As it was considered the duty of sailors to remain by their vessel till the cargo was discharged, they had no claim to their wages till then, but, if these were not paid within ten days after such discharge, they had a right to an admiralty process against the vessel. Only one-third of the wages earned can be demanded by the mariner at any port of delivery during the voyage. There may be on this subject a special stipulation; but, if the ship be lost or captured, wages earned up to the last port of delivery may be recovered by the mariner, on his return home, to the place to which the vessel has carried freight; freight being by the laws of all nations “the Mother of Wages:” inasmuch, however, as they depend upon the vessel’s safety and the earning of the freight, they cannot be insured. In all cases of capture, the seamen lose their wages, unless the ship is restored. In cases of rescue, recapture, and ransom, the wages of mariners are subject to a general average, but in no other case are they liable to contribute. In cases of shipwreck the rule prevails, as elsewhere, that, if parts of the ship be saved by the exertions of the seamen, they hold a lien on those parts for some kind of compensation, but this is viewed somewhat in the light of salvage. When a seaman dies on board ship, wages are usually allowed up to the time of his decease, if the cause of death occurred during the term of his engagement, and otherwise than by his own fault. In the whale-fishery, the representatives of a deceased mariner are entitled to that share of the profits which the term of his service bore to the whole voyage, according to his contract. If a voyage is broken up by the fault of the master or owner, full compensation must be given to the seaman; so also, in cases of wrongful discharge, the seaman usually recovers full indemnification in American Courts of law. Indeed they have more effectual remedies for the recovery of their wages than the seamen of most other countries, from the fact that Americans have followed the ancient laws already quoted: moreover, they have their remedy against the master, and can recover their wages from him personally, or from the owner or owners of the vessel, or from the person who appointed the master and gave him his authority. For personal injuries inflicted by the master upon the seamen, such as assaults, batteries, or imprisonments, the seaman in the United States has his remedy by an action at common law, or by a libel in the Admiralty Courts, in what is technically denominated “a cause of damage.” So, also, in a wrongful discharge, an action would be not only on the special tort committed, but also for the wages on the original contract of hiring, the wrongful discharge being void. [Sidenote: Power of appeal by them to the Admiralty Courts.]