LAGOON ISLANDS. Those produced by coral animals; they are of various shapes, belted with coral, frequently with channels by which ships may enter, and lie safely inside. They are often studded with the cocoa-nut palm. (See [Atolls].)
LAGUNES. The shallows which extend round Venice; their depth between the city and the mainland is 3 to 6 feet in general; they are occasioned by the quantities of sand carried down by the rivers which descend from the Alps, and fall into the Adriatic along its north-western shores.
LAG-WOOD. The larger sticks from the head of an oak-tree when felled.
LAID. A fisherman's name for the pollack. Also, a term in rope-making, the twist being the lay; single-laid, is one strand; hawser-laid, three strands twisted into a rope; cablet-laid, three ropes laid together; this is also termed water-laid.
LAID ABACK. See [Aback].
LAID TO. A term used sometimes for hove to, but when a vessel lays to the sails are kept full. As in a gale of wind, under staysails, or close reefs, &c.
LAID UP. A vessel dismantled and moored in a harbour, either for want of employment, or as unfit for further service.
LAKE. A large inland expanse of water, with or without communication with the sea. A lake, strictly considered, has no visible affluent or effluent; but many of the loughs of Ireland, and lochs of Scotland, partake of the nature of havens or gulfs. Moreover, some lakes have affluents without outlets, and others have an outlet without any visible affluent; therein differing from lagoons and ponds. The water of lakes entirely encompassed by land is sometimes salt; that communicating with the sea by means of rivers is fresh.
LAKE-LAWYER. A voracious fish in the lakes of America, called also the mud-fish.
LAMANTIN. A name used by the early voyagers for the manatee.