be kept, done, and performed, he the said bindeth himself, his neirs, executors, and administrators, and the said ship or vessel, with her tackle, apparel, ammunition, freight and furniture, unto the said commissioners, for and on behalf of His Majesty, in the penalty or sum of five hundred pounds, of lawful money of Great Britain, to be recovered and paid by these presents. In witness whereof he, the said hath set his hand and seal to one part hereof: and to the other part hereof, the said commissioners, for and on His Majesty's behalf, have signed their names, and caused the seal of the Transport-Office to be affixed, the day and year above-written.

Entered into pay the

Signed, sealed, and delivered (being first duly}

stamped, in the presence of

The transactions with the Transport-board are generally conducted by means of a ship-broker, with whom the ship's books and papers are lodged, and thence transferred to the agent whose duty it is to arrange and pass the accounts through the public offices, preparatory to the receival of the freight by the broker. The assistance of the latter is, however, dispensable, if the owner be sufficiently acquainted with the nature of these concerns, and chooses to act for himself.

Here it is to be understood, that the passing of accounts has been sometimes attended with difficulty, owing to inattention on the part of the master, who may have suffered them to become inaccurate or incomplete; but it is presumed that, if the printed instructions issued by the Transport and Victualling boards be duly attended to, with the other requisite precautions, this will seldom happen.

The master should, in particular, be well acquainted with the terms and meaning of the charter-party, as its exact performance depends principally on his conduct. He will be expected to make oath to the truth of his accounts, and must produce proper vouchers and receipts for his various transactions. The board requires that every master shall direct his mate, or other confidential person, who may sign receipts on his account for provisions or victualling stores, to write under his own name that of the master; and if there has been any other master during the course of the voyage, the name of him also beneath the former.

On the arrival of the ship at any port, whether in Great Britain or abroad, the master is required to make immediate inquiry for, and report himself to, the agent for transports; and, should none be on the spot, he is to write, by first post, or other early conveyance, to the Transport-board, stating his arrival, with date, place, or other particulars.

When provisions or other government stores are received on board, the master should see that his mate or other officer attends, and notes down very correctly, the quantities and other particulars of the articles delivered. Deliveries thence should be made with equal punctuality, and receipts always taken for the same.

The numerous and various vouchers, as receipts, orders, surveys, certificates, affidavits, &c. occasioned by the varying situations of the ship, must be, in all cases, carefully preserved and forwarded to the owners or their agents; and it is recommended that three sets of every

For the form of a charter-party, between the owners of a hired freight-ship and the Transport-board, providing especially for demurrage, see chapters on FREIGHT, CHARTER-PARTY, and DemurraGE, Part 2 c. 1.

material voucher shall be procured; as thus, in the event of the ori ginal being lost, all difficulty will be obviated.

The annexed statement will furnish a general idea of the various books and papers required for passing the accounts of vessels by the Transport-board.

FOR A TROOP-SHIP THE FOLLOWING ARE REQUIRED, viz.—A victualling-book; a voluntary charge of provisions, &c. received on board during the time for which the accounts are intended to be passed; an affidavit of the returns of stores, &c.; all receipts for provisions lent or supplied; orders for, and reports upon, all surveys, whether arising from leakage, accidental loss, decayed provisions, or other causes; all certificates relative to the victualling of troops, especially those for the issue of any extra allowance; certificates for serving out spirits or wine; certificates of losses, leakage, &c.; protests, if any made; ship's discharge from the service; ship's log; transport store account; an account of beds, bedding, and hammocks, received on board; account of any forage received and expended; certificates of having paid the Greenwich dues; also of merchantseamen's dues; also of Trinity-house dues, or light-money; lastly, certificate of no charge against the ship for ordnance stores. The latter is a voucher usually applied for, and obtained by, the ship's agent from the Ordnance-office in the Tower.

The BOOKS and PAPERS required for passing a VICTUALLER'S ACCOUNT are as follow, viz.-A victualling book, if soldiers, &c. are at any time victualled on board; a voluntary charge of provisions received on board during the time for which the accounts are intended to be passed; an affidavit to returns of stores, &c.; all receipts for provisions lent or supplied; orders for, and reports upon, all surveys, &c. as above; all certificates, &c. as above; certificates of serving out spirits or wine; certificates of losses, leakage, &c.; protests, if any made; ship's discharge from the service; ship's log; transport store account; account of beds, bedding, &c. as above; account of forage, &c. if any received; certificate of having paid Greenwich dues, merchant-seamen's dues, and Trinity-house dues. as above; certificate of no charge against the ship for ordnance stores. If this vessel be employed merely to convey stores to any place, to be delivered into company's stores, and the company's receipt obtained, no voluntary charge is required. The production of the receipt, and a memorandum of the time for which the parties have to obtain a certificate, is all that is required to obtain the victualling certificate. If thus employed, the vessel is denominated an ARMY VICTUALLER, and no bond is required; but all victuallers must give bond, and produce a voluntary charge.

