brace sharp aback the head yards, and haul out the lee bow-lines; then shiver the after sails, and keep them shaking as she falls off, which she will rapidly do by the position of the helm and sails. The wind aft and round upon the other quarter, brace up the after yards; haul aft the mizen and mizen staysail sheets; get on board the main-tack, and trim sharp the after yards. As she comes to, trim sharp the head yards, haul out the bow-lines, and right the helm.

To Club-haul a Ship.

Club-hauling is practised when it is expected that a ship will refuse stays upon a lee shore. To execute it, bend a hawser from the lee quarter to a kedge-anchor, prepared for letting go from the lee bow now place the hands to their stations for putting the ship about, and let hands stand by the anchor; then put the helm down, and should the ship make a stand before she brings the wind ahead, let go the anchor and haul the mainsail. When the wind is ahead, cut the hawser, and the ship will cast the way required. The after sails full, let go and haul.

To make a Stern Board.

To make a stern board, haul down the jib and fore topmast staysail, luff the ship to the wind, and brace sharp aback the yards fore and aft; and when stern-way commences, shift the helm aweather.

The Manner of acting in a Squall.

The manner of acting in a squall depends so much on the moment, and on the judgment of the commanding officer, that it is difficult to prefix any precise rules. Every officer should remember, that all accidents which happen through his persisting to carry sail in a squall entirely appertain to himself. The vigilant seaman should ever be attentive to the weather; and if he sees any clouds arise which he has reason to suspect carry wind with them, let him make the ship snug. For instance: suppose the ship under a crowd of sail with a beaming wind, let the small sails, studding sails and spanker be taken in; and should the weather still continue to gather, and a hard squall be expected, let the topgallant sails be furled; the jib be hauled down, and stowed; the mizen topsail lowered down, and the lee clew-garnet of the mainsail hauled up: then place hands by the topsail haliards, and wait the expected wind. Should it come on to blow very strong, keep the ship off from the wind, and lower away the topsails; when, either reef or hand, as is thought necessary.

The Manner of acting when a Ship is brought by the Lee.

When a ship is brought by the lee, it is generally occasioned by neglect of the helmsman during a high sea and a quartering wind. Thus the careless helmsman, by yawing off the ship to leeward of her course, brings the sea upon the other quarter, which, striking the ship with violence, forces her stern round, and causes the wind to come broad on the opposite beam, throwing all the sails flat to the mast. Should the ship continue her way, she will, in all probability, recover her situation by the assistance of the helm, and brailing up the mizen and mizen staysail; but should she lose her way, it will be necessary to brace about the after yards, and even sometimes the head yards, to give her fresh way through the water, when she will veer; then trim as before.

To box a Ship off, and the Method of acting when taken aback.

If a ship is in the wind, through the neglect of the helmsman, or through the wind coming suddenly more ahead, by putting the helm aweather, and brailing up the mizen and mizen staysail, if she has headway remaining, she will fall off; but should the headway be at an end, she must be boxed off: to do which, put the helm alee,-raise the fore tack and sheet, -brace sharp round the head yards, and haul out the lee bow-lines in this position of the sails and helm, she must inevitably fall round off upon her heel. The after sails being full again, brace about the head yards, right the helm, and trim sharp as before; but should a ship be taken flat aback, or through neglect in not timely boxing her off, it should cause the wind to be_broad upon the other bow, and it should be the wish of the officer to have her upon the same tack as before, then put the helm over to that side which just before was the weather; brail up the mizen and mizen staysail : raise the main tack and sheet, and square the after yards. In this situation of the helm and sails, she will pay round off upon her heel; and when she has brought the wind aft, and gathered headway, shift the helm. The wind round upon the other quarter, haul aft the mizen and mizen staysail sheets, brace up the after yards, get on board the main tack, and haul aft the sheet. As she comes to, right the helm, and trim sharp as before.

Upon Lying to.

Lying to may be effected several ways.

The art is to pro

duce a balance between the head and after sails, so that their

effects shall counteract each other. When lying to is intended, the courses are generally hauled up, as being incommodious.

To Heave to under the Topsails.

A ship being close hauled under the topsails, mizen, mizen staysail and jib, it is required to heave her to. Thus situated, it is only throwing the main topsail to the mast, and putting the helm a little alee; but should the officer wish to prevent her from forereaching, let the mizen topsail be thrown sharp aback to the mast, and the helm be righted.

Another method is to throw the fore topsail square to the mast, and to put the helm a little alee; and should she forereach too much, let the mizen topsail be braced sharp aback, and the helm be righted.

REMARKS.

As a ship will forereach while she is laying to with only one topsail aback, she may be kept to the wind by the power of the helm ; but with two topsails aback, she will sometimes go ahead and sometimes astern, therefore it will be improper to keep the helm either way. For this reason she must be kept to the wind by the assistance of the sails; and as the action of a sail is perpendicular to its surface, the main and mizen topsail being braced sharp aback must contribute a very great lateral force upon the ship's stern to keep her to the wind. Again, when the fore topsail is braced aback only square, it acts with no lateral power to pay off the ship's head, while the mizen topsail, by being sharp aback, keeps her to the wind. If the ship lies well to the wind, the jib had better be kept up in readiness to veer her.

