Chapter XII: Part II: “the Wool Clippers.” (1)

(_Wood and Composite Ships_).

With tallow casks all dunnaged tight, with tiers on tiers of bales,
With cargo crammed from hatch to hatch, she’s racing for the sales;
A clipper barque, a model ship, a “flyer” through and through,
O skipper bluff! O skipper brave! I would I went with you!

—G. J. BRADY.

The Carriers of the Golden Fleece.

If it was the discovery of gold that founded Australia’s fortune, the Golden Fleece and the Wheat Sheaf have set it upon a rock.

It was the gold fever that swept the great tide of emigration in the direction of the Southern Cross and carried the star of the Liverpool shipowners upon its flood, but that star began to set as soon as the output of alluvial gold began to diminish, as soon, indeed, as the great soft-wood clippers of the Black Ball and White Star began to grow water-soaked and strained, for their prosperity may be said to have ended with the sixties and had scarcely a longer run than the classification of their ships. But the percentage of emigrants landed by these ships, who stuck for any time to the elusive hunt for gold, was very small; and the greater number of the gold seeking emigrants eventually settled and worked on the homesteads and great runs of the interior, with the natural result that there was a large and steady increase in the output of wool, hides, tallow, wheat and other land products.

The huge Liverpool emigrant ships, however, were not fitted for the economical transport of these products to their central market in London. They were too big for one thing, for, in those early days, wool and tallow dribbled into the big ports in small amounts; also the repair bills of these soft-wood clippers were an ever increasing item to put against their freight receipts.

Thus it came about that the wonderful American-built ships dropped out of the running. But their London rivals, the beautiful British-built hard-wood ships of half their size, having no heavy repair bills, being splendidly built of that imperishable wood teak, and being able to fill up their small holds quickly, continued to carry passengers outward and wool homeward until supplanted in their turn by the magnificent iron clippers of the Clyde, Liverpool and Aberdeen.

=The London Wool Sales.=

These were the days when great races home from Australia took place—not only did ship race against ship, but it was the aim and object of every skipper to get his ship home in time for the first wool sales in London. And in the wool trade, unlike the custom in the tea trade, the fastest ships were loaded last—the pride of place—that of being the last ship to leave an Australasian port for the London wool sales being reserved for that which was considered the fastest ship in the trade.

In the eighties, when the tea trade was entirely in the hands of the steamers, this pride of place in Sydney was always kept for Willis’ famous clipper, _Cutty Sark_, no other ship, either wood or iron built, being able to rival her passages both out and home in the wool trade.

The London wool sales took place in January, February and March, and the lists of the first sales were closed as soon as a sufficient number of cargoes had arrived or been reported in the Channel. Thus it was the aim of every skipper to get reported as soon as possible after reaching the Channel, as the cargoes of ships reported in the Channel by noon on the opening day of the sales were included in the sale lists. Whereas if a captain missed the sales, his cargo would have to be warehoused for perhaps two or three months until the next sales, thus involving extra expenses such as warehouse charges, loss of interest, etc., not to speak of the possibility of a fall in the price of wool.

In those days signal stations were not as numerous on our coasts as they are now, and so wool clippers on arriving in the Channel kept a specially sharp look-out for fishing smacks or pilot cutters to take their reports on shore. Occasionally the captains of the late-starting, crack ships were promised substantial cheques if they caught the sales and truly it was money well earned.

=The Lost Art of the Stevedore.=

In the present days of steam, steel and water ballast, stevedoring is no longer the fine art which it used to be in the days of masts and yards, clipper keels and oak frames.

As every sailor knows, no two ships are alike, even when built from the same moulds; and though this is the case with every water-borne vessel, it is specially noticeable with that almost living thing—the sailing ship. Not only does every sailing ship have its own character as regards its stability, but its character often changes with age, etc., and no tables can give the exact way in which its cargo should be loaded as regards weights and trim. The hand books on the subject give rough, general rules, but the captain of a ship, from his own first hand knowledge of his ship’s peculiarities, would always give careful instructions to the stevedore as to how he wanted the weights of the cargo placed or distributed.

So first of all the old time stevedore had to load his ship in accordance with her own particular character and the wishes of her captain. Next he had to be an expert packer, especially with a wooden ship with a hold cut up by big oak frames and knees. No space was wasted. There is an old story told of a stevedore loading the little Tasmanian barque _Harriet McGregor_, who sang out to his mate on the wharf, “Sling us down a box of pickles, Bill!” Then the stevedore had all sorts of goods in a general cargo, some of which could not be stowed near each other, such as soda, which melts at sea and destroys cottons, etc. Also washed wool, leather, flour or wheat would be damaged if stowed with tallow and greasy wool. Other goods could only be stowed in the hatches, such as cases of glass, whilst wine and spirits had to be stowed aft to be out of the way of the crew.

Instances have been known also of ships coming home from Australia with their iron masts packed full of bullocks’ horns, shank and knuckle bones, which were more generally used for broken stowage.

An amusing case with regard to bullocks’ horns and knuckle bones happened on one of Carmichael’s ships, through the mate signing the bills of lading without examining them. He signed for so many horns, so many shank bones and so many knuckle bones loose. On arrival in London the consignee sent a lighter for the horns, and intimated that he wanted the shank bones delivered entirely separate from the knuckle bones. Carmichael’s got out of it by some very plain speaking, the mate’s receipts proving that a fraud had been attempted.

Bags of pearl shell were generally used in Sydney to fill up cargo near the hatches; and I find in July, 1868, that the _Jerusalem_, (Captain Largie) shipped 9 tons of mother-of-pearl shell at Melbourne in small casks and 3-foot cases.

Below are specimens of early cargoes home from Australia in the sixties, with port charges, pilotage dues, etc.