For a CARRIER the following are required, viz.—A voluntary charge of provisions, &c. received on board during the time for which the accounts are intended to be passed; an affidavit to the return of stores; all receipts for provisions lent, supplied, and returned; orders for, and reports upon, all surveys, whether arising from leakage, accidental loss, loss by decayed provisions, or other cause; all certificates which, on any occasion, the master may have found it necessary to procure: protests, if any made; ship's discharge from the service; ship's log; transport store account; bed and bedding account; forage account, as above; certificates of Greenwich dues, merchant-seamen's dues, and Trinity dues, or lightmoney, being paid; ordnance vouchers for ordnance certificate.

Should it happen that, at any time, troops are victualled on board a victualling book will also be required.

As this ship, technically styled a carrier, is chiefly employed to convey provisions and stores from one ship or place to another, it becomes especially requisite that receipts should be obtained by the master for all quantities delivered. For ships of war, in particular, the purser's receipt is required; or, in his absence, a voucher from the commanding officer, and a memorandum from the purser's steward. When any clothing, shoes, &c. are received, they must, of course, be secured from pillage; as every deficiency must be satisfactorily accounted for by the master, or will otherwise be charged to the ship's account by the commissioners.

If naval slops be received on board, an account current must be rendered of the same, or a debit and credit account of slops received and delivered, certified by affidavit, inscribed beneath: also, a Farther Account, or statement of slops, supplied and returned to and from his Majesty's ships or stores, and to which the following note is attached.

"N. B. As, in passing many hired vessels and other accounts, great "confusion has arisen from the circumstances of receipts being signed "by clerks' and pursers' stewards, in the absence of the storekeepers and pursers themselves; it is directed, in future, that in "all such cases, the purser's steward, or storekeeper's clerk, shall "sign thus:

66

"A. B.

for G. C.————— storekeeper or purser.”

The debit side of the account last mentioned is formed from the several invoices or bills of lading, furnished with the goods, and he takes credit for the quantities issued and returned.

The HORSE-SHIP is a vessel engaged more especially for the conveyance of horses, with a certain number of soldiers to attend them hence a victualling list will be required with other accounts and vouchers as follows, viz.

A voluntary charge of all provisions, &c.; an affidavit of the returns of stores, &c.; all receipts for provisions, &c. lent, supplied, or returned; orders for, and reports upon, all surveys, whether arising from leakage, loss, damage by stress of weather, or other cause; all certificates relative to the victualling of troops, especially those for the issue of any extra-allowance; certificates of serving out spirits or wine; certificates of losses, leakage, &c. ; protests, if any made; ship's discharge from the service; ship's log; transport store account; an account of beds, bedding, and hammocks, received and expended; certificates of having paid the Greenwich dues, merchantseamen's dues, Trinity dues, or light-money; ordnance certificate, as above.

For the quantity of HAY and OATS that may be expended in foraging the horses, particular certificates must be obtained from the commanding-officer of the soldiers on board, expressing the quantity in pounds, and the qualities. Should any be delivered to ships, or returned into stores, receipts for such parts must be taken.

ORDNANCE STORE-SHIP.-If a vessel engaged as an ordnance store-ship should, at any time during that engagement, victual troops, or if she receive on board any provisions upon government account, the papers, requisite to pass her accounts, are the same as for the troop-ship and victualler above. In other cases the following are required

Bills of lading of stores received; all receipts for stores supplied or returned; all orders for such supplies; an affidavit, as subjoined; all orders for, and reports of, surveys (if any) upon stores; protests, if any; ship's discharge; ship's log; certificates of having paid the Greenwich dues, merchant-seamen's dues, and Trinity dues; account of transport-office stores received on board.

