It is quite clear that the Customs Board sometimes lent their cutters to the Admiralty; and there is a letter dated October 10, 1809, from the Admiralty, in which permission is given for the cutters in the service of that Revenue to be released from their station at Flushing under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, and there is also a Customs House minute of July 7, 1806, to the effect that the Swan and Hound Revenue cutters might be placed under the orders of Lord Keith in the room of the Stag and Swallow, for use at Cowes and Shoreham, where these cruisers were to be stationed.  And it was in this same year that the Board again emphasized the importance of the Revenue Service being supported by the Navy and Army, and that to this end the most effectual encouragement should be held out to both branches, so that they might co-operate vigorously in the suppression of smuggling.  They further expressed themselves as of the opinion that “nothing will more effectually tend to encourage them to exert themselves than the certainty of receiving a speedy reward.”  And yet, again, were the Revenue officers enjoined “to be particularly careful to secure the men employed in smuggling vessels whenever it may be possible to effect it, as their lordships have the strongest reasons for believing that the apprehension of being detained and impressed into his Majesty’s service will have a great effect in deterring the persons engaged in these illegal pursuits from continuing their pernicious habits.”

It was also part of the duty of the Customs officers to attend to the Quarantine, and the Customs Board resolved “that it is fit to direct a distinguishing flag to be used on board all boats employed in the Quarantine service.”  At Sandgate Creek, Portsmouth, Falmouth, Bristol, Milford, Hull, Liverpool and Plymouth, by the advice of the Surveyor for Sloops, a flag was deposited in the Custom House at every port of the kingdom, and it was resolved that in the above ports there should be two, except Plymouth, which should have three.  Cruisers were also employed in the Quarantine Service.

We have already seen something of the conditions of service and the pay of the cruisers’ crews.  He who was responsible for the upkeep and supervision of these cruisers was known as the Surveyor for Sloops.  For some time the Customs Board had been deliberating as to the adoption of some regulations for ascertaining the qualifications of those who desired to be commanders and mates of the cruisers.  That some improvement was essential must already have been made clear to the reader from the type of men who sometimes were placed in such positions of responsibility.  The following regulations were therefore adopted in the year 1807, “which appear to the Commissioners highly necessary for the safe conduct of the Service, as also for the safety of the vessels and crews committed to their charge.”  They resolved accordingly:—­