Raking. Slanting backward. —Keyes ↩
Gunwale. Side rail of a boat. —Keyes ↩
Sheets. The ropes at the lower extremities of a sail. To sheet home is to stretch the sail by fastening the sheets to the yard ends. —Keyes ↩
Wore ship. Turned the vessel about. —Keyes ↩
Upon a taut bowline. Sailing close to the wind; that is, with the wind blowing toward the side of the ship instead of toward the stern. —Keyes ↩
Royal George. A famous English man-of-war, carrying 108 guns. In 1792, while undergoing refitting, the vessel suddenly capsized and went down with her commander, Admiral Kempenfelt, and nearly 1,000 men. —Keyes ↩
Señora. Spanish for “lady.” —Keyes ↩
Keeping the land aboard. Keeping near shore. —Keyes ↩
Haul … wind. Point the vessel more nearly in the direction from which the wind is blowing. —Keyes ↩
Looking squally. Looking worried. —Keyes ↩
Sprung. Bent. —Keyes ↩
Taking the sun. Making observations to determine latitude and longitude. —Keyes ↩
Bene. Excellent. —Keyes ↩
“Work Tom Cox’s traverse,” etc. Sailor slang for avoiding work, or causing work to progress in the slowest possible manner. —Keyes ↩
Manifest. Itemized list of the cargo. —Keyes ↩
Real. A Mexican coin worth 12½ cents. —Keyes ↩
Chicken skin. Kid. —Keyes ↩
Castilians. Pure-blooded Spaniards. —Keyes ↩
Fandango. A dancing party. Literally, a lively Spanish dance. —Keyes ↩
Hercules. A Greek demigod, considered the perfection of physical strength. —Keyes ↩
Foul anchor. An anchor twined with a piece of its cable: a very usual design for naval uniforms, etc. —Keyes ↩
Cordilleras. The southern ranges of the Rocky Mountains. —Keyes ↩
Kedge, or keeleg. A small anchor. —Keyes ↩
Geswarp. Sometimes guesswarp: a rope used to attach a boat to the boom, swung out from the side of the vessel to keep the boat from striking the ship. —Keyes ↩
Nolens volens. Unwilling or willing. —Keyes ↩
Linimenta laborum. Easers of labor. The author would seem to have coined his own Latin for the occasion. —Keyes ↩
Too much down by the stern. Badly balanced. Too many officers and too few men. —Keyes ↩
Pueblo de los Angelos. The present city of Los Angeles. —Keyes ↩
“No quiero.” “I don’t wish to.” —Keyes ↩
Bristol fashion. After the manner of Bristol, England, famous for its shipbuilding. —Keyes ↩
Reeving a Spanish burton. Adjusting a light hoisting apparatus attached to the mast. —Keyes ↩
From the waterways to the keelson. From the deck planks to the bottom of the vessel. —Keyes ↩
Coati. The author evidently means the coyote, a kind of prairie wolf still very common on the Western plains. —Keyes ↩
Scott’s “Pirate.” The Pirate, a sea story by Sir Walter Scott, an English novelist, 1771–1832. —Keyes ↩
Cat the anchor. After heaving the anchor, to fasten it to the cathead, a beam extending sidewise from the vessel’s bow. —Keyes ↩
Banner and cross of St. George. The British merchant flag: blood red with a red cross upon a blue ground in the upper left-hand corner. —Keyes ↩
Housed. Covered or protected with canvas. —Keyes ↩
Unbent. Detached. —Keyes ↩
Martingale. A beam used to strengthen the bowsprit, and held at right angles to it. —Keyes ↩
Bumpkin. A projecting spar. —Keyes ↩
Bower. Bow anchor. —Keyes ↩
Pulpería. Spanish-American for general store. —Keyes ↩
Bon gré, mal gré. Willing or not. —Keyes ↩
Grey Friars. A monastic order founded by St. Francis of Assisi, 1208 AD —Keyes ↩
“Hay … comer?” “Have you anything to eat?” —Keyes ↩
“Si … usted?” “Yes. What will you have?” —Keyes ↩
“Dios se lo pague.” “May God repay you.” —Keyes ↩
Montezuma. The chief of a confederacy of Indian tribes occupying a portion of Mexico at the time of its invasion by the Spaniards under Cortes in 1520. The author evidently holds the romantic notions of Aztec civilization which recent investigation has largely exploded. —Keyes ↩
“¿Quién sabe?” “Who knows?” —Keyes ↩
“Los Ingles marineros.” “The English sailors.” The ignorant foreigner seldom differentiates between Americans and Englishmen. —Keyes ↩
Tom Cringle says. Sailor slang for “it is said.” —Keyes ↩
Leander. A hero of Greek poetry who swam the strait connecting the Ægean and the Sea of Marmora to seek his ladylove. —Keyes ↩
Warped. Was towed by means of ropes. —Keyes ↩
Soger (soldier) is the worst term of reproach that can be applied to a sailor. It signifies a skulk, a sherk—one who is always trying to get clear of work, and is out of the way, or hanging back, when duty is to be done. “Marine” is the term applied more particularly to a man who is ignorant and clumsy about seaman’s work—a greenhorn—a landlubber. To make a sailor shoulder a handspike, and walk fore and aft the deck, like a sentry, is the most ignominious punishment that could be put
