arpenter was trusted with the pumps, both hand and chain, and with
the repairing of the woodwork throughout the vessel. He had to be
super-excellent in his profession, for a wooden ship was certain to tax
his powers. She was always out of repair, always leaking, always
springing her spars. In the summer months, if she were not being
battered by the sea, she was getting her timber split by cannon-shot. In
the winter months, when laid up and dismantled in the dockyard, she was
certain to need new planks, beams, inner fittings and spars (_Hawkins_).
The carpenter had to do everything for her, often with grossly
insufficient means, and it was of paramount importance that his
work-room in the orlop should be fitted with an excellent tool chest. He
had to provide the "spare Pieces of Timber wherewith to make Fishes, for
to strengthen and succour the Masts." He had to superintend the purchase
of a number of spare yards, already tapered, and bound with iron, to
replace those that "should chance to be broken." He was to see these
lashed to the ship's sides, within board, or stopped in the rigging
(_Monson_ and _Boteler_). He had to have all manner of gudgeons for the
rudder, every sort of nuts or washers for the pumps, and an infinity of
oakum, sheet lead, soft wood, spare canvas, tallow, and the like, with
which to stop leaks, or to caulk the seams. In his stores he took large
quantities of lime, horse hair, alum, and thin felt with which to wash
and sheathe the ship's bottom planking (_Monson_). The alum was often
dissolved in water, and splashed over spars and sails, before a battle,
as it was supposed to render them non-inflammable. It was his duty,
moreover, to locate leaks, either by observing the indraught (which was
a tedious way), or by placing his ear to a little earthen pot inverted
against one of the planks in the hold. This little pot caused him to
hear the water as it gurgled in, and by moving it to and fro he could
locate the hole with considerable certainty (_Boteler_). He had to rig
the pumps for the sailors, and to report to the captain the depth of
water the ship made daily. The pumps were of two kinds, one exactly like
that in use on shore, the other, of the same principle, though more
powerful. The second kind was called the chain-pump, because "these
Pumps have a Chain of Burs going in a Wheel." They were worked with long
handles, called brakes (because they broke sailor's hearts), and some
ten men might pump