D.

D. In the _Complete Book_, D means dead or deserted; Dsq., discharged from the service, or into another ship.

DAB. The sea-flounder. An old general term for a pleuronect or flat fish of any kind, but usually appropriated to the _Platessa limanda_. The word is familiarly applied to one who is expert in anything.

DABBERLACK. A kind of long sea-weed on our northern coasts.

DAB-CHICK. The little grebe, _Podiceps minor_. A small diving bird common in lakes and rivers.

DACOITS. _See_ DEKOYTS.

DADDICK. A west-country term for rotten-wood, touch-wood, &c.

DAGEN. A peculiar dirk or poignard.

DAGGAR. An old term for a dog-fish.

DAGGER-KNEE. A substitute for the hanging-knee, applied to the under side of the lodging-knee; it is placed out of the perpendicular to avoid a port-hole. Anything placed aslant or obliquely, now generally termed diagonal, of which, indeed, it is a corruption.

DAGGER-PIECE, OR DAGGER-WOOD. A timber or plank that faces on to the poppets of the bilge-ways, and crosses them diagonally, to keep them together. The plank securing the head is called the daggerplank.

DAGGES. An old term for pistols or hand-guns.

DAHLGREN GUN. A modification of the Paixhan gun, introduced into the United States service by Lieut., now Admiral, Dahlgren, of that navy; having, in obedience to the results of ingenious experiment on the varying force of explosion on different parts of a gun, what has been called the soda-water bottle or pear-shaped form.

DAHM. An Arab or Indian decked boat.

DAILY PROGRESS. A daily return when in port of all particulars relative to the progress of a ship's equipment.

DAIRS. Small unsaleable fish.

DALE. A trough or spout to carry off water, usually named from the office it has to perform, as a pump-dale, &c. Also, a place forward, to save the decks from being wetted, now almost abolished.

DALLOP. A heap or lump in a clumsy state. A large quantity of anything.

DAM. A barrier of stones, stakes, or rubble, constructed to stop or impede the course of a stream. (_See_ INUNDATIONS and FLOATING DAM.)

DAMASCENED. The mixing of various metals in the Damascus blades, the kris, or other weapons; sometimes by adding silver, to produce a watered effect.

DAMASCUS BLADE. Swords famed for the quality and temper of the metal, as well as the beauty of the _jowhir_, or watering of the blades.

DAMASK. Steel worked in the Damascus style, showing the wavy lines of the different metals; usually termed watered or twisted.

DAMBER. An old word for lubberly rogue.

DAMELOPRE. An ancient flat-floored vessel belonging to Holland, and intended to carry heavy cargoes over their shallow waters.

DAMMAH. A kind of turpentine or resin from a species of pine, which is used in the East Indies for the same purposes to which turpentine and pitch are applied. It is exported in large quantities from Sumatra to Bengal and other places, where it is much used for paying seams and the bottoms of vessels, for which latter purpose it is often mixed with sulphur, and answers admirably in warm climates.

DAMPER. The means by which the furnace of each boiler in a steamer can be regulated independently, by increasing or diminishing the draught to the fire.

DAMSEL. A coast name for the skate-fish.

DANCERS. The coruscations of the aurora. (_See_ MERRY DANCERS.)

DANDIES. Rowers of the budgerow boats on the Ganges.

DANDY. A sloop or cutter with a jigger-mast abaft, on which a mizen-lug-sail is set.

DANGER. Perils and hazard of the sea. Any rock or shoal which interferes with navigation.

DANK. Moist, mouldy: a sense in which Shakspeare uses it; also Tusser--

"_Dank_ ling forgot will quickly rot."

DANKER. A north-country term for a dark cloud.

DANSKERS. Natives of Denmark.

DARBIES. An old cant word for irons or handcuffs; it is still retained.

DARE. An old word for to challenge, or incite to emulation; still in full use.

DARE-DEVIL. One who fears nothing, and will attempt anything.

DARKENING. Closing of the evening twilight.

DARK GLASSES. Shades fitted to instruments of reflection for preventing the bright rays of the sun from hurting the eye of the observer.

DARKS. Nights on which the moon does not shine,--much looked to by smugglers.

DARKY. A common term for a negro.

DARNING THE WATER. A term applied to the action of a fleet cruising to and fro before a blockaded port.

DARRAG. A Manx or Erse term for a strong fishing-line made of black hair snoods.

DARSENA. An inner harbour or wet dock in the Mediterranean.

DARTS. Weapons used in our early fleets from the round-tops.

DASH. The present with which bargains are sealed on the coast of Africa.

DASHING. The rolling and breaking of the sea.

DATOO. West wind in the Straits of Gibraltar: very healthy. Also, a Malay term of rank, and four of whom form the council of the sultan of the Malayu Islands.

DATUM. The base level.

DAVID'S-STAFF. A kind of quadrant formerly used in navigation.

DAVIE. An old term for davit.

DAVIT. A piece of timber or iron, with sheaves or blocks at its end, projecting over a vessel's quarter or stern, to hoist up and suspend one end of a boat.--_Fish-davit_, is a beam of timber, with a roller or sheave at its end, used as a crane, whereby to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the planks of the ship's side as it ascends, and called fishing the anchor; the lower end of this davit rests on the fore-chains, the upper end being properly secured by a tackle from the mast-head; to which end is hung a large block, and through it a strong rope is rove, called the fish-pendant, to the outer end of which is fitted a large hook, and to its inner end a tackle; the former is called the fish-hook, the latter the fish-tackle. There is also a davit of a smaller kind, occasionally fixed in the long-boat, and with the assistance of a small windlass, used to weigh the anchor by the buoy-rope, &c.

DAVIT-GUYS. Ropes used to steady boats' davits.

DAVIT-ROPE. The lashing which secures the davit to the shrouds when out of use.

DAVIT-TOPPING-LIFT. A rope made fast to the outer end of a davit, and rove through a block made fast to a vessel's mast aloft, with a tackle attached. Usually employed for bringing the anchor in-board.

DAVY JONES. The spirit of the sea; a nikker; a sea-devil.

DAVY JONES'S LOCKER. The ocean; the common receptacle for all things thrown overboard; it is a phrase for death or the other world, when speaking of a person who has been buried at sea.

DAW-FISH. The _Scyllium catulus_, a small dog-fish.

DAWK-BOAT. A boat for the conveyance of letters in India; _dawk_ being the Hindostanee for _mail_.

DAY. The astronomical day is reckoned from noon to noon, continuously through the twenty-four hours, like the other days. It commences at noon, twelve hours after the civil day, which itself begins twelve hours after the nautical day, so that the _noon_ of the civil day, the _beginning_ of the astronomical day, and the _end_ of the nautical day, occur at the same moment. (_See the words_ SOLAR and SIDEREAL.)

DAY-BOOK. An old and better name for the log-book; a journal [Fr.]

DAY-MATES. Formerly the mates of the several decks--now abolished. (_See_ SUB-LIEUTENANT.)

DAY-SKY. The aspect of the sky at day-break, or at twilight.

DAY'S WORK. In navigation, the reckoning or reduction of the ship's courses and distances made good during twenty-four hours, or from noon to noon, according to the rules of trigonometry, and thence ascertaining her latitude and longitude by _dead-reckoning_ (which see).

D-BLOCK. A lump of oak in the shape of a D, bolted to the ship's side in the channels to reeve the lifts through.

DEAD-ANGLE. In fortification, is an angle receiving no defence, either by its own fire or that of any other works.

DEAD-CALM. A total cessation of wind; the same as _flat-calm_.

DEAD-DOORS. Those fitted in a rabbet to the outside of the quarter-gallery doors, with the object of keeping out the sea, in case of the gallery being carried away.

DEADEN A SHIP'S WAY, TO. To retard a vessel's progress by bracing in the yards, so as to reduce the effect of the sails, or by backing minor sails. Also, when sounding to luff up and shake all, to obtain a cast of the deep-sea lead.

DEAD-EYE, OR DEAD MAN'S EYE. A sort of round flattish wooden block, or oblate piece of elm, encircled, and fixed to the channels by the chain-plate: it is pierced with three holes through the flat part, in order to receive a rope called the laniard, which, corresponding with three holes in another dead-eye on the shroud end, creates a purchase to set up and extend the shrouds and stays, backstays, &c., of the standing and top-mast rigging. The term _dead_ seems to have been used because there is no revolving sheave to lessen the friction. In merchant-ships they are generally fitted with iron-plates, in the room of chains, extending from the vessel's side to the top of the rail, where they are connected with the rigging. The dead-eyes used for the stays have only one hole, which, however, is large enough to receive ten or twelve turns of the laniard--these are generally termed _hearts_, on account of their shape. The _crowfeet dead-eyes_ are long cylindrical blocks with a number of small holes in them, to receive the legs or lines composing the crow-foot. Also called _uvrous_.

DEAD-FLAT. The timber or frame possessing the greatest breadth and capacity in the ship: where several timbers are thrown in, of the same area, the middle one is reckoned a dead-flat, about one third of the length of the ship from the head. It is generally distinguished as the midship-bend.

DEAD-FREIGHT. The sum to which a merchant is liable for goods which he has failed to ship.

DEAD-HEAD. A kind of _dolphin_ (which see). Also, a rough block of wood used as an anchor-buoy.

DEAD-HEADED. Timber trees which have ceased growing.

DEAD-HORSE. A term applied by seamen to labour which has been paid for in advance. When they commence earning money again, there is in some merchant ships a ceremony performed of dragging round the decks an effigy of their fruitless labour in the shape of a horse, running him up to the yard-arm, and cutting him adrift to fall into the sea amidst loud cheers.

DEAD-LIFT. The moving of a very inert body.

DEAD-LIGHTS. Strong wooden shutters made exactly to fit the cabin windows externally; they are fixed on the approach of bad weather. Also, luminous appearances sometimes seen over putrescent bodies.

DEAD-LOWN. A completely still atmosphere.

DEAD-MEN. The reef or gasket-ends carelessly left dangling under the yard when the sail is furled, instead of being tucked in.

DEAD-MEN'S EFFECTS. When a seaman dies on board, or is drowned, his effects are sold at the mast by auction, and the produce charged against the purchasers' names on the ship's books.

DEAD-MONTHS. A term for winter.

DEAD-ON-END. The wind blowing directly adverse to the vessel's intended course.

DEAD-PAY. That given formerly in shares, or for names borne, but for which no one appears, as was formerly practised with _widows' men_.

DEAD-RECKONING. The estimation of the ship's place without any observation of the heavenly bodies; it is discovered from the distance she has run by the log, and the courses steered by the compass, then rectifying these data by the usual allowance for current, lee-way, &c., according to the ship's known trim. This reckoning, however, should be corrected by astronomical observations of the sun, moon, and stars, whenever available, proving the importance of practical astronomy.

DEAD-RISING. In ship-building, is that part of a ship which lies aft between the keel and her floor-timbers towards the stern-post; generally it is applied to those parts of the bottom, throughout the ship's length, where the sweep or curve at the head of the floor-timber terminates, or inflects to join the keel. (_See_ RISING-LINE.)

DEAD-ROPES. Those which do not run in any block.

DEAD-SHARES. An allowance formerly made to officers of the fleet, from fictitious numbers borne on the complement (_temp._ Henry VIII.), varying from fifty shares for an admiral, to half a share for the cook's mate.

DEAD-SHEAVE. A scored aperture in the heel of a top-mast, through which a second top-tackle pendant can be rove. It is usually a section of a lignum-vitae sheave let in, so as to avoid chafe.

DEAD-TICKET. Persons dying on board, those discharged from the service, and all officers promoted, are cleared from the ship's books by a dead-ticket, which must be filled up in a similar manner to the _sick-ticket_ (which see).

DEAD UPON A WIND. Braced sharp up and bowlines hauled.

DEAD-WATER. The eddy-water under the counter of a ship under way; so called because passing away slower than the water alongside. A ship is said to _make much dead-water_ when she has a great eddy following her stern, often occasioned by her having a square tuck. A vessel with a round buttock at her line of floatation can have but little dead-water, the rounding abaft allowing the fluid soon to recover its state of rest.

DEAD WEIGHT. A vessel's lading when it consists of heavy goods, but

## particularly such as pay freight according to their weight and not their

_stowage_.

DEAD WOOD. Certain blocks of timber, generally oak, fayed on the upper side of the keel, particularly at the extremities before and abaft, where these pieces are placed upon each other to a considerable height, because the ship is there so narrow as not to admit of the two half timbers, which are therefore scored into this dead wood, where the angle of the floor-timbers gradually diminishes on approaching the stem and stern-post. In the fore-part of the ship the dead wood generally extends from the stemson, upon which it is scarphed, to the loof-frame; and in the after-end, from the stern-post, where it is confined by the knee, to the after balance frame. It is connected to the keel by strong spike nails. The dead wood afore and abaft is equal in depth to two-thirds of the depth of the keel, and as broad as can be procured, not exceeding the breadth of the keel, _i.e._ continued as high as the _cutting-down_ line in both bodies, to afford a stepping for the heels of the cant timbers.

DEAD-WOOD KNEES. The upper foremost and aftermost pieces of dead wood; being crooked pieces of timber, the bolting of which connects the keel with the stem and stern posts.

DEAD WORKS. All that part of the ship which is above water when she is laden. The same as _upper work_, or _supernatant_ (which see).

DEAL BEACH. This coast consists of gravelly shingle; and a man who is pock-marked, or in galley-cant cribbage-faced, is figuratively said to have been rolled on Deal beach.

DEAL-ENDS. Applied to deal-planks when under 6 feet in length.

DEATH OR MONEY BOATS. So termed from the risk in such frail craft. They were very long, very narrow, and as thin as the skiffs of our rivers. During the war of 1800-14 they carried gold between Dover and Calais, and defied the custom-house officers.

DEATH-WOUND. A law-term for the starting of a butt end, or springing a fatal leak. A ship had received her death-wound, but by pumping was kept afloat till three days after the time she was insured for: it was determined that the risk was at an end before the loss happened, and that the insurer was not liable.

DEBARK, TO. To land; to go on shore.

DEBENTURE. A custom-house certificate given to the exporter of goods, on which a bounty or drawback is allowed. Also, a general term for a bill or bond.

DEBOUCHE. The mouth of a river, outlet of a wood, defile, or narrow pass. In military language, troops defile or march out from.

DECAGON. A plane geometrical figure that has ten equal sides, and as many equal angles.

DECAMP, TO. To raise the camp; the breaking up from a place where an army has been encamped.

DECEPTIO VISUS. Any extraordinary instance of deception to the sight, occasioned by the effects of atmospheric media. (_See_ TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION and MIRAGE.)

DECIMATION. The punishing every tenth soldier by lot, was truly _decimatio legionis_.

DECIME. A small copper coin of France, equal to two sous, or one-tenth of a franc.

DECK, TO. A word formerly in use for to trim, as "we deckt up our sails."

DECK-BEAM KNEES. The same as _lodging-knees_.

DECK-BEAMS. _See_ BEAMS.

DECK-CARGO, otherwise _deck-load_ (which see).

DECK-CLEATS. Pieces of wood temporarily nailed to the deck to secure objects in bad weather, as guns, deck-load, &c.

DECK-HOOK. The compass timber bolted horizontally athwart a ship's bow, connecting the stem, timbers, and deck-planks of the fore-part; it is part and parcel of the _breast-hooks_.

DECK-HOUSE. An oblong-house on the deck of some merchantmen, especially east-country vessels, and latterly in passenger steamers, with a gangway on each side of it. (Sometimes termed _round-house_.)

DECK-LOAD. Timber, casks, or other cargo not liable to damage from wet, stowed on the deck of merchant vessels. This, with the exception of carboys of vitriol, is not included in a general policy of insurance on goods, unless it be specially stipulated.

DECK-NAILS. A kind of spike with a snug head, commonly made in a diamond form; they are single or double deck-nails, and from 4 to 12 inches long.

DECK-PIPE. An iron pipe through which the chain cable is paid into the chain-locker.

DECK-PUMPS. In a steamer, are at the side of the vessel, worked with a lever by manual power, to supply additional water. In a ship-of-war, used for washing decks (one of the midship pumps).

DECKS. The platforms laid longitudinally over the transverse beams; in ships of war they support the guns. The terms in use for these decks are, assuming the largest ship of the line:--_Poop_, the deck which includes from the mizen-mast to the taffrail. The _upper_ or _spar-deck_, from stem to stern, having conventional divisions; as, _quarter-deck_, which is, when clear for action, the space abaft the main-mast, including the cabin; next, _the waist_, between the fore and main masts, on which the spars and booms are secured. In some ships guns are continued (always in flush-decked ships) along the gangway; then _the forecastle_, which commences on the gangway, from the main-tack chock forward to the bows. Small craft, as brigs and corvettes, are sometimes fitted with top-gallant forecastles, to shelter the men from heavy seas which wash over. Next, the _main or gun-deck_, the entire length of the ship. It is also divided conventionally into the various cabins, the waist (under the gangway), the galley, from the fore-hatchway to the sick bay, and bows. Next below, is the _middle deck_ of a three-decker, or _lower_ of a two-decker, succeeded by lower deck and the orlop-deck, which carries no guns. The guns on these several decks increase in size and number from the poop downwards. Thus, although a vessel termed a three-decker was rated 120 guns, the fact stood thus:--

Guns. Pounders. lbs. Poop, 10 24 240 Quarter-deck, 22 24 long } 848 Forecastle, 10 32 cans. } Main-deck, 34 24 816 Middle, 36 24 864 Lower, 36 32 1152 ---- ---- 148 3920 ---- Broadside of 1960

But latterly, 56 and 84 pounders on the lower, and 32 on the middle, afforded a heavier weight of broadside. The _Santissima Trinidada_, taken from the Spaniards, carried four whole tiers of guns. Now, the tonnage of the largest of these would be insignificant. "Deckers" are exploded, and a _Pallas_ of the same tonnage (2372) carries 8 guns, a _Bellerophon_ (4272) carries 18 guns, ranging in size, however, from the 64-pounder up to the 300-pounder.--_Flush-deck_, or deck flush fore and aft, implies a continued floor laid from stem to stern, upon one line, without any stops or intervals.--_Half-deck._ In the Northumberland colliers the steerage itself is called the half-deck, and is usually the habitation of the ship's crew.

DECK-SEAM. The interstices between the planks.

DECK-SHEET. That sheet of a studding-sail which leads directly to the deck, by which it is steadied until set; it is also useful in taking it in, should the down-haul be carried away.

DECK STANDARD-KNEES. Iron knees having two tails, the one going on the bottom of a deck-beam, the other on the top of a hold-beam, while the middle part is bolted to the ship's side.

DECK-STOPPER. (_See_ STOPPER OF THE CABLE.) A strong stopper used for securing the cable forward of the capstan or windlass while it is overhauled. Also abaft the windlass or bitts to prevent more cable from running out.

DECK-TACKLE. A purchase led along the decks.

DECLARATION OF WAR. A ceremonial frequently omitted, and esteemed by the greatest authorities rather a proof of magnanimity than a duty. The Romans proclaimed it; but except Achaia, none of the Grecian states did. It would be to the interests of humanity and courtesy were it made indispensable. It has been held (especially in the case of the _Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_) that without a declaration of war, no hostile act at the order of an admiral is legal.

DECLINATION, of a celestial object, is the arc between its centre and the equinoctial: with the sun, it is its angular distance from the equator, either north or south, and is named accordingly.

DECLINATION, TO CORRECT. A cant phrase for taking a glass of grog at noon, when the day's works are being reduced.

DECOY. So to change the aspect of a ship-of-war by striking a topgallant-mast, setting ragged sails, disfiguring the sides by whitewash or gunpowder, yellow, &c., as to induce a vessel of inferior force to chase; when, getting within gun-shot range, she becomes an easy capture. Similar man[oe]uvres are sometimes used by a single ship to induce an enemy's squadron to follow her into the view of her own fleet.

DEEP. A word figuratively applied to the ocean. On the coast of Germany, to the northward of Friesland, it is of the same import as gulf on the coasts of France, Spain, Italy, &c. Also, any depth over 20 fathoms.--_Deep-sea fishing._ In contradistinction to coast, or when the hand-lead reaches bottom at 20 fathoms.--_Hand deeps._ Out of ordinary leadsman's sounding.--A vessel is deep as regards her lading, and is also said to sail deep when her expenses run high.

DEEPENING. Running from shoal water by the lead.

DEEP-SEA LINE. Usually a strong and water-laid line. It is used with a lead of 28 lbs., and adapted to find bottom in 200 fathoms or more. It is marked by knots every ten fathoms, and by a small knot every five. The marks are now nearly superseded by Massey's patent sounding-machine.--_Marks and Deeps_, &c., _see_ LEAD and LINE.

DEEP-WAIST. That part of the open skids between the main and fore drifts in men-of-war. It also relates to the remaining part of a ship's deck, when the quarter-deck and forecastle are much elevated above the level of the main-deck, so as to leave a vacant space, called the waist, on the middle of the upper deck, as in many packets.

DEESE. An east-country term for a place where herrings are dried.

DEFAULTER'S BOOK. Where men's offences are registered against them, and may be magnified without appeal.

DEFECTS. An official return of the state of a ship as to what is required for her hull and equipment, and what repairs she stands in need of. Upon this return a ship is ordered to sea, into harbour, into dock, or paid out of commission.

DEFICIENCY. What is wanting of a ship's cargo at the time of delivery.

DEFILADE. In fortification, is the art of so disposing defensive works, _on irregular or commanded sites_, that the troops within them shall be covered from the direct fire of the enemy.

DEFILE. A narrow pass between two heights, which obliges a force marching through to narrow its front. This may prove disastrous if attacked, on account of the difficulty of receiving aid from the rear.

DEFILING. Filing off, marching past.

DEFINITIVE. Conclusive; decisive.

DEFLECTION. The tendency of a ship from her true course; the departure of the magnetic needle from its true bearing, when influenced by iron or the local attraction of the mass. In artillery, the deviation of a shot from the direction in which it is fired. The term is usually reserved to lateral deviations, especially those resulting from irregular causes--those constant ones due to the regular motion of rifled projectiles coming under either of the designations "constant deflection," "derivation," borrowed from the French, or "drift," from the Americans. These latter, according to the direction usually given to the rifling in the present day, all tend away to the right, though they include some subordinate curves not yet distinctly determined.

DEFORMED BASTION. One out of shape from the irregularity of its lines and angles.

DEGRADATION. Debasement and disgrace. The suspension of a petty officer from his station; and also the depriving an officer or soldier of his arms previous to his being delivered over to the civil power for execution.

DEGREE. A degree of longitude is the 1-360th part of the great equatorial circle, or any circle parallel to it. A degree of latitude is the 90th part of the quadrant, or quarter of a great meridional circle. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds, according to the sexagesimal division of the circle. Also, rank or condition.

DEKOYTS, OR DACOITS. Robbers in India, and also pirates who infested the rivers between Calcutta and Burhampore, but now suppressed by the improved system of river police, and the establishment of fast rowing boats of light draught.

DEL. Saxon for part.--_Del a bit_, not a bit, a phrase much altered for the worse by those not aware of its antiquity.

DEL CREDERE. A percentage on a cargo, under particular circumstances of trust. Also, the commission under which brokers sometimes guarantee to the insured the solvency of the underwriters.

DELEGATES. Not heard of in the navy since the mutiny at the Nore.

DELFYN. The old form of spelling _dolphin_.

DELICTUM. To be actual, must unite intention and act.

DELIVER. To yield, to rescue, to deliver battle, to deliver a broadside, a shot, or a blow. Also, to take goods from the ship to the shore. To discharge a cargo from a vessel into the keeping of its consignees.

DELIVERED. The state of the harpoon when imbedded in the body of a fish, so that the barbs hold fast.

DELIVERERS. Particular artificers employed in our early ships of war, in constructing the castles.

DELL. A narrow valley, ravine, or small dale.

DELTA. A name given by the Greeks to the alluvial tract inclosed between the bifurcating branches of the Nile and the sea-line. It is well known that rivers which deposit great quantities of matter, do also very often separate into two or more branches, previous to their discharge into the sea; thus forming triangular spaces, aptly called _deltas_ from their resemblance to the Greek letter {D}.

All deltas appear by their section to be formed of matter totally different from that of the adjacent country. They are the creation of the rivers themselves, which, having brought down with their floods vast quantities of mud and sand from the upper lands, deposit them in the lowest place, the sea; at whose margin, the current which has hitherto impelled them ceasing, they are deposited by the mere action of gravity. This is particularly illustrated on the western coast of Africa by the shoals off the Rio Grande, Rio Nunez, and others. The coast, as well as the embouchures of the rivers, exhibit a deposit of deep mud, and yet far at sea banks of clean siliceous sand arise.

DEMAND. The official paper by which stores are desired for a ship, the making out of which is the duty of the officer in whose charge the stores will be placed: they must be approved by the captain and admiral before being presented to the dockyard authorities. Also, whence from? where bound?

DEMI-BASTION. In fortification, a bastion which has a flank on one side only.

DEMI-CANNON. An ancient name for a gun carrying a ball of 33 pounds weight, with a length of from 12 to 14 feet, and a diameter of bore of 6-1/2 inches; its point-blank range was estimated at 162 paces, and its random one at 2000.

DEMI-CULVERIN. An ancient cannon which threw a ball of 9 pounds weight, was about 9 feet long, and 4 inches in diameter of bore; its point-blank range was called 174 paces, and its random one about 1800.

DEMIHAG. A long pistol, much used in the sixteenth century.

DEMILANCE. A light horseman, who carried a light lance.

DEMILUNE. In fortification, the outwork, more properly called a _ravelin_ (which see).

DEMI-REVETMENT. In fortification, that form of retaining wall for the face of a rampart which is only carried up as high as cover exists in front of it, leaving above it the remaining height, in the form of an earthen mound at its natural slope, exposed to, but invulnerable by shot.

DEMONSTRATION-SHIPS. Those kept in a certain state of preparation for war, though on a peace establishment.

DEMURRAGE. The compensation due to a ship-owner from a freighter for unduly delaying his vessel in port beyond the time specified in the charter-party or bill of lading. It is in fact an extended freight. A ship unjustly detained, as a prize, is entitled to demurrage. Vessels chartered to convey government stores have a term given for discharge by government aid. If not delivered within that period, demurrage, as stated in the document, is paid per diem for any "unavoidable delay."

DEN. A sandy tract near the sea, as at Exmouth and other places.

DEN AND STROND. A liberty for ships or vessels to run or come ashore. Edward I. granted this privilege to the barons of the Cinque Ports.

DE NAUTICO F[OE]NORE. Of nautical usury; bottomry.

DENE. The Anglo-Saxon _daene_; implying a kind of hollow or ravine through which a rivulet runs, the banks on either side being studded with trees.

DENEB. The bright star in the constellation Cygnus, well known as a standard nautical star.

DENSITY. The weight of a body in comparison with its bulk.

DENTICE. An excellent fish, so named from being well furnished with teeth. It is of the _Sparidae_ family, and frequents the Adriatic.

DEPARTMENT. A term by which the divisions in the public services are distinguished, as the civil, the commissariat, the military, the naval, the victualling, &c.

DEPARTURE. The bearing of an object on the coast from which a vessel commences her dead-reckoning and takes her departure. The distance of any two places lying on the same parallel counted in miles of the equator.

DEPOT. A magazine in which military stores are deposited. Also, a company left in England for the purpose of recruiting when regiments are ordered abroad.

DEPRESS. The order to adjust the quoin in great-gun exercise; to depress the muzzle to point at an object below the level, in contradistinction to elevate.

DEPRESSED POLE. That end of the earth's axis which is below the horizon of the spectator according to his being in the northern or southern hemisphere. Also applied to the stars. (_See_ POLAR DISTANCE.)

DEPRESSION, OF THE HORIZON. (_See_ DIP.) In artillery, the angle below the horizon at which the axis of a gun is laid in order to strike an object on a lower level. The depression required in batteries of very elevated site (those of Gibraltar for example), for the laying the guns on near vessels, is so great as to necessitate a peculiar carriage.

DEPTH OF A SAIL. The extent of the square sails from the head-rope to the foot-rope, or the length of the after-leech of a staysail or boom-sail; in other words, it is the extent of the longest cloth of canvas in any sail.

DEPTH OF HOLD. The height between the floor and the lower-deck; it is therefore one of the principal dimensions given for the construction of a ship. It varies, of course, according to the end for which she is designed, trade or war.

DERELICT [Lat. _derelictus_, abandoned]. Anything abandoned at sea. A ship is derelict either by consent or by compulsion, stress of weather, &c., and yet, to save the owner's rights, if any cat, dog, or other domestic animal be found on board alive, it is not forfeited. The owner may yet recover, on payment of salvage, within a year and a day--otherwise the whole may be awarded. (_See_ SALVAGE.)

DERIVATION. In artillery, the constant deflection of a rifled projectile. (_See_ DEFLECTION.)

DERRICK. A single spar, supported by stays and guys, to which a purchase is attached, used in loading and unloading vessels. Also, a small crane either inside or outside of a ship.

DERRICK, TO. A cant term for setting out on a small not over-creditable enterprise. The act is said to be named from a Tyburn executioner.

DERRING-DO. A Spenserian term for deeds of arms.

DESCENDING NODE. _See_ NODES.

DESCENDING SIGNS. Those in which the sun appears to descend from the north pole, or in which his motion in declination is towards the south.

DESCENDING SQUALL. A fitful gust of wind issuing from clouds which are formed in the lower parts of the atmosphere. It is usually accompanied with heavy showers, and the weatherwise observe that the squall is seldom so violent when it is followed as when it is preceded by rain. (_See_ WHITE SQUALL as a forerunner.)

DESCENSION. The same as _oblique ascension_ (which see).

DESCENT. The landing of troops for the purpose of invading a country. The passage down a river.

DESCRIPTION-BOOK. A register in which the age, place of birth, and personal description of the crew are recorded.

DESERT. An extensive tract, either absolutely sterile, or having no other vegetation than small patches of grass or shrubs. Many portions of the present deserts seem to be reclaimable.

DESERTER. One that quits his ship or the service without leave. He is marked R (_run_) on the books, and any clothes or other effects he may have left on board are sold by auction at the mast, and the produce borne to account.

DESERTION. The act of quitting the Army or Navy without leave, with intention not to return.

DESERTION-MONEY. The sum of three pounds paid to him who apprehends a deserter, which is charged against the offender's growing pay--his wages for previous service having become forfeited from his having _run_.

DESTROYING PAPERS. A ground of condemnation in the Admiralty court.

DETACHED. On detached service. A squadron may be detached under a commodore or senior officer.

DETACHED BASTION. A bastion cut off by a ditch about its gorge from the body of the place, which latter is thus rendered in a degree independent of the fall of the former.

DETACHED ESCARP. An escarp wall, originally invented by Carnot, and revived by the Prussians, removed some distance to the front of the rampart; which latter, being finished exteriorly at the natural slope of the earth, remains effective after the destruction of the wall by a besieger. It was at first intended, being kept low and covered by a near counterguard, to offer extraordinary difficulties to the besieger's breaching batteries; but improved artillery has nullified that supposed advantage.

DETACHED WORKS. Works included in the scheme of defence of a fortress, but separated from it, and beyond the glacis.

DETACHMENT. A force detached from the main body for employment on any

## particular service.

DETAIL OF DUTY. The captain's night orders.

DETENTION OF A VESSEL: on just ground, as supposed war, suspicious papers, undue number of men, found hovering, or cargo not in conformity with papers or law.

DETONATING HAMMER. A modern introduction into the Royal Navy for firing the guns. With the aid of an attached laniard, it is made to descend forcibly upon the percussion arm of the tube, and fires the piece instantaneously. It is, however, already generally superseded by the use of the _friction-tube_ (which see).

DEVIATION. A voluntary departure from the usual course of the voyage, without any necessary or justifiable cause: a step which discharges the insurers from further responsibility. Liberty to touch, stay, or trade in any particular place not in the usual course of the voyage must be expressly specified in the contract, and even this is subordinate to the voyage. The cases of necessity which justify deviation are--1, stress of weather; 2, urgent want of repairs; 3, to join convoy; 4, succouring ships in distress; 5, avoiding capture or detention; 6, sickness; 7, mutiny of the crew. It differs from a _change_ of voyage, which must have been resolved upon before the sailing of the ship. (_See_ CHANGE.)--_Deviation_ is also the attraction of a ship's iron on the needle. It is a term recently introduced to distinguish a sort of second variation to be allowed for in iron vessels.

DEVIL. A sort of priming made by damping and bruising gunpowder.

DEVIL-BOLTS. Those with false clenches, often introduced into contract-built ships.

DEVIL-FISH. The _Lophius piscatorius_, a hideous creature, which has also obtained the name of fish-frog, monk-fish, bellows-fish, sea-devil, and other appellatives significant of its ugliness and bad manners. There is also a powerful _Raia_, which grows to an immense size in the tropics, known as the devil-fish, the terror of the pearl-divers. _Manta_ of Spaniards.

DEVILRY. Spirited roguery; wanton mischief, short of crime.

DEVIL'S CLAW. A very strong kind of split hook made to grasp a link of a chain cable, and used as a stopper.

DEVIL'S SMILES. Gleams of sunshine among dark clouds, either in the heavens or captain's face!

DEVIL'S TABLE-CLOTH. _See_ TABLE-CLOTH.

DEVIL TO PAY AND NO PITCH HOT. The seam which margins the water-ways was called the "devil," why only caulkers can tell, who perhaps found it sometimes difficult for their tools. The phrase, however, means service expected, and no one ready to perform it. Impatience, and naught to satisfy it.

DEW-POINT. A meteorological term for the degree of temperature at which the moisture of the atmosphere would begin to precipitate; it may be readily ascertained by means of the hygrometer.

DHOLL. A kind of dried split pea supplied in India to the navy.

DHONY, OR DHONEY. A country trading-craft of India from 50 to 150 tons; mostly flat-bottomed. (_See_ DONEY.)

DHOW. The Arab dhow is a vessel of about 150 to 250 tons burden by measurement--grab-built, with ten or twelve ports; about 85 feet long from stem to stern, 20 feet 9 inches broad, and 11 feet 6 inches deep. Of late years this description of vessel has been well built at Cochin, on the Malabar coast, in the European style. They have a great rise of floor; are calculated for sailing with small cargoes; and are fully prepared, by internal equipment, for defence--many of them are sheathed on 2-1/2-inch plank bottoms, with 1-inch board, and the preparation of chunam and oil, called _galgal_, put between; causing the vessel to be very dry and durable, and preventing the encroachments of the worm or _Teredo navalis_. The worm is one of the greatest enemies in India to timber _in_ the water, as the white ant (_termites_) is out of it. On the outside of the sheathing board there is a coat of whitewash, made from the same materials as that between the sheathing and planks, and renewed every season they put to sea. They have generally one mast and a lateen sail. The yard is the length of the vessel aloft, and the mast rakes forward, for the purpose of keeping this ponderous weight clear in raising and lowering. The tack of the sail is brought to the stem-head, and sheets aft in the usual way. The halyards lead to the taffrail, having a pendant and treble purchase block, which becomes the backstay, to support the mast when the sail is set. This, with three pairs of shrouds, completes the rigging, the whole made of _coir_ rope. Several of these vessels were fitted as brigs, after their arrival in Arabia, and armed by the Arabs for cruising in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, as piratical vessels. It was of this class of vessel that Tippoo Sultan's navy at Onore consisted. The large dhows generally make one voyage in the season, to the southward of Arabia; taking advantage of the north-east monsoon to come down, and the south-west to return with an exchange cargo. The Arabs who man them are a powerful well-grown people, and very acute and intelligent in trade. They usually navigate their ships to Bengal in perfect safety, and with great skill. This was well known to Captain Collier and his officers of the _Liverpool_ frigate, when they had the trial cruise with the Imam of Muscat's fine frigate in 1820.

DIACLE. An old term for a boat-compass.

DIAGONAL BRACES, knees, planks, &c., are such as cross a vessel's timbers obliquely. (_See_ DIAGONAL TRUSSING.)

DIAGONAL RIBBAND. A narrow plank made to a line formed on the half-breadth plan, by taking the intersections of the diagonal line with the timbers. (_See_ RIBBANDS.)

DIAGONALS. A line cutting the body-plan diagonally from the timbers to the middle line. Diagonals are the several lines on the draughts, delineating the station of the harpings and ribs, to form the body by.

DIAGONAL TRUSSING. A particular method of binding and strengthening a vessel internally by a series of riders and truss-pieces placed diagonally.

DIAMETER. In geometry, a right line passing through the centre of any circular figure from one point of its circumference to another.

DIAMETER, APPARENT. The angle which the diameter of a heavenly body subtends at any time, varying inversely with its distance. The true is the real diameter, commonly expressed in miles.

DIAMOND-CUT. _See_ RHOMBUS.

DIAMOND-KNOT. An ornamental knot worked with the strands of a rope, sometimes used for bucket-strops, on the foot-ropes of jib-booms, man-ropes, &c.

DIBBS. A galley term for ready money. Also, a small pool of water.

DICE. _See_ DYCE.

DICHOTOMIZED. A term applied to the moon, when her longitude differs 90 deg. from that of the sun, in which position only half her disc is illuminated.

DICKADEE. A northern name for the sand-piper.

DICK-A-DILVER. A name for the periwinkle on our eastern coasts.

DICKER-WORK. The timbering of tide-harbours in the Channel. Wattling between piles.

DICKEY. An officer acting in commission.--_It's all dickey with him._ It's all up with him.

DIDDLE, TO. To deceive.

DIEGO. A very strong and heavy sword.

DIE ON THE FIN, TO. An expression applied to whales, which when dying rise to the surface, after the final dive, with one side uppermost.

DIET. The regulated food for patients in sick-bays and hospitals.

DIFFERENCE. An important army term, meaning firstly the sum to be paid by officers when exchanging from the half to full pay; and, secondly, the price or difference in value of the several commissions.

DIFFERENCE OF LATITUDE. The distance between any two places on the same meridian, or the difference between the parallels of latitude of any two places expressed in miles of the equator.

DIFFERENCE OF LONGITUDE. The difference of any place from another eastward or westward, counted in degrees of the equator: that is, the difference between two places is an arc of the equator contained between their meridians, but measured in space on the parallel. Thus the difference of a degree of longitude in miles of the meridian would be--

At 20 deg. lat. 56.4 miles " 40 " 38.6 " " 60 " 30.0 " " 80 " 10.4 "

DIFFERENTIAL OBSERVATION. Taking the differences of right ascension and declination between a comet and a star, the position of which has been already determined.

DIFFICULTY. A word unknown to true salts.

DIGHT [from the Anglo-Saxon _diht_, arranging or disposing]. Now applied to dressing or preparing for muster; setting things in order.

DIGIT. A twelfth part of the diameter; a term employed to denote the magnitude of an eclipse; as, so many _digits eclipsed_.

DIKE. _See_ DYKE.

DILL. An edible dark brown sea-weed, torn from the rocks at low-water.

DILLOSK. The dried leaves of an edible sea-weed. (_See_ DULCE and PEPPER-DULSE.)

DILLY-WRECK. A common corruption of _derelict_ (which see).

DIME. An American silver coin, in value the tenth of a dollar.

DIMINISHED ANGLE. In fortification, that formed by the exterior side and the line of defence.

DIMINISHING PLANK. The same as _diminishing stuff_ (which see).

DIMINISHING STRAKES. _See_ BLACK-STRAKE.

DIMINISHING STUFF. In ship-building, the planking wrought under the wales, where it is thinned progressively to the thickness of the bottom plank.

DIMINUTION OF OBLIQUITY. A slow approximation of the planes of the ecliptic and the equator, at the present rate of 0.485" annually.

DIMSEL. A piece of stagnant water, larger than a pond and less than a lake.

DING, TO. To dash down or throw with violence.

DING-DONG. Ships firing into each other in good earnest.

DINGHEY. A small boat of Bombay, propelled by paddles, and fitted with a settee sail, the mast raking forwards; also, the boats in use on the Hooghly; also, a small extra boat in men-of-war and merchant ships.

DINGLE. A hollow vale-like space between two hills. A clough; also, a sort of boat used in Ireland, a coracle.

DINNAGE. _See_ DUNNAGE.

DIP. The inclination of the magnetic needle towards the earth. (_See_ DIPPING-NEEDLE.) Also, the smallest candle formerly issued by the purser.

DIP, TO. To lower. An object is said to be dipping when by refraction it is visible just above the horizon. Also, to quit the deck suddenly.

DIP OF THE HORIZON. The angle contained between the sensible and apparent horizons, the angular point being the eye of the observer; or it is an allowance made in all astronomical observations of altitude for the height of the eye above the level of the sea.

DIPPED. The limb of the sun or moon as it instantly dips below the horizon.

DIPPER. A name for the water-ousel (_Cinclus aquaticus_). A bird of the Passerine order, but an expert diver, frequenting running streams in mountainous countries.

DIPPING-LADLE. A metal ladle for taking boiling pitch from the cauldron.

DIPPING-NEEDLE. An instrument for ascertaining the amount of the magnet's inclination towards the earth; it is so delicately suspended, that, instead of vibrating horizontally, one end _dips_ or yields to the vertical force. This instrument has been so perfected by Mr. R. W. Fox of Falmouth, that even at sea in the heaviest gales of wind the dip could instantly, by magnetic deflectors, be ascertained to _minutes_, far beyond what heretofore could be elicited from the most expensive instruments, observed over 365 days on shore.

DIPPING-NET. A small net used for taking shad and other fish out of the water.

DIPS. _See_ LEAD-LINE.

DIP-SECTOR. An ingenious instrument for measuring the true dip of the horizon, invented by Dr. Wollaston, and very important, not only where the nature and quantity of the atmospherical refraction are to be examined, but for ascertaining the rates of chronometers, and the exact latitude in those particular regions where accidental refractions are very great, for the difference between the calculated dip and that observed by the sector may exceed three minutes. It is a reflecting instrument, of small compass, but requiring patience and practice in its use.

DIPSY. The float of a fishing-line.

DIRECT-ACTING ENGINE. A steam engine in which the connecting rod is led at once from the head of the piston to the crank, thus communicating the rotatory motion without the intervention of side-levers.

DIRECT FIRE. One of the five varieties into which artillerists usually divide _horizontal fire_ (which see).

DIRECTION OR SET OF THE WIND AND CURRENT. These are opposite terms; the direction of the winds and waves being named from the point of the compass _whence_ they come; but the direction of a current is the point _towards_ which it runs. A current running to leeward is said to have a _leeward set_, the opposite is a _windward set_.

DIRECTION. _See_ ARC OF DIRECTION.

DIRECT MOTION. _See_ MOTION.

DIRK. A small _do-little_ sword or dagger, formerly worn by junior naval officers on duty.

DIRT-GABARD. A large ballast-lighter.

DIRTY AULIN. A name for the arctic skua (_Cataractes parasiticus_), a sea-bird, allied to the gulls.

DIRTY DOG AND NO SAILOR OR SOLDIER. A mean, spiritless, and utterly useless rascal.

DISABLED. To be placed _hors de combat_ by the weather or an enemy.

DISAPPOINT. To counterwork an enemy's operations in mining.

DISARM. To deprive people of their weapons and ammunition.

DISBANDED. When the officers and men of a regiment are dismissed, on a reduction of the army.

DISC, OR DISK. In nautical astronomy, the circular visible surface presented by any celestial body to the eye of the observer.

DISCARCARE. [Ital.] An old term meaning to unlade a vessel.

DISCHARGED. When applied to a ship, signifies when she is unladen. When expressed of the officers or crew, it implies that they are disbanded from immediate service; and in individual cases, that the person is dismissed in consequence of long service, disability, or at his own request. When spoken of cannon, it means that it is fired off.

DISCHARGE-TICKET. On all foreign stations men are discharged by _foreign remove-tickets_, and in other cases by _dead_, _sick_, or _unserviceable ticket_, whether at home or abroad.

DISCHARGE-VALVE. In the marine engine, is a valve covering the top of the barrel of the air-pump, opening when pressed from below.

DISCIPLINARIAN. An officer who maintains strict discipline and obedience to the laws of the navy, and himself setting an example.

DISCOURSE, TO. An old sea term to traverse to and fro off the proper course.

DISCOVERY SHIP. A vessel fitted for the purpose of exploring unknown seas and coasts. Discovery vessels were formerly taken from the merchant service; they have latterly been replaced by ships of war, furnished with every improved instrument, and acting, on occasion, as active pilots leading in war service.

DISCRETION. To surrender at discretion, implies an unconditional yielding to the mercy of the conquerors.

DISEMBARK. The opposite of embark; the landing of troops from any vessel or transport.

DISEMBAY. To work clear out of a gulf or bay.

DISEMBOGUE. The fall of a river into the sea; it has also been used for the passage of vessels across the mouth of a river and out of one.

DISGUISE. Ships in all times have been permitted to assume disguise to impose upon enemies, and obtain from countries in their possession commodities of which they stand in need.

DISH, TO. To supplant, ruin, or frustrate.

DISLODGE. To drive an enemy from any post or station.

DI-SLYNG. _See_ SLYNG.

DISMANTLED. The state of a ship unrigged, and all her stores, guns, &c., taken out, in readiness for her being laid up in ordinary, or going into dock, &c. &c. To dismantle a gun is to render it unfit for service. The same applies to a fort.

DISMASTED. State of a ship deprived of her masts, by gales or by design.

DISMISS. Pipe down the people. To dismiss a drill from parade is to break the ranks.

DISMISSION. A summary discharge from the service; which a court-martial is empowered to inflict on any officer convicted of a breach of special laws, though it cannot for minor offences which formerly carried death!

DISMOUNT, TO. To break the carriages of guns, and thereby render them unfit for service. Also, in gun exercise, to lift a gun from its carriage and deposit it elsewhere.

DISMOUNTED. The state of a cannon taken off a carriage, or when, by the enemy's shot, it is rendered unmanageable. Also, cavalry on foot acting as infantry.

DISOBEDIENCE. An infraction of the orders of a superior; punishable by a court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offence.

DISORDER. The confusion occasioned by a heavy fire from an enemy.

DISORGANIZE, TO. To degrade a man-of-war to a privateer by irregularity.

DISPART, OR THROW OF THE SHOT. The difference between the semi-diameter of the base-ring at the breech of a gun, and that of the ring at the swell of the muzzle. On account of the dispart, the line of aim makes a small angle with the axis; so that the elevation of the latter above the horizon is greater than that of the line of aim: an allowance for the dispart is consequently necessary in determining the commencement of the graduations on the tangent scale, by which the required elevation is given to the gun.

DISPARTING A GUN. To bring the line of sight and line of metal to be parallel by setting up a mark on the muzzle-ring of a cannon, so that a sight-line, taken from the top of the base-ring behind the touch-hole, to the mark set near the muzzle, may be parallel to the axis of the bore. (_See_ GUN.)

DISPART-SIGHT. A gun-sight fixed on the top of the second reinforce-ring--about the middle of the piece--for point-blank or horizontal firing, to eliminate the difference of the diameters between the breech and the mouth of the cannon.

DISPATCH. All duty is required to be performed with diligence.

DISPATCHES. Not simply letters, but such documents as demand every effort for their immediate delivery. "Charged with dispatches" overrides all signals of hindrance on a voyage.

DISPLACEMENT. The centre of gravity of the displacement relates to the part of the ship under water, considered as homogeneous. The weight of water which a vessel displaces when floating is the same as the weight of the ship. (_See_ CENTRE OF CAVITY.)

DISPOSED QUARTERS. The distribution when the camp is marked about a place besieged.

DISPOSITION. A draught representing the several timbers that compose a ship's frame properly disposed with respect to ports and other parts. Also, the arrangement of a ship's company for watches, quarters, reefing, furling, and other duties. In a military sense it means the placing of a body of troops upon the most advantageous ground.

DISRANK, OR DISRATE. To degrade in rank or station.

DISREPAIR. A bar to any claim on account of sea-unworthiness in a warrantry.

DISTANCE. The run which a ship has made upon the log-board. In speaking of double stars, it is the space separating the centres of the two stars, expressed in seconds of arc. (_See_ LUNAR DISTANCES.)

DISTILLING SEA-WATER. Apparatus for the conversion of sea-water into potable fresh water have long been invented, though little used; but of late the larger ships are effectively fitted with adaptations for the purpose.

DISTINCTION. Flags of distinction, badges, honourable note of superiority.

DISTINGUISHING PENDANT. In fleets and squadrons, instead of hoisting several flags to denote the number of the ship on the list of the Navy, pendants are used. Thus ten ships may be signalled separately. If more, then, as one answers, her pendant is hauled down, and then two pendants succeed. (_See_ SIGNALS.)

DISTRESS. A term used when a ship requires immediate assistance from unlooked-for damage or danger. (_See_ SIGNAL OF DISTRESS.)

DISTRICT ORDERS. Those issued by a general commanding a district.

DISTURBANCE. _See_ SPANISH DISTURBANCE.

DITCH. In fortification the excavation in front of the parapet of any work, ranging in width from a few feet in field fortification to thirty or forty yards in permanent works, having its steep side next the rampart called the escarp: the opposite one is the counterscarp. Its principal use is to secure the escarp as long as possible. There are wet ditches and dry ones, the former being less in favour than the latter, since a dry ditch so much facilitates sorties, counter-approaches, and the like. That kind which may be made wet or dry at pleasure is most useful.

DITTY-BAG. Derives its name from the _dittis_ or Manchester stuff of which it was once made. It is in use among seamen for holding their smaller necessaries. The ditty-bag of old, when a seaman prided himself on his rig, as the result of his own ability to fit himself from clue to earing, was a treasured article, probably worked in exquisite device by his lady-love. Well can we recollect the pride exhibited in its display when "on end clothes" was a joyful sound to the old pig-tailed tar.

DITTY-BOX. A small caddy for holding a seaman's stock of _valuables_.

DIURNAL ARC. That part of a circle, parallel to the equator, which is described by a celestial body from its rising to its setting.

DIURNAL PARALLAX. _See_ PARALLAX.

DIVE, TO. To descend or plunge voluntarily head-foremost under the water. To go off deck in the watch. A ship is said to be "_diving into it_" when she pitches heavily against a head-sea.

DIVER. One versed in the art of descending under water to considerable depths and abiding there a competent time for several purposes, as to recover wrecks of ships, fish for pearls, sponges, corals, &c. The diver is now a rating in H.M. ships; he may be of any rank of seaman, but he receives L1, 10_s._ 5_d._ per annum additional pay--one penny a-day for risking life! Also, a common web-footed sea-bird of the genus _Colymbus_.

DIVERGENT. A stream flowing laterally out of a river, contradistinguished from convergent.

DIVERSION. A man[oe]uvre to attract, wholly or partially, the enemy's attention away from some other part of the operations.

DIVIE-GOO. A northern term for the _Larus marinus_ or black-backed gull.

DIVINE SERVICE. Ordered by the articles of war, whenever the weather on a Sunday will allow of it.

DIVING-APPARATUS. Supplied to the flag-ship, and also a man with the title of diver, to examine defects below water.

DIVING-BELL. Used in under-water operations for recovering treasure, raising ships, anchors, &c.

DIVING-DRESS. India-rubber habiliments, the head-piece is of light metal fitted with strong glass eyes, and an attached pliable pipe to maintain a supply of air. The shoes are weighted.

