The facts of this case may be summarised as follows.  On Sunday afternoon, the 17th of February 1833, the Revenue cutter Lively was cruising at the back of the Goodwins, when about three o’clock she descried a vessel about five or six miles off which somehow aroused suspicions.  The name of the latter was eventually found to be the Admiral Hood.  At this time the sloop was about midway between England and France, her commander being Lieutenant James Sharnbler, R.N.  The Admiral Hood was a small dandy-rigged fore-and-after, that is to say, she was a cutter with a small mizzen on which she would set a lugsail.  The Lively gave chase, and gradually began to gain on the other.  When the Admiral Hood was within about a mile of the Lively, the former hauled across the latter, and when she had got on the Lively’s weather-bow the Revenue craft immediately tacked, whereupon the Admiral Hood put about again and headed for the French coast.  After vainly attempting to cause her to heave-to by the usual Revenue signals, the Lively was compelled to fire on her, and one shot was so well placed that it went clean through the dandy’s sail, and thinking that this was quite near enough the Admiral Hood hove-to.

But just prior to this, Lieutenant Sharnbler had ordered an officer and two men to take spyglasses and watch her.  At this time they were about fifteen or sixteen miles away from the North Foreland.  One of the men looking through his glass observed that the Admiral Hood was heaving tubs overboard, and it was then that the first musket was fired for her to heave-to, but as the tubs were still thrown overboard for the next three-quarters of an hour, the long gun and the muskets were directed towards her.  The two vessels had sailed on parallel lines for a good hour’s chase before the firing began, and the chase went on till about a quarter to five, the tide at this time ebbing to the westward and a fine strong sailing breeze.  There was no doubt at all now that she was a smuggler, for one of the Lively’s crew distinctly saw a man standing in the Admiral Hood’s hatchway taking tubs and depositing them on deck, whilst some one else was taking them from the deck and heaving them overboard, the tubs being painted a dark green so as to resemble the colour of the waves.  As the Lively came ramping on, she found numbers of these tubs in the wake of the Admiral Hood, and lowered a boat to pick them up, and about twenty-two were found a hundred yards from the smuggler, and the Lively also threw out a mark-buoy to locate two other tubs which they passed.  And, inasmuch as there was no other vessel within six miles distance, the Admiral Hood beyond a shadow of doubt was carrying contraband.

[Illustration:  “The Admiral Hood was heaving tubs overboard.”]