them in safe custody; of appraising ships and cargoes when their value is to be officially ascertained; and of unloading and transshipping cargoes. He has also to inquire into the sufficiency of persons proposed as sureties when bail is to be given, and to execute the processes generally of the Court. In many cases, also, Trinity Masters sit with the judge as his assessors; and in references the registrar is assisted by merchants.

A noteworthy change in this department of the division has District registries. also been made by the Judicature Act of 1873, by which district registries have been formed, wherein much of the routine work hitherto necessarily performed in London has been transferred to the provinces, since the district registrar has the same powers intrusted to him as are exercised by the registrar of this division.33

from the

In regard to appeals from the Admiralty Division, a change Appeals of some importance took place in 1873, when the right of Admiralty appeal to the Privy Council was abolished, and thenceforward Divi ion. appeals from the Admiralty Division were, like those from any other division of the High Court, to be heard by the Court of Appeal. Consequently also a right of further appeal to the House of Lords exists in Admiralty matters under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act of 1876.5

1 J. A. 1873, s. 77.

2 J. A. 1873, s. 60; and J. A. 1872, s. 13. Liverpool had a district registrar for Admiralty matters for some years previous to this Act, under 33 & 34 Vict. c. 45.

3 J. A. 1873, s. 62. As to the duties of the registrars, see Part II., O. LIV.

4 J. A. 1873, s. 18, sub-s. 12.

5 39 & 40 Vict. c. 59, s. 3.

PART I.

5

CHAPTER I.

SALVAGE.

SALVAGE in English law is the reward which is earned by those who have voluntarily1 saved a ship or boat or their apparel or any part thereof, or a ship's cargo or any part thereof, from peril of any kind occurring at sea2 or on the shores of the United Kingdom,3 or a wreck from total loss, as by raising it when it has sunk, or who have saved human life, except from a foreign ship out of British jurisdiction. For life salvage alone is rewarded by virtue of statute law and not the general maritime law, and therefore a reward cannot be given in the latter case unless there is an agreement between the country to which the ship belongs and Great Britain that the English Courts shall award salvage for services rendered to the ships of such nation." Salvage is also earned by those who have meritoriously contributed to the safety of property or life, even if their sole efforts

1 The Neptune, 1 Hagg. 236.

E.g., life and property from a burning ship: The Eastern Monarch, Lush. 81; plunder by savages: The Lady Worsley, 2 Spk. 253; the risk of catching fire in dock from burning buildings: The Tees, Lush. 505.

M. S. A. 1854, s. 458.

The Catherine, 12 Jur. 682; 6 N. of Cas. xliii.

'M. S. A. 1854, s. 458; A. C. A. 1861, s. 9.

M. S. A. 1862, s. 59; The Willem III., L. R. 3 Ad. 487; 25 L. T. N. S. 386.

Definition

of salvage.

Peril to

life or property foundation of salvage.

have not effected it, for example, by conveying information of the perilous position of a ship to a steam tug. And even if the services actually rendered have been of no avail, but further useful services would have been performed if they had not been put out of the power of those desirous of giving assistance by those on board the endangered ship, some salvage reward is in that case given.2 There is, however, one exception to the general rule that services, to entitle those who have rendered them to salvage, must have been successful and have contributed to the safety of property or life, which springs out of contract and is not purely maritime salvage. For if persons are engaged by a vessel in distress to assist her, or are summoned to her aid by signals of distress, and give their services and they are ineffectual, yet if the vessel is ultimately saved, these persons are entitled to some reward, since there has been an engagement and a performance or part performance of an agreed service, not a mere voluntary and unsuccessful effort. Thus, if a vessel at anchor in a gale of wind hails a steamer to stand by her to be ready to take her in tow if necessary, and the steamer complies, but the vessel rides out the gale in safety without her assistance, the steamer would be entitled to some salvage. But as it is the peril which gives rise to the need for help, danger of some kind to person or property is the essential element in and foundation of any salvage service, without which such a service cannot exist. Whether the danger be immediate or remote matters not so long as there is a reasonable possibility of misfortune, all the surrounding

1 The Atlas, Lush. 518 (527); 15 Moo. P. C. 329; The Jonge Bastian, 5 C. Rob. 322; The E. U., 1 Spks. 63; The Sarah, L. R. 3 P. D. 39; The Eintracht, 29 L. T. N. S. 851; 2 Mar. L. C. N. S. 198. 2 The Maude, 36 L. T. N. S. 26; 3 Mar. L. C. N. S. 308.

3 The Undaunted, Lush. 90; 29 L. J. Ad. 176; The E. U., 1 Spks. 63; The Nellie, 29 L. T. N. S. 516; 2 Mar. L. C. N. S. 142; The Melpomene, L. R. 4 Ad. 129; 42 L. J. Ad. 45.

The Mary, 1 W. Rob. 448; The Westminster, 1 W. Rob. 321; The Bomarsund, Lush. 77; The Cairo, L. R. 4 Ad. 184; 43 L. J. Ad. 33; The Strathnaver, L. R. 1 App. Cas. 58; 34 L. T. Ñ. S. 148.

circumstances being considered. But given some peril, the extent of it then becomes one of the elements which has to be considered in estimating the amount of reward which the salvors should receive. Again, by statute a kind of quasi-salvage, that is to say compensation for any labour undertaken, risk incurred, or loss sustained in consequence of the use when not needed of signals of distress, is recoverable in the same way as salvage proper.2

tion of the

The Court has jurisdiction to decide all salvage actions, Jurisdic whether the claims in them are for services performed on Court. the high seas or in the body of a county, or partly in one and partly in the other of these places, or whether a wreck is found at sea or cast on shore, or is partly at sea and partly on the land, and even when an agreement to render salvage services has been made on land. Within certain limits, which are pointed out in the chapter on the County Courts, these tribunals have jurisdiction over actions of salvage. But since the decision of the House of Lords in Garnett v. Bradley, the ninth section of the County Courts Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1868,7 by which no costs were recoverable without a certificate of the Judge, if the amount awarded did not exceed £300, or the value of the salved property £1000, is no longer in force.8 The County Court limit may, however, be, and indeed. usually is, taken into consideration by the Judge in exercising the discretion as to costs which he possesses by Order LV., and so in practice is still a matter of importance. 1 The Charlotte, 3 W. Rob. 68.

236 & 37 Vict. c. 85.

3 Wreck of a ship, and also jetsam, flotsam, and lagan from a ship. See Palmer v. Rouse, 3 Hur. & Nor. 505.

4 M. S. A., 1854, s. 476.

5 The Catherine, 12 Jur. 682.

As to jurisdiction of County Courts, see post, Ch. XI. ; and 31 & 32 Vict. c. 71, s. 3.

731 & 32 Vict. c. 71, ss. 3 and 9.

Garnett v. Bradley, L. R. 3 App. Cas. 944; 48 L. J. Ex. D. 186; and see Tennant & Co. v. Ellis & Co., L. R. 6 Q. B. D. 46; 50 L. J. Q. B. D. 143.

See post, Pt. II., O. LV.