"Their beef they often in their morion stewed."
MORNING GUN. The gun fired from the admiral's or senior officer's ship, to announce day-break, which is answered by the muskets of the sentries in the other ships.
MORNING STAR. An offensive weapon of the mediæval times, consisting of a staff, to which was attached an iron ball covered with spikes. Also, the planet which is near the meridian at day-dawn.
MORNING WATCH. Those of the crew on watch from 4 to 8A.M.
MORRA. An ancient game still played in Italy with extraordinary zest, by two persons raising the right hand, and suddenly and contemporaneously throwing it down with only some of the fingers extended, when the aim is to guess what they unitedly amount to. Also, a term for a headland or promontory on the coasts of Chili and Peru. Also, a round tower or fort, as at Havana [from the Spanishmorro, round].
MORRIS-PIKE. A formidable Moorish weapon, the precursor of the boarding-pike.
MORSE.SeeWalrus.
MORSING POWDER. An old term for priming powder.
MORTAR. A short piece of ordnance used for throwing shells, so that they may fall nearly vertical; they thus acquire force for breaking through roofs, decks, &c. It is fired at a fixed angle of elevation, generally at 45°, the charge of powder varying according to the range required.
MORTAR-BEDand Bed-beams.SeeBomb-beds, &c.
MORTAR-VESSEL.SeeBomb-vessel.
MORTGAGE. A registered ship, or share therein, which has been made a security for a money-loan, or other valuable consideration, is termed a mortgage in the Merchant Shipping Act.
MORTICE. A morticed block is one made out of a single block of wood, chiselled for one or more sheaves; in distinction from amade block. The chisel used for morticing is peculiar to that purpose.
MORUACH. A peculiar seal, which has been frequently mistaken on our northern shores for a mermaid.
MOSES. A flat-bottomed boat used in the West Indies for bringing off hogsheads of sugar; it is termed single or double, according to its size.
MOSES' LAW. The term among pirates for inflicting thirty-nine lashes on the bare back—forty save one.
MOSQUITO. A term applied to a gnat-like species of stinging insects, found chiefly in low marshy places and the neighbourhood of rivers.
MOSQUITO FLEET. An assemblage of small craft.
MOSQUITO NET. A light curtain spread over a cot or bed in warm climates, to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes.
MOSS-BONKER. The name given by American fishermen to thehard-head(which see).
MOTHER CARY'S CHICKEN. The stormy petrel,Procellaria pelagica.
MOTHER CARY'S GOOSE. The name given by Captain Cook's people to an oceanic brown bird,Procellaria gigantea, which Pernety callsQuebranta huesos(bone-breaker).
MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The iridescent nacreous inner layer of several species of shells, especially the "pearl-oyster" (Meleagrina margaritifera).
MOTHERY [probably from the Dutchmœder, mud]. Thick and mouldy; generally applied to decomposing liquors.
MOTION. Change of place; it is termeddirect, in the sky, when it is in the direction of the earth's annual revolution;retrograde, when it proceeds contrary to these conditions; bysiderealis meant the motion of a body with respect to the fixed stars.—Tropical motionis the movement of a body in respect to the equinox or tropic, which has itself a slow motion among the stars, as shown under precession. (SeeProper Motion.)—Motion, in mechanics, is either simple or compound, as one or more powers are used. The momentum of a moving body, or quantity of motion, arises from its velocity multiplied into the quantity of matter it contains.
MOTION,Centre of. That point of a body which remains at rest whilst all the other parts are in motion about it: as the mathematical centre of a revolving sphere.
MOTOR. The prime mover in machinery.
MOULDED. The size of the timber, the way the mould is laid; cut to the mould.
MOULDED BREADTH. The measure of beam from outside to outside of the timbers, without the thickness of the plank.
MOULDING DIMENSION. In ship-building, implies the depth or thickness of any piece of timber.
MOULDING EDGE. That edge of a timber to which, in shaping it, the mould is applied.
MOULDINGSof a Gun. The several rings and ornaments.
MOULD-LOFT. A long building, on the floor of which the intended vessel is laid off from the several draughts in full dimensions.
MOULDS. In naval architecture, are thin flexible pieces of board used on the mould-loft floors as patterns.
MOUNT,or Mountain. An Anglo-Saxon term still in use, usually held to mean eminences above 1000 feet in height. In a fort it means thecavalier(which see).
MOUNT,To. When said of a ship-of-war, implies the number of guns she carries.—To mount, in a military sense, is also to furnish with horses.
MOUNT A GUN,To. To place it on its carriage.
MOUNT AREEVO! [Sp.montar arriba]. Mount aloft; jump up quickly.
MOUNTEBANK. TheGammarus arcticus, or arctic shrimp.
