"A nodding beam or pig of leadMay hurt the very ablest head."
PIG-TAIL. The common twisted tobacco for chewing.
PIG-YOKE. The name given to the old Davis quadrant.
PIKE. (SeeHalf-pike.) A long, slender, round staff, armed at the end with iron. (SeeBoarding-pikeandPyke.) Formerly in general use, but which gave way to the bayonet. Also, the peak of a hill. Also, a fish, theEsox lucius, nicknamed the fresh-water shark.
PIKE-TURN.SeeChevaux de Frise.
PIL,or Pyll. A creek subject to the tide.
PILCHARD. TheClupea pilchardus, a fish allied to the herring, which appears in vast shoals off the Cornish coast about July.
PILE. A pyramid of shot or shell.—To pile arms, is to plant three fire-locks together, and unite the ramrods, to steady the outspread butt-ends of the pieces resting on the ground. A pile is also a beam of wood driven into the ground to form by a number a solid foundation for building upon. Asheeting-pilehas more breadth than thickness, and is much used in constructing coffer-dams.
PILE-DRIVER. A machine adapted for driving piles. Also, applied to a ship given to pitch heavily in a sea-way.
PILGER. An east-country term for a fish-spear.
PILING ICE. In Arctic parlance, where from pressure the ice is raised, slab over slab, into a high mass, which consolidates, and is often mistaken for a berg.
PILL. (SeePil.) A term on the western coast for a draining rivulet, as well as the creek into which it falls.
PILLAGE. Wanton and mostly iniquitous plunder. But an allowed ancient practice, both in this and other countries, as shown by the sea ordinances of France, and our black book of the admiralty.
PILLAN. A northern coast name for the shear-crab.
PILLAR OF THE HOLD. A main stanchion with notches for descent.
PILLAW. A dish composed at sea of junk, rice, onions, and fowls; it figured at the marriage feast of Commodore Trunnion. It is derived from the Levantinepillaf.
PILLOW. A block of timber whereon the inner end of the bowsprit is supported.
PILMER. The fine small rain so frequent on our western coasts.
PILOT. An experienced person charged with the ship's course near the coasts, into roads, rivers, &c., and through all intricate channels, in his own particular district.—Branch pilot.One who is duly authorized by the Trinity board to pilot ships of the largest draft.
PILOTAGE. The money paid to a pilot for taking a ship in or out of port, &c.
PILOT CUTTER. A very handy sharp-built sea-boat used by pilots.
PILOT-FISH.Naucrates ductor, a member of theScomberfamily, the attendant on the shark.
PILOT'S-ANCHOR. A kedge used for dropping a vessel in a stream or tide-way.
PILOT'S FAIR-WAY,or Pilot's Water. A channel wherein, according to usage, a pilot must be employed.
PINCH-GUT. A miserly purser.
PINCH-GUT PAY. The short allowance money.
PINE. A genus of lofty coniferous trees, abounding in temperate climates, and valuable for its timber and resin. The masts and yards of ships are generally of pine. (SeePitch-pine.)—Pineis also a northern term for drying fish by exposure to the weather.
PING. The whistle of a shot, especially the rifle-bullets in their flight.
PINGLE. A small north-country coaster.
PINK. A ship with a very narrow stern, having a small square part above. The shape is of old date, but continued, especially by the Danes, for the advantage of the quarter-guns, by the ship's being contracted abaft. Also, one of the many names for the minnow.—To pink, to stab, as, between casks, to detect men stowed away.
PINKSTERN. A very narrow boat on the Severn.
PIN-MAUL.SeeMaul.
PINNACE. A small vessel propelled with oars and sails, of two, and even three masts, schooner-rigged. In size, as a ship's boat, smaller than the barge, and, like it, carvel-built. The armed pinnace of the French coasts was of 60 or 80 tons burden, carrying one long 24-pounder and 100 men. InHenry VI.Shakspeare makes the pinnace an independent vessel, though Falstaff uses it as a small vessel attending on a larger. Also, metaphorically, an indifferent character.
PINNOLD. A term on our southern shores for a small bridge.
PINS.—Belaying pins.Short cylindrical pieces of wood or iron fixed into the fife-rail and other parts of a vessel, for making fast the running-rigging.
PINTADOS. Coloured or printed chintzes, formerly in great demand from India, and among the fine goods of a cargo.
PIN-TAIL. TheAnas acuta, a species of duck with a long pointed tail. Also, in artillery, the iron pin on the axle-tree of the limber, to which the trail-eye of the gun-carriage is attached for travel.
PINTLES. The rudder is hung on to a ship by pintles and braces. The braces are secured firmly to the stern-post by jaws, which spread and are bolted on each side. The pintles are hooks which enter the braces, and the rudder is then wood-locked; a dumb pintle on the heel finally takes the strain off the hinging portions.
PIONEERS. A proportion of troops specially assigned to the clearing (from natural impediments) the way for the main body; hence, used generally in the works of an army, its scavenging, &c. Labourers of the country also are sometimes so used.
PIPE. A measure of wine containing two hogsheads, or 125 gallons, equal to half a tun. Also, a peculiar whistle for summoning the men to duty, and directing their attention by its varied sounds. (SeeCall.)
PIPE-CLAY. Known to the ancients under the name ofparetonium; formerly indispensable to soldiers as well as the jolly marines.
PIPE DOWN! The order to dismiss the men from the deck when a duty has been performed on board ship.
PIPE-FISH. A fish of the genusSyngnathus, with an elongated slender body and long tubular mouth.
PIPER. A half-dried haddock. Also, the shellEchinus cidaris. Also, the fishTrigla lyra.
PIQUET. A proportion of a force set apart and kept on the alert for the security of the whole.—Theoutlying piquet, some distance from the main body, watches all hostile approach.—Theinlying piquetis ready to act in case of internal disorder, or of alarm.
PIRACY. Depredation without authority, or transgression of authority given, by despoiling beyond its warrant. Fixed domain, public revenue, and a certain form of government, are exempt from that character, therefore the Barbary States were not treated by Europe as such. The Court of Admiralty is empowered to grant warrants to commit any person for piracy, only on regular information upon oath. By common law, piracy consists in committing those acts of robbery and depredation upon the high seas, which, if committed on land, would have amounted to felony, and the pirate is deemedhostis humani generis.
