X.

8th. Along the coast of Guinea, from Sierra Leone to the island of St. Thomas, (under the equator) which is above 500 leagues, the southerly and south-west winds blow perpetually: for the S. E. trade-wind having passed the equator, and approaching the Guinea coast within 80 or 100 leagues, inclines towards the shore, and becomes south, then S. E. and by degrees, as it approaches the land, it veers about to south, S. S. W. and when very near the land it is S. W. and sometimes W. S. W. This tract is troubled with frequent calms, violent sudden gusts of wind, called tornadoes, blowing from all points of the horizon.

The reason of the wind setting in west on the coast of Guinea, is in all probability owing to the nature of the coast, which being greatly heated by the sun, rarefies the air exceedingly, and consequently the cool air from off the sea will keep rushing in to restore the equilibrium.

9th. Between the 4th and 10th degrees of north latitude, and between the longitude of Cape Verd, and the eastermost of the Cape Verd isles, there is a track of sea which seems to be condemned to perpetual calms, attended with terrible thunder and lightnings, and such frequent rains, that this part of the sea is called therains. In sailing through these six degrees, ships are said to have been sometimes detained whole months.

The cause of this is apparently, that the westerly winds setting in on this coast, and meeting the general easterly wind in this track, balance each other, and so produce the calms; and the vapours carried thither by each wind meeting and condensing, occasion the almost constant rains.

The last three observations shew the reason of two things which mariners experience in sailing from Europe to India, and in the Guinea trade.

And first. The difficulty which ships in going to the southward, especially in the months of July and August, find in passing between the coast of Guinea and Brasil, notwithstanding the width of this sea is more than 500 leagues. This happens, because the S. E. winds at that time of the year commonly extend some degrees beyond the ordinary limits of 4° N. latitude; and besides coming so much southerly, as to be sometimes south, sometimes a point or two to the west; it then only remains to ply to windward: And if, on the one side, they steer W. S. W. they get a wind more and more easterly; but then there is danger of falling in with the Brasilian coast, or shoals: and if they steer E. S. E. they fall into the neighbourhood of the coast of Guinea, from whence they cannot depart without running easterly as far as the island of St. Thomas; and this is the constant practice of all the Guinea ships.

Secondly. All ships departing from Guinea for Europe, their direct course is northward; but on this course they cannot proceed, because the coast bending nearly east and west, the land is to the northward. Therefore, as the winds on this coast are generally between the S. and W. S. W. they are obliged to steer S. S. E. or south, and with these courses they run off the shore; but in so doing they always find the winds more and more contrary; so that when near the shore, they can lie south; but at a greater distance they can make no better than S. E. and afterwards E. S. E.; with which courses they commonly fetch the island of St. Thomas and Cape Lopez, where finding the winds to the eastward of the south, they sail westerly with it, till coming to the latitude of four degrees south, where they find the S. E. wind blowing perpetually.

On account of these general winds, all those that use the West India trade, and even those bound to Virginia, reckon it their best course to get as soon as they can to the southward, that so they may be certain of a fair and fresh gale to run before it to the westward: And for the same reason those homeward-bound from America endeavour to gain the latitude of 30 degrees, where they first find the winds begin to be variable; though the most ordinary winds in the north Atlantic ocean come from between the south and west.

10th. Between the southern latitudes of 10 and 30 degrees in the Indian ocean, the general trade-wind about the S. E.byS. is found to blow all the year long in the same manner as in the like latitudes in the Ethiopic ocean: and during the six months from May to December, these winds reach to within two degrees of the equator; but during the other six months, from November to June, a N. W. wind blows in the tract lying between the 3d and 10th degrees of southern latitude, in the meridian of the north-end of Madagascar; and between the 2d and 12th degree of south latitude, near the longitude of Sumatra and Java.

11th. In the tract between Sumatra and the African coast, and from three degrees of south latitude quite northward to the Asiatic coasts, including the Arabian sea and the Gulf of Bengal, the Monsoons blow from September to April on the N. E.; and from March to October on the S. W. In the former half-year the wind is more steddy and gentle, and the weather clearer, than in the latter six months: and the wind is more strong and steddy in the Arabian sea than in the Gulf of Bengal.

