It has been recommended to the masters of trading vessels not only to pay a due attention to the regulations of ports, but also to be careful not to give offence to the military governors, or the officers on guard in garrisons. To avoid it, they should inquire what military orders are given out with respect to the harbour, and oblige their crews to observe them. As these orders vary in different places, it is not possible to enumerate them; but one instance may serve to explain the utility of the recommendation above given. Firing a musket, or even a pocket pistol, on board a ship or on shore, without leave obtained from the commanding officer, or notice given of the intention to fire it, is an offence liable to punishment by imprisonment. In the month of November, 1765, a boy on board an English collier fired at a bird flying across the bason; the officer on the quay-guard was alarmed, sent a file of soldiers on board and demanded the boy; the master concealed him, and refusing to deliver him up, was himself carried on shore, and kept in custody till the matter was compromised by the intercession of the British vice-consul. But it may happen that no such protector is on the spot, in which case great inconveniences may arise, from ignorance of the established customs in sea-ports which are garrison towns. In a word, no care or circumspection can be too great on the part of masters of trading ships, to keep themselves and their crews free from all molestation in the ports to which their cargoes are consigned (1). With respect to the right of mooring barges to wharfs in the river Thames, the custom of mooring barges at low water appears to be for one tide at the piles in the front of the wharf; and if there are no piles the custom does not allow the barges to moor at the wharf, except through distress. (2) Besides the more general acts of parliament we have just noticed, there are various statutes peculiarly applicable to particular ports and harbours (3). Most of these contain enactments authorizing an officer called the harbour-master to arrange the stations of vessels riding in the port. Thus the Dover act, 34 Geo. 3. c. 112. s. 1. recites that it is of great consequence to the public that some further powers should be given for re (1) 1 Beawes's Lex Merc. 307,8. (2) Wyat v. Thompson, 1 Esp. Rep. 252. (3) See the Indexes to the Statutes at large, title "Ports." gulating that harbour, and the mooring the ships and vessels therein; and it is therefore enacted, "that the said warden and assistants, or their harbour-master for the time being, shall be authorized and empowered to order, direct, and regulate the immediate mooring or stationing of ships and vessels resorting to and coming into the harbour; and the passing and removing ships and vessels into and out of the said harbour; and the removing of any such ships and vessels from one part or bason of the said harbour, or to any other part, or to the bason of the said harbour, or from any part of the said harbour, or the inner bason thereof, into a certain place or bason communicating with the said harbour, called the Pent." But a regulation of this nature only gives the harbour-master authority to interfere in the public regulations of the harbour, and does not enable him to interfere with the private interest in a particular wharf. Thus where an action on the case was brought by the occupier of a wharf adjoining Dover harbour, for an injury to his right to have ships come to his wharf for the purpose of shipping and unshipping goods, by the defendant placing ships near to and opposite such wharf; and it appeared in evidence that the defendant was possessed of a wharf adjoining the plaintiff's, which was too narrow in front for a vessel to lie alongside the same without some part thereof extending in the frontage of the plaintiff's wharf; and that the defendant, with the leave of the harbour-master, placed his vessel partly in front of the plaintiff's wharf, and it was contended that this was legal under the before-mentioned act, 34 Geo. 3. c. 112. s. 1. But upon a motion on behalf of the defendant to enter a nonsuit, the court held (1) that the harbour-master had no power to give such permission to the defendant, to affect the private rights of another individual; and that the power given to the harbourmaster is principally to regulate the terms on which ships are to go to the different wharfs, and to station the different vessels in the harbour at such places at which those vessels have a right to be stationed. For instance, if a party have a wharf of full frontage, sufficient for the length of a particular ship, and there are half-a-dozen ships all desirous of going to the wharf, the harbour-master is bound to direct which is to have the prefer (1) Searle and others v. Fuller, at Serjeants Inn, Hilary Term, Comyn, for plaintiff; Adolphus and Chitty, for defendant. ence, and