S. Wherries, and the like, which ply in harbours and rivers
for the conveyance of passengers.

RIVER-HARBOUR. That which is situated in the channel of a river,
especially such as are at the embouchure with a bar in front.

RIVER-LAKES. Large pools of water occupying a portion of the valleys or
hollows through which the courses of rivers lie.

RIVER-RISK. A policy of insurance from the docks to the sea, at any
port.

RIVET. The roe of a fish. Also, a hinge-pin, or any piece of riveted
work. The soft iron pin by which the ends of a cask hoop, or the plates
of a boiler, &c., are secured by clinching.

RIVIERA. An Italian term for a coast, as the _Riviera di Genoa_.

RIX-DOLLAR. A silver coin common in northern Europe, of the average
value of 4_s._ 6_d._

ROACH. The hollow curvature of the lower parts of upper square-sails, to
clear the stays when the yards are braced up.

ROAD, OR ROADSTEAD. An off-shore well-known anchorage, where ships may
await orders, as St. Helen's at Portsmouth, Cowes, Leith, Basque Roads,
Saugor, and others, where a well-found vessel may ride out a gale.

ROADSTER, OR ROADER. Applied chiefly to those vessels which work by
tides, and seek some known road to await turn of tide or change of wind.
If a vessel under sail strike against any roader and damage her, the
former is obliged by law to make good the damages.

ROAST-BEEF DRESS. Full uniform; probably from its resemblance to that of
the royal beef-eaters.

ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND. A popular air, by which officers are summoned
to the dinner-table.

ROBANDS, OR ROBBENS. (_See_ ROPE-BANDS.)

ROBINET. An ancient military machine for throwing darts and stones; now
the name of some useful cocks in the steam-engine, as for gauge, brine,
trial, and steam-regulator.

ROCK. An extensive geological term, but limited in hydrographical
parlance to hard and solid masses of the earth's surface; when these
rise in insulated masses nearly to the surface of the sea, they render
navigation especially dangerous.--_Half-tide rock._ A rock which
appears above water at half-ebb.

ROCK-COD. A species of cod found on a rocky bottom.

ROCKET. The well-known pyrotechnical preparation, but modified to suit
various purposes. A cylindrical case charged with a fiercely burning
composition, the gases of which, rushing out from the after-end against
the resisting atmosphere, propel the whole forward at a rate continually
increasing, until the composition be e