Berkeley gave his written testimony in reply to the inquiries of the commission. A statement is to be found in the records of York County for the year 1672, presenting in an itemized form the cost of building a sloop. The total amount was four thousand four hundred and sixty-seven pounds of tobacco, which, at the rate of two pence a pound, represented an expense, perhaps, of about nine hundred and twenty-five dollars. In the construction of this sloop, the various parts were supplied by different persons.
The plank necessary, namely, three hundred and ninety feet, was furnished by Richard Meakins, the rigging by Mr. Newell, the sail by Captain Shepherd, and the rudder irons by Mr. Williams. It seems to have required four months to complete it, the charges for the food furnished the carpenter running over that length of time; a cask of cider was also consumed by him during the same period.[1]
That the desire to promote ship-building in the Colony still remained in spite of the poor results commented upon by Berkeley, appears from the Act passed in the winter of 1677, relieving the owners of a vessel built in Virginia and belonging to Virginians alone, of all duties except those imposed upon shipmasters in making entry, in clearing, and in securing license to trade, or in giving bond to sail directly to England.[2] By this Act, it will be observed that it was not sufficient that the vessel should simply belong to inhabitants of the Colony. It was distinctly
- ↑ Records of York County, vol. 1671-1694, p. 25, Va. State Library. Sloops were sufficiently large to hold as many as fifty hogsheads. See Records of Lancaster County, original vol. 1690-1709, p. 44. A shallop probably could not with safety carry more than twelve hogsheads. See Ibid., same page. The average cost of such a boat was about twenty-two pounds sterling. Records of Elizabeth City County, vol. 1684-1699, p. 489, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. II, p. 387.
