The Sailor's Word-Book Part 209

SALUTE. A discharge of cannon or small arms, display of flags, or cheering of men, in deference, by the ships of one nation to those of another, or by ships of the same nation to a superior or an equal. Also, the proper compliment paid by troops, on similar occasions, whether with the sword, musket, or hand.

SALVAGE. Originally meant the thing or goods saved from wreck, fire, or enemies. It now signifies an allowance made to those by whose means the ship or goods have been saved. These cases, when fairly made out, are received with the most liberal encouragement. Goods of British subjects, retaken from the enemy, are restored to the owners, paying for salvage one eighth of the value to ships-of-war; one-sixth to privateers. When a ship is in danger of being stranded, justices of the peace are to command the constables to a.s.semble as many persons as are necessary to preserve it; and on its being thus preserved, the persons a.s.sisting therein shall, in thirty days after, be paid a reasonable reward for the salvage; otherwise the ship or goods shall remain in the custody of the officers of the customs as a security for the same.

SALVAGE LOSS. A term in marine insurance implying that the underwriters are liable to pay the amount insured on the property lost in the ship, but taking credit for what is saved.

SALVAGER. One employed on the sea-coast to look to the rights of salvage, wreck, or waif.

SALVO. A discharge from several pieces simultaneously, as a salute.

SALVOR. The person claiming and receiving salvage for having saved a ship and cargo, or any part thereof, from impending peril, or recovered after actual loss.

SAMAKEEN. A Turkish coasting trader.

SAMBUCCO. A pinnace common among the Arabs on the east coast of Africa, as at Mombaze, Melinda, &c. The name is remarkable, as Athenaeus describes the musical instrument _sambuca_ as resembling a ship with a ladder placed over it.

SAMPAAN, OR SAMPAN. A neatly-adjusted kind of hatch-boat, used by the Chinese for pa.s.sengers, and also as a dwelling for Tartar families, with a comfortable cabin.

SAMPHIRE. _Crithmum maritimum_, a plant found on sea-sh.o.r.es and salt marshes, which forms an excellent anti-s...o...b..tic pickle.

SAMS-CHOO. A Chinese spirit distilled from rice; it is fiery, fetid, and very injurious to European health.

SAMSON'S POST. A movable pillar which rests on its upper shoulder against a beam, with the lower tenons into the deck, and standing at an angle of 15 forward. To this post, at 4 feet above the deck, a leading or s.n.a.t.c.h-block is hooked, and any fore-and-aft purchase is led by it across the deck to one similar, so that, from the starboard bow to the starboard aft Samson-post, across to the port-post and forward, the whole crew can apply their force for catting and fishing the anchor, or hoisting in or out boats; top-tackle falls, &c., are usually so treated.

SANDAL. A long narrow Barbary boat, of from 15 to 50 tons; open, and fitted with two masts.

SAND-BAGS. Small square cushions made of canvas and painted, for boats'

ballast. Also, bags containing about a cubical foot of earth or sand, used for raising a parapet in haste, and making temporary loop-holes for musketry; also, to repair any part beaten down or damaged by the enemy's fire.

SAND AND CORAL BANK. An acc.u.mulation of sand and fragments of coral above the surface of the sea, without any vegetation; when it becomes verdant it is called a _key_ (which see).

SAND-DRIFTS. Hillocks of shifting sands, as on the deserts of Sahara, &c.

SANDERLING. A small wading bird, _Calidris arenaria_.

SAND-HILLS. Mounds of sand thrown up on the sea-sh.o.r.e by winds and eddies. They are mostly dest.i.tute of verdure.

SAND-HOPPER. A small creature (_Talitra_), resembling a shrimp, which abounds on some beaches.

SAND-LAUNCE. _Ammodytes tobia.n.u.s_, a small eel-like fish, which buries itself in the sand.

