These two Civil Revision Petitions arise out of a suit (S.C.S. No 8816 of 1952) filed in the Court of Small Causes at Madras by one E. Govindaswami Chetti, for the recovery of a sum of Rs. 668-9-6 from the defendant, viz., the Great Eastern Shipping Co., Limited, and the Madras Port Trust, defendants 1 and 2 respectively, in the following circumstances:

The plaintiff was a consignee of 219 bundles of wet salted cow-hides despatched from Calcutta to Madras per S.S. “Avanee” belonging to the first defendant shipping company. These bundles bore the mark of the plaintiff “EGC.” The ship arrived at the Madras harbour on 30th January, 1952 and the cargo intended tor delivery at Madras was unloaded and the goods were delivered over by the Master of the ship to the Madras Port Trust authorities, who passed receipts, sometimes described as tally sheets, as prescribed by section 39 (3) of the Madras Port Trust Act. As the goods were unloaded in the course of 3 or 4 days, they were covered by more than one tally sheet. The total shown in these tally sheets as having been taken charge of by the Port Trust was 276 bundles with the mark EGC, evidently a mistake, as the plaintiff was a con