Page 183 - INDIANNAVYV1

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. l')l
its support. An officer of the Bombay Marine was to hold the
official dignit}' as the Deputy of the Company, and, from 1759
to 1829, a period of seventy years, a captain of the Service was
annually appointed to this situation by the Bombay Govern-
ment. This officer wore the Company's colours at the peak of
his flagship, but carried the Mogul's flag at the main. The
revenues of the districts and Customs which had been assigned,
went to the support of the Surat squadron, which, we find from
various records, averaged, between 1759 and 1803, the following
vessels:—The Commodore's flagship, a brig or large ketch, eight
galivats, mounting from four to eight guns, commanded by
lieutenants, and each having about twenty European seamen,
the rest of the crew being Natives, and from four to six
ketches and brigs employed with convoys during the north-
east monsoon.
The Commodore's pay as a captain we find, from a record of
1787-88, was, with an allowance for two servants, 87 rupees per
month ; while the estimate of his fees for convoy and other per-
quisites, as assigned the Company by the treat}', amounted to
85,500 rupees for the year ! From other papers, we find that the
actual receipts in the same j^ear were not less than 97,000 rupees.
Besides these money fees, the Commodore had also a tithe on
certain articles entering the river, such as grain, poultry, fire-
wood, and many other items which were at times commuted for
nioney, and may be the cause of the difference between the
estimated and actual receipts. Thus the post of Mogul's Admi-
ral, which was only tenable for one year, was worth to the
incumbent no less than .£10,000, a vast sum in those days,
when the salary of the Governor of Bombay did not exceed
de500, and that of the chief military officer, £250. With trifling
modifications, these rules remained in force until 1809 or 1810,
when convoy money was reduced, as had been the privilege of
private trading in 1798.
However indefensible such rules may appear to us now, they
were in harmony with the feelings of the age, and at least the
gallant officer who, for one year, enjoyed the dignity and emolu-
ments of the post of Admiral of the Mogul, performed the duties
W'ith a thoroughness we are accustomed to expect from British
officers, and which earned the commendation of successive
Nawabs, who contrasted their energy and skill with the indo-
lence and inefficiency of their predecessors. That this good
opinion was borne out by facts, we may readily believe, when
we find that, between the years 1759 and 1768, nearly one
hundred vessels, belonging to the Cutch, Okamundel, and Katty-
war pirates, were captured and destroyed by the Surat
squadron.