The Sailor's Word-Book / An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc.

by W. H. Smyth

DONKEY-ENGINE. An auxiliary steam-engine for feeding the boilers of the principal engine when they are stopped; or for any other duties independent of the ship's propelling engines.

DONKEY-FRIGATE. Those of 28 guns, frigate-built; that is, having guns protected by an upper deck, with guns on the quarter-deck and forecastle; ship-sloops, in contradistinction to corvettes and sloops.

DONNY. A small fishing-net.

DOOLAH. A passage-boat on the Canton river.

DOOTED. Timber rendered unsound by fissures.

DORADO. The Coryphæna hippuris, an oceanic fish; often called "dolphin."

DOREY. A flat-floored cargo-boat in the West Indies, named after the fish John Dory.

DORNICLE. A northern name for the viviparous blenny.

DORRA. From the Gaelic dorga; a crab-net.

DORSAL FIN. The median fin placed upon the back of fishes.