Although fitting-in the lower-masts of a ship cannot well be deemed a
part of the rigging, we will nevertheless describe the operation here.
As the lower-masts of a large ship are from five to six feet in
circumference, it is manifest that some powerful mechanical contrivance
is required to raise them over the bulwarks, and put them in an upright
position, into their appointed places. Such contrivances, in the form
of enormous cranes, are fixed in some of the larger docks; but the most
useful method is to have the masts put in by means of:
_The Shear Hulk_. This is a strongly built hull of a ship, moored in a
part of a river or harbour that will afford depth of water to float
vessels of any size alongside. It has one stout mast, with two immense
beams attached to it near the deck, and sloping outwards over the
bulwarks in such a way that their ends overhang the deck of the vessel
into which masts are to be placed. These sloping beams are prevented
from falling overboard altogether, and their slope is regulated, by
blocks and tackles from the mast of the hulk. By means of this
contrivance, which is just a gigantic floating crane, the ponderous
lower-masts of large ships are raised and lowered into their places.
When these are fixed, the rigging of the ship commences. The method of
putting it up cannot prove interesting to general readers; not even to
boys, for when they take to rigging model ships, they do not require the
mechanical contrivances that are necessary in rigging large vessels.
But all readers of sea stories and nautical history will find it of the
utmost advantage to their clear understanding of what they read, to have
a general idea of the names and uses of the principal parts of a ship's
rigging.
We shall, therefore, devote a small space to the explanation of this
subject. And, first, let us examine the _Masts_.
These vary in size, form, and number in different ships, but in all they
serve the same purpose--to support the sails. Lower masts of large
vessels are never formed out of one tree. They are found to be stronger
when built up of several pieces, which are fastened together by strong
iron hoops. Masts sometimes consist of three distinct parts. The
_lower_-mast, _top_-mast, and _top-gallant_-mast. In most large ships
there are three masts, each having three parts. The centre mast, being
the largest, is the _main-mast_; the front one, which is next in size,
is the _fore-mast_; and the one next the stern, the smallest, is called
the _mizzen_.
Although we have spoken of _lower-masts_ for the sake of clearness, the
name is never used. The name of the mast itself designates the lower
part of it. To name the masts in order, we have the Fore-mast.
Main-mast. Mizzen-mast. Fore-top-mast. Main-top-mast.
Mizzen-top-mast. Fore-topgallant-mast. Main-topgallant-mast.
Mizzen-topgallant-mast.
The parts of the different masts are connected and secured by means of
_cross-trees_ and _caps_, which are named after the mast and part of the
mast to which they belong. Thus we have the _fore-top_, the
_fore-top-mast cross-trees_, the _main-top_, and _main-top-mast
cross-trees_, etcetera. Observe, particularly, that the _fore-top_,
_main-top_, and _mizzen-top_, are the platforms, or cross-trees, at the
tops of the _lower_-masts, and not--as might well be supposed by
landsmen--the extreme tops of these masts. The button-like objects on
the summits of the masts are called the _trucks_; which, besides forming
a sort of finish to them, are fitted with small _pulleys_, through which
_signal-halyards_, or cords for hoisting the flags, are rove.
In first-rate men-of-war the _tops_ are so large that a number of men
can be stationed on them. Besides their other purposes, they are very
frequently used as a place of punishment for the midshipmen, or
"middies" (the boy officers), who are often sent there to air
themselves, and profit, if they can, by calm reflection in exalted
solitude.
_Shrouds_ and _stays_ are the thick ropes that keep the masts firmly in
position. They form part of what is termed the "standing gear" of a
ship--in other words, the ropes that are fixtures--to distinguish them
from the "running gear"--those movable ropes, by means of which the
sails, boats, flags, etcetera, are hoisted. Nearly all the ropes of a
ship are named after the mast, or yard, or sail with which they are
connected. Thus we have the _main shrouds_, the _main-top-mast
shrouds_, and the _main-topgallant shrouds_; the _main back-stay_, the
_main-topgallant back-stay_, and so on--those of the other masts being
similarly named, with the exception of the first word, which, of course,
indicates the particular mast referred to. The shrouds rise from the
_chains_, which are a series of blocks called "dead eyes," fixed to the
sides of the ship. To these the shrouds are fixed, and also to the
masts near the tops; they serve the purpose of preventing the masts from
falling _sideways_. Backstays prevent them from falling _forward_, and
_forestays_ prevent them from falling _backward_, or "aft." Besides
this, shrouds have little cross ropes called _ratlines_ attached to
them, by means of which rope-ladders the sailors ascend and descend the
rigging to _furl_, that is, tie up, or _unfurl_, that is, to untie or
shake out, the sails.
Our cut represents a sailor-boy ascending the mizzen-top-mast shrouds.
He grasps the _shrouds_, and stands on the _ratlines_.
_Yards_ are the heavy wooden cross-poles or beams to which the sails are
attached.
_Reef-points_ are the little ropes which may be observed hanging in
successive rows on all sails, by means of which _parts_ of the sails are
gathered in and tied round the yards, thus reducing their size in stormy
weather. Hence such nautical expressions as "taking in a reef," or a
"double reef," and "close reefing,"--which last implies that a sail is
to be reduced to its smallest possible dimensions. The only further
reduction possible would be folding it up altogether, close to the yard,
which would be called "furling" it, and which would render it altogether
ineffective. In order to furl or reef sails, the men have to ascend the
masts, and _lay-out_ upon the yards. It is very dangerous work in
stormy weather. Many a poor fellow, while reefing sails in a dark
tempestuous night, has been blown from the yard into the sea, and never
heard of more. All the yards of a ship, except the three largest, can
be hoisted and lowered by means of _halyards_. The top-gallant masts
can also be lowered, but the lower-masts, of course, are fixtures.
The _bowsprit_ of a ship is a mast which projects out horizontally, or
at an angle, from the bow. It is sometimes in two or three pieces,
sometimes only in one. To it are attached the _jib-sail_ and the
_flying-jib_, besides a variety of ropes and stays which are connected
with and support the fore-mast.
The _cat heads_ are two short beams which project from the bows on
either side, and support the ship's anchors.
_Miscellaneous_.--The openings in the decks are called _hatches_; the
stair-cases which descend to the cabins are called _companions_. The
pulleys by which sails, etcetera, are hoisted, are named _blocks_.
_Braces_ are the ropes by which sails are fixed tightly in any position.
Hauling a rope _taut_, means hauling it tight. The _weather_ side of a
ship means the side which happens to be presented to the wind; the _lee_
side, that which is away from the wind, and, therefore, sheltered. The
_starboard_ side means the right side, the _larboard_ signifies the
left; but as the two words resemble each other, the word _port_ is
always used for larboard to prevent mistakes in shouting orders.
_Heaving the lead_ is the act of throwing a heavy leaden plummet, with a
line attached, into the sea to ascertain its depth. It is thrown from
the _chains_ as far as possible ahead of the ship, so that it may reach
the bottom and be perpendicularly beneath the man who heaves it when the
ship comes up to the spot where it entered the water. A peculiar and
musical cry is given forth by the heaver of the lead each time he throws
it. The forecastle is the habitat of the ordinary sailors, and is
usually in nautical parlance termed the _foge-s'l_.
Most of what we have just described applies more or less to every ship;
but this will be seen in future chapters. Meanwhile, we would seriously
recommend all those who have found this chapter a dry one to turn back
to the heading entitled "Rigging a Ship," and from that point read it
all over again with earnest attention.