at more
hopeful, for these Natal clippers were not wholly strange to me. The
ship to which I had lately belonged had loaded her outward cargo in the
same dock with one or another of them on more than one occasion, and I
had noticed them as being exceptionally smart-looking little craft; and
I had frequently heard them spoken of in highly favourable terms, by men
who had sailed in them. I knew, moreover, that, until very lately, a
strong feeling of rivalry had existed between the owners whose ships
were in that particular trade--especially those who made a speciality of
passenger-carrying--each owner striving his utmost to earn for his own
ships the reputation of being the fastest and most comfortable in the
trade. I was therefore in hopes that, if the _Esmeralda_ had indeed
been especially built for a Natal liner, she might not prove so
hopelessly unlike her description as had been most of the ships I had
taken the trouble to inspect; and I therefore determined to have a look
at her forthwith, lest so eligible a craft as she seemed to be--on
paper--should slip through my fingers.

The place at which it was necessary to apply for further particulars was
in Fenchurch Street; and upon making my way thither, I discovered that
it was the office of the owners. I stated my business to one of the
clerks, and was immediately turned over to a keen-looking elderly man
who at once invited me into his private sanctum, and, as a preliminary,
showed me a half-model of the vessel. It was a very plainly got up
affair, intended merely to exhibit the general shape and mould of the
hull; but I had no sooner taken it into my hands and cast a critical
glance or two at the lines of the entrance and run, than I decided
conclusively that I had never in my life set eyes upon a more handsome
craft. The model showed her to be shallow and very beamy of hull; but
her lines were as fine as those of a yacht, and indeed the entire shape
of the hull was yacht-like in the extreme. Having expressed, in
becomingly moderate terms, my satisfaction, so far, I was next given the
specification to look through; and a careful perusal of this document
convinced me that, if the craft had been built up to it, she was
undoubtedly as staunch a ship as wood and metal could make her.

The next question was that of price; and though, when it was named, a
disinterested person might perhaps have been disposed to consider the
expression "breaking-up price" as somewh