Brig

In Chapter 50 of Far From The Madding Crowd, the word brig refers to a two-masted sailing vessel.  A brig was a common merchant and naval ship in the 18th and 19th centuries, having square sails on both masts. 

To Victorian readers, a brig would immediately suggest a vessel engaged in coastal or overseas trade.  Since Troy is believed to have drowned after entering the sea, references to ships and seafaring matters help create the uncertainty surrounding whether he is dead or alive. 

In modern usage the word brig can also mean a naval prison.  Hardy is using it in the nineteenth-century sense.  A small two-masted sailing ship. 

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