Part 79

Stern fishing, is by fixing a boat (for without, roach of any size are hardly to be caught,) to the stern of a vessel returned from a voyage, whose bottom is foul, and furnished with insects, which the fish greedily devour. The line should not exceed four feet, the float be within a foot of its top, and the rod very short; the bait to be three or four gentles, and dropt close to the ship’s sides, not allowing the bait to swim more than eight or nine feet; begin at the first of the ebb-tide, and for two hours the roach will bite freely.—_Daniel._

ROAD, _s._ Large way, public path; ground where ships may anchor.

ROADSTER, _s._ A hackney, a horse kept for the road.

The hackney, more than any other variety of horse, adds to our health and comfort; we ride him for amusement, and he transports us long distances on our personal avocations. On some only of these occasions speed is desirable; but on all safety is indispensable; and next to that, is the ease with which his motions are performed. These requisites remove the hackney still further than the hunter from that form which best suits the purposes of the racer. In the hackney, therefore, we scrutinise his fore quarters with the same attention that we pay to the hinder parts of the racer; for, as to the purposes of the latter, the fore parts are subordinate to the hinder, so in the hackney, speed being infinitely less important than either ease or safety, and particularly the latter, it is essential that his fore parts be so formed as to ensure these properties. And here it may not be irrelevant to inquire, on what does the safety of action mainly depend? Is it on any particular care of the animal himself in his progression? or does it necessarily arise out of certain peculiarities in his formation, dependent on such an elevation of his feet as will ensure his not stumbling by any erroneous placing of them? The close observer, I think, will answer, that both are concerned: many horses go safely, and yet by no means elevate their legs high; but such are attentive to their steps; and when they see stones or other risings in their path, carefully avoid them. In my early practice I was called on to examine a horse intended for the French court, at the stables of that veteran dealer Choppin. I objected to the horse that he went close to the ground, which even his owner could not deny: but he still argued, that, although he appeared to go near the ground, yet that he was particularly safe in all his paces; and, as a lure to the purchase, would have offered a bet, that on the roughest ground he would not make one trip. As the animal in all other respects was desirable, ground purposely stony in the extreme was chosen, over which he was tried; and it was singular to remark, that in every pace he accommodated the elevation of his feet exactly to the elevations of surface they were to pass over; but it was with a kind of frightful nicety to the observer. On the same ground, many high actioned horses, from inattention to the matters on it, might have tripped by meeting any unusual rising; or, by placing one of the feet on a rolling stone, might have fallen altogether. But it is not hence meant to argue, that the most careful hackney, which does not naturally elevate his feet, is a desirable one. Horses, it is true, are in a great degree crepuscular, and see in a very moderate light. But would such a horse be safe to ride at a brisk trot along an uneven road in a dark night? Or even in a long day, might not fatigue bring his feet down without his usual caution?

The fore-hand of the hackney, therefore, should be elevated, and his shoulder by all means must be oblique; so that he may not only lift up his feet, but also ride pleasantly and lightly in hand, as it is termed by horsemen. To which latter valuable quality it is also essential that he have a neck of just proportions, and that his head be particularly well placed on it, so as to afford him room for flexing himself to the action of the bridle, which, in the hands of a good rider, will sometimes constrain him to throw himself on his haunches, and at others to carry himself forward for more speedy progression. The remainder of the fore limbs ought to present a perfectly vertical line to the pastern, which should have such length and obliquity, and such only, as shall bring the toe directly under the point of the shoulder. The body should be circular, neither long nor very short; his saddle-placing good, his flank on a plane nearly with the rest of his carcass, his loins wide, and his croup gently curved only, to allow of a graceful setting on of the tail. From hence downwards, the principles already laid down when treating on the exterior formation generally, will apply; particularising only, that for this variety of horse a good foot ought never to be dispensed with. Height is not so essential in the hackney as in the hunter; it need never to exceed fifteen hands two inches: in most cases it may, with more propriety, range between fourteen hands three inches, and fifteen hands one inch. Altogether, his frame should be compact, without being in the least clumsy; and with this form, the more breeding he shows, short of full blood, the better.—_Blaine._

ROAN, _a._ Bay or sorrel, with grey or white spots interspersed.

