MANATEE, Manati, or Sea-cow (Manatus americanus). A herbivorous aquatic animal of the order Sirenia, found in the West Indies and South American rivers. Another species (Manatus senegalensis) inhabits the west coast of Africa.
MAN-BOUND. Detained in port in consequence of being short of complement.
MAN-BROKER. Synonymous with [crimp] (which see).
MANBY'S MORTAR. An efficient apparatus for throwing a shell with a line and chain attached to it, over a stranded vessel, and thereby opening a communication between the wreck and the shore.
MANCHE of Mangalore. A flat-bottomed boat of burden, about 25 to 35 feet long, 6 or 7 feet broad, and 4 or 5 feet deep, for landing the cargoes of the patamars, which are discharged and loaded at the mouth of the river. These boats are sewed together like the Masulah boats of Madras.—The Manché of Calicut is very similar to the foregoing, with the exception of a raking stem for the purpose of taking the beach.
MANCHINEEL. Hippomane mancinella, a tree which grows to a vast size on the coasts of the Caribbee Isles and neighbouring continent. The fruit and sap are highly poisonous; but sleeping beneath the branches does not cause death, as was erroneously supposed.
MANDARIN. A Portuguese word derived from mandare, "to command." It is unknown to the Chinese and Tonquinese, who style their dignitaries "quahn."
MANDILION. A loose boat-cloak of former times.
MANDRIL. A wooden cylinder for forming paper cartridges.
MANGER. A small berthing in the bows, extending athwart the deck of a ship-of-war immediately within the hawse-holes, and separated on the after-part from the rest of the deck by the manger-board, a strong coaming rather higher than the hawse-holes, serving to prevent the ingress of the sea when the cables are bent; this water is returned to the sea through the manger-scuppers, which are made large for that purpose.