Stay-PEAK, is when a cable is drawn in until it is almost perpendicular, and is called long or short, according to the angle which it makes from the perpendicular.

PITCH. Page 345, col. 2, after line 49, add, Pitch is properly the juice of the wild pine, or pitch-tree; and is conceived to be no other than the oil thereof inspissated, and turned black, farther than in the balsam.

The best is that brought from Sweden and Norway. Its goodness consists in its being of a glossy black colour, dry, and brittle.

PLANK-Sheers, or Plan-Sheers, in ship-building, are the pieces of plank wrought horizontally over the heads of the timbers of the fore-castle, quarter-deck, and round-house, for the purpose of covering the top of the side; hence sometimes called covering-boards. POLE, or POLAR-STAR. Page 349, col. 2, after the last line, add,

Mr. Pond, the present astronomer royal, has published a table of the north polar distances of 44 of the principal fixed stars; which he conceives to be much more accurate than any that has hitherto been offered to astronomers. The maximum of error, he thinks, seldom exceeds half a second, and only in four cases amounts to one second; e. gr. the polar star in summer is 1° 41′ 22′′ 07, and in winter, 1° 41′ 21′′ 47 from the north pole of the heavens.

Page 350, col. 1, after line 44, add, PONTOON, or PONTON, a kind of flat-bottomed boat, whose carcass of wood is lined within and without with tin. The French pontoons, and those of most other powers, are covered on the outside with strong copper plates, without any inside lining, and these have the advantage of our's, because copper is much stronger than tin, and is not damaged by rust. pontoons are 21 feet 6 inches long, 4 feet 9 inches broad, and 3 feet deep within.

Our

General Congreve's wooden pontoons are 26 feet long at top, 23 at bottom, 2 feet 8 inches deep, and 2 feet 3 inches wide.

PONTOON-Bridge, is made of pontoons, slipped into the water, and placed about five or six feet asunder, each fastened with an anchor, when the river has a strong current, or to a strong rope that goes across the river, and runs through the rings of the pontoons. Each boat has an anchor, cable, baulks, and chesses.

The baulks are about 5 or 6 inches square, and 22 feet 8 inches long. The chesses are boards joined together by wooden bars, about 3 feet broad and 12

The baulks are laid across the pontoons feet long. at some distance from one another, and the chesses upon them joined close. When several of these are thus connected, they form one firm, uniform bridge, by means of which a train of artillery, cavalry, infantry, &c. may pass over a river, arm of the sea, &c. If pontoons, &c. are wanting, bridges are formed of empty casks or barrels that support baulks and planks.

PONTOON-Carriage is made with two wheels only, and two long side-pieces, whose fore-ends are supported by a limber: it serves to carry the pontoon, boards, cross-timbers, anchors, and every thing else necessary for making a bridge.

PORTS. Page 351, cól. 2, after line 15, add, The lower and upper edges of the ports are always parallel to the deck, so that the guns, when levelled in their carriages, are all equally high above the lower extremity of the ports, which is called the port-sils.

PROVOST-MARTIAL. Page 359, col. 2, after line 39, add,

The office of provost-martial is frequently held by the master at arms of the flag-ship at the port, and he generally receives his warrant to act as such on the day appointed for the court-martial to take place, which warrant is signed by the president of the

court.

PURSER. Page 365, col. 2, after line 11, add, By an order in council of the 26th of July, 1814, it was resolved that, "in order to prevent any improvident or unnecessary increase of the number of pursers, and at the same time to ensure the appointment of such persons only as may be duly qualified for the duties of the situation, no person shall be warranted as purser, until the number of pursers be reduced below the number of ships on the list of the royal navy (exclusive of such as are building and have not been launched), and that hereafter the number of pursers shall never exceed the number of such ships.

And in order to give a greater respectability to the situation of this class of officers, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent has been graciously pleased to confer on pursers of the royal navy the same rank as granted by his Majesty's order in council of the 25th of January, 1805, to the surgeons of the fleet."

R.

