(4.) "And be it farther enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the said [first day of July] if any captain, or other officer on board any of his majesty's ships of war, shall wilfully spring, carry away, or lose any mast or masts of any such ship [Footnote: Left out, _or ships_.], or shall make any false pretence or excuse for leaving the station on which such ship or ships shall be appointed to cruise, or shall return into port before the expiration of the term appointed for his cruise, without just and sufficient reason for so doing, every captain or officer offending in any of the aforesaid cases, [shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or otherwise, as the offence by a court-martial shall be adjudged to deserve.] (5.) "And to the intent that it may be the more easily known what service the aforesaid cruisers shall every year perform, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the commissioner of the navy in each of the outports, or such person or persons as shall, for that purpose, be appointed by the lord high admiral, or commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral for the time being, shall transmit to him or them, every [three months] a distinct and separate account digested into proper columns, of the time when any of the ships appointed to be cruisers, sailed out of port, when such ship came in, together with the number of days, cast up, that such ship was out upon duty, and the reasons of her putting into port, and the time and reasons of her stay there; with an account how often, and the times when each of the said ships have been careened every year; and that the lord high admiral, or commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral, for the time being, shall cause copies of the said accounts to be laid before both houses of the senate within [eight days] after their meeting. (6.) "And be it farther enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the lord high admiral, or commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral, for the time being, shall, on or before the said [first day of July] nominate and appoint such a number of the ships of war, as shall be sufficient for the purposes aforementioned, to be cruisers or convoys on this side cape Finisterre for the current year; and shall afterwards yearly, and every year, during the present or any future war, between the [first day of November] and the [first day of December] nominate and appoint a sufficient number of ships of war to be cruisers or convoys on this side cape Finisterre for the year ensuing; and as often as any of them shall happen to be taken or lost, shall, as soon as may be, appoint others in the room of every ship so taken or lost.