NOTE.-Precaution will, of course, be taken to have a good buoy-rope fast to the anchor flukes, in case it should be required to trip the anchor.

THE QUICKEST WAY TO TRIP AN ANCHOR.-The quickest way to trip an anchor is by means of the buoy-rope, and, when the anchor is off the ground, heave the cable in by the ship. In case the buoy-rope should break, put luff-tackles on the cable in the boat.

TO TAKE OUT A BOWER ANCHOR BETWEEN TWO BOATS.-If the longboat is not capable of carrying the bower anchor and cable out, proceed as follows:

Buoy a kedge and lay it out, with the whole warp attached, in the direction it is intended to haul the vessel off, and whilst this is being done, get as much of a bower cable as may be required payed from the vessel's quarter into the long-boat, leaving two or three fathoms in the bows of the boat to shackle to the anchor; the rest may be stowed in the middle of the boat. Have a piece of spar laid across the stern of the boat, and lashed for the chain to run over, or an old mat nailed over will do as well; fit good stoppers to the ring-bolt in the stern and after-thwart, that there may be no possibility of the chain running out of the long-boat faster than required.

Now, if the vessel has two quarter-boats, the bower anchor may be taken out between the two boats, thus:

The sterns of the two boats should be as nearly square with each other as possible; a good strong spar (with its flat side down, and rounded at the upper part) should be laid across the gunwales of each boat before their centre; the spar should be well lashed to the nearest standing thwart and fore-and-aft rings, leaving sufficient room between the boats to admit of the flukes of the anchor going well between them, and the spar so lashed that neither boat could close or separate. The anchor should be lowered between the boats with the flukes perpendicular and the stock horizontal, thus dipping the flukes between the boats, and securing the upper arm under the spar, each boat at the same time keeping her side of the anchor-stock square at her stern; the standing parts of the parbuckles or slip ropes being made fast to the bottom rings, and the running parts rove through separate ones, if possible, and secured with several round turns round the after-standing thwarts. Shackle the ends of the chain in the bows of the long-boat to the anchor, which must be well buoyed, and proceed to haul the two quarter-boats out by the warp, which can be done by hands in either boat, the long-boat following, and the cable being payed out as required. When the whole of the chain is laid out, hang the bight of the chain outside the long-boat by a slip-rope to the ring-bolt in the stern, and

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immediately the anchor is cut adrift from the small boats let go the slip-rope. In this way an anchor may be carried out with the greatest ease. The plan is extremely simple, and can do no injury to the boats, if common precaution be taken to have the stoppers in the long-boat fitted in such a way that the cable cannot go by the run; and as the cable should pass over the after-thwart, the stopper there will be found more useful, but it will be prudent to have two.

Provided the vessel has only one quarter-boat the same plan may be adopted, substituting the long-boat for the other quarter-boat, and placing, if necessary, a sufficient weight (in addition to the cable) to bring her gunwale on a level with the quarter-boat.

A MAN OVERBOARD AT SEA.-If the ship be going free, and particularly if fast through the water, it is recommended to bring-to with the head yards aback; for it is obvious, if the main-yard be left square, the ship will be longer coming-to, will shoot further, increase the distance from the man, and add materially to the delay of succour.

It will, however, require judgment, especially if blowing fresh, to be careful to right the helm in time, or the ship will fly-to too much, gain stern-way, and risk the boat in lowering down.

The best authorities recommend that, if possible, the ship should not only be hove aback when a man falls overboard, but she ought to be brought round on the other tack*—of course, sail ought to be shortened in stays, and the mainyard kept square. This implies the ship being on a wind, or from the position of having the wind not above two points abaft the beam.

