COCKPITARIAN. A midshipman or master's mate; so called from messing in the cockpit of a line-of-battle ship.
COCKSETUS. An old law-term for a boatman or coxswain.
COCKSWAIN,or Coxswain. The person who steers a boat; after the officer in command he has charge of the crew, and all things belonging to it. He must be ready with his crew to man the boat on all occasions.
COCOA,or Chocolate Nuts, commonly so termed. (SeeCacao.) It is the breakfast food of the navy.
COCOA-NUT TREE. ThePalma cocosyieldstoddy; the nut, a valuable oil and milky juice; the stem, bark, branches, &c., also serve numerous purposes. (SeePalmetto.)
COD. The centre of a deep bay. The bay of a trawl or seine. Also, theGadus morrhua, one of the most important of oceanic fishes. The cod is always found on the submerged hills known as banks; as the Dogger Bank, and banks of Newfoundland. (SeeLing.)
COD-BAIT. The large sea-worm or lug, dug from the wet sands. The squid or cuttle, herrings, caplin, any meat, or even a false fish of bright tin or pewter. (SeeJig.)
CODDY-MODDY. A gull in its first year's plumage.
CODE OF SIGNALS. Series of flags, &c., for communicating at sea.
COD-FISHER'S CREW. The crew of a banker, or fishing-vessel, which anchors in 60 or 70 fathoms on the Great Bank of Newfoundland, and remains fishing until full, or driven off by stress of weather. Season from June until October. (SeeFisheries.)
CODGER. An easy-going man of regularity. Also, a knowing and eccentric hanger-on; one who will not move faster than he pleases.
COD-LINE. An eighteen-thread line.
COD-SOUNDS. The swim-bladders of the cod-fish, cured and packed for the market; the palates also of the fish are included as "tongues and sounds."
COEHORN. A brass mortar, named after the Dutch engineer who invented it. It is the smallest piece of ordnance in the service, having a bore of 41⁄2inches diameter, a length of 1 foot, and a weight of3⁄4cwt. They throw their 12-pounder shells with much precision to moderate distances, and being fixed to wooden beds, are very handy for ships' gangways, launches, &c., afloat, and for advanced trenches, the attack of stockades, &c., ashore.
COFFER,or Coffre. A depth sunk in the bottom of a dry ditch, to baffle besiegers when they attempt to cross it.
COFFER-DAM. A coffer-dam consists of two rows of piles, each row boarded strongly inside, and being filled with clay within well rammed, thereby resists outward pressure, and is impenetrable by the surrounding water. (SeeCaisson.)
COGGE. An Anglo-Saxon word for a cock-boat or light yawl, being thus mentioned inMorte Arthure—
"Then he covers his cogge, and caches one ankere."
But coggo, as enumerated in an ordinance of parliament (temp.Rich. II.), seems to have been a vessel of burden used to carry troops.
COGGE-WARE. Goods carried in a cogge.
COGGLE,or Cog. A small fishing-boat upon the coasts of Yorkshire, and in the rivers Ouse and Humber. Hence thecogmen, who after shipwreck or losses by sea, wandered about to defraud people by begging and stealing, until they were restrained by proper laws.
COGGS. The same withcoaksordowels(which see).
COGSof a Wheel; applies to all wheel machinery now used at sea or on shore: thuswindlass-cogs,capstan-cogs, &c.
COGUING THE NOSE. Making comfortable over hot negus or grog.
COIGN.SeeQuoin.
COIL. A certain quantity of rope laid up in ring fashion. The manner in which all ropes are disposed of on board ship for convenience of stowage. They are laid up round, one fake over another, or by concentric turns, termedFlemish coil, forming but one tier, and lying flat on the deck, the end being in the middle of it, as a snake or worm coils itself.
COILING. A sort of serpentine winding of a cable or other rope, that it may occupy a small space in the ship. Each of the windings of this sort is called afake, and one range offakesupon the same line is called atier. There are generally from five to seven fakes in a tier, and three or four tiers in the whole length of the cable. The smaller ropes employed about the sails are coiled upon cleats at sea, to prevent their being entangled.
COIR. Cordage made from the fibrous husks of the cocoa-nut; though cables made of it are disagreeable to handle and coil away, they have the advantage of floating in water, so that vessels ride easily by them; they are still used by the Calcutta pilot-brigs. True coir is from theBorassus gomutus, the long fibrous black cloth-like covering of the stem. It is from this that the black cables in the East are made; the cocoa-nut fibre being of a reddish hue. It is used for strong brushes, being cylindrical and smooth, with a natural gloss.
COKERS. The old name for cocoa-nut trees.
CO-LATITUDE. The abbreviation for complement of latitude, or what it is short of 90°.
COLD-CHISEL. A stout chisel made of steel, used for cutting iron when it is cold.
COLD-EEL. TheGymnotus electricus.
COLE [from the Germankohl]. Colewort or sea-kale; a plant in its wild state peculiar to the sea-coast.
COLE-GOOSE. A name for the cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo).
COLLAR. An eye in the end or bight of a shroud or stay, to go over the mast-head. The upper part of a stay. Also, a rope formed into a wreath, with a heart or dead-eye seized in the bight, to which the stay is confined at the lower part. Also, the neck of a bolt.
COLLAR-BEAM. The beam upon which the stanchions of the beak-head bulk-head stand.
COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. An officer who takes the general superintendence of the customs at any port.
COLLIERS. Vessels employed exclusively to carry coals from the northern ports of England. This trade has immemorially been an excellent nursery for seamen. But Shakspeare, inTwelfth Night, makes Sir Toby exclaim, "Hang him, foul collier!" The evil genius has lately introduced steam screw-vessels into this invaluable school.
COLLIMATION,Line of. The optical axis of a telescope, or an imaginary line passing through the centre of the tube.
COLLISION. The case of one ship running foul of another; the injuries arising from which, where no blame is imputable to the master of either, is generally borne by the owners of both in equal parts. (SeeAllision.)
COLLISION-CLAUSE.SeeRunning-down Clause.
COLLOP. A cut from a joint of meat. "Scotch collops."
COLMIE. A fifth-year or full-grown coal-fish; sometimes calledcomb.