PIRAGUA [Sp.per agua].SeePirogue.
PIRATE. A sea-robber, yet the wordpiratahas been formerly taken for a sea-captain. Also, an armed ship that roams the seas without any legal commission, and seizes or plunders every vessel she meets; their coloursare said to be a black field with a skull, a battle-axe, and an hour-glass. (SeePrahu.)
PIRIE. An old term for a sudden gust of wind.
PIRLE. An archaic word signifying a brook or stream.
PIROGUE,or Piragua. A canoe formed from the trunk of a large tree, generally cedar or balsa wood. It was the native vessel which the Spaniards found in the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west coasts of South America; called also a dug-boat in North America.
PISCARY. A legal term for a fishery. Also, a right of fishing in the waters belonging to another person.
PISCES. The twelfth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 21st of February.
PISCIS AUSTRALIS. One of the ancient southern constellations, the lucida of which is Fomalhaut.
PISTOL. An old word for a swaggering rogue; hence Shakspeare's character inHenry V.
PISTOLA. A Papal gold coin of the sterling value of 13s.11d.
PISTOLE. A Spanish gold coin, value 16s.6d.sterling.
PISTOLET. This name was applied both to a small pistol and a Spanish pistole.
PISTOLIERS. A name for the heavy cavalry,temp.Jac. I.
PISTOL-PROOF. A term for the point of courage for which a man was elected captain by pirates.
PISTON. In the marine steam-engine, a metal disc fitting the bore of the cylinder, and made to slide up and down within it easily, in order, by its reciprocating movement, to communicate motion to the engine.
PISTON-ROD. A rod which is firmly fixed in the piston by a key driven through both.
PIT. In the dockyards.SeeSaw-pit.
PITCH. Tar and coarse resin boiled to a fluid yet tenacious consistence. It is used in a hot state with oakum in caulking the ship to fill the chinks or intervals between her planks. Also, in steam navigation, the distance between two contiguous threads of the screw-propeller, is termed thepitch. Also, in gunnery, the throw of the shot.—To pitch, to plant or set, as tents, pavements, pitched battles, &c.
PITCH-BOAT. A vessel fitted for boiling pitch in, which should be veered astern of the one being caulked.
PITCHED. A word formerly used forstepped, as of a mast, and also forthrown.
PITCH-HOUSE. A place set apart for the boiling of pitch for the seams and bottoms of vessels.
PITCH IN,To. To set to work earnestly; to beat a person violently. (A colloquialism.)
PITCHING. The plunging of a ship's head in a sea-way; the vertical vibration which her length makes about her centre of gravity; a very straining motion.
PITCH-KETTLE. That in which the pitch is heated, or in which it is carried from thepitch-pot.
PITCH-LADLE. Is used for paying decks and horizontal work.
PITCH-MOP. The implement with which the hot pitch is laid on to ships' sides and perpendicular work.
PITCH-PINE.Pinus resinosa, commonly called Norway or red pine. (SeePine.)
PITH. Well known as the medullary part of the stem of a plant; but figuratively, it is used to express strength and courage.
PIT-PAN. A flat-bottomed, trough-like canoe, used in the Spanish Main and in the West Indies.
PIT-POWDER. That made with charcoal which has been burned in pits, not in cylinders.
PIVOT. A cylinder of iron or other metal, that may turn easily in a socket. Also, in a column of troops, that flank by which the dressing and distance are regulated; in a line, that on which it wheels.
PIVOT-GUN. Mounted on a frame carriage which can be turned radially, so as to point the piece in any direction.
PIVOT-SHIP. In certain fleet evolutions, the sternmost ship remains stationary, as a pivot upon which the other vessels are to form the line anew.
PLACE. A fortress, especially its main body.
PLACEfor Everything, and Everything in its Place. One of the golden maxims of propriety on board ship.
PLACE OF ARMS. In fortification, a space contrived for the convenient assembling of troops for ulterior purposes; the most usual are those at the salient and re-entering angles of the covered-way.
PLACER. A Spanish nautical term for shoal or deposit. Also, for deposits of precious minerals.
PLACES OF CALL. Merchantmen must here attend to two general rules:—If these places of call are enumerated in the charter-party, then such must be taken in the order laid down; but if leave be given to call at all, or any, then they must be taken in their geographical sequence.
PLAGES [Lat.] An old word for the divisions of the globe; as,plages of the north, the northern regions.
PLAIN. A term used in contradistinction to mountain, though far from implying a level surface, and it may be either elevated or low.
PLAN. The area or imaginary surface defined by, or within any described lines. In ship-building, theplan of elevation, commonly called thesheer-draught, is a side-plan of the ship. (SeeHorizontal PlanandBody-plan, or plan of projection.)
PLANE. In a general sense, a perfectly level surface; but it is a term used by shipwrights, implying the area or imaginary surface contained within any particular outlines, as the plane of elevation, or sheer-draught, &c.
PLANE-CHART. One constructed on the supposition of the earth's being an extended plane, and therefore but little in request.
PLANE OF THE MERIDIAN.SeeMeridian.
PLANE-SAILING. That part of navigation which treats a ship's course as an angle, and the distance, difference of latitude, and easting or westing, as the sides of a right-angled triangle. The easting or westing is called departure. To convert this into difference of longitude, parallel, middle latitude, or Mercator's sailing is needed, depending on circumstances. Plane-sailing is so simple that it is colloquially used to express anything so easy that it is impossible to make a mistake.
PLANE TRIANGLE. One contained by three right lines.
PLANETS,Primary. Those beautiful opaque bodies which revolve about the sun as a centre, in nearly circular orbits. (SeeInferior,Minor, andSuperior.)
PLANETS,Secondary. The satellites, or moons, revolving about some of the primary planets—the moon being our satellite.
PLANIMETRY. The mensuration of plane surfaces.
PLANK. Thick boards, 18 feet long at least, from 11⁄2to 4 inches thick, and 9 or 10 inches broad; of less dimensions, it is calledboardordeal(which see), the latter being 8 or 9 inches wide, by 14 feet long.
