Definition of "forepart"

The wing being suppos'd placed in the upmost limit, seems to be put so that the plain of it lies almost horizontal, but onely the forepart does dip a little, or is somewhat more deprest […].

1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXXVIII

I became aware that the two were standing on the shore alongside the forepart of the steamboat, just below my head.

1902, Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”, in Youth: A Narrative: And Two Other Stories, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and sons, part II, page 100