reef; it is done in a shorter time than could possibly be expected, and I hope it may be adopted generally throughout the service.
“To Captain M. Cowan.”
“With respect to my patent fore-sail, I had it bent during the bad weather at our first sailing, and it certainly answers every purpose that the patentee intended it; for at different times during the hard weather, I sent the watch forward to reef the fore-sail, which could be done in three or four minutes, without starting tack or sheet.
“To Lawrence Bruce, Esq. Jamaica Coffee-House, London.”
“Sir,– Having tried your course in H.M. sloop Surinam, under my command, during the winter, when we had almost incessant gales of wind, and in the Bay of Biscay, when it became necessary to reef without otherwise shortening sail, I beg to assure you that we found it answer every end you propose; and I have no doubt, when better known, it will be generally adopted.
“To Captain M. Cowan.”
“I hereby certify that H.M. sloop Nautilus, late under my command, was supplied with a set of the courses on the plan of Captain Malcolm Cowan, and that having tried them in bad weather, I much approve of them for many superior advantages over the old sails, and consider it an invention of extraordinary benefit to the sea-service in general, particularly to merchant vessels, as tending immediately to their preservation on a lee-shore.
“They can be reefed while set on the ship, without lessening any other part of the effect of the sails, and in a simple maimer by few hands, and the reef let out again with great expedition in the worst weather. They are also less liable to split in taking in or setting.
“Being first lieutenant of his Majesty’s ship Minotaur, I had frequent opportunities of trying your new main-sail, that reefs at the foot, which answers beyond expectation, having repeatedly taken in the reef, and let it out, three or four times a day, which was done in a few minutes, without taking the sail off the ship. But it was particularly of service to us, after the action off Trafalgar, while carrying sail off the lee-shore, and here we found the greatest benefit, in being able to take the reef in during the heavy squalls, and let it out again so expeditiously when it moderated.
“To Captain M. Cowan.”