PLANKING. The outside and inside casing of the vessel.
PLANK IT,To. To sleep on the bare decks, choosing, as the galley saying has it, the softest plank.
PLANK-SHEER. Pieces of plank covering the timber-heads round the ship; also, the gunwale or covering-board. The space between this and the line of flotation has latterly been termed the free-board.
PLAN OF THE TRANSOMS. The horizontal appearance of them, to which the moulds are made, and the bevellings taken.
PLANT. A stock of tools, &c. Also, the fixtures, machinery, &c., required to carry on a business.
PLANTER. In Newfoundland it means a person engaged in the fishery; and in the United States the naked trunk of a tree, which, imbedded in a river, becomes one of the very dangerous snag tribe.
PLASH,To. To wattle or interweave branches.
PLASTRON. A pad used by fencers. Also, the shield on the under surface of a turtle.
PLATE. In marine law, refers to jewels, plate, or treasure, for which freight is due. Thus,plate-shipis a galleon so laden.
PLATE.Backstay-plate.A piece of iron used instead of a chain to confine the dead-eye of the backstay to the after-channel.—Foot-hook or futtock plates.Iron bands fitted to the lower dead-eyes of the topmast-shrouds, which, passing through holes in the rim of the top, are attached to the upper ends of the futtock-shrouds.
PLATE-ARMOUR. Thick coverings or coatings for ships on the new principle, to render them impervious to shot and shell, if kept just outside ofbreaking-platedistance.
PLATEAU. An upland flat-topped elevation.
PLATFORM. A kind of deck for any temporary or particular purpose: the orlop-deck, having store-rooms and cabins forward and aft, and themiddle part allotted to the stowage of cables. Also, the flooring elevation of stone or timber on which the carriage of a gun is placed for action. Hence, in early voyages, a fort or battery, with well-mounted ordnance, is called "the platform."
PLATOON. Originally a small square body or subdivision of musketeers; hence,platoon exercise, that which relates to the loading and firing of muskets in the ranks; andplatoon firing,i.e.by subdivisions.
PLAY. Motion in the frame, masts, &c. Also said of the marine steam-engine when it is in action or in play. Also, in long voyages or tedious blockades, play-acting may be encouraged with benefit; for the excitement and employment thus afforded are not only good anti-scorbutics, but also promoters of content and good fellowship: in such—
"Jack is not bound by critics' crabbed laws,But gives to all his unreserved applause:He laughs aloud when jokes his fancy please—Such are the honest manners of the seas.And never—never may he ape those foolsWho, lost to reason, laugh or cry by rules."
PLAYTE. An old term for a river-boat.
PLEDGET. The string of oakum used in caulking. Also, in surgery, a small plug of lint.
PLEIADES. The celebrated cluster of stars in Taurus, of which seven or eight are visible to the naked eye; the assisted vision numbers over 200.
PLENY TIDES. Full tides.
PLICATILES. Ancient vessels built of wood and leather, which could be taken to pieces and carried by land.
PLONKETS. Coarse woollen cloths of former commerce. (Seestatute 1 R. III. c. 8.)
PLOT,or Plott. A plan or chart. (SeeIchnography.)
PLOTTING. The making of the plan after an actual survey of the place has been obtained.
PLOUGH. An instrument formerly used for taking the sun's altitude, and possessed of large graduations. When a ship cuts briskly through the sea she is said to plough it.
PLUCKER. The fishing frog,Lophius piscatorius.
PLUG. A conical piece of wood to let in or keep out water, when fitted to a hole in the bottom of a boat.—Hawse-plugs.To stop the hawse-holes when the cables are unbent, and the ship plunges in a head-sea.—Shot-plugs.Covered with oakum and tallow, to stop shot-holes in the sides of a ship near the water-line; being conical, they adapt themselves to any sized shot-holes.
PLUMB. Right up and down, opposed to parallel.—To plumb.To form the vertical line. Also, to sound the depth of water.
PLUMBER-BLOCKS. These, in a marine steam-engine, areY's, wherein are fixed the bushes, in which the shafts or pinions revolve.
PLUMMET. A name sometimes given to the hand-lead, or any lead or iron weight suspended by a string, as used by carpenters,&c.
PLUNDER. A name given to the effects of the officers and crew of a prize, when pillaged by the captors, though the act directs that "nothing shall be taken out of a prize-ship till condemned." (SeePillage.)
PLUNGING FIRE. A pitching discharge of shot from a higher level, at such an angle that the shot do not ricochet.
PLUNGING SPLASH. The descent of the anchor into the water when let go.
PLUSH [evidently fromplus]. The overplus of the grog, arising from being distributed in a smaller measure than the true one, and assigned to the cook of each mess, becomes a cause of irregularity. (SeeTot.)
PLUVIOMETER,or Rain-gauge. A measurer of the quantity of rain which falls on a square foot. There are various kinds.
PLY,To. To carry cargoes or passengers for short trips. Also,to work to windward, to beat. Also,to ply an oar, to use it in pulling.
PLYMOUTH CLIMATE.
"The west wind always brings wet weather,The east wind wet and cold together;The south wind surely brings us rain,The north wind blows it back again."
PLYMOUTH CLOAK. An old term for a cane or walking stick.
P.M. [Lat.post meridiem.] Post meridian, or after mid-day.
P.O. Mark for a petty officer.
POCHARD. A kind of wild duck.
POCKET. A commercial quantity of wool, containing half a sack. Also, the frog of a belt.
POD. A company of seals or sea-elephants.
POGGE. The miller's thumb,Cottus cataphractus.
POHAGEN. A fish of the herring kind, called alsohard-head(which see).
POINT. A low spit of land projecting from the main into the sea, almost synonymous with promontory or head. Also, the rhumb the winds blow from.
POINT A GUN,To. To direct it on a given object.
POINT A SAIL,To. To affix points through the eyelet-holes of the reefs. (SeePoints.)
POINT-BEACHER. A low woman of Portsmouth.
POINT-BLANK. Direct on the object; "blank" being the old word for the mark on the practice-butt.
