not rake; but beyond this there appears to be no special mark to distinguish it from any other large merchantman. A bark, however, is never a steamer." But among coasters the bark is distinguished from the barkentine, а merchant vessel having three masts, the foremast square-rigged like the bark, but the main and mizzen masts fore-and-aft rigged. These are occasionally called threemasted schooners or jackass rig; but here again a distinction must be made, the barkentine having a brig foremast (i.e., foremast, fore-topmast, and fore-top-gallant), while the three- masted schooner has the schooner foremast (foremast and fore-top-mast only). (See also under SCHOONER.)

BARKENTINE.

Barnacles." Most probably from the late Latin pernacula, diminutive of perna, a ham, from a supposed resemblance to a leg of pork." (Brande and Cox.) A general term amongst sea-faring men for any of those shelled animals of the division mollusca which fix themselves to the bottoms of boats, the piles of piers, quays, etc., under water, and more especially at the water line or between high and low water marks. It is found that there are certain metals, copper in particular, to which these creatures have an objection to fix themselves, in consequence of which fact, wooden vessels are copper-bottomed. (See COPPER.) There are also certain paints which profess to answer the same purpose as copper.

Barometer.-A well-known instrument, invented by Torricelli, for measuring the weight or pressure of the atmosphere. Whatever tends to increase or diminish this pressure will cause the barometer to rise or fall. Hence the barometer is a foreteller of wind rather than of wet or dry.

Basin.-A dock in which vessels float at any state of the tide. Batten.-Battens are long strips of wood used for various pur

poses.

To batten down.-To cover up and fix down-usually spoken of hatches when they are covered over with canvas, and this canvas is held down with long battens.

Battened sails.-Sails across which light battens (often of bamboo) are laid. Their use may be said to be three-fold-Firstly, they assist in keeping sails flat, thereby increasing the speed of a boat; secondly, they simplify the process of reefing; and thirdly, they enable sail to be struck (dropped) with considerable rapidity. (See fig. under CANOE.) In England, battens are applied, as a rule, only to the sails of boats or small craft; but in the east, where the practice appears to have originated, they are employed in large sailing ships, and are found to be of great service where

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squalls come down very suddenly and with great severity. Various systems of reefing these sails have been tried of late years, some consisting of elaborate systems of tackles for drawing the battens together. These, however, are things rather of play their great drawback lies in their liability to entanglement; and as it is always possible that such an event might take place at a critical moment, beginners are recommended to have but little to do with them until sufficiently experienced to take the consequence of mishap.

Baulks.-Heavy pieces of timber, such as piles before erection, etc. Brackets, in almost any position, holding two or more timbers together, or preventing them from slipping.

Bawley. The name given to a class of fishing smack common to the Thames below Gravesend. These craft are often clincher built with bluff-bows; cutter rigged, with a trysail (mainsail without boom), and

THAMES BAWLEY.

very generally carry a jib-topsail. They are exceedingly stiff; good weather boats; and are employed in the whitebait, sprat, and shrimp fisheries, etc.

Beach.-The margin of the land exposed to tidal action.

Beaching boats.-The act of running them up on a beach: when up they are said to be beached. It is not an easy matter to beach a boat in a heavy sea, the rudder becoming, as the boat approaches the shore, of less and less use: everything depends, therefore, upon the oars. As a rule it is dangerous to go in on a big wave: experience will soon convince the beginner that the advice to do so (except it comes from a "long-shore" man) may, if blindly followed, lead to unpleasant consequences. The small waves float the boat longest and more evenly, and are better to come in upon. Pull hard as the boat descends, lighter in the hollow of the wave, and easy on the top.

Beach boats are those which are kept on the beach. They are built to take the beach, and are far more useful in their situation than any strange ones can be. A good beach boat is one which takes the beach well and is easily got off it. Beaching boats, when their form admits of it, is a good practice; it increases their length of life. When beached for any length of time, however, they should occasionally be half filled with water to keep their strakes swelled. Beacon.-A landmark put up to steer by. A pole marking out a shoal or a channel.

Beak, beak-head. The beak is the extreme fore-part of a vessel. "The beak-head, in large vessels with figure-heads, is the small platform between the figure-head and the bulwarks of the forecastle. It is secluded from the view of the deck, and contains the latrines of the crew." This will be recognised on old ships.

Beam. The width of a vessel, at her widest part: the term is derived from the beams, strong timbers extending across the ship, supporting the decks and strengthening the sides, and the widest of these will, of course, be the width of the vessel inside. But by the beam, meaning width, is now always understood to be the outside measurement. In nautical language, а wide vessel is said to have more beam than a narrow one; and, in like manner, a boat with plenty of beam (width) is described as beamy.

Beam ends.-A ship thrown completely upon her side is said to be on her beam ends, when her masts may have to be cut away before she can be righted. Hence, a person who, either in posture or in business, has very nearly over-reached the centre of gravity, may be said to be on his beam ends.

A'beam.-An object seen across the middle of the ship is spoken of as a beam. If the wind blow directly upon the side of the ship she is sailing with the wind a'beam: if it lies in a direction between the beam and the quarter, she has the wind abaft the beam and is said to be sailing free, or large or going free.

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Beak-arm, or fork-beam.-A forked piece of timber, nearly of the depth of the beam, scarfed, tabled, and bolted, for additional security, to the sides of beams athwart large openings in decks, as the main hatchway and the mast-rooms.

