From Sandy Hook to the equator: Great Republic, 16 days; Flying Cloud, Northern Light, Sea Serpent, Storm (barque), White Swallow, 17 days; Adelaide, Jacob Bell, Surprise, Sweepstakes, 18 days; Atlanta, Flying Fish, Golden Gate, Hornet, Samuel Russell, Tingqua, 19 days; Archer, Antelope, Climax, Courier, Comet, David Brown, Hazard, Sirocco, Tornado, White Squall, 20 days. In February, 1858, the Stag Hound, commanded by Captain Hussey, made the run from Boston Light to the equator in the phenomenal time of 13 days, eclipsing all records.
From Cape St. Roque to 50° S.: Samuel Russell, 16 days; Hornet, Ocean Pearl, 17 days; Bald Eagle, Comet, Electric, Hurricane, Ocean Express, Raven, 18 days; Electric Spark, Galatea, Governor Morton, John Gilpin, Sovereign of the Seas, Sword-Fish, Witch of the Wave, 19 days; Aurora, Flying Fish, Golden Gate, John Wade, Mandarin, North America, Panama, Ringleader, Seaman, Sea Witch, Skylark, Trade Wind, 20 days.
From 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific: Young America, 6 days; Flying Fish, Flying Cloud, Robin Hood, 7 days; Flying Dutchman (twice), Herald of the Morning, Stag Hound, Sword-Fish, 8 days; Mary L. Sutton, Sovereign of the Seas, Great Republic, 9 days; Atlanta, Golden City, Hornet, Snap Dragon (barque), Sweepstakes, Typhoon, Whistler, 10 days.
From 50° S. in the Pacific to the equator: Live Yankee, Mary L. Sutton, 16 days; Flying Cloud, Sweepstakes, 17 days; Celestial, Eagle, Hurricane, John Bertram, Surprise, Young America, 18 days; Belle of the West, Courser, Don Quixote, Flying Dutchman (twice), Flying Fish, Mermaid, Neptune’s Car, Ocean Telegraph, Sirocco, Starlight, Sword-Fish, Wild Pigeon, Winged Arrow, 19 days; Alarm, Archer, Electric, Flying Dragon, Golden Eagle, John Gilpin, Malay, Stag Hound, Starr King, Syren, Shooting Star, Telegraph, Unknown, 20 days.
From the equator to San Francisco: White Squall, 14 days; Flying Cloud, John Gilpin, Phantom, 15 days; Antelope, Comet, Contest, Flying Dutchman, Game-Cock, Trade Wind, 16 days; Aurora, Flying Fish (twice), Sovereign of the Seas, Surprise, Young America, 17 days; Cleopatra, Challenge, Golden City, John Bertram, Samuel Appleton, Seaman, Sea Witch, Staffordshire, Typhoon, Westward Ho, Winged Arrow, 18 days; Bald Eagle, Boston Light, Defender, Eagle, Electric, Golden Eagle, Great Republic, Hornet, N. B. Palmer, Wild Pigeon, 19 days; Celestial, Cyclone, Eureka, Governor Morton, Herald of the Morning, Intrepid, Living Age, Ocean Telegraph, Raven, Samuel Russell, Sparkling Wave, Sword-Fish, 20 days.
These records indicate the remarkable sailing qualities of the clipper ships, for, if the quickest single runs are added together—the Stag Hound’s 13 days from Boston Light to the equator with an allowance of 2 days for the run from the equator to Cape St. Roque; the Samuel Russell’s 16 days from Cape St. Roque to 50° S.; the Young America’s 6 days from 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific; the Live Yankee’s and Mary L. Sutton’s 16 days from 50° S. to the equator; and the White Squall’s 14 days from the equator to San Francisco—we find that these six ships sailed long distances at the rate of a passage of 67 days from Boston Light to San Francisco, or 22 days less than the record of the Flying Cloud and Andrew Jackson—89 days. Yet no one of the six ships which made these splendid runs made the passage from an Atlantic port to San Francisco in less than 100 days.
The records of the other ships are even more remarkable, for allowing 20 days as the outside limit of the four longer runs, with 10 days from 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific and 2 days from the equator to Cape St. Roque, we find that no less than 157 runs were made over distances of thousands of miles, most of them considerably within an average rate of 92 days from Sandy Hook to San Francisco, or well within 3 days of the fastest record time. These records prove, if proof were needed, that the reputation of American clipper ships for speed does not rest upon the fast passages of a few ships, but is based upon the established records of many swift vessels.
Judged by any standard of beauty, the American clipper ships were handsome, noble-looking vessels. During the past fifty years I have seen many fleets of men-of-war and merchant ships, besides naval reviews, and at various times the squadrons of yachts that gather each summer in Cowes Roads and Newport Harbor, but I have never seen a collection of vessels which could compare in stately beauty with the fleet of American clipper ships which lay in the harbor of Hong-kong during the autumn of 1858.
The American clippers were all built of wood and their hulls were painted black from the metal up, though the Invincible carried a crimson stripe, and the Challenge, N. B. Palmer, Sweepstakes, and perhaps two or three others, a stripe of gold. Their yards and bowsprits were usually painted black, the lower masts white to the tops, with the tops and doublings above scraped bright and varnished, but the Challenge, Young America, and Mandarin carried black lower masts, and a few other ships kept their lower masts bright.
Many of their figureheads were of considerable artistic excellence, being designed by skilful artists, some of whom have already been mentioned. The Romance of the Seas carried the full-length figure of an ancient navigator, whose original might have stood on the high poop of Magellan’s flag-ship, with head bent forward and right hand raised to shade his eager eyes, as he gazed upon an unknown land in an uncharted sea. The Sea Serpent carried a long slender serpent, whose life-like, slimy-looking body, picked out in shades of green and gold, suggested his recent escape from the waters of one of the summer resorts along the Atlantic coast. The Nightingale carried a beautiful bust of Jenny Lind, for whom she was named. The Panama carried at her bow a nude, full-length figure of a beautiful woman with arms extended, pure white and of great artistic merit, perhaps the most beautiful figurehead ever carried by a ship. The Flying Fish carried a fish on the wing, of life-like color and giving a vivid sense of speed; the Witchcraft, a grim Salem witch riding upon her aerial broomstick; the Game-Cock, a fighting bird with outstretched neck and head, apparently eager for combat; the Northern Light, the full-length figure of an angelic creature in flowing white drapery, one graceful arm extended above her head, and bearing in her slender hand a torch with golden flame.