PROTEST. A formal declaration drawn up in writing, and attested before a notary-public, a justice of the peace, or a consul in foreign parts, by the master of a merchant-ship, his mate, and a part of the ship's crew, after the expiration of a voyage in which the ship has suffered in her hull, rigging, or cargo, to show that such damage did not happen through neglect or misconduct on their part.
PROTRACTOR. An instrument for laying off angles on paper, having an open mark at the centre of the circle, with a radial leg, and vernier, which is divided into degrees (generally 90).
PROVE,To. To test the soundness of fire-arms, by trying them with greater charges than those used on service.
PROVEDORE [Sp.] One who provided victuals for ships.
PROVENDER. Though strictly forage, is often applied to provisions in general.
PROVISIONS. All sorts of food necessary for the subsistence of the army and navy. Those shipped on board for the officers and crew of any vessel, including merchant-ships, are held in a policy of insurance, as part of her outfit.
PROVISO. A stern-fast or hawser carried to the shore to steady by. A ship with one anchor down and a shore-fast is mooreda proviso. Also, a saving clause in a contract.
PROVOST-MARSHAL. The head of the military police. An officer appointed to take charge of prisoners at a court-martial, and to carry the sentences into execution. The executive and summary police in war.
PROW. Generally means the foremost end of a vessel. Also, a name for the beak of a xebec or felucca.
PUCKA. A word in frequent use amongst the English in the East Indies, signifying sterling, of good quality.
PUCKER. A wrinkled seam in sail-making. Also, anything in a state of confusion.
PUDDENING,or Pudding. A thick wreath of yarns, matting, or oakum (called adolphin), tapering from the middle towards the ends, grafted all over, and fastened about the main or fore masts of a ship, directly below the trusses, to prevent the yards from falling down, in case of the ropes by which they are suspended being shot away. Puddings are also placed on a boat's stem as a kind of fender; and also laid round the rings of anchors to prevent hempen cables or hawsers from chafing.
PUDDING AND DOLPHIN. A larger and lesser pad, made of ropes, and put round the masts under the lower yards.
PUDDLE-DOCK. An ancient pool of the Thames, the dirtiness of which afforded Jack some pointed sarcasms.
PUDDLING. A technical term for working clay to a plastic state in an inclosed space, until it is of the requisite consistence for arresting the flow of water. A term in iron furnace work.
PUFF. A sudden gust of wind. A whistle of steam.
PUFFIN. TheFratercula arctica, a sea-bird with a singular bill, formerly supposed to be a bird in show, but a fish in substance, in consequence of which notion the pope permitted its being eaten in Lent.
PULAS. An excellent twine, made by the Malays from thekaluwi, a species of nettle.
PULL-AWAY-BOYS. A name given on the West Coast of Africa to the native Kroo-men, who are engaged by the shipping to row boats and do other work not suited to Europeans in that climate.
PULL FOOT,To. To hasten along; to run.
PULLING. The act of rowing with oars; as, "Pull the starboard oars," "Pull together."
PULL-OVER. An east-country term for a carriage-way.
PULO. The Malay word for island, and frequently met with in the islands of the Eastern seas.
PULWAR. A commodious kind of passage-boat on the Ganges.
PUMMEL. The hilt of a sword, the end of a gun, &c.—To pummel.To drub or beat.
PUMP. A well-known machine used for drawing water from the sea, or discharging it from the ship's pump-well.—Chain-pump, consists of a long chain, equipped with a sufficient number of metal discs armed with leather, fitting the cylinders closely, and placed at proper distances, which, working upon two wheels, one above deck and the other below, in the bottom of the hold, passes downward through a copper or wooden tube, and returning upward through another, continuously lifts portions of water. It is worked by a long winch-handle, at which several men may be employed at once; and it thus discharges more water in a given time than the common pump, and with less labour.—Main pumps.The largest pumps in a ship, close to the main-mast, in contradistinction tobilge pumps, which are smaller, and intended to raise the water from the bilges when a ship is laying over so that it cannot run to the main pump-well.Hand-pump, is the distinctive appellation of the common small pump. Superseded by Downton and others.
