PREFACE TO THE EDITION OF 1864. In the preparation of this new Edition of "The Universal Code of Signals for the Mercantile Marine of all Nations," it has been my endeavour to prepare the way for the removal from the 3rd Part of the Code of the names of those Merchant Vessels which, having been inserted many years past, have no present existence. After After a careful examination of Lloyds' Register of Shipping, the Veritas, and other works of a similar character, I have placed an asterisk against those names which I have not met with, and as notified at the bottom of each page of the 3rd Part of the Code, these names will not appear in the future Editions. I have also much wished to avoid introducing a 4th Distinguishing Pendant, and as the present requirements of the Code will be met by adding to each of the existing Pendants the permutations formed by the use of the 0 or Decimal Flag, viz, 01 to 0987, it is hoped that before these are appropriated, the numbers vacated by the withdrawal of those names which have no representative in existence, will be available for the new vessels requiring insertion. The List of Ports, Lighthouses, &c., have been corrected according to the latest authorities, and some additional words and sentences inserted in Part V; the New Regulations for preventing Collisions at Sea, issued under an Order of Council dated January 9th, 1863, are also given in lieu of those previously in force. Let me again renew the suggestion made in former Editions, that captains of vessels should thoroughly acquaint themselves with the Sentences in Part V, and the Vocabulary in Part VI, as this will enable them to express their wants and wishes with much greater facility and with less chance of misapprehension. G. B. RICHARDSON. GENERAL EXPLANATION. The Code consists of Six Parts : 1. 2. 3. 4. A List of English Men of War. A List of Foreign Men of War. A List of Merchant Ships of all Nations. A List of Lighthouses, Ports, Headlands, Rocks, Shoals, Reefs, &c. 5. A Collection of Sentences. 6. The Vocabulary. Every number being omitted in which the same figure occurs twice, as in 101, 556, &c., a substitute flag and pendant are rendered unnecessary; but as substitutes will at times be required, the First, Second, and Third Distinguishing Pendants and the Telegraph Flag are used for this purpose, the explanation of which are given in detail on page viii., and in Plate No. 3. The Flags and Pendants, as exemplified in Plate No. 1, are sixteen in number, exclusive of The Union Jack, which is hoisted over the Number of an English Man of War in Part the First, and are as follows: The Ten Numerical Flags, which represent the ten figures in arithmetic, and are used throughout the General Code. The First, Second, and Third Distinguishing Pendants, which are hoisted over the number, or at some other mast-head when the number of a merchant vessel is shewn in Part the Third. The Rendezvous Flag, which is hoisted over the number of Lighthouses, Ports, Headlands, &c., in Part the Fourth, and occasionally at some other mast-head, or below the number, as explained at the head of the List of Ports, Headlands, &c. The Telegraph Flag, which is hoisted at some other mast-head when the numbers in Part the Sixth are shewn. The Numeral Pendant, which is hoisted over a number when merely the figures are intended to be shewn, and is hoisted between the numbers as a Period, or when the latitude or longitude is required, and is hoisted singly as the Answering Pendant. The Sentences in Part the Fifth have no distinguishing flag, but are |