Chapter IX: Part I: The Emigrant Ships (3)

March 1, 1854.—_Lightning_ 436 miles.
March 19, 1857.—_Lightning_ 430 miles.
February 6, 1855.—_James Baines_ 423 miles.
February 27, 1855.—_Donald Mackay_ 421 miles.
June 18, 1856.—_James Baines_ 420 miles.
February 27, 1854.—_Red Jacket_ 413 miles.
January 27, 1855.—_James Baines_ 407 miles.
July 6, 1854.—_Red Jacket_ 400 miles.

All these performances were made running east, making the day’s work under 24 hours.

Several other ships claimed runs of over 400 miles, but I have not included these as I have not sufficient particulars to verify them.

_Marco Polo_ is supposed to have done a run of 428 miles under Captain McDonald on 7th January, 1854, and _Shalimar_ 420 miles in 1855 on her first passage to Australia, under Captain Robertson. With this general account of their powers I must now return to a more detailed description of the giant clippers themselves.

The “Lightning.”

The _Lightning_ was built by Donald Mackay to the order of James Baines in the winter of 1853-4 at a cost of £30,000, and on her arrival in Liverpool was furnished and decorated below at a further cost of £2000.

_From a painting._]

Her measurements were:—

Tonnage (builders) 2096 tons.
(register) 1468 „
(burthen) 3500 „
Length 244 feet.
Beam 44 „
Depth 23 „
Dead rise at half-floor 20 inches.

Her poop was 92 feet long and her saloon 86 feet, whilst she had 8 feet under the beams in her ’tween decks, a most unusual height for those days.

With regard to design, she was one of the sharpest ships ever launched. Her model is thus described by Captain H. H. Clark:—“She had long, concave water-lines and at her load displacement line a cord from her cut-water to just abaft the fore rigging showed a concavity of 16 inches. Her stem raked boldly forward, the lines of the bow gradually becoming convex and blending with the sheer line and cut-water, while the only ornament was a beautiful full-length figure of a young woman holding a golden thunderbolt in her outstretched hand, the flowing white drapery of her graceful form and her streaming hair completing the fair and noble outline of the bow.

“The after-body was long and clean, though fuller than the bow, while the stern was semi-elliptical in form, with the plank sheer moulding for its base, and was ornamented with gilded carved work, though this really added nothing to the beauty of the strong sweeping outline of her hull.”

The _Lightning’s_ spar and rigging measurements were tremendous:—

Mainmast, deck to truck 164 feet.
Foremast „ „ 151 „
Mizenmast „ „ 115 „
Mainyard „ „ 95 „
Lower stunsail booms 65 „

She spread 13,000 yards of canvas when under all plain sail. Donald Mackay had her rigged as a three skysail yard ship, but later Messrs. James Baines fitted her with a moonsail on the main by lengthening the skysail mast. This was also done in the case of _James Baines_. And these two ships had the proud distinction of being perhaps the only two ships afloat which regularly crossed a moonsail yard.

The _Lightning_ was provided with iron water tanks holding 36,000 gallons of water—a novelty at that date. And in various other ways her accommodation for passengers was an improvement on anything attempted before.

The great Bully Forbes was sent out to Boston to superintend her outfit and take command of her, and he was lucky in finding a valuable friend and adviser in Captain Lauchlan Mackay, who made the trip to Liverpool in her as builders’ representative.

The “Red Jacket.”

The _Red Jacket_, _Lightning’s_ great rival, was designed by Samuel A. Pook, of Boston, the well-known designer of _Game-cock_, _Surprise_, _Northern Light_, _Ocean Telegraph_, _Herald of the Morning_, and other famous clipper ships. She was built by George Thomas at Rockland, Maine, for Messrs. Seacomb & Taylor, and only took the water a few days before the _Lightning_.

Her measurements were:—

Tonnage (registered) 2460 tons.
(burthen) 5000 „
Length 260 feet.
Beam 44 „
Depth 26 „

Though her bow and stern were very sharp and beautifully modelled and she had concave bow lines, she was not so extreme a ship as the _Lightning_.

_From an old lithograph._]

Donald Mackay’s ships were chiefly distinguished for their powerful workmanlike appearance rather than for delicate beauty—they showed strength rugged and unmistakable, but the _Red Jacket’s_ strength was more disguised under graceful curves; for instance, she had the graceful arched stem and clipper bow of a China ship, whereas _Lightning’s_ stem was almost straight, with only a very slight curve in it.

_Red Jacket_ was not named after Tommy Atkins, but after a great Indian chief, and her figure-head was a beautiful representation of this warrior in all the magnificence of feather head-dress and beaded buckskins.

Race across the Atlantic between “Lightning” and “Red Jacket.”

The _Lightning_ loaded at Constitution Wharf, Boston, and sailed for Liverpool on 18th February, 1854, whilst the _Red Jacket_ sailed from New York on the following day, and great interest was shown in shipping circles as to which should make the best passage across the Atlantic.

In the end these two magnificent clippers arrived in Liverpool on the same day, 4th March, their exact times being:—

_Red Jacket_—Sandy Hook to Rock Light 13 days 1 hour.
_Lightning_—Boston Light to Rock Light 13 days 19½ hours.

Their 24-hour runs opened the eyes of the packet ship commanders and in fact the whole world.

The _Red Jacket_ put up runs of 413, 374, 371, 343, and 300 against the _Lightning’s_ 436, 328, 312 and 306, thus there was little to choose between the two vessels on this point.

The _Boston Daily Atlas_ of 18th February, 1854, thus describes the _Lightning’s_ departure from Boston:—

At 2 o’clock the _Lightning_ hove her anchor up, and at 3 o’clock
discharged her pilot off Boston Light. She went down in tow of the
steamer _Rescue_, Captain Hennessy, and was piloted by Mr. E. G.
Martin.

