CRANK-SHAFT. In a steamer. (_See_ INTERMEDIATE SHAFT.)
CRAPPO, OR GENERAL CRAPAUD. Jack's name for a Frenchman, one whom he thinks would be a better sailor if he would but talk English instead of French.
CRARE, OR CRAYER. A slow unwieldy trading vessel of olden times. Thus Shakspeare, in _Cymbeline_, with hydrographic parlance:--
"Who ever yet could sound thy bottom? Find The ooze, to show what coast thy sluggish crare Might easiliest harbour in?"
CRATER OF A MINE. Synonymous with _funnel_ (which see).
CRAVAISE. An Anglo-Norman word for cray-fish.
CRAVEN. An old term synonymous with _recreant_ (which see).
CRAWL. A sort of pen, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain fish or turtle. On the coast of Africa, a pen for slaves awaiting shipment.
CRAWLING OFF. Working off a lee-shore by slow degrees.
CRAY-FISH. A lobster-like crustacean (_Astacus fluviatilis_) found in fresh-water.
CREAK. The straining noise made by timbers, cabin bulk-heads, and spars in rolling.
CREAR. A kind of Scotch lighter. (_See_ CRARE.)
CREEK. A narrow inlet of the sea shoaling suddenly. Also, the channels connecting the several branches of a river and lake islands, and one lake or lagoon with another. It differs from a cove, in being proportionately deeper and narrower. In law, it is part of a haven where anything is landed from the sea.
CREEL, OR CRUE, for fishing. _See_ KREEL.
CREEPER. A small grapnel (iron instrument with four claws) for dragging for articles dropped overboard in harbour. When anything falls, a dish or other white object thrown immediately after it will greatly guide the creeping.
CREMAILLEE. More commonly called _indented_ (which see), with regard to lines or parapets.
CREOLE. This term applies in the West Indies and Spanish America, &c., to a person of European and unmixed origin, but colonial born.
CRESPIE. A northern term for a small whale or a grampus.
CRESSET. A beacon light set on a watch-tower.
CREST. The highest part of a mountain, or range of mountains, and the summit of a sea-wave.
CREW. Comprehends every officer and man on board ship, borne as complement on the books. There are in ships of war several particular crews or gangs, as the gunner's, carpenter's, sail-maker's, blacksmith's, armourer's, and cooper's crews.