MOURNING. A ship is in mourning with her, ensign and pennant half-mast, her yards topped awry, or apeek, or alternately topped an-end. If the sides are painted blue instead of white, it denotes deep mourning;this latter, however, is only done on the ship where the admiral or captain was borne, and in the case of merchant ships on the death of the owner.
MOUSE. A kind of ball or knob, wrought on the collars of stays by means of spun-yarn, higher parcelling, &c. The mouse prevents the running eye from slipping. (SeePuddening.) Also, a match used in firing a mine. Also, a mark made upon braces and other ropes, to show their squaring or tallying home.—To mouse a hook, to put a turn or two of rope-yarn round the point of a tackle-hook and its neck to prevent its unhooking.—To raise a mouse, to strike a blow which produces a lump.
MOUTH [the Anglo-Saxonmuda]. The embouchure opening of a port or outlet of a river, as Yarmouth, Tynemouth, Exmouth, &c.
MOVE OFF,To. To defile.
MOVER. Synonymous withmotor.
MOVING SANDS. Synonymous withquicksands.
MOWELL. The old English name formullet.
MOYAN. A species of early artillery.
MOYLE,To. To defile; an old term.
MUCK.SeeAmok.
MUD-DRAGS. Implements and machines for clearing rivers and docks.
MUDORBALLAST DREDGER. A vessel of 300 tons or more, fitted with steam-engine beams and metal buckets. By this powerful machine for cutting or scraping, loose gravel banks, &c., are removed from the entrances to docks and rivers.
MUD-FISH. TheLepidosiren, a very remarkable fish of the Gambia and other African rivers.
MUD-HOLE. An orifice with steam-tight doors in a marine engine, through which the deposit is removed from the boilers.
'MUDIAN,'Mugian, or Bermudian. A boat special to the Bermuda Islands, usually decked, with the exception of a hatch; from two to twenty tons burden; it is short, of good beam, and great draft of water abaft, the stem and keel forming a curved line. It carries an immense quantity of iron, or even lead, ballast. Besides a long main and short jib-boom, it has a long, tapering, raking mast, stepped just over the fore-foot, generally unsupported by shrouds or stays; on it a jib-headed main-sail is hoisted to a height of twice, and sometimes three times, the length of the keel. This sail is triangular, stretched at its foot by a long boom. The only other sail is a small fore-sail or jib. They claim to be the fastest craft in the world for working to windward in smooth water, it being recorded of one that she made five miles dead to windward in the hour during a race; and though they may be laid over until they fill with water, they will not capsize.
MUD-LANDS. The extensive marshes left dry by the retiring tide in estuaries and river mouths.
MUD-LARKS. People who grovel about bays and harbours at low water for anything they can find.
MUD-LIGHTER. Large heavy punts which receive the mud or other matter from a dredging vessel. It is theMarie Salopeof the French. (SeeHopper-punt.)
MUD-PATTENS. Broad clogs used for crossing mud-lands in the south of England by those who take sea-fowl.
MUD-SHORES. Are not unfrequent on an open coast. The most remarkable instance, perhaps, is that of the Guiana; the mud brought down by the river being thrown up by the current, and silted, with belts of mangroves in patches.
MUFFLED DRUM. The sound is thus damped at funerals: passing the spare cord, which is made of drummer's plait (to carry the drum over the shoulder), twice through the snares or cords which cross the lower diameter of the drum.
MUFFLE THE OARS,To. To put some matting or canvas round the loom when rowing, to prevent its making a noise against the tholes, or in the rowlocks. For this service thole-pins are best. In war time, rowing guard near the ships or batteries of the enemy, or cutting out, many a pea-jacket has been sacrificed for this purpose. Whale-boats have their oars muffled to prevent frightening the whales.
MUFTI. Plain clothes. The civilian dress of a naval or military officer when off duty. This, though not quite commendable, is better than the half and half system, for a good officer should be either in uniform or out of it.
MUGGY. Half intoxicated. A sheet in the wind. Also used to express damp, oppressive weather.
MULCT. A fine in money for some fault or misdemeanour. Also, fines formerly laid on ships by a trading company, to raise money for the maintenance of consuls, &c.
MULET. A Portuguese craft, with three lateen sails.
MULL. Derived from the Gaelicmullach, a promontory or island; as Mull of Galloway, Mull of Cantyre, Isle of Mull. Also, when things are mismanaged; "we have made a mull of it."
MULLET. A well-known fish, of which there are several species. The gray mullet,Mugil capito, and the red mullet,Mullus surmuletus, are the most common on the British coast.
MULLS. The nickname of the English in Madras, from mulligatawney having been a standard dish amongst them.
MULREIN. A name in the Firth of Forth for the frog-fish,Lophius piscatorius.
MULTIPLE STARS. When several stars appear in close proximity to each other, they are spoken of, collectively, as a multiple star.
