Though the New Zealand trade was held pretty tightly in the hands of Shaw, Savill, the Albion Shipping Company and the New Zealand Shipping Company, many a distinguished ship paid an occasional visit to Maoriland, notably the beautiful tea clipper _Sir Lancelot_ in 1879; the majestic Blackwall frigate _The Tweed_ in 1874, when she went out to Otago in 78 days; _The Tweed’s_ great rival _Thomas Stephens_, which took passengers to Otago in 1879; _Miltiades_, which in 1889-90 came home from Lyttelton in 78 days and the following season came home from Wellington in 82 days; and _Thessalus_, which in 1900 ran from Lyttelton to the Lizards in 87 days, beating the famous coolie ship _Sheila_ by a week. _Loch Awe’s_ record passage to Auckland I have already mentioned in these pages, also _Sam Mendel’s_ 68 days to Port Chalmers. Some years later, in an attempt to beat this performance and incidentally a fast little City liner, _Sam Mendel_ was dismasted and came into port without her foremast, bowsprit and jibbooms, which had all gone by the board. [Illustration: “BEN VENUE.”] [Illustration: “LADY JOCELYN.”] The Pretty Little “Ben Venue.” A regular trader to New Zealand in the seventies was Watson’s pretty little _Ben Venue_, an iron main skysail-yarder of 999 tons, launched by Barclay, Curle in 1867. Under Captain McGowan, she made the very fine average of 77 days for her outward passages, her best homeward being 72 days to the Lizards from Lyttelton in 1879. I have already described her loss in May, 1882. “Hinemoa.” The distinction of being the only sailing ship specially built for the New Zealand frozen meat trade belongs to the splendid steel four-mast barque, _Hinemoa_, built by Russell, of Greenock, in 1890. She measured 2283 tons, 278.1 feet length, 41.9 feet breadth, 24.2 feet depth. Like many of Russell’s carriers she possessed a very fair turn of speed, especially off the wind, and has the following fine passages to her credit. 1894 Downs to Melbourne 77 days 1901 Newcastle, N.S.W., to Frisco 60 „ 1902 Frisco to Old Head of Kinsale 101 „ _Hinemoa_ was built at a time when “sail” was making a final effort to hold its markets against the steam tramp. That effort was a truly gallant one, and but for the fact that the windjammer possesses a charm and fascination totally lacking in steam, and has ever been enthroned in the hearts of all lovers of the sea, masts and yards would not have lasted longer in the Mercantile Marine than they did in the Royal Navy. That there were still sailing ships used commercially in 1914 goes to prove that the most stony-hearted, matter-of-fact business man was ready to sacrifice his pocket for a sentiment, a sentiment indeed which many may find hard to define, yet which has forged the links in the chain of nations which represent the present British Empire.