SAND-PIPER. A name applied to many species of small wading birds found on the sea-sh.o.r.e and banks of lakes and rivers, feeding on insects, crustaceans, and worms.

SAND-SHOT. Those cast in moulds of sand, when economy is of more importance than form or hardness; the small b.a.l.l.s used in case, grape, &c., are thus produced.

SAND-STRAKE. A name sometimes given to the garboard-strake.

SAND-WARPT. Left by the tide on a shoal. Also, striking on a shoal at half-flood.

SANGAREE. A well known beverage in both the Indies, composed of port or madeira, water, lime-juice, sugar, and nutmeg, with an occasional corrective of spirits. The name is derived from its being blood-red.

Also, arrack-punch.

SANGIAC. A Turkish governor; the name is also applied to the banner which he is authorized to display, and has been mistaken for St.

Jacques.

SAP. That peculiar method by which a besieger's zig-zag approaches are continuously advanced in spite of the musketry of the defenders; gabions are successively placed in position, filled, and covered with earth, by men working from behind the last completed portion of the trench, the head of which is protected by a moving defence called a _sap-roller_.

Its progress is necessarily slow and arduous. There is also the _flying sap_, used at greater distances, and by night, when a line of gabions is planted and filled by a line of men working simultaneously; and the _double sap_, used when zig-zags are no longer efficient, consisting of two contiguous single saps, back to back, carried direct towards the place, with frequent returns, which form traverses against enfilade; the _half-double sap_ has its reverse side less complete than the last.

SARABAND. A forecastle dance, borrowed from the Moors of Africa.

SARACEN. A term applied in the middle ages indiscriminately to all Pagans and Mahometans.

SARDINE. _Engraulis meletta_, a fish closely allied to the anchovy; found in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

SARGa.s.sO. _Fucus natans_, or gulf-weed, the sea-weed always to be found floating in large quant.i.ties in that part of the Atlantic south of the Azores, which is not subject to currents, and which is called the Sarga.s.so Sea.

SARKELLUS. An unlawful net or engine for destroying fish. (_Inquisit.

Justic. anno 1254._)

SAROS. _See_ CYCLE OF ECLIPSES.

SARRAZINE. A rough portcullis.

SARRE. An early name for a long gun, but of smaller dimensions than a bombard.

SASH. A useful mark of distinction worn by infantry and marine officers; it is made of crimson silk, and intended as a waist-band, but latterly thrown over the left shoulder and across the body. Also, now worn by the naval equerries to the queen. Serjeants of infantry wear it of the same colour in cotton.

Sa.s.sE. A kind of weir with flood-gate, or a navigable sluice.

SATELLITES. Secondary planets or moons, which revolve about some of the primary planets. The moon is a satellite to the earth.

SATURN. One of the ancient superior planets remarkable for the luminous rings with which his globe is surrounded, and for his being accompanied by no fewer than eight moons.

SAUCER, OR SPINDLE OF THE CAPSTAN. A socket of iron let into a wooden stock or standard, called the step, resting upon, and bolted to, the beams. Its use is to receive the spindle or foot on which the capstan rests and turns round.

SAUCER-HEADED BOLTS. Those with very flat heads.

SAUCISSON, OR SAUCISSE. A word formerly used for the _powder-hose_, a linen tube containing the train of powder to a mine or fire-ship, the slow match being attached to the extremity to afford time for the parties to reach positions of safety.

SAUCISSONS. f.a.ggots, differing from fascines only in that they are longer, and made of stouter branches of trees or underwood.

SAUVE-TETE. _See_ SPLINTER-NETTING.

SAVANNAH [Sp. _Sabana_]. A name given to the wonderfully fertile natural meadows of tropical America; the vast plains clear of wood, and covered in general with waving herbage, in the interior of North America, are called _prairies_ (which see).

SAVE-ALL, OR WATER-SAIL. A small sail sometimes set under the foot of a lower studding-sail.

SAW-BILL. A name for the goosander, _Mergus merganser_.