P. CHAKRAVARTTI, C. J.

( 1 ) WE have had some difficulty in following the appellant's argument in this appeal, because it did not conform too closely to what appeals to have been urged in the Court below, nor was its rather expanded end quite an expected sequel to the somewhat slender beginning. Nevertheless, we think we are now in possession of what exactly the appellant wishes to say.

( 2 ) THE appellant is a private limited company, formed under the Companies Act of 1956, to take over the assets and liabilities of another company as also its outstanding contracts. It appears that some time ago the predecessor company obtained a lease of a considerable area of forest land in the North Andamans with a view to exploiting its timber. Andaman timber has hardly any local market and it, therefore, became necessary for the company to secure some means of transport for bringing the timber over to the mainland. For that purpose it chartered from time to time sea-going vessels. One such vessel was the "eastern Venture", owned by Newland Steamship Co. Ltd. of Hongkong, which the predecessor company hired by a charter-party executed in London on 25-8-1954. The Charter-party was in the form

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