The homeward runs I have had to put in the [Appendix] for want of space, as this part has run to far greater length than I had contemplated at first.

The races to catch the wool sales will thus be found in [Appendix F], under the heading of “The Wool Fleet.”

Notes on Passages to Australia in 1873.

The fine passage of Miltiades and the maiden passages of Samuel Plimsoll and Ben Cruachan I have already described. The 66 days of Thomas Stephens was a very fine performance. She left Gravesend on 30th August, with a very heavy general cargo, which put her down in the water like a sand barge. She crossed the equator in 26° 55′ W. and was then forced over on to the South American coast near Pernambuco by very unfavourable S.E. trades. The meridian of Greenwich was crossed on 12th October in 44° 33′ S. Her best week’s work running down the easting was 2055 miles, and she would have equalled the run of Miltiades but for 48 hours of calm in the neighbourhood of the Otway. She arrived in Melbourne after an absence of only seven months, including nine weeks in London.

“RODNEY.”

Photo lent by F. G. Layton.

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“LOCH GARRY.”