For this remarkable victory the Commodore, officers and crews were liberally rewarded. The Patriotic Fund Committee, which had originated in Lloyd’s coffee-house in 1803, presented the Commodore with a sword of the value of £100 and a silver vase of the same worth. Captain Timmins of the _Royal George_ also received a sword, as did the other captains and Lieutenant Fowler. The directors of the East India Company set aside about £50,000, and rewarded their Commodore with 2000 guineas and a piece of plate valued at 200 guineas. Captain Timmins received 1000 guineas and plate, the other captains receiving 500 guineas each and a piece of plate. The chief officers each received 150 guineas, the second officers 125 guineas, and so on through the ship, each seaman receiving six guineas. Dance was given also £5000 by the Bombay Insurance Society. He was offered a baronetcy, but declined it and accepted a knighthood, and thus concludes one of the finest incidents in the history of the Merchant Service. This action showed that the ships and men were not merely magnificent for their own particular job, but that they could tackle any emergency that came along. FOOTNOTES: [4] For list of an East Indiaman’s sails, see Appendix. CHAPTER X MIGHTY MERCHANTMEN Most of the vessels in this fleet of East Indiamen had been built at the Blackwall yard, or at least refitted there. In the year 1789 the East India Docks were brought into being, or rather begun, for they were not opened for another couple of years. This wet dock had become very necessary, for the East Indiamen had no accommodation provided for them now that they had become so big. And as long as they lay out in the river a good deal of their valuable cargoes was subject to pilfering. A joint-stock company was formed with a capital of £200,000, and it was decided that the hatches of every ship arriving from either India or China should be locked down before the ship reached Gravesend, and that the captain and one officer should remain on board until the ship was moored in the docks and the keys of the hatches handed over to an officer of the East India Company.