"Lash'd to the helm, should seas o'erwhelm."
OWLER. An old term on our southern coast for smuggler. Particularly persons who carried wool by night, in order to ship it contrary to law.
OWN,To. To be a proprietor in a ship.
OWNERS. The proprietors of ships. They are bound to perform contracts made by their masters, who are legally their agents.
OXBOWS. Bends or reaches of a river.
OX-EYE. A small cloud, or weather-gall, seen on the coast of Africa, which presages a severe storm. It appears at first in the form of an ox-eye, but soon overspreads the whole hemisphere, accompanied by a violent wind which scatters ships in all directions, and many are sunk downright. Also, a water-fowl. Also, the smaller glass bull's eyes.
OXYGON. A triangle which has three sharp or acute angles.
OXYRINCHUS. A large species of the skate family.
OYSE. An inlet of the sea, among the Shetlands and Orkneys.
OYSTER-BED. A "laying" of culch, that is, stones, old shells, or other hard substances, so as to form a bed for oysters, which would be choked in soft mud.
OYSTER-CATCHER,or Sea-pye. The black and white coast-bird,Hæmatopus ostralegus.
OZELLA. A Venetian coin both in gold and silver; the former being £1, 17s.4d., and the latter 1s.7d., in sterling value.
PACE. A measure, often used for reconnoitring objects. The common pace is 21⁄2feet, or half the geometrical pace. The pace is also often roughly assumed as a yard.
PACIFIC OCEAN. A name given by the Spaniards to the "Great Ocean,"from the fine weather they experienced on the coast of Peru. Other parts, however, prove this a misnomer.
PACK-ICE. A large collection of broken floe huddled together, but constantly varying its position; said to be open when the fragments do not touch, and close when the pieces are in contact.
PACKING-BOXES. Recesses in the casing of a steamer, directly facing the steam-ports, filled with hemp-packing and tallow, in order to form steam-tight partitions.
PACKS. Heavy thunder clouds.
PAD,or Pad-piece. In ship-building, a piece of timber placed on the top of a beam at its middle part, in order to make up the curve or round of the deck.
PADDLE. A kind of oar, used by the natives of India, Africa, America, and by most savages; it is shorter and broader in the blade than the common oar.—To paddle, is to propel a boat more purely by hand, that is, without a fulcrum or rowlock.
PADDLE-BEAMS. Two large beams projecting over the sides of a steamer, between which the paddle-wheels revolve. (SeeSponson.)
PADDLE-BOX. The frame of wood which encircles the upper part of the paddle-wheel.
PADDLE-BOX BOATS. Boats made to fit the paddle-box rim, stowed bottom upwards on each box.
PADDLE-SHAFT. The stout iron axis carrying the paddle-wheels, which revolves with them when keyed.
PADDLE-STEAMER. A steam-ship propelled through the water by paddle-wheels.
PADDLE-WHEELS. The wheels on each side of a steamer, suspended externally by a shaft, and driven by steam, to propel her by the action of the floats.
PADDY,or Padi. Rice in the husk, so called by the Malays, from whose language the word has found its way to all the coasts of India.
PADDY-BOATS. A peculiar Ceylon boat, for the conveyance of rice and other necessaries.
PADDY'S HURRICANE. Not wind enough to float the pennant.
PADRONE. (SeePatronorMaster.) This word is not used in larger vessels than coasters.
PADUAN. A small Malay vessel, armed with two guns, one aft and the other forward, for piratical purposes.
PAGODA. Tall tapering buildings erected by the Chinese and other eastern nations, to note certain events, or as places for worship, of which the great pagoda of Pekin may be taken as an example. They are rather numerous on the banks of the Canton River. (SeeStar-pagoda.)
PAH. A New Zealand stronghold. (SeeHep-pah.)
PAHI. The large war-canoe of the Society Islands.
PAID OFF.SeePaying Off.
PAINTER. A rope attached to the bows of a boat, used for making herfast: it is spliced with a thimble to a ring-bolt inside the stem. "Cut your painter," make off.
PAIR-OAR. A name of the London wherry of a larger size than the scull.
PAIXHAN GUN. Introduced by the French General Paixhan about 1830, for the horizontal firing of heavy shells; having much greater calibre, but proportionally less metal, than the then current solid-shot guns.
PALABRAS. Sp. words; hencepalaveramongst natives of new countries where the Spaniards have landed.