POINT-BLANK FIRING. That wherein no elevation is given to the gun, its axis being pointed for the object.
POINT-BLANK RANGE. The distance to which a shot was reckoned to range straight, without appreciable drooping from the force of gravity. It varied from 300 to 400 yards, according to the nature of gun; and was measured by the first graze of the shot fired horizontally from a gun on its carriage on a horizontal plane. The finer practice of rifled guns is much abating the use of the term, minute elevations being added to the point-blank direction for even the very smallest ranges.
POINT BRASSORIRON. A large sort of plumb for the nice adjustment of perpendicularity for a given line.
POINT-DE-GALLE CANOE. Consists of a single stem ofDúpwood, 18 to 30 feet long, from 11⁄2to 21⁄2feet broad, and from 2 to 3 feet deep. It is fitted with a balance log at the ends of two bamboo out-riggers, having the mast, yard, and sail secured together; and, when sailing, is managed in a similar way to the catamaran. They sail very well in strong winds, and are also used by the natives of the Eastern Archipelago, especially at the Feejee group, where they are very large.
POINTER. The index or indicator of an instrument.—Station pointer.A brass graduated circle with one fixed and two radial legs; by placing them at two adjoining angles taken by a sextant between three known objects, the position of the observer is fixed on the chart.
POINTER-BOARD. A simple contrivance for duly training a ship's guns.
POINTERS. Stout props, placed obliquely to the timbers of whalers, to sustain the shock of icebergs. All braces placed diagonally across the hold of any vessel, to support the bilge and prevent loose-working, are called pointers. Also, the general designation for the stars α and β in the Great Bear, a line through which points nearly upon the pole-star.
POINT-HOLES. The eyelet-holes for the points.
POINTING. The operation of unlaying and tapering the end of a rope, and weaving some of its yarns about the diminished part, which is very neat to the eye, prevents it from being fagged out, and makes it handy for reeving in a block, &c.
POINT OF THE COMPASS. The 32d part of the circumference, or 11° 15′.
POINTS.SeeReef-points.—Armed at all points, is when a man is defended by armour cap-à-pie.
POINTS OF SERVICE. The principal details of duty, which ought to be executed with zeal and alacrity.
POLACRE. A ship or brig of the Mediterranean; the masts are commonly formed of one spar from truck to heel, so that they have neither tops nor cross-trees, neither have they any foot-ropes to their upper yards, because the men stand upon the topsail-yards to loose and furl the top-gallant sails, and upon the lower yards to loose, reef, or furl the top-sails, all the yards being lowered sufficiently for that purpose.
POLANS. Knee-pieces in armour.
POLAR CIRCLES. The Arctic and the Antarctic; 23° 28′ from either pole.
POLAR COMPRESSION.SeeCompression of the Poles.
POLAR DISTANCE. The complement of thedeclination. The angular distance of a heavenly body from one of the poles, counted on from 0° to 180°.
POLARIS.SeePole-star.
POLAR REGIONS. Those parts of the world which lie within the Arctic and Antarctic circles.
POLDAVIS,or Poldavy. A canvas from Dantzic, formerly much used in our navy. A kind of sail-cloth thus named was also manufactured inLancashire from about the year 1500, and regulated by statute 1 Jac. cap. 24.
POLE. The upper end of the highest masts, when they rise above the rigging.
POLEAXE,or Pollax. A sort of hatchet, resembling a battle-axe, which was used on board ship to cut away the rigging of an adversary. Also in boarding an enemy whose hull was more lofty than that of the boarders, by driving the points of several into her side, one above another, and thus forming a kind of scaling-ladder; hence were called boarding-axes.
POLEMARCH. The commander-in-chief of an ancient Greek army.
POLE-MASTS. Single spar masts, also applied where the top-gallant and royal masts are in one. (SeeMast.)
POLES. Two points on the surface of the earth, each 90° distant from all parts of the equator, forming the extremities of the imaginary line called the earth's axis. The term applies also to those points in the heavens towards which the terrestrial axis is always directed.—Under bare poles.The situation of a ship at sea when all her sails are furled. (SeeScudandTry.)
POLE-STAR. αUrsæ minoris. This most useful star is the lucida of the Little Bear, round which the other components of the constellation and the rest of the heavens appear to revolve in the course of the astronomical day.
POLICY. A written contract, by which the insurers oblige themselves to indemnify sea-risks under various conditions. Aninterestpolicy, is where the insurer has a real assignable interest in the thing insured; awagerpolicy, is where the insurer has no substantial interest in the thing insured; anopenpolicy, is where the amount of interest is not fixed, but left to be ascertained in case of loss; avaluedpolicy, is where an actual value has been set on the ship or goods.
POLLACK. TheMerlangus pollachius, a well-known member of the cod family.
POLLUX. βGeminorum. A bright and well-known star in the ancient constellation Gemini, of which it is the second in brightness.
POLRON. That part of the armour which covered the neck and shoulders.
POLTROON. Not known in the navy.
POLYGON. A geometrical figure of any number of sides more than four; regular or irregular. In fortification the term is applied to the plan of a piece of ground fortified or about to be fortified; and hence, in some countries, to a fort appropriated as an artillery and engineering school.
POLYMETER. An instrument for measuring angles.
POLYNESIA. A group of islands: a name generally applied to the islands of the Pacific Ocean collectively, whether in clusters or straggling.
POMELO,or Pumelo.Citrus decumana.A large fruit known by this name in the East Indies, but in the West by that of shaddock, after Captain Shaddock, who introduced it there.
POMFRET. A delicate sea-fish, taken in great quantities in Bombay and Madras.
POMMELION. A name given by seamen to the cascable or hindmost knob on the breech of a cannon.
PONCHES. Small bulk-heads made in the hold to stow corn, goods, &c.
PONCHO. A blanket with a hole in the centre, large enough for the head to pass through, worn by natives of South and Western America.
POND. A word often used for a small lagoon, but improperly, for ponds are formed exclusively from springs and surface-drainage, and have no affluent. Also, a cant name for the Mediterranean. Also, the summit-level of a canal.
PONENT. Western.