12th. Between the island of Madagascar and the coast of Africa, and thence northward as far as the equator, there is a tract, wherein from April to October there is a constant fresh S. S. W. wind; which to the northward changes into the W. S. W. wind, blowing at times in the Arabian sea.

13th. To the eastward of Sumatra and Malacca on the north of the equator, and along the coasts of Cambodia and China, quite through the Philippines as far as Japan, the Monsoons blow northerly and southerly; the northern one setting in about October or November, and the southern about May. The winds are not quite so certain as those in the Arabian seas.

14th. Between Sumatra and Java to the west, and New Guinea to the east, the same northerly and southerly winds are observed; but the first half year Monsoon inclines to the N. W. and the latter to the S. E. These winds begin a month or six weeks after those in the Chinese seas set in, and are quite as variable.

15th. These contrary winds do not shift from one point to its opposite all at once; and in some places the time of the change is attended with calms, in others by variable winds: and it often happens on the shores of Coromandel and China, towards the end of the Monsoons, that there are most violent storms, greatly resembling the hurricanes in the West Indies; wherein the wind is so excessively strong, that hardly any thing can resist its force.

All navigation in the Indian ocean must necessarily be regulated by these winds; for if mariners should delay their voyages till the contrary Monsoon begins, they must either sail back, or go into harbour, and wait for the return of the trade-wind.

The relative force of the wind upon a ship’s sails, and the epithets by which it is distinguished, asfair,large, &c. according to the angle which it makes with her course, are explained in the articleSailing.

ReigningWind. SeeReigning Wind.

ToWinda ship or boat, is to change her position, by bringing the stern to lie in the situation of the head; or directly opposite to its former situation.

ToWindward, towards that part of the horizon from whence the wind bloweth.

WINDAGE, the difference between the diameter of a piece of artillery, and the diameter of the shot or shell corresponding thereto. SeeCannonandMortar.

WINDINGa Call, the act of blowing or piping upon a boatswain’s whistle, so as to communicate the necessary orders ofhoisting,heaving,belaying,slackening, &c. See the articleCall.

Winding-Tackle, a name usually given to a tackle formed of three fixed and two or three moveable sheaves. It is principally employed to hoist up any weighty materials into or out of a ship, in the exercises of lading and delivering. SeeTackle.

WINDLASS,vindas, a machine used in merchant-ships to heave up the anchors from the bottom, &c.

The windlass is a large cylindrical piece of timber, fig. 15. plateXII. formed on the principles of theaxis in peritrochio. It is supported at the two ends by two frames of wood,a,b, placed on the opposite sides of the deck near the fore-mast, calledknight-heads, and is turned about in this position as upon an axis, by levers called handspecs, which are for this purpose thrust into holes bored through the body of the machine. See the articleHeaving.

The lower part of the windlass is usually about a foot above the deck. It is, like thecapstern, furnished with strongpauls,c,d, to prevent it from turning backwards by the effort of the cable, when charged with the weight of the anchor, or strained by the violent jerking of the ship in a tempestuous sea. The pauls, which are formed of wood or iron, fall into notches, cut in the surface of thewindlass, and lined with plates of iron. Each of the pauls being accordingly hung over a particular part of the windlass, falls eight times into the notches at every revolution of the machine, because there are eight notches placed on its circumference under the pauls. So if the windlass is twenty inches in diameter, and purchases five feet of the cable at every revolution, it will be prevented from turning back, or losing any part thereof, at every seven inches nearly, which is heaved in upon its surface.

As this machine is heaved about in a vertical direction, it is evident that the effort of an equal number of men acting upon it will be much more powerful than on the capstern; because their whole weight and strength are applied more readily to the end of the lever employed to turn it about. Whereas, in the horizontal movement of the capstern, the exertion of their force is considerably diminished. It requires, however, some dexterity and address to manage the handspec to the greatest advantage; and to perform this the sailors must all rise at once upon the windlass, and, fixing their bars therein, give a sudden jerk at the same instant, in which movement they are regulated by a sort of song or howl pronounced by one of their number.