RATE of Sailing. Page 386, col. 2, after line 2, add,

To shew the velocity of a ship under sail, it may be proper to state under this article the result of three voyages, recently made by his Majesty's frigates Medusa and Caroline, and brig Actéon.

The Actéon, Captain Cator, in the course of 18 months, ending the 29th of February, 1812, sailed from England to the Cape of Good Hope, twice; to the Isle of France, twice; and to Bengal, once; comprising in the whole distance, per log, 53,152 miles, which is nearly 100 per day.

The Caroline, Captain Cole, made a remarkable quick passage home from India, in 94 days, seven of which she was becalmed. The Medusa, Sir John Gore, after taking out the late Marquis Cornwallis, as governor, came home from India in 84 days (averaging 160 miles per day), which perhaps was the quickest voyage ever made.

RATING. Page 386, col. 2, after line 14, add, The captain is to observe that none are to be rated as ordinary, who have not been twelve months at sea, and able to perform some of the duties of a seaman; nor to be rated as able who have not been three years at sea, and capable of performing most of the duties of a seaman; and that none are to be rated as master's mates or midshipmen who have not been three years at sea, either in the navy or merchant-service. RED-HOT SHOT. Page 388, col. 1, after line 51, add,

They were used on shore with great effect against the Spanish floating batteries, which were bombproof, at the late siege of Gibraltar; and at sea by the French in the action with Lord Howe, on the 1st of June, 1794; and again by the combined fleets of France and Spain in the battle of Trafalgar, with the celebrated Lord Nelson, on the 21st of October, 1805.

REFRACTION. Page 394, col. 2, after line 21, add, If the result or the co-latitude be not always the same, some of the corrections must be faulty, supposing the observations to be accurately performed. According to Mr. Groombridge, who is one of our most accurate astronomers, the correction of refrac. tion, as deduced by Bradley's formula, is erroneous; not, however, exactly as that great man gave it, but altered according to the suggestion of the late Dr. Maskelyne, in its numerical co-efficient.

Mr. Groombridge states, that, by his observations of different circumpolar stars, and of the same star in different states of the thermometer, there seems to require a small alteration in the numbers of Dr. Bradley's formula for refraction.

The formula so altered is, Refraction=56", 9 × tang. { Zen, dis. — 3, 2 ref. } × height of barometer 500

+

450+ther.

29,6 By means of this formula, the observations of circumpolar stars considerably distant give the same co-latitude to a great degree of exactness.'

Congreve's ROCKETS. Page 410, col. 1, after line 32. add,

By means of Colonel (now General) Congreve's rockets, as much may be accomplished in a few minutes by a few small vessels, as, in the ordinary mode of naval bombardment, would be the work of hours, with the same number of the largest bomb-vessels.

Thus it is possible to equip a gun-brig so as to discharge twenty 32-pounder rockets in a broadside, firing them as quick as may be desired in succession. Ten gun-brigs so equipped, therefore, would in the same space of a few minutes, discharge 200 such rockets, each equal, or rather, as has been proved, superior to a 10-inch spherical carcass; whereas, 10 ships would not throw the same number of spherical carcasses in less than two hours; during which time,

the gun-brigs would be able to repeat their broadsides at least five or six times, throwing in that time not less than 1,000 or 1,200 rockets, which convey nearly four tons of combustible matter.

For a naval attack, therefore, of any strongly fortified town or harbour, where the object is the conflagration of the town or shipping, it surely is not presuming too much, to say, if the reasoning on the powers of the rocket is admitted, that there is no weapon at present known which possesses the same powers.

But there is even a stronger case which may be put, where, for instance, it is desirable, for the sake of security, and on account of any particular formidable defence on the part of the enemy, to perform any such service, absolutely by a coup de main, and in the shortest possible time-20 gun-brigs would discharge, in one broadside, 400 rockets, and this number would make an impression on any place; nor is there any thing difficult in supposing the employment of 20 gun-brigs in such an exploit; whereas, to accomplish the same thing by mortars in the same time, would require no less than 200 mortar vessels, a number totally impracticable on all accounts. For services of this description, General Congreve, therefore, does not hesitate to affirm, that were this wea. pon properly put into the hands of the navy, its importance would be extreme. In short, every vessel, and every boat in the navy, becomes capable of the powers of the bomb-vessel, as far as throwing carcasses is concerned, by having only a few boxes of rockets and a frame put on board.

