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" Beaver," In re The Eng. Rep. 397 (1752-1865)

handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0385 and id is 1 raw text is: 3 C. ROB. 91.                 THE  BEAVER                               397
was no danger attending such a voyage, and that there was no reason for concealment;
when, by this very case, as well as in several others that have occurred, it sufficiently
appears, that a destination to Amsterdam, was a thing of most anxious and
industrious concealment, in all of them ?
Looking at all these circumstances, seeing that the master never did apply to
Mr. Dickinson for instructions-that at the time of the capture he had got as far as
Dungeness,-considering that the master cannot say where the cargo was to be
delivered,-that the insurance was directed in the letter to Mr. Dickinson to be made
for Amsterdam,-that Mr. Hodgson at Amsterdam was to receive the cargo,-that
no funds were provided, and tjhat imme-[91]-diately on the news of the capture (a)
the bills were dishonoured ; can I have a doubt, that the original voyage was to
Amsterdam, and that this cargo was the very fund out of which the bills were to be
paid ? Adverting, at the same time to the disingenuous manner in which the farther
proof has been produced, and the necessity that has been imposed on the Court of
dragging forward the separate parts, I cannot entertain a doubt that such was the
real destination ; or that if there ever had been any other destination at first, it was
abandoned before the writing of that letter to Hodgson.
On the question of property, I am far from thinking that the proof is satisfactory,
or by any means complete. It is not necessary however to enter into that question :
If I was obliged to decide on that point, I should not hesitate to say, that the property
is by no means proved ; and that the claimants have conducted themselves in such
a manner, as to have forfeited the right of giving farther proof. But looking at the
nature of this voyage (b), I think myself warranted in declaring my opinion, that it
subjects the property to confiscation.
[92] THE  BEAVER -(Grierson, Master). May 22, 1800.-Mariner's wages.-By
•stat. 39, Geo. III. c. 80, s. 29, for the regulation of the African trade, mariners are
not to be discharged abroad in that service-Wages given to the time of the
ship's return to Liverpool, &c.
(Instance Court.)
This was a case of a suit for wages on the part of a mariner, stating, that he had
been hired to serve in this ship on a voyage from Liverpool to the coast of Africa and
back ; and that he had been put on shore and discharged.
On the part of the defendant, it was contended, that it was much more probable
that the man had deserted, as he was a person of bad character, and had confessed he
had been guilty of theft.
Judgment-Sir W. Scott : By the act of parliament, 39 Geo. III. c. 80. s. 29 (a) it
(a) In the letter of Wilkins Andre to the claimant.
(b) In The Anne, Lord (Lords, 29th July 1801.)-A claim was brought before the
Lords of Appeal on behalf of an American subject for a cargo of wine, &c. taken on a
voyage from Rotterdam to Surinam. The sentence of condemnation of the Vice
Admiralty Court was affirmed. The Court of Appeal declaring,  the grounds of
their decision to be the illegality of the trade  ; that the orders of council of 25th Jan.
1798, had not extended the relaxation so far, as to legalise the trade of neutrals,
between the colonies and mother-country of the enemy; that it had been always
a prohibited trade, under the general commercial system of Europe, and was to be
so considered, notwithstanding any temporary alteration of the system on the part
of the enemy, owing to the pressure of the war, &c.
(a) An act for better regulating the manner of carrying slaves, in British vessels,
from the coast of Africa.
Sect. 29. And be it further enacted, That no officer, mariner, or seaman, shall
be turned over or discharged, upon any pretence whatever, unless into His Majesty's
ships of war, or to assist a ship in actual distress, which is to be certified by the
principal officer of the ships concerned, and an agreement so made in writing with
the said officer or men so lent, or upon preferment, or under ill state of health, with
the consent of the party, for which a certificate shall be given from the captain of any
of His Majesty's ships or vessels, if any are present, or in their absence, two justices,
or the collector or controller of the customs, at the place or port where such ship
or vessel shall be, or shall first arrive ; which certificate shall be returned with the

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