the westward; or the sun after crossing the meridian.

WESTWARD [Anglo-Saxon _weste-wearde_].--_Westward-hoe._ To the west! It
was one of the cries of the Thames watermen.

WEST WIND. This and its collateral, the S.W., prevail nearly
three-fourths of the year in the British seas, and though boisterous at
times, are very genial on the whole.

WET. The owners and master of a ship are liable for all damage by wet.
(_See_ STOWAGE.)

WET-BULB THERMOMETER. One of which the bulb is kept moist by the
capillary attraction of cotton fibres from an attached reservoir.

WET-DOCK. A term used for _float_ (which see), and also _dock_.

WETHERS. The flukes or hands of a harpoon.

WETTING A COMMISSION. Giving an entertainment to shipmates on receiving
promotion.

WHALE. A general term for various marine animals of the order _Cetacea_,
including the most colossal of all animated beings. From their general
form and mode of life they are frequently confounded with fish, from
which, however, they differ essentially in their organization, as they
are warm-blooded, ascend to the surface to breathe air, produce their
young alive, and suckle them, as do the land mammalia. The cetacea are
divided into two sections:--1. Those having horny plates, called baleen,
or "whalebone," growing from the palate instead of teeth, and including
the right whales and rorquals, or finners and hump-backs (see these
terms). 2. Those having true teeth and no whalebone. To this group
belong the sperm-whale, and the various forms of bottle-noses,
black-fish, grampuses, narwhals, dolphins, porpoises, &c. To the larger
species of many of these the term "whale" is often applied.

WHALE-BIRD. A beautiful little bird seen hovering in flocks over the
Southern Ocean, in search of the small crustaceans which constitute
their food.

WHALE-BOAT. A boat varying from 26 to 56 feet in length, and from 4 to
10 feet beam, sharp at both ends, and admirably adapted to the intended
purpose, combining swiftness of motion, buoyancy, and stability.

WHALE-CALF. The young whale.

WHALE-FISHERIES. The places at which the capture of whales, or
"whale-fishery," is carried on. The principal are the coasts of
Greenland and Davis Straits, for the northern right whale; Bermuda, for
hump-backs; the Cape of Good Hope and the Australian seas, for the
southern right whale; the North Pacific, for the Japanese right whale;
and various places in the intertropical and southern seas, for t