Pidreroes. Light Spanish cannon.
Pieces of eight. Old Spanish coins worth about four shillings each. The
piece of eight was divided into eight silver reals. Hence the name which
was applied to it in the Spanish Main. It was also frequently called a
dollar.
Pike. A long shaft or pole, having an iron or steel point, used in
medieval warfare, now replaced by the bayonet. A half-pike was a similar
weapon having a staff about half the length.
Pink. An obsolete name for a small sailing ship.
Pinnace. See Boats.
Port (or larboard). The left side of a ship looking towards the bow.
Post-captain. An obsolete title for a captain of three years' standing.
Proa. A small Malay vessel.
Quarter. The upper part of a vessel's side from abaft the main mast to
the stern.
Quarter gallery. A gallery is a balcony built outside the body of a ship:
at the stern (stern gallery) or at the quarters (quarter gallery).
Reef. A portion of a sail that can be drawn close together.
Rosaries. Strings of beads used by Roman Catholics in praying. Each bead
told (or counted) represents a prayer.
Scuttle. To make a hole in the bottom of a ship in order to sink it.
Serons (of dollars). A seron or seroon is a kind of small trunk made in
Spanish America out of a piece of raw bullock's hide.
Service (of a cable). The part next the anchor secured by cordage wrapped
round it.
Ship of the line. See Line.
Shrouds. The stout ropes that are stretched from a masthead of a vessel
to the sides or to the rims of a top, serving as a means of ascent and as
a lateral strengthening stays to the masts.
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