wont to sail through the Needles passage. The seamen were probably better situated in these East Indiamen than in any other merchant ship, but they were not allowed a soft time. They were kept at it with setting and stowing of canvas, spreading stuns’ls in fair weather or taking in upper canvas in heavy gales. There were plenty of guns on board to be served, so drill formed no small part of their duties. A seaman went on board with his sea-chest and his bedding, and in those rough, hard-swearing days, long before ever the sailor had his trade union, he was treated with no light hand. There is an instance of the way slackness was wont to be punished on board the East Indiaman _Greenwich_. This particular occurrence belongs to the year 1719 and happened when the watch had been called. As some of the men did not turn out as smartly as they ought, the boatswain took out his knife and cut down their hammocks, to their great discomfort and indignation. So infuriated in fact were the crew that they declined to go on the next voyage until the boatswain had been discharged.
Some idea of the kind of vessels which the Company were hiring for their service about the year 1730 may be gathered from the following list, which has been taken direct from the original official documents:—
Devonshire Lawrence Prince 470 94 30 Prince Augustus Francis Gostlin 495 99 36 Lyell Charles Small 470 94 30 Princess of Wales Thomas Gilbert 460 92 30 Middlesex John Pelly 430 86 30 Mary Thomas Holden 490 98 34 Derby William Fitzhugh 480 96 32 London Robert Bootle 490 98 34 Dawsonne Francis Steward 480 96 32 Craggs Caleb Grantham 380 76 26 Bridgwater Edward Williamson 400 80 28 Prince William William Beresford 480 96 30 Lethieullier John Shepheard 470 94 30 Hartford Francis Nelly 460 92 30 Macclesfield Robert Hudson 450 90 30 Cæsar William Mabbott 440 88 30 Harrison Samuel Martin 460 92 30 Walpole Charles Boddam 495 99 32 Frances John Lawson 420 84 30 Duke of Cumberland Benjamin Braund 480 96 30 George George Pitt 480 96 30 Aislabie William Birch 400 80 26 Stretham George Westcott 470 94 30 Ockham William Jobson 480 96 30