RIGGING, &o. 53 



used only to lift articles on or over board. All the masts have quarter- 

 tackles, and all the lower yards yard-arm tackles. There are still many 

 other kinds of tackles. The removal of all the tackles, and consequently 

 of all the sails and ropes, is called unrigging ; the fitting of the same is 

 rigging ; and the mechanic who performs this service is a rigger. 



The ropes, in regard to their length and thickness, are subject to deter- 

 minate rules, of which we have a very accurate theory. The first principle 

 in calculating their dimensions is, that a cubic inch of every rope either in 

 a large or small ship should bear an equal strain. The thickness of the 

 rope is not measured by the diameter, but by the circumference. The 

 ropes are made in a rope-walk {pi. S,Jig. 5) of hemp, and on the coasts of 

 the Mediterranean of the bark of the fig-tree and of the spikenard plant. The 

 most slender ropes are called lines, and consist of six, nine, twelve, and 

 fifteen yarns. The thicker ropes are called hawsers, and consist of at least 

 eighteen yarns. The strands, usually three, are laid simply, for which 

 reason all rope-work of this kind has been called hawser-laid. The larger 

 ropes are composed of nine strands, or of three common ropes made into 

 one. Ropes of this kind are called cable-laid. The whole rigging is divided 

 into standing and running, and into upper and lower. The standing rig- 

 ging is fastened at both ends of the ropes, and must be made firm in order 

 not to stretch. The running rigging passes through blocks, and has a 

 standing part where one end is made fast to some fixed point. The upper 

 rigging is above the top, and does not run down to the deck. The lower 

 is managed on the deck. The different ropes are represented on pi. 11, 

 fig. 1, to which figure the numbers in the following description refer. The 

 parts which belong to the standing rigging are designated by an asterisk. 



The main rigging (shrouds).* All the masts have shrouds on the right 

 and left, which serve to secure them, and at the same time, by means of 

 cross lines, called ratlines, form ladders, reaching to the mast heads. The 

 shrouds are composed of more or fewer ropes, according to the size of the 

 ship, and their position on the main, fore, or mizen-mast. The length of the 

 ropes is twice and an eighth that of the mast to which they belong. The 

 middle of the rope passes round the head of the mast, and the ends lead 

 down, on the same side of the ship, to the chain-wales or tops, where they 

 are made fast to certain blocks, called dead-eyes. Small ropes, called lan- 

 yards, are rove through the shroud-dead-eyes and through the futtock-dead- 

 eyes (those that are secured to the timbers below the chain-wales), and are 

 drawn taut by a tackle, serving to stretch the shrouds. PL 23, fig. 4, pi. 8, 

 fig. 3, and^Z. 12, fig. 3, show the manner of fastening the shrouds. PI. 11, 

 fig. 1, shows the dead-eyes, ah, with the lanyards for stretching the shrouds. 

 The main rigging of the ship consists of six double ropes, each 280|- feet 

 long and 11 inches thick (fig. 1). The thickness is obtained by dividing 

 the ship's breadth into five parts, and for every foot in one of these parts 

 allowing a thickness of one inch. 



The futtock shrouds* consist of six short ropes, passing obliquely under 

 the top, to hold the shrouds of the topmast, and fastened at one end to the 

 upper part of the main rigging, from which they run to the edge of the top, 



ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPiEDTA. VOL. III. 45 705 



