XIV. WAIFS, _bona waviata_, are goods stolen, and waived or thrown
away by the thief in his flight, for fear of being apprehended. These
are given to the king by the law, as a punishment upon the owner, for
not himself pursuing the felon, and taking away his goods from him[d].
And therefore if the party robbed do his diligence immediately to
follow and apprehend the thief (which is called making fresh _suit_)
or do convict him afterwards, or procure evidence to convict him, he
shall have his goods again[e]. Waived goods do also not belong to the
king, till seised by somebody for his use; for if the party robbed can
seise them first, though at the distance of twenty years, the king
shall never have them[f]. If the goods are hid by the thief, or left
any where by him, so that he had them not about him when he fled, and
therefore did not throw them away in his flight; these also are not
_bona waviata_, but the owner may have them again when he pleases[g].
The goods of a foreign merchant, though stolen and thrown away in
flight, shall never be waifs[h]: the reason whereof may be, not only
for the encouragement of trade, but also because there is no wilful
default in the foreign merchant's not pursuing the thief, he being
generally a stranger to our laws, our usages, and our language.