The most dextrous managers of the handspec in heaving at the windlass are generally supposed the colliers of Northumberland: and of all European mariners, the Dutch are certainly the most aukward and sluggish in this manœuvre.

WINDSAIL, a sort of wide tube or funnel of canvas, employed to convey a stream of fresh air downward into the lower apartments of a ship.

This machine is usually extended by large hoops situated in different parts of its height. It is let down perpendicularly through thehatches, being expanded at the lower end like the base of a cone; and having its upper part open on the side which is placed to windward, so as to receive the full current of the wind; which, entering the cavity, fills the tube, and rushes downwards into the lower regions of the ship. There are generally three or four of these in our capital ships of war, which, together with the ventilators, contribute greatly to preserve the health of the crew.

WINGS, a name given to those parts of a ship’sholdwhich are nearest to the sides, or farthest removed from the middle of her breadth.

This term is particularly used in the stowage of the several materials contained in the hold; as, Stow the large casksamidships, and the smaller barrels in the wings. SeeTrimandStowage.

Wingsare also the skirts or extremities of a fleet when it is ranged into a line a-breast, or when bearing away upon two sides of an angle. Thus the ships a, b. fig. 10. & 11. plateV. are in the wings of their fleet or squadron.

It is usual to extend the wings of a fleet in the day-time, in order to discover any enemy which may fall into their track. To prevent separation, however, they are commonly summoned to draw nearer to the center of the squadron before night, by a signal from the commander in chief, which is afterwards repeated by ships in the intervals.

WOOLDING,surlier, (woelen, Dut.) the act of winding a piece of rope about a mast or yard, to support it in a place where it may have beenfishedorscarfed; or when it is composed of several pieces united into one solid. SeeMast.

Wooldingis also the rope employed in this service. Those which are fixed on the lower masts, are represented ina, fig. 1, 2, & 3. plateVI.

ToWORK,manœuvrer, to direct the movements of a ship, by adapting the sails to the force and direction of the wind.

A ship is also said to work, when she strains and labours heavily in a tempestuous sea, so as to loosen her joints or timbers. SeePitchingandRolling.

WORKINGto windward, the operation by which a ship endeavours to make a progress against the wind. SeeBeating,Plying,Turning, andTacking.

WORMING,emieller, the act of winding a rope spirally about a cable, so as to lie close along the interval between every two strands. It is generally designed to support and strengthen the cable, that it may be enabled to sustain a greater effort when the ship rides at anchor; and also to preserve the surface of the cable, where it lies flat upon the ground, near the station of the anchor: particularly in moderate weather.

WRECK, the ruins of a ship which has been stranded or dashed to pieces on a shelf, rock, or lee-shore, by tempestuous weather.

As we wish to pay all possible attention in this work to every improvement in the marine, we have exhibited in plateVIII. a section of this machine at large, as fixed in a frigate of war, fig. 2. wherein A is the keel, and V the floor timbers, and X the kelson,a a athe several links of the chain,b bthe valves, C the upper wheels, D the lower wheels,c cthe cavities upon the surface of the wheels to receive the valves as they pass round thereon,d dthe bolts fixed across the surface of the wheels, to fall in the interval between every two links, to prevent the chain from sliding back.

The links of the chain, which are no other than two long plates of iron with a hole at each end, and fixed together by two bolts serving as axles, are represented on a larger scale asa a. The valves are two circular plates of iron with a piece of leather between them: these are also exhibited at large byb b.

Upon a trial of this machine with the old chain-pump aboard the seaford frigate, it appears, in a report signed by rear admiral Sir John Moore, 12 captains, and 11 lieutenants of his majesty’s navy, that its effects, when compared with the latter, were as follow.

