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BOAST', v. & n.

BOAST'ER,

BOASTFUL,

BOASTING,

Cotgrave derives it from the French bosse, which he explains, swollen; risen; puffed up. Any thing

BOAST'INGLY, raised on a surface, and BOAST'IVE, which is itself hollow, and BOAST'LESS. without substance; something tumid and inflated. This at once gives us the origin and the meaning of the word in its general acceptation. To boast is to swell above our natural dimensions; is to be the subject of a moral disease, which, as it increases in magnitude, diminishes the health and vigor of the patient. A boaster is a self-complacent manufacturer of lies to set off his own imaginary greatness; who forms a very exaggerated estimate of himself, and labors to deceive others on the same subject, and to the same amount; used, as it sometimes is, in the sense of glorying in others, it is not reprehensible.

Let not him that putteth on his harness, boast him self as he that putteth it off. Kings' Confounded be all them that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Psalm xcvii. 7. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.

Psalm xlix. 6. Thus with your mouth you have boasted against me, and multiplied your words against me. Ezek. xxxv. 13. Thou, that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

Romans ii. 23. For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia. 1 Cor. ix. 2. For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed: 2 Cor. vii. 14. And is the boast of that proud ladies' threat, That menaced me from the field to beat, Now brought to this?

Spenser.

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Lose all their virtue, lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds.

Id.

If they vouchsafed to give God the praise of his goodness; yet they did it only, in order to boast the interest they had in them. Atterbury.

We look on it as a pitch of impiety, boastingly to avow our sins; and it deserves to be considered, whether this kind of confessing them, have not some affinity with it. Decay of Piety.

No more delays, vain boaster! but begin! I prophecy beforehand I shall win : I'll teach you how to brag another time. Dryden. He the proud boasters sent, with stern assault, Down to the realms of night. Boastful, and rough, your first son is a squire; The next a tradesman, meek, and much a liar.

Philips.

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The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await, alike the' inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Gray's Elegy. Kingdoms, by thee to sickly greatness grown, Boast of a florid vigour not their own.

Goldsmith. Deserted Village. BOAT', From the Germ, batten; to BOAT'MAN, thrust; to dash; to drive along. BOAT'SWAIN,So says Wachter, as quoted by the Ency. Met. Ang.-Sax.

BOAT'WISE.

BOAT'LIKE, bate or bat. This derivation refers more to the manner of conducting this species of vessel through the water, than to the nature of the thing itself. But perhaps that which distinguishes a boat from all other nautical craft, is its comparative diminutiveness, and its being impelled along by oars rather than by

sails filled with wind. Yet the boatswain is an officer that is not required in such boats, at least according to the present duties allotted to that personage. Formerly the servant, the swain or swein, who managed the oars, received this appellation.

I do not think that any one nation, the Syrian excepted, to whom the knowledge of the ark came, did find out at once the device of either ship or boat, in which they durst venture themselves upon the seas. Raleigh's Essays.

Where the remote Bermudas ride
In the' ocean's bosom unespied;
From a small boat that rowed along,
The listening winds received this song.

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That booby Phaon only was unkind, An ill-bred boatman, rough as waves and wind. Prior. Sometimes the meanest boatswain may help to preserve the ship from sinking.

Howell's Preeminence of Parliament. Reef topsails, reef, the boatswain calls again. Falconer's Shipwreck.

Hark to the boatswain's call, the cheering cry! While through the seamen's hands the tackle glides. Byron.

Another morn-another bids them seek, And shout his name till echo waxeth weak; Mount-grotto-cavern-valley searched in vain, They find on shore a sea-boat's broken chainTheir hope revives. Byron. Corsair. BOATS. The construction, machinery, and even the names of boats, are very different, according to the various purposes for which they are calculated, and the services on which they are to be employed. Thus they are occasionally slight or strong, sharp or flat-bottomed, open or decked, plain or ornamented; as they may be designed for swiftness or burden, for deep or shallow water, for sailing in a harbour or at sea, and for convenience or pleasure.

The Long-Boat is the largest boat that usually accompanies a ship, is generally furnished with a mast and sails, and may be armed and equipped for cruising short distances, against merchant-ships of the enemy, or smugglers, or for impressing seamen, &c.; her principal employ, however, is to bring heavy stores or provisions

on board, and also to go up small rivers to fetch water, wood, &c.

The Launch is a boat which of late years has greatly superseded the use of the long boat; it is longer, more flat-bottomed, and, by rowing a greater number of oars, is better adapted for going up narrow and shallow rivers. See the article LAUNCH.

The Barge is a long, narrow, light boat, employed to carry the principal sea-officers, as admirals, and captains of ships of war, on shore, and are very unfit for sea. See the article BARGE.