NOTE. The great merit of such a method of proceeding is, that if the evolution succeeds, the ship, when round, will drift towards the man; and although there may be some small risk in lowering the boat from the ship while in stays, having at one period stern-way, there will, in fact, be little time lost if the boat be not lowered until the ship be well round, and the stern-way at an end. There is more mischief done generally by lowering the boat too soon, than by waiting until the fittest moment arrives for doing it coolly. It cannot be too often repeated, that almost the whole depends upon the self-possession of the officer of the deck. Unfortunately, there are circumstances under which no human aid can be given to any poor fellow falling overboard, such as heavy gales of wind when a boat will not live on the water, scud

When a man falls overboard in daylight, a hand should be sent aloft immediately to watch the spot where he is struggling, as it is in general just under the surface, which may be seen well from aloft, but found with difficulty from a boat. If going round gives a weather side for lowering a boat, do not do so, but throw all aback, Suppose her to be running with a strong breeze and studdingsails set, the tacks and outer lower-halyards should be let go, royal and topgallant-halyards, and weather head-braces; the yard will go forward as the vessel rounds-to, and the slack of the lee-braces can be taken in. Whilst this is being done, some hands will be getting the boat ready.

ding when it is too dangerous to bring the ship to the wind, &c. In a case of this distressing nature, the life-buoy or spars may be thrown overboard in the hope of supporting the man, while the utmost endeavours should be made, by making sail and wearing, if there be any chance of placing the ship to windward and dropping down upon the man. In gales of wind, and the ship lying by the wind and barely forging ahead, men have often been saved by ropes and bight of ropes well disposed along the chains and quarters, and even by ropes well astern.

ON LEAKS.-On finding a vessel is leaky, the first step to be taken is to discover as nearly as possible the situation of the leak. To effect this, many plans have been suggested. The most practical of these appears to be-first, to examine such accessible parts as are most likely to be defective, as the wooden ends forward and aft, the butts of the planks, and round the fastenings. Should no discovery of the leak be made, the ship must be tried before the wind, and on both tacks by the wind. If the leak increases before the wind, the leak is forward, probably in the wooded ends; if it decreases, it is in the stern; if the leak be greater on the starboard tack, then the leak is situated on the port side, and vice versa. A leak in the bows, or on either side, may be lessened by a thrummed sail being put over the part defective; but this mode is not applicable to the stern, as the vessel's way through the water would prevent its action. A leak situated much below the surface can only be stopped from the inside, except in the way named-of a thrummed sail; therefore the cargo in the neighbourhood of the leak must be removed, and the ceiling cut away so as to expose the part. Pieces of deal must then be made as nearly as can be of the shape of the room or rooms between the timbers, but so much less as to enable the pieces to be thickly covered with oakum, as spun for caulking; the pieces thus prepared should then be thoroughly tarred and put into the places where the leak is situated, and a piece or pieces of plank or spar bolted to the timbers to secure them in their situations. The force used in this operation must entirely depend upon the state of the outer plank and fastenings, for if from the decay of the plank or timbers, the fastenings were to give way, the plank might be partially removed from the timbers, and the consequences fatal; but caulking may be done between the timbers and the pieces and (but with more care) between the upper and lower parts of the pieces and the outer planks; by these means the leak would be much lessened, even should it be situated in the plank and timber, and, if in the room, its communication with the vessel would be entirely cut off. This mode of treating leaks is evidently one adapted to those only of comparatively small dimensions; but it is applicable to such leaks, however situated, if approachable. If, from faulty caulking, the vessel be generally leaky, the thrummed sail is the

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only remedy, and the pumps must be constantly and vigilantly attended and worked, to prevent injury to the cargo, and for the safety of the vessel and crew. The pressure of water at different depths is but very partially known to many seamen, and many have expressed the greatest surprise and doubt respecting the matter. First-water presses at its base and altitude; the hole or aperture admitting the water may be considered as the base, and the depth of the hole from the surface, the altitude. Second-the quantity of water admitted into any holes or apertures of the same dimensions will be as the square roots of those depths from the surface, that is, of such numbers as, multiplied together, would make such depths; thus, at 25 feet, five times as much water would be admitted as at one foot; at 16 feet, four times; at 9 feet, three times; at 4 feet, twice; and always in those proportions; but when the water has risen in the inside of the vessel, the quantities of water admitted will be as the difference of the square roots of the surfaces inside and outside. This circumstance will show that pumps which are not powerful enough to prevent the water rising in the hold to a certain height may be quite sufficient to prevent any further increase, and thus, with a cargo that water could not destroy, a ship might be safe with many feet water in her hold, and ought not to be abandoned. It is quite probable that want of information on this very important matter has caused the abandonment of many vessels that might have been saved. From what has been stated, it is plain that a leak situated near the bottom of a vessel is, independently of its being more difficult of access, more dangerous than one near the surface.Emmerson's Useful Hints for Young Officers.

