"The west wind always brings wet weather,
The east wind wet and cold together;
The south wind surely brings us rain,
The north wind blows it back again."
PLYMOUTH CLOAK. An old term for a cane or walking stick.
P.M. [Lat. _post meridiem_.] Post meridian, or after mid-day.
P.O. Mark for a petty officer.
POCHARD. A kind of wild duck.
POCKET. A commercial quantity of wool, containing half a sack. Also, the
frog of a belt.
POD. A company of seals or sea-elephants.
POGGE. The miller's thumb, _Cottus cataphractus_.
POHAGEN. A fish of the herring kind, called also _hard-head_ (which
see).
POINT. A low spit of land projecting from the main into the sea, almost
synonymous with promontory or head. Also, the rhumb the winds blow from.
POINT A GUN, TO. To direct it on a given object.
POINT A SAIL, TO. To affix points through the eyelet-holes of the reefs.
(_See_ POINTS.)
POINT-BEACHER. A low woman of Portsmouth.
POINT-BLANK. Direct on the object; "blank" being the old word for the
mark on the practice-butt.
POINT-BLANK FIRING. That wherein no elevation is given to the gun, its
axis being pointed for the object.
POINT-BLANK RANGE. The distance to which a shot was reckoned to range
straight, without appreciable drooping from the force of gravity. It
varied from 300 to 400 yards, according to the nature of gun; and was
measured by the first graze of the shot fired horizontally from a gun on
its carriage on a horizontal plane. The finer practice of rifled guns is
much abating the use of the term, minute elevations being added to the
point-blank direction for even the very smallest ranges.
POINT BRASS OR IRON. A large sort of plumb for the nice adjustment of
perpendicularity for a given line.
POINT-DE-GALLE CANOE. Consists of a single stem of _Dup_ wood, 18 to 30
feet long, from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 feet broad, and from 2 to 3 feet deep. It
is fitted with a balance log at the ends of two bamboo out-riggers,
having the mast, yard, and sail secured together; and, when sailing, is
managed in a similar way to the catamaran. They sail very well in strong
winds, and are also used by the natives of the Eastern Archipelago,
especially at the Feejee group, where they are very large.
POINTER. The index or indicator of an instrument.--_Station pointer._ A
brass graduated circle with one fixed and two radial legs; by placing
them at two adjoining angles taken by a sextant between three known
objects, the position of the observer is fixed on the chart.
POINTER-BOARD. A simple contrivance for duly training a ship's guns.
POINTERS. Stout props, placed obliquely to the timbers of whalers, to
sustain the shock of icebergs. All braces placed diagonally across the
hold of any vessel, to support the bilge and prevent loose-working, are
called pointers. Also, the general designation for the stars {a} and {b}
in the Great Bear, a line through which points nearly upon the
pole-star.
POINT-HOLES. The eyelet-holes for the points.
POINTING. The operation of unlaying and tapering the end of a rope, and
weaving some of its yarns about the diminished part, which is very neat
to the eye, prevents it from being fagged out, and makes it handy for
reeving in a block, &c.
POINT OF THE COMPASS. The 32d part of the circumference, or 11 deg. 15'.
POINTS. _See_ REEF-POINTS.--_Armed at all points_, is when a man is
defended by armour cap-a-pie.
POINTS OF SERVICE. The principal details of duty, which ought to be
executed with zeal and alacrity.
POLACRE. A ship or brig of the Mediterranean; the masts are commonly
formed of one spar from truck to heel, so that they have neither tops
nor cross-trees, neither have they any foot-ropes to their upper yards,
because the men stand upon the topsail-yards to loose and furl the
top-gallant sails, and upon the lower yards to loose, reef, or furl the
top-sails, all the yards being lowered sufficiently for that purpose.
POLANS. Knee-pieces in armour.
POLAR CIRCLES. The Arctic and the Antarctic; 23 deg. 28' from either pole.
POLAR COMPRESSION. _See_ COMPRESSION OF THE POLES.
POLAR DISTANCE. The complement of the _declination_. The angular
distance of a heavenly body from one of the poles, counted on from 0 deg.
to 180 deg.
POLARIS. _See_ POLE-STAR.
POLAR REGIONS. Those parts of the world which lie within the Arctic and
Antarctic circles.
POLDAVIS, OR POLDAVY. A canvas from Dantzic, formerly much used in our
navy. A kind of sail-cloth thus named was also manufactured in
Lancashire from about the year 1500, and regulated by statute 1 Jac.
cap. 24.
