▪ I. portage, n.1
(ˈpɔətɪdʒ)
Also 7 portaidg, -e.
[a. F. portage the action of carrying, in OF. a tax paid on entering a town, etc. = med.L. portāticum ‘idem quod valvarum theloneum’ (Du Cange), also portāgium, It. portaggio, etc., f. L. portāre to carry: see port v.1 and -age.]
I. 1. The action or work of carrying or transporting; carriage.
| [1252 in Rep. Secret Comm. P.-O. 29 Pro portagio cere quam quesierit ibidem..j d.] c 1440 Promp. Parv. 410/1 Portage, of berynge, portagium. 1463 Rolls of Parlt. V. 497/2 Their diligence and labour of gaderyng, portage and payment of the seid somes. 1487 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 32 Paid..for the portage of the same ropes to the water side..vs. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1205/1 Vessels..that should be appointed for the portage and conueieng awaie of the said things. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 138 They dispended yearely aboue an hundred crownes in the portage of Letters. 1630 M. Godwyn tr. Bp. Hereford's Ann. Eng. (1675) 92 Two chests..each of them required eight strong men for the portage. 1710 G.P.O. Notice in Lond. Gaz. No. 4734/4 The Rates for the Portage of Letters..are as follow. 1820 Jekyll Corr. (1894) 91 Cleopatra's Needle is not to come from Egypt to Waterloo Place, as the portage would cost {pstlg}10,000. [1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes (1886) 23, I must..take the following items for my own share of the portage: a cane, a quart flask, a pilot-jacket. ? b.] |
† b. That which is carried or transported; cargo; freight; baggage. Obs.
| 1454 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 283 Salte, ire, pych, rosyne, collys ne no portage that commyth within the fraunches of the saide cite in no shippis. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 6 Ȝe mycht haue sene the costis and the strandis Fillit with portage and peple thairon standis. 1632 Docum. St. Paul's (Camden) 133 That no man..profane the church by the cariage of burthens, or baskets, or any portage whatsoeuer. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 46 Fishermen, Passengers, and other Boats and Portages. |
† c. Weight, as regards transport. Obs. rare.
| 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 237 Such medicines as are small of dose, and light of portage. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 152 Jewels of high value but light portage. |
2. The cost or price of carriage; porterage; freight-charges; † also, a due levied in connexion with the transport of goods. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1472–3 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 58/2 Almaner of Freghtes, Cariage, Portage, Batellage, and other expenses. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 61 Customes, dueties, portages and other rents. 1600 Holland Livy ii. ix. 50 The Commons..were freed of portage, tollage, and tribute. a 1631 Donne Lett. (1651) 161 Your last hath been the cheapest Letter, that ever I paid Portage for. 1763 Smollett Trav. (1766) I. 12 He..saved about fifteen shillings portage. 1860 J. White Hist. France (ed. 2) 51 The needy baron was obliged to sign away..his portage and tax on entrance within the walls. |
† 3. Naut. Burden of a vessel; tonnage. Obs.
| [1378 in Selden Mare Cl. (1635) 192 Primerement, pur prendre de chescun Nief & Craier, de quel portage q'il soit.] 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 500/2 Shippes, every of iiiixx Tonne portage, or lesse. 1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 8 §1 All maner of shippes being vnder the portage of .viii.C. tonnes.. might at the lowe water easely enter into the same. 1591 Art. conc. Admiralty 21 July §34 Any Ship of the portage and burthen of fifty tunnes and vpwardes. 1710 N. Eng. Hist. & Gen. Reg. (1876) XXX. 200 The Good Ship ―, of the Portage or Burthen of thirty five tuns or thereabouts. |
4. In full, mariner('s portage: A mariner's venture, in the form of freight or cargo, which he was entitled to put on board, if he took part in the common adventure and did not receive wages, or which formed part of his wages; the space allowed to a mariner for his own venture or to be let by him for freight payable to him in lieu of wages; hence, in late use, a mariner's wages (in recent works, erroneously explained as his wages while in port). (Also corruptly portledge.) Obsolescent.