A SEA ANCHOR.--This anchor may frequently be of the greatest possible use; it ought to be made in the following manner :-Take three spars, or topgallant or studdingsail-booms will be sufficiently large; with these spars form a triangle, the size you think will be large enough, when under water, to hold the ship; cut these spars to the required length before or after cross-lashing them well at each angle, so that they will bear an equal strain when in the water, but, should your spars be weak, you should always increase the number of your spars according to their weakness; fill up the centre of the triangle with strong canvas, having eyelet-holes round its side about three inches, to which eyelet-holes attach the canvas well to the spars; at the back of the canvas pass many turns of an inch or inch and a half rope, net fashion, of course. A proper net would be preferable to a rope so expended. To the base of the triangle attach a weight or small anchor, supported in the centre of the base by a span running from each of the

lower angles. To the first-mentioned spans make fast the stream cable; when everything is quite ready, hoist it overboard, from the place you think it will answer best. There is every reason to believe, with this anchor under the trough of the sea and 70 or 80 fathoms of stream cable out, that a ship's drift would not be very great.* The plan proposed would be of the greatest advantage to dismasted vessels, and vessels which have lost their rudders, &c. If a vessel should approach the shore with this sea anchor down, it would enable her to bring-to with her proper anchors much easier than if the sea anchor had not been down. She might let go her proper anchors and veer from the sea anchor until she had sufficient cable out, which would give her a much better chance of holding. The sea anchor should have a buoy and a buoy-rope sufficiently long to go well under the trough of the sea.

MODE OF STEERING A VESSEL WHICH HAS LOST HER RUDDER.-The first thing to be done on losing a rudder is to bring the ship to the wind by bracing up the after yards. Meet her with the head yards as she comes to. Take in sail forward and aft, and keep her hove-to by the sails. A vessel may be made to steer herself for a long time by carefully trimming the yards and slacking up the jib-sheets or the spanker-sheet a little, as may be required.

Having got the ship by the wind, get up a hawser, middle it, and take a slack clove-hitch at the centre. Get up a cable, reeve its end through this hitch, and pay the cable out over the taffrail. Having payed out about fifty fathoms, jamb the hitch and rack it well, so that it cannot slip; pay out on the cable until the hitch takes the water; then lash the cable to the centre of the taffrail; lash a spare spar under it across the stern, with a block well secured at each end, through which reeve the ends of the hawser, one on each quarter, and reeve them again through blocks at the sides, abreast of the wheel.

By this a ship may be steered until a temporary rudder can be coustructed, which may be done thus:

Let a spare topmast be cut to the required length of the rudder-stock, making the heel of the mast to answer for the rudder head; use the

Capt. Liadert, R.N., in his Professional Recollections on Seamanship, &c., says he has twice tried a similar contrivance to that proposed above, and it answered beyond his expectations. "It appears preferable to riding by spars, as the spars drift so much faster than the sea anchor, from its being well under the trough of the sea, so makes great resistance to the drift of the vessel." The reason why the triangular form is proposed in preference to the square is, that the trough of the sea may strike as lightly as possible should the upper angles at any time approach the trough of the sea while riding at anchor. The square might certainly be so placed as to have one of its corners up in the same manner as the triangle, but then you would have the base in the very place you want the greatest resistance if you make a square.