PARRAL. A band for keeping the end of a yard to the mast; made in different ages of basket-work or rope—in the latter case running through a number of circular pieces of wood, to prevent friction in raising and lowering the yard or gaff. PAVISSES. Shields of wood or other material placed round a ship’s side for a protection against the enemy’s missiles; used also in open boats for keeping out the spray. PINTLE. The bolt by which a rudder is attached to the stern of a ship. QUANT. A pole used extensively in Holland and East Anglia for the purpose of propelling a craft along shallow waterways. (Greek κοντὸς, Latin _contus_, a pole.) RACE. A rapid current of disturbed water caused by the unevenness of the bottom of the sea, frequently found off headlands—_e.g._, St. Alban’s Head, Portland Bill, &c. ROCKER. The curvature of a piece or pieces of wood in a vessel’s structure. SCUTTLE. To cause a ship to sink by making holes in her hull below the water-line. SHEER. The curve of a vessel’s hull from bow to stern, or _vice versâ_. SPINNAKER. A light, triangular-shaped sail set on the side opposite to that on which the mainsail extends, and used when running before the wind. SPRIT, SPRITSAIL. (1) In full-rigged ships the _spritsail_ was a square-sail set on a yard below the bowsprit; now obsolete. (2) In fore-and-aft vessels the _sprit_ is a spar used for stretching the peak of the sail, thus extending diagonally across the mast—as, for instance, in the case of a Thames barge (see Fig. 99). STAYSAIL. Usually triangular in shape, though in the seventeenth century sometimes rectangular, hoisted on a stay, between the masts or forward of the foremast. STEEVING. The angle which a ship’s bowsprit makes with the horizon. STEMPOST. The piece of timber to which the two sides of a ship’s planking are united at the forward end. STEP. The block of wood into which the keel of a mast is fixed. STRUT-FRAME. A piece of timber used in shipbuilding for strengthening the vessel. TOPPING-LIFTS. Ropes used for the support of the boom of a sail when the latter is stowed. TRUCK. A small wooden cap at the summit of a mast. VANG. A rope leading down from the end of a gaff to the deck. A characteristic of the Dutch sloops and Thames barge rig. WALE. One of the planks of a ship. BIBLIOGRAPHY. ABBOT, WILLIAM J. American Merchant Ships and Sailors. 1902. ARENHOLD, L. Die Historische Entwicklung der Schiffstypen. 1891. BAÏF, DE. (Lazarus Bayfius): Annotationes ... de captivis et postliminio reversis, in quibus tractatur de re navali. 1536. BARNARD, F. P. (edited by). Companion to English History (Middle Ages). Article by M. Oppenheim on Shipping. 1902. BASTON, T. Twenty-two Prints of several of the Capital Ships of his Majesties Royal Navy. BEDFORD, Admiral F. G. D., R.N., C.B. Sailor’s Handbook. —— Sailor’s Pocket-book. —— Sailor’s Ready Reference Book. 1890.