The Sailor's Word-Book Part 161

MANUAL-EXERCISE. The regulated series of motions for handling and carrying the musket, except what is connected with firing it.

MANUBALIST. A stout cross-bow.

MANXMAN. A seaman or native of the Isle of Man.

MANZERA. A vessel used in the Adriatic for carrying cattle.

MAON. _See_ MAHONE.

MAR. Latin _mare_, the sea: a prefix, as Margate, the sea-way, &c.

MARABUT. A sail which galleys hoisted in bad weather. Also, small edifices on Barbary headlands, occupied by a priest.

MARCHES. Borders or confines of a country, as the marches of Ancona, &c.

MARCHING ORDER. A soldier fully equipped with arms, ammunition, and a portion of his kit, carries from 30 to 35 lbs. In _service marching_ order, by the addition of provisions and some campaigning necessaries, he carries nearly 50 lbs. But _heavy marching_ order, which was yet heavier, is now happily abolished.

MARCO-BANCO. An imaginary coin of Hamburg commerce, equal to 1_s._ 5-3/4_d._ sterling.

MARE'S TAILS. A peculiar modification of the cirrus, indicating wind.

MARGIN LINE. A line or edge parallel to the upper side of the wing transom, and just below it, where the b.u.t.ts of the after bottom planks terminate.

MARINARIUS. An old statute term for a mariner or seaman.

MARINATE, TO. To salt fish, and afterwards preserve it in oil or vinegar.

MARINE. Belonging to the sea. It is a general name for the royal or mercantile navy of any state; also the whole economy of nautical affairs.

MARINE BAROMETER. A barometer, the tube of which is contracted in one part to prevent the sudden oscillations of the mercury by the ship's motion.

MARINE BOARDS. Establishments at our different ports for carrying into effect the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act.

MARINE BUILDINGS. Those constructed for making or preserving ships, as docks, a.r.s.enals, store-houses, &c.

MARINE CLOTHING-ROOM. A compartment of the after-platform, to receive the clothes and stores of the royal marines.

MARINE ENGINES. Those steam engines which are used to propel ships, whether on the ocean or in rivers, in contradistinction to locomotives on sh.o.r.e.

MARINE GLUE, OR JEFFREY'S GLUE. A well-known adhesive composition of great importance in ship carpentry, and in various nautical uses. The substance is said to consist of caoutchouc, gum, and mineral oil.

MARINE INSURANCE. A contract by which an individual or a company agree to indemnify the losses or damages happening to a ship or cargo during a voyage. For this agreement the ship-owner pays a sum in advance, called the premium, which falls to the insurer in case the ship arrives safe in a specified harbour. If the ship or cargo, however, be lost by default of the person insured, the insurer shall not be accountable. Among the Romans, the state made good losses by shipwreck, which occasioned many frauds. It is mentioned in the laws of Oleron, but was regulated under its present bearings in England in 1601.

MARINE LAGOON. A lake or inlet formed by the encroachments of the sea, and the deposits of fluviatile action.

MARINE OFFICER. An officer of the Royal Marines. Jocularly and witlessly applied to an empty bottle, as being "useless;" but better rendered as having "done its duty, and ready to do it again."

MARINER. One who obtains his living on the sea, in whatever rank. But with our old voyagers mariners were able seamen, and sailors only _ordinary_ seamen. Thus, Middleton's ship sailed from Bantam in 1605, leaving 18 men behind, "of whom 5 were mariners, and 13 sailors."

MARINE RAILWAY. A term which has been applied to a slip for hauling vessels on to repair.

MARINER'S COMPa.s.s. _See_ COMPa.s.s.

MARINER'S NEEDLE. The magnetized bar of a mariner's compa.s.s.

MARINES, THE ROYAL. A body of officers and soldiers raised to serve on board men-of-war, and trained to fight either at sea or on sh.o.r.e: their chosen body of artillery was esteemed one of the best under the crown.

(_See_ ARTILLERY.) "Tell that to the marines" was a common rejoinder to any improbable a.s.sertion, when those fine fellows had not acquired their present high estimation.

MARINE STORES. A general term for the iron-work, cordage, sails, provisions, and other outfit, with which a vessel is supplied.

MARITIMA ANGLIae. The profit and emolument formerly arising to the king from the sea, but which was afterwards granted to the lord high admiral.

MARITIME. Pertaining to sea affairs: all but synonymous with _marine_ (which see.)

MARITIME COUNTRY. A country which has its sh.o.r.es washed by the sea.

MARITIME INTEREST. _See_ BOTTOMRY.

MARITIME LAW. That branch of international law, or the law of nations, which consists of general principles, chiefly derived from ancient codes of law, and admitted by civilized nations, as to commercial intercourse with enemies and neutrals.

MARITIME LIEN. A privileged claim in respect of service done to, or injury caused by, a ship, to be carried into effect by legal process.

MARITIME POSITIONS. The intersection of the geographical co-ordinates of the lat.i.tudes and longitudes of places on the globe.

MARITIME POWERS. Those states which possess harbours, &c., on the coasts, and a powerful navy to defend them.

MARK. A certain regulated length for Spanish sword-blades, under penalty of fine, and the weapon to seizure. Also, any object serving for the guidance of ships, as sea-marks, land-marks, leading-marks, &c. Also, a piece of twine on a running rope, as a brace, &c., to show when, by being near the belaying pin or the bitts, it has been sufficiently hauled in. "Mark of the fore-brace down, sir;"--answer, "Belay, oh."

MARKAB. The lucida, or chief star, in the ancient constellation _Pegasus_.

MARKS AND DEEPS. Marks are the measured notifications on the hand lead-line, with white, blue, and red bunting, leather, and knots; deeps are the estimated fathoms between these marks. They are thus noted: mark 2 leather; mark 3 blue; deep 4; mark 5 white; deep 6; mark 7 red; deep 8; deep 9; mark 10 leather; deep 11; deep 12; mark 13 blue; deep 14; mark 15 white; deep 16; mark 17 red; deep 18; deep 19; mark 20 two knots.

MARL, TO. To souse fish in vinegar to be eaten cold. _See_ SOUSE.

MARLE, TO. To wind marline, spun-yarn, twine, &c., about a rope, so that every turn is secured by a kind of knot, and remains fixed, in case the rest should be cut through by friction. It is commonly used to fasten slips of canvas, called parsling, upon the surface of a rope, to prevent its being galled, or to attach the foot of a sail to its bolt-rope, &c., with marling hitches, instead of sewing it.

MARLINE. _See_ LINE.

MARLINE-HOLES. Holes made for marling, or lacing the foot-rope and clues in courses and top-sails.

MARLINE-SPIKE. An iron pin tapering to a point, and princ.i.p.ally used to separate the strands of a rope, in order to introduce the ends of some other through the intervals in the act of knotting or splicing; it is also used as a lever in marling, fixing seizings, &c. (_See_ FID.)

MARLINE-SPIKE HITCH. A peculiar hitch in marling, made by laying the marline-spike upon the seizing stuff, and then bringing the end of that seizing over the standing part, so as to form a jamming bight.

MARMIT. A pot fitted with a hook for hanging it to the bars of the galley-range.

MAROON. A name for a bright light of that colour used for signals; and also for an explosive ball of prepared paste-board.

MAROONING. A custom among former pirates, of putting an offender on sh.o.r.e on some desolate cape or island, with a gun, a few shot, a flask of powder, and a bottle of water.