"Breast-beams are those beams at the forepart of the quarter-deck and round-house, and after-part of the forecastle. They are sided larger than the rest, as they have an ornamental rail in the front, formed from the solid, and a rabbet one inch broader than its depth, which must be sufficient to bury the deals of the deck, and one inch above for a spurn-water. To prevent splitting the beam in the rabbet, the nails of the deck should be crossed, or so placed, alternately, as to form a sort of zigzag line.

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Cat-beam, or beak-head beam.-This is the broadest beam in a ship, generally made in two breadths, tabled and bolted together. The foreside is placed far enough forward to receive the heads of the stanchions of the beak-head bulk-head.

"The collar-beam is the beam upon which the stanchions of the beak-head bulk-head stand. The upper side of it is kept well with the upper side of the upper deck port-sills, and lets down upon the spirketing at the side. But its casting over the bowsprit in the middle giving it a form which in timber is not to be obtained without difficulty, a framing of two large carlings and a stanchion on each side of the bowsprit is now generally substituted in its place.

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Half-beams are short beams introduced to support the deck where there is no framing, as in those places where the beams are kept asunder by hatchways, ladder-ways, etc. They are let down on the clamp at the side, and near midships into fore-and-aft carlings. On some decks they are, abaft the mizzenmast, generally of fir, let into the side tier of carlings.

"The midship-beam is the longest beam of the ship, lodged in the midship frame, or between the widest frame of timbers.

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Palleting-beams are those beams under the flat of the magazine, bread-room, and powder-room, where there is a double palleting. The upper tier are of fir, and rabbets are taken out of their edge to form scuttles." (James Greenwood, B.A., "Rudimentary Treatise on Navigation," 1850.)

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Orlop-beams.-Those beams which support the orlop-deck, but are chiefly intended to fortify the hold."

Beam of an anchor.—The stock. (See ANCHOR.)

Bear.-Bear away, bear up.-If, after being close-hauled, the helm of the vessel be put up (i.e., towards the windward side) and the sheets be eased off, by which actions the vessel will be made to sail more or less before the wind, she is said to be bearing away. Orders to bear up, or to bear away, mean practically, therefore, the same thing, viz., to put the helm up. (See under HELM.)

Bear down.-To go towards. This term has not of necessity any reference to the direction in which the tiller is to be thrust. It is understood, however, that the vessel which bears down upon another, or upon some object, is situated to windward of that object, and, therefore, has the advantage of it. If, for instance, we are told that a large ship is bearing down upon us, we instinctively look to the windward side.

Bear off-Usually an order, as "bear off that cask "—meaning keep it off.

Bear a hand.-Usually an appeal for assistance, and that quickly.

Bearding. The fore-part of a rudder. (See RUDDER.)
Bearers.-(See FLAT-FLOORS.)

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Bearings. The word bearing properly belongs to the art of navigation, in which it signifies "the direction, or angular distance from the meridian, in which an object is seen. Roughly speaking, it is the direction in which an object is seen from a vessel, as to say that," the point of land bore N.E.," meaning that it was seen from the vessel in a north-easterly direction. Thus to keep one's bearings is to keep a certain point in view in the same direction. To be out of one's bearings, to be travelling in a wrong direction. To lose one's bearings, to lose one's way, as it were, upon the

waters.

Beat (in sailing).-Beating, beating up, beating to windward; also called working to windward, pegging to windward, and sometimes tacking, is making progress against the wind (and, therefore,

close-hauled) by a zigzag course, with the wind first on one bow and then on the other.

Becalmed. To be becalmed is to be left without a wind, and therefore, in a sailing ship, to be without power of moving. But we hear of vessels of considerable burden making habitual use of sweeps (large oars), when becalmed, so lately as the early part of the present century; and with some foreigners it is still the practice.

Becket.-An eye in the end of a rope it is often used in connection with a toggle. (See TOGGLE AND BECKET.) Falconer gives the following definition of beckets: “Anything used to confine loose ropes, tackles, oars, or spars, in a convenient place: hence, beckets are either large hooks, or short pieces of rope, with a knot on one end and an eye in the other, or formed like a circular wreath; or they are wooden brackets, and, probably, from a corruption and misapplication of this last term, arose the word becket, which seems often to be confounded with bracket. The word beckets, in naval phraseology, is sometimes used for pockets, thus, Hands out of beckets, sir!

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To becket the helm.-To lash down the tiller of a boat so that it may not sway about when she is at anchor, or at her moorings. (See also LASH THE TILLER.)

BECUEING.

Becueing.-A method of attaching a line to a small anchor or grapnel, so that in case the grapnel should become fixed under some rock, a strong pull will break the seizing (called the stopper), and enable the flukes to be drawn upwards. The manner in which this becueing is done will best be understood by reference to the engraving. It is much employed by crabmen and others working on rocky parts of the coast.

Bed of the bowsprit. That part of the beak of a large vessel, or the deck on a small one, in which the lower part of the bowsprit lies.

Bees.-Pieces of plank bolted to the upper end of the bowsprit in a large vessel.

Before.-Forward, or in front of; more usually expressed

a'fore.

Before the mast.-The lodgment of working seamen on shipboard, as distinguishing them from the officers, who lodge aft. Hence a man who goes as seaman is said to go before the mast.

Belay. To make fast a rope (that rope being, generally, part of the running rigging, as a fall), by twisting it round (in the manner of a figure of 8) a cleat, kevel or belaying-pin, without tying it into a knot.