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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0398 and id is 1 raw text is: THE JONGE BASTIAAN
possession, and such as would suspend the relation of the convoying ship; not,
Whether it is a complete and firm possession, which, for some purposes, is, in con-
templation of law, not held to be effected, till the prize is carried infra prcasidia ?
The rule of infra praesidia, however, is certainly not the [321] measure to be applied
to questions of this kind : The very clause of the Prize Act alludes to cases of salvage,
in which no such complete possession is supposed, since it speaks of vessels being re-
captured, and permitted to continue on their original voyage. As little can it be
contended that the vessel should have been out of sight, to found a case of recapture ;
it will be sufficient, if there has been that complete and absolute possession, which
supersedes the authority of the convoying ship; and such a possession must have
been maintained for some time in the present instance. Every act of possession was
exercised; the master was taken out; the vessel was completely manned with as
many of the captor's crew as were sufficient to overpower all resistance, and the vessel
was taken in tow by the enemy. By these acts the former relation subsisting between
this vessel and the convoying ship was necessarily suspended. A ship in possession
of the enemy can obey no signal, nor support its former duties and subordination to
the convoying ship. There might still remain an obligation on the part of the con-
voying ship to attempt the recapture, as far as it- could be done consistently with the
safety of the other vessels under her protection. Such a duty would result from the
injunctions of the Prize Act, which provides a reward for the recaptor, when the
service is effected, and cannot therefore be intended to preclude the demand of
salvage, though the service rendered to the individual by the recaptor may be no
more than a sense of public duty would otherwise require from him. The capture
is, I think, proved to have been sufficiently completed ; and unless I could go to the
length of holding that there must be a firm possession, and a bringing infra [322]
pra3sidia, I must pronounce this vessel to have been recovered from a situation
which has been decided to be sufficient to support the claim of salvage by the
decision of the Superior Court.
THE JONGE BASTIAAN -(Steyting). December 12, 1804.-Salvage in distress-
Amount at which the action was at first entered, not binding on the Court as
to the quantum, &c.
[Referred to, The Atlas, 1862, Lush, 527.]
(Instance Court.)
This was a case of salvage on derelict, for the recovery of a ship which had struck
upon a rock, near Harwich, had lost her rudder and beat in her bottom, and, being
deserted by her crew, was warped off by the William and Mary smack, with great
danger and peril. After she had been so brought off, and placed in such a situation
that the master was able to take away some bullion, which composed part of the
cargo, the vessel sunk, from the damage which she had received, but was afterwards
weighed up, and brought to Harwich by six other smacks, with great and continued
exertions through five weeks. The value of the property saved was stated to be
about £3,400.
On the part of the salvors-It was represented to have been a service of very great
merit, and it was prayed that the Court would think the salvors entitled to a very
liberal remuneration.
On this point, Arnold, for the owners, objected-That the action had been entered
only for the amount of £800, and that the Court could not grant a salvage exceeding
that sum.
[323] On the other side, it was answered-That the action was originally entered
only on the part of the first salvors, and that other salvors could not be concluded
by any amount that they might affix to their action ; but that the objection was
untenable even as against them, since the owners would be equally answerable if
no bail had been taken.
Judgment-Sir W. Scott : The whole matter is before the Court, and I think the
Court is by no means limited by any particular demand of the parties. This is a
case of salvage of extraordinary merit, and of very long continuance. It was
attended with very great danger, and was carried on in opposition to the opinion of
the master himself, who represented the recovery of the vessel to be totally im-
practicable, and discouraged the parties from persevering in the attempt at the peril
of their lives. It appears that the vessel was stuck fast upon a rock, with her bottom
5 0. ROB. 321.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0398&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)