The _White Star_ soon proved herself to be one of the fastest ships afloat. On her first voyage she did nothing out of the way, being 79 days out and 88 days home. But in 1856 she went out in 75 days (67 days land to land), and came home in 76 days, beating the auxiliary _Royal Charter_ by 10 days from port to port. In 1858, she went out in 72 days, this being the best White Star passage of the year; whilst on 25th February, 1860, she left Melbourne and made her number off Cape Clear in 65 days. In 1860 she went out in 69 days, running 3306 miles in 10 days between the Cape and Melbourne. The Wreck of the “Schomberg.” We now come to the unfortunate _Schomberg_, the only wooden ship ever built in a British yard that could in any way compare with the big Boston and Nova Scotian built ships in size. In 1854, James Baines was so impressed by the success of the little Aberdeen tea clippers, that he gave Hall an order for a monster emigrant clipper of 2600 tons. Unfortunately, Hall had had no experience in the building of emigrant ships and the _Schomberg_ was more of a copy of Mackay’s clippers than Hall’s own beautiful little ships. The _Schomberg_ cost when ready for sea £43,103 or £18 17s. 6d. per ton. She measured:— Tonnage (builder’s measurement) 2600 tons. „ (for payment of dues) 2492 „ „ (registered) 2284 „ Length over all 288 feet. Length between perpendiculars 262 „ Beam 45 „ Depth of hold 29.2 „ She had three skins, two of diagonal planking, and one fore and aft, the whole fastened together with screw-threaded hard-wood trunnels—a novelty in shipbuilding. She was specially heavily rigged, her mainmast weighing 15 tons, being a pitch-pine spar 110 feet in length and 42 inches in diameter. Her mainyard was 110 feet long. She crossed three skysail yards, but no moonsail. Captain Forbes, as commodore of the Black Ball, was shifted into her from the _Lightning_, and great hopes were entertained that she would lower the record to Australia.