3°& 4° GULIELMI IV. Cap.55.
Persons, unless Thirty Days shall elapse from the Day on which the Particulars of the former Bill of Sale or other Instrument were entered in the Book of Registry ; or in case the Ship or Vessel was absent from the Port to which she belonged at the Time when the Particulars of such former Bill of Sale or other Instrument were entered in the Book of Registry, then unless Thirty Days shall have elapsed from the Day on which the Ship or Vessel arrived at the Port to which the same belonged ; and in case the Particulars of Two or more such Bills of Sale or other Instruments as aforesaid shall at any Time have been entered in the Book of Registry of the said Ship or Vessel, the Collector and Controller shall not enter in the Book of Registry the Particulars of any other Bill of Sale or other Instrument as aforesaid unless Thirty Days shall in like Manner have elapsed from the Day on which the Particulars of the last of such Bill of Sale or other Instrument were entered in the Books of Registry, or from the Day on which the Ship or Vessel arrived at the Port to which she belonged, in case of her Absence as aforesaid; and in every Case where there shall at any Time happen to be Two or more Transfers by the same Owner or Owners of the same Property in any Ship or Vessel entered in the Book of Registry as aforesaid, the Collector and Controller are hereby required to indorse upon the Certificate of Registry of such Ship or Vessel the Particulars of that Bill of Sale or other Instrument under which the Person or Persons claims or claim Property who shall produce the Certificate of Registry for that Purpose within Thirty Days next after the Entry of his said Bill of Sale or other Instrument in the Book of Registry as aforesaid, or within Thirty Days next after the Return of the said Ship or Vessel to the Port to which she belongs, in case of her Absence at the Time of such Entry as aforesaid ; and in case no Person or Persons shall produce the Certificate of Registry within either of the said Spaces of Thirty Days, then it shall be lawful for the Collector and Controller., and they are hereby required, to indorse upon the Certi-ficate of Registry the Particulars of the Bill of Sale or other Instru-ment to such Person or Persons as shall first produce the Certificate of Registry for that Purpose, it being the true Intent and Meaning of this Act that the several Purchasers and Mortgagees of such Ship or Vessel, Share or Shares thereof, when more than One appear to claim the same Property, or to claim Security on the same Property, in the same Rank and Degree, shall have Priority one over the other, not according to the respective Times when the Particulars of the Bill of Sale or other Instrument by which such Property was transferred to them were entered in the Book of Registry as aforesaid, but according to the Time when the Indorsement is made upon the Certificate of Registry as aforesaid: Provided always, that if the Certificate of Registry shall be lost or mislaid, or shall be detained by any Person whatever, so that the Indorsement cannot in due Time be made thereon, and Proof thereof shall be made by the Purchaser or Mortgagee, or his known Agent, to the Satisfaction of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to grant such further Time as to them shall appear necessary for the Recovery of the Certificate of Registry, or for the Registry de novo of the said Ship or Vessel under the Provisions of this Act, and thereupon the Collector and Controller shall make a Memorandum