The roans, of every variety of colour and form, are composed of white mixed with bay, or red, or black. In some it seems to be a natural mixture of the colours; in others it appears as if one colour was powdered or sprinkled over another. They are pretty horses for ladies or light carriages, and many of them easy in their paces, but they do not usually display much blood, nor are they celebrated for endurance. If they should have white fore legs, with white hoofs, they are too often tender-footed, or become so with even a little hard work.—_The Horse._

ROAR, _v._ To cry as a lion or other wild beast; to cry in distress; to sound as the wind or sea; to make a loud noise.

ROARING, _s._ A disease in horses.

The causes of roaring, which I shall here use as a type of the whole, are remote and proximate. The remote causes are mostly inflammation, acute or chronic, in the tracheal tube itself. Occasionally it is brought on by the effects of inflammation on other parts, as of the salivary glands in strangles, or of those abscesses which not unfrequently occur in violent catarrh in the vicinage of the pharynx. Structural alteration in the lungs, as hepatisation, has occasioned it (_Percivall’s Lectures_, vol. ii. p. 256). Obstructions accidentally formed by exostoses, cicatrisations, &c., or extraneous substances lodged in the cavities leading to the trachea, may any of them occasion it. Barriere notices a case of roaring dependent on the lodgment of a piece of riband within one of the nasal fossæ; and Godine another, brought on by a displaced molar tooth. The proximate cause might, with propriety, include these accidental obstructions, but they are mainly to be looked for in an extravasation, partial or extensive, of coagulable lymph; which, becoming organised, forms a permanent obstruction. When it is extensively spread over the larynx, it produces wheezing; when it constringes the rimaglottis, a whistling sound is the consequence, and is often heard in our own respirations under catarrh, or in the ordinary respirations of some asthmatic persons. Whoever has handled the throats of many old horses, must have observed the hardened state of the larynx, which almost resisted all attempts to what is termed ‘cough them.’ This ossification of the laryngeal cartilages is not an uncommon cause; and a similar state in the cartilages of the trachea is productive of it also. A very common case also of roaring is a band of lymph stretched across the tracheal tube; at others, an internal ring of the same matter simply diminishes its diameter. The obstruction is sometimes so considerable as to excite piping or roaring on the slightest exertion; in general cases, however, roaring is only exerted when forcible inspirations and expirations are made; for it is, I believe, equally produced by the one as by the other. Mechanical obstructions to free respiration may eventually be productive of roaring: the custom of tightly reining in our carriage-horses, there is reason to think, produces it often; and Mr. Sewell is of opinion, that the practice of using tight throat-lashes, or neck-straps, may lead to it. In furtherance of which opinion, it may be recollected, that horsemen have a very general supposition that crib-biting ends in roaring, in thick wind, or in broken wind: may not the tight collar-strap also here tend to the former of these affections? The custom of ‘coughing’ horses, and so frequently as it is practised in fairs, may be readily supposed as a cause. A horse passes from fair to fair, having his unfortunate throat brutally pinched thirty or forty times each day. Is it to be wondered at if inflammation take place, and adhesive deposit follow?

The treatment must be regulated by circumstances, but the principal indication is to remove the remote causes in the early stages, and to obviate the effects in the latter. If active inflammation be going on, bleed and blister; and if tumefaction of the neighbouring parts have occasioned it, attempt their reduction. Elevate the head as much as may be. Mr. Sewell recommends a seton in the neighbourhood of the obstruction when known; and in desperate cases he observes, that tracheotomy has been performed with considerable advantage; but the extreme difficulty of detecting the exact situation of the obstruction, will prevent its being generally adverted to.—_Blaine._

ROCK-DOE, _s._ A species of deer.

ROCK PIGEON, _s._ (_Columba livia_, BRISSON.)

Ornithologists seem to differ in opinion concerning the rock and stock pigeon; though it appears almost impossible to conceive them a distinct species. In those described under such names there seems to be so much similitude, except what may be expected from a species half reclaimed, and frequently returning to their natural wild habits again, that we cannot but consider them as one and the same species.

The rock dove is considered to be the origin of our tame pigeons, as it is said to possess the white on the lower part of the back, in which part the stock dove is described to be ash-coloured, and that this last is rather larger. But these variations we have observed in pigeons killed in their native haunts amongst the rocks on our coasts; and our dove-cote pigeons frequently have no white on the back. It is therefore probable many of our common species, after having been bred in a pigeon-house contiguous to such rocky situations, return to their natural habits, and there produce some variation in colour.

