Moby-Dick (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (89 page)

9
(p. 385)
Locke’s head . . . Kant’s:
John Locke (1632-1704) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) advocated two different theories about how we learn—whether all through the senses (Locke) or in part through capacities inherent in the mind (Kant).

10
(p. 394)
Stoic . . . Platoninan . . . Spinoza:
For Stoicism, see note 2, above. The Greek philosopher Plato (c. 427-348 B.C.) was an idealist. Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) had the pantheistic view that the entire universe constitutes God.

11
(p. 405)
Physiognomist or Phrenologist:
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801), Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), and Johann Christoph Spurzheim (1776-1832) developed pseudoscientific theories that character could be deduced from expression and the shape of the head.

12
(p. 423)
St. George and the Dragon:
The patron saint of England, Saint George is said to have slain a dragon. Melville’s tall tale, which turns the dragon into a whale, is a good example of humor through preposterous argument.

13
(p. 436)
Plato, Pyrrho . . . Jupiter, Dante:
For Plato, see note 10, above. The philosopher Pyrrho (c. 360-270 B.C.) is regarded as the father of skepticism. Jupiter is the Roman name for the Greek Zeus, chief of the gods. The Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was the author of
The Divine Comedy
.

14
(p. 493)
Cowper . . . Rabelais:
William Cowper (1731-1800) and Edward Young (1683-1765) were English poets; Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a French mathematician and religious thinker; and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a French philosopher and novelist. All were at times given to somber meditation. François Rabelais (c. 1490-1553) was a humanist and author of
Gargantua and Pantagruel
, popularly known for its baudier passages.

15
(p. 498)
Chapter “ The Doubloon”:
The chapter makes partial use of the zodiac, an ancient astronomical system, used in astrology, in which the sky is divided into twelve equal parts corresponding to periods of the year. Sections are assigned symbols associated with constellations, many of which have animal names. Melville’s stress is on the individuality of interpretation.

Aback.
The situation of the sails when the wind presses their surfaces against the mast, and tends to force the vessel astern.

Abaft.
Toward the stern of a vessel.

About.
On the other tack.

Abreast.
Alongside of. Side by side.

A-cock-bill.
The situation of the yards when they are topped up at an angle with the deck. The situation of an anchor when it hangs to the cathead by the ring only.

Adrift.
Broken from moorings or fasts. Without fasts.

Aft—After.
Near the stern.

Aground.
Touching the bottom.

A-lee.
The situation of the helm when it is put in the opposite direction from that in which the wind blows.

All-aback.
When all the sails are aback.

All hands.
The whole crew.

Amain.
Suddenly. At once.

An-end.
When a mast is perpendicular to the deck.

Apron.
A piece of timber fixed behind the lower part of the stern, just above the fore end of the keel. A covering to the vent or lock of a cannon.

Arm. Yard-arm.
The extremity of a yard. Also, the lower part of an anchor, crossing the shank and terminating in the flukes.

Athwart.
Across.
Athwart-ships.
Across the line of the vessel’s keel.
Athwart-hawse.
Across the direction of a vessel’s head. Across her cable.

Avast, or ’Vast.
An order to stop; as, “Avast heaving!”

A-weather.
The situation of the helm when it is put in the direction from which the wind blows.

A-weigh.
The situation of the anchor when it is raised clear of the ground. The same as a-trip.

Back.
To back a sail,
is to throw it aback.

Backstays.
Stays running from a masthead to the vessel’s side, slanting a little aft. (See
Stays
.)

Balance-reef.
A reef in a spanker or fore-and-aft mainsail, which runs from the outer head-earing, diagonally, to the tack. It is the closest reef, and makes the sail triangular, or nearly so.

Bale.
To bale a boat
, is to throw water out of her.

Ballast.
Heavy material, as iron, lead, or stone, placed in the bottom of the hold, to keep a vessel from upsetting.
To freshen ballast
, is to shift it. Coarse gravel is called
shingle ballast.

Bank.
A boat is
double banked
when two oars, one opposite the other, are pulled by men seated on the same thwart.

Bare-poles.
The condition of a ship when she has no sail set.

Bark, or Barque.
A three-masted vessel, having her fore and main masts rigged like a ship’s, and her mizzen mast like the main mast of a schooner, with no sail upon it but a spanker, and gaff topsail.

Battens.
Thin strips of wood put around the hatches, to keep the tarpaulin down. Also, put upon rigging to keep it from chafing. A large batten widened at the end, and put upon rigging, is called a
scotchman
.

Beams.
Strong pieces of timber stretching across the vessel, to support the decks.

Bear.
An object
bears
so and so, when it is in such a direction from the person looking.

Beating.
Going toward the direction of the wind, by alternate tacks.