POLE. The upper end of the highest masts, when they rise above the
rigging.
POLEAXE, OR POLLAX. A sort of hatchet, resembling a battle-axe, which
was used on board ship to cut away the rigging of an adversary. Also in
boarding an enemy whose hull was more lofty than that of the boarders,
by driving the points of several into her side, one above another, and
thus forming a kind of scaling-ladder; hence were called boarding-axes.
POLEMARCH. The commander-in-chief of an ancient Greek army.
POLE-MASTS. Single spar masts, also applied where the top-gallant and
royal masts are in one. (_See_ MAST.)
POLES. Two points on the surface of the earth, each 90 deg. distant from
all parts of the equator, forming the extremities of the imaginary line
called the earth's axis. The term applies also to those points in the
heavens towards which the terrestrial axis is always directed.--_Under
bare poles._ The situation of a ship at sea when all her sails are
furled. (_See_ SCUD and TRY.)
POLE-STAR. {a} _Ursae minoris_. This most useful star is the lucida of
the Little Bear, round which the other components of the constellation
and the rest of the heavens appear to revolve in the course of the
astronomical day.
POLICY. A written contract, by which the insurers oblige themselves to
indemnify sea-risks under various conditions. An _interest_ policy, is
where the insurer has a real assignable interest in the thing insured; a
_wager_ policy, is where the insurer has no substantial interest in the
thing insured; an _open_ policy, is where the amount of interest is not
fixed, but left to be ascertained in case of loss; a _valued_ policy, is
where an actual value has been set on the ship or goods.
POLLACK. The _Merlangus pollachius_, a well-known member of the cod
family.
POLLUX. {b} _Geminorum_. A bright and well-known star in the ancient
constellation Gemini, of which it is the second in brightness.
POLRON. That part of the armour which covered the neck and shoulders.
POLTROON. Not known in the navy.
POLYGON. A geometrical figure of any number of sides more than four;
regular or irregular. In fortification the term is applied to the plan
of a piece of ground fortified or about to be fortified; and hence, in
some countries, to a fort appropriated as an artillery and engineering
school.
POLYMETER. An instrument for measuring angles.
POLYNESIA. A group of islands: a name generally applied to the islands
of the Pacific Ocean collectively, whether in clusters or straggling.
POMELO, OR PUMELO. _Citrus decumana._ A large fruit known by this name
in the East Indies, but in the West by that of shaddock, after Captain
Shaddock, who introduced it there.
POMFRET. A delicate sea-fish, taken in great quantities in Bombay and
Madras.
POMMELION. A name given by seamen to the cascable or hindmost knob on
the breech of a cannon.
PONCHES. Small bulk-heads made in the hold to stow corn, goods, &c.
PONCHO. A blanket with a hole in the centre, large enough for the head
to pass through, worn by natives of South and Western America.
POND. A word often used for a small lagoon, but improperly, for ponds
are formed exclusively from springs and surface-drainage, and have no
affluent. Also, a cant name for the Mediterranean. Also, the
summit-level of a canal.
PONENT. Western.
PONIARD. A short dagger with a sharp edge.
PONTAGE. A duty or toll collected for the repair and keeping of bridges.
PONTONES. Ancient square-built ferry-boats for passing rivers, as
described by Caesar and Aulus Gellius.
PONTOON. A large low flat vessel resembling a barge of burden, and
furnished with cranes, capstans, tackles, and other machinery necessary
for careening ships; they are principally used in the Mediterranean.
Also, a kind of portable boat specially adapted for the formation of the
floating bridges required by armies: they are constructed of various
figures, and of wood, metal, or prepared canvas (the latter being most
in favour at present), and have the necessary superstructure and gear
packed with them for transport.
POO. A small crab on the Scottish coast.
POOD. A Russian commercial weight, equal to 36 lbs. English.
POODLE. An old Cornish name for the English Channel. Also, a slang term
for the aide-de-camp of a garrison general.
POOL. Is distinguished from a _pond_, in being filled by springs or
running water. Also, a _pwll_ or port.
POOP. [From the Latin _puppis_.] The aftermost and highest part of a
large ship's hull. Also, a deck raised over the after-part of a
spar-deck, sometimes called the _round-house_. A frigate has no poop,
but is said to be pooped when a wave strikes the stern and washes on
board.
POOPING, OR BEING POOPED. The breaking of a heavy sea over the stern or
quarter of a boat or vessel when she scuds before the wind in a gale,
which is extremely dangerous, especially if deeply laden.