For Naval Purposes. A launch fitted with a frame to discharge two rocket carcasses of the largest natures in a volley, either rowing or under sail, shew, that by means of the rocket, the boats of the navy may then be made to possess the power of the largest bomb-vessel as to the throwing of carcasses..

It is asserted that General Congreve's rockets are by no means subject to be easily damaged in the seaservice. Rockets which were kept on board for three years have been fired, and are not found to have lost in the least, either as to range or any other power; nor is any danger to be apprehended from them when kept in store, as it is impossible they can be ignited except by positive design to do so.

By the report of an experiment tried at Malta, by order of Sir Sidney Smith, it is asserted, "That one of these rockets ranging 2350 yards, struck a stone wall in falling, penetrated it, and broke several large stones in pieces, and that the carcass burnt well." Also, by the report of Baron Ehen, after the capitulation of Copenhagen," that a house was struck by one of the rockets, which went through the roof and three of the floors, and stuck into the side of the wall.

At the extreme range, the rocket falls from a height not much less than 1000 yards; and the 32-pounder descends after the rocket composition is expended, with a weight not less than 24 lbs. See General CoxGREVE'S Account of the Origin and Progress of the Rocket System.

ROLLER. Page 412, col. 2, after line 32, add, There has been an improvement made in the patent rollers, by which they are simplified and rendered

less liable to disorder: in this the rollers do not work on an axis supported at each end, but on a central axis, supported in the middle by a single plate of brass, upon which it works, and which has round its edge semi-circular cavities to receive the rollers. Page 417, col. 1, after line 35, add,

Clerk of the RoPE-YARD, an officer in his Majesty's dock-yards, whose duty seems to combine the offices of the clerk of the check and store-keeper: he superintends the making of ropes, and musters the men in that department, upon their coming to and quitting work; and is charged with the hemp, tar, and other articles, used in rope-making, of the expenditure of which he keeps an account.

S.

SCUDDING or BEARING AWAY in a Storm. When the waves run high, and sudden necessity requires to bear away, it should be considered that the lower sails forward, which the ship may be veered under when she comes before the wind, may be becalmed by the height of the waves breaking violently against the stern; and that therefore a close-reefed main top-sail should be set to catch the wind because it is a loftier sail, and may always be kept drawing full above the waves. This increases the ship's headway so much, that the waves will not strike her abaft with so great a velocity as when her headway is less. Hence it follows, that, when going to scud before high waves, the close-reefed main-topsail should be the last square-sail taken in, in a laboursome ship.

SCURVY. Page 437, col. 1, after line 57, add, Upon long cruises or voyages, when there is not a sufficiency of lemon-juice for the whole of the ship's company, the surgeon, in his inspection of the men from time to time, is to endeavour to ascertain whether any of them have obscure symptoms of sea scurvy, too slight for them to withdraw from duty, and to be put on the sick-list; and also to enquire what men have subsisted longest on salted provisions, and making out a list of such men, he is to present it to the captain, in order that he may give directions for their being supplied, in preference, with the usual allowance of lemon-juice and sugar, put into the purser's charge for that purpose. See the NAVAL

INSTRUCTIONS.

ill treating, the master or his crew. INSTRUCTIONS.

See the NAVAL

SOLSTICE. Page 489, col. 1, after line 31, add, Mr. Pond, our present astronomer royal, has presented us with the first series of observations, made with the new Mural Circle at Greenwich, on the sum. mer and winter solstices of the years 1812 and 1813, in the Philosophical Transactions of the last year. Mr. Pond observes, "That the distance of the sun from the pole at the moment of the solstice, may either be considered a simple arc, or as composed of two others, namely, the distance of the sun from the zenith, and the distance of the zenith from the pole. But in whatever way we consider the subject, it is evident that the sole object of the practical astronomer is to obtain by some mechanical means the measure of this total arc."

