A new feature was adopted in the placing of her masts. Her mainmast was stepped right amidships, with the fore and mizen masts at equal distances from it. _Loch Garry_, her sister ship _Loch Vennachar_, Green’s _Carlisle Castle_, Nicol’s _Romanoff_ and the American ship _Manuel Laguna_ were rigged in a manner peculiar to themselves. They had short topgallant masts with fidded royal and skysail masts, on which they crossed royals and skysails above double topgallant yards. When in port their upper topsail and upper topgallant yards would be half mast-headed, and with the seven yards on each mast, all squared to perfection, they presented a magnificent appearance. _Loch Garry’s_ first commander was Captain Andrew Black, a very fine seaman indeed. He commanded her from 1875 to 1882. He was succeeded by Captain John Erskine, who was followed by Captain Horne. With regard to her merits, the veteran Captain Horne, who commanded her for close on 26 years, wrote to me:— The _Loch Garry_ is a front rank ship and always will be so. She is a ship that has got no vices and when properly loaded is as gentle as a lamb. It is quite a pleasure to sail such a ship, which might be described as a 1500-ton yacht. She is not a ship of excessive speed, but with a moderately fresh breeze will maintain a speed of 10 or 11 knots without much exertion. _Loch Garry’s_ best run under Captain Horne was on 26th December, 1892, when running her easting down in 40° S. With a N.W. wind and smooth sea she covered 334 miles. It is very possible that she exceeded this in her early days when she carried a stronger crew. She was also a good light weather ship. In 1900 she went from the South Tropic to the North Tropic in 14 days 2 hours. The following passages of recent date will show that Captain Horne kept the _Loch Garry_ moving in spite of the lack of a good crew of sailormen:— 1892 Tuskar to Cape Otway 71 dy. 1894 Downs to Melbourne 77 „ 1895 Lizard to Melbourne 77 „ 1896 Melbourne to Prawle Pt. 80 „ 1900 Melbourne to Prawle Pt. 85 „ 1901 Adelaide to C. Otway 48 hr. 1903 Port Philip Heads to Lizard 74 dy. 1904 Melbourne to Dover 77 „ 1906 Tuskar to Cape Borda 73 „ 1905 Equator to Leeuwin 36 „ (Average 240 knots) The following account of Captain Horne’s care of his boats and system for provisioning them should be a lesson for younger masters. It is taken from the _Melbourne Herald_:—