_Loch Carron_, though a very fast ship, was also a ticklish ship to handle, being rather tender, and Captain Clarke always sent down royal yards when in port. The following are some of her best performances:— Melbourne to London 73 days. Adelaide to Glasgow 75 „ Glasgow to Adelaide 78 „ London to Adelaide 75 „ (twice) The Semaphore, Adelaide, to Cape Otway 48 „ Cape Town to Clyde in ballast 40 „ Melbourne to the Horn 27 „ Cape meridian to the Leeuwin 19 „ (twice) Cape Horn to the line 20 „ On one occasion when abreast of the Crozets, running her easting down in 45° S., she made three consecutive 24-hour runs of 310, 320 and 332 miles. On her maiden trip she went to Sydney, and then for two or three years left the Australian for the Calcutta trade. In 1887 she took case oil from New York to Calcutta in 112 days. In 1889 _Loch Carron_ had a very nasty experience when rounding the Cape homeward bound from India. It is thus told by Captain Clarke:— We were bound for London from Calcutta with a cargo of jute and about 500 tons of rice for stiffening purposes. It was new rice and had not been properly dried. When the jute was loaded on top of it, the rice began to get heated and we had to take it out and stow it in the main hatch by itself, boring holes in order to allow the air to enter. This arrangement of the cargo caused the ship to be top-heavy, but it was unavoidable. When we got to the Cape of Good Hope we encountered violent gales, and the vessel could not stand up to them. She was carried right over on her side, although there was very little canvas on her. Her lee side was 5 or 6 feet under water and the crew became so frightened that many of them climbed up the rigging. I let the sails go and sacrificed them in order to save her. She righted herself and we ran before the wind all night, going miles out of our course. Next day we jury-rigged her and I tried hard to make way on the other tack. We tacked for eight days and then the gale again seized her and she turned over once more. We quickly stripped her of sails, but she was so top-heavy and crank that I decided to send the topgallant masts down. This was ticklish work, and I shall never forget the scene, as the men struggled against the seas with the topgallants. The fight against the gales lasted for 30 days and then we got round the Cape, but I had five men down with broken limbs and other injuries. The voyage from Calcutta to London occupied no fewer than 156 days, and was the most exciting in my experience. The _Bolan_, _Glen Padarn_ and _Trevelyan_, also bound from Calcutta and Rangoon to London, foundered during the storms and we were lucky to get through with the ship so crank.