COLMOW. An old word for the sea-mew, derived from the Anglo-Saxon.
COLONEL. The commander of a regiment, either of horse or foot.
COLONNATI. The Spanish pillared dollar.
COLOURABLE. Ships' papers so drawn up as to be available for more purposes than one. In admiralty law, a probable plea.
COLOUR-CHESTS. Chests appropriated to the reception of flags for making signals.
COLOURS. The flags or banners which distinguish the ships of different nations. Also, the regimental flags of the army. Hauling down colours in token of submission, and the use of signals, are mentioned by Plutarch inThemistocles.
COLOUR-SERGEANT. The senior sergeant of a company of infantry; he acts as a kind of sergeant-major, and generally as pay-sergeant also to the company. From amongst these trustworthy men, the sergeants for attendance on the colours in the field were originally detailed.
COLT. A short piece of rope with a large knot at one end, kept in the pocket for starting skulkers.
COLUMBIAD. A name given in the United States to a peculiar pattern of gun in their service, principally adapted to the firing of heavy shells: its external form does not appear to have been the result of much science, and it is now generally superseded by the Dahlgren pattern.
COLUMN. A body of troops in deep files and narrow front, so disposed as to move in regular succession.
COLURES. Great circles passing through the equinoctial and solstitial points, and the poles of the earth.
COMB. A small piece of timber under the lower part of the beak-head, for the fore-tack to be hauled to, in some vessels, instead of a bumkin: it has the same use in bringing the fore-tack on board that the chess-tree has to the main-tack. Also, the notched scale of a wire-micrometer. Also, that projecting piece on the top of the cock of a gun-lock, which affords the thumb a convenient hold for drawing it back.
COMBATANTS. Men, or bodies of troops, engaged in battle with each other.
COMBE.SeeCoombandCwm.
COMBERS. Heavy surges breaking on a beach.
COMBERS,Grass. Men who volunteer from the plough-tail, and often prove valuable seamen.
COMBING THE CAT. The boatswain, or other operator, running his fingers through the cat o' nine tails, to separate them.
COMBINGS.SeeCoamings.
COMBING SEA. A rolling and crested wave.
COMBUSTION. Burning, &c. (SeeSpontaneous Combustion.)
COME NO NEAR! The order to the helmsman to steer the ship on the course indicated, and not closer to the wind, while going "full and by."—Come on board, sir.An officer reporting himself to his superior on returning from duty or leave.—Come to.To bring the ship close to the wind.—Come to an anchor.To let go the anchor.—Come up!with a rope or tackle, is to slack it off.—Comes up, with the helm. A close-hauled ship comes up (to her course) as the wind changes in her favour. Tocome up withor overhaul a vessel chased.—Come up the capstan.Is to turn it the contrary way to that which it was heaving, so as to take the strain off, or slacken or let out some of the cablet or rope which is about it.—Come up the tackle-fall.Is to let go.—To come up, in ship-building, is to cast loose the forelocks or lashings of a sett, in order to take in closer to the plank.
COMING-HOME. Said of the anchor when it has been dropped on bad holding ground, or is dislodged from its bed by the violence of the wind and sea, and is dragged along by the vessel, or is tripped by insufficient length of cable.—Coming round on her heel.Turning in the same spot.—Coming the old soldier.Petty manœuvring.—Coming-up glass.(SeeDouble-image Micrometer.)
COMITY. A certaincomitas gentium, or judgment of tribunals, having competent jurisdiction in any one state, are regarded in the courts of all other civilized powers as conclusive. Especially binding in all prize matters, however manifestly unjust may be the decision. (SeeJudgment.)
COMMAND. The words of command are the terms used by officers in exercise or upon service. All commands belong to the senior officer. Also, in fortification, the height of the top of the parapet of a work above the level of the country, or above that of another work. Generally, one position is said to be commanded by another when it can be seen into from the latter.
COMMANDANT. The officer in command of a squadron, ship, garrison, fort, or regiment.
COMMANDER. An officer in the royal navy, commanding a ship of war of under twenty guns, a sloop of war, armed ship, or bomb-vessel. He was entitled master and commander, and ranked with a major of the army: now simply termed commander, and ranking with lieutenant-colonel, but junior of that rank. The act of the commander is binding upon the interests of all under him, and he is alone responsible for costs and damages: he may act erroneously, and abandon what might have turned out good prize to himself and crew.—Commanderis also the name of a large wooden mallet used specially in the sail and rigging lofts, as anything of metal would injure the ropes or canvas.
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. The senior officer in any port or station appointed to hold command over all other vessels within the limits assigned to him. Thus the commodore on the coast of Africa is,de facto, commander-in-chief, free from the interference of any other authority afloat.
COMMAND-OF-MIND MEN. Steady officers, who command coolly.
COMMEATUS,or Provisions, going to the enemy's ports, subject only topre-emption, a right of purchase upon reasonable terms, but previously liable to confiscation (Robinson).Commeatus, in admiralty law, is a general term, signifying drink as well as eatables.
COMMERCE. Was not much practised by the Romans. The principal objects of their water-carriage were the supply of corn, still termedannona, and the tribute and spoils of conquered countries.
COMMERCIAL CODE OF SIGNALS. As Marryat's and others.
COMMISSARIAT. The department of supplies to the army.
COMMISSARY. The principal officer in charge of the commissariat.
COMMISSION. The authority by which an officer officiates in his post. Also, an allowance paid to agents or factors for transacting the business of others.
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. Those appointed by commissions. Such are admirals, down to lieutenants, in the royal navy; and in the army, all from the general to the ensign inclusive.
COMMISSIONERS,Lords, of the Admiralty. In general the crown appoints five or seven commissioners for executing the office of lord high-admiral, &c.; for this important and high office has seldom been intrusted to any single person. The admiralty jurisdiction extends to all offences mentioned in the articles of war, or new naval code, as regards places beyond the powers of the law courts, or outside the bounds of a county. But all criminal acts committed within the limits of a county, or within a line drawn from one headland to the next, are specially liable to be tried by the common law courts. The high court of admiralty civil court takes cognizance of salvage, prize-derelict,collision, &c., at sea beyond the county limits, even as relates to ships of war if in fault.
COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS. The board of management of the customs department of the public revenue.
COMMISSIONERS OF THE NAVY. Certain officers formerly appointed to superintend the affairs of the navy, under the direction of the lords-commissioners of the Admiralty. Their duty was more immediately concerned in the building, docking, and repairing of ships in the dockyards; they had also the appointment of some of the officers, as surgeons, masters, &c., and the transport, victualling, and medical departments were controlled by that board. It was abolished in 1831.
COMMIT ONE'S SELF,To. To break through regulations. To incur responsibility without regard to results.
COMMODORE. A senior officer in command of a detached squadron. A captain finding five or six ships assembled, was formerly permitted to hoist his pennant, and command as commodore; and a necessity arising for holding a court-martial, he ordered the said court to assemble. Again, where an admiral dies in command, the senior captain hoists a first-class broad pennant, and appoints a captain, secretary, and flag-lieutenant, fulfils the duties of a rear-admiral, and wears the uniform. Commodores of the second class have no captain or pennant-lieutenant. A commodore rates with brigadier-generals, according to dates of commission (being of full colonel's rank). He is next in command to a rear-admiral, but cannot hoist his broad pennant in the presence of an admiral, or superior captain, without permission. The broad pennant is a swallow-tailed tapered burgee. The second-class commodore is to hoist his broad pennant, white at the fore. It is a title given by courtesy to the senior captain, where three or more ships of war are cruising in company. It was also imported into the East India Company's vessels, the senior being so termed,inter se. It moreover denotes the convoy ship, which carries a light in her top. The epithet is corrupted from the Spanishcomendador.
COMMUNICATION. Corresponding by letter, hail, or signal. (SeeLine of CommunicationandBoyaux.)
COMMUTE,To. To lighten the sentence of a court-martial, on a recommendation of the court to the commander-in-chief.
COMPANION. The framing and sash-lights upon the quarter-deck or round-house, through which light passes to the cabins and decks below; and a sort of wooden hood placed over the entrance or staircase of the master's cabin in small ships. Flush-decked vessels are generally fitted with movable companions, to keep the rain or water from descending, which are unshipped when the capstan is required.
COMPANION-LADDER. Denotes the ladder by which the officers ascend to, and descend from, the quarter-deck.
COMPANION-WAY. The staircase, porch, or berthing of the ladder-way to the cabin.
COMPANY. The whole crew of any ship, including her officers, men, and boys. In the army, a small body of foot, or subdivision of a regiment, commanded by a captain.
COMPARATIVE RANK.SeeRank.
COMPARISON WATCH. The job-watch for taking an observation, compared before and after with the chronometer.
COMPARTMENT BULK-HEADS. Some of the iron ships have adopted the admirable Chinese plan of dividing the hold athwart-ship by strong water-tight bulk-heads, into compartments, so that a leak in any one of them does not communicate with the others—thus strengthening a vessel, besides adding to its security. Compartment bulk-heads were first directed to be fitted under the superintendence of Commander Belcher in H.M. shipsErebusandTerrorat Chatham, for Arctic service in 1835. H.M.S.Terror, Commander Back, was saved entirely owing to this fitment, the after section being full of water all the passage home; and lately the mail packetSamphirewas similarly saved.
COMPASANT. A corruption ofcorpo santo, a ball of electric light observed flickering about the masts, yard-arms, and rigging, during heavy rain, thunder, and lightning.
COMPASS. An instrument employed by navigators to guide the ship's course at sea. It consists of a circular box, containing a fly or paper card, which represents the horizon, and is suspended by two concentric rings called gimbals. The fly is divided into thirty-two equal parts, by lines drawn from the centre to the circumference, called points or rhumbs; the interval between the points is subdivided into 360 degrees—consequently, the distance or angle comprehended between any two rhumbs is equal to 11 degrees and 15 minutes. The four cardinal points lie opposite to each other; the north and south points form top and bottom, leaving the east on the right hand, and the west on the left; the names of all the inferior points are compounded of these according to their situation. This card is attached to a magnetic needle, which, carrying the card round with it, points north, excepting for the local annual variation and the deviation caused by the iron in the ship; the angle which the course makes with that meridian is shown by the lubber's point, a dark line inside the box. (SeeAdjustment of the Compass.)
COMPASS,To. To curve; also to obtain one's object.
COMPASSING. (SeeCompass-timbers.)
COMPASSIONATE ALLOWANCES. Grants are made on the compassionate fund to the legitimate children of deceased officers, on its being shown to the Admiralty that they deserve them.
COMPASS-SAW. A narrow saw, which, inserted in a hole bored by a centre-bit, follows out required curves.
COMPASS-TIMBERS. Such as are curved, crooked, or arched, for ship-building.
COMPENSATION. If a detained vessel is lost by the negligence and misconduct of the prize-master, compensation must be rendered, and the actual captors are responsible. The principal being answerable in law for the agent's acts.
COMPENSATOR OF THE COMPASS.SeeMagnetic Compensator.
COMPLAIN,To. The creaking of masts, or timbers, when over-pressed, without any apparent external defect. One man threatening to complain of another, is saying that he will report misconduct to the officer in charge of the quarter-deck.
COMPLEMENT. The proper number of men employed in any ship, either for navigation or battle. In navigation the complement of the course is what it wants of eight points; of latitude, what it is short of 90°. (SeeCo-latitude.)
COMPLEMENT OF LONGITUDE.SeeSupplement of Longitude.
COMPLETE BOOK. A book which contains the names and particulars of every person borne for wages on board, as age, place of birth, rating, times of entry and discharge, &c.
COMPLIMENT,To. To render naval or military honour where due.
COMPO. The monthly portion of wages paid to the ship's company.
COMPOSITION NAILS. Those which are made of mixed metal, and which, being largely used for nailing on copper sheathing, are erroneously calledcopper nails.
COMPOUND. A term used in India for a lawn garden, or inclosed ground round a house.
COMPRADOR [Sp]. A Chinese contractor in shipping concerns, or in purchasing present supplies.
COMPRESS. A pad of soft linen used by the surgeon for the dressing of a wound.
