EQUIPMENT. 63 



is passed through a pulley on the prow of the boat, and with a tackle 

 hooked to the ring at the stern, is drawn in, or wound up by a small wind- 

 lass on the bow, until the anchor is loose, when it is hove up by the capstan 

 of the ship. The Portuguese and Spaniards have a kind of boat different 

 from those in common use, which is sharper forward and broader in the stern. 

 The yawl is lighter and narrower than the long boat, and when it is used 

 with sails has two masts with spritsails {fig. 5). It is employed to bring the 

 crew on board and for other light work. The captain's gig is still lighter, 

 and is built in an ornamental style. During the voyage the long-boat is kept 

 on deck, over the main hatch, where it rests on boat-chocks. The yawl is 

 placed in it. The captain's gig hangs at the stern on the outside, on two 

 davits fitted with tackles. Large men-of-war have six or eight or more boats 

 and cutters of difTerent kinds. Among them is the captain's barge, or if there 

 is an admiral the admiral's barge, each with eight or ten oar benches. 

 They are not the largest boats, but are built in a superior style. A man- 

 of-war's boats usually have fore and aft sails or spritsails, but are sometimes 

 fully rigged, like a lugger or schooner. PI. 4, fig. 7, is the cutter of a 

 French frigate ; fig. 8, the cutter of a French ship of the line ; and fig. 9, 

 the cutter of an English ship of the line. 



3. The Guns. All ships of war carry guns of greater or less weight ; 

 merchantmen, also, usually have two or three, and they should by all means 

 have one at least for firing signals of distress. The heavy guns of a man- 

 of-war consist of cannon, carronades, swivels, and mortars. The cannon 

 are, for the most part, of a very heavy calibre. (In regard to the form of 

 guns, the necessary information will be found in Military Sciences, p. 118, 

 or p. 594 of this vol.) Those of the heaviest calibre are tlie most common. 

 Large men-of-war have 36-pounders, 24-pounders, 18-pounders, and, rarely, 

 48-pounders ; but recently 48- and 56-pounder Paixhans have been intro- 

 duced. Although the guns of a ship are similar to those of the land artillery, 

 their carriages are very different. Their form and construction are shown 

 in pi. 21, ^^5. 4, 5, and pi. 22, ^^5. 3, 4. The carriages consist of two 

 strong oak beams, called the cheeks, standing on two axle-trees with block- 

 wheels, called trucks, of which the fore wheels are somewhat the higher. 

 The cheeks are connected by a cross-piece which is cut out above, so that 

 the muzzle of the gun can be lowered. The cheeks are held together by 

 numerous key-bolts. A ring-bolt is attached to the outside of each cheek 

 for the breech-rope of the cannon, and two eye-bolts for the side tackle. 

 Grooves are cut in the upper part of the cheeks, to which the trunnions 

 of the cannon are fastened with spring-bolts. The notches on the hind end 

 of the cheeks serve as props for the handspikes when the cannon is to be 

 pointed. At the centre of the hind axle-tree is an eye-bolt for the train 

 tackle. 



The gun-carriages in the French navy have a foundation frame consist- 

 ing of two timbers, at the hind end of which is a ring to which the train- 

 tackle is attached. The breech-rope does not pass through the ring-bolts 

 in the cheeks, so that it can be laid back upon the breech of the gun, but 

 through two holes in the cheeks. The French, moreover, use the standing- 



715 