DIVISION. A select number of ships in a fleet or squadron of men-of-war, distinguished by a particular flag, pendant, or vane. A squadron may be ranged into two or three divisions, the commanding officer of which is always stationed in the centre. In a fleet the admiral divides it into three squadrons, each of which is commanded by an admiral, and is again divided into divisions; each squadron had its proper colours (now distinguishing mark) according to the rank of the admiral who commanded it, and each division its proper mast. The private ships carried pendants of the same colour with their respective squadrons at the masts of their particular divisions, so that the ships in the last division of the blue squadron carried a blue pendant at their main topgallant-mast head, the vane at the mizen. All these are superseded by the abolition of the Red and Blue. The St. George's white ensign flag and pendant alone are used.

DIVISIONS. The sub-classification of a ship's company under the lieutenants. Also, a muster of the crew. Also, of an army, a force generally complete in itself, commanded by a major-general, of an average strength of eight or ten thousand men: it is itself composed of several brigades, each of which again is composed of several battalions, besides the complement of artillery, transport-corps, and generally also of cavalry, for the whole. Of a battalion, a term sometimes used in exercise, when the companies of a battalion have been equalized as to strength, for one of such companies.

DJERME. _See_ JERME.

DOA. A Persian trading vessel.

DOASTA. An inferior spirit, often drugged or doctored for unwary sailors in the pestiferous dens of filthy Calcutta and other sea-ports in India.

DOB. The animal inhabiting the razor-shell (_solen_), used as a bait by fishermen.

DOBBER. The float of a fishing-line.

DOBBIN. A phrase on our southern coasts for sea-gravel mixed with sand.

DOCK. An artificial receptacle for shipping, in which they can discharge or take in cargo, and refit.--A _dry dock_ is a broad and deep trench, formed on the side of a harbour, or on the banks of a river, and commodiously fitted either to build ships in or to receive them to be repaired or breamed. They have strong flood-gates, to prevent the flux of the tide from entering while the ship is under repair. There are likewise docks where a ship can only be cleaned during the recess of the tide, as she floats again on the return of the flood. Docks of the latter kind are not furnished with the usual flood-gates; but the term is also used for what is more appropriately called a _float_ (which see). Also, in polar parlance, an opening cut out of an ice-floe, into which a ship is warped for security.

DOCK-DUES. The charges made upon shipping for the use of docks.

DOCKERS. Inhabitants of the town which sprang up between the docks and the town of Plymouth. Dock solicited and obtained the royal license, in 1823, to be called Devonport--a very inappropriate name, Plymouth being wholly within the county of Devon, while Hamoaze is equally in Devon and Cornwall.

DOCK HERSELF, TO. When a ship is on the ooze, and swaddles a bed, she is said to dock herself.

DOCKING A SHIP. The act of drawing her into dock, and placing her properly on blocks, in order to give her the required repair, cleanse the bottom, and cover it anew. (_See_ BREAMING.)

DOCK UP, OR DUCK UP. To clue up a corner of a sail that hinders the helmsman from seeing.

DOCKYARD DUTY. The attendance of a lieutenant and party in the arsenal, for stowing, procuring stores, &c.

DOCKYARD MATIES. The artificers in a dockyard. In former times an established declaration of war between the mates and midshipmen _versus_ the maties was hotly kept up. Many deaths and injuries never disclosed were hushed up or patiently borne. It terminated about 1830.

DOCKYARDS. Arsenals containing all sorts of naval stores and timber for ship-building. In England the royal dockyards are at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Devonport, Pembroke. Those in our colonies are at the Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar, Malta, Bermuda, Halifax, Jamaica, Antigua, Trincomalee, and Hong Kong. There Her Majesty's ships and vessels of war are generally moored during peace, and such as want repairing are taken into the docks, examined, and refitted for service. These yards are generally supplied from the north with hemp, pitch, tar, rosin, canvas, oak-plank, and several other species of stores. The largest masts are usually imported from New England. Until 1831 these yards were governed by a commissioner resident at the port, who superintended all the musters of the officers, artificers, and labourers employed in the dockyard and ordinary; he also controlled their payment, examined their accounts, contracted and drew bills on the Navy Office to supply the deficiency of stores, and, finally, regulated whatever belonged to the dockyard. In 1831 the commissioners of the Navy were abolished, and admirals and captains superintendent command the dockyards under the controller of the Navy and the Admiralty.

DOCTOR. A name which seamen apply to every medical officer. Also, a jocular name for the ship's cook.

DOCTOR'S LIST. The roll of those excused from duty by reason of illness.

DODD. A round-topped hill, generally an offshoot from a higher mountain.

DODECAGON. A regular polygon, having twelve sides and as many angles.

DODECATIMORIA. The anastrous signs, or twelve portions of the ecliptic which the signs anciently occupied, but have since deserted by the precession of the equinoxes.

DODGE. A homely but expressive phrase for shuffling conduct, or cunning of purpose. Also, to watch or follow a ship from place to place.

DODMAN. A shell-fish with a hod-like lump. A sea-snail, otherwise called _hodmandod_.

DOFF, TO. To put aside.

DO FOR, TO. A double-barrelled expression, meaning alike to take care of or provide for an individual, or to ruin or kill him.

DOG. The hammer of a fire-lock or pistol; that which holds the flint, called also _dog-head_. Also, a sort of iron hook or bar with a sharp fang at one end, so as to be easily driven into a piece of timber, and drag it along by means of a rope fastened to it, upon which a number of men can pull. _Dog_ is also an iron implement with a fang at each end, to be driven into two pieces of timber, to support and steady one of them while being dubbed, hewn, or sawn.--_Span-dogs._ Used to lift timber. A pair of dogs linked together, and being hooked at an extended angle, press home with greater strain.

DOG-BITCH-THIMBLE. An excellent contrivance by which the topsail-sheet-block is prevented making the half cant or turn so frequently seen in the clue when the block is secured there.

DOG-BOLT. A cap square bolt.

DOG-DRAVE. A kind of sea-fish mentioned in early charters.

DOG-FISH. A name commonly applied to several small species of the shark family.

DOGG. A small silver coin of the West Indies, six of which make a bitt. Also, in meteorology, _see_ STUBB.

DOGGED. A mode of attaching a rope to a spar or cable, in contradistinction to racking, by which slipping is prevented; half-hitched and end stopped back, is one mode.

DOGGER. A Dutch smack of about 150 tons, navigated in the German Ocean. It is mostly equipped with a main and a mizen mast, and somewhat resembles a ketch or a galliot. It is principally used for fishing on the Dogger Bank.

DOGGER-FISH. Fish bought out of the Dutch doggers.

DOGGER-MEN. The seafaring fishermen belonging to doggers.

DOGS. The last supports knocked away at the launching of a ship.

DOG'S-BODY. Dried pease boiled in a cloth.

DOG-SHORES. Two long square blocks of timber, resting diagonally with their heads to the cleats. They are placed forward to support the bilge-ways on the ground-ways, thereby preventing the ship from starting off the slips while the keel-blocks are being taken out.

DOG-SLEEP. The uncomfortable fitful naps taken when all hands are kept up by stress.

DOG'S TAIL. A name for the constellation Ursa Minor or Little Bear.

DOG-STOPPER. Put on before all to enable the men to bit the cable, sometimes to fleet the messenger.

DOG-TONGUE. A name assigned to a kind of sole.

DOG-VANE. A small vane made of thread, cork, and feathers, or buntin, fastened on the end of a half-pike, and placed on the weather gunwale, so as to be readily seen, and show the direction of the wind. The term is also familiarly applied to a cockade.

DOG-WATCH. The half-watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8, in the evening. By this arrangement an uneven number of watches is made--seven instead of six in the twenty-four hours; otherwise there would be a succession of the same watches at the same hours throughout the voyage or cruise. Theodore Hook explained them as _cur-tailed_. (_See_ WATCH.)

DOIT. A small Dutch coin, valued at about half a farthing; formerly current on our eastern shores.

DOLDRUMS. Those parts of the sea where calms are known to prevail. They exist between and on the polar sides of the trade-winds, but vary their position many degrees of latitude in the course of the year, depending upon the sun's declination. Also applied to a person in low spirits.

DOLE. A stated allowance; but applied to a scanty share or portion.

DOLE-FISH. The share of fish that was given to our northern fishermen as part payment for their labour.

DOLING. A fishing-boat with two masts, on the coasts of Sussex and Kent; each of the masts carries a sprit-sail.

DO-LITTLE, OR DO-LITTLE SWORD. The old term for a dirk.

DOLLAR. For this universally known coin, see PIECE OF EIGHT.

DOLLOP. An old word for a lump, portion, or share. From the Gaelic _diolab_.

DOLPHIN. Naturalists understand by this word numerous species of small cetaceous animals of the genus _Delphinus_, found in nearly all seas. They greatly resemble porpoises, and are often called by this name by sailors; but they are distinguished by having a longer and more slender snout. The word is also generally, but less correctly, applied to a fish, the dorado (_Coryphaena hippuris_), celebrated for the changing hues of its surface when dying. Also, a small light ancient boat, which gave rise to Pliny's story of the boy going daily to school across the Lucrine lake on a dolphin. Also, in ordnance, especially brass guns, two handles nearly over the trunnions for lifting the guns by. Also, a French gold coin (_dauphine_), formerly in great currency. Also, a stout post on a quay-head, or in a beach, to make hawsers fast to. The name is also given to a spar or block of wood, with a ring-bolt at each end, through which a hawser can be rove, for vessels to ride by; the same as _wooden buoys_.

DOLPHIN OF THE MAST. A kind of wreath or strap formed of plaited cordage, to be fastened occasionally round the lower yards to prevent nip, or as a support to the puddening, where the lower yards rest in the sling, the use of which is to sustain the fore and main yards by the jeers, in case the rigging or chains, by which those yards are suspended, should be shot away in action. (_See_ PUDDENING.)

DOLPHIN-STRIKER. A short perpendicular gaff spar, under the bowsprit-end, for guying down the jib-boom, of which indeed it is the chief support, by means of the martingales. (_See_ MARTINGALE.)

DOLVER. The reclaimed fen-grounds of our eastern coasts.

DOMESTIC NAVIGATION. A term applied to coasting trade.

DOMINIONS. It is a settled point that a conquered country forms immediately a part of the king's dominions; and a condemnation of ships within its harbours as droits of admiralty, is valid, although the conquest may not yet have been confirmed by treaty.

DON. A general name for Spaniards. One of the "perfumed" terms of its time.--_To don._ To put on.

DONDERBASS. _See_ BOMBARD.

DONEY. The doney of the Coromandel coast is about 70 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 12 feet deep; with a flat bottom or keel part, which at the broadest place is 7 feet, and diminishes to 10 inches in the siding of the stem and stern-post. The fore and after bodies are similar in form from midships. Their light draught of water is about 4 feet, and when loaded about 9 feet. These unshapely vessels in the fine season trade from Madras and Ceylon, and many of them to the Gulf of Manar, as the water is shoal between Ceylon and the southern part of the continent. They have only one mast, and are navigated by the natives in the rudest way; their means for finding the latitude being a little square board, with a string fast to the centre, at the other end of which are certain knots. The upper edge of the board is held by one hand so as to touch the north star, and the lower edge the horizon. Then the string is brought with the other hand to touch the tip of the nose, and the knot which comes in contact with the tip of the nose tells the latitude.

DONJON. The keep, or place of retreat, in old fortifications. A redoubt of a fortress; the highest and strongest tower.

DONKEY-ENGINE. An auxiliary steam-engine for feeding the boilers of the principal engine when they are stopped; or for any other duties independent of the ship's propelling engines.

DONKEY-FRIGATE. Those of 28 guns, frigate-built; that is, having guns protected by an upper deck, with guns on the quarter-deck and forecastle; ship-sloops, in contradistinction to corvettes and sloops.

DONNY. A small fishing-net.

DOOLAH. A passage-boat on the Canton river.

DOOTED. Timber rendered unsound by fissures.

DORADO. The _Coryphaena hippuris_, an oceanic fish; often called "dolphin."

DOREY. A flat-floored cargo-boat in the West Indies, named after the fish John Dory.

DORNICLE. A northern name for the viviparous blenny.

DORRA. From the Gaelic _dorga_; a crab-net.

DORSAL FIN. The median fin placed upon the back of fishes.

DORY. A fish, _Zeus faber_, commonly known as "John Dory," or truly _jaune doree_, from its golden hues.

DOTTLE. The small portion of tobacco remaining unsmoked in the pipe.

DOUBLE, TO. To cover a ship with an extra planking, usually of 4 inches, either internally or externally, when through age or otherwise she has become loosened; the process strengthens her without driving out the former fastenings. Doubling, however, is a term applied only where the plank thus used is not less than 2 inches thick.--To _double_ a cape. (_See_ DOUBLING A CAPE.)

DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE. One in which the steam acts upon the piston against a vacuum, both in the upward and downward movement.

DOUBLE-BANK A ROPE, TO. To clap men on both sides.

DOUBLE-BANKED. When two opposite oars are pulled by rowers seated on the same thwart; or when there are two men labouring upon each oar. Also, 60-gun frigates which carry guns along the gangway, as was the custom with Indiamen, are usually styled _double-bankers_.

DOUBLE-BITTED. Two turns of the cable round the bitts instead of one.

DOUBLE-BLOCK. One fitted with a couple of sheaves, in holes side by side.

DOUBLE-BREECHING. Additional breeching on the non-recoil system, or security for guns in heavy weather.

DOUBLE-CAPSTAN. One shaft so constructed as to be worked both on an upper and lower deck, as in ships of the line, or in Phillips' patent capstan.

DOUBLE-CROWN. A name given to a plait made with the strands of a rope, which forms part of several useful and ornamental knots.

DOUBLE DECK-NAILS. _See_ DECK-NAILS.

DOUBLE DUTCH COILED AGAINST THE SUN. Gibberish, or any unintelligible or difficult language.

DOUBLE EAGLE. A gold coin of the United States, of 10 dollars; value L2, 1_s._ 8_d._, at the average rate of exchange.

DOUBLE-FUTTOCKS. Timbers in the cant-bodies, extending from the dead-wood to the run of the second futtock-head.

DOUBLE-HEADED MAUL. One with double faces; top-mauls in contradistinction to pin-mauls.

DOUBLE-HEADED SHOT. Differing from bar-shot by being similar to dumb-bells, only the shot are hemispherical.

DOUBLE-IMAGE MICROMETER. Has one of its lenses divided, and separable to a certain distance by a screw, which at the same time moves an index upon a graduated scale. When fitted to a telescope for sea use, as in chase, it is called a _coming-up glass_.

DOUBLE INSURANCE. Where the insured makes two insurances on the same risks and the same interest.

DOUBLE-IRONED. Both legs shackled to the bilboe-bolts.

DOUBLE-JACK. _See_ JACK-SCREW.

DOUBLE-LAND. That appearance of a coast when the sea-line is bounded by parallel ranges of hills, rising inland one above the other.

DOUBLE-SIDED. A line-of-battle ship painted so as to show the ports of both decks; or a vessel painted to resemble one, as used to be frequent in the Indian marine.

DOUBLE-STAR. Two stars so close together as to be separable only with a telescope. They are either optically so owing to their accidental situation in the heavens, or physically near each other in space, and one of them revolving round the other.

DOUBLE-TIDE. Working double-tides is doing extra duty. (_See_ WORK DOUBLE-TIDES.)

DOUBLE UPON, TO. _See_ DOUBLING UPON.

DOUBLE WALL-KNOT. With or without a crown, or a double crown, is made by intertwisting the unlaid ends of a rope in a peculiar manner.

DOUBLE-WHIP. A whip is simply a rope rove through a single block; a double whip is when it passes through a lower tail or hook-block, and the standing end is secured to the upper block, or where it is attached.

DOUBLING. (_See_ RANK.) Putting two ranks into one.

DOUBLING A CAPE. In navigation, is to sail round or pass beyond it, so that the point of land separates the ship from her former situation.

DOUBLING-NAILS. The nails commonly used in doubling.

DOUBLING UPON. In a naval engagement, the act of inclosing any part of a hostile fleet between two fires, as Nelson did at the Nile. The van or rear of one fleet, taking advantage of the wind or other circumstances, runs round the van or rear of the enemy, who will thereby be exposed to great danger and confusion.

DOUBLOON. A Spanish gold coin, value 16 dollars: L3, 3_s._ to L3, 6_s._ English.

DOUGH-BOYS. Hard dumplings boiled in salt water. A corruption of _dough-balls_.

DOUSE, TO. To lower or slacken down suddenly; expressed of a sail in a squall of wind, an extended hawser, &c. Douse the glim, your colours, &c., to knock down.

DOUT, TO. To put out a light; to extinguish; _do out_. Shakspeare makes the dauphin of France say in "King Henry V.:"--

"That their hot blood may spin in English eyes, And dout them."

DOUTER, OR DOUSER. An extinguisher.

D'OUTRE MER. From beyond the sea.

DOVER COURT BEETLE. A heavy mallet. There is an old proverb: "A Dover court; all speakers and no hearers."

"A Dover court beetle, and wedges with steel, Strong lever to raise up the block from the wheel."--_Tusser._

DOVE-TAIL. The fastening or letting in of one timber into another by a dove-tailed end and score, so that they hold firmly together, and cannot come asunder endwise. The operation of cutting the mortise is called dove-tailing.

DOVE-TAIL PLATES. Metal plates resembling dove-tails in form, let into the heel of the stern-post and the keel, to bind them together; and also those used for connecting the stem-foot with the fore end of the keel.

DOWAL. A coak of metal in a sheave.

DOWBREK. A northern term for the fish also called spaerling or smelt.

DOWEL. A cylindrical piece of hard wood about three inches in diameter, and the same in length, used as an additional security in scarphing two pieces of timber together. Dowels are also used to secure the joinings of the felloes, or circumferential parts of wheels; and by coopers in joining together the contiguous boards forming the heads of casks.--_Dowel_, or _dowel-bit_, is the tool used to cut the holes for the dowels.

DOWELLING. The method of uniting the butts of the frame-timbers together with a cylindrical piece or tenon let in at each end.

DOWN ALL CHESTS! The order to get all the officers' and seamen's chests down below from off the gun-decks when clearing the ship for an engagement.

DOWN ALL HAMMOCKS! The order for all the sailors to carry their hammocks down, and hang them up in their respective berths in readiness to go to bed, or to lessen top-weight and resistance to wind in chase.

DOWN ALONG. Sailing coastways down Channel.

DOWN EAST. Far away in that bearing. This term, as _down west_, &c., is an Americanism, recently adopted into our vernacular.

DOWNFALLS. The descending waters of rivers and creeks.

DOWN-HAUL. A rope passing up along a stay, leading through cringles of the staysails or jib, and made fast to the upper corner of the sail to pull it down when shortening sail. Also, through blocks on the outer clues to the outer yard-arms of studding-sails, to take them in securely. Also, the cockpit term for a great-coat.

DOWN-HAUL TACKLES. Employed when lower yards are struck in bad weather to prevent them from swaying about after the trusses are unrove.

DOWN IN THE MOUTH. Low-spirited or disheartened.

DOWN KILLOCK! Let go the grapnel; the corruption of keel-hook or anchor.

DOWN OARS! The order on shoving off a boat when the men have had them "tossed up."

DOWNS. An accumulation of drifted sand, which the sea gathers along its shores. The name is also applied to the anchorage or sea-space between the eastern coast of Kent and the Goodwin Sands, the well-known roadstead for ships, stretching from the South to the North Foreland, where both outward and homeward-bound ships frequently make some stay, and squadrons of men-of-war rendezvous in time of war. It is defended by the castles of Sandwich, Deal, and Dover.

DOWN WIND, DOWN SEA. A proverbial expression among seamen between the tropics, where the sea is soon raised by the wind, and when that abates is soon smooth again.

DOWN WITH THE HELM! An order to put the helm a-lee.

DOWSING CHOCK. A breast-hook or piece fayed athwart the apron and lapped on the knight-heads, or inside stuff, above the upper deck; otherwise termed _hawse-hook_.

DOYLT. Lazy or stupid.

DO YOU HEAR THERE? An inquiry following an order, but very often needlessly.

DRABLER. A piece of canvas laced on the bonnet of a sail to give it more drop, or as Captain Boteler says--"As the bonnet is to the course, so in all respects is the drabler to the bonnet." It is only used when both course and bonnet are not deep enough to clothe the mast.

DRACHMA. A Greek coin, value sevenpence three farthings sterling; 14 cents. American or Spanish real.

DRAFT, OR DRAUGHT. A small allowance for waste on goods sold by weight.

DRAFT OF HANDS. A certain number of men appointed to serve on board a

## particular man-of-war, who are then said to be _drafted_. A transfer of

hands from one ship to complete the complement of another.

DRAG. A machine consisting of a sharp square frame of iron encircled with a net, and commonly used to rake the mud off from the platform or bottom of the docks, or to clean rivers, or for dragging on the bottom for anything lost. Also, a creeper.

DRAG FOR THE ANCHOR, TO. The same as _creep_ or _sweep_.

DRAGGING. An old word for dredging.

DRAGGING ON HER. Said of a vessel in chase, or rounding a point, when she is obliged to carry more canvas to a fresh wind than she otherwise would.

DRAG-NET. A trawl or net to draw on the bottom for flat-fish.

DRAGOMAN. The name for a Turkish interpreter; it is corrupted from _tarij-man_.

DRAGON. An old name for a musketoon.

DRAGON BEAM OR PIECE. A strut or abutment.

DRAGONET. A sea-fish, the gowdie, or _Callionymus lyra_.

DRAGON-VOLANT. The old name for a gun of large calibre used in the French navy, whence the term was adopted into ours.

DRAGOON. Originally a soldier trained to serve alike on horse or foot, or as Dr. Johnson equivocally explains it, "who fights indifferently on foot or on horseback." (_See_ TROOP.) The term is now applied to all cavalry soldiers who have no other special designation.

DRAG-ROPES. Those used in the artillery by the men in pulling the gun backwards and forwards in practice and in action.

DRAGS. Whatever hangs over the ship into the sea, as shirts, coats, or the like; and boats when towed, or whatever else that after this manner may hinder the ship's way when she sails, are called _drags_.

DRAG-SAIL. Any sail with its clues stopped so as when veered away over the quarter to make a stop-water when veering in emergency. The drag-sail formed by the sprit-sail course was frequently used in former wars to retard the ship apparently running away until the enemy got within gun-shot.

DRAG-SAW. A cross-cut saw.

DRAG THE ANCHOR, TO. The act of the anchors coming home.

DRAKE. An early piece of brass ordnance.

DRAKKAR. A Norman pirate boat of former times.

DRAUGHT, OR DRAFT. The depth of water a ship displaces, or of a body of fluid necessary to float a vessel; hence a ship is said to draw so many feet of water when she requires that depth to float her, which, to be more readily known, are marked on the stem and stern-post from the keel upwards. Also, the old name for a chart. Also, the delineation of a ship designed to be built, drawn on a given scale, generally a quarter-inch to the foot, for the builders. (_See_ SHEER-DRAUGHT.)

DRAUGHT-HOOKS. Iron hooks fixed on the cheeks of a gun-carriage for dragging the gun along by _draught-ropes_.

DRAUGHTSMAN. The artist who draws plans or charts from instructions or surveys.

DRAW. A sail _draws_ when it is filled by the wind. A ship _draws_ so many feet of water.--_To let draw a jib_ is to cease from flattening-in the sheet.--_Draw_ is also a term for halliards in some of the northern fishing-boats.--_To draw._ To procure anything by official demand from a dockyard, arsenal, or magazine.--_To draw up the courses._ To take in.--_To draw upon a ship_ is to gain upon a vessel when in pursuit of her.

DRAWBACK. An abatement or reduction of duties allowed by the custom-house in certain cases; as for stores to naval officers in commission.

DRAW-BELLOWS. A northern term for _limber-holes_ (which see).

DRAWING. The state of a sail when there is sufficient wind to inflate it, so as to advance the vessel in her course.

DRAWING UP. Adjusting a ship's station in the line; the converse of _dropping astern_.

DRAWING WATER. The number of feet depth which a ship submerges.

DRAWN BATTLE. A conflict in which both parties claim the victory, or retire upon equal terms.

DRAW-NET. Erroneously used for _drag-net_.

DRAWN FOR THE MILITIA. When men are selected by ballot for the defence of the country.

DRAW THE GUNS. To extract the charge of wad, shot, and cartridge from the guns.

DREDGE. An iron scraper-framed triangle, furnished with a bottom of hide and stout cord net above, used for taking oysters or specimens of shells from the bottom.

DREDGER-BOAT. One that uses the net so called, for turbots, soles, sandlings, &c.

DREDGING. Fishing by dragging the dredge.

DREDGING MACHINE. A large lighter, or other flat-bottomed vessel, equipped with a steam-engine and machinery for removing the mud and silt from the bottom, by the revolution of iron buckets in an endless chain.

DREDGY. The ghost of a drowned person.

DREINT. The old word used for drowned, from the Anglo-Saxon.

DRESS, TO. To place a fleet in organized order; also, to arrange men properly in ranks; to present a true continuous line in front.--_To dress a ship._ To ornament her with a variety of colours, as ensigns, flags, pendants, &c., of various nations, displayed from different parts of her masts, rigging, &c., on a day of festivity.

DREW. A name in our northern isles for the _Fucus loreus_, a narrow thong-shaped sea-weed.

DRIBBLE. Drizzling showers; light rain.

DRIES. A term opposed to _rains_ on the west coast of Africa.

DRIFT. The altered position of a vessel by current or falling to leeward when hove-to or lying-to in a gale, when but little head-way is made by the action of sails. In artillery, a priming-iron of modern introduction used to clear the vent of ordnance from burning particles after each discharge. Also, a term sometimes used for the constant deflection of a rifled projectile. (_See_ DEFLECTION.)

DRIFTAGE. The amount due to lee-way. (_See_ DRIFT.)

DRIFT-BOLTS. Commonly made of steel, are used as long punches for driving out other bolts.

DRIFT-ICE. The debris of the main pack. (_See_ OPEN ICE.)

DRIFTING-UP. Is used as relating to sands which are driven by the winds. As at Cape Blanco, on the coast of Africa, off the tail of the Desert of Zahara, where the houses and batteries have been thus obliterated.

DRIFT-MUD. Consisting chiefly of an argillaceous earth, brought down by the rivers, floated about, and successively deposited in banks; forming the alluvial and fertile European settlements of Guiana.

DRIFT-NET. A large net, with meshes of one inch, used in the pilchard fishery in August; also, for herrings and mackerel in March: used in drifting in the Chops of the Channel. Also, of strong gauze, for molluscs.

DRIFT-PIECES. Solid pieces fitted at the drifts, forming the scrolls on the drifts: they are commonly mitred into the gunwale.

DRIFTS. Detached masses of soil and underwood torn off the shore by floods and floating about, often mistaken for rocks and dangers. Also, in ship-building, those parts where the sheer is raised, and the rails are cut off, ending with a scroll; as the drift of the quarter-deck, poop-deck, and forecastle.

DRIFT-SAIL. A contrivance, by means of immersing a sail, to diminish the drift of a ship during a gale of wind. (_See_ DRAGS.)

DRIFT-WAY. Synonymous with _lee-way_.

DRILL. Systematized instruction in the practice of all military exercises.

DRILL-SHIPS. A recent establishment of vessels in which the volunteers composing the Royal Naval Reserve are drilled into practice.

DRINK-PENNY. Earnest money at rendezvous houses, &c.

DRIP-STONE. The name usually given to filters composed of porous stone.

DRIVE, TO [from the Anglo-Saxon _dryfan_]. A ship drives when her anchor trips or will not hold. She drives to leeward when beyond control of sails or rudder; and if under bare poles, may drive before the wind. Also, to strike home bolts, tree-nails, &c.

DRIVER. A large sail formerly used with the wind aft or quartering. It was a square sail cut like a studding-sail, and set with a great yard on the end of the spanker-boom, across the taffrail. The name latterly has been officially applied to the spanker, both being the aftermost sails of a ship, the ring-tail being only an addition, as a studding or steering sail. (_See_ STEERING-SAIL.) Also, the foremost spur in the bilge-ways, the heel of which is fayed to the fore-side of the foremost poppet, and the sides of it look fore and aft. Also, a sort of fishing-boat.

DRIVER-BOOM. The boom to which the driver is hauled out.

DRIVING A CHARGE. Ramming home the loading of a piece of ordnance.

DRIVING PILES. The motion of a ship bobbing in a head sea, compared to the vertical fall of monkeys on pile heads.

DROG. A Gaelic term, still in use, to express the agitation of the sea.

DROGHER. A small craft which goes round the bays of the West India Islands, to take off sugars, rum, &c., to the merchantmen.--_Lumber-drogher_ is a vessel built solely for burden, and for transporting cotton and other articles coastwise.

DROGHING. The carrying trade of the West India coasts.

DROITS OF ADMIRALTY. Rights, or rather perquisites, which flowed originally from the king by grant or usage, and now reserved to the crown by commission. They are of two kinds--viz. the civil, or those arising from wrecks of the sea, flotsam, jetsam, and lagan, royal fishes, derelicts, and deodands, ejectamenta maris, and the goods of pirates, traitors, felons, suicides, and fugitives within the admiralty jurisdiction; and the prize droits, or those accruing in the course of war, comprehending all ships and goods taken without commission, all vessels improperly captured before hostilities have been formally declared, or found or by accident brought within the admiralty, salvage for all ships rescued, and all ships seized, in any of the ports, creeks, or roads of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before any declaration of war or reprisals by the sovereign.

DROM-FISH. A large fish taken and cured in quantities in the Portuguese harbours of South America, as well for ship's stores as for the times of fast.

DROMON. A Saracen term denoting the large king's ships from the ninth to the fifteenth century.

DROP, OR DROOP. When a line diverges from a parallel or a curve. It is also a name generally used to the courses, but sometimes given to the depth of the square sails in general; as, "Her main top-sail drops seventeen yards." The depth of a sail from head to foot amidships.--_To drop anchor_ is simply to anchor:--underfoot, in calms, a kedge or stream is dropped to prevent drift.

DROP ASTERN, TO. To slacken a ship's way, so as to suffer another one to pass beyond her. Also, distancing a competitor.

DROP DOWN A RIVER. Synonymous with _falling_ (which see).

DROP-DRY. Completely water-tight.

DROPPING. An old mode of salute by lowering flags or uppermost sails.

DROPS. In ship-building, are small foliages of carved work in the stern munnions and elsewhere. The term also means the fall or declivity of a deck, which is generally of several inches.

DROUD. A fish of the cod kind, frequenting the west coast of Scotland.

DROUGES. Quadrilateral pieces of board, sometimes attached to the harpoon line, for the purpose of checking in some degree the speed of the whale.

DROW. An old northern term for a severe gust of wind accompanied with rain.

DROWNED LAND. Extensive marshes or other water-covered districts which were once dry and sound land.

DROWNING. An early naval punishment; Richard I. enacted that whoever killed a man on ship-board, "he should be bound to the corpse, and thrown into the sea."

DROWNING-BRIDGE. A sluice-gate for overflowing meadows.

DROWNING THE MILLER. Adding too much water to wine or spirits; from the term when too much water has been put into a bowl of flour.

DRUB. To beat. (Captain's despatch.) "We have drubbed the enemy."

DRUDGE. A name truly applied to a cabin-boy.

DRUGGERS. Small vessels which formerly exported fish from Dieppe and other Channel ports, and brought back from the Levant spices and drugs.

DRUM. _See_ STORM-DRUM.

DRUM-CAPSTAN. A contrivance for weighing heavy anchors, invented by Sir S. Morland, who died in 1695.

DRUMHEAD COURT-MARTIAL. Sudden court held in the field for the immediate trial of thefts or misconduct. (_See_ PROVOST-MARSHAL.)

DRUMHEAD OF CAPSTAN. A broad cylindrical piece of elm, resembling a millstone, and fixed immediately above the barrel and whelps. On its circumference a number of square holes are cut parallel to the deck, to receive the bars.

DRUMLER. An ancient transport. (_See_ DROMON.) Also, a small piratical vessel of war.

DRUMMER. The marine who beats the drum, and whose pay is equivalent to that of a private of fourteen years' standing. Also, a singular fish of the corvinas kind, which has the faculty of emitting musical noises, whence it has acquired the name of _crocros_.

DRUXY. Timber in a state of decay, the condition of which is manifested by veins or spots in it of a whitish tint.

DRY-BULB THERMOMETER. The readings of this instrument, when compared with those of a wet-bulb thermometer, indicate the amount of moisture in the air, and thence the probability of rain.

DRY DOCK. An artificial receptacle for examining and repairing vessels. (_See_ GRAVING-DOCK.)

DRY DUCKING. Suspending a person by a rope a few yards above the surface of the water.

DRY FLOGGING. Punishing over the clothes of a culprit.

DRY GALES. Those storms which are accompanied with a clear sky, as the _northers_ of the Gulf of Mexico, the _harmattan_ of Africa, &c.

DRY HOLY-STONING. _See_ HOLY-STONE.

DRY-ROT. A disease destructive of timber, occasioned by a fungus, the _Merulius lachrymans_, which softens wood and finally destroys it; it resembles a dry pithy cottony substance, whence the name dry-rot, though when in a perfect state, its sinuses contain drops of clear water, which have given rise to its specific Latin name. Free ventilation and cleanliness appear to be the best preservatives against this costly evil.

DRY ROWING. "Row dry." Not to dash the spray with the blade of the oar in the faces of those in the stern-sheets.

D.S.Q. Means, in the complete book, discharged to sick quarters.

DUB. A northern term for a pool of deep and smooth water in a rapid river.

DUBB, TO. To smooth and cut off with an adze the superfluous wood.--_To dubb a vessel bright_, is to remove the outer surface of the plank completely with an adze. Spotting to examine planks with the adze is also dubbing.

DUBBAH, OR DUBBER. A coarse leathern vessel for holding liquids in India.

DUBHE. A standard nautical star in the Great Bear.

DUCAT. A well-known coin in most parts of Europe; the average gold ducat being nine shillings and sixpence, and the silver three shillings and fourpence.

DUCATOON. A coin of the Dutch Oriental Isles, of seven shillings. Also, a silver coin of Venice, value four shillings and eightpence.

DUCK, TO. To dive, or immerse another under water; or to avoid a shot.

DUCK. The finest canvas (No. 8) for small sails, is sometimes so called; but it is really a lighter cloth than canvas, and is greatly used by seamen and soldiers on tropical stations for frocks and trousers.

DUCKING. A penalty which veteran sailors inflict on those who, for the first time, pass the tropics, the equator, or formerly even the Straits of Gibraltar; and is usually performed in the grog-tub or half-butt, with the assistance of a few buckets of water; the usual fine, however, always prevents the penalty being inflicted.

DUCKING AT THE YARD-ARM. A marine punishment unknown, except by name, in the British navy; but formerly inflicted by the French for grave offences, thus: the criminal was placed astride a short thick batten, fastened to the end of a rope which passed through a block hanging at the yard-arm. Thus fixed, he was hoisted suddenly up to the yard, and the rope being then slackened at once, he was plunged into the sea. This chastisement was repeated several times; conformable to the sentence, a gun advertised the other ships of the fleet thereof that their crews might become spectators. If the offence was very great, he was drawn underneath the keel of the ship, which was called keel-hauling. (_See_ KEEL-HAULING.)

DUCKS. The general name for a sailor's dress in warm climates. Also, the military English of Bombay. _See also_ JEMMY DUCKS, the keeper of the poultry on board ship. Dried herrings, or Digby ducks in N. S.

DUCK-UP! A term used by the steersman when the main-sail, fore-sail, or sprit-sail hinders his seeing to steer by a landmark, upon which he calls out, "Duck-up the clue-lines of those sails," that is, haul the sails out of the way. Also, when a shot is made by a chase-piece, if the clue of the sprit-sail hinders the sight, they call out, "Duck-up," &c.

DUDGEON. An old word for the box-handle of a dirk; it is mentioned by Shakspeare with the blade of the ideal dagger which Macbeth saw before him. It also means offence, anger.

DUDS. A cant term for clothes or personal property. The term is old, but still in common use, though usually applied to clothing of an inferior quality, and even rags and tatters.

DUEL. A single combat at a time and place appointed in consequence of a challenge; a practice which had its uses and abuses, now prohibited.

DUELLO. An Italian word expressive of duelling, long appropriated into our language.

DUFF. Pudding or dough.

DUFFERS. Low pedlars; also those women who assist smugglers. Also, cowardly fellows.

DUG-OUT. A canoe.

DUKE OF YORK. A nickname for a particular storm trysail used in the northern seas.

DULCE, DULSE, DELSE. _Iridea dulce_, one of the edible fuci. It is an article of trade in America and Holland, and is plentiful on the rocky coasts of Ireland and western England. It probably derived its name from being sweet and pleasant, not requiring cooking.

DULEDGE PLATES. An old name for the tyre-streaks or iron plates on the circumference of the wheel of a field-piece. Duledge was also used for dowel, the wooden pin connecting the felloes.

DULL'D. When said of the wind, fallen or moderated.

DULLISH. The Manx term for the marine eatable leaf _dillisk_.

DUMB-CHALDER. A metal cleat bolted to the back of the stern-post for one of the pintles to rest upon, to lessen both strain and friction. (_See_ PINTLES.)

DUMB-CLEAT. Synonymous with _dumb-chalder_ and _thumb-cleat_.

DUMB-CRAFT. Lighters, lumps, or punts, not having sails. Also, a name for the screws used for lifting a ship on a slip.

DUMB-PINTLE. A peculiar rudder-strap. (_See_ PINTLES.)

DUMB-SCRAPING. Scraping wet decks with blunt scrapers.

DUMFOUNDER. To confuse or perplex.

DUMMY. A wood frame landing-place in front of a pier.

DUMP-BOLT. A short bolt driven in to the plank and timber as a partial security previous to the thorough fastenings being put in.

DUMPS. Nearly synonymous with _down in the mouth_.

DUN. A hill, an eminence.

DUNBAR MEDLAR. A salted herring.

DUNDERHEAD. A term used for the devil, as also for a stupid fellow.

DUN-DIVER. A name for the goosander (_Mergus merganser_) in immature plumage.

DUNES. An Anglo-Saxon word still in use, signifying mounds or ridges of drifted sands. (_See_ DOWNS.)

DUN-FISH. A peculiar preparation of cod for the American market, by which it retains a dun or dark yellow colour. Dunning is extensively carried on in the spring at Portsmouth and other places in New Hampshire.

DUNGAREE-DUCK. A name given to a small dried fish in Bombay.

DUNGAREE-STUFF. A blue or striped cotton cloth much worn by the seafaring classes in India.

DUNGIYAH. A broad-beamed flat-bottomed Arabian coaster trading between the Red Sea, Gulf of Persia, and the Malabar coast.

DUN-HEAD. In east-country barges the after-planking which forms the cabin.

DUNKIRKS. The well-known name for pirates who sailed out of Dunkirk.

DUNLIN. The name of a species of sand-piper (_Tringa cinclus_).

DUNN, OR DUIN. A Gaelic word for a fort, a hill, a heap, or a knoll.

DUNNAGE. Loose wood or other substances, as horns, rattan, coir, &c., to stow amongst casks and other cargo to prevent their motion. A vessel dunnages below the dry cargo to keep it from bilge-water.

DUNNAGE BATTENS. An extra floor in a merchantman to preserve the cargo from wet in the event of leakage. They are also used in magazines and sail-rooms so as to form a vacant space beneath the powder-barrels and ceiling.

DUNNAGED. Goods or packages secured with dunnage.

DUNNAGE GRATINGS. Express gratings placed on a steamer's deck to place cargo upon, serving as dunnage.

DUNTER. A northern designation of the porpoise.

DUNTER-GOOSE. A name in the Orkneys for the _Somateria mollissima_, or eider-duck.

DUR-MAST. An inferior oak of more rapid growth than the true English.

DUST. The refuse of biscuit in the bread-room. Also used for money. This term probably got into use in India, where the boat hire on the Ganges was added to by the Ghat-Manjees, in the way of "Dustooree." Moreover, a tumult or uproar.

DUTCH. Language, or rather gibberish, which cannot be understood by a listener. (_See_ DOUBLE DUTCH.)

DUTCH-CAPER. A light-armed vessel of the seventeenth century, adapted for privateering, and much used by the Dutch.

DUTCH CONSOLATION. "Whatever ill befalls you, there's somebody that's worse;" or "It's very unfortunate; but thank God it's no worse."

DUTCH COURAGE. The excitement inspired by drinking spirits; false energy.

DUTCH EEL-SKUYT. A flat-bottomed somewhat cutter-rigged sea-boat, carrying lee-boards, fitted with two water-tight bulk-heads, making a well for keeping live fish in, the water being admitted through perforated plates fastened on inside the ribs.

DUTCHIFYING. A term used for converting square sterns to round ones.

DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES. The patch of blue sky often seen when a gale is breaking, is said to be, however small, "enough to make a pair of breeches for a Dutchman." Others assign the habiliment to a Welshman, but give no authority for the assumption.

DUTCH PLAICE. The _Pleuronectes platessa_. When small, it is called fleak; when large, Dutch plaice.

DUTCH PUMP. A punishment so contrived that, if the prisoner would not pump hard, he was drowned.

DUTCH RECKONING. A bad day's work, all in the wrong.

DUTCH REDS. High-smoked herrings prepared in Holland.

DUTIES. Taxes levied by the custom-house upon goods exported or imported.

DUTTEES. Coarse brown calicoes of India.

DUTY. The exercise of those functions which belong to the service, and are carried out from the highest to the lowest.

DWANG-STAFF. This is otherwise the _wrain-staff_ (which see).

DYCE. A langridge for the old hail-shot pieces.

DYCE, OR THYST, "VERY WELL DYCE." (_See_ THUS.)

DYELLE. A kind of mud-drag used for cleaning rivers on our eastern coasts.

DYING MAN'S DINNER. A snatch of refreshment when the ship is in extreme danger.

DYKE. From the Anglo-Saxon _dic_, a mound or bank; yet in some parts of England the word means a ditch.

DYKE-CAM. A ditch-bank.

DYNAMOMETER. An instrument for measuring the amount of force, and used for indicating the thrust or force of a screw-propeller, or any other motor. There are many, varying in mode according to the express purpose of each, but all founded on the same principle as the name expresses--_power_ and _measure_, so that a steel-yard is the simplest exponent.

E.

E. The second class of rating on Lloyd's books for the comparative excellence of merchant ships. (_See_ A.)

EAGER. _See_ EAGRE.

EAGLE. The insignia of the Romans, borrowed also by moderns, as Frederic of Prussia and Napoleon. Also, a gold coin of the United States, of the value of five dollars, or L1, 0_s._ 10_d._ sterling, at the average rate of exchange.

EAGLE, OR SPREAD-EAGLE. A punishment inflicted by _seizing_ the offender by his arms and legs to the shrouds, and there leaving him for a specified time.

EAGRE, OR HYGRE. The reciprocation of the freshes of various rivers, as for instance the Severn, with the flowing tide, sometimes presenting a formidable surge. The name seems to be from the Anglo-Saxon _eagor_, water, or _AEgir_, the Scandinavian god of the sea. (_See_ BORE and HYGRE.)

EAR. A west-country term for a place where hatches prevent the influx of the tide.

EARING-CRINGLE, AT THE HEAD OF A SAIL. In sail-making it is an eye spliced in the bolt-rope, to which the much smaller head-rope is attached. The earings are hauled out, or lashed to cleats on the yards passing through the head corners or cringles of the sails.

EARINGS. Certain small ropes employed to fasten the upper corners of a sail to its yard, for which purpose one end of the earing is passed through itself; and the other end is passed five or six times round the yard-arm, and through the cringle; the two first turns, which are intended to stretch the head of the sail tight along the yard, are passed beyond the lift and rigging on the yard-arm, and are called outer turns, while the rest, which draw it close up to the yard, and are passed within the lift, &c., are called inner turns. Below the above are the _reef-earings_, which are used to reef the sail when the reef-tackles have stretched it to take off the strain.

EARNE. _See_ ERNE.

EARNEST. A sum paid in advance to secure a seaman's service.

EARS. In artillery the lugs or ear-shaped rings fashioned on the larger bombs or mortar-shells for their convenient handling with shell-hooks. The irregularity of surface caused by the ears is intended to be modified in future construction by the substitution of _lewis-holes_ (which see).

EAR-SHOT. The distance or range of hearing.

EARS OF A BOAT. The knee-pieces at the fore-part on the outside at the height of the gunwale.

EARS OF A PUMP. The support of the bolt for the handle or break.

EARTH. One of the primary planets, and the third in order from the sun.

EARTH-BAGS. _See_ SAND-BAGS.

EAR-WIGGING. Feeding an officer's ear with scandal against an absent individual.

EASE, TO STAND AT. To remain at rest.

EASE AWAY! To slacken out a rope or tackle-fall.

EASE HER! In a steamer, is the command to reduce the speed of the engine, preparatory to "stop her," or before reversing for "turn astern."

EASE OFF! EASE OFF HANDSOMELY, OR EASE AWAY THERE! To slacken out a rope or tackle-fall carefully.

EASE THE HELM! An order often given in a vessel close-hauled, to put the helm down a few spokes in a head sea, with the idea that if the ship's way be deadened by her coming close to the wind she will not strike the opposing sea with so much force. It is thought by some that extreme rolling as well as pitching are checked by shifting the helm quickly, thereby changing the direction of the ship's head, and what is technically called "giving her something else to do."

EASE UP, TO. To come up handsomely with a tackle-fall.

EAST. From the Anglo-Saxon, _y'st_. One of the cardinal points of the compass. Where the sun rises due east, it makes equal days and nights, as on the equator.

EAST-COUNTRY. A term applied to the regions bordering on the Baltic.

EAST-COUNTRY SHIPS. The same as _easterlings_.

EASTERLINGS. Traders of the Baltic Sea. Also, natives of the Hanse Towns, or of the east country.

EASTERN AMPLITUDE. An arc of the horizon, intercepted between the point of the sun's rising and the east point of the magnetic compass.

EAST INDIA HOY. A sloop formerly expressly licensed for carrying stores to the E. I. Company's ships.

EASTING. The course made good, or gained, to the eastward.

EASTINTUS. From the Saxon, _east-tyn_, an easterly coast or country. _Leg. Edward I._

EAST WIND. This, in the British seas, is generally attended with a hazy atmosphere, and is so ungenial as to countenance the couplet--

"When the wind is in the east, 'Tis good for neither man nor beast."

EASY. Lower gently. A ship not labouring in a sea.--_Taking it easy._ Neglecting the duty. "Not so violent."

EASY DRAUGHT. The same as _light draught of water_ (which see).

EASY ROLL. A vessel is said to "roll deep but easy" when she moves slowly, and not with quick jerks.

EATING THE WIND OUT OF A VESSEL. Applies to very keen seamanship, by which the vessel, from a close study of her capabilities, steals to windward of her opponent. This to be done effectually demands very peculiar trim to carry weather helm to a nicety.

EAVER. A provincial term for the direction of the wind. A quarter of the heavens.

EBB. The lineal descendant of the Anglo-Saxon _ep-flod_, meaning the falling reflux of the tide, or its return back from the highest of the flood, full sea, or high water. Also termed _sae-aebbung_, sea-ebbing, by our progenitors.

EBB, LINE OF. The sea-line of beach left dry by the tide.

EBBER, OR EBBER-SHORE. From the Anglo-Saxon signifying shallow.

EBB-TIDE. The receding or running out of the sea, in contradistinction to flood.

EBONY. A sobriquet for a negro.

ECHELON. [Fr.] Expressing the field-exercise of soldiers, when the divisions are placed in a situation resembling the steps of a ladder, whence the name.

ECHINUS. A word lugged in to signify the sweep of the tiller. (_See_ SEA-EGG.)

ECLIPSE. An obscuration of a heavenly body by the interposition of another, or during its passage through the shadow of a larger body. An _eclipse of the sun_ is caused by the dark body of the moon passing between it and the earth. When the moon's diameter exceeds the sun's, and their centres nearly coincide, a _total eclipse_ of the sun takes place; but if the moon's diameter be less, then the eclipse is _annular_.

ECLIPTIC. The great circle of the heavens which the sun appears to us to describe in the course of a year, in consequence of the earth's motion round that luminary. It is inclined to the equinoctial at an angle of nearly 23 deg. 28', called the obliquity of the ecliptic, and cuts it in two points diametrically opposite to each other, called the equinoctial points. The time when the sun enters each of these points (which occurs about the 20th of March and 23d of September, respectively) is termed the equinox, day and night being then equal; at these periods, especially about the time of the vernal equinox, storms, called the equinoctial gales, are prevalent in many parts of the globe. The two points of the ecliptic, which are each 90 deg. distant from the equinoctial points, are called the solstitial points. That great circle which passes through the equinoctial points and the poles of the earth, is called the equinoctial colure; and that which passes through the solstitial points and the poles of the earth, the solstitial colure.

ECLIPTIC CONJUNCTION. Is the moon in conjunction with the sun at the time of new moon, both luminaries having then the same longitude, or right ascension.

ECLIPTIC LIMITS. Certain limits of latitude within which eclipses take place, and beyond which they cannot occur.

ECONOMY. A term expressive of the system and internal arrangement pursued in a ship.

EDDY. Sometimes used for the dead-water under a ship's counter. Also, the water that by some interruption in its course, runs contrary to the direction of the tide or current, and appears like the motion of a whirlpool. Eddies in the sea not unfrequently extend their influence to a great distance, and are then merely regarded as contrary or revolving currents. It is the back-curl of the water to fill a space or vacuum formed sometimes by the faulty build of a vessel, having the after-body fuller than the fore, which therefore impedes her motion. It also occurs immediately after a tide passes a strait, where the volume of water spreads suddenly out, and curves back to the edges. The Chinese pilots call eddies, chow-chow water.

EDDY-TIDE. When the water runs back from some obstacle to the free passage of the stream.

EDDY-WIND. That which is beat back, or returns, from a sail, bluff hill, or anything which impedes its passage; in other words, whenever the edges or veins of two currents of air, coming from opposite directions, meet, they form an eddy, or _whirlwind_ (which see). They are felt generally near high coasts intersected by ravines. The eddy-wind of a sail escaping, in a curve, makes the sail abaft shiver.

EDGE AWAY, TO. To decline gradually from the course which the ship formerly steered, by sailing larger, or more off, or more away from before the wind than she had done before.

EDGE DOWN, TO. To approach any object in an oblique direction.

EDGING OF PLANK. Sawing or hewing it narrower.

EDUCTION PIPE. A pipe leading from the bottom of a steam-cylinder to the upper part of the condenser in a steam-engine.

EEAST. The Erse term for a fish, still used in the Isle of Man.

EEKING. _See_ EKEING.

EEL. A well-known fish (_Anguilla vulgaris_), of elongated form, common in rivers and estuaries, and esteemed for food.

EELER. An adept at knowing the haunts and habits of eels, and the methods of taking them.

EEL-FARES. A fry or brood of eels.

EEL-GRASS. A name for the sea-wrack (_Zostera marina_); it is thrown ashore by the sea in large quantities.

EEL-POUT. A name for the burbot (_Molva lota_), a fresh-water fish.

EEL-SKUYT. _See_ DUTCH EEL-SKUYT.

