AMIDSHIPS. In the centre of the vessel; either with reference to her length or to her breadth. ANCHOR. The machine by which, when dropped to the bottom, the vessel is held fast. ANCHOR-WATCH. (See WATCH.) AN-END. When a mast is perpendicular to the deck. A-PEEK. When the cable is hove taut so as to bring the vessel nearly over her anchor. The _yards_ are _a-peek_ when they are topped up by contrary lifts. APRON. A piece of timber fixed behind the lower part of the stem, just above the fore end of the keel. A covering to the vent or lock of a cannon. ARM. YARD-ARM. The extremity of a yard. Also, the lower part of an anchor, crossing the shank and terminating in the flukes. ARMING. A piece of tallow put in the cavity and over the bottom of a lead-line. A-STERN. In the direction of the stern. The opposite of ahead. A-TAUNT. (See TAUNT.) ATHWART. Across. _Athwart-ships._ Across the line of the vessel's keel. _Athwart-hawse._ Across the direction of a vessel's head. Across her cable. ATHWART-SHIPS. Across the length of a vessel. In opposition to fore-and-aft. A-TRIP. The situation of the anchor when it is raised clear of the ground. The same as a-weigh. AVAST, or 'VAST. An order to stop; as, "Avast heaving!" A-WEATHER. The situation of the helm when it is put in the direction from which the wind blows. A-WEIGH. The same as a-trip. AWNING. A covering of canvass over a vessel's deck, or over a boat, to keep off sun or rain. BACK. _To back an anchor_, is to carry out a smaller one ahead of the one by which the vessel rides, to take off some of the strain. _To back a sail_, is to throw it aback. _To back and fill_, is alternately to back and fill the sails. BACKSTAYS. Stays running from a masthead to the vessel's side, slanting a little aft. (See STAYS.) BAGPIPE. _To bagpipe the mizzen_, is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the weather mizzen rigging. BALANCE-REEF. A reef in a spanker or fore-and-aft mainsail, which runs from the outer head-earing, diagonally, to the tack. It is the closest reef, and makes the sail triangular, or nearly so. BALE. _To bale a boat_, is to throw water out of her. BALLAST. Heavy material, as iron, lead, or stone, placed in the bottom of the hold, to keep a vessel from upsetting. _To freshen ballast_, is to shift it. Coarse gravel is called _shingle ballast_. BANK. A boat is _double banked_ when two oars, one opposite the other, are pulled by men seated on the same thwart. BAR. A bank or shoal at the entrance of a harbor. _Capstan-bars_ are heavy pieces of wood by which the capstan is hove round. BARE-POLES. The condition of a ship when she has no sail set. BARGE. A large double-banked boat, used by the commander of a vessel, in the navy. BARK, OR BARQUE. (See PLATE 4.) A three-masted vessel, having her fore and main masts rigged like a ship's, and her mizzen mast like the main mast of a schooner, with no sail upon it but a spanker, and gaff topsail.