PALADIN. A knight-errant.
PALANQUIN. The covered litter of India.
PALAVER.SeePalabras.
PALESand Cross-pales. The interior shores by which the timbers of a ship are kept to the proper breadth while in frame.
PALISADES. [Sp.] Palings for defensive purposes, formed of timber or stout stakes fixed vertically and sharpened at the head.
PALLET. A ballast-locker formerly used, to give room in the hold for other stowage.
PALLETTING. A slight platform made above the bottom of the magazines, to keep the powder from moisture.
PALM. The triangular face of the fluke of an anchor. Also, a shield-thimble used in sewing canvas, rope, &c. It consists of a flat thimble to receive the head of the needle, and is fixed upon a piece of canvas or leather, across thepalmof the hand, hence the name.
PALMAIR. An old northern word for rudder. Also, a pilot.
PALMETTO. One of the palm tribe, from the sheath of which sennit is worked for seamen's (straw) hats.
PALM-WINE. A sub-acid and pleasant fermented tropical drink. (SeeToddy.)
PAMBAN MANCHE,or Snake-boat of Cochin. A canoe used on the numerous rivers and back-waters, from 30 to 60 feet long, and cut out of the solid tree. The largest are paddled by about twenty men, double-banked, and, when pressed, they will go as much as 12 miles an hour.
PAMPAS. The Savannah plains of South America, so extensive that, as Humboldt observes, whilst their northern extremity is bounded by palm-trees, their southern limits are the eternal snows of the Magellanic straits.
PAMPERO. A violent squall of wind from the S.W., attended with rain, thunder, and lightning, over the immense plains or pampas of the Rio de la Plata, where it rages like a hurricane.
PAN. In fire-arms, is a small iron cavity of the old flint lock, adjacent to the touch-hole of the barrel, to contain the priming powder.
PANCAKES. Thin floating rounded spots of snow ice, in the Arctic seas, and reckoned the first indication of the approach of winter, in August.
PANDEL. A Kentish name for the shrimp.
PANDOOR. A northern name for a large oyster, usually taken at the entrance of the pans.
PANGAIA. A country vessel of East Africa, like a barge, with one mat-sail of cocoa-nut leaves, the planks being pinned with wooden pins, and sewed with twine.
PANNIKIN. A small tin pot.
PANNYAR. Kidnapping negroes on the coast of Africa.
PANSHWAY. A fast-pulling passenger-boat used on the Hooghly.
PANTOGRAPH. An instrument to copy or reduce drawings.
PANTOMETER. An instrument for taking angles and elevations, and measuring distances.
PAOLO. A Papal silver coin, value 51⁄4d.; ten paoli make a crown.
PAPS. Coast hills, with rounded or conical summits; the lofty paps of Jura are three in number.
PAR,or Parr. In ichthyology, the samlet, brannock, or branling. Also, a commercial term of exchange, where the moneys are equalized.
PARA. A small Turkish coin of 3 aspers, 11⁄2farthing.
PARABOLA. A geometrical figure formed by the section of a cone when cut by a plane parallel to its side.
PARADE. An assembling of troops in due military order. Also, the open space where they parade or are paraded. The quarter-deck of a man-of-war is often termed the sovereign's parade.
PARALLACTIC ANGLE. The angle made at a star by arcs passing through the zenith and pole respectively.
PARALLAX. An apparent change in the position of an object, arising from a change of the observer's station, and which diminishes with the altitude of an object in the vertical circle. Its effect is greatest in the horizon, where it is termed thehorizontal parallax, and vanishes entirely in the zenith. The positions of the planets and comets, as viewed from the surface of the earth, differ from those they would occupy if observed from its centre by the amount of parallax, the due application of which is an important element. The stars are so distant that their positions are the same from whatever part of the earth they are seen; but attempts have been made to detect the amount of variation in their places, when observed from opposite points of the earth's orbit, the minute result of which is termed theannual parallax; and the former effect, due to the observer's station on our globe, is called thediurnal parallax.
PARALLEL. A term for those lines that preserve an equal distance from each other. It is sometimes used instead of latitude, as, "Our orders were to cruise in the parallel of Madeira." More definitely, they are imaginary circles parallel with the equator, ninety in the northern, and ninety in the southern hemispheres.
PARALLEL-BAR. In the marine steam-engine, forms a connection with the pump-rods and studs along the centre line of the levers.
PARALLEL OF LATITUDE. Is a circle parallel to the equator passing through any place.Almucantaris the Arabic name.
PARALLELOGRAM. A right-lined quadrilateral figure, the opposite sides of which are parallel and equal.
PARALLELOPIPED. A prism or solid figure contained under six parallelograms, the opposite sides of which are equal and parallel.
PARALLELS. The trenches or lines made by a besieger parallel to the general defence of a place, for the purpose of connecting and supporting his several approaches.
PARALLEL SAILING. Sailing nearly on a given parallel of latitude.
PARALLELS OF DECLINATION. Secondary circles parallel to the celestial equator.
PARANZELLO. A small Mediterranean vessel, pink-sterned, with a lateen main-sail and mizen, and a large jib.
PARAPET. A breast-high defence against missiles; its top is usually sloped away to the front, that the defenders may conveniently fire over it; and it is preferred of earth, of a thickness proportionate to the kind of fire it is intended to resist; its height also is often much increased.
PARASANG. A Persian military measure, sometimes assumed as a league, but equal to about 4 English miles.
PARBUCKLE. A method of hauling up or lowering down a cask, or any cylindrical object, where there is no crane or tackle; the middle of a rope is passed round a post, the two ends are then passed under the two quarters of the cask, bringing the ends back again over it, and they being both hauled or slackened together, either raise or lower the cask, &c., as may be required. The parbuckle is frequently used in public-house vaults. Guns are parbuckled up steep cliffs without their carriages, and spars in timber-yards are so dealt with.
PARCEL,To. To wind tarred canvas round a rope.
PARCELLING. Narrow strips of old canvas daubed with tar and frequently wound about a rope like bandages, previous to its being served.
PARCLOSE. A name of the limber-hole.
PARDON. The gazetted amnesty or remission of penalty for deserters who return to their duty; the same asact of grace.
PARGOS. A fish resembling a large bream, from which the crews of Quiros and Cook suffered violent pains and bad effects. The porgy of Africa and the West Indies.
PARHELION. A mock or false sun; sometimes more than one.
PARIAH. The low-caste people of Hindustan; outcasts.—Pariah-dogs; also outcasts of no known breed.
PARK. A piece of ground (other than a battery) appointed for the ranging of guns or of ordnance stores.
PARLEY. That beat of drum by which a conference with the enemy is desired. Synonymous with chamade.—To parley.To bandy words.
PARLIAMENT-HEEL. The situation of a ship when careened by shift of ballast, &c.; or the causing her to incline a little on one side, so as to clean the side turned out of water, and cover it with fresh composition, termedboot-topping(which see).
PAR-LINE. A term signifying the normal level of a barometer for a given station, or the mean pressure between 32° and the sea-level, to which last the observations are all to be corrected and reduced.
PAROLE. The word of honour given by a prisoner of war until exchanged. Also, synonymous withword(which see).
PAROLE-EVIDENCE. In insurance cases it is a general rule, that the policy alone shall be conclusive evidence of the contract, and that no parole-evidence shall be received to vary the terms of it.
PARRALS,or Parrels. Those bands of rope, or sometimes iron collars, by which the centres of yards are fastened at the slings to the masts, so as to slide up and down freely when requisite.
PARREL-ROPE. Is formed of a single rope well served, and fitted with an eye at each end; this being passed round the yard is seized fast on, the two ends are then passed round the after-part of the mast, and one of them being brought under, and the other over the yard, the two eyes are lashed together; this is seldom used but for the top-gallant and smaller yards.
PARREL WITH RIBS AND TRUCKS,or Jaw parrels. This is formed by passing the two parts of the parrel-rope through the two holes in the ribs, observing that between every two ribs is strung a truck on each part of the rope. (SeeRibsandTrucks.) The ends of the parrel-rope are made fast with seizings; these were chiefly used on the topsail-yards.
PARREL WITH TRUCKS. Is composed of a single rope passing through a number of bull's-eye trucks, sufficient to embrace the mast; these are principally used for the cheeks of a gaff.
PARSEES. The great native merchants of Bombay, &c., and a very useful class as merchants and shopkeepers all along the Malabar coast. They are the remains of the ancient Persians, and are Guebres, or fire-worshippers.
PART,To. To break a rope. To part from an anchor is in consequence of the cable parting.
