fonteneau

Updated: July 27, 2025

This was an allusion to the marine ceremony called in later times "Crossing the Line," and administered only upon that occasion; but at first it was performed when vessels were passing the Raz de Fonteneau, on their way to and from the Channel, and originated before navigators crossed the Atlantic or passed the Tropic of Cancer.

Various - The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862