the rolling and shifting which ensues; it may become necessary to make the sand more solid, by wetting it. Copper dross is sometimes used, its weight is advantageous, but it stains the cargo unless covered with plank; shingle or lead is better; the common buhr stone answers the double purpose of ballast and dunnage. Other kinds of ballast are mentioned in connection with the various articles of freight. When a ship has a cargo of light goods, such as wools, madders, cork, &c., and she is ballasted with heavy goods, the freight of the latter is usually only one-third of the rate payable on a full cargo of the like description of goods. At Amsterdam a last of ballast is 2,000 lbs. At Madras a load consists of 120 baskets of sand, according to a fixed price, at the average of 3 fanams, 12 of which go to a rupee. ADMIRALTY PIGS OF IRON BALLAST. 36. BALSAM COPIVI or COPAIBA, a yellowish medicinal stimulant oil, obtained from the Copaifera Officinalis and other species in tropical climates; it should be kept apart from all dry goods, which are liable to be injured both by its resinous qualities and through the offensive odour with which it impregnates them. It is imported in casks from 1 to 4 cwt. each. 37. BAMBOO REEDS are usually in bundles 10 to 15 feet long, weighing on an average about 20 lbs. 3,000 or 16 cwt. go to a ton at Bombay. 38. BARILLA is an alkali obtained by the combustion of seaweeds. British barilla is the crude soda-ash produced from common salt in the carbonate of soda manufactories. It should have firm dunnage, such as oak staves, &c., say 9 inches in the bilge and 6 in the flat. Brushwood and fagots are sometimes used in Sicily and Spain, but they get compressed by the continued weight of the cargo, and endanger the safety of the ship. Barilla should be heaped up towards the hatches; a full cargo cannot be carried-say a little over three-fourths. When wine is freighted in the same ship, it should, being lighter, go in the ends, and the barilla in the main hold. Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ton 20 cwt. 39. BARK should be dunnaged about 6 inches at the keel, and 10 in the bilge, sharp vessels less in the bilge; it must be well rolled down, for no vessel can take her tonnage of bark. Peruvian bark is in small bales of about 112 lbs. each, well packed in dry hides, and sewn together carefully; in this condition it is bought on the coast at $16 quintal, and after being manufactured into quinine in England is sold to the chemists there at about 10s. P oz. Peruvian bark is very delicate, requiring great care; the least wet on one side of a bale runs through and spoils the contents. It is seldom stowed in the lower hold, being considered a 'tween-deck cargo, and requires to be well dunnaged in the wings, and ought not to be placed near the masts, chain-lockers, or pump-well. When shipped at Adelaide in bags or bales, permission should be given on the bill of lading, to cut the packages, or the ship will be liable to make up to a great extent the loss by weight, if any, and the damage, if it arises, from the bark being cut loose. 40. The barque Fugitive, 471 tons, Capt. W. R. BARWOOD, belonging to Messrs. T. B. WALKER & Co., of St. Helen's Place, London, left Launceston, Tasmania, 20th March, 1867, with a cargo including 220 Tons of mimosa and silver wattle bark, 1,005 Bales of wool, and sundries. Her ballast, 60 tons of dry ironstone shipped at Launceston, was used as dunnage, covered with wood, say in the bottom 12 inches, bilges 16, and sides 3 to 4 inches. A tier of bags of bark (being less perishable and not liable to be attacked by vermin), was spread all over the floor dunnage to receive the sacks of wheat, which were protected in a similar manner by the bark, wherever necessary. Wool in the ends of the vessel and the 'tween decks. So laden she drew 15 feet fore and aft, and on arrival in London, 20th June, two inches less by the bow; with a dead-weight cargo of iron, &c., 16 feet aft and 15 feet 9 inches forward; her best trim at sea is, say, 14 feet aft and 13 feet 9 inches forward. The bark was mostly packed in large-size corn racks, or sacks of the same material, weighing 3 lbs. each; the mimosa, when filled, 190 to 200 lbs.; silver wattle 15 to 20 p cent. less; measurement, say 8 cubic feet. From 11 to 13 of these weigh a ton (20 cwt.), according to the fineness of the grinding, there being considerable difference in the working of the mills; varying from mere dust to small pieces of two and four inches. After being rammed into their places, the bags are rolled down by a cask filled with water, the bung being well secured with sheet lead. The season of shipment is from November to March. Both barks are used in England for tanning and occasionally for dying; sometimes they are mixed with oak bark; occasionally both are termed mimosa; mimosa is sometimes called black wattle. This bark is liable to injury from sea-water, or by contact with oil or with moist goods. As in all other Tasmanian ports, the bales of wool were hydraulically pressed and iron-banded; they average 58 x 28 x 28 inches, and weighed 300 lbs.; say 6 to the ton; freight at pb. Capt. BARWOOD states that a measured bushel of Tasmanian wheat, which is equal in quality to any grown, will weigh 63 lbs. The sacks in his cargo, which contained 3 bushels, weighed 213 lbs. gross; freighted at p bushel of 60 lbs. The port charges of the Fugitive were, inwards £3 18s. 6d., outwards £18 19s.; pilotage in £23 11s., out £23 11s. The river Tamar can seldom be navigated without the assistance of a steam-tug, which in this case cost £56 8s. for towing both ways, but that is not always necessary. Tonnage. 10 tons tree bark, or 8 tons coppice, will occupy 850 cubic feet or 1 keel. In the East Indies the ton is 8 cwt. When Mediterranean wheat is freighted at 18. quarter, bark of oak is rated at 98. 