| [a 1300 Laws of Oleron c. 28 in Blk. Bk. Admlty. (Rolls) I. 122 Est estably pour coustume de la mer que se les mariners dune nef soient a portage chascun deulx aura ung tonnel franc de frett. 1375 Inq. Queenborow c. 5 ibid. 139 Entre Londres,..et la Rochelle en vendange prendra ung mariner huit souez de loyer et le portage dung tonnel.] 1500 in J. Latimer Merch. Venturers of Bristol (1903) 33 The verry value of the Portage that the said maister, quarter maister, or maryner shall hold for his wages in the said ship in the same viage. 1522–3 Ordinance of Waterford in Gross Gild Merch. (1890) I. 136 All manere marchandis..and mariner portages commyng in ony shippe. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 247 They..have been in use and consuetude, past memorie of man, of portage as ane part of thair fie and hyir for the said navigatioun. 1588 Hickock tr. Frederick's Voy. 18 b, Neither doo they carrye anye particular mans goods, sauing the portage of the Marriners and Soldiors. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. (1636) 104 A mariner may keepe either his portage in his owne hands, or put forth the same for fraight, and yet the Ship shall not stay vpon her lading of his portage. 1648 Doc. Hist. St. Maine III. 376 For 1/3 part of this Years Portage {pstlg}20. 1705 A. Justice Gen. Treat. Dominion Sea 349 The Seamen shall not lade any Goods upon their own Account, under Pretence of Portage, nor otherwise, without paying the Fraight, except it be mentioned in their Agreements. [1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 134 Portage, sailors wages while in port, also the amount of a sailor's wages for a voyage. So in 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade.] 1847 Sir N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy II. 206 Of masters and mariners who take extravagant wages or portage, contrary to ancient usage. |
| fig. 1608 Shakes. Per. iii. i. 35 Thy losse is more then can Thy portage quit, with all thou canst find heere. |
b. Comb. portage-bill: the register or account of the names and claims for wages, allowances, etc., of the crew of a ship.
| [1679: see portledge.] 1743 in W. B. Weeden Econ. & Soc. Hist. N. Eng. (1890) II. 469 note, A Portage bill of mens Names and Wages due on board the Snow Jolly Bachelor. 1776 Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1862) VII. 553 To amount of cargo, outfits and portage bill, of the schooner Eagle, by Joseph Stanton, supposed..303 00 00. 1795 Ship-Master's Assist. (ed. 6) 7 Ship Favourite Nancy's Portage-Bill on a Voyage to St. Petersburgh. 1890 W. B. Weeden Econ. & Soc. Hist. N. Eng. II. 469 Gridley curiously enough rejected the ‘Portage bill’ of officers' and men's wages, {pstlg}102 17s. 4d., from Sierra Leone to Newport. |
II. 5. The carrying or transporting of boats and goods from one navigable water to another, as between two lakes or rivers, or past a rapid or cataract on a river. (Originally American.)
| 1698 tr. Hennepin's New Discov. Amer. xviii. 74 We..brought up our Bark to the great Rock of Niagara,..where we were oblig'd to make our Portage; that is, to carry over⁓land our Canow's and Provisions, and other Things, above the great Fall of the River, which interrupts the Navigation. 1755 L. Evans Mid. Brit. Colonies 16 They are obliged to make one or two very long Portages. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. ix. 96 We had a portage of about three miles, the sledge being unladen and the baggage carried on our backs. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xv. 264 Five or six rapids with cataracts, one of which could not be passed at any time without portage. 1879 J. W. Boddam-Whetham Roraima & Brit. Guiana 144 We had to unload the boats and make a portage of about two hundred yards. |
b. A place or track at or over which such portage is necessary; a break in a chain of water-communication over which boats, goods, etc. must be carried; = carry n. 5, carrying-place.
| 1698 tr. Hennepin's New Discov. Amer. xviii. 75 The Portage was two Leagues long. 1756 W. Shirley in N. Hampshire Prov. Papers VI. 462 The portage or carrying place at the fall of the Wood Creek is not above 300 yds. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 104 Captain Clarke measured the length of this portage accurately and found it to be 18 miles. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. iii, As we were carrying the canoe upon a rocky portage, she fell, and was entirely bilged. |
III. 6. attrib. and Comb., as portage beer, portage-duty, portage-money, portage-path, portage-station, portage strap, portage track: see also 4 b.
| 1552 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) II. ii. xii. 345 Whether the receiuers of the kings monies and such like officers had portage-money allowed them. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 353, I take the perill vpon mee of the carriage of a great masse of money; I may lawfully take portage money for my paines. 1640 in Entick London (1766) II. 182 All other goods..shall pay portage duties. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. II. 204/2 Concerning the transporting of Beer beyond Sea, which they called Portage Beer. 1871 Huyshe Red River Exp. vii. 106 Indians and experienced voyageurs use a long strap called a ‘portage strap’. 1894 J. Winsor Cartier to Frontenac 258 The party began to carry the material..along the portage track for twelve miles. |
▪ II. † ˈportage, n.2 Obs. rare—1.
[f. port n.3 + -age.]
Provision of ports or port-holes.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 10 Lend the Eye a terrible aspect: Let it pry through the portage of the Head, Like the Brasse Cannon. |
▪ III. ˈportage, v.
[f. portage n.1]
trans. To carry or transport (boats, goods, etc.) over land between navigable waters; to convey over a portage (n.1 5 b). Also with the place (rapids, cataract, etc.) as obj.; also absol. Hence ˈportaging vbl. n.
| 1864 A. Gordon N. Brunswick in Vac. Tour. 508 Some falls where we were compelled to portage the canoes. 1871 Huyshe Red River Exp. vii. 105 The labour of ‘portaging’ was very severe. 1882 G. Bryce Manitoba 24 Portaging around rapids too fierce to be faced. 1900 A. G. Bradley Fight w. France for N. Amer. iv. 109 There were numerous rapids too, and shallows to be portaged. |