MUMBO JUMBO. A strange minister of so-called justice on the Gold Coast, who is usually dressed up for the purpose of frightening women and children. He is the arbiter of domestic strife.
MUNDUC. A sailor employed at the pearl-fishery, to haul up the diver and oysters.
MUNDUNGUS [from the Spanishmondongo, refuse, offal]. Bad, rank, and dirty tobacco.
MUN-FISH. Rotten fish, used in Cornwall for manure.
MUNITION BREAD. Contract or commissariat bread;Brown George.
MUNITIONS. Provisions; naval and military stores.
MUNITION SHIPS. Those which carry the naval stores for a fleet, as distinguished from the victuallers.
MUNJAK. A kind of pitch used in the Bay of Honduras for vessels' bottoms.
MUNNIONS,or Muntins. The divisional pieces of the stern-lights; the pieces that separate the lights in the galleries.
MURÆNA. An eel-like fish, very highly esteemed by the ancient Romans.
MURDERER. The name formerly used for large blunderbusses, as well as for those small pieces of ordnance which were loaded by shifting metal chambers placed in the breech.
MURLOCH. The young pickled dog-fish.
MURRE. The Cornish name for the razor-bill,Alca torda.
MURROCH. A term for shell-fish in general on the west coast of Scotland.
MUSKET. The regulation fire-arm for infantry and small-arm men. That of the English service, when a smooth bore, threw its bullet of about an ounce 250 yards with good effect; now, rifling has trebled its range, whilst breech-loading has done at least as much by its rapidity of fire.
MUSKET-ARROWS. Used in our early fleets, and for conveying notices in 1815.
MUSKETEERS. An early name for those soldiers who were armed with muskets.
MUSKETOON. A short kind of blunderbuss with a large bore, to carry several musket or pistol bullets; it was much used on boat service. They were mounted on swivel crutches, and termed top-pieces; quarter pieces in barges and pinnaces, where timbers were especially fitted for them.
MUSKET-PROOF. Any bulk-head, parapet, or substance which effectually resists the force of a musket-ball.
MUSKET-SHOT. Was the computed distance of 400 yards, now undergoing change.
MUSLIN,or Dimity. The flying kites of a ship. "Give her the muslin," or "Spare not the dimity," frequently used in tropical chase of slavers.
MUSTER,To. To assemble in order that the state and condition of the men may be seen, and also at times to inspect their arms and clothing.
MUSTER-BOOK. A copy of a ship of war's open list, drawn up for the use of the clerk of the check, in calling over the crew. A copy of the muster-book is to be transmitted every two months to the admiralty.
MUSTER-PAPER. A description of paper supplied from the dockyards, ruled and headed, for making ships' books.
MUSTER-ROLL. A document kept by the master of every British vessel, specifying the name, age, quality, and country of every person of the ship's company; even neutrals are compelled to produce such a paper in time of war.
MUSTER THE WATCH. A duty performed nightly at 8P.M., and repeated when the watch is relieved up to 4A.M.
MUTCHKIN. A pint measure.
MUTILATION. The crime of self-maiming to avoid serving.
MUTINOUS. Showing symptoms of sedition.
MUTINY. Revolt or determined disobedience of regular authority by soldiers or sailors, and punishable with death. Shakspeare makes Hamlet sleep
"Worse than themutinesin the bilboes."
MUTINY-ACT. On this document the Articles of War are founded.
MUTTON-SNAPPER. A large fish of theMesopriongenus, frequenting tropical seas, and prized in the Jamaica markets. (SeeSnapper.)
MUZZLEof a Piece of Ordnance. The forward extremity of the cylinder, and the metal which surrounds it, extending back to the neck, where it meets the chase, marked by a moulded ring in old guns.
MUZZLE-LASHINGS. The ropes which confine the muzzles of lower-deck guns to the housing bolts.
MUZZLE-RING. That which encompassed and strengthened the muzzle or mouth of a cannon; now disused.
MUZZLE TO THE RIGHT,or Muzzle to the Left! The order given to trim the gun to the object.
MUZZY. Half-drunk.
MYLKERE. The old English name for the milt of a fish.
MYOPARA. An ancient corsair's vessel.
MYRMIDON [frommur-medon, a sea-captain]. The Myrmidons were a people of Thessaly, said to have first constructed ships.
MYSERECORD. A thin-bladed dagger with which a grievously wounded warrior was despatched as an act of mercy.
MYTH. Obelisk, tower, land, or anything for directing the course by sight.
NAB. The bolt-toe, or cock of a gun-lock.
NABB. A cant term for the head. Also, a protuberance on the rocky summit of a hill; a rocky ledge below water.
NACA,or Nacelle. A French boat without mast or sail, used as early as the twelfth century.
