the Royal Navy in 1746
to order a chase both consisted of stripes.[15] No. 7 consisted of
eleven horizontal stripes, viz. six red and five white. Flag No. 8 had
nine horizontal stripes, viz. red, white, blue repeated three times,
the red being uppermost. I submit that in sailor's slang these
signals would be commonly referred to as "stripes." Consequently
whatever flags subsequently would be used to signal a chase would be
known also as "stripes." Therefore whatever signal might be flown in
the Revenue service when chasing would be known as "stripes" also.

But by an Order in Council of the 1st of February 1817, the pendant
and ensign were to be thus:--

The pendant to have a red field having a regal crown thereon at the
upper part next the mast. The ensign to be a red Jack with a Union
Jack in a canton at the upper corner next the staff, and with a regal
crown in the centre of the red Jack. This was to be worn by all
vessels employed in the prevention of smuggling under the Admiralty,
Treasury, Customs or Excise.

Now during an interesting trial at the Admiralty Sessions held at the
Old Bailey in April of 1825, concerning the chasing of a smuggler by a
Revenue cruiser, Lieutenant Henry Nazer, R.N., who was commanding the
cutter, stated in his evidence that when he came near this smuggling
vessel the former hoisted the Revenue pendant at the masthead, which
he described as "a red field with a crown next the mast at the upper
part of it." He also hoisted the Revenue ensign at the peak-end, the
"Union at the upper corner in a red field," the field of the ensign
being also red. It had a Jack in the corner. This, then, was exactly
in accordance with the Order in Council of 1817 mentioned above.

But my own opinion relative to the firing of the _first_ gun is in
favour of the proposition that this was not necessarily unshotted. I
shall refer in greater detail to the actual incidents, here quoted, on
a later page, but for our present purpose the following is strong
proof in favour of this suggestion. During a trial in the year 1840
(Attorney-General _v_. William Evans) it transpired that Evans had
entered the Medway in a smack without heaving-to, and the following
questions and answers respectively were made by counsel and Richard
Braddy, a coastguard who at the time of the incident was on duty at
Garrison Fort (Sheerness):--

_Question._ "Is the first signal a shot always?"

_Answer._ "A blank cartridge we fire mostl