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154 THE NAVAL MUTINIES OF 1797
"appeared very thankful for this attention." They
must have belonged to the more moderate party in the
fleet ; and it may be supposed that they were trying
to effect a compromise. 1 Later in the afternoon a large
company of delegates arrived, and announced that they
would insist on their demands. A note was sent to
them in reply. They withdrew — presumably to one of
the public houses in which they were accustomed to meet
—and spent an hour in discussing the note. At the end
of the hour a single delegate brought a letter to Spencer,
informing him that the question of surrender had been
put to the vote, and that a majority of the delegates
were in favour of continuing the mutiny. Evidently the
voting was not unanimous; in all probability there were
many others, besides the two delegates who had first come
ashore in the afternoon, who would have been glad to
surrender while they still had the assurance of a full
pardon.
In the evening Parker came again to Hartwell's house
and asked for an answer to the letter. He was told that
there was no answer. With another low bow he went
away. The delegates returned to their boats ; and now,
for the first time since the arrival of the Board in
Sheerness, a red flag was carried before them. 2 There
was indeed no answer to be made to the decision of the
delegates. It was clear that they would " own no
argument but force." The Lords of the Admiralty saw
that they could do no good by staying longer in
Sheerness. They left the town on the same evening,
spent the night again in Rochester, and reached London
1. One of the two was John Davis, who was chosen to be the
mutineer-captain of the Sandwich, but seems, from the evidence at his
court-martial, to have been far more moderate than most of the ringleaders.
See particularly the evidence of Commissioner Hartwell at
Davis's trial.
2. Previously, "their behaviour was quiet and orderly : every man's
hat was decorated with red or pink ribbon, but there was no huzzaing
or musick or any other sort of parade or noise" (Spencer to Nepean,
Rochester, 29 May).