The _Surprise_ proved one of the most successful American clippers in the China trade. After her first voyage she was for a number of years commanded by the captains Charles Ranlett, father and son, and in their hands made many fine passages--she made eleven consecutive passages from China to New York in 89 days or less, six from Hong-kong, and five from Shanghai, the best being 81 days from Shanghai, in 1857. Among other fast passages from Canton to New York may be mentioned those of the _Stag-Hound_ 85, 91, and 92 days; _Flying Cloud_, 94 and 96 days; _N. B. Palmer_, 84 days; _Comet_, _Panama_, and _Hurricane_, each 99 days; _Sword-Fish_, 80 days; _Sea Serpent_, 88 days; _Vancouver_, 96 days; _Mandarin_, 89 days; but I am unable to find that Captain Waterman’s passage of 77 days in the _Sea Witch_ in 1848, and 78 days in the _Natchez_ in 1845, from Canton to New York, have ever been beaten. In 1854 the _Comet_ made a record passage of 84 days from Liverpool to Hong-kong, an average of 212 miles per day, and in the same year the _Typhoon_ made the run from the Lizard to Calcutta in 80 days. In Great Britain the _Cairngorm_, of 1250 tons register, was built in 1853 by Alexander Hall & Co., and owned by Jardine, Matheson Co. Between 1853 and 1856 came the _Crest of the Wave_, _Norma_, _Flying Dragon_, _Formosa_, and _Spirit of the Age_, built by John Pile of Sunderland, and the _Lord of the Isles_ (iron) by John Scott & Co., of Greenock. The ship last named registered 770 tons, measured: length 190 feet 9 inches, breadth 27 feet 8 inches, depth 18 feet 5 inches, and was an extremely sharp and handsome, though a very wet ship. It used to be said that Captain Maxton, her commander, drove her into one side of a sea and out the other; at all events, she was generally known among sailormen as the “Diving Bell.” The British clippers of this type, which was extremely sharp and narrow, very nearly held their own against the American ships, and it is much to be regretted that there never was a fair and square race between them; for no British and American clipper ships ever sailed from China near enough together to afford a satisfactory test of speed.