The _Argo_ was followed (1855-1856) by the _Royal Charter_, _Istamboul_, and _Khersonese_ and other iron auxiliary “steam clippers,” as they were called. These vessels carried as much canvas as the clipper ships, and were more expensive to handle and not much faster; the rivalry was therefore keen. The clippers still secured their full share of the cabin and steerage passengers, the mails and gold, and were by no means vanquished; indeed, the auxiliaries proved no more successful than the steamships, and brought much the same result to their owners. It was not till after the close of the Crimean War in 1856, when the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company extended their line to the Australian colonies, that the clipper ships began seriously to feel the competition of steam. From that time iron sailing vessels for this trade were built with a view to carrying large cargoes and steerage passengers, so that by 1860 the day of the Australian clippers had passed away, although the later China tea-clippers sometimes made this voyage. Almost countless splendid iron and steel sailing ships have since been built in Great Britain, and many fine passages have been made to and from Australia, yet the records of the _James Baines_, _North Wind_, _Lightning_, _Mandarin_, and _Lord of the Isles_ remain unbroken. CHAPTER XIX LAST YEARS OF THE AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIP ERA--SUMMARY OF CALIFORNIA PASSAGES During the Crimean War a large number of merchant ships, many of which were American, were chartered by the British and French Governments to carry troops, but when peace was declared in 1856 and this demand for tonnage ceased, it was found that there were more ships afloat than could find profitable employment, or indeed employment of any kind. Only eight ships were added to the California fleet in 1856--the _Alarm_, _Euterpe_, _Flying Mist_, _Florence_, _Intrepid_, _Mary L. Sutton_, _Norseman_, and the second _Witch of the Wave_. These were all handsome medium clippers, and possessed what is so sadly lacking in sailing ships of the present day--style, distinction. The _Florence_ was built by Samuel Hall, Jr., who had succeeded his father as a ship-builder and continued in the same yard at East Boston. She was owned by Captain R. B. Forbes and others of Boston. Captain Dumaresq commanded her and also owned an interest in her until his death in 1860. As Captain Forbes used to say, “He was the prince of sea captains.” The _Sweepstakes_ made the fastest passage to San Francisco in 1856--94 days from New York--followed by the _Antelope_, 97 days; _Phantom_, 101 days; and _David Brown_, 103 days; the _Ringleader_ made the passage from Boston in 100 days. The abstract log of the _Sweepstakes_ is as follows: