Chapter L (1)

L. The three L's were formerly vaunted by seamen who despised the use of nautical astronomy; viz. lead, latitude, and look-out, all of them admirable in their way. Dr. or Captain Halley added the fourth L--the greatly desired longitude.

LAAS. An obsolete term for an illegal net or snare.

LABARUM. A standard in early days.

LABBER, TO. To struggle in water, as a fish when caught. To splash.

LABOUR. In the relative mechanical efforts of the human body labouring in various posture, 682-1/3 have been given for the rowing effort, 476 for the effort at a winch, and 209-1/3 for the effort at a pump.

LABOURING. The act of a ship's working, pitching, or rolling heavily, in a turbulent sea, by which the masts, and even the hull, are greatly endangered.

LABOURSOME. Said of a ship which is subject to roll and pitch violently in a heavy sea, either from some defect in her construction, or improper stowage of her hold.

LACE, TO. To apply a bonnet by lacing it to a sail. Also, to beat or punish with a rattan or rope's-end. Also, the trimmings of uniforms.

LACHES. In law, loose practice, or where parties let matters sleep for above seven years, when by applying to the admiralty court they might have compelled the production of an account.

LACING. Rope or cord used to lace a sail to a gaff, or a bonnet to a sail. Also, one of the principal pieces that compose the knee of the head, running up as high as the top of the hair-bracket. Also, a piece of compass or knee timber, fayed to the back of the figure-head and the knee of the head, and bolted to each.

LACUSTRINE. Belonging or referring to a lake.

LADDER. The _accommodation ladder_ is a sort of light staircase occasionally fixed on the gangway. It is furnished with rails and man-ropes; the lower end of it is kept at a proper distance from the ship's side by iron bars or braces to render it more convenient. (_See_ GANGWAY.)--_Forecastle-ladder_ and _hold-ladder_, for getting into or out of those parts of a ship.--_Jacob's ladder_, abaft top-gallant masts, where no ratlines are provided.--_Quarter_ or _stern ladders_. Two ladders of rope, suspended from the right and left side of a ship's stern, whereby to get into the boats which are moored astern.

LADDER-WAYS. The hatchways, scuttles or other openings in the decks, wherein the ladders are placed.

LADE. Anglo-Saxon _laedan_, to pour out. The mouth of a channel or drain. To _lade_ a boat, is to throw water out.

LADE-GORN, OR LADE-PAIL. A bucket with a long handle to lade water with.

LADEN. The state of a ship when charged with materials equal to her capacity. If the goods be heavy, her burden is determined by weight; but if light, she carries as much as she can conveniently stow. A ton in measure is estimated at 2000 lbs. in weight; a vessel of 200 tons ought therefore to carry a weight equal to 400,000 lbs.; but if she cannot float high enough with as great a quantity of it as her hold will contain, then a diminution of it becomes necessary. Vessels carry heavy goods by the ton of 20 cwt., but lighter goods by a ton of cubic feet, which varies according to the custom of the port; in London it is 40, in India from 50 to 52, depending on the goods. Vessels can carry (not safely) twice their tonnage.

LADEN IN BULK. A cargo neither in casks, bales, nor cases, but lying loose in the hold, only defended from wet by mats and dunnage. Such are usually cargoes of salt, corn, &c.

LADIA. An unwieldy boat in Russia, for transporting the produce of the interior.

LADIE'S LADDER. Shrouds rattled too closely.

LADING. A vessel's cargo.

LADLE, FOR A GUN. An instrument for charging with loose powder; formed of a cylindrical sheet of copper-tube fitted to the end of a long staff.--_Paying-ladle._ An iron ladle with a long channelled spout opposite to the handle; it is used to pour melted pitch into the seams.

LADRON. A term for thief, adopted from the Spanish.

LADRONE SHIP. Literally a pirate, but it is the usual epithet applied by the Chinese to a man-of-war.

LADY OF THE GUN-ROOM. A gunner's mate, who takes charge of the after-scuttle, where gunners' stores are kept.

LAGAN, OR LAGAM. Anglo-Saxon _liggan_. A term in derelict law for goods which are sunk, with a buoy attached, that they may be recovered. Also, things found at the bottom of the sea. Ponderous articles which sink with the ship in wreck.

LAGGERS. On canals, men who lie on their backs on the top of the lading, and pushing against the bridges and tunnels pass the boats through. Also, a transported convict; a lazy fellow.--_To lag._ To loiter.

LAGGIN. The end of the stave outside a cask or tub.

LAGOON. An inland broad expanse of salt water, usually shallow, and connected with the sea by one or more channels, or washes over the reef.

LAGOON ISLANDS. Those produced by coral animals; they are of various shapes, belted with coral, frequently with channels by which ships may enter, and lie safely inside. They are often studded with the cocoa-nut palm. (_See_ ATOLLS.)

LAGUNES. The shallows which extend round Venice; their depth between the city and the mainland is 3 to 6 feet in general; they are occasioned by the quantities of sand carried down by the rivers which descend from the Alps, and fall into the Adriatic along its north-western shores.

LAG-WOOD. The larger sticks from the head of an oak-tree when felled.

LAID. A fisherman's name for the pollack. Also, a term in rope-making, the twist being the lay; single-laid, is one strand; hawser-laid, three strands twisted into a rope; cablet-laid, three ropes laid together; this is also termed water-laid.

LAID ABACK. _See_ ABACK.

LAID TO. A term used sometimes for _hove to_, but when a vessel lays to the sails are kept full. As in a gale of wind, under staysails, or close reefs, &c.

LAID UP. A vessel dismantled and moored in a harbour, either for want of employment, or as unfit for further service.

LAKE. A large inland expanse of water, with or without communication with the sea. A lake, strictly considered, has no visible affluent or effluent; but many of the loughs of Ireland, and lochs of Scotland, partake of the nature of havens or gulfs. Moreover, some lakes have affluents without outlets, and others have an outlet without any visible affluent; therein differing from lagoons and ponds. The water of lakes entirely encompassed by land is sometimes _salt_; that communicating with the sea by means of rivers is fresh.

LAKE-LAWYER. A voracious fish in the lakes of America, called also the _mud-fish_.

LAMANTIN. A name used by the early voyagers for the manatee.

LAMB'S-WOOL SKY. A collection of white orbicular masses of cloud.

LAMBUSTING. A starting with a rope's-end.

LAMPER-EEL. A common corruption of _lamprey_.

LAMPREY. An eel-like cyclostomous fish, belonging to the genus _Petromyzon_. There are several species, some marine, others fluviatile.

LAMPRON. The old name for the lamprey.

LAMP-SHELLS. A name applied to the _Terebratulae_ of zoologists.

LANCE-KNIGHT. A foot-soldier of old.

LANCEPESADO. From Ital. _lancia spezzata_, or broken lance; originally a soldier who, having broken his lance on the enemy, and lost his horse in fight, was entertained as a volunteer till he could remount himself; hence _lance-corporal_, one doing corporal's duty, on the pay of a private.

LANCHANG. A Malay proa, carrying twenty-five or thirty men.

LAND. In a general sense denotes _terra firma_, as distinguished from sea; but, also, _land-laid_, or to _lay the land_, is just to lose sight of it.--_Land-locked_ is when land lies all round the ship.--_Land is shut in_, signifies that another point of land hides that from which the ship came.--_The ship lies land to_, implies so far from shore that it can only just be discerned.--_To set the land_, is to see by compass how it bears.--_To make the land._ To sight it after an absence.--_To land on deck._ A nautical anomaly, meaning to lower casks or weighty goods on deck from the tackles.

LAND-BLINK. On Arctic voyages, a peculiar atmospheric brightness on approaching land covered with snow; usually more yellow than _ice-blink_.

LAND-BREEZE. A current of air which, in the temperate zones, and still more within the tropics, regularly sets from the land towards the sea during the night, and this even on opposite points of the coast. It results from land losing its heat quicker than water; hence the air above it becomes heavier, and rushes towards the sea to establish equilibrium.

LANDES. The heathy track between Bordeaux and the Basses Pyrenees; but also denoting uncultivated or unreclaimable spots.

LAND-FALL. Making the land. "A good land-fall" signifies making the land at or near the place to which the course was intended, while "a bad land-fall" implies the contrary.

LAND-FEATHER. A sea-cove.

LAND HO! The cry when land is first seen.

LAND-ICE. Flat ice connected with the shore, within which there is no channel.

LANDING-STRAKE. In boats, the upper strake of plank but one.

LANDING-SURVEYOR. The custom-house officer who appoints and superintends the landing-waiters.

LANDING-WAITERS. Persons appointed from the custom-house to inspect goods discharged from foreign parts.

LAND-LOUPER. [Dutch.] Meaning he who flies from this country for crime or debt, but not to be confounded with _land-lubber_ (which see).

LAND-LUBBER. A useless longshorer; a vagrant stroller. Applied by sailors to the mass of landsmen, especially those without employment.

LANDMARK. Any steeple, tree, windmill, or other object, serving to guide the seaman into port, or through a channel.

LAND-SHARKS. Crimps, pettifogging attorneys, slopmongers, and the canaille infesting the slums of sea-port towns.

LAND-SLIP. The fall of a quantity of land from a cliff or declivity; the land sliding away so as often to carry trees with it still standing upright.

LANDSMEN. The rating formerly of those on board a ship who had never been at sea, and who were usually stationed among the waisters or after-guard. Some of those used to small craft are more ready about the decks than in going aloft. The rating is now Second-class Ordinary.

LAND-TURN. A wind that blows in the night, at certain times, in most hot countries.

LAND-WAITERS. _See_ LANDING-WAITERS.

LANE. "Make a lane there!" An order for men to open a passage and allow a person to pass through.

LANE OR VEIN OF ICE. A narrow channel between two fields. Any open cracks or separations of floe offering navigation.

LANGREL, OR LANGRAGE. A villanous kind of shot, consisting of various fragments of iron bound together, so as to fit the bore of the cannon from which it is to be discharged. It is seldom used but by privateers.

LANGUET. A small slip of metal on the hilt of a sword, which overhangs the scabbard; the ear of a sword.

LANIARD, OR LANNIERS. A short piece of rope or line made fast to anything to secure it, or as a handle. Such are the laniards of the gun-locks, of the gun-ports, of the buoy, of the cat-hook, &c. The principal laniards are those which secure the shrouds and stays, termed laniards of lower, top-mast, or other rigging. (_See_ DEAD-EYE and HEART.)

LANTCHA. A large Malay craft of the Indian Archipelago.

LANTERN. Ships of war had formerly three poop-lanterns, and one in the main-top, to designate the admiral's ship; also deck-lanterns, fighting-lanterns, magazine-lanterns, &c. The signal-lanterns are peculiar. The great ship lantern, hanging to the poop, appears on the Trajan Column.

LANTERN-BRACES. Iron bars to secure the lanterns.

LANTERN-FISH. A west-country name for the smooth sole.

LANTIONE. A Chinese rowing-boat.

LANYARDS. _See_ LANIARD.

LAP-JOINTED. The plates of an iron vessel overlapping each other, as in _clincher work_.

LAPLAND WITCHES. People in Lapland who profess to sell fair winds, thus retaining a remnant of ancient classical superstition.

LAP OVER OR UPON. The mast carlings are said to lap upon the beams by reason of their great depth, and head-ledges at the ends lap over the coamings.

LAPPELLE, OR LAPEL. The facing of uniform coats. Until the introduction of epaulettes in 1812, the _white lapelle_ was used as synonymous with lieutenant's commission. Hence the brackish poet, in the craven midshipman's lament--

"If I had in my country staid,
I then had learnt some useful trade,
And scorned the white lapelle."

LAPPING. The undulations occasioned in the waves by the paddle-wheels of a steam-boat. In the polar seas, lapping applies to the young or thin ice, one plate overlapping another, so dangerous to boats and their crews. Also, the overlaying of plank edges in working.

LAPS. The remaining part of the ends of carlings, &c., which are to bear a great weight or pressure; such, for instance, as the capstan-step.

LAP'S COURSE. One of the oldest and most savoury of the regular forecastle dishes. (_See_ LOBSCOUSE.)

