The Sailor's Word-Book Part 55

CHOPPING-SEA. A synonym of _c.o.c.kling sea_ (which see).

CHOPT. Done suddenly in exigence; as, _chopt_ to an anchor.

CHORD. In geometry, is a line which joins the extremities of any arc of a circle.

CHOW-CHOW. Eatables; a word borrowed from the Chinese. It is supposed to be derived from _chou-chou_, the tender parts of cabbage-tree, bamboo, &c., preserved.

CHOWDER. The princ.i.p.al food in the Newfoundland bankers, or stationary fis.h.i.+ng vessels; it consists of a stew of fresh cod-fish, rashers of salt pork or bacon, biscuit, and lots of pepper. Also, a buccaneer's savoury dish, and a favourite dish in North America. (_See_ COD-FISHER'S CREW.) Chowder is a fish-seller in the western counties.

CHOWDER-HEADED. Stupid, or batter-brained.

CHRISTIAN. A gold Danish coin, value in England from 16_s._ to 16_s._ 4_d._

CHRISTIAN'S GALES. The tremendous storms in 1795-6, which desolated the fleet proceeding to attack the French West India Islands, under Admiral Christian.

CHROCKLE. A tangle or _thoro'put_ (which see).

CHRODANE. The Manx and Gaelic term for gurnet.

CHRONOMETER. A valuable time-piece fitted with a compensation-balance, adjusted for the accurate measurement of time in all climates, and used by navigators for the determination of the longitude.

CHRONOMETER RATE. The number of seconds or parts of seconds which it loses or gains per diem. (_See_ RATING.)

CHRUIN. A Gaelic term for masts.--_Chruin-spreie_, the bowsprit.

CHUB. The _Leuciscus cephalus_, a fresh-water fish.

CHUCK. A sea-sh.e.l.l. Nickname for a boatswain, "Old chucks." Also, an old word signifying large chips of wood.

CHUCKLE-HEADED. Clownishly stupid; lubberly.

CHULLERS. A northern name for the gills of a fish.

CHUNAM. Lime made of burned sh.e.l.ls, and much used in India for the naval store-houses. That made at Madras is of peculiarly fine quality, and easily takes a polish like white marble.

CHUNK. A coa.r.s.e slice of meat or bread; more properly _junk_. Also, the negro term for lumps of firewood.

CHUNTOCK. A powerful dignitary among the Chinese. (_See_ JANTOOK.)

CHURCH. The part of the s.h.i.+p arranged on Sunday for divine service.

CHURCH-WARDEN. A name given on the coast of Suss.e.x to the s.h.a.g or cormorant. Why, deponent sayeth not.

CHUTE. A fall of water or rapid; the word is much used in North America, wherever the nomenclature of the country retains traces of the early French settlers. (_See_ SHOOT.)

CILLS. Horizontal pieces of timber to ports or scuttles; mostly spelled _sills_ (which see). Generally p.r.o.nounced by sailors _sell_, as the port-sell.

CINGLE [from _cir-cingle_, a horse's belt]. A belt worn by seamen.

CINQUE-PORT. A kind of fis.h.i.+ng-net, having five entrances.

CINQUE PORTS, THE. These are five highly privileged stations, the once great emporiums of British commerce and maritime greatness; they are Dover, Hastings, Sandwich, Romney, and Hythe, which, lying opposite to France, were considered of the utmost importance. To these were afterwards added Winchelsea, Rye, and Seaford. These places were honoured with peculiar immunities and privileges, on condition of their providing a certain number of s.h.i.+ps at their own charge for forty days.

Being exempted from the jurisdiction of the Admiralty court, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is authorized to make rules for the government of pilots within his jurisdiction, and in many other general acts exceptions are provided to save the franchises of the Cinque Ports unimpeached. It is a singular fact that it has never been legally determined whether the Downs and adjacent roadsteads are included in the limits of the Cinque Ports. All derelicts found without the limits by Cinque Port vessels are droits of admiralty. This organization was nearly broken up in the late state reforms, but the Lord Warden still possesses some power and jurisdiction.

CIPHERING. A term in carpentry. (_See_ SYPHERED.)

CIRCLE. A plane figure bounded by a line called the circ.u.mference, everywhere equally distant from a point within it, called the centre.

CIRCLE OF PERPETUAL APPARITION. A circle of the heavens parallel to the equator, and at a distance from the pole of any place equal to the lat.i.tude: within this circle the stars never set.

CIRCLES, GREAT, LESSER, AZIMUTH, VERTICAL (which see).

CIRCLES OF LONGITUDE. These are great circles pa.s.sing through the poles of the ecliptic, and so cutting it at right angles.

CIRCULARS. Certain official letters which are sent to several persons, and convey the same information.

CIRc.u.mNAVIGATION. The term for making a voyage round the world.

CIRc.u.mPOLAR. A region which includes that portion of the starry sphere which remains constantly above the horizon of any place.

CIRc.u.mVALLATION, LINES OF. Intrenchments thrown up by a besieging army, outside itself, and round the besieged place, but fronting towards the country, to prevent interference from outside. This continuous method has gone out of favour, though some covering works of concentrated strength are still considered essential.

CIRRIPEDIA. A group of marine animals, allied to the crustacea. They are free and natatory when young, but in the adult state attached to rocks or some floating substance. They are protected by a multivalve sh.e.l.l, and have long ciliated curled tentacles, whence their name (_curl-footed_). The barnacles (_Lepas_) and the acorn-sh.e.l.ls (_Bala.n.u.s_) are familiar examples.

CIRRO-c.u.mULUS. This, the _sonder-cloud_, or system of small roundish clouds in the upper regions of the atmosphere, commonly moves in a different current of air from that which is blowing at the earth's surface. It forms the mackerel sky alluded to in the following distich:--

"A mack'rel sky and mares'-tails Make lofty s.h.i.+ps carry low sails."

CIRRO-STRATUS. Is the stratus of the upper regions of the atmosphere, heavier looking than the cirrus, but not so heavy as the stratus.

CIRRUS. The elegant modification of elevated clouds, usually termed mares'-tails (see the distich given at CIRRO-c.u.mULUS); otherwise the curl-cloud.

CISCO. A fish of the herring kind, of which thousands of barrels are annually taken and salted in Lake Ontario.

CISTERN. A reservoir for water placed in different parts of a s.h.i.+p, where a constant supply may be required. Also furnished with a leaden pipe, which goes through the s.h.i.+p's side, whereby it is occasionally filled with sea-water, and which is thence pumped up to wash the decks, &c.

CITADEL. A fortified work of superior strength, and dominating everything else, generally separated therefrom by an open s.p.a.ce of glacis or esplanade; often useful against domestic as well as foreign enemies.

CIVIL BRANCH. That department executed by civilians, as contradistinguished from the army or navy branch.

CIVILIANS. The surgeon, chaplain, purser or paymaster, a.s.sistant surgeons, secretary, and s.h.i.+p clerks, on board men-of-war.

CIVIL LORD. The lay or junior member of the admiralty board.

CIVIL WAR. That between subjects of the same realm, or between factions of the same state.

CLAIMANTS. Persons appealing to the jurisdiction of the admiralty court.

They are denominated colourable, or fair, according to the informality, or justice, of their claims.