Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/357

 were stored in large cases, chests, trunks, hogsheads, barrels, and casks. At times, a heavy loss resulted to the owner not only from rough handling and the casualties of an ocean passage, but also from embezzlement by the seamen and even by the master of the ship. If a war was in progress, there was always peril of capture by the enemy. In 1665, the Dutch, who were then engaged in hostilities with the English, destroyed a fleet of merchantmen in the mouth of the James. From the earliest period, the vessels employed in the Virginian trade were under the necessity of carrying guns. In 1633, the number in single instances ranged from twenty to twenty-four. A