A Pinnace resembles a barge, but is smaller, never rowing more than eight oars; whereas, a barge never rows less than ten. The pinnace is for the accommodation of the lieutenants, &c. The Cutters of a ship are broader, deeper, and shorter, than the barge or pinnace; they are fitter for sailing, and commonly employed in carrying light stores, provisions, passengers, &c. to and from the ships. In the structure of this sort of boats, the lower edge of every plank in the side over-lays the upper edge of the plank below it, which is called clinch-work. They are generally rowed with six oars, sometimes only with four; in which case they are termed jollyboats.

Yawls are something less than cutters, nearly of the same form, and used for similar services. Of all the small boats, a Norway yawl seems to be the best calculated for a high sea, as it will often venture out to a great distance from the coast of that country, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail.

A Gig is a long narrow boat used for expedition, generally rowed with six or eight oars, and is mostly the private property of the captain or commander.

The Jolly-Boat is a smaller boat than a yawl, kept on board ships for going on shore, and other light work.

The above more particularly belong to ships of war; as merchant-ships seldom have more than two, viz. a long boat and a yawl; when they have a third it is generally calculated for the countries to which they trade, and varies in its construction accordingly.

A Wherry is a light sharp boat, used in a river or harbour for carrying passengers from place to place. The wherries allowed to ply about London, are either scullers, which means a single person with two oars, or two persons rowing with each an oar. The Portsmouth wherries are built broader and larger than those on the Thames, and allowed to be a very safe description of boats, and will often keep the sea when those of a larger class are obliged to run into port: they have frequently been known to cross the channel to France with safety, at different seasons of the year, and seldom meet with any accident.

A Punt is a sort of oblong flat-bottomed boat, nearly resembling a floating stage used by shipwrights and calkers, for breaming, calking, or repairing a ship's bottom, and is chiefly used for one person to go on shore in from small vessels. It is also frequently used to go after wild-fowl during the winter season, when they

hover about the coasts. The boatman is furnished mith a long musket, fixed in the bow of the boat, and generally steers with a scull in the stern, while he lays on his back in the bottom of the boat; he takes the advantage of the tide to go down on the birds, and fires, without taking any particular aim, as the flock are rising out of the water, by which means he frequently brings down a great many.

A Moses is a flat-bottomed boat, used in the West Indies for bringing off hogsheads of sugar from the sea-beach to the shipping which are anchored in the roads, and is termed single or double according to its size.

A Felucca is a large and strong passage-boat, used in the Mediterranean, having from ten to sixteen banks of oars. The natives of Barbary often employ boats of this sort as cruisers.

The Society of Arts voted the gold medal in the year 1807 to Mr. Christopher Wilson, Richard Street, Commercial Road, London for a secure sailing-boat, which is described in Vol. XXV. of the Society's Transactions as Mr. Wilson's Neutral-built-self-balanced-boat.

sure.

Mr. Wilson claims two distinct improvements, viz. the neutral mode of building, and the application of the hollow sides or balance bodies. The first of these improvements relates to boats, barges, &c. in general; the other to such boats only as are designed for despatch, safety, or pleaBut with respect to these claims, it is but justice to state, that he has been anticipated in them both. Mr. Boswell, to whom the navy is much indebted for many useful hints, had a boat built in June 1803, the internal framing of which was precisely the same as in that of Mr. Wilson's; and the only difference was, that, instead of having slips laid on the inside of the seams with blair or other calking, they were rivetted on without, and the seams calked. This boat was exhibited in London, and a description of it published in No. LXII. of the Repertory of Arts, New Series, &c. The second improvement claimed by Mr. Wilson, is essentially the same as that for which Mr. Lionel Lukin obtained a patent in the year 1785, the specifi.ation of which was published in the Repertory of Arts, Vol. III. First Series.

The difficulties and danger of passing a bar in stormy weather, and of landing troops on a beach, when there is much surf, or a great swell, have given rise to various experiments, to prevent boats being swamped or stove; and among others, that of applying air trunks to boats built in the common way, agreeably to a plan lately proposed to the admiralty by Vice Admiral Hunter, who, after forty years experience in different parts of the world, strongly recommends it as the very best possible method yet thought of, to prevent boats sinking in case of being struck by a heavy sea, or filled in going through a surf. This plan is simple and practicable for preventing the loss of lives when a boa. is sent from her ship in bad weather; or when troops are to be carried in boats through broken water, which may occasion their shipping enough to fill or swamp the boat in deep water; and the Admiral is of opinion, that if every ship, whether in his Majesty's or merchant's service, were to have at all

times a set of these trunks ready to apply, when they have occasion to use their boats in bad weather, many valuable lives would be saved.

