To THE EDITOR OV THE " SPECTATOR."] Sir,—We describe the
state of a ship as to her proper motions, when we say of her that she is " under weigh," " under sail,' " under steam," &o., meaning, in the first case, that she has just weighed anchor and is free; in the second, that she ia moving by the wind on her sails ; and in the third, that she is. moving under steam pressure on her engines. The same sense must be given to " under" in these and similar nautical. expressions.
A ship " weighs" anchor when she first feels the weight (on,
the windlass) of the anchor in raising the anchor off the sea bottom to set free the ship. The weighing of the anchor is to make the ship weigh, to leave her free to start. It is not when the anchor is raised and shipped, and the ship is on her way to somewhere, that we can speak of her as being "under weigh (way)."—I am, Sir, &e.,
Palace Gate, W.
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