BANK

An exact knowledge of the banks, their extent, and the different depths of water in which they lie, constitutes a very essential portion of the science of a pilot, or master of a ship. If the vessel be large, and draws much water, great attention will be necessary to avoid them. If, on the contrary, she is small, the same banks afford a sure asylum, where she may brave the largest ships, which dare not follow her to so dangerous a retreat. Many small vessels have eluded the pursuit of a superior enemy by means of this hospitable barrier.

BANKS on the Sea-coast are usually marked by beacons or buoys. In charts they are distinguished by little dots, as ridges of rocks are characterised by crosses. The principal banks in the Western Ocean, are those of Newfoundland, and the Bahama Bank: the most. remarkable one in Newfoundland is called the Grand Bank, which is of a vast, extent, being nearly two hundred miles in length, and stretching north and south: its usual depth is from. twenty to eighty fathoms: and this is the great scene of the cod-fishery, which is so material an article in European commerce.

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