SALVAGE. Goods saved Warder et al. of it, the leading facts. I have, in addition thereto, examined the log-books of both ships, and find by the state of the winds and weather, as therein mentioned, that the Amiable was retarded in her pas from La Belle Creole. A supplementary libel was afterwards filed, in which the goods are claimed by the owners, master, and crew of the Amiable, as wholly belonging to them "as goods derelict and abandoned," and their delivery to the owners, &c. is prayed. The claim and answer of captain Davor, master of La Belle Creole, state, that his ship was in great distress, and in danger of perishing; and that he, together with his crew, were taken on board the Amiable on the 15th day of November. That on that day, and before and afterwards, the mate of the Amiable, and some mariners belonging to her, together with the crew of La Belle Creole, saved the goods and materials libelled and claimed. Captain Davor denies the abandonment of the ship and cargo, but declares an intention was entertained by him to repossess the same, should he at any time after be able so to do; and particularly denies the surrender of La Belle Creole, &c. to the master and crew of the Amiable; and asserts, that the said master and crew of the Amiable, at the period aforesaid, declared that all they saved was for the master and crew of La Belle Creole. The claim and answer further state, that the master of La Belle Creole could not abandon the goods, &c. as they did not belong to him, but to persons in France; and that, even had they so abandoned them, the same being done under the impression of fear and danger, and from extreme necessity, could have no effect. It is also stated that, as the respondents were always in sight, or within reach of the property, and assisted in saving them, by the civil and maritime law they cannot be considered as derelict. The respondents say they are willing to allow the libellants a reasonable salvage, proportionate to their trouble and exertions." Captain Davor states that the articles found in his trunks, not being merchandise, but money, furniture, &c. belonging only SALVAGE. sage, by the circumstances related in the libel; though, for some time during her stay with the Belle Creole, the winds were adverse. The distressed to himself, and the mariners of La Belle Creole, are not by the maritime law and custom liable to salvage; he therefore prays, that the marshall be ordered to return the same to him, free of salvage and all charges. By the depositions of the witnesses produced on the part of Warder and others, the principal facts, as stated in the libel, are established; and it is further stated, that at the time the master and crew of La Belle Creole were taken on board the Amiable, and before the greater part of the goods were saved, captain Davor ordered the ship to be burned, and this was only prevented by the interference of the master of the Amiable. It is further stated, that after the master and crew of La Belle Creole were received on board the Amiable, they lost sight of the said vessel, and, supposing she had gone down, the master of the Amiable determined to proceed to America. When the sun rose the next day, La Belle Creole was discovered, boarded, and the greater part of the articles saved were taken on board the Amiable. She had, at this time, eleven feet water in the hold, and the water was up to the cabin floor : on leaving her she was set on fire. It is also admitted in the depositions of these witnesses, that the crew of La Belle Creole assisted in saving the goods, &c. After the arrival of the Amiable in Philadelphia, an attempt was made, by the officers of La Belle Creole, to bribe the mate, and one of the seamen of the Amiable, to assist in smuggling some of the articles saved. In the depositions of the witnesses produced on the part of the respondents, some of the circumstances stated in the claim and answer are detailed; but no proof was offered in support of the assertion in the claim and answer, that captain Davor entertained any expectation, or intention, that he would, at any time, regain possession of the ship, goods, &c. One half of the cargo of La Belle Creole had been thrown overboard before the Amiable was spoken; and, but for her assistance, all would have perished.-E. F SALVAGE. Goods saved from La Warder et al. and hopeless condition of the Belle Creole, is described in her log-book, in the great points nearly according with the testimony. This log-book confirms, in many important points, the testimony on the part of the libellants, contradicts, in some instances, and supplies in others, facts omitted by the witnesses for the claimants and respondents. I do not find that the Amiable was in any real, though, like all vessels loitering on a coast, she was exposed to possible, danger, and unnecessarily protracted risque. Points made by libellants. 1st. Dereliction by the master. There have been three points made in this cause.. 