At20°lat.56·4miles"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-Saxondiht, 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 manydigits eclipsed.
DIKE.SeeDyke.
DILL. An edible dark brown sea-weed, torn from the rocks at low-water.
DILLOSK. The dried leaves of an edible sea-weed. (SeeDulceandPepper-dulse.)
DILLY-WRECK. A common corruption ofderelict(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 asdiminishing stuff(which see).
DIMINISHING STRAKES.SeeBlack-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.SeeDunnage.
DIP. The inclination of the magnetic needle towards the earth. (SeeDipping-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.
DIPof 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 themagnet's inclination towards the earth; it is so delicately suspended, that, instead of vibrating horizontally, one enddipsor 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 tominutes, 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.SeeLead-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 dividehorizontal fire(which see).
DIRECTIONor Set of the Wind and Current. These are opposite terms; the direction of the winds and waves being named from the point of the compasswhencethey come; but the direction of a current is the pointtowardswhich it runs. A current running to leeward is said to have aleeward set, the opposite is awindward set.
DIRECTION.SeeArc of Direction.
DIRECT MOTION.SeeMotion.
DIRK. A smalldo-littlesword 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 DOGand no Sailor or Soldier. A mean, spiritless, and utterly useless rascal.
DISABLED. To be placedhors de combatby 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 byforeign remove-tickets, and in other cases bydead,sick, orunserviceable 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.SeeSlyng.
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. (SeeGun.)
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. (SeeCentre 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. (SeeLunar 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. (SeeSignals.)
DISTRESS. A term used when a ship requires immediate assistance from unlooked-for damage or danger. (SeeSignal of Distress.)
DISTRICT ORDERS. Those issued by a general commanding a district.
DISTURBANCE.SeeSpanish 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 thedittisor 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 ofvaluables.
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.SeeParallax.
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 £1, 10s.5d.per annum additional pay—one penny a-day for risking life! Also, a common web-footed sea-bird of the genusColymbus.
DIVERGENT. A stream flowing laterally out of a river, contradistinguished from convergent.
DIVERSION. A manœuvre to attract, wholly or partially, the enemy's attention away from some other part of the operations.
DIVIE-GOO. A northern term for theLarus marinusor 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.SeeJerme.
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.—Adry dockis 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 repairedor 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 afloat(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. (SeeBreaming.)
DOCK UP,ORDUCK 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 midshipmenversusthe 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 calledhodmandod.
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 alsodog-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.Dogis 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,seeStubb.
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 ascur-tailed. (SeeWatch.)
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,ORDO-LITTLE SWORD. The old term for a dirk.
DOLLAR. For this universally known coin, seePiece of Eight.
DOLLOP. An old word for a lump, portion, or share. From the Gaelicdiolab.
DOLPHIN. Naturalists understand by this word numerous species of small cetaceous animals of the genusDelphinus, 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 (Coryphæna 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 aswooden 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. (SeePuddening.)
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. (SeeMartingale.)
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.SeeBombard.
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. TheCoryphæna 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 Gaelicdorga; 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 trulyjaune dorée, 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.—Todoublea cape. (SeeDoubling 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 styleddouble-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.SeeDeck-nails.
DOUBLE DUTCHcoiled against the Sun. Gibberish, or any unintelligible or difficult language.
DOUBLE EAGLE. A gold coin of the United States, of 10 dollars; value £2, 1s.8d., 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 acoming-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.SeeJack-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. (SeeWork Double-tides.)
DOUBLE UPON,To.SeeDoubling 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. (SeeRank.) 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: £3, 3s.to £3, 6s.English.
DOUGH-BOYS. Hard dumplings boiled in salt water. A corruption ofdough-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 spärling 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, ordowel-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, asdown 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 alongits 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 termedhawse-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 bedrafted. 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 ascreeporsweep.
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 fromtarij-mân.
DRAGON. An old name for a musketoon.
DRAGON BEAMor Piece. A strut or abutment.
DRAGONET. A sea-fish, the gowdie, orCallionymus 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 onfoot or on horseback." (SeeTroop.) 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 calleddrags.
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. (SeeSheer-draught.)
DRAUGHT-HOOKS. Iron hooks fixed on the cheeks of a gun-carriage for dragging the gun along bydraught-ropes.
DRAUGHTSMAN. The artist who draws plans or charts from instructions or surveys.
DRAW. A saildrawswhen it is filled by the wind. A shipdrawsso many feet of water.—To let draw a jibis to cease from flattening-in the sheet.—Drawis 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 shipis 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 forlimber-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 ofdropping 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 fordrag-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 theFucus loreus, a narrow thong-shaped sea-weed.
DRIBBLE. Drizzling showers; light rain.
DRIES. A term opposed torainson 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. (SeeDeflection.)
DRIFTAGE. The amount due to lee-way. (SeeDrift.)
DRIFT-BOLTS. Commonly made of steel, are used as long punches for driving out other bolts.
DRIFT-ICE. The debris of the main pack. (SeeOpen 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. (SeeDrags.)
DRIFT-WAY. Synonymous withlee-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-Saxondryfan]. 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. (SeeSteering-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-drogheris 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 Kingdomof 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 anchoris 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 withfalling(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.SeeStorm-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. (SeeProvost-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. (SeeDromon.) 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 ofcrocros.
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. (SeeGraving-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 thenorthersof the Gulf of Mexico, theharmattanof Africa, &c.
DRY HOLY-STONING.SeeHoly-stone.
DRY-ROT. A disease destructive of timber, occasioned by a fungus, theMerulius 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. (SeeKeel-hauling.)
DUCKS. The general name for a sailor's dress in warm climates. Also, the military English of Bombay.See alsoJemmy 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.