nd since those
wicked old days have passed, and with them a good many of the
old-fashioned types of craft, it may be well that examples of these
misdirected efforts should be collected herewith. There was a smack,
for instance, which was found to have under her ballast a large trunk
that was divided into four separate compartments each about 15 feet
long and could contain twelve half-ankers. One end of the trunk was
fixed against the bulkhead of the cabin, and extended the whole length
of the hold opening at the forward end close to the keelson by
unshipping two pieces of the bulkhead.

Another instance of the employment of false bows to a craft was found
on searching the fishing smack _Flower_, of Rye, whose master's name
was William Head. It was observed that this false section would hold
as much as forty to fifty half-ankers, the entrance being on the port
side of the false bow, where a square piece took out, being fastened
by a couple of screws, the heads of which were concealed by wooden
bungs imitating treenails. The _Flower_ was further discovered to have
a false stern, the entrance to this being by means of the upper board
of this stern on the port side in the cabin. She was a vessel 39 feet
2-1/2 inches long, 12 feet 1-1/2 inches beam, 5 feet 9-1/2 inches
deep, and of 23-1/2 tons burthen, being fitted with a standing
bowsprit and sloop-rigged. An almost identical set of concealments was
found in the smack _Albion_ at Sandwich, a vessel of over 42 tons
burthen. The entrance to her false stern was through a small locker on
the port and starboard sides. She was further fitted with a false
stern-post and false timbers.

A considerable amount of ingenuity must have been exercised in the
case of an open four-oared boat which was seized at Dover together
with twelve ankers of spirits. The device was as follows:--Across the
bow end of the boat was the usual thwart on which an oarsman sat. At
the after end where the stroke sat was another thwart. Under each of
these thwarts was an ordinary stanchion for supporting the thwart. But
each of these two stanchions had been made hollow. Thus, through each
a rope could be inserted, and inasmuch as the keel had also been
pierced it was possible to pass one rope through at the bow-thwart
and another at the stern-thwart, these ropes penetrating the boat
from thwart to keel. The inboard ends of these two ropes were
carelessly lashed round the thwarts or covered with gear, so ther