own from generation to generation, while
the poor or inferior fastenings have been discarded by those whose
callings required the use of cordage.

Gradually, too, each profession or trade has adopted the knots best
suited to its requirements, and thus we find the Sailor's Knot; the
Weaver's Knot; Fishermen's knots; Builders' knots; Butchers' knots;
and many others which have taken their names from the use to which
they are especially adapted.

In addition to these useful knots, there are many kinds of ornamental
or fancy knots used in ornamenting the ends of ropes, decorating
shrouds of vessels, railings, and similar objects; while certain
braids or plaits, formed by a series of knots, are widely used aboard
ship and on land.

In many cases ropes or cable must be joined in such a way that they
present a smooth and even surface and for such purposes splices are
used, while knots used merely as temporary fastenings and which must
be readily and quickly tied and untied are commonly known as "bends"
or "hitches." Oddly enough, it is far easier to tie a poor knot than a
good one, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the tyro, when
attempting to join two ropes together, will tie either a "slippery" or
a "jamming" knot and will seldom succeed in making a recognized and
"ship-shape" knot of any sort.

The number of knots, ties, bends, hitches, splices, and shortenings in
use is almost unlimited and they are most confusing and bewildering to
the uninitiated. The most useful and ornamental, as well as the most
reliable, are comparatively few in number, and in reality each knot
learned leads readily to another; in the following pages I have
endeavored to describe them in such a manner that their construction
may be readily understood and mastered.

THE AUTHOR.

JANUARY, 1917.

CHAPTER I

CORDAGE

Before taking up the matter of knots and splices in detail it may be
well to give attention to cordage in general. Cordage, in its broadest
sense, includes all forms and kinds of rope, string, twine, cable,
etc., formed of braided or twisted strands. In making a rope or line
the fibres (_A_, Fig. 1) of hemp, jute, cotton, or other material are
loosely twisted together to form what is technically known as a "yarn"
(_B_, Fig. 1). When two or more yarns are twisted together they form a
"strand" (_C_, Fig. 1). Three or more strands form a rope (_D_, Fig.
1), and three ropes form a cable (_E_, Fig. 1). To form a stran