Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/666

 j655 TBÎDJERAL.EEPpBTEB, .,. �the Jatter place, an^ we are, therefore, left almost io coijjec- . ture as to the time that would have been consumed in making the. detour. The burden of proof is upon the libellant to sup- port his allegation that the master failed to do his duty towards him in this respect. If it had been shown that the yessel could, under the circumstances, make about ten miles an hour, and thereby have made Valparaiso in a little more than five or six dajs, it might bave been proper for the master to have gone in there— indeed, I think it would have been his duty to do so. But, as it is, .1 do pot tbink it would be safe to assume that this port could have been made in less than two weeks, andJ do not think that the yessel was under obli- gation to make that sacrifice of time and risk of cargo for the libellant. �In Broion v. Overton, supra,, the libellant fell from aloft and broke Ijoth his legs below the knees. The master set them as well as he could, and they were permanently deformçid and disabled. The accident happened 25 days' sail from St. Helena, and the course, of the vessel was withiu eight or ten hours of that port, but the master -refused to touch there for surgical aid. Mr. Justice. Sprague held that it was the duty of the niaster to have gon6;in, although it isdoubtful whether the deformity could have been prevented or cured at that late day. No other case at ail in point bas been cited.on this question; .and, while it proves it is the duty of the nip,ster to seek surgical aiid for a wounded seaman while there is any «hance of its being useful, yet it by no means foUows, that it is his duty to do so. at any sacrifice or risk to the vessel or voyage. There must be some limit to the obligation to seek aid outside of the vessel. A fall from aloft is an incident of a seafaring life, and the law can scarcely be that in sueh a case surgical aid must be sought to the serions hindrance or delay of the voyage and the liability of the cargo to depreciation in the port of destination, or the delay or loss to some important «nterprise undertaken upon the faith of its due delivery. �It is also urged by counsel for the respondent that, under the circumstances, any departure from the prescribed course of the voyage to obtain aid for the libellant would have been ����