NACRE. The mother-of-pearl which lines some shells, both univalve and bivalve.
NACTA. A small transport vessel of early times.
NADIR. The lower pole of the rational horizon, the other being the zenith.
NAID. A northern term for a lamprey, or large eel.
NAIL,To. Is colloquially used for binding a person to a bargain. In weighing articles of food, a nail is 8 lbs.
NAILING A GUN. Synonymous withcloyingorspiking. When necessary to abandon cannon, or when the enemy's artillery, though seized, cannot be taken away, it is proper to spike it, which is done by driving a steel or other spike into the vent. The best method sometimes to render a gun serviceable again is to drill a new vent. (SeeSpiking.)
NAILS OF SORTS. Nails used in carpentry under the denominations of 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, 30, and 40 penny-nails, all of different lengths.
NAKE! The old word to unsheath swords, or make them naked.
NAKED. State of a ship's bottom without sheathing. Also, a place without means of defence.
NAKHADAH,or Nacodah. An Arab sea-captain.
NAME. The name of a merchant ship, as well as the port to which she belongs, must be painted in a conspicuous manner on her stern. If changed, she must be registeredde novo, and the old certificate cancelled.
NAME-BOARD. The arch-board, or part whereon the ship's name and port are painted.
NAME-BOOK. The Anglo-Saxonnom-bóc, a mustering list.
NANCY. An east-country term for a small lobster.
NANCY DAWSON. A popular air by which seamen were summoned to grog.
NANKIN. A light fawn-coloured or white cotton cloth, almost exclusively worn at one time in our ships on the India station. It was supplied from China, but is now manufactured in England, Malta, and the United States.
NANT. A brook, or small river, on the coasts of Wales.
NAPHTHA. A very inflammable, fiercely burning fluid, which oozes from the ground or rock in many different localities, and may be obtained by the distillation of coal, cannel, and other substances. It is nearly related topetroleum(which see), and is used for lighting, combustible, and various other purposes.
NAPIER'S BONES. Small rods, arranged by Lord Napier to expedite arithmetical calculations. InHudibras:
"A moon-dial, with Napier's bones,And several constellation stones."
NARKE. A ray of very wonderful electric powers.
NARROWINGof the Floor-sweep. For this peculiar curve,seeHalf-breadth of the Rising.
NARROWS. The most confined part of a channel between two lands, or any contracted part of a navigable river.
NARWHAL. TheMonodon monoceros, an animal of the cetacean order, found in the Arctic seas, and distinguished by the single long pointed tusk projecting straight forward from its upper jaw, whence it is also termed sea-unicorn.
NATURAL FORTIFICATION. Those obstacles, in the form or nature of the country, which impede the approaches of an enemy.
NATURAL MOTION. A term applied to the descending parabolic curve of a shot or shell in falling.
NAUFRAGIATE,To. An old expression, meaning to suffer shipwreck. It occurs in Lithgow'sPilgrime's Farewell, 1618.
NAULAGE. A freight or fare.
NAUMACHIA. An artificial piece of water whereon the ancient Romans represented a sea-fight, supposed to have originated in the first Punic war.
NAUROPOMETER. An instrument for measuring the amount of a ship's heel or inclination at sea.
NAUSCOPY. The tact of discovering ships or land at considerable distances.
NAUTICAL. Relating to navigation, sailors, or maritime affairs in general.
NAUTICAL ALMANAC. A book of the first necessity to navigators. (SeeEphemeris.)
NAUTICAL ASSESSORS. Persons of nautical experience appointed to assist the judge of the admiralty and other courts in technical difficulties.
NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY. That part of the celestial science which treats of the planets and stars so far as relates to the purposes of navigation.
NAUTICAL DAY. This day commences at noon, twelve hours before the civil day, and ends at noon of the day following. (SeeDay.)
NAUTICAL MILE (Mean) = 6075·6 feet.
NAUTICAL STARS. About 72 of the brightest, which have been selected for determining the latitude or the longitude, by lunar distances, and inserted, corrected to the year, in the Nautical Ephemeris.
NAUTICAL TABLES. Those especially computed for resolution of matters dependent on nautical astronomy, and navigation generally.
NAUTICUM FŒNUS. Marine usury; bottomry.
NAUTILUS. The pearly nautilus,N. pompilius, is a marine animal, belonging to the same class (Cephalopoda) as the cuttle-fish, but protected by a beautiful, chambered, discoid shell. The paper-nautilus (Argonauta argo) belongs to a different family of the same class, and has a simple, delicate, boat-like shell.
NAVAL. Of or belonging to a ship, or, as now commonly adopted, to the royal navy; hence, naval stores, naval officers, &c.
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. The construction, or art and science, of building ships.
NAVAL ARMAMENT. A fleet or squadron of ships of war, fitted out for a particular service.
