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244 THE NAVAL MUTINIES OF 1797
women had reached Calais. 1 Cunningham also heard
that eighteen men from the Inflexible and some from the
Montague escaped in a boat to Holland. 2
It may well be that other mutineers reached France
and Holland unobserved. Not all who tried to escape,
however, were so fortunate as the men of the Inflexible.
A skipper named William Everett was forced to admit
two men and a woman to his smack, and he was ordered
to take his uninvited guests to France. But when they
had gone as far as the Downs, the smack was stopped by
a lugger, and the two mutineers were arrested and imprisoned.
3 On 16 June a launch containing thirteen
fugitive mutineers was captured near the Thames mouth
by the Success revenue cutter. Eight of the seamen
were sent on board Peyton's flagship in the Downs, and
five were imprisoned in Ramsgate. 4
One delegate, who was unable to escape, forestalled the
law by committing suicide. He was Wallace, the
president of the Standard, who had been one of the most
active of the ringleaders.
He shot himself on 13 June, as
the Standard was going up the river to be surrendered.
It is rather strange that the official leader of the mutiny
was not among those who at least tried to make their
escape. There is no obvious reason why he should not
have been among the discreet men who sailed to the
Continent. It was generally expected that he would
make some attempt to ensure his own safety. A royal
proclamation was issued, announcing a reward of ^500
1. Letters from Customs Authorities, 19 June (Digest).
2. Cunningham, p. 82.
3. A.S.I. 4172, 15 June. Everett said that the men came from the
Inflexible. But Peyton reported on the same day that two men, one
from the Proserpine and one from the Tysiphone had been caught in the
Downs and imprisoned (E 407). It may be supposed that these were the
men who were trying to escape in Everett's smack. It is the more
likely, since he said that the woman came from the Proserpine.
4. Customs, 16 June (Digest).
5. Schomberg, vol. iii, p. 30; Capts. D 44 (Digest). Wallace was one
of the three men who had gone ashore with the " Final Determination
of the Fleet " (Cunningham, p. 78).