The subscribers further certify, that the chain of the new pump was dropped into the well, and afterwards taken up and repaired and set at work again in two minutes and a half; and that they have seen the lower wheel of the said pump taken up to show how readily it might be cleared and refitted for action, after being choaked with sand or gravel; which they are of opinion may be performed in four or five minutes.

XEBEC, a small three-masted vessel, navigated in the Mediterranean sea, and on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and Barbary. See fig. 8. plateXII.

The sails of the xebec are in general similar to those of the polacre, but the hull is extremely different from that and almost every other vessel. It is furnished with a strongprow, and the extremity of the stern, which is nothing more than a sort of railed platform or gallery, projects farther behind the counter and buttock than that of any European ship.

Being generally equipped as a corsair, the xebec is constructed with a narrow floor, to be more swift in pursuit of the enemy; and of a great breadth, to enable her to carry a great force of sail for this purpose, without danger of overturning. As these vessels are usually very low-built, their decks are formed with a great convexity from the middle of their breadth towards the sides, in order to carry off the water, which falls aboard, more readily by their scuppers. But as this extreme convexity would render it very difficult to walk thereon at sea, particularly when the vessel rocks by the agitation of the waves, there is a platform of grating extending along the deck from the sides of the vessel towards the middle, whereon the crew may walk dry-footed, whilst the water is conveyed through the grating to the scuppers.

When a xebec is equipped for war, she is occasionally navigated in three different methods, according to the force or direction of the wind.

Thus, when the wind isfair, and nearly astern, it is usual to extendsquaresails upon the main-mast; and indeed frequently on the fore-mast: and as those sails are rarely used in a scant wind, they are of an extraordinary breadth.

When the wind is unfavourable to the course, and yet continues moderate, the square yards and sails are removed from the masts, and laid by, in order to make way for the large lateen yards and sails, which soon after assume their place: but if the foul wind increases to a storm, these latter are also lowered down and displaced; and small lateen yards with proportional sails are extended on all the masts.

The xebecs, which are generally armed as vessels of war by the Algerines, mount from sixteen to twenty-four cannon, and carry from 300 to 450 men, two thirds of whom are generally soldiers.

By the very complicated and inconvenient method of working these vessels, it will be readily believed, what one of their captains of Algiers acquainted the author, viz. That the crew of every xebec has at least the labour of threesquare-riggedships, wherein the standing sails are calculated to answer every situation of the wind.

YACHT, a vessel of state, usually employed to convey princes, ambassadors, or other great personages from one kingdom to another.

As the principal design of a yacht is to accommodate the passengers, it is usually fitted with a variety of convenient apartments, with suitable furniture, according to the quality or number of the persons contained therein.

The royal yachts are commonly rigged as ketches, except the principal one reserved for the sovereign, which is equipped with three masts like a ship. They are in general elegantly furnished, and richly ornamented with sculpture; and always commanded by captains in his majesty’s navy.

Besides these, there are many other yachts of a smaller kind, employed by the commissioners of the excise, navy, and customs; or used as pleasure-boats by private gentlemen.

YARD,vergue, a long piece of timber suspended upon the masts of a ship, to extend the sails to the wind. SeeMastandSail.

All yards are either square or lateen; the former of which are suspended across the mast at right angles, and the latter obliquely.

The square-yards, fig. 1. plateIX. are nearly of a cylindrical surface. They taper from the middle, which is called theslings, towards the extremities which are termed theyard-arms; and the distance between the slings and the yard-arms on each side, is, by the artificers, divided into quarters, which are distinguished into the first, second, third quarters, and yard-arms. The middle quarters are formed into eight squares, and each of the end parts is figured like the frustrum of a cone. All the yards of a ship are square except that of the mizen.

The proportions for the length of yards, according to the different classes of ships in the British navy, are as follows:

Cross-jack and sprit-sail yards equal to the fore topsail yard.

Sprit topsail yard equal to the fore top-gallant-yard.

The diameters of yards are in the following proportions to their length.