PARTAN. A name on our northern coasts for the common sea-crab.
PARTING. The state of being driven from the anchors by breaking the cables. The rupture or stranding of any tackle-fall or hawser.
PARTIZAN,or Pertuisan. A halbert formerly much used. Thus in Shakspeare (Antony and Cleopatra), "I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service, as a partizan I could not heave." Also, a useful stirring man, fit for all sorts of desultory duties.
PARTIZAN WARFARE. Insurrectionary, factional, and irregular hostilities.
PARTNERS. A framework of thick plank, fitted round the several scuttles or holes in a ship's decks, through which the masts, capstans, &c., pass; but particularly to support it when the mast leans against it.
PARTNERSHIP with a neutral cannot legalize commerce with a belligerent.
PART OWNERS. Unlike any other partnership, they may be imposed upon each other without mutual consent, whence arises a frequent appeal to both civil and common law. (SeeShip-owner.)
PARTRIDGES. Grenades thrown from a mortar.
PARTY. The detachment of marines serving on board a man-of-war. Also, a gang of hands sent away on particular duties.
PASHA. Viceroy. A Turkish title of honour and command.
PASS. A geographical term abbreviated from passage, and applied to any defile for crossing a mountain chain. Also, any difficult strait which commands the entrance into a country. Also, a certificate of leave of absence for a short period only. Also, a thrust with a sword.
PASS,or Passport. A permission granted by any state to a vessel, to navigate in some particular sea without molestation; it contains all particulars concerning her, and is binding on all persons at peace with that state. It is also a letter of licence given by authority, granting permission to enter, travel in, and quit certain territories.
PASS,To. To give from one to another, and also to take certain turns of a rope round a yard, &c., as "Pass the line along;" "pass the gasket;" "pass a seizing;" "pass the word there," &c.
PASSAGE. A voyage is generally supposed to comprise the outward and homeward passages. Also, a west-country term for ferry. (SeeVoyage.)
PASSAGE-BOAT. A small vessel employed in carrying persons or luggage from one port to another. Also, a ferry-boat.
PASSAGE-BROKER. One who is licensed to act in the procuring of passages by ships from one port to another.
PASSAGE-MONEY. The allowance made for carrying official personages in a royal ship. Also, the charge made for the conveyance of passengers in a packet or merchant-vessel.
PASSAGES. Cuts in the parapet of the covered way to continue the communication throughout.
PASSANDEAU. An ancient 8-pounder gun of 15 feet.
PASSAREE,or Passarado. A rope in use when before the wind with lower studding-sail booms out, to haul out the clues of the fore-sail to tail-blocks on the booms, so as to full-spread the foot of that sail.
PASSED. The having undergone a regular examination for preferment.
PASSED BOYS. Those who have gone through the round of instruction given in a training-ship.
PASSE-VOLANT. A name applied by the French to aQuakeror wooden gun on board ship; but it was adopted by our early voyagers as also expressing a movable piece of ordnance.
PASSPORT.SeePass.
PASS-WORD. The countersign for answering the sentinels.
PATACHE. A Portuguese tender, from 200 to 300 tons, for carrying treasure: well armed and swift.
PATACOON. A Spanish piece of eight, worth 4s.6d.
PATALLAH. A large and clumsy Indian boat, for baggage, cattle,&c.
PATAMAR. An excellent old class of advice-boats in India, especially on the Bombay coast, both swift and roomy. They are grab-built, that is, with a prow-stern, about 76 feet long, 21 feet broad, 11 feet deep, and 200 tons burden. They are navigated with much skill by men of the Mopila caste and other Mussulmans.
PATAMOMETER. An instrument for measuring the force of currents.
PATAXOS. A small vessel formerly used by the Spaniards as an advice-boat.
PATCH. The envelope used with the bullet in old rifles.—Muzzle-patchis a projection on the top of the muzzle of some guns, doing away with the effect of dispart in laying.
PATELLA. The limpet, of which there are 250 known species.
PATERERO. A kind of small mortar sometimes fired for salutes or rejoicing, especially in Roman Catholic countries on holidays.
PATERNOSTER-WORK. The framing of a chain-pump.
PATH. The trajectory of a shell.
PATOO-PATOO. A formidable weapon with sharp edges, used by the Polynesian Islanders and New Zealanders as a sort of battle-axe to cleave the skulls of their enemies.
