zen-shrouds.

BAG-REEF. A fourth or lower reef of fore-and-aft sails, often used in
the royal navy.--_Bag-reef of top-sails_, first reef (of five in
American navy); a short reef, usually taken in to prevent a large sail
from bagging when on a wind.

BAGREL. A minnow or baggie.

BAGUIO. A rare but dreadfully violent wind among the Philippine Isles.

BAHAR. A commercial weight of a quarter of a ton in the Molucca Islands.

BAIDAR. A swift open canoe of the Arctic tribes and Kurile Isles, used
in pursuing otters and even whales; a slender frame from 18 to 25 feet
long, covered with hides. They are impelled by six or twelve paddles.
(_See_ KAYAK.)

BAIKIE. A northern name for the _Larus marinus_, or black-backed gull.

BAIKY. The ballium, or inclosed plot of ground in an ancient fort.

BAIL. A surety. The cargo of a captured or detained vessel is not
allowed to be taken on bail before adjudication without mutual consent.
It was also a northern term for a beacon or signal.

BAIL-BOND. The obligation entered into by sureties. Also when a person
appears as proxy for the master of a vessel, or, on obtaining letters of
marque, he makes himself personally responsible. In prize matters,
however, the bail-bond is not a mere personal security given to the
individual captors, but an assurance to abide by the adjudication of the
court.

BAIL'D. This phrase "I'll be bail'd" is considered as an equivalent to
"I'll be bound;" but it is probably an old enunciation for "I'll be
poisoned," or "I'll be tormented," if what I utter is not true.

BAILO. A Levantine term for consul.

BAILS, OR BAILES. The hoops which bear up the tilt of a boat.

BAIOCCO. An Italian copper coin, about equal to our halfpenny. Also a
generic term for copper money or small coin.

BAIRLINN. A Gaelic term for a high rolling billow.

BAIT. The natural or artificial charge of a hook, to allure fish.

BAITLAND. An old word, formerly used to signify a port where
refreshments could be procured.

BALAENA. The zoological name for the right whale.

BALANCE. One of the simple mechanical powers, used in determining the
weights and masses of different bodies. Also, one of the twelve signs of
the zodiac, called Libra. Balance-wheel of a chronometer--_see_
CHRONOMETER.

BALANCE, TO. To contract a sail into a narrower compass;--this is
peculiar to the mizen of a ship, and to the main-sail of those vessels
wherein it is extended by a boom. The operation of bal