EEL-SPEAR. A sort of trident with ten points for catching eels, called in Lincolnshire an _eel-stang_.

EFFECTIVE. Efficient, fit for service; it also means the being present and at duty.

EFFECTS. Personal property; sale of effects; or the auction of the property of deceased officers and seamen:

"The _effects_ of that sail Will be a sale of _effects_."

EFFLUENT, OR DIVERGENT, applied to any stream which runs out of a lake, or out of another river. All tributaries are affluents.

EGG, TO. To instigate, incite, provoke, to urge on: from the Anglo-Saxon _eggion_.

EGGS. These nutritious articles of food might be used longer at sea than is usual. The shell of the egg abounds with small pores, through which the aqueous part of the albumen constantly exhales, and the egg in consequence daily becomes lighter, and approaches its decomposition. Reaumur varnished them all over, and thus preserved eggs fresh for two years; then carefully removing the varnish, he found that such eggs were still capable of producing chickens. Some employ, with the same intention, lard or other fatty substance for closing the pores, and others simply immerse the egg for an instant in boiling water, by which its albumen is in part coagulated, and the power of exhalation thereby checked. Eggs packed in lime-water suffered to drain, have after three years' absence in the West Indies been found good; this does not destroy vitality.

EGMONT, OR PORT EGMONT FOWLS. The large Antarctic gulls with dark-brown plumage, called _shoemakers_.

EGRESS. At a transit of an inferior planet over the sun, this term means the passing off of the planet from his disc.

EGYPTIAN HERRING. A northern coast name for the gowdanook, saury-pike, or _Scomberesox saurus_.

EIDER DUCK. The _Somateria mollissima_. A large species of duck, inhabiting the coasts of the northern seas. The down of the breast, with which it lines its nest, is particularly valuable on account of its softness and lightness.

EIGHEN. The index of the early quadrant.

EILET-HOLE [Fr. _[oe]illet_]. _Refer to_ EYELET-HOLES.

EJECTAMENTA MARIS. Sea products thrown on the beach, whence they become droits of admiralty. (_See_ JETSAM.)

EKE, TO. [Anglo-Saxon _eacan_, to prolong.] To make anything go far by reduction and moderation, as in shortening the allowance of provisions on a voyage unexpectedly tedious.

EKEING. A piece of wood fitted, by scarphing or butting, to make good a deficiency in length, as the end of a knee and the like. The _ekeing_ is also the carved work under the lower part of the quarter-piece, at the aft part of the quarter-gallery.

ELBOW. That part of a river where it suddenly changes its direction, forming a reach to the next angle or turn. Also, a promontory. Also, a communication in a steam-pipe.

ELBOW-GREASE. Hard labour with the arms.

ELBOW IN THE HAWSE. Two crosses in a hawse. When a ship, being moored in a tide-way, swings twice the wrong way, thereby causing the cables to take half a round turn on each other. (_See_ HAWSE.)

ELDEST. The old navy term for _first_, as applied to the senior lieutenant.

ELEMENTS. The first principles of any art or science.--The _elements of an orbit_ are certain proportions which define the path of a heavenly body in space, and enable the astronomer to calculate its position for past or future times.

ELEPHANTER. A heavy periodical rain of Bombay.

ELEPHANT-FISH. The _Chimaera callorynchus_, named from the proboscis-like process on its nose. Though inferior to many other fish, it is yet palatable food.

ELEVATE! In great-gun exercise, the order which prepares for adjusting the quoin.

ELEVATED POLE. That terrestrial pole which is above the horizon of a spectator.

ELEVATION, IN SHIP-BUILDING. A vertical and longitudinal view of a vessel, synonymous with _sheer-draught_ and _sheer-plan_. In other words, it is the orthographic design whereon the heights and lengths are expressed.

ELEVATION, ANGLE OF. In gunnery, that which the axis of the bore makes with the plane of the horizon. It is attained by sinking the breech of the gun until its axis points above the object to be fired at, so that the shot may describe a curve somewhat similar to a parabola, counteracting the action of gravity during its flight, and alighting upon the mark.

ELGER. An eel-spear, _Promptorium Parvulorum_, yielding many together.

ELIGUGS. Aquatic birds of passage of the auk kind on our western coasts; called also razor-bills.

ELITE. The elite of naval or military forces is the choicest selection from them.

ELLECK. The trivial name of the _Trigla cuculus_.

ELLIOT-EYE. The Elliot-eye, introduced by the Hon. Admiral Elliot, secretary of the Admiralty, is an eye worked over an iron thimble in the end of a hempen bower-cable, to facilitate its being shackled to the chain for riding in very deep water.

ELLIPSE. In geometry, an oval figure, formed of the section of a cone by a plane cutting through both its sides obliquely.

ELMO'S FIRE, ST. _See_ COMPASANT.

ELONGATION. The angular distance of a heavenly body from the sun eastward or westward.

ELVERS. The name of eels on the western coasts of England.

EMBARGO. A temporary injunction or arrest laid on ships or merchandise by public authority, sometimes general, to prevent all ships departing, and sometimes partial, as upon foreign ships only, or to prevent their coming in. A breach of embargo, under the knowledge of the insured, discharges the underwriters from liability.

EMBARK, TO. To go on board, or to put on board a vessel.

EMBARKATION. Applies to the shipping of goods, troops, and stores. Also, the peculiar boats of a country. [Sp. _embarcation_.]

EMBARMENT. An old term, meaning an embargo.

EMBARRAS. An American term for places where the navigation of rivers or creeks is rendered difficult by the accumulation of driftwood, trees, &c.

EMBATTLE. To arrange forces for conflict.

EMBATTLED. In buildings, crenellated or pierced with loop-holes.

EMBEDDED. Firmly fixed in the mud or sand.

EMBER-GOOSE (OR IMBER?). A name for the great northern diver or loon (_Colymbus glacialis_).

EMBEZZLEMENT, or simple theft, by persons belonging to a merchant ship, is not deemed a peril of the sea. But robbery violently committed by persons not belonging to the ship, is a peril for which the insurer is answerable.--_To embezzle_ is to misappropriate by a breach of trust.

EMBOUCHURE. A French word adopted as signifying the mouth of a river, by which its waters are discharged, or by which it is entered. The term is now in general use.

EMBRASURES. The cut or opening made through the parapet of a battery for the muzzle of the gun and the passage of the shot.

EMERALDERS. A term for the natives of Ireland, from its evergreen verdure.

EMERGENCY. Imminent want in difficult circumstances.

EMERSION. The prismatic space or solid raised out on the weather side by the inclination of the ship. In astronomy it signifies the re-appearance of a celestial object after undergoing occultation or eclipse.

EMINENCE. A high or rising ground overlooking the country around.

EMISSARY. A culvert or drain.

EMPRISE. A hazardous attempt upon the enemy.

EMPTIONS. Stores purchased.

EMPTY. Cargo discharged.

EMPTY BASTION. In fortification is a bastion whereof the terreplein, or terrace in rear of the parapet, not having been carried farther to the rear than its regular distance, leaves a large space within it of a lower level.

EMPTY BOTTLE. _See_ MARINE OFFICER.

ENCAMPMENT. _See_ CAMP.

ENCEINTE. [Fr.] A slightly bastioned wall or rampart line of defence, which sometimes surrounds the body of a place; when only flanked by turrets it is called a Roman wall.

ENCIRCLING REEFS. A name given to a form of coral reef, the architecture of myriads of zoophytes in tropical seas.

ENCOUNTER. The hostile meeting of two ships or squadrons; also, a conflict between troops.

ENDANGER, TO. To expose to peril.

ENDECAGON. In geometry, a plane figure of eleven sides and angles.

ENDELONG. The old English word for lengthways.

END FOR END. Reversing cordage, casks, logs, spars, &c.--To shift a rope _end for end_, as in a tackle, the fall is made the standing part, and the standing part becomes the fall; or when a rope runs out all a block, and is unreeved; or in coming to an anchor, if the stoppers are not well put on, and the cable runs all out end for end. (_See_ AN-END.)

END OF A TRENCH. The place where the trenches are opened.

END-ON. Said particularly of a ship when only her bows and head-sails are to be seen, but generally used in opposition to _broadside-on_.

ENEMY. The power or people against whom war is waged.

ENFIELD RIFLE. The name of the present regulation musket for infantry, as made at the government works at Enfield, on an improvement of the Minie principle; whether the breach-loading rifle, which it is intended to substitute for this arm, will acquire the same title, remains to be determined.

ENFILADE FIRE. Is that which sweeps a line of works or men from one end to the other; it is on land nearly the equivalent to "raking fire" at sea.

ENGAGEMENT. In a naval sense, implies a battle at sea, or an action of hostility between single ships, squadrons, or fleets of men-of-war. Also, a conflict between two contending armies.

ENGINE, MARINE. (_See_ MARINE ENGINES.) Engine was of old a military machine for warfare.

ENGINE-BEARERS. Sleepers, or pieces of timber placed between the keelson, in a steamer, and the boilers of the steam-engine, to form a proper seat for the boilers and machinery.

ENGINEER. A duly qualified officer appointed to plan and direct the attack or defence of a fortification, as well as the construction of fortified works. Engineers are also persons in charge of the machinery of steam-vessels. In government steamers they are in three classes, under warrant from the admiralty.

ENGINE-ROOM TELEGRAPH. A dial-contrivance by which the officer on deck can communicate with the engineer below.

ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY. This is introduced into a naval vocabulary, not as wanting explanation, but that in recording the most remarkable signal ever made to a fleet, we may remind the tyro, that these words of Nelson are admirably adapted for all the varying changes of sea-life, whether in times of war or peace.

ENGLISH. A term applied to the vessels and men of the whole empire, and its maritime population. "Indeed," says Burke in a letter to Admiral Keppel, "I am perfectly convinced that _Englishman_ and _seaman_ are names that must live and die together."

ENLARGE. The wind is said to enlarge when it veers from the side towards the stern.

ENLISTMENT. The engaging recruits for the army or marines.

ENNEAGON. A figure that has nine sides and as many angles.

ENNIS, OR INNIS. A term for island on the west coast of Ireland and in some parts of Scotland.

ENROL, TO. To enter the name on the roll of a corps.

ENSCONCE, TO. To intrench; to protect by a slight fortification.

ENSENADA [Sp. bay]. This term is frequently used on the coasts of Chili and Peru.

ENSIGN. [From the Anglo-Saxon _segn_.] A large flag or banner, hoisted on a long pole erected over the stern, and called the ensign-staff. It is used to distinguish the ships of different nations from each other, as also to characterize the different squadrons of the navy; it was formerly written _ancient_. Ensign is in the army the title of the junior rank of subaltern officers of infantry; from amongst them are detailed the officers who carry the colours.

ENTERING AT CUSTOM-HOUSE. The forms required of the master of a merchant ship before her cargo can be discharged.

ENTERING-LADDERS. Are of two sorts; one of them being used by the vessel's side in harbour or in fair weather, the other is made of ropes, with small staves for steps, and is hung out of the gallery to come aboard by, when the sea runs so high as to risk staving the boat if brought alongside; the latter are termed stern-ladders.

ENTERING-PORTS. Ports cut down on the middle gun-deck of three-deckers, to serve as door-ways for persons going in and out of the ship.

ENTERING-ROPES, OR SIDE-ROPES. Three are sometimes used to aid in climbing the ship's side. They hang from the upper part on the right, left, and middle of the steps. (_See_ GANGWAY.) The upper end of an entering-rope is rove through an eye in the iron stanchion at the gangway; it is walled, crowned, and otherwise ornamentally fitted.

ENTERPRISE. An undertaking of difficulty and danger.

ENTRANCE. A term for the bow of a vessel, or form of the _fore-body_ under the load water-line; it expresses the figure of that which encounters the sea, and is the opposite of _run_. Also, the first appearance of a person on board after entry on the ship's books. Also, the fore-foot of a ship. Also, the mouth of a harbour.

ENTRANCE MONEY. Payment on entering a mess.

ENTRY. In the ship's books; first putting down the appearance or day on which a man joins. Also, the forcing into an enemy's ship.

ENVELOPE. In astronomy, a band of light encircling the head of a comet on the side near the sun, and passing round it, so as to form the commencement of the tail.--In fortification, a work of single lines thrown up to inclose a weak ground; usually a mere earth-work.

EPAULE, OR SHOULDER. In fortification, that part of a bastion adjacent to the junction of a face with a flank. The actual meeting of these two lines forms the "angle of the shoulder."

EPAULEMENT. In fortification, a covering mass raised to protect from the fire of the enemy, but differing from a parapet in having no arrangement made for the convenient firing over it by defenders. It is usually adopted for side-passages to batteries and the like.

EPAULET. The bullion or mark of distinction worn on the shoulders by officers, now common to many grades, but till recently worn only by captains and commanders, whence the brackish poet--

"Hail, magic power that fills an _epaulet_, No wonder hundreds for thee daily fret!"

the meaning of which is now pointless.

EPHEMERIS, OR NAUTICAL ALMANAC. This in its wide sense, and recognizing its value to navigators and astronomers, must be pronounced one of the most useful of publications. How Drake and Magellan got on is matter of marvel, for sailors were not especially administered to till 1675, when the _Kalendarium Nauticum_, by Henry Seaman, Mariner, appeared; it comprised the usual matter of annual almanacs, and was enriched with such precepts and rules in the practice of navigation and traffic as are in daily use. But in 1767 our nautical almanac, a tabular statement of the geocentric planetary positions, which may be said to have created a new era in voyaging, was published; and this book, with certain alterations, was in force up to 1830, when a commission of the Royal Society and astronomers established the present _Ephemeris_, now so much valued. It is published annually, but computed to four years in advance, to accommodate those proceeding on long voyages. Attempts have been made in other countries to publish _The Nautical Almanac_, improved and corrected, but they are mere copies, corrected by the errata furnished annually in advance.

EPICYCLOID. A geometrical curve generated by making a circle roll upon the circumference of another circle; it is found useful in determining the figure of the teeth of wheel-work, and other purposes in mechanics. If the generating circle proceeds along the convexity of the periphery, it is called an upper or exterior epicycloid; if along the concavity, a lower or interior epicycloid.

EPOCH. The time to which certain given numbers or quantities apply.

EPROUVETTE. A small piece of ordnance specially fitted for testing the projectile force of samples of gunpowder.

EQUATED ANOMALY. This is also called the true anomaly, and is the distance of the sun from the apogee, or a planet from its aphelion, seen from the sun.

EQUATION, ANNUAL. _See_ ANNUAL EQUATION.

EQUATION OF EQUINOXES. The difference between the mean and apparent places of the equinox.

EQUATION OF THE CENTRE. The difference between the true and mean anomalies of a planet.

EQUATION OF TIME. The difference between mean and apparent time, or the acceleration or retardation of the sun's return to the meridian.

EQUATOR. Called also the equinoctial line, or simply the line, being an imaginary circle round the earth, dividing the globe into two equal parts, and equally distant from both poles. Extended to the heavens, it forms a circle called the celestial equator, which in like manner divides the heavens into two equal parts, the northern and southern hemispheres.

EQUATORIAL CURRENT. The set, chiefly westerly, so frequently met with near the equator, especially in the Atlantic Oceans.

EQUATORIAL DOLDRUMS. _See_ DOLDRUMS.

EQUATORIAL SECTOR. An instrument of large radius for finding the difference in the right ascension and declination of two heavenly bodies.

EQUATORIAL TELESCOPE. A glass so mounted that it enables the observer to follow the stars as they move equatorially.

EQUES AURATUS. An heraldic term for a knight.

EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE. A figure of three equal straight sides, and therefore of three equal angles.

EQUINOCTIAL. Synonymous with _equator_ (which see).

EQUINOCTIAL GALES. Storms which are observed to prevail about the time of the sun's crossing the equator, at which time there is equal day and night throughout the world.

EQUINOCTIAL POINTS. _See_ ECLIPTIC.

EQUINOXES. The two points of intersection of the ecliptic and the equator; so called, because on the sun's arrival at either of them, the night is everywhere equal in length to the day.

EQUIP, TO. A term frequently applied to the business of fitting a ship for a trading voyage, or arming her for war. (_See_ FITTING.)

EQUIPAGE. An admiral's retinue. Camp equipage consists of tents, furniture, cooking utensils, &c.

EQUIPMENT. The complete outfit of an officer.

EQUITABLE TITLE. Either this, or a legal claim, are absolutely necessary to establish an insurable interest in a ship or cargo. (_See_ QUALIFIED PROPERTY.)

ERIGONE. A name sometimes applied to the constellation Virgo.

ERNE. From the Anglo-Saxon _earne_, a vulture, a bird of the eagle kind. Now used to denote the sea-eagle.

ERRATIC WINDS. _See_ VARIABLES.

ESCALADE. The forcing a way over a rampart or other defence, properly by means of ladders or other contrivances for climbing.

ESCAPE-VALVES. In marine engines. (_See_ CYLINDER ESCAPE-VALVES.)

ESCARP. In fortification, that steep bank or wall immediately in front of and below the rampart, which is thus secured against being directly stormed by a superior force; it is generally the inner side of the ditch.

ESCHEATOR, THE KING'S. An officer at the exchequer of very ancient establishment, under the lord-treasurer, whose business it is to inform of escheats and casual profits of the crown, and to seize them into the king's hands.

ESCORT. A guard of troops attending an individual by way of distinction. Also, a guard placed over prisoners on a march.

ESCUTCHEON. The compartment in the middle of the ship's stern, where her name is written. [Derived from _ex-scutum_.]

ESKIPPAMENTUM. An archaism for tackle or ship-furniture.

ESKIPPER. Anglo-Norman to ship, and _eskipped_ was used for shipped.

ESKIPPESON. An old law term for a shipping or passage by sea.

ESNECCA. In the twelfth century, a royal yacht, though some deem it to have been a kind of transport.

ESPIALS. Night watches afloat, in dockyards and harbours; generally a boat named by the ordinary.

ESPLANADE. Generally that space of level ground kept vacant between the works of a fortress and neighbouring houses or other obstructions; though originally applied to the actual surface of the glacis.

ESQUIMAUX. A name derived from _esquimantsic_, in the Albinaquis language, _eaters of raw flesh_. Many tribes in the Arctic regions are still ignorant of the art of cookery.

ESSARA. The prickly heat.

ESTABLISHMENT. The regulated complement or quota of officers and men to a ship, either in time of war or peace. The equipment. The regulated dimensions of spars, cabin, rigging, &c.--_Establishment of a port._ An awkward phrase lately lugged in to denote the tide-hour of a port.

ESTIVAL. _See_ AESTIVAL.

ESTOC. A small stabbing sword.

ESTUARY. An inlet or shoaly arm of the sea into which a river or rivers empty, and subject to tidal influence.

ESTURE. An old word for the rise and fall of water.

ETESIAN WINDS. The _Etesiae_ of the ancients; winds which blow constantly every year during the time of the dog-days in the Levant.

ETIQUETTE. Naval or military observances, deemed to be law.

EUPHROE. _See_ UVROU.

EVACUATE. To withdraw from a town or fortress, in virtue of a treaty or capitulation; or in compliance with superior orders.

EVECTION. A term for the libration of the moon, or that apparent oscillatory inequality in her motion, caused by a change in the excentricity of her orbit, whereby her mean longitude is sometimes increased or diminished to the amount of 1 deg. 20', whereby we sometimes see a little further round one side than at others.

EVE-EEL. A northern name for the conger; from the Danish _hav-aal_, or sea-eel.

EVENING GUN. The warning-piece, after the firing of which the sentries challenge.

EVEN KEEL. When a ship is so trimmed as to sit evenly upon the water, drawing the same depth forward as aft. Some vessels sail best when brought by the head, others by the stern.

EVERY INCH OF THAT! An exclamation to belay a rope without rendering it.

EVERY MAN TO HIS STATION. _See_ STATION.

EVERY ROPE AN-END. The order to coil down the running rigging, or braces and bowlines, after tacking, or other evolution. Also, the order, when about to perform an evolution, to see that every rope is clear for running.

EVERY STITCH SET. All possible canvas spread.

EVOLUTION. The change of form and disposition during man[oe]uvres, whether of men or ships; movements which should combine celerity with precision and regularity.

EWAGE. An old law term meaning the toll paid for water-passage.

EXALTATION. A planet being in that sign in which it is supposed to exert its utmost influence.

EXAMINATION. A searching by, or cognizance of, a magistrate, or other authorized officer. Now strict in navy and army.

EXCENTRIC. In a steam-engine, a wheel placed on the crank-shaft, having its centre on one side of the axis of the shaft, with a notch for the _gab-lever_.

EXCENTRIC ANOMALY. An auxiliary angle employed to abridge the calculations connected with the motion of a planet or comet in an elliptic orbit.

EXCENTRICITY. In astronomical parlance, implies the deviation of an elliptic orbit from a circle.

EXCENTRIC ROD, by its action on the gab-lever, which it catches either way, puts the engine into gear.

EXCHANGE. A term in the mercantile world, to denote the bills by which remittances are made from one country to another, without the transmission of money. The removal of officers from one ship to another. Also, a mutual agreement between contending powers for exchange of prisoners.

EXCHEQUERED. Seized by government officers as contraband. Marked with the broad arrow. It also refers to proceedings on the part of the crown against an individual in the Exchequer Court, where suits for debts or duties due to the crown are brought.

EXECUTION. The Lords of the Admiralty have a right to issue their warrant, and direct the time and manner, without any special warrant from the crown for that purpose.--_Military execution_ is the ravaging and destroying of a country that refuses to pay contribution.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH. The commissioned and working officers of the ship, as distinguished from the civilian branch.

EXERCISE. The practice of all those motions, actions, and management of arms, whereby men are duly trained for service. Also, the practice of loosing, reefing, and furling sails.--_Exercise_, in naval tactics, may be applied to the forming a fleet into order of sailing, line of battle, &c. The French term is _evolutions_ or _tactiques_, and may be defined as the execution of the movements which the different orders and disposition of fleets occasionally require, and which the several ships are directed to perform by means of signals. (_See_ SIGNALS.)

EX LEX. An outlaw (a term of law).

EXPANSION-VALVE. In the marine engine, a valve which shuts off the steam in its passage to the slide-valves, when the piston has travelled a certain distance in the cylinder, leaving the remaining part of the stroke to be performed by the expansion of the steam.

EXPEDIENT. A stratagem in warfare.

EXPEDITION. An enterprise undertaken either by sea or land, or both, against an enemy; it should be conducted with secrecy and rapidity of movement.

EXPENDED. Used up, consumed, or asserted to be so.

EXPENSE BOOKS. Accounts of the expenditure of the warrant officer's stores, attested by the signing officers.

EXPLOITING. Transporting trees or timber by a river. Exploit was an old verb meaning to perform.

EXPLORATOR. An examiner of a country. A scout.

EXPORT, TO. To send goods or commodities out of a country, for the purposes of traffic, under the general name of exports.

EXPORTATION. The act of sending exports to foreign parts.

EXPORTER. The person who sends the exports abroad.

EXPOSED ANCHORAGE. An open and dangerous place, by reason of the elements or the enemy.

EXTERIOR SIDE. The side of an imaginary polygon, upon which the plan of a fortification is constructed.

EXTERIOR SLOPE. In fortification, that slope of a work towards the country which is next outward beyond its superior slope.

EXTERNAL CONTACT. In a transit of Mercury or Venus over the sun's disc, this expression means the first touch of the planet's and sun's edges, before any part of the former is projected on the disc of the luminary.

EXTRAORDINARIES. Contingent expenses.

EXTREME BREADTH. The extent of the midships, or dead flat, with the thickness of the bottom plank included.

EXTREMITIES. The stem and stern posts of a ship.

EY. _See_ EYGHT.

EYE. The circular loop of a shroud or stay where it goes over the mast.--_To eye_, to observe minutely.--_Flemish eye_, a phrase

## particularly applied to the eye of a stay, which is either formed at

the making of the rope; or by dividing the yarns into two equal parts, knotting each pair separately, and pointing the whole over after parcelling. This eye stopped by the mouse forms the collar. It is not strong, soon rots, and seldom, if ever, used now where strength is of more importance than neatness.

EYE-BOLTS. Those which have an eye or opening in one end, for hooking tackles to, or fastening ropes.

EYELET-HOLES, are necessary in order to bend a sail to its yard or boom, or to reef it; they consist of round holes worked in a sail to admit a cringle or small rope through, chiefly the robands (or rope-bands), and the points of the reef-line. (_See_ SAIL.)

EYE OF A BLOCK-STROP. That part by which it is fastened or suspended to any particular place upon the sails, masts, or rigging; the eye is sometimes formed by making two eye-splices, termed lashing eyes, on the ends of the strop, and then seizing them together with a small line, so as to bind both round a mast, yard, or boom, as is deemed necessary.

EYE OF AN ANCHOR. The hole in the shank wherein the ring is fixed.

EYE OF A STAY. That part of a stay which is formed into a sort of collar to go round the mast-head; the eye and mouse form the collar.

EYE OF THE WIND. The direction to windward from whence it blows. (_See_ WIND'S-EYE.)

EYE-SHOT. Within sight.

EYES OF A MESSENGER. Eyes spliced in its ends to lash together.

EYES OF A SHIP. (_See_ EYES OF HER.)

EYES OF HER. The foremost part of the bay, or in the bows of a ship. In olden times, and now in Spanish and Italian boats, as well as Chinese junks, an eye is painted on each bow. The hawse-holes also are deemed the "eyes of her."

EYE-SORE. Any disagreeable object.

EYE-SPLICE. (_See_ SPLICE.) A kind of splice made by turning the end of a rope back, and the strands passed through the standing part.--_Eye of a splice_, the strand turned up, by the fid or marline-spike, to receive the opposite strand.

EYGHT. An alluvial river-island, where osiers usually grow, called also _ait_, _ayt_, _ey_, _eyet_, or _eyot_. Also, the thickest part of a scule of herrings; when this is scattered by the fishermen, it is termed "breaking the ey."

F.

FACE. The edge of a sharp instrument. Also, the word of command to soldiers, marines, and small-arm men, to turn upon the heel a quarter or half a circle round in the direction ordered.

FACED. Turned up with facings on the cuffs and collars of uniforms and regimentals.

FACE OF A GUN. The surface of the metal at the extremity of the muzzle.

FACE-PIECE. A piece of elm tabled on to the knee of the head, in the fore-part, to assist the conversion of the main piece; and likewise to shorten the upper bolts, and prevent the cables from rubbing against them as the knee gets worn.

FACES OF A WORK. In fortification, are the two lines forming its most prominent salient angle.

FACHON. An Anglo-Norman term for a sword or falchion.

FACING. Letting one piece of timber into another with a rabbet to give additional strength or finish. Also, a movement for forming soldiers and small-arm men.--_Facings._ The front of regimentals and uniforms.

FACK. _See_ FAKE.

FACTOR. A commercial superintendent, or agent residing beyond sea, commissioned by merchants to buy or sell goods on their account by a letter of attorney.

FACTORAGE. A certain percentage paid to the factor by the merchant on all he buys or sells.

FACTORY. A place where a considerable number of factors reside; as Lisbon, Leghorn, Calcutta, &c. Factory comprehends the business of a firm or company, as that of the India Company at Canton, or the Hudson's Bay Fur Company in North America.

FACULAE. Luminous streaks upon the disc of the sun, among which the maculae, or dark spots, usually appear.

FADOME. The old form used for _fathom_ (which see).

FAFF, TO. To blow in flaws.

FAG, TO. To tire.--_A fag._ A deputy labouring-man, or one who works hard for another.

FAG-END. Is the end of any rope. This term is also applied to the end of a rope when it has become untwisted.

FAGGOTS. Men who used to be hired to answer to names on the books, when the crew were mustered by the clerk of the cheque. Such cheating was once still more prevalent in the army.

FAGOT. A billet for stowing casks. A _fascine_ (which see).

FAG-OUT, TO. To wear out the end of a rope or end of canvas.

FAIK, OR FALK. A name in the Hebrides for the sea-fowl razor-bill (_Alca torda_).

FAIR. A general term for the wind when favourable to a ship's course, in opposition to contrary or foul; _fair_ is more comprehensive than _large_, since it includes about 16 points, whereas large is confined to the beam or quarter, that is, to a wind which crosses the keel at right angles, or obliquely from the stern, but never to one right astern. (_See_ LARGE and SCANT.)--_Fair_, in ship-building, denotes the evenness or regularity of a curve or line.--_To fair_, means to clip the timbers fair.

FAIR-CURVE. In delineating ships, is a winding line whose shape is varied according to the part of the ship it is intended to describe. This curve is not answerable to any of the figures of conic sections, although it occasionally partakes of them all.

FAIRING. Sheering a ship in construction. Also, the draught of a ship. To run off a great number of different lines or curves, in order to ascertain the fairness in point of curvature of every part, and the beauty of the whole.

FAIR-LEAD. Is applied to ropes as suffering the least friction in a block, when they are said to lead fair.

FAIR-LEADER. A thimble or cringle to guide a rope. A strip of board with holes in it, for running-rigging to lead through, and be kept clear, so as to be easily distinguished at night.

FAIR-MAID. A west-country term for a dried pilchard.

FAIR-WAY. The navigable channel of a harbour for ships passing up or down; so that if any vessels are anchored therein, they are said to lie in the fair-way. (_See_ PILOT'S FAIR-WAY.) Also, when the proper course is gained out of a channel.

FAIR-WEATHER. That to which a ship may carry the small sails.

FAKE. One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it lies disposed in a coil. (_See_ COILING.) The fakes are greater or smaller in proportion to the space which a cable is allowed to occupy.

FALCON. In early times a small cannon, having a length of about 7 feet, a diameter of bore of 3 inches, and throwing a ball of nearly 3 lbs. weight, with a point-blank range of 130 paces, and a random one of 1500.

FALCONET. A primitive cannon smaller than the falcon; it threw a ball of 1-1/2 lb.

FALK. _See_ FAKE.

FALL. A vertical descent of a river through a narrow rocky pass, or over a ledge, to the impediment of navigation. Also, the loose end of a tackle, or that part to which the power is applied in hoisting, and on which the people pull. Also, in ship-building, the descent of a deck from a fair-curve lengthwise, as frequently seen in merchantmen and yachts, to give height to the commander's cabin, and sometimes forward at the hawse-holes. Also, a large cutting down of timber. Also, North American English for autumn, when the navigation of northern inland waters is about to close till the succeeding spring.

FALL, TO. A town or fortress is said to fall when it is compelled to surrender to besiegers.

FALL ABOARD OF, TO. To strike another vessel, or have a collision with it. Usually applied to the motion of a disabled ship coming in contact with another.

FALL! A FALL! The cry to denote that the harpoon has been effectively delivered into the body of a whale.

FALL ASTERN, TO. To lessen a ship's way so as to allow another to get ahead of her. To be driven backwards.

FALL BACK, TO. To recede from any position previously occupied.

FALL CALM, TO. Speaking of the weather, implies a total cessation of the wind.

FALL CLOUD. _See_ STRATUS.

FALL DOWN, TO. To sail, drift, or be towed to some lower part nearer a river's mouth or opening.

FALLEN-STAR. A name for the jelly-fish or _medusa_, frequently thrown ashore in summer and autumn.

FALL FOUL OF, TO. To reprimand severely. (_See_ FALL ABOARD OF.)

FALL IN, TO. The order to form, or take assigned places in ranks. (_See_ ASSEMBLY.)

FALLING GLASS. When the mercury of the barometer is sinking in the tube.

FALLING HOME. When the top-sides are inclined within the perpendicular; opposite of _wall-sided_. (_See_ TUMBLING HOME.)

FALLING OFF. The opposite of _griping_, or _coming up to the wind_; it is the movement or direction of the ship's head to leeward of the point whither it was lately directed, particularly when she sails near the wind, or lies by. Also, the angle contained between her nearest approach to the direction of the wind, and her furthest declination from it when _trying_.

FALLING OUT. When the top-sides project beyond a perpendicular, as in flaring.

FALLING STARS. Meteors which have very much the appearance of real stars. They were falsely regarded as foreboders of wind, as Seneca in _Hippolytus_, "Ocior cursum rapiente flamma stella cum ventis agitata longos porrigit ignes." Some are earthy, others metallic.

FALLING TIDE, OR EBB OF TIDE. This phrase, implying a previous flow of tide towards high-water, requires here only a partial explanation: the sea, after swelling for about six hours, and thus entering the mouths of rivers, and rising along the sea-shore more or less, according to the moon's age and other circumstances, rests for a quarter of an hour, and then retreats or ebbs during the next six hours. After a similar pause the phenomenon recommences,--occupying altogether about twelve hours and fifty minutes. A table of the daily time of high-water at each port is requisite for the shipping. There are curious variations to this law, as when strong rivers rise and fall, and yet do not admit salt water. Their currents, indeed, of fresh water, are found far off the land, as in the Tiber, and off several in the West Indies, South America, &c. (_See_ TIDE.)

FALL IN WITH, TO. To meet, when speaking of a ship; to discover, when speaking of the land.

FALL OF TIDE. An ebb.

FALL OUT, TO. To increase in breadth. Among soldiers and small-arm men, to quit the ranks of a company.

FALLS. When a ship is not flush, this is the term given to those risings of some parts of her decks (which she may have) more than others.

FALL-WIND. A sudden gust.

FALMADAIR. An old word signifying rudder, or a pilot.

FALSE ALARM. _See_ ALARM.

FALSE ATTACK. A feigned assault, made to induce a diversion or distraction of the enemy's forces, in order that the true object elsewhere may be carried.

FALSE COLOURS. To sail under false colours and chase is an allowable stratagem of war, but firing under them is not permitted by the maritime law of England.

FALSE FIRE, BLUE FLAMES. A composition of combustibles filled into a wooden tube, which, upon being set fire to, burns with a light blue flame from a half to several minutes. They are principally used as night-signals, but often to deceive an enemy.

FALSE KEEL. A kind of supplemental or additional keel secured under the main one, to protect it should the ship happen to strike the ground.

FALSE KELSON, OR KELSON RIDER. A piece of timber wrought longitudinally above the main kelson.

FALSE MUSTER. An incorrect statement of the crew on the ship's books, which if proved subjects the captain to cashiering.

FALSE PAPERS. Frequently carried by slavers and smugglers.

FALSE POST. _See_ FALSE STERN-POST.

FALSE RAIL. A thin plank fayed at the head-rails as a strengthener.

FALSE STEM. A hard timber fayed to the fore-part of the main stem, its tail covering the fore-end of the keel. (_See_ CUT-WATER.)

FALSE STERN. An additional stern fixed on the main one, to increase the length and improve the appearance of a vessel.

FALSE STERN-POST. A piece bolted to the after-edge of the main stern-post to improve steerage, and protect it should the ship tail aground.

FAMILY-HEAD. When the stem was surmounted with several full-length figures, as was the custom many years ago.

FAMLAGH. The Erse or Manx term for oar or ore weed, wrack, or manure of sea-weed.

FANAL [Fr.] A lighthouse.

FANCY-LINE. A line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff, used as a down-haul. Also, a line used for cross-hauling the lee topping-lift. Also, a cord laid up neatly for sashed cabin-windows. Sometimes used for _tracing-line_.

FANE. An old term for weather-cock: "a fayne of a schipe." (_See_ VANE.)

FANG, TO. To pour water into a pump in order to fetch it, when otherwise the boxes do not hold the water left on them.

FANGS. The valves of the pump-boxes.

FANIONS. Small flags used in surveying stations, named after the bannerets carried by horse brigades, and corrupted from the Italian word _gonfalone_, a standard.

FANNAG-VARRY. The Erse term for a shag or cormorant, still in use on our north-western shores, and in the Isle of Man.

FANNING. The technical phrase for breadthening the after-part of the tops. Also, widening in general.

FANNING-BREEZE. One so gentle that the sail alternately swells and collapses.

FANTODS. A name given to the fidgets of officers, who are styled jib-and-staysail Jacks.

FARDAGE. Dunnage; when a ship is laden in bulk.

FARE [Anglo-Saxon, _fara_]. A voyage or passage by water, or the money paid for such passage. Also, a fishing season for cod; and likewise the cargo of the fishing vessel. (_See_ HOW FARE YE?)

FARE-CROFTS. The vessels that formerly plied between England and France.

FARRANE. The Erse term for a gentle breeze, still used on our north-western shores.

FARTHEL. An old word for furling sails. Also, a burden, according to Shakspeare in _Hamlet_; and a weight, agreeably to the depositions of the "Portingalls" before Sir Francis Drake, _in re_ the great carrack's cargo in 1592; there were "ij^_c_ fardells of synamon:" of this famous prize the queen reserved to herself the lion's share.

FASCINES. Faggots of brush or other small wood, varying according to the object in view and the material available, from about 6 to 9 inches in diameter, and from 6 to 18 feet in length, firmly bound with withes at about every 18 inches. They are of vast use in military field-engineering.

FASH. An irregular seam. The mark left by the moulds upon cast bullets. (Short for _fashion_--ship-fashion, soldier-fashion.)

FASHION-PIECES. The fashion of the after-part of a ship, in the plane of projection. They are the hindmost timbers in the run of a ship, which terminate the breadth, and form the shape of the stern; they are united to the stern-post, and to the end of the wing-transom by a rabbet.

FASKIDAR. A name of the _Cataractes parasiticus_, or Arctic gull.

FAST. A rope, cablet, or chain by which a vessel is secured to a wharf; and termed bow, head, breast, quarter, or stern fasts, as the case may be.

FAST AGROUND. Immovable, or high and dry.

FAST AND LOOSE. An uncertain and shuffling conduct.

FASTENINGS. "Let go the fasts!" throw off the ropes from the bollards or cleats. Also used for the bolts, &c., which hold together the different parts of a ship.

FASTNESS. A strong post, fortified by nature and art.

FAST SAILER. A ship which, in nautical parlance, "has legs."

FAST STAYING. Quick in going about.

FAT, OR BROAD. If the tressing in or tuck of a ship's quarter under water hangs deep, or is overfull, they say she has a _fat_ quarter.

FATHER. The dockyard name given to the person who constructs a ship of the navy.

FATHER-LASHER. A name of the scorpius or scorpion, _Cottus scorpius_, a fish about 9 inches long, common near rocky coasts.

FATHOM [Anglo-Saxon, _faedm_]. The space of both arms extended. A measure of 6 feet, used in the length of cables, rigging, &c., and to divide the lead (or sounding) lines, for showing the depth of water.--_To fathom_, is to ascertain the depth of water by sounding. To conjecture an intention.

FATHOM-WOOD. Slab and other offal of timber, sold at the yards, by fathom lots: cubic measurement.

FATIGUE-PARTY. A party of soldiers told off to any labour-duty not strictly professional.

FAULCON. A small cannon. (_See_ FALCON.)

FAUN. Anglo-Norman for a flood-gate or water-gate.

FAUSSEBRAYE. In fortification, a kind of counterguard or low rampart, intended to protect the lower part of the main escarp behind it from being breached, but considered in modern times to do more harm than good to the defence.

FAVOUR, TO. To be careful of; also to be fair for.--"_Favour her_" is purely a seaman's term; as when it blows in squalls, and the vessel is going rap-full, with a stiff weather-helm and bow-seas, "favour her boy" is "ease the helm, let the sails lift, and head the sea." So, in hauling in a rope, _favour_ means to trust to the men's force and elasticity, and not part the rope by taking a turn on a cleat, making a dead nip. A thorough seaman "favours" his spars and rigging, and sails his ship economically as well as expeditiously.

FAY, TO. To fit any two pieces of wood, so as to join close and fair together; the plank is said to fay to the timbers, when it lies so close to them that there shall be no perceptible space between them.

FAY FENA. A kind of Japanese galley, of 30 oars.

FEALTY. Loyalty and due devotion to the queen's service.

FEARN. A small windlass for a lighter.

FEAR-NOUGHT. Stout felt woollen cloth, used for port-linings, hatchway fire-screens, &c. The same as _dread-nought_.

FEATHER. (_See_ SWINE'S or SWEDISH FEATHER.) It is used variously. (_See also_ FULL FEATHER and WHITE FEATHER.)

FEATHER, TO CUT A. When a ship has so sharp a bow that she makes the spray feather in cleaving it.

FEATHER AN OAR, TO. In rowing, is to turn the blade horizontally, with the top aft, as it comes out of the water. This lessens the resistance of the air upon it.

FEATHER-EDGED. A term used by shipwrights for such planks as are thicker on one edge than the other.

FEATHERING-PADDLES. (Morgan's patent.)

FEATHER-SPRAY. Such as is observed at the cut-water of fast steamers, forming a pair of wing feathers.

FEATHER-STAR. The _Comatula rosacea_, one of the most beautiful of British star-fishes.

FEAZE, TO. To untwist, to unlay ropes; to teaze, to convert it into oakum.

FEAZINGS. The fagging out or unravelling of an unwhipped rope.

FECKET. A Guernsey frock.

FECKLESS. Weak and silly.

FEEDER. A small river falling into a large one, or into a dock or float. _Feeders_, in pilot slang, are the passing spurts of rain which feed a gale.

FEEDING-GALE. A storm which is on the increase, sometimes getting worse at each succeeding squall. When a gale freshens after rain, it is said to have fed the gale.

FEEDING-PART OF A TACKLE. That running through the sheaves, in opposition to the standing part.

FEED OF GRASS. A supply of any kind of vegetables.

FEED-PUMP. The contrivance by which the boilers of a steamer are supplied with water from the hot-well, while the engines are at work.

FEED-WATER. In steamers, the water which supplies the boiler.

FEEL THE HELM, TO. To have good steerage way, carrying taut weather-helm, which gives command of steerage. Also said of a ship when she has gained head-way after standing still, and begins to obey the helm.

FEINT. A mock assault, generally made to conceal a true one.

FELL, TO. To cut down timber. To knock down by a heavy blow. _Fell_ is the Anglo-Saxon for a skin or hide.

FELL-HEAD. The top of a mountain not distinguished by a peak.

FELL IN WITH. Met by chance.

FELLOES [from _felly_]. The arch-pieces which form the rim or circumference of the wheel, into which the spokes and handles are fitted.

FELLOW. A sailor's soubriquet for himself; he will ask if you "have anything for a fellow to do?"

FELLS. Upland levels and mountainous tracts.

FELT. Stuff made of wool and hair. Patent felt is saturated with tar, and used to place inside the doubling or sheathing of a vessel's bottom. Employed also in covering the boilers and cylinders of steam-engines.

FELUCCA. (_See_ LUNTRA.) A little vessel with six or eight oars, frequent in the Mediterranean; its helm may be applied in the head or stern, as occasion requires. Also, a narrow decked galley-built vessel in great use there, of one or two masts, and some have a small mizen; they carry lateen sails.

FEN. Low tracts inundated by the tides, capable, when in a dry state, of bearing the weight of cattle grazing upon them; differing therein from bog or quagmire. When well drained, they form some of the best land in the country.

FENCE. A palisade. Also, the arm of the hammer-spring of a gun-lock.

FENCIBLES. Bodies of men raised for limited service, and for a definite period. In rank they are junior to the line and royal marines, but senior to yeomanry or volunteers.

FENCING. The art of using the small-sword with skill and address.

FEND. An aphaeresis from defend; to ward off.

FEND OR FENDER BOLTS. Made with long and thick heads, struck into the outermost bends or wales of a ship, to save her sides from hurts and bruises.

FENDER-PILES. In a dock, &c.

FENDERS. Two pieces of oak-plank fayed edgeways against the top-sides, abreast the main hatchway, to prevent the sides being chafed by the hoisting of things on board. They are not wanted where the yard-tackles are constantly used. Also, pieces of old cable, or other materials, hung over the side to prevent it from chafing against a wharf; as also to preserve a small vessel from being damaged by a large one. The fenders of a boat are usually made of canvas, stuffed, and neatly painted.

FEND OFF, TO. In order to avoid violent contact, is, by the application of a spar, junk, rattans, &c., to prevent one vessel running against another, or against a wharf, &c. Fend off, with the boat-hook or stretchers in a boat.--_Fend the boat_, keep her from beating against the ship's side.

FERNAN BAG. A small ditty-bag, often worn by sailors, for holding tobacco and other things. They have applied the term to the pouches in monkeys' cheeks, where they carry spare food.

FERRARA. A species of broadsword, named after the famous Spanish sword-smith, Andrea Ferrara.

FERRIAGE. An old right of the admiralty over all rivers between the sea and the first bridges.

FERRY. A passage across a river or branch of the sea by boat.

FERRY-BOATS. Vessels or wherries duly licensed for conveying passengers across a river or creek.

FETCH, TO. To reach, or arrive at; as, "we shall fetch to windward of the lighthouse this tack."

FETCH HEAD-WAY OR STERN-WAY. Said of a vessel gathering motion ahead or astern.

FETCHING THE PUMP. Pouring water into the upper part in order to expel the air contained between the lower box and that of the pump-spear. (_See_ PUMP.)

FETCH OF A BAY OR GULF. The whole stretch from head to head, or point to point.

FETCH WAY, TO. Said of a gun, or anything which escapes from its place by the vessel's motion at sea.

FETTLE, TO. To fit, repair, or put in order. Also, a threat.

FEU-DE-JOIE. A salute fired by musketry on occasions of public rejoicing, so that it should pass from man to man rapidly and steadily, down one rank and up the other, giving one long continuous sound.

FEZ. A red cloth skull-cap, worn by the people of Fez and Morocco, and in general use amongst Mediterranean sailors.

F.G. The initials on a powder cask, denote _fine grain_.

FICHANT. In fortification, said of flanking fire which impinges on the face it defends; that is, of a line of defence where the angle of defence is less than a right angle.

FID. A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, used to support the weight of the top-mast when erected at the head of the lower mast, by passing through a mortise or hole at the lower end of the former, and resting its ends on the trestle-trees, which are sustained by the head of the latter; the fid, therefore, must be withdrawn every time the mast is lowered; the topgallant-mast is retained at the head of the top-mast in the same manner. There is also a patent screw fid, which can be removed after hauling taut the mast rope, without having first to lift the mast. (_See_ MAST.) A fid is also a conical pin of hard wood, of any size from 10 inches downwards, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing: of these some are large, for splicing cables, and some small, for the bolt-ropes of sails, &c. Fid is improperly applied to metal of the same shape; they are then termed _marling-spikes_ (called _stabbers_ by sail-makers--which see). Also, the piece of oakum with which the vent of a gun is plugged. Some call it the _vent-plug_ (which see). Also, colloquially used for a quid or chew of tobacco, or a small but thick piece of anything, as of meat in clumsy carving.

FIDDED. When a mast has been swayed high enough the fid is then inserted, and the mast-rope relieved of the weight.

FIDDLE. A contrivance to prevent things from rolling off the table in bad weather. It takes its name from its resemblance to a fiddle, being made of small cords passed through wooden bridges, and hauled very taut.

FIDDLE-BLOCK. A long shell, having one sheave over the other, and the lower smaller than the upper (_see_ LONG-TACKLES), in contradistinction to double blocks, which also have two sheaves, but one abreast of the other. They lie flatter and more snugly to the yards, and are chiefly used for lower-yard tackles.

FIDDLE-FISH. A name of the king-crab (_Limulus polyphemus_), from its supposed resemblance to that instrument.

FIDDLE-HEAD. When there is no figure; this means that the termination of the head is formed by a scroll turning aft or inward like a violin: in contradistinction to the _scroll-head_ (which see).

FIDE JUSSORS. Bail sureties in the instance court of the admiralty.

FIDLER. A small crab, with one large claw and a very small one. It burrows on drowned lands.

FIDLER'S GREEN. A sort of sensual Elysium, where sailors are represented as enjoying, for "a full due," those amenities for which Wapping, Castle Rag, and the back of Portsmouth Point were once noted.

FIELD. The country in which military operations are being carried on; the scene of a conflict.--_Taking the field_, quitting cantonments, and going on active service.

FIELD-ALLOWANCE. A small extra payment made to officers, and sometimes to privates, on active service in the field, to compensate partly the enhanced price of all necessaries.

FIELD-ARTILLERY. Light ordnance fitted for travel as to be applicable to the active operations of the field. The term generally includes the officers, men, and horses, also the service. According to the present excellent establishment of rifled field-guns for the British service, the Armstrong 12-pounder represents the average type.

FIELD-DAY. A day of exercise and evolutions.

FIELD-FORTIFICATION. Is the constructing of works intended to strengthen the position of forces operating in the field; works of that temporary and limited quality which may be easily formed with the means at hand.

FIELD-GLASS. A telescope, frequently so termed. Also, the binocular or opera-glass, used for field-work, night-work, and at races.

FIELD-GUN. _See_ FIELD-ARTILLERY.

FIELD-ICE. A sheet of smooth frozen water of a general thickness, and of an extent too large for its boundaries to be seen over from a ship's mast-head. Field-ice may be all adrift, but yet pressed together, and when any masses detach, as they suddenly do, they are termed floes. They as suddenly become pressed home again and cause nips. (_See_ NIP.)

FIELD-MARSHAL. The highest rank in the British army.

FIELD-OFFICERS. The colonel, lieutenant-colonels, and majors of a regiment; so called because, not having the common duties in quarters, they are mostly seen when the troops are in the field.

FIELD OF VIEW. That space which is visible in a telescope at one view, and which diminishes under augmenting eye-pieces.

FIELD-PIECES. Light guns proper to be taken into field operations; one or more of them is now carried by all ships of war for land service.

FIELD-WORKS. The constructions of _field-fortification_ (which see).

FIERY-FLAW, OR FIRE-FLAIRE. A northern designation of the sting-ray (_Raia pastinaca_).

FIFE-RAILS. Those forming the upper fence of the bulwarks on each side of the quarter-deck and poop in men-of-war. Also, the rail round the main-mast, and encircling both it and the pumps, furnished with belaying pins for the running rigging, though now obsolete under the iron rule.

FIFER AND FIDLER. Two very important aids in eliciting exact discipline; for hoisting, warping, and heaving at the capstan in proper time; rated a second-class petty officer styled "musician," pay L30, 8_s._ per annum.

FIG, OR FULL FIG. In best clothes. Full dress.

FIGALA. An East Indian craft with one mast, generally rowed with paddles.

FIGGER. The soubriquet of a Smyrna trader.

FIGGIE-DOWDIE. A west-country pudding, made with raisins, and much in vogue at sea among the Cornish and Devon men. Cant west-country term for plum-pudding--figs and dough.

FIGHT, SEA. _See_ BATTLE, ENGAGEMENT, EXERCISE, &c.

FIGHTING-LANTERNS. Kept in their respective fire-buckets at quarters, in readiness for night action only. There is usually one attached to each gun; the bucket is fragile, but intended to screen the light, and furnished with a fire-lanyard.

FIGHTING-SAILS. Those to which a ship is reduced when going into action; formerly implying the courses and top-sails only.

FIGHTING-WATER. Casks filled and placed on the decks, expressly for use in action. When the head was broken in, vinegar was added to prevent too much being taken by one man.

FIGHTS. Waste-cloths formerly hung about a ship, to conceal the men from the enemy. Shakspeare, who knew everything, makes Pistol bombastically exclaim--

"Clap on more sails: pursue, up with your fights."

_Close fights_, synonymous with _close quarters_.

FIGURE. The principal piece of carved work or ornament at the head of a ship, whether scroll, billet, or figure-head.

