A term used in sailing, meaning across the wind in relation to the bow of a sailing vessel. Thus, when a ship tacks across the wind to bring it from one side of the ship to the other, she is said to go about. "Ready about", the order given in a sailing ship to tack across the wind, the actual moment of the helm being put down being signified by the order "about ship".  ^R 

An old sailing ship expression of the days of masts and yards. To lay the head-yards abox in a square-rigged sailing vessel was to lay them square to the foremast in order to heave-to. This brought the ship more under command if it were subsequently required to wear or to stay the vessel. But to brace abox is to brace the head-yards flat aback to the wind, not square to the mast, in order to ensure that the wind acts on the sails so that the bows of the ship cast the required way.  ^R 

To another tribunal, belonging to another court, cognizance, or jurisdictions.  ^R 

From hardship, or inconvenience. An argument founded upon the hardship of the case, and the inconvenience or disastrous consequences to which a different course of reasoning would lead. ^R 

According to value. A tax imposed on the value of property. A tax levied on property or an article of commerce in proportion to its value, as determined by accessment or appraisal. ^R

Estuary and sea.  ^R 

In the meantime. An officer ad interim is one appointed to fill a temporary vacancy, or to discharge the duties of the office during the absence or temporary incapacity of its regular incumbent.  ^R 

A written or printed declaration or statement of fact, made voluntarily, and confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, taken before a person having authority to administer such oath or affimration.  ^R 

With stronger reason; much more. A term used in logic to denote an argument to the effect that because one ascertained fact exists, therefore another, which is included in it, or analogous to it, and which is less improbable, unusually or surprisingly, must also exist.  ^R 

In old English law, the high sea, or seas. The deep sea. Super altum mare, on the high seas.  ^R 

Lat. Mind: soul, intention, disposition; design; will'; that which informs the body. Animo (q.v.) with the intention or design. These terms are derived from the civil law.  ^R 

Lat. Before. Usually employed in old pleadings as expressive of time, as præ was of place, and coram (before) of person.  ^R 

n.m. Action d'appareiller; ensembles des manoeuvres faites au moment de quitter le port, le mouillage. De appareiller.  ^R 

The party who takes an appeal from one court or jurisdiction to another. Used broadly or non-technically, the term includes one who sues out of writ of error.  ^R 

From the cause to the effect, from what goes before. A term used in logic to denote an argument founded on anology, or abstract considerations, or on which, positing a general principal or admitted truth as a cause, proceeds to deduce from it the effects which must necessarily follow.  ^R 

Among the acts; among the recorded proceedings. In the civil law, this phrase is applied to appeals taken orally, in the presence of the judge, at the time of judgment or sentence.  ^R 

Mesure de longeur de 58.47m, valant 191.2 pieds.  ^R 

Any unlawful touching of another which is without justification or excuse. It is both a tort as well as a crime. The two crimes differ from each other in that battery requires physical contact of some sort (bodily injury or offensive touching), whereas assault is committed without physical contact. In most jurisdictions, statutes have created aggravated assaults and batteries, punishable as felonies, and worded in various ways.  ^R 

Across the stem of another vessel, whether in contact or at a small distance.  ^R 

The legal process of seizing another's property in accordance with a writ or judicial order for the purpose of securing satisfaction of a judgment yet to be rendered.  ^R 

Streamers or arches of light in the sky at night of geomagnetic and electricl origin that appears to best advantage in the arctic regions.  ^R 

In maritime law, loss or damage accidentially happening to a vessel or to its cargo during a voyage.  ^R 

A sailing vessel with three masts, square-rigged on the fore and main and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizen. Until the mid-19th century, barques were relatively small sailing ships, but later were built up to about 3,000 tons, particularly for the grain and nitrate trade in South American ports around Cape Horn.  ^R 

A vessel resembling a barque but square-rigged on the foremast only, main and mizen being fore-and-aft rigged.  ^R 

The offense of frequently exciting and stirring up quarrels and suits, either at law or otherwise. In maritime law, an act committed by master of mariners of a vessel for some fraudulent or unlawful purpose contrary to their duty to owner and resulting in injury to owner.  ^R 

Use; benefit; profit; service; advantage. It occurs in conveyances, e.g., "to his and their use and behoof".  ^R 

The wooden housing of the mariner's compass, and it correctors and illuminating arrangements. The change from bittacle to binnacle came in about 1750, although the former name did not entirely disappear until the mid-19th century. The origin of the term would appear to be Italian abitacola, little house or habitation, and was used by the early Portuguese navigators to describe the compass housing. The French word for binnacle is still habittacle.
    In addition to the compass and a light, the binnacle in older ships was the proper stowage for the traverse-board, the reel with the logline and chip, and the 28-second glass used for measuring a ship's speed. Charts in actual use, if any, were also properly stowed in the binnacle.  ^R 

A casing for one or more sheaves, or rollers, usually with a hook on one end as a means of attachement. A single sheave block changes the direction of pull; two or more sheaves in a block add mechanical advantage. Blocks range in size from a few inches long to several feet, depending upon the load to be hoisted. A block and sheave together are equivalent to a pulley. Sheaves and blocks can be made of wood or metal.  ^R 

Board, a word much used at sea with a variety of meanings, but chiefly indicating the distances which a sailing vessel runs between tacks when working to windward. Thus a ship tacking across the wind to reach a point to windward of her present position can make short or long boards according to the frequency of her tacks; the more frequently she tacks, the shorter the boards. To make a good board, to sail in a straight line when close-hauled without making any leeway. To make a stern board, to come up head to wind so that the vessel stops and makes way astern until she falls off on the opposite tack, often a very seamanlike operation when navigating in narrow channels. To board it up, a term often used by older seamen meaning to bear up to windward.
    Other meanings of the word are, to go on board, to go into a ship; to slip by the board, to desert a ship by escaping down the ship's side; by the board, close to the deck as when a mast is broken off close to the deck level, or goes by the board.  ^R 

A chain or heavy wire rigging running from the end of the bowsprit to the ship's stem or cutwater. Particular heavy rigging was required in this position since the fore top-mast in sailing vessel was stayed to the bowsprit, exerting a strong upward pull when the sails were full of wind. The bowsprit was also secured by shrouds from either bow of the ship.  ^R 

A craft used on the inland waterways of the Netherlands, with apple- shaped bows and stern, rounded bottom, and broad fan-shaped leeboards for sailing in very shallow water. The boeier originated in the early part of the 16th century as a sea-going merchant vessel some 65 feet in length and 23 to 26 feet in breadth, rigged with either a spritsail or a boomless mainsail having brails and a standing gaff, and often setting a square topsail above. Some of the earliest and largest of the boeiers carried in addition a small lateen mizen.

By the 19th century, the boeier had changed to the present form of bluff-ended inland waterways type and been reduced in size, ranging, generally from 40 feet to as little as 26 feet in length. The single mast, stepped in a tabernacle for lowering at bridges, generally carried a boomed mainsail with the typical Dutch curved gaff, a foresail set on the forestay, and a jib which could be set on a running bowsprit. Later examples were built of steel. The boeier became the most common type of pavilionenjacht, or pleasure craft with stateroom accommodion, until well into the 20th century.  ^R 

In or with good faith; honestly, openly and sincerely; without deceit or fraud.  ^R 

Perishable goods.  ^R 

It is the part of a good judge to enlarge (or use liberally) his remedial authority or jurisdiction.  ^R 

(1)  In maritime law, a contract by which the owner of a ship borrows for the use, equipment or repairs of the vessel, and for a definite term, and pledges the ship (or the keel or bottom of the ship, pars pro toto) as security; it being stipulated that if the ship be lost in the specified voyage, or during the limited time, by any of the perils enumerated, the lender shall lose his money.  ^R 

(2)  A contract by which a ship or its freightage is hypothecated as security for a loan, which is to be repaid only in case the ship survives a particular risk, voyage or period. The contract is usually in the form of a bond. When the loan is not made on the ship but on the goods on board, and which are to be sold or exchanged in the course of the voyage, the borrower's personal responsibility is deemed the principal security for the performance of the contract, which is therefore called "respondentia".  ^R 

The instrument embodying the contract or agreement of bottomry. Bond with mortgage of ship as security.  ^R 

Ropes leading from the leech on both sides of a fore-and-aft loose-footed sail and through leading blocks secured on the mast hoops of the sail close to the mast so that it is temporarily furled when coming up to a mooring or as required. The old-fashioned whaler rig in which the mainsail was loose-footed, was always fitted with brails. To brail in, to haul on the brails and bring the leech of the sail up to the mast.  ^R 

To, to open up the holds of a ship and start unloading cargo at the conclusion of her voyage.  ^R 

Brig, originally an abbreviation of "brigantine", but later a type of ship in her own right after some modifications in the original rig. The true brig is a two-masted vessel, square rigged on both fore and main masts. A hermaphrodite brig, sometimes called a brig-schooner, has the usual brig's square-rigged foremast and a schooner's mainmast, with fore-and-aft mainsail and square topsails. Brigs were widely used in the day of sail for short and coastal trading voyages, and there are still a few to be found today employed in local trades. They were also used widely in several navies as training ships for boys destined to become naval seamen, and in many navies were retained for this purpose long after said had disappeared in them for good. In the British Navy, the training for boys lasted into the first decade of the 20th century.  ^R 

A two-masted vessel, as a brig, but square-rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the main mast. The name comes from the fact that these ships were favourite vessels of the sea brigands, particularly in the Mediterranean, although in their case, the vessel was used more of the galley type, used with oars. But as sea brigands spread to more tempestuous waters of the Atlantic and North Sea, the ships used by these new brigands took the Mediterranean name even though the type of ship changed. A vessel's capacity to carry cargo measured in tuns, equivalent to 201 imperial gallons.

A measure of distance at sea, 100 fathoms or 200 yards (183m).  ^R 

Navigation marchande à faible distance des côtes (par opposition à la navigation au long cours).  ^R 

(1) Corrupted translation of caboose.
(2) Probably from the Dutch kabais "ships galley".
(3) Cook-room or kitchen on ship's deck.