To those acquainted with the force of a heavy sea, it must appear much more difficult to prerent a boat from being stove, than from being sunk. A mechanic has suggested that a much greater degree of stability might be given to our common boats or small vessels, and that they might be made to resist the shock of the waves, by diminishing their centre of gravity at the instant such a measure was found necessary, which would greatly augment their general gravity and resistance. He proposes, that in the vertical plane of the boat's centre of gravity, there be placed a rod of iron, formed of several fillets of the same metal: at the extremity of this rod let there be fixed a weight of iron or lead, the specific gravity of which may be in proportion to the effect required to result from it. When there is no occasion for employing this weight, it might be contained in place made in the bottom, or keel, of the vessel, which part might be easily appropriated for that purpose, without the weight occasioning any embarrasment or friction.

The rod might be secured by an apparatus very easily made; and it might be provided with teeth, by which it could be manœuvred by a crane, by means of a single handle; the weight might be made to descend to the depth of eighteen, twenty, or twenty-four inches, beneath the lower plane of the keel; and it will appear evident that the descent of this weight must cause a difference in the power of the boat's resistance against the efforts of the waves. See the LIFE BOAT, below.

Trim the BOAT, is an order to sit in the boat in such a manner as that she shall float upright in the water, without leaning to either side.

To bale the BOAT is to throw or scoop out the water that may have got in her bottom, by leakage or otherwise.

Moor the BOAT, is an order to fasten a boat with two ropes, so as that the one shall counteract the other, and keep her in a steady position.

BOAT'S CREW are the men appointed to man any particular boat, as the barge's crew, cutter's crew, &c.

BOAT, LIFE. The life-boat is a modern invention of the utmost consequence to the lives and safety of seafaring persons.

The construction of a boat for the preservation of lives from ships driven on the shores of this kingdom, was originally suggested by the subscribers to the News Room at the Law House, South Shields, in 1789; who, from situation, were the more immediate spectators of the destruction inevitably attending vessels and their crews coming on the sand at the south entrance of Tynemouth Haven.

In September, 1789, the ship Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the Herd Sands, on the south side of Tynemouth Haven, in the midst of the most tremendous breakers; and all the crew dropped from the rigging, one by one, in the presence of thousands of spectators; not one of whom could be prevailed on by any reward

to ventnre out to her assistance in any boat of the common construction. On this melancholy occasion the gentlemen of South Shields called a meeting of the inhabitants, and premiums were instantly offered for plans of a boat which should be the best calculated to brave the dangers of the sea, particularly of broken water. Many proposals were accordingly offered, but the preference was given unanimously to Mr. Greathead's, who was immediately directed to build a boat at the expense of the committee. This boat went off on the 30th of January, 1790, and so well has it answered, and even exceeded, every expectation, in the most tremendous sea, that during the last twenty-five years not less than 300 lives have been saved at the entrance of the Tyne alone, which otherwise must have been lost.

The principle of Mr. Greathead's boat appears to have been suggested by the following simple fact: Take a spheroid, and divide it into quarters; each quarter is elliptical, and nearly resembles the half of a wooden bowl, having a curvature with projecting ends; this, thrown into the sea or broken water, cannot be upset or lie with the bottom upwards. The length of the boat is thirty feet; the breadth ten feet; the depth, from the top of the gunwale to the lower part of the keel in midships, three feet three inches; from the gunwale to the platform (within), two feet four inches; from the top of the stems (both ends being similar) to the horizontal line of the bottom of the keel, five feet nine inches. The keel is a plank of three inches thick, of a proportionate breadth in midships, narrowing gradually towards the ends, to the breadth of the stems at the bottom, and forming a great convexity downwards.

The stems are segments of a circle, with considerable rakes, The bottom section, to the floor-heads is a curve fore and aft, with the sweep of the keel.

The floor timber has a small rise curving from the keel to the floor-heads. A bilge plank is wrought in on each side, next the floor-heads, with a double rabbet or groove, of a similar thickness with the keel; and on the outside of this are fixed two bilgetrees, corresponding nearly with the level of the keel.

The ends of the bottom section form that fine kind of entrance observable in the lower part of the bow of the fishing-boat called a coble, much used in the North. From this part to the top of the stem it is more elliptical, forming a considerable projection.

The sides, from the floor-heads to the top of the gunwale, flaunch off on each side, in proportion to above half the breadth of the floor. The breadth is continued far forwards towards the ends, leaving a sufficient length of straight side at the top. The sheer is regular along the straight side, and more elevated towards the ends. The gunwale fixed to the outside is three inches thick. The sides, from the under part of the gunwale, along the whole length of the regular sheer, extending twenty-one feet six inches, are cased with layers of cork to the depth of sixteen inches downwards; and the thickness of this casing of cork being four inches, it projects at the top a little without the gunwale. The cork

on the outside is secured with thin plate, or slips of copper, and the boat is fastened with copper nails.

