Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/883

 876. JIEDEE Ali EBPOBTBB. �his rektifSns and thdse of the 'master ÎB one rather of form �than of siihstance." �It has been held, though with considerable hesitation, in England, that the admiralty has no jurisdiction of a suit in personam against a pilot for damages frorti a collision caused by his unskilfulness, the suit being by the owner of the vessel injured, net the one which he had charge of. The Alexandria, L. E. 3 Ad. & Ec. 574, 582. The court followed the decision in The Urania, 10 W. E. 97, which appears to have proceeded partly on the ground that the pilot, having given a bond with a penalty, was liable only upon the bond, and partly on the terms of the English statutes oonferring jurisdiction on the court. The New York pilots are required to give a bond for tl^e ufaj^thful performance of their duty, but it is not for the beneftt of those who may suffer from their negligence or want of skill, but for the purpose of providing rewards and the relief c^l vessels in distress. N. Y, Pilotage Act, §§ 11 and 22. It cannot he deemed, theref ore, to hav© been intended tp affect the remedies of others against them. In Hobart v. Drogan, 10 Pet. 108, it was held that the courts of admii-alty had jurisdiction' of sujts by pilots for their fees, although they ^re appointed under state laws, and their conapensation is fi?,ed by the same laws, on the ground that the contract and the service were wholly maritime. It seems, also, that the present suit isfor a marine tort — an act of negligence or omission of duty in violation of a maritime contract,, from which resulted damage. The court has jurisdiction. The wrong done, if any, and the damage sufïered, were wholly on the water. �On the merita the libellant is entitled to a decree. The very reason for having pilots at ail is that they know the peculiar perils of the port, which are presumed to be unknown to the masters of vessels, and espeoially of foreign vessels. Without a pilot to protect the vessel against these dangers she is unseaworthy. When, therefore, a pilot takes charge of a vessel at sea, to bring her into port, his duty is to stay by her, unless discharged, till she reaches her destination or fiome place of safety. This duty is reoognized by the re- ����