1. To cause a boat to lean or tilt over on one side for clearing, caulking, or repairing
2. to sway from side to side: LURCH (Middle French carère "keel", derived from Latin carina "keel", literally, "nutshell".)

A heavy piece of curved timber projecting from each bow of a ship for the purpose of holding anchors which were fitted with a stock in position for letting go or for securing them on their beds with weights. It holds the upper sheaves of the cat purchase which is used to draw the anchor up to the cat-head, a process known as catting the anchor. Since the invention of the stockless anchor, which is now almost universal in its use except in the few square-rigged ships still in commission, ships no longer have these large cat-heads, or need to cat their anchor before letting them go. But when a large ship secures to a mooring buoy with her cable, she first secures her anchor to a clump cat-head where it remains hanging while the cable is in use to hold the ship to the buoy.  ^R 

Lat. To be informed of. A writ of common law issued by a superior to an inferior court requiring the latter to produce a certified record of a particular case tried therein. The writ is issued in order that the court issuing the writ may inspect the proceedings and determine whether there have been any irregularities.  ^R 

An article or personal property, as distinguished from real property. A thing personal and movable. It may refer to animate as well as inanimate property.  ^R 

Famille des squalidae. Bien que les chiens de mer forment typiquement une famille de petits requins des eaux côtiere, cetaines espèces habitent les eaux profoundes et ne sont pas bien connues. Corps allongé, 2 nageoires dorsales, chacune avec une épine à l'origine, cette épine n'étant parfois pas évidente; aucune nageoire anale. Ces requins ont des évents, pas de membrance nictitante, des dents variables à une ou plusieurs pointes. Ils sont ovovivipares.  ^R 

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions, was established in 1978 to locate early printed Canadian materials (books, annuals, and periodicals), preserve their content on microfilm, and make the resulting Early Canadiana Research Collection available to libraries and archives in Canada and abroad. http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/cihm/

(or clue.) The clew line or tackle of a lower square sail in a square-rigged ship, by means of which the clews are hauled up to the yard and trussed when the sail need to be furled or 'goose-winged'. In such a situation, the sail is said to be clewed (or clued) up. ^R 

A copy or bill of entry of goods outwards when signed by a Commissioner and the proper officers is called the cocquet, which goes to the searcher as an authority for him to suffer the goods entered to be put on board.  ^R 

One who is sent or delegated to execute some office or duty as the representative of his superior.  ^R 

Common law.

Companion, in the days of sail, was the framing and sash lights on the quarter-deck and of the coach through which daylight entered to the cabins below. More recently, it is the covering over the upper deck hatchway which leads to the companion-way, or staircase, to the deck below. The word is also loosely used today in place of companion-way and is generally understood to mean the stairs themselves. ^R 

The compensation or set-off of one injurious crime against another.  ^R 

Especially deserved or appropriate (condign punishment). Middle French condigne from Latin condignus "very worthy", from com + dignus "worthy".  ^R 

Named jointly.  ^R 

An unauthorized assumption and exercise of the right of ownership over goods or personal chattels belonging to another, to the alteration of their condition or the exclusion of the owner's right. Any unauthorized act which deprives an owner of his property permanently or for an indefinite time. Unauthorized and wrongful exercise of dominion and control over another's personal property, to exclusion of or inconsistent with rights of owner.  ^R 

In presence of a person not a judge. When a suit is brought and determined in a court which has no jurisdiction in the matter, then it is said to be coram non judice, and the judgment is void.  ^R 

The overhanging portion of a vessel between the rudderpost and the taffrail, generally above the waterline. A vessel with this type of construction is said to have a "counter stern."  ^R 

An agreement, convention or promise of two or more parties, by deed in writing, signed and delivered, by which either of the parties pledges himself to the other that something is either done, or shall be done, or shall not be done, or stipulates for the truth of certain facts. At common law, such agreements were required to be under seal.  ^R 

An agreement, convention, or promise of two or more parties, by deed in writing, signed and delivered, by which either of the parties pledges himself to the other that something is either done, or shall be done, or shall not be done, or stipulates for the truth of certain facts. Under common law, such agreements were required to be under seal. The term is currently used primarily with respect to promises in conveyances or other instruments relating to real estate.  ^R 

One who makes it his business to persuade seamen to desert from a ship in order to sell them to another or to deliver them to the press gang on payment of head money. Most of them operated as keepers of seamen's lodging housing or taverns in ports with a busy turn-round of ships, and the usual method of delivering seamen to a ship in need of hands was to make them drunk and deliver them on board, while still insensible, an hour or two before the ship's departure. The word is first noted in this sense in 1838. Although the practice was wide-spread around the world, the most notorious port in which crimps flourished was San Francisco in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the rate for seamen delivered to a ship about to sail reached $30 a head plus expenses. Often crimps also claimed the first month's pay of the men they thus delivered. In Britain, crimping was an indictable offence leading to a prison sentence.  ^R 

A boat peculiar to Ireland, especially its western coasts, used for local traffic. It is of great antiquity, contemporary with, and very similiar to the coracle, being originally constructed of animal skins attached to a wicker frame, often nearly circular in shape and operated by paddles.  ^R 

The forward curve of the stem of a ship. It was also sometimes known as the knee of the head or beakhead.  ^R 

A weight, often a commercial unit. Hundredweight (cwt - from Latin 'centum' and weight) - traditionally 1/20 ton - it started (dates back to ~ C14th) as an English unit. Given various definitions of 'tons' (short, long, etc) the cwt is not necessarily 100 pounds avoirdupois, and is defined in the UK as 112 pounds (~50.8023 kg) rather than 100 pounds. The cwt subdivides into 4 quarters of 28 pounds, or 8 stone of 14 pounds. 20 cwt. make one ton avoirdupois, (i.e. British).  ^R 

The dandy rig is a yawl rig and can be further refined as a sloop or cutter with a lugsail jigger. According to "The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea," "dandy-rigged" is "another name for the ketch and yawl rigs, but sometimes used to describe the rig when the mizen-sail is about one-third the size of the mainsail, the true ketch rig having a mizen-sail about half the size of the mainsail and the true yawl rig having its mizen-sail a quarter or less. In some English west country (Devon and Cornwall) craft, the mizen-mast was stepped just forward of the transom stern either to one side of the tiller or with an iron tiller crooked around the mast. The sail, of triangular or 'leg o' mutton' shape, sheeted to an outrigger or bumpkin, was called the dandy, and a boat so rigged, such as the Falmouth Quay punt, was called dandy-rigged."  ^R 

Wood or a board of fir or pine (Dutch or Low German dele "plank".  ^R 
Shipbuilding contracts of the early 19th century often specify dimensions of 12 feet long, 9" wide and 3" deep.

Such dilatory exceptions as merely decline the jurisdiction of the judge before whom the action is brought. A plea to the jurisdiction rationæ personæ.  ^R 

In fact, in deed, actually. This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs which must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. Thus, an office, position or statuts existing under a claim or colour of right such as a de facto corporation. In this sense, it is the contrary of de jure, which means rightful, legitimate, just or constitutional. Thus, an officer, king, or government de facto is one who is in actual possession of the office or supreme power, but by usurpation, or without lawful title, while an officer, king or government de jure is one who has just claim and rightful title to the office or power, but has never had plenary possession of it, or is not in actual possession.  ^R 

The act of a defaulter; act of embezzling, failure to meet an obligation, misappropriation of trust funds or money held in any fiduciary capacity; failure to properly account for such funds. Commonly spoken of officers or public officials.  ^R 

(DT's) An acute mentaland physical disturbance assocaited with chronic alcoholism. The symptoms of delierium tremens include extreme excitement and mental confusion, anxiety, trembling, fever,a nd rapid and irregular pulse. The person may have terrifying hallucinations. The onset ofter occurs after a period of of especially heavy drinking followed by several days of abstaining.  ^R 

In maritime law, the sum which is fixed by the contract of carriage, or which is allowed as remuneration to the owner of a ship for the detention of is vessel beyond the number of days allowed by the charter-party for loading and unloading or for sailing. Also the detention of the vessel by the freighter beyond such time.  ^R 

(1)In English law, "a personal chattel which, having been the immediate occasion of the death of a person, was forefeited to the Crown to be applied to pious uses." (Abolished in 1846. Could be a sum in lieu of the deodand itself. Source: "Oxford English Dictionary."
(2)Deodand means something "given to God" (deo-dandum). This was the case when a man met with his death through injuries inflicted by some chattel, as by the fall of a ladder, the toss of a bull, or the kick of a horse. In such cases the cause of death was sold, and the proceeds given to the Church. The custom was based on the doctrine of purgatory. As the person was sent to his account without the sacrament of extreme unction, the money thus raised served to pay for masses for his repose. Deodands were abolished September 1st, 1846.  ^R 
(3)Deodand, English law. This word is derived from Deo dandum, to be given to God; and is used to designate the instrument, whether it be an animal or inanimate thing, which has caused the death of a man. 3 Inst. 57; Hawk. bk. 1, c. 8.  ^R 
(4)The deodand is forfeited to the king, and was formerly applied to pious uses. But the presentment of a deodand by a grand jury, under their general charge from the judge of assize, is void. 1 Burr. Rep. 17.  ^R 

Something voluntarily abandoned, esp. a ship abandoned on the high seas.  ^R 

n.f. 1. Vol, pillage accompagné de destruction, de détériation. 2. Détérioration causée à des biens matériels. 3. Malversation, détournement. Déprédition des finances publiques. 4. Exploition de la nature, sans précautions écologiques. Bas latin: deprædatio, du præda, "proie".  ^R 

The act by which a seaman deserts and abandons a ship or vessel, in which he had engaged to perform a voyage, before the expiration of his time, and without leave. By desertion, in the maritime law, is meant, not a mere unauthorized absence from the ship without leave, but an unauthorized absence from the ship, with an intention not to return to her service, or, as it is often expressed, animo non revertendi; that is, with an intention to desert. Desertion, within statute providing for forfeiture of wages, of deserting seamen, consists of seamen's unconsented abandonment of duty by quitting ship before termination of engagement specified in articles he signed, without justifications and with the intention of not returning  ^R 

