| Length of keel | 160 | feet. |
| Length over all | 190 | „ |
| Beam | 31 | „ |
| Depth of hold | 19 | „ |
The Queen of Nations, under Captain Donald, went from Plymouth to Melbourne in 87 and 84 days; but the fastest of these earlier clippers was the well-known Star of Peace, which made four consecutive passages to Sydney of 77, 77, 79, and 79 days under the redoubtable Captain Sproat.
I remember seeing a picture of this fine clipper, representing her off the Eddystone when homeward bound. She was a very rakish looking craft with long overhangs and carried a heavy press of sail, which included double topsails, skysails, main and mizen sky staysails and also three-cornered moonsails stretching to the truck of each mast.
The Ethiopian, on her first voyage to Melbourne, went out in 68 days under Captain William Edward. She sailed her last voyage under the British flag in 1886. She was then rigged as a barque, and on her passage home from Sydney had a remarkable race with the iron Orontes, belonging to the same owners. The two vessels cast off their tugs together outside Sydney Heads, sighted each other off the Horn, were becalmed together in the doldrums, spoke the same ship off the Western Isles; and when the chops of the Channel were reached, the Ethiopian was hove to taking soundings in a fog, when the Orontes came up under her stern within hailing distance. Finally the Ethiopian got into the East India Docks one tide ahead of the Orontes, thus winning the race and a considerable sum in wagers.
The Lucky “Nineveh.”
The Nineveh, built the same year as the Ethiopian, was an extremely lucky ship in her freights and passengers and made a great deal of money. Old Stephen Thompson was so pleased that he gave Captain Barnet a banquet at the Holborn Restaurant, and all through the dinner kept toasting “the lucky Nineveh.”
The “Jerusalem.”
These wooden clippers were often very tender coming home with wool, as the following reminiscence given by Coates in his Good Old Days of Shipping will show:—“Apropos of Jerusalem, I remember a most exciting race with the large American ship Iroquois. We were homeward bound from the Colonies, flying light and very crank, a not uncommon condition with a wool cargo. The Yank was first sighted on our quarter, the wind being quarterly, blowing moderately, though squally at times.
“Whilst the wind remained so the Iroquois had no chance, but when it freshened the Jerusalem heeled over to such an extent that it necessitated sail being taken in. Soon the American was ploughing along to leeward carrying her three topgallant sails and whole mainsail and going as steady as a die, whilst the Jerusalem was flying along with fore and main lower topgallants and reefed mainsail, but heeling over to such a degree that one could barely stand upright, the water roaring up through the lee scuppers, and during the squalls lipping in over the rail.
“In a short time the topgallant sails and mainsail were handed and preparations made to reef the fore topsail. By this time, however, the Iroquois had just passed the beam, when, apparently, her skipper, satisfied to have passed us, snugged his ship down to three reefed topsails and we shortly after lost sight of her in a blinding squall.”