The ship _Omar Pasha_, Captain Thomas Henry, belonging to Messrs. G. Thompson, Sons & Co., of

Aberdeen, took in at Melbourne, in October, 1864:—

3550 bales of wool,
14,000 hides,
80 casks of tallow,
20 tons spelter,
4000 ounces of gold

and 12 cabin passengers. With the above she drew 19 ft. aft and 18 ft. 9 in. forward, her best trim at sea. The ballast of stones, spelter and hides was estimated at 430 tons. The wool was screwed in; and the dunnage, stones and horns, was 12 inches thick in the bottom and 15 inches in the bilges. Port charges were 1s. per ton; pilotage in £28 18s. 6d.; out £28 18s. 6d.

The ship _Transatlantic_, Captain Philip, belonging to Messrs. G. Thompson, Junr., & Co., of London, took in at Sydney, June, 1864:—

1360 bales of wool,
135 casks of tallow,
5300 hides,
300 bags and 40 cases Kauri gum,
50 tons of iron bark timber.

She had no ballast. Dunnage wood in the bottom 9 inches, bilges 12 inches, one treenail between the wool and the sides. So laden, she drew 14½ ft. aft, 14 ft. forward. Her best sea trim was 6 inches by the stern. Port charges at Sydney, customs entry and shipping office £4 4s.; pilotage out 4d. per ton; the same in.

The ship _Queen of Nations_, Captain Thomas Mitchell, belonging to Messrs. G. Thompson & Co., left Sydney on 21st September, 1865, loaded with:—

484 bales of wool,
44 bales of cotton,
1037 casks of cocoanut oil,
219 casks of tallow,
2602 ingots and plates of copper,
62 tons of gum,
9452 hides.

For ballast she had 30 tons of kentledge; dunnage, treenails and bones, 12 inches in the bottom, 18 in the bilges and 6 in the sides. The hides were laid from two beams abaft the foremast to the mizen mast; oil on the hides, with a tier of tallow between; the wool, cotton, gum, etc., in the ’tween decks. Her best trim was 9 inches by the stern. So laden she drew 18 ft. forward and 18½ ft. aft. Pilotage in £14 2s.; out £14 2s.

The _Murray_, under the command of Captain J. Legoe, belonging to Anderson’s Orient Line, left Adelaide in December, 1863, loaded with:—

3182 bales of wool,
19,522 ingots of copper,
1590 bags of silver lead ore,
473 bags of copper ore,
35 boxes silver lead ore,
15 bales of leather,
277 calf skins,
1150 horns,
16 cases and 10 casks of wine.

She had a full complement of passengers, who occupied 250 tons of cargo space. So laden she drew 15½ ft. forward and 16 ft. 2 in. aft, her best draught for sailing being 15 ft. forward and 15 ft. 8 in. aft. Port charges, harbour dues and light and tonnage dues £28 11s. 6d.; pilotage in and out £17.

=Screwing Wool.=

As every sailorman knows, wool is screwed into a ship’s hold like cotton; and a good captain in the old days would see that his ship was jammed so tight with bales that one would think her seams would open—indeed wood and composite ships always used to have their decks and topsides well caulked before loading wool. As showing how much the amount of wool loaded depended upon the captain, Captain Woodget used to get 1000 bales more into the _Cutty Sark_ than his predecessor. He made a habit of spending most of the day in the ship’s hold and thought nothing of having a tier or half longer pulled down and restowed if he was not satisfied with the number of bales got in.

You can dunnage casks o’ tallow; you can handle hides an’ horn;
You can carry frozen mutton; you can lumber sacks o’ corn;
But the queerest kind o’ cargo that you’ve got to haul and pull
Is Australia’s “staple product”—is her God-abandoned wool.
For it’s greasy an’ it’s stinkin’, an’ them awkward, ugly bales
Must be jammed as close as herrings in a ship afore she sails.
For it’s twist the screw and turn it,
And the bit you get you earn it;
You can take the tip from me, sir, that it’s anything but play
When you’re layin’ on the screw,
When you’re draggin’ on the screw,
In the summer, under hatches, in the middle o’ the day.

So sings the Australian sailor’s poet Brady.

In the sixties the bales of wool were pressed on shore by hydraulic power, then lashed with manila or New Zealand hemp, or hoop iron, at the ship’s expense. The bales were generally pressed on their flats, but sometimes, for the sake of stowage, on their ends, when they were called “dumps.” They had to be stowed immediately after being pressed, as if left for any time, especially in the sun, the wool would swell and carry away the lashings. There were from 8 to 12 lashings for each package of Sydney wool, which were called single dumps, doubles, trebles and fourbles, according to the number lashed together, trebles being the most common.

The actual loading of a wool cargo was a slowish process, and sometimes attended with danger to the stowers if great care was not used, as wool bales have great elasticity. A description of the uses of screws, sampson posts, trunk planks, toms, shores, etc., would, I fear, be so technical as to be wearisome.

One of the chief dangers in a wool cargo is spontaneous combustion. This caused the end of several fine ships, such as the _Fiery Star_ and the new Orient liner _Aurora_. Spontaneous combustion was likely to happen if the bales were wet or damp, either when loaded or through contact with other damp cargo, dunnage, ballast or even sweating water tanks. Often enough the wool got a wetting on its way to the ship, and though possibly afterwards sun-dried on the outside of the bales, so that to all appearances it was perfectly dry, was really damp inside and very inflammable. Some Australian wool growers contended that the practice of clipping sheep in the morning when the fleeces were heavy with dew was a cause of spontaneous combustion.

Wool, of course, being a very light cargo, requires stiffening, but hides, tallow, etc., were generally used as deadweight, also copper ore. A ship with a wool cargo was reckoned to require two-thirds of the ballast necessary when in ballast only. Wool freights in the early days were 1d. per lb., and gradually fell to a farthing per lb.—this was for washed wool: the freight for greasy wool, which had not been cleaned and was therefore heavier than washed wool, being about 25% less.

The Aberdeen White Star Line.

