LINE. 



each fhip are fo difpofed as to counteraft cacli other, and, 

 tlicrcfore, the fhips in genera! neither advance nor retreat 

 during the aiElion, and are thus enabled to keep their fta- 

 tion, and to profeci:te the bailie with vigour, and without 

 diforder. Wliild tlie uniformity of the line is prcfervcd, 

 the admiral's orders may be readily communicated by fignals 

 from the van to the rear ; diilreded (hips may be more 

 eafily difcovered and relieved ; and the lltuation and circum- 

 ftances of the enemy's line will be open to the view of the 

 commander-in-chief. Moreover, the Ihips of the line fliould 

 not only be fufilciently clofe to fuftain each other, but tlicy 

 (hould be of the larger fort, with the weightier metal. Many 

 advantages concur to recommend the larger fhips in a line of 

 battle ; they overlook thofe of an inferior rate, which are 

 accordingly laid open to the lire of their mufeetry. In a 

 liigh fea they can more fafely employ the artillery of their 

 lower deck tlian a fmaller ihip ; and if both arc obliged to 

 Jhut their lower-deck ports, the advantage of the three- 

 decked (liips, with regard to their cannon, will yet be con- 

 iiderable ; they have lliree tier againd two, and two againll 

 one. The fame fuperiority fubiifls, in cafe they are dif- 

 mafted, when the upper deck is incumbered with the ruins ; 

 the large fliips, being higher between decks, are lefs incom- 

 moded wi-Ji the fmoltc, and their cannon is managed with 

 greater facility ; the large fltips, having greater folidity of 

 frame, are better calculated to relllt the cfFcdts of battle 

 and temped. In general alfo they fail better than the fmall 

 •ones, except in fine weather ; for, in a frelh wind, when the 

 fea becomes agitated, they have always the fuperiority. The 

 lire-diips do not fucceed fo well againft large fliips as the 

 fmaller ones ; the artillery will link them, or oblige them 

 fooner to rclinquiflj their dclign ; and they are eafily towed 

 away by the great long boats. The line of a fleet, which 

 has many capital dtips, need not be fo much inclofed as that 

 of an enemy which has fewer. The former may be alfo lefs 

 numerous, without being weaker. This circumdancc, how- 

 ever, flioiild not c.'iclude a certain number of the third and 

 Jo'.irlh rates, which are necefl'avy in all naval armaments. 



The weather-line and the line to leeward have their feve- 

 ■ral advantaiin'es and inconveniences. Tlic chief advantage 

 of tlie former are, that it may approach the enemy, fo as to 

 determine the time and didance of the action ; if it is more 

 numerous than the lee-line, it may eafily appoint a detach- 

 ment to fall upon the van and rear of the latter, and in- 

 clofe it between two fires ; it is little incommoded by the 

 fire or fmoke of the cannon, and n>ay difpatcii the fire-ihips, 

 oinder cover of the fmoke, upon the difabled fhips of the 

 lee line, or fo as to oblige tlie enemy to break the fine and 

 bear away. But the weather-line has alfo its defefts ; whf n 

 the fea is rou^h, and the wind boiderous, it cannot readily 

 fight with the lower deck battery ; it cannot decline the 

 action without the dangerous expedient of forcing through 

 the enemy's line ; and if it keeps tlie wind, the lee -line may 

 inclofe and totally dedroy it. The difabled diips of the 

 weather-line mud tack, to avoid falhng into the enemy's 

 fleet ; and if they are much diattcred, they may be alto- 

 gether feparated from their own £eet, particularly if they 

 are in the rear of the line. 



