FORT. In fortification, an inclosed work of which every part is flanked
by some other part; though the term is loosely applied to all places of
strength surrounded by a rampart.
FORTALEZZA [Sp.] A fort on the coast of Brazil.
FORTALICE. A small fortress or fortlet; a bulwark or castle.
FORTH. An inlet of the sea.
FORTIFICATION. The art by which a place is so fortified that a given
number of men occupying it may advantageously oppose a superior force.
The same word also signifies the works that cover and defend a place.
Fortification is _defensive_ when surrounding a place so as to render it
capable of defence against besiegers; and _offensive_ when comprehending
the various works for conducting a siege. It is _natural_ when it
opposes rocks, woods, marshes, ravines, &c., to impede the progress of
an enemy; and _artificial_, when raised by human ingenuity to aid the
advantages of the ground. The latter is again subdivided into
_permanent_ and _field_ fortification: the one being constructed at
leisure and of permanent materials, the other raised only for temporary
purposes.
FORTIFYING. The strengthening a ship for especial emergency, by doubling
planks, chocks, and additional timbers and knees, strongly secured.
FORT-MAJOR. An officer on the staff of a garrison or fortress, who has,
under the commanding officer, general charge of the routine duties and
of the works.
FORTUNE OF WAR. The usual consolation in reverses--"Fortune de la
guerre," or the chances of war.
FORTY-THIEVES. A name given to forty line-of-battle ships ordered by the
Admiralty at one fell swoop, to be built by contract, towards the end of
the Napoleon war, and which turned out badly. The writer served in one,
the _Rodney 74_, which fully exposed her weakness in the first gale she
experienced, and was sent home, thereby weakening the blockading fleet.
Many never went to sea as ships of the line, but were converted into
good frigates.
FORWARD. In the fore-part of the ship; the same as _afore_. Also, the
word of command when troops are to resume their march after a temporary
interruption.
FORWARD THERE! The hail to the forecastle.
FOSSE [Ital.] Synonymous with _moat_ or _ditch_.
FOTHER [Anglo-Saxon _foder_]. A burden; a weight of lead equal to 19-1/2
cwts. Leaden pigs for ballast.
FOTHERING. Is usually practised to stop a leak at sea. A heavy sail, as
the sprit-sail, is closely thrummed with yarn and oakum, and drawn under
the bottom: the pressure of the water drives the thrumming into the
apertures. If one does not succeed others are added, using all the sails
rather than lose the ship.
FOUGADE, OR FOUGASS. A small charged mine, from 6 to 8 feet under a post
in danger of falling into the enemy's hands.
FOUL. Generally used in opposition to _clear_, and implies entangled,
embarrassed, or contrary to: as "a ship ran foul of us," that is,
entangled herself among our rigging. Also, to contaminate in any way.
FOUL AIR. May be generated by circumstances beyond control: decomposing
fungi, timber injected with coal tar, hatches battened down, and ashes
or coal washed about. Whole crews on the coast of Africa, and in the
West Indies, have been thus swept away, despite every precaution. But
generally it may be avoided by cleanliness.
FOUL ANCHOR. An anchor is said to be _foul_, or _fouled_, either when it
hooks some impediment under water, or when the ship, by the wind
shifting, entangles her slack cable a turn round the stock, or round the
upper fluke thereof. The last, from its being avoidable by a sharp
look-out, is termed the seaman's disgrace.
FOUL BERTH. When a ship anchors in the hawse of another she gives the
latter a foul berth; or she may anchor on one tide so near as to swing
foul on the change either of wind or tide.
FOUL BILL. _See_ BILL OF HEALTH.
FOUL BOTTOM. A ship to which sea-weed, shells, or other encumbrances
adhere. Also, the bottom of the sea if rocky, or unsafe from wrecks, and
thence a danger of fouling the anchor.
FOUL COAST. One beset with reefs and breakers, offering dangerous
impediments to navigation.
FOUL FISH. Applied to salmon in the spawning state, or such as have not
for the current year made their way to the sea for purification;
shedders.
FOUL GROUND. Synonymous with _foul bottom_.
FOUL HAWSE. When a vessel is riding with two anchors out, and the cables
are crossed round each other outside the stem by the swinging of the
ship when moored in a tide-way. (_See_ ELBOW IN THE HAWSE.)
FOUL ROPE. A rope entangled or unfit for immediate use.
FOUL WEATHER. That which reduces a ship to snug-sail.