Something sought for or aimed at.  ^R 

Of not allowing talliage. The name given to the English statutes 25 and 34 Edw. I. restricting the power of the king to grant talliage.  ^R 

An error of the magnetic compass caused by a ship's own residual magnetism. If a ship had no residual magnetism, the needle of her magnetic compass would point directly towards the north magnetic pole, but as every modern ship has metal fittings which affect the compass, there is always some error. Deviation varies according to the heading of the ship because as the ship changes courses, the metal in her changes its position in relation to the compass as the ship swings round. Deviations is therefore read off for every quarter point (about 4°) as the ship is swung through 360° and is tabulated on a deviation card so that it can be applied, together with variation, to every compass course or bearing to convert them to true courses or bearings. It can rarely be completely eliminated in a ship's magnetic compass though it can be very considerably reduced by the use of soft iron balls mounted on each side of the compass and by bar magnets, known as Flinders bars, hung in the binnacle below the compass bowl. ^R

An abbreviation of Dies non juridicus; a day not juridicial; not a court day. A day on which courts are not open for business such as Sundays and some holidays.  ^R 

A minute, abstract or brief entry, or the book containing such entries. A formal record, entered in brief, of the proceeding in a court of justice. A book containing an entry in brief of all the important acts done in court in the conduct of each case, from its inception to its conclusion.  ^R 

Master of the marketplace.  ^R 

The master of the suit;, i.e., the person who was really and directly interested in the suit as a part, as distinguished from his attorney or advocate. But the term is also applied to one who, though not originally a party, has made himself such, by intervention or otherwise, and has assumed entire control and responsibility for one side, and is treated by the court as liable for cost.  ^R 

The amount of sail taken in by securing one set of reef-points. It is the means of shortening sail to the amount appropriate to an increase in the strength of wind. In square-rigged ships, sails up to the topsails, normally carry two sets of reef-points, enabling two reefs to be taken in: sails set above them generally had no reef-points as they would normally be furled or sent down to a wind strong enough to require the sails to be furled. In fore-and-aft rigged ships, gaff or Bermuda sails usually have three sets of reef-points. Triangular sails normally have no reef-points, being reefed either with a patent reefing geer which enables them to be rolled up on the luff or, more usually, by substitution of a smaller sail. In square-rig, the first reef is at the head of the sail and is reefed up to the yard, in fore-and-aft rig the first reef is at the foot of the sail and is reefed down to the boom.  ^R 

Drogher, n. [Cf. Drag.] A small craft used in the West India Islands to take off sugars, rum, etc., to the merchantmen; also, a vessel for transporting lumber, cotton, etc., coastwise; as, a lumber drogher. [Written also droger.] --Ham. Nar. Encyc. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

The right of a creditor to pursue the debtor's property into the hands of third persons for the enforcement of is claim.  ^R 

Any material such as boards, burlap, blocks of wood, or cloth mats which is packed under and around cargo in order to elevate it above the deck where water might collect (in which case the cargo might be ruined by immersion) and to keep it from banging against bulkheads and other cargo.  ^R 

A place of means of going out: exit. (Latin egressum, from egredi "to go out", from e + gradi "to go".)  ^R 

Profit from one's employment or from an office held; salary, wages, (Latin emolumentum, literally "miller's fee", from emolere "to grind up".  ^R 

n.f. Ancienne mesure de longueur variant environ 180 metres, utilisée dans le marine pour estiminer les petites distances.  ^R 

Loligo vulgaris, en céphalopode qui se respecte (du grec Kephalé : tête et podos : pied), a la tête qui fusionne avec le pied. Ce dernier est constitué dune couronne de 8 bras armés de deux rangées de ventouses d'inégale grandeur et de deux tentacules extensibles, plus longs, qui se terminent par une massue formée de 4 rangs de ventouses. La tête, quant à elle, porte de grands yeux perfectionnés, recouverts d'une cornée protectrice et une bouche en bec de perroquet, munie de mandibules particulièrement puissantes et résistantes. Le corps long et musculeux, en forme de torpille, est flanqué, à l'arrière, de deux nageoires triangulaires réunies en un losange dont la surface représente les 2/3 du manteau de l'animal. Ce céphalopode ne porte pas, à l'instar de son cousin le nautile, de coquille protectrice mais une lame cartilagineuse très fine, en forme de glaive ou de " plume ", comme son nom l'indique.
   Le corps du calmar est blanchâtre, teinté de rose, et moucheté de brun pourpre plus ou moins rougeâtre. Mais cette couleur varie en fonction de sa nourriture et de son habitat. Par ailleurs, doué de mimétisme, il peut se fondre rapidement avec le milieu dans lequel il évolue.  ^R 

In default. ^R

Either of the two times each year when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere of equal length that occur about March 21 and September 23. ^R

With the court, (or judge) there is ample jurisdiction.  ^R 

In true evidence.

To stop, bar or impede; to prevent to preclude.  ^R 

A water passage where the tide meets a river current, esp: an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river (latin aestuarium, from aestus "boiling, time")  ^R 

An abbreviation for et alii, "and others." The singular is et alius (q.v.). It may also mean "and another" in the singular.

The abbreviation et al, (sometimes in the plural written as et als.) is often affixed to the name of the person first mentioned, where there are several plaintiffs, grantors, persons addressed, etc.

Where the words "et al." are used in a judgment against defendants, the quoted words include all defendants. (Williams vs. Williams, 25 Tenn. App. 290, 156 S.W.2d 363, 369.)  ^R 

and all that sort of thing.  ^R 

An abbreviation for et sequentia (neuter), "and the following." Thus a reference to "p. 1, et seq means "page first and the following pages."  ^R 

Lat. Going, remaining, and returning. A person who is privileged from arrest (as a witness, legislator, etc.) is generally so privileged eundo, morando et redeundo, that is, on his way to the place where his duties are to be performed, while he remains there, and on his return journey.  ^R 

From a delict, tort, fault, crime or malfeasance. In both the civil and the common law, obligations and causes of action are divided into two classes - those arising ex contractu (out of a contract), and those ex delicto. The latter are surh as grow out of or are founded upon a wrong or tort, e.g., trespass, trover, replevin.
    Where cause of action arises from breach of a promise set forth in contract,the action is ex contractu, but where it arises from a breach of duty growing out of contract, it is ex delicto.  ^R 

Lat. Of necessity.  ^R 

From office; by virtue of the office; without any other warrant or appointment than that resultin from the holding of a particular office. Powers may be exercised by an officer which are not specifically conferred upon him, but are necessarily implied in his office; those are ex officio. Thus, a judge has ex officio the powers of a conservator of the peace.  ^R 

That which is expressed makes that which is implied to cease (that is, supersedes it, or controls its effect). Thus, an implied covenant in a deed is in all cases controlled by an express covenant. Where a law sets down plainly its whole meaning the court is prevented from making it mean what the court pleases.  ^R 

From or by the force of the term. From the very meaning of the expression used.  ^R 

The measurement in most maritime countries for the depths of the sea or the lengths of ropes or cables. The word comes from the old English faedm, to embrace, and is a measurement across the outstretched arms of a man, approximately 6 feet in a man of average size; the length of a nautical fathom is therefore 6 feet. The term is becoming obsolete with the growing tendency in most countries to adopt a metric system of measurement.

In most British charts and soundings are still shown in fathoms though gradually they are being replaced by soundings in metres. It is a process which will obviously take many years to complete on account of the great number of charts which must be altered. A fathom is equal to 1.8256 metres.

When used as a measurement of ropes and cables, the length of a hawser-laid cable is 130 fathoms. As a measurement of distance, a cable is 100 fathoms, and a chain anchor cable, made up of eight shackles, is the same length, although of course in many ships, many more than eight shackles of cable are attached to the bower anchor.  ^R 

A combustible mine gas that consists mainly of methane; also the explosive mixture of this gas with air.  ^R 

Lat. Means that you "cause (it) to be done." Judicial writ directing sheriff to satisfy a judgment from the debtor's property. In its original form, the writ directed the seizure and sale of goods and chattels only, but eventually was enlarged to permit levy on real property, too; largely synonymously with modern writ of execution.  ^R 

To reach, or arrive at, some place or point, particularly in conditions of an adverse wind or tide. The word is used only in relation to sailing vessels when close-hauled or on a wind, and implies being able to arrive at the desired point without having to tack to windward.  ^R 

Any of various British units of capacity usually equal to 1/4 barrel (derived from Dutch veerdel "fourth").

Cargo or wreckage which remains afloat after a vessel has sunk, or which is washed overboard.  ^R 

An adjective with various nautical meanings, generally indicative of something wrong or difficult. Thus a foul hawse is the expression used when a ship lying to two anchors gets her cables crossed; a foul bottom is the condition of a ship's underwater hull when weeds and barnacles restrict her way through the water; a foul wind is one which, being too much ahead, prevents a sailing ship from laying her desired course. When used as a verb, it indicated much the same thing. One vessel can foul another when she drift down on her, or can foul a ship's hawse by letting go and anchor and cable across that of the other. ^R 

A rough thick woolen cloth (originally made in Flushing/Vlissingen).

Square rigged on all masts, with staysails set between the masts. No lower square sail is generally set on the ship's cross-jack yard, the lowest yard on the mizzen mast.  ^R 

Pending translation.

n. f. 1. Tonneau. 2. Ensemble de tonneaux. Rouler les futailles dans la cave. du fût.  ^R 

The first plank on the outer hull of a wooden vessel next to the keel, into which it is rabbeted. It runs from the stem to the stern post, and is similiarly rabbetted into these timbers. The term was also used in wooden ships to describe the first seam nearest the keel, and most difficult of all to caulk. "Here is the most dangerous place in all the ship to spring a leak, for it is almost impossible to come to it withinboard". (Mainwaring, Seaman's Dictionary, 1644.)

