SEA-CUNNY. A steersman in vessels manned with lascars in the East India country trade.

SEA-DEVIL. A name for the Lophius piscatorius, or angler, a fish with a large head and thick short body.

SEA-DOG. A name of the common seal.

SEA-DOGG. The meteor called also stubb (which see).

SEA-DRAGON. An early designation of the stinging-weever.

SEA-EAGLE. A large ray-fish with a pair of enormous fins stretching out from either side of the body, and a long switch tail, armed with a barbed bone, which forms a dangerous weapon. Manta of the Spaniards.

SEA-EDGE. The boundary between the icy regions of the "north water" and the unfrozen portion of the Arctic Sea.

SEA-EEL. The conger (which see).

SEA-EGG. A general name for the echinus, better known to seamen as the sea-urchin (which see).

SEA-FARDINGER. An archaic expression for a seafaring man.

SEA-FISHER. An officer in the household of Edward III.

SEA-FRET. A word used on our northern coasts for the thick heavy mist generated on the ocean, and rolled by the wind upon the land.

SEA-FROG. A name for the Lophius piscatorius, or angler.

SEA GATE OR GAIT. A long rolling swell: when two ships are thrown aboard one another by its means, they are said to be in a sea-gate.

SEA-GAUGE. An instrument used by Drs. Hale and Desaguliers to investigate the depth of the sea, by the pressure of air into a tube prepared for the purpose, showing by a mark left by a thin surface of treacle carried on mercury forced up it during the descent into what space the whole air is compressed, and, consequently, the depth of water by which its weight produced that compression. It is, however, an uncertain and difficult instrument, and superseded by Ericson's patent, working on the same principle, but passing over into another tube the volume of water thus forced in. (See Water-bottle.)

SEA-GOING. Fit for sea-service abroad.

SEA-GREEN. The colour which in ancient chivalry denoted inconstancy.

SEA-GROCER. A sobriquet for the purser.

SEA-GULL. A well-known bird. When they come in numbers to shore, and make a noise about the coast, or when at sea they alight on ships, sailors consider it a prognostic of a storm. This is an old idea; see Virg. Georg.

lib. i. , and Plin. lib. xviii.

c. 35.

SEA-HARE. Aplysia, a molluscous animal.

SEA-HEN. A name of the fish Trigla lyra, or crooner (which see).

SEA-HOG. A common name for the porpoise, Phocœna communis.

SEA-HORSE. A name for the walrus, Trichecus rosmarus. Also, the hippocampus (which see).

SEA-ICE. Ice within which there is a separation from the land.

SEAL [from the Anglo-Saxon seolh]. The well-known marine piscivorous animal.[602]

SEA-LAKE. Synonymous with lagoon (which see).

SEA-LAWS. The codes relating to the sea; as, the laws of Rhodes, Oleron, Wisbuy, &c.

SEA-LAWYER. An idle litigious 'longshorer, more given to question orders than to obey them. One of the pests of the navy as well as of the mercantile marine. Also, a name given to the tiger-shark.

SEALED ORDERS. Secret and sealed until the circumstances arise which authorize their being opened and acted on. Often given to prevent officers from divulging the point to which they are ordered.

SEA-LEGS. Implies the power to walk steadily on a ship's decks, notwithstanding her pitching or rolling.

SEA-LETTER. See Passport.

SEA-LION. A large seal of the genus Otaria, distinguished from the sea-bear, to which it otherwise has a great resemblance, by the shaggy mane on its neck and shoulders.

SEA-LOG. That part of the log-book relating to whatever happens while the ship is at sea.

SEA-LUMP. See Lump.

SEAM. The sewing together of two edges of canvas, which should have about 110 stitches in every yard of length. Also, the identical Anglo-Saxon word for a horse-load of 8 bushels, and much looked to in carrying fresh fish from the coast. Also, the opening between the edges of the planks in the decks and sides of a ship; these are filled with a quantity of oakum and pitch, to prevent the entrance of water. (See Caulking.)

