There were all sorts of varieties of concealments now practised since the “scientific” period of smuggling had come in.  And since those wicked old days have passed, and with them a good many of the old-fashioned types of craft, it may be well that examples of these misdirected efforts should be collected herewith.  There was a smack, for instance, which was found to have under her ballast a large trunk that was divided into four separate compartments each about 15 feet long and could contain twelve half-ankers.  One end of the trunk was fixed against the bulkhead of the cabin, and extended the whole length of the hold opening at the forward end close to the keelson by unshipping two pieces of the bulkhead.

Another instance of the employment of false bows to a craft was found on searching the fishing smack Flower, of Rye, whose master’s name was William Head.  It was observed that this false section would hold as much as forty to fifty half-ankers, the entrance being on the port side of the false bow, where a square piece took out, being fastened by a couple of screws, the heads of which were concealed by wooden bungs imitating treenails.  The Flower was further discovered to have a false stern, the entrance to this being by means of the upper board of this stern on the port side in the cabin.  She was a vessel 39 feet 2-1/2 inches long, 12 feet 1-1/2 inches beam, 5 feet 9-1/2 inches deep, and of 23-1/2 tons burthen, being fitted with a standing bowsprit and sloop-rigged.  An almost identical set of concealments was found in the smack Albion at Sandwich, a vessel of over 42 tons burthen.  The entrance to her false stern was through a small locker on the port and starboard sides.  She was further fitted with a false stern-post and false timbers.

A considerable amount of ingenuity must have been exercised in the case of an open four-oared boat which was seized at Dover together with twelve ankers of spirits.  The device was as follows:—­Across the bow end of the boat was the usual thwart on which an oarsman sat.  At the after end where the stroke sat was another thwart.  Under each of these thwarts was an ordinary stanchion for supporting the thwart.  But each of these two stanchions had been made hollow.  Thus, through each a rope could be inserted, and inasmuch as the keel had also been pierced it was possible to pass one rope through at the bow-thwart and another at the stern-thwart, these ropes penetrating the boat from thwart to keel.  The inboard ends of these two ropes were carelessly lashed round the thwarts or covered with gear, so there was no untoward appearance.  But at the other ends of the ropes were fastened the twelve ankers, which were thus towed along under the keel of the craft, and not trailing out astern as was sometimes done in the case of bigger boats.  Thus because the whole body of the boat covered the floating casks it was very unlikely that their presence would be suspected.