CHEST OF CHATHAM. An ancient institution, restored and established by an order in council of Queen Elizabeth, in 1590, supported[183] by a contribution from each seaman and apprentice, according to the amount of his wages, for the wounded and hurt seamen of the royal navy, under the name of smart-money.

CHEST-ROPE. The same with the guest or gift rope, and is added to the boat-rope when the boat is towed astern of the ship, to keep her from sheering, i.e. from swinging to and fro. (See Guess-warp.)

CHEVAUX DE FRISE. An adopted term for pickets pointed with iron, and standing through beams, to stop an enemy: this defence is also called a turn-pike or pike-turn.

CHEVENDER. An old name for the chevin or chub.

CHEVILS. See Kevels.

CHEVIN. An old name for the chub.

CHEVRON. The distinguishing mark on the sleeves of sergeants' and corporals' coats, the insignia of a non-commissioned officer. Also, a mark recently instituted as a testimony of good conduct in a private. Further, now worn by seamen getting good-service pay.

CHEWING OF OAKUM or Pitch. When a ship suffers leakage from inefficient caulking. (See Seam.)

CHEZ-VOUS. A kind of "All Souls" night in Bengal, when meats and fruits are placed in every corner of a native's house. Hence shevoe, for a ship-gala.

CHICO [Sp. for small].—Boca-chica, small mouth of a river.

CHIEF. See Commander-in-chief. A common abbreviation.

CHIEF MATE, or Chief Officer. The next to a commander in a merchantman, and who, in the absence of the latter, acts as his deputy.

CHIGRE, Chagoe, Chiggre, or Jigger. A very minute insect of tropical countries, which pierces the thick skin of the foot, and breeds there, producing great pain. It is neatly extricated with its sac entire by clever negroes.

CHILLED SHOT. Shot of very rapidly cooled cast-iron, i. e. cast in iron moulds, and thus found to acquire a hardness which renders them of nearly equal efficiency with steel shot for penetrating iron plates, yet produced at about one-quarter the price. They invariably break up on passing through the plates, and their fragments are very destructive on crowded decks; though in the attack of iron war vessels, where the demolishment of guns, carriages, machinery, turrets, &c.

, is required, the palm must still be awarded to steel shot and shell.

CHIMBE [Anglo-Saxon]. The prominent part or end of the staves, where they project beyond the head of a cask.

CHIME. See Chine.

CHIME IN, To. To join a mess meal or treat. To chime in to a chorus or song.

CHINCKLE. A small bight in a line.[184]

CHINE. The backbone of a cliff, from the backbones of animals; a name given in the Isle of Wight, as Black Gang Chine, and along the coasts of Hampshire. Also, that part of the water-way which is left the thickest, so as to project above the deck-plank; and it is notched or gouged hollow in front, to let the water run free.

CHINE AND CHINE. Casks stowed end to end.

CHINED. Timber or plank slightly hollowed out.

CHINGLE. Gravel. (See Shingle.)

CHINGUERITO. A hot and dangerous sort of white corn brandy, made in Spanish America.

CHINSE, To. To stop small seams, by working in oakum with a knife or chisel—a temporary expedient. To caulk slightly those openings that will not bear the force required for caulking.

CHINSING-IRON. A caulker's tool for chinsing seams with.

CHIP, To. To trim a gun when first taken from the mould or castings.

CHIPS. The familiar soubriquet of the carpenter on board ship. The fragments of timber and the planings of plank are included among chips.—Chip of the old block, a son like his father.

CHIRURGEON. [Fr.] The old name for surgeon.

CHISEL. A well-known edged tool for cutting away wood, iron, &c.

CHIT. A note. Formerly the note for slops given by the officer of a division to be presented to the purser.

CHIULES. The Saxon ships so called.

CHIVEY. A knife.

CHLET. An old Manx term for a rock in the sea.

