309.—(1) Before any emigrant ship clears outwards or proceeds to sea, the master, together with the owner or charterer, or in the event of the owner or charterer being absent, or being the master, one other good and sufficient person approved by the chief officer of customs at the port of clearance, shall enter into a joint and several bond (in this Act referred to as the master’s bond), in the sum of two thousand pounds, to the Crown.

(2) The bond shall be executed in duplicate, and shall not be liable to stamp duty.

(3) Where neither the owner nor the charterer of an emigrant ship resides in the British Islands, the bond shall be for the sum of five thousand instead of two thousand pounds, and shall contain an additional condition for the payment to the Crown, as a Crown debt, of all expenses incurred under this Act in rescuing, maintaining, and forwarding to their destination, any steerage passengers carried in the ship who by reason of shipwreck or any other cause, except their own neglect or default, are not conveyed by or on behalf of the owner, charterer, or master of the ship to their intended destination.