The Seaman's Manual Author:Richard Henry Dana General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1863 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: Breast-backstays. -- It is not usual, now, for merchant vessels to earry topmast breast-backstays. If they are carried, they are spread by out-riggers from the top. Topgallant and royal breast-backstays are used, and are of great assistance, in sailing on the wind. There are various ways of rigging them out, of which the following is suggested as a neat and convenient one : -- Have a spar fitted for an out-rigger, about the size of one of the horns of the cross- trees, with three holes bored in it, two near to one end, and the third a little the other side of the middle. Place it upon the after-horn of the cross-tree with the last-mentioned hole over the hole in the end of the horn of the cross-tree, and let the after topgallant shroud reeve through it. Reeve the topgallant and royal breast-backstays through the outer holes, and set them up by a gun-tackle purchase in the channels. The inner end of the out-rigger should fit to a cleat, and be lashed to the cross-tree by a lanyard. When the breast-backstays are to be rigged in, east off the lanyard, and let the out-rigger slue round the topgallant shroud for a pivot, the inner end going aft, and the outer end, with the backstays, resting against the forward shroud. One of these out-riggers should be fitted on each side, and all trouble of shifting over, and rigging out by purchase, will be avoided. CHAPTER III. FITTING AND REEVING RUNNING RIGGING. Fore-braces. Mainbrnces. Cross-jack braces. Fore, main, and mizcn topsail braces. Fore, main, and mizen topgallant and royal braces. Trusses. Topsail tyes and halyards. Topgallant and royal halyards. Peak a...« less