The Sailor's Word-Book Part 192

PROMOVENT. The plaintiff in the instance-court of the admiralty.

p.r.o.nG. Synonymous with _beam-arm_ or _crow-foot_ (which see).

PROOF. The trial of the quality of arms, ammunition, &c., before their reception for service. Guns are proved by various examinations, and by the firing of prescribed charges; powder by examinations, and by carefully measured firings from each batch.

PROOFS OF PROPERTY. Attestations, letters of advice, invoices, to show that a s.h.i.+p really belongs to the subjects of a neutral state.

PROOF TIMBER. In naval architecture, an imaginary timber, expressed by vertical lines in the sheer-draught, to prove the fairness of the body.

PROPELLER. This term generally alludes to the Archimedean screw, or screw-propeller.

PROPER MOTION OF THE STARS. A movement which some stars are found to possess, independent of the apparent change of place due to the precession of the equinoxes, the accounting for which is as yet only ingenious conjecture.

PROPORTION. In naval architecture, the length, breadth, and height of a vessel, having a due consideration to her rate, and the object she is intended for.

PROPPETS. Those sh.o.r.es that stand nearly vertical.

PROSPECTIVE, OR PROSPECT GLa.s.s. An old term for a deck or hand telescope, with a terrestrial eye-piece. (_See_ SPY-GLa.s.s.)

PROTECTIONS, ON PAPER, against impressment, were but little regarded.

Yet seafaring men above 55, and under 18, were by statute exempted, as were all for the first two years of their going to sea, foreigners serving in merchant s.h.i.+ps or privateers, and all apprentices for three years.

PROTEST. A formal declaration drawn up in writing, and attested before a notary-public, a justice of the peace, or a consul in foreign parts, by the master of a merchant-s.h.i.+p, his mate, and a part of the s.h.i.+p's crew, after the expiration of a voyage in which the s.h.i.+p has suffered in her hull, rigging, or cargo, to show that such damage did not happen through neglect or misconduct on their part.

PROTRACTOR. An instrument for laying off angles on paper, having an open mark at the centre of the circle, with a radial leg, and vernier, which is divided into degrees (generally 90).

PROVE, TO. To test the soundness of fire-arms, by trying them with greater charges than those used on service.

PROVEDORE [Sp.] One who provided victuals for s.h.i.+ps.

PROVENDER. Though strictly forage, is often applied to provisions in general.

PROVISIONS. All sorts of food necessary for the subsistence of the army and navy. Those s.h.i.+pped on board for the officers and crew of any vessel, including merchant-s.h.i.+ps, are held in a policy of insurance, as part of her outfit.

PROVISO. A stern-fast or hawser carried to the sh.o.r.e to steady by. A s.h.i.+p with one anchor down and a sh.o.r.e-fast is moored _a proviso_. Also, a saving clause in a contract.

PROVOST-MARSHAL. The head of the military police. An officer appointed to take charge of prisoners at a court-martial, and to carry the sentences into execution. The executive and summary police in war.

PROW. Generally means the foremost end of a vessel. Also, a name for the beak of a xebec or felucca.

PUCKA. A word in frequent use amongst the English in the East Indies, signifying sterling, of good quality.

PUCKER. A wrinkled seam in sail-making. Also, anything in a state of confusion.

PUDDENING, OR PUDDING. A thick wreath of yarns, matting, or oak.u.m (called a _dolphin_), tapering from the middle towards the ends, grafted all over, and fastened about the main or fore masts of a s.h.i.+p, directly below the trusses, to prevent the yards from falling down, in case of the ropes by which they are suspended being shot away. Puddings are also placed on a boat's stem as a kind of fender; and also laid round the rings of anchors to prevent hempen cables or hawsers from chafing.

PUDDING AND DOLPHIN. A larger and lesser pad, made of ropes, and put round the masts under the lower yards.

PUDDLE-DOCK. An ancient pool of the Thames, the dirtiness of which afforded Jack some pointed sarcasms.

PUDDLING. A technical term for working clay to a plastic state in an inclosed s.p.a.ce, until it is of the requisite consistence for arresting the flow of water. A term in iron furnace work.

PUFF. A sudden gust of wind. A whistle of steam.

PUFFIN. The _Fratercula arctica_, a sea-bird with a singular bill, formerly supposed to be a bird in show, but a fish in substance, in consequence of which notion the pope permitted its being eaten in Lent.

PULAS. An excellent twine, made by the Malays from the _kaluwi_, a species of nettle.

PULL-AWAY-BOYS. A name given on the West Coast of Africa to the native Kroo-men, who are engaged by the s.h.i.+pping to row boats and do other work not suited to Europeans in that climate.

PULL FOOT, TO. To hasten along; to run.

PULLING. The act of rowing with oars; as, "Pull the starboard oars,"

"Pull together."

PULL-OVER. An east-country term for a carriage-way.

PULO. The Malay word for island, and frequently met with in the islands of the Eastern seas.

PULWAR. A commodious kind of pa.s.sage-boat on the Ganges.

PUMMEL. The hilt of a sword, the end of a gun, &c.--_To pummel._ To drub or beat.

PUMP. A well-known machine used for drawing water from the sea, or discharging it from the s.h.i.+p's pump-well.--_Chain-pump_, consists of a long chain, equipped with a sufficient number of metal discs armed with leather, fitting the cylinders closely, and placed at proper distances, which, working upon two wheels, one above deck and the other below, in the bottom of the hold, pa.s.ses downward through a copper or wooden tube, and returning upward through another, continuously lifts portions of water. It is worked by a long winch-handle, at which several men may be employed at once; and it thus discharges more water in a given time than the common pump, and with less labour.--_Main pumps._ The largest pumps in a s.h.i.+p, close to the main-mast, in contradistinction to _bilge pumps_, which are smaller, and intended to raise the water from the bilges when a s.h.i.+p is laying over so that it cannot run to the main pump-well. _Hand-pump_, is the distinctive appellation of the common small pump. Superseded by Downton and others.

PUMP-BARREL. The wooden tube which forms the body of the machine, and wherein the piston moves.

PUMP-BOLTS. Saucer-headed bolts to attach the brake to the pump-standard and pump-spear.

PUMP-BRAKE. The handle or lever of the old and simplest form of pump.

PUMP-CARLINES. The framing or partners on the upper deck, between which the pumps pa.s.s into the wells.

PUMP-CHAINS. The chains to which the discs, &c., are attached in the chain-pump.

PUMP-CISTERNS. Are used to prevent chips and other matters getting to, and fouling the action of, the chain-pumps.

PUMP-COAT. A piece of stout canvas nailed to the pump-partners where it enters the upper deck, and lashed to the pump, to prevent the water from running down when was.h.i.+ng decks, &c.

PUMP-DALES. Pipes or long wooden spouts extending from the chain-pumps across the s.h.i.+p, and through each side, serving to discharge the water without wetting the decks.

PUMP-FOOT. The lower part, or well-end, of a pump.

PUMP-GEAR. A term implying any materials requisite for fitting or repairing the pumps, as boxes, leather, &c.

PUMP-HOOK. An iron rod with an eye and a hook, used for drawing out the lower pump-box when requisite.

PUMPKIN, OR POMPION. _Cucurbita pepo_, a useful vegetable for sea use.