PATROL. The night-rounds, to see that all is right, and to insure regularity and order.
PATRON,or Padrone. The master of a merchant vessel or coaster in the Mediterranean. Also, a cartridge-box,temp.Elizabeth.
PAUL BITT. A strong timber fixed perpendicularly at the back of the windlass in the middle, serving to support the system of pauls which are pinned into it, as well as to add security to the machine.
PAULER,That is a. A closer or stopper; an unanswerable or puzzling decision.
PAUL RIM. A notched cast-iron capstan-ring let into the ship's deck for the pauls to act on.
PAULS,or Pawls. A stout but short set of bars of iron fixed close to the capstan-whelps, or windlass of a ship, to prevent them from recoiling and overpowering the men. Iron or wood brackets suspended to the paul-bitts of a windlass, and dropping into appropriate scores, act as a security to the purchase. To the windlass it is vertical; for capstans, horizontal, bolted to the whelps, and butting to the deck-rim.
PAUL THERE, MY HEARTY. Tell us no more of that. Discontinue your discourse.
PAUNCH-MAT. A thick and strong mat formed by interweaving sinnet or strands of rope as close as possible; it is fastened on the outside of the yards or rigging, to prevent their chafing.
PAVILION. A state tent.
PAVILLON [Fr.] Colours; flag; standard.
PAVISER. Formerly a soldier who was armed with a pavise or buckler.
PAWK. A young lobster.
PAWL.SeePauls.
PAY. A buccaneering principle of hire, under the notion of plunder and sharing in prizes, was,no purchase no pay.
PAY,To[from Fr.poix, pitch]. To pay a seam is to pour hot pitch and tar into it after caulking, to defend the oakum from the wet. Also, to beat or drub a person, a sense known to Shakspeare as well as to seamen.
PAY A MAST OR YARD,To. To anoint it with tar, turpentine, rosin, tallow, or varnish; tallow is particularly useful for those masts upon which the sails are frequently hoisted and lowered, such as top-masts and the lower masts of sloops, schooners, &c.
PAY A VESSEL'S BOTTOM,To. To cover it with tallow, sulphur, rosin, &c. (SeeBreaming.)
PAY AWAY. The same aspaying out(which see). To pass out the slack of a cable or rope.—Pay down.Send chests or heavy articles below.
PAYING OFF. The movement by which a ship's head falls off from the wind, and drops to leeward. Also, the paying off the ship's officers and crew, and the removal of the ship from active service to ordinary.
PAYING OUT. The act of slackening a cable or rope, so as to let it run freely. When a man talks grandiloquently, he is said to be "paying it out."
PAYMASTER. The present designation of the station formerly held by the purser; the officer superintending the provisioning and making payments to the crew.
PAY ROUND,To. To turn the ship's head.
PAY-SERJEANT,in the Army. A steady non-commissioned officer, selected by the captain of each company, to pay the subsistence daily to the men, after the proper deductions.
PEA-BALLAST. A coarse fresh-water sand used by ships in the China trade for stowing tea-chests upon.
PEAORP.-JACKET. A skirtless loose rough coat, made of Flushing or pilot cloth.
PEAK. The more or less conical summit of a mountain whether isolated or forming part of a chain. Also, the upper outer corner of those sails which are extended by a gaff.
PEAK,To. To raise a gaff or lateen yard more obliquely to the mast.To stay peak, orride a short stay peak, is when the cable and fore-stay form a line: a long peak is when the cable is in line with the main-stay.
PEAK DOWN-HAUL. A rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by.
PEAK HALLIARDS. The ropes or tackles by which the outer end of a gaff is hoisted, as opposed to thethroat-halliards(which see).
PEAK OF AN ANCHOR. The bill or extremity of the palm, which, as seamen by custom drop thek, is pronounced pea; it is tapered nearly to a point in order to penetrate the bottom.
PEAK PURCHASE. A purchase fitted in cutters to the standing peak-halliards to sway it up taut.
PEARL. A beautiful concretion found in the interior of the shells ofmany species of mollusca, resulting from the deposit of nacreous substance round some nucleus, mostly of foreign origin. TheMeleagrina margaritifera, or pearl oyster of the Indian seas, yields the most numerous and finest specimens.
PECTORAL FINS. The pair situated behind the gills of fishes, corresponding homologically to the fore limbs of quadrupeds and the wings of birds.