PUMP-BARREL. The wooden tube which forms the body of the machine, and wherein the piston moves.
PUMP-BOLTS. Saucer-headed bolts to attach the brake to the pump-standard and pump-spear.
PUMP-BRAKE. The handle or lever of the old and simplest form of pump.
PUMP-CARLINES. The framing or partners on the upper deck, between which the pumps pass into the wells.
PUMP-CHAINS. The chains to which the discs, &c., are attached in the chain-pump.
PUMP-CISTERNS. Are used to prevent chips and other matters getting to, and fouling the action of, the chain-pumps.
PUMP-COAT. A piece of stout canvas nailed to the pump-partners where it enters the upper deck, and lashed to the pump, to prevent the water from running down when washing decks, &c.
PUMP-DALES. Pipes or long wooden spouts extending from the chain-pumps across the ship, and through each side, serving to discharge the water without wetting the decks.
PUMP-FOOT. The lower part, or well-end, of a pump.
PUMP-GEAR. A term implying any materials requisite for fitting or repairing the pumps, as boxes, leather, &c.
PUMP-HOOK. An iron rod with an eye and a hook, used for drawing out the lower pump-box when requisite.
PUMPKIN,or Pompion.Cucurbita pepo, a useful vegetable for sea use.
PUMP SHIP! The order to the crew to work the pumps to clear the hold of water.
PUMP-SPEAR. The rod of iron to which the upper box is attached—and to the upper end of which the brake is pinned—whereby the pump is put in motion.
PUMP SUCKS. Thepump sucksis said when, all the water being drawn out of the well, and air admitted, there comes up nothing but froth and wind, with a whistling noise, which is music to the fagged seaman.
PUMP-TACKS. Small iron or copper tacks, used for nailing the leather on the pump-boxes.
PUNCH. An iron implement for starting bolts in a little, or for driving them out, called astartingorteeming punch. Also, a well-known sea-drink, now adopted in all countries. It was introduced from the East Indies, and is said to derive its name frompanch, the Hindostanee word forfive, in allusion to the number of its ingredients. (SeeBouleponges.)
PUNISHMENT. The execution of the sentence against an offender, as awarded by a court-martial, or adjudged by a superior officer.
PUNISHMENT DRILL. Fatiguing exercise or extra drill for petty delinquencies.
PUNK. The interior of an excrescence on the oak-tree; used as tinder, and better known as touch-wood. (SeeSpunk.)
PUNT. An Anglo-Saxon term still in use for a flat-bottomed boat, used by fishermen, or for ballast lumps, &c.
PUOYS. Spiked poles used in propelling barges or keels.
PURCHASE. Any mechanical power which increases the force applied. It is of large importance to nautical men in the combinations of pulleys, as whip, gun-tackle, luff-tackle, jeer, viol, luff upon luff, runner, double-runner, capstan, windlass,&c.
PURCHASE A COMMISSION,To. A practice in our army, which has been aptly termed the "buying of fetters;" it is the obtaining preferment at regulated prices. At present the total value of a commission in a regiment of infantry of the line ranges from £450 for an ensigncy, up to £4540 for a lieutenant-colonelcy, and higher in the other branches of the service.
PURCHASE-BLOCKS. All blocks virtually deserve this name, but it is distinctively given to those used in moving heavy weights.
PURCHASE-FALLS. The rope rove through purchase-blocks.
PURRE. A name for the dunlin,Tringa alpina, a species of sand-piper frequenting our shores and the banks of rivers in winter.
PURSE-NET. A peculiar landing-net in fishing. It is used in the seine and trawl to bewilder the fish, and prevent their swimming out when fairly inside; like a wire mouse-trap.
PURSER. An officer appointed by the lords of the admiralty to take charge of the provisions and slops of a ship of war, and to see that they were carefully distributed to the officers and crew, according to the printed naval instruction. He had very little to do with money matters beyond paying for short allowance. He was allowed one-eighth for waste on all provisions embarked, and additional on all provisions saved; for which he paid the crew. The designation is now discarded for that ofpaymaster.
