Shipping and Sealing Terms
| Aft | Towards the back, or stern of a vessel |
| Articles | A contract of employment signed by each member of the crew. |
| Barque | A vessel, usually 250-2000 tons, with three or more masts. A barque has square sails on two masts and triangular sails on the sternmost, or rear mast. |
| Bilge | The curve of a ship's bottom where it merges into the side. |
| Blubber | Fat from whales or elephant seals. |
| Boat | A small vessel with oars, carried on sailing vessels to help sailors reach the shore, or kill whales. There are different types of boats, including lifeboats, quarter boats, whale boats, launches, longboats, gigs, jollyboats or small cutters. |
| Gaff | A spar supporting the head of a sail. |
| Bow | The front of a vessel. |
| Breakers | Waves which break on reefs or shores. It was extremely dangerous for vessels to become trapped in the 'breakers' or 'combers'. If vessels were unable to escape the breakers and head out to sea, they became shipwrecked on Macquarie Island. |
| Brig | A vessel, generally between 150-200 tons, with two masts and square sails on both masts. |
| Bulkhead | A wall-like construction inside a ship. |
| Cables | The rope chain, fibre or wire rope which attaches an anchor to a vessel. The bower cable - the main anchor cable |
| Castaways | People who are shipwrecked and have to fend for themselves, usually on an island. |
| Clipper | A fine lined sailing vessel that made fast voyages. A composite clipper was made of wood and iron. |
| Companionway | The entryway from the deck to the accommodation below. |
| Coracle | A small circular boat, usually made from skins and woven plant fibres, sometimes made by hopeful shipwreck survivors. |
| Digester | A large boiler that uses steam to extract oil from animals. |
| Davit | A small crane used for hoisting a boat or large anchor aboard a vessel. |
| Derrick | A spar rigged with a tackle for lifting heavy articles. |
| DUKW | An amphibious craft used to move people and provisions between ship and shore. |
| Furl/Unfurl | To gather up or loosen out a sail. |
| Harpoon/Harpooner | A barbed spear attached to a long rope which was thrown or fired at whales by a harpooner. |
| Hawse/Hawser Pipes |
A hole in the bulwarks or topside of a vessel through which the anchor cable runs. |
| Iron Traveller | A ring or fitting on a metal rod which a sail is attached. |
| Jacob's Ladder | A ladder made from rope which is used for climbing onto a vessel |
| Ketch | A sailing vessel, usually between 50 and 120 tons, that has two masts, with the foremost mast being higher than the mizzen, or rear mast. |
| LARC/LARCIES | Light Amphibian Re-supply Craft used to move people and stores between ship and shore. These are operated by 'Larcies' |
| Lascars | A nineteenth century term for sailors from India. |
| Lay | A portion or part of total reward earned by each member of a working group or party: |
| Lazarette | A space between a vessel's decks sometimes used as a storeroom |
| List | To lean over to one side. |
| Main Boom | A horizontal pole to which the main sail is fastened. |
| Main Brace | The rope that controls the mainsail. |
| Oil | For many years, seal, whale and penguin oil was a valuable economic resource. It was used for lighting and in other manufacturing processes such as ropemaking. |
| Otaheitians | People from Tahiti. Many of these were engaged in the whaling and sealing industries of the nineteenth century. |
| Poop Deck | A deck raised above the main deck towards the rear of a vessel |
| Port | The left side of a vessel. |
| Pram | A dinghy used by sealers or scientists to help load and unload vessels |
| Salt | Used as a preservative, sealers used it to preserve seal skins. It was also used to preserve pork and other meat in barrels on board ship. |
| Scantling Timber | A thin timber beam; in shipbuilding, 'scantling' can also refer to the dimensions of a vessel. |
| Schooner | A sailing ship, normally less than 150 tons, with two or more masts of equal height. |
| Scurvy | A common disease on early sailing ships, caused by lack of vitamin C, which is contained in fresh plants and fruit. A plant known as the 'Macquarie Island cabbage', saved many shipwrecked sailors and sealers on Macquarie Island from this potentially dangerous disease, which could cause death, if left untreated. http://hsc.csu.edu.au/biology/courses/2unit/hsc/core/disease/7/noninfec.html |
| Shanghaied | Kidnapped and forcibly set to work. |
| Shanties | A small, rough hut or a rhythmic song that was originally sung by sailors at work on sailing vessels. |
| Sheet | A rope by which a sail is trimmed. |
| Ship | A sailing vessel, often more than 500 tons, with three or more masts rigged with square sails. |
| Slipping | To raise a vessel up an inclined slope out of the water for repairs. |
| Spar | A sturdy pole which acts as a mast, yard, gaff or boom. |
| Sperm Candles | Candles made from the fat of sperm whales. |
| Starboard | The right side of a vessel. |
| Stern | The rear or aft of a vessel. |