Before the steamer left her, she set her head sails, and fore and
mizen topsails, and had a moderate breeze from W. to S.W. She
appeared to go at the rate of 6 knots under this canvas, though she
draws 22 feet of water and has only 23 feet depth of hold.

We have seen many vessels pass through the water, but never saw one
which disturbed it less. Not a ripple curled before her cut-water,
nor did the water break at a single place along her sides. She left
a wake as straight as an arrow and this was the only mark of her
progress. There was a slight swell, and as she rose we could see
the arc of her forefoot rise gently over the seas as she increased
her speed. At 5 p.m., two hours after the pilot left her, the outer
telegraph station reported her 30 miles east of Boston Light with all
drawing sails set and going along like a steam boat.

And the following extract from her log book was published in the _Liverpool Albion_ on her arrival.

Distance.
Feb. 19 Wind, W.S.W. and N.W. moderate 200 miles.
20 „ N.N.E. and N.E. strong breezes with snow 328 „
21 „ E.S.E. with snow storms 145 „
22 „ E.S.E., a gale with high cross sea and rain 114 „
23 „ N., strong gales to E.S.E.; ends moderate 110 „
24 „ S.E., moderate 312 „
25 „ E.S.E. and S.E., fresh breezes with thick
weather 285 „
26 „ W.S.W., moderate 295 „
27 „ W.N.W. „ 260 „
28 „ W. and N.W., steady breezes 306 „
March 1 „ South. Strong gales; bore away for the
North Channel; carried away the fore
topsail and lost jib; hove the log
several times and found the ship going
through the water at the rate of 18 to
18½ knots; lee rail under water and
rigging slack 436 „
2 „ South, first part moderate, latter part
light and calm.
3 „ Light winds and calms.
8 „ Light S.E. winds and calms; at 7 a.m. off Great Orme’s
Head. 12 noon off the N.W. lightship.

On 28th February at noon she was in Lat. 52° 38′ N., Long. 22° 45′ W., and her run of 436 nautical miles from that position to her noon position on 1st March gives her the greatest day’s work ever accomplished, to the best of my belief, by a sailing ship. The 1st March entry “Wind south—bore away for the North Channel,” has misled some nautical critics, who have plotted her as being up with Rathlin Island when she bore away, without noticing the direction of the wind. The log is rather ambiguously worded, but her run of 436 miles puts her some 30 miles west of Achill Head—and she then bore away north, bringing the wind on the starboard quarter. If she had been off Rathlin Island she would have had to bring the wind on the starboard bow for the course through the North Channel.

Captain Charles McDonald always hoped to get a day’s run of 500 miles out of the _James Baines_, and firmly believed she could do it; but he never succeeded in beating the _Lightning’s_ records.

The _Red Jacket_, which was under the command of Captain Asa Eldridge, of American packet ship fame, had strong winds from S.E. to W.S.W. with rain, snow and hail. As with _Lightning_, the first half of her passage was the slowest half and for the first seven days she could only average 182 miles a day. But with practically the same weather, it is interesting to compare the performances of the two vessels as they approached the Irish Coast. _Red Jacket’s_ last six runs were 219, 413, 374, 343, 300, and 371, giving a total of 2020 and an average of 336.

The only vessel that has ever beaten this six-day run is the famous _Cutty Sark_, which in 1876, before her wings were clipped, ran 2163 miles in six days in the roaring forties, when outward bound to Sydney.

“Red Jacket’s” First Voyage to Australia.

At Liverpool Captain Eldridge handed over his command to Captain Samuel Reid, who managed to get the _Red Jacket_ away for Australia, as one of the White Star regular packets, 10 days ahead of Captain Forbes. The _Red Jacket_ sailed on 4th May, 1854, one day behind a new Nova Scotian built Black Ball packet named the _Mermaid_.

On the 10th May the two ships were off Oporto, and kept close to each other as far as Teneriffe; the N.E. trades were poor and it was a light weather passage to the line, which was crossed on 29th May by the _Red Jacket_, the _Mermaid_ being then in 1° north.

From this point the _Red Jacket_, steering a more westerly course, had light and variable winds, whilst the _Mermaid_ was better treated and reached the latitude of the Cape five days ahead, and still held better winds, being actually 1397 miles ahead of the _Red Jacket_ on 15th June. _Red Jacket_, indeed, did not really get going until 26th June, but from that date her log is so remarkable that I give it below.

The _Red Jacket_ was in 40° S., 14° E., before there was any need to touch her topgallant sheets, and Captain Reid was evidently determined to find wind somehow, with the result that, in spite of it being the depth of winter, he was not deterred from standing far to the southward on a Great Circle course. He was rewarded by all the wind he could desire, but so great was the cold that the ship was put down by the head by the frozen spindrift which covered her to the mainmast in an icy mantle.

Her log from 26th June, when she first began to feel the benefit of the westerlies, was as follows:—

