Section XIX Penalty for Desertion.
Every Person subject to this Act who shall absent himself from his Ship or from the Place where his Duty requires him to be, without any Intention of returning to such Ship or Place, or who shall at any Time and under any Circumstances when absent from his Ship do any Act which shows that he has not any Intention of returning to such Ship or Place, shall be deemed to have deserted, and shall be punished accordingly; that is to say,
If he has deserted to the Enemy he shall be punished with Death, Penal Servitude, or such other Punishment as is herein-after mentioned;
If he has deserted under any other Circumstances he shall be punished with Penal Servitude or such other Punishment as is herein-after mentioned ;
and in every such Case he shall forfeit all Pay, Head Money, Bounty, Salvage, Prize Money, and Allowances that have been earned by him, and all Annuities, Pensions, Gratuities, Medals, and Decorations that may have been granted to him, and also all Clothes and Effects which he may have left on board the Ship or at the Place from which he has deserted, unless the Tribunal by which he is tried shall otherwise direct.