Clear of Cape Horn they all went away fast to the northward, rushing through the southeast trades with studdingsails, skysails, water-sails, and ring-tails—every yard of canvass set that would draw. On this stretch to the equator, the Sea Witch fairly flew through the water, and crossed in 22 days from 50° S., leading the Raven 2 and the Typhoon 4 days. They now stood to the northward, close-hauled on the starboard tack, for their final struggle. Here again length and power counted in favor of the Typhoon, and she came up with the Sea Witch and Raven, leading them both into port; the Raven, too, for the first time fairly headed the Sea Witch. The Typhoon glided through the Golden Gate, November 18th, 106 days from Sandy Hook; the Raven, November 19th, 105 days from Boston Light, and the Sea Witch, November 20th, 110 days from Sandy Hook. Here is a brief abstract from their log-books:
| Raven | Typhoon | Sea Witch | ||||
| To the equator in the Atlantic | 25 | days | 27 | days | 29 | days. |
| From the equator to 50° S. | 21 | “ | 23 | “ | 22 | “ |
| From 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific | 14 | “ | 13 | “ | 14 | “ |
| From 50° S. to the equator | 24 | “ | 25 | “ | 22 | “ |
| From the equator to the Golden Gate | 21 | “ | 18 | “ | 23 | “ |
| Total | 105 | “ | 106 | “ | 110 | “ |
This was a great victory for the Raven, the only ship of her tonnage that ever outsailed the Sea Witch, to say nothing of vanquishing the large and famous Typhoon, a ship more than double her size. It should, however, be remembered with regard to the Sea Witch, that she was at that time over five years old, and had led a pretty wild life under Waterman, while she had known no peace with Frazer in command, and had been strained and weakened by hard driving. Moreover, a wooden ship, after five or six years, begins to lose her speed through absorbing water, and becomes sluggish in light airs. In her prime and at her best with Waterman in command, the Sea Witch was probably the fastest sailing-ship of her inches ever built.
The California clippers were, of course, racing all the time, against each other and against the record, and the strain upon their captains in driving their ships against competitors whose relative positions were unknown, was terrific. It became a confirmed habit with them to keep their ships going night and day in all weathers and at their utmost speed.
In order to appreciate what a passage of 110 days or less from an Atlantic port to San Francisco really means, we must take a few of the long passages of 1851, made by ships that were not clippers: Arthur, from New York, 200 days; Austerlitz, Boston, 185 days; Barrington, Boston, 180 days; Bengal, Philadelphia, 185 days; Capitol, Boston, 300 days; Cornwallis, New York, 204 days; Franconia, Boston, 180 days; Henry Allen, New York, 225 days; Inconium, Baltimore, 190 days. The logs of these vessels tell of long, weary days and nights of exasperating calms, and dreary, heart-breaking weeks of battle with tempests off Cape Horn.
Some of the vessels built in 1851 did not take part in the races of that year, as they were not launched until too late; and did not arrive at San Francisco before 1852. Those among them which became most famous were the Hurricane, Comet, Northern Light, Flying Fish, Staffordshire, Trade Wind, Sword-Fish, and Shooting Star. We shall hear of them later.
The record of San Francisco passages for 1851 should not be closed without mention of the pilot-boat Fanny, of 84 tons; length 71 feet, breadth 18 feet 4 inches, depth 7 feet 2 inches, built by Daniel D. Kelly at East Boston in 1850. This schooner was commanded by Captain William Kelly, a brother of her builder, and arrived at San Francisco February 18, 1851, 108 days from Boston. She passed through the Straits of Magellan and thus saved a considerable distance; but even allowing for this, her passage was a very remarkable one for a vessel of her tonnage, and reflects much credit upon the skill and courage of her captain and his plucky companions.
CHAPTER XII
AMERICAN COMPETITION WITH GREAT BRITAIN IN THE CHINA TRADE
THE California clippers, after discharging their cargoes at San Francisco, either returned in ballast round Cape Horn, or continued their voyages across the Pacific and loaded cargoes at Asiatic ports for the United States or Great Britain.
Some of the ships which sailed to China from San Francisco, raced across the Pacific in ballast, touching at the Sandwich Islands only long enough to back the main yard off Diamond Head and send the mails ashore with perhaps a missionary or two. In those days the Kanaka maidens used to swim off alongside the ships, and they were probably the nearest approach to mermaids that has ever been known in real life. The Stag-Hound made the passage from San Francisco to Honolulu in 9, and the Flying Cloud and Surprise in 12 days each. The Flying Cloud sailed 374 miles in twenty-four hours, the day after leaving San Francisco, with a fresh whole-sail breeze and smooth sea, under sky-sails and royal studdingsails. The Southern Cross made the passage from San Francisco to Hong-kong in 32, and the Game-Cock in 35 days, the run of the Game-Cock from Honolulu to Hong-kong in 19 days being most remarkable. When these and other fast American vessels loaded again in China for English ports, they, of course, added to the competition from which British ships were already suffering.