The main and fore yard five sevenths of an inch to a yard. The topsail, cross-jack, and sprit-sail yards, nine fourteenths of an inch to one yard. The top-gallant, mizen topsail, and sprit-sail topsail yards eight thirteenths of an inch to one yard.

The mizen yard five ninths of an inch to one yard.

All studding-sail booms and yards half an inch to one yard in length.

The lifts of the main-yard are exhibited in the above figure, byg; the horses and their stirrups, byh,i; the reef-tackles and their pendants, byk,l; and the braces and brace-pendants, bym,n.

The lateen-yards evidently derive their names from having been peculiar to the ancient Romans. They are usually composed of several pieces fastened together by wooldings, which also serve as steps whereby the sailors climb to thepeek, or upper extremity, in order to furl or cast loose the sail.

The mizen-yard of a ship, and the main-yard of a bilander, are hung obliquely on the mast, almost in the same manner as the lateen-yard of a xebec, settee, or polacre. See those articles.

To brace theYards,brasser, is to traverse them about the masts, so as to form greater or lesser angles with the ship’s length. SeeBrace.

To square theYards. SeeLiftandSquare.

Dock-Yard. See the articleDock-yard.

YAW, a name given by seamen to the movement by which a ship deviates from the line of her course towards the right or left in steering.

YAWL, a small ship’s boat, usually rowed by four or six oars. SeeBoat.

YEOMAN, an officer under the boatswain or gunner of a ship of war, usually charged with the stowage, account, and distribution of their respective stores.

YOKE, a name formerly given to the tiller, when communicating with two blocks orsheavesaffixed to the inner end of the tiller. It is now applied to a small board or bar which crosses the upper end of a boat’s rudder at right angles, and having two small cords extending from its opposite extremities to thestern-sheetsof the boat, whereby she is steered as with a tiller.

THE END.

In the articleAback,line19.forfig. 1.readfig. 14.and in line22,readfig. 13.

After theAnchoris a cock bill,readà la veille.

An-end,debout, the situation of any mast or boom, when erected perpendicularly on the plane of the deck, tops, &c. The top-masts are also said to be an-end when they are hoisted up to their usual station, at the head of the lower masts, as in fig. 3. plateVI.

In line24.page2.ofNavalArchitecture,delesee the article Elevation,and line21.under this in the same page, forplateV. fig. 4.readplateIV. fig. 11.

In the explanation of thepieces of the Hull,page6.ofNavalArchitecture,line31.forsternpost,readdead-wood,and two lines lower, forsleepers,readknees.

In line34.page9.of the same article, forO K,readOk.

Top-ARMOUR. See the articleTop.

Avast, the order to stop, or pause in any exercise.

In the articleAweigh,after the wordsperpendicular direction,readas in fig. 6. plate 1.

ToBagpipethe Mizen, is to lay itaback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen shrouds.

Bill, the point or extremity of the fluke of an anchor.

Block and Block, the situation of a tackle when the two opposite blocks are drawn close together, so that the mechanical power becomes destroyed, till the tackle is againover-hauledby drawing the blocks asunder.

In the 2d page of the articleBoat,line13.from the bottom, forof framed iron,readframed of iron.

Bold, an epithet applied to the sea coast, signifying steep, or abrupt, so as to admit the approach of shipping without exposing them to the danger of being run a-ground, or stranded.

For the articlesBoltandBoom-iron, seeIron-work, as corrected below.

Bonnet, an additional part laced to the bottom of the main sail and fore sail of some small vessels, in moderate winds.

In the articleBream,the last line except one, reador by docking.

In-Bulk,seeLaden.

Bum-boat, a small boat used to sell vegetables, &c. to ships lying at a distance from the shore.

In the articleCan-BUOYS,forfig. 8.readfig. 6.and inNun-BUOYS,forfig. 9.readfig. 7.

InCan-HOOKS,deleand 9.

In the 4th page of the articleCannon,line 22. forfig. 17.readfig. 10.and in the 5th page of the same article, line 11. read the figures8. and 10.

Line 14. ofCapstern,forfig. 10.readfig. 11. and 12.

