SALVAGE. two remaining thirds shall be subject to the following expenses and payments, which are hereby directed to be discharged and made forthwith. The costs accrued, and to accrue, in this cause, shall be fully paid and discharged, and all expenses incurred in the storage, and on the sale of the whole, as they shall be examined and taxed: and all duties and customs therein legally chargeable, and charged, shall also be paid thereout. After all the said costs and charges and duties shall be fully paid and discharged, the balance of the said two thirds shall remain in this court, subject to the further order, judgment and decree thereof. Warder et al. from La Belle Creole. about the nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord 1803, bound to the city and port of New York in the New York district, with a cargo of merchandize, the said schooner's crew, consisting of the said Noah Pratt, who was master, your libellant Andrew Morehouse, who was mate, and the other libellants James Ford, Elihu Carrington, and Rienhold Willenbrant, together with the said Jesse Lyon, who were seamen, and the said Peter Jones who was cook of the said schooner William, for the said voyage. And these libellants further shew, and give the court here to understand and be informed that on or about the fifteeenth day of November in the year last aforesaid, while the said schooner William was on her said voyage from Tobago to this port of New York, and navigated as aforesaid, and in latitude by observation thirty-six degrees and fifty-five minutes north, at or about four of the clock in the afternoon, the said schooner William on the high seas fell in with a certain brigantine or vessel called the Jefferson of Newbury Port, commanded by one James Adams, which said brigantine, as the libellants were then informed, and believed to be true, was last from St. Bartholomews, and was bound to the port of New York in the New York district, with a considerable cargo on board.And your libellants further shew and declare, that shortly after SALVAGE. Taylor and others, owners, and Heartwell and others, versus, Goods saved from the Cato. } 1806. The brig Alexander, on a voyage na to Phila delphia, met the Cato at sea in distress, DECREE. THE brig Alexander, Heartwell, master, laden with a valuable cargo, on her passage from the Havanna for Philadelphia, on the sixth of September from Havan- last, met, on the high seas, with the ship Cato, Pyle, master, on a voyage from New Orleans to Bordeaux, in great distress, and on the point of perishThe master and crew of the Cato were taken on board of the Alexander, with part of the cargo, consisting of 6 seroons of indigo, thirteen bags of coffee, and as much provisions as supported those of the Cato's equipage, while on board the Alexander. and took all ing. her crew and some part of her cargo on board,and left her. Six days after she again fell in with the Cato-The crew of the Cato assisted in saving other parts of the cargo. Salvage claimed by the crew of the Cato, and half a share each allowed to those who had been ac tive. About two-fifths of the gross sales allowed as salvage. the said schooner William fell in with the said brigantine Jefferson, the said James Adams came on board of the said schooner William, and informed that the said brigantine some time previously, and on or about the ninth day of the said month of November, at night, and while it was very dark and disagreeable weather, had been run foul of by a Spanish or French ship of war, and that the said brigantine had thereby lost a great part of her sails, rigging and spars, and was very materially injured, wrecked and broken in the hull, all which these libellants afterwards discovered, and therefore aver to be true.-And the said James Adams, SALVAGE. The Alexander then pursued her voyage; but on the twelfth of the same month, fell in again with the Cato, and found near her a vessel taking out goods. Captain Heartwell sent his boat, in which went captain Pyle, the second mate, and the boatswain of the Cato, and saved from the abandoned vessel 20 bales of cotton, 9 seroons of indigo, a new hawser, some beef, and other articles. It appears by the testimony, that "it was blowing hard." The Alexander arrived in Philadelphia with the articles saved (a small part whereof consisted of articles of furniture, and apparel of the ship) and the master and crew of the Cato, on the 25th of the same September. It does not appear that any extraordinary risk was run, or exertions made. The time occupied in saving the goods was but short, "a few hours," at each meeting with the Cato. This case, in all its essential features relating to then also declared, that he and the residue of the crew of the said brigantine were determined, for the preservation of their lives, to leave and abandon her, and desired a passage on board the said schooner William to New York, which was consented to on the part of the captain of the said schooner. And these libellants further shew, and give the court here to be informed and understand, that, in order to get a further supply of provi⚫sions and water on board the said schooner, so that the crews of both the vessels might have a supply on their passage to New York, your libellant Andrew Morehouse, together with two others of the seamen belonging to the said schooner William, went on board of the said brigantine to endeavour to get such supply from her, especially of water; but, in attempting to get water out of the brigantine into the boat, the cask was unavoidably stove, which frustrated their intention in that respect. And your libellants further shew, and for truth declare, that at or H SALVAGE. the ship Cato. Taylor et al. the situation of the vessel, the mode of obtaining the articles saved, the assistance given by the crew of the deserted ship, and all the leading circumstances bears, by a curious coincidence, an exact resemblance to that of the Belle Creole, determined in this court in 1792. But a dispute in this cause arises between the crew of the deserted ship Cato, and the salvors, the officers and crew of the brig Alexander. The crew of the Cato insist on sharing the part to be allotted to the crew of the brig Alexander, on equal terms. They alledge that, by the knowledge of the master, and others of the Cato's equipage, who adventured in a second enterprise for saving, after the Cato had been left by the brig Alexander for several days, and again discovered, the most valuable goods were rescued from destruction by their position in the ship being pointed out. The master about five of the clock in the afternoon of the same fourteenth day of November, being the fifteenth of that month by sea reckoning, the said James Adams the master, and all the crew of the said brigantine abandoned her and her cargo, and came on board the said schooner William, then on the high seas, bringing with them only the brigantine's boat, in which they came, with their chests of cloaths and bedding, and a small quantity of provisions. And the said captain and crew of the said. brigantine Jefferson then declared, they would not return to her, nor make any further attempt to navigate her into port.— And these libellants further shew, and give the court to be informed, that, after the captain and crew of the said brigantine had so abandoned her, as aforesaid and came on board the said schooner William, on the high seas, it was thought most adviseable by the captain and crew of the said schooner, for them to endeavour to keep in sight of or near the said brigantine, du SALVAGE. and some of the crew assisted in this salvage, at personal risks, while others of them navigated the brig Alexander, which would have been exposed to hazard, and perhaps loss, without these assistants; as the crew of the brig were incompetent to navigate and to save goods out of the Cato at the same time. It was said that assurances were given to the Cato's crew (at the time) of equal benefit of salvage. I On these points I must refer to the opinion gave in the case of the Belle Creole, in which the same kind of circumstance and agreement occurred. Much reliance was placed by the counsel for the crew of the Cato, who laboured to increase the quantum of salvage as a common concern, on the case of the Aquila, 1 Rob. 22, 35, &c. It is a mere difference of the interpretation of the word derelict, as it respects "boats, or other vessels, forsaken and ring the night then ensuing, in order to see her situation in the morning; and, if opportunity offered, to attempt to save her and her cargo, or at least to endeavour to get a cask of water from her, and put on board the schooner William, as a further supply for the people then on board her, during the residue of the voyage; and, though this was attempted, they lost sight of the said brigantine during the night, and did not see her again until at or about the hour of eleven of the clock in the forenoon of the next day, when they saw her at as great a distance as she could be discovered, and considerably to windward, when the said schooner William was steered for, and about five of the clock, post meridian, came up with the said brigantine Jefferson, it being, by sea reckoning, the sixteenth day of November, and in latitude, by observation, about thirty-six degrees and fiftyfive minutes north; but the sea being then rough, and the vessel rolling very much, it was deemed impracticable to get any |