DEMURRAGE. The compensation due to a ship-owner from a freighter for unduly delaying his vessel in port beyond the time specified in the charter-party or bill of lading. It is in fact an extended freight. A ship unjustly detained, as a prize, is entitled to demurrage. Vessels chartered to convey government stores have a term given for discharge by government aid. If not delivered within that period, demurrage, as stated in the document, is paid per diem for any "unavoidable delay."
DEN. A sandy tract near the sea, as at Exmouth and other places.
DEN AND STROND. A liberty for ships or vessels to run or come ashore. Edward I. granted this privilege to the barons of the Cinque Ports.
DE NAUTICO FŒNORE. Of nautical usury; bottomry.
DENE. The Anglo-Saxon dæne; implying a kind of hollow or ravine through which a rivulet runs, the banks on either side being studded with trees.
DENEB. The bright star in the constellation Cygnus, well known as a standard nautical star.
DENSITY. The weight of a body in comparison with its bulk.
DENTICE. An excellent fish, so named from being well furnished with teeth. It is of the Sparidæ family, and frequents the Adriatic.
DEPARTMENT. A term by which the divisions in the public services are distinguished, as the civil, the commissariat, the military, the naval, the victualling, &c.
DEPARTURE. The bearing of an object on the coast from which a vessel commences her dead-reckoning and takes her departure. The distance of any two places lying on the same parallel counted in miles of the equator.