JAB, To. To pierce fish by prodding.

JABART. A northern term for a fish out of season.

JABB. A peculiar net used for catching the fry of the coal-fish.JACK. In the British navy the jack is a small union flag, formed by the intersection of St. George's and St. Andrew's crosses (which see), usually displayed from a staff erected on the outer end of a ship's bowsprit. In merchant ships the union is bordered with white or red. (See Union-jack.) Also, a common term for the jack or cross-trees. Also, a young male pike, Esox lucius, under a foot in length. Also, a drinking vessel of half-pint contents. (See Black-jack.)—Jack, or Jack Tar, a familiar term for a sailor. A fore-mast man and an able seaman. It was an early term for short coats, jackets, and a sort of coat-of-mail or defensive lorica, or upper garment.

JACK ADAMS. A stubborn fool.

JACK AFLOAT. A sailor. Euripides used almost the same term in floater, for a seaman.

JACKASSES. Heavy rough boats used in Newfoundland.

JACKASS PENGUIN. A bird, apt while on shore to throw its head backwards, and make a strange noise, somewhat resembling the braying of an ass.

JACK-BARREL. A minnow.

JACK-BLOCK. A block occasionally attached to the topgallant-tie, and through which the top-gallant top-rope is rove, to sway up or strike the yard.

JACK-BOOTS. Large coverings for the feet and legs, outside all, worn by fishermen.

JACK CROSS-TREES. Single iron cross-trees at the head of long topgallant-masts, to support royal and skysail masts.

JACKEE-JA. A Greenland canoe.

JACKET. A doublet; any kind of outer coat.—Cork jacket, is lined with cork in pieces, in order to give it buoyancy, and yet a degree of flexibility, that the activity of the wearer may not be impeded in swimming.

JACKETS. The casings of the passages by which steam is delivered into the cylinders of steam-engines. They are non-conductors of heat to check its escape.

JACKETTING. A starting, or infliction of the rope's-end.

JACK-HERN. A name on our southern coasts for the heron.

JACKING. Taking the skin off a seal.

JACK IN OFFICE. An insolent fellow in authority.

JACK IN THE BASKET. A sort of wooden cap or basket on the top of a pole, to mark a sand-bank or hidden danger.

JACK IN THE BOX. A very handy engine, consisting of a large wooden male screw turning in a female one, which forms the upper part of a strong wooden box, shaped like the frustum of a pyramid. It is used by means of levers passing through holes in it as a press in packing, and for other purposes.

JACK IN THE BREAD-ROOM, or Jack in the Dust. The purser's steward's assistant in the bread and steward's room.

JACK-KNIFE. A horn-handled clasp-knife with a laniard, worn by seamen.

JACKMAN. A musketeer of former times, wearing a short mail jack or jacket.

JACK NASTY-FACE. A cook's assistant.

JACK OF DOVER. An old sea-dish, the composition of which is now lost. Chaucer's host in rallying the cook exclaims,

JACK O' LANTERN. The corpo santo, or St. Elmo's light, is sometimes so called.JACK-PINS. A name applied to the fife-rail pins, also called Tack-pins.

JACK ROBINSON.—Before you could say Jack Robinson, is a very old expression for a short time,—

JACK'S ALIVE. A once popular sea-port dance.JACK-SCREW. A small machine used to cant or lift weighty substances, and in stowing cotton or other elastic goods. It consists of a wooden frame containing cogged iron wheels of increasing powers. The outer one, which moves the rest, is put in motion by a winch on the outside, and is called either single or double, according to its increasing force. The pinions act upon an iron bar called the spear.

JACK-SHARK. A common sobriquet of the Squalus tribe.

JACK-SHARP. A small fresh-water fish, otherwise known as prickly-back.JACK'S QUARTER-DECK. The deck elevation forward in some vessels, often called a top-gallant forecastle.

JACK-STAFF. A short staff raised at the bowsprit-cap, upon which the union-jack is hoisted.JACK-STAYS. Ropes, battens, or iron bars placed on a yard or spar and set taut, either for bending the head of a sail to, or acting as a traveller. Frequently resorted to for the staysails, square-sail yard, &c.

