Going to Honolulu, the _Sovereign of the Seas_ loaded whale-oil for New York. In the course of the passage she sailed 3144 sea miles in 10 consecutive days, and arrived in New York in 82 days. There she loaded for Liverpool, sailed on June 18, 1852, and anchored in the Mersey 13 days and 19 hours later. During this passage she covered 340 sea miles in a day. Her next voyage was to San Francisco, and during the return passage, "in 24 consecutive hours she ran 430 geographical miles." (Eastburn pamphlet.) The _Antelope_ and the _Surprise_ are credited with making passages from San Francisco to New York in 97 days; the _John Gilpin_ and the _Sweepstakes_ in 94; the _Flying Fish_ and the _Great Republic_ in 92, and the _Sword Fish_ in 91. Professor J. Russell Smith's _Ocean Carrier_ says the _Comet_ made the passage in 76 days. Her record is disputed (see _Shipping Illustrated_, New York, April 3, 1909), but the _Nautical Magazine_, April, 1856, confirms it. It is not disputed that the _Northern Light_ ran from San Francisco to Boston in 76 days, and Captain A. H. Clark, in _Harper's Magazine_, June, 1908, says the _Trade Wind_ made the San Francisco-New York passage in the same number of days. [Illustration: Clipper Ship _WITCH OF THE WAVE_] The _Great Republic_, built by Donald McKay, was the largest American clipper ship. She was "325 feet long, 53 feet wide and her whole depth is 39 feet." She was "of 4000 tons register and full 6000 tons stowage capacity." She had four masts, the after, or spanker, mast carrying fore and aft sails only. Her main-yard was 120 feet long. After she was loaded at New York for her maiden voyage she was accidentally burned, the total loss, as insured, amounting to $400,000. The sunken hull was raised, rebuilt at a cost of $27,000 and she was then rigged as before. In rebuilding her, a less depth of hull was given, but she was still able to carry 4000 tons dead weight. With 3000 tons in her hold she ran from New York to the coast of England in 12 days. In the Guano trade from the west coast of South America she was credited with making 412 miles in one day. (Admiral Preble in _U. S. Serv. Mag._, July, 1889.) The _Red Jacket_ once covered 413 sea miles in a day, and the _Flying Scud_ claimed a day's run of 449, but this was disputed. (See _Nautical Magazine_, June, 1855.) The undisputed record day's run was made by the _Lightning_, built by Donald McKay, for English capitalists. A letter from McKay which appeared in the _Scientific American_ on November 26, 1859, says:--