ALARM-POST. A place appointed for troops to assemble, in case of a sudden alarm.
ALBACORE. A fish of the family Scombridæ, found in shoals in the ocean; it is about 5 or 6 feet long, with an average weight of nearly 100 lbs. when fine.
ALBANY BEEF. A name for the sturgeon of the Hudson River, where it is taken in quantity for commerce.
ALBATROSS. A large, voracious, long-winged sea-bird, belonging to the genus Diomedea; very abundant in the Southern Ocean and the Northern Pacific, though said to be rarely met with within the tropics.
ALBION. An early name of England, from the whiteness of the eastern coast cliffs.
ALBURNUM. The sap-wood of timber, commonly termed the slab-cuts.
ALCAID. A governor, or officer of justice, amongst the Moors, Spaniards, and Portuguese.
ALCATRAZ. The pelican. Alcatraz Island is situated in the mouth of the river San Francisco, in California, so named from its being covered with these birds. Also Alcatraz on the coast of Africa, from Pelecanus sula—booby. Columbus mentions the alcatraz when nearing America, and Drayton says—
"Most like to that sharp-sighted alcatras, That beats the air above the liquid glass."
ALDEBARAN. The lucida of Taurus, the well-known nautical star, popularly called Bull's-eye.
A-LEE. The contrary of a-weather: the position of the helm when its tiller is borne over to the lee-side of the ship, in order to go about or put her head to windward.—Hard a-lee! or luff a-lee! is said to the steersman to put the helm down.—Helm's a-lee! the word of command given on putting the helm down, and causing the head-sails to shake in the wind.
ALEMAYNE. The early name for Germany.
ALERT. On the look-out, and ready for any sudden duty. Nearly synonymous with alarm. Alerto—called frequently by Spanish sentinels.
ALEWIFE. The Clupea alosa, a fish of the herring kind, which appears in the Philosophical Transactions for 1678, as the aloofe; the corruption therefore was a ready one.
ALEXIACUS. The appellation under which Neptune was implored to protect the nets of the tunny fisheries from the sword-fish.
ALFERE, or Alferez [alfier, Fr.; alferez, Span.] Standard-bearer; ensign; cornet. The old English term for ensign; it was in use in our forces till the civil wars of Charles I.
ALFONDIZA. The custom-house at Lisbon.
ALGA. A species of millepora.
ALGÆ. Sea-weeds, and the floating scum-like substances on fresh water; they deserve to be more studied, for some, as dulse, laver, badderlocks, &c., are eatable, and others are useful for manure.
ALGEBRA. A general method of resolving mathematical problems, by means of equations, or rather computing abstract quantities by symbols or signs; a literal arithmetic.
ALGENIB. A principal star (γ) in Pegasus.
ALGERE. A spear used by fishermen in olden times.
ALGIER DUTY. An imposition laid on merchants' goods by the Long Parliament, for the redemption of captives in the Mediterranean.
ALGOL. A wonderful variable star in Perseus, which goes through its changes in about two days and twenty-one hours.
ALGOLOGY. Scientific researches into the nature of sea-plants.
ALGORAB. A star taking rank as the α of Corvus, but its brightness of late is rivalled by β Corvi.
ALHIDADE. An Arabic name for the index or fiducial of an astronomical or geometrical instrument, carrying sight or telescope; used by early navigators. A rule on the back of a common astrolabe, to measure heights, &c.
ALIEN. Generally speaking, one born in a foreign country, out of the king's allegiance; but if the parents be of the king's obedience, the child is no alien. An alien enemy, or person under the allegiance of the state at war with us, is not generally disabled from being a witness in admiralty courts; nor are debts due to him forfeited, but only suspended.—Alien's duty, the impost laid on all goods imported into England in foreign bottoms, over and above the regular customs.
ALIGNMENT. An imaginary line, drawn to regulate the order of a squadron.
ALIQUOT PART. That which will exactly divide a number, leaving no remainder.
ALL. The total quantity; quite; wholly.—All aback, when all the sails are taken aback by the winds.—All ahoo, or all-a-ugh, confused; hanging over; crooked.—All-a-taunt-o, a ship fully rigged, with masts in and yards crossed.—All hands, the whole ship's company.—All hands ahoy, the boatswain's summons for the whole crew to repair on deck, in distinction from the watch.—All hands make sail! the cheering order when about to chase a strange vessel.—All hands to quarters! the call in armed merchantmen, answering to the Beat to quarters in a man-of-war.—All in the wind, when a vessel's head is too close to the wind, so that all her sails are shivering.—All over, resemblance to a particular object, as a ship in bad kelter: "she's a privateer all over."—All overish, the state of feeling when a man is neither ill nor well, restless in bed and indifferent to meals. In the tropics this is considered as the premonitory symptom of disease, and a warning which should be looked to.—All ready, the answer from the tops when the sails are cast loose, and ready to be dropped.—All standing, fully equipped, or with clothes on. To be brought up all standing, is to be suddenly checked or stopped, without any preparation.—Paid off all standing, without unrigging or waiting to return stores; perhaps recommissioned the next day or hour.—All's well, the sentry's call at each bell struck (or half hour) between the periods of broad daylight, or from 8 P.M. to 4 A.M.—All to pieces, a phrase used for out-and-out, extremely, or excessively; as, "we beat her in sailing all to pieces."—All weathers, any time or season; continually.
ALLAN. A word from the Saxon, still used in the north to denote a piece of land nearly surrounded by a stream.
ALLEGE. A French ballast-boat.
ALLEGIANCE. The legal obedience of a subject to his sovereign in return for the protection afforded; a debt which, in a natural-born subject, cannot be cancelled by any change of time, or place, or circumstance, without the united consent of the legislature.
ALLER-FLOAT, or Aller-trout. A species of fine trout frequenting the shady holes under the roots of the aller or alder tree, on the banks of rivers and brooks.
ALLIANCE. A league or confederacy between sovereigns or states, for mutual safety and defence. Subjects of allies cannot trade with the common enemy, on pain of the property being confiscated as prize to the captors.
ALLICIENCY. The attractive power of the magnet.
ALLIGATOR [from the Spanish lagarto]. The crocodile of America. The head of this voracious animal is flat and imbricate; several of the under teeth enter into and pass through the upper jaw; the nape is naked; on the tail are two rough lateral lines.
ALLIGATOR WATER. The brackish water inside the mouths of tropical rivers, with white and muddy surface running into the sea.
ALLISION. Synonymous in marine law with collision, though the jurists of Holland introduce it to mark a distinction between one vessel running against another and two vessels striking each other.
ALLOCUTION. The harangue anciently made by the Roman generals to exhort their forces.
ALLOTMENT. A part of the pay apportioned monthly to the wives, children, mothers, or destitute fathers of the warrant and petty officers, seamen, and marines of ships of war on foreign stations. In the merchant service all such stipulations for allotting any portion of a seaman's wages during his absence must be inserted in the agreement.
ALLOTMENT-LIST.