+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+-----+
| Date. | Lat. | Long. | Weather. |Dist.|
+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+-----+
| | ° ′ | ° ′ | | |
|June 26|48 06S| 34 44E|Var. and stiff rain and sleet. | 315 |
| 27|50 06 | 42 19 |Wind N.W., fresh and squally | 330 |
| | | | with hail, very cold weather.| |
| 28|50 54 | 49 16 |Wind W.N.W., squalls with | 263 |
| | | | hail showers. | |
| 29|50 34 | 56 34 |Wind N.N.W., squalls, entire | 286 |
| | | | fore part of ship covered | |
| | | | with ice. | |
| 30|52 03 | 63 50 |Wind N.N.W., fresh with hail | 287 |
| | | | squalls; very cold, air 19°. | |
|July 1|51 39 | 71 21 |Wind N.N.W., fresh, with hail | 286 |
| | | | squalls, latter part light, | |
| | | | air 19°. | |
| 2|50 29 | 72 26 |Wind S.W., first part calm, | |
| | | | latter part heavy gales and | |
| | | | heavy sea. | |
| 3|50 12 | 80 30 |Wind W.S.W., first part heavy | 312 |
| | | | gales, latter part fresh | |
| | | | breezes, high sea, freezing. | |
| 4|49 25 | 88 30 |Wind variable, fresh gales and | 300 |
| | | | heavy sea, freezing, rain | |
| | | | and sleet. | |
| 5|49 13 | 95 00 |Wind N.N.W., first part light | 288 |
| | | | and heavy rain, latter stiff,| |
| | | | with heavy squalls. | |
| 6|48 38 |104 15 |Wind W.N.W., strong gales | 400 |
| | | | and squalls, heavy sea. | |
| 7|47 25 |112 44 |Wind variable in strength and | 299 |
| | | | direction. | |
| 8|46 38 |119 44 |Wind N.N.W., stiff and squalls,| 350 |
| | | | with rain. | |
| 9|45 09 |129 18 |Wind N.N.W., strong and | 357 |
| | | | squally, with rain. | |
| 10|42 42 |134 38 |Wind N.N.W., fine weather. | 334 |
| 11|40 36 |139 35 |Wind N.W., heavy squalls and | 245 |
| | | | rain. | |
| 12| | |Wind N.N.W., fine weather. | 300 |
| | | | Made King’s Island at 10.50 | |
| | | | p.m., crossed bar at | |
| | | | 11.50 p.m. | |
+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+-----+

_Red Jacket_ made the passage from Rock Light to Port Phillip Heads in 69 days 11 hours 15 minutes; passage under sail 67 days 13 hours, total distance run 13,880 miles.

The _Mermaid_, which gained such an advantage over the _Red Jacket_ in the earlier part of the passage, ran her easting down a good deal further to the northward, and did not arrive till the 17th July, having made a passage of 74½ days.

_Red Jacket_ set sail on her homeward passage on 3rd August. She was not in very good trim this time, being too light and very much down by the stern, however, she still continued to show her quality, constantly logging 17 or 18 knots in fresh breezes and 14 and 15 knots when close-hauled. Only once on the homeward passage were her topsails close-reefed and only once did she ship any water. This was on the 31st August in a heavy squall with foresail and fore and main topgallant sails set.

She rounded the Horn on the 23rd August, only 20 days out, her week’s work averaging out as follows:

1st week 231 miles per day.
2nd „ 307 „ „
3rd „ 254 „ „

But on the day after she had rounded the Horn, she had a narrow escape of being embayed by ice, and one of her passengers gave the following account of her danger to the newspapers:—“On the morning of 24th August, I was roused out of sleep by the noise of shortening sail and the look-out singing out land. Ice had been seen some time before, but the solid masses had been supposed in the dark to be land. On getting out I found we were in smooth water and large masses of ice floating about us. As the day broke, we found ourselves sailing along a lake of water not unlike a canal. The ice seemed to extend on every side in solid fields as far as the eye could reach without any prospect of getting out, so that we had to follow the channel. All sail was clewed up except the topsails, and as there was a good breeze we proceeded along at about 4 or 5 knots. Our situation at this time seemed most appalling, as we appeared to be getting further into the ice, so that by 10 or 11 o’clock we were almost making up our minds to remain for weeks in this fearful situation.

“About noon the captain and second mate, who had been on the fore topsail yard all the morning, discovered clear sea again, to gain which we had to force a passage through dense masses of ice. It was here she sustained the principal damage to her stem and copper. We soon got clear and the rest of the day we saw no traces of ice and were very thankful we had got off so easily. But to our dismay at 8 p.m. we again fell in with it. The ship was put about and sail shortened for the night and we ran back to the clear water in which we had been sailing. At daybreak sail was made and at 7 a.m. we came up to the ice. At first it was only large pans much melted, the water having all the appearance of brine and being quite thick round them. Afterwards large masses of icebergs presented themselves. In grinding the ship through these, great difficulty was experienced—very large bergs were also interspersed and visible all round.

“This day we cleared it again about noon. Icebergs were still, however, seen both near and in the distance; their appearance was most grand, the largest being thought to be about 2 miles in circumference and 100 feet high. It was passed about 4 or 5 miles distant on our starboard and lee side.

“We hove to again at night. Next day, Saturday, was for the most part a dead calm and we were carried back with the current. There was not a breath of wind; a clear sky and beautiful weather, only the air sharp. Icebergs were, however, still seen. The next day, Sunday, we passed a number more, which were the last ice seen. One of these was most grand, being about 200 feet high. We cleared it on our port or windward side about a mile or less distant. The weather during this period was clear and fine. Indeed, the day before encountering the ice was beautiful, a fine light breeze which heightened towards evening and sea smooth. We were running close-hauled 14 knots an hour steadily during the night. The sun had set a deep crimson behind a bank of clouds over against Cape Horn.”

_Red Jacket’s_ next three weeks’ runs averaged:—

4th week, 205 miles per day.

5th week, 237 miles per day. (Mostly light breezes,
squalls and rain.)
6th week, 224 miles per day. (Easterly winds.)

The line was crossed on 13th September, the _Red Jacket_ having run 10,243 miles in 42 days, an average of 244 per day. She now had every hope of beating the record, but, alas, from here on she had nothing but calms and light head winds which drove her across into 43° W. and she was 31½ days from the line to port, reaching Liverpool on 15th October, after a passage of 73 days. This was considered an extraordinary performance, when allowance was made for the light weather experienced after crossing the line. During one whole week in the doldrums she averaged under 100 miles per day, and the two following weeks she only averaged 142 and 106 miles respectively.