| Steward | An official controlling food, meals and stores on a vessel. |
| Trypots | Large round cast iron vessels used to extract oil from bodies of whales or seals. Trypots were fueled by coal or blubber. |
| Tryworks | A tryworks consisted of trypots and settling tanks for extracting oil from sea mammals. |
| Turk's Head | An intricate knot. http://www.ccil.org/%7Edkohn/woggle.html |
| Watch | A tour of duty for crew members of a vessel, usually 4 hours |
| Winch | A geared mechanical device used to increase power when hauling on a rope or cable. |
Macquarie Island Plants and Animals
| "Featherbed" | A mat of floating vegetation
found on Macquarie Island. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| "Furry" | A young penguin which has not yet fledged, and gained it's adult feathers. |
| Guano | Dried manure of sea birds which is used as a fertizer. |
| Gulls | http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| Krill | A small, shrimp-like crustacean that lives in swarms in Antarctic and subantarctic waters. Krill forms much of the food supply of fish, birds, and several species of seals and whales. |
| Parakeet | Macquarie Island Parakeet was reported on Macquarie Island about 1811, but became extinct by the 1890's. It was, most likely, killed by wekas on the island. |
| Penguins | There are four species of penguins which breed on Macquarie Island: King, Royal, Gentoo and Rockhopper: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| Land Rail | Macquarie Island land Rail is a small, wading marsh bird that used to live on Macquarie Island, but became extinct by 1890. |
| Petrels | A seabird with tube nostrils. Macquarie Island albatrosses, storm petrels and shearwaters are petrels. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| Sea Elephants / Elephant Seals |
A seal species that has been heavily exploited on Macquarie Island in the past for its oil. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/seals.html http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/seals.html#ses |
| Sea Leopards / Leopard Seals |
An awesome predator which
breeds on the pack ice and regularly visits Macquarie Island http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/seals.html http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/seals.html#ls |
| Skuas | Another awesome Macquarie Island predator! http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| Wekas | A flightless bird which is a native of New Zealand, which was introduced to Macquarie Island in the nineteenth century to provide food for sealers. Wekas are now extinct on Macquarie Island. |
| Tussock Grass | http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
| Macquarie Island Cabbage |
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/homemi/biology.html |
Places
| Adelie Land | A narrow section of the Antarctic Continent claimed by France due south of Australia. |
| Antipodes Island | An island, some 10km by 5km, at latitude 49 degrees 45 minutes S and longitude 179 degrees E, belonging to New Zealand. |
| "Baka" Island | This may refer to the island of Bacan in the Maluku Group of Indonesia. |
| Bay of Islands | A beautiful and protected anchorage on the east coast of the northern peninsula of North Island, New Zealand. This location used by whaling ships from as early as 1780 |
| Bounty Island | A small group of islands, west of New Zealand, at 47 degrees 45 minutes S. 179 degrees E visited by the Hinemoa while searching for the Kakanui in 1891. |
| Bristows Island | An early name for the Auckland Islands |
| Campbell Island | A New Zealand Island, 20 km. by 15 km., discovered by Hasselburgh on 4/1/1810 at 52 degrees 30 minutes S. 169 degrees E. which has 2 sheltered harbours. It is some 650 km. north-east of Macquarie Island |
| Caroline Cove | A small cove on the south-west tip of Macquarie Island which has been the site of several shipwrecks. |
| Cook Strait | The channel between North and South Islands of New Zealand. |
| Emerald Island | A possible island reported by the Captain C W Nockells of the sailing ship Emerald in 1821 in the area of 57 degrees S, 162 degrees E. Several ships have investigated this report but have found nothing. Perhaps the island was really an iceberg! |
| Firth of Thames | A bay in the Hauraki Gulf, which is east of Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand. |
| Invercargill | A city at the southern end of South Island, New Zealand |
| Kangaroo Island | An island in the Australian Bight south of Adelaide. http://www.visit.adelaide.on.net/sensadel/maps/kangarooismap.html |
| "The Macquarie Islands" |
This term refers to Macquarie Island itself and its outlying reefs and islets, including Bishop & Clerk and Judge & Clerk Islets |
| Norfolk Island | An island in the Tasman Sea
belonging to Australia, 29 degrees S. 169 degrees E. Norfolk Island lies
mid-way between New Zealand and New Caledonia. http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jbp/pds/ |
| Otaheiti | Another name for the island
