The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-07-16 00:00:00

L*W Prlllifir,GUlCL

COOST OF KINGy ji!,:g
kfore Lo, ELLE* BO GII ltderirCCia.

PARR V. ASIII.SSeOM.
This was an Aaion for the recovery of 3,)01. the
amount of a Policy of Insurance on the ship Mer-
cury, bound on a commercial voyager from Liver.
plot to the coast of Africa, and trout thence to the
West India Islands, with or with.nd letters of
marilut, with liberty to touch, stay, and txalet
az-
ch.tngegoods, &c. at any of the Aitican or Weis
India Islands, within her regular course ; but not
to cruise, chase, or attack, ally ships belonging to
an enemr, except as she might fall in with them io
ber direa course, .tud, on no account whaxsoever, to

deviate from that. On the Stith of June, lir" the
Mercury sailed from Liverpool, the Captain bring
furnished wids letters of marque against the Ft mei.
and Dutch. A few days after, she fell in with the
.Sw.d/ow brig, and spoke the Captain, and Came on
board. While the Commanders were at tea toge-
tner, two sail hove in sight, and appeared about
three miles a-head, crossing the Alertury'y hawse.
They were supposed to he enemies, and the com-
manders, its the eager laqie that they might be
Frenchmen, ordered all hands to their dikrielit

quarters. They immedhitely gave chace, and while
the Mercury took possession of the one vessel, the
Suealkr.: pursued the other. The furmer afterwards
proved to be the Raehact, from Bristol to St. Kitt's.

and had been recently captured by the latter, which
Will a French corvette, and, beiw a quick sailer,
escaped from the Swallow. The prisoner:., twenty
in number, were d;sposed of among the three ships
The Swallow kept company with the Afererry two
days, and the Rachaei was sent home. The Mr.cary
then proceeded on her voyage, and having met an
American, put her prisoners, fourteen in bomber,
on board of her. Oa the 31st of July, she arrived
on the African coast, after a passage of only thirt y-
five days, one of the shortest ever known, as it ge-
nerally takes six or seven weeks, to get to Cape
Mongerado, on the Gold Co.ut. Th:y bartered
there fur about three months, and havii, completed
their cargo, consisting of 246 slave,. for the
iffist Indies. Having touched at Zarl,adoass and
finding nu market for the cargo, they bore away for
Demarara, and meeting with bad uszsithcr, sprung
the mainmast, which obliged them to pi.; into St.
Vincent's, where it was made perfeCtly secure, A1..1
then proceeded to Santa Cruz, where being again
disappointed of a market, they steered for the }la-
vanaah. In passing through th-:Old Straits of Ba-
hama, the Mercury fell in with a Spanish vessel,
from whom she procured provisions, by leaving a
young female slave in Exchange ; hut conceiving
that these provisions would not last out the voyage,
and not being well acquainted with the passage,
the Captain again applied to the Spaniard for ano-
ther supply, and requested she would keep c.:mpativ
with the Mercury, through the Straits; bota of
which requests were refused, and he found it ne-
cessary to proceed on his voyage immediately. On•
the following day, a tremendous storm came on,
known in that climate by the name of the Norther,
the ship struck on a shoal, and was in danger of
going to pieces every moment. Use Capt4in, with
a few of his crew, took to a boat, in the hcpc; of
ga;ning the shore, and obtaining some kind of ei
by means of which he might save the negroes and
remainder or the crew ; but the ship soon after wmt
to pieces, and thcae unfortunate' eings, wretched in
life and death, all perished in the Calph. Most of
the crew shared the same fate ; but a few, by clinging
to pieces of the wreck, were drifted on the she of a
desolate island, where they were nearly famished
hunger and distress, and from whence they were
taken by a canoe, which brought them to Santa
Cruz, and from thence they returned to England.
The Captain and men, who had gone off in the but,
and had landed in another part of the island, were
taken up, after some days, by a cruiser, and brought
home. The Captain, armourer, third mate, and
some others of the surviving crew, were examined ;
but it appeared upon their cross-examination, that
the Merrecii, in her passage from Liverpool to the
African coast, had deviated from her course for
about a quarter of an hour, while in chase of the
Rachart
Lord ELLF.KROROIT.If observed, that the ques-
tion was, whether any thing had been done by the
commander of the ship its question, to amount to a
deviation from his regular course. A vessel is al-
lowed, as a measure of defence, to institute a mea-
sure of offence ; but she is not to deviate from her
regular course to cruise, although she is permitted
to make a capture while in that regular course, with-
out subletting herself to the forfeiture of the policy.
The fag upon this point he left to the determination
of the Jury. Verdict for the Defendant.