r.

QUIETUS. A severe blow, a settler.

QUIHI. The sobriquet of the English stationed or resident in Bengal, the
literal meaning being, "Who is there?" It is the customary call for a
servant; one always being in attendance, though not in the room.

QUILKIN. A west-country term for a frog.

QUILL-DRIVER. Captain's clerk, purser's secretary, _et hoc genus omne_.

QUILL-TUBES. Those in use with port-fires for firing guns before the
introduction of detonating and friction-tubes. (_See_ TUBES.)

QUILTING. A kind of coating formed of sinnet, strands of rope, &c.,
outside any vessel containing water. Also, the giving a man a beating
with a rope's end.

QUINCUNX. Forming a body of men chequerwise. A method of surveying a
coast by five vessels in quincunx was proposed by A. Dalrymple to the
admiralty, when that board would not have allowed of the employment of
one.

QUINK. A name in the Orkneys for the golden-eyed duck, _Anas clangula_.

QUINTAL. A commercial weight of a hundred pounds.

QUINTANE. An early military sport, to try the agility of our country
youth.

QUINTE. The fifth guard in fencing.

QUISCHENS. The old term for _cuisses_, the pieces of armour which
protected the thighs.

QUITTANCE. A release or discharge in writing for a sum of money or other
duty, which ought to be paid or done on the ship's account.

QUOD. Durance, prison.

QUOIN. A wooden wedge adjusted to support the breech of a gun, so as to
give the muzzle the required elevation or depression. Also, one of the
mechanical powers.

QUOINS. Are employed to wedge off casks of liquids from each other, and
steady them, in order that their bilges may not rub at sea, and occasion
leaks.

QUOST. The old spelling of _coast_. See Eliot's _Dictionarie_, 1559.

QUOTA-MEN. Those raised for the navy at enormous expense by Pitt's
quota-bill, in 1795, under bounties of from L20 to L60.

R.

R. In the muster-book means _run_, and is placed against those who have
deserted, or missed three musters.

R.A. _See_ RIGHT ASCENSION.

RABANET, OR RABINET. A small slender piece of ordnance, formerly used
for ships' barricadoes. It had a one-inch bore, which carried about a
half-pound ball.

RABBET, OR REBATE. An angular incision cut longitudinally in a piece of
timber, to receive the ends of a number of planks, to be securely
fastened therein. Thus the ends of the lower planks of a ship's bottom
terminate upon the stem afore, and on the stern-pos