The thwarts, or seats, are five in number, double banked; consequently, the boat may be rowed with ten oars.

The thwarts are firmly stanchioned. The side Dars are short, with iron tholes and rope gromets, so that the rower can pull either way. The boat is steered with an oar at each end; and the steering oar is one-third longer than the rowing oar.

The platform placed at the bottom, within the boat, is horizontal, the length of the midships, and elevated at the ends for the convenience of the steersman, to give him a greater power with the oar. The internal part of the boat, next the sides, from the under part of the thwarts down to the platform, is cased with cork; the whole quantity of which, affixed to the life-boat, is nearly seven hundred weight. The cork indisputably contributes much to the buoyancy of the boat, is a good defence in going along-side a vessel, and is of principal use in keeping the boat in an erect position in the sea, or rather for giving her a very lively and quick disposition to recover from any sudden cant or lurch, which she may receive from the stroke of a heavy wave. But, exclusively of the cork, the admirable construction of this boat gives it a decided preeminence. The ends being similar the boat can be rowed either way, and this peculiarity of form assists her in rising over the waves. The curvature of the keel and bottom facilitates her move ment in turning, and contributes to the ease of the steerage, as a single stroke of the steering oar has an immediate effect, the boat moving as upon a centre. The fine entrance below is of use in dividing the waves, when rowing against them; and, combined with the convexity of the bottom, and the elliptical form of the stem, admits her to rise with wonderful buoyancy in a high sea, and to launch forward with rapidity, without shipping any water, when a common boat would be in danger of being filled. The flaunching or spreading form of the boat, from her floor-heads to the gunwale, gives her a considerable bearing; and the continuation of the breadth well forward, is a great support to her in the sea; and it has been found, by experience, that boats of this construction are the best sea-boats for rowing against turbulent waves. The internal shallowness of the boat from the gunwale down to the platform, the convexity of the form, and the bulk of cork within, leave a very diminished space for the water to occupy; so that the life-boat, when filled with water, contains a considerable less quantity than the common boat, and is in no danger either of sinking or upsetting.

It may be presumed by some, that in cases of high wind, agitated sea, and broken waves, a boat of such bulk could not prevail against them by the force of oars; but the life-boat, from her peculiar form, may be rowed a-head, when the attempt in other boats would fail. Boats of the common form, adapted for speed, are of course put in motion with a small power; but for want of buoyancy and bearing, are over-run by the

waves and sunk, when impelled against them; and boats constructed for burden meet with too much resistance from the wind and sea when opposed to them, and cannot, in such cases, be rowed from the shore to a ship in distress.

Mr. Greathead gives the following instructions for the management of the life-boat :-The boats in general of this description, are painted white on the outside; this color more immediately engaging the eye of the spectator, when rising from the hollow of the sea, than any other. The bottom of the boat is at first varnished (which will take paint afterwards), for the more minute inspection of purchasers. The oars she is equipped with are made of fir of the best quality; having found, by experience, that a rove ash oar, that will dress clean and light, is too pliant among the breakers; and when strong and heavy, from rowing double-banked, the purchase being short, sooner exhausts the rower; which renders the fir oar, when made stiff, preferable.

In the management of the boat she requires twelve men to work her; that is, five men on each side, rowing double-banked, with an oar slung over an iron thole, with a gromet (as provided), so as to enable the rower to pull either way, and one man at each end to steer her, and to be ready at the opposite end to take the steer oar when wanted. As, from the construction of the boat, she is always in a position to be rowed either way, without turning the boat: when manned the person who steers her should be well acquainted with the course of the tides, in order to take every possible advantage; the best method, if the direction will admit of it, is to head the sea.

The steersman should keep his eye fixed upon the wave or breaker, and encourage the rowers to give way as the boat rises to it, being then aided by the force of the oars, she launches over it with vast rapidity, without shipping any water. It is necessary to observe, that there is often a strong reflux of sea, occasioned by the stranded wrecks, which requires both dispatch and care in the people employed, that the boat be not damaged. When the wreck is reached, if the wind blows to the land, the boat will come in shore without any other effort than steering.

The particular construction of this boat will be best understood by referring to our plate, LIFEBOAT, where fig. 1, represents a cross section of the boat.

F F, the outside coatings of cork.
c G, the inside cork filling.
н н, the outside planks of the boat.
1, one of the stems of the boat.
K, the keel.

N N, the timber-heads.

P, the thwarts, or rowers's seats.

R, one of the stantions under the thwarts, each being thus firmly supported.

s, a section of the gang-board, which crosses the thwarts, and forms the passage from one end of the boat to the other.

T, the floor-heads, or platform for the rower's feet.

UU, the two bilge pieces, nearly level with the keel.

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