
    Case No. 1,698.
    BOURNE v. ASHLEY.
    District Court, D. Massachusetts.
    June, 1863.
    Whale Fishery — Property Rights in Whale— Custom and Usage — Sufficiency.
    [1. A whale belongs to the ship from #hich the first iron is placed, though the actual killing is by the crew of another vessel, or they take part therein.]
    [2. By long usage, the first iron, whether attached to the boat or not, holds the whale.]
    [3. Though local usages of a particular port will not supersede the general maritime law, yet this doctrine does not apply to a custom embracing an entire business, and concurred in for a long time by persons engaged therein.]
    [Cited in Swift v. Gifford, Case No. 13,696; Ghen v. Rich, 8 Fed. 161.]
     