Atlantic

by Simon Winchester

  Cyanobacteria Blue-green algae, named for their dominant color, that derive their energy from photosynthesis.

  Dory A small rowing boat, with high prows and stern and little freeboard, much used by nineteenth-century American whalers.

  Einkorn wheat A type of wild wheat considered to have been the first crop grown in an organized fashion by early agriculturists in the Fertile Crescent.

  Ell An obsolete measure of length, based on the average forearm; in England it is about forty-five inches.

  Erg A Berber word for the great areas of sand dunes found in the central Sahara (a word which itself means desert in Berber).

  Flense To remove the skin and blubber from a dead whale.

  Forepeak The small and oddly angled internal space at the very tip of a boat; usually where the paint is stored, or, in naval vessels, the laundrymen.

  Freeboard The height from the waterline to the lowest part of a ship’s deck. A vessel with little freeboard risks being swamped.

  Fynbos An aggregation of very rich vegetation—more than six thousand endemic species—that grows in a small area of South Africa’s Western Cape Province that has been blessed with a Mediterranean climate.

  Gesso A material, made from gypsum or plaster of paris, used to prepare a surface, such as a wall or a canvas, for painting.

  Godown A Malay word for a warehouse, now commonly employed across India and South Asia.

  Growler A half-hidden small iceberg, an often lethal menace to shipping.

  Gyre In this context, a spinning pattern of wind, current, or climate.

  Hammada A Saharan desert area where the wind has blown away the sand, leaving only rocks and scrub.

  Hard A sloping surface of stone or concrete leading down into the water, up which boats may be hauled, down which they may be launched, or on which they may be cleaned or repaired.

  Harmattan A dry easterly wind, freighted with red desert dust, that blows in the winter months across western Africa.

  Hawser A thick and very strong rope, made either of hemp or steel cable, used to secure ships to the quayside.

  Henge A medieval formation, usually circular, of stones surrounding ceremonial structures or burial chambers. Stonehenge, in southern England, is the best-known example.

  Hove-to Of a ship at sea: intentionally stopped, temporarily drifting.

  Kelp Thick, floating seaweed, often strong enough to allow small craft to tie up alongside.

  Knot A unit of speed equivalent to one nautical mile per hour, employed to describe the velocities of ships and some kinds of aircraft.

  Krill A small ocean-borne, shrimplike crustacean, much favored as the constant diet of baleen whales.

  Lee shore A coastline toward which the wind generally blows. A lee shore can be extremely dangerous for a nearby sailing vessel, especially if the craft becomes embayed and unable to escape being blown onto land.

  Letterpress A type of printing, nowadays of little commercial importance, in which paper is briefly pressed by machinery against inked type, leaving both the ink and a discernible impression on the paper’s surface.

  Levant The countries of the eastern Mediterranean, so named because to seaborne mariners the sun appears to rise—become lévant, in French—from within them.

  Long sea Of sea voyages, those which pass between continents, and during which the vessel is seldom in sight of land, except at the beginning and end of passage.

  Longphort An Irish term that describes a sheltered and fortified base from which Viking invaders could conduct commerce and launch further raids.

  Loxodrome Another name for the rhumb line, along which some sailors once made their journeys, keeping at all times at a constant angle to the lines of longitude that they crossed.

  Lutefisk A dish, popular in Norway but little loved elsewhere, made from whitefish soaked for some days in caustic soda. The gelatinous whitefish is then eaten with flat bread and meatballs.

  Machair Strips of low-lying grassland, often on a shallow bed of shell sand, found especially along the coastlines of western Scotland.

  Main The mainland coast of the Caribbean, generally taken to refer to the Spanish possessions from which the galleon trade was first conducted.

  Majuscule A large form of written or printed script, whether in capital or uncial (rounded) form.

  Marlinspike A sharp metal spike whose official purpose was to pry apart the strands of a rope for splicing. An essential item in a sailor’s kitbag, it had innumerable other uses, from oyster opener to weapon.

  Medina The walled section—and thus usually the non-European section—of a North African town.

  Minuscule A small kind of cursive script, often used by monks in the writing of lengthy documents.