JACOB'S LADDER. The assemblage of shakes and short fractures, rising one above another, in a defective single-tree spar. Also, short ladders made with wooden steps and rope sides for ascending the rigging.

JACOB'S STAFF, or Cross-staff. A mathematical instrument to take altitudes, consisting of a brass circle, divided into four equal parts by two lines cutting each other in the centre; at each extremity of either line is fixed a sight perpendicularly over the lines, with holes below each slit for the better discovery of distant objects. The cross is mounted on a staff or stand for use. Sometimes, instead of four sights, there are eight.

JACULATOR. A fish whose chief sustenance is flies, which it secures by shooting a drop of water at them from its mouth.

JAG, To. To notch an edge irregularly.—Jagged, a term applied to denticulated edges, as in jagged bolts to prevent their coming out.

JAGARA, or Joggaree. A coarse brown sugar of India.

JAGS. Splinters to a shot-hole.

JAIL-BIRD. One who has been confined in prison, from the old term of cage for a prison; a felon absurdly (and injuriously to the country) sentenced to serve in the navy.

JALIAS. Small craft on the Arracan and Pegu coasts.

JAM, To. Anything being confined, so that it cannot be freed without trouble and force; the term is also applied to the act of confining it. To squeeze, to wedge, to press against. (See Jambing.)

JAMAICA DISCIPLINE. The buccaneer regulations respecting prize shares, insisting that all prizes be divided among the captors.

JAMBEAUX. Armour to protect the legs.JAMBING, or Jamming. The act of inclosing any object between two bodies, so as to render it immovable while they continue in that position; usually applied to a running rope, when, from pressure, it cannot travel in the blocks; the opposite of rendering (which see).

JAMBS. Door-posts in general; but in particular thick broad pieces of oak, fixed up endways, between which the lights of the powder magazine are fitted.

JAMMED IN A CLINCH. The same as hard up in a clinch (which see).—Jammed in a clinch like Jackson, involved in difficulty of a secondary degree, as when Jackson, after feeding for a week in the bread-room, could not escape through the scuttle.JANGADA. A sort of fishing float, or rather raft, composed of three or four long pieces of wood lashed together, used on the coasts of Peru and Brazil. The owner is called a jangadeira, but the term is evidently an application of jergado (which see).

JANGAR. A kind of pontoon constructed of two boats with a platform laid across them, used by the natives in the East Indies to convey horses, cattle, &c., across rivers.

JANISSARY. A term derived from jeni cheri, meaning new soldiers, in the Turkish service.JANTOOK, or Chuntock. A Chinese officer with vice-regal powers: he of Canton was called John Tuck by our seamen.

JANTY, or Jaunty. A vessel in showy condition; dressed in flags.

JAPANESE WHALE-BOAT. A long, open, and sharp rowing-boat of Japan.

JARGANEE. A Manx term for small worms on the sea-shore, and used as bait.

JARRING. The vibrations and tremblings occasioned in some steam-vessels by the machinery.JAVA POT. A kind of sponge of the species Alcyonium.

JAVELS. An old term for dirty, idle fellows, wandering about quays and docks.

JAW. The inner, hollowed, semicircular end of a gaff or boom, which presses against the mast; the points of the jaw are called horns. Also, coarse and often petulant loquacity.—Long-jawed applies to a rope or cable, when by great strain it untwists, and exhibits one revolution where four were before; similar to long and short threads of the screw.

JAW-BREAKERS. Hard and infrequent words.

JAWING-TACKS. When a person speaks with vociferous fluency, he is said to have hauled his jawing-tacks on board.

JAW-ME-DOWN. An arrogant, overbearing, and unsound loud arguer.

JAW OF A BLOCK. The space in the shell where the sheave revolves.

JAW-ROPE. A line attached to the horns of the jaws to prevent the gaff from coming off the mast. It is usually furnished with bull's eyes (perforated balls) to make it shift easily up or down the mast.

JAYLS. The cracks and fissures of timber in seasoning.

JEER-BITTS. Those to which the jeers are fastened and belayed.

JEER-BLOCKS. Are twofold or threefold blocks, through which the jeer-falls are rove, and applied to hoist, suspend, or lower the main and fore yards.