POOP-LANTERN. A light carried by admirals to denote the flag-ship by
night.
POOP-NETTING. _See_ HAMMOCK-NETTINGS.
POOP-RAILS. The stanchions and rail-work in front of the poop. (_See_
BREAST-WORK and FIFE-RAILS.)
POOP-ROYAL. A short deck or platform placed over the aftmost part of the
poop in the largest of the French and Spanish men-of-war, and serving as
a cabin for their masters and pilots. This is the topgallant-poop of our
shipwrights, and the former round-house cabin of our merchant vessels.
POOR JOHN. Hake-fish salted and dried, as well as dried stock-fish, and
bad _bacalao_, or cod, equally cheap and coarse. Shakspeare mentions it
in _Romeo and Juliet_.
POPLAR. The tree which furnishes charcoal for the manufacture of
gunpowder.
POPLER. An old name for a sea-gull.
POPPETS. Upright pieces of stout square timber, mostly fir, between the
bottom and bilge-ways, at the run and entrance of a ship about to be
launched, for giving her further support. Also, poppets on the gunwale
of a boat support the wash-strake, and form the rowlocks.
POPPLING SEA. Waves in irregular agitation.
PORBEAGLE. A kind of shark.
PORPESSE, PORPOISE, OR PORPUSS. The _Phoc[oe]na communis_. One of the
smallest of the cetacean or whale order, common in the British seas.
PORT. An old Anglo-Saxon word still in full use. It strictly means a
place of resort for vessels, adjacent to an emporium of commerce, where
cargoes are bought and sold, or laid up in warehouses, and where there
are docks for shipping. It is not quite a synonym of _harbour_, since
the latter does not imply traffic. Vessels hail from the port they have
quitted, but they are compelled to have the name of the vessel and of
the port to which they belong painted on the bow or stern.--_Port_ is
also in a legal sense a refuge more or less protected by points and
headlands, marked out by limits, and may be resorted to as a place of
safety, though there are many ports but rarely entered. The left side of
the ship is called _port_, by admiralty order, in preference to
_larboard_, as less mistakeable in sound for starboard.--_To port the
helm._ So to move the tiller as to carry the rudder to the starboard
side of the stern-post.--_Bar-port._ One which can only be entered when
the tide rises sufficiently to afford depth over a bar; this in many
cases only occurs at spring-tides.--_Close-port._ One within the body of
a city, as that of Rhodes, Venice, Amsterdam, &c.--_Free-port._ One open
and free of all duties for merchants of all nations to load and unload
their vessels, as the ports of Genoa and Leghorn. Also, a term used for
a total exemption of duties which any set of merchants enjoy, for goods
imported into a state, or those exported of the growth of the country.
Such was the privilege the English enjoyed for several years after their
discovery of the port of Archangel, and which was taken from them on
account of the regicide in 1648.
PORTABLE SOUP, and other preparations of meat. Of late years a very
valuable part of naval provision.
PORTAGE. Tonnage. Also, the land carriage between two harbours, often
high and difficult for transport. Also, in Canadian river navigation
means the carrying canoes or boats and their cargo across the land,
where the stream is interrupted by rocks or rapids.
PORT ARMS! The military word of command to bring the fire-lock across
the front of the body, muzzle slanting upwards; a motion preparatory for
the "charge bayonets!" or for inspecting the condition of the locks.
PORT-BARS. Strong pieces of oak, furnished with two laniards, by which
the ports are secured from flying open in a gale of wind, the bars
resting against the inside of the ship; the port is first tightly closed
by its hooks and ring-bolts.
PORT-CHARGES, OR HARBOUR-DUES. Charges levied on vessels resorting to a
port.
PORTCULLIS. A heavy frame of wooden or iron bars, sliding in vertical
grooves within the masonry over the gateway of a fortified town, to be
lowered for barring the passage. When hastily made, it was termed a
sarrazine.
PORTE. _See_ SUBLIME PORTE.
PORT-FIRE. A stick of composition, generally burning an inch a minute,
used to convey fire from the slow-match or the like to the priming of
ordnance, though superseded with most guns by locks or friction-tubes.
With a slightly altered composition it is used for signals; also for
firing charges of mines.
PORT-FLANGE. In ship-carpentry, is a batten of wood fixed on the ship's
side over a port, to prevent water or dirt going into the port.
PORT-GLAIVE. A sword-bearer.
PORT-LAST, OR PORTOISE. Synonymous with _gunwale_.
