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Navy.

thereto. The master of every ship above 80 tons burden shall enter into an agreement, of a certain form, with every seamen he carries from the United Kingdom, and in which the names of the seamen, wages, provisions, capacity of service, etc., are set forth. The seamen are not to lose their wages though no freight is earned, or the ship lost. The men are also to have a berth of a certain size, and the ship to be supplied with medicines, log-book, etc. In order to secure general information, every master of a foreign-going ship is bound, within 48 hours after arriving at the final port of destination in the United Kingdom, to report his ship. Unseaworthy or over-loaded ships may be surveyed by the board of trade, and detained. 3. As regards the liability of ship-owners for loss or damage, it is provided by statute, that no owner of a sea-going ship shall be liable to make good any loss or damage occurring without his actual fault or privity, to goods or things on board, by reason of fire on board the ship; or to any gold, silver, diamonds, watches, jewels, or precious stones on board, by reason of robbery or embezzlement, unless the true nature and value of such articles have been inserted in the bill of lading. And in cases where loss to goods occurs without his actual fault or privity, the owner shall not be liable in damages to an aggregate amount exceeding £8 per ton of the ship's tonnage. In case of loss of life or personal injury caused by mismanagement of the ship, but without the actual fault or privity of the owners, they shall not be liable beyond £15 per ton. In case of accidents, whereby a large number of persons have been killed or injured, and to prevent a multiplicity of actions, the sheriff of the county is to impanel a jury, and inquire into the question of liability. If the owners are found liable, then £30 is to be assessed as the damages for each case of death or personal injury. In case of death, such sum is to be paid to the husband, wife, parent, or child of the deceased. If any person consider this is not sufficient damages, then, on returning such sum, he may commence an action; but unless he recover double that sum, he must pay costs. See also PILOTS and LIGHT-HOUSES.

NAVIGATION LAWS (ante). In regard to United States laws of navigation affecting the property in and management of ships, see SHIPPING, LAW OF. Only the regulation of congress in regard to the motions of ships coming near each other in such a way as to make a collision possible will be here considered. These regulations, which will be carried into effect in the courts of the United States, are also enforced in most commercial countries; and have taken the place of the general rules of the maritime law. They are the same which were adopted by France and Great Britain in 1863, and have since been agreed to by the United States and Canada, the chief continental commercial powers, Brazil, and the South American republics. Every steamship under sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing-ship; and every steamship under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a ship under steam. Every steam vessel under way must carry at the foremast head a white light; on the port side a red light; on the starboard side a green light; and both the green and red side-lights are to be fitted with inboard screens so as to keep the lights from being seen across the bow. Steamships towing other ships must carry two bright white lights vertically beside their side-lights to prevent them from being confounded with other steamships. Sailing-ships under way, or being towed, carry the same lights as steamships, with the exception of mast-head lights. Both steamships and sailing-vessels, when at anchor in roadsteads, shall exhibit a white light. Sailing pilot-vessels carry a white light at the mast-head, and show a flare-up light every 15 minutes. In case of a fog signals are to be sounded at least every 5 minutes. Steamships and sailing-vessels not under way sound a bell. Steamships under way sound a steam whistle. Sailing vessels under way sound a fog-horn. A steam ship coming near enough to a ship to make collision probable must stop and reverse. If two ships under steam are crossing each other, the ship which has the other on her starboard side must keep out of the other's way. If two sailing-ships meet end on so as to hazard collision the helms of both shall be put to port; and so with steamships. A vessel overtaking another must keep out of the latter's way. If two sailing-ships cross each other with the wind on different sides the one with the wind on the port side must keep out of the way of the one with the wind on the starboard side; but if they have the wind on the same side, or one has the wind aft, the one to windward must keep out of way of the one to leeward.

NAVIGATION, OCEAN STEAM. See STEAM NAVIGATION.

NAVIGA TORS' or SAMO AN ISLANDS, a group of nine islands, with some islets, in the Pacific ocean, lying n. of the Friendly islands, in lat. 13° 30' to 14° 30′ s. and long. 168° to 173° west. The four principal islands of the group are Mauna, Tutuila, Upolu, and Savaii. Of these, Savaii, 40 m. in length by 20 m. broad, and having a population of 20,000, is the largest. Area of the group estimated at 2,500 sq.m.; pop. about 56,000. With the exception of one (Rose island), the Navigators' islands are all of volcanic origin. For the most part they are lofty, and broken and rugged in appearance, rising in some cases to upwards of 2,500 ft. in height, and covered with the richest vegetation. The soil, formed chiefly by the decomposition of volcanic rock, is rich, and the climate is moist. The forests, which include the bread-fruit, the cocoanut, banana, and palm trees, are remarkably thick. The orange, lemon, tacca (from which a kind of sago is made), coffee, sweet potatoes, pine-apples, yams, nutmeg, wild sugar-cane, and many other important plants, grow luxuriantly. Until recently, when swine, horned-cattle, and

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NAVY.-1. Old style of ship-gun. 2. Corvette Dauntless (England, 1844). 3. Ancient war-vessels. 7. Swab. 8. Tompion. 9. Bar-shot. 10. Shrapnel for ship-gun. 11. Ball-carriage for 96-pound

15. Powder-box. 16. Percussion-shell.

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4. Old style of carronade. 5. Ancient naval weapons. 6. Naval weapons of the Middle Ages. ler. 12. Cross-section of shell. 18. Breech-hammer and lanyard of gun. 14. Shell for 96-pounder.

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