I left Sydney in company with _Thessalus_ and _Argonaut_. I was twice in company with _Thessalus_ on 3rd October in 54° S., 152° W., to 5th October 54° S., 143° W., and on 25th November in 30° S., 34° W. I came up on him in light winds, but when he got the breeze he just romped away from me as if I was at anchor. _Thessalus_ was a wonderfully fast ship. I think the German five-master _Potosi_ is the only one I have seen to touch her. This is high praise, for Captain Holmes had a great knowledge of ships, especially in the Australian trade, and he had a very fast ship in _Cimba_, which on this occasion reported at noon at the Lizard when _Thessalus_ was reporting at Start Point. After a long and successful career _Thessalus_ was sold to the Swedes in 1905, when she was still classed 100 A1. Notes on Passages to Australia in 1874. 1874 was _Ben Voirlich’s_ great year. It will be noticed, however, that on her record passage she had _Lochs Ness_ and _Maree_ on her heels the whole way. Both Lochs had just changed their commanders, Captain Meiklejohn going to the _Loch Ness_ and Captain Charles Grey succeeding Captain McCallum in _Loch Maree_. _Loch Ness_ chased _Ben Voirlich_ very closely all the way to the Australian Coast, her best 24-hour run being 321 miles. But _Loch Maree_ dropped back in the roaring forties through no fault of her own. On 13th and 14th December she experienced a tremendous gale from east working round to S.W. with high confused sea, during which her patent steering gear was completely smashed up; and this prevented her from taking full advantage of the westerlies, as Captain Grey decided it would not be safe to go further than 42° S. PASSAGES UNDER 80 DAYS TO SYDNEY IN 1874. +------------+---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+----+ | | |Crossed|Crossed |Passed |Arrived |Days| | Ship |Departure|Equator| Cape |S.W. Cape| Port |Out | | | | |Meridian|Tasmania |Jackson | | +------------+---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+----+ |_Cutty Sark_|Start |Dec. 11|Jan. 1 | Jan. 26 |Feb. 2’75| 73 | | | Nov. 21| | ’75 | ’75 | | | |_Mermerus_ |Start |May 8|May 29 | June 24 |June 27 | 74 | | | Apl. 14| | | | | | |_Hallowe’en_|Start |Apl. 30|May 22 | June 17 |June 22 | 74 | | | April 9| | | | | | |_Patriarch_ |Wight |July 2|July 26 | Aug. 19 |Aug. 24 | 77 | | | June 8| | | (Otway) | | | | | | | | | | | |_Jerusalem_ |Plymouth |Apl. 29|May 21 | June 14 |June 22 | 78 | | | Apl. 5| | | (Otway) | | | +------------+---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+----+