The swell of the sea thrown back, or rebounded by its contact with any solid body. Also the loss of power occasioned by it to paddles of steamboats, &c. The water in a mill-race which cannot get away in consequence of the swelling of the river below. Also, an artificial accumulation of water reserved for clearing channel-beds and tide-ways. Also, a creek or arm of the sea which runs parallel to the coast, having only a narrow strip of land between it and the sea, and communicating with the latter by barred entrances. The west coast of India is remarkable for its back-waters, which give a most useful smooth water communication from one place to another, such as from Cochin to Quilon, a distance of nearly 70 miles.
BACON, To save. This is an old shore-saw, adopted in nautical phraseology for expressing "to escape," but generally used in pejus ruere; as in Gray's Long Story. (See Foul Hawse.)
BAD-BERTH. A foul or rocky anchorage.
BADDERLOCK. The Fucus esculentus, a kind of eatable sea-weed on our northern shores. Also called pursill.
BADDOCK. A name from the Gaelic for the fry of the Gadus carbonarius, or coal-fish.
BADGE. Quarter badges. False quarter-galleries in imitation of frigate-built ships. Also, in naval architecture, a carved ornament placed on the outside of small ships, very near the stern, containing either a window, or the representation of one, with marine decorations.
BADGE, Seaman's. See Good-conduct Badge.
BADGER, To. To tease or confound by frivolous orders.
BADGER-BAG. The fictitious Neptune who visits the ship on her crossing the line.
BAD-NAME. This should be avoided by a ship, for once acquired for inefficiency or privateer habits, it requires time and reformation to get rid of it again. "Give a dog a bad name" most forcibly exemplified. Ships have endured it even under repeated changes of captains—one ship had her name changed, but she became worse.
BAD-RELIEF. One who turns out sluggishly to relieve the watch on deck. (See One-bell.)
BAESSY. The old orthography of the gun since called base.
BAFFLING. Is said of the wind when it frequently shifts from one point to another.
BAG. A commercial term of quantity; as, a bread or biscuit bag, a sand-bag, &c. An empty purse.—To bag on a bowline, to be leewardly, to drop from a course.
BAG, of the Head-rails. The lowest part of the head-rails, or that part which forms the sweep of the rail.
BAG, The. Allowed for the men to keep their clothes in. The ditty bag included needles and needfuls, love-tokens, jewels, &c.
BAGALA. A rude description of high-sterned vessel of various burdens, from 50 to 300 tons, employed at Muskat and on the shores of Oman: the word signifying mule among the Arabs, and therefore indicative of carrying rather than sailing.
BAG AND BAGGAGE. The whole movable property.
BAGGAGE. The necessaries, utensils, and apparel of troops.
BAGGAGE-GUARD. A small proportion of any body of troops on the march, to whom the care of the whole baggage is assigned.
BAGGETY. The fish otherwise called the lump or sea-owl (Cyclopterus lumpus).
BAGGONET. The old term for bayonet, and not a vulgarism.
BAGNIO. A sort of barrack in Mediterranean sea-ports, where the galley-slaves and convicts are confined.
BAGPIPE. To bagpipe the mizen is to lay it aback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen-shrouds.
BAG-REEF. A fourth or lower reef of fore-and-aft sails, often used in the royal navy.—Bag-reef of top-sails, first reef (of five in American navy); a short reef, usually taken in to prevent a large sail from bagging when on a wind.
BAGREL. A minnow or baggie.
BAGUIO. A rare but dreadfully violent wind among the Philippine Isles.
BAHAR. A commercial weight of a quarter of a ton in the Molucca Islands.
BAIDAR. A swift open canoe of the Arctic tribes and Kurile Isles, used in pursuing otters and even whales; a slender frame from 18 to 25 feet long, covered with hides. They are impelled by six or twelve paddles. (See Kayak.)
BAIKIE. A northern name for the Larus marinus, or black-backed gull.
BAIKY. The ballium, or inclosed plot of ground in an ancient fort.
BAIL. A surety. The cargo of a captured or detained vessel is not allowed to be taken on bail before adjudication without mutual consent. It was also a northern term for a beacon or signal.
BAIL-BOND. The obligation entered into by sureties. Also when a person appears as proxy for the master of a vessel, or, on obtaining letters of marque, he makes himself personally responsible. In prize matters, however, the bail-bond is not a mere personal security given to the individual captors, but an assurance to abide by the adjudication of the court.
BAIL'D. This phrase "I'll be bail'd" is considered as an equivalent to "I'll be bound;" but it is probably an old enunciation for "I'll be poisoned," or "I'll be tormented," if what I utter is not true.
BAILO. A Levantine term for consul.
BAILS, or Bailes. The hoops which bear up the tilt of a boat.
BAIOCCO. An Italian copper coin, about equal to our halfpenny. Also a generic term for copper money or small coin.
BAIRLINN. A Gaelic term for a high rolling billow.
BAIT. The natural or artificial charge of a hook, to allure fish.
BAITLAND. An old word, formerly used to signify a port where refreshments could be procured.
BALÆNA. The zoological name for the right whale.
BALANCE. One of the simple mechanical powers, used in determining the weights and masses of different bodies. Also, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, called Libra. Balance-wheel of a chronometer—see Chronometer.
BALANCE, To. To contract a sail into a narrower compass;—this is peculiar to the mizen of a ship, and to the main-sail of those vessels wherein it is extended by a boom. The operation of balancing the mizen is performed by lowering the yard or gaff a little, then rolling up a small portion of the sail at the peak or upper corner, and lashing it about one-fifth down towards the mast. A boom main-sail is balanced by rolling up a portion of the clew, or lower aftermost corner, and fastening it strongly to the boom.—N.B. It is requisite in both cases to wrap a piece of old canvas round the sail, under the lashing, to prevent its being fretted by the latter.
BALANCE-FISH. The hammer-headed shark (which see).
BALANCE-FRAMES. Those frames or bends of timber, of an equal capacity or area, which are equally distant from the ship's centre of gravity.
BALANCE OF TRADE. A computation of the value of all commodities
