The main sources for information on Sultana's crew are the two muster books, TNA ADM 36/7269 and 36/7270. Like the logbooks, these were kept in pre-printed volumes whose format was standardized by the Navy. The primary purpose of these books is not to track personnel, however, but to track expenses paid out and debts incurred. They can be considered account books as much as anything else.

Introduction to the muster books

The MUSTER-TABLE recorded, once a week, how many crew were currently being carried aboard (‘Borne’), divided into how many were ‘Mustered’ (present to be accounted for), ‘Checqued’ (absent from the muster that day), and ‘Sick’.

The next table, recorded on the general-purpose sheets used for most of the book, records ‘Supernumeraries borne for Victuals.’ These were not members of the crew, but any other persons carried aboard who were entitled to be fed from the ship's food supplies but were not entitled to be paid seaman's wages. Almost always on Sultana, these were local pilots, brought aboard for a day or a few days at the most, to direct the schooner into or out of an unfamiliar port or harbor. They were issued certificates which they could present for payment to naval authorities ashore. Here, we also find men carried aboard for short times who belonged to other vessels, or who were being carried as passengers under special circumstances.

Next is the ‘Run Table,’ written on the same type of form. This is the record of desertion, which was rarely negligible on a naval vessel, and was rampant on Sultana and her fellow interceptors on the North American station. The Run Table's purpose was to provide the Navy with a record of men who had deserted and (a) were thus deserving of the prescribed punishment if caught; and (b) had forfeited whatever wages they would have otherwise earned for their time in service aboard. Fortunately for posterity, the Run Table provides details of when, where, and how the men deserted.