FIGURE-HEAD. A carved bust or full-length figure over the cut-water of a ship; the remains of an ancient superstition. The Carthaginians carried small images to sea to protect their ships, as the Roman Catholics do still. The sign or head of St. Paul's ship was Castor and Pollux.

FIGURE OF EIGHT. A knot made by passing the end of a rope over and round the standing part, up over its own part, and down through the bight.

FIGURE OF THE EARTH. The form of our globe, which is that of an oblate spheroid with an ellipticity of about 1/299.

FIKE. _See_ FYKE.

FILADIERE. A small flat-bottomed boat of the Garonne.

FILE. Originally a string of soldiers one behind the other, though in the present formation of British troops, the length of the string has been reduced to two.

FILE. _An old file._ A somewhat contemptuous epithet for a deep and cunning, but humorous person.

FILE OFF, TO. To march off to a flank by files, or with a very small front.

FILL, TO. To brace the yards so that the wind strikes the after side of the sails, and advances the ship in her course, after the sails had been shivering, or braced aback. A ship may be forced backward or forward, or made to remain in her place, with the same wind, by "backing, filling," or shivering the sails. (_See_ BRACE, BACK, and SHIVER.) Colliers generally _tide it_, "backing and filling" down the Thames until they gain the reaches, where there is room for tacking, or the wind is fair enough for them to lay their course.--An idle skulker, a fellow who loiters, trying to avoid being seen by the officer of the watch, is said to be "backing and filling;" otherwise, doing nothing creditably.

FILL AND STAND ON. A signal made after "lying by" to direct the fleet to resume their course.

FILLER. A filling piece in a made mast.

FILLET. An ornamental moulding. Rings on the muzzle and cascabel of guns.

FILLET-HORSE. The horse employed in the shafts of the limbers.

FILLING. In ship-carpentry, wood fitted on a timber or elsewhere to make up a defect in the moulding way. This name is sometimes given to a _chock_.

FILLING A SHIP'S BOTTOM. Implies covering the bottom of a ship with broad-headed nails, so as to give her a sheathing of iron, to prevent the worms getting into the wood; sheathing with copper is found superior, but the former plan is still used for piles in salt-water.

FILLING IN. The replacing a ship's vacant planks opened for ventilation, when preparing her, from ordinary, for sea.

FILLING POWDER. Taking gunpowder from the casks to fill cartridges, when lights and fires should be extinguished.

FILLING ROOM. Formerly a small place parted off and lined with lead, in a man-of-war magazine, wherein powder may be started loosely, in order to fill cartridges.

FILLINGS. Fir fayed in between the chocks of the head, and wherever solidity is required, as making the curve fair for the mouldings between the edges of the fish-front and the sides of the mast, or making the spaces between the ribs and timbers of a vessel's frame solid.

FILLING-TIMBERS. Blocks of wood introduced in all well-built vessels between the frames, where the bilge-water may wash.

FILLING-TRANSOM, is just above the deck-transom, securing the ends of the gun-deck plank and lower-transoms.

FILL THE MAIN-YARD. An order well understood to mean, fill the main-topsail, after it has been aback, or the ship hove-to.

FILTER. A strainer to free water from its impurities, usually termed by seamen _drip-stone_ (which see).

FILUM AQUAE. The thread or middle of any river or stream which divides countries, manors, &c.--_File du mer_, the high tide of the sea.

FIMBLE HEMP; _female hemp_, is that which is chiefly used for domestic purposes, and therefore falls to the care of the women, as _carl_ or _male hemp_, which produces the flower, does to the maker of cordage.

"Wife, pluck fro thy seed hemp, the _fimble hemp_ clean, This looketh more yellow, the other more green; Use this one for thy spinning, leave Michael the t'other, For shoe-thread and halter, for rope and such other."--_Tusser._

FIN [Anglo-Saxon, _Finn_]. A native of Finland; those are _Fins_ who live by fishing. We use the whole for a part, and thus lose the clue which the Fin affords of a race of fishermen.

FIN-BACK. _See_ FINNER.

FIND, TO. To provide with or furnish.

FINDING. The verdict of a court-martial.

FINDON HADDOCK. The Finnan Haddie, a species of haddock cured by smoke-drying at Montrose and Aberdeen.

FINE. A term of comparison, as fine ship, &c., or _lean_ (which see). Also, _see_ FYEN.

FINE BREEZES. Said of the wind when the flying-kites may be carried, but requiring a sharp look-out.

FINISHINGS. The carved ornaments of the quarter-galleries: _upper_ and _lower_, as above or below the stools.

FINNER. Whales of the genus _Balaenoptera_ are so termed, being distinguished from the right whales by the possession of a small triangular adipose dorsal fin. There are several species, some of which grow to a greater length than any other animals of the order, viz. 80 or perhaps 90 feet. They are very active and difficult to harpoon, yield comparatively little oil, and their baleen, or "whalebone," is almost worthless; consequently, they suffer much less than the right whales from the persecutions of the whalers. The finner, or great black fish, is feared by whalers in general. It is vicious, and can only be attacked by large boats in shallow water, as at the Bermudas, where the whale-boats are about 50 or 60 feet long, and 12 feet beam. The fish yields one barrel of oil for every foot in length beyond thirty. (_See_ RAZOR-BACK and RORQUAL.)

FINNIE. A northern name for salmon under a year old.

FINNOCK. A white kind of small salmon taken on the west coast of Scotland.

FINTRUM SPELDIN. A small dried haddock.

FIN-WHALE. _See_ FINNER.

FIORD. A Norwegian pilot term for good channels among islets, and deep inlets of the sea.

FIRBOME. An old term for a beacon, and appears thus in the _Promptorium Parvulorum_.

FIR-BUILT. Constructed of fir.

FIRE! The order to put the match to the priming, or pull the trigger of a cannon or other fire-arm so as to discharge it. The act of discharging ordnance.

FIRE, LOSS BY. Is within the policy of insurance, whether it be by accident, or by the fault of the master or mariners. Also, if a ship be ordered by a state to be burnt to prevent infection, or if she be burnt to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy.

FIRE-AND-LIGHTS. Nickname of the master-at-arms.

FIRE-ARMS. Every description of arms that discharge missiles by gunpowder, from the heaviest cannon to a pistol.

FIRE-ARROWS. Missiles in olden times carrying combustibles; much used in the sea-fights of the middle ages.

FIRE-AWAY. Go on with your remarks.

FIRE-BALL. In meteorology, a beautiful phenomenon seen at times, the origin of which is as yet imperfectly accounted for. It is also the popular name for aerolites in general, because in their descent they appear to be burning.

FIRE-BALLS. Are used for destroying vessels run aground, and firing buildings. They are made of a composition of meal-powder, sulphur, saltpetre, and pitch, moulded into a mass with suet and tow.

FIRE-BARE. An old term from the Anglo-Saxon for _beacon_.

FIRE-BARS. The range fronting a steam-boiler.

FIRE-BILL. The distribution of the officers and crew in case of the alarm of fire, a calamity requiring judicious conduct.

FIRE-BOOMS. Long spars swung out from a ship's side to prevent the approach of fire-ships, fire-stages, or vessels accidentally on fire.

FIRE-BOX. A space crossing the whole front of the boiler over the furnace doors, opposite the smoke-box.

FIRE-BUCKETS. Canvas, leather, or wood buckets for quarters, each fitted with a sinnet laniard of regulated length, for reaching the water from the lower yards. (_See_ FIREMEN.)

FIRE-DOOR. An access to the fire-place of an engine.

FIRE-DRAKE. A meteor, or the Corpo Santo. Also, a peculiar fire-work, which Shakspeare in _Henry VIII._ thus mentions: "That fire-drake did I hit three times on the head, and three times was his nose discharged against me; he stands there like a mortar-piece to blow us."

FIRE-EATER. One notoriously fond of being in action; much humbled by iron-clads.

FIRE-FLAUGHTS. The _aurora borealis_, or northern lights.

FIRE-HEARTH. The security base of the galley-range and all its conveniences.

FIRE-HEARTH-CARLINE. The timber let in under the beams on which the fire-hearth stands, with pillars underneath, and chocks thereon.

FIRE-HOOPS. A combustible invented by the knights of Malta to throw among their besiegers, and afterwards used in boarding Turkish galleys.

FIRE-LOCK. Formerly the common name for a musket; the fire-arm carried by a foot-soldier, marine, or small-arm man, until the general introduction of rifles. It carried a ball of about an ounce in weight.

FIREMEN. A first and second man is stationed to each gun, in readiness for active duty. The firemen, when called with the first and second division of boarders, were an effective force. If for duty aloft, each bucket had a lanyard which reached from the main-yard to the sea, so as to keep the lower sails well wet. The ship's engine was also manned by the second division of boarders, while the first division and carpenters cut away obstacles. (For firemen in a steamer, see STOKER.)

FIRE-RAFTS. Timber constructions bearing combustible matters, used by the Chinese to destroy an enemy's vessel.

FIRE-RAILS. _See_ RAILS.

FIRE-ROLL. A peculiar beat of the drum to order people to their stations on an alarm of fire. Summons to quarters.

FIRE-SCREENS. Pieces of fear-nought, a thick woollen felt put round the hatchways in action.

FIRE-SHIP. A vessel filled with combustible materials, and fitted with grappling-irons, to hook and set fire to the enemy's ships. Notwithstanding what is said respecting the siege of Tyre, perhaps the practice of using regular fire-ships ought to be dated from the destruction of the fleet of Basilicus by the victorious Genseric near Carthage.

FIRE-SWAB. The bunch of rope-yarns sometimes secured to the tompion, saturated with water to cool the gun in action, and swab up any grains of powder.

FIRE-WORKS. _See_ PYROTECHNY.

FIRING-PARTY. A detachment of soldiers, marines, or small-arm men selected to fire over the grave of an individual buried with military honours.

FIRMAUN. A Turkish passport.

FIRST. The appellation of the senior lieutenant; also, senior lieutenant of marines, and first captain of a gun.

FIRST FUTTOCKS. Timbers in the frame of a ship which come down between the floor-timbers almost to the keel on each side.

FIRST POINT OF ARIES. _See_ ARIES.

FIRST QUARTER OF THE MOON. _See_ QUARTER, FIRST.

FIRST WATCH. The men on deck-duty from 8 P.M. till midnight.

FIRTH. A corruption of _frith_, in Scotland applied to arms of the sea, and estuaries of various extent; also given to several channels amongst the Orkneys.

FISH, OR FISH-PIECE. A long piece of hard wood, convex on one side and concave on the other; two are bound opposite to each other to strengthen the lower masts or the yards when they are sprung, to effect which they are well secured by bolts and hoops, or stout rope called woolding. Also, colloquially, an epithet given to persons, as a _prime_ fish, a _queer_ fish, a _shy_ fish, a _loose_ fish, &c. _As mute as a fish_, when a man is very silent. Also, _fish_ among whalers is expressly applied to whales. At the cry of "Fish! fish!" all the boats are instantly manned.

FISH, ROYAL. Whale and sturgeon, to which the sovereign is entitled when either thrown on shore or caught near the coasts.

FISH-DAVIT. (_See_ DAVIT.) That which steps into a shoe in the fore-chains, and is used for fishing an anchor.

FISHER-BOYS. The apprentices in fishing vessels.

FISHER-FISH. A species of _Remora_, said to be trained by the Chinese to catch turtle. When a turtle is perceived basking on the surface of the sea, the men, avoiding all noise, slip one of their remoras overboard, tied to a long and fine cord. As soon as the fish perceives the floating reptile he swims towards it, and fixes himself on it so firmly that the fishermen easily pull in both together.

FISHERMAN'S BEND. A knot, for simplicity called the king of all knots. Its main use is for bending studding-halliards to the yard, by taking two turns round the yard, passing the end between them and the yard, and half hitching it round the standing part. (_See_ STUDDING-SAIL BEND.)

FISHERMAN'S WALK. An extremely confined space; "three steps and overboard," is often said of what river yachtsmen term their quarter-decks.

FISH-FAG. A woman who fags under heavy fish-baskets, but is applied also in opprobrium to slatterns.

FISH-FLAKE. A stage covered with light spars for the purpose of drying fish in Newfoundland.

FISH-FRONT. The strengthening slab on a made mast.

FISH-GARTH. The water shut in by a dam or weir by the side of a river for securing fish.

FISH-GIG. A staff with three, four, or more barbed prongs of steel at one end, and a line fastened to the other; used for striking fish at sea. Now more generally called _grains_.

FISH-HACK. A name of the _Gobius niger_.

FISHICK. An Orkney name for the brown whistle-fish, _Gadus mustela_.

FISHING. In taking celestial observations, means the sweeping to find a star or other object when near its approximate place.

FISHING-BOAT. A stout fishing-vessel with two lug-sails.

FISHING-FROG. A name of the _Lophius piscatorius_, angler or devil-fish, eaten in the Mediterranean.

FISHING-GROUND. Any bank or shoal frequented by fish.

FISHING-SMACK. A sloop having in the hold a well wherein to preserve the fish, particularly lobsters, alive.

FISHING-TAUM. A northern designation of an angling line, or angling gear.

FISHING-VESSELS. A general term for those employed in the fisheries, from the catching of sprats to the taking of whales.

FISH-LEEP. An old term for a fish-basket.

FISH-ROOM. A space parted off by bulk-heads in the after-hold, now used for waste stores, but formerly used for stowing salt fish--an article of food long discontinued. In line-of-battle ships, a small store-room near the bread-room, in which spirits or wine, and sometimes coals, were stowed, with the stock-fish.

FISH-SPEAR. An instrument with barbed spikes.

FISH-TACKLE. A tackle employed to hook and draw up the flukes of a ship's anchor towards the top of the bow, after catting, in order to stow it; formerly composed of four parts, viz. the pendant, the block, the hook, and the tackle, for which see DAVIT.

FISH THE ANCHOR, TO. To turn up the flukes of an anchor to the gunwale for stowage, after being catted.--_Other fish to fry_, a common colloquialism, expressing that a person has other occupation demanding his attention.

FISH-WIFE, OR FISH-WOMAN. A female carrier and vendor of fish in our northern cities.

FIST, TO. To handle a rope or sail promptly; thus _fisting_ a thing is readily getting hold of it.

FIT FOR DUTY. In an effective state for service.

FIT RIGGING, TO. To cut or fit the standing and running rigging to the masts, &c.

FIT-ROD. A small iron rod with a hook at the end, which is put into the holes made in a vessel's side, to ascertain the length of the bolts or tree-nails required to be driven in.

FITTED FURNITURE. Rudder-chocks, bucklers, hawse-plugs, dead-lights, pump-boxes, and other articles of spare supply, sent from the dockyard.

FITTERS. Persons in the north who vend and load coals, fitting ships with cargoes, &c.

FITTING OUT A SHIP. The act of providing a ship with sufficient masts, sails, yards, ammunition, artillery, cordage, anchors, provisions, stores, and men, so that she is in proper condition for the voyage or purpose to which she is appointed.

FIUMARA. A term common to the Italian coasts for a mountain torrent.

FIVE-FINGERS. The name given to the _Asterias_, or star-fish, found on our shore. Cocker in 1724 describes it thus: "_Five-fingers_, a fish like a spur-rowel, destructive to oysters, to be destroyed by the admiralty law." They destroy the spat of oysters.

FIVE-SHARE MEN. In vessels, as whalers, where the men enter on the chances of success, &c., in shares.

FIX BAYONETS! Ship them ready for use.

FIXED AMMUNITION. Is, complete in each round, the cartridge being attached to the projectile, to facilitate simultaneous loading. In the British service it is only used for small mountain-pieces, but in the French for field-artillery in general. It does not stow conveniently.

FIXED BLOCKS. Solid pieces of oak let through the sides of the ship, and fitted with sheaves, to lead the tacks, sheets, &c., of the courses in-board.

FIXED STAR. _See_ STARS (FIXED).

FIZZ. The burning of priming.

FLABBERGAST, TO. To throw a person aback by a confounding assertion; to produce a state of extreme surprise.

FLADDERMUS. A base silver German coin of four kreutzers' value.

FLAG. A general name for the distinguishing colours of any nation. Also, a certain banner by which an admiral is distinguished at sea from the inferior ships of his squadron. The flags of the British navy were severally on a red, white, or blue field, and were displayed from the top of the royal pole of the main, fore, or mizen mast, according to the rank of the admiral, thus indicating nine degrees. This diversity of colour has now been long done away with. The white field, with the red St. George's cross, and the sinister upper corner occupied by the union, is now alone used in the British navy--the blue being assigned to the reserve, and the red to the mercantile navy. An admiral still displays his flag exclusively at the main truck; a vice-admiral at the fore; a rear-admiral at the mizen. The first flag in importance is the royal standard of Great Britain and Ireland, hoisted only when the king or queen is on board; the second is the anchor of hope, for the lord high-admiral, or the lords-commissioners of the admiralty; and the third is the union flag, for the admiral of the fleet, who is the next officer under the lord high-admiral. The various other departments, such as the navy board, custom-house, &c., have each their respective flags. Besides the national flag, merchant ships are permitted to bear lesser flags on any mast, with the arms or design of the firm to which they belong, but they "must not resemble or be mistaken for any of the flags or signals used by the royal navy," under certain penalties. When a council of war is held at sea, if it be on board the admiral's ship, a flag is hung on the main-shrouds; if the vice-admiral's, on the fore-shrouds; and if the rear-admiral's, on the mizen-shrouds. The flags borne on the mizen were particularly called gallants. There are also smaller flags used for signals. The word _flag_ is often familiarly used to denote the admiral himself. Also, the reply from the boat if an admiral is on board--Flag!

FLAG-OFFICER. A term synonymous with _admiral_.

FLAG OF TRUCE. A white flag, hoisted to denote a wish to parley between the belligerent parties, but so frequently abused, with the design of obtaining intelligence, or to cover stratagems, &c., that officers are very strict in its admission. It is held sacred by civilized nations.

FLAG-SHARE. The admiral's share (one-eighth) in all captures made by any vessels within the limits of his command, even if under the orders of another admiral; but in cases of pirates, he has no claim unless he

## participates in the action.

FLAG-SHIP. A ship bearing an admiral's flag.

FLAG-SIDE OF A SPLIT FISH. The side without the bone.

FLAG-STAFF. In contradistinction to mast-head, is the staff on a battery, or on a ship's stern, where the colours are displayed. (_See_ FLARE.)

FLAKE. A small shifting stage, hung over a ship's side to caulk or repair a breach. (_See_ FISH-FLAKE.)

FLAM. Wedge-shaped. Also, a sudden puff of wind. Also, a shallow.

FLAM-FEW. The brilliant reflection of the moon on the water.

FLAN. An old word, equivalent to a flaw, or sudden gust of wind from the land.

FLANCHING. The bellying out; synonymous with _flaring_.

FLANGE. In steamers, is the projecting rim at the end of two iron pipes for uniting them. (_See_ PORT-FLANGE.)

FLANK, TO. To defend that part; incorrectly used sometimes for firing upon a flank.

FLANK OF AN ARMY. The right or left side or end, as distinguished from the front and rear--a vulnerable point. Also, the force composing or covering that side. In fortification, a work constructed to afford flank defence.

FLANK-COMPANIES. The extreme right and left companies of a battalion, formerly called the grenadiers and light infantry, and wearing distinctive marks in their dress; now the title, dress, and duties of all the companies of a battalion are the same.

FLANK-DEFENCE. A line of fire parallel, or nearly so, to the front of another work or position.

FLANKED ANGLE. In fortification, a salient angle formed by two lines of flank defence.

FLAP. The cover of a cartridge-box or scupper.

FLAPPING. The agitation of a sail with sheet or tack carried away, or the sudden jerk of the sails in light winds and a heavy swell on.

FLARE. In ship-building, is flanching outwards, as at the bows of American ships, to throw off the bow-seas; it is in opposition to tumbling home and wall-sided.

FLARE. A name for the skate, _Raia batis_.

FLARE, TO. To rake back, as of a fashion-piece or knuckle-timber.

FLASH. The laminae and grain-marks in timber, when cut into planks. Also, a pool. Also, in the west, a river with a large bay, which is again separated from the outer sea by a reef of rocks.--_To make a flash_, is to let boats down through a lock; to flash loose powder at night to show position.

FLASHING-BOARD. To raise or set off.

FLASHING-SIGNALS. By Captain Colomb's plan, the lime light being used on shore, and a plain white light at sea, is capable of transmitting messages by the relative positions of long and short dashes of light by night, and of collapsing cones by day.

FLASH IN THE PAN. An expressive metaphor, borrowed from the false fire of a musket, meaning to fail of success after presumption.

FLASH RIM. In carronades, a cup-shaped enlargement of the bore at the muzzle, which facilitates the loading, and protects the ports or rigging of the vessel from the flash of explosion.

FLASH VESSELS. All paint outside, and no order within.

FLASK. A horn or other implement for carrying priming-powder. Smaller ones for fire-arms are usually furnished with a measure of the charge for the piece on the top.

FLAT. In ship-building, a straight part in a curve. In hydrography, a shallow over which the tide flows, and over the whole extent of which there is little or no variation of soundings. If less than three fathoms, it is called _shoal_ or _shallow_.

FLAT-ABACK. When all the sails are blown with their after-surface against the mast, so as to give stern-way.

FLAT-AFT. The sheets of fore-and-aft sails may be hauled flat-aft, as the jib-sheet to pay her head off, the driver or trysail sheets to bring her head to the wind; hence, "flatten in the head-sheets."

FLAT-BOTTOMED. When a vessel's lower frame has but little upward inclination.

FLAT CALM. When there is no perceptible wind at sea.

FLAT-FISH. The _Pleuronectidae_, a family of fishes containing the soles, flounders, turbots, &c., remarkable for having the body greatly compressed laterally; they habitually lie on one side, which is white, the uppermost being coloured, and having both the eyes placed on it.

FLAT-NAILS. Small sharp-pointed nails with flat thin heads, longer than tacks, for nailing the scarphs of moulds and the like.

FLATS. All the floor-timbers that have no bevellings in midships, or pertaining to the _dead-flat_ (which see). Also, lighters used in river navigation, and very flat-floored boats for landing troops.

FLAT SEAM. The two edges or selvedges of canvas laid over each other and sewed down.

FLAT SEIZING. This is passed on a rope, the same as a round seizing, but it has no riding turns.

FLATTEN IN, TO. The action of hauling in the aftmost clue of a sail to give it greater power of turning the vessel; thus, if the mizen or after sails are flatted in, it is to carry the stern to leeward, and the head to windward; and if, on the contrary, the head-sails are flatted in, the intention is to make the ship fall off when, by design or accident, she has come so near as to make the sails shiver; hence _flatten in forward_ is the order to haul in the jib and foretop-mast staysail-sheets towards the middle of the ship, and haul forward the fore-bowline; this operation is seldom necessary except when the helm has not sufficient government of the ship, as in variable winds or inattentive steerage.

FLAUT. _See_ FLUTE.

FLAVER. An east-country term for froth or foam of surf.

FLAWS. Sudden gusts of wind, sometimes blowing with violence; whence Shakspeare in _Coriolanus_:

"Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw."

But flaws also imply occasional fickle breezes in calm weather. _Flaw_ is also used to express any crack in a gun or its carriage.

FLEACHES. Portions into which timber is cut by the saw.

FLEAK. _See_ DUTCH PLAICE.

FLEAM. A northern name for a water-course.

FLEAT, OR FLEET. _See_ FLEETING.

FLEATE, TO. To skim fresh water off the sea, as practised at the mouths of the Rhone, the Nile, &c. The word is derived from the Dutch _vlieten_, to skim milk; it also means to float. (_See_ FLEET.)

FLECHE. The simplest form of field-work, composed of two faces meeting in a salient angle, and open at the gorge. It differs from the redan only in having no ditch.

FLECHERRA. A swift-sailing South American despatch vessel.

FLECK. An east-country term for lightning.

FLEECH. An outside portion of timber cut by the saw.

FLEET [Teut. _flieffen_]. The old word for float: as "we fleeted down the river with our boats;" and Shakspeare makes Antony say,

"Our sever'd navy too Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like."

_Fleet_ is also an old term for an arm of the sea, or running water subject to the tide. Also, a bay where vessels can remain afloat. (_See_ FLOAT.) A salt-water tide-creek.

FLEET. A general name given to the royal navy. Also, any number of ships, whether designed for war or commerce, keeping in company. A fleet of ships of war is usually divided into three squadrons, and these, if numerous, are again separated into subdivisions. The admiral commands the centre, the second in command superintends the vanguard, and the third directs the rear. The term in the navy was any number exceeding a squadron, or rear-admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any amount of smaller vessels.

FLEET-DYKE. From the Teut. _vliet_, a dyke for preventing inundation.

FLEETING. To _come up_ a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially the act of changing the situation of a tackle when the blocks are drawn together; also, changing the position of the dead-eyes, when the shrouds are become too long, which is done by shortening the bend of the shroud and turning in the dead-eye again higher up; the use of fleeting is accordingly to regain the mechanical powers, when destroyed by the meeting of the blocks or dead-eyes.--_Fleet ho!_ the order given at such times. (_See_ TACKLE.)

FLEET THE MESSENGER. When about to weigh, to shift the eyes of the messenger past the capstan for the heavy heave.

FLEET-WATER. Water which inundates.

FLEMISH, TO. To coil down a rope concentrically in the direction of the sun, or coil of a watch-spring, beginning in the middle without riders; but if there must be riding fakes, they begin outside, and that is the true _French coil_.

FLEMISH ACCOUNT. A deficit in accounts.

FLEMISH EYE. A kind of eye-splice, in which the ends are scraped down, tapered, passed oppositely, marled, and served over with spun yarn. Often called a _made-eye_.

FLEMISH FAKE. A method of coiling a rope that runs freely when let go; differing from the French, and was used for the head-braces. Each bend is slipped under the last, and the whole rendered flat and solid to walk on.

FLEMISH HORSE, is the outer short foot-rope for the man at the earing; the outer end is spliced round a thimble on the goose-neck of the studding-sail boom-iron. The inner end is seized by its eye within the brace-block-strop and head-earing-cleat.

FLEMISHING. A forcing or scoring of the planks.

FLENCH-GUT. The blubber of a whale laid out in long slices.

FLENSE, TO. To strip the fat off a flayed seal, or the blubber from a whale.

FLESHMENT. Being in the first battle; and "fleshing the sword" alludes to the first time the beginner draws blood with it.

FLESH-TRAFFIC. The slave-trade.

FLET. A name of the halibut.

FLETCH, TO. To feather an arrow.

FLEUZ. A north-country term for the fagged end of a rope.

FLEXURE. The bending or curving of a line or figure.

FLIBOAT. _See_ FLY-BOAT.

FLIBUSTIER [Fr.] A freebooter, pirate, &c.

FLICKER, TO. To veer about.

FLIDDER. A northern name for the limpet.

FLIGHERS. An old law-term meaning masts of ships.

FLIGHT. A Dutch vessel or passage-boat on canals. In ship-building, a sudden rising, or a greater curve than sheer, at the cheeks, cat-heads, &c.

FLIGHT OF A SHOT. The trajectory formed between the muzzle of the gun and the first graze.

FLIGHT OF THE TRANSOMS. As their ends gradually close downwards on approaching the keel, they describe a curve somewhat similar to the rising of the floors; whence the name.

FLINCH. In ship-building. (_See_ SNAPE.)

FLINCH-GUT. The whale's blubber; as well as the part of the hold into which it is thrown before being barrelled up.

FLINCHING, FLENSING, OR FLINSING. _See_ FLENSE.

FLINDERS. An old word for splinters; thus Walter Scott's Borderer--

"The tough ash-spear, so stout and true, Into a thousand flinders flew."

FLINT. The stone of a gun-lock, by which a spark was elicited for the discharge of the loaded piece.

FLIP. A once celebrated sea-drink, composed of beer, spirits, and sugar, said to have been introduced by Sir Cloudesley Shovel. Also, a smart blow.

FLIPPER. The fin-like paw or paddle of marine mammalia; it is also applied to the hand, as when the boatswain's mate exulted in having "taken a lord by the flipper."

FLITCH. The outside cut or slab of a tree.

FLITTER. The Manx name for limpet.

FLITTERING. An old English word for floating.

FLIZZING. The passage of a splinter [from the Dutch _flissen_, to fly].

FLO. An old English word for arrow, used by Chaucer.

FLOAT [Anglo-Saxon _fleot_ or _fleet_]. A place where vessels float, as at Northfleet. Also, the inner part of a ship-canal. In wet-docks ships are kept afloat while loading and discharging cargo. Two double gates, having a lock between them, allow the entry and departure of vessels without disturbing the inner level. Also, a raft or quantity of timber fastened together, to be floated along a river by a tide or current.

FLOATAGE. Synonymous with _flotsam_ (which see). Pieces of wreck floating about.

FLOAT-BOARDS. The same as _floats_ of a paddle-wheel.

FLOATING ANCHOR. A simple machine consisting of a fourfold canvas, stretched by two cross-bars of iron, rivetted in the centre, and swifted at the ends. It is made to hang perpendicularly at some distance below the surface, where it presents great resistance to being dragged through the water, diminishing a ship's leeward drift in a gale where there is no anchorage.

FLOATING BATTERY. A vessel expressly fitted for action in harbours or sheltered waters, having heavier offensive and defensive dispositions (generally including much iron-plating) than would be compatible with a sea-going character. Also, a vessel used as a battery to cover troops landing on an enemy's coast. Also, one expressly fitted for harbour defence.

FLOATING BETHEL. An old ship fitted up in a commercial port for the purpose of public Worship.

FLOATING BRIDGE. A passage formed across a river or creek by means of bridges of boats, as over the Douro, Rhine, &c.

FLOATING COFFIN. (_See_ FRAPPING A SHIP.) A term for the old 10-gun brigs.

FLOATING DAM. A caisson used instead of gates for a dry-dock.

FLOATING DOCK. _See_ CAISSON.

FLOATING GRAVING-DOCK. A modified _camel_ (which see).

FLOATING LIGHT. A vessel moored off rocks or sand-banks, hoisting lights at night.

FLOATING PIER. As the stage at Liverpool.

FLOATING STAGE. For caulkers, painters, &c.

FLOATS. Large flat-bottomed boats, for carrying blocks of stone. Also, the 'thwart boards forming the circumference and force of the paddle-wheels of steamers.

FLOE. A field of floating ice of any extent, as beyond the range of vision, for notwithstanding its cracks the floes pressed together are assumed as one; hence, if ships make fast to the floe-edge, and it parts from the main body, sail is made, and the ship goes to the next available floe-edge.

FLOGGING THE GLASS. Where there is no ship time-piece the watches and half-hour bells are governed by a half-hour sand-glass. The run of the sand was supposed to be quickened by vibration, hence some weary soul towards the end of his watch was said to flog the glass.

FLOME. An old word for a river or flood.

FLOOD AND FLOOD-TIDE. The flux of the tide, or the time the water continues rising. When the water begins to rise, it is called a young flood, next it is quarter-flood, half-flood, and top of flood, or high water.

FLOOD-ANCHOR. That which the ship rides by during the flood-tide.

FLOOD-MARK. The line made by the tide upon the shore at its greatest height; it is also called high-water mark. This denotes the jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty, or vice-admirals of counties.

FLOOK, OR FLUCK. The flounder; but the name, which is of very old standing, is also applied to various other pleuronects or flat-fish.

FLOOR. The bottom of a vessel on each side of the kelson; but strictly taken, it is only so much of her bottom as she rests upon when aground. Such ships as have long and withal broad floors, lie on the ground with most security; whereas others which are narrow in the floor, fall over on their sides and break their timbers.

FLOOR-GUIDE. In ship-building, is a ribband placed between the floor and the keel.

FLOOR-HEAD. This, in marine architecture, is the third diagonal, terminating the length of the floors near the bilge of the ship, and bevellings are taken from it both forward and abaft. The upper extremities of a vessel's floor-timbers, plumb to the quarter-beam.

FLOOR-HOLLOW. The inflected curve of the floor, extending from the keel to the back of the floor-sweep, which the floor does not take.

FLOOR-PLANS. In naval architecture, are longitudinal sections, whereon are represented the water-lines and ribband-lines.

FLOOR-RIBBAND. This is an important fir-timber which runs round a little below the floor-heads, for the support of the floors.

FLOOR-RIDERS. Knees brought in from side to side over the floor ceiling and kelson, to support the bottom, if bilged or weak, for heavy cargo.

FLOORS, OR FLOOR-TIMBERS. Those parts of the ship's timbers which are placed immediately across the keel, and upon which the bottom of the ship is framed; to these the upper parts of the timbers are united, being only a continuation of floor-timbers upwards.

FLOOR-SWEEPS. The radii that sweep the heads of the floors. The first in the builder's draught, which is limited by a line in the body-plan, perpendicular to the plane of elevation, a little above the keel; and the height of this line above the keel is called the _dead-rising_.

FLOP, TO. To fall flat down: as "soused flop in the lee-scuppers."

FLORY-BOATS. A local term for boats employed in carrying passengers to and fro from steamers which cannot get alongside of a quay at low-water.

FLOSH. A swamp overgrown with weeds.

FLOSK. The _Sepia loligo_, sea-sleeve, or anker-fish.

FLOTA. A Spanish fleet. (_See_ GALLEON.)

FLOTAGES. Things accidentally floating on seas or rivers.

FLOTA NAVIUM. An old statute term for a fleet of ships.

FLOTE. An old English term for wave: thus Ariel tells Prospero that the dispersed ships--

"All have met again, And are upon the Mediterranean flote."

FLOTE-BOTE. An old term for a yawl--a rough-built river boat.

FLOTERY. Floating, used by Chaucer and others.

FLOTILLA. A fleet or squadron of small vessels.

FLOT-MANN. A very early term for sailor.

FLOTSAM. In legal phraseology, is the place where shipwrecked goods continue to float and become derelict property. Sometimes spelled _flotson_.

FLOUNDER. A well-known pleuronect, better to fish for than to eat. Called also _floun-dab_.

FLOW. In tidology, the rising of the tide; the opposite of ebb. Also, the course or direction of running waters.

FLOWER OF THE WINDS. The mariner's compass on maps and charts.

FLOWERING. The phenomenon observed usually in connection with the spawning of fish, at the distance of four leagues from shore. The water appears to be saturated with a thick jelly, filled with the ova of fish, which is known by its adhering to the ropes that the cobles anchor with while fishing, for they find the first six or seven fathom of rope free from spawn, the next ten or twelve covered with slimy matter, and the remainder again free to the bottom; this gelatinous material may supply the new-born fry with food, and protect them by clouding the water.

FLOWING-HOPE. _See_ FORLORN HOPE.

FLOWING-SHEET. In sailing free or large, is the position of the sheets or lower clues of the principal sails when they are eased off to the wind, so as to receive it more nearly perpendicular than when they are close-hauled, although more obliquely than when going before the wind; a ship is therefore said to have a flowing-sheet, when the wind crosses the line of her course nearly at right angles; that is to say, a ship steering due north with the wind at east, or directly on her side, will have a flowing-sheet; whereas, if the sheets were hauled close aft, she would sail two points nearer the wind--viz. N.N.E. This explanation will probably be better understood by considering the yards as plane faces of wedges--the more oblique fore and aft, the less head-way force is given, until 22 deg. before the transverse line or beam. This is the swiftest line of sailing. As the wind draws aft of the beam the speed decreases (unless the wind increases), so that a vessel with the wind abeam, and every sail drawing, goes much faster than she would with the same wind before it.

FLUCTUATION OF THE TIDE. The rising and falling of the waters.

FLUE. _See_ FLUKES.

FLUES. In a steamer's boiler, are a series of oblong passages from the furnaces for the issue of heated air. Their object being, that the air, before escaping, shall impart some of its heat to the water in the boiler, thereby economizing fuel.

FLUFFIT. The movement of fishes' fins.

FLUID COMPASS. That in which the card revolves in its bowl floated by alcohol, which prevents the needle from undue vibrations. The pin is downwards to prevent rising, as in the suspended compass-card. The body, or card, on which the points of the compass are marked, is constructed of two segments of a globe, having a diameter of 7 inches to the (double) depth of 1 inch at the poles.

FLUKES. The two parts which constitute the large triangular tail of the whale; from the power of these the phrase obtained among whalers of _fluking_ or _all-a-fluking_, when running with a fresh free wind. Flukes, or palms, are also the broad triangular plates of iron on each arm of the anchor, inside the bills or extreme points, which having entered the ground, hold the ship. Seamen, by custom, drop the _k_, and pronounce the word _flue_.

FLUMMERY. A dish made of oatmeal, or oats soured, &c.

FLURRY. The convulsive movements of a dying whale. Also, a light breeze of wind shifting to different points, and causing a little ruffling on the sea. Also, hurry and confusion.

FLUSH. An old word for even or level. Anything of fair surface, or in continuous even lines. Colloquially the word means full of, or abounding in pay or prize-money.

FLUSH-DECK. A continued floor laid from the stem to the stern, upon one range, without any break.

FLUSHED. Excited by success; flushed with victory.

FLUSTERED. Performing duty in an agitated and confused manner. Also, stupefied by drink.

FLUTE, OR FLUYT. A pink-rigged fly-boat, the after-part of which is round-ribbed. Also, vessels only partly armed; as armed _en flute_.

FLUTTERING. Used in the same sense as _flapping_.

FLUVIAL, OR FLUVIATILE. Of or belonging to a river.

FLUVIAL LAGOONS. Contradistinguished from marine lagoons, in being formed by river deposits.

FLUX. The flowing in of the tide.

FLY OF A FLAG. The breadth from the staff to the extreme end that flutters loose in the wind. If an ensign, the part which extends from the union to the outer part; the vertical height, to the head-toggle of which the halliards are bent, or which is next to the staff, is called the _hoist_; the lower (which is a rope rove through the canvas heading, and into which the head-toggle is spliced) is the long tack; on this rope the whole strain is sustained.

FLY, OR COMPASS-CARD, placed on the magnetic-needle and supported by a pin, whereon it turns freely. (_See_ COMPASS.)

FLY-AWAY. Fictitious resemblance of land; "Dutchman's cape," &c. (_See_ CAPE FLY-AWAY.)

FLY-BLOCK. The block spliced into the topsail-tye; it is large and flat, and sometimes double.

FLY-BOAT. A large flat-bottomed Dutch vessel, whose burden is generally from 300 to 600 tons. It is distinguished by a remarkably high stern, resembling a Gothic turret, and by very broad buttocks below. Also, a swift canal passage-boat.

FLY-BY-NIGHT. A sort of square-sail, like a studding-sail, used in sloops when running before the wind; often a temporary spare jib set from the topmast-head to the yard-arm of the square-sail.

FLYER. A fast sailer; a clipper.

FLYING ABOUT. Synonymous with _chop-about_ (which see).

FLYING COLUMN. A complete and mobile force kept much on the move, for the sake of covering the designs of its own army, distracting those of the enemy, or maintaining supremacy in a hostile or disaffected region.

FLYING DUTCHMAN. A famous marine spectre ship, formerly supposed to haunt the Cape of Good Hope. The tradition of seamen was that a Dutch skipper, irritated with a foul wind, swore by _donner_ and _blitzen_, that he would beat into Table Bay in spite of God or man, and that, foundering with the wicked oath on his lips, he has ever since been working off and on near the Cape. The term is now extended to false reports of vessels seen.

FLYING JIB. A light sail set before the jib, on the flying jib-boom. The third jib in large ships, as the inner jib, the jib, and the flying jib, set on the flying jib-boom. (_See_ JIB.)

FLYING JIB-BOOM. A spar which is pointed through the iron at the jib-boom end. It lies beside it, and the heel steps into the bowsprit cap.

FLYING-KITES. The very lofty sails, which are only set in fine weather, such as skysails, royal studding-sails, and all above them.

FLYING-LIGHT. The state of a ship when she has little cargo, provisions, or water on board, and is very crank.

FLYING-TO. Is when a vessel, from sailing free or having tacked, and her head thrown much to leeward, is coming to the wind rapidly, the warning is given to the helmsman, "Look out, she is flying-to."

FLY THE SHEETS, TO LET. To let them go suddenly.

FLY-UP. A sudden deviation upwards from a sheer line; the term is nearly synonymous with _flight_.--_To fly up in the wind_, is when a ship's head comes suddenly to windward, by carelessness of the helmsman.

FLY-WHEEL. The regulator of a machine.

FOAM [Anglo-Saxon, _feam_]. The white froth produced by the collision of the waves, or by the bow of a ship when acted on by the wind; and also by their striking against rocks, vessels, or other bodies.

FOCAL LENGTH. The distance between the object-glass and the eye-piece of a telescope.

FOCUS. A point where converging rays or lines meet.

FOEMAN. An enemy in war; now used only by poets. One of Falstaff's recruits, hight Shadow, presented no mark to the enemy: "The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a pen-knife."

F[OE]NUS NAUTICUM. Nautical usury, bottomry.

FOG. A mist at sea, consisting of the grosser vapours floating in the air near the surface of the sea. The fog of the great bank of Newfoundland is caused by the near proximity of warm and cold waters. The air over the Gulf Stream, being warmer than that over the banks of Newfoundland, is capable of keeping much more moisture in invisible suspension; and when this air comes in contact with that above the cold water, it parts with some of its moisture, or rather holds it in visible suspension. There are also dry fogs, which are dust held in suspension, as the so-called African dust, which often partially obscures the sun, and reddens the sails of ships as they pass through the north-east trades.

FOG-BANK. A dense haze, presenting the appearance of a thick cloud resting upon the horizon; it is known in high latitudes as the precursor of wind from the quarter in which it appears. From its frequent resemblance to land it has obtained the name of _Cape Fly-away_.

FOG-BOW. A beautiful natural phenomenon incidental to high latitudes. It appears opposite to the sun, and is usually broad and white, but sometimes assumes the prismatic colours. Indicative of clearing off of mists. (_See_ FOG-EATER.)

FOG-DOGS. Those transient prismatic breaks which occur in thick mists, and considered good symptoms of the weather clearing.

FOG-EATER. A synonym of _fog-dog_ and _fog-bow_. It may be explained as the clearing of the upper stratum, permitting the sun's rays to exhibit at the horizon prismatic colours; hence "sun-gall."

FOGEY. An old-fashioned or singular person; an invalid soldier or sailor. Often means a stupid but irascible fellow.

FOGGY. Not quite sober.

FOGRAM. Wine, beer, or spirits of indifferent quality; in fact, any kind of liquor.

FOG-SIGNALS. The naval code established by guns to keep a fleet together, to tack, wear, and perform sundry evolutions. Also, certain sounds made in fogs as warnings to other vessels, either with horns, bells, gongs, guns, or the improved fog-whistle.

FOIL. A blunt, elastic, sword-like implement used in fencing.--_To foil_ means to disconcert or defeat an enemy's intention.

FOILLAN. The Manx or Erse term for a gull.

FOIN. A thrust with a pike or sword.

FOKE-SILL. Among old salts may be termed a curt or nicked form of _forecastle_.

FOLDER. The movable sight of a fire-arm.

FOLLIS. A net with very large meshes, principally for catching thorn-backs.

FOLLOWERS. A certain number of men permitted by the regulations of the service to be taken by the captain when he removes from one ship to another. Also, the young gentlemen introduced into the service by the captain, and reared with a father's care, moving with him from ship to ship; a practice which produced most of our best officers formerly, but innovation has broken through it, to the serious detriment of the service and the country.

FOLLOWING, NORTH OR SOUTH. _See_ QUADRANT.

FOMALHAUT. A standard nautical star, called also {a} _Piscis australis_.

FOOL. "He's no fool on a march," a phrase meaning that such a person is equal to what he undertakes.

FOOLEN. The space between the usual high-water mark in a river and the foot of the wall on its banks, built to prevent its occasionally overflowing the neighbouring lands.

FOOL-FISH. A name of the long-finned file-fish, and so called from its apparently whimsical manner of swimming.

FOOLISH GUILLEMOT. The web-footed diving-bird, _Uria troile_, common on our coasts.

FOOT. The lower end of a mast or sail. Also, the general name of infantry soldiers. Also, the measure of 12 inches, or one-sixth of a fathom.--_To foot._ To push with the feet; as, "foot the top-sail out clear of the top-rim."

FOOT-BANK. Synonymous with _banquette_ (which see).

FOOT-BOARD. The same as _gang-board_, but not so sailor-like. (_See_ STRETCHERS.)

FOOT-BOAT. A west-country term for a boat used solely to convey foot passengers.

FOOT-CLUE OF A HAMMOCK. _See_ HAMMOCK.

FOOT-HOOKS. Synonymous with _futtocks_.

FOOTING. A fine paid by a youngster or landsman on first mounting the top. Also, a slight payment from new comers on crossing the line, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, entering the Arctic Seas, &c.

FOOT IT IN. An order to stow the bunt of a sail snugly in furling, executed by the bunt-men dancing it in, holding on by the topsail-tye. Frequently when a bunt-jigger has parted men have fallen on deck.

FOOT-RAILS. Narrow mouldings raised on a vessel's stern.

FOOT-ROPE. The rope to which the lower edge of a sail is sewed. (_See_ BOLT-ROPE.)

FOOT-ROPES. Those stretching under the yards and jib-booms for the men to stand on; they are the same with _horses of the yards_ (which see).

FOOT-SPACE-RAIL. The rail that terminates the foot of the balcony, in which the balusters step, if there be no pedestal rail.

FOOT-VALVE. A flat plate of metal filling up the passage between the air-pump and condenser. The lower valve of a steam-engine situated anywhere between the bottom of the working barrel and that of the condenser.

FOOT-WALING. The inside planking or lining of a ship over the floor-timbers; it is intended to prevent any part of her ballast or cargo from falling between her floor-timbers.

FORAD. An old corruption of _foreward_--in the fore-part of the ship.

FORAGE. Food for horses and cattle belonging to an army. Also, the act of a military force in collecting or searching for such forage, or for subsistence or stores for the men; or, with ill-disciplined troops, for valuables in general. Land-piracy.

FORAGE-GUARD. A party detached to cover foragers, those wooding, watering, &c.

FORAY. A plundering incursion.

FOR-BY. Near to; adjacent.

FORCAT. A rest for a musket in olden times.

FORCE. A term which implies the sudden rush of water through a narrow rocky channel, and accompanied by a fall of the surface after the obstacle is passed. It is synonymous with _fall_. Also, the force of each ship stated agreeably to the old usage in the navy, according to the number of guns actually carried. In these days of iron-clads, turret-ships, and heavy guns, this does not give a true estimate of a ship's force. Also, the general force, ships, men, soldiers, &c., engaged in any expedition; as expeditionary force.--Also, _force of wind_, now described by numbers, 0 being calm, 12 the heaviest gale.--_To force_, is to take by storm; to force a passage by driving back the enemy.--Colloquially, no force--gently.

FORCED MARCH. One in which the marching power of the troops is forced or exerted beyond the ordinary limit.

FORCED MEN. Those serving in pirate vessels, but who refused to sign articles.

FORCER. The piston of a _forcing-pump_.

FORCES. The army collectively, or naval and military forces engaged.

FORCING-PUMP. Any pump used to force water beyond that force demanded to deliver at its level, as fire-engines, &c.

FORD. The shallow part of a river, where troops may pass without injuring their arms.

FORE. The distinguishing character of all that part of a ship's frame and machinery which lies near the stem, or in that direction, in opposition to _aft_ or _after_. Boarders to the fore--advance!

FORE-AND-AFT. From head to stern throughout the ship's whole length, or from end to end; it also implies in a line with the keel; and is the opposite of _athwart-ships_, which is from side to side.

FORE-AND-AFTER. A cocked hat worn with the peak in front instead of athwart. Also, a very usual term for a schooner with only fore-and-aft sails, even when she has a crossjack-yard whereon to set a square-sail when occasion requires.

FORE-AND-AFT SAILS. Jibs, staysails, and gaff-sails; in fact, all sails which are not set to yards. They extend from the centre line to the lee side of a ship or boat, so set much flatter than square-sails.

FORE-BAY. A rising at a lock-gate flooring. Also, the galley or the sick-bay.

FORE-BODY. An imaginary figure of that part of the ship afore the midships or dead-flat, as seen from ahead.

FORE-BOWLINE. The bowline of the fore-sail.

FORE-BRACES. Ropes applied to the fore yard-arms to change the position of the fore-sail occasionally.

FORECAST. A storm warning, or reasonable prediction of a gale from the inferences of observed meteorological instruments and phenomena.

FORECASTLE. Once a short deck placed in the fore-part of a ship above the upper deck; it was usually terminated, both before and behind, in vessels of war by a breast-work, the foremost part forming the top of the beak-head, and the hind part, of the fore-chains. It is now applied in men-of-war to that part of the upper deck forward of the after fore-shroud, or main-tack block, and which is flush with the quarter-deck and gangways. Also, a forward part of a merchantman under the deck, where the seamen live on a platform. Some vessels have a short raised deck forward, which is called a _top-gallant forecastle_; it extends from the bow to abaft the fore-mast, which it includes.

FORECASTLE-DECK. The fore-part of the upper deck at a vessel's bows.

FORECASTLE-JOKES. Practical tricks played upon greenhorns.

FORECASTLE-MEN. Sailors who are stationed on the forecastle, and are generally, or ought to be, prime seamen.

FORECASTLE-NETTINGS. _See_ HAMMOCK-NETTINGS.

FORECASTLE-RAIL. The rail extended on stanchions across the after-part of the forecastle-deck in some ships.

FORE CAT-HARPINGS. _See_ CAT-HARPINGS.

FORE-COCKPIT. _See_ COCKPIT.

FORE-COURSE. The _fore-sail_ (which see).

FORE-DECK. That part from the fore-mast to the bows.

FORE-FINGER, OR INDEX-FINGER. The pointing finger, which was called shoot-finger by the Anglo-Saxons, from its use in archery, and is now the _trigger-finger_ from its duty in gunnery. (_See_ SHOOT-FINGER.)

FORE-FOOT. The foremost piece of the keel, or a timber which terminates the keel at the forward extremity, and forms a rest for the stem's lower end; it is connected by a scarph to the extremity of the keel, and the other end of it, which is incurvated upwards into a sort of knee, is attached to the lower end of the stem; it is also called a gripe. As the lower arm of the fore-foot lies on the same level with the keel, so the upper one coincides with the middle line of the stem; its breadth and thickness therefore correspond with the dimensions of those pieces, and the heel of the cut-water is scarphed to its upper end. Also, an imaginary line of the ship's course or direction.

FORE-GANGER OF THE CHAIN BOWER CABLES. Is a length of 15 fathoms of stouter chain, in consequence of greater wear and tear near the anchor, and exposure to weather. Fore-ganger is also the short piece of rope immediately connecting the line with the shank of the harpoon, when spanned for killing.

FORE-GOER. The same as _fore-ganger_.

FORE-GRIPE. _See_ GRIPE.

FORE-GUY. A rope to the swinging-boom of the lower studding-sail.

FORE-HAMMER. The sledge-hammer which strikes the iron on the anvil first, if it be heavy work, but the hand-hammer keeps time.

FORE-HOLD. The part of the hold before the fore hatchway.

FORE-HOODS. The foremost of the outside and inside planks of a vessel.

FORE-HOOKS. The same as _breast-hooks_ (which see).

FOREIGN. Of another country or society; a word used adjectively, being joined with divers substantives in several senses.