PURSER'S DIP. The smallest dip-candle.
PURSER'S GRINS. Sneers.
PURSER'S NAME. An assumed one. During the war, when pressed men caught at every opportunity to desert, they adoptedaliasesto avoid discovery if retaken, which alias was handed to the purser for entry upon the ship's books.
PURSER'S POUND. The weight formerly used in the navy, by which the purser retained an eighth for waste, and the men received only seven-eighths of what was supplied by government. One of the complaints of the mutiny was, having the purser's instead of an honest pound. This allowance was reduced to one-tenth.
PURSER'S SHIRT. "Like a purser's shirt on a handspike;" a comparison for clothes fitting loosely.
PURSER'S STEWARD. The official who superintended and noted down the exact quantity and species of provisions issued to the respective messes both of officers and men.
PURSER'S STOCKING. A slop article, which stretched to any amount put into it. (SeeShow a Leg.)
PURSUE,To. To make all sail in chase.
PUSH,To. To move a vessel by poles.
PUSHING FOR A PORT. Carrying all sail to arrive quickly.
PUT ABOUT. Go on the other tack.
PUT BACK,To. To return to port—generally the last left.
PUTHAG. A name on the Scottish shores for the porpoise; it is a Gaelic word signifyingthe blower.
PUT INTO PORT,To. To enter an intermediate or any port in the course of a voyage, usually from stress of weather.
PUT OFF!or Push off. The order to boats to quit the ship or the shore.
PUTTING A SHIP IN COMMISSION. The formal ceremony of hoisting the pennant on the ship to be fitted. This act brought the crew under martial law.
PUTTING A STEAM-ENGINE IN GEAR. This is said when the gab of the eccentric rod is allowed to fall upon its stud on the gab-lever.
PUTTOCK. A cormorant; a ravenous fellow.
PUTTOCK-SHROUDS. Synonymous withfuttock; a word in use, but not warranted.
PUT TO SEA,To. To quit a port or roadstead, and proceed to the destination.
PYKAR. A herring-boat, or small vessel, treated of in statute 31 Edward III. c. 2.
PYKE,To. A old word signifying to haul on a wind.
PYKE-MAW. The great tern,Larus ridibundus; a species of sea-gull.
PYKE OFF,To. To go away silently.
PYPERI. A sort of vessel made of several pieces of wood merely lashed together; hardly superior to a raft, but sharp forward to cut the water.
PYRAMID. A solid, the base of which is any right-lined plane figure, and its sides are triangles, having their vertices meeting in one point, named its vertex.
PYROTECHNY. The science of artificial fire-works, including not only such as are used in war, but also those intended for amusement.
QUADE. An old word for unsteady.—Quade wind, a veering one.
QUADRANT. A reflecting instrument used to take the altitude above the horizon of the sun, moon, or stars at sea, and thereby to determine the latitude and longitude of the place, &c. &c. It was invented by Hadley. Also, in speaking of double stars, or of two objects near each other, the position of one component in reference to the other is indicated by the terms,north following,north preceding,south following, orsouth preceding, the word quadrant being understood.—A gunner's quadrant, for determining the gun's angle ofelevation. The long arm is inserted into the bore, while the short one remains outside, with a graduated arc and plummet, showing the inclination. Fordepression, on the contrary, the long arm must be applied to the face of the piece. Also, a graduated arc on the carriage showing, by an index on the trunnion, the gun'selevation above the plane of its platform; first applied by the gallant Captain Broke.—Themural quadrant, was framed and fitted with telescope, divisions, and plumb-line, firmly attached to the side of a wall built in the plane of the meridian; only used in large observatories.—Senical quadrant, consists of several concentric quadratic arcs, divided into eight equal parts by radii, with parallel right lines crossing each other at right angles. It was made of brass, or wood, with lines drawn from each side intersecting one another, and an index divided by sines also, with 90° on the limb, and two sights on the edge, to take the altitude of the sun. Sometimes, instead of sines, they were divided into equal parts. It was in great use among the French navigators, from its solving the problems of plane sailing.