The advantages of the line to leeward are thefe : the 

 fhips of the former may ufe the guns of their lower decks, 

 without t'ne hazard of taking in much water at the ports in 

 ftormy weather, which the line to v/indward cannot do with- 

 out great danger. The lee-line, though it cannot fo calily 

 .double upon the van and rear of the •enemy, and inclofe them 

 iietween two fires, may, ncverthelcfs, have opportunities of 

 lacking, and cutting olT a part of the enemy's rear. The 

 jdifobled fhips to leewiird ace more ealily removed from the 



line than thofe to windward ; and the lee-line can with 

 greater facility avoid the aftioii than its adverfary, which is 

 a circumdancc very favourable to an inferior fqnadron. But 

 the defefts of the lee-liiic are, that it cannot decide the time 

 and didaacc of the battle, wiiieh may commence before it 

 is fufilciently formed ; and it will, j'crhaps, be attacked by 

 an enemy bearing down upon it in regular order. Tiie fire 

 and fmoke of the weather-line are a great inconvenience to 

 it ; and it cannot eafily break the enemy's line with its firc- 

 fhips, which are very flowly and with great difficulty con- 

 veyed to windward. The admiral's fliip always prefeVves 

 her dation in the centre of tlic YuiC. The line is faid to be 

 formed a-bread when the fliips' fides are all parallel to each 

 other, on a line which croffes their keels at right angles. 

 This is mod freq':cntly ufed in purfuing or retreating, with 

 the wind right aft, io that the line forms a perpendicular 

 with the direclion of the wind. Falconer's Mar. Diet. 



Tlie two modes of engagement by the line to windward 

 and to leeward have been particularly illudrated ; and alio 

 the method of cutting or breaking the line of battle, lately 

 put in praftice to great advantage, by John Clarke, efq. 

 of Eldin, in his " EfTays on Naval Tatties ;" a fccond 

 edition of which was printed at Edinburgh in 1804, 4fo. 

 See Tactics. 



Line is alfo a name given to feveral fmall corJs of dif- 

 ferent files, and ufed for various purpofes at fea. They 

 are fmaller than ropes, and formed of two or more fine 

 lirands of hemp ; as houfi-Une, made of three ftrand.'^, ufed 

 to feize blocks into their (traps and the cl'jes of fails, ami 

 to marl the flcirtsof fails to their bolt-ropes ; /of -//'nf, made of 

 three or more (Irands, ai d ufed for the log, &e. ; and mar- 

 lim, made of two drands, and ufed for the fame purpofes "as 

 houfe-line. Some ropes are, from their fitiiation, termed 

 lines, as boiv-line!, bimt-l'mes, dm or cleiv-lhies, FdncyHr.c, 

 which is a rope ufed to overhaul the brails of fomc tore 

 and aft fails ; fiirling-lims, girt-liih's, hcndl'ines, h-cch-l'ines, 

 which are ropes ufed to trufs up the fails ; life-lines, for the 

 prefervation of the feam^n, v^liich are worn hawfer-laid 

 rope, and made fall with two half-hitches round the llrap of 

 the lift-block, and jeer or tye-blocks in the middle of the 

 yard ; nave line, Jlal-linc, fpilling-lines, tow line, and tracing- 

 lines ; which fee refpeftively. 



Li.VE, Ship nf the, is a vefTel large enough to be drawn 

 up in the line, and to have a place in a fea-fight. See 

 Smi'. 



LlXE, Knave, in a Ship. See Kn.wk. 



Link of Meafures, is ufed by Oughtrcd to denote the 

 diameter of the primitive circle in the projeftion of the 

 Ipherc in platio, or tliat line in which the diameter of any 

 circle to be projeftcd fails. 



In the llercographic projection of the fphere in piano, the 

 line of nieafures is that line in which the plane of a great 

 circle, perpendicular to the plane of the projcition, and 

 that oblique circle which is to be projefted, interfects the 

 plane of the projection ; or it is the common fection of a 

 plane, paffiiig tlirough the eye-point and the centre of tlie 

 jirimitive ; and at right angles to any oblique circle which is 

 to be pro'iedlcd, and in which the centre and pole of-lucli 

 circle will he found. 



Line, Meaftre of a. See MF..^.suRI•. 



Line of Demarsalion, or A'icxandrlan Line, is a meridian 

 paffing over the mouth of t)ie river Maragnon, and by the 

 capes of Houmas and Malabrigo ; io called from pope 

 Alexander VI- who, to end the dilputcs between the crowns 

 of Caitile and Portugal about their boundaries, in 1493, 

 drew ani'Kaginary line on the globe, which was to tcrmiiiaie 

 the pretenfions of eacli. By which partition the Ead Indi<;s 



8 fell 



