which prevented him from handing over to the plaintiffs the disputed object.
As was rightly stated in the note Verbale of April 4 last, the question is about some opium which was secretly brought onto the German s.s. "Marie" by the Chinese crew of the said ship with the object of smuggling it. According to German law, a sailor who brings on board contraband without the knowledge of the captain lays himself open to punishment by fine & imprisonment and to the confiscation of the contraband goods. The captain of the "Marie" in sequestrating this opium and later in handing it over to the nearest German Consulate, therefore acted within his competency and as in duty bound to do. As the sequestration on board a German ship took place on the high seas, the view taken by Herr von Möllendorf that
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