The Sailor's Word-Book Part 203

RIPPLE-MARKS. The ripply appearance left at low water on the flat part of a sandy beach.

RIPPS. _See_ TIDE-RIP. Also, strange overfalls, the waves of which, even in calm weather, will throw their crests over the bulwarks.

RISBERM. Fascines placed to oppose the violence of the surf.

RISING-FLOORS. The floor-timbers, which rise gradually from the plane of the midship floor, so as to sharpen the form of a vessel towards the bow and stern.

RISINGS OF BOATS. A narrow strake of board fastened withinside to support the thwarts.

RISING-SQUARE. In ship-carpentry, a square used in the whole moulding, upon which is marked the height of the rising line above the keel.

RISK A RUN, TO. To take chance without convoy.

RISKS. The casualties against which insurances are made on ships and cargoes.

RITTOCH. An Orkney name for the tern, _Sterna hirundo_.

RIVAGE. An old term, from the French, for a coast or sh.o.r.e of the sea, or a river.

RIVAGIUM. A law-term for a duty paid to the sovereign on some rivers for the pa.s.sage of boats or vessels.

RIVAILE. An Anglo-Norman term for a harbour.

RIVE. The sea-sh.o.r.e. Also, as a verb, to split wood.

RIVER-BOATS. Wherries, and the like, which ply in harbours and rivers for the conveyance of pa.s.sengers.

RIVER-HARBOUR. That which is situated in the channel of a river, especially such as are at the embouchure with a bar in front.

RIVER-LAKES. Large pools of water occupying a portion of the valleys or hollows through which the courses of rivers lie.

RIVER-RISK. A policy of insurance from the docks to the sea, at any port.

RIVET. The roe of a fish. Also, a hinge-pin, or any piece of riveted work. The soft iron pin by which the ends of a cask hoop, or the plates of a boiler, &c., are secured by clinching.

RIVIERA. An Italian term for a coast, as the _Riviera di Genoa_.

RIX-DOLLAR. A silver coin common in northern Europe, of the average value of 4_s._ 6_d._

ROACH. The hollow curvature of the lower parts of upper square-sails, to clear the stays when the yards are braced up.

ROAD, OR ROADSTEAD. An off-sh.o.r.e well-known anchorage, where ships may await orders, as St. Helen's at Portsmouth, Cowes, Leith, Basque Roads, Saugor, and others, where a well-found vessel may ride out a gale.

ROADSTER, OR ROADER. Applied chiefly to those vessels which work by tides, and seek some known road to await turn of tide or change of wind.

If a vessel under sail strike against any roader and damage her, the former is obliged by law to make good the damages.

ROAST-BEEF DRESS. Full uniform; probably from its resemblance to that of the royal beef-eaters.

ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND. A popular air, by which officers are summoned to the dinner-table.

ROBANDS, OR ROBBENS. (_See_ ROPE-BANDS.)

ROBINET. An ancient military machine for throwing darts and stones; now the name of some useful c.o.c.ks in the steam-engine, as for gauge, brine, trial, and steam-regulator.

ROCK. An extensive geological term, but limited in hydrographical parlance to hard and solid ma.s.ses of the earth's surface; when these rise in insulated ma.s.ses nearly to the surface of the sea, they render navigation especially dangerous.--_Half-tide rock._ A rock which appears above water at half-ebb.

ROCK-COD. A species of cod found on a rocky bottom.

ROCKET. The well-known pyrotechnical preparation, but modified to suit various purposes. A cylindrical case charged with a fiercely burning composition, the gases of which, rushing out from the after-end against the resisting atmosphere, propel the whole forward at a rate continually increasing, until the composition be expended. It is generally kept in balance by a long light stick or tail attached. The case is made of metal or paper, and variously headed to the amount of 32 lbs. if its purpose be war (_see_ CONGREVE-ROCKETS); life-saving (by conveying a line over a stranded vessel); even the killing of whales, when reduced to 1, 2, or 3 lbs.; or, lastly, signals, for which it is fired straight upwards.

ROCKET-BOAT. Flat-bottomed boats, fitted with rocket-frames to fire Congreve rockets from, in naval bombardment.

ROCKET-BRIGADE. A body of horse-artillery a.s.signed to rocket service.

ROCKET-FRAME. The stand from which Congreve rockets are fired.

ROCK-HIND. A large fish of tropical regions, _Serra.n.u.s catus_.

ROCK-SCORPION. A name applied to persons born at Gibraltar.

ROD. The connecting and coupling bars of the steam-engine. (_See_ SOUNDING-ROD.)

RODD. A sort of cross-bow formerly in use in our navy.

RODDEN-FLEUK. A northern name for the turbot.

RODDING TIME. The season for fish-sp.a.w.ning.

RODE OF ALL. Improperly so written for _rowed of all_ (which see). The order to throw in and boat the oars.

RODGERS' ANCHOR. The excellent small-palmed, very strong and good-holding anchor. It is the result of many years' study and experiment by Lieutenant Rodgers, R.N.

RODMAN GUN. One cast on the excellent method of Captain Rodman, formerly of the United States Ordnance--viz. on a core artificially kept cool; whereby the outer metal, cooling last, shrinks on to and compresses the inner, instead of drawing outwards and weakening it, as it must do when cooled first in a solid casting.

ROGER. The black flag hoisted by pirates. (_See_ JOLLY ROGER.)

ROGER'S BLAST. A provincialism denoting a sudden and local motion of the air, resembling a miniature whirlwind.

ROGUE'S MARCH. The tune appropriated to drumming a bad character out of a ship or out of a regiment.

ROGUE'S YARN. A yarn twisted the contrary way to the rest of a rope, for detecting theft or embezzlement. Being tarred if in a white rope, but white in a tarred rope, it is easily discovered. It is placed in the middle of each strand in all the cordage made for the royal navy. Lately the rogue's yarn has been superseded by a thread of worsted: a different coloured worsted being used in each dockyard, so that any defective rope may be traced to the place where it was made.

ROLE D'EQUIPAGE. An important doc.u.ment in admiralty law. (_See_ MUSTER-ROLL.)

ROLL. A uniform beat of the drum, without variation, for a considerable time. The divisions are summoned by roll of drum, one roll for each.

(_See_ MUSTER-ROLL.)

ROLLER. A mighty oceanic swell said to precurse the northers of the Atlantic, and felt in great violence at Tristan d'Acunha, where H.M.S.