Similiarly, in steel ship construction, the plates next to the keel are known as the garboard plates. It seems to have been a garbled version of "gathering-board" and came in the English language from the Dutch "gaarboard, itself derived from gadaren, to gather, and board, board.  ^R 

A small anchor generally with three to six hooks, or curved tines, used to snag wrecks.  ^R 

The metal plate carrying an eye bolted on to the sternpost of a vessel which takes the pintle of the rudder to allow it free movement in either direction in these vessels in which the rudder is hung either from the stempost or the transom. Normally two gudgeons and two pintles are fitted to hold a rudder steady. In almost all ships today, even the smallest, a balanced rudder is fitted and so pintles and gudgeons are not required, since the rudder is fixed to a rudder post which rises through the vessel's counter. Gudgeons and pintles are today used only in boats and very small yachts. The main value of this fitting, apart from its simplicity, is that the rudder can be easily unshipped when not in use.  ^R 

The name given to a variety of writs (of which these were anciently the emphatic words) having for their object to bring a party before a court or judge. In common usage, and whenever these words are used alone, they are usually understood to mean the habeas corpus ad subjicientum. The primary function of the writ it to release from unlawful imprisonment.  ^R 

In the civil law, a necessary or compulsory heir. This name was given to the heir when, being a slave, he was named "heir" in the testament because on the death of the testator, whether he would or not, be at once became free, and was compelled to assume the heirship.  ^R 

The ropes, wires, or tackles used to hoist or lower sails, either to their yards in square-rigged ships with the exception of the fore, main and mizen course or on their gaffs or by their peaks in fore-and-aft rigged ships. The courses, which are very heavy sails, are hoisted by the jeers.  ^R 

The term used to describe the act of furling the square sails of a a ship to the yards. In a strong wind, the two leeches of the sail were first brought to the yard since if the leeches were left to belly or fill with wind, it would be impossible for the men on the yard to get the sail in. The order given in a square-rigged ship was "hand in the leech".  ^R 

Pertaining to a hance or commercial alliance; but, generally, the union of the Hanse Towns is the one referred to, as in the expression, the "Hanseatic League".  ^R 

The statutory right to limit liability in select circumstances traces its origins back to the 17th century with the Continental countries leading the way. Provisions can be found in the States of Hamburg in 1603, the Hanseatic Ordinances of 1614 and 1644 and the Marine Ordinance of Louis XIV in 1681, which allow ship owners to limit their liability to claimants by reference to the value of the carrying ship and its freight.  ^R 

The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend; as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse.  ^R 

To lay a sailing ship on the wind with her helm a-lee and her sails shortened and so trimmed that as she comes up to the wind she will fall off again on the same track and thus make no headway. Vessels normally heave-to when the weather is too rough and the wind too strong to make normal sailing practicable. A steamship can similiarly heave-to in stormy weather by heading up to the sea and using her engines just enough to hold her up in position. The whole idea of heaving-to is to bring the wind onto the weather bow and hold the ship in that position, where she rides most safely and easily.  ^R 

Wine from the higher lands 30-40 miles east of Bordeaux.

A large cask or barrel, especially one containing from 50 to 112 imperial gallons; (about 238 to 530 litres).  ^R 

(1) I am a man, let no man take away my humanity.  ^R 
(2) I am human, I let nothing that is human be alien to me.
(3) I am a man; I regard nothing that concerns man as foreign to my interests (Terence).

A development of the original ketch, a short, tubby little vessel with main and mizen masts, orginally square-rigged on the main and with a small topsail above a fore-and-aft sail hoisted on a gaff on the mizen. She usually set two jibs on a high steeved bowsprit. She was a fishing vessel, and probably, as her name suggests, was used mainly for line fishing. She became a distinct type or vessel in her own right, as opposed to the generic ketch, early in the 18th century. The rig was much favoured by Dutch fishing craft.

The name is also used, slightly contemptuously, for any vessel when she grows old and has lost her early bloom, or perhaps has come down a bit in the maritime world.  ^R 

"Hypotheca" was a term of the Roman law, and denoted a pledge or mortgage. As distinguished from the term "pignus", in the same law, it denoted a mortgage, whether of lands or of goods, in which the subject in pledge remained in the possession of the mortgage or debtor; where as in the pignus the mortgagee or creditor was in the possession. Such an hypotheca might be either express or implied; express, where the parties upon the occasion of the loan entered into express agreement to that effect; or implied, as, e.g. in the case of the stock and utensils of a farmer, which were subject to the landlord's right as a creditor for rent; whence the Scotch law of hypotheca.
    The word has suggested the term "hypothecate," as used in the mercantile and maritime law of England. Thus, under the factor's act, goods are frequently said to be "hypothecated;" and a captain is said to have a right to hypothecate his vessel for necessary repairs.  ^R 

Ibidem. Lat. In the same place; in the same book; on the same page. Abbreviated to "ibid." or "ib."  ^R 

Inperfact; partial; unfinished; begun, but not completed; as a contract not executed by all the parties.  ^R 

Within the body (territorial limits) of a country. In English law, water which are infra corpus comitatus are exempt from the jurisdiction of Admiralty.  ^R 

In bank, in the bench. A term applied to proceedings in the court in bank, as distinguished from the proceedings at nisi prius. Also, in the English court of common bench.  ^R 

Lat. At the end. Used, in references, to indicate that the passage cited is at the end of the book.  ^R 

Within the flow and reflow of the sea.

1:The act of entering: entrance. 2: The power or liberty of entrance or access. (Latin ingressum, from ingredi "to go into".)  ^R 

On or at the threshold, at the very beginning, preliminary. Any motion, whether used before or during trial, by which exclusion is sought of anticipated prejudicial evidence.  ^R 

Lat. Destitute of counsel, without legal counsel. A term applied to the acts or conduct of one acting without legal advice, as a testator drafting his own will.  ^R 

Against the person. Action seeking judgment against a person involving his personal rights and based on jurisdiction of his person, as distinguished from a judgment against property (i.e., in rem). Type of jurisdiction or power which a court may acquire over the defendant himself in contract to jurisdiction over his property.  ^R 

In the affair, in the matter of, concerning, regarding. This is the usual method of entitling a judicial proceeding in which there are not adversary parties, but merely some res concerning which judicial action is to be taken, such as a bankrupt's estate, and estate in the probate court, a proposed public highway, etc.  ^R 

A technical term used to designate proceedings or actions instituted against the thing, in contradistinction to personal actions, where are said to be in personam.  ^R 

Specific; specifically. Thus, to decree performance in specie is to decree specific performance. In kind; in the same or like form. A thing is said to exist in specie when it retains its existance as a distinct individual of a particular class.  ^R 

In English law, that devision or department of the court of admiralty which exercised all the ordinary admiralty jurisdiction, with the single exception of prize cases, the latter belonging to the branch called the "Prize Court". Now part of High Court.  ^R 

Present, current, as instant case.  ^R 

In true evidence whereof

Among other things. A term anciently used in pleading, especially in reciting statutes, where the whole statute was not set forth at length.  ^R 

An interlocutory decree is one which does not finally determine a cause of action but only decides some intervening matter pertaining to the cause, and which requires further steps to be taken in order to enable the court to adjudicate the cause on the merits.  ^R 

Among or between themselves, used to distinguish rights or duties between two or more parties from their rights or duties to others.  ^R 

In the whole, wholly; completely; as the award is void in toto.  ^R 

By the law itself; by the mere operation of law.  ^R 

Any cargo or equipment thrown overboard, usually to lighten a vessel in distress, such as when it is hard aground or in danger of foundering. Jetsem refers to material which is intentionally jettisoned.  ^R 

By the right or law of war.  ^R 

Justice sometimes sleeps, it never dies.  ^R 

Cargo or equipment thrown into the sea from a vessel in distress, but attached to a float or buoy to enable its recovery.  ^R 

"Doctrine of laches" is based on maxim that equity aids the vigilant and not those who slumber on their rights. It is defined as neglect to assert a right or claim which, taken together with lapse of time and other circumstance causing prejudice to adverse party, operates to bar in court of equity. The neglect for an unreasonable and unexplained length of time under circumstances permitting diligence, to do what in law, should have been done.  ^R 

The old term for the left-hand side of a ship when facing forward, now know as "port". During the early years of the 19th century, the term "larboard" began to give way to "port" as a helm order, in order to avoid confusion with the similar sounding "starboard", and the change was made official in 1844. Opinions differ as to how "larboard" orgininated as describing the left-hand side of a ship. The most favoured theory is that "larboard" derives from "ladeboard", as much of the old merchant ships had a loading, or lading, port on their left-hand side.  ^R 

A snake lurks in the grass. Virgil Eclogues iii.93. A Virgilian herdsman warns children gathering flowers of a hidden danger.  ^R 

A space in a ship between decks used as a storeroom (Italian dialect lazareto alteration of nazareto, from Santa Maria di Nazaret church in Venice that maintained a hospital.  ^R 

A measure of distance, long out of use. A league at sea measure 3.18 nautical miles, the equivalent of four Roman miles, but those on land had different values according to the country, ranging from a minimum of 2.4 to a maximum of 4.6 statute miles. Usually at sea, for practical purposes, the league was taken as three nautical miles, the odd fraction being omitted.  ^R 

The shore that is on the leeward side of a ship, i.e. the shore that the wind blows against.

In the direction oposite to the wind.