PEDESTAL-BLOCKS. Synonymous withplumber-blocks(which see).
PEDESTAL-RAIL. A rail about two inches thick, wrought over the foot-space rail, and in which there is a groove to steady the heel of the balusters of the galleries.
PEDRO. An early gun of large calibre for throwing stone-balls.
PEDRO-A-PIED [Pedro-pee]. The balance on one leg in walking a plank as a proof of sobriety. A man placed one foot on a seam and flourished the other before and behind, singing, "How can a man be drunk when he can dance Pedro-pee," at which word he placed the foot precisely before the other on the seam, till he proved at least he had not lost his equilibrium. This was an old custom.
PEECE. An old term for a fortified position.
PEEGAGH. The Manx or Erse term for a large skate.
PEEK.SeePeak.
PEEL. A stronghold of earth and timber for defence. Also, the wash of an oar.
PEGASUS. One of the ancient northern constellations, of which the lucida is Markab.
PEKUL. A Chinese commercial weight of about 130 or 132 lbs.
PELAGIANS. Fishes of the open sea.
PELICAN. A well-known water-bird. Also, the old six-pounder culverin.
PELL [from the Britishpwll]. A deep hole of water, generally beneath a cataract or any abrupt waterfall. Also, a large pond.
PELLET. An old word for shot or bullet.
PELLET-POWDER. Has its grains much larger and smoother, and is intended to act more gradually than service gunpowder, but by the English it is at present considered rather weak.
PELTA. An ancient shield or buckler, formed of scales sewed on skins.
PEMBLICO. A small bird whose cry was deemed ominous at sea as presaging wind.
PEMMICAN. Condensed venison, or beef, used by the hunters around Hudson's Bay, and largely provided for the Arctic voyages, as containing much nutriment in a small compass. Thin slices of lean meat are dried over the smoke of wood fires; they are then pounded and mixed with an equal weight of their own fat. It is generally boiled and eaten hot where fire is available.
PEN. A cape or conical summit. Also, the Creole name for houses and plantations in the country. Also, an inclosure for fishing on the coast.
PENA,ORPENON. High rocks on the Spanish coasts.
PENANG LAWYER. A cane, with the administration of which debts were wont to be settled at Pulo-Penang.
PENCEL. A small streamer or pennon.
PENDANT.SeePennant.
PENDANT. A strop or short piece of rope fixed on each side, under the shrouds, upon the heads of the main and fore masts, from which it hangs as low as the cat-harpings, having an iron thimble spliced into an eye at the lower end to receive the hooks of the main and fore tackles. There are besides many other pendants, single or double ropes, to the lower extremity of which is attached a block or tackle; such are the fish-pendant, stay-tackle-pendant, brace-pendant, yard-tackle-pendant, reef-tackle-pendant, &c., all of which are employed to transmit the efforts of their respective tackles to some distant object.—Rudder-pendants.Strong ropes made fast to a rudder by means of chains. Their use is to prevent the loss of the rudder if by any accident it should get unshipped.
PENDULUM. A gravitating instrument for measuring the motion of a ship and thereby assisting the accuracy of her gunnery in regulating horizontal fire.
PENGUIN. A web-footed bird, of the genusAptenodytes, unable to fly on account of the small size of its wings, but with great powers of swimming and diving: generally met with in high southern latitudes.
PENINSULA. A tract of land joined to a continent by a comparatively narrow neck termed an isthmus.
PENINSULAR WAR. A designation assigned to the Duke of Wellington's campaigns in Portugal and Spain.
PENKNIFE ICE. A name given by Parry to ice, the surface of which is composed of numberless irregular vertical crystals, nearly close together, from five to ten inches long, about half an inch broad, and pointed at both ends. Supposed to be produced by heavy drops of rain piercing their way through the ice rather than by any peculiar crystallization while freezing.
PENNANT. A long narrow banner with St. George's cross in the head, and hoisted at the main. It is the badge of a ship-of-war. Signal pennants are 9 feet long, tapering from 2 feet at the mast to 1 foot. They denote the vessels of a fleet; there are ten pennants, which can be varied beyond any number of ships present. When the pennant is half mast, it denotes the death of the captain. When hauled down the ship is out of commission. Broad pennant denotes a commodore, and is a swallow-tailed flag, the tails tapering, and would meet, if the exterior lines were prolonged; those of a cornet could not.