FOREIGN-GOING. The ships bound on oceanic voyages, as distinguished from home-traders and coasters.

FOREIGN JUDGMENT. _See_ JUDGMENT.

FOREIGN REMITTANCE. _See_ WAGES REMITTED FROM ABROAD.

FOREIGN REMOVE-TICKET. A document for discharging men from one ship to another on foreign stations: it is drawn up in the same form as the _sick-ticket_ (which see).

FOREIGN SERVICE. Vessels or forces stationed in any part of the world out of the United Kingdom. The opposite of _home service_.

FORELAND. A cape or promontory projecting into the sea: as the North and South Forelands. It is nearly the same with _headland_, only that forelands usually form the extremes of certain lines of sea-coast. Also, a space left between the base of a canal bank, and an adjacent drainage cut or river, so as to favour the stability of the bank.

FORE-LIGHTROOM. _See_ LIGHT-ROOM.

FORELOCK. A flat pointing wedge of iron, used to drive through a mortise hole in the end of a bolt, to retain it firmly in its place. The forelock is sometimes twisted round the bolt's point to prevent its drawing. Also, spring-forelock, which expands as it passes through.

FORELOCK-BOLTS. Those with an eye, into which an iron forelock is driven to retain them in place. When secured in this way, the bolt is said to be forelocked.

FORELOCKS. The pins by which the cap-squares of gun-carriages are secured.

FORE-MAGAZINE. _See_ MAGAZINE.

FORE-MAN AFLOAT. The dockyard officer in charge of the shipwrights working on board a ship not in dock.

FORE-MAST. The forward lower-mast in all vessels. (_See_ MAST.)

FORE-MAST MAN. From "before the mast." A private seaman as distinguished from an officer of a ship.

FOREMOST. Anything which is nearer to the head of a ship than another.

FORE-NESS. An old term for a promontory.

FORE-PART OF A SHIP. The bay, or all before the fore-hatches.

FORE-PEAK. The contracted part of a vessel's hold, close to the bow; close forward under the lower deck.

FORE-RAKE. That part of the hull which rakes beyond the fore-end of the keel.

FORE-REACH, TO. To shoot ahead, or go past another vessel, especially when going in stays: to sail faster, reach beyond, to gain upon.

FORERUNNER. A precursor, an avant-courier.

FORERUNNERS OF THE LOG-LINE. A small piece of red bunting laid into that line at a certain distance from the log, the space between them being called the stray-line, which is usually from 12 to 15 fathoms, and is an allowance for the log to be entirely out of the ship's dead-water before they begin to estimate the ship's velocity, consequently the knots begin from that point. (_See_ LOG-LINE.)

FORE-SAIL. The principal sail set on the fore-mast. (_See_ SAIL.)

FORE-SHEET HORSE. An iron bar fastened at its ends athwart the deck before the mast of a sloop, for the foresail-sheet to traverse upon from side to side.

FORE-SHEETS OF A BOAT. The inner part of the bows, opposite to stern-sheets, fitted with gratings on which the bowman stands.

FORE-SHEET TRAVELLER. An iron ring which traverses along on the fore-sheet horse of a fore-and-aft rigged vessel.

FORE-SHIP. An archaic form of forecastle of a ship; it means the fore-part of a vessel.

FORE-SHROUDS. _See_ SHROUDS.

FORE-STAFF. An instrument formerly used at sea for taking the altitudes of heavenly bodies. The fore-staff, called also _cross-staff_, takes its name hence, that the observer in using it turns his face towards the object, in contradistinction to the back-staff, where he turns his back to the object. The fore or cross staff consists of a straight square staff, graduated like a line of tangents, and four crosses or vanes which slide thereon. The first and shortest of these vanes is called the ten cross or vane, and belongs to that side of the instrument whereon the divisions begin at 3 deg. and end at 10 deg. The next longer vane is called the thirty cross, belonging to that side of the staff on which the divisions begin at 10 deg. and end at 30 deg., called the thirty scale. The next is called the sixty cross, and belongs to that side where the divisions begin at 20 deg. and end at 60 deg. The last and longest, called the ninety cross, belongs to that side whereon the divisions begin at 30 deg. and end at 90 deg.

FORE-STAGE. The old name for forecastle.

FORE-STAY. _See_ STAY.

FORE-TACK. Weather tack of the fore-sail hauled to the fore-boomkin when on a wind.

FORE-TACKLE. A tackle on the fore-mast, similar to the _main-tackle_ (which see). It is used for similar purposes, and also in stowing the anchor, &c.

FORE-THWART. The seat of the bowman in a boat.

FORE-TOP. _See_ TOP.

FORETOP-GALLANT-MAST. _See_ TOPGALLANT-MAST, to which may be added its proper sail, yard, and studding-sail.

FORETOP-MAST. _See_ TOP-MAST.

FORETOP-MEN. Men stationed in the fore-top in readiness to set or take in the smaller sails, and to keep the upper rigging in order.

FORE-TYE. _See_ TYE.

FORE-YARD. (_See_ YARD.) For the yards, sails, rigging, &c., of the _top-mast_ and _topgallant-mast_ see those two articles.

FORFEITURE. The effect or penalty of transgressing the laws.

FORGE. A portable forge is to be found in every ship which bears a rated armourer; and it can be used either on board or ashore.

FORGE AHEAD, TO. To shoot ahead, as in coming to an anchor--a motion or moving forwards. A vessel forges ahead when hove-to, if the tide presses her to windward against her canvas.

FORGING OVER. The act of forcing a ship violently over a shoal, by the effort of a great quantity of sail, steam, or other man[oe]uvre.

FORK-BEAMS. Short or half beams to support the deck where there is no framing, as in the intervention of hatchways. The _abeam arm fork_ is a curved timber scarphed, tabled, and bolted for additional security where the openings are large.

FORKERS. Those who reside in sea-ports for the sake of stealing dockyard stores, or buying them, knowing them to be stolen.

FORLORN HOPE. Officers and men detached on desperate service to make a first attack, or to be the first in mounting a breach, or foremost in storming a fortress, or first to receive the whole fire of the enemy. Forlorn-hopes was a term formerly applied to the videttes of the army. This ominous name (the _enfants perdus_ of the French) is familiarized into a better one among soldiers, who call it the _flowing-hope_. Promotion is usually bestowed on the survivors.

FORMATION. The drawing up or arrangement of troops, or small-arm men, in certain orders prescribed as the basis of man[oe]uvres in general. Also, the particulars of a ship's build.

FORMER. The gunner's term for a small cylindrical piece of wood, on which musket or pistol cartridge-cases are rolled and formed. The name is also applied to the flat piece of wood with a hole in the centre used for making wads, but which is properly _form_.

FORMICAS. Clusters of small rocks [from the Italian for ants]. Also, Hormigas [Sp.]

FORMING THE LINE. _See_ LINE.

FORMING THE ORDER OF SAILING. _See_ SAILING, ORDER OF.

FORMS. The moulds for making wads by. (_See_ FORMER.)

FORT. In fortification, an inclosed work of which every part is flanked by some other part; though the term is loosely applied to all places of strength surrounded by a rampart.

FORTALEZZA [Sp.] A fort on the coast of Brazil.

FORTALICE. A small fortress or fortlet; a bulwark or castle.

FORTH. An inlet of the sea.

FORTIFICATION. The art by which a place is so fortified that a given number of men occupying it may advantageously oppose a superior force. The same word also signifies the works that cover and defend a place. Fortification is _defensive_ when surrounding a place so as to render it capable of defence against besiegers; and _offensive_ when comprehending the various works for conducting a siege. It is _natural_ when it opposes rocks, woods, marshes, ravines, &c., to impede the progress of an enemy; and _artificial_, when raised by human ingenuity to aid the advantages of the ground. The latter is again subdivided into _permanent_ and _field_ fortification: the one being constructed at leisure and of permanent materials, the other raised only for temporary purposes.

FORTIFYING. The strengthening a ship for especial emergency, by doubling planks, chocks, and additional timbers and knees, strongly secured.

FORT-MAJOR. An officer on the staff of a garrison or fortress, who has, under the commanding officer, general charge of the routine duties and of the works.

FORTUNE OF WAR. The usual consolation in reverses--"Fortune de la guerre," or the chances of war.

FORTY-THIEVES. A name given to forty line-of-battle ships ordered by the Admiralty at one fell swoop, to be built by contract, towards the end of the Napoleon war, and which turned out badly. The writer served in one, the _Rodney 74_, which fully exposed her weakness in the first gale she experienced, and was sent home, thereby weakening the blockading fleet. Many never went to sea as ships of the line, but were converted into good frigates.

FORWARD. In the fore-part of the ship; the same as _afore_. Also, the word of command when troops are to resume their march after a temporary interruption.

FORWARD THERE! The hail to the forecastle.

FOSSE [Ital.] Synonymous with _moat_ or _ditch_.

FOTHER [Anglo-Saxon _foder_]. A burden; a weight of lead equal to 19-1/2 cwts. Leaden pigs for ballast.

FOTHERING. Is usually practised to stop a leak at sea. A heavy sail, as the sprit-sail, is closely thrummed with yarn and oakum, and drawn under the bottom: the pressure of the water drives the thrumming into the apertures. If one does not succeed others are added, using all the sails rather than lose the ship.

FOUGADE, OR FOUGASS. A small charged mine, from 6 to 8 feet under a post in danger of falling into the enemy's hands.

FOUL. Generally used in opposition to _clear_, and implies entangled, embarrassed, or contrary to: as "a ship ran foul of us," that is, entangled herself among our rigging. Also, to contaminate in any way.

FOUL AIR. May be generated by circumstances beyond control: decomposing fungi, timber injected with coal tar, hatches battened down, and ashes or coal washed about. Whole crews on the coast of Africa, and in the West Indies, have been thus swept away, despite every precaution. But generally it may be avoided by cleanliness.

FOUL ANCHOR. An anchor is said to be _foul_, or _fouled_, either when it hooks some impediment under water, or when the ship, by the wind shifting, entangles her slack cable a turn round the stock, or round the upper fluke thereof. The last, from its being avoidable by a sharp look-out, is termed the seaman's disgrace.

FOUL BERTH. When a ship anchors in the hawse of another she gives the latter a foul berth; or she may anchor on one tide so near as to swing foul on the change either of wind or tide.

FOUL BILL. _See_ BILL OF HEALTH.

FOUL BOTTOM. A ship to which sea-weed, shells, or other encumbrances adhere. Also, the bottom of the sea if rocky, or unsafe from wrecks, and thence a danger of fouling the anchor.

FOUL COAST. One beset with reefs and breakers, offering dangerous impediments to navigation.

FOUL FISH. Applied to salmon in the spawning state, or such as have not for the current year made their way to the sea for purification; shedders.

FOUL GROUND. Synonymous with _foul bottom_.

FOUL HAWSE. When a vessel is riding with two anchors out, and the cables are crossed round each other outside the stem by the swinging of the ship when moored in a tide-way. (_See_ ELBOW IN THE HAWSE.)

FOUL ROPE. A rope entangled or unfit for immediate use.

FOUL WEATHER. That which reduces a ship to snug-sail.

FOUL-WEATHER BREEDER. A name given to the Gulf Stream from such a volume of warm water occasioning great perturbations in the atmosphere while traversing the Atlantic Ocean.

FOUL-WEATHER FLAG. Denotes danger for boats leaving the shore; watermen's fares increase with these signals.

FOUL WIND. That which prevents a ship from laying her course.

FOUNDER. The fall of portions of cliff, as along the coasts of Hampshire and Dorsetshire, occasioned by land-springs.

FOUNDER, TO. To fill with water and go down.

FOUR-CANT. A rope composed of four strands.

FOWAN. The Manx term for a dry scorching wind; it is also applied by the northern fishermen to a sudden blast.

FOX. The old English broadsword. Also, a fastening formed by twisting several rope-yarns together by hand and rubbing it with hard tarred canvas; it is used for a seizing, or to weave a paunch or mat, &c. (_See_ SPANISH FOX.)

FOXEY. A defect in timber which is over-aged or has been indifferently seasoned, and gives the defective part a reddish hue. The word is very old, and meant tainted or incipient rot.

FOY. A local term for the charge made for the use of a boat.

FOYING. An employment of fishermen or seamen, who go off to ships with provisions, or to help them in distress.

FOYST. An old name for a brigantine. The early voyagers applied the name to some large barks of India, which were probably _grabs_.

FRACTURES. Defects in spars which run across the fibres, being short fractures marked by jagged lines. (_See_ SPRUNG.)

FRAISES. Principally in field fortification, palisades placed horizontally, or nearly so, along the crest of the escarp, or sometimes of the counterscarp; being generally concealed from direct artillery fire they very materially increase the difficulty of either of those slopes to an assailant. They project some 5 feet above the surface, and are buried for about the same length in the ground.

FRAME. The outer frame timbers of a vessel consist of the keel, stem, stern-posts, and ribs, which when moulded and bolted form the frame. (_See_ TIMBERS.)

FRAME OF THE MARINE STEAM-ENGINE, is the strong supporter of the paddle-shafts and intermediate shaft; it rests on columns, and is firmly bolted to the engine bottom.

FRAMES. The bends of timbers constituting the shape of the ship's body--when completed a ship is said to be _in frame_.

FRAME-TIMBERS. These consist of the floor-timbers, futtocks, and top-timbers; they are placed upon the keel at right angles to it, and form the bottom and sides of the ship.

FRAMING. The placing, scarphing, and bolting of the frame-timbers of a ship. (_See_ WARPING.)

FRANC. A French silver coin of the value of 9-1/2_d._, and consisting of 100 centimes. The 20-franc piece in gold, formerly called _Louis_, now _Napoleon_, is current for 15_s._ 10-1/2_d._ English.

FRANCESCONI. The dollars of Tuscany, in value 4_s._ 5-1/4_d._ sterling. They each consist of 10 paoli.

FRANK. The large fish-eating heron of our lakes and pools.

FRAP. A boat for shipping salt, used at Mayo, one of the Cape de Verde Islands.

FRAP, TO. To bind tightly together. To pass lines round a sail to keep it from blowing loose. To secure the falls of a tackle together by means of spun yarn, rope yarn, or any lashing wound round them. To snap the finger and thumb; to beat.

FRAPPING. The act of crossing and drawing together the several parts of a tackle, or other complication of ropes, which had already been strained to a great extent; in this sense it exactly resembles the operation of bracing up a drum. The frapping increases tension, and consequently adds to the security acquired by the purchase; hence the cat-harpings were no other than frappings to the shrouds.

FRAPPING A SHIP. The act of passing four or five turns of a large cable-laid rope round a ship's hull when it is apprehended that she is not strong enough to resist the violence of the sea. This expedient is only made use of for very old ships, which their owners venture to send to sea as long as possible, insuring them deeply. Such are termed, not unaptly, floating coffins, as were also the old, 10-gun brigs, or any vessel deemed doubtful as to sea-worthiness. St. Paul's ship was "undergirded" or frapped.

FRAPPING TURNS. In securing the booms at sea the several turns of the lashings are frapped in preparation for the succeeding turns; in emergency, nailed.

FRAUDS, ACT OF. A statute of Charles II., the object of which was to meet and prevent certain practices by which the navigation laws were eluded.

FREDERIC. A Prussian gold coin, value 16_s._ 6_d._ sterling.

FREE, TO.--_To free a prisoner._ To restore him to liberty.--_To free a pump._ To disengage or clear it.--_To free a boat or ship._ To clear it of water.

FREE. A vessel is said to be _going free_ when the bowlines are slacked and the sheets eased; beyond this is termed large. (_See_ SAILING LARGE.)

FREE-BOARD. _See_ PLANK-SHEER.

FREEING. The act of pumping, or otherwise throwing out the water which has leaked into a ship's bottom. When all the water is pumped or baled out, the vessel is said to be free. Said of the wind when it exceeds 67 deg. 30' from right-ahead.

FREE PORT. Ports open to all comers free of entry-dues, as places of call, not delivery.

FREE SHIP. A piratical term for one where it is agreed that every man shall have an equal share in all prizes.

FREE TRADER. Ships trading formerly under license to India independent of the old East India Company's charter. Also, a common woman.

FREEZE, TO. To congeal water or any fluid. Thus sea-water freezes at 28 deg. 5' Fah.; fresh water at 32 deg.; mercury at 39 deg. 5' below zero. All fluids change their degree of freezing in accordance with mixtures of alcohol or solutions of salt used for the purpose. Also, according to the atmospheric pressure; and by this law heights of mountains are measured by the boiling temperature of water.

FREIGHT. By former English maritime law it became the _mother of wages_, as the crew were obliged to moor the ship on her return in the docks or forfeit them. So severely was the axiom maintained, that if a ship was lost by misfortune, tempest, enemy, or fire, wages also were forfeited, because the freight out of which they were to arise had perished with it. This harsh measure was intended to augment the care of the seamen for the welfare of the ship, but no longer holds, for by the merchant shipping act it is enacted that no right of wages shall be dependent on the earning of freight; in cases of wreck, however, proof that a man has not done his utmost bars his claim. Also, for the burden or lading of a ship. (_See_ DEAD-FREIGHT.) Also, a duty of 50 sols per ton formerly paid to the government of France by the masters of foreign vessels going in or out of the several ports of that kingdom. All vessels not built in France were accounted foreign unless two-thirds of the crew were French. The Dutch and the Hanse towns were exempted from this duty of freight.--_To freight a vessel_, means to employ her for the carriage of goods and passengers.

FREIGHT OF A SHIP. The hire, or part thereof, usually paid for the carriage and conveyance of goods by sea; or the sum agreed upon between the owner and the merchant for the hire and use of a vessel, at the rate of so much for the voyage, or by the month, or per ton.

FREIGHTER. The party who hires a vessel or part of a vessel for the carriage of goods.

FREIGHTING. A letting out of vessels on freight or hire; one of the principal practices in the trade of the Dutch.

FRENCH FAKE. A name for what is merely a modification of the Flemish coil, both being extremely good for the object, that is, when a rope has to be let go suddenly, and is required to run freely. _Fake_, in contradistinction to long coil is, run a rope backward and forward in one-fathom bends, beside each other, so that it may run free, as in rocket-lines, to communicate with stranded vessels. (_See_ FLEMISH FAKE.)

FRENCH LAKE. A soubriquet for the Mediterranean.

FRENCH LEAVE. Being absent without permission.

FRENCHMAN. Formerly a term among sailors for every stranger or outlandish man.

FRENCH SHROUD-KNOT. The shroud-knot with three strands single walled round the bights of the other three and the standing part. (_See_ SHROUD-KNOT.)

FRENCH THE BALLAST. A term used for _freshen the ballast_.

FRESCA. Fresh water, or rain, and land floods; old term.

FRESH. When applied to the wind, signifies strong, but not violent; hence an increasing gale is said to freshen. (_See_ FORCE.) Also used for sweet; as, fresh water. Also, bordering on intoxication; excited with drinking. Also, an overflowing or flood from rivers and torrents after heavy rains or the melting of mountain snows. Also, an increase of the stream in a river. Also, the stream of a river as it flows into the sea. The fresh sometimes extends out to sea for several miles, as off Surinam, and many other large rivers.

FRESH BREEZE. A brisk wind, to which a ship, according to its stability, carries double or treble or close-reefed top-sails, &c. This is a very peculiar term, dependent on the stability of the ship, her management, and how she is affected by it, on a wind or before it. It is numbered 6. Thus, a ship running down the trades, with studding-sails set, had registered "moderate and fine;" she met with a superior officer, close-hauled under close-reefed top-sails and courses, was compelled to shorten sail, and lower her boat; the log was then marked "fresh breezes."

FRESHEN, TO. To relieve a rope of its strain, or danger of chafing, by shifting or removing its place of nip.

FRESHEN HAWSE, TO. To relieve that part of the cable which has for some time been exposed to friction in one of the hawse-holes, when the ship rolls and pitches at anchor in a high sea; this is done by applying fresh service to the cable within board, and then veering it into the hawse. (_See_ SERVICE, KECKLING, or ROUNDING.)

FRESHEN THE BALLAST. Divide or separate it, so as to alter its position.

FRESHEN THE NIP, TO. To veer a small portion of cable through the hawse-hole, or heave a little in, in order to let another part of it bear the stress and friction. A common term with tipplers, especially after taking the meridian observation.

FRESHEN WAY. When the ship feels the increasing influence of a breeze. Also, when a man quickens his pace.

FRESHES. Imply the impetuosity of an ebb tide, increased by heavy rains, and flowing out into the sea, which it often discolours to a considerable distance from the shore, as with the Nile, the Congo, the Mississippi, the Indus, the Ganges, the Rhone, Surinam, &c.

FRESHET. A word long used for pools or ponds, when swollen after rain or temporary inundations. It is also applied to a pond supplied by a spring.

FRESH GALE. A more powerful wind than a _fresh breeze_ (which see).

FRESH GRUB. The refreshments obtained in harbour.

FRESH HAND AT THE BELLOWS. Said when a gale freshens suddenly.

FRESH SHOT. A river swollen by rain or tributaries; it also signifies the falling down of any great river into the sea, by which fresh water is often to be found on the surface a good way from the mouth of the river.

FRESH SPELL. Men coming to relieve a gang at work.

FRESH WATER. Water fit to drink, in opposition to sea or salt water; now frequently obtained at sea by distillation. (_See_ ICEBERG.)

FRESH-WATER JACK. The same as _fresh-water sailor_.

FRESH-WATER SAILOR. An epithet for a green hand, of whom an old saying has it, "whose shippe was drowned in the playne of Salsbury."

FRESH-WATER SEAS. A name given to the extensive inland bodies of fresh water in the Canadas. Of these, Lake Superior is upwards of 1500 miles in circuit, with a depth of 70 fathoms near the shores, while Michigan and Huron are almost as prodigious; even Erie is 600 miles round, and Ontario near 500, and Nepigon, the head of the system geographically, though the least important at present commercially, but just now

## partially explored, is fully 400. Their magnitude, however, appears

likely to be rivalled geographically by the lakes lately discovered in Central Africa, the Victoria Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza.

FRESH WAY. Increased speed through the water; a ship is said to "gather fresh way" when she has tacked, or hove-to, and then fills her sails.

FRET. A narrow strait of the sea, from _fretum_.

FRET, TO. To chafe.

FRET OF WIND. A squally flaw.

FRETTUM, OR FRECTUM. The freight of a ship, or freight-money.

FRETUM BRITANNICUM. A term used in our ancient writings for the Straits of Dover.

FRIAR-SKATE. The _Raia oxyrinchus_, or sharp-nosed ray.

FRICTION-ROLLER. A cylinder of hard wood, or metal, with a concave surface, revolving on an axis, used to lessen the friction of a rope which is passed over it. Friction-rollers are a late improvement in the sheaves of blocks, &c., by which the pin is relieved of friction by three rollers in the coak, placed equilaterally.

FRICTION-TUBE. The means of firing a gun most in favour at present in the British service; ignition is caused by the friction on sudden withdrawal of a small horizontal metal bar from the detonating priming in the head of the tube.

FRIDAY. The _dies infaustus_, on which old seamen were desirous of not getting under weigh, as ill-omened.

FRIEZE-PANEL. The lower part of a gun-port.

FRIEZING. The ornamental carving or painting above the drift-rails, and likewise round the stern or the bow.

FRIGATE. In the Royal Navy, the next class vessel to a ship of the line; formerly a light nimble ship built for the purpose of sailing swiftly. The name was early known in the Mediterranean, and applied to a long kind of vessel, navigated in that sea, with sails and oars. The English were the first who appeared on the ocean with these ships, and equipped them for war as well as for commerce. These vessels mounted from 28 to 60 guns, and made excellent cruisers. Frigate is now apocryphal, being carried up to 7000 tons. The _donkey-frigate_ was a late invention to serve patronage, and sprigs of certain houses were educated in them. They carried 28 guns, carronades, and were about 600 tons burden, commanded by captains who sometimes found a commander in a sloop which could blow him out of water.--_Frigate_ is also the familiar name of the membranous zoophyte, _Physalia pelagica_, or Portuguese man-of-war.

FRIGATE-BIRD. _Tachypetes aquila_, a sea-bird generally seen in the tropics. It seems to live on the wing, is partially web-footed, and only visits the land at breeding time.

FRIGATE-BUILT. The disposition of the decks of such merchant ships as have a descent of some steps from the quarter-deck and forecastle into the waist, in contradistinction to those whose decks are on a continued line for the whole length of the ship, which are called galley-built. (_See_ DECKS.)

FRIGATOON. A Venetian vessel, commonly used in the Adriatic, built with a square stern, and with only a main-mast, jigger mizen-mast, and bowsprit. Also applied to a ship sloop-of-war.

FRINGING REEFS. Narrow fringes of coral formation, at a greater or less distance from the shore, according to the slopes of the land.

FRISKING. The wind freshening.

FRITH. Derived from _fretum maris_, a narrow strait: an arm of the sea into which a river flows. Synonymous with _firth_ (which see).

FRITTERS. Tendinous fibres of the whale's blubber, running in various directions, and connecting the cellular substance which contains the oil. They are what remains after the oil has been _tried_ out, and are used as fuel to _try_ out the next whale.

FROG. An old term for a seaman's coat or frock.

FROG-BELT. A _baldrick_ (which see).

FROG-FISH. _See_ FISHING-FROG.

FROG-LANDERS. Dutchmen in colloquial language.

FROG-PIKE. A female pike, so called from its period of spawning being late, contemporary with the frogs.

FRONT. The foremost rank of a battalion, squadron, file, or other body of men.--_To front_, to face.

FRONTAGE. The length or face of a wharf.

FRONTIER. The limits or borders of a country.

FRONT OF FORTIFICATION. The whole system of works included between the salient angles, or the capitals prolonged, of any two neighbouring bastions.

FROSTED STEEL. The damasked sword-blades.

FROST-FISH. A small fish, called also _tommy-cod_; in North America they are taken in large quantities in the depth of winter by fishing through holes cut in the ice.

FROST-RIME. _See_ FROST-SMOKE.

FROST-SMOKE. A thick mist in high latitudes, arising from the surface of the sea when exposed to a temperature much below freezing; when the vapours as they rise are condensed either into a thick fog, or, with the thermometer about zero, hug the water in eddying white wreaths. The latter beautiful form is called in North America a "barber," probably from its resemblance to soap-suds.

FROTH. _See_ FOAM.

F.R.S. The sigla denoting a Fellow of the Royal Society.

FRUMENTARIAE. The ancient vessels which supplied the Roman markets with corn.

FRUSH. A northern term for wood that is apt to splinter and break.

FRY. Young fishes.

FUCUS MAXIMUS. An enormous sea-weed, growing abundantly round the coasts of Tristan d'Acunha, and perhaps the most exuberant of the vegetable tribe. Said to rise from a depth of many fathoms, and to spread over a surface of several hundred feet, it being very tenacious.

FUDDLED. Not quite drunk, but unfit for duty.

FUELL. An old nautical word signifying an opening between two headlands, having no bottom in sight.

FU-FU. A well-known sea-dish of barley and treacle, in merchant ships.

FUGITIVES OVER THE SEA. By old statutes, now obsolete, to depart this realm without the king's license incurred forfeiture of goods; and masters of ships carrying such persons beyond seas, forfeited their vessels.

FUGLEMAN, or more properly FLUGELMAN. A corporal, or active adept, who exhibits the time for each motion at the word of command, to enable soldiers, marines, and small-arm men to act simultaneously.

FULCRUM. The prop or support of a lever in lifting or removing a heavy body.

FULL. The state of the sails when the wind fills them so as to carry the vessel ahead.

FULL AND BY. Sailing close-hauled on a wind; when a ship is as close as she will lie to the wind, without suffering the sails to shiver; hence _keep her full_ is the order to the helmsman not to incline too much to windward, and thereby shake the sails, which would retard the ship's velocity.

FULL BASTION. In fortification, is a bastion whereof the terreplein, or terrace in rear of the parapet, is extended at nearly the same level over the whole of its interior space.

FULL-BOTTOMED. An epithet to signify such vessels as are designed to carry large cargoes.

FULL DRIVE. Fully direct; impetuous violence.

FULL DUE. For good; for ever; complete; belay.

FULLER. The fluting groove of a bayonet.

FULL FEATHER. Attired in best dress or full uniform.

FULL FOR STAYS! The order to keep the sails full to preserve the velocity, assisting the action of the rudder in tacking ship.

FULL MAN. A rating in coasters for one receiving whole pay, as being competent to all his duties; able seaman.

FULL MOON. When her whole illuminated surface is turned towards us; she is then in opposition, or diametrically opposite, to the sun.

FULL PAY. The stipend allowed when on actual service.

FULL RETREAT. When an army, or any body of men, retire with all expedition before a conquering enemy.

FULL REVETMENT. In fortification, that form of retaining wall which is carried right up to the top of the mass retained, leaving no exterior slope above it; the term is principally used with reference to the faces of ramparts.

FULL SAILS. The sails well set, and filled by the wind.

FULL SEA. High water.

FULL SPEED! A self-explanatory order to the engineer of a steamer to get his engine into full play.

FULL SPREAD. All sail set.

FULL SWING. Having full power delegated; complete control.

FULMAR. A web-footed sea-bird, _Procellaria glacialis_, of the petrel kind, larger than the common gull; its eggs are taken in great quantity at St. Kilda and in the Shetlands.

FUMADO. A commercial name of the pilchard, when garbaged, salted, smoked, pressed, and packed.

FUMBLE-FISTED. Awkward in catching a turn, or otherwise handling a rope.

FUMIGATE, TO. To purify confined or infectious air by means of smoke, sulphuric acid, vinegar, and other correctives.

FUMIGATION-LAMP. An invention for purifying the air in hospital-ships and close places.

FUNERAL HONOURS. Obsequies with naval or military ceremonies.

FUNGI. An almost incalculably numerous order of plants growing on dead vegetable matter, and often produced on a ship's lining by long-continued damp.

FUNK. Touch-wood. Also nervousness, cowardice, or being frightened.--_To funk._ To blow the smoke of tobacco.

FUNNEL. An iron tube used where necessary for carrying off smoke. The cylindrical appendages to the furnaces of a steam-ship: the funnel is fastened on the top of the steam-chest, where the flues for both boilers meet. Also, the excavation formed by the explosion of a mine. Also, in artillery, a cup-shaped funnel of leather, with a copper spout, for filling powder into shells.

FUNNEL-STAYS. The ropes or chains by which the smoke-funnel is secured in a steam-ship.

FUNNY. A light, clinker-built, very narrow pleasure-boat for sculling, _i.e._ rowing a pair of sculls. The stem and stern are much alike, both curved. The dimensions are variable, from 20 to 30 feet in length, according to the boat being intended for racing purposes (for which they are mostly superseded by wager-boats), or for carrying one or more sitters.

FUR. The indurated sediment sometimes found in neglected ships' boilers. (_See_ FURRING.)

FURL, TO. To roll up and bind a sail neatly upon its respective yard or boom.

FURLING. Wrapping or rolling a sail close up to the yard, stay, or mast, to which it belongs, by hauling on the clue-lines and buntlines, and winding a gasket or cord about it, to fasten it thereto and secure it snugly.

FURLING IN A BODY. A method of rolling up a top-sail only practised in harbour, by gathering all the loose part of the sail into the top, about the heel of the top-mast, whereby the yard appears much thinner and lighter than when the sail is furled in the usual manner, which is sometimes termed, for distinction sake, furling in the _bunt_. It is often practised to point the yards, the earings and robins let go, and the whole sail bunted in the top, and covered with tarpaulins.

FURLING-LINE. Denotes a generally flat cord called a _gasket_. In bad weather, with a weak crew, the top-sail is brought under control by passing the top-mast studding-sail halliards round and round all, from the yard-arm to the bunt; then furling is less dangerous.

FURLOUGH. A granted leave of absence.

FURNACE. The fire-place of a marine boiler.

FURNITURE. The rigging, sails, spars, anchors, cables, boats, tackle, provisions, and every article with which a ship is fitted out. The insurance risk may continue on them when put on shore, during a repair.

FUROLE. The luminous appearance called the _corpo santo_ (which see).

FURRENS. Fillings: those pieces supplying the deficiency of the timber in the moulding-way.

FURRING. Doubling planks on a ship. Also, a furring in the ship's frame.--_Furring the boilers_, in a steamer, cleaning off the incrustation or sediment which forms on their inner surfaces.

FURROW. The groove or rabbet of a screw; the breech-sight or notch cut on the base-ring of a gun, and also on the swell of the muzzle, by which the piece is laid.

FURTHER ORDERS. These are often _impedimenta_ to active service.

FURTHER PROOF. In prize matters, a privilege, where the court is not satisfied with that originally produced, by which it is allowed to state circumstances affecting it.

FURUBE. A fish taken in the Japanese seas, and considered to be dangerously poisonous.

FURZE. Brushwood, prepared for breaming.

FUSIL. Formerly a light musket with which sergeants of infantry and some

## particular regiments were armed.

FUSILIERS. Originally those regiments armed with fusils, by whom, though the weapon is obsolete, the title is retained as a distinction.

FUST. A low but capacious armed vessel, propelled with sails and oars, which formerly attended upon galleys; a _scampavia_, barge, or pinnace.

FUSTICK. In commerce, a dyewood brought principally from the West Indies and Spanish Main.

FUTTLING. A word meaning _foot-waling_ (which see).

FUTTOCK-HEAD. In ship-building, is a name for the 5th, the 7th, and the 9th _diagonals_, the intervening bevellings being known as _sirmarks_.

FUTTOCK-HOLES. Places through the top-rim for the futtock-plates.

FUTTOCK-PLANK. The first plank of the ceiling next the kelson; the limber-strake.

FUTTOCK-PLATES. Iron plates with dead-eyes, crossing the sides of the top-rim perpendicularly. The dead-eyes of the top-mast rigging are set up to their upper ends or dead-eyes, and the futtock-shrouds hook to their lower ends.

FUTTOCK-RIDERS. When a rider is lengthened by means of pieces batted or scarphed to it and each other, the first piece is termed the first futtock-rider, the next the second futtock-rider, and so on.

FUTTOCKS, OR FOOT-HOOKS. The separate pieces of timber which compose the frame. There are four futtocks (component parts of the rib), and occasionally five, to a ship. The timbers that constitute her breadth--the middle division of a ship's timbers, or those parts which are situated between the floor and the top timbers--separate timbers which compose the frame. Those next the keel are called ground-futtocks or navel-timbers, and the rest upper futtocks.

FUTTOCK-SHROUDS, OR FOOT-HOOK SHROUDS. Are short pieces of rope or chain which secure the lower dead-eyes and futtock-plates of top-mast rigging to a band round a lower mast.

FUTTOCK-STAFF. A short piece of wood or iron, seized across the upper part of the shrouds at equal distances, to which the cat-harping legs are secured.

FUTTOCK-TIMBERS. _See_ FUTTOCKS.

FUZE. Formerly called also _fuzee_. The adjunct employed with shells for igniting the bursting charge at the required moment. Time-fuzes, prepared with some composition burning at a known rate, are cut or set to a length proportionate to the time which the shell is destined to occupy in its flight; concussion and percussion fuzes ignite the charge on impact on the object: the former by the dislocation of some of its parts throwing open new passages for its flame, and the latter by the

## action of various mechanism on its inner priming of detonating

composition. They are made either of wood or of metal, and of various form and size according to the kind of ordnance they are intended for. Time-fuzes of special manufacture are also applied to igniting the charges of mines, subaqueous blasts, &c.

FUZZY. Not firm or sound in substance.

FYKE. A large bow-net used on the American coasts for taking the shad; hence called _shad-fykes_. Also, the _Medusa cruciata_, or Medusa's head.

FYRDUNG [the Anglo-Saxon _fyrd ung_, military service]. This appears on our statutes for inflicting a penalty on those who evaded going to war at the king's command.

G.

GAB. A notch on the eccentric rod of a steam-engine for fitting a pin in the gab-lever to break the connection with the slide-valves. (_See_ GABBE.)

GABARRE. Originally a river lighter; now a French store-ship.

GABART, OR GABBERT. A flat vessel with a long hatchway, used in canals and rivers.

GABBE. An old but vulgar term for the mouth.--_Gift of the gab_, or _glib-gabbet_, facility and recklessness of assertion.

GABBOK. A voracious dog-fish which infests the herring fisheries in St. George's Channel.

GABELLE [Fr.] An excise tribute.

GABERDINE. An old name for a loose felt cloak or mantle.

GABERT. A Scotch lighter. (_See_ GABART.)

GABIONADE. A parapet of gabions hastily thrown up.

GABIONS. Cylindrical baskets open at both ends, about 3 feet high and 2 feet in diameter, which, being placed on end and filled with earth, greatly facilitate the speedy formation of cover against an enemy's fire. They are much used for revetments in field-works generally.

GABLE, OR GABULLE. A term in early voyagers for _cable_. Thus,

"Softe, ser, seyd the gabulle-rope, Methinke gode ale is in your tope."

GABLICK, OR GAFFLOCK. An old term for a crow-bar.

GABY. A conceited simpleton.

GACHUPINS. The name given in South America to European Spaniards.

GAD. A goad; the point of a spear or pike.

GAD-YANG. A coasting vessel of Cochin-China.

GAFF. A spar used in ships to extend the heads of fore-and-aft sails which are not set on stays. The foremost end of the gaff is termed the jaw, the outer part is called the peak. The jaw forms a semicircle, and is secured in its position by a jaw-rope passing round the mast; on it are strung several small wooden balls called _trucks_, to lessen the friction on the mast when the sail is hoisting or lowering.--_To blow the gaff_, said of the revealing a plot or giving convicting evidence.

GAFF-HALLIARDS. _See_ HALLIARDS.

GAFF-HOOK. In fishing, a strong iron hook set on a handle, supplementing the powers of the line and fish-hook with heavy fish, in the same way that the landing-net does with those of moderate size.

GAFFLE. A lever or stirrup for bending a cross-bow.

GAFF-NET. A peculiar net for fishing.

GAFF-TOPSAIL. A light triangular or quadrilateral sail, the head being extended on a small gaff which hoists on the top-mast, and the foot on the lower gaff.

GAGE. The quantity of water a ship draws, or the depth she is immersed.

GAGE, WEATHER. When one ship is to windward of another she is said to have the weather-gage of her; or if in the opposite position, the lee-gage.

GAGE-COCKS. These are for ascertaining the height of the water in the boiler, by means of three or more pipes, having a cock to each.

GAINED DAY. The twenty-four hours, or day and night, gained by circumnavigating the globe to the eastward. It is the result of sailing in the same direction as the earth revolves, which shortens each day by four minutes for every degree sailed. In the Royal Navy this run gives an additional day's pay to a ship's crew.

GAIN THE WIND, TO. To arrive on the weather-side of some other vessel in sight, when both are plying to windward.

GAIR-FISH. A name on our northern coasts for the porpoise.

GAIR-FOWL. A name of the great auk, _Alca impennis_. (_See_ AUK.)

GAIRG. A Gaelic name for the cormorant.

GALAXY. A name of the Milky Way. (_See_ VIA LACTEA.)

GALEAS. _See_ GALLIAS.

GALE OF WIND. Implies what on shore is called a storm, more particularly termed a _hard gale_ or _strong gale_; number of force, 10.--_A stiff gale_ is the diminutive of the preceding, but stronger than a breeze.--_A fresh gale_ is a still further diminutive, and not too strong for a ship to carry single-reefed top-sails when close-hauled.--_A top-gallant gale_, if a ship can carry her top-gallant sails.--_To gale away_, to go free.

GALEOPIS. An ancient war-ship with a prow resembling the beak of a sword-fish.

GALITA. _See_ GUERITE.

GALL. _See_ WIND-GALL.

GALLANTS. All flags borne on the mizen-mast were so designated.

GALLAN WHALE. The largest whale which visits the Hebrides.

GALLED. The result of friction, to prevent which it is usual to cover, with skins, mats, or canvas, the places most exposed to it. (_See_ SERVICE.)

GALLEON, OR GALION. A name formerly given to ships of war furnished with three or four batteries of cannon. It is now retained only by the Spaniards, and applied to the largest size of their merchant ships employed in West India and Vera Cruz voyages. The Portuguese also have ships trading to India and the Brazils nearly resembling the galleons, and called caragues. (_See_ CARACK.)

GALLEOT, OR GALLIOT. A small galley designed only for chase, generally carrying but one mast, with sixteen or twenty oars. All the seamen on board act as soldiers, and each has a musket by him ready for use on quitting his oar. Also, a Dutch or Flemish vessel for cargoes, with very rounded ribs and flattish bottom, with a mizen-mast stept far aft, carrying a square-mainsail and main-topsail, a fore-stay to the main-mast (there being no fore-mast), with fore-staysail and jibs. Some also call the bomb-ketches galliots. (_See_ SCAMPAVIA.)

GALLERY. A balcony projecting from the admiral's or captain's cabin; it is usually decorated with a balustrade, and extends from one side of the ship to the other; the roof is formed by a sort of vault termed a cove, which is frequently ornamented with carving. (_See_ STERN; also QUARTER-GALLERY.)

GALLERY OF A MINE. The passage of horizontal communication, as distinguished from the shaft or vertical descent, made underground by military miners to reach the required position, for lodging the charge, &c.; it averages 4-1/2 feet high by 3 feet wide.

GALLERY-LADDER. Synonymous with _stern-ladder_.

GALLEY. A low, flat-built vessel with one deck, and propelled by sails and oars, particularly in the Mediterranean. The largest sort, called galleasses, were formerly employed by the Venetians. They were about 160 feet long above, and 130 by the keel, 30 wide, and 20 length of stern-post. They were furnished with three masts and thirty banks of oars, each bank containing two oars, and every oar managed by half-a-dozen slaves, chained to them. There are also _half-galleys_ and _quarter-galleys_, but found by experience to be of little utility except in fine weather. They generally hug the shore, only sometimes venturing out to sea for a summer cruise. Also, an open boat rowing six or eight oars, and used on the river Thames by custom-house officers, and formerly by press-gangs; hence the names "custom-house galley," "press-galley," &c. Also, a clincher-built fast rowing-boat, rather larger than a gig, appropriated in a man-of-war for the use of the captain. The _galley_ or _gally_ is also the name of the ship's hearth or kitchen, being the place where the grates are put up and the victuals cooked. In small merchantmen it is called the caboose; and is generally abaft the forecastle or fore-part of the ship.

GALLEY-ARCHES. Spacious and well-built structures in many of the Mediterranean ports for the reception and security of galleys.

GALLEY-FOIST OR FUST. The lord-mayor's barge, and other vessels for holidays. (_See_ FUST.)

GALLEY-GROWLERS. Idle grumblers and skulkers, from whom discontent and mutiny generally derive their origin. Hence, "galley-packets," news before the mail arrives.

GALLEY-NOSE. The figure-head.

GALLEY-PACKET. An unfounded rumour. (_See_ GALLEY-GROWLERS.)

GALLEY-PEPPER. The soot or ashes which accidentally drop into victuals in cooking.

GALLEY-SLANG. The neological barbarisms foisted into sea-language.

GALLEY-SLAVE. A person condemned to work at the oar on board a galley, and chained to the deck.

GALLEY-STOKER. A lazy skulker.

GALLEY-TROUGH. _See_ GERLETROCH.

GALLIAS. A heavy, low-built vessel of burden. Not to be confounded with galley, for even Shakspeare, in the _Taming of the Shrew_, makes Tranio say:--

"My father hath no less Than three great argosies; besides two galeasses, And twelve tight galleys."

GALLIED. The state of a whale when he is seriously alarmed.

GALLIGASKINS. Wide hose or breeches formerly worn by seamen also called _petticoat-trousers_. P. Penilesse, in his _Supplication to the Divell_, says: "Some gally gascoynes or shipman's hose, like the Anabaptists," &c.

GALLING-FIRE. A sustained discharge of cannon, or small arms, which by its execution greatly annoys the enemy.

GALLIVATS. Armed row-boats of India, smaller than a grab; generally 50 to 70 tons.

GALLOON. Gold lace. [Fr. _galon_; Sp. _galon_.]

GALLOPER. A small gun used by the Indians, easily drawn by one horse.

GALLOW-GLASSES. Formerly a heavy-armed body of foot; more recently applied to Irish infantry soldiers.

GALLOWS. The cross-pieces on the small bitts at the main and fore hatchways in flush-decked vessels, for stowing away the booms and spars over the boats; also termed _gallowses_, _gallows-tops_, _gallows-bitts_, and _gallows-stanchions_. The word is used colloquially for archness, as well as for notoriously bad characters.

GALLS. Veins of land through which the water oozes.

GALL-WIND. _See_ WIND-GALL.

GALLY-GUN. A kind of culverin.

GALOOT. An awkward soldier, from the Russian _golut_, or slave. A soubriquet for the young or "green" marine.

GALORE. Plenty, abundance.

GAMBISON. A quilted doublet formerly worn under armour, to prevent its chafing.

GAME-LEG. A lame limb, but not so bad as to unfit for duty.

GAMMON, TO. To pass the lashings of the bowsprit.

GAMMONING. Seven or eight turns of a rope-lashing passed alternately over the bowsprit and through a large hole in the cut-water, the better to support the stays of the fore-mast; after all the turns are drawn as firm as possible, the two opposite are braced together under the bowsprit by a frapping. Gammoning lashing, fashion, &c., has a peculiar seamanlike meaning. The gammoning turns are passed from the standing part or bolt forward, over the bowsprit, aft through the knee forward, making a cross lashing. It was the essence of a seaman's ability, and only forecastle men, under the boatswain, executed it. Now galvanized chain is more commonly used than rope for gammoning.

GAMMONING-HOLE. A mortise-opening cut through the knee of the head, between the cheeks, through which the gammoning is passed.

GAMMON-KNEE. A knee-timber fayed and bolted to the stem, a little below the bowsprit.

GAMMON-PLATE. An iron plate bolted to the stem of some vessels for the purpose of supporting the gammoning of the bowsprit.

GAMMON-SHACKLE. A sort of triangular ring formed on the end of a gammon-plate, for the gammoning lashing or chain to be made fast to.

GAND-FLOOK. A name of the saury-pike, _Scomberesox saurus_.

GANG. A detachment; being a selected number of a ship's crew appointed on any particular service, and commanded by an officer suitable to the occasion.

GANG-BOARD. The narrow platform within the side next the gunwale, connecting the quarter-deck to the forecastle. Also, a plank with several cleats or steps nailed to it to prevent slipping, for the convenience of walking into or out of a boat upon the shore, where the water is shallow.

GANG-CASKS. Small barrels used for bringing water on board in boats; somewhat larger than _breakers_, and usually containing 32 gallons.

GANGWAY. The platform on each side of the skid-beams leading from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, and peculiar to deep-waisted ships, for the convenience of walking expeditiously fore and aft; it is fenced on the outside by iron stanchions and ropes, or rails, and in vessels of war with a netting, in which part of the hammocks are stowed. In merchant ships it is frequently called the gang-board. Also, that part of a ship's side, and opening in her bulwarks, by which persons enter and depart, provided with a sufficient number of steps or cleats, nailed upon the ship's side, nearly as low as the surface of the water, and sometimes furnished with a railed accommodation-ladder projecting from the ship's side, and secured by iron braces. Also, narrow passages left in the hold, when a ship is laden, in order to enter any particular place as occasion may require, or stop a leak. Also, it implies a thoroughfare of any kind.--_To bring to the gangway_, to punish a seaman by seizing him up to a grating, there to undergo flogging.

GANNERET. A sort of gull.

GANNET. The _Sula bassana_, or solan goose: a large sea bird of the family _Pelecanidae_, common on the Scottish coasts.

GANNY-WEDGE. A thick wooden wedge, used in splitting timber.

GANTAN. An Indian commercial measure, of which 17 make a baruth.

GANT-LINE. Synonymous with _girt-line_ (which see).

GANT-LOPE, OR GAUNTLOPE (commonly pronounced _gantlet_). A _race_ which a criminal was sentenced to _run_, in the navy or army, for any heinous offence. The ship's crew, or a certain division of soldiers, were disposed in two rows face to face, each provided with a knotted cord, or _knittle_, with which they severely struck the delinquent as he ran between them, stripped down to the waist. This was repeated according to the sentence, but seldom beyond three times, and constituted "_running the gauntlet_."

GANTREE, OR GANTRIL. A wooden stand for a barrel.

GANZEE. Corrupted from Guernsey. (_See_ JERSEY.)

GAP. A chasm in the land, which, when near, is useful as a landmark.

GAPE. The principal crevice or crack in shaken timber.--_The seams gape_, or let in water.

GARAVANCES. The old term for _calavances_ (which see).

GARBEL. A word synonymous with _garboard_ (which see).

GARBLING. The mixing of rubbish with a cargo stowed in bulk.

GARBOARD-STRAKE, OR SAND-STREAK. The first range of planks laid upon a ship's bottom, next the keel, into which it is rabbeted, and into the stem and stern-post at the ends.

GARDE-BRACE. Anglo-Norman for armour for the arm.

GARE. _See_ GAIR-FOWL. Also, the Anglo-Saxon for _ready_. (_See_ YARE.)

GARETTE. A watch-tower.

GARFANGLE. An archaic term for an eel-spear.

GAR-FISH. The _Belone vulgaris_, or bill-fish, the bones of which are green. Also called the guard-fish, but it is from the Anglo-Saxon _gar_, a weapon.

GARGANEY. The _Querquedula circia_, a small species of duck, allied to the teal.

GARLAND. A collar of ropes formerly wound round the head of the mast, to keep the shrouds from chafing. Also, a strap lashed to a spar when hoisting it in. Also, a large rope grommet, to place shot in on deck. Also, in shore-batteries, a band, whether of iron or stone, to retain shot together in their appointed place. Also, the ring in a target, in which the mark is set. Also, a wreath made by crossing three small hoops, and covering them with silk and ribbons, hoisted to the main-topgallant-stay of a ship on the day of the captain's wedding; but on a seaman's wedding, to the appropriate mast to which he is stationed. Also, a sort of cabbage-net, whose opening is extended by a hoop, and used by sailors to contain their day's provisions, being hung up to the beams within their berth, safe from cats, rats, ants, and cockroaches.

GARNET. A sort of purchase fixed to the main-stay of a merchant-ship, and used for hoisting the cargo in and out at the time of loading or delivering her. A whip.--_Clue-garnet._ (_See_ CLUE and CLUE-GARNETS.)

GARNEY. A term in the fisheries for the fins, sounds, and tongues of the cod-fish.

GARNISH. Profuse decoration of a ship's head, stern, and quarters. Also money which pressed men in tenders and receiving ships exacted from each other, according to priority.

GARR. An oozy vegetable substance which grows on ships' bottoms.

GARRET, OR GARITA. A watch-tower in a fortification; an old term.

GARRISON. A military force guarding a town or fortress; a term for the place itself; also for the state of guard there maintained.

GARRISON GUNS. These are more powerful than those intended for the field; and formerly nearly coincided with naval guns; but now, the introduction of armour-plating afloat leads to furnishing coast-batteries with the heaviest guns of all.

GARRISON ORDERS. Those given out by the commandant of a garrison.

GARROOKA. A fishing-craft of the Gulf of Persia.

GARTERS. A slang term for the ship's irons or bilboes.

GARTHMAN. One who plies at a _fish-garth_, but is prohibited by statute from destroying the fry of fish.

