The Sailor's Word-Book Part 184

PEt.i.tORY SUITS. Causes of property, formerly cognizable in the admiralty court.

PETREL. The _Cypselli_ of the ancients, and _Mother Cary's chickens_ of sailors; of the genus _Procellaria_. They collect in numbers at the approach of a gale, running along the waves in the wake of a ship; whence the name _peterel_, in reference to St. Peter's attempt to walk on the water. They are seen in all parts of the ocean. The largest of the petrels, _Procellaria fuliginosa_, is known by seamen as Mother Cary's goose.

PETROLEUM. Called also rock, mineral, or coal, oil. A natural oil widely distributed over the globe, consisting of carbon and hydrogen, in the proportion of about 88 and 12 per cent. It burns fiercely with a thick black smoke; and attempts, not yet successful, have been made to adapt it as a fuel for steamers.

PETRONEL. An old term for a horse-pistol; also for a kind of carbine.

PETTAH. A town adjoining the esplanade of a fort.

PETTICOAT TROWSERS. A kind of kilt formerly worn by seamen in general, but latterly princ.i.p.ally by fishermen. (_See_ GALLIGASKINS.)

PETTY AVERAGE. Small charges borne partly by a ship, and partly by a cargo, such as expenses of towing, &c.

PETTY OFFICER. A divisional seaman of the first cla.s.s, ranking with a sergeant or corporal.

PHALANX. An ancient Macedonian legion of varying numbers, formed into a square compact body of pikemen with their shields joined.

PHARONOLOGY. Denotes the study of, and acquaintance with, lighthouses.

PHAROS. A lighthouse; a watch-tower.

PHASELUS. An ancient small vessel, equipped with sails and oars.

PHASES. The varying appearances of the moon's disc during a lunation; also those of the inferior planets Venus and Mercury, as they revolve round the sun.

PHILADELPHIA LAWYER. "Enough to puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer" is a common nautical phrase for an inconsistent story.

PHINAK. A species of trout. (_See_ FINNOCK.)

PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY. That department of the science which treats of the causes of the motions of the heavenly bodies.

PHYSICAL DOUBLE-STAR. _See_ DOUBLE-STAR and BINARY SYSTEM.

PIASTRE. A Spanish silver coin, value 4_s._ 3_d._ sterling. Also, a Turkish coin of 40 paras, or 1_s._ 7_d._

PICARD. A boat of burden on the Severn, mentioned in our old statutes.

PICCANINNY. A negro or mulatto infant.

PICCAROON. A swindler or thief. Also, a piratical vessel.

PICCARY. Piratical theft on a small scale.

PICKERIE. An old word for stealing; under which name the crime was punishable by severe duckings.

PICKET. A pointed staff or stake driven into the ground for various military purposes, as the marking out plans of works, the securing horses to, &c. (_See also_ PIQUET, an outguard.)

PICKETS. Two pointers for a mortar, showing the direction of the object to be fired at, though it be invisible from the piece.

PICKLE-HARIN. A sea-sprite, borrowed from the Teutonic.

PICKLING. A mode of salting naval timber in our dockyards, to insure its durability. (_See_ BURNETTIZE.)

PICK UP A WIND, TO. Traverses made by oceanic voyagers; to run from one trade or prevalent wind to another, with as little intervening calm as possible.

PICTARNIE. A name on our northern coasts for the _Sterna hirundo_, the tern, or sea-swallow.

PICUL. _See_ PEKUL.

PIE. The beam or pole that is erected to support the _gun_ for loading and unloading timber. Also called _pie-tree_.

PIECE OF EIGHT. The early name for the coin of the value of 8 reals, the well-known Spanish dollar.

PIER. A quay; also a strong mound projecting into the sea, to break the violence of the waves.

PIERCER. Used by sail-makers to form eyelet-holes.

PIGGIN. A little pail having a long stave for a handle; used to bale water out of a boat.

PIG-IRON. (_See_ SOW.) An oblong ma.s.s of cast-iron used for ballast; there are also pigs of lead.

"A nodding beam or pig of lead May hurt the very ablest head."

PIG-TAIL. The common twisted tobacco for chewing.

PIG-YOKE. The name given to the old Davis quadrant.

PIKE. (_See_ HALF-PIKE.) A long, slender, round staff, armed at the end with iron. (_See_ BOARDING-PIKE and PYKE.) Formerly in general use, but which gave way to the bayonet. Also, the peak of a hill. Also, a fish, the _Esox lucius_, nicknamed the fresh-water shark.

PIKE-TURN. _See_ CHEVAUX DE FRISE.

PIL, OR PYLL. A creek subject to the tide.

PILCHARD. The _Clupea pilchardus_, a fish allied to the herring, which appears in vast shoals off the Cornish coast about July.

PILE. A pyramid of shot or sh.e.l.l.--_To pile arms_, is to plant three fire-locks together, and unite the ramrods, to steady the outspread b.u.t.t-ends of the pieces resting on the ground. A pile is also a beam of wood driven into the ground to form by a number a solid foundation for building upon. A _sheeting-pile_ has more breadth than thickness, and is much used in constructing coffer-dams.

PILE-DRIVER. A machine adapted for driving piles. Also, applied to a ship given to pitch heavily in a sea-way.

PILGER. An east-country term for a fish-spear.

PILING ICE. In Arctic parlance, where from pressure the ice is raised, slab over slab, into a high ma.s.s, which consolidates, and is often mistaken for a berg.

PILL. (_See_ PIL.) A term on the western coast for a draining rivulet, as well as the creek into which it falls.

PILLAGE. Wanton and mostly iniquitous plunder. But an allowed ancient practice, both in this and other countries, as shown by the sea ordinances of France, and our black book of the admiralty.

PILLAN. A northern coast name for the shear-crab.