PENNANT-SHIP. Generally means the commodore, and vessels in the employ of government. It is also an authority delegated by the commander of convoy to some smart merchant ship to assist in the charge, and collect stragglers.
PENNOCK. A little bridge thrown over a water-course.
PENNY-WIDDIE. A haddock dried without being split.
PENSIONERS. Disabled soldiers or sailors received into the superb institutions of Chelsea and Greenwich, or, "recently if they choose," receiving out-pensions.
PENSTOCK. A flood-gate to a mill-pond. Also used in fortification, for the purpose of inundating certain works.
PENTAGON. A right-lined figure of five equal sides and angles.
PENUMBRA. The lighter shade which surrounds the dark shadow of the earth in an eclipse of the moon. Also, the light shade which usually encircles the black spots upon the sun's disc.
PEON-WOOD.SeePoon-wood.
PEOTTA. A craft of the Adriatic, of light burden, propelled by oars and canvas.
PEPPER-DULSE.Halymenia edulis; a pungent sea-weed, which, as well asH. palmata, common dulse, is eaten in Scotland.
PER-CENTAGE. A proportional sum by which insurance, brokerage, freight, del credere, &c., are paid.
PERCER. A rapier; a short sword.
PERCH. A pole stuck up on a shoal as a beacon; or a spar erected on or projected from a cliff whence to watch fish.
PERCUSSION. The striking of one body by another.
PERDEWS. A corruption fromenfans perdus, to designate those soldiers who are selected for theforlorn hope(which see).
PERIGEE. That point in the moon's orbit where she is nearest to the earth; or the point in the earth's orbit where we are nearest to the sun.
PERIHELION. That point in the orbit of a planet or comet which is nearest to the sun.
PERIKO. An undecked boat of burden in Bengal.
PERIL,or Peril of the Sea. Does not mean danger or hazard, but comprises such accidents as arise from the elements, and which could not be prevented by any care or skill of the master and crew. (SeeAct of God.)
PERIMETER. The sum of all the sides of a geometrical figure taken together.
PERIODICAL WINDS.SeeMonsoonandTrade-winds.
PERIODIC INEQUALITIES. Those disturbances in the planetary motions, caused by their reciprocal attraction in definite periods.
PERIODIC TIME. The interval of time which elapses from the moment when a planet or comet leaves any point in its orbit, until it returns to it again.
PERIPHERY. The circumference of any curved figure.
PERISHABLE MONITION. The public notice by the court of admiralty for the sale of a ship in a perishable condition, whose owners have proved contumacious.
PERIWINKLE. Thewin-wincleof the Ang.-Sax., a favourite little shell-fish, the pin-patch, orTurbo littoreus.
PERMANENT MAGNETISM. The property of attraction and repulsion belonging to magnetized iron. (SeeInduced Magnetism.)
PERMANENT RANK. That given by commission, and which does not cease with any particular service.
PERMIT. A license to sell goods that have paid the duties or excise.
PERPENDICLE. The plumb-line of the old quadrant.
PERPENDICULAR. A right line falling from or standing upon another vertically, and making the angle of 90° on both sides.
PERRY. An old term for a sudden squall.
PERSONNEL. A word adopted from the French, and expressive of all the officers and men, civil and military, composing an army or a naval force.
PERSPECTIVE. The old term for a hand telescope. Also, the science by which objects are delineated according to their natural appearance and situation.
PERSUADER. A rattan, colt, or rope's end in the hands of a boatswain's mate. Also, a revolver.
PERTURBATIONS. The effects of the attractions of the heavenly bodies upon each other, whereby they are sometimes drawn out of their elliptic paths about the central body, as instanced by the wondrous discovery of Neptune.
PESAGE. A custom or duty paid for weighing merchandise, or other goods.
PESETA,or Pistoreen. A Spanish silver coin: one-fifth of a piastre.
PESSURABLE,or Pestarable, of our old statutes, implied such merchandise as take up much room in a ship.
PETARD. A hat-shaped metal machine, holding from 6 to 9 lbs. of gunpowder; it is firmly fixed to a stout plank, and being applied to a gate or barricade, is fired by a fuse, to break or blow it open. (SeePowder-bags.)
PETARDIER. The man who fixes and fires a petard, a service of great danger.
PET-COCK. A tap, or valve on a pump.
PETER.SeeBlue Peter.