The bird now before us we killed on the cliffs in Cauldy Island, in South Wales. It weighed eleven ounces; length thirteen inches and a half; breadth twenty-two; the bill is brown, inclining to purplish-red; point dusky; irides light yellow; the head dark bluish ash-colour; neck and breast glossed with green and copper, as viewed in different lights, most conspicuous on the sides and back of the neck; the upper part of the back and wing coverts pale ash-colour; across the middle of the greater coverts is a broad band of black, and another of the same on the ends of the secondary quills, running into each other on those feathers nearest the body; the greater quills are dusky, dashed with ash-colour, the outer ones darkest, and all of them most so towards the tips, slightly edged on their exterior webs with white; the lower part of the back white; the rump and tail dark bluish ash-colour, the ends of the latter black; the two exterior feathers whitish on the outer webs towards the base; the sides under the wings, and under wing coverts, white; the belly bluish ash-colour; legs red.

These birds have sometimes appeared in prodigious flocks in winter, frequenting our beech woods for the sake of the mast or seed of that tree. These flights, however, are less numerous and less frequent of late years. Sometimes they are seen in company with our common pigeons, at the barn doors, in severe winters; and are said to be known by their inferior size and darker colour.

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The only place where I have ever seen the rock dove in a wild state, was at Howford, near Mauchlane, in Ayrshire, where two or three pairs nestled on the cliffs of the romantic rocks overhanging the river, but in situations so inaccessible, that I never knew them robbed by the most daring boys. It would be hard to say whether these had strayed from some neighbouring dove-cote, or had originally come thither from some wild brood; though the former is not so probable, as instances, I believe, are rare, of domestic pigeons voluntarily deserting their birth place.—_Montagu_—_Rennie._

ROCKET, _s._ An artificial firework.

ROCKSALT, _s._ Mineral salt.

ROD, _s._ A long twig; anything long and slender; an instrument for measuring; an instrument of correction made of twigs; an implement for angling.

The wood for fishing rods should be cut about Christmas (and some insist that if left in the open air for twelve months afterwards it will season better, than if stowed in a dry place). Hazel is the wood generally procured for this purpose, and of all the sorts that of the cob-nut grows to the greatest length, and is, for the most part, straight and taper; the butt-end should rather exceed an inch in diameter; but of whatever wood the rod is composed, the shoots for stocks, middle pieces, and tops, must be of proper size, well-grown, and as free from knots as possible. The tops should be the best rush-ground shoots, without knots, and proportionally taper; the excrescent twigs are to be cut off, but not close, for fear of hurting the bark, which ought never to be touched with a knife or rasp; for, although they will dress neater, it considerably weakens them: these pieces are to be kept free from wet until the beginning of the following autumn, when such as are wanted to form a rod should be selected, and, after being warmed over a gentle fire, set as straight as possible, and laid aside for two or three days, when they must be rubbed over with a piece of flannel and linseed oil, which will polish and fetch off any superfluous bark; they are then to be bound tight to a straight pole, and so kept until the next spring, when they will be seasoned for use; (some, however, prefer keeping them from eighteen months to two years, before they are made up); they are then to be matched together in just proportion, in three, four, or more parts, according to the width of the water, or the wish of the maker; taking care that the different joints fit so nicely, if ferruled, that the whole rod may move as if it were but one piece. If the parts are not ferruled, observe, that they must be cut to join each other with the utmost exactness, and neatly spliced with glue, boiled very gently in strong quick lime-water, keeping it stirred until it becomes smooth and all alike, and then are to be whipped over the glued part with waxed thread.

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Elder, holly, yew, mountain ash, and hip briar, are all natives; the former, prepared as follows, is by some thought to excel any of the latter; a branch of the elder tree of three years’ growth is to be cut about the third week in November; it is then with a saw to be separated at every joint; sometimes, when the branch is exactly straight, a length of two joints may be made, for the two shoots which spring from each joint grow alternately from the different sides; these double lengths should be taken from the biggest end of the branch, and will be near three quarters of a yard long; one of these will make the thick end of the top; the other joints are split into four, shaving off the bark and the pith, and every joint tied by itself; the thick end of every piece should be placed towards the butt of the rod; after being split, the pieces should be tied together, and kept a year at least to season; when wanted, they should be first planed and rasped taper, and square; the edges then filed off exactly round and smooth; the splice must be rubbed very thin with shoe-makers’ wax, filling the outside of the joint so, that when wrapped close with fine white silk, the splice may not be bigger than the joint is, an inch above it. The hip briar is easily found in hedges of old inclosures, which have not been plashed for many years; but it should be thoroughly seasoned before it is split, or the small pieces will be apt to warp in drying; it is cut into lengths of eight or ten inches for tops, spliced or glued together; after which they are properly tapered with planes and fine rasps, finished off with sandpaper, and the joints wrapped with silk well waxed; a small piece of whalebone is added to the wood, spliced and wrapped in a similar manner; to this finish, however, some gentlemen object, and wonder at the prevalent custom of loading rods with eight or ten inches of whalebone at the top, since that particular part should be light and elastic; and they contend, that the whalebone is dull, heavy, and much too flexible; the Scotch fishing rod makers use tortoise shell at the end of their tops, and it is lighter and springs better than whalebone.