QUADRATE,To. To trim a gun on its carriage and its trucks; to adjust it for firing on a level range.
QUADRATURE. The moon is said to be in quadrature at the first and last quarter, when her longitude differs 90° from that of the sun.
QUADROON [from L.quatuor, four]. The offspring of a mulatto woman and a white man.
QUAGMIRE. A marsh in which, from its concave and impermeable bottom, the waters remain stagnant, rendering the surface a quaking bog.
QUAKER. A false or wooden gun; so called in allusion to the "Friends" not fighting.
QUALIFIED PROPERTY. Not only those who have an absolute property in ships and goods, but those also who have but a qualified property therein, may insure them. (SeeEquitable Title.)
QUALITIES. The register of the ship's trim, sailing, stowage, &c., all of which are necessary to herbehaviour.
QUAMINO. A negro.
QUANT. An old term for a long pole used by the barge-men on our east coast; it is capped to prevent the immerged end from sticking in the mud.
QUARANTINE. Is, at most, a seclusion of forty days, from a free communication with the inhabitants of any country, in order to prevent the importation of the plague, or any other infectious disorder, either by persons or goods. The quarantine laws originated in the Council of Health at Venice in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. (SeeLazaretto.)
QUARRIL. The short dart or arrow shot from a cross-bow; or the bricolle of the middle ages.
QUARRY. The prey taken by whalers; a term borrowed from falconers.
QUARTE. In sword defence was one of the four guards, and also a position in fencing.
QUARTER. This term literally implies one quarter of the ship, but in common parlance applies to 45° abaft the beam. Thus the log is hove over the lee-quarter; quarter boats hang abaft the mizen-mast, &c. Again, the quarters apply to the divisional batteries, as forward, main, middle, or lower-decks, forecastle, and quarter-deck, and yet these comprise both sides. Close-quarters may be on any point, and the seamanrather delights in the bow attack, using the bowsprit as his bridge.—Giving quarter.The custom of asking and giving quarter in warfare originated, it is said, between the Dutch and Spaniards, that the ransom of an officer or soldier should be aquarterof his year's pay. No quarter is given to pirates, but it is always given to a vanquished honourable opponent.—On the quarter, 45° abaft the beam.
QUARTER,First. When the moon appears exactly as a half-moon, 90° from the sun towards the east, she is in the first quarter, with her western half illuminated.
QUARTER,Last. When the moon appears exactly as a half-moon, and her angular distance from the sun 90°, but towards the west, she is said to be in the last quarter, with her eastern half illuminated.
QUARTER-BADGE. Artificial galleries; a carved ornament near the stern of those vessels which have no quarter-galleries.
QUARTER-BILL. A list containing the different stations to which the officers and crew are quartered in time of action, with their names.
QUARTER-BLOCKS. Blocks fitted under the quarters of a yard, on each side the slings, for the topsail-sheets, topsail-cluelines, and topgallant-sheets to reeve through.
QUARTER-BOAT. Any boat is thus designated which is hung to davits over the ship's quarter.
QUARTER-CASK. One-half of a hogshead, or 28 imperial gallons.
QUARTER-CLOTHS. Long pieces of painted canvas, extended on the outside of the quarter-netting, from the upper part of the gallery to the gangway.
QUARTER-DAVITS. Pieces of iron or timber with sheaves or blocks at their outer ends, projecting from a vessel's quarters, to hoist boats up to.
QUARTER-DECK. That part of the upper deck which is abaft the main-mast. (SeeDecks, andJack's Quarter-deck.)
QUARTER-DECKERS. Those officers more remarkable for etiquette than for a knowledge of seamanship.
QUARTER-DECKISH. Punctilious, severe.
QUARTER-DECK NETTINGS.SeeNetting.
QUARTER-DECK OFFICERS. A term implying the executive in general; officers whose places in action are there, in command.
QUARTER-FAST.SeeFast.
QUARTER-FLOOD.SeeFlood.
QUARTER-GALLERY. A sort of balcony with windows on the quarters of large ships. (SeeGallery.)
QUARTER-GALLEY. A Barbary cruiser.
