Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 7.djvu/504

 492 fedbbal befobteb. �should pay any additional cost of keeping the animais if the steamer did not sail at the expiration of the notice. �One hundred and twenty-six head of cattle, many of them •weighing over 1,700 pounds, were duly put on board, under the superintendence of an agent of the libellant, on the eighteenth of December, 1880, filling up all the available deck room of the steamer, both forward and aft. The freight was paid in advance, and thereupon four bills of lading, all of the same tenor and effect, were delivered to and indorsed "accepted" by the libellant's agent. These bills of lading, among other things, stipulated that the cattle were to be car- ried on the upper deck, and that the steam-ship owners should not be responsible for any loss that might arisethrough the cattle being washed overboard or jettisoned. They also sta|;ed that the aceeptance thereof was a recognition of the bill of, lading as the contract binding both carrier and ship- per. They contained in substance the same stipulation as to the contract for the care and f eeding and watering of the cat- tle, and the usual exceptions againat are and the perils of the sea, and for liberty to tow and assist vessels, etc. The steamer sailed with a general cargo, pripcipally cotton, grain, and pro- visions, and about 10 hour» after leaving the capes of the Ches- apeake encountered very rongh and tempestuous weather, which lasted from the night of the 20th until some time in the night of the 24th, and in the gale that prevailed during that time the steamer shipped heary seas, which broke down many of the stalls, carried away a portion of the rail, and did some other damage to the ship. In consequence of the violence of the storm some of the cattle were washed overboard. Some were drowned on deck, and some were badly crippled and injured, Almost from the commencement of the storm it was impossible to feed or water the cattle, and the rolling of the ship prevented those which were not injured from stand- ing. On the 21st five were found dead, and thrown over- board. On the 22d, the storm not abating, the ship was hove to, and all the cattle aft of the foremast were cast over ; and on the 24th, the storm still continuing, some 20 or 30 beasts remaining in the forward part of the deck, and which ��� �