Lat. An expression used in the Roman law, and applied to the trial of wreck and salvage. Commentators disagree about the origin of the expression; but all agree that its general meaning is that these causes were to be heard summarily. The most probably solution is that it refers to the place where causes were heard. A sail was spread before the door and officers employed to keep strangers from the tribunal. When these causes were heard, this sail was raised and suitors came directly to the court, and their causes were heard immediately. As applied to maritime courts, its meaning is that causes should be heard without delay. These causes require dispatch, and a delay amounts practically to a denial of justice.  ^R 

The seaman's term for the run or distance made on a single tack by a sailing vessel. Thus, when making for a point directly to windward, a sailing vessel will sail legs of equal length on each tack alternately; if the required course is not directly to windward but still higher than she can fetch on a single tack, she will sail by mean of long and short legs alternately.  ^R 

The law-merchant; commercial law. That system of laws which is accepted by all commercial nations, and constitutes a part of the law of the land. It is part of the common law.  ^R 

Used sometimes to denote the law of the place where the contract was made, and at other times to denote the way by which the contract is to be governed, (i.e., place of its performance), which may or may not be the same as that of the place where it was made.  ^R 

Roman or Civil law. The peculiar securities which, in the common and maritime law and equity, are termed "liens" are embraced under the head of "mortgage and privilege."  ^R 

3.05454 miles.

An obsolete term for the time during which a lawsuit is going on.  ^R 

In the civil law, a compound word used to denote the contract of bailment for hire, expressing the action of both parties, viz., a letting by the one and a hiring by the other.  ^R 

A letting out of work to be done; a bailment of a thing for the purpose of having some work and labour or care and pains bestowed on it for a pecuniary recompense.  ^R 

n. m. Navire effectuant de longs parcours.  ^R 

A former English unit of length for cloth equal to 45 inches (about 1.14 metres). Old English eln.

The end is where the wages are paid out.  ^R 

The place in which. The place in which the cause of action arose, or where anything is alleged, in pleading to have been done. The phrase is most frequently used in actions of trespass quare clausum fregit.  ^R 

The place where a thing is situated. In proceedings in rem, or the real actions of the civil law, the proper forum is the locus rei sitæ  ^R 

n.m. 1. Ancienne pièce d'or, à l'effigie des lois de France. 2. Pièce d'or Française de 20 francs.  ^R 

n.m. Nom populaire de phoque sans oreilles apparentes qui se trouve sur la côte est du Canada et dont on connaît quatre espèces: le loup-marin commun, le loup-marin gris, le loup-marin de Groëland et le loup-marin de capuchon.  ^R 

'Hold your luff', an order to the helmsman of a sailing vessel to keep her sailing as close to the wind as possible and not allow her to sag down to leeward.  ^R 

A sailing vessel with a lugsail rig, normally two-masted except when they were used for smuggling or as privateeers, when a mizen was stepped right aft. The lug rig came in during the late 17th or early 18th century, particularly for fishin and for the coastal trade where its increased weatherliness over the square rig gave considerable advantages when working the tides.  ^R 

A four-sided sail set on a lug or yard, used mainly in small craft. The sail is very similar to a gaff sail but with a wider throat, and depends on its luff for its stability. The yard, or lug, by which the sail is hoisted, is normally two-thirds the length of the foot of the sail and carries a strop one-forth of the way from the throat to peak. This strop is hooked to a traveller on the mast and is hoisted in the normal way until the luff is as taut as possible.  ^R 

The truth is great and it will prevail.  ^R 

Lat. We command. This is the name of a writ (formerly a high prerogative writ) which issues from a court or superior jurisdiction, and is directed to a private or municipal corporation, or any of its officers, or to an executive, administrative or judicial officer, to or any inferior court, commanding the performance of a particular act therein specified, and belonging to his or their public, official or ministerial duty, or directing the restoration of the complaints to right or priviliges of which he has been illegally deprived.  ^R 

In English law, an assistant judge of the court of chancery, who held a seperate court ranking next to that of the Lord Chancellor, and had the keeping of the rolls and grant which passed the great seal, and the records of the chancery. He was originally appointed only for the superintendance of the writs and records appertaining to the common-law department of the court, and is still properly the chief of the masters in chancery. Under the act constituting the Supreme Court of Judicature, the master of the rolls became a judge of the high court of justice and ex officio a member of the court of appeals. The same act, however, provided for the abolition of this office, under certain conditions, when the next vacancy occurs.  ^R 

A mind conscious of integrity.  ^R 

~literally, 'a closed sea', i.e., a sea under the jurisdiction of a particular country.
This term (and Mare Liberum) originated during the struggle between England and the Netherlands in the seventeenth century.
1652. N. Nedham tr. Selden's Of Dominion of Sea sig. g1. Mare Clausem is the sea possesses in a private manner, or so secluded both by Right and Occupation, that it ceaseth to be common.  ^R 

~literally, 'a free sea', i.e., a sea open to all nations.
1652 M. Nedham tr. Selden's Of Dominion of Sea sig. a2. This people (the Netherlanders) .... carried out their design .... by .... a daily intrusion upon the Territoirie by Sea, that in time they durst plead and print Mare Liberum .... to defie the Dominion of England over the Sea.  ^R 

From Latin medius meaning middle, and dies meaning day, is a semi-great circle joining the earth's poles. Meridians, better known perhaps as lines of longitude, cross the equator and all parallels of latitude at right angles. Owing to the uniform rotation of the earth, all celestial bodies appear to revolve around the earth towards the west, making one revolution in a day. When the sun crosses an observer's meridian, the time is reckoned to be midday, that is to say the local time is 12 noon at the instant the sun is at meridian passage.  ^R 

A privileged claim on a vessel for some service rendered to it to facilitate its use in navigation, or an injury caused by it in naigatable water, to be carried into effect by legal process in the Admiralty Court. A special property right in a ship given to a creditor by law as security for a debt or claim subsisting from the moment the debt arises with right to have the ship sold and debt paid out of proceeds. Such a lien is a proprietary interest or right of property in the vessel itself, and not a cause of action for personal judgment against the owner. The lien is enforced by a direct proceeding against the vessel or other property in which it exists.  ^R 

(1) Any of a breed of fine-wooled white sheep producing a heavy fleece of exceptional quality.
(2) A soft wool or wool and cotton fabric resembling cashmere.
(3) A fine woodland cotton yarn.  ^R 

The stay which holds the jib-boom down against the pull exerted by the fore topgallant-mast stays in a square-rigged ship. It runs from the outer end of the jib-boom to the dolphin-striker. Martingale guys hold the dolphin-striker firm, being run from its end and secured on either bow of the ship.  ^R 

A minot is an old Québec measure of capacity used for grain and dry materials, equal to 8 gallons, or 36.67 litres.
source: http://www.francophonie.hachette-livre.fr/)

The name of the third, aftermost, mast of a square-rigged sailing ship or of a three-masted schooner, or the small after-mast of a ketch or a yawl. The word probably came into the English language either from the Italian mezzana or the French misaine, which in fact are the names in those languages for the foremast, but for some reason, its position in the ship was changed round when the word was adopted in Britain. The French word for mizen is artimon, and artimon was the name given in England to an additional mast in the forward end of a vessel, probably the forerunner of the bowsprit.  ^R 

In manner and form. Words used in the old Latin form of pleadings by way of traverse, and literally translated in the modern precedents, importing that the party traversing denies the allegation of the other party, not only in its general effect, but in the exact manner and form in which it is made.  ^R 

Method of operating or doing things. Term used by police and criminal investigators to describe the particular method of a criminal's activity. It refers to pattern of criminal behavour so distinct that separate crimes or wrongful conduct are recognized as work of same person.  ^R 

The half of anything. Joint tenants are said to hold by moieties.  ^R 

In admiralty, formerly the summons to appear and answer, issued on filing the libel which was either a simple monition in personam or an attachment and monition in rem.  ^R 

A learned treatise on a particular subject; esp: a scholarly or scientific paper printed in a journal or as a pamphlet.  ^R 

A fine imposes as a punishment (Latin multa, mulcta).  ^R 

Those tides which occur during the first and third quarters of the moon when the pull of the sun is at right angles to that of the moon. The effect of this counteraction is to make the high-water lower and the low-water higher than when the sun and moon exert their pull in the same direction, a condition which causes spring tides. "To be neaped", the expression used of a vessel which goes aground on the spring tides and has to wait for the next springs before there is enough depth of water to float her off.  ^R 

No one should be twice harassed for the same cause.  ^R 

"No one ought to be enriched by another's loss".  ^R 

Literally, "no further", the words are a prohibition of further advance or action; also an impassable obstacle or limitation; also the utmost limit to which one can go or has gone; the furthest point reached or capable of being reached.  ^R 

A wooden spear, the sharp point being flanked by two flanges lashed to the shaft on either side, extending beyond the middle point, and so shaped as to hold the speared fish on the barbs. The spear was most effectively used at night, when a torch of cedar bark was held in the split end of a stick in front of the canoe.  ^R 

The nisi prius courts are such as are held for the trial of issues of fact before a jury and one presiding judge. In America, the phrase was formerly used to denote the forum (whatever may be its statutory name) in which the cause was tried to a jury, as distinguished from the appellate court.  ^R 

He is not deemed to use force who exercises his own right, and proceeds by ordinary action.  ^R 

Pending translation.

(Pending translation)

Condition or fact of being subjected to hatred and dislike. In venue statute, it implies such a general ill-feeling towards a party to an action as will render it uncertain whether the cause can be tried by impartial triers, free from an atmosphere impregnated with malice or corrupting prejudices.  ^R 

There are many ways in which the truth may be reached.  ^R 

Lat. a burden or load; a weight. Burden of responsiblity or proof. The lading burden, or cargo of a vessel. A charge; an incumbrance.  ^R 

Burden of proving; the burden of proof. The strict meaning of the term "onus probandi" is that, if no evidence is adduced by the party on whom the burden is cast, the issue must be found against him.  ^R 

Fr. The country; the neighbourhood.

A trial per pais signifies a trial by the country;p that is, by jury.  ^R 

To cover by excuses and apologies (late Latin palliare "to cloak, to conceal", from Latin pallium "cloak".  ^R 

A means of hauling up or lowering a cask or other cylindrical object where it is not possible to use a purchase. The middle of a length of rope is passed round a bitt, bollard, or any convenient post and the two ends are let under the two quarters of the object to be hoisted or lowered and are brought back over it. The cask is hoisted by hauling away on the ends or lowered by lowering away on them.  ^R 

In bottomry, where a loan is secured by the pledge of the keel of a ship owned by the borrower, it is considered "pars pro toto"; i.e., the part (keel) for the whole (of the ship).  ^R 

"PARTNERS, a framework, consisting of stout plank, secured to the decks of wooden ships round the holes through which pass the masts or the spindle of the capstan, thus strengthening the deck in these places to assist in taking the strain when the masts carry a press of sail or the capstan is heaving in some considerable weight."  ^R 

The proverbially "drawing is worth a thousand words" provided by Paul at Archives and Collections Society, Picton, Ontario, further clarifies what partners actually do.