QUARTER-GUARD. A small guard posted in front of each battalion in camp.
QUARTER-GUNNER.SeeGunner.
QUARTER-LADDER. From the quarter-deck to the poop.
QUARTERLY ACCOUNT OF PROVISIONS. A return sent to the Admiral and Victualling Board, at the expiration of every three months.
QUARTERLY BILL. The document by which officers draw three months' personal pay.
QUARTERLY RETURNS. Those made every three months to the admiral, or senior officer, of the offences and punishments, the officers serving on board, &c.
QUARTER-MAN. A dockyard officer employed to superintend a certain number of workmen.
QUARTER-MASTER. A petty officer, appointed to assist the master and mates in their several duties, as stowing the hold, coiling the cables, attending the binnacle and steerage, keeping time by the watch-glasses, assisting in hoisting the signals, and keeping his eye on general quarter-deck movements. In the army, a commissioned officer, ranking with subalterns, charged with the more immediate supervision of quarters, camps, and the issue of arms, ammunition, rations, stores, &c., for his own regiment.
QUARTER-MASTER GENERAL. Is the head of that department of the army which has charge of the quartering, encamping, embarking, and moving of troops, and of the supply of stores connected therewith.
QUARTER-NETTINGS. The places allotted on the quarters for the stowage of hammocks, which, in action, serve to arrest musket-balls.
QUARTER-PIECES. Projections at the after-part of the quarter, forming the boundaries of the galleries.
QUARTER-POINT. A subdivision of the compass-card, equal to 2° 48′ 45″ of the circle.
QUARTER-PORTS. Those made in the after side-timbers, and especially in round-stern vessels. They are inconvenient for warping, and generally fitted with rollers.
QUARTER-RAILS. Narrow moulded planks, reaching from the stern to the gangway, and serving as a fence to the quarter-deck, where there are no ports or bulwarks.
QUARTERS. The several stations where the officers and crew of a ship of war are posted in time of action. (SeeBattle,Engagement, &c.) But this term differs in the army, for the soldier's quarters are his place of rest. (SeeHead-quarters,Winter-quarters, &c.)
QUARTER-SIGHTS. The engraved index on the base-rings of cannon in quarter degrees from point-blank to two or three degrees of elevation.
QUARTER-SLINGS. Are supports attached to a yard or other spar at one or both sides of (but not in) its centre.
QUARTERS OF THE YARDS. The space comprehended between the slings, or middle and half-way out on the yard-arms.
QUARTER-STANCHIONS. Strong iron stanchions in a square-sterned vessel, connecting the main-rail with the taffrail; used for ridge-ropes to extend the awnings.
QUARTER-TACKLE. A strong tackle fixed occasionally upon the quarter of the main-yard, to hoist heavy bodies in or out of the ship.
QUARTER-TIMBERS. The framing timbers in a vessel's quarter.
QUARTER-WATCH. A division of one-fourth of the crew into watches, which in light winds and well-conducted ships is enough; but the officers are in three, and they must not be found nodding.
QUARTER-WIND. Blowing upon a vessel's quarter, abaft the main-shrouds.
QUASHEE. The familiar designation of a West India negro.
QUATUOR MARIA,or British Seas, are those four which surround Great Britain.
QUAY.SeeKey.
QUEBRADA. From the Spanish for ravine, or broken ground.
QUEBRANTA HUESOS [Sp.] Literally,bone-breaker. The great petrel,Procellaria gigantea.
QUECHE. A small Portuguese smack.
QUEEN ANNE'S FREE GIFT. A sum of money formerly granted to surgeons annually, in addition to their monthly twopences from each man, or as often as they passed their accounts.
QUEEN'S COCKPIT. A mess of dissolute mates and midshipmen of the oldQueen, 98, who held a sort of examination of ribaldry for a rank below that of gentleman.
QUEEN'S OWN. Sea provision (when a queen reigns); similar toking's own.
QUEEN'S PARADE. The quarter-deck.
QUERCITRON.Quercus tinctoria, the name of a North American oak, which affords a valuable yellow dye.
