NAVIGATION. 119 



continue exactly on an unaltered course, or that 

 she will make some seemingly probable alteration 

 in her course (as in " turning to windward ") ; in 

 short, the steamer must, if possible^ steer in such 

 a manner that no action of the sailing vessel 

 can bring about a collision. So, of Art. 17, with 

 reference to one vessel overtaking another, 



63. Under Arts. 18 and 19, the sailing vessel 

 of Art. 15, or the overtaken vessel of Art. 16 may 

 commit a fault. It happens often that the sailing 

 vessel or the overtaken vessel sees the steamer or 

 the overtaking vessel coming dangerously near. 

 It is generally impossible to tell whether this is 

 done wilfully with the intention of making "a 

 close shave," or wilfully with the intention of 

 unlawfully compelling the other to give way, or 

 unintentionally through total or partial want of 

 look-out. If the master of the threatened vessel 

 could tell for certain that there was no look-out 

 in the other vessel, and that the look-out ivould not 

 suddenly wake up, then he could ensure safety by 

 a variation of his own course, which then in virtue 

 of Art. 19 would not violate Art. 18. But he can 



