In blowing weather or heavy tides, if a small hawser be carried round the ship outside all,-the bight being made fast to the bowsprit cap, suspended on both sides from each lower yardarm and spanker boom end by whips with bowline knots and the ends reaching the water astern, -boats may not fear to make for the ship anywhere without running against her; for whilst the hawser is out of the gangways triced up when not in use, the quarter-master of the watch can drop it on top of a boat, and avoid the frequently too late cry for a boat rope.

Wet warps require careful seizings. Whilst hauling ships about the harbour we never see the warps laid out by the dockyard riggers (however wet), slip or come adrift. Their plan is worth notice. They make four parts of their spun yarn seizing, take a round turn with the bight of this round the standing part of the hawsers, then pass the seizing (figure of eight fashion) round the hitched end and standing part, then cross it opposite ways with two parts each way, reeve the ends through the bights and drag all the turns taut.

A quick way to preserve warps or small cables from injury is to reeve them through your spare gun trucks, clapping a "bear a hand" mowsing on each side.

Boats should have their particular recall, the general recall, their distinguishing pendant, a "pull to starboard" pendant, a "pull to port" pendant, the "answering " pendant, and a "you go very well" pendant, painted on a board fastened on their inside in some safe place. Boats may be manoeuvred with much effect with these few "general signals."

Before going alongside a vessel under weigh, observe if she have head or sternway, and in any case get the masts down before closing her; otherwise, if the bowman fail to catch hold, and the mast head be fouled, a capsise is nearly a certainty.

A metal crutch fitted to each boat to ship on the stern, so as to steer with an oar when the rudder is wanting, is a most useful" stand-by."

Numerous rope ladders facilitate boat work materially: stern and quarter ones are indispensable.

Having quarter and stern boats' tackles kept overhauled down in the absence of the boats, prevents delay in hoisting, dispenses with an unsightly pile of gear in the mizen chains,

and is a great saving of men's clothes, who otherwise must soil a suit in stopping up.

The quarter tackles may be becketed to eye bolts in the bends, keeping clear of port edges, else they chafe; and the stern tackles to the rudder bolts.

In being towed by a vessel, if alongside, contrive to have the rope from as far forward as possible, so as to avoid riding at a short stay never make it fast, but toggle it with a stretcher through the aftermost of the foremost sling bolts, so as to be able to slip in an instant. Steady it near the stem with the bight of the lazy painter passed over it.

If being towed astern, the closer the better. And when about to be cast off, either be dropped astern clear of other boats, or be handy with your oars, so as to shoot out clear of other boats which may be in tow.

Do not permit other boats to hang on by your boat. If other ropes are not supplied, get more of your own towline, and after securing its bight, as before said, pass its end aft; and if it is not long enough, bend the nearest boat's warp on to it, otherwise your stern or stem will be dragged out.

The quick way to run a short warp out, is for one boat to run away with the end, and the others to pull in fore and aft under the bights as they are payed out at equal distances according to the length of the warp and number of boats, giving way the moment they have got hold.

In all cases, when you take in the end of a warp, coil enough of it forward, so as to be able to make a bend the instant your boat reaches the place you wish to make fast to.

It is hardly possible to lay a heavy warp out without floating its bight. If there is a chance of its being suddenly tautened, hang it outside the boat, instead of laying it fore and aft amidships.

In running warps out, the whole warp is sometimes coiled in the boat, and the end being made fast to some desirable place, the boat makes for the ship; in other cases, a part only is coiled in the boat, and she carries the warp from the ship to the place to which it is to be secured. Whichever way it be, there is great judgment required in reserving a sufficiency of hawser in the boat to ensure that she will reach her destination, only paying

out when certain of doing so. It is from this necessity for judging the distance by the eye, that we have the term "guess warp."

Stern boats are best fitted when they have runners as well as tackles, the runners being passed after the boat is hoisted up by the tackles. The tackles are then unhooked, and the boat is

lowered by the runners.*

All standing parts of gripes of outside boats should be fitted with slips, the falls kept in separate racks, and one boat's binnacle, at least, kept on deck ready for use.

CHAP. XXIII.

ANCHORING.

SHIPS on being discovered within signal distance of the senior officer are required to show their number, and on this being recognised, that officer gives the ship her pendants; and although a fresh ship may try to reply with the answering pendant, he will not be satisfied until the pendants be repeated by the ship herself, as an evidence of a clear understanding. In this case of signalling the answering pendant is not used. There are other signals which, if replied to by the pendant, would also imply inexperience.

Local signals, or temporary additions to the signal books, general orders, and copies of the pendant board and squadron routine, should be procured without delay after joining company.

If ordered to anchor on a certain bearing, it is intended that the ship to which the signal is made, is to bear, when anchored, in that direction from the ship making the signal; and if with

*No mechanical contrivance can or does excel a simple well handled runner for lowering boats. There is no complication in a clear rope's end and a large round thimble, and this is all that is required for dropping a boat at full speed.

open hawse to a certain point, it is to be understood that the anchors are to be laid out at right angles to that point.

MOORING.

It must not be supposed that merely letting go two anchors, as in mooring, makes a ship safer. What then is the reason for doing so?

If a ship let go her single anchor (say in twelve fathoms) in the very centre of a harbour which we will call about two hundred fathoms wide, and steep to all round, and then veered one hundred fathoms of cable, she would occupy every part of the harbour, as the wind or current happened to move her.

If it be desired to keep her stationary in the centre, shortening the cable into twelve fathoms would not effect it, for the first puff of wind would cause her to start her anchor.

But let us ascertain from what quarter the prevailing heaviest winds blow; weigh, haul over, and let go an anchor in that direction one hundred fathoms from the centre: then with a warp haul the ship over in the very opposite direction, veering the cable two hundred fathoms from the last position, and then let go the second anchor. Now heave in one hundred fathoms of the first cable, veering one hundred on the last, and we shall have got the ship moored in a stationary position in the centre of the harbour; and many other ships (suppose one on each side) may share the harbour by similar means, as shown by the full lined ships in fig. 215.

Whether we moor with a whole, or merely half a cable each way, or lay the anchors out in any direction (so long as they are in opposite ones, and one cable is moderately taut before we let go the second anchor) is of no consequence as far as concerns the principle we are considering.

Now with regard to the direction. Say that the prevailing gales are northerly, and one comes on from that quarter so heavy that we should veer cable. If the other ships have attended properly to this contingency, all may veer simultaneously without fouling each other, and the riding cable of each ship will grow straight to their weather anchors: in other words, they will all have open berths and open hawse, as shown by the dotted line ships in fig. 215.

It is clear that with a long scope of cable, we have all the additional weight of the chain in our favour, that the ship's bows are less dragged downwards than at a short stay, and the pull on the anchor being horizontal, the palm bites all the harder. When we wish to make the best use of our power, we must get as close to the resistance as possible. We do not want to move the anchor; and some officers prefer veering even as much as two cables on end to letting go other anchors. The weathermost ship in the sketch is at a "short stay:" she is displacing great quantities of water, sustaining proportionate shocks, shipping heavy seas, straining her cable, and breaking her anchor out of the ground. (Fig. 216.)

Now suppose that one or both of the other ships had moored without regard to the position of our anchors and the direction of the prevailing gales. As long as the weather was fine, and we did not want to move, it would be of no great consequence, as shown by the full-lined ships in fig. 217.

But we want to move. B, has overlaid our south anchor, and,

EAST