The Mural Circle at Greenwich has neither level nor plumb-line, nor does Mr. Pond think that the least advantage could be derived from the application of either, as its principle enables the observer to de termine this total arc without any intermediate or zenith point; hence the co-latitude, the knowledge of which is so essential from the construction of other instruments, but in this case it becomes rather a question of curiosity than of absolute necessity. Mr. Pond finds it convenient, in observing polar distances, to assume an intermediate point, which he calls the zenith point, without considering whether it is so or not; as he finds he has the means of determining the position of this imaginary point of departure on the circle, to within the tenth of a second, and from this point of departure he measures the distance of the sun to the southward, and of the pole to the northward, and the sum of these two measures is evidently the north polar distance of the sun, which in every method is the ultimate object to be attained. He has annexed as an example, a computation of the same solstice obtained by direct measurement from the pole without the aid of the intermediate point above mentioned at 38° 31′ 21"5, and from 120 observations of Polaris with it The results do not in this case at 38° 31′ 21′′15. differ above a quarter of a second from each other; and there appears indeed no other difference between these two methods but that, in the former case, the part of the arc Z P is obtained rather more accurately by a great number of observations, both before and after the solstice, than could be done in the short interval of time in which the solstice itself is observed.

STAFF. Page 497, col. 1, after line 65, add, Proportions for the Lengths and Diameters of Staffs.

Length of the Ensign-Staff, one-third of the mainmast, above the taffrail.

Diameter of ditto, half an inch to every yard in the length.

Length of the Jack-Staff, one-half the length of the ensign-staff above the taffrail.

Diameter of ditto, three-fourths of an inch to every yard in the length.

T.

TABLES. Page 521, col. 1, after line 42, add, Of all the tables of the principal planets, those of Jupiter and Saturn are the most difficult to establish with precision; the accuracy of them depending on the exact determination of the elliptic elements, which themselves depend on the precise knowledge of the masses of the planets: whence it is obvious that we can only arrive at the true results by determining at the same time, in a general manner, all the elliptic elements, and the masses on which the perturbations of the planets depend. The tables of Jupiter and Saturn, published by Halley, were for a long time the only tables employed by astronomers: but, though they were more exact than any which had

been previously furnished, yet in 1760 they were erro neous to the amount of 11 minutes for Jupiter, and about 22 for Saturn. This circumstance induced La. lande to construct a new series: but even that celc. brated astronomer, notwithstanding all the advan tages which he derived from the labours and observations of his predecessors, succeeded little better than Halley had done so many years before. The fact is, that it was impossible to form correct tables of these planets, before the recent perfection in the theory of attractions, which was alone sufficient for explaining the true cause of the great inequalities experienced in the observations of them. Laplace was the first (see Memoires de l'Académie des Sciences, 1784) who gave the complete theory of the pertur bations of these two planets. Delambre afterwards

constructed his tables, in which the error seldom exceeded half a minute; and even this might have been rendered still less, had the author been in possession of a greater number of modern observations. Some uncertainty remained likewise with regard to the mass of Saturn, and consequently respecting the inequalities of Jupiter. M. Bouvard, having availed himself of several excellent observations made since 1789, when Delambre's tables were published, and having acquired also a more accurate idea of the mass of Saturn, has formed a new set of tables, which are extremely accurate; the greatest error being only 13", of which a part may doubtless be attributed to defects of observation. They are calculated according to the new division of the day and the circumference of the circle.

TATOOING, a cant term used by seamen to denote drawing their names, and other devices, on their arms, or different parts of their bodies. The operation consists in first sketching out with Indian ink their names, &c. where they chuse to be marked; then with needles, or some pointed instrument, they prick the skin through the lines; this being done, they rub into the holes some fine-grained gunpowder, which can never be extracted.