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The reed or cane rod, on account of its lightness and elasticity, is the best for fishing at the bottom, whether with a running line or float, especially when angling for those fish which bite tenderly, as roach and dace; of these some are contrived to go into the butt, and make a walking stick, others are composed of many short joints; all of which are inclosed in a bag. The tackle shops have a variety of these; but in purchasing a reed or cane rod, be careful that it strikes well, and that the bark which grows round the joints, is not rasped into; a very common fault which the rod makers are guilty of; and the consequence of which is, that it is thereby rendered weaker at the joints than elsewhere, and there being no bark to repel the wet, it soon rots, and whenever a large fish is hooked, certainly breaks. Another thing to be observed is, that the medium between the ferrule and the joint that goes in, is not cut too fine; if it is, and a good fish is struck, it is odds but a part of the rod, line, and fish, are all lost together.

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The rod composed of the hazel will not do for fly-fishing, the least wet being apt to warp and render it crooked.

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Another rod for fly-fishing, is recommended to be of two parts, without ferrules, and the lower longer than the upper, with the small end of the former, and the large end of the latter, cut long, and to fit nicely as for splicing; it may be tied together at the water side with common shoemakers’ common waxed thread; this is by far the best, for throwing the line with freedom and accuracy; and for easing it in playing the fish when hooked, the spring will be superior, if properly made, to that of the other sort of rods: upon leaving off fishing the rod should be untied, and the string wrapped round the two parts, for carrying it more conveniently.

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Yew, especially the white of it, makes a fine top, and the best forest yew is to be got in Wales; but unless very well chosen, frequently turns out brittle, from its numerous knots. Holly is liable to the same objection; all kinds of wood should be cut in winter when the sap is descended into the root, and kept a year or two, oiling them now and then with linseed oil, and placing them in such a position, that they acquire no bend, which should they do, it may be rectified by holding them over a gentle fire. Of foreign woods, the hiccory from America, will work into handsome and good tops; but the bamboo, or hollow cane, from the West Indies, is to be preferred; in making a top of the latter, care should be taken to preserve the outside, that being its most elastic part; at the extremity of all tops, there should be a loop of hair or a ring for fastening the line to.

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A rod of twelve feet, unless the wind be extremely unfavourable, will cast a fly-line of fourteen yards, but if it is to carry a reel line, fourteen feet will be preferable; it is useless to encumber yourself with an unnecessary weight of wood, as the great advantage of a light rod is, that with either hand you can use it, and thus be enabled to cast your fly under bushes, hollow banks, &c., where the best trout generally lie, without endangering the tackle; the shorter the joints, of course it will be more portable, but the fewer there are, the better it will open a fly line.

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The great defect in most rods is, that the play is in the middle, owing to that part being too weak, and like a waggon whip; with a rod of this kind, it is impossible to strike or command a fish of any size.

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Rods should not be kept in too dry a room; the practice of steeping them in water before using, is bad, and will soon spoil them; the rubbing the tops with sweet oil twice or thrice in the season will preserve them in a serviceable state, and if the rod be hollow, tie a rag to the end of a stick, dip it in linseed oil, and rub it well about the inside of the different joints.—_Daniel._

ROE, _s._ A species of deer; the female of the hart; the eggs of fish; that of the male fish is called the soft or melt; that of the female the hard or spawn.

ROLLER, _s._ Anything turning on its own axis, as a heavy stone to level walks; bandage; in saddling, the broad fillet, with two or more straps and buckles to secure the saddle or sheet.

ROLLYPOOLY, _s._ A corruption of _roll ball into the pool_, a sort of game, in which when a ball rolls into a certain place it wins.

ROOD, _s._ The fourth part of an acre in square measure; a pole, a measure of sixteen feet and a half in long measure.

ROOK, _s._ A bird resembling a crow; it feeds not on carrion but grain; a piece at chess.