GUNS. Chargé d'Affaires or subordinate diplomatic agents left in charge of missions Consuls-General, or British Factories Salutes to Military Authorities. The Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, or the Commander-in-Chief, or the officer commanding-in-chief the whole army of the United Kingdom The first Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty The Master-General of the Ordnance Salutes to Officers. Field Marshals and Admirals of the Fleet 11 9 7 15 PR6 19 15 17 Brigadier-Generals, or Commodores of the first class 9 Return salutes to Commodores of the second class, Captains of the 7 Note. While any of the officers mentioned in this section hold commissions as Commanders-in-Chief, or Commanders of the forces of a station, they shall be entitled to be saluted with two more guns than are specified in the above scale against their respective ranks. Salutes to Governors, etc. The Governor-general of India (within the Indian Seas) The Governor of Madras or Bombay, (within the Indian Seas,) All salutes from ships of war of other nations, either to Her Majesty's forts or ships, are to be returned gun for gun, but no salutes shall be given to such ships of war by Her Majesty's ships without an assurance that such salutes will be returned. Her Majesty's ships or vessels are not, on any account, to lower their top-gallant-sails, nor their flags, to any foreign ship or vessel whatsoever, unless the foreign ships or vessels shall first, or at the same time, lower their top-gallant-sails or their flags to them. If any of Her Majesty's subjects shall so far forget their duty as to attempt to pass any of Her Majesty's ships without striking their topsails, the names of the ship and the master, the port to which they belong, the place from which they came, and that to which they are bound, together with affidavits of the fact, are to be sent to the Secretary of the Admiralty, in order to their being proceeded against in the Admiralty Court. DEMURRAGE is a clause inserted in a charter-party, to the effect that after certain days have been stipulated for the discharge or loading of a cargo, a given amount per diem shall be paid for a certain number of days for the detention of the ship, after the expiration of which the owners have a right against the charterers for further damages. In respect by whose fault such detention is occasioned, it has been determined that accidental circumstances, over which the master has no control, such as detention in the docks, etc., would constitute demurrage, for Abbot says:-" When the time is expressly stipulated and ascertained by the terms of the contract, the merchant shall be liable to an action for damage, if the thing be not done within the time, although this may not be attributed to any fault or omission on his part, for he has engaged that it shall be done." We had a case in the north of Ireland in which four vessels had clauses in their charter-parties to the effect that they should enter a port of discharge fully laden, and remain floating at the lowest state of the tide. Having proceeded to the entrance of the port to which they were ordered, the captains found that they could not do so, and refused to go any further. The argument the merchants used was, that for years vessels had discharged part of their cargoes into lighters at the entrance of the port, and come up partly laden, and therefore they could come up. The captains said they would do so, if the consignees would guarantee that their vessels would sustain no damage thereby; this the merchants declined to do, and the captains gave notice they would sail away to another port and discharge their cargoes, for account of whom it might concern. Rather than allow them to do this, the merchants agreed to place the arbitration in our hands, to which the captains gave their acquiescence. Thinking that the captains, by the strict stipulations of the charter-party, were in the right, although we were quite aware that the case, perhaps, might be decided otherwise before an Irish jury, from the fact of the custom of the harbour having established the habit of partly discharging at the entrance of the port; still we decided the case in favour of the captains, and the consignees had to pay demurrage for the detention of the vessels, and guaranteed them from all damage in going up the river to the port. This is only adduced to show how careful parties should be, in the insertion of phrases in charter-parties, from which demurrage may accrue. DEVIATION OF VOYAGE is the proceeding to another port, or even calling at other ports out of the line of voyage, not specified in the policy of insurance or charter-party, unless such deviation is necessary for the safety of the vessel and cargo; and even this may discharge the underwriters from their liability: as regards a direct deviation from the voyage, it nearly amounts to barratry (vide BARRATRY). In cases where, in a deviation from the voyage, the merchandise is injured from any cause, the owners have a right for damages against the proprietors of the vessel, and may recover accordingly; for they covenanted that their goods should be conveyed from such a port to another, and therefore most probably having insured them for the voyage agreed on, the captain's deviating from it would vitiate the policy of insurance, and the owners of the cargo would have, in justice, a claim against the captain, and he, being the agent of the proprietors, would also have a claim against them. DESERTERS FROM VESSELS.