squares'ls

Updated: May 25, 2025

"What is this ship?" I asked after a pause. "She a'n't a ship at all, my boy she be a barque." "But what is she?" "Why, a'n't I told you she be a barque." "But what sort, I want to know?" "Why, in course, a regular rigged barque ye see if she were a ship the mizen-mast yonder 'ud be carryin' squares'ls aloft, which she don't do as ye see therefore she's a barque and not a ship."

Mayne Reid - Ran Away to Sea