FOUL-WEATHER BREEDER. A name given to the Gulf Stream from such a volume
of warm water occasioning great perturbations in the atmosphere while
traversing the Atlantic Ocean.
FOUL-WEATHER FLAG. Denotes danger for boats leaving the shore;
watermen's fares increase with these signals.
FOUL WIND. That which prevents a ship from laying her course.
FOUNDER. The fall of portions of cliff, as along the coasts of Hampshire
and Dorsetshire, occasioned by land-springs.
FOUNDER, TO. To fill with water and go down.
FOUR-CANT. A rope composed of four strands.
FOWAN. The Manx term for a dry scorching wind; it is also applied by the
northern fishermen to a sudden blast.
FOX. The old English broadsword. Also, a fastening formed by twisting
several rope-yarns together by hand and rubbing it with hard tarred
canvas; it is used for a seizing, or to weave a paunch or mat, &c.
(_See_ SPANISH FOX.)
FOXEY. A defect in timber which is over-aged or has been indifferently
seasoned, and gives the defective part a reddish hue. The word is very
old, and meant tainted or incipient rot.
FOY. A local term for the charge made for the use of a boat.
FOYING. An employment of fishermen or seamen, who go off to ships with
provisions, or to help them in distress.
FOYST. An old name for a brigantine. The early voyagers applied the name
to some large barks of India, which were probably _grabs_.
FRACTURES. Defects in spars which run across the fibres, being short
fractures marked by jagged lines. (_See_ SPRUNG.)
FRAISES. Principally in field fortification, palisades placed
horizontally, or nearly so, along the crest of the escarp, or sometimes
of the counterscarp; being generally concealed from direct artillery
fire they very materially increase the difficulty of either of those
slopes to an assailant. They project some 5 feet above the surface, and
are buried for about the same length in the ground.
FRAME. The outer frame timbers of a vessel consist of the keel, stem,
stern-posts, and ribs, which when moulded and bolted form the frame.
(_See_ TIMBERS.)
FRAME OF THE MARINE STEAM-ENGINE, is the strong supporter of the
paddle-shafts and intermediate shaft; it rests on columns, and is firmly
bolted to the engine bottom.
FRAMES. The bends of timbers constituting the shape of the ship's
body--when completed a ship is said to be _in frame_.
FRAME-TIMBERS. These consist of the floor-timbers, futtocks, and
top-timbers; they are placed upon the keel at right angles to it, and
form the bottom and sides of the ship.
FRAMING. The placing, scarphing, and bolting of the frame-timbers of a
ship. (_See_ WARPING.)
FRANC. A French silver coin of the value of 9-1/2_d._, and consisting of
100 centimes. The 20-franc piece in gold, formerly called _Louis_, now
_Napoleon_, is current for 15_s._ 10-1/2_d._ English.
FRANCESCONI. The dollars of Tuscany, in value 4_s._ 5-1/4_d._ sterling.
They each consist of 10 paoli.
FRANK. The large fish-eating heron of our lakes and pools.
FRAP. A boat for shipping salt, used at Mayo, one of the Cape de Verde
Islands.
FRAP, TO. To bind tightly together. To pass lines round a sail to keep
it from blowing loose. To secure the falls of a tackle together by means
of spun yarn, rope yarn, or any lashing wound round them. To snap the
finger and thumb; to beat.
FRAPPING. The act of crossing and drawing together the several parts of
a tackle, or other complication of ropes, which had already been
strained to a great extent; in this sense it exactly resembles the
operation of bracing up a drum. The frapping increases tension, and
consequently adds to the security acquired by the purchase; hence the
cat-harpings were no other than frappings to the shrouds.
FRAPPING A SHIP. The act of passing four or five turns of a large
cable-laid rope round a ship's hull when it is apprehended that she is
not strong enough to resist the violence of the sea. This expedient is
only made use of for very old ships, which their owners venture to send
to sea as long as possible, insuring them deeply. Such are termed, not
unaptly, floating coffins, as were also the old, 10-gun brigs, or any
vessel deemed doubtful as to sea-worthiness. St. Paul's ship was
"undergirded" or frapped.
FRAPPING TURNS. In securing the booms at sea the several turns of the
lashings are frapped in preparation for the succeeding turns; in
emergency, nailed.
FRAUDS, ACT OF. A statute of Charles II., the object of which was to
meet and prevent certain practices by which the navigation laws were
eluded.