  Nunatak The Inuit word for an isolated mountain rising through an ice cap or beside a glacier.

  Pelagic Unlike littoral, which refers to the seashore, and benthic, which refers to the sea bottom, pelagic pertains to the open ocean, far from land and close to the surface.

  Pemmican A hard and initially unpalatable cake of compressed meat and grease used at first by Native Americans (the word is Cree), but later by travelers generally, for emergency rations.

  Pinnace A small, often two-masted sailing vessel customarily employed to attend a much larger vessel and serve its needs in port or on short voyages.

  Pipal A kind of fig tree, Ficus religiosa, known to many as the Bo-tree, found in the Indian subcontinent and sacred to Hindus and Buddhists in equal measure. It often serves as the meeting place in an Indian village.

  Puncheon A large barrel or cask used for the transport of fermenting wine or spirits.

  Quahog A kind of hard-shelled clam found in North America, only on the Atlantic coasts.

  Quinquereme A powerful Roman galley with three banks of oars. The two uppermost are each pulled by two men, and the one below pulled by one. Thus each set of oars is rowed by a total of five men—hence the Latin name.

  Rhumb line An imaginary line, often sailed along by the navigationally unsophisticated, which intersects lines of longitude at a constant angle.

  Riprap Stones or other heavy material dumped into the sea to provide a strong foundation for a wharf or for a mole that provides shelter to a harbor.

  Sal volatile A solution of the chemical ammonium carbonate, much used by delicate ladies of a certain age and time as a restorative for fainting or swooning fits.

  Scrimshaw Though it frequently refers to the delicate engraving made by seamen on ivory tusks, it can signify any craft, such as knitting, performed by sailors to pass the time on long sea voyages.

  Shallop A small sea boat, stoutly made and often armed.

  Short sea The waters of bays and estuaries and narrow straits, through and across which vessels may ply without losing sight, at least for extended periods, of the nearby land.

  Sloop A small and moderately fast sailing ship, often carrying guns on its upper decks.

  Snood A kind of hairnet which sits at the back of a woman’s head, like a cap.

  Sphagnum Peat moss, which grows in especially boggy places. The word is Greek.

  Stromatolite The fossil remains of a large aggregation of ancient algae or cyanobacteria, made solid by the absorption of calcareous material to form what looks like an oddly shaped and often large limestone nodule.

  Subduction An important process in tectonic plate movement, in which a heavy oceanic plate collides with a lighter continental plate and is forced down below it. Often it then melts and its magma is forced upward, forming lines of volcanoes such as those in the Pacific Northwest of America.

  Supercargo A ship’s officer who supervises the loading, management, and eventual unloading of the cargo.

  Taffrail The rail at the very stern end of a ship, to which departing passengers migrate to wave their farewells to those remaining on land.

  Telltale A mechanical device of varying design that communicates the heading of a ship to crew other than those in the wheelhouse.


  Touareg Nomadic desert people, a subgroup of the Berbers, who inhabit the Sahara from Algeria to Mauritania. They often wear robes of vivid blue.

  Well-found A naval term signifying that a ship is amply supplied with victuals and equipment to allow it to make even the most hazardous of voyages.

  Zircon A crystalline mineral, a silicate compound of zirconium, found in the world’s most ancient rocks.

