tal correspondence of neutrals or
_belligerents_, whether of _an official_ or a private
character, found on board a _neutral_ or enemy ship on the High
Seas is inviolable."

The case of the _Allanton_, which gave occasion for the letter
of July 11, 1904, was as follows. This British ship left
Cardiff on February 24 of that year, with a cargo of coal to be
delivered either at Hong-Kong or Sasebo. On arrival at
Hong-Kong, she found orders to deliver at Sasebo, and, having
made delivery accordingly, was chartered by a Japanese company
at another Japanese port, to carry coal to a British firm at
Singapore. On her way thither, she was captured by a Russian
squadron and taken in to Vladivostok, where on June 24 she was
condemned by the prize Court for carriage of contraband. The
Court held, ignoring the rule that a vessel ceases to be _in
dilecto_ when she has "deposited" her contraband (since
affirmed by Art. 38 of the Declaration of London of 1909), that
she was liable in respect of her voyage to Sasebo; as also in
respect of the voyage on which she was captured, on the ground
that her real destination was at that time the Japanese fleet,
or some Japanese port. This decision was reversed, as to both
ship and cargo, by the Court of Appeal at St. Petersburg, on
October 22 of the same year.

The doctrine of "continuous voyages" was by the Declaration of
London, Art. 30, recognised in the case of "absolute," but by
Art. 35 was stated to be inapplicable to the case of
"conditional" contraband.

PRIZE LAW

Sir,--Questions of maritime international law which are likely to give
rise not only to forensic argument in the prize Courts which we have
established at Durban and at the Cape, but also to diplomatic
communications between Great Britain and neutral Governments, should
obviously be handled just now with a large measure of reserve. Lord
Rosebery has, however, in your columns called upon our Government to
define its policy with reference to foodstuffs as contraband of war,
while several other correspondents have touched upon, cognate topics.
You may perhaps therefore be disposed to allow one who is responsible
for the _Admiralty Manual of the Law of Prize_, to which reference has
been made by your correspondent "S.," to make a few statements as to
points upon which it may be desirable for the general reader to be in
p