LARBOARD. The left side of a ship, when the spectator's face is towards the bow. The Italians derive starboard from _questa borda_, "this side," and larboard from, _quella borda_, "that side;" abbreviated into _sta borda_ and _la borda_. Their resemblance caused so many mistakes that, by order of the admiralty, larboard is now thrown overboard, and _port_ substituted. "Port the helm" is even mentioned in Arthur Pit's voyage in 1580.

LARBOARD-WATCH. The old term for port-watch. The division of a ship's company called for duty, while the other, the starboard, is relieved from it. (_See_ WATCH.)

LARBOLINS, OR LARBOLIANS. A cant term implying the larboard-watch, the opposite of starboard:--

"Larbolins stout, you must turn out,
And sleep no more within;
For if you do, we'll cut your clue,
And let starbolins in."

LARGE. Sailing large: going with the wind free when studding-sails will draw.

LARK. A small boat. Also, frolicsome merriment. (_See_ SKY-LARKING.)

LARRUP, TO. An old word meaning to beat with a rope's-end, strap, or colt.

LASCAR. A native sailor in the East Indies; also, in a military sense, natives of India employed in pitching tents, or dragging artillery, as gun-lascars.

LASH. A string, or small cord, forming the boatswain's cat.--_To lash_ or _lace_. To bind anything with a rope or line.

LASH AND CARRY. The order given by the boatswain and his mates on piping up the hammocks, to accelerate the duty.

LASH AWAY. A phrase to hasten the lashing of hammocks.

LASHER. _See_ FATHER-LASHER.

LASHER BULL-HEAD. A name for the fish _Cottus scorpius_.

LASHING. A rope used to fasten any movable body in a ship, or about her masts, sails, and rigging.

LASHING-EYES. Fittings for lower stays, block-strops, &c., by loops made in the ends of ropes, for a lashing to be rove through to secure them.

LASK, TO. To go large.--_Lasking along._ Sailing away with a quartering wind.

LASKETS. Small lines like hoops, sewed to the bonnets and drablers of a sail, to secure the bonnets to the courses, or the drablers to the bonnets.

LAST. A dry measure containing 80 bushels of corn. A cargo. A weight of 4000 lbs. A last of cod or white herrings is 12 barrels. Last, or ship-last, a Swedish weight of 2 tons.

LASTAGE. This is a commercial term for the general lading of a ship. It is also applied to that custom which is paid for wares sold by the last, as herrings, pitch, &c.

LASTER. The coming in of the tide.

LAST QUARTER. _See_ QUARTER, LAST.

LATCH. An old term for a cross-bow; _temp._ Henry VII.--_Lee-latch._ Dropping to leeward of the course.

LATCHES. The same as _laskets_ (which see; also _keys_).

LATCHINGS KEYS. Loops on the head-rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to the foot of the sail.

LATEEN SAIL AND YARD. A long triangular sail, bent by its foremost leech to a lateen yard, which hoists obliquely to the mast; it is mostly used by xebecs, feluccas, &c., in the Mediterranean. A gaff-topsail, if triangular and set on a yard, is lateen. The term _lateen-rigged_, where sails have short tacks, is wrong. These latter are nothing more or less than clumsy lugs or quadrilaterals. The lateen tack is the yard-arm bowsed amidships.

LATHE. A term for a sort of a cross-bow once used in the fleet.

LATHER, TO. To beat or drub soundly.

LATITUDE. In wide terms, the extent of the earth from one pole to the other; but strictly it is the distance of any place from the equator in degrees and their parts; or an arc of the meridian intercepted between the zenith of the place and the equinoctial. Geographical latitude is either northern or southern, according as the place spoken of is on this or that side of the equator. Geocentric latitude is the angular distance of a place from the equator, as corrected for the oblateness of the earth's form; in other words, it is the geographical latitude diminished by the angle of the vertical.

LATITUDE BY ACCOUNT. That estimated by the log-board, and the last determined by observation.

LATITUDE BY OBSERVATION. The latitude determined by observations of the sun, star, or moon, by meridional, as also by double altitudes.

LATITUDE OF A CELESTIAL OBJECT. An arc of a circle of longitude between the centre of that object and the ecliptic, and is north or south according to its position.

LAUNCE. A term when the pump sucks--from the Danish _l[oe]ns_, exhausted. Also, a west-country term for the sand-eel, a capital bait for mackerel.

LAUNCE-GAY. An offensive weapon used of old, but prohibited by statute so far back as 7 Richard II. c. 13.

LAUNCH. The largest or long boat of a ship of war. Others of greater size for gunboats are used by the French, Spaniards, Italians, &c., in the Mediterranean. A launch being proportionably longer, lower, and more flat-bottomed than the merchantman's long-boat, is in consequence less fit for sailing, but better calculated for rowing and approaching a flat shore. Its principal superiority consists in being much fitter to under-run the cable, lay out anchors, &c., which is a very necessary employment in the harbours of the Levant, where the cables of different ships are fastened across each other, and frequently render such operations necessary.

LAUNCH, TO. To send a ship, craft, or boat off the slip on shore into the water, "her native element," as newspapers say. Also, to move things; as, _launch forward_, or _launch aft_. _Launch_ is also the movement by which the ship or boat descends into the water.

LAUNCH-HO! The order to let go the top-rope after the top-mast has been swayed up and fidded. It is literally "high enough." So in pumping, when the spear sucks, this term is "Cease."

LAUNCHING-WAYS. In ship-building, the bed of timber placed on the incline under the bottom of a ship; otherwise called _bilge-ways_. On this the cradles, which are movable vertical shores, to keep the ship upright, slide. Sometimes also termed _bilge-ways_.

LAVEER, TO. An old sea-term for beating a ship to windward; to tack.

LAVER. An edible sea-weed--the _Ulva lactuca_, anciently _lhavan_. From this a food is made, called _laver-bread_, on the shores of S. Wales.

LAVY. A sea-bird nearly as large as a duck, held by the people of the Hebrides as a prognosticator of weather.

