6. If, in planting, the vessel moves _against_ the direction of the current, there is little danger of overturning the distribution box boat if ordinary caution is observed. Should it be necessary to plant against a cross current or with it, it is best to pass the cable end to the distribution box boat by a launch or small boat. In this way the planter need not pass within 50 or 75 yards of the boat. 7. To avoid getting foul of the buoy rope or mine after the mine is dropped, the helm should be put over so as to throw the stern away from the mine. The vessel should be under good headway so that the propellers may be stopped until they are well past the buoy and buoy ropes of the mine. These points are important; failure to observe them will result disastrously. In laying multiple cable, the course of the vessel invariably should be against the current. Rather than lay cable with the current it is advisable to postpone laying the cable until a change of the tide causes a favorable direction of current. In the end, time will be saved by waiting. Cable should pay off on the _upstream_ side of the vessel if any cross current is running. All care should be taken that the cable does not get caught in the vessel’s propellers. This is of the greatest importance. As the cable pays out over a chock near the bow of the vessel a man should stand by with a 3-inch strap in readiness to stop the cable should it be necessary, and two men should manipulate brakes to prevent the cable from paying out too rapidly. This is especially necessary if the water is deeper than 50 feet. Especial care is necessary in planting mines to avoid: (_a_) Colliding with yawl or distribution box boat; (_b_) picking up cable in the propeller; (_c_) getting the mine cable tangled; (_d_) drifting over the mine after it is dropped. APPENDIX NO. 7. MANUAL FOR SMALL BOATS. The left-hand side of a boat or ship, looking toward the bow, is the _port_ side, and the other is the _starboard_ side. The men who row on the port side are called the _port oars_ and those rowing on the starboard side are called the _starboard oars._ Boats are called single or double banked, according as they have one or two oarsmen to a thwart. _Thwarts_ are the seats on which the crew sits; the space abaft the after thwart is called the _stern sheet_. _Floorings_ and _gratings_ are the bottom boards of a boat. They prevent the weight from bearing directly upon the planking. The _gunwale_ of a boat is the upper rail. The _yoke_ is an athwartship piece of wood or metal fitting over the rudderhead. _Yoke lanyards_ are the small lines made fast to the ends of the yoke, by which the rudder is turned and the boat steered. The _stem_ is the upturned portion of the keel at the bow of the boat, to which the forward ends of the planks are secured. Oars are said to be double banked when two men pull one oar.