Another of those instances of ships fitted up specially for smuggling was found in the French smack Auguste, which is well worth considering.  She was, when arrested, bound from Gravelines, and could carry about fifty tubs of spirits or, instead, a large amount of silk and lace.  Under the ladder in the forepeak there was a potato locker extending from side to side, and under this, extending above a foot or more before it, was the concealment.  Further forward were some loose planks forming a hatch, under which was the coal-hole.  This appeared to go as far as the bulkhead behind the ladder, and had the concealment been full, it could never have been found, but in walking over where the coals were, that part of the concealment which extended beyond the locker which was empty sounded hollow:  whereupon the officers pulled up one of the planks and discovered the hiding-place.

It was decided in 1837 that, in order to save the expense of breaking up a condemned smuggling vessel, in future the ballast, mast, pumps, bulkheads, platforms, and cabins should be taken out from the vessel:  and that the hull should then be cut into pieces not exceeding six feet long.  Such pieces were then to be sawn in a fore-and-aft direction so as to cut across the beams and thwarts and render the hull utterly useless.  The accompanying sketch well illustrates the ingenuity which was displayed at this time by the men who were bent on running goods.  What is here represented is a flat-bottomed boat, which perhaps might never have been discovered had it not been driven ashore near to Selsey Bill during the gales of the early part of 1837.  The manner in which this craft was employed was to tow her for a short distance and then to cast her adrift.  She was fitted with rowlocks for four oars, but apparently these had never been used.  Three large holes were bored in her bottom, for the purpose which we shall presently explain.

[Illustration:  Flat-Bottomed Boat found off Selsey.  The sketch shows longitudinal plan, the method of covering with net, and midship section.]

Built very roughly, with half-inch deal, and covered over with a thin coat of white paint, she had a grommet at both bow and stern.  She measured only 16 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a depth of 2 feet 2 inches.  It will be noticed that she had no thwarts.  Her timbers were of bent ash secured with common French nails, and alongside the gunwales were holes for lacing a net to go over the top of this boat.  Her side was made of three deal planks, the net being made of line, and of the same size as the line out of which the tub-slings were always made.  The holes in her floor were made for the water to get in and keep her below the surface, and the net, spreading from gunwale to gunwale, prevented her cargo of tubs from being washed out.  It was in order to have ample and unfettered room for the tubs that no thwarts were placed.  She would be towed astern of a smack or lugger under the water, and having arrived at the appointed spot the towrope would be let go, and the grapnels attached to both grommets at bow and stern would cause her to bring up when in sufficiently shallow water.  Later on, at low tide, the smugglers’ friends could go out in their boats with a weighted line or hawser and sweep along the bottom of the sea, and soon locate her and tow her right in to the beach.