9d. ton of 20 cwt. 41. BDELLIUM, a gum resin, semi-pellucid, and of a yellowish brown or dark brown colour, something like myrrh in appearance, internally clear, and somewhat resembling glue. It is produced in Persia, Arabia, and India. Bombay ton 50 cubic feet. 42. BEAM FILLINGS. To stow these properly is one of the most important duties of a stevedore. When the cargo reaches from the ceiling up to the hold beams, it becomes necessary, with most descriptions of goods, to alter the stowage; by a little foresight, a sufficient quantity of suitable articles could be retained for this purpose. The great object is to avoid the loss of bulk between the beams, and to carry the fillings high enough to prevent the upper cargo from resting on them, or they may break, and thus endanger the safety of the ship, especially when rolling in heavy weather; two inches is considered sufficient for timber, other gods, not so compact, will require a greater height; the forecastle-deck and the half-deck should not be overloaded with heavy goods. When the cargo is timber, and the hold under the beams have been filled, the beam filling logs are stowed a-burton or across the ship; and these logs should be stout enough to stand 2 or 3 inches above the beams, so that the 'tween decks cargo shall rest on them, and not on the beams. Of course this cannot be done if a 'tween deck is laid. 43. BECHE-DE-MER, one of the products of the Fiji Islands, is exported thence to the Australian colonies for the use of the Chinese immigrants; it is also collected from many of the islands in the China sea. 44. BEES' WAX is made up at Sierra Leone, in packages of various sizes, often in return cases. In Sydney, Adelaide, and Tasmania, it is in irregular cakes, and is usually packed in cases about 2 feet by 18 inches, containing 1 cwt. each; shipments occur all the year round. Bees' wax shipped from Zanzibar is usually run into empty beer hogsheads, having been melted, skimmed, and purified. Being brought generally in a very dirty state from the mainland and Madagascar, the chief mate should be careful to see that each cask is well coopered before being stowed, and that flatheaded scupper nails should be driven in close to the outer edge of each hoop as the cask lies on its bilge-two nails at least to each hoop. The casks are likely to shrink when the heated wax is poured in, and hoops will consequently drop off, and the package fall to pieces, unless some precaution is observed. Bees' wax should be stowed in a dry part of the ship, not over water or any other liquid. Specific gravity 0.964. Madras ton 20 cwt., Bombay 50 cubic feet in cases, New York 40 cubic feet. Baltic bees' wax in mats receives two-thirds freight of clean hemp per ton of 63 poods gross; in casks the full freight. 45. BETEL NUT. Betel or pawn, as it is denominated in Bengal, consists of part of the fruit of the areka palm (see areka nut), wrapped in the leaves of a kind of pepper plant called betel, smeared with a little shell lime, whence its name betel nut is derived. It is much used in the East, and is generally packed there in gunny bags containing 100 lbs. each; in some parts twenty of these go to a ton. It should not be stowed over oil or water. A ship took a quantity into her main hold, and covered them with plank flooring; she then went to a second port in the East Indies, and placed bales on the planks. Although the nuts were perfectly dry when shipped, a vapour arose, settled against the under side of the hold deck, and fell in drops on the bale goods, which were rotten and worthless at the end of the voyage. On the Pedir coast the chief exports are in May, June, July, and part of August. Tonnage. Bengal and Madras ton 18 cwt., Bombay ton 16 cwt., in bags. At Pedir, in Sumatra, betel nuts are sold by the laxar, about 168 lbs., or 10,000 nuts, to which 10 to 25 cent. are added for those worm-eaten or damaged. 46. BILLS OF LADING. Before signing read them, and if in Great Britain, see that they are stamped (for signing an unstamped one a master is liable to a penalty of £50); never sign unless the goods are on board the vessel-not even if they are alongsidefor should they from any cause not be shipped, the master will be held liable for the value of the goods that he has admitted to have received, do not sign in such a case, although a letter of indemnification may be offered by the shipper, such letter not being in any way binding on the holder of the bill of lading. When bills of lading are presented for signature, "stating specific quantities and qualities," unless you are aware these statements are correct, it is much better to insert the words "said to be," above or before the statements referred to. The master is not liable for any bill of lading that has not been signed by himself, unless he authorized. some other person to sign as his agent. It has been held in our Courts of Law that writing in a bill of lading over-rules printing, in cases where one is in contradiction to the other. If the master has the permission of the shipper to unbind a package for the convenience of stowage, or if he has permission to carry cargo on deck, such permission should be stated in the bill of lading. Where a mate's receipt has been given, have it returned previously. It is the duty of the master or mate to enter in the cargo-book a correct account of all goods received, and see that the bills of lading are in accordance therewith. 47. Nothing should be received on board in a damaged state, without a note to that effect being inserted in the bill of lading, and a letter of indemnity from the shipper. It is no answer to say the goods are in the same order as when received on board. Shippers will seldom allow the words "in bad order" to be inserted, and they are said to be of no protection to the master. A letter of indemnity leaves his remedy against the charterer only, and not against the consignee. The best way is, if possible, to refuse all goods in bad order. Bales without chafing pieces should be so noted on the bill of lading. Where from its length a special memorandum on a bill of lading, requires to be placed on the side or back, it should be endorsed by all parties concerned. When goods are to be carried on deck it should be stated on the bill of lading, so as to free the owners from responsibility in case of damage or jettison; see the case MELLOR v, CHAPPLE, in the article cotton. The master's copy |