the Mataura, under the name of Dunfillan, was launched in 1868, from the yards of Aitken, Glasgow, and purchased by the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1874. She was a full-rigged ship of 853 tons, and was the first of this company's ships to he fitted up with Harkin's patent dry-air refrigerator. the Mataura, however, was not the first vessel to load meat in the Dominion, as stated by many writers. The distinction of carrying to London the first cargo belongs to the Dunedin, which was loaded at Port Chalmers by the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, and sailed from that port on February 15, 1882. The New Zealand Shipping Company then fitted up the Mataura, and she sailed with the second cargo from Dunedin on June 12, 1882, in command of Captain Greenstreet. Both cargoes arrived in splendid condition. In the following year the Mataura came to Auckland and took away that port's first shipment of frozen meat. She sailed on May 26, 1883. The cargo was shipped by Fisher and Co., butchers, Queen Street.

the Mataura was rigged as a barque when she appeared in Dunedin in 1882, and made some very fast passages under this rig. Her best run out was to Port Chalmers in 1880, in command of Captain Brown. She made the passage in 76 days, land to land; and 81 anchorage to anchorage. Her next fastest passage was in 1884, in command of Captain Cruickshank. She was only 78 days land topage 269 land, and 83 port to port. Her run to Auckland in 1885, under Captain Cruickshank, may be considered almost equal to the Dunedin runs. Only on one occasion did she exceed 100 days, and this was on her last voyage to the Dominion, in 1894. She was brought out on this occasion by Ca'pt. Chapman, who reported exceptionally rough weather. She had a severe battering during a heavy gale in the Channel, which lasted for several days, and again after clearing the land. She did not cross the Equator until March 7—45 days from Gravesend—arriving at Dunedin after a long run of 125 days. the Mataura had been laid up at Liverpool for 12 mouths before this voyage.

the Mataura was later sold to Captain Brunsgaard, of Drammen, Norway, for £2800, and renamed the Alida. Her end came on August 24, 1900, when she was dismasted and abandoned in the Pacific Ocean. She completed 13 voyages from London, as given below:—

To Auckland.
Sailed.	Arrived.	Captain.	Days.
Nov. 11, '82	Feb. 16, '83	Greenstreet	95
To Wellington.
Nov. 17,'84	Feb. 11, '85	Cruickshank	85
Dec. 3,'85	Mar. 11, '86	Cruickshank	97
To Lyttelton.
Jan. 13	Apr. 24, '81	A. Brown	100
Dec. 15, '81	Mar. 20, '82	Greenstreet	94
Oct. 1, '86	Jan. 1, '87	Martin	92
Feb. 21	May 23, '90	Martin	90
To Dunedin.
Aug. 17	Nov. 16, '74	Kerr	91
Aug. 8	Nov. 18, '75	Gorn	100
June 30	Oct. 4, '76	Gorn	96
Aug. 1	Oct. 28, '78	Brown	88
June 27	Sep. 22, '79	Brown	86
		Land to land,	81
April 23	July 13, '80	Brown	81
		Land to land,	76
Oct. 26, '83	Jan. 17, '84	Cruickshank	83
		Land to land,	78
Jan. 18	May 26, '94	Chapman	125
To Nelson.
	Nov. 10, '75	Gorn	—
To Bluff.
Aug. 28	Dec. 1, '77	Brown	94