A heavy woolen double-breasted jacket worn chiefly by sailors. (by folk etymology from Dutch pijjekker, from pij, a kind of cloth + jekker, "jacket").  ^R 

Lat. By the court. A phrase used to distinguish an opinion of the whole court from an opinion written by any one judge. Sometimes, it denotes an opinion written by the chief justice or presiding judge, or to a brief announcement of the disposition of a case by court not accompanied by a written opinion.  ^R 

A general name applied to a small ship or large boat, and most often to a ship's boat, propelled by either sail, oars or engine, depending upon the time frame of the reference and the use to which the vessel was put.  ^R 

A division of the circumference of the magnetic compass card, which is divided into 32 points, each of 11° 15'. The compass card shows four cardinal points (N., S., E., W.) and half cardinal points (NE., SE., SW., NW.), the remaining twenty- four divisions being full points. Each point on the card is sub-divided into half and quarter points. When boxing the compass, the points are always read from the cardinal and half-cardinal points, and the point and their nomenclature, from north to east, in the first, or north-east, quardrant of the card, are N., N. by E., NNE., NE. by N., NE., NE. by E., ENE., E. by N., E., and so on for the other quadrants.

A point of the compass was, in the days of older square-rigged ships, about the smallest division to which an average helmsman could steer by wheel, but with the growing efficiency of the rigs of these vessels, it was possible for a good helmsman to hold a course between the points. This led to the introduction of half and quarter points, the half point measuring 5° 37.5' and the quarter point 2° 48.75'.

The term is still used, however, in expressing approximate bearings in relation to the ship's head. A look-out, on sighting another vessel at sea, may report its position to the bridge of the ship, for example, two points on the starboard bow, or a point abaft the port beam, as the case may be. But even the use of the term is gradually dying out with the growing accuracy to report such positions in relation to red (port side) and green (starboard side), and a report, for exxample, of a ship bearing Green 45 is rapidly taking the place of its quivalent of four point on the starboard bow.  ^R 

The vertical pin on which a rudder turns. The pintle is secured to the leading edge of the rudder, and is fitted into the gudgeon which is secured to the sternpost, or rudderpost.  ^R 

(a) A large cask used especially for wine and oil.
(b) Any of various units of liquid capacity based on the size of a pipe, especially, a unit capacity equal to 2 hogsheads (about 477 litres).  ^R 

From the Latin puppis, stern, the name given to the short, aftermost deck raised above the quarterdeck of a ship. In square-rigged ships, it forms the roof of the coach, or round house, where the master normally had his cabin. Only the larger sailing ships had poops, but the name has survived and is often used to describe any raised deck right aft in the ship. It is, in fact, sometimes wrongly used to describe that part of the deck which lies at the after end of the ship, regardless of whether it is raised or not.  ^R 

Let there be greater care taken in dealing with real property than personal.  ^R 

In old English law, an officer next in authority to the alderman of a hundred, called "præpositus regius" or a steward or bailiff of an estate, answering to the "wicnere".  ^R 

An order, writ, warrant, or process. An order or direction emanating from authority, to an officer or body of officers, commanding him or them to do some act within the scope of their power. An order in writing, sent out by a Justice of the Peace or other like officer, for the bringing of a person or record before him.  ^R 

v. t. 1. (Scots Law) To examine beforehand, as witnesses or evidence. A committee of nine precognoscing the chances.
- Masson.  ^R 

The name given to any additonal rope or wire rigged temporarily to back up any standing rigging in a ship in heavy wind and weather. It is most usually assocaited with sailing vessels, and particularly with the mast stays of such ships.  ^R 

At first sight; on the first appearance; on the face of it; so far as can be judged from the first disclosure; presumably; a fact presumed to be true unless disproved by some evidence to the contrary.  ^R 

In old mercantine law, a small allowance or compensation payable to the master and mariners of a ship or vesse; to the former for the use of his cables and ropes to discharge the goods of the merchant; to the latter for lading and unlading in any port or haven.  ^R 

Lat. In the canon law, the first decree, a preliminary decree granted on the non-appearance of a defendant, by which the plaintiff was put in possession of his goods, or of the thing itself which was demanded. In the courts of admiralty, this name was given to a provisional decree.  ^R 

That connection or relationship which exists between two or more contracting parties. It was traditionally essential to the maintenance of an action on any contract, that there should subsist such privity between the plaintiff and defendant in respect of the matter sued on.  ^R 

One appointed to manage the affairs of another or represent him in judgment. A procurator, proxy, or attorney. Formerly, an officer of the admiralty and ecclesiastical courts whoes duties and business correspond exactly to those of an attorney at law or solicitor in chancery.  ^R 

For this turn; for this one particular occasion. For example, and out-of-state lawyer may be admitted to practice in a local jurisdiction for a partcular case only.  ^R 

According to his interest; to the extent of his interest. Thus, a third party may be allowed to intervene in a suit pro interesse suo.  ^R 

For work and labour.  ^R 

Proportionately, according to a certain rate, percentage, or proportion. According to a certain measure, interest or liability. According to a certain rule or proportion.  ^R 

Abbreviation for "pro tempore" which means literally, for the time being. Hence, one who acts as a substitute on a temporary basis is said to serve pro tem.  ^R 

Refers to the coming month.

(Contracted from procuracy.) A person who is substituted or deputed by another to represent him and act for him, particularly in some meeting or public body. An agent representing and acting for principal. Also the instrument containing the appointment of such person. Written authorization given by one person to a another so that the second person can act for the first, such as that given by a shareholder to someone else to represent him and vote his shares at a shareholders' meeting. Depending onthe contest, proxy may also refer to the grant of authority itself (the appointment) or the document granting the authority (the appointment form).  ^R 

1. a large cask of varying capacity.
2. any of various units of liquid capacity (Middle French ponchon.  ^R 

A mechanical device to increase power or force, whether by means of levers, gears, or blocks or pulleys rove with a rope or chain. In its maritime meaning, it is only the last of these which is known as a purchase, a rope hove through one or more blocks, by which the pull exerted on the hauling part of the rope is increased accordingly to the number of sheaves in the blocks over which it passes.

When two or more blocks are involved in the purchase, it is generally known as a tackle.  ^R 

A quiry; question; doubt. This word, occurring in the syllabus of a reported case or elsewhere, shows that a question is propounded as to what follows, or that the particular rule, decision, or statement is considered as open to question.  ^R 

A vexed question or mooted point; a question often agitated or discussed but not determined; a question or point which has been differently decided, and so left doubtful.  ^R 

When fault preceeds cause, then chance is not exempt from blame.

"Quantum meruit" as amount of recovery means "as much as deserved" and measures recovery under implied contract to pay compensation as reasonable value of services rendered.  ^R 

Wherefore he broke the close. That species of the action of trespass which has for its object the recovery of damages from an unlawful entry upon another's land is termed "trespass quare clausum fregit; "breaking a close" being the technical expression for all unlawful entry upon land. The language of the declaration in this form of action is "that the defendant with force and arms, broke and entered the close" of the plaintiff. The phrase is often abbreviated to "qu. cl. fr." or "q.c.f."  ^R 

Unité de mesure de capacité anglo-saxonne.

1 quart canadienne = 25 livres. ^R 

Quarter (qtr or Q or Qr):

A traditional unit of weight equal to 1/4 hundredweight. In Britain, one quarter equals 28 pounds (12.7006 kilograms); in the United States, one quarter equals 25 pounds (11.3398 kilograms). ^R 

That part of the upper deck of a ship which is abaft the mainmast, or approximately where the mainmast should be in the case of those ships without one.

In sailing ships, it is the part of the ship from which she is commanded by the captain or master, or by the officer on watch, as there is no bridge as a command post in a sailing ship. It was also traditionally the part of the ship where the captain used to walk, usually on the starboard side, when he came on deck to take the air or oversee the conduct of the ship, and also from which the navigator took his sights when fixing the ship's position. It was the custom of most ships that only officers might use the quarterdeck, rating being allowed there only when detailed for special duties. The boatswain, carpenter, and other warrant officers or seamen in sailing vessels were called to the quarterdeck to receive orders, announcements, etc.

It is still, in most ships, that part of the deck where the officers take their walks and recreation, the seamn taking theirs on the forecastle deck and waist.  ^R 

Lat. The action preferred in any court of justice. The plaintiff was called "querens," or complainant, and his brief, complaint, or declaration was called "querela."  ^R 

He who keeps the decrees of the fathers, and both human and divine laws.  ^R 

A weight of 112 pounds.

"Qui tam" is the abbreviation of the Latin phrase "qui tam pro domino rege quam pro si ipso in bac parte sequitur", meaning "Who sues on behalf of the King as well as for himself". It is an action brought by an informer, under a statute which establishes a penalty for the commission or omission of a certain act, and provides that the same shall be recoverable in a civil action, part of the penalty to go to any person who will bring such action and the remainder to the state or some other institution. It is called a ""qui tam action" because the plaintiff states that he sues as well for the state as for himself.  ^R 

As to, with respect to, so far as.  ^R 

Which was what had to be proved.  ^R 

A thick twilled woolen cloth, or the French version: "Ratine" étoffe de laine croisée dont le poil est tiré au dehors et frisé.

In the civil law, an action by a defendant against a plaintiff in a former action; a cross-bill or litigation.