PORT-MEN. A name in old times for the inhabitants of the Cinque Ports;
the burgesses of Ipswich are also so called.
PORT-MOTE. A court held in haven towns or ports.
PORT-NAILS. These are classed double and single: they are similar to
clamp-nails, and like them are used for fastening iron work.
PORT-PENDANTS. Ropes spliced into rings on the outside of the port-lids,
and rove through leaden pipes in the ship's sides, to work the port-lids
up or down by the tackles.
PORT-PIECE. An ancient piece of ordnance used in our early fleets.
PORT-PIECE CHAMBER. A paterero for loading a port-piece at the breech.
PORT-REEVE. A magistrate of certain sea-port towns in olden times.
PORT-ROPES. Those by which the ports are hauled up and suspended.
PORTS, OR PORT-HOLES. The square apertures in the sides of a ship
through which to point and fire the ordnance. Also, aft and forward, as
the _bridle-port_ in the bows, the _quarter-port_ in round-stern
vessels, and _stern-ports_ between the stern-timbers. Also, square holes
cut in the sides, bow, or stem of a merchant ship, for taking in and
discharging timber cargoes, and for other purposes.--_Gunroom-ports._
Are situated in the ship's counter, and are used for stern-chasers, and
also for passing a small cable or a hawser out, either to moor head and
stern, or to spring upon the cable, &c. (_See_ MOOR and
SPRING.)--_Half-port._ A kind of shutter which hinges on the lower side
of a port, and falls down outside when clear for action; when closed it
half covers the port to the line of metal of the gun, and is firmly
secured by iron hooks. The upper half-port is temporary and loose, will
not stand a heavy sea, and is merely secured by two light inch-rope
laniards.
PORT-SALE. A public sale of fish on its arrival in the harbour.
PORT-SASHES. Half-ports fitted with glass for the admission of light
into cabins.
PORT-SHACKLES. The rings to the ports.
PORT-SILLS. In ship-building, pieces of timber put horizontally between
the framing to form the top and bottom of a port.
PORT-TACKLES. Those falls which haul up and suspend the lower-deck
ports, so that since the admiralty order for using the word _port_
instead of _larboard_, we have _port port-tackle falls_.
PORTUGUESE. A gold coin, value L1, 16_s._, called also _moiadobras_.
PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. A beautiful floating acalephan of the tropical
seas; the _Physalia pelagica_.
POSITION. Ground (or water) occupied, or that may be advantageously
occupied, in fighting order.
POSITION, GEOGRAPHICAL, of any place on the surface of the earth, is the
determination of its latitude and longitude, and its height above the
level of the sea.
POSSESSORY. A suit entered in the admiralty court by owners for the
seizing of their ship.
POST. Any ground, fortified or not, where a body of men can be in a
condition for defence, or fighting an enemy. Also, the limits of a
sentinel's charge.
POST-CAPTAIN. Formerly a captain of three years' standing, now simply
captain, but equal to colonel in the army, by date of commission.
POSTED. Promoted from commander to captain in the navy; a word no longer
officially used.
POSTERN. A small passage constructed through some retired part of a
bastion, or other portion of a work, for the garrison's minor
communications with the town, unperceived by the enemy.
POSTING. Placing people for special duty. Also, publicly handing out a
bad character.
POST OF HONOUR. The advance, and the right of the lines of any army.
POUCH. A case of strong leather for carrying ammunition, used by
soldiers, marines, and small-arm men. Also, the crop of a shark.
POUCHES. Wooden bulk-heads across the hold of cargo vessels, to prevent
grain or light shingle from shifting.
POULDRON. A shoulder-piece in armour. Corrupted from _epauldron_.
POULTERER. Called "Jemmy Ducks" on board ship; he assists the butcher in
the feeding and care of the live stock, &c.
POUND. A lagoon, or space of water, surrounded by reefs and shoals,
wherein fish are kept, as at Bermuda.
POUND-AND-PINT-IDLER. A sobriquet applied to the purser.
POUNDER. A denomination applied to guns according to the weight of the
shot they carry; at present everything larger than the 100-pounder is
described by the diameter of its bore, coupled with its total weight.
POW. A name on the Scotch shores for a small creek. Also, a mole.
POWDER. _See_ GUNPOWDER.
POWDER, TO. To salt meat slightly; as Falstaff says, "If thou embowel me
to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too,
to-morrow."--_Powdering-tub._ A vessel used for pickling beef, pork, &c.