LAW OF NATIONS. It was originally merely the necessary law of nature applied to nations, as in the instance of receiving distressed ships with humanity. By various conventional compacts, the Law of Nations became positive; thus flags of truce are respected, and prisoners are not put to death. One independent state is declared incompetent to prescribe to another, so long as that state is innoxious to its neighbours. The Law of Nations consists of those principles and regulations, founded in reason and general convenience, by which the mutual intercourse between independent states is everywhere conducted.

LAX. A term for salmon when ascending a river, on the north coast of Scotland.

LAX-FISHER. A taker of salmon in their passage from the sea.

LAY, BY THE. When a man is paid in proportion to the success of the voyage, instead of by the month. This is common in whalers.

LAY, TO. To come or go; as, _lay aloft_, _lay forward_, _lay aft_, _lay out_. This is not the neuter verb _lie_ mispronounced, but the active verb _lay_. (_See_ LIE OUT!)

LAY A GUN, TO. So to direct it as that its shot may be expected to strike a given object; for which purpose its axis must be pointed above the latter, at an angle of elevation increasing according to its distance.

LAY-DAYS. The time allowed for shipping or discharging a cargo; and if not done within the term, fair weather permitting, the vessel comes on demurrage. Thus Captain Cuttle--

"A rough hardy seaman, unus'd to shore ways,
Knew little of ladies, but much of lay-days."

LAY HER COURSE, TO. To be able to sail in the direction wished for, however barely the wind permits it.

LAY IN. The opposite of _lay out_. The order for men to come in from the yards after reefing or furling. It also applies to manning, or _laying in_, to the capstan-bars.

LAYING OR LYING OUT ON A YARD. To go out towards the yard-arms.

LAYING OR LYING ALONG. Pressed down sideways by a stiff gale.

LAYING A ROPE. Arranging the yarns for the strands, and then the strands for making a rope, or cable.

LAYING DOWN, OR LAYING OFF. The act of delineating the various lines of a ship to the full size on the mould-loft floor, from the draught given.

LAYINGS. A sort of pavement of culch, on the mud of estuaries, for forming a bed for oysters.

LAYING-TOP. A conical piece of wood, having three or four scores or notches on its surface, used in rope-making to guide the lay.

LAY IN SEA-STOCK, TO. To make provision for the voyage.

LAY IN THE OARS. Unship them from the rowlocks, and place them fore and aft in the boat.

LAY LORDS. The civil members of the admiralty board.

LAY OF A ROPE. The direction in which its strands are twisted; hawser is right-handed; cablet left-handed.

LAY OR LIE ON YOUR OARS! The order to desist rowing, without laying the oars in.--_Lay out on your oars!_ is the order to give way, or pull with greater force.

LAY OUT. _See_ LIE OUT!

LAY THE LAND, TO. Barely to lose sight of it.

LAY-TO. To bring the weather-bow to the sea, with one sail set, and the helm lashed a-lee. (_See_ LIE-TO.)

LAY UP A SHIP, TO. To dismantle her.

LAZARETTO. A building or vessel appointed for the performance of quarantine, in which all persons are confined coming from places infected with the plague or other infectious diseases. Also, a place parted off at the fore part of the 'tween decks, in some merchantmen, for stowing provisions and stores in.

LAZARUS. The game at cards, called also _blind-hookey_ and _snogo_.

LAZY GUY. A small tackle or rope to prevent the spanker-boom from swaying about in fine weather.

LAZY PAINTER. A small temporary rope to hold a boat in fine weather.

LEAD, SOUNDING. An instrument for discovering the depth of water; it is a tapered cylinder of lead, of 7, 14, or 28 lbs. weight, and attached, by means of a strop, to the lead-line, which is marked at certain distances to ascertain the fathoms. (_See_ HAND-LINE.)--_Deep-sea lead._ A lead of a larger size, being from 28 to 56 lbs. in weight, and attached to a much longer line. (_See_ DEEP-SEA LINE.)--_To heave the lead._ To throw it into the sea as far ahead as possible, if the ship is under way.

LEAD. The direction in which running ropes lead fair, and come down to the deck. Also, in Arctic seas, a channel through the ice; synonymous with _lane_. To lead into battle, or into harbour.

LEADER. A chief. Also, the conducting ship, boat, or man in an enterprise. Also, the guide in firing rockets.

LEADING-BLOCKS. The several blocks used for guiding the direction of any purchase, as hook, snatch, or tail blocks.

LEADING-MARKS. Those objects which, kept in line or in transit, guide the pilot while working into port, as trees, spires, buoys, &c.

LEADING-PART. The rope of a tackle which runs between the fall and the standing part. Generally confused with the fall. It is that part of the fall which is to be hauled on, or overhauled, to ease the purchase.

LEADING-STRINGS. The yoke-lines for steering a boat.

LEADING-WIND. Wind abeam or quartering; more particularly a free or fair wind, and is used in contradistinction to a scant wind. (_See_ WIND.)

LEAD-LINE. A line attached to the upper end of the sounding-lead. (_See_ HAND-LINE and DEEP-SEA LINE.)

LEAD-NAILS. Small round-headed composition nails for nailing lead.

LEADSMAN. The man who heaves the hand-lead in the channels. In Calcutta the young gentlemen learning to be pilots are called leadsmen.

LEAF. The side of a lock-gate.

LEAGUE. A confederacy; an alliance. Also, a measure of length consisting of three nautical miles, much used in estimating sea-distances; = 3041 fathoms.

LEAGUER. An old term for a camp. Also, _leaguers_, the longest water-casks, stowed next the kelson, of 159 English imperial gallons each. Before the invention of water-tanks, leaguers composed the whole ground tier of casks in men-of-war.

LEAK [Anglo-Saxon _leccinc_]. A chink in the deck, sides, or bottom of a ship, through which the water gets into her hull. When a leak begins, a vessel is said to have _sprung_ a leak.

LEAKAGE. Loss by the act of leaking out of a cask. Also, an allowance of 12 per cent., to merchants importing wine, by the customs.

LEAKIES. Certain irregularities of tide in the Firth of Forth.

LEAKY. The state of a ship admitting water, and a cask or other vessel letting out its contents.

LEAN. Used in the same sense as _clean_ or sharp; the reverse of _full_ or bluff in the form of a ship.