QUERIMAN. A mullet of Guiana, found in turbid waters, where it lives by suction.
QUERPO [Sp.cuerpo, body]. A close short jacket:
"Long-quartered pumps, with trowsers blue,And querpo jacket, which last was new."
QUICKEN,To. In ship-building, to give anything a greater curve; as,to quicken the sheer, opposed to straightening it.
QUICKLIME. That which is unslacked, good for cleaning and white-washing ships' holds.
QUICK-MARCH,or Quick-step. The ordinary pace is 31⁄4miles to the hour, or 110 paces (275) feet to the minute.
QUICK MATCH. Used as a train to any charge to be fired rapidly, is made of cotton threads treated with a composition of gunpowder, gum, and water; and burns nearly as would a train of loose powder.
QUICK RELIEF. One who turns out speedily to relieve the watch before the sound is out of the bell.
QUICK-SAND. A fine-grained loose sand, into which a ship sinks by her own weight as soon as the water retreats from her bottom.
QUICK SAVER. A span formerly used to prevent the courses from bellying too much when off the wind.
QUICK-STEP.SeeQuick-march.
QUICK-WORK. Generally signifies all that part of a ship which is under water when she is laden; it is also applied to that part of the inner upper-works of a ship above the covering board. Also, the short planks worked inside between the ports. In ship-building the term strictly applies to that part of a vessel's side which is above the chain-wales and decks, as well as to the strakes which shut in between the spirkettings and clamps. In general parlance quick-work is synonymous withspirketting.
QUID. The chaw or dose of tobacco put into the mouth at a time.Quid est hoc?asked one, tapping the swelled cheek of his messmate;Hoc est quid, promptly replied the other.
QUIETUS. A severe blow, a settler.
QUIHI. The sobriquet of the English stationed or resident in Bengal, the literal meaning being, "Who is there?" It is the customary call for a servant; one always being in attendance, though not in the room.
QUILKIN. A west-country term for a frog.
QUILL-DRIVER. Captain's clerk, purser's secretary,et hoc genus omne.
QUILL-TUBES. Those in use with port-fires for firing guns before the introduction of detonating and friction-tubes. (SeeTubes.)
QUILTING. A kind of coating formed of sinnet, strands of rope, &c., outside any vessel containing water. Also, the giving a man a beating with a rope's end.
QUINCUNX. Forming a body of men chequerwise. A method of surveying a coast by five vessels in quincunx was proposed by A. Dalrymple to the admiralty, when that board would not have allowed of the employment of one.
QUINK. A name in the Orkneys for the golden-eyed duck,Anas clangula.
QUINTAL. A commercial weight of a hundred pounds.
QUINTANE. An early military sport, to try the agility of our country youth.
QUINTE. The fifth guard in fencing.
QUISCHENS. The old term forcuisses, the pieces of armour which protected the thighs.
QUITTANCE. A release or discharge in writing for a sum of money or other duty, which ought to be paid or done on the ship's account.
QUOD. Durance, prison.
QUOIN. A wooden wedge adjusted to support the breech of a gun, so as to give the muzzle the required elevation or depression. Also, one of the mechanical powers.
QUOINS. Are employed to wedge off casks of liquids from each other, and steady them, in order that their bilges may not rub at sea, and occasion leaks.
QUOST. The old spelling ofcoast. See Eliot'sDictionarie, 1559.
QUOTA-MEN. Those raised for the navy at enormous expense by Pitt's quota-bill, in 1795, under bounties of from £20 to £60.
R. In the muster-book meansrun, and is placed against those who have deserted, or missed three musters.
R.A.SeeRight Ascension.
RABANET,or Rabinet. A small slender piece of ordnance, formerly used for ships' barricadoes. It had a one-inch bore, which carried about a half-pound ball.
RABBET,or Rebate. An angular incision cut longitudinally in a piece of timber, to receive the ends of a number of planks, to be securely fastened therein. Thus the ends of the lower planks of a ship's bottom terminate upon the stem afore, and on the stern-post abaft. The surface of the garboard streak, whose edge is let into the keel, is in the same manner level with the side of the keel at the extremities of the vessel. They are therefore termed stem, stern, or keel rabbets.