Amongst the pioneers of the trade with the Colonies George Thompson, of the Aberdeen Clipper Line, known to generations of Australians as the Aberdeen White Star Line, holds a foremost place. The history of this celebrated firm dates back to the year 1825, when its first representative, a clipper brig of 116 tons named the _Childe Harold_, was sent afloat.

It may safely be said that from that hour the Aberdeen White Star Line has never looked back. From the first it earned a reputation for enterprise and good management. Amongst its fleet were numbered some of the earliest clipper ships built in the United Kingdom, ships whose records were worthy to rank with those of the celebrated Black Ball and White Star Lines; and which in their liberal upkeep had little to learn from even such aristocrats of the sea as the Blackwall frigates.

Until the discovery of gold, the green clippers ran regularly to Sydney, but when all the world began to take ship for Melbourne, the port of the gold region, it was only natural that some of the Aberdeen White Star ships should be put on the Melbourne run, and from that date the little flyers from Aberdeen were as well known in Hobson’s Bay as Sydney Cove.

The ships were all built in the yard of Walter Hood, of Aberdeen, in whose business Messrs. Thompson held a large interest, and were all designed by Walter Hood with the exception of the celebrated _Thermopylae_.

George Thompson, who founded the line, was joined, in 1850, by his son-in-law the late Sir William Henderson, and later on Mr. Thompson’s sons, Stephen, George and Cornelius, came by turns into the partnership.

The following is a complete list of the wood and composite ships of the Aberdeen White Star fleet, dating from 1842:—

List of the Wood and Composite Ships of the Aberdeen White Star Fleet.

1842 _Neptune,_ wood ship 343 tons.
1842 _Prince of Wales_ „ „ 582 „
1846 _Oliver Cromwell_ „ „ 530 „
1846 _Phoenician_ „ „ 530 „
1849 _John Bunyan_ „ „ 470 „
1850 _Centurion_ „ „ 639 „
1852 _Woolloomoolloo_ „ „ 627 „
1852 _Walter Hood_ „ „ 936 „
1853 _Maid of Judah_ „ „ 756 „
1854 _Omar Pasha_ „ „ 1124 „
1855 _Star of Peace_ „ „ 1113 „
1856 _Wave of Life_ „ „ 887 „
1857 _Damascus_ „ „ 964 „
1857 _Transatlantic_ „ „ 614 „
1858 _Moravian_ „ „ 996 „
1860 _Strathdon_ „ „ 1011 „
1861 _Queen of Nations_ „ „ 872 „
1862 _Kosciusko_ „ „ 1192 „
1864 _Nineveh_ „ „ 1174 „
1864 _Ethiopian_ „ „ 839 „
1865 _George Thompson_ „ „ 1128 „
1866 _Christiana Thompson_ „ „ 1079 „
1866 _Harlaw_ „ „ 894 „
1867 _Thyatira_ comp. ship 962 „
1867 _Jerusalem_ wood ship 901 „
1868 _Thermopylae_ comp. ship 948 „
1868 _Ascalon_ wood ship 938 „
1869 _Centurion_ comp. ship 965 „
1870 _Aviemore_ wood ship 1091 „

No ships that ever sailed the seas presented a finer appearance than these little flyers. They were always beautifully kept and were easily noticeable amongst other ships for their smartness: indeed, when lying in Sydney Harbour or Hobson’s Bay with their yards squared to a nicety, their green sides[B] with gilt streak and scroll work at bow and stern glistening in the sun, their figure-heads, masts, spars and blocks all painted white and every rope’s end flemish-coiled on snow-white decks, they were the admiration of all who saw them.

There’s a jaunty White Star Liner, and her decks are scrubbed and
clean
And her tall white spars are spotless, and her hull is painted green.
Don’t you smell the smoky stingo? Ech! ye’ll ken the Gaelic lingo
Of the porridge-eating person who was shipped in Aberdeen.
—Brady.

From the first to the last they were hard-sailed ships, and some of the fastest were often sent across to China for a home cargo of tea, though the _Thermopylae_ was the only _bona-fide_ tea clipper in the fleet.

On the outward passage, whether to Sydney or Melbourne, they generally carried a few first-class passengers, but it was only during the very height of the gold rush that their ’tween decks were given up to a live freight.

The “Phoenician.”

The first of the Aberdeen White Star fleet to make a reputation for speed was the celebrated _Phoenician_, under the command of one of the best known passage makers of the day, Captain Sproat.

Her dimensions were:—

Length of cut keel 122 feet.
Rake of stem 25 „
Rake of sternpost 7 „
Extreme breadth 27 feet 5 inches.
Depth of hold 19 „ 1 „
Registered tonnage (old) 526 tons.
„ „ (new) 478 „
Deadweight capacity 780 „

Her first three voyages were considered extraordinarily good for those days.

1849-50 London to Sydney 90 days—Sydney to London 88 days.
1850-51 London to Sydney 96 days—Sydney to London 103 days.
1851-52 London to Sydney 90 days—Sydney to London 83 days.

The _John Bunyan_ in 1850 made the run home from Shanghai in 99 days, which, even though she had a favourable monsoon, was a very fine performance.

The _Walter Hood_ on her maiden voyage under the command of Captain Sproat made the passage out to Australia in 80 days, and the account given in the papers remarks:—“Her sailing qualities may be judged from the fact of her having run during four several days 320 miles each 24 hours.”

The _Maid of Judah_ had the honour of taking out the Royal Mint to Sydney in 1853. Her dimensions are interesting to compare with those of the _Phoenician_, so I give them:—

Length of keel 160 feet.
Length over all 190 „
Beam 31 „
Depth of hold 19 „

The _Queen of Nations_, under Captain Donald, went from Plymouth to Melbourne in 87 and 84 days; but the fastest of these earlier clippers was the well-known _Star of Peace_, which made four consecutive passages to Sydney of 77, 77, 79, and 79 days under the redoubtable Captain Sproat.

