nd.

NORMAL LEVEL OF A BAROMETER. A term reckoned synonymous with _par-line_
(which see).

NORMAN. A short wooden bar thrust into one of the holes of the windlass
or capstan in a merchantman, whereon to veer a rope or fasten the cable,
if there be little strain upon it. Also fixed through the head of the
rudder, in some ships, to prevent the loss of the rudder. Also, a pin
placed in the bitt-cross-piece to confine the cable from falling off.

NORRIE, AND TAMMIE NORRIE. The Scotch name for the puffin.

NORTH. From the Anglo-Saxon _nord_.

NORTH-AWAY YAWL. The old term for _Norway yawl_ (which see).

NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. To the Pacific, or round the north of Europe, has
been divided into three parts, thus: 1. From Archangel to the river
Lena; 2. from the Lena, round Tschukotskoi-ness to Kamtschatka; and 3.
from Kamtschatka to Japan. They have been accomplished at various times,
but not successively.

NORTHERN DIVER. The _Colymbus glacialis_, a large diving-bird.

NORTHERN-GLANCE. The old sea-name of the _aurora borealis_ (which see).

NORTHERN LIGHTS. _See_ NORTHERN-GLANCE.

NORTHERS. Those winds so well known to all seamen who have frequented
the West Indies, and which are preceded by the appearance of a vast
quantity of fine cobwebs or gossamer in the atmosphere, which clings to
all parts of a vessel's rigging, thus serving as a warning of an
approaching gale. Northers alternate with the seasons in the Gulf of
Mexico, the Florida Channel, Jamaica, Cuba, &c. Their cold is intense.

NORTH FOLLOWING. For this and _north preceding_, _see_ QUADRANT.

NORTH PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. The grand object of our maritime
expeditions at a remote period, prosecuted with a boldness, dexterity,
and perseverance which, although since equalled in the same pursuit,
have not yet been surpassed:--

"I will undertake
To find the north passage to the Indies sooner,
Than plough with your proud heifer."--_Massinger._

NORTH SEA. The Jamaica name for the north swell. (_See_ GROUND-SEA.)

NORTH-WESTER. This wind in India usually commences or terminates with a
violent gust from that quarter, with loud thunder and vivid lightning.
Also, gales which blow from the eastern coast of North America in the
Atlantic during the autumn and winter.

NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. By Hudson's Bay into the Pacific Ocean has been more
than once attempted of late years, but hitherto without success. Some
greatly doubted the