FREDERIC. A Prussian gold coin, value 16_s._ 6_d._ sterling.
FREE, TO.--_To free a prisoner._ To restore him to liberty.--_To free a
pump._ To disengage or clear it.--_To free a boat or ship._ To clear it
of water.
FREE. A vessel is said to be _going free_ when the bowlines are slacked
and the sheets eased; beyond this is termed large. (_See_ SAILING
LARGE.)
FREE-BOARD. _See_ PLANK-SHEER.
FREEING. The act of pumping, or otherwise throwing out the water which
has leaked into a ship's bottom. When all the water is pumped or baled
out, the vessel is said to be free. Said of the wind when it exceeds 67
deg. 30' from right-ahead.
FREE PORT. Ports open to all comers free of entry-dues, as places of
call, not delivery.
FREE SHIP. A piratical term for one where it is agreed that every man
shall have an equal share in all prizes.
FREE TRADER. Ships trading formerly under license to India independent
of the old East India Company's charter. Also, a common woman.
FREEZE, TO. To congeal water or any fluid. Thus sea-water freezes at 28
deg. 5' Fah.; fresh water at 32 deg.; mercury at 39 deg. 5' below zero.
All fluids change their degree of freezing in accordance with mixtures of
alcohol or solutions of salt used for the purpose. Also, according to the
atmospheric pressure; and by this law heights of mountains are measured
by the boiling temperature of water.
FREIGHT. By former English maritime law it became the _mother of wages_,
as the crew were obliged to moor the ship on her return in the docks or
forfeit them. So severely was the axiom maintained, that if a ship was
lost by misfortune, tempest, enemy, or fire, wages also were forfeited,
because the freight out of which they were to arise had perished with
it. This harsh measure was intended to augment the care of the seamen
for the welfare of the ship, but no longer holds, for by the merchant
shipping act it is enacted that no right of wages shall be dependent on
the earning of freight; in cases of wreck, however, proof that a man has
not done his utmost bars his claim. Also, for the burden or lading of a
ship. (_See_ DEAD-FREIGHT.) Also, a duty of 50 sols per ton formerly
paid to the government of France by the masters of foreign vessels going
in or out of the several ports of that kingdom. All vessels not built in
France were accounted foreign unless two-thirds of the crew were French.
The Dutch and the Hanse towns were exempted from this duty of
freight.--_To freight a vessel_, means to employ her for the carriage of
goods and passengers.
FREIGHT OF A SHIP. The hire, or part thereof, usually paid for the
carriage and conveyance of goods by sea; or the sum agreed upon between
the owner and the merchant for the hire and use of a vessel, at the rate
of so much for the voyage, or by the month, or per ton.
FREIGHTER. The party who hires a vessel or part of a vessel for the
carriage of goods.
FREIGHTING. A letting out of vessels on freight or hire; one of the
principal practices in the trade of the Dutch.
FRENCH FAKE. A name for what is merely a modification of the Flemish
coil, both being extremely good for the object, that is, when a rope has
to be let go suddenly, and is required to run freely. _Fake_, in
contradistinction to long coil is, run a rope backward and forward in
one-fathom bends, beside each other, so that it may run free, as in
rocket-lines, to communicate with stranded vessels. (_See_ FLEMISH
FAKE.)
FRENCH LAKE. A soubriquet for the Mediterranean.
FRENCH LEAVE. Being absent without permission.
FRENCHMAN. Formerly a term among sailors for every stranger or
outlandish man.
FRENCH SHROUD-KNOT. The shroud-knot with three strands single walled
round the bights of the other three and the standing part. (_See_
SHROUD-KNOT.)
FRENCH THE BALLAST. A term used for _freshen the ballast_.
FRESCA. Fresh water, or rain, and land floods; old term.
FRESH. When applied to the wind, signifies strong, but not violent;
hence an increasing gale is said to freshen. (_See_ FORCE.) Also used
for sweet; as, fresh water. Also, bordering on intoxication; excited
with drinking. Also, an overflowing or flood from rivers and torrents
after heavy rains or the melting of mountain snows. Also, an increase of
the stream in a river. Also, the stream of a river as it flows into the
sea. The fresh sometimes extends out to sea for several miles, as off
Surinam, and many other large rivers.
FRESH BREEZE. A brisk wind, to which a ship, according to its stability,
carries double or treble or close-reefed top-sails, &c. This is a very
peculiar term, dependent on the stability of the ship, her management,
and how she is affected by it, on a wind or before it. It is numbered 6.