The subject matter of a trust or will. In the civil law, a thing: an object. As a term of the law, this word has a very wide and extensive signification, including not only things which are objects of property, but also such as are not capable of individual ownership. And in old English law it is said to have a general import, comprehending both corporeal and incorporeal things of whatever kind, nature or species. By res according to the modern civilians, is meant everything that may form an object of rights, in opposition to personna which is regarded as a subject of right. Res therefore, in its general meaning, comprises actions of all kinds, while in its restricted sense it comprehends every object of right, except actions. This has reference to the fundamental division of the Institutes, that all laws relates either to persons, to things, or to actions.  ^R 

In the civil law, a thing: an object. As a term of the law, this word has a very wide and extensive signification, including not only things which are objects of property, but also such as are not capable of individual ownership. And in old English law it is said to have a general import, comprehending both corporeal and incorporeal things of whatever kind, nature or species.

The "res gestæ" rule is where a remark is made spontaneously and concurrently with an affray, collision or the like, it carries with it inherently a degree of credibility and will be admissible because of the spontaneous nature. "Res gestæ" means literally things or things happened and therefore, to be admissible as exception to hearsay rule, words spoken, thoughts expressed, and gestures made, must all be so closely connected to occurrence or event in both time and substance as to be a part of the happening.  ^R 

Rudder re-installed.

Rescission of Contract: to abrogate, annul, avoid or cancel a contract; particularly, nullifying a contract by the act of a party. The right to rescission is the right to cancel (rescind) a contract upon the occurrence of certain kinds of default by the other contracting party. To declare a contract void in its inception and to put an end to it as though it never were. A "rescission" amounts to the unmaking of a contract, or an undoing of it from the beginning, and not merely a termination, and it may be effected by mutual agreement of parties, or by one of the parties declaring rescission of contract without consent of other if a legally sufficient ground therefore exists, or by applying to courts for a decree of rescission. It necessarily involves a repudiation of the contract and a refusal of the moving party to be further bound by it. Nevertheless, not every default in a contract will give rise to a right of rescission. An action of an equitable nature in which a party seeks to be relieved of his obligations under a contract on the grounds of mutual mistake, fraud, impossibility, etc.  ^R 

Pending translation.

In equity practice, the party who makes an answer to a bill or other proceeding in equity. In appellate practice, the party who contends against an appeal: the party against whom the appeal is taken, i.e., the appellee.  ^R 

A pleading which joins issue and replies to a prior pleading of an opponent in contrast to a dilatory plea or motion which seeks to dismiss on some ground other than the merits of the action. Though general denials are not commonly accepted today, an answer in which specific denials are set forth and an answer by way of confession and avoidance are examples of responsive pleading.  ^R 

n.m. 1. vieux français. Filet. Réseau du cordes servant à prendre des fauves, des oiseaux, des poissons. 2. Fig. litt. Piège. Prendre quelqu'un dans ses rets. Latin: retis. variante de rete; d'abord rei, raiz, reis.  ^R 

In civil law, to reclaim or demand the restoration of, to "reclaim" being to claim something back, which is in the possession of another, but which belongs to the claimant. The right of a vendor to reclaim goods sold out of the possession of the purchaser, where the price was not paid.  ^R 

The owner of land, bounded generally upon a stream or river of water, and as such, having a qualified property in the soil to the thread of the steam or river with privileges annexed thereto by law.  ^R 

A rough-tree is one of the stanchions supporting the rough-tree rail (batayole, in French), The rough-tree rail is the rail at the top of the bulwarks and below the top gallant bulwarks. The term originated from the former practice in merchant vessels of carrying their rough or spare spars in crutches along the waist. (De Kerchove)  ^R 

Saisie des effets mobiliers sur lesquels on prétend un droit de propriété ou de gage privilégé.  ^R 

A person engaged in salvage, either of a vessel in distress or of a shipwreck of long ago.  ^R 

"Eau-de-vie" or grain brandy produced in Schiedam, Holland.

To know laws is not only to take them at their word, but (to judge) the strength and situation (of the people involved)".  ^R 

To sink (a boat) intentionally by making hold on the sides or bottom  ^R 

Having the discrimination or discernment of a good man.  ^R 

Lat. In maritime law, half-shipwreck, as where goods are cast overboard in a storm, also where a ship has been so much damaged that her repair costs more than her worth.  ^R 

Vile passion of avarice.  ^R 

Lat. Severally; seperately; individually; one by one.  ^R 

A counter-claim demand which defendant holds against plaintiff, arising out of a transaction extrinsic of plaintiff's cause of action. Remedy employed by defendant to discharge or reduce plaintiff's demand by an opposite one arising from transaction which is extrinsic to plaintiff's cause of action.
    A claim filed by a defendant against the plaintiff when sued and in which he seeks to cancel the amount due from him or to recover an amount in excess of plaintiff's claim against him. In equity practice, it is commenced by a declaration in set-off, though under rules practice, (which merged law and equity) it has been displaced by the counter-claim.
    The equitable right to cancel or off-set mutual debts or cross demands, commonly used by a bank in reducing a customer's checking or other deposit account in satisfaction of a dept the customers owes the bank.  ^R 

If he by mistake receives them, considering them to be delivered to him personally, and not to him as agent for me, it necessarily follows that a delivery by mistake passes no property.  ^R 

(1) A light, small vessel of about 25 tons, originally usually schooner- rigged but later more frequently rigged with lug sails, used for fishing. Being fast and weatherly, particularly with lug-sail rig, they were also frequently employed as tenders to men-of-war during the days of sailing navies. (2) A large, heavy, undecked boat with a single mast, for-and-aft rigged. In most cases in the 17th and 18th century when ships were driven ashore in storms, contemporary accounts mention the ship's carpenters building a shallop from the timber of the wrecked ship to enable some of the crew to sail to a nearby port to summon assistance.  ^R 

British variant of show.  ^R 

A vessel which has been damaged or destroyed by any means and which can no longer function as a vessel; in this sense, a wreck may be floating, sunk or aground.

Becoming shallower towards the shore.

A set of pieces of lumber for assembling one hogshead, cast or barrel.

The standing rigging of a sailing vessel which give a mast its lateral support, as the same way stays give it fore-and-aft support. In larger ships, they were generally divided into pairs, or doubles, with an eye spliced at the half-way point that slips over the mast-head and was supported by the hounds. The ends were brought down to deck level and secured to the chainplates on each side of the vessel abreast the mast, either through pairs of deadeyes or with a turnbuckle, enabling them to be set up taut. Each mast had its strouds, and in the larger sailing vessels, many pairs were used for each mast. Topmasts and top-gallant masts had their shrouds running to the edges of the tops.

In addition to these shrouds running from the hounds or masthead to the deck, large sailing vessels had two other types of shrouds, Bentinck shrouds fixed on the futtock staves of the lower rigging and extending to the opposite chainplates, and futtock shrouds, which are those parts of the standing rigging between the futtock places above the tops and the catharpings below.

Originally the rope used for shrouds was a finer quality of hawser-laid rope, usually four-stranded and laid up from left to right. It was later replaced by wire rope, and in modern yacht design, many mast shrouds are now made of solid bar mild steel, where its greater strenght allows for a thinner shroud and consequently less windage when sailing.  ^R 

Thus using your own so that you will not damage the property of others.  ^R 

Without day; without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing. Hence, a legislative body adjournes sine die when it adjourns without appointing a day on which to appear or assemble again.  ^R 

Without which not. That without which the thing cannot be. An indispensable requisite or condition.

A sailing vessel with a single mast, fore-and-aft rigged, setting, in western Europe, a single headsail.  ^R 

A two-masted sailing vessel rigged as a brig, but with an additional small mast immediately abaft the mainmast to which is attached a fore-and-aft sail.  ^R 

The solemnities of law.  ^R 

(a) To please by or as if by attention or concern: placate (b): relieve, 1, alleviate 2: to bring comfort, solace or reassurance. (Old English söthian "to prove the truth", from söth, "true".)  ^R 

An additional sail hoisted on the mizen-mast of sailing vessels to take advantage of a following wind, was the name used for the final form of the driver. It was originally regarded as a fair weather set in place of the mizen course, but after about 1840, it became a strandard sail set on the mizen, taking the place entirely of the mizen course.  ^R 

The act of communicating with a ship at sea. The term includes all methods of communication and does not necessarily mean that the ships are in sight of each other when communicating.  ^R 

A waxy solid obtained from the oil of cetaceans and especially the sperm whale and used in ointments, cosmetics, and candles. (Medieval Latin sperma ceti "whale sperm".  ^R 

Expression communicating observation of, or communication with, another vessel.

Lat. He promises the skill of his art; he engages to do the work in a skillful or workmanlike manner. Applied to the engagement of workman for hire.  ^R 

A platform formed on a ship's side either by an outboard bulge of the hull or by an indentation of the ship's side to form a flat surface on the deck level below. In vessels propelled with paddle-wheels, the sponsons are those parts of the ship's structure which projects beyond the ship's side forward and aft of each paddle-wheel and helps to support the paddle boxes. There are thus four of them and they are level with the bottoms of the paddle boxes.  ^R 

Those tides which rise highest and fall lowest from the mean tide level, as compared to neap tides, which are those which rise lowest and fall highest. Spring tides occur when the pull of the moon and of the sun act in conjunction whether 0° or 180° apart; neaps when they act in opposition, either 90° or 270° apart. This conditions occur twice in eadh lunar month, so that there are two spring tides and two neap tides every twenty-nine days.  ^R 

A vertical post or support, such as one which supports a deck or handrail.  ^R 

The operation of bringing the head of a sailing vessel up to the wind in order to tack, or go about. ^R 

Under a qualification: subject to a restriction or condition.  ^R 

Confidential, secret, not for publication. ^R 

Sum for wages and labour.  ^R 

On the high seas.  ^R 

The name of a writ containing a command to stay the proceedings at law. A suspension of the power of a trial court to issue an execution on judgment appealed from, or, is writ of execution has issued, it it a prohibition eminating from court of appeal against execution of writ.

