Poop deck. A deck built on the stern of a ship. —Keyes ↩
A’-cockbill. Tipped at an angle to the deck, so as to avoid the semblance of a cross. —Keyes ↩
Garrick. David Garrick, 1716–1779, an English actor. —Keyes ↩
“No importe.” “No matter.” —Keyes ↩
“Veni, vidi, vici.” “I came, I saw, I conquered.” —Keyes ↩
“Otra vez” and “Vivian los marineros.” Otra vez is the same as encore. Vivian los marineros. Long live the sailors. —Keyes ↩
Yahoos. Noisy and unpleasant animals invented by Dean Swift in Gulliver’s Travels. —Keyes ↩
Prickly pear. A variety of cactus. —Keyes ↩
The letter i in the Sandwich Island language is sounded like e in the English. ↩
“Mollia tempora fandi.” Favorable time for speaking. See Virgil, Aeneid, IV, 2:93. —Keyes ↩
Captain Cook. Captain James Cook, 1728–1779, an English navigator and discoverer to whom is credited the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. Owing to a difference with the natives over the stealing of a boat, the captain was killed. Tradition has it that he was eaten. Whether cannibals or not, the Hawaiians remained idol worshippers until 1819 when, with the reign of King Liholiho, Christian missionaries began their labors in the islands. —Keyes ↩
Steamboats. The first steamboat to navigate successfully in America was Robert Fulton’s Clermont, which in the spring of 1807 made the trip from New York to Albany. In 1819 the first steamboat passage across the Atlantic was accomplished. But it was not until 1837 that steam navigation of large vessels became practicable. —Keyes ↩
Flippers. Leg parts. —Keyes ↩
Aquadiente and annisou. Strong liquors. —Keyes ↩
Three sheets in the wind. Intoxicated. —Keyes ↩
Godwin. William Godwin, 1756–1836, an English novelist and writer on social and political topics. —Keyes ↩
“Tityre … fagi.” “0, Tityrus, thou reclining under the shade of a spreading beech tree.” See Virgil, “Eclogues,” I., 1. This quotation from the opening of Virgil’s idyls of pastoral life has a certain humorous inappropriateness to the unpleasant and laborious employment of the author. —Keyes ↩
Grains. Fish spears. —Keyes ↩
Cortes. Hernando Cortes (or Cortez), 1485–1547, a Spanish general and explorer who discovered California and conquered Mexico. —Keyes ↩
Jesuits. Members of the Roman Catholic order, known properly as the Society of Jesus. Members of this order, founded in 1534, and of the Franciscans, founded in 1208, have been among the most active and zealous in missionary enterprises. —Keyes ↩
Vancouver. George Vancouver, 1758–1795, an English navigator, whose name is associated with the exploration of the northwest coast of America. —Keyes ↩
Hidalgo. A Spanish nobleman. —Keyes ↩
Calabozo. Jail. —Keyes ↩
Seventy-four. A battleship of seventy-four guns. —Keyes ↩
Harness cask. A tub for salt meat. —Keyes ↩
Manrope stanchions. Supports for a rope hand rail. —Keyes ↩
Jacks. Iron footholds attached to the mast. —Keyes ↩
Bulwer. Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer, first Baron Lytton, 1803–1873, a noted English novelist, poet, dramatist, and politician. —Keyes ↩
Hingham. A Massachusetts manufacturing town. At the time under discussion it was famed for its buckets. —Keyes ↩
Short gaskets … together. In the process of furling, the middle of the sail, or the bunt, is first hauled up to the yard. The sail is then bound to the yard by short ropes called gaskets. —Keyes ↩
Falconer’s “Shipwreck.” The best-known poem of William Falconer, 1732–1769, a Scotch sailor-post. —Keyes ↩
Corn laws. Laws passed in England in 1815, for the purpose of stimulating home agriculture by levying heavy duties upon imported grain. They were the source of considerable political agitation until their repeal in 1846. —Keyes ↩
Kedging. Progressing by hauling on a cable attached to an anchor sunk in the bottom. In this case the vessel sailed so easily against the wind that it seemed as if she must have some outside means of propulsion. —Keyes ↩
Bends. The curvature of the lower hull. —Keyes ↩
Chocked, and griped. Fastened in place. —Keyes ↩
Catted and fished. Secured at the cathead, after the strain of the wind had broken it loose from the bottom. —Keyes ↩
Fore course. Lowest sail on the foremast. The courses are the foresail and mainsail. —Keyes ↩
Board the main tack. To turn the mainsail by carrying forward and fastening the weather clew. —Keyes ↩
War between the United States and France. In 1813, by treaty signed at Paris, France had assumed responsibility for damage done to American shipping during the wars of Napoleon. Later, France refused to fulfil the pledge and war was averted by the interposition of Great Britain. Satisfactory adjustment of the difficulty was reached in the spring of 1836. —Keyes ↩
“Old horse” and “soup meagre.” Salt beef and watery soup. —Keyes ↩
Homeward-bound splices. Makeshift repairs. —Keyes ↩
“Caramba.” A Spanish oath. —Keyes ↩
Ensign and broad pennant. Ensign: the national colors. Broad pennant: a flag indicating the rank of commodore. —Keyes ↩
