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Meanwhile the Governor took it for granted that the merchants would take every advantage of any exchange opportunity which came their way. So on two occassions when the military chest was empty, he risked the fury of the little postmaster to hold the mail ship over-night so that the commissary officer could get abreast of the situation. In both instances the ships had bullion which relieved the shortage and enabled the commissary's customary premium of 1 1/2 per cent to be maintained.
Reid, however, did not know, as we do, that the boundary argument, between Maine and New Brundswick, had been settled. His information was to the contrary. On the United States side block-houses had been built in Detroit, and the Bermuda Gazette reported that 2,000 Indians had been gathered, armed, rationed, and lodged in huts near by. He had his own opinion that the maritime interests of the United States would keep that country at peace, or if not strictly at peace, intrigue would be a more likely procedure than war. But while he hoped for peace, it was clearly his 'duty to prepare for action', as long as the disputes were active.
There were 400 enlisted men on the island with a few gunners, sappers, and miners, and there was no direct way of adding to the number. For the colony had been without a militia law for years, and with the recent upthrust in society (emancipation in 1834,) it was not feasible to arm the coloured men, and the white seamen were too few and scattered to be effective. Reid believed that every artisan at Ireland Island and in the forts at St. George's should be under arms. He believed also that the convicts, for their country's sake, would do their part, in which event they would earn credits towards their pardon. And so he arranged, with a drill once a quarter, in working hours. A few of the old free handsheld back, but they were gradually weeded out.*(footnote: there had not been a replacement for a regiment which had been sent to Jamaica.)
As soon as the arrival of small reinforcements gave the Governor an opportunity, he wrote to the British Ministry at Washington of his increased strength so that the good word could be magnified and spread widely. But he did not get any reassuring words back, and he neglected to send an officer to Washington specifically to glean the news there. Such information as that ministry sent to London was that the Bermudians were probably pro-American in sympathy, and so must be considered unpredictable in an emergency. Meanwhile the Governor learned to his distress that 'a mulatto woman', formerly the Durnford's cook, had recently sold forty plans of forts and defences to the (US,) Colonel of Engineers, and the question was had she previously sold other plans to the U.S.A.
Reid considered Bermuda a fortress and outpost of empire, like Gibraltar, Malta, and St. Helena. 'We could,' however, as he reflected, 'lose the island, as unexpectedly as the Spaniards did Gibraltar.' But should only 'little St. George's' be captured, it 'might be hard to retake'. Obviously the main reserve of troops should live in the middle of the island, as Wellington had planned in 1826. So a start at surveying Prospect or White Hill was made, with some initial purchases there. Reid's further reflections were that a colony which would 'not face a militia bill' should forfeit its rights to protection, since a man without a designated duty would be an 'alarmist' or a 'conciliator'. Furthermore 'any ungarrisoned fortifications' were 'potentially lodging points for an enemy'. In the same way all utility boats should carry a gun, if need be. The naval yard already had a gun-boat, a buoy boat, four launches, and an anchor hoy which could be fitted. Obviously an early duty was to start the remaining part of the Wellington-Melville defence plan, which was to establish a military base in the centre of the islands, whence troops could be dispatched east, south, or west. There was no other way of defending the southern shore.
Legislation was not needed to purchase seventy acres at Prospect and make a beginning. Sir William Burnaby was pleased to sell a tract there in the estate of Joseph Wood, leaving perhaps a half for the heirs. This sale involved White Hill which was high enough to be a landmark but hitherto had been wild ground. The Rev. Solomon J. Stowe offered a little house, Prospect (Lodge), and its premises. William Hall Darrell was willing to dispose of a property which his family had from the Stowes, and Francis and Daniel Trimmingham also offered several acres. Thus barracks could be built and an important link in the defence scheme be secured.*(footnot: These military purchases in Devonshire diminished the taxable assets of the parish by 3,150 pounds. Devonshire Parish Records, 1843.)
Then a portal needed to be closed. That was Boaz Island, the backyard of Ireland Island. That island had 730 convicts in hulks, and a total population of 1,550. The general health was excellent, but with naval ships always arriving, there were perpetual hazards.------
THE BULK OF THE NEXT THREE PARAGRAPHS, DEALING WITH YELLOW FEVER AND MALINGERING CONCERNS AT THE HM DOCKYARD, IS OMITTED.
---- These matters were disheartening, accompanied as they were by other and unexpected rebuffs to rearming. For the Governor's ardent pleafor local recruits brought only thirty-four enlistments, all but one of them coloured, because the men, though eager to accept the educational advantage , were repelled by the thought of having to serve elsewhere. However, even these few recruits could be useful as artillerymen. But the Ordnance Department would not have local men, and then Colonel Robinson raised objections to their physical fitness. They could only be light skirmishers. And as a few of them fell by the wayside even fewer came forward to replace them. Moreover the last volunteers were 'mobbed and vilified' by their associates. So this local effort had to be abandoned in spite of thousands of hours of work, with proposals for an attractive uniform and an offer of two weeks' pay as 'inducement money'. In fact the whole picture of military life was anything but enticing as the number of desertions at St. George's continued to show. Within a few months four different small groups of enlisted men made off in half-decked boats. One of these reached New York, two foundered and one was seized. It was evident that the rank and file did not have enough to do. So allotment gardening was suggested to enrich the men's diet. But the restricted areas and the barren-ness of the hillsides defeated the proposal in St. George's. Little more was accomplished near Hamilton except in the few instances where Reid could give selected men plots of his own land to cultivate.*(Footnote: 'The young coloured men are devotedly fond of dress.' William Reid. The troops also worked on fortifications for an extra 8d. or 10d. a day, according to the season. The number of desertions showed how galling their condition of life continued to be.)
After a few months the Governor tried to substitute a pound and a half of fish for a pound of meat in the soldiers' diet once a week, for the sake of variety, local industry, and an economy of 4d. a meal. The first two reasons were undoubtedly admirable, but the third could not be so regarded and after a year this innovation had to be abandoned. During this time the conscientious Lord John Russell expressed his horror of 'inducement money' and hinted that in the one or two instances in which it had been given 'experimentally', the Governor personally might have to redeem it. But Reid knew the danger of conscientiousness on either side, and the cost of progress, so while occassionally explaining briefly, he never protested.*(Footnote: T.B. Macauly, the Secretary of War, commented to Stephen that deviations in fitness are 'never authorized'. Macauly went out of office with the Melbourne Ministry, but became the Paymaster-General under Lord John Russell in 1846. His sister Hannah married Sir Charles Trevelyan at the Treasury.)
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