n with particular ships of particular build,
as a guide to future construction. Mr Henry Wise published a volume
about 1840, containing an analysis of one hundred voyages, made by
ships belonging to the East India Company, extracted from the ships'
logs preserved by the Company. It appears that an average gave 112
days as the duration of a voyage from London to Bombay. Now, within
the last few months we have seen that the _Chrysolite_, a small
clipper, built at Aberdeen for a Liverpool firm, has made the run from
England to China in 104 days; and the _Stornoway_, built at the same
place for a London firm, has accomplished the distance in 103 days.
Let the reader open his map, and compare the relative distances of
Bombay and China from England, and he will then see what a wonderful
increase of speed is implied in the above numbers. Three American
clippers were sighted during the out and home voyages of the two
vessels, and, if newspaper reports tell truly, were distanced by them.

We must not expect that the vast and unprecedented emigration to
California and Australia now going on, will be designedly and
materially connected with high speed, because most of the emigrants go
in roomy ships, at fares as low as are attainable; but goods-traffic,
and the higher class of passenger-traffic, are every month coming more
and more within the domain of high speed. Let us take two instances
which 1852 has afforded, one furnished by England, and one by
America--one connected with the Australian trade, and one with the
Chinese. The Aberdeen clipper-built barque, _Phoenician_, arrived at
Plymouth on February 3, having left Sydney on November 12, and
performed the voyage in 83 days! Her previous voyages had varied from
88 to 103 days. The other instance is that of the American clipper,
_Witch of the Wave_, a fine vessel of 1400 tons burden, which left
Canton on 5th January, and arrived in the Downs on 4th April, a period
of 90 days. Her greatest speed is said to have been 338 nautical
miles--equivalent to about 389 English miles--in 24 hours.

Thus it is, we find, that in one voyage we beat the Americans--in
another, they outstrip us; and there seems at present no reason why
either country should fail in making still further advances. The
Liverpool and New York packet-trade affords another example of the
same principle which we have been considering; gradually these truly
noble vessels are acquiring an increased rate of speed. Not onl