“By this principle it is easy to conceive how a ship is compelled to turn into any direction, by the force of the wind acting upon her sails in lines parallel to the plane of the horizon: for the sails may be so set, as to receive the current of air either directly, or more or less obliquely; and the motion communicated to the ship must of necessity conspire with that of the wind. As therefore the ship lies in such a situation as to have the wind and sea directly on her side; and these increase to such an height, that she must either founder, or scud before the storm; the aftmost sails are first taken in, or so placed that the wind has very little power on them: and the head-sails, or fore-mast sails, are spread abroad, so that the whole force of the wind is exerted on the ship’s forepart, which must therefore of necessity yield to its impulse. The prow being thus put in motion, its motion must conspire with that of the wind, and will be pushed about so as to run immediately before it; for this reason, when no more sail can be carried, the fore-mast yards are braced aback; that is, in such a position as to receive all the current of air they can contain directly to perform the operation of head-sails; and the mizen-yard is lowered to produce the same effect as furling, or placing obliquely the aftmost sails; and this attempt being found insufficient, the mizen-mast is cut away, which must have been followed by the main-mast, if the expected effect had not taken place.” NOTES ON THE THIRD CANTO. PAGE 106, l. 3, 4. _While round before th’ enlarging wind it falls,_ _‘Square fore and aft the yards,’ the master calls._ The wind is said to _enlarge_, when it veers from the side towards the stern. To square the yards is, in this place, to haul them directly across the ship’s length. PAGE 106, l. 7. _So, steady! meet her!_ Steady! is an order to steer the ship according to the line on which she then advances, without deviating to the right or left. PAGE 106, l. 11. _Then back to port_— The left side of a ship is called _port_ in steering, that the helmsmen may not mistake larboard for starboard. In all large ships, the tiller, (or long bar of timber, that is fixed horizontally to the upper end of the rudder), is guided by a _wheel_, which acts upon it with the powers of a crane or windlass. PAGE 108, l. 3. _Poop, bow._ _Poop_, from the Latin word _puppis_, is the hindmost and highest deck of a ship. The _bow_ is the rounding part of a ship’s side forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and terminating where they close at the stem or prow. PAGE 108, l. 19. ... _when past the beam it flies._ On the _beam_, implies any distance from the ship on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel: thus, if the ship steers northward, any object lying east, or west, is said to be on her starboard or larboard beam. PAGE 123, l. 20. ... _still they dread her broaching-to._