The _Challenger_ was commanded by Captain Killick, who made eight China voyages in her, the best passage home being 105 days. Although she was never directly matched with her American rival, they both took part in an informal race from China in 1852, while the challenge of the Navigation Club was pending. The passages of the seven vessels, four American and three British, were as follows: _Witch of the Wave_ Canton to Deal 90 days. _Challenge_ Canton to Deal 105 “ _Surprise_ Canton to Deal 106 “ _Stornoway_ Canton to Deal 109 “ _Chrysolite_ Canton to Liverpool 106 “ _Nightingale_ Shanghai to Deal 110 “ _Challenger_ Shanghai to Deal 113 “ It is only fair to state that the _Witch of the Wave_, commanded by Captain Millett, sailed from Canton, January 5th, in the height of the northeast monsoon, and made the run, remarkable even at that season of the year, of 7 days 12 hours from Canton to Java Head, while the three British clippers, _Stornoway_, _Chrysolite_, and _Challenger_, sailed later with a moderate monsoon, and the _Challenge_, _Surprise_, and _Nightingale_ later still, when the monsoon was less favorable. The rate of freight this year was £8 per ton, the highest that was ever paid. This race, if so it can be called, resulted in “win, tie, or wrangle” as it was claimed, for one reason or another, by every vessel engaged in it, and ended by Sampson & Tappan, of Boston, offering to match the _Nightingale_ for £10,000 against any ship, British or American, for a race to China and back. The rivalry of the American clipper ships among themselves was as keen as with those of Great Britain, and this challenge was intended for the Navigation Club, of Boston, of which Sampson & Tappan were not members, and for New York as well, quite as much as for the British clippers; but it found no response from either side of the Atlantic. The _Nightingale_ was owned by Sampson & Tappan for a number of years, during which she made some exceedingly fast passages, under the command of Captain Samuel Mather. Among them were the passage from Portsmouth, England, to Shanghai, against the northeast monsoon, in 106 days in 1853; and during the year 1855 a passage from Shanghai to London in 91 days, and from Batavia Roads to London in 70 days, an average of 197 miles per day, her best day’s run being 336 miles.