COMPRESSION OF THE POLES. The amount of flattening at the polar regions of a planet, by which the polar diameter is less than the equatorial.
COMPRESSOR. A mechanism generally adopted afloat for facilitating the working of the large guns recently introduced; the gun-carriage is thus compressed to its slide or platform during the recoil, and set free again by the turn of a handle for running up. It is of various forms; one of the simpler kind used to be always applied to carronade slides.
COMPRESSOR-STOPPER. A contrivance for holding the chain-cable by compression.
COMPROMISE. The mutual agreement of a party or parties at difference, to refer to arbitration, or make an end of the matter.
COMPTROLLER OF THE CUSTOMS. The officer who controls and has a check on the collectors of customs. (SeeController.)
COMPTROLLER OF THE NAVY. Formerly the chief commissioner of the navy board, at which he presided.
COMRADE. A barrack term for a fellow-soldier, serving in the same company.
CONCEALMENT,or Suppressio Veri. Consists in the suppression of any fact or circumstance as to the state of the ship, the nature of her employ, and the time of sailing or expected arrival, material to the risk of insurance, and is fatal to the insured. But it is held immaterial to disclose the secret destination of privateers, the usages of trade, or matters equally open to both parties.
CONCENTRATED FIRE. The bringing the whole or several guns to bear on a single point.
CONCH. A large univalve, used as a horn by pilots, fishermen, &c., in fogs: astrombus,triton, or sometimes amurex.
CONCHS. A name for the wreckers of the Bahama reefs, in allusion to the shells on those shores. Though plunder is their object, theConchsare very serviceable to humanity, and evince both courage and address in saving the lives of the wrecked.
CONCLUDING-LINE. A small rope hitched to the middle of the steps of the stern-ladders. Also, a small line leading through the centre of the steps of a Jacob's ladder.
CONDEMNATION. A captured ship declared by sentence of the admiralty court to be lawful prize. But the transfer of a prize vessel carried into a neutral port, and sold without a condemnation, or the authority of any judicial proceedings, is null and void.
CONDEMNED. Unserviceable, as bad provisions, old stores, &c.
CONDENSER. The chamber of a marine engine, where the steam, after having performed its duty, is instantly reduced to water. Sailing ships frequently carry condensers, for the purpose of making fresh from salt water.
CONDER. A watcher of fishes, the same as balker, huer, and olpis. See statute (1 Jac. cap. 23) relating to his employment, which was to give notice to the fishermen from an eminence which way the herring shoals were going.
CONDITIONS. The terms of surrender.
CONDUCT-LIST. A roll to accompany the tickets of all persons sent to a hospital for medical treatment; it details their names, numberson the ship's books, the date of their being sent, and the nature of their ailment.
CONDUCT-MONEY. A sum advanced to defray the travelling expenses of volunteers, and of soldiers and sailors to their quarters and ships. (SeeSafe-conduct.)
CONDUCTOR. A thick metal wire, generally of copper, extending from above the main truck downwards into the water, or in the form of a chain with long links. Its use is to defend the ship from the effects of lightning, by conveying the electric fluid into the sea.
CONE. A solid figure having a circle for its base, and produced by the entire revolution of a right-angled triangle about its perpendicular side, which is termed the axis of the cone.
CONE-BUOY.SeeCan-buoys.
CONEY-FISH. A name of the burbot.
CONFIGURATION. The relative positions of celestial bodies, as for instance those of Jupiter's satellites, with respect to the primary at any one time.
CONFINEMENT. Inflicted restraint; an arrest.
CONFIRMED RANK. When an officer is placed in a vacancy by "acting order," he only holds temporary rank until "confirmed" therein by the Admiralty. An acting order given by competent authority is not disturbed by any casual superior.
CONFLICT. An indecisive action.
CONFLUENTS. Those streams which join and flow together. The confluence is the point of junction of an affluent river with its recipient.
CONGER. A large species of sea-eel, furnishing a somewhat vile viand, but eatable when strongly curried. Not at all despised by the people of Cornwall in "fishy pie."
CONGREVE-ROCKET. A very powerful form of rocket, invented by the late Sir William Congreve, R.A., and intended to do the work of artillery without the inconvenience of its weight. In its present form, however, the rocket is so uncertain, that it is in little favour save for exceptional occasions.
CONICALTops of Mountainsnot unfrequently indicate their nature: the truncated sugar-loaf form is generally assumed by volcanoes, though the same is occasionally met with in other mountains.
CONIC SECTIONS. The curved lines and plane figures which are produced by the intersection of a plane with a cone.
CONJEE. Gruel made of rice.
CONJUGATE AXIS. The secondary diameter of an ellipse, perpendicular to the transverse axis.
CONJUNCTION, in nautical astronomy, is when two bodies have the same longitude or right ascension.
CONN,Con, or Cun, as pronounced by seamen. This word is derived from the Anglo-Saxonconne,connan, to know, or be skilful. The pilot of old was skillful, and later the master was selected to conn the ship in action, that is, direct the helmsman. The quarter-master during ordinary watches conns the ship, and stands beside the wheel at the conn, unless close-hauled, when his station is at the weather-side, where he can see the weather-leeches of the sails.
CONNECTING-ROD. In the marine engine, the part which connects the side-levers and the crank together.
CONNINGS. Reckonings.
CONQUER,To. To overcome decidedly.
CONSCRIPTION. Not only furnishes conscripts for the French army, but also levies a number of men who are compelled to serve afloat.
CONSECRATION OF COLOURS. A rite practised in the army, but not in the navy.
CONSIGN,To. To send a consignment of goods to an agent or factor for sale or disposal.
CONSIGNEE. The party to whose care a ship or a consignment of goods is intrusted.
CONSIGNMENT. Goods assigned from beyond sea, or elsewhere, to a factor.
CONSOLE-BRACKET. A light piece of ornament at the fore-part of the quarter-gallery, otherwise called acanting-livre.
CONSORT. Any vessel keeping company with another.—In consort, ships sailing together in partnership.
CONSORTSHIP. The practice of two or more ships agreeing to join in adventure, under which a strict division of all prizes must be made. (SeeTon for Ton.)
