under the new conditions, are willing to augment the stake to £20,000, or any higher sum than the £10,000 of the present conditions most agreeable to us, but the last amount to be the minimum. The Americans want a match, and it reflects somewhat upon our chivalry not to accommodate them.” The London _Daily News_ also published a leader in which it urged the importance to Great Britain of making good her claim to maritime supremacy by accepting the challenge and winning the race; but in spite of all that was said the challenge was not accepted. Had it been, Captain Dumaresq would have commanded the American ship, and Lieutenant Maury was to have prepared special wind and current charts for his assistance. As nearly all the American clippers had been constructed for the California trade, it is probable that for an important race of this nature, two ships would have been built especially for the China trade, and very likely by Donald McKay and Samuel Hall, as the _Flying Cloud_, _Flying Fish_, _Stag-Hound_, _Game-Cock_, and _Surprise_ had already placed these two in the front rank of clipper ship builders. No reason was ever given for the non-acceptance of the challenge, though the inference seems obvious. It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that the _Stornoway_ and _Chrysolite_ were not fast vessels; for they were probably the two fastest ships sailing under the British flag at that time, and were ably commanded, and on a China voyage, which is very different sailing from a San Francisco or Australian passage, would have given any ship afloat a run for her owner’s money. The fitful uncertainty of the monsoons in the China seas, with an occasional typhoon thrown in, has always rendered the voyages to and from China rather unsatisfactory tests of speed, and in this respect not to be compared with those to Australia or to San Francisco. The _Stornoway_ and _Chrysolite_ were soon followed by other British clipper ships, among them the _Abergeldie_, of 600 tons register, built by Walter Hood & Co., of Aberdeen, in 1851. This vessel was named for an estate that adjoins Balmoral, at that time under a forty years’ lease to Prince Albert, and carried a figurehead of His Royal Highness in full Highland costume. In 1852, Richard Green, of London, built the _Challenger_, of 699 tons. This ship, owned by W. S. Lindsay, of London, was constructed with the avowed purpose of beating the _Challenge_ of New York. A comparison of the dimensions of this ship and those of the _Sword-Fish_, 1036 tons, is interesting. Length Breadth Depth _Challenger_ 174 ft. 32 ft. 20 ft. _Sword-Fish_ 169 ft. 6 in. 36 ft. 6 in. 20 ft.