NAVAL CADET.SeeCadet.
NAVAL HOSPITALS. Greenwich is styled by eminencethe Royal Hospital, yet the naval medical establishments in England and the coloniesare all royal. At home they are Haslar, Plymouth, Yarmouth, Haulbowline, Chatham, and Woolwich; abroad, Malta, Jamaica, Halifax, Bermuda, Cape of Good Hope, and Hong Kong. Besides these useful hospitals, there are other stations of relief around the coasts.
NAVAL OFFICER. One belonging to the royal navy. Also, the person in charge of the stores in a royal dockyard abroad.
NAVAL RESERVE. A body of volunteers, consisting of coasters and able merchant seamen, who are drilled for serving on board our ships of war in case of need. They receive a fixed rate of compensation, become entitled to a pension, and enjoy other privileges. They are largely officered from their own body.
NAVAL SCIENCE. A knowledge of the theory of ship-building, seamanship, navigation, nautical astronomy, and tactics.
NAVAL STORES. All those particulars which are made use of, not only in the royal navy, but in every other kind of navigation. There are various statutes against stealing or embezzling them.
NAVAL STORE-SHIP. A government vessel, appropriated to carrying stores and munitions of war to different stations.
NAVAL TACTICS. The warlike evolutions of fleets, including such manœuvres as may be judged most suitable for attack, defence, or retreat, with precision. The science of tactics happens never to have proceeded from naval men. Thus Père la Hoste among the French, and a lawyer among the English, are the prime authorities. Moreover, it is a fact well known to those who served half a century back, when Lord Keith, Sir P. Durham, Sir P. Malcolm, and B. Hallowell practised their squadrons, that questions remained in dispute and undecided for at least sixteen years.
NAVE-HOLE. The hole in the centre of a gun-truck for receiving the end of the axle-tree.
NAVEL HOODS. Those hoods wrought above and below the hawse-holes, outside a ship, where there are no cheeks to support a bolster.
NAVEL LAVER. The sea-weedUlva umbilicus.
NAVEL LINE.SeeLine.
NAVIGABLE. Any channel capable of being passed by ships or boats.
NAVIGANT. An old word for sailor.
NAVIGATION. The art of conducting vessels on the sea, not only by the peculiar knowledge of seamanship in all its intricate details, but also by such a knowledge of the higher branches of nautical astronomy as enables the commander to hit his port, after a long succession of bad weather, and an absence of three or four months from all land. Any man without science may navigate the entire canals of Great Britain, but may be unable to pass from Plymouth to Guernsey.
NAVIGATION ACTS. Various statutes by which the legislature of Great Britain has in a certain degree restricted the intercourse of foreign vessels with her own ports, or those of her dependent possessions; the object being to promote the increase of British shipping.
NAVIGATOR. A person skilled in the art of navigation. In old times, the ship'sartist. Also, one who plies merely on canals. Also, thenavvywho works on embankments, cuttings, &c.
NAVITHALAMUS. A word in Law-Latin signifying a yacht.
NAVVIES. The vigorous labourers employed in cutting canals, railroads, or river works in temporary gangs.
NAVY. Any assembly of ships, whether for commerce or war. More particularly the vessels of war which, belonging to the government of any state, constitute its maritime force. The Royal Navy of Great Britain is conducted under the direction of the lords-commissioners for executing the office of lord high-admiral, and by the following principal officers under them:—the controller of the navy, controlling dockyards, building, &c., with his staff; the accountant-general, store-keeper general, and controller of victualling. These several lords meet as a board at Somerset House on special days to give the affairs the force of the board of admiralty.
NAVY AGENTS. Selected mercantile houses, about fourteen, who manage the affairs of officers' pay, prizes, &c., for which the law authorizes a certain percentage. They hold powers of attorney to watch the interests of their clients.
NAVY BILLS. Bills of removal, transfer, &c., are not negotiable, nor can they be made other use of.
NAVY BOARD. The commissioners of the navy collectively considered, but long since abolished.
NAVY TRANSPORT.SeeTransport.
NAVY-YARD. A royal arsenal for the navy.
NAY-WORD. The old term for the watch-word, parole, or countersign.
NAZE.SeeNess.
NEALED.SeeArming.
NEALED-TO. A shore, with deep soundings close in.
NEAPED. The situation of a ship which, within a bar-harbour, is left aground on the spring-tides so that she cannot go to sea or be floated off till the return of the next spring-tides.
NEAP-TIDES. A term from the Ang.-Sax.nepflods. They are but medium tides, in respect to their opposites, the springs, being neither so high, so low, nor so rapid. The phenomenon is owing to the attractions of the sun and moon then partly counteracting each other.