Receipts must also be given for the discharge or return of ordnance stores, &c.; and the official bills of lading, furnished at the time the cargo is shipped, must be carefully preserved, as they will be demanded on the ship's return to England. If the vessel has been at any place where she has not been furnished with bills of lading, the master will be required to make affidavit of the same; but, in case the bills of lading be complete, the following will be required: "This deponent, A. B., master of his Majesty's late hired trans66 port, the maketh oath that, between and

there have been no ordnance stores received on "board the said transport, on his Majesty's account, except such as are contained in the bills of lading hereunto " annexed."

66

CARTEL and CONVICT-SHIPS.-These vessels, having persons on board victualled by government, will require, in most respects, the papers, &c. enumerated under the heads of troop-ship and victualler, above: but it may not be superfluous to observe, that in this, as in all other cases, receipts and other vouchers are indispensable; and, in case the ship be detained or seized, every effort should be made for their preservation. If such efforts be unsuccessful, it is expected that the master will note down, as exactly as he can, the number of persons he had on board, and how long they were victualled; and he will be assisted, by the permission of the victualling board, in stating the account from vouchers in their office. But, if no papers can be preserved, the board will order the account to be passed by estimate upon the master's making the subjoined affidavit. If the account can, however, by any means be secured, or if, on the detention of the cartel, the master can procure from some of the officers of the prisoners on board, affidavits in justification of his claim, the accounts will be passed without difficulty.

AFFIDAVIT IN CASE OF CAPTURE.
late master of the

"The deponent
transport, making oath that, on or about the
the said vessel sailed from

of his Majesty's ship

, bound to

in consequence of a heavy gale of wind off

day of under convoy

; that the con

voy was much dispersed, and this deponent lost sight of his Majesty's said ship, and pursued his course until the following, when he entered

day of

: that on the next

morning he discovered an enemy's privateer in pursuit of him; that the said privateer soon after came up with this deponent, and after engaging her for he (this deponent) was obliged

to submit to the superior force of the enemy; and the said transport was captured, with all her victualling, navy, and other stores on board; also the books, papers, and vouchers, necessary to pass her victualling and all other accounts; that no part of the provisions, victualling or other stores, belonging to government, were embezzled or fraudulently disposed of by this deponent, or any other person whatever." 3 Y 2

Any circumstances relative to the proceedings on board, before the capture of the ship, may then be described: thus, if troops were on Doard, &c.

"That there were embarked at

day of

18

on or about the

men of the

regiment, who were actually victualled by this deponent until

"That on or about the

day of

regiment were embarked at

men

belonging to the

and victualled from

to

were victualled until the

day of

there were about regiment embarked, who the period

of her capture, they being on board at that time. **That the said troops were severally victualled at the usual allow ance, according to the custom of the service."

CONVICT-SHIPS are furnished with printed instructions, issued by the Lords of the Treasury, to which a strict adherence must be given, on the part of the master, &c.

A FREIGHT-SHIP, or vessel having a certain part of her tonnage taken up by government for the conveyance of stores. This vessel requires few papers; namely, only the bills of lading, if more than one, and the receipts for the delivery of the stores. For, as the duty is merely to discharge, according to contract, a certain quantity of goods into his Majesty's stores at a certain place; the chief point is to obtain, on the delivery, a receipt on the back of the bill of lading. For provisions, this receipt is granted by the agent-victualler; for naval stores, by the naval storekeeper; for ordnance stores, by the ordnance storekeeper, &c.; and, upon the transmission of this receipt to England, and its production in the proper office, the freight may be received.*

Should the master be compelled, by necessity, to use any of the King's provisions, he will be required to make oath as to the cause; and, if his explanation be satisfactory, he will be charged for such provisions the price paid by government; but, if otherwise, twice that sum will be charged.

NAVAL STORE-SHIP. Hired vessels, having naval stores on board, fall under this denomination: but, more properly, a NAVAL STORE-SHIP is a ship engaged by the commissioners of the navy, for the purpose of conveying his Majesty's stores from one place to another. In passing the accounts through the public offices, the great object is, as in other cases, to procure receipts for all stores delivered; and should there be any expenditure on board, a regular account with such expense, with dates and causes, the quantity and quality, &c. This account to be signed by the agent for transports, or the officers under whose direction the expenditure was made.

Unfortunate casualties of every description, which may be productive of loss, should be minutely stated in a proper certificate, signed by the agent for transports or other commanding naval officer; and all remarks in the ship's log should correspond thereto.†

See chapter on Freight.

The limits of this work do not admit of the forms of the various schedules, certificates, &c., which are made use of in the transport-service; it is therefore requisite to add, that they are given at large, with copious explanations, in Abbott's