BRIDLE. Spans of rope attached to the leeches of square sails, to which the bowlines are made fast.

_Bridle-port._ The foremost port, used for stowing the anchors.

BRIG. A square-rigged vessel, with two masts. An _hermaphrodite brig_ has a brig's foremast and a schooner's mainmast. (See PLATE 4.)

BROACH-TO. To fall off so much, when going free, as to bring the wind round on the other quarter and take the sails aback.

BROADSIDE. The whole side of a vessel.

BROKEN-BACKED. The state of a vessel when she is so loosened as to droop at each end.

BUCKLERS. Blocks of wood made to fit in the hawse-holes, or holes in the half-ports, when at sea. Those in the hawse-holes are sometimes called _hawse-blocks_.

BULGE. (See BILGE.)

BULK. The whole cargo when stowed.

_Stowed in bulk_, is when goods are stowed loose, instead of being stowed in casks or bags. (See BREAK BULK.)

BULK HEAD. Temporary part.i.tions of boards to separate different parts of a vessel.

BULL. A sailor's term for a small keg, holding a gallon or two.

BULL'S EYE. (See page 53.) A small piece of stout wood with a hole in the centre for a stay or rope to reeve through, without any sheave, and with a groove round it for the strap, which is usually of iron. Also, a piece of thick gla.s.s inserted in the deck to let light below.

BULWARKS. The wood work round a vessel, above her deck, consisting of boards fastened to stanchions and timber-heads.

b.u.m-BOATS. Boats which lie alongside a vessel in port with provisions and fruit to sell.

b.u.mPKIN. Pieces of timber projecting from the vessel, to board the fore tack to; and from each quarter, for the main brace-blocks.

BUNT. The middle of a sail.

BUNTINE. (p.r.o.nounced _buntin_.) Thin woollen stuff of which a ship's colors are made.

BUNTLINES. Ropes used for hauling up the body of a sail.

BUOY. A floating cask, or piece of wood, attached by a rope to an anchor, to show its position. Also, floated over a shoal, or other dangerous place as a beacon.

_To stream a buoy_, is to drop it into the water before letting go the anchor.

A buoy is said to _watch_, when it floats upon the surface of the water.

BURTON. A tackle, rove in a particular manner.

_A single Spanish burton_ has three single blocks, or two single blocks and a hook in the bight of one of the running parts.

_A double Spanish burton_ has three double blocks. (See page 54.)

b.u.t.t. The end of a plank where it unites with the end of another.

_Scuttle-b.u.t.t._ A cask with a hole cut in its bilge, and kept on deck to hold water for daily use.

b.u.t.tOCK. That part of the convexity of a vessel abaft, under the stern, contained between the counter above and the after part of the bilge below, and between the quarter on the side and the stern-post. (See PLATE 3.)

BY. _By the head._ Said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is _by the stern_.

_By the lee._ (See LEE. See RUN.)

CABIN. The after part of a vessel, in which the officers live.

CABLE. A large, strong rope, made fast to the anchor, by which the vessel is secured. It is usually 120 fathoms in length.

CABLE-TIER. (See TIER.)

CABOOSE. A house on deck, where the cooking is done. Commonly called the _Galley_.

CALK. (See CAULK.)

CAMBERED. When the floor of a vessel is higher at the middle than towards the stem and stern.

CAMEL. A machine used for lifting vessels over a shoal or bar.

CAMFERING. Taking off an angle or edge of a timber.

CAN-HOOKS. Slings with flat hooks at each end, used for hoisting barrels or light casks, the hooks being placed round the chimes, and the purchase hooked to the centre of the slings. Small ones are usually wholly of iron.

CANT-PIECES. Pieces of timber fastened to the angles of fishes and side-trees, to supply any part that may prove rotten.

CANT-TIMBERS. Timbers at the two ends of a vessel, raised obliquely from the keel.

_Lower Half Cants._ Those parts of frames situated forward and abaft the square frames, or the floor timbers which cross the keel.

CANVa.s.s. The cloth of which sails are made. No. 1 is the coa.r.s.est and strongest.

CAP. A thick, strong block of wood with two holes through it, one square and the other round, used to confine together the head of one mast and the lower part of the mast next above it. (See PLATE 1.)

CAPSIZE. To overturn.

CAPSTAN. A machine placed perpendicularly in the deck, and used for a strong purchase in heaving or hoisting. Men-of-war weigh their anchors by capstans. Merchant vessels use a windla.s.s. (See BAR.)

CAREEN. To heave a vessel down upon her side by purchases upon the masts. To lie over, when sailing on the wind.

CARLINGS. Short and small pieces of timber running between the beams.

CARRICK-BEND. A kind of knot. (See PLATE 5 and page 50.)

_Carrick-bitts_ are the windla.s.s bitts.