NEAR,ANDNO NEAR. Synonymous terms used as a warning to the helmsman when too near the wind, not to come closer to it, but to keep the weather-helm in hand.
NEAT.SeeNet, as commercial weight.
NEB. This word, the Ang.-Sax.nebb, face as well as nose, is sometimes used forness(which see). Also, a bird's beak.
NEBULA. An old term for a cluster of stars looking like a cloudy spot till separated by telescopic power; but the term is also now correctly applied to masses of nebulous matter only.
NECESSARIES. Minor articles of clothing or equipment, prescribed by regulation, but provided by the men out of their own pay.
NECESSARY MONEY. An extra allowance formerly allowed to pursers for the coals, wood, turnery-ware, candles, and other necessaries provided by them.
NECESSITY. If a ship be compelled by necessity to change the order of the places to which she is insured, this is not deemed deviation, and the underwriters are still liable.
NECK. The elbow or part connecting the blade and socket of a bayonet.Goose-neck, at the ends of booms, to connect them with the sides, or at the yard-arm for the studding-sail boom-iron.
NECKof a Gun. The narrow part where the chase meets the swell of the muzzle.
NECKED. Tree-nails are said to be necked where they are cracked, bent, or nipped between the outside skin and the timbers of a vessel, whether from bad driving or severe straining.
NECKING. A small neat moulding at the foot of the taffrail over the light.
NECKLACE. A ring of wads placed round a gun, as sometimes practised, for readiness and stowage. Also, a strop round a lower mast carrying leading-blocks. Also, the chain necklace, to which the futtock-shrouds are secured in some vessels.
NECK OF LAND. Dividing two portions of water, or it may be the neck of a peninsula.
NECK OF THE CASCABLE. The part between the swell of the breech of a gun and the button. Its narrowest part within the button.
NECKUR. A Scandinavian sea-sprite, whence some derive our "Old Nick" in preference to St. Nicholas, the modern patron of sailors.
NEEDLE. The Ang.-Sax.nædl. (See alsoMagnetic Needle.)
NEEDLE-FISH. The shorter pipe-fish, stang, or sting,Sygnathus acus.
NEEDLE-GUN. One wherein the ignition for the cartridge is produced by the penetration of the detonating priming by a steel spike working in the lock. It is the Prussian musket.
NEEDLES. Used by sail-makers, areseaming,bolt-rope, orropingneedles, all three-sided, and of very fine steel.—TheNeedlesof the Isle of Wight are the result of cracks in the rocks, through which the sea has worn its way, as also at Old Harry, Swanage Bay. As the chalk formation stretches westward, the structure changes in hardness until at Portland we meet with Portland stone. In California many of the needle rocks are of volcanic origin; others again are basaltic columns.
NEGLECT. A charge not exceeding £3, from the wages of a seaman, in the Complete Book, for any part of the ship's stores lost overboard, or damaged, from his gross carelessness.
NEGLIGENCE. If agent or broker engages to do an act for another, and he either wholly neglects it, or does it unskilfully, an action on the case will lie against him.
NEGOTIATE,To. The duty of a diplomatist; the last resource and best argument being now 12-ton guns.
NEGRO-BOAT.SeeAlmadia.
NEGROHEAD. Hard-rolled tobacco.
NEGRO-HEADS. The brown loaves issued to ships in ordinary.
NELLY.Diomedea spadicea, a sea-bird of the familyProcellaridæ, which follows in the wake of a ship when rounding the Cape of Good Hope: it is very voracious of fat blubber.
NEPTUNE. A superior planet, recently discovered; it is the most distant member of the solar system yet known, and was revealed by the effect which its attraction had produced upon the movements of Uranus; this was one of the most admirable solutions in modern mathematical science. Neptune, so far as is yet known, has no satellites.
NEPTUNES. Large brass pans used in the Bight of Biafra for obtaining salt.
NEPTUNE'S GOBLETS. The large cup-shaped sponges found in the eastern seas;Raphyrus patera.
NEPTUNE'S SHEEP. Waves breaking into foam, called white horses.
NESS [Ang.-Sax.næs]. A projection of land, as Dungeness, Sheerness, &c. It is common in other European languages, as the Frenchnez, Italiannaso, Russiannoss, Norwegiannaze, &c. Our Dunnose is an example.
NEST.SeeCrow's Nest.
NET. In commerce, is the weight of a commodity alone, without the package.
NET AND COBLE. The means by which sasses or flood-gates are allowed in fishings on navigable rivers.
NETTING. Network of rope or small line for the purpose of securing hammocks, sails, &c.—Boarding netting.A stout netting formerly extended fore and aft from the gunwale to a proper height up the rigging. Its use was to prevent an enemy from jumping on board.—Splinter netting.Is stretched from the main-mast aft to the mizen-mast, in a horizontal position, about 12 feet above the quarter-deck. It secures those engaged there from injury by the fall of any objects from the mast-heads during an action:
"And has saved the lives of many menWho have fallen from aloft."
