COUNTER-BRACING.--This is done whenever, with a breeze, a vessel wishes to remain stationary, for the purpose of speaking another vessel, sounding, lowering a boat, or the like. If you do not wish to stop your way entirely, haul up the mainsail, square the main yards aback, keeping the fore and cross-jack yards full, and the foresail, spanker and jib set. If you wish to stop her way still more, back the cross-jack yards also, haul up the foresail, and put the helm a-lee. She will then fall off and come to, which you may regulate by the jib and spanker sheets; and she may be ranged a little ahead, or deadened, by filling or backing the cross-jack yards. You may, on the other hand, back the head yards and fill the after yards. The former method is called heaving-to with the maintopsail to the mast, and the latter, with the foretopsail to the mast. SPEAKING.--When two vessels speak at sea, the one to windward heaves her maintopsail to the mast, and the one to leeward her fore. This is in order that the weather one may the more readily fill without falling off so as to run afoul of the other, and that the lee one may box her head off and keep clear of the ship to windward. The weather one either throws all aback and drops astern, or fills her after yards and shoots ahead. The lee one shivers her after yards and boxes off. If the weather ship comes too near the lee one, before the latter has time to wear, the weather ship squares her head yards, drops her mainsail, braces her cross-jack yards sharp aback, and puts her helm a-weather. This gives her sternway, and the after sails and helm keep her to the wind. If three vessels communicate at sea, the weather and middle ones back their main topsails, and the lee one her fore; then, in case of necessity, the weather one fills her after yards and shoots ahead, the middle one throws all aback and drops astern, and the lee one shivers her after sails and falls off. SOUNDING.--The marks upon the lead-lines have been given previously, at page 17. To sound with the hand-lead, a man stands in the weather main channels with a breast-rope secured to the rigging, and throws the lead forward, while the vessel has headway on. If the depth corresponds with the marks upon the line, as if it is 5, 7, or 10 fathoms, he calls out, "By the _mark five_!" &c. If it is a depth the fathoms of which have no mark upon the line, as 6, 8, or 9, he calls out, "By the _deep six_!" &c. If he judges the depth to be a quarter or a half more than a particular fathom, as, for instance, 5, he calls out, "And a quarter," or, "And a half, five!" &c. If it is 5 and three quarters, he would say, "Quarter less six!" and so on.