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THOMPSON'S COAST PILOT. 145 one, in order to support it in bad ground, and to prevent it from loosening or coming home. To back astern, in rowing, is to impel the boat with her stern foremost, by means of the oars. To back the sails; to arrange them in a siination which will occasion the ship to move astern. To bagpipe the mizzen ; to lay it aback, ie bringing the sheet to the miz- zen shrouds. . To balance ; to contract a sail into a narrower compass, by folding up a part at one corner. Balancing is peculiar only to the mizzen of a ship, and the mainsail of those vessels wherein it is extended by a boom. Bale--Bale the boat ; that is, throw the water out of her. Baliast is either pigs of iron, stones, or gravel, which last is called shin- gle ballast ; and its use is to bring the ship down to her bearings in the water, which her provisions and stores will not do. Trim the ballast; that is, spread it about, and lay it even. The ballast shoots; that is, it shifts, or runs over from one side of the hold to the other. Bure poles; when a ship has no sail set, she is under bare poles. Barge, a caravel-built boat, that rows with ten or twelve oars. Batten, a thin piece of wood. Batten down the hatches, is to lay battens upon the tarpaulins, which are over the hatches, in bad weather, and nail them down, that they may not be washed off. Beacon, a post or stake erected over a shoal or sand-bank, as a warning to seamen to keep at a distance; also, a signal placed at the top of hills, etc. Beams, strong pieces of timber, stretching across a ship, side to side, to support the decks, and retain the sides at their proper distance. " Bear a hand!" make haste, dispatch. Bearing signifies the point of the compass which any two or more places bear from each other, or how any place bears from the ship by the com- pass; or it may be said to bear on the beam, abaft the beam, on the bow, the head, or stern, etc. Bearings of a ship, are that line which is formed by the water upon her sides when she is at anchor, with her proportion of ballast and stores on board. To bear to, ia to sail into a harbor, etc. Bear round up, that is, put her right before the wind. Bring your guns to bear, is to point them to the object. To bear in with the land, is when a ship sails towards the shore. To bear off, to thrust or keep off from the ship's side, etc., any weight, when hoisting. Bearing up, or bearing away, the act of changing the course of a ship, in order to make her run before the wind, after she has sailed some time with a side wind, or close-hauled. It is generally performed to arrive at some port under the lea, or to avoid some imminent danger, occasioned by a vio- 'lent. storm, leak, or enemy in sight.