The great wooden staircase, similar to the common ones, is called the royal ladder, which is armed to the starboard side of a ship and arrives from the fire of water to the edge in the gate. Serves officers and distinguished persons.
There is another that is called ordinary scale and is placed on the same side and gate in default or when the real is not armed. While this follows the side of the ship from aft to bow or is attached to it with the slope necessary for comfort, the ordinary is a simple scale and shaped to the curvities of the side, which hangs from the gate. In the old days, there should be two ladders on each side or the preferred one was more aft than the opposite, because according to Veitia,
The salary trades, when they were going to pass shows on board, enjoyed the p of the stern scale. Bibliography
Spanish maritime dictionary, Martín Fernández de Navarrete, 1831
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