HALF-HITCH. (See PLATE 5 and page 48.)

HAMMOCK. A piece of canva.s.s, hung at each end, in which seamen sleep.

HAND. To _hand_ a sail is to _furl_ it.

_Bear-a-hand_; make haste.

_Lend-a-hand_; a.s.sist.

_Hand-over-hand_; hauling rapidly on a rope, by putting one hand before the other alternately.

HAND-LEAD. (See page 17.) A small lead, used for sounding in rivers and harbors.

HANDSOMELY. Slowly, carefully. Used for an order, as, "Lower handsomely!"

HANDSPIKE. A long wooden bar, used for heaving at the windla.s.s.

HANDY BILLY. A watch-tackle.

HANKS. Rings or hoops of wood, rope, or iron, round a stay, and seized to the luff of a fore-and-aft sail.

HARPINGS. The fore part of the wales, which encompa.s.s the bows of a vessel, and are fastened to the stem. (See PLATE 3.)

HARPOON. A spear used for striking whales and other fish.

HATCH, or HATCHWAY. An opening in the deck to afford a pa.s.sage up and down. The coverings over these openings are also called _hatches_.

_Hatch-bar_ is an iron bar going across the hatches to keep them down.

HAUL. _Haul her wind_, said of a vessel when she comes up close upon the wind.

HAWSE. The situation of the cables before a vessel's stem, when moored.

Also, the distance upon the water a little in advance of the stem; as, a vessel sails _athwart the hawse_, or anchors _in the hawse_ of another.

_Open hawse._ When a vessel rides by two anchors, without any cross in her cables.

HAWSE-HOLE. The hole in the bows through which the cable runs.

HAWSE-PIECES. Timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.

HAWSE-BLOCK. A block of wood fitted into a hawse-hole at sea.

HAWSER. A large rope used for various purposes, as warping, for a spring, &c.

HAWSER-LAID, or CABLE-LAID rope, is rope laid with nine strands against the sun. (See PLATE 5 and page 43.)

HAZE. A term for punishing a man by keeping him unnecessarily at work upon disagreeable or difficult duty.

HEAD. The work at the prow of a vessel. If it is a carved figure, it is called a _figure-head_; if simple carved work, bending over and out, a _billet-head_; and if bending in, like the head of a violin, a _fiddle-head_. Also, the upper end of a mast, called a _mast-head_.

(See BY-THE-HEAD. See FAST.)

HEAD-LEDGES. Thwartship pieces that frame the hatchways.

HEAD-SAILS. A general name given to all sails that set forward of the fore-mast.

HEART. A block of wood in the shape of a heart, for stays to reeve through.

HEART-YARNS. The centre yarns of a strand.

HEAVE SHORT. To heave in on the cable until the vessel is nearly over her anchor.

HEAVE-TO. To put a vessel in the position of lying-to. (See LIE-TO.)

HEAVE IN STAYS. To go about in tacking.

HEAVER. A short wooden bar, tapering at each end. Used as a purchase.

HEEL. The after part of the keel. Also, the lower end of a mast or boom. Also, the lower end of the stern-post.

_To heel_, is to lie over on one side.

HEELING. The square part of the lower end of a mast, through which the fid-hole is made.

HELM. The machinery by which a vessel is steered, including the rudder, tiller, wheel, &c. Applied more particularly, perhaps, to the tiller.

HELM-PORT. The hole in the counter through which the rudder-head pa.s.ses.

HELM-PORT-TRANSOM. A piece of timber placed across the lower counter, inside, at the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every timber, for the security of that port. (See PLATE 3.)

HIGH AND DRY. The situation of a vessel when she is aground, above water mark.

HITCH. A peculiar manner of fastening ropes. (See PLATE 5 and page 48.)

HOG. A flat, rough broom, used for scrubbing the bottom of a vessel.

HOGGED. The state of a vessel when, by any strain, she is made to droop at each end, bringing her centre up.

HOLD. The interior of a vessel, where the cargo is stowed.

HOLD WATER. To stop the progress of a boat by keeping the oar-blades in the water.

HOLY-STONE. A large stone, used for cleaning a ship's decks.

HOME. The sheets of a sail are said to be _home_, when the clews are hauled chock out to the sheave-holes. An anchor _comes home_ when it is loosened from the ground and is hove in toward the vessel.

HOOD. A covering for a companion hatch, skylight, &c.

HOOD-ENDS, or HOODING-ENDS, or WHOODEN-ENDS. Those ends of the planks which fit into the rabbets of the stem or stern-post.