to be under the command of such flag officer, from the time when b arrives within the limits of the station, which circumstance is alwy to be carefully noted in the log-book; and it shall be considered tar he continues under the flag officer of such station until he shali La received some order directly from, or be acting in the execution d some order issued by, some other flag officer, duly authorised, or the Lord High Admiral, or our Commissioners, for executing th office of Lord High Admiral.

And we hereby direct that the captain, commander, lieutenan commanding, or master commanding, or any other officer command ing any ship, sloop, or vessel of war, singly making a capture, or seizure, or otherwise entitled to the distributive benefit arising from any proceeds, reward, grant, bounty, salvage, or award, as aforesaid: that is to say, the officer actually in command at the time, shall have one-eighth of the remainder, or if there is no flag, one-eighth of the entire net proceeds; and if more than one commanding officer of the same rank of command shall be entitled to share as joint captors, & the one-eighth shall be equally divided between them; but when captains, commanders, lieutenants commanding, and masters commanding, respectively, our ships, sloops, and vessels of war, shal share together, in whatever variety of combination, the one-eighth shall be so divided into parts for a graduated apportionment as to provide for each captain receiving 6 parts, each commander of a sloop 3 parts, and each lieutenant commanding, or master commanding a vessel of war, 2 parts, which we hereby direct shall be the proportion in which they shall respectively share: commodores of the 2nd class, and field officers of marines, or of land forces serving as marines, doing duty as field officers above the rank of major, to share as captains: and field officers of marines, or of land forces serving as marines, and doing duty in the rank of major, to share as commanders of sloops.

And we hereby further direct that, after provision shall thus have been made for the flag share (if any), and for the portion of the commanding officer or officers, the remainder of the net proceeds shall be distributed in 10 classes, so that each officer, man, and boy, composing the rest of the complements of our ships, sloops, and vessels of war, and actually on board at the time of any such capture, seizure, &c., as aforesaid, and every person present and assisting, shall receive shares, or parts of shares, according to his class, as set forth in the following scale:

1st Class Commanders under captains in rated ships, masters of the fleet, medical inspectors, inspectors of steam machinery afloat in or with any ship or ships above the 6th rate,-40 shares each.

2nd Class. First lieutenants in rated ships, not bearing commanders, secretaries to admirals of the fleet, or to admirals command

ing in chief, deputy medical inspectors, inspectors of steam machinery afloat in or with any ship or vessel below the 5th rate,-25 shares each.

3rd Class-Sea lieutenants, masters, captains of marines, of marine artillery, or of land forces doing duty as marines, whether having higher brevet rank or not, secretaries to admirals or to commodores of the 1st class, not commanding in chief, chief engineers of the 1st class,-20 shares each.

4th Class.-Lieutenants or quartermasters of marines, lieutenants of marine artillery, lieutenants, quartermasters, or ensigns of land forces, doing duty as marines, secretaries to commodores of the 2nd class, chaplains, surgeons, paymasters and pursers, naval instructors, mates, assistant surgeons, second masters, chief engineers of the 2nd and 3rd classes, gunners, boatswains, carpenters, assistant engineers, engineers not yet on the establishment as regulated by the Order in Council of 1847, clerks in charge, passed clerks,-12 shares each.

5th Class.-Midshipmen, masters' assistants, clerks (not passed), naval cadets, assistant clerks,-7 shares each.

6th Class.-Seamen's schoolmasters, masters at arms, chief boatswain's mates, admiral's and captain's coxswains, ship's corporals, quartermaster's, gunner's, boatswain's, and carpenter's mates, captains of the forecastle, of the afterguard, of the hold, of the main-top, and of the fore-top, coxswains of the launch, sailmakers, ropemakers, caulkers, leading stokers, ship's cooks, blacksmiths, pilots, sergeants of marines, of marine artillery, or of land forces doing duty as marines, 6 shares each.

7th Class.-Captains of the mast and mizen-top, yeomen of signals, coxswains of the barge, pinnace, and cutter, second captains of the forecastle, of the main-top, of the fore-top, and of the afterguard, sailmaker's and caulker's mates, paymaster's and purser's stewards, musicians, coopers, armourers, corporals of marines or of land forces doing duty as marines, bombardiers of marine artillery, head kroomans,-4 shares each.

8th Class.-Able seamen, carpenter's, sailmaker's, and cooper's crew, yeomen of store-rooms, ordinary seamen, privates and fifers of marines, or of land forces doing duty as marines, gunners of marine artillery, painters, stokers, coal trimmers, second head kroomans, sick-berth attendants, bandsmen,-2 shares each.

9th Class.-Cook's mates, paymaster and purser's steward's mates, paymaster and purser's steward's boys, admiral's domestics, the stewards and cooks of admirals, of captains, of the ward-room, of the gun-room, and of sub-officers, second class ordinary seamen, assistant stokers, barbers, tailors, landsmen, ship's boys of the first class, engineer boys, first and second class kroomans, supernumeraries borne for

victuals only, not specially authorised to do duty, persons borne mere? as passengers, and not declining to render assistance on any occasią of capture, seizure, &c.-1 share and one quarter of a share each. 10th Class-Ship's boys below the 1st class,-three-quarters <! a share each.

Seamen gunners to share in all captures, seizures, rewards, &c. as aforesaid, in the class immediately above that in which their rating is mentioned.