GARVIE. A name on our northern shores for the sprat.

GASKET. A cord, or piece of plaited stuff, to secure furled sails to the yard, by wrapping it three or four times round both, the turns being at a competent distance from each other.--_Bunt-gasket_ ties up the bunt of the sail, and should consequently be the strongest; it is sometimes made in a peculiar net form. In some ships they have given place to beckets.--_Double gaskets._ Passing additional frapping-lines round the yards in very stormy weather.--_Quarter-gasket._ Used only for large sails, and is fastened about half-way out upon the yard, which part is called the quarter.--_Yard-arm gasket._ Used for smaller sails; the end is made fast to the yard-arm, and serves to bind the sail as far as the quarter-gasket on large yards, but extends quite into the bunt of small sails.

GAS-PIPE. A term jocularly applied to the newly-introduced breech-loading rifle.

GAT. A swashway, or channel amongst shoals.

GATE. The old name for landing-places, as Dowgate and Billingsgate; also in cliffs, as Kingsgate, Margate, and Ramsgate; those in Greece and in Italy are called _scala_. Also, a flood, sluice, or water gate.

GATE, OR SEA-GATE. When two ships are thrown on board one another by a wave, they are said to be in a sea-gate.

GATHER AFT A SHEET, TO. To pull it in, by hauling in slack.

GATHER WAY, TO. To begin to feel the impulse of the wind on the sails, so as to obey the helm.

GATH-LINN. A name of the north polar star; two Gaelic words, signifying ray and moisture, in allusion to its subdued brightness.

GATT. A gate or channel, a term used on the Flemish coast and in the Baltic. The Hellegat of New York has become Hell Gate.

GAUB-LINE. A rope leading from the martingale in-board. The same as _back-rope_.

GAUGE. _See_ GAGE.

GAUGE. An instrument for measuring shot, wads, &c. For round shot there are two kinds, viz. the high gauge, a cylinder through which the shot must pass; and the low gauge, a ring through which it must not pass.

GAUGE-COCKS. A neat apparatus for ascertaining the height of the water in a steamer's boiler.

GAUGE-ROD. A graduated iron for sounding the pump-well.

GAUGNET. The _Sygnathus acus_, sea-needle, or pipe-fish.

GAUNTLET. (_See_ GIRT-LINE.) Also, a rope round the ship to the lower yard-arms, for drying scrubbed hammocks. Of old the term denoted the armed knight's iron glove. (_See_ GANT-LOPE, for _running the gauntlet_.)

GAUNTREE. The stand for a water or beer cask.

GAUNTS. The great crested grebe in Lincolnshire.

GAUT, OR GHAUT. In the East Indies, a landing-place; and also a chain of hills, as the Western Gauts, on the Mysore coast.

GAVELOCK. An iron crow. Of old, a pike; thus in Arthur and Merlin--

"Gavelokes also thicke flowe So gnattes, ichil avowe."

GAVER. A Cornish name for the sea cray-fish.

GAW. A southern term for a boat-pole.

GAWDNIE. The dragonet, or yellow gurnard; _Callionymus lyra_.

GAW-GAW. A lubberly simpleton.

GAWKY. A half-witted, awkward youth. Also, the shell called horse-cockle.

GAWLIN. A small sea-fowl which the natives of the Western Isles of Scotland trust in, as a prognosticator of the weather.

GAWN-TREE. _See_ GANTREE.

GAWPUS. A stupid, idle fellow.

GAWRIE. A name for the red gurnard; _Trigla cuculus_.

GAZONS [Fr.] Sods of earth or turf, cut in wedge-shaped form, to line the parapet and face the outside of works.

GAZZETTA. The name of a small coin in the Adriatic and Levant. It was the price of the first Venetian newspaper, and thereby gave the name to those publications. In the Greek islands the word is used for ancient coins.

G.C.B. The initials for Grand Cross of the most honourable and Military Order of the Bath.

GEAR [the Anglo-Saxon _geara_, clothing]. A general name for the rigging of any particular spar or sail; and in or out of gear implies anything being fit or unfit for use.

GEARING. A complication of wheels and pinions, or of shafts and pulleys, &c.

GEARS. _See_ JEERS.

GEE, TO. To suit or fit; as, "that will just gee."

GELLYWATTE. An old term for a captain's boat, the original of _jolly-boat_. (_See_ Captain Downton's voyage to India in 1614, where "she was sent to take soundings within the sands.")

GENERAL. The commander of an army: the military rank corresponding to the naval one of admiral. The title includes all officers above colonels, ascending with qualifying prefixes, as brigadier-general, major-general, lieutenant-general, to general, above which is nothing save the exceptional rank of field-marshal and of captain-general or commander-in-chief of the land forces of the United Kingdom.

GENERAL AVERAGE. A claim made upon the owners of a ship and her cargo, when the property of one or more has been sacrificed for the good of the whole.

GENERAL BREEZO. _See_ BREEZO.

GENERALISSIMO. The supreme commander of a combined force, or of several armies in the field.

GENERAL OFFICERS. All those above the rank of a colonel.

GENERAL ORDERS. The orders issued by the commander-in-chief of the forces.

GENERAL SHIP. Where persons unconnected with each other load goods on board, in contradistinction to a _chartered_ ship.

GENEVA PRINT. An allusion to the spirituous liquor so called,--

"And if you meet An officer preaching of sobriety, Unless he read it in _Geneva print_, Lay him by the heels."--_Massinger._

GENOUILLERE [Fr.] That part of a battery which remains above the platform, and under the gun after the opening of the embrasure. Of course a knee-step.

GENTLE. A maggot or grub used as a bait by anglers.

GENTLE GALE. In which a ship carries royals and flying-kites; force 4.

GENTLEMEN. The messmates of the gun-room or cockpit--as mates, midshipmen, clerks, and cadets.

GEOCENTRIC. As viewed from the centre of the earth.

GEO-GRAFFY. A beverage made by seamen of burnt biscuit boiled in water.

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. _See_ POSITION, GEOGRAPHICAL.

GEORGIUM SIDUS. The planet discovered by Sir W. Herschel was so named at first; but astronomers adopted _Uranus_ instead, as safer to keep in the neutral ground of mythology.

GERLETROCH. The _Salmo alpinus_, red char, or galley-trough.

GERRACK. A coal-fish in its first year.

GERRET. A samlet or parr.

GERRICK. A Cornish name for a sea-pike.

GERRON. A cant name for the sea-trout.

GESERNE. Anglo-Norman for battle-axe.

GESTLING. A meeting of the members of the Cinque Ports at Romney.

GET AFLOAT. Pulling out a grounded boat.

GET-A-PULL. The order to haul in more of a rope or tackle.

GHAUT. _See_ GAUT.

GHEE. The substitute for butter served out to ships' companies on the Indian station.

GHOST. A false image in the lens of an instrument.

GHRIME-SAIL. The old term for a smoke-sail.

GIB. A forelock.

GIBB. The beak, or hooked upper lip of a male salmon.

GIBBOUS. The form of a planet's disc exceeding a semicircle, but less than a circle.

GIB-FISH. A northern name for the male of the salmon.

GIBRALTAR GYN. Originally devised there for working guns under a low roof. (_See_ GYN.)

GIDDACK. A name on our northern coasts for the sand-launce or sand-eel, _Ammodytes tobianus_.

GIFFOOT. A Jewish corruption of the Spanish spoken at Gibraltar and the sea-ports.

GIFT-ROPE [synonymous with _guest-rope_]. A rope for boats at the guest-warp boom.

GIG. A light narrow galley or ship's boat, clincher-built, and adapted for expedition either by rowing or sailing; the latter ticklish at times.

GILDEE. A name in the Scottish isles for the _Morhua barbata_, or whiting pout.

GILGUY. A guy for tracing up, or bearing a boom or derrick. Often applied to inefficient guys.

GILL. A ravine down the surface of a cliff; a rivulet through a ravine. The name is often applied also to the valley itself.

GILLER. A horse-hair fishing line.

GILLS. Small hackles for drying hemp.

GILPY. Between a man and boy.

GILSE. A common misnomer of _grilse_ (which see).

GILT. A cant, but old term for money, on which Shakspeare (_Henry V._

## act ii. scene 1) committed a well-known pun--

"Have for the gilt of France (O guilt indeed!)"

GILT-HEAD, OR GILT-POLL. The _Sparus aurata_, a fish of the European and American seas, with a golden mark between the eyes. (_See_ SEDOW.)

GIMBALS. The two concentric brass rings, having their axles at right angles, by which a sea-compass is suspended in its box, so as to counteract the effect of the ship's motion. (_See_ COMPASS.) Also used for the chronometers.

GIMBLETING. The action of turning the anchor round on its fluke, so that the motion of the stock appears similar to that of the handle of a gimlet when it is employed to bore a hole. To turn anything round on its end.

GIMLET-EYE. A penetrating gaze, which sees through a deal plank.

GIMMART. _See_ GYMMYRT.

GIMMEL. Any disposition of rings, as links, device of machinery. (_See_ GIMBALS.)

GIN. A small iron cruciform frame, having a swivel-hook, furnished with an iron sheave, to serve as a pulley for the use of chain in discharging cargo and other purposes.

GINGADO. _See_ JERGADO.

GINGAL. A long barrelled fire-arm, throwing a ball of from 1/4 to 1/2 lb., used throughout the East, especially in China; made to load at the breach with a movable chamber. (_See also_ JINGAL.)

GINGERBREAD-HATCHES. Luxurious quarters--

"Gingerbread-hatches on shore."

GINGERBREAD WORK. Profusely carved decorations of a ship.

GINGERLY. Spruce and smart, but somewhat affected in movement.

GINNELIN. Catching fish by the hand; tickling them.

GINNERS, OR GINNLES. The gills of fish.

GINSENG. A Chinese root, formerly highly prized for its restorative virtues, and greatly valued among the items of a cargo. It is now almost out of the _Materia Medica_.

GIP, TO. To take the entrails out of fishes.

GIRANDOLE. Any whirling fire-work.

GIRD, TO. To bind; used formerly for striking a blow.

GIRDLE. An additional planking over the wales or bends. Also, a frapping for girding a ship.

GIRT. The situation of a ship which is moored so taut by her cables, extending from the hawse to two distant anchors, as to be prevented from swinging to the wind or tide. The ship thus circumstanced endeavours to swing, but her side bears upon one of the cables, which catches on her heel, and interrupts her in the act of traversing. In this position she must ride with her broadside or stern to the wind or current, till one or both of the cables are slackened, so as to sink under the keel; after which the ship will readily yield to the effort of the wind or current, and turn her head thither. (_See_ RIDE.)

GIRT-LINE. A whip purchase, consisting of a rope passing through a single block on the head of a lower mast to hoist up the rigging thereof, and the persons employed to place it; the girt-line is therefore the first rope employed to rig a ship. (Sometimes mis-called _gant-line_.)

GISARMS. An archaic term for a halbert or hand-axe.

GIVE A SPELL. To intermit or relieve work. (_See_ SPELL.)

GIVE CHASE, TO. To make sail in pursuit of a stranger.

GIVE HER SO AND SO. The direction of the officer of the watch to the midshipman, reporting the rate of sailing by the log, and which requires correction in the judgment of that officer, from winds, &c., before marking on the log-board.

GIVE HER SHEET. The order to ease off; give her rope.

GIVE WAY. The order to a boat's crew to renew rowing, or to increase their exertions if they were already rowing. To hang on the oars.

GIVE WAY TOGETHER. So that the oars may all dip and rise together, whereby the force is concentrated.

GIVE WAY WITH A WILL. Pull heartily together.

GIVING. The surging of a seizing; new rope stretching to the strain.

GLACIS. In fortification, that smooth earthen slope outside the ditch which descends to the country, affording a secure parapet to the covered way, and exposing always a convenient surface to the fire of the place.

GLADENE. A very early designation of the sea-onion.

GLAIRE. A broadsword or falchion fixed on a pike.

GLANCE. (_See_ NORTHERN-GLANCE.) Also, a name for anthracite coal.

GLASAG. The Gaelic name of an edible sea-weed of our northern isles.

GLASS. The usual appellation for a telescope (see the old sea song of Lord Howard's capture of Barton the pirate). Also, the familiar term for a barometer. _Glass_ is also used in the plural to denote time-glass on the duration of any action; as, they fought yard-arm and yard-arm three glasses, _i.e._ three half-hours.--_To flog or sweat the half-hour glass._ To turn the sand-glass before the sand has quite run out, and thus gaining a few minutes in each half-hour, make the watch too short.--_Half-minute and quarter-minute glasses_, used to ascertain the rate of the ship's velocity measured by the log; they should be occasionally compared with a good stop watch.--_Night-glass._ A telescope adapted for viewing objects at night.

GLASS CLEAR? Is the sand out of the upper part? asked previously to turning it, on throwing the log.

GLASSOK. A coast name for the say, seath, or coal-fish.

GLAVE. A light hand-dart. Also, a sword-blade fixed on the end of a pole.

GLAYMORE. A two-handed sword. (_See_ CLAYMORE.)

GLAZED POWDER. Gunpowder of which the grains, by friction against one another in a barrel worked for the purpose, have acquired a fine polish, sometimes promoted by a minute application of black-lead; reputed to be very slightly weaker than the original, and somewhat less liable to deterioration.

GLEN. An Anglo-Saxon term denoting a dale or deep valley; still in use for a ravine.

GLENT, TO. To turn aside or quit the original direction, as a shot does from accidentally impinging on a hard substance.

GLIB-GABBET. Smooth and ready speech.

GLIM. A light; familiarly used for the eyes.--_Dowse the glim_, put out the light.

GLOAMING. The twilight. Also, a gloomy dull state of sky.

GLOBE RANGERS. A soubriquet for the royal marines.

GLOBULAR SAILING. A general designation for all the methods on which the rules of computation are founded, on the hypothesis that the earth is a sphere; including great circle sailing.

GLOG. The Manx or Erse term which denotes the swell or rolling of the sea after a storm.

GLOOM-STOVE. Formerly for drying powder, at a temperature of about 140 deg.; being an iron vessel in a room heated from outside, but steam-pipes are now substituted.

GLOOT. _See_ GALOOT.

GLOWER, TO. To stare or look intently.

GLUE. _See_ MARINE GLUE.

GLUM. As applied to the weather, overcast and gloomy. Socially, it is a grievous look.

GLUT. A piece of wood applied as a fulcrum to a lever power. Also, a bit of canvas sewed into the centre of a sail near the head, with an eyelet-hole in the middle for the bunt-jigger or becket to go through. Glut used to prevent slipping, as sand and nippers glut the messenger; the fall of a tackle drawn across the sheaves, by which it is choked or glutted; junks of rope interposed between the messenger and the whelps of the capstan.

GLYN. A deep valley with convex sides. (_See_ CWM.)

GNARLED. Knotty; said of timber.

GNARRE. An old term for a hard knot in a tree; hence Shakspeare's "unwedgeable and gnarled oak."

GNOLL. A round hillock. (_See_ KNOLL.)

GNOMON. The hand; style of a dial.

GO! A word sometimes given when all is ready for the launch of a vessel from the stocks.

GO AHEAD! OR GO ON! The order to the engineer in a steamer.

GO ASHORE, TO. To land on leave.

GO ASHORES. The seamen's best dress.

GOBARTO. A large and ravenous fish of our early voyagers, probably a shark.

GOBBAG. A Gaelic name for the dog-fish.

GOB-DOO. A Manx term for a mussel.

GOBISSON. _Gambesson_; quilted dress worn under the habergeon.

GOBLACHAN. A Gaelic name for the parr or samlet.

GOB-LINE. _See_ GAUB-LINE.

GOBON. An old English name for the whiting.

GOB-STICK. A horn or wooden spoon.

GO BY. Stratagem.--_To give her the go by_, is to escape by deceiving.

GOBY. A name of the _gudgeon_ (which see). It was erroneously applied to white-bait.

GOD. We retain the Anglo-Saxon word to designate the ALMIGHTY; signifying good, to do good, doing good, and to benefit; terms such as our classic borrowings cannot pretend to.

GODENDA. An offensive weapon of our early times, being a poleaxe with a spike at its end.

GO DOWN. The name given to store-houses and magazines in the East Indies.

GODSEND. An unexpected relief or prize; but wreckers denote by the term vessels and goods driven on shore.

GOE. A creek, smaller than a voe.

GOELETTE [Fr.] A schooner. Also, a sloop-of-war.

GOGAR. A serrated worm used in the north for fishing-bait.

GOGLET. An earthen vase or bottle for holding water.

GOILLEAR. The Gaelic for a sea-bird of the Hebrides, said to come ashore only in January.

GOING ABOUT. Tacking ship.

GOING FREE. When the bowlines are slackened, or sailing with the wind abeam.

GOING LARGE. Sailing off the wind.

GOING THROUGH THE FLEET. A cruel punishment, long happily abolished. The victim was sentenced to receive a certain portion of the flogging alongside the various ships, towed in a launch by a boat supplied from each vessel, the drummers beating the rogue's march.

GOLDENEY. A name for the yellow gurnard among the northern fishermen.

GOLD FISH. The trivial name of the _Cyprinus auratus_, one of the most superb of the finny tribe. It was originally brought from China, but is now generally naturalized in Europe.

GOLD MOHUR. A well known current coin in the East Indies, varying a little in value at each presidency, but averaging fifteen rupees, or thirty shillings.

GOLE. An old northern word for a stream or sluice.

GOLLETTE. The shirt of mail formerly worn by foot soldiers. Also, a French sloop-of-war, spelled goelette.

GOMER. A particular form of chamber in ordnance, consisting in a conical narrowing of the bore towards its inner end. It was first devised for the service of mortars, and named after the inventor, Gomer, in the late wars.

GOMERE [Fr.] The cable of a galley.

GONDOLA. A light pleasure-barge universally used on the canals of Venice, generally propelled by one man standing on the stern with one powerful oar, though the larger kinds have more rowers. The middle-sized gondolas are upwards of 30 feet long and 4 broad, with a well furnished cabin amidships, though exclusively black as restricted by law. They always rise at each end to a very sharp point of about the height of a man's breast. The stem is always surmounted by the ferro, a bright iron beak or cleaver of one uniform shape, seemingly derived from the ancient Romans, being the "rostrisque tridentibus" of Virgil, as may be seen in many of Hadrian's large brass medals. The form of the gondola in the water is traced back till its origin is lost in antiquity, yet (like that of the Turkish caiques) embodies the principles of the wave-line theory, the latest effort of modern ship-building science. Also, a passage-boat of six or eight oars, used on other parts of the coast of Italy.

GONDOLIER. A man who works or navigates a gondola.

GONE. Carried away. "The hawser or cable is _gone_;" parted, broken.

GONE-GOOSE. A ship deserted or given up in despair (_in extremis_).

GONFANON [Fr.] Formerly a cavalry banneret; corrupted from the _gonfalone_ of the Italians.

GONG. A kind of Chinese cymbal, with a powerful and sonorous tone produced by the vibrations of its metal, consisting mainly of copper and tutenag or zinc; it is used by some vessels instead of a bell. A companion of Sir James Lancaster in 1605 irreverently states that it makes "a most hellish sound."

GONGA. A general name for a river in India, whence comes Ganges.

GOOD-AT-ALL-POINTS. Practical in every particular.

GOOD-CONDUCT BADGE. Marked by a chevron on the lower part of the sleeve, granted by the admiralty, and carrying a slight increase of pay, to petty officers, seamen, and marines. One of a similar nature is in use in the army.

GOOD MEN. The designation of the able, hard-working, and willing seamen.

GOOD SHOALING. An approach to the shore by very gradual soundings.

GOOLE. An old term for a breach in a sea-bank.

GOOSANDER. The _Mergus merganser_, a northern sea-fowl, allied to the duck, with a straight, narrow, and serrated bill, hooked at the point.

GOOSE-NECK. A curved iron, fitted outside the after-chains to receive a spare spar, properly the swinging boom, a davit. Also, a sort of iron hook fitted on the inner end of a boom, and introduced into a clamp of iron or eye-bolt, which encircles the mast; or is fitted to some other place in the ship, so that it may be unhooked at pleasure. It is used for various purposes, especially for guest-warps and swinging booms of all descriptions.

GOOSE-WINGS OF A SAIL. The situation of a course when the buntlines and lee-clue are hauled up, and the weather-clue down. The clues, or lower corners of a ship's main-sail or fore-sail, when the middle part is furled or tied up to the yard. The term is also applied to the fore and main sails of a schooner or other two-masted fore-and-aft vessel; when running before the wind she has these sails set on opposite sides.

GOOSE WITHOUT GRAVY. A severe starting, so called because no blood followed its infliction.

GORAB. _See_ GRAB.

GORD. An archaism denoting a deep hole in a river.

GORES. Angular pieces of plank inserted to fill up a vessel's planking at any part requiring it. Also, the angles at one or both ends of such cloths as increase the breadth or depth of a sail. (_See_ GORING-CLOTH.)

GORGE. The upper and narrowest part of a transverse valley, usually containing the upper bed of a torrent. Also, in fortification, a line joining the inner extremities of a work.

GORGE-HOOK. Two hooks separated by a piece of lead, for the taking of pike or other voracious fish.

GORGET. In former times, and still amongst some foreign troops, a gilt badge of a crescent shape, suspended from the neck, and hanging on the breast, worn by officers on duty.

GORING, OR GORING-CLOTH. That part of the skirts of a sail cut on the bias, where it gradually widens from the upper part down to the clues. (_See_ SAIL.)

GORMAW. A coast name for the cormorant.

GORSE. Heath or furze for breaming a vessel's bottom.

GO SLOW. The order to the engineer to cut off steam without stopping the play of the engine.

GOSSOON. A silly awkward lout.

GOTE. _See_ GUTTER.

GOUGING. In ship-building (_see_ SNAIL-CREEPING). Also, a cruel practice in one or two American states, now extremely rare, in which a man's eye was squeezed out by his rival's thumb-nail, the fingers being entangled in the hair for the necessary purchase.

GOUGINGS. A synonym of _gudgeons_ (which see).

GOUKMEY. One of the names in the north for the gray gurnard.

GOULET. Any narrow entrance to a creek or harbour, as the _goletta_ at Tunis.

GOURIES. The garbage of salmon.

GOVERNMENT. Generally means the constitution of our country as exercised under the legislature of king or queen, lords, and commons.

GOVERNOR. An officer placed by royal commission in command of a fortress, town, or colony. Governors are also appointed to institutions, hospitals, and other establishments. Also, a revolving bifurcate pendulum, with two iron balls, whose centrifugal divergence equalizes the motion of the steam-engine.

GOW. An old northern term for the gull.

GOWDIE. The _Callionymus lyra_, dragonet, or chanticleer.

GOWK. The cuckoo; but also used for a stupid, good-natured fellow.

GOWK-STORM. Late vernal equinoctial gales contemporary with the gowk or cuckoo.

GOWT, OR GOTE. A limited passage for water.

GOYLIR. A small sea-bird held to precede a storm; hence seamen call them _malifiges_. Arctic gull.

GRAB. The large coasting vessel of India, generally with two masts, and of 150 to 300 tons.--_To grab._ In familiar language, to catch or snatch at anything with violence.

GRABBLE, TO. To endeavour to hook a sunk article. To catch fish by hand in a brook.

GRAB SERVICE. Country vessels first employed by the Bombay government against the pirates; afterwards erected into the Bombay Marine.

GRACE. _See_ ACT OF GRACE.

GRADE. A degree of rank; a step in order or dignity.

GRAFTING. An ornamental weaving of fine yarns, &c., over the strop of a block; or applied to the tapered ends of the ropes, and termed pointing.

GRAIN OF TIMBER. In a transverse section of a tree, two different grains are seen: those running in a circular manner are called the _silver grain_; the others radiate, and are called _bastard grain_.--_Grain_ is also a whirlwind not unfrequent in Normandy, mixed with rain, but seldom continues above a quarter of an hour. They may be foreseen, and while they last the sea is very turbulent; they may return several times in the same day, a dead calm succeeding.

GRAIN. In the _grain of_, is immediately preceding another ship in the same direction.--_Bad-grain_, a sea-lawyer; a nuisance.

GRAIN-CUT TIMBER. That which is cut athwart the grain when the grain of the wood does not partake of the shape required.

GRAINED POWDER. That corned or reduced into grains from the cakes, and distinguished from mealed powder, as employed in certain preparations.

GRAINS. A five-pronged fish-spear, grains signifying branches.

GRAIN UPSET. When a mast suffers by buckles, it is said to have its grain upset. A species of wrinkle on the soft outer grain which will be found corresponding to a defect on the other side. It is frequently produced by an injudicious setting up of the rigging.

GRAM. A species of pulse given to horses, sheep, and oxen in the East Indies, and supplied to ships for feeding live-stock.

GRAMPUS. A corruption of _gran pisce_. An animal of the cetacean or whale tribe, distinguished by the large pointed teeth with which both jaws are armed, and by the high falcate dorsal fin. It generally attains a length of 20 to 25 feet, and is very active and voracious.

GRAMPUS, BLOWING THE. Sluicing a person with water, especially practised on him who skulks or sleeps on his watch.

GRAND DIVISION. A division of a battalion composed of two companies, or ordinary divisions, in line.

GRANDSIRE. The name of a four-oared boat which belonged to Peter the Great, now carefully preserved at St. Petersburg as the origin of the Russian fleet.

GRANNY'S BEND. The slippery hitch made by a lubber.

GRANNY'S KNOT. This is a term of derision when a reef-knot is crossed the wrong way, so as to be insecure. It is the natural knot tied by women or landsmen, and derided by seamen because it cannot be untied when it is jammed.

GRAPESHOT. A missile from guns intermediate between case-shot and solid shot, having much of the destructive spread of the former with somewhat of the range and penetrative force of the latter. A round of grapeshot consists of three tiers of cast-iron balls arranged, generally three in a tier, between four parallel iron discs connected together by a central wrought-iron pin. For carronades, the grape, not being liable to such a violent dispersive shock, they are simply packed in canisters with wooden bottoms.

GRAPNEL, OR GRAPLING. A sort of small anchor for boats, having a ring at one end, and four palmed claws at the other.--_Fire grapnel._ Resembling the former, but its flukes are furnished with strong fish-hook barbs on their points, usually fixed by a chain on the yard-arms of a ship, to grapple any adversary whom she intends to board, and particularly requisite in fire-ships. Also, used to grapple ships on fire, in order to tow them away from injuring other vessels.

GRAPNEL-ROPE. That which is bent to the grapnel by which a boat rides, now substituted by chain.

GRAPPLE, TO. To hook with a grapnel; to lay hold of. First used by Duilius to prevent the escape of the Carthaginians.

GRASP. The handle of a sword, and of an oar. Also, the small of the butt of a musket.

GRASS. A term applied to vegetables in general. (_See_ FEED OF GRASS.)

GRASS-COMBERS. A galley-term for all those landsmen who enter the naval service from farming counties. Lord Exmouth found many of them learn their duties easily, and turn out valuable seamen.

GRATING-DECK. A light movable deck, similar to the hatch-deck, but with open gratings.

GRATINGS. An open wood-work of cross battens and ledges forming cover for the hatchways, serving to give light and air to the lower decks. In nautical phrase, he "who can't see a hole through a grating" is excessively drunk.

GRATINGS OF THE HEAD. _See_ HEAD-GRATINGS.

GRATUITOUS MONEY. A term officially used for bounty granted to volunteers in Lord Exmouth's expedition against Algiers.

GRAVE, TO. To clean a vessel's bottom, and pay it over.

GRAVELIN. A small migratory fish, commonly reputed to be the spawn of the salmon.

GRAVELLED. Vexed, mortified.

GRAVING. The act of cleaning a ship's bottom by burning off the impurities, and paying it over with tar or other substance, while she is laid aground during the recess of the tide. (_See_ BREAMING.)

GRAVING BEACH OR SLIP. A portion of the dockyard where ships were landed for a tide.

GRAVING-DOCK. An artificial receptacle used for the inspecting, repairing, and cleaning a vessel's bottom. It is so contrived that after the ship is floated in, the water may run out with the fall of the tide, the shutting of the gates preventing its return.

GRAVITATION. The natural tendency or inclination of all bodies towards the centre of the earth; and which was established by Sir Isaac Newton, as the great law of nature.

GRAVITY, CENTRE OF. The centre of gravity of a ship is that point about which all parts of the body, in any situation, balance each other. (_See_ SPECIFIC GRAVITY.)

GRAWLS. The young salmon, probably the same as _grilse_.

GRAY-FISH, AND GRAY-LORD. Two of the many names given to the _Gadus carbonarius_ or coal-fish.

GRAYLE. Small sand. Also, an old term for thin gravel.

GRAYLING. A fresh-water fish of the Salmo tribe. (_See_ OMBRE.)

GRAYNING. A species of dace found on our northern coast.

GRAY-SCHOOL. A particular shoal of large salmon in the Solway about the middle of July.

GRAZE. The point at which a shot strikes and rebounds from earth or water.

GRAZING-FIRE. That which sweeps close to the surface it defends.

GREASY. Synonymous with dirty weather.

GREAT CIRCLE. One whose assumed plane passes through the centre of the sphere, dividing it equally.

GREAT-CIRCLE SAILING. Is a method for determining a series of points in an arc of a great circle between two points on the surface of the earth, for the purpose of directing a ship's course as nearly as possible on such arc; that is, on the curve of shortest distance between the place from which she sets out, and that at which she is to arrive.

GREAT GUN. The general sea-term for cannons, or officers of great repute.

GREAT GUNS AND SMALL-ARMS. The general armament of a ship. Also, a slang term for the blowing and raining of heavy weather.

GREAT-LINE FISHING. That carried on over the deeper banks of the ocean. (_See_ LINE-FISHING.) It is more applicable to hand-fishing, as on the banks of Newfoundland, in depths over 60 fathoms.

GREAT OCEAN. The Pacific, so called from its superior extent.

GREAT SHAKES. _See_ SHAKE.

GREAVES. Armour for the legs.

GRECALE. A north-eastern breeze off the coast of Sicily, _Greece_ lying N.E.

GREEN. Raw and untutored; a metaphor from unripe fruit--thus Shakspeare makes Pandulph say:

"How green are you and fresh in this old world!"

GREEN-BONE. The trivial name of the viviparous blenny, or guffer, the backbone of which is green when boiled; also of the gar-fish.

GREEN-FISH. Cod, hake, haddock, herrings, &c., unsalted.

GREEN-HANDS. Those embarked for the first time, and consequently inexperienced.

GREEN-HORN. A lubberly, uninitiated fellow. A novice of marked gullibility.

GREENLAND DOVE. The puffinet; called _scraber_ in the Hebrides; about the size of a pigeon.

GREENLAND WHALE. _See_ RIGHT WHALE.

GREEN-MEN. The five supernumerary seamen who had not been before in the Arctic Seas, whom vessels in the whale-fishery were obliged to bear, to get the tonnage bounty.

GREEN SEA. A large body of water shipped on a vessel's deck; it derives its name from the green colour of a sheet of water between the eye and the light when its mass is too large to be broken up into spray.

GREEN-SLAKE. The sea-weed otherwise called _lettuce-laver_ (which see).

GREEN TURTLE. The common name for the edible turtle, which does not yield tortoise-shell.

GREENWICH STARS. Those used for lunar computations in the nautical ephemeris.

GREEP. The old orthography of _gripe_.

GREGO. A coarse Levantine jacket, with a hood. A cant term for a rough great-coat.

GRENADE. Now restricted to hand-grenade, weighing about 2 lbs., and the fuze being previously lit, is conveniently thrown by hand from the tops of ships on to an enemy's deck, from the parapet into the ditch, or generally against an enemy otherwise difficult to reach. A number of grenades, moreover, being quilted together with their fuzes outwards, called a "bouquet," is fired short distances with good effect from mortars in the latter stages of a siege.

GRENADIERS. Formerly the right company of each battalion, composed of the largest men, and originally equipped for using hand-grenades. Now-a-days the companies of a regiment are equalized in size and other matters; and the title in the British army remains only to the fine regiment of grenadier guards.

GRENADO. The old name for a live shell. Thuanus says that they were first used at the siege of Wacklindonck, near Gueldres; and that their inventor, in an experiment in Venice, occasioned the burning of two-thirds of that city.

GREVE. A low flat sandy shore; whence _graving_ is derived.

GREY-FRIARS. A name given to the oxen of Tuscany, with which the Mediterranean fleet was supplied.

GREY-HEAD. A fish of the haddock kind, taken on the coast of Galloway.

GREYHOUND. A hammock with so little bedding as to be unfit for stowing in the nettings.

GRIAN. A Gaelic term for the bottom, whether of river, lake, or sea.

GRIBAN. A small two-masted vessel of Normandy.

GRID. The diminutive of _gridiron_.

GRIDIRON. A solid timber stage or frame, formed of cross-beams of wood, for receiving a ship with a falling tide, in order that her bottom may be examined. The Americans also use for a similar purpose an apparatus called a _screw-dock_, and another known as the _hydraulic-dock_.

GRIFFIN, OR GRIFF. A name given to Europeans during the first year of their arrival in India; it has become a general term for an inexperienced youngster.

GRIG. Small eels.

GRILL, TO. To broil on the bars of the galley-range, as implied by its French derivation.

GRILSE. One of the salmon tribe, generally considered to be a young salmon on the return from its first sojourn at the sea; though by some still supposed to be a distinct fish.

GRIN AND BEAR IT. The stoical resignation to unavoidable hardship, which, being heard on board ship by Lord Byron, produced the fine stanza in "Childe Harold," commencing "Existence might be borne."

GRIND. A half kink in a hempen cable.

GRIP. The Anglo-Saxon _grep_. The handle of a sword; also a small ditch or drain. To hold, as "the anchor grips." Also, a peculiar groove in rifled ordnance.

GRIPE. Is generally formed by the scarph of the stem and keel. (_See_ FORE-FOOT.) This is retained, or shaved away, according to the object of making the vessel hold a better wind, or have greater facility in wearing.--_To gripe._ To carry too much weather-helm. A vessel gripes when she tends to come up into the wind while sailing close-hauled. She gripes according to her trim. If it continues it is remedied by lightening forward, or making her draw deeper aft.

GRIPED-TO. The situation of a boat when secured by gripes.

GRIPES. A broad plait formed by an assemblage of ropes, woven and fitted with thimbles and laniards, used to steady the boats upon the deck of a ship at sea. The gripes are fastened at their ends to ring-bolts in the deck, on each side of the boat; whence, passing over her middle and extremities, they are set up by means of the laniards. Gripes for a quarter boat are similarly used.

GRITT. An east-country term for the sea-crab.

GROATS. An allowance for each man per mensem, assigned formerly to the chaplain for pay.

GROBMAN. A west-country term for a sea-bream about two-thirds grown.

GRODAN. A peculiar boat of the Orcades; also the Erse for a gurnard.

GROG. A drink issued in the navy, consisting of one part of spirits diluted with three of water; introduced in 1740 by Admiral Vernon, as a check to intoxication by mere rum, and said to have been named from his grogram coat. Pindar, however, alludes to the Cyclops diluting their beverage with ten waters. As the water on board, in olden times, became very unwholesome, it was necessary to mix it with spirits, but iron tanks have partly remedied this. The addition of sugar and lemon-juice now makes grog an agreeable anti-scorbutic.

GROG-BLOSSOM. A red confluence on the nose and face of an excessive drinker of ardent spirits; though sometimes resulting from other causes.

GROG-GROG. The soft cry of the solan goose.

GROGGY, OR GROGGIFIED. Rendered stupid by drinking, or incapable of performing duty by illness; as also a ship when crank, and birds when crippled.

GROGRAM. From _gros-grain_. A coarse stuff of which boat-cloaks were made. From one which Admiral Vernon wore, came the term _grog_.

GROINING. A peculiar mode of submarine embankment; a quay run out transversely to the shore.

GROMAL. An old word for gromet, or apprentice.

GROMET. A boy of the crew of the ships formerly furnished by the Cinque Ports (a diminutive from the Teutonic _grom_, a youth); his duty was to keep ship in harbour. Now applied to the ship's apprentices.

GROMMET, OR GRUMMET. A ring formed of a single strand of rope, laid in three times round; used to fasten the upper edge of a sail to its stay in different places, and by means of which the sail is hoisted or lowered. Iron or wooden hanks have now been substituted. (_See_ HANKS.) Grommets are also used with pins for large boats' oars, instead of rowlocks, and for many other purposes.

GROMMET-WAD. A ring made of 1-1/2 or 2 inch rope, having attached to it two cross-pieces or diameters of the same material; it acts by the ends of these pieces biting on the interior of the bore of the gun.

GROOVE-ROLLERS. These are fixed in a groove of the tiller-sweep in large ships, to aid the tiller-ropes, and prevent friction.

GROPERS. The ships stationed in the Channel and North Sea.

GROPING. An old mode of catching trout by tickling them with the hands under rocks or banks. Shakspeare makes the clown in "Measure for Measure" say that Claudio's offence was--

"Groping for trouts in a peculiar river."

GROSETTA. A minute coin of Ragusa, somewhat less than a farthing.

GROUND, TO. To take the bottom or shore; to be run aground through ignorance, violence, or accident.--_To strike ground._ To obtain soundings.

GROUNDAGE. A local duty charged on vessels coming to anchor in a port or standing in a roadstead, as _anchorage_.

GROUND-BAIT, OR GROUNDLING. A loach or loche.

GROUND-GRU. _See_ ANCHOR-ICE.

GROUND-GUDGEON. A little fish, the _Cobitis barbatula_.

GROUND-ICE. _See_ ANCHOR-ICE.

GROUNDING. The act of laying a ship on shore, in order to bream or repair her; it is also applied to runnings aground accidentally when under sail.

GROUND-PLOT. _See_ ICHNOGRAPHY.

GROUND-SEA. The West Indian name for the swell called _rollers_, or in Jamaica the _north sea_. It occurs in a calm, and with no other indication of a previous gale; the sea rises in huge billows, dashes against the shore with roarings resembling thunder, probably due to the "northers," which suddenly rage off the capes of Virginia, round to the Gulf of Mexico, and drive off the sea from America, affecting the Bahama Banks, but not reaching to Jamaica or Cuba. The rollers set in terrifically in the Gulf of California, causing vessels to founder or strike in 7 fathoms, and devastating the coast-line. H.M.S. _Lily_ foundered off Tristan d'Acunha in similar weather. In all the latter cases no satisfactory cause is yet assigned. (_See_ ROLLER.)

GROUND-STRAKE. A name sometimes used for _garboard-strake_.

GROUND-SWELL. A sudden swell preceding a gale, which rises along shore, often in fine weather, and when the sea beyond it is calm. (_See_ ROLLER.)

GROUND-TACKLE. A general name given to all sorts of ropes and furniture which belong to the anchors, or which are employed in securing a ship in a road or harbour.

GROUND-TIER. The lowest water-casks in the hold before the introduction of iron tanks. It also implies anything else stowed there.

GROUND-TIMBERS. Those which lie on the keel, and are fastened to it with bolts through the kelson.

GROUND-WAYS. The large blocks and thick planks which support the cradle on which a ship is launched. Also, the foundation whereon a vessel is built.

GROUP. A set of islands not ranged in a row so as to form a chain, and the word is often used synonymously with _cluster_.

GROUPER. A variety of the snapper, which forms a staple article of food in the Bermudas, and in the West Indies generally.

GROWEN. _See_ GROWN-SEA.

GROWING. Implies the direction of the cable from the ship towards the anchors; as, the cable _grows_ on the starboard-bow, _i.e._ stretches out forwards towards the starboard or right side.

GROWING PAY. That which succeeds the _dead-horse_, or pay in prospect.

GROWLERS. Smart, but sometimes all-jaw seamen, who have seen some service, but indulge in invectives against restrictive regulations, rendering them undesirable men. There are also too many "civil growlers" of the same kidney.

GROWN-SEA. When the waves have felt the full influence of a gale.

GRUANE. The Erse term for the gills of a fish.

GRUB. A coarse but common term for provisions in general--

"In other words they toss'd the grub Out of their own provision tub."

GRUB-TRAP. A vulgarism for the mouth.

GRUFF-GOODS. An Indian return cargo consisting of raw materials--cotton, rice, pepper, sugar, hemp, saltpetre, &c.

GRUMBLER. A discontented yet often hard-working seaman. Also, the gurnard, a fish of the blenny kind, which makes a rumbling noise when struggling to disengage itself on reaching the surface.

GRUMMET. _See_ GROMMET.

GRUNTER. A name of the _Pogonias_ of Cuvier (a fish also termed the banded drum and young sheepskin); and several other fish.

GRYPHON. An archaic term for the meteorological phenomenon now called _typhoon_. (_See_ TYPHOON.)

GUANO. The excrement of sea-birds, a valuable manure found in thick beds on certain islets on the coast of Peru, indeed, in all tropical climates. The transport of it occupies a number of vessels, called _guaneros_. It is of a dingy yellow colour, and offensive ammoniacal effluvium. Captain Shelvocke mentions it in 1720, having taken a small bark laden with it.

GUARA. The singular and ingenious rudder by which the rafts or balzas of Peru are enabled to work to windward. It consists of long boards between the beams, which are raised or sunk according to the required evolution. A device not unlike the sliding-keels or centre-boards lately introduced.

GUARANTEE. An undertaking to secure the performance of articles stipulated between any two parties. Also, the individual who so undertakes.

GUARD. The duty performed by a body of men stationed to watch and protect any post against surprise. A division of marines appointed to take the duty for a stated portion of time. "Guard, turn out!" the order to the marines on the captain's approaching the ship. Also, the bow of a trigger and the hilt of a sword.

GUARDA-COSTA. Vessels of war of various sizes which formerly cruised against smugglers on the South American coasts.

GUARD-BOARDS. Synonymous with _chain-wales_.

GUARD-BOAT. A boat appointed to row the rounds amongst the ships of war in any harbour, &c., to observe that their officers keep a good look-out, calling to the guard-boat as she passes, and not suffering her crew to come on board without previously having communicated the watch-word of the night. Also, a boat employed to enforce the quarantine regulations.

GUARD-BOOK. Report of guard; a copy of which is delivered at the admiral's office by the officer of the last guard. Also, a full set of his accounts kept by a warrant-officer for the purpose of passing them.

GUARD-FISH. A corruption of the word _gar-fish_.

GUARDIAN OF THE CINQUE PORTS. Otherwise _lord warden_ (which see).

GUARD-IRONS. Curved bars of iron placed over the ornaments of a ship to defend them from damage.

GUARDO. A familiar term applied equally to a guard-ship or any person belonging to her. It implies "harbour-going;" an easy life.

GUARDO-MOVE. A trick upon a landsman, generally performed in a guard-ship.

GUARD-SHIP. A vessel of war appointed to superintend the marine affairs in a harbour, and to visit the ships which are not commissioned every night; she is also to receive seamen who are impressed in time of war. In the great ports she carries the flag of the commander-in-chief. Each ship takes the guard in turn at 9 A.M.; the vessel thus on duty hoists the union-jack at the mizen, and performs the duties afloat for twenty-four hours. The officer of the guard is accountable to the admiral for all transactions on the water during his guard.

GUBB, OR GUBBEN. The Erse term for a young sea-gull.

GUBBER. One who gathers oakum, driftwood, &c., along a beach. The word also means black mud.

GUDDLE, TO. To catch fish with the hands by groping along a stream's bank.

GUDGE, TO. To poke or prod for fish under stones and banks of a river.

GUDGEON. The _Gobio fluviatilis_, a well-known river-fish, 6 or 7 inches in length.

GUDGEONS. The metal braces with eyes bolted upon the stern-post for the pintles of the rudder to work in, as upon hinges. Also, the notches made in the carrick-bitts for receiving the metal bushes wherein the spindle of a windlass works.

GUEBRES. Fire-worshippers. (_See_ PARSEES.)

GUERDON. A reward or recompense for good service.

GUERILLA. Originally an irregular warfare, but now used mostly for the irresponsible kind of partisan who carries it on.

GUERITE, OR GALITA. In fortification, a projecting turret on the top of the escarp, whence a sentry may observe the outside of the rampart.

GUERNSEY-FROCK. _See_ JERSEY.

GUESS-WARP, OR GUEST-ROPE. A rope carried to a distant object, in order to warp a vessel towards it, or to make fast a boat. (_See_ CHEST-ROPE.)

GUESTLINGS. The name of certain meetings held at the Cinque Ports.

GUEST-WARP BOOM. A swinging spar (lower studding-boom) rigged from the ship's side with a warp for boats to ride by.

GUFFER. A British sea-fish of the blenny tribe, common under stones at low-water mark, remarkable as being ovo-viviparous.

GUIDE. _See_ FLOOR-GUIDE.

GUIDE-RODS. The regulators of the cross-head of an engine's air-pump.

GUIDES. Men supposed to know the country and its roads employed to direct a body of men on their march. The French and Belgians have "corps de guides."

GUIDON. The swallow-tailed silk flag in use by dragoon regiments, instead of a standard. Also, the sergeant bearing the same.

GUIDOR. A name in our old statutes synonymous with _conder_ (which see).

GUILLEM. A sea-fowl. (_See_ LAVY.)

GUILLEMOT. A web-footed diving sea-bird allied to the auks.

GUIMAD. A small fish of the river Dee.

GUINEA-BOAT. A fast-rowing galley, of former times, expressly built for smuggling gold across the Channel, in use at Deal.

GUINEAMAN. A negro slave-ship.

GUINEA-PIGS. The younger midshipmen of an Indiaman.

GUIST. The same as _guess_ or _guest_ (which see).

GULDEN. A name for a water-fowl.

GULF, OR GULPH. A capacious bay, and sometimes taking the name of a sea when it is very extensive; such are the Euxine or Black Sea, otherwise called the Gulf of Constantinople; the Adriatic Sea, called also the Gulf of Venice; the Mediterranean is itself a prodigious specimen. A gulf is, strictly speaking, distinguished from a sea in being smaller, and from a bay in being larger and deeper than it is broad. It is observed that the sea is always most dangerous near gulfs, from the currents being penned up by the shores.

GULF-STREAM. Is especially referable to that of Mexico, the waters of which flow in a warm stream at various velocities over the banks between Cuba and America, past the Bermudas, touch the tail of the great bank of Newfoundland, and thence in a sweep to Europe, part going north, and the other southerly down to the tropics again.

GULF-WEED. The _Fucus natans_, considered to belong to the Gulf Stream, and found floating in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic. Many small crustacea live amongst it, and assume its bright orange-yellow hue.

GUL-GUL. A sort of chunam or cement made of pounded sea-shells mixed with oil, which hardens like a stone, and is put over a ship's bottom in India, so that worms cannot penetrate even when the copper is off.

GULL. A well-known sea-bird of the genus _Larus_; there are many species. Also, a large trout in the north. The name is, moreover, familiarly used for a lout easily deceived or cheated; thus Butler in _Hudibras_--

"The paltry story is untrue, And forg'd to cheat such gulls as you."

It is also applied to the washing away of earth by the violent flowing of water; the origin perhaps of the Kentish gull-stream.

GULLET. A small stream in a water-worn course.

GULL-SHARPER. One who preys upon Johnny Raws.

GULLY. The channels worn on the face of mountains by heavy rains. Also, a rivulet which empties itself into the sea.

GULLY SQUALL. Well known off tropical America in the Pacific,

## particularly abreast of the lakes of Leon, Nicaragua, &c. Monte Desolado

gusts have dismantled many stout ships.

GULPIN. An awkward soldier; a weak credulous fellow [from the Gaelic _golben_, a novice].

GUM. "Shaking the gum out of a sail" is said of the effect of bad weather on new canvas.

GUMPUS. A fish, called also _numscull_, for allowing itself to be guddled.

GUN. The usual service name for a _cannon_ (which see); it was originally called great gun, to distinguish it from the small or hand guns, muskets, blunderbusses, &c. The general construction for guns of cast metal is fairly represented by the old rule that the circumference at the breech ought to measure eleven calibres, at the trunnions nine, and at the muzzle seven, for iron; and in each instance two calibres less for brass guns. But the introduction of wrought-iron guns, built up with outer jackets of metal shrunk on one above another, is developing other names and proportions in the new artillery. (_See_ BUILT-UP GUNS.) The weight of these latter, though differently disposed, and required not so much for strength as for modifying the recoil or shock to the carriage on discharge, is not very much less, proportionally, for heavy guns of full power, than that of the old ones, being about 1-1/4 cwt. of gun for every 1 lb. of shot; for light guns for field purposes it is about 3/4 cwt. for every 1 lb. of shot. Guns are generally designated from the weight of the shot they discharge, though some few natures, introduced principally for firing shells, were distinguished by the diameter of their bore in inches; with the larger guns of the new system, in addition to this diameter, the weight in tons is also specified.--_Gun_, in north-country cant, meant a large flagon of ale, and _son of a gun_ was a jovial toper: the term, owed its derivation to lads born under the breast of the lower-deck guns in olden times, when women were allowed to accompany their husbands. Even in 1820 the best petty officers were allowed this indulgence, about one to every hundred men. Gunners also, who superintended the youngsters, took their wives, and many living admirals can revert to kindness experienced from them. These "sons of a gun" were tars, and no mistake.--_Morning gun_, a signal fired by an admiral or commodore at day-break every morning for the drums or bugles to sound the reveille. A gun of like name and nature is generally in use in fortresses; as is also the _evening gun_, fired by an admiral or commodore at 9 P.M. in summer, and 8 P.M. in winter, every night, on which the drums or bugles sound the retreat.

GUN AND HEAD MONEY. Given to the captors of an enemy's ship of war destroyed, or deserted, in fight. It was formerly assumed to be about L1000 per gun.

GUNBOAT. A light-draught boat fitted to carry one or more cannon in the bow, so as to cannonade an enemy while she is end-on. They are principally useful in fine weather, to cover the landing of troops, or such other occasions. They were formerly impelled by sails and sweeps but now by steam-power, which has generally increased their size, and much developed their importance. According to Froissart, cannon were fired from boats in the fourteenth century.

GUN-CHAMBERS. In early artillery, a movable chamber with a handle, like a paterero, used in loading at the breech. In more recent times the name has been used for the small portable mortars for firing salutes in the parks.

GUN-COTTON. An explosive compound, having some advantages over gunpowder, but so irregular hitherto in its action that it is at present used only for mining purposes. It consists of ordinary cotton treated with nitric and sulphuric acid and water, and has been named by chemists "pyroxylin," "nitro-cellulose," &c.

GUN-DECK. _See_ DECKS.

GUN-FIRE. The morning or evening guns, familiarly termed "the admiral falling down the hatchway."

GUN-GEAR. Everything pertaining to its handling.

GUN-HARPOON. _See_ HARPOON.

GUN-LADLE. _See_ LADLE.

GUN-LOD. A vessel filled with combustibles, but rather for explosion than as a fire-ship.

GUN-METAL. The alloy from which brass guns are cast consists of 100 parts of copper to 10 of tin, retaining much of the tenacity of the former, and much harder than either of the components; but the late improved working of wrought-iron and steel has nearly superseded its application to guns.

GUNNADE. A short 32-pounder gun of 6 feet, introduced in 1814; afterwards termed the shell-gun.

GUNNEL. _See_ GUNWALE.

GUNNELL. A spotted ribbon-bodied fish, living under stones and among rocks.

