Just how did these sailors get their booze?

"It seems to be generally accepted amongst several authoritative sources, to whom I have spoken, that as a matter of course each crew member, during our period, was issued with 1 pint of rum a day, to be watered 3:1, lemon or lime juice and sugar added to make grog, and further more that this issue was in addition to the standard ration of a gallon of beer, or equivalents, a day. However, having now trawled various manuals, regulations, correspondence and forms of administration at some length, I can find no record of, nor means of furnishing at the Crown's expense any issue of drink other than the standard ration. Furthermore the regulations appear quite firm that substitution of equivalents was not discretionary but only to be applied upon exhaustion of the preferred issue."

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