  Index

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  Accidents, 322–27, 449–56

  Acetone, 269–70

  Acidity, ocean, 391–92

  Action of the 18th of September 1639, 241–42

  Admiral Graf Spee (ship), 257–60

  Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer, 349

  Africa

  art of, 163

  Cape Bojador as barrier to exploring Atlantic coast of, 104–14

  Ethiopia as name of, 96n

  human settlement on Atlantic shores of, 23–24, 54–60

  Phoenician circumnavigation of, 67n

  Skeleton Coast wreck in southwestern, 449–59

  slave trade in, 221, 227–39

  viewing, from Gibraltar, 173

  African Ocean name, 96n

  After the Hurricane, Bahamas (painting), 198

  Agamemnon (ship), 132, 306–8

  Agulhas Leakage, 439–40

  Air traffic control centers, 338, 342–43

  Air transport

  air routes of, 339 f

  author’s first crossing of Atlantic by, 14–17

  development of, 329–45

  economics of, vs. passenger liner transport, 12–13

  Eyjafjoll volcano and, 343, 437

  pollution from, 345–48

  warfare and, 266

  Alaska Oceans Foundation, 361

  Albert I, Prince, 100–102, 140–42

  Alcock, Jack, 336–38

  Alfred, Prince, 183n

  Alguada Reef lighthouse, 191n

  Allingham, Henry, 255n

  All-Saints Flood of 1170, 413

  Althing parliament, 274–75

  Altitudes, air travel, 341–42

  Amateur Emigrant, The (book), 321

  Amazon River, 94, 146

  Ambergris, 289

  America, 91–97. See also United States

  Andrea Doria (ship), 323, 324 f

  Andulo (ship), 323

  Anglo-Saxon poetry, 154–58

  Antarctica, 401, 405, 410–11

  Anthrax pollution, 390

  Aon Benfield reinsurance company, 436

  Arabs, 70

  Architecture, 171–92

  Arctic Ocean, 356n, 395–402, 405, 408–9

  Argentia, Newfoundland, 17–18

  Argentina, 47, 128, 207–11, 266–68, 318–20, 383n, 444–47

  Argo Merchant (ship), 323

  Aristotle, 230

  Artistic expressions, 149–206

  African imagery, 163

  architecture of oceanside cities, 171–92

  Artistic expressions (cont.)

  earliest Irish and Norse poetry and epics, 153–59

  early European visual imagery in tapestries and maps, 159–61

  European and American paintings, 196–99

  European poetry, 167–70

  European visual arts, 163–67

  literature, 199–206

  music, 192–96

  pre-Columbian Native American imagery, 162–63

  William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, 149–52

  Ascension Island, 188

  As You Like It (play), 25–27

  Atlantic Charter, 17–18

  Atlantic cod, 8–9, 280–83, 363–78

  Atlantic Community idea, 19–20, 301–2

  Atlantic Creek, 148

  Atlantic Deep, 356–57

  Atlantic Highlands, 178

  Atlantic History, 449

  Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, 426

  Atlantic Ocean

  alternative names for, 20, 35, 49, 72, 79, 96–97

  artistic expressions about (see Artistic expressions)

  author’s dedication of this book about, 449–56

  author’s first crossing of, 1–13, 16–19, 364–65

  birth, death, and lifespan of, 21–22, 35–49, 402–3, 432–38, 441–49 (see also Plate tectonics; Seismic activity)

  climate change, global warming, and (see Climate change; Global warming)

  commerce on (see Commerce)

  degradations of (see Degradations)

  explorations of (see Explorations)

  humankind’s evolving relationship with, 13–15, 18–21 (see also Humankind)

  other bodies of water vs., 21, 34

  scientific investigation of (see Scientific investigations)

  size of, 20, 104, 145, 372n

  themes of this book about, 13–15, 19–27

  warfare on (see Naval warfare)

