Treasure Island vocabulary

Montgomery, who was steering, brought the boat by me, and rising, caught and fastened my painter to the tiller to tow me, for there was no room aboard.

H. G. Wells. The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)

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He caught the painter and made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat for our very lives.

Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island (1882)

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She came up against this natural pier with hardly a bump, and instantly a shaking Allnutt was fastening painters to rocks, half a dozen of them, to make quite sure, while the African Queen lay placid in the one bit of still water.

Cecil Scott Forester. The African Queen, p.68 (1935)

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The new arrival made one last course correction and glided perfectly up to the stern of the Scampi, by now moving very slowly. It was only as the main tossed the painter to Blomkvist that they recognised each other and smiled in delight.

Stieg Larsson. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Reg Keeland translation), p.21 (2009)

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Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I took our places in the stern of the boat. The master went to the tiller; his four companions leaned on their oars, the painter was cast off, and we sheered off.

Jules Verne. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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The skiff was towing with too long a painter, and was behaving very badly. Every once in a while it would hold back till the tow-rope tautened, then come leaping ahead and sheering and dropping slack till it threatened to shove its nose under the huge whitecaps which roared so hungrily on every hand.

Jack London. The Cruise of the Dazzler

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I expect that chap hid in the dinghy when he first caught sight of us, and then slipped his painter as soon as I'd gone.'

Arnold Bennett. The Grand Babylon Hôtel (1902)