DRY ROT IN SHIPS.
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"Twenty four Inches Diameter and upwards at Twelve Inches from
"the Earth, without Her Majesties Licence for so doing first had and
"obtained, on the Penalty or Forfeiture of One hundred Pounds
"Sterling for every such Offence . . . . And whereas the
"Surveyor General of Her Majesties Woods in those Parts is, by
"himself or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies, by Her Majesties Com-
"mission, Authorized and Directed to Mark with the Broad Arrow
"all such Trees as now are, or hereafter shall be fit and proper to
"be taken for the Use of Her Majesties Royal Navy."
There were later Acts in the reign of Anne further defining
the Broad Arrow policy, a policy which gave great annoyance
to the colonists until the War of Independence caused a dramatic
cutting off of the naval mast supply. Another Act of Anne's
reign shows that attention was still being directed in another
direction.
"And whereas there are in several parts of North Britain, com-
"monly called Scotland, great Store of Pine and Fir-trees, fit for
"Masts, and for the making of Pitch, Tar, Rozin, and other Naval
"Stores, but the Lands and Woods which may yield such Naval
"Stores are mostly in Parts mountainous and remote from Navigable
"Rivers ; Therefore for the Encouragement of the Proprietors of
"such Lands and Woods, in the making the Roads, Passages, and
"Rivers in those Northern Parts Useful and Commodious to the
"Publick, as well as for Conveying such Naval stores to Sea-Ports in
"North Britain, to be brought by Sea to that part of Great Britain
"called England ; Be it Enacted . . . . For all Masts, Yards, and
"Bowsprights per Ton, allowing Forty Foot to each Ton, Girt
"Measure, according to the Customary way of Measuring round
"Bodies, the Sum of Twenty Shillings."
The next serious outbreak of dry rot in the Navy followed
the Seven Years War. There were numerous references to
defective ships in the intervening period, but no general trouble
seems to have occurred, probably because there had been
no great strain put upon building. Thus the loss of the
Cumberland, which sank at her anchors near Goa in 1760, was
adjudged to have "proceeded from her being entirely decayed
"and not in a condition to have proceeded to sea."
The struggle for maritime supremacy lasted throughout
the whole of the eighteenth century. France and Spain were
rightly suspected by Britain of challenging her position. The
War of Jenkins's ear (1739) and the subsequent War of the
Austrian Succession (1744-48) showed up the scarcity of naval
timber, but there was no real difficulty with supplies. The
Seven Years War (1756-63) was a more serious matter, and