Thus, a ship running down the trades, with studding-sails set, had
registered "moderate and fine;" she met with a superior officer,
close-hauled under close-reefed top-sails and courses, was compelled to
shorten sail, and lower her boat; the log was then marked "fresh
breezes."
FRESHEN, TO. To relieve a rope of its strain, or danger of chafing, by
shifting or removing its place of nip.
FRESHEN HAWSE, TO. To relieve that part of the cable which has for some
time been exposed to friction in one of the hawse-holes, when the ship
rolls and pitches at anchor in a high sea; this is done by applying
fresh service to the cable within board, and then veering it into the
hawse. (_See_ SERVICE, KECKLING, or ROUNDING.)
FRESHEN THE BALLAST. Divide or separate it, so as to alter its position.
FRESHEN THE NIP, TO. To veer a small portion of cable through the
hawse-hole, or heave a little in, in order to let another part of it
bear the stress and friction. A common term with tipplers, especially
after taking the meridian observation.
FRESHEN WAY. When the ship feels the increasing influence of a breeze.
Also, when a man quickens his pace.
FRESHES. Imply the impetuosity of an ebb tide, increased by heavy rains,
and flowing out into the sea, which it often discolours to a
considerable distance from the shore, as with the Nile, the Congo, the
Mississippi, the Indus, the Ganges, the Rhone, Surinam, &c.
FRESHET. A word long used for pools or ponds, when swollen after rain or
temporary inundations. It is also applied to a pond supplied by a
spring.
FRESH GALE. A more powerful wind than a _fresh breeze_ (which see).
FRESH GRUB. The refreshments obtained in harbour.
FRESH HAND AT THE BELLOWS. Said when a gale freshens suddenly.
FRESH SHOT. A river swollen by rain or tributaries; it also signifies
the falling down of any great river into the sea, by which fresh water
is often to be found on the surface a good way from the mouth of the
river.
FRESH SPELL. Men coming to relieve a gang at work.
FRESH WATER. Water fit to drink, in opposition to sea or salt water; now
frequently obtained at sea by distillation. (_See_ ICEBERG.)
FRESH-WATER JACK. The same as _fresh-water sailor_.
FRESH-WATER SAILOR. An epithet for a green hand, of whom an old saying
has it, "whose shippe was drowned in the playne of Salsbury."
FRESH-WATER SEAS. A name given to the extensive inland bodies of fresh
water in the Canadas. Of these, Lake Superior is upwards of 1500 miles
in circuit, with a depth of 70 fathoms near the shores, while Michigan
and Huron are almost as prodigious; even Erie is 600 miles round, and
Ontario near 500, and Nepigon, the head of the system geographically,
though the least important at present commercially, but just now
partially explored, is fully 400. Their magnitude, however, appears
likely to be rivalled geographically by the lakes lately discovered in
Central Africa, the Victoria Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza.
FRESH WAY. Increased speed through the water; a ship is said to "gather
fresh way" when she has tacked, or hove-to, and then fills her sails.
FRET. A narrow strait of the sea, from _fretum_.
FRET, TO. To chafe.
FRET OF WIND. A squally flaw.
FRETTUM, OR FRECTUM. The freight of a ship, or freight-money.
FRETUM BRITANNICUM. A term used in our ancient writings for the Straits
of Dover.
FRIAR-SKATE. The _Raia oxyrinchus_, or sharp-nosed ray.
FRICTION-ROLLER. A cylinder of hard wood, or metal, with a concave
surface, revolving on an axis, used to lessen the friction of a rope
which is passed over it. Friction-rollers are a late improvement in the
sheaves of blocks, &c., by which the pin is relieved of friction by
three rollers in the coak, placed equilaterally.
FRICTION-TUBE. The means of firing a gun most in favour at present in
the British service; ignition is caused by the friction on sudden
withdrawal of a small horizontal metal bar from the detonating priming
in the head of the tube.
FRIDAY. The _dies infaustus_, on which old seamen were desirous of not
getting under weigh, as ill-omened.
FRIEZE-PANEL. The lower part of a gun-port.
FRIEZING. The ornamental carving or painting above the drift-rails, and
likewise round the stern or the bow.
FRIGATE. In the Royal Navy, the next class vessel to a ship of the line;
formerly a light nimble ship built for the purpose of sailing swiftly.