PONIARD. A short dagger with a sharp edge.
PONTAGE. A duty or toll collected for the repair and keeping of bridges.
PONTONES. Ancient square-built ferry-boats for passing rivers, as described by Cæsar and Aulus Gellius.
PONTOON. A large low flat vessel resembling a barge of burden, and furnished with cranes, capstans, tackles, and other machinery necessary for careening ships; they are principally used in the Mediterranean. Also, a kind of portable boat specially adapted for the formation of the floating bridges required by armies: they are constructed of various figures, and of wood, metal, or prepared canvas (the latter being most in favour at present), and have the necessary superstructure and gear packed with them for transport.
POO. A small crab on the Scottish coast.
POOD. A Russian commercial weight, equal to 36 lbs. English.
POODLE. An old Cornish name for the English Channel. Also, a slang term for the aide-de-camp of a garrison general.
POOL. Is distinguished from apond, in being filled by springs or running water. Also, apwllor port.
POOP. [From the Latinpuppis.] The aftermost and highest part of a large ship's hull. Also, a deck raised over the after-part of a spar-deck, sometimes called theround-house. A frigate has no poop, but is said to be pooped when a wave strikes the stern and washes on board.
POOPING,or being Pooped. The breaking of a heavy sea over the stern or quarter of a boat or vessel when she scuds before the wind in a gale, which is extremely dangerous, especially if deeply laden.
POOP-LANTERN. A light carried by admirals to denote the flag-ship by night.
POOP-NETTING.SeeHammock-nettings.
POOP-RAILS. The stanchions and rail-work in front of the poop. (SeeBreast-workandFife-rails.)
POOP-ROYAL. A short deck or platform placed over the aftmost part of the poop in the largest of the French and Spanish men-of-war, and serving as a cabin for their masters and pilots. This is the topgallant-poop of our shipwrights, and the former round-house cabin of our merchant vessels.
POOR JOHN. Hake-fish salted and dried, as well as dried stock-fish, andbadbacalao, or cod, equally cheap and coarse. Shakspeare mentions it inRomeo and Juliet.
POPLAR. The tree which furnishes charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder.
POPLER. An old name for a sea-gull.
POPPETS. Upright pieces of stout square timber, mostly fir, between the bottom and bilge-ways, at the run and entrance of a ship about to be launched, for giving her further support. Also, poppets on the gunwale of a boat support the wash-strake, and form the rowlocks.
POPPLING SEA. Waves in irregular agitation.
PORBEAGLE. A kind of shark.
PORPESSE,Porpoise, or Porpuss. ThePhocœna communis. One of the smallest of the cetacean or whale order, common in the British seas.
PORT. An old Anglo-Saxon word still in full use. It strictly means a place of resort for vessels, adjacent to an emporium of commerce, where cargoes are bought and sold, or laid up in warehouses, and where there are docks for shipping. It is not quite a synonym ofharbour, since the latter does not imply traffic. Vessels hail from the port they have quitted, but they are compelled to have the name of the vessel and of the port to which they belong painted on the bow or stern.—Portis also in a legal sense a refuge more or less protected by points and headlands, marked out by limits, and may be resorted to as a place of safety, though there are many ports but rarely entered. The left side of the ship is calledport, by admiralty order, in preference tolarboard, as less mistakeable in sound for starboard.—To port the helm.So to move the tiller as to carry the rudder to the starboard side of the stern-post.—Bar-port.One which can only be entered when the tide rises sufficiently to afford depth over a bar; this in many cases only occurs at spring-tides.—Close-port.One within the body of a city, as that of Rhodes, Venice, Amsterdam, &c.—Free-port.One open and free of all duties for merchants of all nations to load and unload their vessels, as the ports of Genoa and Leghorn. Also, a term used for a total exemption of duties which any set of merchants enjoy, for goods imported into a state, or those exported of the growth of the country. Such was the privilege the English enjoyed for several years after their discovery of the port of Archangel, and which was taken from them on account of the regicide in 1648.
PORTABLE SOUP, and other preparations of meat. Of late years a very valuable part of naval provision.
PORTAGE. Tonnage. Also, the land carriage between two harbours, often high and difficult for transport. Also, in Canadian river navigation means the carrying canoes or boats and their cargo across the land, where the stream is interrupted by rocks or rapids.
PORT ARMS! The military word of command to bring the fire-lock across the front of the body, muzzle slanting upwards; a motion preparatory for the "charge bayonets!" or for inspecting the condition of the locks.
PORT-BARS. Strong pieces of oak, furnished with two laniards, bywhich the ports are secured from flying open in a gale of wind, the bars resting against the inside of the ship; the port is first tightly closed by its hooks and ring-bolts.
PORT-CHARGES,or Harbour-dues. Charges levied on vessels resorting to a port.
PORTCULLIS. A heavy frame of wooden or iron bars, sliding in vertical grooves within the masonry over the gateway of a fortified town, to be lowered for barring the passage. When hastily made, it was termed a sarrazine.
PORTE.SeeSublime Porte.
PORT-FIRE. A stick of composition, generally burning an inch a minute, used to convey fire from the slow-match or the like to the priming of ordnance, though superseded with most guns by locks or friction-tubes. With a slightly altered composition it is used for signals; also for firing charges of mines.
PORT-FLANGE. In ship-carpentry, is a batten of wood fixed on the ship's side over a port, to prevent water or dirt going into the port.
PORT-GLAIVE. A sword-bearer.
PORT-LAST,or Portoise. Synonymous withgunwale.
PORT-MEN. A name in old times for the inhabitants of the Cinque Ports; the burgesses of Ipswich are also so called.
PORT-MOTE. A court held in haven towns or ports.
PORT-NAILS. These are classed double and single: they are similar to clamp-nails, and like them are used for fastening iron work.
PORT-PENDANTS. Ropes spliced into rings on the outside of the port-lids, and rove through leaden pipes in the ship's sides, to work the port-lids up or down by the tackles.
PORT-PIECE. An ancient piece of ordnance used in our early fleets.
PORT-PIECE CHAMBER. A paterero for loading a port-piece at the breech.