GUNNER, OF A SHIP OF WAR. A warrant-officer appointed to take charge of the ammunition and artillery on board; to keep the latter properly fitted, and to instruct the sailors in the exercise of the cannon. The warrant of chief-gunner is now given to first-class gunners.--_Quarter-gunners._ Men formerly placed under the direction of the gunner, one quarter-gunner being allowed to every four guns. In the army, gunner is the proper title of a private soldier of the Royal Artillery, with the exception of those styled drivers.

GUNNER-FLOOK. A name among our northern fishermen for the _Pleuronectes maximus_, or turbot.

GUNNER'S DAUGHTER. The name of the gun to which boys were _married_, or lashed, to be punished.

GUNNER'S HANDSPIKE. Is shorter and flatter than the ordinary handspike, and is shod with iron at the point, so that it bites with greater certainty against the trucks of guns.

GUNNER'S MATE. A petty officer appointed to assist the gunner.

GUNNER'S PIECE. In destroying and bursting guns, means a fragment of the breech, which generally flies upward.

GUNNER'S QUADRANT. _See_ QUADRANT.

GUNNER'S TAILOR. An old rating for the man who made the cartridge-bags.

GUNNER'S YEOMAN. _See_ YEOMAN.

GUNNERY. The art of charging, pointing, firing, and managing artillery of all kinds.

GUNNERY-LIEUTENANT. "One who, having obtained a warrant from a gunnery ship, is eligible to large ships to assist specially in supervising the gunnery duties; he draws increased pay."

GUNNERY-SHIP. A ship fitted for training men in the practice of charging, pointing, and firing guns and mortars for the Royal Navy. (_See_ SEAMEN-GUNNERS.)

GUNNING. An old term for shooting; it is now adopted by the Americans. After the wreck of the _Wager_, on hearing the pistols fired at Cozens, "it was rainy weather, and not fit for gunning, so that we could not imagine the meaning of it."--_Gunning a ship._ Fitting her with ordnance.--_Gunning_, in mining, is when the blast explodes and does not rend the mass.--_Gunning_, signals enforced by guns.

GUNNING-BOAT, OR GUNNING-SHOUT. A light and narrow boat in which the fen-men pursue the flocks of wild-fowl.

GUNNY. Sackcloth or coarse canvas, made of fibres used in India, chiefly of jute.

GUNNY-BAGS. The sacks used on the India station for holding rice, biscuit, &c.; often as sand-bags in fortification.

GUN-PENDULUM. _See_ BALLISTIC PENDULUM.

GUN-PORTS. _See_ PORTS.

GUNPOWDER. The well-known explosive composition which, for its regularity of effect and convenience in manufacture and use, is still preferred for general purposes to all the new and more violent but more capricious agents. In England it is composed of 75 parts saltpetre to 10 sulphur and 15 charcoal; these proportions are varied slightly in different countries. The ingredients are mixed together with great mechanical nicety, and the compound is then pressed and granulated. On the application of fire it is converted into gas with vast explosive power, but subject to tolerably well-known laws.

GUN-ROOM. A compartment on the after-end of the lower gun-deck of large ships of war, partly occupied by the junior officers; but in smaller vessels it is below the gun-deck, and the mess-room of the lieutenants.

GUNROOM-PORTS. In frigates, stern-ports cut through the gun-room.

GUN-SEARCHER. An iron instrument with several sharp-pointed prongs and a wooden handle: it is used to find whether the bore is honey-combed.

GUN-SHOT. Formerly, the distance up to which a gun would throw a shot direct to its mark, without added elevation; as the "line of metal" (which see) was generally used in laying, this range was about 800 yards. But now that ranges are so greatly increased, with but slight additions to the elevation, the term will include the distances of ordinary "horizontal fire" (which see); as between ships, with rifled guns, it will not quite reach two miles: though when the mark is large, as a town or dockyard, it is still within long range at five miles' distance.

GUN-SIGHT. _See_ DISPART, or SIGHTS.

GUN-SLINGS. Long rope grommets used for hoisting in and mounting them.

GUN-STONES. An old term for cannon-balls, from stones having been first supplied to the ordnance and used for that purpose. Shakspeare makes Henry V. tell the French ambassadors that their master's tennis-balls shall be changed to gun-stones. This term was retained for a bullet, after the introduction of iron shot.

GUN-TACKLE PURCHASE. A tackle composed of a rope rove through two single blocks, the standing part being made fast to the strop of one of the blocks. It multiplies the power applied threefold.

GUNTEN. A boat of burden in the Moluccas.

GUNTER'S LINE. Called also the _line of numbers_, and the _line of lines_, is placed upon scales and sectors, and named from its inventor, Edmund Gunter. It is a logarithmic scale of proportionals, wherein the distance between each division is equal to the number of mean proportionals contained between the two terms, in such parts as the distance between 1 and 10 is 10,000, &c.

GUNTER'S QUADRANT. A kind of stereographic projection on the plane of the equinoctial; the eye is supposed in one of the poles, so that the tropic, ecliptic, and horizon form the arches of the circles, but the hour-circles are all curves, drawn by means of several altitudes of the sun, for some particular latitude, for every day in the year. The use of this instrument is to find the hour of the day, the sun's azimuth, and other common problems of the globe; as also to take the altitude of an object in degrees.

GUNWALE, OR GUNNEL. Nearly synonymous with _plank-sheer_ (which see); but its strict application is that horizontal plank which covers the heads of the timbers between the main and fore drifts. The _gunwale of a boat_ is a piece of timber going round the upper sheer-strake as a binder for its top-work.--_Gunwale-to._ Vessels heeling over, so that the gunwale is even with the water. When a boat sails with a free wind, and rolls each side, or gunwale, to the water's edge, she rolls gunwale-to.

GURGE. A gulf or whirlpool.

GURNARD. A fish of the genus _Trigla_, so called from its peculiar grunt when removed from the water. Falstaff uses the term "soused gurnet" in a most contemptuous view, owing to its poorness; and its head being all skin and bone gave rise to the saying that the flesh on a gurnard's head is rank poison.

GURNET-PENDANT. A rope, the thimble of which is hooked to the quarter-tackle of the main-yard; it is led through a hole in the deck, for the purpose of raising the breech of a gun, when hoisting in, to the level required to place it on its carriage.

GUSSOCK. An east-country term for a strong and sudden gust of wind.

GUST, OR GUSH. A sudden violent wind experienced near mountainous lands; it is of short duration, and generally succeeded by fine breezes.

GUT. A somewhat coarse term for the main part of a strait or channel, as the Gut of Gibraltar, Gut of Canso.

GUTTER [Anglo-Saxon _geotan_, to pour out or shed]. A ditch, sluice, or gote.

GUTTER-LEDGE. A cross-bar laid along the middle of a large hatchway in some vessels, to support the covers and enable them the better to sustain any weighty body.

GUY. A rope used to steady a weighty body from swinging against the ship's side while it is hoisting or lowering, particularly when, there is a high sea. Also, a rope extended from the head of sheers, and made fast at a distance on each side to steady them. The jib-boom is supported by its guys. Also, the name of a tackle used to confine a boom forward, when a vessel is going large, and so prevent the sail from gybing, which would endanger the springing of the boom, or perhaps the upsetting of the vessel. Also, a large slack rope, extending from the head of the main-mast to the head of the fore-mast, and sustaining a temporary tackle to load or unload a ship with.

GYBING. Another form for _jibing_ (which see).

GYE. A west-country term for a salt-water ditch.

GYMMYRT. The Erse or Manx for rowing with oars.

GYMNOTUS ELECTRICUS. An eel from the Surinam river, several feet in length, which inflicts electrical shocks.

GYN. A three-legged machine fitted with a windlass, heaving in the fall from a purchase-block at the summit, much used on shore for mounting and dismounting guns, driving piles, &c. (_See_ GIBRALTAR GYN.)

GYP. A strong gasp for breath, like a fish just taken out of the water.

GYVER. An old term for blocks or pulleys.

GYVES. Fetters; the old word for handcuffs.

H.

HAAF. Cod, ling, or tusk deep-sea fisheries of the Shetland and Orkney islanders.

HAAF-BOAT. One fitted for deep-water fishing.

HAAFURES. A northern term for fishermen's lines.

HAAK. _See_ HAKE.

HAAR. A chill easterly wind on our northern coasts. (_See_ HARR.)

HABERDDEN. Cod or stock-fish dried and cured on board; that cured at Aberdeen was the best.

HABERGEON. A coat of mail for the head and shoulders.

HABILIMENTS OF WAR. A statute term, for arms and all provisions for maintaining war.

HABLE. An Anglo-Norman term for a sea-port or haven; it is used in statute 27 Henry VII. cap. 3.

HACKATEE. A fresh-water tortoise in the West Indies; it has a long neck and flat feet, and weighs 10 to 15 lbs.

HACKBUSH. A heavy hand-gun. (_See_ HAGBUT.)

HACKLE, HECKLE, OR HETCHEL. A machine for teazing flax. Also, a west-country name for the stickleback.

HACK-SAW. Used for cutting off the heads of bolts; made of a scythe fresh serrated.

HACK-WATCH, OR JOB-WATCH (which see).

HACOT. From the Anglo-Saxon _hacod_, a large sort of pike.

HADDIE. A north-coast diminutive of haddock.

HADDO-BREEKS. A northern term for the roe of the haddock.

HADDOCK. The _Gadus aeglefinus_, a species of cod fabled to bear the thumb-mark of St. Peter.

HAEVER. _See_ EAVER.

HAFNE. An old word for haven, from the Danish.

HAFT. (_See_ HEFT.) The handle of a knife or tool.

HAG-BOAT. _See_ HECK-BOAT.

HAGBUT. A wall-piece placed upon a tripod; the arquebuse.

HAGBUTAR. The bearer of a fire-arm formerly used; it was somewhat larger than a musket.

HAGG. An arquebuse with a bent butt. Also, a swampy moss.

HAG'S TEETH. (_See_ HAKE'S TEETH.) Those parts of a matting or pointing interwoven with the rest in an irregular manner, so as to spoil the uniformity. (_See_ POINTING.) In soundings, _see_ HAKE'S TEETH.

HAIK. _See_ HIKE UP.

HAIL, TO. To hail "from a country," or claim it as a birthplace. A ship is said to _hail_ from the port where she is registered, and therefore properly belongs to. When hailed at sea it is, "From whence do you come?" and "where bound?"--"_Pass within hail_," a special signal to approach and receive orders or intelligence, when boats cannot be lowered or time is precious. One vessel, the senior, lies to; the other passes the stern under the lee.--_Hail-fellows_, messmates well matched.

HAILING. To call to another vessel; the salutation or accosting of a ship at a distance.

HAILING-ALOFT. To call to men in the tops and at the mast-head to "look out," too often an inconsistent bluster from the deck.

HAIL-SHOT. Small shot for cannon.

HAILSHOT-PIECE. A sort of gun supplied of old to our ships, with dice of iron as the missile.

HAIR. The cold nipping wind called _haar_ in the north: as in Beaumont and Fletcher,

"Here all is cold as the hairs in winter."

HAIR-BRACKET. The moulding at the back of the figure-head.

HAIR-TRIGGER. A trigger to a gun-lock, so delicately adjusted that the slightest touch will discharge the piece.

HAKE. An old term for a hand-gun. Also, the fish _Gadus merluccius_, a well-known gregarious and voracious fish of the cod family, often termed sea-pike.

HAKE'S TEETH. A phrase applied to some part of the deep soundings in the British Channel; but it is a distinct shell-fish, being the _Dentalium_, the presence of which is a valuable guide to the Channel pilot in foggy weather.

HALBAZ. _See_ KALBAZ.

HALBERT. A sort of spear formerly carried by sergeants of infantry, that they, standing in the ranks behind the officers or the colours, should afford additional defence at those important points.

HALCYON PISCATOR, OR KING-FISHER. This beautiful bird's floating nest was fabled to calm the winds and seas while the bird sat. This occurring in winter gave rise to the expression "halcyon days."

HALE. An old word for _haul_ (which see).

HALF AN EYE, SEEING WITH. Discerning instantly and clearly.

HALF-BEAMS. Short timbers, from the side to the hatchways, to support the deck where there is no framing. (_See_ FORK-BEAMS.)

HALF-BREADTH OF THE RISING. A ship-builder's term for a curve in the floor-plan, which limits the distances of the centres of the floor-sweeps from the middle line of the body-plan.

HALF-BREADTH PLAN. In ship-building, the same as _floor-plan_.

HALF-COCK. To go off at half-cock is an unexpected discharge of a fire-arm; hurried conduct without due preparation, and consequently failure.

HALF-DAVIT. Otherwise _fish-davit_ (which see).

HALF-DECK. A space between the foremost bulk-head of the steerage and the fore-part of the quarter-deck. In the Northumberland colliers the steerage itself is called the _half-deck_, and is usually the habitation of the crew.

HALF-DROWNED LAND. Shores which are rather more elevated and bear more verdure than _drowned land_ (which see).

HALF-FLOOD. _See_ FLOOD.

HALF-GALLEY. _See_ GALLEY.

HALF-HITCH. Pass the end of a rope round its standing part, and bring it up through the bight. (_See_ THREE HALF-HITCHES.)

HALF-LAUGHS AND PURSER'S GRINS. Hypocritical and satirical sneers.

HALF-MAN. A landsman or boy in a coaster, undeserving the pay of a _full-man_.

HALF-MAST. The lowering a flag in respect for the death of an officer.

HALF-MINUTE GLASS. _See_ GLASS.

HALF-MOON. An old form of outwork somewhat similar to the ravelin, originally placed before the salients of bastions.

HALF-PIKE. An iron spike fixed on a short ashen staff, used to repel the assault of boarders, and hence frequently termed a _boarding-pike_.

HALF-POINT. A subdivision of the compass card, equal to 5 deg. 37' of the circle.

HALF-PORTS. A sort of one-inch deal shutter for the upper half of those ports which have no hanging lids; the lower half-port is solid and hinged, having a semicircle cut out for the gun when level, and falling down outwards when ready for action; the upper half-port fits loosely into rabbets, and is secured only by laniards.

HALF-SEA. The old term for mid-channel.

HALF SEAS OVER. Nearly intoxicated. This term was used by Swift.

HALF-SPEED! An order in steam navigation to reduce the speed. (_See_ FULL SPEED!)

HALF-TIDE ROCKS. Those showing their heads at half-ebb. (_See_ TIDE.)

HALF-TIMBERS. The short timbers or futtocks in the cant-bodies, answering to the lower futtocks in the square-body; they are placed so as to give good shiftings.

HALF-TOP. The mode of making ships' tops in two pieces, which are afterwards secured as a whole by what are termed sleepers.

HALF-TOPSAILS, UNDER. Said of a chase about 12 miles distant, the rest being below the horizon.

HALF-TURN AHEAD! An order in steam navigation. (_See_ TURN AHEAD!)

HALF-WATCH TACKLE. A luff purchase. (_See_ WATCH-TACKLE.)

HALIBUT. A large oceanic bank fish, _Hippoglossus vulgaris_, weighing from 300 to 500 lbs. particularly off Newfoundland; it resembles plaice, and is excellent food, nor does it easily putrefy.

HALLEY'S CHART. The name given to the protracted curves of the variation of the compass, known as the variation chart.

HALLIARDS, HALYARDS, OR HAULYARDS. The ropes or tackles usually employed to hoist or lower any sail upon its respective yards, gaffs, or stay, except the cross-jack and spritsail-yard, which are always slung; but in small craft the spritsail-yard also has halliards. (_See_ JEERS.)

HALO. An extensive luminous ring including, the sun or moon, whose light, passing through the intervening vapour, gives rise to the phenomenon. Halos are called _lunar_ or _solar_, according as they appear round the moon or sun. Prismatically coloured halos indicate the presence of watery vapour, whereas white ones show that the vapour is frozen.

HALSE, OR HALSER. Archaic spelling for _hawser_.

HALSTER. A west-country term for a man who draws a barge along by a rope.

HALT! The military word of command to stop marching, or any other evolution. A halt includes the period of such discontinuance.

HALVE-NET. A standing net used in the north to prevent fishes from returning with the falling tide.

HALYARDS. _See_ HALLIARDS.

HAMACS. Columbus found that the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands had for beds nets of cotton suspended at each end, which they called _hamacs_, a name since adopted universally amongst seamen. (_See_ HAMMOCK.)

HAMBER, OR HAMBRO'-LINE. Small line used for seizings, lashings, &c.

HAMMACOE. Beam battens. (_See_ HAMMOCK-BATTENS.)

HAMMER. The shipwright's hammer is a well-known tool for driving nails and clenching bolts, differing from hammers in general.

HAMMER, OF A GUN-LOCK. Formerly the steel covering of the pan from which the flint of the cock struck sparks on to the priming; but now the cock itself, by its hammer action on the cap or other percussion priming, discharges the piece. Whether the hammer will be superseded by the needle remains to be determined.

HAMMER-HEADED SHARK. The _Zygaena malleus_, a strange, ugly shark. The eyes are situated at the extremities of the hammer-shaped head. They seldom take bait or annoy human beings. They are for the most part inert, live near the surf edge, and are frequently found washed up on sandy beaches. Chiefly found on the coasts of Barbary.

HAMMERING. A heavy cannonade at close quarters.

HAMMOCK. A swinging sea-bed, the undisputed invention of Alcibiades; but the modern name is derived from the Caribs. (_See_ HAMACS.) At present the hammock consists of a piece of canvas, 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, gathered together at the two ends by means of clews, formed by a grommet and knittles, whence the _head-clue_ and _foot-clue_: the hammock is hung horizontally under the deck, and forms a receptacle for the bed on which the seamen sleep. There are usually allowed from 14 to 20 inches between hammock and hammock in a ship of war. In preparing for action, the hammocks, together with their contents, are all firmly corded, taken upon deck, and fixed in various nettings, so as to form a barricade against musket-balls. (_See_ ENGAGEMENT.)

HAMMOCK-BATTENS OR RACKS. Cleats or battens nailed to the sides of a vessel's beams, from which to suspend the seamen's hammocks.

HAMMOCK-BERTHING. Forecastle-men forward, and thence passing aft, foretop-men, maintop-men, mizentop-men, waisters, after-guard, and boys. Quartermasters in the tiers.

HAMMOCK-CLOTHS. To protect them from wet while stowed in the nettings on deck.

HAMMOCK GANT-LINES. Lines extended from the jib-boom end around the ship, triced up to the lower yard-arms, for drying scrubbed hammocks.

HAMMOCK-NETTINGS. Take their distinguishing names according to their location in the ship, as forecastle, waist, quarter-deck.

HAMMOCK-RACKS. _See_ HAMMOCK-BATTENS.

HAMPER. Things, which, though necessary, are in the way in times of gale or service. (_See_ TOP-HAMPER.)

HAMPERED. Perplexed and troubled.

HAMRON. An archaic term, meaning the hold of a ship.

HANCES. Spandrels; the falls or descents of fife-rails. Also, the breakings of the rudder abaft. (_See_ HAUNCH.)

HAND. A phrase often used for the word man, as, "a hand to the lead," "clap more hands on," &c.--_To hand a sail_, is to furl it.--_To lend a hand_, to assist.--_Bear a hand_, make haste.--_Hand in the leech_, a call in furling sails. To comprehend this it must be understood that the leech, or outer border of the sail, if left to belly or fill with wind, would set at naught all the powers of the men. It is therefore necessary, as Falconer has it, "the tempest to disarm;" so by handing in this leech-rope before the yard, the canvas is easily folded in, and the gasket passed round.

HAND-GRENADE. A small shell for throwing by hand. (_See_ GRENADE.)

HAND-GUN. An old term for small arms in the times of Henry VII. and VIII.

HANDLASS. A west-country term for a small kind of windlass.

HANDLE. The title prefixed to a person's name.--_To handle a ship well_, is to work her in a seamanlike manner.

HAND-LEAD. A small lead used in the channels, or chains, when approaching land, and for sounding in rivers or harbours under 20 fathoms. (_See_ LEAD.)

HANDLES OF A GUN. The dolphins.

HAND-LINE. A line bent to the hand-lead, measured at certain intervals with what are called _marks_ and _deeps_ from 2 and 3 fathoms to 20.

HAND MAST-PIECE. The smaller hand mast-spars.

HAND MAST-SPAR. A round mast; those from Riga are commonly over 70 feet long by 20 inches diameter.

HANDMAID. An old denomination for a tender; thus, in Drake's expedition to Cadiz, two of Her Majesty's pinnaces were appointed to attend his squadron as handmaids.

HAND-OVER-HAND. Hauling rapidly upon any rope, by the men passing their hands alternately one before the other, or one above the other if they are hoisting. A sailor is said to go hand-over-hand if he lifts his own weight and ascends a single rope without the help of his legs. Hand-over-hand also implies rapidly; as, we are coming up with the chase hand-over-hand.

HAND-PUMP. The common movable pump for obtaining fresh water, &c., from tanks or casks.

HAND-SAW. The smallest of the saws used by shipwrights, and used by one hand.

HAND-SCREW. A handy kind of single jack-screw.

HANDSOMELY. Signifies steadily or leisurely; as, "lower away handsomely," when required to be done gradually and carefully. The term "handsomely" repeated, implies "have a care; not so fast; tenderly."

HANDSPIKE. A lever made of tough ash, and used to heave round the windlass in order to draw up the anchor from the bottom, or move any heavy articles, particularly in merchant ships. The handle is round, but the other end is square, conforming to the shape of the holes in the windlass. (_See_ GUNNER'S HANDSPIKE.)

HANDS REEF TOP-SAILS! The order to reef by all hands, instead of the watch, or watch and idlers.

HAND-TIGHT. A rope hauled as taut as it can be by hand only.

HAND-UNDER-HAND. Descending a rope by the converse of hand-over-hand ascent.

HANDY-BILLY. A small jigger purchase, used particularly in tops or the holds, for assisting in hoisting when weak-handed. A watch-tackle. (_See_ JIGGER.)

HANDY-SHIP. One that steers easily, and can be worked with the watch; or as some seamen would express it, "work herself."

HANG. In timber, opposed to _sny_ (which see).--_To hang._ Said of a mast that inclines; _it hangs forward_, if too much stayed; _hangs aft_, if it requires staying.--_To hang the mast._ By some temporary means, until the mast-rope be fleeted.--_To hang on a rope or tackle-fall_, is to hold it fast without belaying; also to pull forcibly with the whole weight.--_To hang aback._ To be slack on duty.

HANGER. The old word for the Persian dagger, and latterly for a short curved sword.

HANG-FIRE. When the priming burns without igniting the cartridge, or the charge does not rapidly ignite after pulling the trigger. Figuratively, _to hang fire_, is to hesitate or flinch.

HANGING. A word expressive of anything declining in the middle part below a straight line, as the hanging of a deck or a sheer. Also, when a ship is difficult to be removed from the stocks, or in man[oe]uvre.

HANGING-BLOCKS. These are sometimes fitted with a long and short leg, and lash over the eyes of the top-mast rigging; when under, they are made fast to a strap. The topsail-tye reeves through these blocks, the tye-block on the yard, and the standing part is secured to the mast-head.

HANGING-CLAMP. A semicircular iron, with a foot at each end to receive nails, by which it is fixed to any part of the ship to hang stages to, &c.

HANGING-COMPASS. A compass so constructed as to hang with its face downwards, the point which supports the card being fixed in the centre of the glass, and the gimbals are attached to a beam over the observer's head. There is usually one hung in the cabin, that, by looking up to it, the ship's course may be observed at any moment; whence it is also termed a tell-tale.

HANGING HOOK-POTS. Tin utensils fitted for hanging to the bars before the galley-grate.

HANGING-KNEES. Those which are applied under the lodging-knees, and are fayed vertically to the sides.

HANGING-STAGE. Any stage hung over the side, bows, or stern, for painting, caulking, or temporary repairs.

HANGING STANDARD-KNEE. A knee fayed vertically beneath a hold-beam, with one arm bolted on the lower side of the beam.

HANGING-STOVES. Used for ventilating or drying between decks.

HANGING THE RUDDER. So as to allow the pintles to fall into their corresponding braces, constantly in boats, and frequently also in whaling vessels, but seldom in other ships: the rudder after being shipped is generally secured by wood-locks to prevent its unshipping at sea.

HANG ON HER! In rowing, is the order to stretch out to the utmost to preserve or increase head-way on the boat.

HANK FOR HANK. In beating against the wind each board is thus sometimes denoted. Also, expressive of two ships which tack simultaneously and make progress to windward together in racing, &c.

HANKS. Hoops or rings of rope, wood, or iron, fixed upon the stays, to seize the luff of fore-and-aft sails, and to confine the staysails thereto, at different distances. Those of wood are used in lieu of grommets, being much more convenient, and of a later invention. They are framed by the bending of a rough piece of wood into the form of a wreath, and fastened at the two ends by means of notches, thereby retaining their circular figure and elasticity; whereas the grommets which are formed of rope are apt to relax in warm weather, and adhere to the stays, so as to prevent the sails from being readily hoisted or lowered.--_Iron hanks_ are more generally used now that stays are made of wire.--_Hank_ is also a skein of line or twine.--_Getting into a hank_, irritated by jokes.

HANSE-TOWNS. Established in the 13th century, for the mutual protection of mercantile property. Now confined to Luebeck, Hamburg, and Bremen.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY. A reckless indifference as to danger.

HAQUE. A little hand-gun of former times.

HAQUEBUT. A form of spelling _arquebuse_. A bigger sort of hand-gun than the _haque_.

HARASS, TO. To torment and fatigue men with needless work.

HARBOUR. A general name given to any safe sea-port. The qualities requisite in a good harbour are, that it should afford security from the effects of the wind and sea; that the bottom be entirely free from rocks and shallows, but good holding ground; that the opening be of sufficient extent to admit the entrance or departure of large ships without difficulty; that it should have convenience to receive the shipping of different nations, especially those which are laden with merchandises; and that it possess establishments for refitting vessels. To render a harbour complete, there ought to be good defences, a good lighthouse, and a number of mooring and warping buoys; and finally, that it have plenty of fuel, water, provisions, and other materials for sea use. Such a harbour, if used as a place of commercial transactions, is called a port.

HARBOUR-DUES. _See_ PORT-CHARGES.

HARBOUR-DUTY MEN. Riggers, leading men, and others, ordered to perform the dockyard or port duties, too often superannuated, or otherwise unfit.

HARBOUR-GASKETS. Broad, but short and well-blacked gaskets, placed at equal distances on the yard, for showing off a well-furled sail in port: there is generally one upon every other seam.

HARBOUR-GUARDS. Men detached from the ordinary, as a working party.

HARBOUR-LOG. That part of the log-book which consists solely of remarks, and relates only to transactions while the ship is in port.

HARBOUR-MASTER. An officer appointed to inspect the moorings, and to see that the ships are properly berthed, and the regulations of the harbour strictly observed by the different ships frequenting it.

HARBOUR-REACH. The reach or stretch of a winding river which leads direct to the harbour.

HARBOUR-WATCH. A division or subdivision of the watch kept on night-duty, when the ship rides at single anchor, to meet any emergency.

HARD. A road-path made through mud for landing at. (_See_ ARD.)

HARD-A-LEE. The situation of the tiller when it brings the rudder hard over to windward. Strictly speaking, it only relates to a tiller which extends _forward_ from the rudder-head; now many extend _aft_, in which case the _order_ remains the same, but the tiller and rudder are both brought over to windward. Also, the order to put the tiller in this position.

HARD AND FAST. Said of a ship on shore.

HARD-A-PORT! The order so to place the tiller as to bring the rudder over to the starboard-side of the stern-post, whichever way the tiller leads. (_See_ HARD-A-LEE.)

HARD-A-STARBOARD. The order so to place the tiller as to bring the rudder over to the port-side of the stern-post, whichever way the tiller leads. (_See_ HARD-A-LEE.)

HARD-A-WEATHER! The order so to place the tiller as to bring the rudder on the lee-side of the stern-post, whichever way the tiller leads, in order to bear away; it is the position of the helm as opposed to _hard-a-lee_ (which see). Also, a hardy seaman.

HARD BARGAIN. A useless fellow; a skulker.

HARD FISH. A term indiscriminately applied to cod, ling, haddock, torsk, &c., salted and dried.

HARD GALE. When the violence of the wind reduces a ship to be under her storm staysails, No. 10 force.

HARD-HEAD. The _Clupea menhaden_, or _Alosa tyrannus_, an oily fish taken in immense quantities on the American coasts, insomuch that they are used for manuring land. Also, on our coasts the father-lasher or sea-scorpion, _Cottus scorpius_, and in some parts the grey gurnard, are so called.

HARD-HORSE. A tyrannical officer.

HARDING. A light kind of duck canvas made in the north.

HARD UP. The tiller so placed as to carry the rudder close over to leeward of the stern-post. Also, used figuratively for being in great distress, or poverty-struck; obliged to bear up for Poverty Bay; cleared out.

HARD UP IN A CLINCH, AND NO KNIFE TO CUT THE SEIZING. Overtaken by misfortune, and no means of evading it.

HARDS. _See_ ACUMBA.

HARLE. Mists or thick rolling fogs from the sea, so called in the north. Also, a name of the _goosander_ (which see).

HARMATTAN. A Fantee name for a singular periodical easterly wind which prevails on the west coast of Africa, generally in December, January, and February; it is dry, though always accompanied by haze, the result of fine red dust suspended in the atmosphere and obscuring the sun; this wind is opposed to the sea-breeze, which would otherwise blow fresh from the west on to the land.

HARNESS. An old statute term for the tackling or furniture of a ship.

HARNESS-CASK. A large conical tub for containing the salt provisions intended for present consumption. Alluding to the junk, which is often called salt-horse, it has been described as the tub where the horse, and not the harness, is kept.

HARP-COCK. An old modification of the harpoon.

HARPENS. _See_ HARPINGS.

HARPER-CRAB. _See_ TOMMY HARPER.

HARPINGS, OR HARPENS. The fore-parts of the wales which encompass the bow of a ship, and are fastened to the stem, being thicker than the after-part of the wales, in order to strengthen the ship in that place where she sustains the greatest shock of resistance in plunging into the sea, or dividing it, under a great pressure of sail. Also, the pieces of oak, similar to ribbands, but trimmed and bolted to the shape of the body of the ship, which hold the fore and after cant bodies together, until the ship is planked. But this term is mostly applicable to those at the bow; hence arises the phrase "clean and full harpings." Harpings in the bow of a vessel are decried as rendering the ship uneasy.--_Cat harpings._ The legs which cross from futtock-staff to futtock-staff, below the tops, to girt in the rigging, and allow the lower yards to brace sharp up.

HARPOON, OR HARPAGO. A spear or javelin with a barbed point, used to strike whales and other fish. The harpoon is furnished with a long shank, and has at one end a broad and flat triangular head, sharpened at both edges so as to penetrate the whale with facility, but blunt behind to prevent its cutting out. To the other end a fore-ganger is bent, to which is fastened a long cord called the whale-line, which lies carefully coiled in the boat in such a manner as to run out without being interrupted or entangled. Several coils, each 130 fathoms of whale-line (soft laid and of clean silky fibre) are in readiness; the instant the whale is struck the men cant the oars, so that the roll may not immerse them in the water. The line, which has a turn round the bollard, flies like lightning, and is intensely watched. One man pours water on the smoking bollard, another is ready with a sharp axe to cut, and the others see that the lines run free. Seven or eight coils have been run out before the whale "sounds," or strikes bottom, when he rises again to breathe, and probably gets a similar dose.--_Gun harpoon._ A weapon used for the same purpose as the preceding, but it is fired out of a gun, instead of being thrown by hand; it is made entirely of steel, and has a chain or long shackle attached to it, to which the whale-line is fastened. Greener's harpoon-gun is a kind of wall-piece fixed in a crutch, which steps into the bow-bollard of the whale-boat. The harpoon projects about four inches beyond the muzzle. It consists of its barbed point attached to a long link, with a solid button at its opposite end to fit the gun; on one rod of this link is a ring which runs to the muzzle, and is there attached to the whale-line by a thong of seal or walrus hide, wet. The gun being fired, the harpoon is projected, the ring sliding up to the button, when the line follows. Some of these harpoons or other engines have grenades--glass globules with prussic acid or other chemicals--which sicken the whale instantly, and little trouble ensues.

HARPOONER, HARPONEER, OR HARPINEER. The expert bowman in a whale-boat, whose duty it is to throw or fire the harpoon.

HARP-SEAL. The _Phoca gr[oe]nlandica_, a species of seal from the Arctic seas; so called from the form of a dark-brown mark upon its back.

HARQUEBUSS, OR ARQUEBUSS. Something larger than a musket. Sometimes called caliver. (_See_ ARQUEBUSS.)

HARR, OR HARL. A sea-storm, from a northern term for snarling, in allusion to the noise. Also, a cold thick mist or fog in easterly winds; the _haar_.

HARRY-BANNINGS. A north-country name for sticklebacks.

HARRY-NET. A net with such small meshes, and so formed, as to take even the young and small fish.

HARVEST-MOON. The full moon nearest the autumnal equinox, when for several successive evenings she rises at the same hour; and this name is given in consequence of the supposed advantage of the additional length of moonlight to agriculture.

HASEGA. A corruption of _asseguay_ (which see).

HASK. An archaism for a fish-basket.

HASLAR HAGS. The nurses of the naval hospital Haslar.

HASLAR HOSPITAL. A fine establishment near Gosport, for the reception and cure of the sick and wounded of the Royal Navy.

HASP. A semicircular clamp turning in an eye-bolt in the stem-head of a sloop or boat, and fastened by a forelock in order to secure the bowsprit down to the bows. (_See_ SPAN-SHACKLE.)

HASTAN. The Manx or Erse term for a large eel or conger.

HASTY-PUDDING. A batter made of flour or oatmeal stirred in boiling water, and eaten with treacle or sugar at sea. This dish is not altogether to be despised in need, although Lord Dorset--the sailor poet--speaks of it disparagingly:

"Sure hasty-pudding is thy chiefest dish, With bullock's liver, or some stinking fish."

HATCH. A half-door. A contrivance for trapping salmon. (_See_ HECK.)

HATCH-BARS. To secure the hatches; are padlocked and sealed.

HATCH-BOAT. A sort of small vessel known as a pilot-boat, having a deck composed almost entirely of hatches.

HATCH-DECK. Gun brigs had hatches instead of lower decks.

HATCHELLING. The combing and preparing hemp for rope-making.

HATCHES. Flood-gates set in a river to stop the current of water. Also, coverings of grating, or close hatches to seal the holds.--_To lie under hatches, stowed in the hold._ Terms used figuratively for being in distress and death.

HATCHET-FASHION. Cutting at the heads of antagonists, instead of thrusting.

HATCH-RINGS. Rings to lift the hatches by, or replace them.

HATCHWAY. A square or oblong opening in the middle of the deck of a ship, of which there are generally three--the fore, main, and after--affording passages up and down from one deck to another, and again descending into the hold. The coverings over these openings are called hatches. Goods of bulk are let down into the hold by the hatchways. To lay anything in the hatchway, is to put it so that the hatches cannot be approached or opened. The hatches of a smaller kind are distinguished by the name of _scuttles_.

HATCHWAY-NETTINGS. Nettings sometimes placed over the hatchways instead of gratings, for security and circulation of air. They arrest the fall of any one from a deck above.

HATCHWAY-SCREENS. Pieces of fear-nought, or thick woollen cloth, put round the hatchways of a man-of-war in time of action, to screen the passages to the magazine.

HATCHWAY-STOPPERS. Those for a hempen cable are fitted as a ring-stopper, only a larger rope. They are rove through a hole on each side of the coamings, in the corner of the hatchway; and both tails, made selvagee-fashion, are dogged along the cable. When a chain-cable is used, the stopper works from a beam on the lower deck.

HAT-MONEY. A word sometimes used for _primage_, or the trifling payment received by the master of a ship for care of goods.

HAUBERK. _See_ AUBERK.

HAUGH. Flat or marshy ground by the side of a river.

HAUL, TO. An expression peculiar to seamen, implying to pull or bowse at a single rope, without the assistance of blocks or other mechanical powers upon it; as "haul in," "haul down," "haul up," "haul aft," "haul together." (_See_ BOWSE, HOIST, and ROUSE.) A vessel _hauls her wind_ by trimming the yards and sails so as to lie nearer to, or close to the wind, and by the power of the rudder shaping her course accordingly.

HAUL ABOARD THE FORE AND MAIN TACKS. This is to haul them forward, and down to the chess-trees on the weather-side.

HAUL AFT A SHEET. To pull it in more towards the stern, so as to trim the sail nearer to the wind.

HAULAGE. A traction-way.

HAUL-BOWLINGS. The old name for the able-bodied seamen.

HAUL HER WIND. Said of a vessel when she comes close upon the wind.--_Haul your wind_, or _haul to the wind_, signifies that the ship's head is to be brought nearer to the wind--a very usual phrase when she has been going free.

HAUL IN, TO. To sail close to the wind, in order to approach nearer to an object.

HAULING DOWN VACANCY. The colloquialism expressive of the promotion of a flag-lieutenant and midshipman on an admiral's hauling down his flag.

HAULING-LINE. A line made fast to any object, to be hauled nearer or on board, as a hawser, a spar, &c.

HAULING SHARP. Going upon half allowance of food.

HAUL MY WIND. An expression when an individual is going upon a new line of action. To avoid a quarrel or difficulty.

HAUL OF ALL! An order to brace round all the yards at once--a man[oe]uvre sometimes used in tacking, or on a sudden change of wind; it requires a strong crew.

HAUL OFF, TO. To sail closer to the wind, in order to get further from any object.

HAUL OUT TO LEEWARD! In reefing top-sails, the cry when the weather earing is passed.

HAUL ROUND. Said when the wind is gradually shifting towards any

## particular point of the compass. Edging round a danger.

HAULS AFT, OR VEERS AFT. Said of the wind when it draws astern.

HAULSER. The old orthography for _hawser_.

HAULS FORWARD. Said of the wind when it draws before the beam.

HAUL UNDER THE CHAINS. This is a phrase signifying a ship's working and straining on the masts and shrouds, so as to make the seams open and shut as she rolls.

HAULYARDS. _See_ HALLIARDS.

HAUNCES. The breakings of the rudder abaft.

HAUNCH. A sudden fall or break, as from the drifts forward and aft to the waist. The same as _hance_.

HAVEN [Anglo-Saxon, _haefen_]. A safe refuge from the violence of wind and sea; much the same as harbour, though of less importance. A good anchorage rather than place of perfect shelter. Milford Haven is an exception.

HAVENET. This word has appeared in vocabularies as a small haven.

HAVEN-SCREAMER. The sea-gull, called _haefen_ by the Anglo-Saxons.

HAVERSACK. A coarse linen bag with a strap fitting over the shoulder worn by soldiers or small-arm men in marching order, for carrying their provision, instead of the knapsack.

HAVILLER. _See_ HUFFLER.

HAVOC. Formerly a war cry, and the signal for indiscriminate slaughter. Thus Shakspeare,

"Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war."

HAWK'S-BILL. _Chelone imbricata_, a well-known turtle frequenting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, so named from having a small mouth like the beak of a hawk; it produces the tortoise-shell of commerce. The flesh is indifferent, but the eggs very good.

HAWSE. This is a term of great meaning. Strictly, it is that part of a vessel's bow where holes are cut for her cables to pass through. It is also generally understood to imply the situation of the cables before the ship's stem, when she is moored with two anchors out from forward, one on the starboard, and the other on the port bow. It also denotes any small distance between her head and the anchors employed to ride her, as "he has anchored in our hawse," "the brig fell athwart our hawse," &c. Also, said of a vessel a little in advance of the stem; as, she sails _athwart hawse_, or has anchored _in the hawse_. If a vessel drives at her anchors into the hawse of another she is said to "_foul the hawse_" of the vessel riding there; hence the threat of a man-of-war's-man, "If you foul my hawse, I'll cut your cable," no merchant vessel being allowed to approach a ship-of-war within certain limits, and never to make fast to the government buoys.--_A bold hawse_ is when the holes are high above the water. "Freshen hawse," or "veer out more cable," is said when part of the cable that lies in the hawse is fretted or chafed, and more should be veered out, so that another part of it may rest in the hawse. "Freshen hawse" also means, clap a service on or round the cable in the hawses to prevent it from fretting; hemp cables only are rounded or cackled. Also, a dram after fatiguing duty. "Clearing hawse," is untwisting or disentangling two cables that come through different holes, and make a foul hawse.

HAWSE-BAGS. Canvas bags filled with oakum, used in heavy seas to stop the hawse-holes and prevent the water coming in.

HAWSE-BLOCKS. Bucklers, or pieces of wood made to fit over the hawse-holes when at sea, to back the hawse-plugs.

HAWSE-BOLSTERS. Planks above and below the hawse-holes. Also, pieces of canvas stuffed with oakum and roped round, for plugging when the cables are bent.

HAWSE-BOX, OR NAVAL HOOD. Pieces of plank bolted outside round each of the hawse-holes, to support the projecting part of the hawse-pipe.

HAWSE-BUCKLERS. Plugs of wood to fit the hawse-holes, and hatches to bolt over, to keep the sea from spurting in.

HAWSE-FALLEN. To ride hawse-fallen, is when the water breaks into the hawse in a rough sea, driving all before it.

HAWSE-FULL. Riding hawse-full; pitching bows under.

HAWSE-HOLES. Cylindrical holes cut through the bows of a ship on each side of the stem, through which the cables pass, in order to be drawn into or let out of the vessel, as occasion requires.

HAWSE-HOOK. A compass breast timber which crosses the hawse-timber above the ends of the upper-deck planking, and over the hawse-holes. (_See_ BREAST-HOOKS.)

HAWSE-PIECES. The timbers which compose the bow of a vessel, and their sides look fore and aft; it is a name given to the foremost timbers of a ship, whose lower ends rest upon the knuckle-timbers. They are generally parallel to the stem, having their upper ends sometimes terminated by the lower part of the beak-head and otherwise by the top of the bow. Also, timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.

HAWSE-PIPE. A cast-iron pipe in the hawse-holes to prevent the cable from cutting the wood.

HAWSE-PLUGS. Blocks of wood made to fit into the hawse-pipes, and put in from the outside to stop the hawses, and thereby prevent the water from washing into the manger. The plug, coated with old canvas, is first inserted, then a mat or swab, and over it the buckler or shield, which bolts upward and downward into the breast-hooks.

HAWSER. A large rope or cablet, which holds the middle degree between the cable and tow-line, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter; curiously, it is not hawser but cable laid.

HAWSER-LAID ROPE. Is rope made in the usual way, being three or four strands of yarns laid up right-handed, or with the sun; it is used for small running rigging, as well as for standing rigging, shrouds, &c.; in the latter case it is generally tarred to keep out rain. It is supposed that this style of rope is stronger in proportion to the number of yarns than cable or water-laid rope, which is more tightly twisted, each strand being a small rope. This latter is more impervious to water, and therefore good for cables, hawsers, &c.; it is laid left-handed, or against the sun.

HAWSE-TIMBERS. The upright timbers in the bow, bolted on each side of the stem, in which the hawse-holes are cut.

HAWSE-WOOD. A general name for the hawse-timbers.

HAY. A straight rank of men drawn up exactly in a line.

HAYE. A peculiar ground-shark on the coast of Guinea.

HAYLER. An archaism for halliard.

HAZE. A grayish vapour, less dense than a fog, and therefore does not generally exclude objects from sight.

HAZE, TO. To punish a man by making him do unnecessary work.

HEAD. The upper part or end of anything, as a mast-head, a timber-head. Also, an ornamental figure on a ship's stem expressive of her name, or emblematical of her object, &c. (_See_ BILLET-HEAD, BUST-HEAD, FAMILY-HEAD, FIDDLE-HEAD, FIGURE-HEAD, SCROLL-HEAD, &c.) Also, in a more enlarged sense, the whole fore-part of a ship, including the bows on each side; the head therefore opens the column of water through which the ship passes when advancing; hence we say, _head-way_, _head-sails_, _head-sea_, &c. It is evident that the fore-part of a ship is called its head, from its analogy to that of a fish, or any animal while swimming. Also, in a confined sense, to that part on each side of the stem outside the bows proper which is appropriated to the use of the sailors for wringing swabs, or any wet jobs, for no wet is permitted in-board after the decks are dried. Also, hydrographically, the upper part of a gulf, bay, or creek.--_By the head_, the state of a ship which, by her lading, draws more water forward than aft. This may be remedied without reference to cargo in ships-of-war, by shifting shot, guns, &c. Vessels _by the head_ are frequently uneasy, gripe and pitch more than when _by the stern_.

HEAD AND GUN-MONEY. An encouragement in the prize acts by which L5 a head is given to the captors for every person on board a captured vessel of war, or pirate.

HEAD-BOARDS. The berthing or close-boarding between the head-rails.

HEAD-CLUE OF A HAMMOCK. Where the head rests. (_See_ HAMMOCK.)

HEAD-CRINGLES. Earing-cringles at the upper clues or corners of a sail.

HEAD-EARINGS. The laniards to haul out the earings. (_See_ EARINGS.)

HEADER. The person in the Newfoundland fishing vessels who is engaged to cut open the fish, tear out the entrails, break off the head, and pass it over to the _splitter_, who sits opposite to him.

HEAD-FAST. A rope or chain employed to fasten the head of a ship or boat to a wharf or buoy, or to some other vessel alongside.--_Head-fast of a boat_, the tow-rope or painter.

HEAD-HOLES. The eyelet-holes where the rope-bands of a sail are fitted; they are worked button-hole fashion, over grommets of twine of several thicknesses; sometimes of cod-line.

HEADING. As to ships in company, one advancing by sail or steam faster than another heads her.

HEADING UP THE LAND WATER. When the flood-tide is backed by a wind, so that the ebb is retarded, causing an overflow.

HEAD-KNEES. Pieces of moulded compass timber fayed edgeways to the cut-water and stem, to steady the former. These are also called _cheek-knees_.

HEADLAND. Wherever the coast presents a high cliffy salient angle to the sea, without projecting far into it, it is called a headland; but if the point be low, it is a spit, tongue, or point. (_See_ BLUFF.)

HEADMOST. The situation of any ship or ships which are the most advanced in a fleet, or line of battle. The opposite of _sternmost_.

HEAD-NETTING. An ornamental netting used in merchant ships instead of the fayed planking to the _head-rails_.

HEAD OF A COMET. The brighter part of a comet, from which the tail proceeds.

HEAD OF A MAST, OR MAST-HEAD. The upper part of any mast, or that whereon the caps or trucks are fitted.

HEAD OF A WORK. In fortification, the part most advanced towards the enemy. In progressive works, such as siege-approaches and saps, it is the farthest point then attained.

HEAD OF WATER. Water kept to a height by winds, or by artificial dams and sluice-gates. The vertical column which dock-gates have to bear.

HEAD-PIECE. A term for the helmet.

HEAD-PUMP. A small pump fixed at the vessel's bow, its lower end communicating with the sea: it is mostly used for washing decks.

HEAD-QUARTERS. The place where the general, or commanding officer, takes up his quarters. Also, the man-of-war, or transport, which carries the staff of an expedition.

HEAD-RAILS. The short rails of the head, extending from the back of the figure to the cat-head: equally useful and ornamental. There are two on each side, one straight and the other curved. (_See_ FALSE RAIL.) Also, used familiarly for teeth.

HEAD-ROPE. That part of the bolt-rope which terminates any sail on the upper edge, and to which it is accordingly sewed. (_See_ BOLT-ROPE.) Also, the small rope to which a flag is fastened, to hoist it to the mast-head, or head of the ensign-staff.

HEAD-SAILS. A general name for all those sails which may be set on the fore-mast and bowsprit, jib, and flying jib-boom, and employed to influence the fore-part of the ship.

HEAD-SEA. A name given to the waves when they oppose a ship's course, as the ship must rise over, or cut through each. Their effect depends upon their height, form, and speed; sometimes they are steep, quick, and irregular, so that a ship is caught by a second before she has recovered from the first; these render her wet and uneasy.

HEAD-SHEETS. Specially jibs and staysail sheets, before the fore-mast.

HEAD-STICK. A short round stick with a hole at each end, through which the head-rope of some triangular sails is thrust, before it is sewed on. Its use is to prevent the head of the sail from twisting.

HEAD TO WIND. The situation of a ship or boat when her head is pointed directly to windward. The term is particularly applied in the act of tacking, or while lying at anchor.

HEAD-WAY. A ship is said to gather head-way when she passes any object thrown overboard at the bow, and it passes astern into her wake. A ship may also, by the action of swell, forge ahead.

HEAD-WIND. A breeze blowing from the direction of the ship's intended course. Thus, if a ship is bound N.E. a N.E. wind is a head-wind "dead on end," as seamen express it.--_The wind heads us_, that is, veers towards the direction of the ship's course.

HEALD. The _heel_ over of a grounded ship.

HEALTH-GUARD. Officers appointed to superintend the due observance of the quarantine regulations.

HEART. A block of wood forming a peculiar sort of triangular dead-eye, somewhat resembling the shape of a heart; it is furnished with only one large hole in the middle, grooved for the rope instead of the three holes. It is principally used to the stays, as the dead-eyes are to the shrouds. (_See_ DEAD-EYE.)

HEARTH. Applied to the ship's fire-place, coppers, and galley generally.

HEARTY. Open and free. "My hearties," a cheerful salute to shipmates and seamen in general. "What cheer, my hearties?" how fare ye? what's your news?

HEART-YARNS. The centre yarns of a strand. Also, the heart-yarn or centre, on which four-stranded rope is formed.

HEATH. Various broom-stuffs used in breaming.

HEAVE, TO. To throw anything overboard. To cast, as heaving the log or the lead. Also, to drag, prize, or purchase, as heaving up the anchor.

HEAVE ABOUT, TO. To go upon the other tack suddenly.

HEAVE AND A-WASH. An encouraging call when the ring of the anchor rises to the surface, and the stock stirs the water.

HEAVE AND A-WEIGH. Signifies that the next effort will start the anchor from its bed, and make it _a-trip_. "Heave and a-weigh, sir," from the forecastle, denotes that the anchor is a-weigh; it inspirits the men to run it to the bows rapidly.

HEAVE AND IN SIGHT. A notice given by the boatswain to the crew when the anchor is drawn up so near the surface of the water as to be seen by its muddy water surrounding it.

HEAVE AND PAUL. Is the order to turn the capstan or windlass till the paul may be put in, by which it is prevented from coming up, and is something similar to _belay_, applied to a running rope.

HEAVE AND RALLY! An encouraging order to the men at the capstan to heave with spirit, with a rush, and thereby force the anchor out of the ground. When there is a rising sea "heave and rally" implies, "heave and stand to your bars," the pauls taking the strain, and the next wave probably lifting the anchor.

HEAVE AND SET. The ship's motion in rising and falling to the waves when at anchor.

HEAVE HANDSOMELY. Gently.

HEAVE HEARTY. Heave strong and with a will.

HEAVE OF THE SEA. The power that the swell of the sea exerts upon a ship in driving her out of, or faster on in, her course, and for which allowance must be made in the day's work. It is a similar, or the same

## action in force as in a head-sea.

HEAVE OUT THERE! The order to hasten men from their hammocks.

