MISCELLANEOUS. 1295 



Frenchman's Bay, Maine, in a communication to Mr. Forsyth,) "after 

 making her fare, on her return put into the harbor called Pirate Cove, 

 near the Big Gut of Canso, and had not lain there twenty-two hours, 

 when the schooner was boarded by an officer of the revenue, called a 

 seizing officer, and by him taken possession of and carried to Guys- 

 borough. The only pretence for this seizure was, that the schooner 

 was under cod-fishing license, and had on board herrings. The ves- 

 sel, after a detention of nineteen days, was given up by directions 

 from Halifax. That at the time of said seizure, the officer took from 

 him ten barrels of his herrings, which have never been returned; and 

 the remainder of his cargo, by the detention, has been nearly all lost. 

 The name of the seizing officer was John G. Marshall." The master 

 of the Charles, he adds, "is a very poor man, and totally unable to 

 bear such a loss. It is at his request I write to solicit the aid of the 

 government in his behalf, knowing of no manner in which he can 

 obtain compensation for his losses from this British officer, but 

 through his own government." 



The allegation against the Pilgrim was that her lines were cast, and 

 fish caught, within one and a half mile of the shore. After her cap- 

 ture, her master, assisted by one of the prize crew, rescued her. The 

 Director and Pallas were seized for "aggressions," which do not dis- 

 tinctly appear in the official papers, and were "ultimately wholly lost 

 to their owners," who claimed redress; but, as is believed, none was 

 obtained. 



The Java, the Hero, and the Combine, were probably condemned 

 for good cause. With regard to the first, however, it may be said, 

 that the American consul at Halifax, feeling a deep sympathy for her 

 owners, gave directions for her purchase at the government sale, "if 

 it was possible, by so doing, to save these poor men from ruin." 



In the case of the Washington, there was no pretence whatever that 

 she had committed any offence under the convention. When cap- 

 tured, she was ten miles from the coast; but being within the head- 

 lands of the Bay of Fundy, was made prize of, merely on the claim set 

 up that we could not rightfully fish in the waters of that bav. The 

 Argus was seized off the coast of Cape Breton, and fifteen miles from 

 the shore, upon the same general ground. Her owners, in a letter to 

 Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of State, says that she "had two hundred and 

 fifty quintals of fish on board;" that "the vessel was valuable to 

 them and to her crew, who were turned on shore without funds or 

 means to help them home." 



The Hope was captured without cause; was tried in the court of 

 admiralty, and restored. Her master and crew had previously 

 exerted themselves to save the lives of the crew of an English vessel. 



The Commerce was seized in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The cap- 

 tain states the facts as follows: "While employed," he says, in dress- 

 ing the mackerel which they had caught (on that day,) "there came 

 on a gale so severe that the vessel was hove down on her beam-ends; 

 part of the fish, to the amount of fifteen barrels, was washed over- 

 board, the rest being stowed in the hold; the only boat was carried 

 away, and the gib was split in two." The next morning, being 

 near the harbor of Port Hood, he thought "it prudent to put in 

 to repair sails, and procure a boat. On arriving there he came to 

 anchor, at 9 o'clock; and while salting the fish, to keep them from 

 spoiling, and waiting for the sails to dry," the commander of a 