I remember seeing a picture of this fine clipper, representing her off the Eddystone when homeward bound. She was a very rakish looking craft with long overhangs and carried a heavy press of sail, which included double topsails, skysails, main and mizen sky staysails and also three-cornered moonsails stretching to the truck of each mast.

The _Ethiopian_, on her first voyage to Melbourne, went out in 68 days under Captain William Edward. She sailed her last voyage under the British flag in 1886. She was then rigged as a barque, and on her passage home from Sydney had a remarkable race with the iron _Orontes_, belonging to the same owners. The two vessels cast off their tugs together outside Sydney Heads, sighted each other off the Horn, were becalmed together in the doldrums, spoke the same ship off the Western Isles; and when the chops of the Channel were reached, the _Ethiopian_ was hove to taking soundings in a fog, when the _Orontes_ came up under her stern within hailing distance. Finally the _Ethiopian_ got into the East India Docks one tide ahead of the _Orontes_, thus winning the race and a considerable sum in wagers.

The Lucky “Nineveh.”

The _Nineveh_, built the same year as the _Ethiopian_, was an extremely lucky ship in her freights and passengers and made a great deal of money. Old Stephen Thompson was so pleased that he gave Captain Barnet a banquet at the Holborn Restaurant, and all through the dinner kept toasting “the lucky _Nineveh_.”

The “Jerusalem.”

These wooden clippers were often very tender coming home with wool, as the following reminiscence given by Coates in his _Good Old Days of Shipping_ will show:—“Apropos of _Jerusalem_, I remember a most exciting race with the large American ship _Iroquois_. We were homeward bound from the Colonies, flying light and very crank, a not uncommon condition with a wool cargo. The Yank was first sighted on our quarter, the wind being quarterly, blowing moderately, though squally at times.

“Whilst the wind remained so the _Iroquois_ had no chance, but when it freshened the _Jerusalem_ heeled over to such an extent that it necessitated sail being taken in. Soon the American was ploughing along to leeward carrying her three topgallant sails and whole mainsail and going as steady as a die, whilst the _Jerusalem_ was flying along with fore and main lower topgallants and reefed mainsail, but heeling over to such a degree that one could barely stand upright, the water roaring up through the lee scuppers, and during the squalls lipping in over the rail.

“In a short time the topgallant sails and mainsail were handed and preparations made to reef the fore topsail. By this time, however, the _Iroquois_ had just passed the beam, when, apparently, her skipper, satisfied to have passed us, snugged his ship down to three reefed topsails and we shortly after lost sight of her in a blinding squall.”

And Coates goes on to say:—“To see this ship when moderately light was a great pleasure, her lines were the perfection of symmetry. In one day I remember 324 miles being got out of this ship; she was one of the first to carry double topgallant yards.”

As a matter of fact, the _Jerusalem_ was generally considered the fastest ship in the fleet next to _Thermopylae_. She made several very good passages from China in the seventies of under 110 days. Captain Crutchley, in his book _My Life at Sea_, gives an instance of her speed, in describing how she raced ahead of the tea clipper _Omba_, both ships being bound up the Channel with a strong beam wind. On this occasion, however, it was the _Omba_ which was the tender ship, as she could not carry her royals though the _Jerusalem_ had all plain sail set.

The _Thyatira_, Thompson’s first composite ship, was also a very ticklish vessel to handle when wool-laden. On her maiden voyage she went out to Melbourne in 77 days, but took 96 days to get home, during which passage she gave her officers much anxiety owing to her extreme tenderness.

Captain Mark Breach’s First Encounter with his Owner.

Captain Mark Breach, one of the best known of the Aberdeen White Star captains, entered the employ of the firm as second mate on the newly launched _Thyatira_. The _Thyatira_ was on the berth for Melbourne when he joined her. On his second day aboard he was superintending the stowage of cargo in the hold, when old Stephen Thompson came down to have a look round. The _Thyatira’s_ owner happened to be smoking a fine meerschaum pipe, and young Breach, being completely ignorant of the identity of the visitor, immediately went up to him and informed him in no uncertain language that his lighted pipe was dead against all rules and regulations. Mr. Thompson, without disclosing his identity, at once apologised and returned his pipe to its case. Presently when the visitor had departed, the mate asked Mr. Breach what he had been talking to Mr. Thompson about. And one may well imagine that the new second mate was somewhat scared when he learnt that it was his owner to whom he had been laying down the law. However, the mate comforted him by telling him that Stephen Thompson had been very pleased and prophesied that he would be a good servant to the company.

Mark Breach afterwards served as mate of the _Miltiades_, then commanded the _Jerusalem_, _Aviemore_, and finally the famous _Patriarch_.

The _Thyatira_ was a very favourite ship and made some very good passages. She and the _Jerusalem_ both loaded tea home from China on more than one occasion, and made passages of under 110 days in the N.E. monsoon.

The “Thermopylae.”

_Thermopylae’s_ career I have already dealt with fully in the _China Clippers_. Her sail plan was cut down twice in her old age, thus taking off a good deal of her speed in light weather, but even then there were not many vessels which could give her the go-by, either in light or heavy weather.

The “Centurion.”

The second _Centurion_ was launched in the spring of 1869, and measured:—Length 208 ft.; beam 35 ft.; depth 21 ft. Captain Mitchell overlooked her building and was her first commander. She was a very fast ship and he always hoped to beat the _Thermopylae_ with her, but never succeeded.

On her first voyage she went out to Sydney in 69 days. It was a light weather passage and she never started the sheets of her main topgallant sail the whole way. She is stated to have made 360, 348 and 356 miles in three successive days running down her easting, but I have been unable to verify these runs. Captain Mitchell died on her second voyage just before reaching the Channel homeward bound. She also made some creditable tea passages, but was mostly kept in the Sydney trade. In 1871 she went out in 77 days and in 1872 in 78 days.