NETTLES. Small line used for seizings, and for hammock-clues. (SeeKnittle.)—To nettle, is to provoke.
NEUTRALS. Those who do not by treaty owe anything to either party in war; for if they do they are confederates. They are not to interfere between contending powers; and the right of security justifies a belligerent in enforcing the conditions. They are not allowed to trade from one port of the enemy to another, nor to be habitually employed in his coasting trade. Indeed the simple conveyance of any article to the opponent of the blockading squadron, at once settles the non-admission, or even hovering.
NEVER SAY DIE! An expressive phrase, meaning do not despair, there is hope yet.—Nil desperandum!As Cowper says,
"Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away."
NEW ACT. The going on shore without leave, and which though thus termed new, is an old trick.
NEWCOME. An officer commencing his career. Any stranger or fresh hand newly arrived.
NEWELL. An upright piece of timber to receive the tenon of the rails that lead from the breast-hook to the gangway.
NEWGATE BIRDS. The men sent on board ship from prisons; but the term has also been immemorially used, as applied to some of theDragon'smen in the voyage of Sir Thomas Roe to Surat, 1615.
NEW MOON. The moon is said to be new when she is in conjunction with the sun, or between that luminary and the earth.
NEWS. "Do you hear the news?" A formula used in turning up the relief watch.
NICE STEERAGE. That which is required in tide-ways and intricate channels, chasing or chased.
NIDGET. A coward. A term used in old times for those who refused to join the royal standard.
NIGHT-CAP. Warm grog taken just before turning in.
NIGHTINGALES.SeeSpithead Nightingales.
NIGHT ORDER-BOOK. A document of some moment, as it contains the captain's behests about change of course, &c., and ought to be legibly written.
NIGHT-WALKER. A fish of a reddish colour, about the size of a haddock, so named by Cook's people from the greatest number being caught in the night; probably red-snapper.
NIGHT WARD. The night-watch.
NILL. Scales of hot iron at the armourer's forge. Also, the stars of rockets.
NIMBUS. Ragged and hanging clouds resolving into rain. (SeeCumulo-cirro-stratus.)
NINE-PIN BLOCK. A block in that form, mostly used for afair-leaderunder the cross-pieces of the forecastle and quarter-deck bitts.
NINES,To the. An expression to denote complete.
NINGIM. A corruption ofginseng(which see).
NIP. A short turn in a rope. Also, a fishing term for a bite. In Arctic parlance, a nip is when two floes in motion crush by their opposite edges a vessel unhappily entrapped. Also, the parts of a rope at the place bound by the seizing, or caught by jambing. Also,Nip in the hawse; hence "freshen the nip," by veering a few feet of the service into the hawse.
NIPCHEESE. The sailor's name for a purser's steward.
NIPPER. The armourer's pincers or tongs. Also, a hammock with so little bedding as to be unfit for stowing in the nettings.
NIPPERING. Fastening nippers by taking turns crosswise between the parts to jam them; and sometimes with a round turn before each cross. These are called racking-turns.
NIPPER-MEN. Foretop-men employed to bind the nippers about the cables and messenger, and to whom the boys return them when they are taken off.
NIPPERS. Are formed of clean, unchafed yarns, drawn from condemned rope, unlaid. The yarns are stretched either over two bolts, or cleats, and a fair strain brought on each part. They are then "marled" from end to end, and used in various ways, viz. to bind the messenger to the cable, and to form slings for wet spars, &c. The nipper is passed at the manger-board, the fore-end pressing itself against the cable; after passing it round cable and messenger spirally, the end is passed twice round the messenger, and a foretop-man holds the end until it reaches the fore-hatchway, when a maintop-man takes it up, and at the main-hatchway it is taken off, a boy carrying it forward ready coiled for further use.—Selvagee nippersare used when from a very great strain the common nippers are not found sufficiently secure; selvagees are then put on, and held fast by means of tree-nails. (SeeSelvageeandTree-nails.)—Buoy and nipper.Burt's patent for sounding. By this contrivance any amount of line is loosely veered. So long as the lead descends, the line runs through the nipper attached to a canvas inflated buoy. The instant it is checked or the lead touches bottom, the back strain nips the line, and indicates the vertical depth that the lead has descended.
NIPPLE. In ship-building. Another name forknuckle(which see). Also, the nipple of a gun or musket lock; the perforated projection which receives the percussion-cap.
NISSAK. The Shetland name for a small porpoise.
NITRE.Potassæ nitras, a salt formed by the union of nitric acid with potash; the main agent in gunpowder.
NITTY. A troublesome noise; a squabble.