PORT-REEVE. A magistrate of certain sea-port towns in olden times.
PORT-ROPES. Those by which the ports are hauled up and suspended.
PORTS,or Port-holes. The square apertures in the sides of a ship through which to point and fire the ordnance. Also, aft and forward, as thebridle-portin the bows, thequarter-portin round-stern vessels, andstern-portsbetween the stern-timbers. Also, square holes cut in the sides, bow, or stem of a merchant ship, for taking in and discharging timber cargoes, and for other purposes.—Gunroom-ports.Are situated in the ship's counter, and are used for stern-chasers, and also for passing a small cable or a hawser out, either to moor head and stern, or to spring upon the cable, &c. (SeeMoorandSpring.)—Half-port.A kind of shutter which hinges on the lower side of a port, and falls down outside when clear for action; when closed it half covers the port to the line of metal of the gun, and is firmly secured by iron hooks. The upper half-port is temporary and loose, will not stand a heavy sea, and is merely secured by two light inch-rope laniards.
PORT-SALE. A public sale of fish on its arrival in the harbour.
PORT-SASHES. Half-ports fitted with glass for the admission of light into cabins.
PORT-SHACKLES. The rings to the ports.
PORT-SILLS. In ship-building, pieces of timber put horizontally between the framing to form the top and bottom of a port.
PORT-TACKLES. Those falls which haul up and suspend the lower-deck ports, so that since the admiralty order for using the wordportinstead oflarboard, we haveport port-tackle falls.
PORTUGUESE. A gold coin, value £1, 16s., called alsomoiadobras.
PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. A beautiful floating acalephan of the tropical seas; thePhysalia pelagica.
POSITION. Ground (or water) occupied, or that may be advantageously occupied, in fighting order.
POSITION, GEOGRAPHICAL, of any place on the surface of the earth, is the determination of its latitude and longitude, and its height above the level of the sea.
POSSESSORY. A suit entered in the admiralty court by owners for the seizing of their ship.
POST. Any ground, fortified or not, where a body of men can be in a condition for defence, or fighting an enemy. Also, the limits of a sentinel's charge.
POST-CAPTAIN. Formerly a captain of three years' standing, now simply captain, but equal to colonel in the army, by date of commission.
POSTED. Promoted from commander to captain in the navy; a word no longer officially used.
POSTERN. A small passage constructed through some retired part of a bastion, or other portion of a work, for the garrison's minor communications with the town, unperceived by the enemy.
POSTING. Placing people for special duty. Also, publicly handing out a bad character.
POST OF HONOUR. The advance, and the right of the lines of any army.
POUCH. A case of strong leather for carrying ammunition, used by soldiers, marines, and small-arm men. Also, the crop of a shark.
POUCHES. Wooden bulk-heads across the hold of cargo vessels, to prevent grain or light shingle from shifting.
POULDRON. A shoulder-piece in armour. Corrupted fromepauldron.
POULTERER. Called "Jemmy Ducks" on board ship; he assists the butcher in the feeding and care of the live stock, &c.
POUND. A lagoon, or space of water, surrounded by reefs and shoals, wherein fish are kept, as at Bermuda.
POUND-AND-PINT-IDLER. A sobriquet applied to the purser.
POUNDER. A denomination applied to guns according to the weight of the shot they carry; at present everything larger than the 100-pounder is described by the diameter of its bore, coupled with its total weight.
POW. A name on the Scotch shores for a small creek. Also, a mole.
POWDER.SeeGunpowder.
POWDER,To. To salt meat slightly; as Falstaff says, "If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too, to-morrow."—Powdering-tub.A vessel used for pickling beef, pork, &c.
POWDER-BAGS. Leathern bags containing from 20 to 40 lbs. of powder; substituted for petards at the instance of Lord Cochrane, as being more easily placed. They have lately been called Ghuznee bags.
POWDER-HOY. An ordnance vessel expressly fitted to convey powder from the land magazine to a ship; it invariably carries a red distinguishing flag, and warns the ship for which the powder is intended, to put out all fires before she comes alongside.
POWDER-MAGAZINE. The prepared space allotted for the powder on board ship.
POWDER-MONKEY. Formerly the boy of the gun, who had charge of the cartridge; now powder-man.
POWDER-VESSEL. A ship used as a floating magazine.
POWER. Mechanical force; in the steam-engine it is esteemed effective, expansive, or full. (SeeHorse-power.)
POZZOLANA. Volcanic ashes, used in cement, especially if required under water.
PRACTICABLE. Said of a breach in a rampart when its slope offers a fair means of ascent to an assaulting column.
PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY. A branch of science which includes the determination of the magnitude, distance, and phenomena of the heavenly bodies; the ready reduction of observations for tangible use in navigation and geography; and the expert manipulation of astronomical instruments.
PRÆCURSORIÆ. Ancient vessels which led or preceded the fleets.
PRÆDATORIÆ,or Prædaticæ. Long, swift, light ancient pirates.
PRAHU. [Malay for boat.] The larger war-vessels among the Malays, range from 55 to 156 feet in length, and carry 76 to 96 rowers, with about 40 to 60 fighting men. The guns range from 2 inches to 6 inches bore, are of brass, and mounted on stock-pieces, four to ten being the average. These boats are remarkable for their swiftness.
PRAIA [Sp.playa]. The beach or strand on Portuguese coasts.
PRAIRIE. The natural meadows or tracts of gently undulating, wonderfully fertile land, occupying so vast an extent of the great river-basins of North America.
PRAM,or Praam. A lighter used in Holland, and the ports of the Baltic, for loading and unloading merchant ships. Some were fitted by the French with heavy guns, for defending the smaller ports.
PRANKLE. A Channel term for theprawn.
PRATIQUE. A Mediterranean term, implying the license to trade and communicate with any place after having performed the required quarantine, or upon the production of a clean bill of health.
PRAWN. A marine crustacean larger than a shrimp, much esteemed as an article of food.
PRAYER-BOOK. A smaller hand-stone than that which sailors call "bible;" it is used to scrub in narrow crevices where a large holy-stone cannot be used. (SeeHoly-stone.)
PRECEDENCE. The order and degree of rank among officers of the two services. (SeeRank.)