The whole voyage, however, had been a wonderfully fast one. She had made the trip, out and home, in 5 months 10 days and 22½ hours, and had actually circumnavigated the globe in 62 days 22 hours, between 11th June and 2nd September, running 15,991 miles in that time.

On her homeward passage she ran 14,863 miles, her greatest day’s work being 376 miles and her average 202¼ miles per day.

She brought home gold dust and sovereigns to the value of £208,044. She sailed this voyage under the American flag, being only chartered by the White Star Line, but on her return to Liverpool Messrs. Pilkington & Wilson bought her for the sum of £30,000.

The “Lightning’s” First Voyage to Australia.

The _Lightning_, with the famous Bully Forbes in command and the almost equally famous Bully Bragg as mate, left Liverpool on the 14th May for Melbourne. But unlike the _Red Jacket_, she had a light weather passage out, her topgallant sails being carried the whole way. She crossed the line 25 days out and took 30 days running from the meridian of the Cape to Port Phillip Heads, arriving off Sandridge Pier on the afternoon of 31st July, 77 days from Liverpool, her best runs being 348, 332, 329, 311, and 300.

On the morning of the 20th August she left her anchorage at Melbourne in company with the _Mermaid_, having gold dust on board to the value of £1,000,000. The tug dropped her off the Heads at 4 p.m., and by the following noon she had done 268 knots. At 4 a.m. on the 24th she passed a large ship supposed to be the _Mermaid_, and at 10 p.m. on the same day passed the Auckland Islands. From here she had fresh westerly and south-westerly winds, seldom logging less than 14 and frequently 18½ and 19 knots per hour. Forbes carried on in the most daring manner, and on the _Lightning’s_ arrival at Liverpool her passengers told weird stories of Bully Forbes keeping his station at the break of the poop with a pistol in each hand in order to prevent his scared crew from letting go the royal halliards.

By 28th August the ship was in 57° 20′ S., but at 11 p.m. on this day a violent squall from the S.W. carried away the fore topmast stunsail boom, and a moment later the fore topmast went over the side, the fore royal, fore topgallant sail and fore topsail being blown out of the bolt ropes at the same instant.

For the next four days the ship was kept under easy canvas whilst a new fore topmast was got aloft and the other damage made good. However, in spite of this delay the ship averaged 300 miles from 1st September to the 8th, when Cape Horn bore N.W., distant 50 miles at 3 a.m.; _Lightning’s_ actual time from the Heads to the Horn was 19 days 1 hour, a record. For the next three days she had the wind ahead at N.E., but on the 13th it came out of the south again strong, and her runs on the 13th and 14th were 351 and 354 miles respectively. Then from the 15th to the 20th with light head winds again, she could only average 6 to 7 knots an hour. On the 20th September she was in Lat. 29° 13′ S., Long. 31° 40′ W. Light N.E. and N.N.E. winds still held right up to the line. On the 28th she passed Pernambuco, 6 miles off, and at 9 a.m. on 30th September she crossed the equator in Long. 34° 30′ W., being only a little over 40 days mean time from Port Phillip, which, considering the poor winds met with after rounding the Horn, was a wonderful performance.

For the first five days after crossing the line she had the usual doldrums with torrents of rain and made little or no progress. On 5th October a gentle N.E. trade was picked up in 10° N., 34° W., which held until the 10th when she was in 30° N., 37° W. On the 11th and 12th she had moderate S.E. winds, being in the latitude of St. Michael’s at noon on the 12th. For the next week she had nothing but very light N.E. and E.N.E. winds, but at 10 p.m. on the 19th when in 46° 15′ N., 28° W., a strong northerly breeze sprang up which held until she reached port.

She was off the Old Head of Kinsale at 4 a.m. on 22nd October, passed Minehead at 10 a.m., the Tuskar at 3.30 p.m., and Holyhead Light at 8.30 p.m. A pilot was picked up off Point Lynas at 10.30 p.m., who kept her under easy sail through the night, waiting for enough water to take her over the bar. The _Lightning_ anchored in the Mersey at 9.30 a.m. on 23rd October; her actual time being 64 days 3 hours 10 minutes, a record, which, I believe, has never been broken.

The _Lightning_ brought answers to letters sent out in the _Great Britain_ which left Liverpool on 13th June, thus making a course of post of only 132 days. The _Lightning’s_ round voyage, including 20 days in port, was only 5 months 8 days and 21 hours.

“Champion of the Seas.”

Whilst the _Red Jacket_ and _Lightning_ were astonishing the world, Donald Mackay was building the _Champion of the Seas_ and _James Baines_ for the Black Ball Line. He was given a free hand, and the new vessels were intended to be more perfect than anything he had hitherto attempted.

The _Champion of the Seas_ was launched in April, 1854, and, owing to the monster four-master _Great Republic_ being cut down a deck, claimed the honour of being the largest ship in the world until the _James Baines_ eclipsed her.

Her hull measurements were as follows:—

Tonnage (builders’ measurement) 2447 tons.
„ (registered) 1947 „
Length of keel 238 feet.
„ between perpendiculars 252 „
Fore rake 14 „
Extreme beam 45½ „
Depth 29 „
Dead rise at half-floor 18 inches.
Sheer 4½ „
Concavity of load line forward 2½ „

In strength of construction she was a considerable improvement on the _Lightning_. Her ends were as long but not quite so sharp or concave and were considered to be more harmoniously designed. She had an upright sternpost and her stern was semi-elliptical and ornamented with the Australian coat-of-arms. Her figure-head was a life-like representation of the old-time shellback and was an object of interest wherever she went.

