1 - Causes of Mutiny

Summary

Conflict between captain and crew was a common feature of the wooden world. Those who manned sailing ships never lacked reasons to complain, be it over their food or their living quarters, the cargo or the route, the captain's disciplinary regime or the condition of the ship, the particular passengers aboard or their fellow shipmates. Sailors always had certain expectations of how a ship ought to be run and were wont to compare their conditions to those on previous voyages. Few vessels completed a voyage of any length without some issue being raised by the men, either amongst themselves or with their officers.

The unique social conditions aboard East Indiamen and country ships presented many further sources of tension. European officers were brought into close proximity with African, Arab, South Asian and South East Asian sailors for weeks and months at a time. During these encounters the seafaring traditions of the Indian Ocean collided with those imported from outside the region. Even seasoned captains who tried to respect the customs of their non-Europeans crews could find themselves in difficulty.

Travellers listed many different causes of day-to-day shipboard conflict between lascars and officers, although, as we shall see, they tended to devote more attention to some than others. Equally, most mutinies were the product of a varied set of motivations. Issues such as personal conflicts, the right to shore leave, the control of leisure time and the prospect of plunder will be covered in subsequent chapters. This chapter focuses on the causes of mutiny, both major and minor. It discusses four sources of tension between lascar crews and their European superiors: verbal and physical abuse by officers, welfare and wages, religious differences between captain and crew, and the presence of women aboard ship. These issues are particularly illustrative of the problematic ways in which crew behaviour was reported, as well as offering some of the culturally-specific causes of mutiny.

Abusive officers

The brutal treatment to which non-European crews were subject has been well documented. Lascars were beaten to encourage them to work, as punishment for making mistakes or for angering their superiors in a thousand other ways.