Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/280

 of weather; of which unavoidable accident, necessity or distress, the master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, shall give notice to, and together with two or more of the mariners on board such ship or vessel, shall make proof upon oath before the collector or other chief officer of the customs of the district, within the limits of which such accident, necessity or distress shall happen, or before the collector or other chief officer of the first district of the United States within the limits of which such ship or vessel shall afterwards arrive, if the said accident, necessity or distress shall have happened not within the limits of any district, but within four leagues of the coast of the United States, (which oath the said collector or other chief officer is hereby authorized and required to administer.)

. And be it further enacted, That if any goods, wares or merchandise so unladen from on board of any such ship or vessel, shall be put or received into any other ship, vessel or boat, except in the case of such accident, necessity or distress as aforesaid, to be notified and proved as aforesaid, the said master or other person having the charge or command of the ship, vessel or boat into which the said goods shall be so put and received, and every other person aiding and assisting therein, shall forfeit treble the value of the said goods; and the said ship, boat or vessel shall also be forfeited and lost.

. And be it further enacted, That if any ship or vessel which shall have arrived within the limits of any district of the United States from any foreign port or place, shall depart or attempt to depart from the same, unless to proceed on her way to some more interior district to which she may be bound, before report or entry shall have been made by the master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, with the collector of some district of the United States, the said master or other person having such charge or command shall forfeit and pay the sum of four hundred dollars. And it shall be lawful for any collector, naval officer, surveyor, or commander of any of the cutters herein after mentioned, to arrest and bring back, or cause to be arrested and brought back, such ship or vessel, to such port of the United States to which it may be most conveniently done. Provided, That if it shall be made to appear by the oath of the said master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, and of the person next in command, or other sufficient proof to the satisfaction of the collector of the district within which such ship or vessel shall afterwards come, or to the satisfaction of the court in which the prosecution for such penalty may be had, that the said departure, or attempt to depart, was occasioned by distress of weather, pursuit or duress of enemies, or other necessity, the said penalty shall not be incurred.

. And be it further enacted, That within twenty-four hours after the arrival of any ship or vessel from any port or place, at any port of the United States established by law, at which an officer of the customs resides, or within any harbor, inlet or creek thereof, if the hours of business at the office of the chief officer of the customs at such port will permit, or as soon thereafter as the said hours will permit, the master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, shall repair to the said office, and shall make report to the said chief officer of the arrival of the said ship or vessel; and within forty-eight hours after such arrival, shall make a further report to the collector of the district in which such port may be, of the name, burthen and lading of such ship or vessel, whether in packages or stowed loose, and of the particular marks, numbers and contents of each package, and the place or places, person or persons to or for which or whom they are respectively consigned or destined, also of the place or places where she took in her lading, of what country built, from what foreign port or place she last sailed, who was master or commander of her during the voyage,