of Tahiti, now part of Isle de Societe in the Pacific Ocean, mid-way between
New Zealand and South America. Many Otaheitian men crewed on whaling and
sealing vessels in the nineteenth century. http://www.tahitiweb.com/a/main.html |
| Pennant Hills | A suburb south of Sydney. |
| Port Chalmers | This was the port to Dunedin in Otago Harbour on the east coast of South Island, New Zealand |
| Port Jackson | Another name for Sydney Harbour. |
| Port Macquarie | A site of an early settlement in 1800's, Port Macquarie is about 300 kilometres north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. |
| Queensland Coast | The coast of Queensland, the north-eastern state of Australia |
| Suva | The capital city of Fiji. |
| Van Diemen's Land | An island named after the Governor of Dutch East Indies by explorer, Abel Tasman in 1642. The name of Van Diemen's Land changed to Tasmania in 1856. |
| Wellington | A City on the southern tip of North Island, New Zealand. |
Macquarie Island Places
| Aerial Cove | The cove on the north-western side of Wireless Hill where the aerial masts were unloaded from the Aurora in 1911 |
| Brothers Point (Three Brothers Point) |
The headland south of the Nuggets on the east coast of Macquarie Island. |
| Buckles Bay | The Bay on the eastern side of the Isthmus at the north of Macquarie Island |
| Caroline Cove | A small, dangerous cove at the south western tip of Macquarie Island |
| Doctors Track | The track leading southwards up onto the plateau from the ANARE base on the isthmus of Macquarie Island |
| Eagle Cove | A cove on the north western side of Macquarie Island where a eagle figurehead was found by J S I Thomson in 1877 during his stay on the island after the being wrecked in the Bencleugh |
| Garden Bay | A small bay on the northern end of the east side of the Isthmus frequently used since 1811 by small boats when landing on Macquarie Island. |
| Green Point | No longer used. Believed to be the same as Green Gorge on the east coast of Macquarie Island. |
| Hasselborough Bay | The bay to the north west of the Isthmus at the northern end of Macquarie Island |
| Hurd Point | The south eastern extremity of Macquarie Island. The site of a colony of over one million penguins |
| The Isthmus | The narrow strip of land joining Wireless Hill to the northern end of Macquarie Island. Site of sealers operations and the ANARE Station. |
| Lusitania Bay | An open anchorage on the eastern side of Macquarie Island used by sailing ships when the weather was suitable. Mainly exploited for King Penguins from 1870 to 1880. |
| Macca | Name given to Macquarie Island by ANARE expeditioners. |
| Middle Beach | A shallow beach just north of the Nuggetts on the east coast of Macquarie Island |
| North Head | The northern most point of Macquarie Island |
| North West Bay | Another name for Hasselburgh Bay |
| Nuggetts | Two large prominent rock outcrops on the east coast of Macquarie Island 3 kilometres south of the Isthmus |
| Sandy Bay | A beach on the east coast of Macquarie Island 6 kilometres south of the ANARE Base |
| Sellick Bay | A small bay on the west coast of Macquarie Island, midway down the exposed coastline at the foot of Mount Waite |
| Signall Hill | Wireless Hill. |
Measures
| Pounds | 1. A unit of English money
used in Australia until 1966. A pound is worth one hundred pence. 2. A unit of weight. There are approximately 2.2 pounds in a kilogram. |
| Bushels | A unit of volume equal to 8 gallons, 2218.19 cubic inches, 36.35 litres or 0.03635 cubic metres |
| Fathoms | A method of measuring depth. One fathom equals 6 feet or 1.85 metres. |
| Feet | 1. those things at the end
of the legs or 2. One foot equals 0.3048m |
| Horse Power | Horse power - used to measure the power of an engine. |
| Inches | A unit used to measure length.
One inch equals 25.4 mm. There are 12 inches in a foot. |
| Pints | A unit to measure volume. One pint equals 0.4732 litres. |
| Tuns | 1. A large barrel or cask
of defined capacity for storing liquids. 2. One tun is equivalent to a weight of 1000 kilos. |
| Shilling | A unit of English money used in Australia until 1966. There are 20 shillings in a pound. |
Other
| Bombshell rockets | An explosion from a cartridge of gunpowder. |
| Chain gang | A group of convicts, chained together and forced to do heavy labour. |
| Dark-room | A room, made to exclude all light, used for developing photographs. |
| Electron microscope | A powerful microscope which uses electrons to produce a highly magnified image. |
| Feral | Wild or introduced. |
| Jolly Roger | The skull and crossbones flag. The symbol of pirate ships. |
| Memorial tablets | Carvings made in memory of people |
| Meteorological station | A place set up with instruments for measuring weather conditions. |
| Morse code | A code used internationally for transmitting messages. Letters and numbers are represented by a group of dots and dashes or by short and long sounds or flashes. |
| Nomenclature | A systematic method of naming things. |
| Shingle | Small rocks that are found on a foreshore. |