white-bellying

Updated: July 14, 2026

Now a squadron of men-of-war: not the hideous, shapeless ironclad of to-day, but the traditional three-decker, with its tiers of snarling teeth and its beauty of white-bellying canvas and majestic spar. Now a troopship with its consorts, two, or three, or more, tightly packed with their living cargo whole regiments of red-coated soldiers on their way to Malta and beyond.

Arthur Griffiths - The Thin Red Line; and Blue Blood