1st. Dereliction, and a claim of the whole under 1797. The brigan The following cases of SALVAGE have been decided in the District tine Harmony Richard Concklin and others, found on shore on the Bahama bank, deserted and versus The brigantine Harmony, her cargo, &c. abandoned, LIBEL. with very great labour, difficulty and danger, she was brought into N. York by the libellants. One } "To the honourable Robert Troup, Esquirc, judge of the district court of the United States for the district of New York. -The libel of Richard Conklin, owner of a moiety of the sloop Betsy, and master of the said sloop, Strong Conklin, owner of the other moiety and mate of the said sloop, Enoch Conklin and moiety of the Nathan Smith, mariners on board the said sloop, against the brigantine Harmony, her tackle, apparel, furniture and cargo.” The said libellants give this honourable court to understand and be informed, that, proceeding on a certain voyage from New neat proceeds of yessel and cargo allowed as salvage. SALVAGE. words used by the captain, said to amount to an express abandonment; and, from the circumstances of the case, a dereliction by implication. from La Belle Creole. 2d. The de lay of the a deviation. 2d. That the delay of the Amiable, while attending on, and giving assistance to, and saving the goods out of, the Belle Creole, was a deviation Amiable was which exposed to risque, out of the common course of the voyage, and would have forfeited any insurance which might have been made on the vessel and cargo, or either of them. 3d. The quantum of salvage, if the first point should be determined against the libellants. On the first point I have translated an authority out of Burlemaqui, which contains what I believe to be an accurate account of the ideas of the best 3d. The quantum of salvage, if the first point, libellants. against the Legal definition of dere writers on the subject of dereliction, and occu- liction. pancy, consequential upon it. "One may acquire, by the the right of the first "occupant, things which the proprietor has aban Providence for the port of New York, with a quantity of merchandize loaded on board the said sloop called the Betsy, viz. a large quantity of pine-apples and yams, of the value of five thousand dollars, or thereabouts, on the twentieth day of May last, in the Bahama straits, they discovered the said brigantine, called the Harmony, lying on a rank heel, with her sails flying, and main boom in the water, in great apparent distress, at the distance of about eleven leagues from the north-west point of Bahama island, on a certain bank of sand interspersed with rocks, which runs along the western and northern coasts of the said island. That these libellants thereupon made sail to the said brigantine, and, finding the same abandoned by the crew, were induced to go on board of the same. That, on examining the said brigantine, all her hatches, except the main hatch, being open, they found she contained a cargo consisting of sugar and molasses; but that 1 SALVAGE. from La Belle Creolė. Y Warder et al. doned with a design never more to hold them as his Goods saved own. Although one is not in possession of a thing, the right of recovery is not lost, unless it is renounced in a manner either express or implied. Hence the injustice of those countries which confiscate the property of goods shipwrecked, thrown overboard to lighten the vessel, or stolen, in place of returning them to the owners." The cases of dereliction, in which the maxim of occupantis fiunt derelicta is founded, generally run on the principle of a voluntary abandonment by the owner, with his free consent; and not on such a relinquishment as force, necessity, or danger, compel. The instances of wreck, or goods thrown overboard to lighten the vessel, may be given to elucidate this doctrine: and these are always recoverable, on payment or tender of salvage. It should seem that little prospect of recovery existed in the case of goods ejected, to lighten and save the ship; yet the right of recovery is not lost; but, on proof of property, they are re Goods temporarily lost, by wreck or ejection from necessity, recoverable on tender of salvage. the same had not, as far as these libellants examined, been then considerably damaged; that there were no papers on board by which they could learn the names of the proprietors of the vessel; that they found six feet and a half of water in the hold of the said brigantine. And these libellants further shew that, determining to effect, if possible, the preservation of the said brigantine and her cargo, they immediately cast anchor at a small distance from the said brigantine, notwithstanding two rocks appeared above water, within two hundred yards of their station, and continued at anchor along side, or near the said brigantine, all that night and the three succeeding days; during which time these libellants, by great exertions of labour, and with severe fatigue, were continually employed in throwing the said cargo of the said sloop the Betsy |