The first clipper constructed in Great Britain was the schooner _Scottish Maid_, one hundred and fifty tons, built in 1839 by Alexander Hall & Co., of Aberdeen, to compete with the paddle steamers between Aberdeen and London. She proved a very fast vessel, and saw half a century of service before she was wrecked on the coast of England. Three schooners of the same model and tonnage, the _Fairy_, _Rapid_, and _Monarch_, were built by this firm in 1842. These four were the first Aberdeen clippers. The earliest competition between American and British clippers was in the China seas. As early as 1831 three small English schooners, the _Jamesina_, _Lord Amherst_, and _Sylph_, were engaged in the opium trade, which proved exceedingly lucrative. In 1833 the _Jamesina_ sold opium from India to the value of £330,000 at Foo Chow, Amoy, Ningpo, and other ports in China. This business increased and attracted the attention of the American merchants in China. In 1841, the _Angola_, a schooner of 90 tons, built by Brown & Bell, of New York, for Russell & Co., China, was despatched to Hong-kong. She was followed in 1842 by the schooners _Zephyr_, 150 tons, built by Samuel Hall at East Boston; _Mazeppa_, 175 tons, built by Brown & Bell, and _Ariel_, 100 tons, built by Sprague & James, Medford, and in 1843 by the brig _Antelope_, 370 tons, built by Samuel Hall at East Boston. These vessels, owned by John M. Forbes and Russell & Co., soon controlled the opium-trade and became known as opium clippers. It was necessary that they should be swift in order to contend with the strong tides and currents on the China coast, and to beat against the monsoons in the China Sea. The _Antelope_, under the command of Captain Philip Dumaresq, still has the reputation of having been the only square-rigged vessel which could beat through the Formosa Channel against the northeast monsoon. Moreover, these vessels required speed to escape from the heavily manned piratical craft which infested the China seas, and which were formidable vessels, especially in light winds and calms, when they were propelled by long sweeps.