This was Cimba’s last voyage under the British flag; she came home from Caleta Buena to Falmouth in 85 days, and was then sold (March, 1906) to the Norwegians owing to the death of her owner.
Under the Norwegians she made a remarkable passage from Dublin to the St. Lawrence in 14 days; lumber was now her chief cargo and she used often to be seen discharging firewood from the Baltic in the Aberdeen Bay, East India Dock, where she had so often loaded general for Sydney.
| PASSAGES UNDER 80 DAYS TO SYDNEY IN 1878. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Departure | Crossed Equator | Crossed Cape Meridian | Passed S.W. Cape Tasmania | Arrived | Days Out | ||||||
| Loch Etive | Scillies | Jan. | 17 | Feb. | 6 | Mar. | 4 | Mar | 28 | Apl. | 3 | 76 |
| Thomas Stephens | Plymouth | June. | 15 | July | 18 | Aug. | 1 | Aug. | 21 | Aug. | 31 | 77 |
| PASSAGES TO MELBOURNE UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1878. | ||||||||||||
| Ship | Departure | Crossed Equator | Crossed Cape Meridian | Passed Cape (Otway) | Arrived | Days Out | ||||||
| Thessalus | Lizard | Mar. | 7 | Mar. | 28 | Apl. | 20 | May | 14 | 68 | ||
| Parthenope | Tuskar | July | 7 | July | 31 | Aug. | 20 | Sept. | 16 | 71 | ||
| Aristides | Start | July | 3 | July | 27 | Aug. | 18 | Sept. | 15 | 74 | ||
| Miltiades | Start | May | 31 | June | 30 | July | 21 | Aug. | 13 | Aug. | 14 | 75 |
| Loch Vennachar | Smalls | July | 10 | Aug. | 4 | Aug. | 29 | Sept. | 23 | 75 | ||
| Old Kensington | Lizard | June | 5 | July | 2 | July | 24 | Aug. | 19 | Aug. | 20 | 76 |
| Aviemore | Start | June | 29 | July | 27 | Aug. | 18 | Sept. | 15 | Sept. | 16 | 79 |
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1878.
Thessalus was the heroine of the year, though on her arrival in Melbourne critics declared that she was too deeply loaded for safety.
Miltiades had a bad time running her easting down; on more than one occasion her decks were badly swept, and once Captain Perrett was washed off the poop on to the main deck and had his head badly cut about.
Loch Vennachar, owing to the death of Captain Robertson, had a new skipper in Captain J. S. Ozanne, her late chief officer. He proved that he could carry sail by two 24-hour runs of 325 and 311 miles.
Captain Stuart made a very good maiden passage out to Sydney, but Loch Etive never had anything like the speed of his old ship the Tweed.
Parthenope had the veteran Captain Grey in command this year, and he certainly made her travel. Of the other crack ships Salamis was 83 and Samuel Plimsoll 86 days to Sydney; whilst of the Melbourne clippers Loch Garry was 80, Loch Maree 82, Mermerus, Ben Cruachan and Romanoff 83, Sir Walter Raleigh 84 and Ben Voirlich 87 days. Neither of the two tea clippers, Cutty Sark and Thermopylae, sailed for the Colonies in 1878.