In hooking on in the boat, see the turns out of the tackles; and in hooking on the stays aloft, remember that Fig. 183. launches have come down in consequence of the stay having been hooked with a kink, although the hooks were of faultless construction and proportion. (Fig. 183.) Put luffs on the off side anchor stock and main rigging for hauling the boat over with. If there is a choice, put the short leg of the fore slings forward. The objection to short spans with rope applies also to chain; and slings may be lengthened with some stream chain shackles. Four hands will be sufficient in the boat, after she is baled out and prepared for hoisting.

Foul hook.

Lead the falls so that the men will never be under the boat when she is over the deck. Have leading men to pass lizards, connect ends of purchases, stopper, and belay; as well as seconds to the belaying men, whose duty will be to "light to," whilst taking the turn, and pay the fall clear in lowering. Working on an upper deck, it answers well in coming in to put the men belonging to the fore part of the ship on the main-yard, and those belonging to the after part on the fore-yard, as, when the yards are high enough, all hands will be on their own stations ready for stays or other duty.

Run the slack of the stays in as the boat rises, yet without bending her to the side. When there is much slack left to run away with, the chances are in favour of a bight getting well into the swallow of the lower block before the men can be stopped; the boat will then be carried in by one part of rope, and a heavy surge is then inevitable. The men in the boat must be warned to sit tight, and then the stays let go. The higher the yards are hoisted, the greater will be the strain on the fore-yard. Commence easing in the fore-yard as soon as the fore-stay is bearing weight. When the keel is high enough to clear the crutches, haul over with the off guys. If the boat is required to go forward, slack the main-stay; if aft, the fore-stay. If there are two launches, hoist the off side one in first; don't wait for a few inches as to fore and aft line; go on with the other, and complete the duty afterwards with the stays. In hoisting out, take the nearest launch first, for reasons mentioned above. The purchase should be triced up and unhooked the instant it has

done its duty, without waiting for stays, and the men who are stationed at the lizards should remain in the futtocks ready to inspect or disconnect their gear. If braces and tackles are satisfactorily arranged, put bracing in and hoisting marks on the gear, remembering that the higher the boat is hoisted, not only is there more time occupied, but the fore-yard is more strained. The officer carrying on forward is too frequently changed in his station to be enabled to tell by the eye; but a boatswain of the genuine kind will pride himself on grazing the waist nettings.

When hoisting out in a tide or sea way, have a boat-rope passed from forward led outside all, and bent to the boat before she touches the water.

Yard tackle pendants become very much injured in the splice of the eye by wet, and the falls by chafe when kept aloft; besides being no handier than when kept on deck with a whip on the yard for their use. If kept on deck, fit the end with a thimble and hook, and have a strop made of two parts of rope marled together in the thimble, with a thimble in its bight large enough to take the hook. Make this strop long enough to go round the yard, bend the yard whip two feet down the pendant, and stop the strop up on the whip.

Top burtons are usually used for preventer lifts, and are difficult to carry out to the lower yard-arms, especially when topped much. A spare lift, formed of a piece of thick rope having a hook and strop with a thimble at each end, has been found to answer well. This is kept middled over the lower cap. When required, one end is hauled out to the yard-arm by a small line, the strop passed round the arm and hooked, whilst the other end is set up with a lanyard in the top. If the topmen neglect making it very taut, the standing lift may be checked as the tackles are hauled taut.

Snatches on the lower yard-arms are convenient for scoring top-mast stud halyards in for yard-whips. Keep a hank on the halyard with a line fast to it. Carry the line out to yard-arm; after cutting the stop of the halyards, haul out and score them; the end of the halyard being on deck, is all ready for bending on.

Barges and pinnaces are hoisted in with the yard tackles and stays alone; and, bearing in mind how frequent is this operation and the constant exposure of this gear, every opportunity for

examining the eye at the yard-arm, and the state of the falls and blocks, should be taken.

In very large sailing ships the barge and pinnace are stowed on each bow of the launch; but in others all three are abreast, and so crowd the gangways that it is necessary to work many ropes on the main-deck. They may be fitted thus:

Put the launch in her place; stow the booms. Support her by curved crutches, the heels of which work in pairs of lugs on the skid-beams, and the tops in clamps which fit on the rubbingstreak; these clamps have lugs between which the point of the crutch enters, and is secured there by a pin through all parts; thus the clamp pivots, and the crutch pivots. Have three of these crutches on each side of the boat, and let them be long enough to bear taut against her; fit all the thwarts of the launch and barge to unship; fit the stern gratings to ship on ledges fastened fore and aft, about eight inches apart. Let this vacancy be filled by a board when the boat is in use; the gratings are fixtures.

Put the barge inside the launch; her keel will enter between the grating ledges. Put chocks between the outside of the barge and inside of the launch in the wake of the crutches. Put the pinnace inside the barge, and in like manner her keel will stand all along on the barge's keelson.

In making these arrangements, take care that the thwarts are not turned with the points of their finger bolts downwards; and lay the oars on each side on the bight of a piece of rope from the gunnel; so that when the inside boat is out, they may be parbuckled up to the gunnel whilst the thwarts are being shipped.

In hoisting the launch in, the crutches are held nearly upright; and the clamps being turned back, their inside ends catch her side whilst being lowered, and drop into their place.

The crushing power and consequent security of these crutches may easily be shown by starting the chocks on which the keel rests: when borne by them alone, her sides would be actually stove in.

These fitments were first adopted in the "Thetis," and then carried out in the "Phaeton," and "Arethusa;" and when it was demonstrated that the boats preserved their shape, could be manned and armed from the booms without delay, that the gangways admitted of working three guns brought from an unengaged side, that the spars were always come-at-able, that the boats

were less in the way in their place on the booms than in the water, and that the rain awning could be spread at sea as well as in harbour, besides affording at quarters a very commanding position for small-arm men,- were greatly approved of.

Fig. 184.

Boom boats stowed in one.

Launch, 36 feet; Barge, 32 feet; Pinnace, 30 feet.

Deck clear of skids on each side, 8 ft. 10 in.

The dotted line shows the position of the crutch when hoisting the launch in.

CHAP. XVII.

SAILS.

ALL canvass used in the navy is flaxen, made in cloths of 40 yards in length, and in breadths of 2 feet and 18 inches. These cloths are rolled up in separate packages, called bolts. The stoutest being No. 1, from which the canvass increases in fineness, and diminishes in strength to No. 8.

Sails derive their name from the mast, yard, or stay, upon which they are set: and excepting the jibs and spanker are made up of 2 feet wide canvass.

In all square sails, the upper part is called the head; the lower the foot, the sides the leeches, the lower corners, the clues; and the upper corners, the earings.

In fore and aft sails, such as the spanker, boom main sail, trysail, the upper inner corner is called the nock, the outer the peek, the lower inner corner the tack, and the outer one, the clue or sheet. In such as jibs, the upper corner is the head, the outer the tack, and the inner the sheet.

The cloths are sewn with sail twine, the seams being double : those of courses, topsails, lower stay sails, trysails, and spanker are 1 inch wide, and stuck (treble seamed down the middle of the seam); those of other sails are 1 inch wide. There are about 140 stitches to each yard; and one man can sew 100 yards in 9 hours single seam.

The foot of a course is roached, so as to clear the deck; and in all sails, those cloths which are cut in any other direction than straight across with the thread (or woof), are said to be gored.

Sails are supplied ready made, only requiring fitting with points, earings, bowline bridles, beckets, robands. Their edges are tabled, and stitched to the bolt rope. The tabling of large

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