The name was early known in the Mediterranean, and applied to a long
kind of vessel, navigated in that sea, with sails and oars. The English
were the first who appeared on the ocean with these ships, and equipped
them for war as well as for commerce. These vessels mounted from 28 to
60 guns, and made excellent cruisers. Frigate is now apocryphal, being
carried up to 7000 tons. The _donkey-frigate_ was a late invention to
serve patronage, and sprigs of certain houses were educated in them.
They carried 28 guns, carronades, and were about 600 tons burden,
commanded by captains who sometimes found a commander in a sloop which
could blow him out of water.--_Frigate_ is also the familiar name of the
membranous zoophyte, _Physalia pelagica_, or Portuguese man-of-war.
FRIGATE-BIRD. _Tachypetes aquila_, a sea-bird generally seen in the
tropics. It seems to live on the wing, is partially web-footed, and only
visits the land at breeding time.
FRIGATE-BUILT. The disposition of the decks of such merchant ships as
have a descent of some steps from the quarter-deck and forecastle into
the waist, in contradistinction to those whose decks are on a continued
line for the whole length of the ship, which are called galley-built.
(_See_ DECKS.)
FRIGATOON. A Venetian vessel, commonly used in the Adriatic, built with
a square stern, and with only a main-mast, jigger mizen-mast, and
bowsprit. Also applied to a ship sloop-of-war.
FRINGING REEFS. Narrow fringes of coral formation, at a greater or less
distance from the shore, according to the slopes of the land.
FRISKING. The wind freshening.
FRITH. Derived from _fretum maris_, a narrow strait: an arm of the sea
into which a river flows. Synonymous with _firth_ (which see).
FRITTERS. Tendinous fibres of the whale's blubber, running in various
directions, and connecting the cellular substance which contains the
oil. They are what remains after the oil has been _tried_ out, and are
used as fuel to _try_ out the next whale.
FROG. An old term for a seaman's coat or frock.
FROG-BELT. A _baldrick_ (which see).
FROG-FISH. _See_ FISHING-FROG.
FROG-LANDERS. Dutchmen in colloquial language.
FROG-PIKE. A female pike, so called from its period of spawning being
late, contemporary with the frogs.
FRONT. The foremost rank of a battalion, squadron, file, or other body
of men.--_To front_, to face.
FRONTAGE. The length or face of a wharf.
FRONTIER. The limits or borders of a country.
FRONT OF FORTIFICATION. The whole system of works included between the
salient angles, or the capitals prolonged, of any two neighbouring
bastions.
FROSTED STEEL. The damasked sword-blades.
FROST-FISH. A small fish, called also _tommy-cod_; in North America they
are taken in large quantities in the depth of winter by fishing through
holes cut in the ice.
FROST-RIME. _See_ FROST-SMOKE.
FROST-SMOKE. A thick mist in high latitudes, arising from the surface of
the sea when exposed to a temperature much below freezing; when the
vapours as they rise are condensed either into a thick fog, or, with the
thermometer about zero, hug the water in eddying white wreaths. The
latter beautiful form is called in North America a "barber," probably
from its resemblance to soap-suds.
FROTH. _See_ FOAM.
F.R.S. The sigla denoting a Fellow of the Royal Society.
FRUMENTARIAE. The ancient vessels which supplied the Roman markets with
corn.
FRUSH. A northern term for wood that is apt to splinter and break.
FRY. Young fishes.
FUCUS MAXIMUS. An enormous sea-weed, growing abundantly round the coasts
of Tristan d'Acunha, and perhaps the most exuberant of the vegetable
tribe. Said to rise from a depth of many fathoms, and to spread over a
surface of several hundred feet, it being very tenacious.
FUDDLED. Not quite drunk, but unfit for duty.
FUELL. An old nautical word signifying an opening between two headlands,
having no bottom in sight.
FU-FU. A well-known sea-dish of barley and treacle, in merchant ships.
FUGITIVES OVER THE SEA. By old statutes, now obsolete, to depart this
realm without the king's license incurred forfeiture of goods; and
masters of ships carrying such persons beyond seas, forfeited their
vessels.
FUGLEMAN, or more properly FLUGELMAN. A corporal, or active adept, who
exhibits the time for each motion at the word of command, to enable
soldiers, marines, and small-arm men to act simultaneously.
FULCRUM. The prop or support of a lever in lifting or removing a heavy
body.
FULL. The state of the sails when the wind fills them so as to carry the
vessel ahead.
