Note 16 — Chapter IV · FROM LOBOS TOWARD GUIAQUIL IN PERU.

Pole axe, a hatchet like a battle axe, with a short handle, and furnished with a sharp point at the back of its head. Used chiefly to cut away the rigging of an enemy attempting to board. It is also employed in boarding an enemy whose hull is more lofty than the boarder's, by driving the points of several axes into the enemy's ship's side, thereby forming a sort of scaling-ladder; hence it is often called a boarding-axe.