Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/653

 in 1641 to Berkeley to enforce the rules which provided for the poorest servants, during the time they were on board ship, an abundance of wholesome victuals and quarters amply sufficient for their accommodation. Twenty years later the same care was shown in ensuring the comfort of the lowest class of passengers. The masters were required to stock their vessels as for a voyage extending over four months; the most indigent servant was to receive a sufficient allowance of food and bedding while on board, and these regulations were renewed from year to year.

Improper and insufficient fare and overcrowding were not the only evils from which the servants suffered in making the voyage to Virginia. The captains of the vessels had absolute authority over their passengers, and as many of these officers were men of arbitrary and tyrannical temper, the power they possessed was frequently abused. When it became necessary to inflict punishment upon persons who had been guilty of crime on shipboard, it was quite often imposed with extreme barbarity. An instance may be mentioned which furnishes probably a fair illustration of this fact. About the year 1635, a bottle of liquor was stolen on board of a vessel bound for Virginia, and a boy upon whom suspicion fell was arrested and severely whipped for the purpose of forcing him to confess the theft. In the agony of his suffering, he implicated several others in his act. Seizing instantly upon the supposed ringleader, the sailors, by the command of the captain, suspended him by the wrists to a yard-arm