It is thus described by Captain Clark:—“One of the most striking figure-heads was the tall square-built sailor, with dark curly hair and bronzed clean-shaven face, who stood at the bow of the _Champion of the Seas_. A black belt with a massive brass buckle supported his white trousers, which were as tight about the hips as the skin of an eel and had wide, bell-shaped bottoms that almost hid his black polished pumps. He wore a loose-fitting blue and white checked shirt with wide rolling collar and black handkerchief of ample size, tied in the most rakish of square knots with long flowing ends. But perhaps the most impressive of this mariner’s togs were his dark-blue jacket and the shiny tarpaulin hat which he waved aloft in the grip of his brawny tattooed right hand.”

The _Champion of the Seas_ had her greatest beam at the centre of the load displacement line, and, like the _Lightning_, she was fuller aft than forward. Her deck houses and cabin arrangements were also on the same plan as those of the _Lightning_, viz., a topgallant foc’s’le for the crew; a house, 50 feet long, abaft the foremast, for petty officers, galleys and second class passengers; a small house, 16 feet square, contained the chief mate’s quarters and sheltered the first class companion, whilst a large wheel-house astern had a smoking-room on one side and the captain’s cabin on the other.

The following details of her construction, taken from an American paper, may be of interest to present day wood shipwrights:—“Her entire frame was of seasoned white oak and all her hooks, pointers and knees were of the same wood, her planking and ceiling being of hard pine, and she was square fastened throughout and butt and bilge bolted with copper. The keel was of rock maple in two depths, each 16 inches square. The floor timbers were moulded 21 inches on the keel and sided from 12 to 13 inches, and over them were four tiers of midship keelsons, each 16 inches square, and on each side of these were two depths of sister keelsons of the same size, the whole scarphed and keyed and fastened with 1¾ inch bolting. The whole frame, fore and aft, was diagonally cross-braced with iron, 5 inches wide, ⅞ of an inch thick and 38 feet long. These braces were bolted through every frame and through every intersection; were let into the timbers and ceiling and extended from the first futtocks to the top timbers. All the waterways as well as the keelsons and ceiling were scarphed and bolted in the most substantial style. The upper deck was of white pine 3½ inches thick and the other decks of hard pine of the same substance. Her ends were almost filled with massive hooks and pointers. The hooks in the between decks were beamed and kneed and fastened through all. Her garboards were 9 by 15 inches, the next strake 8 by 14, the third 7 by 14; the bottom planking 5 inches thick, the wales 6 by 7 and the waist 4¼ inches thick, the whole finished smooth as joiner work and strongly fastened.”

The _Champion of the Seas_ had about the same sail area and spar measurements as the _Lightning_. Her masts and bowsprit were built of hard pine and the masts were 74 and 63 feet apart. The foremast raked ½ inch to the foot, the main ⅝ and the mizen 1 inch. When she left the builders her working suit of sails consisted of 12,500 yards of American cotton, 18 inches in width.

She was of course painted the regulation Black Ball colours, black outside and white inside, with blue waterways. Her masts white, mastheads and yards black, and stunsail booms bright with black ends. Captain Alexander Newlands was sent out from Liverpool to superintend her outfit and take command, the lighting and ventilation below being carried out according to his designs. On her completion the _Champion of the Seas_ was towed to New York by the famous Boston tug _R. B. Forbes_ and from thence came across to Liverpool in the month of June in 16 days.

She left Liverpool on her first voyage to Australia on 11th October, 1854, and arrived out in 72 days, coming home again in 84, thus proving herself quite up to the standard of the famous Black Ball Line, and from that date she was always a favourite ship.

_From a painting by Captain D. O. Robertson, late commander of ship “Lightning.”_]

The “James Baines.”

The _Champion of the Seas_ was closely followed by the _James Baines_, considered by most sailormen to have been the finest and fastest of the great Mackay quartette. When she loaded troops for India in 1857 and was inspected by Queen Victoria at Portsmouth, the Queen remarked that she did not know she possessed such a splendid ship in her Mercantile Marine.

When she first arrived in Liverpool a well-known Liverpool shipowner wrote to a Boston paper:—“You want to know what professional men say about the ship _James Baines_? Her unrivalled passage, of course, brought her prominently before the public and she has already been visited by many of the most eminent mechanics in the country. She is so strongly built, so finely finished and is of so beautiful a model that even envy cannot prompt a fault against her. On all hands she has been praised as the most perfect sailing ship that ever entered the river Mersey.”

Donald Mackay never built two ships exactly alike, and the _James Baines_ was of slightly fuller design than the _Lightning_ and yet sharper and longer in the bow than the _Champion of the Seas_.

Her chief measurements were:—

Registered tonnage (American) 2525-85/90 tons.
„ „ (British) 2275 „
Length over all 266 feet.
„ between perpendiculars 226 „
Beam 44¾ „
Depth of hold 29 „
Dead rise at half-floor 18 inches.

The following extracts are taken from an account of the _James Baines_ given in the _Boston Atlas_ at the time of her launch:—“She has a long, rakish, sharp bow with slightly concave lines below, but convex above, and it is ornamented with a bust of her namesake, which was carved in Liverpool and which is said by those who know the original to be an excellent likeness. It is blended with the cut-water, is relieved with gilded carved work and forms a neat and appropriate ornament to the bow. She is planked flush to the covering board, has a bold and buoyant sheer, graduated her whole length, rising gracefully at the ends, particularly forward; and every moulding is fair and harmonises finely with the planking and her general outline. Her stern is rounded, and although she has a full poop deck, her afterbody surpasses in neatness that of any vessel her talented builder has yet produced.

“Our most eminent mechanics consider her stern perfect. It is rounded below the line of the plank sheer, is fashioned above in an easy curve, and only shows a few inches of rise above the outline of the monkey rail: and as this rise is painted white and the rest of the hull black, when viewed broadside on, her sheer appears a continuous line along her entire length. Her stern is ornamented with carved representations of the great globe itself, between the arms of Great Britain and the United States, surrounded with fancy work, has carved and gilded drops between the cabin windows and her name above all, the whole tastefully gilded and painted. Her bulwarks are built solid and are surmounted by a monkey rail, which is panelled inside, and their whole height above the deck is about 6 feet, varying of course towards the ends.

