and boxes should be well chocked.

Several tiers of

sugar boxes may be stowed with safety; the boxes being sufficiently strong, if well stowed, to sustain the weight; but this is not the case with sugar in hogsheads.

Dry goods of all descriptions.-These should be dunnaged two, three, six, and nine inches from the bottom, bilge, and sides, according to the rule laid down in the first part of this article for dunnaging a cargo liable to be injured by water. Care should be taken that they are closely stowed, and well chocked and secured, so that the rolling and pitching of the ship will neither loosen or chafe them; great damage is often done to goods by the chafing of the bales.

Corn or other grain in bulk.—So many accidents have happened in consequence of loading grain in bulk, that the underwriters will not generally insure either the vessel or cargo thus loaded (small coasting vessels excepted). If, however, it becomes necessary to load a vessel in this way, four or more strong bulkheads should be put up, two at the ends of the ship, reserving the peak and run, and the other two or more at an equal distance apart, and a tight well-secured platform made in the bottom of the ship, and carried above the bilge at a sufficient distance from the ceiling; this being done, strips of plank should be nailed up and down the sides of the ship from four to six inches apart, and across these pieces boards are to be nailed in such a manner as to turn the water from the cargo-thus, the first board is nailed hard up against the beams of the deck, the upper edge of the second board is then placed so as to lap the lower edge of the first board, the upper edge of the third board is then placed so as to lap the lower edge of the second, and so on, giving to the sides of the boards next to the sides of the ship the appearance of clapboards on a house. Great care must be taken so to board up a vessel as to prevent the grain from getting between the boards and the ceiling of the ship, and to the pump-well; the forward and after

bulkheads should be very strongly secured, as the pressure against them, when the grain settles, is much greater than is usually supposed. Great care must also be taken that the bulkheads and shifting-plank be well secured, and fitted up closely to the deck, and that the space, whether in the hold or between decks, be filled up. The greatest danger to be feared where grain is loaded in bulk is, that the grain will get to the pumps and choke them; the master, therefore, cannot be too careful in taking precautions to prevent it. Small coasting vessels continue to carry grain in bulk from port to port with a degree of safety, using shifting-boards and bulkheads and filling up.

Cotton. Little or no dunnage is necessary, except on the ballast, and not even there if the ballast is clean and dry stone; but if the ballast be sand or gravel, or dirty and damp stone, then boards or planks must be put over it so as to protect the cotton from the dampness.

Losses have recently been experienced by shipowners in consequence of one side of the bag or covering of the cotton rotting away and leaving the cotton exposed. This is probably occasioned by the cotton lying on the ground at the port of lading; and the master, before signing the bill of lading, ought to ascertain whether the bags or bales are strong and in good order; and if they are not, he ought so to state it in the bill of lading, or at least he ought not to sign a bill which states that the goods are shipped in good order and condition, as he may thereby render both himself and the shipowners liable.

Special Cargoes.-Molasses, and other liquids in large casks, should be stowed in the ground tier, the bilges being at least one inch free; and the chimes should be kept free as well as the bilges. Four beds should be put under each hogshead containing one hundred gallons, if there is to be more than one tier. There should never

be more than three tiers in the hold. should be securely quoined and chocked.

All hogsheads

Casks in which

liquids are brought from the Mediterranean being usually

stronger, less bedding is necessary.

Those containing

liquids should be stowed bung up, with bilges and chimes free; and if between decks, aburden or athwartships, or they may, by the motion of the vessel, get slued bung down, and thus be liable to leak.

Dry Hides.-These require close dunnaging on the deck and up the sides, and the usual dunnage on the floor and in the bilge.

Crates of Ware suffer little or no damage from water; but they require to be closely stowed and well chocked, otherwise they will get loose, and the ware be broken; care must also be taken that heavy goods are not stowed upon them, and that they are not tumbled about and roughly handled, as they sometimes are by stevedors and others.

Naval Stores do not require dunnage, only chocking, and sometimes bedding and quoining to keep them from moving. Care to be taken that the barrels are in good order and sufficiently strong. No vessel ought to go to sea with a cargo of tar and turpentine, without having one or more barrels of spirits of turpentine on board, to use in the pumps in case of leakage.

Bar and Railroad Iron.-Little or no dunnage is necessary for the protection of these articles, except in the bottom and bilges. Dunnage is, however, put up the sides, and on the decks, to prevent the iron from chafing the ship.

Salt in bulk. This article requires no dunnage except in the bottom; mats, however, are usually placed up and down the sides to prevent the salt from wasting; sometimes laths or strips of boards are put over the seams for the same purpose; a cargo of this description requires good shifting-boards; it is a bad cargo for a ship, as it is difficult to get it high enough without having too much in the centre of the ship.

Salt in bags. Requires a continuous floor of dunnage to keep it dry.

Hemp.-Russia and American hemp is usually packed in loose bales, and require the vessel to be closely ceiled on the deck and up and down the sides; mats are usually put over the ceiling the more effectually to keep out the

water.

Manilla Hemp and Sugar.-These are so closely packed that the dunnage on the deck and up the sides. may be three or four inches apart. Bamboo is commonly used up and down the sides; and rattan in other places.

Pepper in bulk.-Little attention is paid to dunnaging this article, as there is not much danger of its being injured by water; it is said that water is frequently sprinkled on it to lay the dust which rises when the hands are trimming it. All ships trading on the coast have their ballast platformed down and bulkheads up, so that the water cannot get to the pepper from the bottom.

Pepper in bags.-Only requires sufficient dunnage to keep the bags from getting wet and rotting, so that the pepper may not be lost.

Lemons, Oranges, Raisins, and Figs, in boxes or drums, should be kept dry; they require the usual dunnage, and free circulation of air.

Lumber should be closely stowed, so as not to be moved by the rolling of the vessel; it frequently happens when this is neglected that the lumber sags to the leeward when the vessel first goes to sea, and gives her a heel that way. Great care should be taken in stowing the deck loads to see that they are well chocked and secured down, for if the lumber gets loose the lives of the crew, as well as the safety of the vessel and cargo, will be endangered.

Coal is not damaged by water, neither is it easily shifted; it is advisable, however, for vessels employed in this trade to have shifting-boards.

7. FLAGS.

The flag to be carried by British ships is the red ensign. The flag to be hoisted by British ships for a pilot is the Union Jack with a white border. See these flags forming the frontispiece to the present work.

If any colours usually worn by Her Majesty's ships, or any pendant, or any distinctive national colours, except those above mentioned, be hoisted in any British ship or boat without warrant from Her Majesty or the Admiralty, the master, the owner, if on board, and every other person concerned is liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred pounds. Consuls and other public officers may board the vessel and take away such colours and pendants.*

8. BILLS OF LADING.

Although it is to be presumed that a master of a British vessel is acquainted with the form, general requisites, and effect of a bill of lading, it may not be useless to make some observations upon it.

A bill of lading is, in fact and substance, a formal written acknowledgment by the master that he has received certain goods on board for certain parties.

Sometimes a master, or those acting for him on board, will give a receipt for the goods when sent on board, and the master afterwards sign bills of lading. But he should take care not to deliver the bills until the receipt has been returned or he has seen it destroyed; and, whether a previous receipt has been given or not, the master ought not to sign bills of lading to any one but the shipper himself, or to any one without his orders, nor sign or deliver them until the goods are actually delivered on board and he has satisfied himself of their condition. He should not

* Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, Section 105.

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