Contre Maitre
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
In French law. The second ofiicer in command of a ship; the officer next in command to the master, and under him. His business is said to relate to providing fit things for the navigation of the vessel before the voyage, — ropes, sails, anchors, etc.; to attending to its condition through the voyage, reporting each day to the master, and attending to the anchoring and security of the vessel at the end of the voyage.
Ord. de la Marine de ■ 1681, liv. 2.
He is always to execute, day or night, the commands of the master, and represents the master in his sickness or absence. Guyot, Rep. Univ. CONTRECTARE (Lat.) In Civil -Law. To handle; to take hold of; to meddle with. In Old Engllsli Law. To treat. Vel male contrectet, or shall ill treat. Fleta, lib.
1, c. 17, § 4.