palans, tackle for raising heavy weights; block and pulley.
amure, rope by means of which the lower corners of a sail are held, 'tack.'
se le passaient, passed it along, i.e. the ship.
Nemrod. Nimrod is in Hugo the incarnation of the spirit of war. Cf. especially La Fin de Satan: Le Glaive.
pavois, as a naval term, 'bulwarks.'
vrille, gimlet. The conception is of some immense spiked ram.
alcoran, the Koran. Al is the Arabic definite article.
L. 191 refers to the texts in the Koran which order the death of those who do not accept Mahometanism.
simoun, simoon, the hot wind of the Sahara.
PLEIN CIEL.