RAT 



kept ; then adding to them the kernels of cherries, with 

 flrawberries, fugar, cinnamon, white pepper, nutmegs, 

 cloves ; and to twenty pounds of cherries, ten quarts of 

 brandy. The veilcl is left open ten or twelve days, and 

 then (lopped clofe for two months before it be tapped. 



Ratafia of apricots is prepared two ways ; viz. cillicr by 

 boiling the apricoto in white wine, adding to tlie liquor an 

 equal quantity of brandy, with fugar, cinnamon, mace, 

 and tlie kernels of apricots ; iiifufiiig the whole for eight 

 or ten days ; then llraining the liquor, and putting it up tor 

 life : or elfe by infuiing the apricots, cut in pieces, ii: brandy, 

 for a day or two ; paiTing it through a Itraining-bag, and 

 tlien putting in the ufual ingredients. 



RATAN, in Geography., a fmall ifland on the W. fide 



of the gulf of Bothnia. N. lat. 63° 58'. E. long 20° 39'. 



RATCH, or Rash, in Cloch Work, a fort of wheel 



having twelve fangs, which ferve to lift up the detents every 



hour, to make the clock ftrike. 



RATCHETS, in a Watch, are the fmall teeth at the bot- 

 tom of the fufee, or barrel, which flop it in winding up. 



RATCHIN LoPA, in Geography, a large lake of Thibet. 

 N. lat. 30" 43'. E. long. 82^ 27'. 



RATCLIFF, a town of America, in Maryland; 22 

 miles S. of Salilbury. 



RATE, a ilandard or proportion, by which either the 

 quantity or value of a thing is adjufted. 



The rates of bread, &c. in London, are fixed by autho- 

 rity. See Affife of Bread. 



The rate of intereft, as now eftabliflied by law in Eng- 

 land, is five per cent. The rate of intereft in Italy, is three 

 per cent. ; in Sweden, fix ; in France, five ; in Spain, ten ; 

 in Barbadoes, ten ; in Ireland, twelve ; in Turkey, twenty. 

 Low rates of intereft advance the prices of land. 



The rates or fares of hackney-coachmen, chairmen, and 

 watermen, are fixed by aft of parliament. See Hackney 

 Coaches, &c. 



The rates of exchange, fadlorftiip, &c. are different. See 

 Exchange, Factorage, &c. 



Rate of a Ship of War, is its order, degree, or diftinc- 

 tion, as to magnitude, burden, force, &c. 



The Britifli fleet is accordingly diftributed into fix rates, 

 exclufive of the inferior veflcls that ufually attend on naval 

 armaments ; as floops of war, armed ftiips, bomb-ketches, 

 fire-fhips, and cutters or fchooners, commanded by lieu- 

 tenants. 



Ships of thejirji rate mount a hundred cannon, and fome 

 more, having forty-two-pounders on the lower deck, twenty- 

 four-pounders on the middle deck, twelve-pounders on the 

 upper deck, and fix-pounders on the quarter-deck and fore- 

 caftle. They are manned with eight hundred and fifty men, 

 including their officers, feamen, marines, and fcrvants. 



In general, the fhips of every rate, befides the captain, 

 have the mafter, the boatfwain, the gunner, the chaplain, 

 the purfer, the furgeon, and the carpenter ; all of whom, 

 except the chaplain, have their mates or afliftants, in which 

 are comprehended the fail-maker, the mafter at arms, the 

 armourer, the captain's clerk, the gunfmith, &c. The num- 

 ber of other officers is always in proportion to the rate of 

 the fhip. Thus, a firil rate has fix lieutenants, fix mailer's 

 mates, twenty-four midftiipmen, and five furgeon's mates, 

 who are confidered as gentlemen ; befides the following petty 

 officers : quarter-mafters, and their mates, fourteen ; boat- 

 fvvain's mates, and yeomen, eight ; gunner's mates and af- 

 fiftants, fix; quarter-gunners, twenty-tive; carpenter's mates, 

 two, befides fourteen affiitants ; with one fteward, and ftew- 

 ard's mate to the purfer. 



