h a small shelf, on which the cook
(always a man, and often a negro) performs the duties of his office.

The various decks below are partitioned off by means of plank walls,
which are called _bulk-heads_, into a variety of berths and apartments;
and the greater part of the centre of the vessel (in merchantmen) is
called the _hold_, and is reserved for cargo.

The _hull_ of the ship being finished, now gets a coat of tar all over
it, which preserves the wood from the action of the weather, and helps
to render the seams water-tight. Some vessels are sheathed from the
keel to a short way above their water-line with thin sheets of copper,
to preserve them more effectually from tear and wear, and especially to
defend them against those barnacles and marine insects that would
otherwise fasten to them.

Being now ready to be launched from her cradle into the sea--her future
home--we will proceed in our next chapter to describe the process of
launching.

CHAPTER NINE.

THE LAUNCH, ETCETERA.

Ships begin life with a retrograde movement; they imitate the crabs: in
other words, they are launched stern foremost. Whether great or small,
long or short, whether clothed in patrician copper or smeared with
plebeian tar, they all start on their first voyage with their
stern-posts acting the part of cut-water, and, also, without masts or
sails. These necessary adjuncts, and a host of others, are added after
they have been clasped to the bosom of their native sea. One notable
exception there is to this rule, the launch of the far-famed _Great
Eastern_, which monster of the deep was forced into her element
_sidewise_, of which a full account will be found in another part of
this volume.

The _cradles_ on which ships are launched are wooden frameworks, so
constructed as to slide down an inclined plane, called the _ways_,
bearing their burdens along with them into the water. When a ship is
ready for launching, the _shores_, or supports, that have kept her so
long in position are knocked away one by one, until the entire weight of
the ship rests on the cradle. The _ways_ are then well greased, and it
only remains to knock away one or two remaining checks to allow the
vessel to seek her future home by means of her own weight.

But before this last act is done, a day must be fixed for the launch;
friends of the owners must be invited to go on board during this her
first voyage; a fair maiden must be asked to go through the ce