PRIME. The fore part of the artificial day; that is, the first quarter
after sunrise.
PRIME, TO. To make ready a gun, mine, &c., for instantaneous firing.
Also, to pierce the cartridge with the priming-wire, and apply the
quill-tube in readiness for firing the cannon.--_To prime a fire-ship._
To lay the train for being set on fire.--_To prime a match._ Put a
little wet bruised powder made into the paste called devil, upon the end
of the rope slow-match, with a piece of paper wrapped round it.
PRIME VERTICAL. That great circle which passes through the zenith and
the east and west points of the horizon.
PRIMING-IRONS. Consist of a pointed wire used through the vent to prick
the cartridge when it is "home," and of a flat-headed one similarly
inserted after discharge to insure its not retaining any ignited
particles.
PRIMING-VALVES. The same with escape-valves.
PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. The name of the volume formerly issued by the
admiralty to all commanders of ships and vessels for their guidance; now
superseded by Queen's Regulations.
PRISE, TO. To raise, or slue, weighty bodies by means of a lever
purchase or power. (_See_ PRIZING.)
PRISE-BOLTS. Knobs of iron on the cheeks of a gun-carriage to keep the
handspike from slipping when prising up the breech.
PRISM. In dioptrics, is a geometrical solid bounded by three
parallelograms, whose bases are equal triangles.
PRISMATIC COMPASS. One so fitted with a glass prism for reading by
reflection, that the eye can simultaneously observe an object and read
its compass bearing.
PRISONER AT LARGE. Free to take exercise within bounds.
PRISONERS OF WAR. Men who are captured after an engagement, who are
deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged, or dismissed on
their parole.
PRISONER UNDER RESTRAINT. Suspended from duty; deprived of command.
PRISON-SHIP. One fitted up for receiving and detaining prisoners of war.
PRITCH. A dentated weapon for striking and holding eels.
PRIVATE. The proper designation of a soldier serving in the ranks of the
army, holding no special position.
PRIVATEER PRACTICE, OR PRIVATEERISM. Disorderly conduct, or anything out
of man-of-war rules.
PRIVATEERS, or men-of-war equipped by individuals for cruising against
the enemy; their commission (_see_ LETTERS OF MARQUE) is given by the
admiralty, and revocable by the same authority. They have no property in
any prize until it is legally condemned by a competent court. The
admiral on the station is entitled to a tenth of their booty. This
infamous species of warfare is unhappily not yet abolished among
civilized nations.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. Commissions of privateers do not extend to the capture
of private property on land; a right not even granted to men-of-war.
Private armed ships are not within the terms of a capitulation
protecting private property generally.
PRIVATE SIGNAL. Understood by captains having the key, but totally
incomprehensible to other persons.
PRIVY-COAT. A light coat or defence of mail, concealed under the
ordinary dress.
PRIZE. A vessel captured at sea from the enemies of a state, or from
pirates, either by a man-of-war or privateer. Vessels are also looked
upon as _prize_, if they fight under any other standard than that of the
state from which they have their commission, if they have no
charter-party, and if loaded with effects belonging to the enemy, or
with contraband goods. In ships of war, the prizes are to be divided
among the officers, seamen, &c., according to the act; but in
privateers, according to the agreement between the owners. By statute 13
Geo. II. c. 4, judges and officers failing in their duty in respect to
the condemnation of prizes, forfeit L500, with full costs of suit, one
moiety to the crown, and the other to the informer. Prize, according to
jurists, is altogether a creature of the crown; and no man can have any
interest but what he takes as the mere gift of the crown. Partial
interest has been granted away at different times, but the statute of
Queen Anne (A.D. 1708) is the first which gave to the captors the whole
of the benefit.
PRIZE ACT OF 1793. Ordained that the officers and sailors on board every
ship and vessel of war shall have the sole property in all captures,
being first adjudged lawful prize, to be divided in such proportions and
manner as His Majesty should order by proclamation. In 1746 a man,
though involuntarily kept abroad above three years in the service of his
country, was deemed to have forfeited his share to Greenwich.
PRIZE-ACTS. Though expiring with each war, are usually revived nearly in
the same form.
PRIZEAGE. The tenth share belonging to the crown out of a lawful prize
taken at sea.
PRIZE-COURT. A department of the admiralty court; (_oyer et terminer_)
to hear and determine according to the law of nations.
PRIZE-GOODS. Those taken upon the high seas, _jure belli_, from the
enemy.
PRIZE-LIST. A return of all the persons on board, whether belonging to
the ship, or supernumeraries, at the time a capture is made; those who
may be absent on duty are included.