-(Vide Consular Instructions, page 69, and Foreign Deserters' Act, etc., Section VII.) Reciprocal engagements for the apprehension of deserters were also entered into by Treaties of 1810 and 1827 with Portugal and Brazil, and in 1734, 1766, and 1797, with Russia. FREIGHT is an amount stipulated for the hire or part hire of a vessel, and which is generally not considered to be due until the performance of the voyage, unless it is expressly stipulated to the contrary, although the master may insist, in most cases, upon the freight being paid before delivery of the goods. In the case of goods contained in casks, etc., which may have leaked to a great extent, and for which the master had signed bills of lading to the effect that they were shipped in good condition, the owner may abandon the goods for the freight if he thinks proper. It seems hard, under some circumstances, that the law of England has adopted it as a general rule, that goods swelling on the voyage, such as grain, etc., should only be liable to pay freight according to the quantity shipped. This, however, on further consideration, seems but just; as corn, by being damp, may easily increase in bulk, and if such a doctrine were countenanced, it would be the means of inducing some unprincipled masters to get their cargo heated and damp, for the express purpose of increasing the bulk; as where a certain quantity is stipulated as shipped in the bill of lading, it is just to conclude that it was his duty to see the quantity stated was correct. In the case of neutral vessels conveying the enemies' property, and such being seized, the captor must pay the whole freight, for as Abbot justly observes, he then represents the enemy, by possessing himself of the goods jure belli, and he prevents the completion of the voyage, whereby the freight might have been earned. In cases where a neutral property is seized, conveyed on enemies' ships, and the captor conveys such goods to the port of her destination, he can claim the freight from the owners of the property on condition of his having fulfilled the stipulations of the contract. In the event of a vessel conveying the goods, becoming so injured as to be unable to carry the same to their destination, the master is justified in forwarding the goods to their destination in another ship, and claiming, on their delivery, the freight; but if the master is unable to do so, he cannot claim part freight or any freight at all, unless the merchant voluntarily takes possession of the goods without protest, and thereby tacitly acknowledges that the contract has been fulfilled. It may be as well to state, that no passage money can be claimed for children born during the voyage. HIGH SEAS.*-Offences on high seas in cases of smuggling are to be taken as committed in places where the offenders are brought to trial. 8 & 9 Vict., c. 87, s. 95. ILLEGAL VOYAGES are when a vessel has been insured, and by trading with an enemy without the Queen's licence, the policy of the insurance becomes vitiated thereby. Barratry may be taken as a kind of illegal voyage. GOD, THE ACT OF, is a clause inserted in charter-parties and in bills of lading, that the goods shall be delivered, the act of God, etc., excepted; which signifies natural accidents, such as earthquakes, lightnings, storms, or tempests, etc. INSURANCE, MARINE.-Insurance is effected by giving a certain sum for a given risk; in consideration of which, the insurance companies or underwriters contract to pay the whole amount of the articles insured if they should be lost, or a certain contribution, should the loss be a subject-matter for general or particular average. The insurance is either taken by Lloyd's or an insurance company. There are matters which are not legal subjects of insurance-such as seamen's wages, money lent to the captain out of the freight, goods intended to be made the subject of illegal commerce. Although only part of the goods insured may be illegal, still the whole policy is vitiated thereby. As regards the risk generally undertaken, space will not permit us to enter more fully on the subject, except by adding in Section VI. a form of a policy of insurance generally used. Steel, Abbot, Lees, and Holt, have written very largely on the subject, and to them we beg to refer the reader. LIEN. It has been decided that no shipwright has a lien upon a vessel for the repairs, etc., done to the vessel, when he parts with the * Vide Consular Instructions. possession of the vessel, and can only recover the same from the owners in an action for debt, as he in this case, as well as tradesmen, who have no lien upon the ship, are supposed to have given the credit for the requisites required for the vessel to the owner. In maritime lien the persons who have a claim in the Admiralty Court in Rem, and can compel reimbursement, consist of those who have rendered services to the ship by their labour, as mariners, by pilotage, towage, salvage, and by the loan of money as bottomry for repairs. The wages of seamen have the first claim upon a vessel, as they constitute the power by which the vessel is brought to port; and then come salvage, pilotage, towage, or bottomry. Bottomry, however, has a precedence over prior salvage, although it gives way to subsequent salvage. Sir John Nichol, speaking of lien, says :— “Subjects which operate for the protection of prior interests are privileged over those interests." MANIFEST is a correct list, containing the marks, description, and number of packages of the goods shipped by the vessel, certified by the master before the Collector of Customs, Consul, or Ship Broker, or by the Shipping Agent. (For form of Manifest, vide Consular Forms, Section VI.) MARRIAGE can be solemnised abroad before an Ambassador or Consul. (Vide Section II., Act for the Solemnization of Marriages Abroad.) MEDICINES.-The following is the Scale issued by the Board of Trade, in pursuance of the Section 224, of the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104. SCALE of MEDICINES and MEDICAL STORES suitable to Accidents and Diseases arising on SEA VOYAGES, to be kept on board BRITISH MERCHANT SHIPS navigating between the United Kingdom and any place out of the same, on and after the 1st day of January, 1856. Issued by the Board of Trade, in pursuance of 17 & 18 Vict., c. 104, sect. 224. |