LEAN-BOW. Having a sharp entrance; a thin narrow bow being opposed to bold bow. _Fine forward_, very fine is _lean as a lizard_.

LEAP. The sudden fall of a river in one sheet. Also, a weel, made of twigs, to catch fish in.

LEAPER. _See_ LIPPER.

LEAT. A canal leading from a pool to a mill-course.

LEATHAG. A Celtic name for the plaice or flounder.

LEATHER. _See_ LATHER.

LEATHER-JACKET. A tropical fish with a very thick skin.

LEAVE. Permission to be absent from the ship for the day. (_See_ ABSENCE, LIBERTY.)--_French leave._ Going on shore without permission.--_Long leave._ Permission to be absent for a number of days.

LEAVE-BREAKING. A liberty man not being back to his time.

LEAVE-TICKET. _See_ LIBERTY-TICKET.

LEAX. _See_ LEX.

LEDGE. A compact line of rocks running parallel to the coast, and which is not unfrequent opposite sandy beaches. The north coast of Africa, between the Nile and the Lesser Syrtis, is replete with them.

LEDGES. The 'thwart-ship pieces from the waste-trees to the roof-trees in the framing of the decks, let into the carlings, to bear gratings, &c. Any cross-pieces of fir or scantling.

LEDO. A barbarous Latin law-term (_ledo -onis_) for the rising water, or increase of the sea.

LEE. From the Scandinavian word _l[oe]_ or _laa_, the sea; it is the side opposite to that from which the wind is blowing; as, if a vessel has the wind on her port side, that side will be the weather, and the starboard will be the lee side.--_Under the lee_, expresses the situation of a vessel anchored or sailing near the weather-shore, where there is always smoother water than at a great distance from it.--_To lay a ship by the lee_, or _to come up by the lee_, is to let her run off until the wind is brought on the lee-quarter, so that all her sails lie flat against the masts and shrouds.

LEE-ANCHOR. The leeward one, if under weigh; or that to leeward to which a ship, when moored, is riding.

LEE-BEAM. On the lee-side of the ship, at right angles with the keel.

LEE-BOARDS. Wooden wings or strong frames of plank affixed to the sides of flat-bottomed vessels, such as Dutch schuyts, &c.; these traversing on a stout bolt, by being let down into the water, when the vessel is close-hauled, decrease her drifting to leeward.

LEECHES. The borders or edges of a sail, which are either sloping or perpendicular; those of the square sails are denominated from the ship's side, as the starboard-leech of the main-sail, &c.; but the sails which are fixed obliquely on the masts have their leeches named from their situation with regard to the ship's length, as the hoist or luff, or fore-leech of the mizen, the after-leech of the jib, &c.

LEECH-LINES. Ropes fastened to the leeches of the main-sail, fore-sail, and cross-jack, communicating with blocks under the tops, and serving to truss those sails up to the yards. (_See_ BRAILS.)--_Harbour leech-lines._ Ropes made fast at the middle of the topsail-yards, then passing round the leeches of the top-sails, and through blocks upon the topsail-tye, serving to truss the sails very close up to the yard, previous to their being furled in a body.

LEECH-ROPE. A name given to that vertical part of the bolt-rope to which the border or edge of a sail is sewed. In all sails whose opposite leeches are of the same length, it is terminated above by the earing, and below by the clue. (_See_ BOLT-ROPE, CLUE, and EARINGS.)

LEE-FANG. A rope rove through the cringle of a sail, for hauling in, so as to lace on a bonnet.

LEE-FANGE. The iron bar upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails traverse, in small vessels. (_See_ HORSE.)

LEE-GAUGE. Implies being farther from the point whence the wind blows, than another vessel in company.

LEE-GUNWALE UNDER. A colloquial phrase for being sorely over-pressed, by canvas or other cause.

LEE-HATCH, TAKE CARE OF THE! A word of caution to the helmsman, not to let the ship fall to leeward of her course.

LEE-HITCH. The helmsman getting to leeward of the course.

LEE-LURCHES. The sudden and violent rolls which a ship often takes to leeward when a large wave strikes her on the weather-side.

LEE-SHORE. A ship is said to be on a lee-shore, when she is near it, with the wind blowing right on to it.

LEE-SIDE. All that part of a ship or boat which lies between the mast and the side farthest from the wind, the other half being the weather-side.

LEE-SIDE OF THE QUARTER-DECK. Colloquially called the midshipman's parade.

LEE-TIDE. A tide running in the same direction as the wind, and forcing a ship to leeward of the line upon which she appears to sail.

LEEWARD. The lee-side. (_See_ LEE.) The opposite of _lee_ is _weather_, and of _leeward_, _windward_.

LEEWARDLY. Said of a ship or vessel which presents so little resistance to the water, when on a wind, as to bag away to leeward. It is the contrary to _weatherly_.

LEE-WAY. What a vessel loses by drifting to leeward in her course. When she is sailing close-hauled in a smooth sea with all sail set, she should make little or no lee-way; but a proportionate allowance must be made under every reduction of sail or increase of sea, the amount depending on the seaman's skill, and his knowledge of the vessel's qualities.

LEE-WHEEL. The assistant to the helmsman.

LEG. The run made on a single tack. Long and short legs (_see_ TACK AND HALF-TACK).

LEG ALONG. Ropes laid on end, ready for manning.

LEG-BAIL. Dishonest desertion from duty. The phrase is not confined to its nautical bearing.

LEGGERS. _See_ LEAGUER.

LEGS. (_See_ ANGLE.) A fast-sailing vessel is said to have legs.--_Legs_ are used in cutters, yachts, &c., to shore them up in dry harbours when the tide leaves them. The leech-line cringles have also been called legs. Also, the parts of a point which hang on each side of the sail.

LEGS OF THE MARTINETS. Small lines through the bolt-ropes of the courses, above a foot in length, and spliced at either end into themselves, making a small eye into which the martinets are hitched.

LEGS AND WINGS. _See_ OVER-MASTED.

LEISTER. A three-pronged dart for striking fish, used in the north of England.

LEIT. A northern term for a snood or link of horse-hair for a fishing-line.