JEER-CAPSTAN. One placed between the fore and main masts, serving to stretch a rope, heave upon the jeers, and take the viol to. Very seldom used. It is indeed deemed the spare capstan, and is frequently housed in by sheep-pens and fowl-racks.JEERS. Answer the same purpose to the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen, as halliards do to all inferior sails. The tye, a sort of runner, or thick rope, is the upper part of the jeers. Also, an assemblage of strong tackles by which the lower yards are hoisted up along the mast, or lowered down, as occasion requires; the former of which operations is called swaying, and the latter striking (both of which see).

JEFFERY'S GLUE. See Marine Glue.JELBA. A large coasting-boat of the Red Sea.JELLY-FISH. A common name for the MedusÆ, soft gelatinous marine animals, belonging to the class AcalephÆ.

JEMMY. A finical fellow in the usual sense, but adopted as a nautical term by the mutineers of '97, to express the nobs, or heads of officers. Also, a handy crow-bar or lever.JEMMY DUCKS. The ship's poulterer. A sobriquet which has universally obtained in a man-of-war.

JERBE. See Jelba.JERGADO, or Gingado. An early term for a light skiff (circa 1550).

JERK. A sudden snatch or drawing pull; particularly applied to that given to the trigger of a lock. (See Saccade.)

JERKED BEEF. Charqui. Meat cured by drying in the open air, with or without salt. Also, the name of an American coin.

JERKIN. An old name for a coatee, or skirted jacket.

JERKING. A quick break in a heavy roll of the sea.JERME. A trading vessel of Egypt.

JERQUER. A customs officer, whose duty is to examine the land-waiters' books, and check them.

JERQUING A VESSEL. A search performed by the jerquer of the customs, after a vessel is unloaded, to see that no unentered goods have been concealed.JERSEY. Fine wool, formerly called gearnsey, ganzee, or guernsey.—Jersey frocks, woollen frocks supplied to seamen.JETSAM, or Jetson. In legal parlance, is the place where goods thrown overboard sink, and remain under water. Also, the goods cast into the sea.

JETTISON, or Jetsen. The act of throwing goods overboard to lighten a ship in stress of weather. The loss forms a subject for general average.

JETTY, Jettee, or Jutty. A name given in the royal dockyards to that part of a wharf which projects beyond the rest, but more particularly the front of a wharf, the side of which forms one of the cheeks of a dry or wet dock. Such a projection, whether of wood or stone, from the outer end of a wharf, is called a jetty-head.

JEW-BALANCE. A Mediterranean name of the ZygÆna malleus, or hammer-headed shark.

JEWEL. The starting of a wooden bridge. Also, the pivot of a watch-wheel.

JEWEL-BLOCKS. Are attached to eye-bolts on those yards where studding-sails are hoisted, and carry these sails to the extreme ends of the yards. When these jewel-blocks are removed, it is understood that there is no intention to proceed to sea, and vice versÂ. The halliards, by which the studding-sails are hoisted, are passed through the jewel-block, whence, communicating with a block on the several mast-heads, they lead downwards to the top or decks, where they may be conveniently hoisted. (See Sail.)

JEWELS. See Jocalia.

JEW'S-HARP. The shackle for joining a chain-cable to the anchor-ring.JIB. A large triangular sail, set on a stay, forward. It extends from the outer end of the jib-boom towards the fore top-mast head; in cutters and sloops it is on the bowsprit, and extends towards the lower mast-head. (See Sail.) The jib is a sail of great command with any side wind, in turning her head to leeward. There are other jibs, as inner jib, standing-jib, flying-jib, spindle-jib, jib of jibs, jib-topsails, &c.—Jib is also used for the expression of the face, as the cut of his jib. Also, the arm of a crane.—To jib, is when, before the wind, the sail takes over to the opposite quarter; dangerous in strong breezes. (See Gybing.)—Clear away the jib! The order to loose it, preparatory to its being set.—Flying-jib. A sail set upon the flying jib-boom.—Middle or inner jib. A sail sometimes set on a stay secured to the middle of the jib-boom.

JIB AND STAYSAIL JACK. A designation of inexperienced officers, who are troublesome to the watch by constantly calling it unnecessarily to trim, make, or shorten sail.

