The whole voyage, however, had been a wonderfully fast one. She had
made the trip, out and home, in 5 months 10 days and 22½ hours, and had
actually circumnavigated the globe in 62 days 22 hours, between 11th
June and 2nd September, running 15,991 miles in that time.
On her homeward passage she ran 14,863 miles, her greatest day’s work
being 376 miles and her average 202¼ miles per day.
She brought home gold dust and sovereigns to the value of £208,044. She
sailed this voyage under the American flag, being only chartered by the
White Star Line, but on her return to Liverpool Messrs. Pilkington &
Wilson bought her for the sum of £30,000.
The “Lightning’s” First Voyage to Australia.
The _Lightning_, with the famous Bully Forbes in command and the almost
equally famous Bully Bragg as mate, left Liverpool on the 14th May for
Melbourne. But unlike the _Red Jacket_, she had a light weather passage
out, her topgallant sails being carried the whole way. She crossed the
line 25 days out and took 30 days running from the meridian of the Cape
to Port Phillip Heads, arriving off Sandridge Pier on the afternoon of
31st July, 77 days from Liverpool, her best runs being 348, 332, 329,
311, and 300.
On the morning of the 20th August she left her anchorage at Melbourne
in company with the _Mermaid_, having gold dust on board to the value
of £1,000,000. The tug dropped her off the Heads at 4 p.m., and by the
following noon she had done 268 knots. At 4 a.m. on the 24th she passed
a large ship supposed to be the _Mermaid_, and at 10 p.m. on the same
day passed the Auckland Islands. From here she had fresh westerly and
south-westerly winds, seldom logging less than 14 and frequently 18½
and 19 knots per hour. Forbes carried on in the most daring manner, and
on the _Lightning’s_ arrival at Liverpool her passengers told weird
stories of Bully Forbes keeping his station at the break of the poop
with a pistol in each hand in order to prevent his scared crew from
letting go the royal halliards.
By 28th August the ship was in 57° 20′ S., but at 11 p.m. on this day
a violent squall from the S.W. carried away the fore topmast stunsail
boom, and a moment later the fore topmast went over the side, the fore
royal, fore topgallant sail and fore topsail being blown out of the
bolt ropes at the same instant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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