LEITH. A channel on the coast of Sweden, like that round the point of Landfoort to Stockholm.

LEMBUS. A light undecked vessel, used by ancient pirates.

LEMING-STAR. An old name for a comet.

LEMON-ROB. The inspissated juice of limes or lemons, a powerful anti-scorbutic.

LEND A FIST OR A HAND. A request to another to help.

LEND US YOUR POUND HERE! A phrase demanding assistance in man-weight; alluding to the daily allowance of beef.

LENGTHENING. The operation of cutting a ship down across the middle, and adding a certain portion to her length. This is done by sawing her planks asunder in different parts of her length, on each side of the midship-frame, to prevent her from being weakened too much in one place. One end is then drawn apart to the required distance. An intermediate piece of timber is next added to the keel, and the vacancy filled up. The two parts of the keelson are afterwards united. Finally, the planks of the side are prolonged, so as to unite with each other, and those of the ceiling refitted.

LENGTHENING-PIECE. The same as _short top-timber_ (which see).

LENS. The glass of a telescope, or of a microscope, with curved surfaces like a lentil, whence the name.

LENT. The spring fast, during which butchers were prohibited to kill flesh unless for victualling ships, except by special license.

LENTRIAE. Ancient small vessels, used on rivers.

LENUNCULI. Ancient fishing-boats.

LEO. The fifth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 22d of July. It is one of the ancient constellations.

LEPPO. A sort of chunam, used on the China station, for paying vessels.

LERRICK. A name of the water-bird also called sand-lark or sand-piper.

LESSER CIRCLE. One whose plane does not pass through the centre of the sphere, and therefore divides it unequally. (_See_ GREAT CIRCLE.)

LET DRAW! The order to let the wind take the after-leeches of the jibs, &c., over to the lee-side, while tacking.

LET DRIVE, TO. To slip or let fly. To discharge, as a shot from a gun.

LET FALL! The order to drop a sail loosed from its gaskets, in order to set it.

LET FLY, TO. To let go a rope at once, suddenly.

LET GO AND HAUL! OR AFORE HAUL! The order to haul the head-yards round by the braces when the ship casts on the other tack. "Let go," alluding to the fore-bowline and lee head-braces.

LET GO UNDER FOOT. _See_ UNDER FOOT.

LET IN, TO. To fix or fit a diminished part of one plank or piece of timber into a score formed in another to receive it, as the ends of the carlings into the beams.

LET OUT, OR SHAKE OUT, A REEF, TO. To increase the dimensions of a sail, by untying the points confining a reef in it.

LET-PASS. Permission given by superior authority to a vessel, to be shown to ships of war, to allow it to proceed on its voyage.

LET RUN, OR LET GO BY THE RUN. Cast off at once.

LETTER-BOARD. Another term for _name-board_ (which see).

LETTER-BOOK. A book wherein is preserved a copy of all letters and orders written by the captain of a ship on public service.

LETTER MEN. _See_ KING'S LETTER MEN.

LETTERS. _See_ CIRCULARS and OFFICIAL LETTERS.

LETTERS OF MART OR MARQUE. A commission formerly granted by the lords of the admiralty, or by the admiral of any distant station, to a merchant-ship or privateer, to cruize against and make prizes of the enemy's ships. The ship so commissioned is also called a _letter of marque_. The act of parliament requires that on granting letters of marque and reprisal, the captain and two sureties shall appear and give security. In 1778 it was decided that all the ships taken from France by vessels having letters of marque only against the Americans, became droits of admiralty. This commission was forfeitable for acts of cruelty or misconduct.

LETTERS OF REPRISAL. The same as _letters of marque_.

LETTUCE-LAVER. The edible sea-weed _Ulva lactuca_.

LEVANT. A wind coming from the east, which freshens as the sun rises, and subsides as it declines--_To levant_, to desert.

LEVANTER. A strong and raw easterly wind in the Mediterranean.

LEVANTS. Land-springs on the coasts of Sussex and Hampshire.

LEVEE. A French word for a mole or causeway, adopted of late for river embankments of magnitude, as those of the Po, the Thames, and the Mississippi.

LEVEL-ERROR. The microscopic deviation of the axis of a transit instrument from the horizontal position.

LEVELING. The art of finding how much higher or lower horizontally any given point on the earth's surface is, than another point on the same; practised in various ways.

LEVELLED OUT. Any line continued out from a given point, or intersection of an angle, in a horizontal direction.

LEVEL-LINES. Lines determining the shape of a ship's body horizontally, or square from the middle line of the ship.

LEVELS. Horizontal lines; or as a base square to a perpendicular bob.

LEVER. In the marine steam-engine, the lever and counter-balance weight are fixed upon the wiper-shaft, to form an equipoise to the valves. There is one on each side of the cylinder. (_See_ SPANNER.)--Also, an inflexible bar of iron or wood to raise weights, which takes rank as the first and most simple of the mechanical powers.--_To lever._ An old word for unloading a ship.

LEVERAGE. The amount of a lever power.

LEVES. Very light open boats of the ancients.

LEVET. The blast of a trumpet or horn.

LEVIN. The old term for lightning.

LEVY. An enrolment or conscription.--_To levy._ To raise recruits.

LEWER. A provincialism for handspike; a corrupt form of _lever_.

LEWIS-HOLES. Two holes in the surface of a mortar, superseding ears.

LEWTH [from the Anglo-Saxon _lywd_]. A place of shelter from the wind.

LEX, OR LEAX. The Anglo-Saxon term for salmon.

L.G. These uncials on a powder-barrel mean large-grain powder.

LIBERA PISCARIA. A law-term denoting a fishery free to any one.

LIBERTY. Permission to go on shore or ship-visiting.

LIBERTY-DAY. A day announced for permitting a part of the crew to go ashore.

LIBERTY-LIQUOR. Spirits formerly allowed to be purchased when seamen had visitors; now forbidden.

LIBERTY-MEN. Those on leave of absence.

LIBERTY-TICKET. A document specifying the date and extent of the leave granted to a seaman or marine proceeding on his private affairs.

LIBRA. The seventh sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 21st of September; the commencement of this constellation, where the equator intersects the ecliptic, is called the _autumnal equinox_, from night and day being equal.