the order in which they are to go; but if a man has merely a frontage of five yards, the proprietor of a ship has no right to require the harbour-master, nor has the latter any authority to direct such ship to be placed in front of that narrow wharf. For this reason:-that the proprietor of the narrow wharf has acquired no right to have any ship stationed at that place. The defendant, therefore, in the case alluded to, had no right to have his ship stationed in front of the plaintiff's wharf, and had no right to have any ship stationed in front of his own wharf, unless that ship was confined to the limits of that wharf over which his right extended. CHAP. II. Of Light-houses, Beacons, and Seamarks. beacons, and LIGHT-HOUSES, beacons, and seamarks are maintained Light-houses, for the direction of mariners on different parts of the seamarks. British coast. A light-house is a tower, advantageously situated on an eminence near the sea, or at the entrance of some port or river, for the guidance of vessels in dark and tempestuous nights, by the assistance of lamps or fire burned upon the top (1). Beacons are also signals made by fire on some place near the sea, either for the purpose of directing vessels how to steer, or to give notice of the approach of an enemy. Seamarks are casual objects of a conspicuous nature which serve for the direction of such as approach the coast by day, but were either formed by nature, or designed for other purposes besides the security of navigation, as protuberances of the soil, churchsteeples, castles, trees, &c. (2) At common law, the king alone could authorize the erection of light-houses, seamarks, and beacons (3). He might erect them in such manner as appeared most advantageous for shipping and navigation, and even on the land of a subject, without his consent (4). In later times, the authority was delegated by letters patent to the lord high admiral, and became vested in the lords of the admiralty (5). At the present day, the erection of light-houses and other esta (1) As to the successive improvements in light-houses, see 3 Anders. 624. 4 Macph. 122. (2) 4 Inst. 148. Com. Dig. Navigation, H. Beawes' Lex Mer. 1 vol. 6th ed. 308. Postl. Dict. Com. tit. Light-house. Montefiore, ib. 8 Eliz. c. 13. s. 4. as to seamarks and statutes infra, 52 G. 3. c. 39. s. 67. (3) 4 Inst. 148. 12 Co. 13. Carter, 90. 2 Keb. 114. 3 Inst. 204. See letters patent of Q. Ann. stat. 3 Geo. 2. c. 36. 6 Geo. 3. Trinity House v. Clark, c. 31. 4 M. & S. 291. (4) Id. ibid. and see 4 T. R. 796,7. (5) Id. ibid. Bac. Abr. Prerogative, B. 6. Trinity House to erect and maintain lighthouses, &c. blishments of the same nature, usually takes place under the au- The statute 8 Eliz. c. 13. empowers the master, wardens, and assistants of the Trinity House, at their own costs, to erect such beacons, marks, and signs for the sea, in such places on the seashore, and uplands near the sea coast, or forelands of the sea, as appear most proper, to prevent accidents to ships on their coming into port. Although the act does not mention lighthouses, it has been held to extend to the erection of lighthouses, as well as of beacons and other seamarks; to such establishments of this nature as are intended for the direction of mariners by night, as well as to those which are to serve for their guidance by day (1). The 3d section declared that all such beacons, marks, and signs so to be erected at the costs and charges of the corporation of the Trinity House, should be continued, renewed, and maintained from time to time by the same corporation. The 4th section provided, that no steeples, trees, or other things then standing, as beacons or marks for the sea, of which notice should be given before the 1st of March then next coming to the owner or occupier of the place where they stand, by the queen's letters under her signet, should at any time thereafter be taken down, under a penalty of £100, half to the queen and half to the Trinity House. And if the offender be not of the value of £100, he is to be deemed conShips exhibiting victed of outlawry (2). A recent statute also provides, that all the clauses, penalties, and forfeitures contained in the 8th Eliz. or any other act or acts in force for the preservation of beacons, shall be construed to extend to vessels duly appointed to exhibit lights for the preservation of ships at sea, and to all persons removing, injuring, or destroying such vessels or lights, which offences may be laid and tried in any county in England (3). And every person who shall ride by, make fast to or remove, or wilfully or negligently run down or run foul of any vessel appointed to exhibit lights, or any buoy or beacon belonging to the corporation of the Trinity House of Deptford Strond, or belonging to or placed by any other corporation having lawful lights. (1) 4 Inst. 149. Bac. Abr. tit. Prerogative. (2) 8 Eliz. c. 13. s. 4. |