uable ally, to whose loyalty and ability
Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to
Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for
placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time.

Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for
although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms,
it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would
certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and,
consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked,
which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered
rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been.

On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from
Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the
skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing--officially--of this box which
lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs
officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as
the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty
night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from
the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached
search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the
skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the
Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other
hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and
were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which
had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in
the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a
case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest
on the bottom of the Moyle.

Qualities of a different sort were called into play in negotiating the
purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a
strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that
Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame
all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred
H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not
fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself,
which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Un