[Page 74], l. 19.
Jears, lifts, and brails, a seaman each attends,
And down the mast its mighty yard descends.
Jears, or geers, answer the same purpose to the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen, as haliards do to all inferior sails. The tye, a sort of runner, or thick rope, is the upper part of the jears.
[Page 74], l. 23, 24; and Page 75, l. 1-12.
Reef-lines, shrouds, reef-band, outer and inner turns.
Reef-lines, are only used to reef the main-sail and fore-sail. Shrouds, so called from the Saxon scrud, consist of a range of thick ropes stretching downwards from the mast heads, to the right and left sides of a ship, in order to support the masts, and enable them to carry sail; they are also used as rope ladders, by which seamen ascend or descend to execute whatever is wanting to be done about the sails and rigging. Reef-band, consists of a piece of canvass sewed across the sail, to strengthen it in the place where the eyelet-holes of the reefs are formed. The outer turns of the earing serve to extend the sail along its yard; the inner turns are employed to confine its head-rope close to its surface.
[Page 75], l. 21.
A Sea, up-surging with stupendous roll.
A sea is the general term given by sailors to an enormous wave; and hence, when such a wave bursts over the deck, the vessel is said to have shipped a sea.