PRIZE-MASTER. The officer to whom a prize is given in charge to carry
her into port.
PRIZE-MONEY. The profits arising from the sale of prizes. It was divided
equally by chart. 5 Hen. IV.
PRIZING. The application of a lever to lift or move any weighty body.
Also, the act of pressing or squeezing an article into its package, so
that its size may be reduced in stowage.
PROA, OR FLYING PROW. _See_ PRAHU.
PROBATION. The noviciate period of cadets, midshipmen, apprentices, &c.
PROBE. A surgical sounder.--_To probe._ To inquire thoroughly into a
matter.
PROCEEDS. The product or produce of prizes, &c.
PROCESSION. A march in official order. At a naval or military funeral,
the officers are classed according to seniority, the chiefs last.
PROCURATION, LETTERS OF. Are required to be exhibited in the purchase of
ships by agents in the enemy's country.
PROCYON. {a} _Canis minoris_, the principal star of the Lesser Dog.
PROD. A poke or slight thrust; as in _persuading_ with a bayonet.
PRODD. A cross-bow for throwing bullets, _temp._ Hen. VII.
PRODUCTION. For obtaining the benefits of trading with our colonies, it
is necessary that the goods be accompanied by a "certificate of
production" in the manner required by marine law. (_See_ ORIGIN.)
PROFILE DRAUGHTS. In naval architecture, a name applied to two drawings
from the sheer draught: one represents the entire construction and
disposition of the ship; the other, her whole interior work and
fittings.
PROFILE OF A FORT. _See_ ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION.
PROG. A quaint word for victuals. Swift says, "In town you may find
better prog." It is also a spike.
PROGRESSION. _See_ ARC OF DIRECTION.
PROJECTILES. Bodies which are driven by any one effort of force from the
spot where it was applied.
PROJECTION. A method of representing geometrically on a plane surface
varied points, lines, and surfaces not lying in any one plane: used in
charts and maps, where it is of various kinds, as globular,
orthographic, Mercator's, &c. In ship-building, an elevation taken
amidship. (_See_ BODY-PLAN.)
PROKING-SPIT. A long Spanish rapier.
PROMISCUI USUS. A law term for those articles which are equally
applicable to peace or war.
PROMONTORY. A high point of land or rock projecting into a sea or lake,
tapering into a neck inland, and the extremity of which, towards the
water, is called a cape, or headland, as Gibraltar, Ceuta, Actium, &c.
PROMOVENT. The plaintiff in the instance-court of the admiralty.
PRONG. Synonymous with _beam-arm_ or _crow-foot_ (which see).
PROOF. The trial of the quality of arms, ammunition, &c., before their
reception for service. Guns are proved by various examinations, and by
the firing of prescribed charges; powder by examinations, and by
carefully measured firings from each batch.
PROOFS OF PROPERTY. Attestations, letters of advice, invoices, to show
that a ship really belongs to the subjects of a neutral state.
PROOF TIMBER. In naval architecture, an imaginary timber, expressed by
vertical lines in the sheer-draught, to prove the fairness of the body.
PROPELLER. This term generally alludes to the Archimedean screw, or
screw-propeller.
PROPER MOTION OF THE STARS. A movement which some stars are found to
possess, independent of the apparent change of place due to the
precession of the equinoxes, the accounting for which is as yet only
ingenious conjecture.
PROPORTION. In naval architecture, the length, breadth, and height of a
vessel, having a due consideration to her rate, and the object she is
intended for.
PROPPETS. Those shores that stand nearly vertical.
PROSPECTIVE, OR PROSPECT GLASS. An old term for a deck or hand
telescope, with a terrestrial eye-piece. (_See_ SPY-GLASS.)
PROTECTIONS, ON PAPER, against impressment, were but little regarded.
Yet seafaring men above 55, and under 18, were by statute exempted, as
were all for the first two years of their going to sea, foreigners
serving in merchant ships or privateers, and all apprentices for three
years.
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 moored _a 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 a _dolphin_), 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. The _Fratercula 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 the _kaluwi_, 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 to _bilge
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. The _pump sucks_ is 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 a _starting_ or _teeming 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 from _panch_, the Hindostanee
word for _five_, in allusion to the number of its ingredients. (_See_
BOULEPONGES.)
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. (_See_ SPUNK.)
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 L450 for an ensigncy, up to
L4540 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 of _paymaster_.
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 adopted _aliases_ to 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. (_See_ SHOW 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 signifying _the 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 with _futtock_; 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.