The “Aviemore.”

The _Aviemore_ was the last of the wooden ships, and at the date of her launch, the first iron ship built for Thompsons, the celebrated _Patriarch_, had already proved herself such a success as to put all idea of building any but iron ships in the future out of the question.

The Fate of the Early White Star Clippers.

The first _Centurion_ ended her days as a total loss in 1866.

The _Walter Hood_ was wrecked near Jervis Bay Lighthouse, New South Wales, on 27th April, 1870, when bound from London to Sydney with general cargo, her captain and 12 men being drowned.

The _Woolloomoolloo_ ended her days under the Spanish flag and was wrecked in 1885.

The _Maid of Judah_ was sold to Cowlislaw Bros., of Sydney, in 1870. In December, 1879, she left Sydney for Shanghai, coal-laden, with Captain Webb in command, and the following June was condemned and broken up at Amoy.

The _Omar Pasha_ was burnt at sea in 1869, when homeward bound from Brisbane, wool-laden.

The celebrated _Star of Peace_, after being run for some years by Burns, Philp & Co., of Sydney, was converted into a hulk at Thursday Island, being only broken up in 1895.

The _Wave of Life_ was sold to Brazil, and sailed as the _Ida_ until 1891, when she was renamed _Henriquita_. Finally she was condemned and broken up in March, 1897.

The _Damascus_ was bought by the Norwegians, who changed her name to _Magnolia_. On 1st September, 1893, she stranded at Bersimis and became a total loss.

The _Transatlantic_ was rebuilt in 1876; in 1878 she was owned by J. L. Ugland, of Arendal; and on 15th October, 1899, when bound to Stettin from Mobile, she foundered in the Atlantic.

The _Moravian_ was sold to J. E. Ives, of Sydney, and ended her days as a hulk, being broken up at Sydney in March, 1895.

The _Strathdon_, under the name of _Zwerver_, did many years’ service with the Peruvian flag at her gaff end. She was broken up in 1888.

The _Queen of Nations_ was wrecked near Woolloagong, New South Wales, on 31st May, 1881, when bound out to Sydney. All hands were saved except one.

The _Kosciusko_, like the _Maid of Judah_, was bought by Cowlislaw Bros., being broken up at Canton in 1899.

The _Nineveh_ was bought by Goodlet & Smith, of Sydney. She was abandoned in the North Pacific in February, 1896.

The _Ethiopian_ was sold to the Norwegians. In October, 1894, when bound from St. Thomas to Cork, she was abandoned near the Western Isles. She was afterwards picked up 15 miles from Fayal and towed into St. Michael’s, where she was condemned.

The _George Thompson_ passed through the hands of A. Nicol & Co., of Aberdeen, and J. Banfield, of Sydney, to the Chileans. On 13th June, 1902, she was wrecked at Carlemapu.

The _Christiana Thompson_ went to the Norwegians and was renamed _Beatrice Lines_. She was wrecked near Umra in Norway on 7th October, 1899.

The _Harlaw_ was wrecked at Hongkong in 1878.

The _Jerusalem_, like many of the others, was converted into a barque in her old age. In 1887 she was bought by the Norwegians. On 28th October, 1893, she left New Brunswick for London with a cargo of pitch-pine and resin and never arrived, the usual end of timber droghers on the stormy North Atlantic.

The _Thyatira_ was bought by J. W. Woodside & Co., of Belfast, in 1894. In July, 1896, when bound from London to Rio with general cargo, she was wrecked at Pontal da Barra.

The _Ascalon_ was bought by Trinder, Anderson & Co. in 1881. They ran her for nine years and then sold her to the Norwegians. She was wrecked on 7th February, 1907, at Annalong, when bound from Runcorn to Moss.

The second _Centurion_ left Sydney for Newcastle, N.S.W., on 17th January, 1887; at 1.30 a.m. whilst off the Heads, the tug’s line carried away: the ship drifted on to the North Head, struck and then sank in 18 fathoms, barely giving her crew 15 minutes to get clear.

The _Aviemore_ was bought by the Norwegians. In October, 1910, she left Sandejford for the South Shetland where she was converted into a floating oil refinery. Later she was resold to the Norwegians, and I have a snapshot of her taken in Bristol in 1915, rigged as a barque with a stump bowsprit.

Duthie’s Ships.

Another well-known Aberdeen firm which was a pioneer in the Australian trade was Duthies. They were builders as well as owners. The original William Duthie started his shipbuilding business over 100 years ago. Besides owning many of the ships he built, he was also a large timber merchant, and kept some vessels in the North American timber trade. He was also one of the first to send ships to the Chinchas and Peru for guano. He eventually turned over his shipbuilding business to his brothers John and Alexander, but retained his interest in some of the ships.

The first of Duthie’s ships of which I have any record is the _Jane Pirie_, of 427 tons, built in 1847 for the Calcutta trade and commanded by a well-known skipper of those days, Captain James Booth.

The next vessel to be launched by Duthie was the _Brilliant_ in 1850. She measured 555 tons, and, commanded by Captain Murray and sailing under Duthie’s house-flag, she became a very popular passenger clipper in the time of the gold rush. On her first outward passage she went from London to Melbourne in 87 days, and this was about her average. She generally loaded wool for the London market at Geelong, and made the homeward run in under 90 days.

Few ships came home from the Antipodes in those days without gold dust on board; and the _Brilliant_ on one occasion brought home 7 tons of gold, giving Captain Murray an anxious time until he had it safely handed over to the Bank of England. After a dozen years as a first class passenger and wool clipper the _Brilliant_ was debased to the guano and nitrate trades, being finally lost at sea when homeward bound from Callao with a cargo of guano.

The next of Duthie’s ships was the _James Booth_, of 636 tons, named after the celebrated captain. She was launched in 1851 for the Calcutta trade.

