became known that the Thermopylæ was chartered to load new teas at Foo-chow for London; for no racing yachts ever had firmer friends and backers than the tea clippers; moreover, the rivalry between Aberdeen and the Clyde was acute. Of late years the Clyde clippers had carried all before them, and it was now felt that Aberdeen was about to regain, her former glory; but this did not prove to be the case. The Ariel sailed from the Pagoda Anchorage on June 30th; the Leander, July 1st; Thermopylæ, July 3d; Spindrift, July 4th; Taeping, July 9th, and the Sir Launcelot, July 17th. They arrived off Deal as follows: Sir Launcelot, 89 days; Thermopylæ, 91 days; Taeping, 102 days; Leander, 103 days; Ariel, 104 days, and Spindrift, 106 days.
The winner, the Sir Launcelot, was commanded by Captain Robinson, formerly of the Fiery Cross, a seaman of great energy and experience. On this passage she sailed 354 miles in twenty-four hours while running through the trades in the Indian Ocean, which is believed to be the greatest speed ever made by any of the tea clippers of that period. This vessel was 886 tons register; length 197 feet 6 inches, breadth 33 feet 7 inches, depth 21 feet, drawing 18 feet 9 inches aft and 18 feet 7 inches forward, and carried 45,500 square feet of canvas, with a crew of 30 hands all told. She delivered 1430 tons of tea at fifty cubic feet per ton, and in addition to 200 tons of shingle ballast, she carried 100 tons of kentledge, cast to fit the floors along the keelson between the fore and mizzen masts. Her owner, James MacCumm, of Greenock, claimed that she was the fastest of the tea clippers, which
