Very clearly the ship was not discharged from the bottomry lien, unless the bond was actually paid, or unless the libellants agreed to pay it and look to the freights, the general average, and the insurances exclusively for their reimbursement. Of actual payment there is no evidence whatever. On the arrival of the ship at New York, Mr. E. A. Hammond, who had a mortgage upon her, which, with interest, amounted to more than $30,000, took her into his possession, in virtue of authority conferred by the mortgage, and employed the libellants to take up the bottomry bond, to collect the freight, the general average and insurance, and generally to transact the business of the vessel. Subsequently this arrangement was assented to by the owner and the charterer. Accordingly the libellants took up the bond by taking an assignment of it from the Messrs. Ward who held it, and proceeded to adjust the business of the ship, collecting the freights, general average, and insurance, and making the necessary disbursements, but as they were unable to realize from the insurances what was expected, the sums collected proved insufficient to pay the expenses of discharging the ship, the commissions, and the necessary disbursements, together with the bottomry bond. They now claim the right to apply what they have been able to collect, first, to reimburse themselves, the commissions, necessary expenses, and disbursements made by them on account of the ship; and, secondly, to the discharge of the bottomry lien, looking to the ship for that portion of the bond which, by such marshalling of the fund, remains unpaid. And such, we think, are their rights, if they have not been surrendered. By the assignment of the bottomry bond to them, they became bottomry creditors, and even if there had been no such assignment, and had they in fact paid the bond at the instance of the owner and mortgagee, they would have been entitled in equity to the rights of the bottomry creditor. Being thus creditors by bottomry and also by payments on behalf of the ship for expenses, they have a clear right to apply whatever funds of the ship come to their hands, first, to the satisfaction of their unsecured claims, and secondly, to the bond, and to look to the ship for any unpaid balance of the bottomry. If, however, when they undertook their agency they agreed to pay the bond, and thus discharge its lien, looking to the freight, the general average, and the insurance alone for reimbursement, or to the personal liability of the owner, as the appellants insist they did, they cannot now set up a lien on the ship. But we do not think the evidence establishes any such agreement, and its existence is quite improbable. They were adjusters of averages, and they desired to be employed as such to attend to the business of the ship. To secure such employment, they made the most favorable representation of what they were able and willing to do. But they proposed to the Messrs. Ward, who held the bond, to take it up, taking an assignment of it, before they had any interview with Mr. Kimball, the owner. They could then have had no accurate knowledge of the amount of the freight, the general average, and the insurance. They could not have known that the ship's resources would suffice to pay the bottomry, and the other expenses necessary to make the freight and the general average available. And they had then no control over the insurances. It is, therefore, quite unlikely that they undertook to pay the bond and discharge the lien. Their arrangement was with the mortgagee, and there is no evidence that they agreed with him to do anything more than take the bond from the holder and act as general agents of the ship in adjusting its affairs. The proofs do not establish that in that arrangement they undertook to satisfy the bottomry and extinguish its lien without regard to the amount of freight, general average, and insurances which could be collected, and without regard to the necessary disbursements and commissions. Such is not the testimony of Mr. Higgins, nor has the mortgagee so testified, and the owner was not present at the arrangement.