CHOCK. A sort of wedge used to rest or confine any weighty body, and prevent it from fetching way when the ship is in motion. Also, pieces fitted to supply a deficiency or defect after the manner of filling. Also, blocks of timber latterly substituted beneath the beams for knees, and wedged by iron keys. (See Boat-chocks.

)—Chock of the bowsprit. See Bend. —Chocks of the rudder, large accurately adapted pieces of timber kept in readiness to choak the rudder, by filling up the excavation on the side of the rudder hole, in case of any accident. It is also choaked or chocked, when a ship is likely to get strong stern-way, when tiller-ropes break, &c. —To chock, is to put a wedge under anything to prevent its rolling.

(See Chuck.

CHOCK-A-BLOCK, or Chock and Block. Is the same with block-a-block and two-blocks (which see). When the lower block of a tackle is run close up to the upper one, so that you can hoist no higher, the blocks being together.

CHOCK-AFT, Chock-full, Chock-home, Chock-up, &c. Denote as far aft, full, home, up, &c., as possible, or that which fits closely to one another.[185]

CHOCK-CHANNELS. Those filled in with wood between the chain-plates, according to a plan introduced by Captain Couch, R.N.

CHOCOLATE-GALE. A brisk N.W. wind of the West Indies and Spanish main.

CHOGSET. See Burgall.

CHOKE. The nip of a rocket.

CHOKED. When a running rope sticks in a block, either by slipping between the cheeks and the shiver, or any other accident, so that it cannot run.

CHOKE-FULL. Entirely full; top full.

CHOKE THE LUFF. To place suddenly the fall of a tackle close to the block across the jaw of the next turn of the rope in the block, so as to prevent the leading part from rendering. Familiarly said of having a meal to assuage hunger; to be silenced.

CHOKEY. An East Indian guard-house and prison.

CHOMMERY. See Chasse Marées, for which this is the men's term.

CHOP. A permit or license of departure for merchant ships in the China trade. A Chinese word signifying quality. Also, an imperial chop or mandate; a proclamation.

CHOP, or Chapp. The entrance of a channel, as the Chops of the English Channel.

CHOP-ABOUT, To. Is applied to the wind when it varies and changes suddenly, and at short intervals of time.

CHOPPING-SEA. A synonym of cockling sea (which see).

CHOPT. Done suddenly in exigence; as, chopt to an anchor.

CHORD. In geometry, is a line which joins the extremities of any arc of a circle.

CHOW-CHOW. Eatables; a word borrowed from the Chinese. It is supposed to be derived from chou-chou, the tender parts of cabbage-tree, bamboo, &c., preserved.

CHOWDER. The principal food in the Newfoundland bankers, or stationary fishing vessels; it consists of a stew of fresh cod-fish, rashers of salt pork or bacon, biscuit, and lots of pepper. Also, a buccaneer's savoury dish, and a favourite dish in North America. (See Cod-fisher's Crew.) Chowder is a fish-seller in the western counties.

CHOWDER-HEADED. Stupid, or batter-brained.

CHRISTIAN. A gold Danish coin, value in England from 16s. to 16s. 4d.

CHRISTIAN'S GALES. The tremendous storms in 1795-6, which desolated the fleet proceeding to attack the French West India Islands, under Admiral Christian.

CHROCKLE. A tangle or thoro'put (which see).

CHRODANE. The Manx and Gaelic term for gurnet.[186]

CHRONOMETER. A valuable time-piece fitted with a compensation-balance, adjusted for the accurate measurement of time in all climates, and used by navigators for the determination of the longitude.

CHRONOMETER RATE. The number of seconds or parts of seconds which it loses or gains per diem. (See Rating.)

CHRUIN. A Gaelic term for masts.—Chruin-spreie, the bowsprit.

CHUB. The Leuciscus cephalus, a fresh-water fish.

CHUCK. A sea-shell. Nickname for a boatswain, "Old chucks." Also, an old word signifying large chips of wood.

