Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
across the harbour. The fire was quite uncontrollable so it was de-
cided to sink the ship. The result was not encouraging. Cannon shot,
fired at a range of three hundred yards, either missed or made holes
which allowed in fresh currents of air to fan the flames. The stricken
Lightning
burned all day before slipping beneath the water in a great
cloud of steam and smoke.
By then other fine clippers had joined her in the record books.
But the achievement of fast passages to and from the Antipodes is
not only attributable to demanding shipowners and reckless cap-
tains. Behind every magnificent ship was a yard where a thousand
skills were concentrated in the hands of craftsmen. The best vessels,
such as
Lightning, Red Jacket
and
Sovereign of the Seas
came out of
Nova Scotia and New England. They were narrow in the beam yet
balanced. Their masts were strong and well braced to carry maxim-
um canvas without springing. So superbly designed were these craft
that captains and passengers alike testified that they could run up to
eighteen and nineteen knots before a following wind without bury-
ing their noses in the waves.
The New World made another important contribution to the
reputation of the great square-riggers. This was Matthew Fontaine
Maury. Maury spent fourteen years in the navy (during which time
he made a circumnavigation, 1826-1830) before being invalided
out, in 1839, and placed in charge of the depot of charts and in-
struments. He devoted himself, henceforth, to the study of oceanic
winds and currents. In order to gather as much information as pos-
sible he had special log books distributed to naval captains and he
persuaded his counterparts in other countries to pool information.
One result was an international conference at Brussels in 1853, the
first such gathering to discuss maritime meteorology. It was Maury
who advocated the Atlantic and southern ocean routes which were
followed by all sailing masters looking for a fast passage. Previously,
captains had avoided the potential lee shore of Brazil, coasted the