“She has a full topgallant foc’s’le, which extends to the foremast and is fitted for the accommodation of her crew; and abaft the foremast a large house, which contains spacious galleys, several staterooms, store-rooms, an iceroom and shelters a staircase which leads to the decks below. She has a full poop deck, between 7 and 8 feet high, under which is the cabin for female passengers and before it a large house which contains the dining saloon and other apartments. The outline of the poop and the house is protected by rails, on turned stanchions, and the enclosure forms a spacious and beautiful promenade deck. She has also a small house aft, which shelters the helmsman in a recess, protects the entrance to the captain’s cabin, is also a smoking room for passengers and answers a variety of other purposes.

“The captain’s cabin and sleeping room are on the starboard side and communicate with the wheelhouse on deck, so that it will not be necessary for him to enter the cabin set apart for female passengers. Besides these the cabin contains 11 spacious staterooms, a bathroom and other useful apartments.

“The dining saloon is 35 feet long by 15 feet wide; the entrance to the deck from the saloon is 2½ feet wide and extends across the house, with a door on each side, and opposite the midship door of the saloon is the pantry, which is spacious and fitted up in superior style. In the front of the saloon house are the staterooms of the first and second officers, and the windows of these rooms are of stained glass and have the ship’s name in them. The staircase in the after part of the saloon leads to the main deck, where are the gentlemen’s sleeping apartments, 24 in all, each stateroom having two berths. The deck before the gentlemen’s sleeping cabin has three large ports for cargo opposite the hatchways, one on each side, and square ports suitable for staterooms along the sides. The lower decks are ventilated amidships with trunk skylights which pass through the house forward as well as the cabin and saloon aft. The height between each of the decks is 7½ feet. The ascent from the quarter-deck to the poop consists of two staircases, built into the front of the poop. She is very heavily sparred and will spread about 13,000 yards of canvas in a single suit of sails. Her mastheads and yards are black; the lower masts, from the truss bands to the fiferails, are bright and varnished, their hoops white and the tops and down to the truss band are also white. She has iron caps and is rigged in nearly the same style as the _Champion of the Seas_. Her bulwarks and houses are painted white and her waterways blue, and in this style she is also painted below.”

Captain McDonald left the _Marco Polo_ in order to take charge of the _James Baines_. She sailed from Boston on 12th September, 1854, and the following is the log of her record run across the Atlantic:—

Sept. 12—At noon parted with steam boat and pilot. Wind, S.W., light.

13—Lat. 42° 10′ N., Long. 66° 33′ W. Distance 225 miles. Light
airs and calms, increasing in the evening to brisk winds
and clear weather.

14—Lat. 40° 18′ N., Long. 62° 45′ W. Distance 238 miles.
Light breezes and clear.

15—Lat. 42° 26′ N., Long. 59° 53′ W. Distance 218 miles. Strong
breezes at S.S.W.

16—Lat. 43° 15′ N., Long. 53° 9′ W. Distance 305 miles.
Strong gales from S.S.W. to N.W.

17—Lat. 44° 54′ N., Long. 48° 48′ W. Distance 280 miles.
Strong breezes from N.W. 4 a.m., passed several vessels
fishing.

18—Lat. 45° 42′ N., Long. 44° 16′ W. Distance 198 miles. Light
breezes and hazy weather. 10 a.m., brisk breezes and
cloudy, wind west.

19—Lat. 47° 22′ N., Long. 36° 42′ W. Distance 342 miles.
Strong breezes and squally.

20—Lat. 48° 39′ N., Long. 33° 12′ W. Distance 200 miles. Light
breezes and hazy. Variable.

21—Lat. 49° 34′ N., Long. 28° 38′ W. Distance 230 miles. Light
breezes and clear. Wind, S.W.

22—Lat. 50° 12′ N., Long. 21° 00′ W. Distance 291 miles.
Brisk S.S.W. winds and cloudy weather. Passed several
sail standing eastward.

23—Lat. 50° 37′ N., Long. 13° 39′ W. Distance 337 miles.
Strong breezes and cloudy weather. Wind, S.W.

24—Strong breezes and gloomy weather. At 6 a.m. made the
land and at 8 a.m. passed Cork. Distance 296 miles.
Passed Tuskar at 3 p.m., and Holyhead at 9 p.m.

Time 12 days 6 hours from Boston Light to Rock Light.

It will be seen that the _James Baines_ had her share of light breezes, and Captain McDonald believed that he could have made the passage in eight days with strong winds. Running up Channel the wind was strong and fair and very squally, the vessel sometimes making 20 knots an hour between points.

At Liverpool the _James Baines_ was fitted and furnished for passengers by Messrs. James H. Beal and brother. And her cabin fittings are described as being of “almost lavish splendour,” with innumerable pilasters and mirrors.

I also note the following in a Liverpool account:—“Before the mainmast there are three gallows frames, upon which her spare boats are stowed, bottom up, and over the sides she carries quarter boats, suspended in iron davits. She has copper-chambered pumps, six capstans, a crab-winch on the foc’s’le, a patent windlass, Crane’s self-acting chain stoppers, a patent steering apparatus and a large variety of other improvements of the most modern kind.”

Record Voyage of “James Baines” to Australia.