In different situations, both the foregoing methods of lying to have their particular advantages. If a ship is to be brought to, to windward of another, the first method should be practised, as then she will be in readiness to fill and shoot clear of the ves sel to leeward, should she drift too near her; but if the ship is to be brought to, to leeward of another, let the second method be practised, for, should the windward vessel drift too near, by bracing sharp aback the head yards, and shivering the mizen topsail, the ship will fall round off upon her heel.

Of Lying to in a Gale of Wind.

When a ship upon a wind is obliged to reduce almost the whole of her sails, through hard blowing weather, she is said to be lying to, and the more her bow can be presented to the wind and sea the better, as she will have less drift. The mode of effecting this, is as circumstances may require. If a ship is

to be brought to in a part where other vessels may be expected to be sailing in a contrary direction, the best sails to lie to under are, a reefed fore topsail, mizen staysail, and storm-mizen, with the helm so much alee as is found best to answer the purpose. The reason for not putting the helm hard alee, which is the usual custom, is this, that when the helm is hard alee she will come up in the wind and shake the sails, causing her to get stern-way, and fall round off. On the contrary, were the helm never put so far over as to oblige the ship to come up in the wind, she would come to and fall off much less a ship thus brought to will be in readiness for veering in case of necessity. Where there is good sea room, a reefed mainsail, storm-mizen, and mizen staysail, are excellent sails to lie to under, as a ship will keep to the wind under these sails without much of the lee helm, and for that reason be very little subject to fall off or come to in any considerable quantity.

If the sea be extremely high, and the ship very stiff and la- . bouring, she will lie to better under a main, and even a mizen topsail, which will prevent her rolling so rapidly by their lofty situation; and as the sails are much above the sea, they are not likely to be becalmed.

If a ship is to be brought to in those latitudes where a sudden shift of wind is expected, the course staysails are the best sails to lieto under, as then a vessel is in readiness for either tack, let the wind come as it may; and should one of these staysails be blown away, it will very little affect the ship.

REMARK.

The topsails are certainly superior to the courses for lying to under, as they can be readily braced about, and are much easier to take in. If topsails be used for this purpose, it will be found convenient to have a fourth reef, of such a depth as to admit the sail to be a taught leech, with the yard a foot or two off the cap; and as this part of the sail is intended for more boisterous weather than the rest, it must be made of stouter canvass.

Upon Reefing.

Reefing smartly depends upon practice, and stationing the people to advantage.

In blowing weather, taking in a reef is often attended with considerable time and labour, from not sufficiently spilling the sail. To get in a second and third reef, when blowing hard and sailing large, it will be necessary to clew up the sail, and brace it as much to the wind as possible, and to bring the ship to the wind in a small degree, if it can be done without hazard. Upon a wind, a second reef may generally be taken in without clew

ing up the sail, but a third reef seldom. If the sail be not clewed up, the officer should be careful to haul the buntlines well taught, to prevent the sails flying up and beating the people off the yard. In reefing a course, the points are generally crossed over the head of the sail and round the yard; as the purport of this does not appear material, and as it takes up much time, when expedition is required, it had better be dispensed with.

Upon Scudding before the Wind in a Hard Gale.

As the wind is perceived to increase, and a gale of wind is expected nearly in the direction of the course, from the appearance of the weather and the latitude of the ship, all expedition must be made to prepare the vessel for scudding before the wind and sea. Let the reefs be taken in, and the sails be furled in time. Let the top-gallant yards and masts, mizentopsail yard, mizen-gaff, and cross-jack yard be got down upon deck, that the ship may be as snug as possible. Let preventerbraces be rove for the lower yards, and let rolling tackles be hooked to all the yards, and bowsed well taught.

Should the sea run extremely high, there must be no dread of carrying sail, to give the ship as much head-way as possible, lest the sea should strike the ship with violence abaft.

The best sails for scudding under, are a reefed foresail, and double or close reefed main topsail; if these sails will stand the gale, there will be little danger of the masts.

As, in scudding, the safety of the ship depends upon good steerage, great care must be taken to have excellent helmsmen, a compass by the tiller, and careful people to attend the relieving tackles, as, either through want of experience in the helmsmen, or the breaking of a tiller rope, the ship may be broached to, and many ill consequences follow. The officer of the deck should be careful to have the fore-sheets and preventerbraces clear, with hands to attend them; for should the helmsman broach to the ship by bringing the wind so much on either side as to touch the sails, the head yards must be immediately braced up and should the tiller rope break with no relieving tackles hooked, or any accident happen to the tiller, the after yards must be braced up, the foresail taken in, and the ship hove to under the mizen stay sail while the mischief is repairing.

Upon Steering.

As a compass suffers much agitation from the motion of a vessel, and does not return sufficiently quick to its parallelism to point out the absolute position of the vessel's head, good