Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/445



On her first voyage from London to Melbourne, starting in November 1868, the Thermopylæ made the quickest passage on record between those ports—viz. in sixty days from pilot to pilot. Nor was this a mere chance passage, for on the next voyage from London to Melbourne she accomplished the same distance in sixty-one days, still faster than any other known passage between these ports; and, so far as I can ascertain, these voyages have never since been equalled by any other sailing vessels. On her first voyage, after leaving Melbourne she took on board a cargo of coals at Newcastle (New South Wales) for Shanghai, and accomplished the passage thence in twenty-eight days—the quickest on record. Leaving Foo-chow-foo soon afterwards with a cargo of tea, she made the passage thence to London in ninety-one days. This has never been surpassed, except by

that is, constructed with iron frames and wood planking; she is 947 tons register, and her dimensions are 210 feet in length; 36 feet width of beam, and 21 feet depth of hold. She was designed by Mr. B. Waymouth, now Secretary to Lloyd's Register. She was built in 1868 by Messrs. Walter Hood and Co., of Aberdeen, for her present owners, Messrs. George Thompson, Jun., and Co.], and six days quicker than the Ariel and Spindrift in 1868; the nearest competitor was the Titania in 1871. By her log (see Appendix No. 9, pp. 613-17) the Thermopylæ, in one day of twenty-four hours, made a run of 330 nautical miles (about 380 statute miles), see log, 3rd January 1870; or at the average rate of close upon 16 statute miles per hour!!]
 * [Footnote: be found in the Appendix, No. 9, p. 613. She is a "composite" vessel,