e densely from 25 to 30 minutes.

SMOKE-BOX. A part which crosses the whole front of a marine boiler, over
the furnace doors; or that part between the end of tubes furthest from
the fire-place and bottom of the funnel.

SMOKES. Dense exhalations, mixed with the finer particles of sand, on
the Calabar shores and borders of the Great Zahara desert, which prevail
in autumn. Also, the indications of inhabitants when coasting new lands.
For its meaning in Arctic voyages, _see_ VAPOUR.

SMOKE-SAIL. A small sail hoisted against the fore-mast when a ship rides
head to wind, to give the smoke of the galley an opportunity of rising,
and to prevent its being blown aft on to the quarter-deck.

SMOOTH. A Cornish term applied when the surf abates its fury for a short
space. Also, the lee of a ship or of a rock.

SMUG-BOATS. Contraband traders on the coast of China; opium boats.

SMUGGLING. Defrauding the public revenue by importing or exporting goods
without paying the customs dues chargeable upon them.

SMURLIN. A bivalve mollusc, _Mya truncata_, used as food in the Shetland
Islands.

SNAGGLE, TO. To angle for geese with a hook and line properly baited.

SNAGS. The old word for lopped branches and sharp protuberances, but now
chiefly applied to sunken obstructions in the American rivers.

SNAIL-CREEPING. Gouging out the surfaces of timbers in crooked channels,
to promote a circulation of air.

SNAKE-PIECES. _See_ POINTERS.

SNAKING. The passing of small stuff across a seizing, with marline
hitches at the outer turns; or the winding small ropes spirally round a
large one, the former lying in the intervals between the strands of the
latter. (_See_ WORM.) The stays and backstays, when the _Shannon_ engaged
the _Chesapeake_, were snaked with half-inch rope from fathom to fathom,
to prevent their falling if shot away. Also, the finishing touch to neat
seizings, to prevent the parts from separating when becoming slack by
drying.

SNAPE, TO. In ship-carpentry, is to hance or bevel the end of anything,
so as to fay upon an inclined plane: it is also designated _flinch_.

SNAP-HAUNCE. An old word for a fire-lock or musket; a spring-lock for
fire-arms.

SNAPING-POLE. An old term for a fishing-rod.

SNAPPER. A well-known fish of the Mesoprion tribe, highly valued as food
in the West Indies and tropics generally.

SNAPPING-TURTLE. A well-known fresh-water tortoise of the rivers in the
United States; _Chelydra serpentina_.