ABSTRACT
The subject of continuous voyage first came into prominence in connexion with what is known as the “Rule of the War of 1756.” The English courts held that the destination of the ship was to be ascertained not by its voyage to the port of colourable importation, but by that to the prohibited port, and that a vessel seized on its ultimate voyage from the former port was lawful prize. The “Providentia” incidentally shows that the interposition of a neutral port in a colonial voyage was resorted to during the war of 1756 itself. The “Polly” is the first case, after the war of 1756, in which continuous colonial voyages came up for decision. The “Thomyris”2 is a decision not on continuous voyage generally, but on the interpretation of a particular Order in Council forbidding trade between the ports of France and those under her control.