Cast-away, the state of a ship which is lost or wrecked on a lee-shore, bank, or shallow.

Coming-to.See the articleTrying.

Complement, the limited number of men employed in any ship, either for navigation or battle.

Crowfoot,line 3. for 27. read 28.

Davit,line 2. for 28. read 29.

In the explanation ofDeck, plateIII.forL the deck-transom,readL the wing-transom,and nine lines lower, readQ the wing-transom-knee.

InDivision,line 7. aftercannon,readeach.

Double-banked, the situation of the oars of a boat when two opposite ones are managed by rowers seated on the same bench, orthwart. The oars are also said to be double-banked when two men row upon every single one.

Drawing, the state of a sail when it is inflated by the wind, so as to advance the vessel in her course.

In the 12th page of the articleEngagement,line 18. forhave as many,readsave as many.

Fire-ship,line 10. afterbulk-head,forI,readL.

Flaw, a sudden breeze, or gust of wind.

Flush.See the articleDeck.

Gammoning,line 4. forfig. 7.readfig. 6, 8, and 9.

Gripe, the same withFore-foot. See that article.

Guy, line 1.readto keep steddy.

Hauser, a large rope which holds the middle degree between thecableandtow-line, in any ship whereto it belongs, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter.

In the 3d page of the articleHead,line 26. afterbeams,reador;and six lines lower, readthe head, and part, &c.

In the articleIron-work,line 14. deleas in fig. 1. and 2. plateII.and two lines lower, forfig. 4.readfig. 1. plateII.and in the next line, forfig. 5, 6, and 39.readfig. 3, and 39.Seven lines below this, afterbarbs,readfig. 2.and in the 2d line from the bottom, forfig. 7.readfig. 5.

ToKeep-offforalargeer,readalarguer.

In line 9. of the articleKetch,afterwar,read seefig. 5. plateVII.

Lanch, the order to let go thetop-rope, after any top mast isfidded.

Ledges, certain small pieces of timber placedathwart-ships, under the decks of a ship, in the intervals between the beams, as exhibited in the representation of the deck, plateIII.

Ledge, is also a long ridge of rocks, near the surface of the sea.

Line 10. of the articleLine,forfig. 5.readfig. 6.

Midshipman,line 4. forall other,readseveral other.

In page 2d of the articleMortar,line 9. afterdistance,readfrom the object, &c.and in page 3. of the same article, line 2. forfig. 14. plateVII.readfig. 5. and 20. plateVII. the former of which exhibits the transverse section of a bomb-vessel, with the mortar fixed in its place, at an elevation of forty-five degrees. SeeRange.

Quartering-wind.See the articleSailing.

Rack,rasteau, a frame of timber, containing severalsheaves, and usually fixed on the opposite sides of a ship’s bow-sprit, to direct the sailors to the respective ropes passing through it, all of which are attached to the sails on the bowsprit.

In page 4. of the articleRate,line 14. forwithout,readto avoid.

After the articleRiding,read, a rope is said to ride, when one of the turns by which it is wound about thecapsternorwindlasslies over another, so as to interrupt the operation of heaving.

Sally-port.See the articleFire-ship.

Scud, a name given by seamen to the lowest and lightest clouds, which are most swiftly wafted along the atmosphere by the winds.

Shallop, a sort of large boat with two masts, and usually rigged like aschooner.

Shivering, the state of a sail when it shakes or flutters in the wind, as being neitherfullnoraback, but in a middle degree, between both, as well with regard to its absolute position, as to its relative effect on the vessel.

In line 9. of the articleStern,forfig. 1.readfig 3.and thirteen lines lower, afterthird transoms,delewithl,m,n,o, four intermediate transoms,and readthe 4th, 5th, and 6th transoms are placed immediately under these: and that which lies between the wing and deck-transoms, is called the filling-transom.

Thick-stuff.See the articles Ship-BUILDINGandMidship-frame.

In page 2. of the articleTop,line 19. forfig. 2. plateVI.readfig. 1. plateIX.

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