In 1852 Duthie built the _Ballarat_, 713 tons, for the great shipowner Duncan Dunbar. The _Ballarat_ distinguished herself by coming home from Melbourne in 69 days in 1855. All these early ships had the famous Aberdeen clipper bow and painted ports, and ably maintained the high reputation of the Aberdeen clipper.

In the sixties Messrs. Duthie launched the following well-known wool clippers, all called after various members of the family:—

1862 _William Duthie_ wood ship 968 tons.
1863 _Martha Birnie_ „ „ 832 „
1864 _John Duthie_ „ „ 1031 „
1867 _Alexander Duthie_ „ „ 1159 „
1868 _Ann Duthie_ „ „ 994 „

The ships were all three skysail yarders, and good passage makers; they were kept almost entirely in the Sydney trade, and must have made good dividends in those early days. The _John Duthie_ on one occasion made £5000 freight for the wool passage home. Her commander at that time was Captain Levi, a very well-known character, who always offered a glass of Scotch and an apple to any visitor who came aboard his ship.

The next Duthie ship was the _Abergeldie_, of 1152 tons. She was their first ship with iron in her composition, having iron beams. She was launched in 1869, the same year as the _Windsor Castle_, a beautiful little wood ship of 979 tons, which Duthie built for Donaldson Rose. This _Windsor Castle_ must not be confused with Green’s Blackwall frigate of the same name. For some years both ships were trading to Sydney, and one year there was more than a little confusion owing to the two _Windsor Castles_ arriving out on the same day. Duthie’s _Windsor Castle_ made many fine passages both out and home, her best known commander being Captain Fernie. After being sold her name was changed to _Lumberman’s Lassie_, and under this name she was for many years a well-known Colonial trader, and finally a coal hulk.

Passages of Aberdeen Ships to Sydney, 1872-1873.

The best passage made out to Sydney between these dates was that of the iron tea clipper _Halloween_ on her maiden voyage. She left the Thames on 1st July, 1872, crossed the line in 27° W. on the 20th, 19 days out, crossed the meridian of the Cape on 10th August, 40 days out, ran her easting down in 42° and arrived in Sydney on 8th September, 69 days out.

Another very famous Aberdeen ship, the _Star of Peace_, left London, 21st September, 1873, and arrived at Melbourne on 16th December, 86 days out.

This little table will perhaps give a good idea of the usual passages made by the wood and composite built ships.

+-------------+--------+-------+-----+--------+-------+-------+----+
| | | | |Crossed | Ran | | |
| | |Crossed| in |Meridian|Easting| |D’ys|
| Ship |Sailed |Equator|Long.|of Cape | Down |Arrived|Out |
| | | | | |in Lat.| | |
+-------------+--------+-------+-----+--------+-------+-------+----+
| | 1872 | | ° | | ° | | |
|_Thyatira_ |Feb. 23|Mar. 20| 22 W|April 25| 42 S |May 23| 89 |
|_Ann Duthie_ |Mar. 5| „ 25| 27 | — | 48 | „ 24| 80 |
|_Ascalon_ | „ 5|April 2| 23 |April 30| 41 |June 7| 94 |
|_Maid of_ | „ 21| „ 18| 22 |May 21| — | „ 23| 94 |
| _Judah_ | | | | | | | |
|_Centurion_ |April 18|May 10| 22 |June 8| 39 |July 5| 78 |
|_John Duthie_|June 4|June 30| 27 |July 28| 42 |Aug. 29| 86 |
|_Strathdon_ |July 8|Aug. 14| 26 |Sept. 9| 45 |Oct. 25|109 |
|_William_ | „ 16| „ 17| 27 | „ 15| 44 | „ 31|107 |
| _Duthie_ | | | | | | | |
|_Ethiopian_ | „ 25| „ 29| 21 | — | — | „ 31| 98 |
| |1873 | | | | | | |
|_Harlaw_ |Feb. 5|Feb. 25| 23 |Mar. 22| 45 |April29| 83 |
|_Nineveh_ | „ 11|Mar. 8| 21 |April 3| 44 |May 1| 79 |
|_Aviemore_ |Mar. 14| „ 29| 23 |May 28| 45 |June 4| 82 |
|_Abergeldie_ |July 7| — | — |Sept. 1| 42 |Oct. 2| 87 |
+-------------+----------+-----+-----+--------+-------+-------+----+

The South Australian Trade.

During the sixties and seventies, when Sydney and Melbourne were filling their harbours with the finest ships in the British Mercantile Marine, Adelaide, in a smaller way, was carrying on an ever increasing trade of her own, in which some very smart little clippers were making very good money and putting up sailing records which could well bear comparison with those made by the more powerful clippers sailing to Hobson’s Bay and Port Jackson.

From the early fifties South Australia had been sending wool home in exchange for general cargoes from London.

This trade was in the hands of two or three well-run firms, such as the Orient, Devitt & Moore and Elder. These firms owned some beautiful little composite ships, which up till now have received scant notice in the annals of our Mercantile Marine. These little clippers, most of them well under 1000 tons register, were driven as hard as any Black Ball or White Star crack, and this without the incentive of publicity.

Their captains, however, were always in keen rivalry and put a high value on their reputations as desperate sail carriers. They made little of weather that would have scared men who commanded ships of three times the tonnage of the little Adelaide clippers, and they were not afraid of a little water on deck—indeed, when running down the easting, their ships were more like half-tide rocks than merchant vessels, being swept from end to end by every roaring sea; and even in only a fresh breeze their decks were hidden by a curtain of spray.

It was a common saying that they took a dive on leaving the tropics, came up to breathe at the Cape and did not reappear again till off Cape Borda. A South Australian trader prided himself on carrying a main topgallant sail when other ships were snugged down to reefed topsails; and he considered that he had made a bad passage if he was not up with Cape Borda in 70 days. Indeed he usually began to look for the Australian coast about the 60th day out, and if he was at sea for much longer than that without raising the land would begin to think that he had overrun his distance and got into the Gulf of St. Vincent.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the crews of these vessels rarely knew what it was to have a dry shirt on their backs, and usually had had more than enough of it by the time they were off Kangaroo Island; thus it was the general thing for them to run on arrival.