CONSTRUCTION. In naval architecture, is to give the ship such a form as may be most suitable for the service for which she is designed. In navigation, it is the method of ascertaining a ship's course by trigonometrical diagrams. (SeeInspection.)
CONSTRUCTIVE TOTAL LOSS. When the repair of damage sustained by the perils of the sea would cost more than the ship would be worth after being repaired.
CONSUL. An officer established by a commission from the crown, in all foreign countries of any considerable trade, to facilitate business, and represent the merchants of his nation. They take rank with captains, but are to wait on them if a boat be sent. Commanders wait on consuls, but vice-consuls wait on commanders (in Etiquette). Ministers andchargés d'affairesretire in case of hostilities, but consuls are permitted to remain to watch the interests of their countrymen. When commerce began to flourish in modern Europe, occasion soonarose for the institution of a kind of court-merchant, to determine commercial affairs in a summary way. Their authority depends very much on their commission, and on the words of the treaty on which it is founded. The consuls are to take care of the affairs of the trade, and of the rights, interests, and privileges of their countrymen in foreign ports. Not being public ministers, they are liable to thelex lociboth civil and criminal, and their exemption from certain taxes depends upon treaty and custom.
CONTACT. Brought in contact with, as touching the sides of a ship. In astronomy, bringing a reflected body, as the sun, in contact with the moon or with a star. (SeeLunar Distances,Sextant, &c.)
CONTENTS. A document which the master of a merchantman must deliver to the custom-house searcher, before he can clear outwards; it describes the vessel's destination, cargo, and all necessary particulars.
CONTINENT. In geography, a large extent of land which is not entirely surrounded by water, or separated from other lands by the sea, as Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is also used in contradistinction toisland, though America seems insulated.
CONTINGENT. The quota of armed men, or pecuniary subsidy, which one state gives to another. Also, certain allowances made to commanding officers to defray necessary expenses.
CONTINUED LINES. In field-works, means a succession of fronts without any interruption, save the necessary passages; differing thus frominterrupted lines.
CONTINUOUS SERVICE MEN. Those seamen who, having entered for a period, on being paid off, are permitted to have leave, and return to the flag-ship at the port for general service.
CONT-LINE. The space between the bilges of two casks stowed side by side.
CONTOUR. The sweep of a ship's shape.
CONTRABAND. The ship is involved in the legal fate of the cargo; the master should therefore be careful not to take any goods on board without all custom-house duties being paid up, and see that they be not prohibited by parliament or public proclamation. Contraband is simply defined, "merchandise forbidden by the law of nations to be supplied to an enemy;" but it affords fat dodges to the admiralty court sharks.
CONTRABAND OF WAR. Arms, ammunition, and all stores which may aid hostilities; masts, ship-timber going to an enemy's port, hemp, provisions, and even money under stipulations, pitch and tar, sail-cloth. They must, however, be takenin delicto, in the actual prosecution of a voyage to the enemy's port.
CONTRACT OF AFFREIGHTMENT. The agreement for the letting to freight the whole or any part of a vessel for one or more voyages; thecharter-party.
CONTRACT TICKET. A printed form of agreement with every passenger in a passenger-ship, prescribed by the legislature.
CONTRARY. The wind when opposed to a vessel's course.
"Cruel was the stately ship that bore her love from Mary,And cruel was the fair wind that wouldn't blow contrary."
CONTRAVALLATION,Lines of. Continuous lines of intrenchment round the besieged fortress, and fronting towards it, to guard against any sorties from the place. (SeeCircumvallation.)
CONTRIBUTION. Money paid in order to save a place from being plundered by a hostile force. (SeeRansom.) Also, a sum raised among merchants, where goods have been thrown overboard in stress of weather, towards the loss of the owners thereof.
CONTROLLER. Differs fromcomptroller, which applies chiefly to the duties of anaccompt. But the controller of the navy controls naval matters in ship-building, fitting, &c. There is also the controller of victualling, and the controller-general of the coast-guard.
CONTUMACY. The not appearing to the three calls of the admiralty court, after the allegation has been presented to the judge, with a schedule of expenses to be taxed, and an oath of their necessity.
CONVALESCENT. Those men who are recovering health, but not sufficiently recovered to perform their duties, are reported by the surgeon "convalescent." Convalescents areamusedby picking oakum!
CONVENIENT PORT. A general law-term in cases of capture, within a certain latitude of discretion; a place where a vessel can lie in safety, and holding ready communication with the tribunals which have to decide the question of capture.
CONVENTION. An agreement made between hostile troops, for the evacuation of a post, or the suspension of hostilities.
CONVERGENT. In geography, a stream which comes into another stream, but whose course is unknown, is simply a convergent.
CONVERSION. Reducing a vessel by a deck, thereby converting a line-of-battle ship into a frigate, or a crank three-decker into a good two-decker; or a serviceable vessel into a hulk, resembling a prison or dungeon, internally and externally, as much as possible.
CONVERSION OF STORES. Adapting the sails, ropes, or timbers from one purpose to another, with the least possible waste.
CONVEXITY. The curved limb of the moon; an outward curve.
CONVICT-SHIP. A vessel appropriated to the convicts of a dockyard; also one hired to carry out convicts to their destination.
CONVOY. A fleet of merchant ships similarly bound, protected by an armed force. Also, the ship or ships appointed to conduct and defend them on their passage. Also, a guard of troops to escort a supply of stores to a detached force.
CONVOY-INSTRUCTIONS. The printed regulations supplied by the senior officer to each ship of the convoy.
CONVOY-LIST. A return of the merchantmen placed under the protection of men-of-war, for safe conduct to their destination.
COOK. A man of each mess who is caterer for the day, and answerabletoo, wherefore he is allowed the surplus grog, termedplush(which see). The cook,par excellence, in the navy, was a man of importance, responsible for the proper cooking of the food, yet not overboiling the meat to extract the fat—his perquisite. The coppers were closely inspected daily by the captain, and if they soiled a cambric handkerchief the cook's allowance was stopped. Now, the ship's cook is a first-class petty officer, and cannot be punished as heretofore. In a merchantman the cook is,ex officio, the hero of the fore-sheet, as the steward is of the main one.