Ships of the fecond rate carry ninety-eight and ninety 



R A T 



guns upon three decks ; of wliicli ihofc on the lower battery 

 are thirty-two-pounders ; thofe on the middle, eighteen- 

 pounders ; on the upper deck, twelve-pounders ; and thofc 

 on the quarter-deck, lix-pounders, which ufually amount to 

 four or fix. Their complement of men is feven hundred 

 and fifty, in which there arc fix lieutenants, four mailer's 

 mates, twenty-four midlhipmen, and fuur furgeon's mates, 

 fourteen quarter-mafters and their mates, eight boatfwain's 

 mates and yeomen, fix gunner's nrates and yeomen, with 

 twenty-two quarter-gunners, two carpenter's mates, with 

 ten afliftants, and one fteward and fteward's mate. 



Ships ot the third rate carry from tixty.four to eighty 

 cannon, which are thirty-two, eighteen, and nine-pounders. 

 The eighty-gun fhips, however, begia to lofe their repute, 

 and give way to thofc of feventy-four, feventy, &c. which 

 have only two whole batteries ; whereas the former have 

 three, with twenty-eiglit guns planted on each ; the cannon 

 of their upper deck being tlie fame as thofe on the quarter- 

 deck and forecaftle of the latter, which are nine.^ounders 

 The complement in a feventy-four is fix hundred and fifty ; 

 and in a fixty-four, five hundred men : having in peace, foui 

 lieutenants, but in war, five, and when an admiral is aboard, 

 fix. They have three mafter's mates, fixteen midfhipmen, 

 three furgeon's mates, ten quarter-mafters and their mates, 

 fix boatfwain's mates and yeomen, four gunner's mates and 

 yeomen, with eighteen quarter-gunners, one carpenter's mate 

 with eight affiftants, and one fteward and fteward's mate 

 under the purfer. 



Ships of the/o«r/^ rate mount from fixty to fifty guns, 

 upon two decks and the quarter-deck. The lower tier is 

 compofed of twenty-four-pounders ; the upper tier, of twelve, 

 pounders ; and the cannon on the quarter-deck and fore- 

 caftle are fix-pounders. The complement of a fifty-gun 

 fhip is three hundred and fifty men, in which there are three 

 lieutenants, two matter's mates, ten midfhipmen, two fur- 

 geon's mates, eight quarter-mafters and their mates, four 

 boatfwain's mates and yeomen, one gunner's mate and one 

 yeoman, with twelve quarter-gunners, one carpenter's mate 

 and fix affiftants, and a fteward and fteward's mate. 



All veftels of war under the fourth rate, are ufually conv 

 prehended under the general name of frigates, and never 

 appear in the line of battle. They are divided into the Jfth 

 zndjixth rates, the former mounting from forty to thirty- 

 two guns, and the latter from twenty-eight to twenty. The 

 largeft of the fifth rate have two decks of cannon, the lower 

 battery being of eighteen-pounders, and that of the upper 

 deck of nine-pounders ; but thofe of thirty-fix and thirty- 

 two guns have only one complete deck of guns, mounting 

 twelve-pounders, befides the quarter-deck and forecaftle, 

 which carry fix-pounders. The complement of a fhip of 

 forty-four guns is two hundred and eighty men ; that of a 

 frigate of thirty-fix guns, two hundred and forty men. The 

 firft has three, and the fecond tvi^o lieutenants ; and both 

 have two mafter's mates, fix midfhipmen, two furgeon's 

 mates, fix quarter-mafters and their mates, two boatfwain's 

 mates and one yeoman, one gunner's mate and one yeo- 

 man, with ten or eleven quarter-gunners, and one purfer's 

 fteward. 



Frigates of the fixth rate carry nine-pounders ; thofe of 

 twenty-eight guns having three-pounders on their quarter- 

 deck, with two hundred men for their complement ; and 

 thofe of twenty-four, one hundred and fixty men : the 

 former has two lieutenants ; the latter, one ; and both have 

 two matter's mates, four midfhipmen, one furgeon's mate, 

 four quarter-mafters and tlieir mates, one boatfwain's mate 

 and one yeoman, one gunner's mate and one yeoman, with 

 fix or feven quarter-gunners, and one purler's fteward. 



The 