CHUCKLE-HEADED. Clownishly stupid; lubberly.

CHULLERS. A northern name for the gills of a fish.

CHUNAM. Lime made of burned shells, and much used in India for the naval store-houses. That made at Madras is of peculiarly fine quality, and easily takes a polish like white marble.

CHUNK. A coarse slice of meat or bread; more properly junk. Also, the negro term for lumps of firewood.

CHUNTOCK. A powerful dignitary among the Chinese. (See Jantook.)

CHURCH. The part of the ship arranged on Sunday for divine service.

CHURCH-WARDEN. A name given on the coast of Sussex to the shag or cormorant. Why, deponent sayeth not.

CHUTE. A fall of water or rapid; the word is much used in North America, wherever the nomenclature of the country retains traces of the early French settlers. (See Shoot.)

CILLS. Horizontal pieces of timber to ports or scuttles; mostly spelled sills (which see). Generally pronounced by sailors sell, as the port-sell.

CINGLE [from cir-cingle, a horse's belt]. A belt worn by seamen.

CINQUE-PORT. A kind of fishing-net, having five entrances.

CINQUE PORTS, The. These are five highly privileged stations, the once great emporiums of British commerce and maritime greatness; they are Dover, Hastings, Sandwich, Romney, and Hythe, which, lying opposite to France, were considered of the utmost importance. To these were afterwards added Winchelsea, Rye, and Seaford. These places were honoured with peculiar immunities and privileges, on condition of their providing a certain number of ships at their own charge for forty days. Being exempted from the jurisdiction of the Admiralty court, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is authorized to make rules for the government of pilots within his jurisdiction, and in many other general acts exceptions are provided to save the franchises of the Cinque Ports unimpeached.

It is a singular fact that it has never been legally determined whether the Downs and adjacent roadsteads are included in the limits of the Cinque Ports. All derelicts found without the limits by Cinque Port vessels are droits of[187] admiralty. This organization was nearly broken up in the late state reforms, but the Lord Warden still possesses some power and jurisdiction.

CIPHERING. A term in carpentry. (See Syphered.)

CIRCLE. A plane figure bounded by a line called the circumference, everywhere equally distant from a point within it, called the centre.

CIRCLE OF PERPETUAL APPARITION. A circle of the heavens parallel to the equator, and at a distance from the pole of any place equal to the latitude: within this circle the stars never set.

CIRCLES, Great, Lesser, Azimuth, Vertical (which see).

CIRCLES OF LONGITUDE. These are great circles passing through the poles of the ecliptic, and so cutting it at right angles.

CIRCULARS. Certain official letters which are sent to several persons, and convey the same information.

CIRCUMNAVIGATION. The term for making a voyage round the world.

CIRCUMPOLAR. A region which includes that portion of the starry sphere which remains constantly above the horizon of any place.

CIRCUMVALLATION, Lines of. Intrenchments thrown up by a besieging army, outside itself, and round the besieged place, but fronting towards the country, to prevent interference from outside. This continuous method has gone out of favour, though some covering works of concentrated strength are still considered essential.

CIRRIPEDIA. A group of marine animals, allied to the crustacea. They are free and natatory when young, but in the adult state attached to rocks or some floating substance. They are protected by a multivalve shell, and have long ciliated curled tentacles, whence their name (curl-footed). The barnacles (Lepas) and the acorn-shells (Balanus) are familiar examples.

CIRRO-CUMULUS. This, the sonder-cloud, or system of small roundish clouds in the upper regions of the atmosphere, commonly moves in a different current of air from that which is blowing at the earth's surface. It forms the mackerel sky alluded to in the following distich:—

CIRRO-STRATUS. Is the stratus of the upper regions of the atmosphere, heavier looking than the cirrus, but not so heavy as the stratus.

CIRRUS. The elegant modification of elevated clouds, usually termed mares'-tails (see the distich given at Cirro-cumulus); otherwise the curl-cloud.