Page:The Clipper Ship Era.djvu/194

146 by another 12 days. This passage astonished every one, even her warmest admirers, and well it might, for it has never been equalled by a ship of her tonnage and not often excelled even by larger vessels. This performance of the Sea Witch was the more remarkable as she had rounded Cape Horn during the Antarctic midwinter.

The remainder of the fleet arrived in the following order: Memnon, September 27th, 123 days; Celestial, November 1st, 104 days; Race Horse, from Boston, November 24th, 109 days; and the Mandarin, November 29th, 126 days from New York. These were all fine passages, especially when we consider that none of the vessels was over 1100 tons register. The records show that from June 26 to July 28, 1850, seventeen vessels from New York and sixteen from Boston arrived at San Francisco, whose average passages were 159 days, so that even the Mandarin's passage of 126 days was very fast by comparison. We must remember also that none of these vessels had the advantage of using Maury's Wind and Current Charts, as at that time sufficient material had not been collected to perfect them.

Navigators of all nationalities are deeply indebted to Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury, U. S. N., for it was his mind that first conceived the idea of exploring the winds and currents of the ocean. Lieutenant Maury was a Virginian by birth, and in 1825 at the age of nineteen, entered the United StateStates [sic] Navy as a midshipman on board the frigate Brandywine. In 1830 he was appointed sailing master of the sloop of war Falmouth, and ordered to the Pacific station. At this time, being