POWDER-BAGS. Leathern bags containing from 20 to 40 lbs. of powder;
substituted for petards at the instance of Lord Cochrane, as being more
easily placed. They have lately been called Ghuznee bags.
POWDER-HOY. An ordnance vessel expressly fitted to convey powder from
the land magazine to a ship; it invariably carries a red distinguishing
flag, and warns the ship for which the powder is intended, to put out
all fires before she comes alongside.
POWDER-MAGAZINE. The prepared space allotted for the powder on board
ship.
POWDER-MONKEY. Formerly the boy of the gun, who had charge of the
cartridge; now powder-man.
POWDER-VESSEL. A ship used as a floating magazine.
POWER. Mechanical force; in the steam-engine it is esteemed effective,
expansive, or full. (_See_ HORSE-POWER.)
POZZOLANA. Volcanic ashes, used in cement, especially if required under
water.
PRACTICABLE. Said of a breach in a rampart when its slope offers a fair
means of ascent to an assaulting column.
PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY. A branch of science which includes the
determination of the magnitude, distance, and phenomena of the heavenly
bodies; the ready reduction of observations for tangible use in
navigation and geography; and the expert manipulation of astronomical
instruments.
PRAECURSORIAE. Ancient vessels which led or preceded the fleets.
PRAEDATORIAE, OR PRAEDATICAE. Long, swift, light ancient pirates.
PRAHU. [Malay for boat.] The larger war-vessels among the Malays, range
from 55 to 156 feet in length, and carry 76 to 96 rowers, with about 40
to 60 fighting men. The guns range from 2 inches to 6 inches bore, are
of brass, and mounted on stock-pieces, four to ten being the average.
These boats are remarkable for their swiftness.
PRAIA [Sp. _playa_]. The beach or strand on Portuguese coasts.
PRAIRIE. The natural meadows or tracts of gently undulating, wonderfully
fertile land, occupying so vast an extent of the great river-basins of
North America.
PRAM, OR PRAAM. A lighter used in Holland, and the ports of the Baltic,
for loading and unloading merchant ships. Some were fitted by the French
with heavy guns, for defending the smaller ports.
PRANKLE. A Channel term for the _prawn_.
PRATIQUE. A Mediterranean term, implying the license to trade and
communicate with any place after having performed the required
quarantine, or upon the production of a clean bill of health.
PRAWN. A marine crustacean larger than a shrimp, much esteemed as an
article of food.
PRAYER-BOOK. A smaller hand-stone than that which sailors call "bible;"
it is used to scrub in narrow crevices where a large holy-stone cannot
be used. (_See_ HOLY-STONE.)
PRECEDENCE. The order and degree of rank among officers of the two
services. (_See_ RANK.)
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES. A slow motion of the equinoctial points in
the heavens, whereby the longitudes of the fixed stars are increased at
the present rate of about 50-1/4" annually, the equinox having a
retrograde motion to this amount. This effect is produced by the
attraction of the sun, moon, and planets upon the spheroidal figure of
the earth; the luni-solar precession is the joint effect of the sun and
moon only.
PREDY, OR PRIDDY. A word formerly used in our ships for "get ready;" as,
"Predy the main-deck," or get it clear.
PRE-EMPTION. A right of purchasing necessary cargoes upon reasonable
compensation to the individual whose property is thus diverted. This
claim is usually restricted to neutrals avowedly bound to the enemy's
ports, and is a mitigation of the former practice of seizing them.
(_See_ COMMEATUS.)
PREMIUM. Simply a reward; but in commerce it implies the sum of money
paid to the underwriters on ship or cargo, or parts thereof, as the
price of the insurance risk.
PREROGATIVE. A word of large extent. By the constitution of England the
sovereign alone has the power of declaring war and peace. The crown is
not precluded by the Prize Act from superseding prize proceedings by
directing restitution of property seized, before adjudication, and
against the will of the captors.
PRESENT! The military word of command to raise the musket, take aim, and
fire.
PRESENT ARMS! The military word of command to salute with the musket.
PRESENT USE. Stores to be immediately applied in the fitting of a ship,
as distinguished from the supply for future sea use.
PRESERVED MEAT AND VEGETABLES. The occasional use of such food and
lime-juice at sea, is not only a great luxury, but in many cases
essential to the health of the crew, as especially instanced by the
increase of scurvy in ships where this precaution is neglected.
PRESIDENT. At a general court-martial it is usual for the authority
ordering it to name the president, and the office usually falls upon the
second in command.