Originally, it was a writ directed to an officer, commanding him to desist from enforcing the execution of another writ which he was about to execute, or which might come in his hands. In modern times, the term is often used synonymously with a "stay of proceedings," and is employed to designate the effect of an act or proceeding which of itself suspends the enforcement of a judgment.  ^R 

In the civil and ecclesiastical law, the testimony of a single witness to a fact is called "half-proof," on which no sentence can be founded: in order to supply the other half of proof, the party himself (plaintiff or defendant) is admitted to be examined in his own behalf, and the oath administered to him for that purpose is called the "suppletory oath," because it supplies the necessary quantum of proof of which to found the sentence. This term, though without application in American law in it original sense, is sometimes used as a designation of a party's oath required to be taken in authentication or support of some piece of documentary evidence which he offers, for example, is books of account.  ^R 

Large overcoat.  ^R 

Existing, inferred, or understood without being openly expressed or stated; implied by silence or silent acquiescence, as a tacit agreement or a tacit understanding. Done or made in silence, implied or indicated, but not actually expressed. Manifested by the refraining from contradicting or objection; inferred from the situation and circumstances, in the absence of express matter.  ^R 

The operation of bring a sailing vessel head to wind and across it so as to bring the wind on the opposte side of the vessel. During this manoeuvre, the vessel is said to be in stays, or staying, or coming about. When a vessel wishes to make up to windward, she can only do so by tacking, crossing the wind continually to make a series of legs, of which the net distance gained is to windward.  ^R 

In strict definition, the after rail at the stern of a ship, but formally the curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman, usually carved or otherwise decorated. It is a contradiction of taffarel, the original name for this adornment. In its modern meaning, it is often used to indicate the deck area right at the stern of a vessel.  ^R 

A belief or doctorine generally held to be true; esp: one held in common by members of an organization, group or profession.  ^R 

Eleven species of shipworms in the mollusc family Teredinidae have been discovered off the coast of Britain. However, it is Common Shipworm, Teredo navalis, that is most likely to be the occupant of driftwood or burrowing in the floating timber, groynes and wooden boats. The signs are not always obvious. The opening may only be about the size of a pinhead and can be painted over on an infected boat. In the Common Shipworm, the interior burrow created by the rocking motion of the 10 mm long worm-like mollusc may be 12 mm wide. With extensive burrows, the slight jarring of the boat or something jammed under an infected hull can quickly cause the boat to develop a major hole and rapid sinking.

It is sometimes thought that the shipworm is only a major problem in warmer seas than around the British Isles. The larvae are planktonic and attracted specifically to wood. In tropical seas a piece of untreated wood may be attacked in 6 weeks, whereas in the north east Atlantic Ocean the time before the larvae settle and begin to bore into the wood. The Common Shipworm is found in brackish seas, surviving in salinities as low as 9‰ and is destructive in the Baltic  ^R 

A wooden pin fixed in the gunwale of a boat to which, by means of a grommet, an oar is held when rowing. A more ususal method is to use two thole pins close together, with the oar between them when rowing. They form a substitute for a crutch or a rowlock.  ^R 

(From Lat. torquere, to twist, tortus, twisted, wrested aside.) A private or civil wrong or injury, including action for bad faith, breach of contract, for which the court will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages. A violation of a duty imposed by general law or otherwise upon all persons occupying the relation to each other which is involved in a given transaction. There must always be a violation of some duty owing to plaintiff, and generally such duty must arise by operation of law and not by mere agreement of the parties.
   A legal wrong committed upon the person or property independant of contract. It may be either (1) a direct invasion of some legal right of the individual; (2) the infraction of some public duty by which special damage accrues to the individual; (3) the violation of some private obligation by which like damage accrues to the individual.  ^R 

Wrongful; of the nature of a tort. The word "tortious" is used throughout the Restatement, Second, Torts, to denote the fact that conduct whether of act or omission is of such a character as to subject the actor to liability, under the principles of the law of torts. To establish "tortious act", plaintiff must prove not only existance of actionable wrong, but also that damages resulted therefrom.  ^R 

Old measure of capacity, one-third of pipe, cask or vessel holding this quantity.  ^R 

Chiefly British: molasses.  ^R 

Assiette: position que prend un navire dans l'eau sous l'effet de la répartition de son chargement.  ^R 

In common-law practice, the action of trover (or trover and conversion) is a species of action on the case, and originally lay for the recovery of damages against a person who has found another's goods and wrongfully converted them to his own use. Subsequently the allegation of the loss of the goods by the plaintiff and the finding of them by the defendant was merely fictitious, and the action became the remedy for any wrongful interference with or detention of the goods of another.  ^R 

The cod sent to Brazil requires to be made up in packages called on the caost, tubs. Each tub contains 128 pounds of well dried fish. The packing is done by means of an iron screw worked by three men, the fish being thus pressed in the tub and forced into the smallest possible space. In this state it will keep for a very long time even in the warmest climates, and may be conveniently carried into the interior of the countries for which it is intended.  ^R 

Pending translation.

Lat. Where above mentioned.  ^R 

The amount that a container (as a cask) lacks of being full. (Middle French eullage;"act of filling a cask", from eullier "to fill a cask".  ^R 

Refers to the preceeding month.

The description of a ship which has movement through the water. The term is frequently written as under weigh. Theoretically, a ship is considered to be under weigh only when her anchor has been broken out of the bottom and she herself is still stationary in the water; she is under weigh as soon as she begins to move under her own power. However, the two terms have become virtually synonymous today, under weight being a modern spelling distortion of an old term. As the rudder of a ship is effective only when she is moving through the water, the importance of being under weigh is that the ship will then answer her helm and thus becomes subject to the rule of the road and at night must burn the correct navigation lights.  ^R 

An insurer of ships and cargoes for loss and damage, the name coming from the insurer writing his name under the policy of insurance. The request for insurance is termed the offering of a "risk", and in marine insurance, the word risk is equivalent to the liability of the underwriter. Each underwriter of a marine insurance puts opposite his name the percentage of the total risk for which he accept liability.  ^R 

Lat. In one breath.  ^R 

That power is vain which never comes into action.  ^R 

Siréniens: Mammifère soit purement marin tel que le dugong, soit vivant dans les zones littorales, aux estuaires et aux grands fleuves, comme le lamantin et la rhytine de Steller, aujourd'hui éteinte. Les siréniens sont herbivores. Le terme de vache marine est également utilisé populairement pour désigner le dugong et le lamantin; ceux-ci atteignent 2,4 à 4,5 m de long et ressemblent superficiellement au morse. Le dugong a une nageoire dorsale à deux lobes; celle du lamantin est large et arrondie.  ^R 

Sometimes known as magnetic declination, is the angle between the bearing of the magnetic north pole and that of the true North pole at the position of the observer. It is named east or west according to whether the direction of the magnetic pole lies to the right or left respectively of the true pole, and is applied, together with deviation, to any course steered or bearing obtained with a magnetic compass in order to obtain the true course or bearing. The amount of variation may increase or decrease slightly from year to year according to the movement of the magnetic pole, but on all charts the amount of variation is given for the year of publication together with the annual rate of increase or decrease. The first nautical chart on which lines of equal variation, known as isogonic lines, were drawn, was produced by the astronomer Edmund Halley in 1701.

In the time of Christopher Columbus, the amount of variation in western Europe was sufficiently small to escape notice, but it is said that during his first voyage to the west in 1492, Columbus noticed that the indication of north on his magnetic compass differed more and more from the true north the further west he went, a fact which caused him much alarm as he did not know the cause. ^R

that is to say, namely...  ^R 

The neighbourhood, vicinage, the venue.  ^R 

Who is a good man?  ^R 

A greater or superior force; an irresistible force. A loss that results immediately from a natural cause without the intervention of man, and could not have been prevented by the exercise of prudence, diligence, and care.  ^R 

With the living voice; by word of mouth. As applied to the examination of witnesses, this phrase is equivlent to "orally." It is used in contradistinction to evidence on affidavits or depositions. As descriptive of a species of voting, it signifies voting by speach or outcry, as distinguished from voting by a written or printed ballot.  ^R 

The movement of a ship through the water by means of her own power, or the force of the wind on her sails.  ^R 

A light hawser used in the movement of a ship from one place to another by means of a kedge anchor, a capstan or of men hauling on it. It is not a tow rope, which involves the power of another ship.  ^R 

To turn away from the wind, said of a sailing ship when it changes courses so that it no longer faces the wind. Thus, "to wear away" means to turn the vessel so the wind is coming from the rear.  ^R 

In British imperial measure, a unit of liquid or dry capacity of 8 imperial gallons, 2218.19 cubic inches (approximately 36.3687 liters). The bushel was to be eight gallons each “containing ten pounds Avoirdupois of distilled water weighed in air at the temperature of sixty-two degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, the barometer being at thirty inches...”  ^R 

The name given to a man who owns or has charge of a wharf.  ^R 

A written judicial order to perform a specified act, or giving authority to have it done, as in a writ of mandamus or certiorari, or as in an "original writ" for instituting an action at common law. A written court order or a judicial process, directing that a sheriff or other judicial officer do what is commanded by the writ; or giving authority and commission to have it done.

In old English, an instrument in the form of a letter; a letter or letters of attorney. This is a very ancient sense of the word.

In the old books, "writ" is used as equivalent to "action;" hence writs are sometimes divided into real, personal, and mixed.  ^R 

A spar secured by its middle to a mast, positioned athwardship and horizontal to the deck; used to hang sail on sailing ships which are square rigged.

Either end of the yard. Thus, "to be hung from the yardarm" means "to be hung from the farthest end of the yard, out over the water."

A type of rig of a small sailing boat or yacht, apparently an adaptation of the Dutch word jol, skiff. The true yawl rig consists of two masts, cutter-rigged (in the English meaning of the term) on the foremast, with a small mizzen-mast stepped abaft the rudder head carrying a spanker or driving sail. Until about the mid-19th century, the term was also occasionally used for a ship's boat rowed by four or more oars, but this use of it is now obsolete.  ^R 

Yellow fever: destructive infectious disease of warm regions marked by sudden onset, prostration, fever, jaundice, and often hemorrhage and caused by a virus transmitted by a misquito.  ^R