Page:Indian Shipping, a history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times.djvu/160

 empowered to exempt from toll any ship laden with merchandise that was damaged and spoiled by water, or to charge only half the due toll, and then allow it to sail when the proper time for setting sail approached. Again, whenever a ship laden with merchandise foundered owing to want of hands or on account of ill-repair, it was the duty of the Superintendent of Ships to make good the loss of merchandise in part or full, as the case might be, because presumably the loss was due not to any fault of the merchants but to defects in the State vessel, and therefore must be made good from State funds.

But besides relieving ships in distress the Superintendent had to adopt many preventive measures to ensure safety. Thus during the period from the 7th day of Ashadha till the month of Kartika, i.e. when rivers are swollen owing to rains, the crossing of rivers by State or licensed ferries was strictly enforced. Again, in those large rivers which cannot be forded during either the winter or summer seasons the Superintendent of Ships had to see that large and perfectly safe vessels were launched,