PILOT, the officer who superintends the navigation,
either upon the sea-coast or on the main ocean. It is,
however, more particularly applied by our mariners to
the person charged with the direction of a ship's course
on or near the sea-coast, and into the roads, bays, rivers,
havens, &c. within his respective district.
Pilots of ships, taking upon them to conduct any ship
from Dover, &c. to any place up the river Thames, are
to be first examined and approved by the master and
wardens of the society of Trinity House, &c. or shall
forfeit 10l. for the first offence, 20l. for the second, and
40l. for every other offence; one moiety to the infor-
mer, the other to the master and wardens; but any
master or mate of a ship may pilot his own vessel up the
river; and if any ship be lost through the negligence of
any pilot, he shall be for ever after disabled to act as a
pilot. 3 Geo. I. c. 13. Also the lord-warden of the
cinque ports may make rules for the government of pi-
lots, and order a sufficient number to ply at sea to con-
duct ships up to the Thames: 7 Geo. I. c. 21. No
person shall act as a pilot on the Thames, &c. (except
in collier ships) without a licence from the master and
wardens of Trinity House at Deptford, on pain of for-
feiting 20l. And pilots are to be subject to the go-
vernment of that corporation; and pay ancient dues,
not exceeding 1s. in the pound, out of wages, for the
use of the poor thereof. Stat. 5 Geo. II. c. 20.
By the former laws of France, no person could be re-
ceived as pilot till he had made several voyages and pas-
sed a strict examination; and after that, on his return
in long voyages, he was obliged to lodge a copy of his
journal in the admiralty; and if a pilot occasioned the
loss of a ship, he had to pay 100 livres fine, and to be
for ever deprived of the exercise of pilotage; and if he
did it designedly, be punished with death. Lex Mercat.
70, 71.
The laws of Oleron ordain, That if any pilot design-
edly misguide a ship, that it may be cast away, he shall
be put to a rigorous death, and hung in chains: and if
the lord of a place, where a ship be thus lost, abet such
villains in order to have a share of the wreck, he shall
be apprehended, and all his goods forfeited for the fa-
ctisation of the persons suffering; and his person shall
be fastened to a stake in the midst of his own mansion,
which, being fired on the four corners, shall be burned
to the ground, and he with it. Leg. Ol. c. 25. And
if the fault of a pilot be so notorious, that the ship's crew
see an apparent wreck, they may lead him to the hatches,
and strike off his head; but the common law denies this
hasty execution: an ignorant pilot is sentenced to pass
thrice under the ship's keel by the laws of Denmark.
Lex Mercat. 70.
The regulations with regard to pilots in the royal na-
vy are as follow: "The commanders of the king's ships,
in order to give all reasonable encouragement to so use-
ful a body of men as pilots, and to remove all their ob-
jections to his majesty's service, are strictly charged to treat them with good usage, and an equal respect with warrant-officers.
"The parlor of the ship is always to have a set of bedding provided on board for the pilots; and the captain is to order the boatswain to supply them with hammocks, and a convenient place to lie in, near their duty, and apart from the common men; which bedding and hammocks are to be returned when the pilots leave the ship.
"A pilot, when conducting one of his majesty's ships in pilot-water, shall have the sole charge and command of the ship, and may give orders for steering, setting, trimming, or furling the sails; tacking the ship; or whatever concerns the navigation: and the captain is to take care that all the officers and crew obey his orders. But the captain is diligently to observe the conduct of the pilot; and if he judges him to behave so ill as to bring the ship into danger, he may remove him from the command and charge of the ship, and take such methods for her preservation as shall be judged necessary; remarking upon the log book, the exact hour and time when the pilot was removed from his office, and the reasons assigned for it.
"Captains of the king's ships, employing pilots in foreign parts of his majesty's dominions, shall, after performance of the service, give a certificate thereof to the pilot, which being produced to the proper naval officer, he shall cause the same to be immediately paid; but if there be no naval-officer there, the captain of his majesty's ship shall pay him, and send the proper vouchers, with his bill, to the navy-board, in order to be paid as bills of exchange.
"Captains of his majesty's ships, employing foreign pilots to carry the ships they command into or out of foreign ports, shall pay them the rates due by the establishment or custom of the country, before they discharge them: whose receipts being duly vouched, and sent, with a certificate of the service performed, to the navy-board, they shall cause them to be paid with the same exactness as they do bills of exchange." Regulations and Instructions of the Sea-service, &c.