s it does this weed. A ship cast on shore is no wreck,
in law, when any domestic animal has escaped with life in her. The
custody of the cargo or goods belongs to the deputy of the vice-admiral,
and they are restored to the proprietors without any fees or salvage,
but what the labour of those who saved them may reasonably deserve.

WRECKAGE. Spars, rigging, or goods floating about after a wreck.

WRECKERS. A name which includes both meritorious salvors of ships in
distress, and the felonious brutes who merely hasten to wrecks for
plunder. One of our British colonies deemed it so entirely a legal
procedure to make a wreck of or cripple a vessel on the reef, that a
naval officer was threatened with legal proceedings by a lawyer whom he
prevented from carrying out his practice afloat.

WRECK-FREE. Is to be exempt from the forfeiture of shipwrecked goods and
vessels: a privilege which Edward I. granted by charter to the barons of
the Cinque Ports.

WRIGHT'S SAILING. Synonymous with _Mercator's sailing_.

WRING A MAST, TO. To bend, cripple, or strain it out of its natural
position by setting the shrouds up too taut. The phrase, _to wring_, is
also applied to a capstan when by an undue strain the component parts of
the wood become deranged, and are thereby disunited. The head of a mast
is frequently wrung by bracing up the lower yards beyond the dictates of
sound judgment.

WRONG, TO. To out-sail a vessel by becalming her sails is said to wrong
her.

WRONG WAY. When the ship casts in the opposite direction to that
desired. Also, a ship swinging in a tide's way, out of the direction
which would keep her hawse clear.

WRUNG-HEADS. An old term for that part of a ship near the floor-heads
and second futtock-heels, which, when she lies aground, bears the
greatest strain.

X.

XEBEC, OR ZEBEC. A small three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean,
distinguished from all other European vessels by the great projection of
her bow and overhanging of her stern. Being generally equipped as a
corsair, the xebec was constructed with a narrow floor, for speed, and
of great breadth, to enable her to carry a great press of sail. On the
Barbary coast the xebec rig was deemed to vary from the felucca, which
in hull is the same, by having the fore-mast square-rigged.

XERAFEEM. A Malabar coin of the value of 1_s._ 4_d._ sterling.

XEROONITZ. A Russian coin of two roubles, or 9_s._ sterling.

XERO-POTAMO. A term common on the c