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_, or
_south preceding_, the word quadrant being understood.--_A gunner's
quadrant_, for determining the gun's angle of _elevation_. The long arm
is inserted into the bore, while the short one remains outside, with a
graduated arc and plummet, showing the inclination. For _depression_, 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's elevation above the plane of its platform; first
applied by the gallant Captain Broke.--The _mural 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 deg. 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 deg. 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. (_See_ EQUITABLE TITLE.)
QUALITIES. The register of the ship's trim, sailing, stowage, &c., all
of which are necessary to her _behaviour_.
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. (_See_
LAZARETTO.)
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 deg. 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 seaman rather
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 a _quarter_ of his year's pay. No quarter
is given to pirates, but it is always given to a vanquished honourable
opponent.--_On the quarter_, 45 deg. abaft the beam.
QUARTER, FIRST. When the moon appears exactly as a half-moon, 90 deg.
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 deg., 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.
(_See_ DECKS, and JACK'S QUARTER-DECK.)
QUARTER-DECKERS. Those officers more remarkable for etiquette than for a
knowledge of seamanship.
QUARTER-DECKISH. Punctilious, severe.
QUARTER-DECK NETTINGS. _See_ NETTING.
QUARTER-DECK OFFICERS. A term implying the executive in general;
officers whose places in action are there, in command.
QUARTER-FAST. _See_ FAST.
QUARTER-FLOOD. _See_ FLOOD.
QUARTER-GALLERY. A sort of balcony with windows on the quarters of large
ships. (_See_ GALLERY.)
QUARTER-GALLEY. A Barbary cruiser.
QUARTER-GUARD. A small guard posted in front of each battalion in camp.
QUARTER-GUNNER. _See_ GUNNER.
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 deg. 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. (_See_ BATTLE, ENGAGEMENT, &c.) But
this term differs in the army, for the soldier's quarters are his place
of rest. (_See_ HEAD-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. _See_ KEY.
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 old
_Queen_, 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 to _king'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 3-1/4 miles 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. _See_ QUICK-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
with _spirketting_.
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. (_See_ TUBES.)
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 for _cuisses_, 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 of _coast_. See Eliot's _Dictionarie_, 1559.
QUOTA-MEN. Those raised for the navy at enormous expense by Pitt's
quota-bill, in 1795, under bounties of from L20 to L60.