FULL AND BY. Sailing close-hauled on a wind; when a ship is as close as
she will lie to the wind, without suffering the sails to shiver; hence
_keep her full_ is the order to the helmsman not to incline too much to
windward, and thereby shake the sails, which would retard the ship's
velocity.
FULL BASTION. In fortification, is a bastion whereof the terreplein, or
terrace in rear of the parapet, is extended at nearly the same level
over the whole of its interior space.
FULL-BOTTOMED. An epithet to signify such vessels as are designed to
carry large cargoes.
FULL DRIVE. Fully direct; impetuous violence.
FULL DUE. For good; for ever; complete; belay.
FULLER. The fluting groove of a bayonet.
FULL FEATHER. Attired in best dress or full uniform.
FULL FOR STAYS! The order to keep the sails full to preserve the
velocity, assisting the action of the rudder in tacking ship.
FULL MAN. A rating in coasters for one receiving whole pay, as being
competent to all his duties; able seaman.
FULL MOON. When her whole illuminated surface is turned towards us; she
is then in opposition, or diametrically opposite, to the sun.
FULL PAY. The stipend allowed when on actual service.
FULL RETREAT. When an army, or any body of men, retire with all
expedition before a conquering enemy.
FULL REVETMENT. In fortification, that form of retaining wall which is
carried right up to the top of the mass retained, leaving no exterior
slope above it; the term is principally used with reference to the faces
of ramparts.
FULL SAILS. The sails well set, and filled by the wind.
FULL SEA. High water.
FULL SPEED! A self-explanatory order to the engineer of a steamer to get
his engine into full play.
FULL SPREAD. All sail set.
FULL SWING. Having full power delegated; complete control.
FULMAR. A web-footed sea-bird, _Procellaria glacialis_, of the petrel
kind, larger than the common gull; its eggs are taken in great quantity
at St. Kilda and in the Shetlands.
FUMADO. A commercial name of the pilchard, when garbaged, salted,
smoked, pressed, and packed.
FUMBLE-FISTED. Awkward in catching a turn, or otherwise handling a rope.
FUMIGATE, TO. To purify confined or infectious air by means of smoke,
sulphuric acid, vinegar, and other correctives.
FUMIGATION-LAMP. An invention for purifying the air in hospital-ships
and close places.
FUNERAL HONOURS. Obsequies with naval or military ceremonies.
FUNGI. An almost incalculably numerous order of plants growing on dead
vegetable matter, and often produced on a ship's lining by
long-continued damp.
FUNK. Touch-wood. Also nervousness, cowardice, or being frightened.--_To
funk._ To blow the smoke of tobacco.
FUNNEL. An iron tube used where necessary for carrying off smoke. The
cylindrical appendages to the furnaces of a steam-ship: the funnel is
fastened on the top of the steam-chest, where the flues for both boilers
meet. Also, the excavation formed by the explosion of a mine. Also, in
artillery, a cup-shaped funnel of leather, with a copper spout, for
filling powder into shells.
FUNNEL-STAYS. The ropes or chains by which the smoke-funnel is secured
in a steam-ship.
FUNNY. A light, clinker-built, very narrow pleasure-boat for sculling,
_i.e._ rowing a pair of sculls. The stem and stern are much alike, both
curved. The dimensions are variable, from 20 to 30 feet in length,
according to the boat being intended for racing purposes (for which they
are mostly superseded by wager-boats), or for carrying one or more
sitters.
FUR. The indurated sediment sometimes found in neglected ships' boilers.
(_See_ FURRING.)
FURL, TO. To roll up and bind a sail neatly upon its respective yard or
boom.
FURLING. Wrapping or rolling a sail close up to the yard, stay, or mast,
to which it belongs, by hauling on the clue-lines and buntlines, and
winding a gasket or cord about it, to fasten it thereto and secure it
snugly.
FURLING IN A BODY. A method of rolling up a top-sail only practised in
harbour, by gathering all the loose part of the sail into the top, about
the heel of the top-mast, whereby the yard appears much thinner and
lighter than when the sail is furled in the usual manner, which is
sometimes termed, for distinction sake, furling in the _bunt_. It is
often practised to point the yards, the earings and robins let go, and
the whole sail bunted in the top, and covered with tarpaulins.
FURLING-LINE. Denotes a generally flat cord called a _gasket_. In bad
weather, with a weak crew, the top-sail is brought under control by
passing the top-mast studding-sail halliards round and round all, from
the yard-arm to the bunt; then furling is less dangerous.
