Meaning
BI'LANDER, n. A small merchant vessel with two masts, distinguished from other vessels of two masts, by the form of the main-sail, which is bent to the whole length of a yard, hanging fore and aft, and inclined to the horizon in an angle of about 45 degrees; the foremost lower corner, called the tack, being secured to a ring-bolt in the deck, and the aftermost or sheet, to the tafferel. Few vessels are now rigged in this manner.
The bilander is a kind of hoy, manageable by four or five men and used chiefly in the canals of the Low Countries.