COOKING A DAY'S WORK. To save the officer in charge. Reckoning too is cooked, as in a certain Antarctic discovery of land, which James Ross afterwards sailed over.
COOK-ROOM,or Cook-house. The galley or caboose containing the cooking apparatus, and where victuals are dressed.
COOLIE,Couley, Kouli, or Chuliah. A person who carries a load; a porter or day-labourer in India and China.
COOMB. The Anglo-Saxoncomb; a low place inclosed with hills; a valley. (SeeCwm.)
COOMINGS,or Combings. The rim of the hatchways. (SeeCoamings.)
COOM OF A WAVE. The comb or crest. The white summit when it breaks.
COON-TRAIE. A Manx and Erse term for the neap-tide.
COOP,or Fish-coop. A hollow vessel made with twigs, with which fish are taken in the Humber. (SeeHen-coop.)
COOPER. A rating for a first-class petty officer, who repairs casks, &c.
COOT. A water-fowl common on lakes and rivers (Fulica atra). The toes are long and not webbed, but bordered by a scalloped membrane. The name is sometimes used for the guillemot (Uria troile), and often applied to a stupid person.
COOTH.SeeCuth.
COP,or Copt. The top of a conical hill.
COPE. An old English word for cape.
COPECK.SeeKopek.
COPERNICAN SYSTEM. The Pythagorean system of the universe, revived by Copernicus in the sixteenth century, and now confirmed; in which the sun occupies the central space, and the planets with their attendant satellites revolve about him.
COPILL. An old term for a variety of the coble.
COPING. In ship-building, turning the ends of iron lodging-knees, so that they may hook into the beams.
COPPER,To. To cover the ship's bottom with prepared copper.
COPPER-BOLTS.SeeCopper-fastened.
COPPERED,or Copper-bottomed. Sheathed with thin sheets of copper, which prevents the teredo eating into the planks, or shell and weed accumulating on the surface, whereby a ship is retarded in her sailing.
COPPER-FASTENED. The bolts and other metal work in the bottom of ships, made of copper instead of iron, so that the vessel may afterwards becoppered without danger of its corroding the heads of the bolts by galvanic action, as ensues when copper and iron are in contact with sea-water.
COPPER-NAILS. These are chiefly used in boat-building, and for plank nails in the vicinity of the binnacle, as iron affects the compass-needle. They are not to be confounded withcomposition nails, which are cast. (SeeRoof, or RoveandClinch.)
COPPERS. The ship's boilers for cooking; the name is generally used, even where the apparatus may be made of iron.
COQUILLAGE. Shell-fish in general. It applies to anchorages where oysters abound, or where fish are plentiful, and shell-fish for bait easily obtainable. It is specially a term belonging to French and Spanish fishermen.
CORAB. A sort of boat, otherwise calledcoracle.
CORACLE. An ancient British truckle or boat, constructed of wicker-work, and still in use amongst Welsh fishermen and on the Irish lakes. It is covered by skins, oil-cloth, &c., which are removed when out of use; it is of an oval form; contains one man, who, on reaching the shore, shoulders his coracle, deposits it in safety, and covers it with dried rushes or heather. The Arcticbaidaris of similar construction. It is probably of the like primitive fabric with thecymba sutilesof Herodotus.
CORACORA.SeeKorocora.
CORAL. A name applied to the hard calcareous support or skeleton of many species of marine zoophytes. The coral-producing animals abound chiefly in tropical seas, sometimes forming, by the aggregated growth of countless generations, reefs, barriers, and islands of vast extent. The "red coral" (Corallium rubrum) of the Mediterranean is highly prized for ornamental purposes.
CORALAN. A small open boat for the Mediterranean coral fishery.
CORAL-BAND.SeeSand and Coral BankorIslet.
CORBEILLE [Fr. basket]. Miner's basket; small gabion used temporarily for shelter to riflemen, and placed on the parapet, either to fire through, or for protection from a force placed on a higher level.
CORBILLARD [Fr.] A large boat of transport.
CORD. Small rope; that of an inch or less in circumference.
CORDor Churd of Wood; as firewood. A statute stack is 8 feet long, 4 feet broad, and 4 feet high.
CORDAGE. A general term for the running-rigging of a ship, as also for rope of any size which is kept in reserve, and for all stuff to make ropes.—Cable-laid cordage.Ropes, the three strands of which are composed of three other strands, as are cables and cablets. (SeeRope.)
CORDILLA. The coarse German hemp, otherwise calledtorse.
CORDLIE. A name for the tunny fish.
CORDON. In fortification, the horizontal moulding of masonry along the top of the true escarp. Also, sometimes used for lines of circumvallation or blockade, or any connected chain of troops or even sentries. Also, the riband of an order of knighthood or honour, and hence used by theFrench as signifying a member thereof, as Cordon bleu, Knight of the order of the Holy Ghost, &c.
CORDOVAN. Leather made from seal-skin; the term is derived from the superior leather prepared at Cordova in Spain.
CORDUROY. Applied to roads formed in new settlements, of trees laid roughly on sleepers transverse to the direction of the road; as suddenly for artillery.
CORKIR,or Cudbear. TheLecanora tartarea, a lichen producing a purple dye, growing on the stones of the Western Isles, and in Norway.
CORMORANT. A well-known sea-bird (Phalacrocorax carbo) of the familyPelecanidæ.
CORN,To. A remainder of the Anglo-Saxonge-cyrned, salted. To preserve meat for a time by salting it slightly.
CORNED. Slightly intoxicated. In Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, mention is made of "corny ale."
CORNED POWDER. Powder granulated from the mill-cakes and sifted.
CORNET. A commissioned officer who carries the colours belonging to a cavalry troop, equivalent to an ensign in the infantry; the junior subaltern rank in the horse.
CORNISH RING. The astragal of the muzzle or neck of a gun; it is the next ring from the mouth backwards. (Now disused.)
CORN-SALAD. A species of Valerianella. The top-leaves are used for salad, a good anti-scorbutic with vinegar.
CORNS OF POWDER. The small grains that gunpowder consists of. The powder reduced for fire-works, quill-tubes, &c.; sometimes by alcohol.
