B O T T O M K Y. 



361 



omry. it does not properly rank under the term boillc. It is 



v n-.ade of" an ox's skin, squared and stitched together 



M) closely as to be watertight, and will contain about 

 ('P ;;.ilions. Sec Bcckmann's Hittory of Invention*. 



BOTTOMRY, (Lzt. foams nnHticHia,ii.inni nut- 

 ritima, contrattus jicciuiiw tnjectitutt) in commercial 

 and maritime law, is a species of marine contract, in 

 the nature of a mortgage of a ship, whereby the own- 

 er of a vessel, when he wants money to purchase pro- 

 visions or other m--cc.ssa.-ies for an intended voyage, 

 borrows the sum required, and pledges the keel or 

 bottom of the ship (//Vcm pro loto, ) as security for 

 the repayment. Debts of this kind are constituted 

 by tionil or bill of In ttomn/, signed by the borrower, 

 acknowledging the receipt of the sum, and charging 

 the vessel with the payment thereof, upon her safe 

 return home after finishing the voyage ; but at the 

 same time declaring, that it she should happen to be 

 lost during the course of the adventure, the obliga- 

 tion for repayment of the money shall cease and de- 

 termine, and that the whole loss shall, in that case, 

 fall upon the lender. In the contract of bottomry, 

 then, it is understood, that if the ship be lost, .he 

 lender loses the whole of the money which he advan- 

 ced ; but if it returns in safety, then he shall receive 

 back his principal, and also the premium or interest 

 agreed upon, however much it may exceed the legal 

 rate of interest. And such a contract is allowed to 



vali .1, among all trading nations, for the benefit of 

 commerce, and on account of the extraordinary ha- 

 zard run by the lender. 



In bottomry, the loan is made on the security of 

 the ship, which, with its tackle, is liable, as well as 

 the person of the borrower, for the money lent, upon 

 its return home : But when the loan is made, not 

 upon the ship, but upon the cargo, which, from its 

 nature, must frequently be sold or exchanged during 

 the course of the voyage ; then the borrower only is 

 pertanaily bound to answer the contract ; and he is 

 therefore said, in this case, to take up money at re- 

 spondcnlia. Bottomry, then, is a loan on the ship ; 



pondentia on the cargo. In the former, the ship 

 and tackle are liable, as well as the person of the bor- 

 rower ; in the latter, for the most part, recourse must 

 be had to the peison only of the borrower. In the 

 latter case, however, the personal responsibility of 

 the borrower is not always the sole security of the 

 lender: For, if the money be lent for the outward and 

 homeward voyage, the goods of the borrower on 

 boa'd, and the returns for them, either in money, or 

 in other merchandise, purchased with the proceeds of 

 them, are liable to the lender. It will be observed, 

 toa, that in a loan upon bottomry, the lender runs no 

 ' risk, though the goods should be lost ; and upon re- 

 sponrlfntia the lender must be paid his principal 

 and interest though the ship perish, provided the 

 goods are safe. Such are the distinguishing differ- 

 ences between the contracts of bottomry and respun- 

 rientia. In all other respects they are upon the sjme 

 footing; and the rules and decisions applicable to the 

 one are also applicable to the other. 



The contracts of bottomry and respondcnlia ureof 

 much greater antiquity that that of insurance. They 

 probably arose originally from the custom of permit- 

 VOL. IV. PART I. 



ting the master of a ship, in a foreign country, to Bottomry. 

 hypothecate the ship, in order to raise money to re- " "v 

 lit. Such contr.n i to have been known 



iig the Romans; ami evi'l I of them may 



lie tjjuml in tlioM- l:\.jMi.ents dt the famous sea laws of 

 the Rhodians, which h.iv- In- n preserved and trans- 

 mitted to our times. The Rhoduui laws, in gem ral, 

 were adopted by the Romans ; and accordingly We 

 meet with chapters in their law books, de. i/a;ri<-<> 

 Jbcnrrc, ill' iiaiilicix uxiirix, which clearly show, that 

 the contract of bottomry was well known to the ju- 

 rists of that distinguished nation. The sum lent upon 

 this contract was called by them pecit/iia trajcclilia, 

 probably because the borrower was accustomed to 

 take the money on board with him in specie, for the 

 purpose of employing it in trade, in the course of the 

 voyage ; which money was to be repaid, after a fortu- 

 nate voyage, with a stipulated interest, called periculi 

 pretiitm, usura marilima, or usura itaiilica ; but the 

 loan was made on the condition, that the lender should 

 lose both principal and interest, if the ship was lost, 

 by the perils of the sea, in the course of the voyage. 

 From the laws of Oleron, of the Hanse towns, and 

 of Wisley, it appears, that the nature of the contract 

 of bottomry, as well as its name, was perfectly well 

 known to the makers of those ordinances. 



The contract of bottomry is essentially different in 

 its nature from almost all others. It differs from a 

 simple contract of loan, because, in a loan, the money 

 lent is at the risk of the borrower, and must be paid 

 at all events ; whereas, in bottomry, it is at the risk 

 of the lender during the voyage. Upon a loan, the 

 legal interest only can be reserved ; in bottomry, on 

 the other hand, any interest may be legally reserved, 

 which is stipulated between the parties. The con- 

 tracts of bottomry and insurance, however, resemble 

 each other in several particulars ; for the lender on 

 bottomry, or at respondent ia, runs almost the same 

 risks, with respect to the property on which the loan 

 is made, that the insurer does, with respect to ihe ef- 

 fects insured. The lender and the insurer are alike 

 liable to the perils" of the sea; the former receives 

 the marine interest, and the latter the premium, as the 

 price of the risk, which varies, of course, according 

 to the length and danger of the voyage. Neither the 

 marine interest nor the premium of insurance is due, 

 if no risk be run, even should this be prevented by 

 the voluntary act of the borrower. There are, how- 

 ever, several material distinctions between these two 

 contracts. Thus, in bottomry, the lender supplies 

 the borrower with money to purchase those effects 

 upon which he is to run the risk ; whereas an insu- 

 rer furnishes no part of the property insured. Vari- 

 ous other distinctions might be pointed out between 

 these two contracts ; but it is presumed they will 

 readily occur to the reader, from a consideration of 

 the nature of the several obligations. 



In the contract of bottomry, or respondentia, there 

 are principally four things to be considered : The 

 situation of the parties contracting; the articles to 

 be hypothecated, or pledged in security ; the nature 

 of the risk which is to be run ; and the rate of the 

 premium, or marine interest. 



With regard to the parties in this contract, it may 

 be observed, that all persons, who are capable of en- 

 2 z, 



