Under Manx law, leaving the Isle of Man without the Governor's licence was a criminal offence. The statute provided that 'if any inhabitant of the Island, not being a licensed trafficker, shall transport himself from it without special license from the governor, whether it be in his own boat or in the boat of a neighbour, he shall be proceeded against as a felon, and his goods and property confiscated to the Lord.' A replacement law of 1736 imposed a ten-pound fine on any ship's master who carried a person off the island without the Governor's licence, 'besides paying the debts which such person did owe at the time of his departure.' Train, writing in the nineteenth century, noted that 'this act, although not yet repealed, has fallen into disuse.' The pass system meant that Manx emigration, whether to the colonies or anywhere else, required official permission. Those who left without it risked forfeiture of everything they owned. This makes the question of how Manx people reached the American colonies more complex than simple economic migration: they needed either the Governor's consent, a willingness to risk felony, or passage through an English or Irish port where they were not known. The system also helps explain why so few departure records exist for Manx emigrants in this period.