The late Mr. Barry wrote the following interesting account of the usual homeward bound crew on a South Australian wool clipper:—“They loaded some of the golden fleece at the Port and the rest perhaps at Port Augusta at the head of Spencer’s Gulf. There one could see at times quite a clump of pretty little clippers lying in the stream between the mangrove-clad shores, waiting for the camel trains to come in from Pekina and Coonatto and Mount Remarkable. Much rivalry there was too between the ships, as to which should get her hatches battened down first, complete her crew and clear away for the February wool sales. And men in those days were not always easy to procure, for the long, cold Cape Horn passage and the prospect of shipping again out of London at 50s. per month were not very tempting experiences. Thus it often happened crews ran in Port Adelaide and ‘runners’ or temporary hands, just shipped for the trip, had to be engaged to take the vessel round to Port Augusta. These returning by the _Penola_ or the _Royal Shepherd_ or the _Aldinga_ left the shipmasters to trust in providence for men to work the vessels home. But, now and again, bushmen coming down country for a spree at ‘the Port’, a mere hamlet, consisting then mainly of gnats, sand and galvanized iron, would be induced, once their money was gone, to sign articles for the trip home. Men who had never thought to use the sea again, bullock drovers, boundary riders, shepherds and station hands of every description were thus often found on board the clippers of the composite wool fleet. Many of them had not been to sea for years; but before they had got the smell of ice in their nostrils all the old tricks of the craft came back to them and better crowds no skipper could wish for, if at times apt to be a little intolerant and careless of discipline, with the liberal life of the bush so close behind them.

“A hard experience, too, it generally proved for them, quite unprovided as they (for the most part) were with a sea-going outfit of any description and dependent on the often scantily supplied slop chest. And many a time when washing along the decks in icy Cape Horn seas or hoisting the frozen canvas aloft, while hail and rain pelted and soaked them, poorly fed, poorly clad, the merest sport of the bitter southern weather, they regretted with oaths deep and sincere their snug bunks and ‘all night in’ of the far away bush stations, where tempests troubled them not and the loud command of ‘all hands’ was unknown. Nor, as a rule, London Town once reached, did they lose any time in looking for a ship bound to some part of the country they had so foolishly left.”

The Orient Line.

Of the firms which were chiefly instrumental in exploiting the South Australian trade first mention should perhaps be made of the Orient Line of clippers, the forerunners of the present Orient Line of steamers.

The Orient Line was originally started by James Thompson & Co., who had a number of small ships and barques trading to the West Indies, then Mr. James Anderson joined the firm and eventually became head partner, upon which the name was changed to Anderson, Anderson & Co.

The first of the firm’s Australian ships was the _Orient_ and this vessel gave her name to the line.

The Orient Line were nothing if not enterprising. Most of their vessels were built in the Nelson Docks, Rotherhithe, to the designs of Mr. Bilbe. Mr. Bilbe was a designer of great ability and he and Mr. Perry, an old shipmaster, were the working partners of the Nelson Dock, which consisted of a dry dock and a building yard, owned by Anderson, Anderson & Co. Mr. James Anderson had a wonderful knowledge of everything pertaining to ships and their business, and like many an old-fashioned shipowner took a practical interest in his ships, and nothing either in their design, construction or management was undertaken without his approval.

Messrs. Bilbe & Perry built one of the earliest composite clippers, the _Red Riding Hood_. She was launched in 1857 some six years before the first of the composite tea clippers. They also went in for iron ships at an early date, their first iron ship, the _White Eagle_, being built as far back as 1855. But owing chiefly to a very ill-advised strike of shipwrights, the Thames builders found themselves unable to compete with the North in iron shipbuilding and the Clyde took the trade which should have belonged to the Thames. Thus 1866 saw the last of the Thames composites to be built in the Nelson Dock when _Argonaut_ was launched for the Adelaide trade.

However, Messrs. Anderson, Anderson & Co. meant to have the fastest ships procurable, and gave Hall, of Aberdeen, Steele, of Greenock and the Sunderland shipyards each a chance to turn them out a flyer.

=The “Orient.”=

The _Orient_, the pioneer of the line, was launched at Rotherhithe in 1853, and measured:—

Registered tonnage 1033 tons.
Length 184.4 feet.
Beam 31.7 „
Depth 21.1 „

She was built to participate in the gold boom to Melbourne, and was fitted to carry passengers under a poop 61 feet long. However she was not destined to start life on the Australian run, for she had barely been launched before she was taken up by the Government for the transport of troops to the Crimea. At the landing at Alma in September, 1854, she was transport No. 78, carrying the 88th Connaught Rangers. She managed to ride out the gale of the 14th November, 1854, off Balaclava, in which 34 of the Allied ships were wrecked and over 1000 lives lost. And in October, 1855, we find her acting as a hospital ship during the expedition against Kinburn and Odessa. In 1856 she returned to London and was then put on the berth for Adelaide. She sailed from Plymouth under Captain A. Lawrence on the 5th July, 1856, with a full passenger list, and hence forward was a favourite passenger ship in the South Australian trade.

“Orient’s” Outward Passages.

The following table gives her time out for twenty-one voyages under the Orient flag. She generally took about 95 days coming home _via_ the Cape, calling in at Capetown and St. Helena, as it was the custom with ships carrying passengers.

Arriving at Gibraltar with Troops from the Crimea.