LIBRATION OF THE MOON. _See_ EVECTION.

LIBURNA, OR LIBURNICA. Light ancient galliots, both for sails and oars; of the latter from one rank to five; so called from the Liburni, pirates of the Adriatic.

LICENSE. An official permission from the Board of Trade, to such persons as it thinks fit to supply seamen or apprentices for merchant-ships in the United Kingdom. (_See_ RUNNER, LICENSED.)

LICK. In common parlance is a blow. To do anything partially, is to _give it a lick and a promise_, as in painting or blacking.--_To lick_, to surpass a rival, or excel him in anything.--_Lick of the tar-brush_, a seaman.

LICORN. An old name for the howitzer of the last century, then but a kind of mortar fitted on a field-carriage to fire shells at low angles.

LIDO. A borrowed term signifying the shore or margin of the sea.

LIE A HULL. Synonymous with _hull to_, or _hulling_.

LIE ALONG, TO. (_See_ ALONG.) A ship is said to lie along when she leans over with a side wind.--_To lie along the land_, is to keep a course parallel with it.

LIE ATHWART, TO. When the tide slackens, and the wind is across tide, it makes a vessel ride athwart.

LIE BY, TO. Dodging under small sail under the land.

LIE IN! The order to come in from the yards when reefing, furling, or other duty is performed.

LIEN. A claim to property, and a consequent right of retention. But ships cannot be the subjects of a specific lien to the creditors who supply them with necessaries, because a lien presumes possession by the creditor, and therein the power of holding it till his demands are satisfied. To prevent manifest impediment to commerce, the law of England rejects almost wholly the doctrine of lien as regards ships.

LIE OFF! An order given to a boat to remain off on her oars till permission is given for her to come alongside.

LIE OUT! The order to the men aloft to distribute themselves on the yards for loosing, reefing, or furling sails.

LIE OVER. A ship heeling to it with the wind abeam.

LIESTER. _See_ LISTER.

LIE THE COURSE, TO. When the vessel's head is in the direction wished.

LIE-TO, TO. To cause a vessel to keep her head steady as regards a gale, so that a heavy sea may not tumble into her. She has perhaps a main-topsail or trysails, and comes up to within six points, and falls off to wind abeam, forging rather ahead, but should not altogether fall too much to leeward.

LIE UNDER ARMS, TO. To remain in a state of preparation for immediate action.

LIEUTENANT, IN THE ROYAL NAVY. The officer next in rank and power below the commander. There are several lieutenants in a large ship, and they take precedence according to the dates of their commissions. The senior lieutenant, during the absence of the commander, is charged with the command of the ship, as also with the execution of whatever orders he may have received from the commander relating to the queen's service; holding another's place, as the name implies in French.--_Lieutenant in the army._ The subaltern officer next in rank below the captain.

LIEUTENANT-AT-ARMS. Formerly the junior lieutenant, who, with the master-at-arms, was charged with the drilling of the small-arm men.

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL. The next below the colonel, generally having the active command in the regiment, whether in cavalry, infantry, or artillery, the full colonels being mostly on staff employ, or even in retirement.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. The officer taking the next place to a general, ranking with vice-admiral.

LIEUTENANT'S STORE-ROOM. More commonly called the _ward-room store-room_ (which see).

LIFE-BELT. An india-rubber or cork girdle round a person's waist to buoy him up in the water.

LIFE-BOAT. One of such peculiar construction that it cannot sink or be swamped. It is equipped for attending wherever a wreck may happen, and saving the lives of the crew: really one of the greatest blessings conferred by civilization and humanity on mariners. Life-boats were invented by Admiral Samuel Graves, who died in 1787. The Royal National Life-boat Institution has saved by its boats, or by special exertions for which it has granted rewards, 14,980 lives, from the year of its establishment, 1824, to the end of 1865.

LIFE-BUOYS. Are of various descriptions. A very useful one, patented by Cook, is supplied to all Her Majesty's ships. It is composed of two copper cylinders, and has a balanced stem carrying a fuse, burning twenty minutes. It is kept suspended on the quarter, can be let go, and ignited instantaneously, and will support two men for a considerable time.

LIFE-GUARDS. A greatly-privileged body of cavalry, specially assigned to the guarding of the sovereign's person.

LIFE-KITE. A contrivance for saving the lives of shipwrecked persons by forming a communication between the wreck and a lee-shore.

LIFE-LINES. Stretched from gun to gun, and about the upper deck in bad weather, to prevent the men being washed away. The life-lines aloft are stretched from the lifts to the masts to enable seamen to stand securely when manning yards, as in a salute to admirals, &c.

LIFE-PRESERVER. An air-tight apparatus for saving people in cases of wreck.

LIFT. A term applied to the sails when the wind catches them on the leeches and causes them to ruffle slightly. Also implies help in work in hand, as "give us a lift."

LIFT AN ANCHOR, TO. Either by the purchase; or a ship if she has not sufficient cable on a steep bank _lifts_, or shoulders, her anchor.

LIFTED. Promoted somewhat unexpectedly.

LIFTER. _See_ WIPER.

LIFTING. The rising of fog or haze from the surface of the water.

LIFTING-JACK. A portable machine for lifting heavy objects, acting by the power either of the lever, the tooth and pinion, or the screw.

LIFTS. Ropes which reach from each mast-head to their respective yard-arms to steady and suspend the ends. Their use is to keep the yard in equilibrium, or to raise one of its extremities higher than the other if necessary, but particularly to support the weight when a number of men are employed on it, furling or reefing the sail. The yards are said to be squared by the lifts when they hang at right angles with the masts.--_Topping-lifts._ (_See_ TOPPING-LIFTS.)

LIG. A fish-hook, with lead cast round its upper part in order to sink it.

LIGAN. _See_ LAGAN.

LIGGER. A line with a float and bait, used for catching pike. A night-hook laid for a pike or eel.

LIGHT, TO. To move or lift anything along; as "light over to windward," the cry for helping the man at the weather-earing when taking in a reef. Each man holding by a reef-point helps it over, as the lee-earing cannot be passed until the man to windward calls out, "Haul out to leeward."

