Chatham are of singular regard. Good
success have they with their skill, and carefully keep so precious a
pearl, lest otherwise amongst many friends some foes attain unto it."

The late Peter Bolt, member for Greenwich, took pride in being
descended from the Petts; but so far as we know, the name itself has
died out. In 1801, when Charnock's 'History of Marine Architecture'
was published, Mr. Pett, of Tovil, near Maidstone, was the sole
representative of the family.

Footnotes for Chapter I.

[1] This was not the first voyage of a steamer between England and
America. The Savannah made the passage from New York to Liverpool as
early as 1819; but steam was only used occasionally during the voyage,
In 1825, the Enterprise, with engines by Maudslay, made the voyage from
Falmouth to Calcutta in 113 days; and in 1828, the Curacoa made the
voyage between Holland and the Dutch West Indies. But in all these
cases, steam was used as an auxiliary, and not as the one essential
means of propulsion, as in the case of the Sirius and the Great
Western, which were steam voyages only.

[2] "In 1862 the steam tonnage of the country was 537,000 tons; in
1872, it was 1,537,000 tons; and in 1882, it had reached 3,835,000
tons."--Mr. Chamberlain's speech, House of Commons, 19th May, 1884.

[3] The last visit of the plague was in 1665.

[4] Roll of Edward the Third's Fleet. Cotton's Library, British Museum.

[5] Charnock's History Of Marine Architecture, ii. 89.

[6] State Papers. Henry VIII. Nos. 3496, 3616, 4633. The principal
kinds of ordnance at that time were these:--The "Apostles," so called
from the head of an Apostle which they bore; "Curtows," or "Courtaulx";
"Culverins" and "Serpents"; "Minions," and "Potguns"; "Nurembergers,"
and "Bombards" or mortars.

[7] The sum of all costs of the Harry Grace de Dieu and three small
galleys, was 7708L. 5s. 3d. (S.P.O. No. 5228, Henry VIII.)

[8] Charnock, ii. 47 (note).

[9] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 126.

[10] The Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and Industries, in
England and Ireland, ch. iv.

[11] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 156.

[12] Ibid. ii. 85.

[13] Picton's Selections from the Municipal Archives and Records of
Liverpool, p. 90. About a hundred years later, in 1757, the gross
customs receipts of Liverpool had increased to 198,946L.; whilst those
of Bristol were as much as 351,211L. In 1883, the amount of tonnage of
Liverpool, inw