JIBBER THE KIBBER. A cant term for a diabolical trick for decoying vessels on shore for plunder, by tying a lantern to a horse's neck, one of whose legs is checked; so that at night the motion has somewhat the appearance of a ship's light.—Jib or jibber means a horse that starts or shrinks; and Shakspeare uses it in the sense of a worn-out horse.JIB-BOOM. A continuation of the bowsprit forward, being a spar run out from the extremity in a similar manner to a top-mast on a lower-mast, and serving to extend the foot of the jib and the stay of the foretop-gallant-mast, the tack of the jib being lashed to it. It is usually attached to the bowsprit by means of the cap and the saddle, where a strong lashing confines it.—Flying jib-boom. A boom extended beyond the preceding, to which it is secured by a boom-iron and heel-lashing; to the outer end of this boom the tack of the flying-jib is hauled out, and the fore-royal-stay passes through it.

JIB-FORESAIL. In cutters, schooners, &c., it is the stay-foresail.

JIB-GUYS. Stout ropes which act as backstays do to a mast, by supporting the jib-boom against the pressure of its sail and the ship's motion.JIBING, or Gybing. A corruption of jibbing. The act of shifting over the boom of a fore-and-aft sail from one side of the vessel to the other. By a boom-sail is meant any sail the bottom of which is extended by a boom, which has its fore-end jawed or hooked to its respective mast, so as to swing occasionally on either side of the vessel, describing an arc, of which the mast will be the centre. As the wind or the course changes, the boom and its sail are jibed to the other side of the vessel, as a door turns on its hinges.

JIB OF JIBS. A sixth jib on the bowsprit, only known to flying-kite-men: the sequence being—storm, inner, outer, flying, spindle, jib of jibs.

JIB-STAY. The stay on which the jib is set.

JIB-TOPSAIL. A light sail set on the topmost stay of a fore-and-aft rigged vessel.

JIB-TRAVELLER. An iron ring fitted to run out and in on the jib-boom, for the purpose of bringing outwards or inwards the tack, or the outer corner of the sail; to this traveller the jib-guys are lashed.

JIB-TYE. A rope rove through a sheave or block on the fore-topmast head, for hoisting the jib.

JIFFY. A short space of time, a moment. "In a jiffy," in an instant; equivalent with crack, trice, &c.JIG. The weight furnished with hooks, used in jigging (which see).

JIGGAMAREE. A mongrel makeshift manoeuvre. Any absurd attempt to substitute a bad contrivance for what the custom of the sea may be.JIGGER. A light tackle used to hold on the cable when it is heaved into the ship. (See Holding-on.) Also, a small sail rigged out on a mast and boom from the stern of a cutter, boat, &c.—Fleet-jigger. A term used by the man who holds on the jigger, when by its distance from the windlass it becomes necessary to fleet, or replace it in a proper state for action. When the man gives the above notice, another at the windlass immediately fixes his handspike between the deck and the cable, so as to jam the latter to the windlass, and prevent it from running out till the jigger is replaced on the cable near the windlass.

JIGGER, Chigre. A very teazing sand-flea, which penetrates and breeds under the skin of the feet, but particularly at the toes. It must be removed, or it occasions dreadful sores. The operation is effected by a needle; but the sac which contains the brood must not be broken, or the whole foot would be infected, if any remained in it.

JIGGERED-UP. Done up; tired out.

JIGGER-MAST. In large vessels it is an additional aftermost mast; thus any sail set on the ensign-staff would be a jigger.

JIGGER-TACKLE. A small tackle consisting of a double and a single block, and used by seamen on sundry occasions about the decks or aloft.JIGGING. A mode of catching fish by dropping a weighted line with several hooks set back to back amongst them, and jerking it suddenly upwards; the weight is frequently cast in the form of a small fish. Also, short pulls at a tackle fall.

JILALO. A large passage-boat of Manilla, fitted with out-riggers.

JILL. A fourth part of a pint measure; a seaman's daily allowance of rum, which formerly was half a pint.