Becket.
A piece of rope placed so as to confine a spar or another rope. A handle made of rope, in the form of a circle, (as the handle of a chest,) is called a
becket
.

Belay.
To make a rope fast by turns round a pin or coil, without hitching or seizing it.

Bend.
To make fast.

Berth.
The place where a vessel lies. The place in which a man sleeps.

Bibbs.
Pieces of timber bolted to the hounds of a mast, to support the trestle-trees.

Bight.
The double part of a rope when it is folded; in contradistinction from the ends. Any part of a rope may be called the bight, except the ends. Also, a bend in the shore, making a small bay or inlet.

Bilge.
That part of the floor of a ship upon which she would rest if aground; being the part near the keel which is more in a horizontal than a perpendicular line.

Binnacle.
A box near the helm, containing the compass.

Bitts.
Perpendicular pieces of timber going through the deck, placed to secure anything to. The cables are fastened to them, if there is no windlass. There are also
bitts
to secure the windlass, and on each side of the heel of the bowsprit.

Bitter, or Bitter-end.
That part of the cable which is abaft the bitts.

Block.
A piece of wood with sheaves, or wheels, in it, through which the running rigging passes, to add to the purchase.

Bluff.
A bluff-bowed
or
bluff-headed
vessel is one which is full and square forward.

Boat-hook.
An iron hook with a long staff, held in the hand, by which a boat is kept fast to a wharf, or vessel.

Bobstays.
Used to confine the bowsprit down to the stem or cut-water.

Bolsters.
Pieces of soft wood, covered with canvass, placed on the trestle-trees, for the eyes of the rigging to rest upon.

Bolt-rope.
The rope which goes round a sail, and to which the canvass is sewed.

Boom.
A spar used to extend the foot of a fore-and-aft sail or studding-sail.

Bound.
Wind-bound.
When a vessel is kept in port by a head wind.

Bow.
The rounded part of a vessel, forward.

Bowline.
(Pronounced
bo-lin.
) A rope leading forward from the leech of a square sail, to keep the leech well out when sailing close-hauled. A vessel is said to be
on a bowline,
or
on a taut bowline,
when she is close-hauled.

Bowse.
To pull upon a tackle.

Bowsprit.
(Pronounced
bo-sprit.
) A large and strong spar, standing from the bows of a vessel.

Box-hauling.
Wearing a vessel by backing the head sails.

Box.
To box the compass,
is to repeat the thirty-two points of the compass in order.

Brace.
A rope by which a yard is turned about.

Brails.
Ropes by which the foot or lower corners of fore-and-aft sails are hauled up.

Brake.
The handle of a ship’s pump.

Break.
To break bulk,
is to begin to unload.

Breaker.
A small cask containing water.

Breast-fast.
A rope used to confine a vessel sideways to a wharf, or to some other vessel.

Bridle.
Spans of rope attached to the leeches of square sails, to which the bowlines are made fast.
Bridle-port.
The foremost port, used for stowing the anchors.

Brig.
A square-rigged vessel, with two masts. An
hermaphrodite brig
has a brig’s foremast and a schooner’s mainmast.

Broach-to.
To fall off so much, when going free, as to bring the wind round on the other quarter and take the sails aback.

Broadside.
The whole side of a vessel.

Broken-backed.
The state of a vessel when she is so loosened as to droop at each end.

Bucklers.
Blocks of wood made to fit in the hawse-holes, or holes in the half-ports, when at sea. Those in the hawse-holes are sometimes called
hawse-blocks.

Bulk head.
Temporary partitions of boards to separate different parts of a vessel.

Bull.
A sailor’s term for a small keg, holding a gallon or two.

Bull’s eye.
A small piece of stout wood with a hole in the centre for a stay or rope to reeve through, without any sheave, and with a groove round it for the strap, which is usually of iron. Also, a piece of thick glass inserted in the deck to let light below.

Bulwarks.
The wood work round a vessel, above her deck, consisting of boards fastened to stanchions and timber-heads.

Bum-boats.
Boats which lie alongside a vessel in port with provisions and fruit to sell.

Bunt.
The middle of a sail.

Buntlines.
Ropes used for hauling up the body of a sail.

Burton.
A tackle, rove in a particular manner.

Butt.
The end of a plank where it unites with the end of another.

Cabin.
The after part of a vessel, in which the officers live.

Cable.
A large, strong rope, made fast to the anchor, by which the vessel is secured. It is usually 120 fathoms in length.

Cap.
A thick, strong block of wood with two holes through it, one square and the other round, used to confine together the head of one mast and the lower part of the mast next above it.

Capstan.
A machine placed perpendicularly in the deck, and used for a strong purchase in heaving or hoisting. Men-of-war weigh their anchors by capstans. Merchant vessels use a windlass.