BANKER, a vessel employed in the cod-fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland.
BAR of a port or haven, a shoal or bank of sand, gravel, &c. thrown up by the surge of the sea, to the mouth of a river or harbour, so as to endanger, and sometimes totally prevent the navigation.
BARCA-LONGA, a large Spanish fishing-boat, navigated with lug-sails, and having two or three masts: these are very common in the Mediterranean. See Vessel.
BARGE (bargie, Dutch) a vessel or boat of state, furnished with elegant apartments, canopies, and cushions; equipped with a band of rowers, and decorated with flags and streamers: they are generally used for processions on the water, by noblemen, officers of state, or magistrates of great cities. Of this sort we may naturally suppose the famous barge or galley of Cleopatra, which, according to Shakespeare,
———————‘Like a burnish’d throne
Burnt on the water; the poop was beaten gold;
Purple her sails, and so perfumed, that
The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,