Fig. 69.—Free-trade barque.
Fig. 70.—The Bazaar. American cotton-ship. 1832.
In 1840, when steamers had already commenced to cross the Atlantic, a much faster and better-shaped type of sailing-packet was put upon the New York-Havre route. These vessels were of from 800 to 1,000 tons. One of them, the Sir John Franklin, is shown in Fig. [71]. They offered to passengers the advantages of a quick passage, excellent sea=going qualities, and, compared with the cotton-ships, most comfortable quarters. The Americans had also about this time admirable sailing-packets trading with British ports.
In the early fifties the doom of the sailing-packet on comparatively short voyages, such as that between New York and Western European ports, had been already sealed; but, for distant countries, such as China and Australia, and for cargo-carrying purposes in many trades, the sailing-ship was still able to hold its own. Fig. [72] represents an American three-masted clipper called the Ocean Herald, built in the year 1855. She was 245 ft. long, 45 ft. in beam, and of 2,135 tons. Her ratio of length to breadth was 5.45 to 1.
Fig. [73] is an illustration of the Great Republic, which was one of the finest of the American clippers owned by Messrs. A. Law and Co., of New York. She was 305 ft. long, 53 ft. beam, 30 ft. depth of hold, and of 3,400 tons. She was the first vessel fitted with double topsails. Her spread of canvas, without counting stay-sails, amounted to about 4,500 square yards. She had four decks, and her timber structure was strengthened from end to end with a diagonal lattice-work of iron.