rope. It was estimated that by replacing wood and hemp with steel, she saved 21 tons weight aloft, besides getting less wind resistance and a very considerable increase in strength. The Seaforth was the first vessel to have steel spars and rigging, but they soon came into use on board the tea clippers.
The wild, speculative years of ship-owning which followed the discovery of gold in California and Australia, when a clipper ship was expected to pay for herself every voyage or two, had now passed away. Ship-owners retained a lively recollection of the crash in 1857 and the depression which followed, so the tea clippers were built with an eye to economy as well as speed. The rates of freight, which in the early fifties had been £6 and even as high as £8 per ton, were in 1863 £4 10s. to £5 per ton—still fine paying rates on the investment of capital, after allowing for running expenses and depreciation. Ship-owning in Great Britain had now become established upon a less profitable, though more rational and substantial basis.
The tea clippers carried from 200 to 300 tons of clean shingle ballast, laid beautifully smooth and even, upon which the chests of tea were stowed, and a considerable quantity of dunnage wood, for which allowances were made in reckoning the actual cargo capacity. The Taeping, which under the new rules based on the cubic capacity of the hull registered 767 tons, carried 1234 tons of tea at 50 cubit feet per ton, with a crew of 30 men all told. Vessels were now designed on scientific principles, and it may be doubted whether the qualities then desirable in a merchant sailing ship—speed, strength, carrying capacity, and economy—have ever been so successfully united as in these famous China tea clippers.
Some exciting contests took place between the various clippers of the new type, the Falcon, Fiery Cross, Serica, and Taeping proving the most successful. In the year 1865 the Fiery Cross and Serica sailed from Foo-chow side by side, on May 28th, both bound for London. After a close race during which they sighted each other several times, both ships made their signals off St. Catharine’s, Isle of Wight, at almost the same moment, 106 days from Foo-chow, and continued up Channel before a light westerly breeze. Off Beechy Head they fell in with the tugs sent out to meet them, the Serica at that time having a lead of about two miles. The Fiery Cross, however, secured the most powerful tug and reached her dock one tide before the Serica, thus winning the premium of 10 shillings per ton. The Taeping sailed from Foo-chow some days later and made the passage to the Downs in 101 days. As may be supposed, this system of awarding premiums led to a good deal of unpleasantness.
In 1865, Robert Steele & Son brought out the sister ships Ariel and Sir Launcelot; Alexander Hall, the Ada, and Connell & Co., of Glasgow, the Taitsing, all of composite construction; and in the following year the most famous race between these vessels—the one which the tea brokers of Mincing Lane still discuss with enthusiasm—was sailed. It was arranged that nine clippers should sail from Foo-chow as nearly the same date as possible, and during the last week in May the picturesque Pagoda Anchorage presented a scene of unusual activity. The Ada, Black Prince, Chinaman, Fiery Cross, Flying Spur, Serica, Ariel, Taeping, and Taitsing were all hurrying to finish loading and get to sea. Cargo junks and lorchers[17] were being warped alongside at all hours of the day and night; double gangs of good-natured, chattering coolies were on board each ship ready to handle and stow the matted chests of tea as they came alongside; comfortable sampans worked by merry barefooted Chinese women sailed or rowed in haste between the ships and the shore; slender six-oared gigs with crews of stalwart Chinamen in white duck uniforms darted about the harbor; while dignified master mariners, dressed in white linen or straw-colored pongee silk, with pipe-clayed shoes and broad pith hats, impatiently handled the yoke lines.
On shore the tyepans and their clerks hurried about in sedan chairs carried on the shoulders of perspiring coolies, with quick, firm step to the rhythm of their mild but energetic “woo ho—woo-ho—woo ho.â€� The broad, cool veranda of the clubhouse was almost deserted; in the great hongs of Adamson, Bell; Gilman & Co.; Jardine, Matheson; Gibb, Livingston; and Sassoon, the gentry of Foo-chow toiled by candle-light over manifests and bills of lading and exchange, sustained far into the night by slowly swinging punkahs, iced tea, and the fragrant Manila cheroot.
The Fiery Cross was the first ship to get her final chest of tea on board, at midnight, and she towed to sea early on the morning of May 29th; the Ariel left the Pagoda Anchorage at 10:30 and the Serica and Taeping at 10:50 A.M. on the 30th; the Taitsing followed at midnight on the 31st. Here we must bid good-bye to the Ada, Black Prince, Chinaman, and Flying Spur, for these vessels, unfortunately, did not finish loading in time to take part in the race. The five competing ships, however, represented the flower of the fleet, and for this reason had been the favorites with shippers. The Fiery Cross, Taeping, and Serica were fast and well-tried vessels, while the Ariel and Taitsing were just beginning their successful career. The captains, Keay, of the Ariel; Robinson, of the Fiery Cross; Innes, of the Serica; McKinnon, of the Taeping, and Nutsfield, of the Taitsing, were all seamen of skill and experience, well known in the China trade.
The Fiery Cross found a light northeast breeze outside, and passed through the Formosa Channel with royal studdingsails set, followed by the other four ships. They all carried this breeze for four hundred miles, when the Fiery Cross drifted into a calm which let the other ships run up, but she was the first to get the southwest monsoon, and soon drew away again. On June 8th the Fiery Cross and Ariel met on opposite tacks, both ships having a strong southwest breeze, and the Fiery Cross passed three miles to windward. She kept her lead through the Straits of Sunda, passing Anjer Point at noon on June 19th, and was followed by the Ariel on the morning of June 20th and the Taeping during that afternoon; the Serica passed Anjer Point on the 22d and the Taitsing on the 25th. From Anjer Point to the meridian of Mauritius they all carried fresh trade winds, and it was on this stretch across the Indian Ocean that each ship made her best twenty-four hours’ run—the Ariel, 317; Taeping, 319; Serica, 291; Fiery Cross, 328; and Taitsing, 318 miles.
The Fiery Cross rounded the Cape of Good Hope on July 14th, 46 days from Foo-chow, followed by the Ariel also 46 days; Taeping, 47 days; Serica, 50 days, and Taitsing, 54 days. The Fiery Cross was on the equator, August 3d, 20 days from the Cape of Good Hope, with the Ariel still only one day astern, while the Taeping and Taitsing had each gained 1 and the Serica 2 days on this stretch. On August 9th, in latitude 12° 29′ N., the Fiery Cross and Taeping exchanged signals, and they continued in company, with calms and variable winds until the 17th, when the Taeping picked up a breeze which carried her out of sight while the Fiery Cross lay becalmed for another twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, the Ariel, which was about thirty miles further to the westward, found better winds and now led the fleet, while the Taitsing brought up a good breeze and passed the Taeping, Serica, and Fiery Cross and was closing on the Ariel. At the Azores the Ariel still held the lead, though closely followed by the Taitsing, Fiery Cross, Serica, and Taeping in the order named. From the Azores to the entrance of the English Channel, the Taeping and Serica passed the Taitsing and Fiery Cross and closed on the Ariel, the Taeping leading the Serica by about six hours.