f their
knowledge it was a German firm whose members were not citizens either of
the Transvaal or of the Orange Free State. They showed that the goods
were sold on four months' time dating from November 3, and consequently
that their loss would fall upon the original shippers, who were citizens
of the United States. The fact was pointed out that additional
merchandise amounting to five thousand dollars had been purchased for
the Delagoa Bay firm, with a view to immediate shipment, but would have
to be held up and probably lost because of a situation which amounted to
a blockade declared by Great Britain over a neutral port, an act which
in the end would compel all firms in Lorenzo Marques to cease buying
American goods.[14]

[Footnote 14: For. Rel., 1900, pp. 530-533; Flint Eddy and Co. to
Hopkins and Hopkins, Dec. 9, 1899, and Hopkins and Hopkins to Adee, Dec.
15, 1899.]

It was alleged by the captors that the ship's papers were not in proper
form, and that besides the flour and other foodstuffs she carried a
consignment of lubricating oil for the Netherlands South African
Railway. This consignment was held to be enemy's property since it was
considered that the railway belonged to the Transvaal, the specific
charge against the ship being that of trading with the enemy. The fact
that a consignment of flour was billed to a Lorenzo Marques firm but
labelled "Z.A.R." created a conclusive presumption, it was thought, that
the flour was intended for the Transvaal, although its owners claimed
that the consignment was not destined for the belligerent Republic but
for local consumption at Lorenzo Marques.[15]

[Footnote 15: For. Rel., 1900, pp. 538-539, 561.]

Both the cargo consigned to the Transvaal and the vessel herself were
claimed as lawful prize. The cargo, it was contended, was unprotected
since it was enemy's property, and the vessel, by trading with the
enemy, had violated a regulation which rendered it confiscable. Against
this it was urged that the consignees were hostile only by reason of
domicile, and that neither the owners of the ship nor the captain had
any intention to trade with the enemy. So far as intention was
concerned, it was shown that the captain had intended to pass a bond at
Algoa Bay, one of the ports of call, undertaking not to deliver the
goods at Delagoa Bay without the permission of the proper authorities.
The three judges of the Supreme Court of Cape Colony sitting as a prize
court came t