"What is the principal sail in a sloop?" he asked.
"The mainsail," replied Archie, who was very sure this time.
"This sail, as you may see in the picture or the real thing before you, is irregular in its shape," continued the skipper.
"I wish the real thing wouldn't bang about so," added Ash.
"Give a pull on the main-sheet," added Thad; and it was done. "The real thing won't trouble you now any more than the pictured one. It is supported at the top by the gaff, by the mast at the inner side, and stretched out at the bottom by the boom. On the mast are hoops, which slide up and down when the sail is hoisted or lowered."
"I thought they were called hanks," said Ash.
"Hoops is the correct word; but the rings, whether of wood or any other material, by which a sail, a jib, or a staysail, slides on the stay, are called hanks. There are six parts of this sail which you ought to learn by heart, and know as quick as you know the sleeve of your coat from the collar of it. If you are told by the skipper to take hold of the leech, you ought to know what it is."
"I should say a fellow couldn't do any thing with it till he knew where to find it," added Ash Burton, laughing.
"In the first place, there are the head and the foot," continued Thad. "You know what they are, but you must know that they are called by these names. To what is the head of the sail attached?"
"To the gaff: I mean the main-gaff," replied Archie.