The Beautiful Little “Berean.”

The best known, as well as the fastest, of all Walker’s barques was the beautiful little Berean. She was built by Pile, of Sunderland, on similar lines to the tea clippers Maitland and Undine, and was launched in August, 1869. She was a 19-year A1 ship, and so fine was the shipwright’s workmanship that when she was 18 years old and due for remetalling, Mr. Spencer, Lloyd’s senior surveyor, who was superintending the work, asked Captain Wyrill when she was last caulked, to which he got the reply:—-“On the stocks before launching.” Mr. Spencer could hardly believe this surprising statement; he had the seams of the topsides put to the severest test, but was obliged to admit that they could not be improved, his opinion being shared by the master caulker. And the Berean continued to the end of her career without being recaulked; even after years of carrying heavy ice cargoes when owned by Norwegians, it was not deemed necessary to touch her seams.

Captain JOHN WYRILL, of “Berean.”

“BEREAN.”

From a painting in possession of the late Captain John Wyrill.

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Her registered measurements were:—

Net tonnage	526 tons.
Gross tonnage	542 „
Under deck	506 „
Length	160.5 feet.
Breadth	30.2 „
Depth	17.2 „

She had a raised quarterdeck 43 feet long. This was laid with New Zealand Kauri pine planking, 4 inches wide, extending the full length without a butt, and what is more without a knot. All the deck fittings, houses, fiferails, skylights and topgallant bulwarks were of selected teak, the bulwarks being panelled with fretwork designs. The boats also were of polished teak; in fact, the only bit of painted wood about the decks was the longboat chocks. Even the bunk boards and lining of the foc’s’le were of teak.

The Berean carried skysails for many years, and the following are her spar measurements:—

Spars.	Foremast.	Mainmast.	Mizen mast.
	ft.	ft.	ft.
Mast (deck to truck)	112	116	93
Lower mast (deck to cap)	50	54	50
Doublings	12	12	9
Topmast	38	38	29
Doublings	6.6	6.6	—
Topgallant, royal and skysail masts	42.6	42.6	23
Lower yard	62	62	—
Lower topsail yard	55	55	—
Upper topsail yard	50	50	—
Topgallant yard	40	40	—
Royal yard	30	30	—
Skysail yard	23	23	—
Spanker boom	—	—	44.6
Spanker gaff	—	—	44
Bowsprit and jibboom	48

Berean’s best point of sailing was with a whole sail breeze and smooth water, the wind quarterly or 2 points abaft the beam. Her best run in the 24 hours was 315 miles. She was, of course, too small and hardly powerful enough to equal the larger iron clippers when running down the easting, but in moderate weather there were not many ships which could show her their sterns. The following sailing records will give some idea of her powers:—

Equator to the Channel	17 days.
First 4 passages out averaged	77 „
First 4 passages home averaged	84 „

In sailing round the world from 30° S., 20° W., to 30° S., 20° W., her yearly average was from 80 to 85 days, her quickest circle of the globe being 76 days.

Her best outward passage to Launceston was:—

71 days pilot to pilot.
68 days land to land.

In 1881-2 she ran from Launceston to the Lizard in 79 days. During her first 14 voyages, all her passages were under 90 days. She generally left the West India Docks in May and was back in the Thames about the following March.