The _James Baines_ sailed for Melbourne on 9th December, 1854, and broke the record by arriving out in 63 days. Captain McDonald wrote the following account of the passage to his owners:—

“I have great pleasure in announcing the arrival of the _James Baines_ in Hobson’s Bay at 8 p.m. on 12th February, making a run of 63 days 18 hours 15 minutes mean time from passing the Rock till the anchor was down in Hobson’s Bay. On leaving Liverpool I had strong head winds to contend with. The 7th day from Liverpool I touched off St. Ives Head; the 10th day I had to tack off Cape St. Vincent and stood to the N.W. In 19° N. in the middle of the trade winds, I got the wind at S.S.E., got to leeward of Cape San Roque, and was 18 hours in beating round. I experienced nothing but light northerly winds all the way across. Sighted Cape Otway on the 54th day from Liverpool; main skysail off the ship only three days from Liverpool to this port. The greatest distance run in 24 hours was 423 miles, that with main skysail and stunsails set. Had I only had the ordinary run of winds I would have made the voyage in 55 days.”

The _James Baines_ took out 700 passengers (80 in the first class) 1400 tons of cargo and 350 sacks containing over 180,000 letters and newspapers. By her mail contract she was bound to deliver these in 65 days under penalty. Amongst her live stock were a bullock, 75 sheep, 86 pigs, and 100 dozen of fowls and ducks.

This passage of the _James Baines_ showed her splendid capabilities both in light head winds and strong fair winds, for after a succession of light head winds she was reported in 3° N., 29° W., on the 29th December, only 19 days out, whilst in the boisterous gales of the roaring forties she made the following splendid 24-hour runs in about a 23½-hour day.

Friday, Jan. 26—Lat. 48° 02′ S., Long. 50° 46′ E. Distance 391 miles.
27—Lat. 48° 56′ S., Long. 60° 46′ E. Distance 407 miles.
Feb. 6—Lat. 50° 09′ S., Long. 123° 40′ E. Distance 423 miles.

This magnificent run showed 10′ difference of latitude and 10° 40′ difference of longitude, her position at noon on 5th February being 50° 19′ S., 113° E.

Entering Port Phillip Heads, 20th December, 1866.]

Leaving Melbourne on the 12th March, 1855, the _James Baines_ made the run home in 69½ days, having completed the voyage to Melbourne and back in 133 days under sail.

Black Ball captains were celebrated for their daring navigation and McDonald was no exception in this respect. His passengers declared that the _James Baines_ was nearly ashore three times whilst tacking off the coast of Ireland under a heavy press of sail, and that when McDonald put her round off the Mizenhead the rocks were so close that a stone could have been thrown ashore from her decks. It was a lee shore, and if she had missed stays she must have been lost. But as McDonald said, when remonstrated with for taking such risks, it was a case of “we have to make a good passage.”

The “Donald Mackay.”

The _Donald Mackay_, last of the famous Mackay quartette, was for many years the largest sailing ship in the world, her measurements being:—

Registered tonnage 2408 tons.
Gross 2486 „
Net 1616 „
Length of keel 257.9 feet.
Length between perpendiculars 266 „
Breadth 46.3 „
Depth 29.5 „
Dead rise at half-floor 18 inches.
Mainyard 100 feet.
Sail area 17,000 yds.

A novelty in her sail plan was Forbes’ patent double topsail yards. These came out before Howe’s, and differed from them in having the topmasts fidded abaft the lower masts.

_Donald Mackay_ was said to have the heaviest mainmast out of Liverpool. It was a built mast of pitch-pine, heavily banded with iron, weighing close on 20 tons. She was, of course, a three-decker; and as a figure-head she had a Highlander dressed in the tartan of the Mackays. In design she took after the _Champion of the Seas_, being not so sharp-ended as the _Lightning_ or _James Baines_. Captain Warner left the _Sovereign of the Seas_ to take her, and superintended her fitting out.

Leaving Boston on 21st February, 1855, she made Cape Clear only 12 days out. On 27th February her log records:—“First part a strong gale from N.W.; middle part blowing a hurricane from W.N.W., ship scudding under topsails and foresail at the rate of 18 knots; latter part still blowing from W.N.W. with heavy hail squalls and very high sea running.”

Under these conditions she made a run of 421 miles in the 24 hours. She made the Fastnet Rock on 6th March, distant one mile, it blowing a gale from S.E. to E.N.E., her run for the day being 299 miles. But in the Channel her passage was spoilt by strong easterly winds, and she did not receive her pilot off Point Lynas until Saturday, the 10th.

Donald Mackay himself came over in the ship, and on his arrival expressed himself highly satisfied with her. She was at once put on the berth, for Melbourne, but did not leave Liverpool until 6th June, and thus had a light weather passage south, being spoken on 14th July in 12° S., 38 days out. She arrived in Port Phillip on 26th August, 81 days out. She left Melbourne again on 3rd October, arriving in Liverpool on 28th December, 1855, 86 days out, and bringing 104,000 ounces of gold consigned to the Bank of France.

_From an old lithograph._ ]

_Donald Mackay’s_ times on the Australian run, though never very remarkable, were very consistent, her average for six consecutive outward passages being 83 days. And I find her making a passage out to Hobson’s Bay in 1867 in 84 days. She once took 1000 troops from Portsmouth to Mauritius in 70 days.

“Blue Jacket,” “White Star” and “Shalimar.”

Three other magnificent ships were built on the other side of the Atlantic for the Liverpool-Melbourne emigrant trade in 1854. These were the _Blue Jacket_, _White Star_ and _Shalimar_.

The _Blue Jacket_ came from the well-known yard of R. E. Jackson in East Boston, the other two ships being Nova Scotian built. The _Blue Jacket_ arrived in the Mersey on 20th October, 1854, having made the run from Boston, land to land, in 12 days 10 hours; the _Shalimar_ arrived about the same time, and the _White Star_ reached Liverpool on 1st December, 15 days out from St. John’s in spite of strong head winds. She was timber laden and drawing 22½ feet of water. The _Blue Jacket_ on her arrival was bought by James John Frost, of London, and put on the berth for Melbourne as one of the Fox Line of packets, the other two being owned by the White Star Line.