RACE. Strong currents producing overfalls, dangerous to small craft. They may be produced by narrow channels, crossing of tides, or uneven bottoms. Such are the races of Portland, Alderney, &c. Also, a mill-race, or tail-course.
RACE,To. Applies to marking timber with the race-tool.
RACE-HORSE. (Alca?) A duck of the South Seas; thus named, says Cook, for "the great swiftness with which they run on the water." Now called a steamer.
RACK. The superior stratum of clouds, or that moving rapidly above the scud. The line in which the clouds are driven by the wind, is called the rack of the weather. In Shakspeare's beautiful thirty-third sonnet the sun rises in splendour, but—
"Anon permits the basest clouds to rideWith ugly rack on his celestial face,And from the forlorn world his visage hide,Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace."
Also, a frame of timber containing several sheaves, as a fair leader. Also, various rails for belaying pins.—To rack.To seize two ropes together, with racking or cross-turns.
RACK-BAR. A billet of wood used for twisting the bight of a swifter round, in order to bind a raft firmly together.
RACK-BLOCK. A range of sheaves cut in one piece of wood, for running ropes to lead through.
RACK-HURRY. The tram-way on which coal-waggons run to ahurry.
RACKING. Spun-yarn or other stuff used to rack two parts of a rope together.
RACKING A TACKLEORLANIARD. The fastening two running parts together with a seizing, so as to prevent it from rendering through the blocks.
RACKING-TURNS.SeeNippering.
RACK-RIDER. The name of the samlet in northern fisheries, so called because it generally appears in bad weather.
RADDLE,To. To interlace; as in making boats' gripes and flat gaskets.
RADE [Fr.] An old spelling of the sea-termroad. (SeeRoad.)
RADIUS. The semi-diameter of a circle, limb of a sextant, &c.
RADIUS-BARof Parallel Motion. An intervening lever for guiding the side-rods of a steam-engine.
RADIUS-VECTOR. An imaginary line joining the centres of the sun and a planet or comet in any point of its orbit.
RADUS. A term used for the constellation Eridanus.
RAFT. A sort of float formed by an assemblage of casks, planks, or pieces of timber, fastened together with swifters and raft-dogs side by side, as well as tier upon tier. The timber and plank with which merchant ships are laden in the different ports of the Baltic, are attached together in this manner, in order to float them off to the shipping; but the rafts of North America are the most gigantic in the world. Also, a kind of floating bridge of easy construction for the passage of rivers by troops, &c.
RAFT-DOG. A broad flat piece of iron, having a sharp point at each end, with the extremities bent at right angles. There are alsodog-hooks, having the shoulder bent into a hook, by which the raft-chains are secured, or suddenly thrown off and released.
RAFTING. Conveying goods by floating, as by raft-chains, lashings, &c.
RAFT-PORT. A large square hole, framed and cut through the buttocks of some ships, immediately under the counter—or forward between the breast-hooks of the bow—to load or unload timber.
RAG-BOLTS. Those which are jagged or barbed, to prevent working in their holes, and to make them hold more securely. The same asbarb-bolts.
RAILS. Narrow pieces of wood, with mouldings as ornaments, mortised into the heads of stanchions, or nailed for ornament on several parts of a ship's upper works.
RAILS OF THE HEAD. Curved pieces of timber extending from the bows on each side to the continuation of the ship's stem, to support the knee of the head, &c.
RAILS OF THE STERN. (SeeStern-rails.)
RAINBOW.
"A rainbow towards night,Fair weather in sight.Rainbow at night,Sailor's delight;Rainbow in morning,Sailors, take warning."
RAIN-CLOUD.SeeNimbus.
RAINS. Belts or zones of calms, where heavy rain prevails; they exist between the north-east and south-east trade-winds, changing their latitude several degrees, depending on the sun's declination. In India "the rains" come in with the S.W. monsoon.
RAISE,To. To make an object subtend a larger angle by approaching it, which is the foundation of perspective, and an effect increased by the sphericity of our globe: the opposite oflaying(which see).
