in seventy-nine--records which were never surpassed.

With what consummate skill and daring this master mariner drove his ship
and how the race of hardy sailors to which he belonged compared with
those of other nations may be descried in the log of another of them,
Captain Philip Dumaresq, homeward bound from China in 1849 in the
clipper Great Britain. Three weeks out from Java Head she had overtaken
and passed seven ships heading the same way, and then she began to rush
by them in one gale after another. Her log records her exploits in such
entries as these: "Passed a ship under double reefs, we with our royals
and studdingsails set.... Passed a ship laying-to under a close-reefed
maintopsail.... Split all three topsails and had to heave to.... Seven
vessels in sight and we outsail all of them.... Under double-reefed
topsails passed several vessels hove-to." Much the same record might be
read in the log of the medium clipper Florence--and it is the same story
of carrying sail superbly on a ship which had been built to stand
up under it: "Passed two barks under reefed courses and close-reefed
topsails standing the same way, we with royals and topgallant
studding-sails," or "Passed a ship under topsails, we with our royals
set." For eleven weeks "the topsail halliards were started only once, to
take in a single reef for a few hours." It is not surprising, therefore,
to learn that, seventeen days out from Shanghai, the Florence exchanged
signals with the English ship John Hagerman, which had sailed thirteen
days before her.

Two notable events in the history of the nineteenth century occurred
within the same year, 1849, to open new fields of trade to the Yankee
clipper. One of these was the repeal of the British Navigation Laws
which had given English ships a monopoly of the trade between London
and the British East Indies, and the other was the discovery of gold
in California. After centuries of pomp and power, the great East India
Company had been deprived of its last exclusive rights afloat in 1833.
Its ponderous, frigate-built merchantmen ceased to dominate the British
commerce with China and India and were sold or broken up. All British
ships were now free to engage in this trade, but the spirit and customs
of the old regime still strongly survived. Flying the house-flags of
private owners, the East Indiamen and China tea ships were still built
and manned like frigates, slow, comfortable, snugging down for the night