And in all cases in which supernumeraries, whether officers e men, shall be ordered to do duty on board any of our ships or vessels by the Lord High Admiral, or by our Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, or by other proper authority (the orders of the captain or commanding officer, if no senior be present, to be deemed sufficient authority), of which due notation as to fact and authority is to be made in the muster-books, they shall share according to the class of the ranks or ratings which they respectively hold in the service, if not ordered to do duty in a higher capacity.

And in order that our royal intentions herein may be duly carried into effect, we further direct that, when any capture or seizure is made, or service performed, for which a distributable grant or reward is to be, or is expected to be, conferred or awarded to any of our ships or vessels of war, the captain or commanding officer shall transmit, or cause to be transmitted, as soon as may be, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, a true and perfect list of all the officers, seamen, marines, soldiers, and others, who were actually on board on the occasion-accompanied by a separate list, containing the names of those belonging to the crew who were absent on duty or otherwise at the time, specifying the cause of such absence,—each list to contain the quality of service of each person, together with the description of the men taken from the description-book of the ship or vessel, and their several ratings, to be subscribed by the captain or commanding officer, and 3 or more of the chief officers on board. And when the list of those actually on board shall have been verified on examination with the muster-books, &c., the AccountantGeneral of our navy shall, upon request, grant to the agent or agents, nominated or appointed by the captors or seizors, &c., a certificate that such list is correct, or has been corrected, as occasion may require, for the due distribution of the respective prize or other proceeds distributable as prize-money.

And in the event of difficulty arising with respect to any of the regulations hereby proposed, or if any case should occur not herein provided for, or not sufficiently provided for, we are pleased hereby to authorise the Lord High Admiral, or our Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral for the time being, to issue such directions thereupon as may appear just and expedient,

which directions shall have the same force and effect as if specially provided for in this our royal proclamation.

Provided always that the distribution hereinbefore ordered shall take effect only with respect to the proceeds of captures, seizures, and services, as aforesaid, which shall be made and performed on and after the 1st day of January, 1850. And that the proceeds arising from all captures, seizures, and services as aforesaid made or performed prior to that date shall be distributed in accordance with any proclamation or proclamations now in force, or in force at the time of such captures, seizures, or services, and applicable thereto : which we are pleased hereby to direct accordingly.

Given at our Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, this 30th day of July, in the year of our Lord, 1849, and in the 13th year of our reign.

God save the Queen.

ACT of the British Parliament, "to amend an Act of the 2nd and 3rd years of Her Majesty, for the Suppression of the Slave Trade."

[5 & 6 Vict. cap. 91.]

[August 10, 1842.]

WHEREAS Vessels engaged in the Slave Trade, together with the goods, wares, and merchandizes laden therein have been captured by Her Majesty's cruizers, and condemned to the Crown, under or by virtue of the provisions of the Act passed in the 2nd and 3rd years of the reign of Her present Majesty [cap. 73],* intituled “ An Act for the suppression of the Slave Trade." And whereas it is expedient that authority be given to confer suitable rewards upon persons who have been or may be hereafter so employed in the seizure and detention of such vessels as aforesaid: may it therefore please your Majesty, that it may be enacted, and be it enacted, by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the proceeds to which Her Majesty is entitled of every ship and vessel, and of the goods, wares, merchandize, and effects on board of every ship and vessel, which may have been or may be hereafter condemned under or by virtue of the provisions of the said Act passed in the 2nd and 3rd years of the reign of Her present Majesty, shall be paid to such person or persons as the Commis

* Vol. XXVII. Page 849.

sioners of Her Majesty's Treasury of the United Kingdom of Gre Britain and Ireland shall direct or appoint to receive the same.

II. And be it enacted, that the net proceeds of every ship and cargo so condemned, after deducting all necessary expenses, sha be paid to the captors, to be distributed to and amongst the commanders, officers, and crews of Her Majesty's ships engaged in the seizure thereof, in such manner and proportion, and to and amongst such persons, as by any Order in Council or proclamation in force at the time of the capture, or by any Order in Council or proclamation of Her present Majesty, her heirs and successors, for that purpose ordered and directed.

III. And be it enacted, that all the provisions in regard to prize money, and other money in the nature thereof, including all rules and regulations relating to the delivery by agents of accounts of prize and other money as aforesaid, and to the examination of such accounts, and to the distribution of prize or other money, and to the accounting for and paying over the unclaimed and forfeited shares, and to the percentage payable in aid of the Greenwich outpension fund for the benefit of the old and invalid seamen who have served in the royal navy, which under any Act or Acts are now in force, and all penalties and forfeitures to which agents and others are made subject by any such Acts, shall be and the same are hereby extended to all bounties and proceeds payable and distributable under the provisions of the said recited Act of the 2nd and 3rd years of the reign of Her present Majesty, and of this Act, to the commanders, officers, and crews of any of Her Majesty's ships

or vessels.

IV. And be it enacted, that the registrars of the several ViceAdmiralty Courts respectively shall, on the 1st day of January and 1st day of July in every year, transmit to the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury a list or return of all cases which shall have been adjudged in the said courts respectively, under the said recited Act of the 2nd and 3rd years of the reign of Her present Majesty during the 6 months preceding, together with the names of the seizors and the dates of the seizures and sentences respectively, together with an account of the state of the property, according to the schedule marked (A) to this Act annexed.

V. And be it enacted, that any party or parties claiming any benefit by way of bounty or share of the proceeds, for any seizure under the said Act of the 2nd and 3rd years of the reign of her present Majesty, shall and may resort to the High Court of Admiralty for the purpose of obtaining the judgment of the said court in that behalf; and that it shall and may be lawful for the judge of the said High Court of Admiralty to determine thereon, and also to hear and determine any question of joint capture which