RAISE A SIEGE,To. To abandon or cause the abandonment of a siege.
RAISED UPON. When a vessel is heightened in her upper works.
RAISE-NET. A kind of staked net on our northern shores, so called from rising and falling with the tide.
RAISEORRISE TACKS AND SHEETS. The lifting the clues of the courses, previously to bracing round the yards in tacking or wearing.
RAISE THE METALTo. To elevate the breech, and depress thereby the muzzle of a gun.
RAISE THE WIND,To. To make an exertion; to cast about for funds.
RAISING A MOUSE. The process of making a lump on a stay. (SeeMouse.)
RAISING A PURCHASE. The act of disposing certain machines, so that, by their mutual effects, they may produce sufficient force to overcome the weight or resistance of the object to which this machinery is applied.
RAKE. The projection of the upper parts of a ship, at both ends, beyond the extremities of the keel. Also, the deviation of the masts from thevertical line of position, reckoned from the keel forward or aft.
RAKING. Cannonading a ship, so that the shot shall range in the direction of her whole length between decks, called a raking fire; and is similar to military enfilading.
RAKISH. Said of a ship when she has the appearance of force and fast sailing.
RALLYING SQUARE. That formed by skirmishers or dispersed troops when suddenly menaced by cavalry, each man as he runs in successively placing himself with his back close against those already formed.
RAM. A long spar, iron-hooped at the ends, used for driving out blocks from beneath a vessel's keel, and for driving planks an end while only wedged to the ship's side. Also, a new rating in the navy. (SeeSteam-ram.)
RAMBADE. The elevated platform built across the prow of a galley, for boarding, &c.
RAMED. The state of a ship on the stocks, when all the frames are set upon the keel, the stem and stern-post put up, and the whole adjusted by the ram-line.
RAM-HEAD. An old word for halliard-block.
RAM HOME,To. To drive home the ammunition in a gun.
RAMMER. A cylindrical block of wood nearly fitting the bore of a cannon, and fastened on a wooden staff; used in loading to drive home the charge of a cannon.
RAMP. An oblique or sloping interior road to mount theterrepleinof the rampart.
RAMPART. An artificial embankment surrounding a fortified place, capable of covering the buildings from view, and of resisting the cannon of an enemy. Generally having a parapet on its top, and a wall for its front.
RAMPER-EEL. A name of thelamprey,Petromyzon marinus.
RAM-REEL. Synonymous withbull-dance.
RAMROD. In muzzle-loading, is the implement used in charging a piece, to drive home the powder and shot.
RAMSHACKLE. Out of repair and ungainly; disorderly.
RAN. Yarns coiled on a spun-yarn winch.
RANCE. The strut or support of a Congreve rocket.
RANDAN. A mode of rowing with alternate long and short oars.
RANDOM SHOT. A shot, orcoup perdu, made when the muzzle is highly elevated; the utmost range may be at an angle of 45°, which is supposed to carry about ten times as far as the point blank; but improved gunnery has now put the term out of use.
RANGE. Placed in a line or row; a term hydrographically applied to hills, as "the coast-range." Also,galley-range, or fire-grate.
RANGE,To. To sail in a parallel direction, and near to; as "we ranged the coast;" "the enemy came ranging up alongside of us."
RANGE-HEADS. Thewindlass-bitts(which see).
RANGE OF A GUN. The horizontal distance which it will send a shot, at a stated elevation, to the point of its first graze. Also, a place where gun-practice is carried on. Also, alevel rangeimplies the gun lying horizontal. The various positions between this and 45° are calledintermediate ranges.
RANGE OF CABLE. A sufficient quantity of cable left slack to allow the anchor to reach the ground before the cable is checked by the double turns round the bitts, the object being to let the anchor hook the bottom quickly, and to prevent the heavy shock which would be caused if its weight were suddenly brought upon the bitts.
RANGES,Horned. Pieces of timber containing belaying pins, inside a ship. Also, pieces of oak placed round the hatchways to contain shot.
RANK. Degree of dignity; officers of the navy rank with those of the army according to the following table:—