HEAVER. A wooden bar or staff, sometimes tapered at the ends; it is employed as a lever or purchase on many occasions, such as setting up the top-mast shrouds, stropping large blocks, seizing the standing rigging, &c. Also, a name on the Kentish shores for the haviler crab.

HEAVE SHORT, TO. To heave in on the cable until the vessel is nearly over her anchor, or sufficiently near it for sail being made before the anchor is tripped. Short, is when the fore-stay and cable are in line.

HEAVE THE LEAD. To take soundings with the hand lead-line. "Get a cast of the lead," with the deep-sea lead and line.

HEAVE THE LOG. Determine the ship's velocity by the log line and glass.

HEAVE-TO, TO. To put a vessel in the position of _lying-to_, by adjusting her sails so as to counteract each other, and thereby check her way, or keep her perfectly still. In a gale, it implies to set merely enough sail to steady the ship; the aim being to keep the sea on the weather bow whilst the rudder has but little influence, the sail is chiefly set on the main and mizen-mast; as hove-to under a close-reefed main-topsail, or main-trysail, or driver. It is customary in a foul wind gale, and a last resource in a fair one.

HEAVING AHEAD. Is the act of advancing or drawing a ship forwards by heaving on a cable or rope made fast to some fixed point before her.

HEAVING AND SETTING. Riding hard, pitching and sending.

HEAVING ASTERN. Causing a ship to recede or go backwards, by heaving on a cable or other rope fastened to some fixed point behind her. This more immediately applies to drawing a vessel off a shoal.

HEAVING A STRAIN. Working at the windlass or capstan with more than usual exertion.

HEAVING DOWN. (_See_ CAREENING.) The bringing one of a ship's sides down into the water, by means of purchases on the masts, in order to repair any injury which is below her water-line on the other.

HEAVING IN. Shortening in the cable. Also, the binding a block and hook by a seizing.

HEAVING IN STAYS. The act of tacking, when, the wind being ahead, great pressure is thrown upon the stays.

HEAVING KEEL OUT. The utmost effect to be produced by careening, viz. to raise the keel out of the water in order to repair or clean it. (_See_ HEAVING DOWN.)

HEAVING OUT. The act of loosing or unfurling a sail; particularly applied to the staysails; or in the tops, footing the sail out of the top.

HEAVING TAUT. The act of turning the capstan, &c., till the rope applied thereto becomes straight and ready for action.

HEAVING THROUGH ALL. The surging or slipping of the cable when the nippers do not hold.

HEAVY DRIFT-ICE. Dense ice, which has a great depth in the water in proportion to its size, and is not in a state of decay, therefore dangerous to shipping.

HEAVY GALE. A strong wind, in which a ship is reduced to storm-staysails and close-reefed main-topsail. Force 10.

HEAVY METAL, OR HEAVY ORDNANCE. Ordnance of large calibre.

HEAVY SEA. High and strong waves.

HEBBER-MAN. An old name for a fisherman on the Thames below London Bridge, who took whitings, smelts, &c., commonly at ebbing-water.

HEBBING-WEIR. Contrivances for taking fish at ebbing-water.

HECK-BOAT. The old term for pinks. Latterly a clincher-built boat with covered fore-sheets, and one mast with a trysail.

HECKLE. Said to be from the Teutonic _heckelen_, to dress flax for rope-making. Also, an artificial fly for fishing.

HECKLE-BACK. A name of the fifteen-spined stickleback, _Gasterosteus spinachia_.

HEDA. An early term for a small haven, wharf, or landing-place.

HEDAGIUM. A toll or duty paid at the wharf for landing goods, &c.

HEDGEHOGS. A name formerly applied to vessels which rowed with many oars. Also, small stunted trees unfit for timber.

HEEL. The after end of a ship's keel, and the lower end of the stern-post to which it is connected. Also, the lower end of any mast, boom, bowsprit, or timber. Also, that part of the end of the butt of a musket which is uppermost when at the firing position.--_To heel._ To lie over, or incline to either side out of the perpendicular: usually applied to a ship when canted by the wind, or by being unequally ballasted. (_See_ CRANK, STIFF, and TRIM.)

HEEL-BRACE. A piece of iron-work applicable to the lower part of a rudder, in case of casualty to the lower pintles.

HEELING GUNWALE TO. Pressing down sideways to her upper works,

## particularly applied to boats running before a heavy sea, when they may

roll their weather gunwales to.

HEEL-KNEE. The compass-piece which connects the keel with the stern-post.

HEEL-LASHING. The rope which secures the inner part of a studding-sail boom to the yard; also, that which secures the jib-boom.

HEEL OF A MAST. The lower end, which either fits into the step attached to the keel, or in top-masts is sustained by the fid upon the trestle-trees. Heeling is the square part of the spar through which the fid hole is cut.

HEEL-ROPE. That which hauls out the bowsprit in cutters, and the jib and studding-sail booms, or anything else where it passes through the heel of the spar, except in the case of top-masts and topgallant-masts, where it becomes a _mast-rope_.

HEELS. _Having the heels of a ship_; sailing faster.

HEEL-TACKLES. The luff purchases for the heels of each sheer previous to taking in masts, or otherwise using them.

HEEVIL. An old northern term for the conger.

HEFT. The Anglo-Saxon _haeft_; the handle of a dirk, knife, or any edge-tool; also, the handle of an oar.

HEIGHT. Synonymous with hill, and meaning generally any ground above the common level of the place. Our early navigators used the word as a synonym of latitude.

HEIGHT OF THE HOLD. Used for the depth of the hold.

HEIGHT OF BREADTH. In ship-building, is a delineation generally in two lines--upper and lower--determining the height of the broadest place of each timber.

HELIACAL. A star rises heliacally when it first becomes visible in the morning, after having been hidden in the sun's rays; and it sets heliacally when it is first lost in the evening twilight, owing to the sun's proximity.

HELIER. A cavern into which the tide flows.

HELIOCENTRIC. As seen from, or having reference to, the centre of the sun.

HELIOMETER. An instrument designed for the accurate measurement of the diameters of the sun or planets.

HELIOSTAADT, OR HELIOTROPE. This instrument reflects the sun's rays by a silvered disc, used in the great trigonometrical surveys. It has been visible at 100 miles' distance, from Cumberland to Ireland.

HELL-AFLOAT. A vessel with a bad name for tyranny.

HELM. Properly is the tiller, but sometimes used to express the rudder, and the means used for turning it, which, in small vessels and boats, is merely a tiller, but in larger vessels a wheel is added, which supplies the leverage for pulling the tiller either way; they are connected by ropes or chains.--_A-lee the helm_, or _Down with the helm!_ So place the tiller that the rudder is brought on the weather side of the stern-post. These, and the following orders, were established when tillers extended forward from the rudder-head, but now they often extend aft, which requires the motion of the tiller to be reversed. With the latter style of tiller the order "down with the helm" is carried out by bringing the tiller _up_ to the weather side of the ship; which being done, the order "Helm's a lee" follows.--_Bear up the helm._ That is, let the ship go more large before the wind.--_Ease the helm._ To let the helm come more amidships, when it has been put hard up or down.--It is common to ease the helm before a heavy sea takes the ship when close-hauled.--_Helm amidships_, or _right the helm_. That is, keep it even with the middle of the ship, in a line with the keel.--_Helm over._ The position of the tiller to enable a vessel steaming ahead to describe a curve.--_Port the helm._ Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to starboard. (_See_ _A-lee the helm_.)--_Shift the helm._ Put it from port to starboard, and _vice versa_, or it may be amidships.--_Starboard the helm._ Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to port.--_Up with the helm._ Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to leeward. (_See_ _A-lee the helm_.)

HELMED. An old word for steered; it is metaphorically used by Shakspeare in _Measure for Measure_.

HELMET. A piece of defensive armour; a covering for the head.

HELM-PORT. The round hole or cavity in a ship's counter, through which the head of the rudder passes into the trunk.

HELM-PORT TRANSOM. The piece of timber placed across the lower counter, withinside the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every timber for the security of that part of the ship.

HELMSMAN. The timoneer, or person, who guides the ship or boat by the management of the helm. The same as _steersman_.

HELM-WIND. A singular meteorological phenomenon which occurs in the north of England. Besides special places in Cumberland and Westmoreland, it suddenly rushes from an immense cloud that gathers round the summit of Cross-Fell, covering it like a helmet. Its effects reach the sea-board.

HELMY. Rainy [from an Anglo-Saxon phrase for rainy weather].

HELTER-SKELTER. Hurry and confusion. Defiance of good order. Privateerism.

HELVE. The handle of the carpenter's mauls, axes, and adzes; also of an oar, &c.

HELYER. _See_ HELIER.

HEMISPHERE. Half the surface of a globe. The celestial equator divides the heavens into two hemispheres--the northern and the southern.

HEMP. _Cannabis sativa._ A manufactorial plant of equal antiquity with flax. The produce of hemp in fibre varies from three to six hundred weight per acre, and forms the best of all cordage and ropes. It is mixed with opium in the preparation of those rich drugs called _hashishe_ in Cairo and Constantinople. Those who were in the constant use of them were called _hashishin_ (herb-eaters); and being often by their stimulative properties excited almost to frenzy and to murder, the word "assassin" is said to have been derived by the crusaders from this source. While the French army was in Egypt, Napoleon I. was obliged to prohibit, under the severest penalties, the sale and use of these pernicious substances.

HENDECAGON. A right-lined figure with eleven sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.

HEN-FRIGATE. A ship wherein the captain's wife interfered in the duty or regulations.

HEN'S-WARE. A name of the edible sea-weed _Fucus esculentus_.

HEP-PAH, OR HIPPA. A New Zealand fort, or space surrounded with stout palisades; these rude defences have given our soldiers and sailors much trouble to reduce. (_See_ PAH.)

HEPTAGON. A right-lined figure with seven sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.

HERCULES. The large mass of iron by the blows of which anchors are welded.

HERE-AWAY. A term when a look-out man announces a rhumb or bearing of any object in this quarter.

HERE-FARE [Anglo-Saxon]. An expedition; going to warfare.

HERISSON. A balanced barrier to a passage in a fort, of the nature of a turnstile.

HERLING. A congener of the salmon species found in Scotland; it is small, and shaped like a sea-trout.

HERMAPHRODITE OR BRIG SCHOONER, is square-rigged, but without a top forward, and schooner-rigged abaft; carrying only fore-and-aft sails on the main-mast; in other phrase, she is a vessel with a brig's fore-mast and a schooner's main-mast.

HERMIT-CRAB. A name applied to a group of crabs (family _Paguridae_), of which the hinder part of the body is soft, and which habitually lodge themselves in the empty shell of some mollusc. Also called _soldier-crabs_.

HERMO. A Mediterranean term for the meteor called _corpo santo_.

HERNE. A bight or corner, as Herne Bay, so called from lying in an angle.

HERNSHAW AND HERNE. Old words for the heron.

HERON. A large bird of the genus _Ardea_, which feeds on fish.

HERRING. A common fish--the _Clupea harengus_; Anglo-Saxon _haering_ and _hering_.

HERRING-BONING. A method of sewing up rents in a sail by small cross-stitches, by which the seam is kept flat.

HERRING-BUSS. A peculiar boat of 10 or 15 tons, for the herring fishery. (_See_ BUSS.)

HERRING-COB. A young herring.

HERRING-GUTTED. _See_ SHOTTEN-HERRING.

HERRING-HOG. A name for the porpoise.

HERRING-POND. The Atlantic Ocean.

HETERODROMOUS LEVERS. The windlass, capstan, crank, crane, &c.

HETEROPLON. A kind of naval insurance, where the insurers only run the risk of the outward voyage; when both the going out and return of a vessel is insured, it is called amphoteroplon.

HETTLE. A rocky fishing-ground in the Firth of Forth, which gives name to the fish called Hettle-codling.

HEUGH. A craggy dry dell; a ravine without water.

HEXAGON. A right-lined figure with six sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.

HEYS-AND-HOW. An ancient sea-cheer.

HI! Often used for _hoy_; as, "Hi, you there!" Also, the old term for _they_, as in Sir Ferumbras--

"Costroye there was, the Admiral, With vitaile great plente, And the standard of the sowdon royal, Toward Mantrible ridden hi."

HIDDEN HARBOUR. That of which the outer points so overlap as to cause the coast to appear to be continuous.

HIDE, TO. To beat; to rope's-end or drub. Also, to secrete.

HIE, TO. To flow quickly in a tide-way.

HIE ALOFT. Away aloft.

HIGH. In gunnery, signifies tightly fitting the bore; said of shot, wads, &c. Also, a gun is said to be laid high when too much elevated.

HIGH-AND-DRY. The situation of a ship or other vessel which is aground, so as to be seen dry upon the strand when the tide ebbs from her.

HIGH ENOUGH. Said in hoisting in goods, water, or masts.

HIGH FLOOD. _See_ FLOOD.

HIGH LATITUDES. Those regions far removed from the equator towards the poles of the earth above the 50th degree.

HIGH TIDE, OR HIGH WATER. Figuratively, a full purse. Constance, in Shakspeare's _King John_, uses the term _high tides_ as denoting the gold-letter days or holidays of the calendar.

HIGH-WATER. The greatest height of the flood-tide. (_See_ TIDE.)

HIGH-WATER MARK. The line made by the water upon the shore, when at its greatest height; it is also designated the _flood-mark_ and _spring-tide mark_. This constitutes the boundary line of admiralty jurisdiction as to the soil.

HIGH WIND. _See_ HEAVY GALE.

HIGRE. _See_ BORE and EAGRE.

HIKE. A brief equivalent to "Be off," "Go away." It is generally used in a contemptuous sense; as, he was "hiked off"--that is, dismissed at once, or in a hurry. To swing.

HIKE UP, TO. To kidnap; to carry off by force.

HILL. In use with the Anglo-Saxons. An insulated rise of the ground, usually applied to heights below 1000 feet, yet higher than a _hillock_ or _hummock_ (which see).

HILLOCK. A small coast-hill, differing from a _hummock_ in having a peaked or pointed summit.

HILT. The handle and guard of a sword.

HIND-CASTLE. A word formerly used for the poop, as being opposed to _fore-castle_.

HIPPAGINES, OR HIPPAGOGAE. Ancient transports for carrying cavalry.

HIPPER, OR HIPPING-STONES. Large stones placed for crossing a brook.

HIPPOCAMPUS. A small fish, so termed from the head resembling that of a horse. They live among reeds and long fuci, to which they cling with prehensile tails.

HIPPODAMES. An old word for sea-horses.

HIPSY. A drink compounded of wine, water, and brandy.

HIRE, TO. To take vessel or men on service at a stipulated remuneration.

HIRECANO. An old word for hurricane.

HIRST. The roughest part of a river-ford. A bank.

HITCH. A species of knot by which one rope is connected with another, or to some object. They are various; as, clove-hitch, racking-hitch, timber-hitch (stopped), rolling-hitch, running-hitch, half-hitch, blackwall-hitch, magnus-hitch, marline-spike hitch, harness-hitch, &c. (_See_ BEND and KNOT.) It also signifies motion by a jerk. Figuratively, it is applied to an impediment. A seaman often _hitches up_ his trowsers, which "have no lifts or braces."--_To hitch_ is to make fast a rope, &c., to catch with a hook. Thus of old, when a boat was to be hoisted in, they said--"Hitch the tackles into the rings of the boat."

HITCHER. An old term for a boat-hook.

HO! OR HAY! An exclamation derived from our Danish ancestors, and literally meaning _stop!_

HOAKY. A common petty oath--"By the hoaky!" by your hearth or fire.

HOAM. The dried fat of the cod-fish.

HOASTMEN. An ancient guild at Newcastle dealing in coals.

HOAY, OR HOY! a word frequently added to an exclamation bespeaking attention, as "Main-top, hoay!" and is chiefly used to persons aloft or without the ship.

HOB-A-NOB. To drink cosily; the act of touching glasses in pledging a health. An early and extensive custom falling into disuse.

HOBBLE. A perplexity or difficulty.--_Hobbles_, irons or fetters.

HOBBLER. A coast-man of Kent, a bit of a smuggler, and an unlicensed pilot, ever ready for a job in either of these occupations. Also, a man on land employed in towing a vessel by a rope. Also, a sentinel who kept watch at a beacon.

HOBITS. Small mortars of 6 or 8 inches bore mounted on gun-carriages; in use before the howitzer.

HOBRIN. A northern designation of the blue shark, _Squalus glaucus_.

HOC. The picked dog-fish, _Squalus acanthias_.

HOCK-SAW. A fermented drink along the coasts of China, partaking more of the nature of beer than of spirit, and therefore less injurious than _sam-tsin_.

HOD. A hole under a bank or rock, forming a retreat for fish.

HODDY-DODDY. A west-country name for a revolving light.

HODMADODS. The name among early navigators for Hottentots.

HODMANDODS. _See_ DODMAN.

HODOMETRICAL. A method of finding the longitude at sea by dead-reckoning.

HOE. _See_ HOWE.

HOE-MOTHER, OR HOMER. The basking shark, _Squalus maximus_.

HOE-TUSK. _Squalus mustela_, smooth hound-fish of the Shetlanders.

HOG. A kind of rough, flat scrubbing broom, serving to scrape a ship's bottom under water, particularly in the act of _boot-topping_ (which see); formed by inclosing a multitude of short twigs of birch, or the like, between two pieces of plank, which are firmly attached to each other; the ends of the twigs are then cut off even, so as to form a brush of considerable extent. To this is fitted a long staff, together with two ropes, the former of which is used to thrust the hog under the ship's bottom, and the latter to guide and pull it up again close to the planks, so as to rub off all the dirt. This work is usually performed in the ship's boat.

HOG-BOAT. _See_ HECK-BOAT.

HOGGED. A significant word derived from the animal; it implies that the two ends of a ship's decks droop lower than the midship part, consequently, that her keel and bottom are so strained as to curve upwards. The term is therefore in opposition to that of _sagging_.

HOG-IN-ARMOUR. Soubriquet for an iron-clad ship.

HOGO. From the French _haut-gout_, a disagreeable smell, but rather applied to ill-ventilated berths than to bilge-water.

HOISE. The old word for hoist.

HOIST. The perpendicular height of a sail or flag; in the latter it is opposed to the fly, which implies its breadth from the staff to the outer edge: or that part to which the halliards are bent.

HOIST, OR HOISE, TO. To raise anything; but the term is specially applied to the operation of swaying up a body by the assistance of tackles. It is also invariably used for the hauling up the sails along the masts or stays, and the displaying of flags and pendants, though by the help of a single block only. (_See_ SWAY, TRACING-UP, and WHIP.)

HOISTING-TACKLE. A whip, a burton, or greater purchase, as yard-arm tackles, &c.

HOISTING THE FLAG. An admiral assuming his command "hoists his flag," and is saluted with a definite number of guns by all vessels present.

HOISTING THE PENDANT. Commissioning a ship.

HOLD. The whole interior cavity of a ship, or all that part comprehended between the floor and the lower deck throughout her length.--_The after-hold_ lies abaft the main-mast, and is usually set apart for the provisions in ships of war.--_The fore-hold_ is situated about the fore-hatchway, in continuation with the main-hold, and serves the same purposes.--_The main-hold_ is just before the main-mast, and generally contains the fresh water and beer for the use of the ship's company.--_To rummage the hold_ is to examine its contents.--_To stow the hold_ is to arrange its contents in the most secure and commodious manner possible.--_To trim the hold_ (_see_ TRIM OF THE HOLD). Also, an Anglo-Saxon term for a fort, castle, or stronghold.--_Hold_ is also generally understood of a ship with regard to the land or to another ship; hence we say, "Keep a good hold of the land," or "Keep the land well aboard," which are synonymous phrases, implying to keep near the land; when applied to a ship, we say, "She holds her own;" _i.e._ goes as fast as the other ship; holds her wind, or way.--_To hold._ To assemble for public business; as, to hold a court-martial, a survey, &c.--_Hold!_ An authoritative way of separating combatants, according to the old military laws at tournaments, &c.; stand fast!

HOLD A GOOD WIND, TO. To have weatherly qualities.

HOLD-ALL. A portable case for holding small articles required by soldiers, marines, and small-arm men on service.

HOLD-BEAMS. The lowest range of beams in a merchantman. In a man-of-war they support the orlop-deck. (_See_ ORLOP-BEAMS.)

HOLDERS. The people employed in the hold duties of a ship.

HOLD-FAST. A rope; also the order to the people aloft, when shaking out reefs, &c., to suspend the operation. In ship-building, it means a bolt going down through the rough tree rail, and the fore or after part of each stanchion.

HOLDING-ON. The act of pulling back the hind part of any rope.

HOLDING ON THE SLACK. Doing nothing. (_See_ EYELIDS.)

HOLDING WATER. The act of checking the progress of a boat by holding the oar-blades in the water, and bearing the flat part strongly against the current alongside, so as to meet its resistance. (_See_ BACK ASTERN, OAR, and ROW.)

HOLD OFF. The keeping the hove-in part of a cable or hawser clear of the capstan.

HOLD ON. Keep all you have got in pulling a rope.--_Hold on a minute._ Wait or stop.--_Hold on with your nails and eyelids._ A derisive injunction to a timid climber.

HOLD ON, GOOD STICKS! An apostrophe often made when the masts complain in a fresh squall, or are over-pressed, and it is unadvisable to shorten sail.

HOLD-STANCHIONS. Those which support the hold-beams amidships, and rest on the kelson.

HOLD UP, TO. In meteorological parlance, for the weather to clear up after a gale; to stop raining.

HOLE. A clear open space amongst ice in the Arctic seas.

HOLEBER. A kind of light horseman, who rode about from place to place in the night, to gain intelligence of the landing of boats, men, &c., on the Kentish coast.

HOLES, EYELET OR [OE]ILLET. The holes in sails for points and rope-bands which are fenced round by stitching the edge to a small log-line grommet. In the drumhead of a capstan, the holes receive the capstan-bars.

HOLIDAY. Any part left neglected or uncovered in paying or painting, blacking, or tarring.

HOLLANDS. The spirit principally distilled in Holland.

HOLLARDS. The dead branches and loppings of trees.

HOLLEBUT. A spelling of _halibut_.

HOLLOA, OR HOLLA. An answer to any person calling from a distance, to show they hear. Thus, if the master intends to give any order to the people in the main-top, he previously calls, "Main-top, hoay." It is also the first answer received when hailing a ship. (_See_ HAILING and HOAY.)

HOLLOW. The bore of a rocket. In naval architecture, a name for the fifth or _top-timber-sweep_ (which see). Also, hollow or curved leeches of sails, in contradistinction to straight.

HOLLOW BASTION. In fortification, a bastion of which the terreplein or interior terrace is not continued beyond a certain distance to the rear of the parapet, and thus leaves a central area at a lower level.

HOLLOW-MOULD. The same as _floor-hollow_ (which see).

HOLLOWS AND ROUNDS. Plane-tools used for making mouldings.

HOLLOW SEA. The undulation of the waves after a gale; long hollow-jawed sea; ground-swell.

HOLLOW SHOT. Introduced principally for naval use before the horizontal firing of shells from guns became general. Their weight was about two-thirds that of the solid shot; thus they required less charge of powder and weight of gun than the latter, whilst their smashing effect and first ranges were supposed to be greater. It is clear, however, that if filled with powder, their destructive effect must be immensely increased.

HOLLOW SQUARE. The square generally used by British infantry; a formation to resist cavalry. Each side is composed of four ranks of men, the two foremost kneeling with bayonets forming a fence breast high; the inclosed central space affords shelter to officers, colours, &c. With breech-loading muskets this defence will become less necessary. (_See also_ RALLYING SQUARE.)

HOLM. (_See_ CLETT.) A name both on the shores of Britain and Norway for a small uninhabited island used for pasture; yet in old writers it sometimes is applied to the sea, or a deep water. Also, an ill-defined name applied to a low islet in a river, as well as the flat land by the river side.

HOLOMETRUM GEOMETRICUM. A nautical instrument of brass, one of which, price L4, was supplied to Martin Frobisher in 1576.

HOLSOM. A term applied to a ship that rides without rolling or labouring.

HOLSTER. A case or cover for a pistol, worn at the saddle-bow.

HOLT [from the Anglo-Saxon]. A peaked hill covered with a wood.

HOLUS-BOLUS. Altogether; all at once.

HOLY-STONE. A sandstone for scrubbing decks, so called from being originally used for Sunday cleaning, or obtained by plundering churchyards of their tombstones, or because the seamen have to go on their knees to use it.

HOME. The proper situation of any object, when it retains its full force of action, or when it is properly lodged for convenience. In the former sense it is applied to the sails; in the latter it usually refers to the stowage of the hold. The anchor is said _to come home_ when it loosens, or drags through the ground by the effort of the wind or current. (_See_ ANCHOR.)--_Home_ is the word given by the captain of the gun when, by the sense of his thumb on the touch-hole, he determines that the charge is home, and no air escapes by the touch-hole. It is the word given to denote the top-sail or other sheets being "home," or butting.--_Sheet home!_ The order to extend the clues of sails to the yard-arms.--_The wind blows home._ When it sets continuously over the sea and land with equal velocity. When opposed by vertical or high land, the breeze loses its force as the land is neared: then it does not blow home, as about Gibraltar and Toulon.

HOME-SERVICE. The Channel service; any force, either naval or military, stationed in and about the United Kingdom.

HOME-TRADERS. The contradistinction of foreign-going ships.

HOMEWARD-BOUND. Said of a ship when returning from a voyage to the place whence she was fitted out; or the country to which she belongs.

HOMEWARD-BOUNDER. A ship on her course home.

HOMMELIN. The _Raia rubus_, or rough ray.

HONEST-POUNDS. Used in contradistinction to "_purser's pounds_" (which see).

HONEYCOMB. A spongy kind of flaw in the metal of ordnance, generally due to faulty casting.

HONG. Mercantile houses in China, with convenient warehouses adjoining. Also, a society of the principal merchants of the place.

HONOURS OF WAR. Favourable terms granted to a capitulating enemy on evacuating a fortress; they vary in degree, according to circumstances; generally understood to mean, to march out armed, colours flying, &c., but to pile arms at a given point, and leave them, and be sent home, or give parole not to serve until duly exchanged.

HOO. _See_ HOWE.

HOOD. A covering for a companion-hatch, skylight, &c. Also, the piece of tarred or painted canvas which used to cover the eyes of rigging to prevent water from damaging them; now seldom used. Also, the name given to the upper part of the galley chimney, made to turn round with the wind, that the smoke may always go to leeward.--_Naval hoods or whood._ Large thick pieces of timber which encircle the hawse-holes.

HOOD-ENDS. The ends of the planks which fit into the rabbets of the stem and stern posts.

HOOD OF A PUMP. A frame covering the upper wheel of a chain-pump.

HOODS, OR HOODINGS. The foremost and aftermost planks of the bottom, within and without. Also, coverings to shelter the mortar in bomb-vessels.

HOOK. There are several kinds used at sea, as boat-hooks, can-hooks, cat-hooks, fish-hooks, and the like. A name given to reaches, or angular points in rivers, such as Sandy Hook at New York.--_Laying-hook._ A winch used in rope-making.--_Loof-tackle hooks_, termed _luffs_. A tackle with two hooks, one to hitch into a cringle of the main or fore sail in the bolt-rope, and the other to hitch into a strap spliced to the chess-tree. They pull down the sail, and in a stiff gale help to hold it so that all the stress may not bear upon the tack.

HOOK AND BUTT. The scarphing or laying two ends of planks over each other. (_See_ BUTT-AND-BUTT and HOOK-SCARPH.)

HOOK-BLOCK. Any block, of iron or wood, strapped with a hook.

HOOK-BOLTS. Those used to secure lower-deck ports.

HOOKER, OR HOWKER. A coast or fishing vessel--a small hoy-built craft with one mast, intended for fishing. They are common on our coasts, and greatly used by pilots, especially off the Irish ports. Also, Jack's name for his vessel, the favourite "old hooker." Also, a term for a short pipe, probably derived from _hookah_.

HOOKEY. _See_ HOAKY.

HOOKING. In ship-carpentry this is the act of working the edge of one plank into that of another, in such a manner that they cannot be drawn asunder.

HOOK OF THE DECKS. _See_ BREAST-HOOKS.

HOOK-POTS. Tin cans fitted to hang on the bars of the galley range.

HOOK-ROPES. A rope 6 or 8 fathoms long, with a hook and thimble spliced at one end, and whipped at the other: it is used in coiling hempen cables in the tiers, dragging chain, &c.

HOOK-SCARPH. In ship-carpentry, the joining of two pieces of wood by a strong method of hook-butting, which mode of connecting is termed _hook and butt_.

HOOP. The principal hoops of different kinds used for nautical purposes, are noticed under their several names, as mast-hoops, clasp-hoops, &c. In wind-bound ships in former times the left hands of several boys were tied to a hoop, and their right armed with a nettle, they being naked down to the waist. On the boatswain giving one a cut with his cat, the boy struck the one before him, and each one did the same, beginning gently, but, becoming irritated, they at last laid on in earnest. Also, a nautical punishment for quarrelsome fighters was, that two offenders, similarly fastened, thrashed each other until one gave in. The craven was usually additionally punished by the commander.

HOOPS. The strong iron bindings of the anchor-stock to the shank, though square, are called hoops.

HOPE. A small bay; it was an early term for valley, and is still used in Kent for a brook, and gives name to the adjacent anchorages. Johnson defines it to be any sloping plain between two ridges of hills.

HOPPER-PUNT. A flat-floored lighter for carrying soil or mud, with a _hopper_ or receptacle in its centre, to contain the lading.

HOPPO. The chief of the customs in China.

HOPPO-MEN. Chinese custom-house officers.

HORARY ANGLE. The apparent time by the sun, or the sidereal time of the moon, or planets, or stars, from the meridian.

HORARY MOTION. The march or movement of any heavenly body in the space of an hour.

HORARY TABLES. Tables for facilitating the determination of horary angles.

HORIE-GOOSE. A northern name for the _Anser bernicla_, or brent-goose.

HORIOLAE. Small fishing-boats of the ancients.

HORIZON. The apparent or visible circle which bounds our vision at sea; it is that line which is described by the sky and water appearing to meet. This is designated as the _sensible_ horizon; the _rational_, or _true_ one, being a great circle of the heavens, parallel to the sensible horizon, but passing through the centre of the earth.

HORIZON-GLASSES. Two small speculums on one of the radii of a quadrant or sextant; the one half of the fore horizon-glass is silvered, while the other half is transparent, in order that an object may be seen directly through it: the back horizon-glass is silvered above and below, but in the middle there is a transparent stripe through which the horizon can be seen.

HORIZONTAL. A direction parallel to the horizon, or what is commonly termed lying flat. One of the greatest inconveniences navigators have to struggle with is the frequent want of a distinct sight of the horizon. To obviate this a _horizontal spinning speculum_ was adopted by Mr. Lerson, who was lost in the _Victory_ man-of-war, in which ship he was sent out to make trial of his instrument. This was afterwards improved by Smeaton, and consists of a well-polished metal speculum about 3-1/2 inches in diameter, inclosed within a circular rim of brass, so fitted that the centre of gravity of the whole shall fall near the point on which it spins. This is the end of a steel axis running through the centre of the speculum, above which it finishes in a square for the convenience of fitting a roller on it, bearing a piece of tape wound round it. The cup in which it spins is made of agate flint, or other hard substance. Sextants, with spirit-levels attached, have latterly been used, as well as Becher's horizon; but great dexterity is demanded for anything like an approximation to the truth; wherefore this continues to be a great desideratum in navigation.

HORIZONTAL FIRE. From artillery, is that in which the piece is laid either direct on the object, or with but small elevation above it, the limit on land being 10 deg., and afloat still less. It is the most telling under ordinary circumstances, and includes all other varieties, with the exception of vertical fire, which has elevations of from 30 deg. and upwards; and, according to some few, curved fire, an intermediate kind, of limited application.

HORIZONTAL PARALLAX. _See_ PARALLAX.

HORIZONTAL PLAN. In ship-building, the draught of a proposed ship, showing the whole as if seen from above.

HORIZONTAL RIBBAND LINES. A term given by shipwrights to those lines, or occult ribbands, by which the cant-timbers are laid off, and truly bevelled.

HORN. The arm of a cleat or kevel.

HORN-CARD. Transparent graduated horn-plates to use on charts, either as protractors or for meteorological purposes, to represent the direction of the wind in a cyclone.

HORNED ANGLE. That which is made by a right line, whether tangent or secant, with the circumference of a circle.

HORNEL. A northern term for the largest species of sand-launce or sand-eel.

HORN-FISC. Anglo-Saxon for the sword-fish.

HORN-FISTED. Having hands inured to hauling ropes.

HORNING. In naval architecture, is the placing or proving anything to stand square from the middle line of the ship, by setting an equal distance thereon.

HORN-KECK. An old term for the _green-back_ fish.

HORNOTINAE. Ancient vessels which were built in a year.

HORNS. The points of the jaws of the booms. Also, the outer ends of the cross-trees. Also, two extreme points of land inclosing a bay.

HORNS OF THE MOON. The extremities of the lunar crescent, in which form she is said to be horned.

HORNS OF THE RUDDER. _See_ RUDDER-HORN.

HORNS OF THE TILLER. The pins at the extremity.

HORN-WORK. In fortification, a form of outwork having for its head a bastioned front, and for its sides two long straight faces, which are flanked by the guns of the body of the place. Sometimes it is a detached outwork.

HOROLOGIUM UNIVERSALE. An old brass nautical instrument, one of which was supplied to Martin Frobisher, at an expense of L2, 6_s._ 8_d._, when fitting out on his first voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage.

HORS DE COMBAT. A term adopted from the French, signifying so far disabled as to be incapable of taking farther share in the action.

HORSE. A foot-rope reaching from the opposite quarter of a yard to its arms or shoulders, and depending about two or three feet under the yard, for the sailors to tread on while they are loosing, reefing, or furling the sails, rigging out the studding-sail booms, &c. In order to keep the horse more parallel to the yard, it is usually attached thereto at proper distances, by certain ropes called stirrups, which have an eye spliced into their lower ends, through which the horse passes. (_See_ STIRRUPS and FOOT-ROPES.) Also, a rope formerly fast to the fore-mast fore-shrouds, with a dead-eye to receive the spritsail-sheet-pendant, and keep the spritsail-sheets clear of the flukes of the anchor. Also, the breast-rope which is made fast to the shrouds to protect the leadsman. Also, applied to any pendant and thimble through which running-rigging was led, now commonly called a lizard. Also, a thick rope, extending in a perpendicular direction near the fore or after side of a mast, for the purpose of hoisting some yard, or extending a sail thereon; when before the mast, it is used for the square-sail, whose yard is attached to the horse by means of a traveller or bull's-eye, which slides up and down. When it is abaft the mast, it is intended for the trysail of a snow; but is seldom used in this position, except in those sloops of war which occasionally assume the appearance of snows to deceive the enemy. Also, the name of the sawyer's frame or trestle. Also, the round iron bar formerly fixed to the main-rail at the head with stanchions; a fir rail is now used, and the head berthed up. Also, in cutters or schooners, one horse is a stout iron bar, with a large thimble, which spans the vessel from side to side close to the deck before the fore-mast. To this the forestaysail-sheet is hauled, and traverses. The other horse is a similar bar abaft, on which the main-boom sheet traverses. Also, cross-pieces on the tops of standards, on which the booms or spare-spars or boats are lashed between the fore and main masts. Horses are also termed jack-stays, on which sails are hauled out, as gaff-sails. Horse is a term of derision where an officer assumes the grandioso, demanding honour where honour is not his due. Also, a strict disciplinarian, in nautical parlance. Also, tough salt beef--_salt horse_.--_Flemish horse_ is the horse which has an iron thimble in one end, which goes over the iron point of the yard-arm before the studding-sail boom-iron is put on; in the other, a lashing eye, which is secured near the head earing of the top-sail. It is intended for the men at the earing in reefing, or when setting the top-gallant-studding-sails.

HORSE-ARTILLERY. A branch of field artillery specially equipped to man[oe]uvre with cavalry, having lighter guns, and all its gunners mounted on horseback. Its service demands a rare combination of soldierly qualities.

HORSE-BUCKETS. Covered buckets for carrying spirits or water in.

HORSE-BUCKLE. The great whelk.

HOUSE-COCKLE. _See_ GAWKY.

HORSE-FOOT. A name of the _Limulus polyphemus_ of the shores of America, where from its shape it is called the horse-shoe or lantern crab.

HORSE-LATITUDES. A space between the westerly winds of higher latitudes and the trade-winds, notorious for tedious calms. The name arose from our old navigators often throwing the horses overboard which they were transporting to America and the West Indies.

HORSE-MACKEREL. A large and coarse member of the Scomber family, remarkably greedy, and therefore easily taken, but unwholesome.

HORSE-MARINE. An awkward lubberly person. One out of place.

HORSE-MUSSEL. _See_ DUCK-MUSSEL.

HORSE-POTATOES. The old word for yams.

HORSE-POWER. A comparative estimate of the capacity of steam-engines, by assuming a certain average effective pressure of steam, and a certain average linear velocity of the piston. The pressure multiplied by the velocity gives the effective force of the engine exerted through a given number of feet per minute; and since the force called a horse-power means 33,000 lbs. acting thus one foot per minute, it follows that the nominal power of the engine will be found by dividing the effective force exerted by the piston, multiplied by the number of feet per minute through which it acts by 33,000.

HORSES. Blocks in whalers for cutting blubber on. (_See_ WHITE-HORSE.)

HORSE-SHOE. In old fortification, a low work of this plan sometimes thrown up in ditches.

HORSE-SHOE CLAMP. The iron or copper straps so shaped, used as the fastenings which connect the gripe with the fore-foot at the scarph of the keel and stem.

HORSE-SHOE HINGES. Those by which side-scuttles or ventilators to the cabins are hung.

HORSE-SHOE RACK. A sweep curving from the bitt-heads abaft the main-mast carrying a set of nine-pin swivel-blocks as the fair leaders of the light running gear, staysail, halliards, &c.

HORSE-TONGUE. A name applied to a kind of sole.

HORSE-UP. _See_ HORSING-IRON.

HORSING-IRON. An iron fixed in a withy handle, sometimes only lashed to a stick or tree-nail, and used with a beetle by caulkers.--_To horse-up_, or harden in the oakum of a vessel's seams.

HOSE (for watering, &c.) An elastic pipe.

HOSE-FISH. A name for a kind of cuttle-fish.

HOSPITAL. A place appointed for the reception of sick and wounded men, with a regular medical establishment. (_See_ NAVAL HOSPITALS.)

HOSPITAL-SHIP. A vessel fitted to receive the sick, either remaining in port, or accompanying a fleet, as circumstance demands. She carries the chief surgeons, &c. The _Dreadnought_, off Greenwich, is a free hospital-ship for seamen of all nations.

HOSTAGE. A person given up to an enemy as a pledge or security for the performance of the articles of a treaty.

HOSTILE CHARACTER is legally constituted by having landed in an enemy's territory, and by residing there, temporary absence being immaterial; by permanent trade with an enemy; and by sailing under an enemy's flag.

HOST-MEN. An ancient guild or fraternity at Newcastle, to whom we are indebted for the valuable sea-coal trade. (_See_ HOASTMEN.)

HOT COPPERS. Dry fauces; morning thirst, but generally applied to those who were drinking hard over-night.

HOT-PRESS. When the press-gangs were instructed, on imminent emergency, to impress seamen, regardless of the protections.

HOT-SHOT. Balls made red-hot in a furnace. Amongst the savages in Bergou, the women are in the rear of the combatants, and they heat the heads of the spears, exchanging them for such as are cooled in the fight.

HOT-WELL. In a steamer, a reservoir from whence to feed the boiler with the warm water received out of the condenser; it also forms part of the discharge passage from the air-pump into the sea.

HOUND-FISH. The old Anglo-Saxon term for dog-fish--_hund-fisc_.

HOUNDS. Those projections at the mast-head serving as supports for the trestle-trees of large and rigging of smaller masts to rest upon. With lower masts they are termed _cheeks_.

HOUNSID. A rope bound round with service.

HOUR-ANGLE. The angular distance of a heavenly body east or west of the meridian.

HOUR-GLASS. The sand-glass: a measure of the hour.

HOUSE, TO. To enter within board. To house a topgallant-mast, is to lower it so as to prevent the rigging resting or chafing on the cap, and securing its heel to the mast below it. This admits of double-reefed top-sails being set beneath.

HOUSE-BOAT. One with a cabin; a _coche d'eau_.

HOUSED. The situation of the great guns upon the lower gun-decks when they are run in clear of the port, and secured. The breech being let down, the muzzle rests against the side above the port; they are then secured by their tackles, muzzle-lashings, and breechings. Over the muzzle of every gun are two strong eye-bolts for the muzzle-lashings, which are 3-1/2-inch rope. When this operation is well performed, no accident is feared, as every act is one of mechanical skill. A gun is sometimes housed fore and aft to make room, as in the cabin, &c. Ships in ordinary, not in commission, are housed over by a substantial roofing.

HOUSEHOLD TROOPS. A designation of the horse and foot guards, who enjoy many immunities and privileges for attending the sovereign.

HOUSEWIFE. _See_ HUZ-ZIF.

HOUSING, OR HOUSE-LINE. A small line formed of three fine strands, smaller than rope yarn; principally used for seizings of the block-strops, fastening the clues of sails to their bolt-ropes, and other purposes. (_See_ MARLINE, TWINE.)

HOUSING-IN. After a ship in building is past the breadth of her bearing, and that she is brought in too narrow to her upper works, she is said to be _housed in_, or pinched. (_See_ TUMBLING HOME.)

HOUSING OF A LOWER MAST. That part of a mast which is below deck to the step in the kelson; of a bowsprit, the portion within the _knight-heads_.

HOUSING-RINGS. Ring-bolts over the lower deck-ports, through the beam-clamps, to which the muzzle-lashings of the guns are passed when housed.

HOUVARI. A strong land wind of the West Indies, accompanied with rain, thunder, and lightning.

HOUZING. A northern term for lading water.

HOVE DOWN, properly _hove out_ or _careened_. The situation of a ship when heeled or placed thus for repairs.--_Hove off_, when removed from the ground.--_Hove up_, when brought into the slips or docks by cradles on the gridiron, &c.

HOVE-IN-SIGHT. The anchor in view. Also, a sail just discovered.

HOVE-IN-STAYS. The position of a ship in the act of going about.

HOVE KEEL OUT. Hove so completely over the beam-ends that the keel is above the water.

HOVELLERS. A Cinque-Port term for pilots and their boatmen; but colloquially, it is also applied to sturdy vagrants who infest the sea-coast in bad weather, in expectation of wreck and plunder.

HOVERING, AND HOVERING ACTS. Said of smugglers of old.

HOVE-SHORT. The ship with her cable hove taut towards her anchor, when the sails are usually loosed and braced for canting; sheeted home.--_Hove well short_, the position of the ship when she is drawn by the capstan nearly over her anchor.

HOVE-TO. From the act of heaving-to; the motion of the ship stopped. It is curious to observe that seamen have retained an old word which has otherwise been long disused. It occurs in Grafton's _Chronicle_, where the mayor and aldermen of London, in 1256, understanding that Henry III. was coming to Westminster from Windsor, went to Knightsbridge, "and _hoved_ there to salute the king."

HOW. An ancient term for the carina or hold of a ship.

HOWE, HOE, OR HOO. A knoll, mound, or elevated hillock.

HOW FARE YE? Are you all hearty? are you working together? a good old sea phrase not yet lost.

HOWITZER. A piece of ordnance specially designed for the horizontal firing of shells, being shorter and much lighter than any gun of the same calibre. The rifled gun, however, throwing a shell of the same capacity from a smaller bore, and with much greater power, is superseding it for general purposes.

HOWKER. _See_ HOOKER.

HOWLE. An old English word for the hold of a ship. When the foot-hooks or futtocks of a ship are scarphed into the ground-timbers and bolted, and the plank laid up to the orlop-deck, then they say, "the ship begins to howle."

HOY. A call to a man. Also, a small vessel, usually rigged as a sloop, and employed in carrying passengers and goods, particularly in short distances on the sea-coast; it acquired its name from stopping when called to from the shore, to take up goods or passengers. In Holland the hoy has two masts, in England but one, where the main-sail is sometimes extended by a boom, and sometimes without it. In the naval service there are _gun-hoy_, _powder-hoy_, _provision-hoy_, _anchor-hoy_, all rigged sloop-fashion.

HOYSE. The old word for hoist.

HUBBLE-BUBBLE. An eastern pipe for smoking tobacco through water, which makes a bubbling noise.

HUDDOCK. The cabin of a keel or coal-barge.

"'Twas between Ebbron and Yarrow, There cam on a varry strong gale; The skipper luicked out o' th' huddock, Crying, 'Smash, man, lower the sail!'"

HUDDUM. The old northern term for a kind of whale.

HUER. A man posted on an elevation near the sea, who, by concerted signals, directs the fishermen when a shoal of fish is in sight. Synonymous with _conder_ (which see). Also, the hot fountains in the sea near Iceland, where many of them issue from the land.

HUFFED. Chagrined, offended, often needlessly.

HUFFLER. One who carries off fresh provisions to a ship; a Kentish term.

HUG, TO.--_To hug the land_, to sail as near it as possible, the land however being to windward.--_To hug the wind_, to keep the ship as close-hauled to the wind as possible.

HUGGER-MUGGER. In its Shakspearian bearing may have meant secretly, or in a clandestine manner, but its nautical application is to express anything out of order or done in a slovenly way.

HUISSIERS. The flat-bottomed transports in which horses were embarked in the Crusades.

HULCOCK. A northern name for the _Squalus galeus_, or smooth hound-fish.

HULK. Is generally applied to a vessel condemned as unfit for the risks of the sea, and used as a store-vessel and housing for crews while refitting the vessels they belong to. There are also hulks for convicts, and for masting, as _sheer-hulk_. (_See_ SHEERS.)

HULL. The Gothic _hulga_ meant a husk or external covering, and hence the body of a ship, independent of masts, yards, sails, rigging, and other furniture, is so called.--_To hull_, signifies to hit with shot; to drive to and fro without rudder, sail, or oar; as Milton--

"He looked and saw the ark hull on the flood."

--_To strike hull_ in a storm, is to take in her sails and lash the helm on the lee side of the ship, which is termed _to lie a-hull_.

HULL-DOWN. Is said of a ship when at such a distance that, from the convexity of the globe, only her masts and sails are to be seen.

HULLING. Lying in wait at sea without any sails set. Also, to hit with shot.

HULLOCK OF A SAIL. A small part lowered in a gale.

HULL-TO. The situation of a ship when she is lying a-hull, or with all her sails furled.

HULLY. A long wicker-trap used for catching eels.

HUMBER-KEEL. A particular clincher-built craft used on the Humber.

HUMLA-BAND. A northern term for the grommet to an oar-pin or thole.

HUMMOCK. A hill with a rounded summit or conical eminence on the sea-coast. When in pairs they are termed _paps_ by navigators (which see).

HUMMOCKS OF ICE. Protuberant lumps of ice thrown up by some pressure upon a _field_ or _floe_, or any other frozen plane. The pieces which rise when large fragments come in contact, and bits of pack are frozen together and covered with snow.

HUMMUMS. From the Arabic word _hammam_, a bagnio or bath.

HUMP-BACKED WHALE. A species of whalebone whale, the _Megaptera longimana_, which attains to 45 or 50 feet in length, and is distinguished by its low rounded dorsal fin.

HURD. The strand of a rope.

HURDICES. Ramparts, scaffolds, fortifications, &c.

HURDIGERS. Particular artificers employed in constructing the castles in our early ships.

HURLEBLAST. An archaic term for _hurricane_.

HURRICANE. _See_ TYPHOON.

HURRICANE-DECK. A light deck over the saloon of some steamers.

HURRICANE-HOUSE. Any building run up for temporary purposes; the name is occasionally given to the round-house on a vessel's deck.

HURRICANO. Shakspeare evidently makes King Lear use this word as a water-spout.

HURRY. A staith or wharf where coals are shipped in the north.

HURST. Anglo-Saxon to express a wood.

HURT. A wound or injury for which a compensation can be claimed.

HURTLE, TO. To send bodily on by a swell or wind.

HUSBAND, OR SHIP'S HUSBAND. An agent appointed by deed, executed by all the owners, with power to advance and lend, to make all payments, to receive the prices of freights, and to retain all claims. But this office gives him no authority to insure or to borrow money; and he is to render a full account to his employers.

HUSH. A name of the lump-fish, denoting the female.

HUSSAR, OR HUZZAR. A Hungarian term signifying "twentieth," as the first hussars were formed by selecting from various regiments the ablest man in every twenty; now generally a light-cavalry soldier equipped somewhat after the original Hungarian fashion.

HUT. The same as _barrack_ (which see).

HUTT. The breech-pin of a gun.

HUZZA! This was originally the _hudsa_, or cry, of the Hungarian light horse, but is now also the national shout of the English in joy and triumph.

HUZ-ZIF. A general corruption of _housewife_. A very useful contrivance for holding needles and thread, and the like.

HYDRAULIC DOCK. _See_ CAISSON.

HYDRAULIC PRESS. The simple yet powerful water-press invented by Bramah, without which it would have been a puzzle to float the enormous _Great Eastern_.

HYDRAULIC PURCHASE. A machine for drawing up vessels on a slip, in which the pumping of water is used to multiply the force applied.

HYDRAULICS. _See_ HYDROLOGY.

HYDROGRAPHER. One who surveys coasts, &c., and constructs true maps and charts founded on astronomical observations. The hydrographer to the admiralty presides over the hydrographical office.

HYDROGRAPHICAL CHARTS OR MAPS. Usually called _sea-charts_, are projections of some part of the sea and its neighbouring coast for the use of navigation, and therefore the depth of water and nature of the bottom are minutely noted.

HYDROGRAPHICAL OFFICE. A department of the admiralty where the labours of the marine surveyors of the Royal Navy are collected and published.

HYDROGRAPHY. The science of marine surveying, requiring the principal points to be astronomically fixed.

HYDROLOGY. That part of physics which explains the properties of water, and is usually divided into hydrostatics and hydraulics. The former treats of weighing water and fluids in general, and of ascertaining their specific gravities; the latter shows the manner of conveying water from one place to another.

HYDROMETER. An instrument constructed to measure the specific gravities of fluids. That used at sea for testing the amount of salt in the water is a glass tube containing a scale, the bottom of the tube swelling out into two bulbs, of which the lower is laden with shot, which causes the instrument to float perpendicularly, and as it displaces its own weight of water, of course it sinks deeper as the water is lighter, which is recorded by the scale.

HYGRE. (_See_ BORE and EAGRE.) An effect of counter-currents.

HYGROMETER. An instrument for ascertaining the quantity of moisture in the atmosphere.

HYPERBOLA. One of the conic sections formed by cutting a cone by a plane which is so inclined to the axis, that when produced it cuts also the opposite cone, or the cone which is the continuation of the former, on the opposite side of the vertex.

HYPOTHECA. A mortgage. In the civil law, was where the thing pledged remained with the debtor.

HYPOTHECATION. An authority to the master, amounting almost to a power of the absolute disposal of the ship in a foreign country; he may hypothecate not only the hull, but his freight and cargo, for necessary and urgent repairs.

HYTHE. A pier or wharf to lade or unlade wares at [from the Anglo-Saxon _hyd_, coast or haven].