FURLOUGH. A granted leave of absence.
FURNACE. The fire-place of a marine boiler.
FURNITURE. The rigging, sails, spars, anchors, cables, boats, tackle,
provisions, and every article with which a ship is fitted out. The
insurance risk may continue on them when put on shore, during a repair.
FUROLE. The luminous appearance called the _corpo santo_ (which see).
FURRENS. Fillings: those pieces supplying the deficiency of the timber
in the moulding-way.
FURRING. Doubling planks on a ship. Also, a furring in the ship's
frame.--_Furring the boilers_, in a steamer, cleaning off the
incrustation or sediment which forms on their inner surfaces.
FURROW. The groove or rabbet of a screw; the breech-sight or notch cut
on the base-ring of a gun, and also on the swell of the muzzle, by which
the piece is laid.
FURTHER ORDERS. These are often _impedimenta_ to active service.
FURTHER PROOF. In prize matters, a privilege, where the court is not
satisfied with that originally produced, by which it is allowed to state
circumstances affecting it.
FURUBE. A fish taken in the Japanese seas, and considered to be
dangerously poisonous.
FURZE. Brushwood, prepared for breaming.
FUSIL. Formerly a light musket with which sergeants of infantry and some
particular regiments were armed.
FUSILIERS. Originally those regiments armed with fusils, by whom, though
the weapon is obsolete, the title is retained as a distinction.
FUST. A low but capacious armed vessel, propelled with sails and oars,
which formerly attended upon galleys; a _scampavia_, barge, or pinnace.
FUSTICK. In commerce, a dyewood brought principally from the West Indies
and Spanish Main.
FUTTLING. A word meaning _foot-waling_ (which see).
FUTTOCK-HEAD. In ship-building, is a name for the 5th, the 7th, and the
9th _diagonals_, the intervening bevellings being known as _sirmarks_.
FUTTOCK-HOLES. Places through the top-rim for the futtock-plates.
FUTTOCK-PLANK. The first plank of the ceiling next the kelson; the
limber-strake.
FUTTOCK-PLATES. Iron plates with dead-eyes, crossing the sides of the
top-rim perpendicularly. The dead-eyes of the top-mast rigging are set
up to their upper ends or dead-eyes, and the futtock-shrouds hook to
their lower ends.
FUTTOCK-RIDERS. When a rider is lengthened by means of pieces batted or
scarphed to it and each other, the first piece is termed the first
futtock-rider, the next the second futtock-rider, and so on.
FUTTOCKS, OR FOOT-HOOKS. The separate pieces of timber which compose the
frame. There are four futtocks (component parts of the rib), and
occasionally five, to a ship. The timbers that constitute her
breadth--the middle division of a ship's timbers, or those parts which
are situated between the floor and the top timbers--separate timbers
which compose the frame. Those next the keel are called ground-futtocks
or navel-timbers, and the rest upper futtocks.
FUTTOCK-SHROUDS, OR FOOT-HOOK SHROUDS. Are short pieces of rope or chain
which secure the lower dead-eyes and futtock-plates of top-mast rigging
to a band round a lower mast.
FUTTOCK-STAFF. A short piece of wood or iron, seized across the upper
part of the shrouds at equal distances, to which the cat-harping legs
are secured.
FUTTOCK-TIMBERS. _See_ FUTTOCKS.
FUZE. Formerly called also _fuzee_. The adjunct employed with shells for
igniting the bursting charge at the required moment. Time-fuzes,
prepared with some composition burning at a known rate, are cut or set
to a length proportionate to the time which the shell is destined to
occupy in its flight; concussion and percussion fuzes ignite the charge
on impact on the object: the former by the dislocation of some of its
parts throwing open new passages for its flame, and the latter by the
action of various mechanism on its inner priming of detonating
composition. They are made either of wood or of metal, and of various
form and size according to the kind of ordnance they are intended for.
Time-fuzes of special manufacture are also applied to igniting the
charges of mines, subaqueous blasts, &c.
FUZZY. Not firm or sound in substance.
FYKE. A large bow-net used on the American coasts for taking the shad;
hence called _shad-fykes_. Also, the _Medusa cruciata_, or Medusa's
head.
FYRDUNG [the Anglo-Saxon _fyrd ung_, military service]. This appears on
our statutes for inflicting a penalty on those who evaded going to war
at the king's command.