The Sailor's Word-Book
Chapter 19 : BACKSTAY-PLATES. Used to support the backstays.BACKSTAYS. Long ropes extending from all

BACKSTAY-PLATES. Used to support the backstays.

BACKSTAYS. Long ropes extending from all mast-heads above a lower-mast to both sides of the s.h.i.+p or chain-wales; they are extended and set up with dead eyes and laniards to the backstay-plates. Their use is to second the shrouds in supporting the mast when strained by a weight of sail in a fresh wind. They are usually distinguished into breast and after backstays; the first being intended to sustain the mast when the s.h.i.+p sails upon a wind; or, in other terms, when the wind acts upon a s.h.i.+p obliquely from forwards; the second is to enable her to carry sail when the wind is abaft the beam; a third, or s.h.i.+fting backstay, is temporary, and used where great strain is demanded when chasing, chased, or carrying on a heavy pressure of canvas: they are fitted either with las.h.i.+ng eyes, or hook and thimble with selvagee strop, so as to be instantly removed.

BACKSTAY-STOOLS. Detached small channels, or chain-wales, fixed abaft the princ.i.p.al ones. They are introduced in preference to extending the length of the channels.

BACKSTERS. Flat pieces of wood or cork, strapped on the feet in order to walk over loose beach.

BACK-STRAPPED. As a s.h.i.+p carried round to the back of Gibraltar by a counter-current and eddies of wind, the strong currents detaining her there.

BACK-SWEEP. That which forms the hollow of the top-timber of a frame.

BACK-WATER. The swell of the sea thrown back, or rebounded by its contact with any solid body. Also the loss of power occasioned by it to paddles of steamboats, &c. The water in a mill-race which cannot get away in consequence of the swelling of the river below. Also, an artificial acc.u.mulation of water reserved for clearing channel-beds and tide-ways. Also, a creek or arm of the sea which runs parallel to the coast, having only a narrow strip of land between it and the sea, and communicating with the latter by barred entrances. The west coast of India is remarkable for its back-waters, which give a most useful smooth water communication from one place to another, such as from Cochin to Quilon, a distance of nearly 70 miles.

BACON, TO SAVE. This is an old sh.o.r.e-saw, adopted in nautical phraseology for expressing "to escape," but generally used in _pejus ruere_; as in Gray's _Long Story_. (_See_ FOUL HAWSE.)

BAD-BERTH. A foul or rocky anchorage.

BADDERLOCK. The _Fucus esculentus_, a kind of eatable sea-weed on our northern sh.o.r.es. Also called _pursill_.

BADDOCK. A name from the Gaelic for the fry of the _Gadus carbonarius_, or coal-fish.

BADGE. Quarter badges. False quarter-galleries in imitation of frigate-built s.h.i.+ps. Also, in naval architecture, a carved ornament placed on the outside of small s.h.i.+ps, very near the stern, containing either a window, or the representation of one, with marine decorations.

BADGE, SEAMAN'S. _See_ GOOD-CONDUCT BADGE.

BADGER, TO. To tease or confound by frivolous orders.

BADGER-BAG. The fict.i.tious Neptune who visits the s.h.i.+p on her crossing the line.

BAD-NAME. This should be avoided by a s.h.i.+p, for once acquired for inefficiency or privateer habits, it requires time and reformation to get rid of it again. "Give a dog a bad name" most forcibly exemplified.

s.h.i.+ps have endured it even under repeated changes of captains--one s.h.i.+p had her name changed, but she became worse.

BAD-RELIEF. One who turns out sluggishly to relieve the watch on deck.

(_See_ ONE-BELL.)

BAESSY. The old orthography of the gun since called _base_.

BAFFLING. Is said of the wind when it frequently s.h.i.+fts from one point to another.

BAG. A commercial term of quant.i.ty; as, a bread or biscuit _bag_, a sand-_bag_, &c. An empty purse.--_To bag on a bowline_, to be leewardly, to drop from a course.

BAG, OF THE HEAD-RAILS. The lowest part of the head-rails, or that part which forms the sweep of the rail.

BAG, THE. Allowed for the men to keep their clothes in. The _ditty bag_ included needles and needfuls, love-tokens, jewels, &c.

BAGALA. A rude description of high-sterned vessel of various burdens, from 50 to 300 tons, employed at Muskat and on the sh.o.r.es of Oman: the word signifying _mule_ among the Arabs, and therefore indicative of carrying rather than sailing.

BAG AND BAGGAGE. The whole movable property.

BAGGAGE. The necessaries, utensils, and apparel of troops.

BAGGAGE-GUARD. A small proportion of any body of troops on the march, to whom the care of the whole baggage is a.s.signed.

BAGGETY. The fish otherwise called the lump or sea-owl (_Cyclopterus lumpus_).

BAGGONET. The old term for bayonet, and not a vulgarism.

BAGNIO. A sort of barrack in Mediterranean sea-ports, where the galley-slaves and convicts are confined.

BAGPIPE. _To bagpipe the mizen_ is to lay it aback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen-shrouds.

BAG-REEF. A fourth or lower reef of fore-and-aft sails, often used in the royal navy.--_Bag-reef of top-sails_, first reef (of five in American navy); a short reef, usually taken in to prevent a large sail from bagging when on a wind.

BAGREL. A minnow or baggie.

BAGUIO. A rare but dreadfully violent wind among the Philippine Isles.

BAHAR. A commercial weight of a quarter of a ton in the Molucca Islands.

BAIDAR. A swift open canoe of the Arctic tribes and Kurile Isles, used in pursuing otters and even whales; a slender frame from 18 to 25 feet long, covered with hides. They are impelled by six or twelve paddles.

(_See_ KAYAK.)

BAIKIE. A northern name for the _Larus marinus_, or black-backed gull.

BAIKY. The ballium, or inclosed plot of ground in an ancient fort.

BAIL. A surety. The cargo of a captured or detained vessel is not allowed to be taken on bail before adjudication without mutual consent.

It was also a northern term for a beacon or signal.

BAIL-BOND. The obligation entered into by sureties. Also when a person appears as proxy for the master of a vessel, or, on obtaining letters of marque, he makes himself personally responsible. In prize matters, however, the bail-bond is not a mere personal security given to the individual captors, but an a.s.surance to abide by the adjudication of the court.

BAIL'D. This phrase "I'll be bail'd" is considered as an equivalent to "I'll be bound;" but it is probably an old enunciation for "I'll be poisoned," or "I'll be tormented," if what I utter is not true.

BAILO. A Levantine term for consul.

BAILS, OR BAILES. The hoops which bear up the tilt of a boat.

BAIOCCO. An Italian copper coin, about equal to our halfpenny. Also a generic term for copper money or small coin.

BAIRLINN. A Gaelic term for a high rolling billow.

BAIT. The natural or artificial charge of a hook, to allure fish.

BAITLAND. An old word, formerly used to signify a port where refreshments could be procured.

BALaeNA. The zoological name for the right whale.

BALANCE. One of the simple mechanical powers, used in determining the weights and ma.s.ses of different bodies. Also, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, called Libra. Balance-wheel of a chronometer--_see_ CHRONOMETER.