_Speedwell_, which cruised between Weymouth and Cowes. There was also
the _Rose_, 190 tons, with 30 men, stationed at Southampton, being on
the establishment likewise. Next to her in size came the _Diligence_,
175 tons, with 32 men. She cruised between Poole and Weymouth. She was
one of the hired vessels, and was in 1784 removed from Weymouth to
have her headquarters at Cowes. The smallest of all the cruisers at
this time was the _Nimble_, 41 tons and a crew of 30. She also was a
hired craft. Her station was at Deal, and her annual cost was £1064,
9s. 9d. for the year mentioned.

But though there was less expenditure needed at the outset, these
contract ships were not altogether satisfactory: or rather it was the
method than the cruisers themselves. For if we have any knowledge at
all of human nature, and especially of the dishonest character which
so frequently manifested itself in the eighteenth century, we can
readily imagine that the contractor, unless he was a scrupulously
honourable man, would naturally succumb to the temptation to economise
too strictly regarding the keeping the ship in the best condition of
repair; or he might gain a little by giving her not quite a
sufficiently numerous crew, thus saving both wages and victuals. For
the Crown allowed a certain number of men, and paid for the complement
which they were supposed to carry.

Therefore, since this arrangement was marked by serious drawbacks, the
contract system was discontinued, and at the beginning of 1788 fifteen
contracts were ended, and five other cruisers' contracts were not
renewed when they expired in that year. All the cruisers in the
employment of the Customs Service were now placed on the
establishment, and the practice of paying the charges and expenses out
of the King's share of the condemned goods was rescinded. In the year