_From a lithograph._]

+-----+----------------+----------+-----------+-----------+-----+
| | | Date Left| Date Left | Date Arrd.| |
|Date.| Captain. | London. | Plymouth. | Port | Days|
| | | | | Adelaide. | Out.|
+-----+----------------+----------+-----------+-----------+-----+
|1856 | A. Lawrence | June 28 | July 5 | Sept. 24 | 81 |
|1857 | „ | „ 28 | „ 2 | „ 22 | 82 |
|1858 | „ | „ 28 | „ 4 | „ 18 | 76 |
|1859 | „ | „ 28 | „ 2 | „ 23 | 83 |
|1860 | „ | May 29 | June 5 | Aug. 24 | 80 |
|1861 | „ | „ 26 | „ 1 | „ 20 | 80 |
|1862 | Harris | „ 27 | „ 2 | „ 24 | 83 |
|1863 | „ | — | May 1 | July 12 | 73 |
|1864 | „ | May 29 | June 2 | Aug. 22 | 81 |
|1865 | „ | April 29 | May 4 | July 20 | 77 |
|1866 | „ | Sept. 10 | Sept. 16 | Nov. 27 | 72 |
|1868 | R. de Steiger | Oct. 31 | Nov. 6 | Jan. 26 | 81 |
|1869 | „ | Aug. 29 | Sept. 1 | Nov. 24 | 84 |
|1870 | „ | Sept. 17 | „ 22 | Dec. 17 | 86 |
|1871 | „ | Aug. 28 | „ 2 | Nov. 27 | 86 |
|1872 | W. H. Mitchell | Nov. 4 | Nov. 7 | Jan. 27 | 81 |
|1873 | „ | Sept. 28 | — | Dec. 16 | 79 |
|1874 | „ | July 25 | Downs 27 | Oct. 19 | 84 |
|1875 | „ | „ 22 | Downs 25 | „ 16 | 83 |
|1876 | M. Haffner | „ 23 | — | „ 11 | 80 |
|1877 | „ | Aug. 21 | — | Dec. 3 | 104 |
+-----+----------------+----------+-----------+-----------+-----+

“Orient” Nearly Destroyed by Fire.

On 3rd November, 1861, the _Orient_ left Adelaide with 2600 bales of wool, some copper ore and several passengers. Touching at the Cape she left Table Bay on 18th December. On the morning of 2nd January, smoke was observed to be rising from the fore hatch. Captain Lawrence at once had the lower deck hatches lifted fore and aft, but there was no smoke in the hold, which seemed to prove that the fire was confined to the ’tween decks. The hands were turned to breaking out cargo, but were driven from the fore hold after getting to the third beam aft of the hatchway. The mainsail was then hauled up and the fore hatches put on to prevent a current of air. The main hatchway was then opened and an attempt made to break out the cargo from that hatch, but again the crew were driven back. The hatches were next battened down and every aperture closed. The carpenter was then ordered to bore holes in the deck. He started in the galley and gradually worked forward until he was over the seat of the fire. On this being found the fire engine, condensing engine and every other means was brought into use for pouring water below; and as fast as it went down it was sucked up again by the ship’s pumps. The deck ports and scupper holes, also, were closed and the deck itself kept some inches deep in water.

Whilst the crew fought the fire, the passengers, under the direction of the bosun, provisioned and lowered the boats and streamed them astern. At 5 p.m. dense smoke began to issue from the scuttle under the fore chains, the woodwork was charred, and the glass bull’s-eye melted. The scuttles were immediately plugged and the deck cut through at this place. The result was startling. Smoke and flames burst out in volumes. All night long the crew kept doggedly at the pumps and fire engine. Next day the women passengers were all transferred to a Dutch ship which stood by the burning _Orient_. At last the fire was smothered and on the 5th January the _Orient_ arrived at Ascension, where a large portion of the cargo was taken out and examined. She was temporarily repaired and then proceeded, and arrived safely in the London River.

Twelve of her timbers were so charred that they had to be replaced, together with the planking of the main deck as far aft as the main hatch. The saving of this ship was a very fine performance and the underwriters presented Captain Lawrence with a piece of plate worth £100, and also £800 for himself, officers and crew. The steadiness and discipline of both passengers and crew were worthy of all praise, and undoubtedly saved the ship.

The “Orient” delivers her Carpenter’s Chest to the “Lammermuir” in Mid-Ocean.

In 1872 the _Orient_ was diagonally sheathed, and Captain Mitchell took command of her.

In 1873 the _Orient_ was just about to leave London for Adelaide, when old John Willis, with his frock-coat flying open and his white hat on the back of his head, came aboard and said to Captain Mitchell: “The carpenter of my _Lammermuir_ has left his tool chest and tools behind; will you take them out to Adelaide and deliver them to him.”

“No,” replied Captain Mitchell, who was a skipper of the good old sort, “but I will take them and deliver them before I reach the line.”

The _Lammermuir_ had sailed some 10 days before on the 12th of September to be exact. Old John Willis immediately offered to bet Captain Mitchell £5 that he would not be as good as his word. The bet was accepted and the _Orient_ sailed on 28th September. In 5° N. a ship was sighted ahead and overhauled. It turned out to be the _Lammermuir_. Signals were exchanged, and a boat put over with the chest on board, and the _Lammermuir’s_ carpenter duly received his tools as Captain Mitchell had promised. The two ships then parted company and the _Orient_ eventually arrived at Adelaide on the 16th December, 79 days out, the _Lammermuir_ arriving six days later.

It was a great triumph, and the apprentices of the _Orient_ composed a pumping chanty to the tune of “Marching through Georgia” to commemorate it, the first verse of which ran as follows:—

The _Lammermuir_ left London, boys,
A fortnight’s start she’d got,
She was bound to Adelaide,
Her passage to be short,
But the _Orient_ overhauled her
Before halfway she’d got
As we were sailing to Australia.

In 1879 the _Orient_ was sold to Cox Bros., of Waterford, and she was still afloat quite recently as a coal hulk at Gibraltar.

The Little “Heather Bell.”