e was no general removal of
grievances. The pay remained as it was fixed in the reign of Charles II.
at 22s. 6d. a month (of twenty-eight days) for able seamen and 19s. for
ordinary seamen, though the cost of living had risen, the men said, 30
per cent., so that they could not provide for their families. The system
on which they were paid was unfair to them; a deduction of two ounces in
the pound was made in their rations by the admiralty to balance waste of
stores; the medical service was disgracefully bad, and they complained
bitterly of the shameful practice of not providing them with fresh
vegetables as a protection from scurvy when in English ports.
Punishments were sometimes frightfully severe and a tyrannical captain
could make a ship a floating hell. A mutiny, only remotely connected
with the general movement, was provoked on the _Hermione_ (32) on the
Jamaica station by the insane cruelty of Pigot, the captain; the crew
murdered him and the other officers, and delivered the ship to the
Spaniards from whom it was afterwards retaken. Owing to the large demand
for men in war time many crews contained a large number of bad
characters, criminals whose sentences were remitted on condition of
entering the navy, and such like, and on some ships there were many
Irishmen who had imbibed disaffection on shore. Such men would naturally
be inclined to mutiny. A ship's crew, however, took its tone from the
able seamen, the A.B.'s, from whom the petty officers were chosen. At
that time they were often not more than a fourth of the crew, and
unfortunately they had special grievances. They were skilled men, and
might have been mates with good pay on a merchant ship. They were forced
to serve in the navy by impressment, and when in port were refused leave
to visit their families for fear they should desert. In the winter of
1796-97 the able seamen in the channel fleet seem to have combined to
obtain a redress of grievances. Anonymous petitions were sent to Lord
Howe, who forwarded them to the admiralty where they were disregarded.

[Sidenote: _MUTINY IN THE NAVY._]

On April 15 the fleet, which was then at Spithead, was ordered to put to
sea. The crews instead of weighing anchor manned the yards, cheered, and
hoisted the red flag, the usual signal for battle. They were joined by
the marines. No personal disrespect was shown to the officers, but the
ships were taken out of their command. The admiralty board went down to
Portsmou