Horace Gray

“ In England, likewise, it has long been recognized as a settled rule that under a contract to carry goods, containing an exception such as of 'breakage or leakage,' or of 'barratry of the master or mariners,' or of 'perils of the sea,' there still rests upon the carrier, not merely the duty to carry the goods if not prevented by the excepted perils, but also the obligation that he and his servants shall use due care and skill, and shall not be negligent in carrying the goods. ”

“ The bill of lading itself shows that all the cattle to be carried under this contract were to be on deck. The words 'on deck at owner's risk' cannot have been intended by the parties to cover risks from all causes whatsoever, including negligent or willful acts of the master and crew. To give so broad an interpretation to words of exception inserted by the carrier, and for his benefit, would be contrary to settled rules of construction, and would render nugatory many of the subsequent stipulations of the bill of lading. ”

“ By the facts so found, it appears that the cattle, for the loss of which a recovery has been permitted, were sound and uninjured animals, forcibly thrown or driven overboard, in rough weather, by order of the master, from unfounded apprehension on his part, in the absence of any pressing peril to the ship, and with no apparent or reasonable necessity for a jettison of the sound cattle, and no attempt to separate them from those which had already been injured by perils of the sea. ”