COROMONTINES. A peculiar race of negroes, brought from the interior of Africa, and sold; but so ferocious as to be greatly dreaded in the West Indies.
CORONA. In timber, consists of rows of microscopic cylinders, situated between the wood and the pith; it is that part from which all the branches take their rise, and from it all the wood-threads grow.—Coronaastronomically means the luminous ring or glory which surrounds the sun or moon during an eclipse, or the intervention of a thin cloud. They are generally faintly coloured at their edges. Frequently when there is a halo encircling the moon, there is a small corona more immediately around it. Coronæ, as well as halos, have been observed to prognosticate rain, hail, or snow, being the result of snow or dense vapours nearer the earth, through which the object becomes hazy.
CORONER. An important officer. Seamen should understand that his duties embrace all acts within a line drawn from one headland to another; or within the body of the county. His duty is to investigate, on the part of the crown, all accidents, deaths, wrecks, &c.; and his warrant is not to be contemned or avoided.
COROUSE. The ancient weapon invented by Duilius for boarding. An attempt was made in 1798 to re-introduce it in French privateers.
COROWNEL. The old word for colonel.
CORPHOUN. An out-of-the-way name for a herring.
CORPORAL,Ship's. In a ship of war was, under the master-at-arms, employed to teach the sailors the use of small arms; to attend at the gangways when entering ports, and see that no spirituous liquors were brought on board without leave. Also, to extinguish the fire and candles at eight o'clock in winter, and nine o'clock in summer, when the evening gun was fired; and to see that there were no lights below, but such as were under the charge of the proper sentinels. In the marines or army in general the corporal is a non-commissioned officer next below the sergeant in the scale of authority. The ship's corporal of the present day is the superior of the first-class working petty officers, and solely attends to police matters under the master-at-arms or superintendent-in-chief.
CORPORAL OATH. So called because the witness when he swears lays his right hand on the holy evangelists, or New Testament.
CORPOSANT. [Corpo santo, Ital.]SeeCompasant.
CORPS. Any body of troops acting under one commander.
CORPSE. Jack's term for the party of marines embarked; the corps.
CORRECTIONS. Reductions of observations of the sun, moon, or stars.
CORRIDOR.SeeCovert-way.
CORRYNE POWDER. Corn-powder, a fine kind of gunpowder.
CORSAIR. A name commonly given to the piratical cruisers of Barbary, who frequently plundered the merchant ships indiscriminately.
CORSELET. The old name for a piece of armour used to cover the body of a fighting-man.
CORTEGE. The official staff, civil or military.
CORUSCATIONS. Atmospheric flashes of light, as in auroras.
CORVETTES. Flush-decked ships, equipped with one tier of guns: fine vessels for warm climates, from admitting a free circulation of air. The Bermuda-built corvettes were deemed superior vessels, swift, weatherly, "lie to" well, and carry sail in a stiff breeze. The cedar of which they are chiefly built is very buoyant, but also brittle.
CORVORANT. An old mode of spellingcormorant.
COSIER. A lubber, a botcher, a tailoring fellow [coser, Sp. to sew?]
COSMICAL RISINGANDSETTINGof the Heavenly Bodies. Their rising and setting with the sun.
COSMOGRAPHER. Formerly applied to "too clever by half." Now, one who describes the world or universe in all its parts.
COSS. A measure of distance in India, varying in different districts from one mile and a half to two miles.
COSTAL. Relating to the coast.
COSTEIE. An old English word for going by the coast.
COSTERA. A law archaism for the sea-coast.
COSTS AND DAMAGE. Demurrage is generally given against a captor for unjustifiable detention. Where English merchants provoke expense by using false papers, the court decrees the captors their expenses on restitution. (SeeExpenses.)
COT. A wooden bed-frame suspended from the beams of a ship for the officers, between decks. It is inclosed in canvas, sewed in the form of a chest, about 6 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 2 or 3 feet wide, in which the mattress is laid.
COTT. An old term for a little boat.
COTTON,Gun.SeeGun-cotton.
COTTONINA. The thick sail-cloth of the Levant.
COUBAIS. An ornamented Japanese barge of forty oars.
COUD. An old term used forconnorcunn.
COULTER-NEB. A name of the puffin (Fratercula arctica).
COUNCIL-OF-WAR. The assemblage of officers for concerting measures of moment, too often deemed the symbol of irresolution in the commander-in-chief.
COUNTER. A term which enters into the composition of divers words of our language, and generally implies opposition, ascounter-brace,counter-current, &c.—Counter of a ship, refers to her after-seat on the water: the counter above extends from the gun-deck line, or lower ribbon moulding of the cabin windows, to the water-line (or seat of water); the lower counter is arched below that line, and constitutes the hollow run. It is formed on the transom-buttocks.
COUNTER-APPROACHES. Works effected outside the place by the garrison during a siege, to enfilade, command, or otherwise check the approaches of the besieger.
COUNTER-BALANCE WEIGHT, in the marine engine. (SeeLever.) Also in many marine barometers, where it slides and is fixed by adjusting screws, so as to produce an even-balanced swing, free from jerk.
COUNTER-BRACE,To. Is bracing the head-yards one way, and the after-yards another. The counter-brace is the lee-brace of the fore-topsail-yard, but is only distinguished by this name at the time of the ship's going about (called tacking), when the sail begins to shiver in the wind, this brace is hauled in to flatten the sail against the lee-side of the top-mast, and increase the effect of the wind in forcing her round. Counter-bracing becomes necessary to render the vessel stationary when sounding, lowering a boat, or speaking a stranger. It is now an obsolete term, and the manœuvre is calledheaving-to.
COUNTER-CURRENT. That portion of water diverted from the main stream of a current by the particular formation of the coast or other obstruction, and which therefore runs in a contrary direction. There is also a current formed under the lee-counter of a ship when going through the water, which retains floating objects there, and is fatal to a man, by sucking him under.
