o_199m9vaui14ib1cnu10di10pocoj4h.pdf

EXPEDITIONS TO LONG REACH 149
landed at Gravesend, and public opinion had turned so
strongly against the seamen that those who came ashore
were arrested by some of the townspeople. They
contrived, however, to make their escape, and took to
their boats again. The object of their expedition was to
extend the scope of the mutiny by securing the alliance
of the Lancaster, the Neptune, 1 the Naiad, and the
Agincourt, which were lying in Long Reach. 2 They
were so far successful that in spite of firing from the
fort at Tilbury, they persuaded the crew of the Lancaster
to mutiny and to send delegates to the Nore ; but the crew
of the Naiad refused to join them. 3 On the next day
(27 May) another party of delegates tried to reach the
Lancaster, first in gunboats and then in fishing-smacks.
But they were prevented by the firing of guns at
Tilbury. 4
On the 28th a fourth expedition was sent up the river.
A lieutenant of the impress service in Tilbury saw a
smack which kept curiously clear of the other traffic.
He went on board and succeeded, not without some risk,
in arresting two seamen who were below, armed with
pistols. Finding them to be mutineers from the Nore,
the lieutenant sent them to be imprisoned in Chatham,
and they were ultimately brought to trial. 5
The situation of the officers in Sheerness was growing
more and more serious every day. Buckner and the
1. The Neptune about this time was put under the command of
Sir Erasmus Gower, who had retired from the Triumph at Spithead
during the second mutiny.
2. Cunningham, p. 33 ; Buckner's dispatch of 26 May, C 340 ; Colonel
Nesbit's letter from Tilbury, 27 May (War Office, Digest) ; Capts. D 34
(Digest). See also Nepean's letters of 26 and 27 May (A.S.O 1352,
pp. 96-98). Parker went on board the Clyde to ask for volunteers for
the expedition up the river, but no* one would go. A fierce argument
followed between Parker and the ship's company, who were led by the
first lieutenant. The scene ended with the departure of Parker and
the return of Cunningham, the captain. Captain Blackwood, of the
Brilliant, and Captain Surridge, of the IriSj returned to their ships at
the same time.
3. Capts. D 35 (Digest).
4. Capts. D 36; Nesbit, 28 May (War Office, Digest).
5. Evidence of Lieutenant Daniel against Wolf (A.S.I. 5486).