JIMMAL, or Jimble. See Gimbals.JINGAL. A kind of long heavy musket supported about the centre of its length on a pivot, carrying a ball of from a quarter to half a pound, and generally fired by a matchlock; much used in China and the Indies. It is charged by a separate chamber, dropped into the breech and keyed.

JINNY-SPINNER. One of the names for the cockroach.

JIRK, To. To cut or score the flesh of the wild hog on the inner surface, as practised by the Maroons. It is then smoked and otherwise prepared in a manner that gives the meat a fine flavour.

JOB. A stipulated work.JOBATION. A private but severe lecture and reprimand.

JOB CAPTAIN. One who gets a temporary appointment to a ship, whose regular commander is a member of parliament, &c.JOB-WATCH, or Hack-watch, for taking astronomical sights, which saves taking the chronometer on deck or on shore to note the time.JOCALIA. An Anglo-Norman law-term signifying jewels, which, with gold and silver, were exempted in our smuggling enactments.

JOCKS. Scotch seamen.

JOG. The shoulder or step of the rudder.

JOGGING. A protuberance on the surface of sawn wood.

JOGGLE. The cubic joints of stones on piers, quays, and docks. Also, notches at the ends of paddle-beam iron-knees outside, to act as a stop to the diagonal iron-stay, which is extended between the arms of each knee. (See Jugle.)

JOG-THE-LOO! A command in small vessels to work the pump-brake, or to pump briskly.

JOHN. A name given to dried fish. (See Poor John.)

JOHN BULL. The origin of this nickname is traced to a satire written in the reign of Queen Anne, by Dr. Arbuthnot, to throw ridicule on the politics of the Spanish succession.

JOHN COMPANY. The former board of directors for East India affairs.JOHN DORY. A corruption of jaune dorÉ, which is the colour of this fish. It is one of the ScombridÆ, Zeus faber. John Dory was also the name of a celebrated French pirate.JOHNNY RAW, or Johnny Newcome. An inexperienced youngster commencing his career; also applied to landsmen in general. (See Raw.)

JOHNNY SHARK. A common sobriquet of the Squalus tribe.

JOHN-O'-GROAT'S BUCKIE. A northern name for the CyprÆa pediculus, a small shell found on our sea-coasts.

JOHN TUCK. The galley corruption of chantuck, or jantook, a Chinese viceroy, specially meaning the viceroy of Canton.

JOIN, To. To repair to a ship, and personally to enter on an official position on board her. So also the junction of one or more ships with each other.

JOINER. One who is a cabinet-maker, and performs neat work as captain's joiner.

JOINT. The place where any two pieces of timber or plank are united. It is also used to express the lines which are laid down in the mould-loft for shaping the timbers.JOLLY. This term is usually applied to a comely and corpulent person, but afloat it is a familiar name for a soldier.—Tame jolly, a militiaman; royal jolly, a marine.

JOLLY-BOAT. A smaller boat than the cutter, but likewise clincher-built. It is generally a hack boat for small work, being about 4 feet beam to 12 feet length, with a bluff bow and very wide transom; a kind of washing-tub. (See Gellywatte and Cutter.)

JOLLY JUMPERS. Sails above the moon-rakers.JOLLY ROGER. A pirate's flag; a white skull in a black field.

JONATHAN. A name often applied to Americans in general, but really appropriate to the Quakers in America, being a corruption of John Nathan.

JONK. See Junk.

JORUM, of Grog, &c. A full bowl or jug.

JOURNAL. Synonymous at sea with log-book; it is a daily register of the ship's course and distance, the winds and weather, and a general account of whatever is of importance. In sea-journals, the day, or twenty-four hours, used to terminate at noon, because the ship's position is then generally determined by observation; but the shore account of time is now adopted afloat. In machinery, journal is the bearing part of a shaft, upon which it rests on its Y's or bearings.

JOURNEY-WORK. Work performed by the day.

JOVIALL. Relating to the system of the planet Jupiter.

JOVICENTRIC. As seen from, or having relation to, the centre of Jupiter.

JOWDER. A term on our western coasts to denote a retail dealer in fish.

JOWL. The head of a fish. (Also, see Block.)—Cheek by jowl. Close together.

JUAN-MOOAR. The Manx and Erse term for the black-backed gull.