COUNTERFORTS. Masonry adjuncts, advantageous to all retaining walls, but especially to those which, like the escarps of fortresses, are liable to be battered. They are attached at regular intervals to the hinder face of the wall, and perpendicular to it; having various proportions, but generally the same height as the wall; they hold it from beingthrust forward from behind, and, even when it is battered away, retain the earth at the back at such a steep slope that the formation of a practicable breach remains very difficult. When arches are turned between the counterforts, the strength of the whole structure is much increased: it is then called acounter-arched revêtement.
COUNTERGUARD. In fortification, a smaller rampart raised in front of a larger one, principally with the intention of delaying for a period the besieger's attack. Other means, however, are generally preferred in modern times, except when a rapid fall in the ground renders it difficult to cover the main escarp by ordinary resources.
COUNTER-LINE. A word often used forcontravallation.
COUNTERMARCH. To change the direction of a march to its exact opposite. In some military movements this involves the changing of front and wings.
COUNTERMINES. Military defensive mines: they may be arranged on a system for the protection of the whole of a front of fortification by the discovering and blowing up not only the subterranean approaches of the besieger, but also his more important lodgments above.
COUNTER-MOULD. The converse ofmould(which see).
COUNTER-RAILS. The balustrade work, or ornamental moulding across a square stern, where the counter terminates.
COUNTERSCARP. In fortification, the outer side of the ditch next the country; it is usually of less height, and less strongly revetted than the escarp, the side which forms the face of the rampart.
COUNTER-SEA. The disturbed state of the sea after a gale, when, the wind having changed, the sea still runs in its old direction.
COUNTERSIGN. A particular word or number which is exchanged between sentinels, and intrusted to those on duty. (SeeParole.)
COUNTER-SUNK. Those holes which are made for the heads of bolts or nails to be sunk in, so as to be even with the general surface.
COUNTER-TIMBERS. Short right-aft timbers for the purpose of strengthening the counter, and forming the stern.
COUNTER-TRENCHES.SeeCounter-approaches.
COUNTRY. A term synonymous withstation. The place whither a ship happens to be ordered.
COUP DE GRACE. The finishing shot which brings an enemy to surrender; or the wound which deprives an adversary of life or resistance.
COUP DE MAIN. A sudden and vigorous attack.
COUP D'ŒIL. The skill of distinguishing, at first sight, the weakness of an enemy's position, as Nelson did at the Nile.
COUPLE,To. To bend two hawsers together; coupling links of a cable; coupling shackles.
COUREAU. A small yawl of the Garonne. Also, a narrow strait or channel.
COURSE. The direction taken by anything in motion, shown by the point of the compasstowardswhich they run, as water in a river, tides, and currents;but of the wind, as similarly indicated by the compass-pointfromwhich it blows. Course is also the ship's way. In common parlance, it is the point of the compass upon which the ship sails, the direction in which she proceeds, or is intended to go. When the wind is foul, she cannot "lie her course;" if free, she "steers her course."
COURSES. A name by which the sails hanging from the lower yards of a ship are usually distinguished, viz. the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen: the staysails upon the lower masts are sometimes also comprehended in this denomination, as are the main staysails of all brigs and schooners. A ship is under her courses when she has no sail set but the fore-sail, main-sail, and mizen.Trysailsare courses (which see), sometimes termedbentincks.
COURSET. The paper on which the night's course is set for the officer in charge of the watch.
COURT-MARTIAL. A tribunal held under an act of parliament, of the year 1749, and not, like the mutiny act, requiring yearly re-enactment. It has lately, 6th August, 1861, been changed to the "Naval Discipline Act." At present a court may be composed of five, but must not exceed nine, members. No officer shall sit who is under twenty-one years of age. No flag-officer can be tried unless the president also be a flag-officer, and the others flag, or captains. No captain shall be tried unless the president be of higher rank, and the others captains and commanders. No court for the trial of any officer, or person below the rank of captain, shall be legal, unless the president is a captain, or of higher rank, nor unless, in addition, there be two other officers of the rank of commander, or of higher rank. Any witness summoned—civil, naval, or military—by the judge-advocate, refusing to attend or give evidence, to be punished as for same in civil courts. The admiralty can issue commissions to officers to hold courts-martial on foreign stations, without which they cannot be convened. A commander-in-chief on a foreign station, holding such a commission, may under his hand authorize an officer in command of a detached portion to hold courts-martial. Formerly all officers composing the court, attendants, witnesses, &c., were compelled to appear in their full-dress uniforms; but by recent orders, the undress uniform, with cocked hat and sword, is to be worn.
COUTEL. A military implement which served both for a knife and a dagger.
COUTERE. A piece of armour which covered the elbow.
COVE. An inlet in a coast, sometimes extensive, as the Cove of Cork. In naval architecture, the arched moulding sunk in at the foot or lower part of the taffrail.—My cove, a familiar friendly term.
COVER. Security from attack or interruption, as under cover of the ship's guns, under cover of the parapet. In the field exercise and drill of troops, one body is said to cover another exactly in rear of it. Covers for sails when furled (to protect them from the weather when loosing and airing them is precluded), are made of strong canvas painted.
COVERED WAY. In fortification, a space running along the outside of the ditch for the convenient passage of troops and guns, covered from the country by a palisading and the parapet of the glacis. It is of importance to an active defence, as besides enabling a powerful musketry fire to be poured on the near approaches of the besieger, it affords to the garrison a secure base from which to sally in force at any hour of the day or night.
COVERING-BOARD.SeePlank-sheer.
COVERING-PARTY. A force detached to protect a party sent on especial duty.
COVERT-WAY.SeeCovered Way.
COW. Applied by whalers to the female whale.—To cow.To depress with fear.
COWARDICE,and Desertion of Duty in Fight. Are criminal by law, even in the crew of a merchant-ship. Such poltroonery is very rare.
COWD. To float slowly. A Scotch term, as "the boat cowds braely awa."
COW-HITCH. A slippery or lubberly hitch.
COWHORN. The seaman's appellation of the coehorn.
COWIE. A name among Scotch fishermen for the porpoise.
COWL. The cover of a funnel.
COWRIE. Small shells,Cypræa moneta, used for money or barter in Africa and the East Indies.
COXSON,or Coxon.SeeCockswain.
COX'S TRAVERSE. Up one hatchway and down another, to elude duty. (SeeTom Cox.)