The Sailor's Word-Book Part 41

BUCHAN BOILERS. The heavy breaking billows among the rocks on the coast of Buchan.

BUCHT. A Shetland term for lines of 55 fathoms.

BUCK, TO. To wash a sail.

BUCKALL. An earthen wine-cup used in the sea-ports of Portugal, Spain, and Italy. [From _bocale_, It.]

BUCKER. A name for the grampus in the Hebrides. It is also applied, on some of our northern coasts, to the porpoise.

BUCKET. A small globe of hoops, covered with canvas, used as a recall for the boats of whalers.

BUCKET-ROPE. That which is tied to a bucket for drawing water up from alongside.

BUCKETS. Are made either of canvas, of leather, or of wood; the latter are used princ.i.p.ally for washing the decks, and therefore answer the purposes of pails.

BUCKET-VALVE. In a steamer's engine, is a flat metal plate filling up the pa.s.sage between the air-pump and the condenser, and acted upon by both in admitting or repressing the pa.s.sage of water.

BUCKHORN. Whitings, haddocks, thorn-backs, gurnet, and other fish, cleaned, gently salted, and dried in the sun.

BUCKIE. A northern name for the whelk.

BUCKIE-INGRAM. A name for the hermit-crab.

BUCKIE-PRINS. A northern designation for a periwinkle.

BUCKLE. A mast buckles when it suffers by compression, so that the fibre takes a sinuous form, and the grain is _upset_. Also, in Polar regions, the bending or arching of the ice upwards, preceding a nip.

BUCKLERS. Two blocks of wood fitted together to stop the hawse-holes, leaving only sufficient s.p.a.ce between them for the cable to pa.s.s, and thereby preventing the ship taking in much water in a heavy head-sea.

They are either _riding_ or _blind bucklers_ (which see).

BUCKRA. A term for white man, used by the blacks in the West Indies, Southern States of America, and the African coast.

BUCK-WEEL. A bow-net for fish.

BUDE. An old name for the biscuit-weevil.

BUDGE-BARREL. A small cask with copper and wooden hoops, and one head formed by a leather hose or bag, drawing close by a string, for carrying powder in safety from sparks. In heraldry, the common bucket is called a water bouget or budget.

BUDGEROW. A cabined pa.s.sage-boat of the Ganges and Hooghly.

BUFFET A BILLOW, TO. To work against wind and tide.

BUG. An old term for a vessel more remarkable in size than efficiency.

Thus, when Drake fell upon Cadiz, his sailors regarded the huge galleys opposed to them as mere "great bugges."

BUGALILO. A large trading-boat of the Gulf of Persia; the _buglo_ of our seamen.

BUGAZEENS. An old commercial term for calicoes.

BUILD. A vessel's form or construction.

BUILD A CHAPEL, TO. To turn a ship suddenly by negligent steerage.

BUILDER'S CERTIFICATE. A necessary doc.u.ment in admiralty courts, containing a true account of a ship's denomination, tonnage, trim, where built, and for whom.

BUILDING. The work of constructing ships, as distinguished from naval architecture, which may rather be considered as the art or theory of delineating ships on a plane. The pieces by which this complicated machine is framed, are joined together in various places by scarfing, rabbeting, tenanting, and scoring.

BUILT. A prefix to denote the construction of a vessel, as carvel or clinker-built, bluff-built, frigate-built, sharp-built, &c.; English, French, or American built, &c.

BUILT-BLOCK. Synonymous with _made-block_ (which see). The lower masts of large ships are built or made.

BUILT-UP GUNS. Recently invented guns of great strength, specially adapted to meet the requirements of rifled artillery and of the attack of iron plating. They are usually composed of an inner core or barrel (which may be of coiled and welded iron, but is now generally preferred of tough steel), with a breech-piece, trunnion-piece, and various outer strengthening hoops or coils of wrought iron, shrunk or otherwise forced on; having their parts put together at such predetermined relative tensions, as to support one another under the shock of explosion, and thereby avoiding the faults of solid cast or forged guns, whereof the inner parts are liable to be destroyed before the outer can take their share of the strain. The first practical example of the method was afforded by the Armstrong gun, the "building up" which obtained in ancient days, before the casting of solid guns, having been apparently resorted to as an easy means of producing large ma.s.ses of metal, without realizing the principle of the mutual support of the various parts.

BUIRAN. A Gaelic word signifying the sea coming in, with a noise as of the roar of a bull.

BULCH, TO. To bilge a ship.

BULGE. (_See_ BILGE.) That part of the ship she bears upon when on the ground.

BULGE-WAYS. Otherwise _bilge-ways_ (which see).

BULK. In bulk; things stowed without cases or packages. (_See_ BULK-HEAD and LADEN IN BULK.)

BULKER. A person employed to measure goods, and ascertain the amount of freight with which they are chargeable.

BULK-HEAD, THE. Afore, is the part.i.tion between the forecastle and gratings in the head, and in which are the chase-ports.

BULK-HEADS. Part.i.tions built up in several parts of a ship, to form and separate the various cabins from each other. Some are particularly strong, as those in the hold, which are mostly built with rabbeted or cyphered plank; others are light, and removable at pleasure. Indeed the word is applied to any division made with boards, to separate one portion of the 'tween decks from another.

BULK OF A SHIP. Implies the whole cargo when stowed in the hold.

BULL. An old male whale. Also, a small keg; also the weak grog made by pouring water into a spirit-cask nearly empty.

BULL-DANCE. At sea it is performed by men only, when without women. It is sometimes called a stag-dance.

BULL-DOG, OR MUZZLED BULL-DOG. The great gun which stands "housed" in the officer's ward-room cabin. General term for main-deck guns.

BULLETIN. Any official account of a public transaction.

BULLET-MOULD. An implement for casting bullets.

BULLETS. Leaden b.a.l.l.s with which all kinds of fire-arms are loaded.

BULL-HEAD, OR BULL-JUB. A name of the fish called miller's thumb (_Cottus gobio_).

BULLOCK-BLOCKS. Blocks secured under the top-mast trestle-trees, which receive the top-sail ties through them, in order to increase the mechanical power used in hoisting them up.

BULLOCK-SLINGS. Used to hoist in live bullocks.