DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 555 



The captain said he would wait until the next morning to get more 

 bait from the catch in the weir which was expected that day. At 

 daybreak, however, on the morning of the 7th of May, 1886, the Gov- 

 ernment steamer " Lansclowne " arrived off Digby, and the u David 

 J. Adams " got under way without waiting to take in the additional 

 supply of bait, and sailed down the Basin towards the Gut. 



Before she had passed Digby she was boarded by the first officer of 

 the " Lansdowne " and to him the captain made the following state- 

 ment : that he had come to that place to see his people, as he had 

 formerly belonged there, that he had no fresh bait on board, and that 

 he was from the " Banks " and bound for Eastport, Maine. 



The officer of the " Lansdowne " told him he had no business there, 

 and asked him if he knew the law. His reply was " Yes." 



A few hours afterwards, and while the " David J. Adams," was 

 still inside the Gut, the officer of the "Lansdowne," ascertaining that 

 the statements of the captair were untrue, and that bait had been 

 purchased by him within the harbour on the previous day, returned 

 to the " David J. Adams," charged the captain with the offence, and 

 received for his reply the assertion that the charge was false, and 

 that the person who gave the information was a " liar." 



The officer looked into the hold of the vessel and found the her- 

 ring which had been purchased the day before, and which, of course, 

 was perfectly fresh, but the captain declared that this " bait " was 

 ten days old. 



The officer of the " Lansdowne " returned to his ship, reported the 

 facts, and went again to the " Adams," accompanied by another offi- 

 cer, who also looked at the bait. Both returned to the " Lansdowne " 

 and then conveyed to the " Adams " the direction that she should 

 come to Digby and anchor near the "Lansdowne." This was, in 

 fact, the seizure. 



These are the circumstances by which the seizure was, in the 

 opinion of Mr. Phelps. " much aggravated," and which makes it seem 

 very apparent to him that the seizure " was not made for the purpose 

 of enforcing any right, or redressing any wrong." 



The fact that the seizure was preceded by visitations and searches 

 was due to the statements of the master, and the reluctance of the 

 officers of the " Lansdowne " to enforce the law until they had ascer- 

 tained to a demonstration that the offence had been committed, and 

 that the captain's statements were untrue. 



332 THE OFFENCE AS TO CUSTOMS' LAWS. 



The " David J. Adams," as already stated, was in the harbour 

 upwards of forty-eight hours, and, when seized, was proceeding to 

 sea, without having been reported at any Customs House. Her 

 business was not such as to make it her interest to attract the 

 attention of the Canadian authorities, and it is not difficult, therefore, 

 to conjecture the reason why she was not so reported, or to see that 

 the reason put forward that Digby is but a small fishing settlement 

 and its harbours not defined," is a disingenuous one. In going to tho 

 weir to purchase bait, the vessel passed the Customs House at Digby. 

 almost within hailing distance. When at tho weir, she was within 

 one or two miles of another Customs House (at Clementsport), ami 

 within about fifteen miles of another (at Annapolis). The master 



