Das, J.

1. This is a second appeal by the defendant, and arises out of a suit for recovery of damages on account of non-delivery of three bales of cloth by a carrier. The relevant facts are the following.

On 15-9-1943, a consignment of four bales of cloth was hooked by the plaintiffs agent at a station called Cawnpore on the East Indian Railway, as it was then called. The consignment was booked for a station called Ranchi on the then Bengal Nagpur Railway. On 24-12-1943, only one bale of cloth was delivered to the consignee; the other three bales of cloth were not delivered at all. The plaintiff respondent then gave a notice of his claim to the Bengal Nagpur Railway on 6-3-1944 and sent a copy of the said notice to the East Indian Railway Administration as well. A protracted correspondence then ensued. On 24-4-1944, the East Indian Railway Administration wrote to the plaintiff-respondent saying that an enquiry should be made from the Bengal Nagpur Railway Administration and that the East Indian Railway Administration was also making further enquiries into the matter.

On 3-6-1944, the Bengal Nagpur Railway Administration said that the consignment in question could not be tra