o_199m9vaui14ib1cnu10di10pocoj4h.pdf

;
228 THE NAVAL MUTINIES OF 1797
Swan. 1 It has been shown that the ringleaders had good
cause for wishing to put to sea. It has been shown that
their plans had been carefully prepared, and that at least
before the sinking of the buoys they really intended to
put to sea if there were no hope of reconciliation. Is it
not, then, reasonable to suppose that this was a last
desperate effort to achieve the safety of the fleet ;
that the
delegates still thought it advisable at all costs to make the
attempt, and to risk the shoals of the Thames mouth ?
Some of them did afterwards escape in smaller vessels
but they would certainly have received more consideration
from a foreign government if they had come as the
commanders of an armada with several ships of the line,
instead of arriving, as they actually did, as fugitives in
fishing-smacks.
No document remains to show why the order for
weighing anchor was not obeyed. Possibly none of the
mutineer-commanders or pilots was willing to undertake
the responsibility of piloting the fleet without the guidance
of the buoys. 2 More probably, the chief reason was
that the majority of the seamen refused to leave the
Nore. A good deal has been said of the opinions of the
common seamen at the Nore, of their increasing discontent
with the needless continuance of the mutiny, and of
the system of terror by which they were held down. The
time had come, at length, when they must decide whether
they would accept the position of outlaws, and go with
their leaders into exile, or whether they would abandon
the mutiny and put themselves at the King's mercy.
Apparently Parker had foreseen the difficulty caused
by their opposition. For several days he had been
making great efforts to keep their favour. It was prob-
1. Cunningham, u.s.
2. There were pilots on some of the ships. A letter from the pilot
of the Director to his wife is mentioned in the Digest (Pro. H 300), and
most of the North Sea ships would have pilots. Probably they were
either opposed to the mutiny, or afraid of risking the passage out to sea.
According to Bray, of the Sandwich, pilots were sent to the ships of
the Nore fleet on 26 May.