The Sailor's Word-Book Part 171

NAVIGATION ACTS. Various statutes by which the legislature of Great Britain has in a certain degree restricted the intercourse of foreign vessels with her own ports, or those of her dependent possessions; the object being to promote the increase of British s.h.i.+pping.

NAVIGATOR. A person skilled in the art of navigation. In old times, the s.h.i.+p's _artist_. Also, one who plies merely on ca.n.a.ls. Also, the _navvy_ who works on embankments, cuttings, &c.

NAVITHALAMUS. A word in Law-Latin signifying a yacht.

NAVVIES. The vigorous labourers employed in cutting ca.n.a.ls, railroads, or river works in temporary gangs.

NAVY. Any a.s.sembly of s.h.i.+ps, whether for commerce or war. More particularly the vessels of war which, belonging to the government of any state, const.i.tute its maritime force. The Royal Navy of Great Britain is conducted under the direction of the lords-commissioners for executing the office of lord high-admiral, and by the following princ.i.p.al officers under them:--the controller of the navy, controlling dockyards, building, &c., with his staff; the accountant-general, store-keeper general, and controller of victualling. These several lords meet as a board at Somerset House on special days to give the affairs the force of the board of admiralty.

NAVY AGENTS. Selected mercantile houses, about fourteen, who manage the affairs of officers' pay, prizes, &c., for which the law authorizes a certain percentage. They hold powers of attorney to watch the interests of their clients.

NAVY BILLS. Bills of removal, transfer, &c., are not negotiable, nor can they be made other use of.

NAVY BOARD. The commissioners of the navy collectively considered, but long since abolished.

NAVY TRANSPORT. _See_ TRANSPORT.

NAVY-YARD. A royal a.r.s.enal for the navy.

NAY-WORD. The old term for the watch-word, parole, or countersign.

NAZE. _See_ NESS.

NEALED. _See_ ARMING.

NEALED-TO. A sh.o.r.e, with deep soundings close in.

NEAPED. The situation of a s.h.i.+p which, within a bar-harbour, is left aground on the spring-tides so that she cannot go to sea or be floated off till the return of the next spring-tides.

NEAP-TIDES. A term from the Ang.-Sax. _nepflods_. They are but medium tides, in respect to their opposites, the springs, being neither so high, so low, nor so rapid. The phenomenon is owing to the attractions of the sun and moon then partly counteracting each other.

NEAR, AND NO NEAR. Synonymous terms used as a warning to the helmsman when too near the wind, not to come closer to it, but to keep the weather-helm in hand.

NEAT. _See_ NET, as commercial weight.

NEB. This word, the Ang.-Sax. _nebb_, face as well as nose, is sometimes used for _ness_ (which see). Also, a bird's beak.

NEBULA. An old term for a cl.u.s.ter of stars looking like a cloudy spot till separated by telescopic power; but the term is also now correctly applied to ma.s.ses of nebulous matter only.

NECESSARIES. Minor articles of clothing or equipment, prescribed by regulation, but provided by the men out of their own pay.

NECESSARY MONEY. An extra allowance formerly allowed to pursers for the coals, wood, turnery-ware, candles, and other necessaries provided by them.

NECESSITY. If a s.h.i.+p be compelled by necessity to change the order of the places to which she is insured, this is not deemed deviation, and the underwriters are still liable.

NECK. The elbow or part connecting the blade and socket of a bayonet.

_Goose-neck_, at the ends of booms, to connect them with the sides, or at the yard-arm for the studding-sail boom-iron.

NECK OF A GUN. The narrow part where the chase meets the swell of the muzzle.

NECKED. Tree-nails are said to be necked where they are cracked, bent, or nipped between the outside skin and the timbers of a vessel, whether from bad driving or severe straining.

NECKING. A small neat moulding at the foot of the taffrail over the light.

NECKLACE. A ring of wads placed round a gun, as sometimes practised, for readiness and stowage. Also, a strop round a lower mast carrying leading-blocks. Also, the chain necklace, to which the futtock-shrouds are secured in some vessels.

NECK OF LAND. Dividing two portions of water, or it may be the neck of a peninsula.

NECK OF THE CASCABLE. The part between the swell of the breech of a gun and the b.u.t.ton. Its narrowest part within the b.u.t.ton.

NECKUR. A Scandinavian sea-sprite, whence some derive our "Old Nick" in preference to St. Nicholas, the modern patron of sailors.

NEEDLE. The Ang.-Sax. _naedl_. (_See also_ MAGNETIC NEEDLE.)

NEEDLE-FISH. The shorter pipe-fish, stang, or sting, _Sygnathus acus_.

NEEDLE-GUN. One wherein the ignition for the cartridge is produced by the penetration of the detonating priming by a steel spike working in the lock. It is the Prussian musket.

NEEDLES. Used by sail-makers, are _seaming_, _bolt-rope_, or _roping_ needles, all three-sided, and of very fine steel.--The _Needles_ of the Isle of Wight are the result of cracks in the rocks, through which the sea has worn its way, as also at Old Harry, Swanage Bay. As the chalk formation stretches westward, the structure changes in hardness until at Portland we meet with Portland stone. In California many of the needle rocks are of volcanic origin; others again are basaltic columns.

NEGLECT. A charge not exceeding 3, from the wages of a seaman, in the Complete Book, for any part of the s.h.i.+p's stores lost overboard, or damaged, from his gross carelessness.

NEGLIGENCE. If agent or broker engages to do an act for another, and he either wholly neglects it, or does it unskilfully, an action on the case will lie against him.

NEGOTIATE, TO. The duty of a diplomatist; the last resource and best argument being now 12-ton guns.

NEGRO-BOAT. _See_ ALMADIA.

NEGROHEAD. Hard-rolled tobacco.

NEGRO-HEADS. The brown loaves issued to s.h.i.+ps in ordinary.

NELLY. _Diomedea spadicea_, a sea-bird of the family _Procellaridae_, which follows in the wake of a s.h.i.+p when rounding the Cape of Good Hope: it is very voracious of fat blubber.

NEPTUNE. A superior planet, recently discovered; it is the most distant member of the solar system yet known, and was revealed by the effect which its attraction had produced upon the movements of Ura.n.u.s; this was one of the most admirable solutions in modern mathematical science.

Neptune, so far as is yet known, has no satellites.

NEPTUNES. Large bra.s.s pans used in the Bight of Biafra for obtaining salt.

NEPTUNE'S GOBLETS. The large cup-shaped sponges found in the eastern seas; _Raphyrus patera_.

NEPTUNE'S SHEEP. Waves breaking into foam, called white horses.

NESS [Ang.-Sax. _naes_]. A projection of land, as Dungeness, Sheerness, &c. It is common in other European languages, as the French _nez_, Italian _naso_, Russian _noss_, Norwegian _naze_, &c. Our Dunnose is an example.

NEST. _See_ CROW'S NEST.

NET. In commerce, is the weight of a commodity alone, without the package.