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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0460 and id is 1 raw text is: THE VICTORIA
southward towards the Isle of Princes, and whilst so standing during the night of the
4th of March was fallen in with and captured by Her Majesty's sloop Star, and
that thereupon an officer and prize crew were placed on board the vessel with orders
to take her forthwith to Sierra Leone to be dealt with according to law in the Vice-
Admiralty Court. That whilst proceeding towards Sierra Leone she was upset in
a squall and foundered, the persons on board her escaping on a raft, and being after-
wards picked up by Her Majesty's sloop Cygnet.
4th. That the usual proceedings having been instituted by Her Majesty's sloop
Star in the Vice-Admiralty Court at Sierra Leone, the Judge condemned the
said ship or vessel, but by error or mistake so condemned her, notwithstanding the
premises, as captured by Her Majesty's sloop Star, and not by Her Majesty's
sloop Wasp.
5th. That the bounties granted by Act of Parliament on the tonnage of the said
ship or vessel Felicidade, amounting to the sum of £1298, or thereabouts, have
since been paid by the Lords of the Treasury to Messrs. William and Edward Chard,
as agents for the commander, officers and crew of the Star, in virtue of the said
in part erroneous sentence, and which [48] sum is still in the hands of the said W.
and E. Chard, who have been duly warned on behalf of the Wasp not to proceed
to distribution of the same, &c.
The admission of the allegation was opposed by Queen's Advocate and Jenner
for the Star.
Addams and Robertson, contra.
Per Curiam.-It is, I conceive, perfectly clear, that the same principles of law,
which are applied to cases of prize capture in the time of war, are applicable to cases
of this kind, where the subject-matter is the bounty granted on the capture or
destruction of vessels engaged in the slave trade. The first question then which
arises is, whether, supposing that this vessel had been a prize capture in time of
war, the claim of the officers and crew of the Wasp could have been sustained by
the facts which are pleaded in this allegation. I am clearly of opinion that it could
not, and for this reason, viz. that the original seizors never completed their possession,
and the incipient interest which they had acquired was entirely divested by the
subsequent rescue. It has been said that the subsequent rescue was not a lawful
recapture of the ship. Whether it was so or not, I am not called upon to determine
in the present instance ; and I gladly forbear to enter into the question, which,
if I had to decide, would undoubtedly be one of no ordinary difficulty. The present
question is not whether the original seizors of this vessel were divested lawfully or
not, but whether they were effectually divested. If they were, according to the
principles heretofore laid down in the Prize Courts of this country in the [49] cases
of The Polly and The Marguerette, and reported in the fourth volume of Sir
Christopher Robinson's Reports, their interest was entirely gone. That such was
the case in the present instance, is apparent upon the very face of the case which
is set up in this allegation. It has been said that the original papers of the slave
vessel remained in the possession of the Wasp. I do not see that this can at all
affect the question. I am of opinion that upon the facts declared in this allegation,
the officers and crew of the Star were the efficient captors of the slaver, and as
such are entitled to the whole benefit of the bounty. I must, therefore, reject the
allegation.
Allegation rejected.
THE VICTORIA -(Mallaburn). May 5, 1848.-A vessel lying at anchor in a track
frequented by other ships, is bound at night to exhibit an efficient light. The
owners of a vessel so lying at anchor, and run into by a vessel under sail, held
to have been in fault in omitting to exhibit such light.
[S. C. 6 Notes of Cas. 176.]
This was a cause of damage brought by the owners of the Three Betseys
against this vessel, her tackle, &c.
The act on petition in substance set forth that the Three Betseys, of ninety-
six tons, and manned with a crew of five hands, including the master, was bound on
a voyage from Hartlepool to London with a cargo of coals. That about 8 P.m of
the 8th of January, having arrived in the South-west Reach, she was brought up in
six fathoms water, the Middle Light bearing N.E. by N., distant about two miles.
3W. ROB. 48.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0460&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)