This practice, borrowed from the Indians is generally encouraged, and has frequently led to the discovery of British seamen and soldiers who have deserted, and who, much to their disgrace, have sometimes been found in the service of hostile nations.

ས.

commander of the French squadron in the East Indies, to inform him that there had been some of the natives of the Admiralty Islands seen with articles of dress, &c. supposed to belong to the late expedition of La Pérouse.

On the 28th of March they saw the Island of St. Paul; and in April, arrived at the Bay of Storms, on the south-east point of Van Diemen's Land, on the north side of which the frigates anchored in a harbour called by them Port du Nord, and which is described as being safe and commodious, the water smooth in the worst of weather, and the surrounding shores beautifully covered with forest trees. While the frigates remained in this bay, a discovery was made of a passage between Van Diemen's Land and the island to the southward of it; which, though of little importance to the general interest of navigation, since the discovery of Bass's Straits, furnishes a secure and commodious anchorage for ships in need of such a retreat. They gave it the name of Canal de Dentrecastcaux.

Having been nearly a month at this place, they set sail, and made the Island of Pines on the southern extremity of New Caledonia: from this to the northern extremity they examined with minute attention every point along the western coast, standing in with both frigates close to the reef of coral rock, which seemed to bind the whole extent of the island, as it were, with an uninterrupted chain, whose edge rising to the surface of the sea, shews, even in the calmest weather, a silvery rippling line, as far as the eye can reach; thus warning the adventurous navigator of the dangers that surround him. The unbroken reef of New Caledonia would not allow even their boats to pass to the shore, and as they saw neither

after line 30, add,

After an elapse of three years, a very general solicitude was directed towards the uncertain fate of the two frigates La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, and it must ever remain as an honourable trait in the character of the National Assembly of France in 1791, that, in the heat and ferment of a great change then operating on men's minds, and amidst concerns of the highest importance, they found time and in clination to pay so much deference to the public feeling and private distress, as to adopt the only means which could afford the least chance of gratifying the one, and relieving the other. Accordingly, two frigates, La Recherche and L'Espérance, were ordered to be equipped at Brest, and Vice-Admiral Dentrecasteaux, from his distinguished talents, prudence, and long experience, was appointed to the command of an expedition, which, to use the words of the unfortunate Louis, "présentoit une occasion de perfectionner la description du globe, et d'accroître les connoissances humaines."

Vice-Admiral Dentrecasteaux sailed from Brest with these frigates on the 29th of September, 1791, and on the 13th of the following month, anchored in the bay of Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe.

On the 17th of January, 1792, the expedition arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, where the ViceAdmiral received a dispatch that had been transmitted to him from the Isle of France, by M. de Saint-Felix,

equally prevent their coming out, and thus contribute to that mildness of character, which Captain Cook had described the natives on the opposite side to possess. The Vice-Admiral, however, adds, that being in latitude 22° 4′ S., they did see an opening in the reef, but that on approaching close to it, they observed the sea breaking with violence within a creek, to which on that account they gave it the name of Le Havre Trompeur. This was rather an unfortuuate appellation, for had they examined it with strict attention, they would have found the Havre Trompeur to be one of the most beautiful and extensive harbours perhaps in the world, for the discovery of which we are indebted to Captain Kent of the Buffalo, who in 1803 anchored there for some time. To this harbour Captain Kent has given the name of Port St. Vincent, and from the mean of several observations, has laid it down as follows:-Latitude 22° 0' 10" S. longitude 160° 55' 20" E. He describes the passage into it as three quarters of a mile in width, the anchorage well sheltered, the water perfectly smooth, the depth 12 fathoms down to 4, and the bottom muddy. Leaving New Caledonia and the line of breakers which extend fifty leagues to the "N. W. far out of sight of any land, the Vice-Admiral passed, on the 9th of July, the Eddystone Rock, which was discovered by Lieutenant Shortland. The following day they fell in with the Treasury Islands, and passed close to Bougainville's Island on the