LIGHT AIRS. Unsteady and faint flaws of wind.

LIGHT ALONG! Lend assistance in hauling cables, hawsers, or large ropes along, and lifting some parts in a required direction.

LIGHT-BALLS. Are thrown from mortars at night to discover the enemy's working parties, &c. They are composed of saltpetre, sulphur, resin, and linseed-oil, and burn with great brilliancy. The _parachute light-ball_, which suspends itself in the air by the action of the heated gas from the light against the parachute, is most convenient.

LIGHT BOBS. The old soubriquet for _light infantry_ (which see).

LIGHT BREEZES. When light airs have become steady.

LIGHTEN, TO. To throw ballast, stores, cargo, or other things, overboard in stress of weather, to render the vessel more buoyant.

LIGHTER. A large, open, flat-bottomed boat, with heavy bearings, employed to carry goods to or from ships.--_Ballast lighter._ A vessel fitted up to raise ballast from the bottom of a harbour.--_Covered or close lighter._ One furnished with a deck throughout her whole length, in order to secure such merchandise as might be damaged by wet, and to prevent pillage.

LIGHTERAGE. The charge made for the hire of a lighter.

LIGHTERMAN. A man employed in a lighter.

LIGHT-HANDED. Short of the complement of men.

LIGHT-HORSE. A name formerly given to all mounted men who were not encumbered with armour.

LIGHT-HORSEMAN. An old name for the light boat, since called a gig. (_See_ WALLMIA.)

LIGHTHOUSE. A sort of tower, erected upon a headland, islet, or rock, whose lights may be seen at a great distance from the land to warn shipping of their approach to these dangers.--A _floating light_, or _light vessel_, strongly moored, is used to mark dangers under water. Lights are variously distinguished, as by the number, colour, and continuity of their lights, whether flashing, revolving, &c.

LIGHT ICE. That which has but little depth in the water; it is not considered dangerous to shipping, as not being heavy.

LIGHT INFANTRY. Troops specially trained to the extended and rapid movements necessary to cover the man[oe]uvres of the main body.

LIGHTNING-CONDUCTOR. The lightning-conductor (introduced by Sir Snow Harris) is a plate connected from the royal mast-head down to the deck, thence by the beams to the ship's copper into the sea. Another kind is a copper-wire chain or rope hoisted to the truck, then passing down by the backstays over the channels into the sea.

LIGHT-PORT. A scuttle made for showing a light through. Also, a port in timber ships kept open until brought deep by cargo. It is then secured and caulked in. (_See_ RAFT-PORT.)

LIGHT-ROOM. In a ship-of-war, a small space parted off from the magazine, having double-glass windows for more safely transmitting the light by which the gunner and his assistants fill their cartridges. Large ships generally have two light-rooms, the after and the fore.

LIGHTS. In men-of-war, all the seamen's lights are extinguished by 8 P.M., the officers' at 10, unless the commanding officer gives his permission, through the master-at-arms, for a longer time, as occasion may require.

LIGHT SAILS. All above the topgallant-sails; also the studding-sails and flying jib. Men-of-war carry topgallant-sails over double reef.

LIGHT SHIP. In contradistinction to laden; a ship is said to be light when she has no cargo, or merely in ballast. When very crank, she is said to be _flying light_. Also, a vessel bearing a light as a guide to navigators.

LIGHT WATER-DRAUGHT. The depth of water which a vessel draws when she is empty, or nearly so.

LIGHT WATER-LINE. The line showing the depression of the ship's body in the water when just launched, or quite unladen. (_See_ WATER-LINE.)

LIGNAMINA. Timber fit for building.

LIGNUM VITAE. _Guaiacum officinale._ A West Indian tree, of the wood of which sheaves of blocks are made. It was allowed to be imported free of all duties.

LIMB. The graduated arc of an astronomical or surveying instrument. In astronomy, it is the edge or border of the disc of the sun, moon, or one of the planets; in which sense we say the upper limb, the lower limb, the sun or moon's nearest limb, &c.

LIMBER. In artillery, the two-wheeled carriage to which the trail of a field gun-carriage is attached for travel.--_Limber-boxes_ are the chests fitted above the axle-tree of the limber for ammunition.--_Limber up!_ is the command so to raise and attach.

LIMBER BOARDS OR PLATES. Short movable pieces of plank; a part of the lining of a ship's floor, close to the keelson, and immediately above the limbers. They are occasionally removed to clear them of any rubbish by which they may be clogged, so as to interrupt the passage of water to the pump-well.

LIMBER-BOX. Synonymous with _limber-trunk_.

LIMBER-CLEARER. A small chain rove fore-and-aft through the limber-passage to clear it when necessary, by hauling backwards and forwards.

LIMBER-PASSAGE. The line of limber-holes throughout the whole length of the floor, on each side of the keelson, for the water to have free access to the pumps.

LIMBER-PLATES. _See_ LIMBER-BOARDS.

LIMBER-STREAK. The streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson, wrought over the lower ends of the first futtocks.

LIMBO. Restraint, durance, confinement under arrest, or in the bilboes. Dante uses this term for a division of the infernal regions.

LIMB-TANGENT. The accurate touch of the edge of a celestial body to the horizon.

LIME OR LEMON JUICE. A valuable anti-scorbutic, included by act of parliament in the scale of provisions for seamen. It has latterly been so much adulterated that scurvy has increased threefold in a few years.

LIME-POTS. Formerly supplied among the munitions of war to ships.

LIMITING PARALLELS. The parallels of latitude upon the earth's surface, within which occultations of stars or planets by the moon are possible. They are given in the _Nautical Almanac_ for each occultation.

LIMMER. The side-rope to a poop or other ladder.

LIMPET. A well-known shell-fish, giving rise to the brackish proverb, "Sticking fast like a limpet to a rock."

LINCH OR LINS PIN. The iron pin which keeps the trucks of a gun-carriage confined to the axle-tree.

LINE, TO. To cover one piece with another. Also, to mark out the work on a floor for determining the shape of a vessel's body.--_To line a ship_, is to strike off with a batten, or otherwise, the directional lines for painting her. (_See_ TOE A LINE.)