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26 et," and others built about the same time. It is of the as and officers of | this fleet of noted ships that I would give the full meed of praise. They live in the memory of the few of their day that still float at their moorings here below. 'Lieut. F. Maury, then of the United States navy, in his physical geography of the sea, writes of these men as follows: "That this magnificent fleet of Amer- ican clipper ships were skilfully nav- igated, ably handled, and _ bravely sailed, we have ample proof." Their commanders and officers were pioneers in a system of philanthropical re- search that has unquestionably been the means of shortening the voyages from port to port by many days. Before the advent of these fast ships, vessels leaving our North Atlantic ports for destinations south of the - equator, would work far to the east- ward in the variable winds north of _ the northeast trade winds, in order to fall in with the Cape Verde islands, and follow the beaten track of the Dutch and Portuguese of the sixteenth century. From here they would en- ' deavor to cross the equator as far east as the 20 or 25 degrees of west longi- tude, and were thus forced to work their way through a wide belt of calms and doldrums that are known to exist in that locality. The belt of calms: and haffling winds taking the form of a wedge, extending from Cape St. Roque, the northeast point of Bra- zil, to the coast of Africa, the point of the wedge terminating at Cape St. Roque. Thus, the farther east one erossed the equator, the more calms and doldrums he encountered. But the object in making the crossing so far to the eastward was to enable them after taking the southeast trade winds on the port tack, and so pass south of Cape St. Roque and Point Olinda as well without tacking. (For it was said that no ship could make head- way against the sweeping current to the north should they fall to leeward of this much dreaded cape.) Hence the detour and loss of time by our earlier navigators. The old story of shipwreck and suf- fering by the more ancient and less _ courageous navigators who had fallen - to leeward and after repeated efforts to beat round Cape St. Roque, gave up in despair, and bore away for the variables and the gulf stream to as- sist them to again get in a position to weather St. Roque; had a most de- pressing effect on the old time naviga- tor with his sho-t, full-bowed vessel, TAE Marine REVIEW that would scarce brace within seven points of the wind. But 'the dawn of a new era in our merchant marine, which the evolution of time and circumstances had forced to the front, caused an awakening of the maritime world to the need of a more intelligent understanding of the ocean highways between the nations of the earth, came with the building of our first fleet of clipper ships. The able and courageous men that sailed them, with minds and heart not only free from the old time supersti- tions and dread, but buoyant with cour- age and daring, were the "instruments that the great admiral had seen fit to provide to clear the seas of imaginary dangers, to blaze new paths through hitherto unfrequented seas, and 'thus shorten the distance from port to port the world over. Through ithe instrumentality of that very able seaman, Lieut. F. Maury, a system of research was introduced 'and established, and a special form of abstract log, as it was called, was provided and forwarded by the super- intendent of the national observatory at Washington, to the masters and officers who cared to enter the field of inquiry; and the navigator was re- quested ito note in this abstract log, from three to as many times as his interest in the work would permit, during each 24 hours, the position his vessel, giving the latitude and longitude by observation when possi- ble; the reading of the barometer, air and water thermometers, the direction from which the wind came, and its force calculated by the sail the vessel would carry when close haul, the rate and set of the current by the differ- ence between dead reckoning and .ob- servation; also.the duration of calms. They were also requested to gather flotsam, sedges, seaweeds, leaves, and any floating matter they could secure by means of grapple and dip-net; not- ing the latitude and longitude the vessel was in when the floating mat- ter was secured. This collection of data was, on arrival at port of des- tination, forwarded to Lieut, Maury at Washington, and by him was com- pared with hundreds of similar ab- stract logs, and thus forming the nu- cleus of the celebrated wind and cur- Fent Chatis, and a new era to the navigator. By this system of inquiry calms, adverse currents and circuitous routes were avoided, and the average passage from New York to San Francisco was 'reduced. from 183 to 135 days, and from England to Australia from 122 to 97 days," and so throughout the 'the proposition at once. seas frequented by these ships a io. table saving in time was made. "The spirit of friendly emulation among the officers of these ships, in the cause of science and progress in their profes- sion, was crowned with success." [pn referring to the wind and current - charts and the support and confidence they afforded the master, Lieut. Maury says: "The quick, practical mind of the American ship-master took hold of To 'him the field was inviting, for he saw in it the promise of a rich harvest." And in referring to the great ocean race from New York to San Francisco in the fall of 1852, between the clipper ships, "Wild Pigeon," Captain Putnam, "John Gilpin," Captain Done, "Flying-fish," Captain Nichols, and the 'Drage Winds," Captain Webber, he writes: "Like steeds that knew their drivers, they were handled with the utmost skill and judgment, each put upon his mettle from the start, was driven under a seaman's whip and spur, at full speed, over a course that would take three long months to run." "The race was won by the 'Flying- fish" and their respective passages were 118, 93, 92, and 102 days.' From the knowledge thus obtained by close and careful investigation of the causes that have retarded the voyages of the earlier navigator, they were able to avoid the mudholes, and difficulties that beset them. The importance of these investigations then in their full flood, attracted the attention of. the commercial world, and the United © States invited the maritime nations to a conference with the view of united action in the work: And on Aug: 23, 1853, a conference was held at Brus- sels, where the following nations were represented: England, France, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Portugal and the United States. At this conference a uniform system of » observation at sea was adopted. Prus- sia, Spain, Australia and the maritime divisions of South America soon after offered their co-operation in the great work, and it was agreed that in peace, and in war, these observations should be carried on. And in case any of the vessels on board which they were conducted were captured, the abstract log or journal of observation was to be held sacred," And so we claim, without fear of contradiction, that the unity of action among the American captains and of- ficers of our fleet of fast ships, built between the years of 1849 and 1855, by which the nations of the earth have. received incalculable benefits, was brought about by the _ intelligent