mess and reside; in a ship of war there is commonly one of
these between every two guns as the mess-places of the crew.

BERTH AND SPACE. In ship-building, the distance from the moulding edge
of one timber to the moulding edge of the next timber. Same as room and
space, or timber and space.

BERTH-DECK. The 'tween decks.

BERTHER. He who assigns places for the respective hammocks to hang in.

BERTHING. The rising or working up of the planks of a ship's sides; as
berthing up a bulk-head, or bringing up in general. Berthing also
denotes the planking outside, above the sheer-strake, and is called the
berthing of the quarter-deck, of the poop, or of the forecastle, as the
case may be.

BERTHING OF THE HEAD. _See_ HEAD-BOARDS.

BERVIE. A haddock split and half-dried.

BERWICK SMACK. The old and well-found packets of former days, until
superseded by steamers. (_See_ BARRACK SMACK.)

BESET IN ICE. Surrounded with ice, and no opening for advance or
retreat, so as to be obliged to remain immovable.

BESIEGE, TO. To endeavour to gain possession of a fortified place
defended by an enemy, by directing against it a connected series of
offensive military operations.

BESSY-LORCH. A northern name of the _Gobio fluviatilis_ or gudgeon.

BEST BOWER. _See_ BOWER-ANCHORS.

BETELGUESE. The lucida of Orion, {a} Orionis, and a standard Greenwich
star of the first magnitude.

BETHEL. _See_ FLOATING BETHEL.

BETTY MARTIN. _See_ MARTIN.

BETWEEN DECKS. The space contained between any two whole decks of a
ship.

BETWIXT WIND AND WATER. About the line of load immersion of the ship's
hull; or that part of the vessel which is at the surface of the water.

BEVEL. An instrument by which bevelling angles are taken. Also a sloped
surface.

BEVELLING. Any alteration from a square in hewing timber, as taken by
the bevel, bevelling rule, or bevelling boards.--_A standing bevelling_
is that made without, or outside a square; an _under-bevelling_ within;
and the angle is optionally acute or obtuse. In ship-building, it is the
art of hewing a timber with a proper and regular curve, according to a
mould which is laid on one side of its surface.

BEVELLING-BOARD. A piece of board on which the bevellings or angles of
the timbers are described.

BEVERAGE. A West India drink, made of sugar-cane juice and water.

BEWPAR. The old name for buntin, still used in navy office documents.

BEWTER. A northern name for the black-wak, or bittern.