"Well, Randolph, you seem to be the only one who can give the name of a vessel with this rig," said Captain Gildrock, calling upon the New-Yorker.
"She is a barkentine," replied Matt. "The rig is new, and the name has not yet got into the dictionary."
"And I hope it will not get there as you pronounce it, and as the newspapers usually spell it," added the principal. "The word 'brigantine' is spelled with an a; and there is no reason why it should not be a barkantine, rather than a barkentine."
"But 'bark' was formerly 'barque,'" suggested Matt.
"If she were a barquentine, that would be another thing. Some people still insist upon writing a bank 'cheque;' but there are a score of words that might as well be spelled the same way, if the fashion had not changed.—I suppose you have seen four-masted schooners, Matt?"
"Yes, sir, a few of them; though they are not very common," replied the New-Yorker.
"Many of these three-masted schooners are three times as big as a full-rigged ship used to be in old times; and I mean within my recollection. They were first used as coalers, vessels which had to work up Delaware Bay and River; and these schooners could be kept closer to the wind in beating.—What is this?" asked the captain, as he changed the picture.
"A brigantine," replied Lon Dorset when called.
"I think not," added the principal.
"I have heard of a vessel like that, rigged like a ship forward, and like a schooner aft, called a brigantine," persisted Lon.