that the master filed at the same time a claim for the cargo on behalf of W. & R. Wright, of St. John's, in the province of New Brunswick, in which he alleged that they were the true, lawful, and sole owners and proprietors of the same, and that they also were British subjects. Accompanying the claims for the ship and cargo is the test affidavit of the master, which was filed at the same time, and which contains substantially the same allegations. Preparatory proofs were duly taken, and the parties were fully heard.
District Court entered a decree condemning the vessel as lawful prize, but acquitted the cargo, and ordered that the same be restored to the owners. Claimants of the vessel appealed to the Circuit Court ofthe United States for that district where the decree of the District Court condemning the vessel was affirmed, and thereupon the claimants appealed to this court.
1. Appeal to the Circuit Court was allowed before the passage of the act of the third of March, 1863, which requires that appeals from the District Courts in prize causes *612 shall be made directly to the Supreme Court.[*] Prior to the passage of that act the Supreme Court had no appellate jurisdiction in prize causes, except when the same were removed here from the Circuit Courts. Exclusive original cognizance of all civil causes of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction was by the ninth section of the Judiciary Act conferred upon the District Courts, and it was conclusively determined, at a very early