In looking at old pictures and prints of these American built ships, several points in their construction seem to have been common to all, such as the semi-elliptical stern, the bowsprit built into the sheer, the large wheel-house aft, etc.; their figure-heads, also, were generally most elaborate full-length figures and did not grow out of the bow in the graceful way of the British-built, but seemed to be plastered upon it. And from _Marco Polo_ to _Donald Mackay_, these soft-wood clippers had more the appearance of strength and power than of grace and beauty, though the famous _Red Jacket_ was an exception, being an extremely taking ship to the eye.

_Blue Jacket_, however, was of the powerful type, and extremely like the Mackay ships in appearance. She was designed to stow a large cargo, having a full midship section, but her bow was long and sharp enough.

Her chief measurements were:—

Length of keel 205 feet.
Length between perpendiculars 220 „
Length over all 235 „
Beam 41.6 „
Depth of hold 24 „
Registered tonnage 1790 tons.

Her poop was 80 feet long and 7 feet high, and she had 8 feet of height between decks. She had the usual accommodation arrangements, two points only being perhaps worth noting; the first was a line of plate glass portholes running the length of her ’tween decks, and the second was an iron water tank to hold 7000 gallons.

_Blue Jacket_ sailed for Melbourne on 6th March, 1855, in charge of Captain Underwood, and made a magnificent run out of 69 days. She further distinguished herself at a later date by making the homeward run in 69 days.

_Shalimar_, the smallest ship of the three, measured 1557 tons register; 195.8 feet length; 35.2 feet beam; and 23 feet depth. She sailed for Hobson’s Bay on 23rd November, 1854, was off Cape Northumberland in 67 days, but owing to head winds took another 10 days to reach her port. She came home in 75 days, her whole voyage, including 45 days in port, only occupying 6 months and 14 days. The newspaper report of her passage out states that she ran 420 miles in the 24 hours on one occasion, though unfortunately it gives no particulars.

The most celebrated of these three ships was the _White Star_, which had the distinction of being the largest clipper built by Wright, of New Brunswick, her measurements being:—

Registered tonnage 2339 tons.
Length over all 288 feet.
Length of keel 213.3 „
Beam 44 „
Depth 28.1 „

The _White Star_ soon proved herself to be one of the fastest ships afloat. On her first voyage she did nothing out of the way, being 79 days out and 88 days home. But in 1856 she went out in 75 days (67 days land to land), and came home in 76 days, beating the auxiliary _Royal Charter_ by 10 days from port to port. In 1858, she went out in 72 days, this being the best White Star passage of the year; whilst on 25th February, 1860, she left Melbourne and made her number off Cape Clear in 65 days. In 1860 she went out in 69 days, running 3306 miles in 10 days between the Cape and Melbourne.

The Wreck of the “Schomberg.”

We now come to the unfortunate _Schomberg_, the only wooden ship ever built in a British yard that could in any way compare with the big Boston and Nova Scotian built ships in size.

In 1854, James Baines was so impressed by the success of the little Aberdeen tea clippers, that he gave Hall an order for a monster emigrant clipper of 2600 tons. Unfortunately, Hall had had no experience in the building of emigrant ships and the _Schomberg_ was more of a copy of Mackay’s clippers than Hall’s own beautiful little ships. The _Schomberg_ cost when ready for sea £43,103 or £18 17s. 6d. per ton. She measured:—

Tonnage (builder’s measurement) 2600 tons.
„ (for payment of dues) 2492 „
„ (registered) 2284 „
Length over all 288 feet.
Length between perpendiculars 262 „
Beam 45 „
Depth of hold 29.2 „

She had three skins, two of diagonal planking, and one fore and aft, the whole fastened together with screw-threaded hard-wood trunnels—a novelty in shipbuilding. She was specially heavily rigged, her mainmast weighing 15 tons, being a pitch-pine spar 110 feet in length and 42 inches in diameter. Her mainyard was 110 feet long. She crossed three skysail yards, but no moonsail.

Captain Forbes, as commodore of the Black Ball, was shifted into her from the _Lightning_, and great hopes were entertained that she would lower the record to Australia.

On 6th October, 1855, she was hauled through the pier heads amidst the cheers of a patriotic crowd of sightseers, with the boast of “Sixty days to Melbourne” flying from her signal halliards. The passage was one of light and moderate winds. _Schomberg_ was 28 days to the line and 55 days to the Greenwich meridian. Running her easting down she averaged 6 degrees daily to 130° E., her greatest speed being 15½ knots and her best run 368 miles. She made the land off Cape Bridgewater at 1 p.m. on Xmas day, the wind being fresh at E.S.E. On 27th December after two days’ tacking, with the wind still blowing fresh from ahead, Forbes went about at noon when 4 miles off shore and tacked out; at 6 p.m. he tacked in again. At about 10.30 p.m., the land being faintly visible, the wind gradually died away. It was a moonlight night. Forbes was playing cards in the saloon when the mate came down and reported that the ship was getting rather close in under the land and suggested going about. As luck would have it, Forbes was losing and, being a bit out of temper, insisted on playing another rubber of whist before tacking ship, and the danger point had been overstripped when at 11 o’clock he came on deck and gave the order to ’bout ship.

As there was next to no wind and a current running 3 to 4 knots to the westward, the _Schomberg_ refused to come round. Forbes next tried to wear her, with the result that the ship slid up on to a sandbank 35 miles west of Cape Otway. On sounding round the ship it was found that she was stuck fast in 4 fathoms of water. Sail was kept on her in the hopes of it pulling her off into deep water again.

Forbes, on being told that the ship was hard aground, said angrily:—“Let her go to Hell, and tell me when she is on the beach,” and at once went below.