SEA-MALL. A name for a sea-gull.

SEAMAN. This is a term seldom bestowed among seafaring men upon their associates, unless they are known to be pre-eminent in every duty of the thorough-paced tar; one who never issues a command which he is not competent to execute himself, and is deemed an authority on every matter relating to sea-craft. —The able seaman is the seafaring man who knows all the duties of common seamanship, as to rig, steer, reef, furl, take the lead, and implicitly carry out the orders given, in a seamanlike manner. His rating is A. B.

; pay in the navy, 24s. to 27s. per month. —The ordinary seaman is less qualified; does not take the weather-helm, the earing, or lead; pay about 21s. to 23s.

per month. —The landsman is still less qualified.

SEAMAN'S DISGRACE. A foul anchor.

SEAMANSHIP. The noble practical art of rigging and working a ship, and performing with effect all her various evolutions at sea.

SEAMAN'S WAGES. A proper object of the admiralty jurisdiction.

SEA-MARK. A point or object distinguishable at sea, as promontories, steeples, rivers, trees, &c. , forming important beacons, and noted on charts. By keeping two in a line, channels can be entered with safety, and thus the errors of steerage, effect of tide, &c. , obviated.

These erections are a branch of the royal prerogative, and by statute 8 Eliz. cap. 13, the corporation of the Trinity House are empowered to set up any beacons[603] or sea-marks wherever they shall think them necessary; and, if any person shall destroy them, he shall forfeit £100, or, in case of inability to pay, he shall be, ipso facto, outlawed.

SEAMEN-GUNNERS. Men who have been trained in a gunnery ship, and thereby become qualified to instruct others in that duty.

SEA-MEW. A sea-gull.

SEA-MOUSE. The Aphrodita aculeata, a marine annelid, remarkable for the brilliant iridescence of the long silky hairs with which its sides are covered.

SEA-NETTLE. An immemorial name of several zoophytes and marine creatures of the class Acalephæ, which have the power of stinging, particularly the Medusæ.

SEA-OWL. A name of the lump-fish, Cyclopterus lumpus.

SEA-PAY. That due for actual service in a duly-commissioned ship.

SEA-PERIL. Synonymous with sea-risk.

SEA-PIE. The pied oyster-catcher, Hæmatopus ostralegus. Also, a favourite sea-dish in rough weather, consisting of an olla of fish, meat, and vegetables, in layers between crusts, the number of which denominate it a two or three decker.

SEA-PINCUSHION. The name among northern fishermen for a kind of star-fish of the genus Goniaster.

SEA-POACHER. A name of the pogge, Cottus cataphractus.

SEA-PORCUPINE. Several fish of the genera Diodon and Tetraodon, beset with sharp spines, which they can erect by inflating themselves with air.

SEA-PORK. The flesh of young whales in the western isles of Scotland; the whale-beef of the Bermudas, &c. It is also called sea-beef.

SEA-PORT. A haven near the sea, not situated up a river.

SEA-PURSE. See Mermaid's Purse.

SEA-QUADRANT. The old name of Jacob's cross-staff.

SEA-QUAKE. The tremulous motion and shock of an earthquake felt through the waves.

SEA-RATE. The going of a chronometer as established on board, instead of that supplied from the shore. This may be done by lunars. From motion and other causes their rates after embarkation are frequently useless, and rates for their new ever-changing position are indispensable. This rate is sometimes loosely deduced between two ports; but as the meridian distances are never satisfactorily known, even as to the spots of observation, they cannot be relied on but as comparative.

SEARCH. If the act of submitting to search is to subject neutral vessels to confiscation by the enemy, the parties must look to that enemy whose the injustice is for redress, but they are not to shelter themselves by committing a fraud upon the undoubted rights of the other country.

SEARCH, Right of. See Visitation.

SEARCHER. A custom-house officer employed in taking an account of goods to be exported. Also, see Gun-searcher.[604]

SEA-REACH. The straight course or reach of a winding river which stretches out to sea-ward.

SEA-RISK. Liability to losses by perils of the sea (which see).