NOAH'S ARK. Certain clouds elliptically parted, considered a sign of fine weather after rain.
NOB. The head; therefore applied to a person in a high station of life. (SeeKnob.)
NOCK. The forward upper end of a sail that sets with a boom. Also, a term used fornotch.
NOCTURNAL,Nocturlabium. An instrument chiefly used at sea, to take the altitude or depression of some of the stars about the pole, in order to find the latitude and the hour of the night.
NOCTURNAL ARC. That part of a circle, parallel to the equator, which is described by a celestial object, between its setting and rising.
NODDY. TheSterna solida, a dark web-footed sea-bird, common about the West Indies. Also, a simpleton; so used by Shakspeare in theTwo Gentlemen of Verona.
NODES. Those points in the orbit of a planet or comet where it intersectsthe ecliptic. The ascending node is the point where it passes from the south to the north side of the ecliptic; the descending node is the opposite point, where the latitude changes from north to south. (SeeLine of Nodes.)
NOG. A tree-nail driven through the heels of the shores, to secure them.
NOGGIN. A small cup or spirit-measure, holding about1⁄4of a pint.
NOGGING. The act of securing the shores by tree-nails. Also, warming beer at the galley-fire.
NO HIGHER!SeeNear.
NO-HOWISH. Qualmy; feeling an approaching ailment without being able to describe the symptoms.
NO-MAN'S LAND. A space in midships between the after-part of the belfry and the fore-part of a boat when it is stowed upon the booms, as is often done in a deep-waisted vessel; this space is used to contain any blocks, ropes, tackles, &c., which may be necessary on the forecastle, and probably derives its name from being neither on the starboard nor port side, neither in the waist, nor on the forecastle.
NONAGESIMAL DEGREE. The point of the ecliptic which is at the greatest altitude above the horizon.
NON-COMBATANTS. A term applied erroneously to the purser, master surgeon, &c., of a man-of-war, for all men on board may be called on, more or less, to fight.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. In familiar parlance,non-coms.are the sergeants, corporals, and others, appointed under special regulations, by the orders of the commanding officer.
NON-CONDENSING ENGINE. A high-pressure steam-engine.
NONIUS SCALE,or Vernier. That fixed to the oblong opening near the lower end of the index-bar of a sextant or quadrant; it divides degrees into minutes, and these again into parts of seconds.
NO! NO! The answer to the night-hail by which it is known that a midshipman or warrant officer is in the boat hailed.
NON-RECOIL. This was effected by securing the breeching while the gun was run out: often practised in small vessels.
NOOK. A small indentation of the land; a little cove in the inner parts of bays and harbours.
NOOK-SHOTTEN. A Shakspearian expression for a coast indented with bays; as inHenry V.Bourbon speaks contemptuously of "that nook-shotten isle of Albion."
NOON. Mid-day.
NOOSE. A slip or running knot.
NORE. The old word for north. Also, a canal or channel.
NORIE'S EPITOME. A treatise on navigation not to be easily cast aside.
NORLAND. Of, or belonging to, the north land.
NORMAL LEVELof a Barometer. A term reckoned synonymous withpar-line(which see).
NORMAN. A short wooden bar thrust into one of the holes of the windlassor capstan in a merchantman, whereon to veer a rope or fasten the cable, if there be little strain upon it. Also fixed through the head of the rudder, in some ships, to prevent the loss of the rudder. Also, a pin placed in the bitt-cross-piece to confine the cable from falling off.
NORRIE,ANDTAMMIE NORRIE. The Scotch name for the puffin.
NORTH. From the Anglo-Saxonnord.
NORTH-AWAY YAWL. The old term forNorway yawl(which see).
NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. To the Pacific, or round the north of Europe, has been divided into three parts, thus: 1. From Archangel to the river Lena; 2. from the Lena, round Tschukotskoi-ness to Kamtschatka; and 3. from Kamtschatka to Japan. They have been accomplished at various times, but not successively.
NORTHERN DIVER. TheColymbus glacialis, a large diving-bird.
NORTHERN-GLANCE. The old sea-name of theaurora borealis(which see).
NORTHERN LIGHTS.SeeNorthern-glance.
NORTHERS. Those winds so well known to all seamen who have frequented the West Indies, and which are preceded by the appearance of a vast quantity of fine cobwebs or gossamer in the atmosphere, which clings to all parts of a vessel's rigging, thus serving as a warning of an approaching gale. Northers alternate with the seasons in the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Channel, Jamaica, Cuba, &c. Their cold is intense.
NORTH FOLLOWING. For this andnorth preceding,seeQuadrant.
NORTH PASSAGEto the Indies. The grand object of our maritime expeditions at a remote period, prosecuted with a boldness, dexterity, and perseverance which, although since equalled in the same pursuit, have not yet been surpassed:—