Unless the midshipman has an unconquerable aversion to the acquisition of those qualifications, which are so essential to his improvement, he will very rarely want opportunities of making a progress therein. Every step he advances in those meritorious employments, will facilitate his accession to the next in order. If the dunces, who are his officers or mess-mates, are rattling the dice, roaring bad verses, hissing on the flute, or scraping discord from the fiddle, his attention to more noble studies will sweeten the hours of relaxation. He should recollect that no example from fools ought to influence his conduct, or seduce him from that laudable ambition which his honour and advantage are equally concerned to pursue.
MIZEN, artimon, (misana, Ital.) the aftermost or hindmost of the fixed sails of a ship, extended sometimes by a gaff, and sometimes by a yard which crosses the mast obliquely; the fore-end reaching almost down to the deck, and the after-end being peeked up as high above the middle of the yard, where it is attached to the mast. The figure of the mizen is accordingly a trapezia, or a parallelogram, one of whose corners is cut off by a diagonal, extended from one of its sides to the opposite corner, which becomes the peek of the mizen. See the article Sail.
MIZEN-MAST, the mast upon which the mizen and its top-sail and stay-sails are supported, besides other sails, which are set occasionally, as the driver, ring-tail, &c. See the article Mast.
The shrouds, stays, and back-stays of this mast, as well as all the running-rigging, together with its several yards and sails, being described under the articles Shrowd, Stay, Yard, &c. the reader is referred thither for the explanations thereof, which are in general applicable also to the same furniture of both the other masts.
MOLE, a name given in the Mediterranean to a long pier, or artificial bulwark of masonry, extending obliquely across the entrance of a harbour, in order to break the force of the sea from the vessels which are anchored within.
Mole is also, although improperly, applied to the harbour or haven, which is formed by the bulwark above described, which is then denominated the mole-head.
MONSOON, a name given to the periodical or trade-winds, which blow regularly in certain latitudes of the Indian ocean. They continue five or six months invariably in one direction, and then alter their course, and blow, during an equal space of time, from a different point of the compass with the same uniformity.
MOORING, the act of confining and securing a ship in a particular station, by chains or cables, which are either fastened to the adjacent shore, or to anchors in the bottom.
A ship may be either moored by the head, or by the head and stern; that is to say, she may be secured by anchors before her, without any behind: or she may have anchors out, both before and behind her; or her cables may be attached to posts, rings, or moorings, which answer the same purpose.
When a ship is moored by the head with her own anchors, they are disposed according to the circumstances of the place where she lies, and the time she is to continue therein. Thus wherever a tide ebbs and flows, it is usual to carry one anchor out towards the flood, and another towards the ebb, particularly where there is little room to range about; and the anchors are laid in the same manner, if the vessel is moored head-and-stern in the same place. The situation of the anchors, in a road or bay, is usually opposed to the reigning winds, or those which are most dangerous; so that the ship rides therein with the effort of both her cables. Thus if she rides in a bay, or road, which is exposed to a northerly wind and heavy sea from the same quarter, the anchors passing from the opposite bows ought to lie east and west from each other: hence both the cables will retain the ship in her station with equal effort against the action of the wind and sea.