JUBALTARE. The early English word for Gibraltar.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE of the Fleet, or to the Forces. A legal officer whose duty it is to investigate offences previous to determining on sending them before a court-martial, and then to report on the sentence awarded. He has civil deputies in Great Britain; but officers (generally secretaries to admirals, or pursers) are appointed by the courts abroad.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE, DEPUTY. An officer appointed to assist the court upon some general courts-martial for the trial of officers, seamen, and marines, accused of a breach of the articles of war.JUDGMENT. In prize matters, the sentences of foreign courts, even though such decisions be manifestly unjust, are conclusive in ours by comity. The tribunals of France are not so complacent.JUFFER. See Uphroe.

JUGGLE-MEER. A west-country word for a coast quagmire.JUGLE, or Joggle. In ship-building, a notch in the edge of a plank to admit the narrow butt of another, as of the narrow end of a steeling-strake.

JULIAN PERIOD. A period of 7980 years, dating from B.C. 4713; being the product of the numbers 15, 19, and 28 multiplied into each other, they being respectively the lengths, in Julian years, of the Indiction, Metonic Cycle, and Solar Cycle. The Julian year was a period of 3651/4 days, which was adopted as the length of the year after the reformation of the calendar by Julius CÆsar.

JULIO. An Italian coin, worth about sixpence.

JUMPERS. The short external duck-frock worn by sail-makers, artificers, riggers, &c., to preserve the clothing beneath.

JUMP-JOINTED. When the plates of an iron vessel are flush, as in those that are carvel-built.JUNCO. See Purre.

JUNGADA. A balza, or simple kind of raft, of several logs of wood, fitted with a tilt, and used on the coasts of Peru. It has a mast and sails, and by means of a rudder, not unlike a sliding keel in principle, is capable of working to windward. (See Guara.)

JUNGLE. A wilderness of wood; in Bengal the word is also applied to a tract covered with long grass, which grows to an extraordinary height. Jungles are dreaded for the fevers they engender.JUNK. The Chinese junk is the largest vessel built by that nation, and at one period exceeding in tonnage any war-vessels then possessed by England. The extreme beam is one-third from the stern; it shows no stem, it being chamfered off. The bow on deck is square, over which the anchors slide fore and aft. Having no keel, and being very full at the stern, a huge rudder is suspended, which at sea is lowered below the depth of the bottom. The masts are immense, in one piece. The cane sails are lug and heavy. The hull is divided into water-tight compartments, like tanks.—Junk is also any remnants or pieces of old cable, or condemned rope, cut into small portions for the purpose of making points, mats, swabs, gaskets, sinnet, oakum, and the like (which see). Also, a dense cellular tissue in the head of the sperm-whale, infiltrated with spermaceti. Also, salt beef, as tough to the teeth as bits of rope, whence the epithet.

JUNKET. A long basket for catching fish.—Junketting, good cheer and hearty jollification.

JUPITER. The longest known of the superior planets, and the largest in the solar system; it is accompanied by four satellites.

JURATORY CAUTION. A process in the instance court of the admiralty, to which a party is discretionally admitted on making oath that he is unable to find sureties.

JUREBASSO. A rating in former times given to a handy man, who was partly interpreter and partly purchaser of stock.

JURISDICTION. Right, power, or authority which magistrates or courts have to administer justice.—Within jurisdiction of civil powers, as regards naval matters, is within a line drawn from headland to headland in sight of each other, and forming part of the same county. The admiralty jurisdiction is confined to three miles from the coast in civil matters, but exists wherever the flag flies at sea in criminal.JURY-MAST. A temporary or occasional mast erected in a ship in the place of one which has been carried away in a gale, battle, &c. Jury-masts are sometimes erected in a new ship to navigate her down a river, or to a neighbouring port, where her proper masts are prepared for her. Such jury-masts are simply less in dimension for a light-trimmed vessel; as a frigate would have a brig's spars.

JURY-RUDDER. A contrivance, of which there are several kinds, for supplying a vessel with the means of steering when an accident has befallen the rudder.

JUS PISCANDI. The right of fishing.

JUWAUR. The spring-flood of the Ganges and adjacent rivers.

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