PETER-BOAT. A fishing-boat of the Thames and Medway, so named after St. Peter, as the patron of fishermen, whose cross-keys form part of the armorial bearings of the Fishmongers' Company of London. These boats were first brought from Norway and the Baltic; they are generally short, shallow, and sharp at both ends, with a well for fish in the centre, 25 feet over all, and 6 feet beam, yet in such craft boys were wont to serve out seven years' apprenticeship, scarcely ever going on shore.
PETER-MAN,or Peterer. A fisherman. Also, the Dutch fishing vessels that frequented our eastern coast.
PETITORY SUITS. Causes of property, formerly cognizable in the admiralty court.
PETREL. TheCypselliof the ancients, andMother Cary's chickensof sailors; of the genusProcellaria. They collect in numbers at the approachof a gale, running along the waves in the wake of a ship; whence the namepeterel, in reference to St. Peter's attempt to walk on the water. They are seen in all parts of the ocean. The largest of the petrels,Procellaria fuliginosa, is known by seamen as Mother Cary's goose.
PETROLEUM. Called also rock, mineral, or coal, oil. A natural oil widely distributed over the globe, consisting of carbon and hydrogen, in the proportion of about 88 and 12 per cent. It burns fiercely with a thick black smoke; and attempts, not yet successful, have been made to adapt it as a fuel for steamers.
PETRONEL. An old term for a horse-pistol; also for a kind of carbine.
PETTAH. A town adjoining the esplanade of a fort.
PETTICOAT TROWSERS. A kind of kilt formerly worn by seamen in general, but latterly principally by fishermen. (SeeGalligaskins.)
PETTY AVERAGE. Small charges borne partly by a ship, and partly by a cargo, such as expenses of towing, &c.
PETTY OFFICER. A divisional seaman of the first class, ranking with a sergeant or corporal.
PHALANX. An ancient Macedonian legion of varying numbers, formed into a square compact body of pikemen with their shields joined.
PHARONOLOGY. Denotes the study of, and acquaintance with, lighthouses.
PHAROS. A lighthouse; a watch-tower.
PHASELUS. An ancient small vessel, equipped with sails and oars.
PHASES. The varying appearances of the moon's disc during a lunation; also those of the inferior planets Venus and Mercury, as they revolve round the sun.
PHILADELPHIA LAWYER. "Enough to puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer" is a common nautical phrase for an inconsistent story.
PHINAK. A species of trout. (SeeFinnock.)
PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY. That department of the science which treats of the causes of the motions of the heavenly bodies.
PHYSICAL DOUBLE-STAR.SeeDouble-starandBinary System.
PIASTRE. A Spanish silver coin, value 4s.3d.sterling. Also, a Turkish coin of 40 paras, or 1s.7d.
PICARD. A boat of burden on the Severn, mentioned in our old statutes.
PICCANINNY. A negro or mulatto infant.
PICCAROON. A swindler or thief. Also, a piratical vessel.
PICCARY. Piratical theft on a small scale.
PICKERIE. An old word for stealing; under which name the crime was punishable by severe duckings.
PICKET. A pointed staff or stake driven into the ground for various military purposes, as the marking out plans of works, the securing horses to, &c. (See alsoPiquet, an outguard.)
PICKETS. Two pointers for a mortar, showing the direction of the object to be fired at, though it be invisible from the piece.
PICKLE-HARIN. A sea-sprite, borrowed from the Teutonic.
PICKLING. A mode of salting naval timber in our dockyards, to insure its durability. (SeeBurnettize.)
PICK UP A WIND,To. Traverses made by oceanic voyagers; to run from one trade or prevalent wind to another, with as little intervening calm as possible.
PICTARNIE. A name on our northern coasts for theSterna hirundo, the tern, or sea-swallow.
PICUL.SeePekul.
PIE. The beam or pole that is erected to support thegunfor loading and unloading timber. Also calledpie-tree.
PIECE OF EIGHT. The early name for the coin of the value of 8 reals, the well-known Spanish dollar.
PIER. A quay; also a strong mound projecting into the sea, to break the violence of the waves.
PIERCER. Used by sail-makers to form eyelet-holes.
PIGGIN. A little pail having a long stave for a handle; used to bale water out of a boat.
PIG-IRON. (SeeSow.) An oblong mass of cast-iron used for ballast; there are also pigs of lead.