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES. A slow motion of the equinoctial points in the heavens, whereby the longitudes of the fixed stars are increased at the present rate of about 501⁄4″ annually, the equinox having a retrograde motion to this amount. This effect is produced by the attraction of the sun, moon, and planets upon the spheroidal figure of the earth; the luni-solar precession is the joint effect of the sun and moon only.
PREDY,or Priddy. A word formerly used in our ships for "get ready;" as, "Predy the main-deck," or get it clear.
PRE-EMPTION. A right of purchasing necessary cargoes upon reasonable compensation to the individual whose property is thus diverted. This claim is usually restricted to neutrals avowedly bound to the enemy's ports, and is a mitigation of the former practice of seizing them. (SeeCommeatus.)
PREMIUM. Simply a reward; but in commerce it implies the sum of money paid to the underwriters on ship or cargo, or parts thereof, as the price of the insurance risk.
PREROGATIVE. A word of large extent. By the constitution of England the sovereign alone has the power of declaring war and peace. The crown is not precluded by the Prize Act from superseding prize proceedings by directing restitution of property seized, before adjudication, and against the will of the captors.
PRESENT! The military word of command to raise the musket, take aim, and fire.
PRESENT ARMS! The military word of command to salute with the musket.
PRESENT USE. Stores to be immediately applied in the fitting of a ship, as distinguished from the supply for future sea use.
PRESERVED MEAT AND VEGETABLES. The occasional use of such food and lime-juice at sea, is not only a great luxury, but in many cases essential to the health of the crew, as especially instanced by the increase of scurvy in ships where this precaution is neglected.
PRESIDENT. At a general court-martial it is usual for the authority ordering it to name the president, and the office usually falls upon the second in command.
PRESS,To. To reduce an enemy to straits. (SeeImpressment.)
PRESS-GANG. A party of seamen who (under the command of a lieutenant) were formerly empowered, in time of war, to take any seafaring men—on shore or afloat—and compel them to serve on board men-of-war. Those who were thus taken were calledpressed men.
PRESS OF SAIL. As much sail as the state of the wind, &c., will permit a ship to carry.
PRESSURE-GAUGE. The manometer of a steam-engine.
PREST. Formerly signified quick or ready, and aprest manwas one willing to enlist for a stipulated sum—the very reverse of thepressed manof later times. (SeePress-gang.)
PRESTER. An old name for a meteor.
PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. Is such as by a fair and reasonable interpretation is deducible from the facts of a case.
PREVENTER. Applied to ropes, &c., when used as additional securities to aid other ropes in supporting spars, &c., during a strong gale; as preventer-backstays, braces, shrouds, stays, &c.
PREVENTER-PLATES. Stout plates of iron for securing the chains to the ship's side; one end is on the chain-plate bolt, the other is bolted to the ship's side below it.
PREVENTER-STOPPERS. Short pieces of rope, knotted at each end, for securing the clues of sails or rigging during action, or when strained.
PREVENTIVE SERVICE. The establishment of coast-guards at numerous stations along the shores of the United Kingdom for the prevention of smuggling.
PRICKER. A small marline-spike for making and stretching the holes for points and rope-bands in sails. Also, the priming-wire of a gun. Also, a northern name for the basking-shark.
PRICKING A SAIL. The running a middle seam between the two seams which unite every cloth of a sail to the next adjoining. This is rarely done till the sails have been worn some time, or in the case of heavy canvas, storm-sails, &c. It is also called middle-stitching.
PRICKING FOR A SOFT PLANK. Selecting a place on the deck for sleeping upon.
PRICKING HER OFF. Marking a ship's position upon a chart by the help of a scale and compasses, so as to show her situation as to latitude, longitude, and bearings of the place bound to.
PRIDE OF THE MORNING. A misty dew at sunrise; a light shower; the end of the land breeze followed by a dead calm in the tropics.
PRIEST'S-CAP. An outwork which has three salient angles at the head and two inwards.
PRIMAGE. Premium of insurance. Also, a small allowance at the water side to master and mariner for each pack or bale of cargo landed by them: otherwise calledhat-money.
PRIMARY PLANET. (SeePlanets, Primary.)
PRIME. The fore part of the artificial day; that is, the first quarter after sunrise.
PRIME,To. To make ready a gun, mine, &c., for instantaneous firing. Also, to pierce the cartridge with the priming-wire, and apply the quill-tube in readiness for firing the cannon.—To prime a fire-ship.To lay the train for being set on fire.—To prime a match.Put a little wet bruised powder made into the paste called devil, upon the end of the rope slow-match, with a piece of paper wrapped round it.
PRIME VERTICAL. That great circle which passes through the zenith and the east and west points of the horizon.
PRIMING-IRONS. Consist of a pointed wire used through the vent to prick the cartridge when it is "home," and of a flat-headed one similarly inserted after discharge to insure its not retaining any ignited particles.
PRIMING-VALVES. The same with escape-valves.
PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. The name of the volume formerly issued by the admiralty to all commanders of ships and vessels for their guidance; now superseded by Queen's Regulations.
PRISE,To. To raise, or slue, weighty bodies by means of a lever purchase or power. (SeePrizing.)
PRISE-BOLTS. Knobs of iron on the cheeks of a gun-carriage to keep the handspike from slipping when prising up the breech.
PRISM. In dioptrics, is a geometrical solid bounded by three parallelograms, whose bases are equal triangles.
PRISMATIC COMPASS. One so fitted with a glass prism for reading by reflection, that the eye can simultaneously observe an object and read its compass bearing.
PRISONER AT LARGE. Free to take exercise within bounds.
PRISONERS OF WAR. Men who are captured after an engagement, who are deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged, or dismissed on their parole.
PRISONER UNDER RESTRAINT. Suspended from duty; deprived of command.
PRISON-SHIP. One fitted up for receiving and detaining prisoners of war.
PRITCH. A dentated weapon for striking and holding eels.
PRIVATE. The proper designation of a soldier serving in the ranks of the army, holding no special position.
PRIVATEER PRACTICE,or Privateerism. Disorderly conduct, or anything out of man-of-war rules.