SEA-ROKE. A cold fog or mist which suddenly approaches from the sea, and rapidly spreads over the vicinity of our eastern shores, to a distance of 8 or 10 miles inland.

SEA-ROOM. Implies a sufficient distance from land, rocks, or shoals wherein a ship may drive or scud without danger.

SEA-ROVERS. Pirates and robbers at sea.

SEA-SERGEANTS. A society of gentlemen, belonging to the four maritime counties of South Wales, holding their anniversaries at sea-port towns, or one within the reach of tidal influence. It was a secret association of early date, revived in 1726, and dissolved about 1765.

SEA-SLATER. The Ligia oceanica, a small crustacean.

SEA-SLEECH. See Sleech.

SEA-SLEEVE. A name of the flosk or squid, Loligo vulgaris.

SEA-SLUG. The Holothuria. An animal of the class Echinodermata, with elongated body, and flexible outer covering.

SEASONED TIMBER. Such as has been cut down, squared, and stocked for one season at least.

SEASONING. The keeping a vessel standing a certain time after she is completely framed, and dubbed out for planking. A great prince of this maritime country in passing a dockyard, inquired what those basket-ships were for!

SEA-SPOUT. The jetting of sea-water over the adjacent lands, when forced through a perforation in a rocky shore; both its egress and ingress are attended with a rumbling noise, and the spray is often very injurious to the surrounding vegetation.

SEA-STAR. A common rayed or star-like animal, belonging to the class Echinodermata. Also called star-fish (Asteria).

SEA-STREAM. In polar parlance, is when a collection of bay-ice is exposed on one side to the ocean, and affords shelter from the sea to whatever is within it.

SEA-SWABBER. A reproachful term for an idle sailor.

SEA-SWALLOW. The tern, a bird resembling the gull, but more slender and swift.

SEA-SWINE. The porpoise.

SEAT. A term often applied to the peculiar summit of a mountain, as the Queen of Spain's Seat near Gibraltar, the Bibi of Mahratta's Seat near Bombay, Arthur's Seat at Edinburgh, &c.

SEA-TANG. Tangle, a sea-weed.

SEAT-LOCKERS. Accommodations fitted in the cabins of merchantmen for sitting upon, and stowing cabin-stores in.

SEAT OF WATER. Applies to the line on which a vessel sits.

SEA-TRANSOM. That which is bolted to the counter-timbers, above the upper, at the height of the port-sills.[605]

SEA-TURN. A tack into the offing.

SEA-URCHIN. The Echinus, an animal of the class Echinodermata, of globular form, and a hard calcareous outer covering, beset with movable spines, on the ends of which it crawls about.

SEA-WALLS. Elevations of stones, stakes, and other material, to prevent inundations.

SEA-WARD. Towards the sea, or offing.

SEA-WARE. The sea-weed thrown up by surges on a beach.

SEA-WATER. "The quantity of solid matter varies considerably in different seas, but we may assume that the average quantity of saline matter is 31⁄2 per cent., and the density about 1·0274" (Pereira). The composition of the water of the English Channel according to Schweitzer is—

SEA-WAY. The progress of a ship through the waves. Also, said when a vessel is in an open place where the sea is rolling heavily.

SEA-WAY MEASURER. A kind of self-registering log invented by Smeaton, the architect of the Eddystone lighthouse.

SEA-WEASEL. An old name of the lamprey.

SEA-WOLF. The wolf-fish, Anarrhicas lupus.

SEA-WOLVES. A name for privateers.

SEA-WORTHY. The state of a ship in everyway fitted for her voyage. It is the first stipulation in every policy of insurance, or other contract, connected with a vessel: "for she shall be tight, staunch, and strong, sufficiently manned, and her commander competent to his duty." (See Opinion.)

SEA-WRACK GRASS. Zostera marina; used in Sweden and Holland for manuring land. At Yarmouth it is thrown on shore in such abundance that mounds are made with it to arrest the encroachments of the sea. It is also used as thatch.