  Atlantic right whales, 285–87

  Atlantic Telegraph Company, 132, 305–10, 312–13

  Atlantis (ship), 126n

  Atlas Mountains, 43–44, 173

  Atmospheric ozone depletion, 346, 438–40

  Atmospheric warming. See Global warming

  Atomic weapons waste, 355–57

  Australia, 409n

  Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, An (book), 239

  Aztec Empire, 219–20

  Bacon, Sir Francis, 68–69

  Bahamas, 86, 419, 425

  Baked Alaska, 118n

  Baleen whales, 285n, 287, 384

  Balfour Declaration and Arthur Balfour, 270–71

  Bangladesh, 412n

  Banshee (ship), 247–48

  Barcas (ships), 111–12

  Bar Light Vessel, 5

  Barracoon (slave depot), 228

  Basalt, 43–44, 45n

  Basques, 282–86

  Bathybius haeckelii life-form folly, 135

  Battle names, 242n

  Battle of Hampton Roads, 248–50

  Battle of Jutland, 251–55

  Battle of the Atlantic, 264–66, 268–70

  Battle of the Nile, 245

  Battle of Trafalgar, 243–46

  Battleship (term), 242

  Bayeux tapestry, 160

  Bay of Biscay, 141, 145, 284

  Bay of Fundy, 43–44, 145, 201

  Beagle survey expedition, 124–26

  Beaufort wind scale, 124

  Beaux Arts Custom House, 179–80

  Bedloe’s Island, 179

  Beethoven, Ludwig van, 194

  Beluga SkySails (ship), 353

  Beowulf (poem), 155

  Bergen, Norway, 75, 161, 279–80

  Berlioz, Hector, 99

  Bermuda, 150–52

  Billy Budd (book), 195

  Biofuels, 347

  Biology, oceanic, 136–40, 142

  Biremes (ships), 211

  Black Ball Line, 296–301

  Black Bart, 225, 227–30

  Blackbeard, 225

  Black flags, 223, 268

  Black Sea, 21, 412, 435

  Blériot, Louis, 335

  Bluefin tuna, 363

  Blue Ocean Institute, 361

  Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 346–47

  Bonnie Hurricane, 422 f

  Bonny, Anne, 225–26

  Boorstin, Daniel, 90

  Borges, Jorge Luis, 209

  Botanical oceanography, 121

  Bouvet Island, 46, 47n

  Bowhead whales, 285–86

  Boyle, Robert, 121

  Braudel, Fernand, 218

  Brazil, 93n, 94, 108n, 112, 237, 318, 418

  Breezing Up (painting), 198

  Britain. See Great Britain

  British Admiralty Pilots (books), 204–5

  British Airways, 329, 334–35, 339–45

  British Museum, 76

&n
bsp; British Petroleum, 145, 252n, 348, 403

  British Post Office, 190, 291–93, 299

  Britten, Benjamin, 194–95

  Bronner, André, 445

  Brown, Arthur Whitten, 336–38

  Brueghel the Elder, Peter, 166

  Buccaneers, 225. See also Pirates

  Buchanan, James, 309

  Buchanan, Liberia, 418–19

  Buchanan, Thomas, 419n

  Burma, 191n

  Button, Jemmy, 125–26

  Cables, undersea, 131–32, 184, 303–10

  Cabot, John, 92, 115n, 283, 364, 368, 376

  Caboto, Giovani, 283n

  Cabral, Pedro, 112

  Cádiz, Spain, 66, 172–75 f, 177

  Caedmon, 158

  Caesar, Julius, 211–12

  Cailleach whirlpool, 160

  Calico Jack, 225

  Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (music), 194

  Cambrian period, 39

  Canada, 283–84. See also Newfoundland

  Canadian Pacific, 1–3

  Canaletto, 167

  Canary Current, 109

  Canary Islands, 106, 111–12, 435–36

  Candles, 289

  Canoes, 62, 71

  Cape Bojador, 104–14, 238

  Cape Coast Castle, 227–30, 232

  Cape Fria, 453

  Cape Horn, 128, 130, 289, 411, 444

  Cape Juby, 106, 108

  Cape of Good Hope, 130, 181, 185, 194

  Cape Race lighthouse, 8

  Cape Town, South Africa, 181–86, 419

  Cape Vagina, 102n

  Cape Verde Islands, 422 f, 424

  Captains Courageous (book and film), 8, 365–68

  Caravels (ships), 112

  Carbon dioxide and carbon emissions, 346–53, 391–92, 406–7, 429–32

  Cargoes (poem), 65n

  Cargo shipping, 284–85, 290–301, 348–53

  Caribbean Sea, 145, 217, 291, 423–24, 436–37

  Caroline (ship), 255n

  Carson, Rachel, 204–5, 353–58

  Carta Marina map, 161

  Carthaginians, 174

  Cartier, Jacques, 283

  Cartography. See also Maps

  Benjamin Franklin’s, and oceanography, 120

  International Hydrographic Organization, 100–104, 142–43

  M. F. Maury and American maritime, 129–33

  Cartouches, 161

  Cassius Dio, 69

  Castles, slave, 227–29, 232–34

  Casualties, 322–27

  Catherine the Great, 167

  Catholic Church, 78n, 86. See also Christianity

  Cave, Pinnacle Point, 57–60