PRIVATEERS, or men-of-war equipped by individuals for cruising against the enemy; their commission (seeLetters of Marque) is given by the admiralty, and revocable by the same authority. They have no property in any prize until it is legally condemned by a competent court. The admiral on the station is entitled to a tenth of their booty. This infamous species of warfare is unhappily not yet abolished among civilized nations.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. Commissions of privateers do not extend to the capture of private property on land; a right not even granted to men-of-war. Private armed ships are not within the terms of a capitulation protecting private property generally.
PRIVATE SIGNAL. Understood by captains having the key, but totally incomprehensible to other persons.
PRIVY-COAT. A light coat or defence of mail, concealed under the ordinary dress.
PRIZE. A vessel captured at sea from the enemies of a state, or frompirates, either by a man-of-war or privateer. Vessels are also looked upon asprize, if they fight under any other standard than that of the state from which they have their commission, if they have no charter-party, and if loaded with effects belonging to the enemy, or with contraband goods. In ships of war, the prizes are to be divided among the officers, seamen, &c., according to the act; but in privateers, according to the agreement between the owners. By statute 13 Geo. II. c. 4, judges and officers failing in their duty in respect to the condemnation of prizes, forfeit £500, with full costs of suit, one moiety to the crown, and the other to the informer. Prize, according to jurists, is altogether a creature of the crown; and no man can have any interest but what he takes as the mere gift of the crown. Partial interest has been granted away at different times, but the statute of Queen Anne (A.D.1708) is the first which gave to the captors the whole of the benefit.
PRIZE ACTOF1793. Ordained that the officers and sailors on board every ship and vessel of war shall have the sole property in all captures, being first adjudged lawful prize, to be divided in such proportions and manner as His Majesty should order by proclamation. In 1746 a man, though involuntarily kept abroad above three years in the service of his country, was deemed to have forfeited his share to Greenwich.
PRIZE-ACTS. Though expiring with each war, are usually revived nearly in the same form.
PRIZEAGE. The tenth share belonging to the crown out of a lawful prize taken at sea.
PRIZE-COURT. A department of the admiralty court; (oyer et terminer) to hear and determine according to the law of nations.
PRIZE-GOODS. Those taken upon the high seas,jure belli, from the enemy.
PRIZE-LIST. A return of all the persons on board, whether belonging to the ship, or supernumeraries, at the time a capture is made; those who may be absent on duty are included.
PRIZE-MASTER. The officer to whom a prize is given in charge to carry her into port.
PRIZE-MONEY. The profits arising from the sale of prizes. It was divided equally by chart. 5 Hen. IV.
PRIZING. The application of a lever to lift or move any weighty body. Also, the act of pressing or squeezing an article into its package, so that its size may be reduced in stowage.
PROA,or Flying Prow.SeePrahu.
PROBATION. The noviciate period of cadets, midshipmen, apprentices, &c.
PROBE. A surgical sounder.—To probe.To inquire thoroughly into a matter.
PROCEEDS. The product or produce of prizes, &c.
PROCESSION. A march in official order. At a naval or military funeral, the officers are classed according to seniority, the chiefs last.
PROCURATION, LETTERS OF. Are required to be exhibited in the purchase of ships by agents in the enemy's country.
PROCYON. αCanis minoris, the principal star of the Lesser Dog.
PROD. A poke or slight thrust; as inpersuadingwith a bayonet.
PRODD. A cross-bow for throwing bullets,temp.Hen. VII.
PRODUCTION. For obtaining the benefits of trading with our colonies, it is necessary that the goods be accompanied by a "certificate of production" in the manner required by marine law. (SeeOrigin.)
PROFILE DRAUGHTS. In naval architecture, a name applied to two drawings from the sheer draught: one represents the entire construction and disposition of the ship; the other, her whole interior work and fittings.
PROFILE OF A FORT.SeeOrthographic Projection.
PROG. A quaint word for victuals. Swift says, "In town you may find better prog." It is also a spike.
PROGRESSION.SeeArc of Direction.
PROJECTILES. Bodies which are driven by any one effort of force from the spot where it was applied.
PROJECTION. A method of representing geometrically on a plane surface varied points, lines, and surfaces not lying in any one plane: used in charts and maps, where it is of various kinds, as globular, orthographic, Mercator's, &c. In ship-building, an elevation taken amidship. (SeeBody-plan.)
PROKING-SPIT. A long Spanish rapier.
PROMISCUI USUS. A law term for those articles which are equally applicable to peace or war.
PROMONTORY. A high point of land or rock projecting into a sea or lake, tapering into a neck inland, and the extremity of which, towards the water, is called a cape, or headland, as Gibraltar, Ceuta, Actium, &c.
PROMOVENT. The plaintiff in the instance-court of the admiralty.
PRONG. Synonymous withbeam-armorcrow-foot(which see).
PROOF. The trial of the quality of arms, ammunition, &c., before their reception for service. Guns are proved by various examinations, and by the firing of prescribed charges; powder by examinations, and by carefully measured firings from each batch.
PROOFS OF PROPERTY. Attestations, letters of advice, invoices, to show that a ship really belongs to the subjects of a neutral state.
PROOF TIMBER. In naval architecture, an imaginary timber, expressed by vertical lines in the sheer-draught, to prove the fairness of the body.
PROPELLER. This term generally alludes to the Archimedean screw, or screw-propeller.
PROPER MOTION OF THE STARS. A movement which some stars are found to possess, independent of the apparent change of place due to the precession of the equinoxes, the accounting for which is as yet only ingenious conjecture.
PROPORTION. In naval architecture, the length, breadth, and height ofa vessel, having a due consideration to her rate, and the object she is intended for.
PROPPETS. Those shores that stand nearly vertical.
PROSPECTIVE,or Prospect Glass. An old term for a deck or hand telescope, with a terrestrial eye-piece. (SeeSpy-glass.)
PROTECTIONS,on Paper, against impressment, were but little regarded. Yet seafaring men above 55, and under 18, were by statute exempted, as were all for the first two years of their going to sea, foreigners serving in merchant ships or privateers, and all apprentices for three years.