the Sam Mendel was a handsome and exceedingly fast craft, but she did not keep up her reputation in many of her runs to New Zealand. During her earlier career she was engaged in the Indian and Australian trade, and made some remarkable passages from London to Melbourne. She was a beautiful ship from all points, iron built, with the lines of a yacht. She had a long bow, with the cleanest of entrances combined with good bearings, and a fine run that left but little dead water behind it. She was both taut and square of rig, with raking masts, and carried a great deal of canvas in her foretopgallants, the yards being particularly square, with corresponding hoist to the sails. She was a poop and topgallant-forecastle ship, of 1034 tons, and was built at West Hartlepool in 1861, by Messrs. Piles, Spence, and Co., the builders of the celebrated Undine and other clippers. Her owner was Mr. J. Coupland, of Liverpool, and she was chartered by the Shaw, Savill and Albion Co. After sailing the seas for nearly 50 years this famous clipper was sold to Sweden and renamed the Charlonus. She was later sold again, and her name chaged to Hanna. In 1908-9 she was condemned at Genoa, and broken up.

It has frequently been stated in the New Zealand Press that the Sam Mendel in 1876 made a record passage to Port Chalmers of 68 days. This is not correct. The fast passage was made in 1874, when she ran to Port Chalmers in 75 days, port to port, or 69 land to land. This, however, is not the record passage, which is still held by the ship Westland. Still it was the second fastest run to Port Chalmers up till 1874.

Her Seventy-Five Day Passage.

Touching the remarkable outward passage in 1874, Captain Hill reported having left London on May 9th. The ship was detained in the Channel by light westerly weather until May 14th, on which day she left the Lizard. After leaving the land she encountered a continuance of light and moderate westerly winds, and so was jammed away to the eastward, and had to pass between the Canary Islands and the mainland. On May 26th, when a little south of the Canaries she picked up the north-east trades, which were steady, and on June 5th she met the south-east trades. The equator was crossed on the following day. Westerly winds then found the ship and sent her bounding along under a press of canvas.

The ship ran her easting down in about the 47th parallel, and was due south of Cape Leeuwin on July 14th. Three days after that the breeze freshened to a tremendous gale from southwest, and raised a high and very confused sea. A great deal of water found its way on board, and the decks may be said to have been awash during the three days the gale lasted. The ship was kept before it under a press of sail, and on the whole made good weather of it. On July 22nd the high land of Stewart's Island was sighted, and the ship, having moderate westerly weather along the coast, reached Port Chalmers on July 23rd, 75 days port to port, or 69 days land to land.

Loses Some Spars.

Like many other ships the Sam Mendel experienced some stormy passages in the Southern Ocean. Her worst experience was in 1881, when she was partially dismasted during fearfully heavy weather. Captain Crowell, who was in command on this occasion, reported leaving London on June 3. All went well until August 4, when westerly gales set in, and on the 6th the ship met a very heavy gale attended by a furious sea, which broke on board, and washed away everything movable on deck. The wind veered to the N.W. on August 8, and blew with hurricane force, backing to N.N.E. on the 9th, and rapidly increasing again to a furious gale, accompanied by a most terrific sea. Early on August 10, a portion of her head-gear carried away, while the bowsprit (an iron one) broke off 6ft outside the knight-heads, falling under her starboard bow.

Shortly after this the wind suddenly shifted to the W.N.W., blowing with the force of a tornado, and attended with a very heavy cross sea, which caused the ship to roll heavily, and had the effect of breaking off the foremast two feet below the main deck. So furious was the gale that the port rigging had to be cut away in order to save the mainmast. At this time the vessel was in latitude 48 south, longitude 32.20 east, and afterwardspage 60 she encountered a succession of heavy gales from N.W. to S.W., with high cross seas and cold weather, several large icebergs being passed. The weather moderated on September 12 in latitude 47.29 south, longitude 153.20 east. Still keeping fresh westerly winds, she passed and sighted the Snares on September 15.

the Sam Mendel had another rough experience on the voyage out to Auckland in 1882. Mr. H. Scott, now residing in Auckland, supplies the following details of the storms and mutiny. "Two days after leaving the docks, on October 23 and 24, when off Beachy Head, the ship encountered a gale of hurricane force, the like of which the captain said he had never experienced in the Channel. As the ship was

the Sam Mendel At Port Chalmers.

short-handed, all the male passengers who were not sick assisted to work the vessel, which was at one time in serious danger. The sails were blown away, the cook's fire put out, and the decks washed by heavy seas. One sea which broke on board swept into the forecastle, breaking the sailors' chests and washing away their clothing. During the evening of the 24th the ship was thrown on her beam ends. The passengers were having a very sorry time, and the captain, mate, and some of the passengers were thrown on their backs. The water rushed into the cabins, across the floors and out of the flush-holes, and everything movable on deck and in the cabins was swimming in it. The gale subsided the following morning of the 25th, and the ship was righted. On the 26th the sailors mutinied and refused to go any further, as they considered the ship considerably undermanned. Eventually the captain compromised by offering to give the men full pay and a free discharge on their reaching Auckland. We had now been six days at sea, and still had 80 miles of the Channel to get through, but on the 27th a fair wind enabled us to clear it. The equator was crossed on November 21. On the 11th December another gale was encountered, and several sails blown away. On the 18th we passed some icebergs, one of which was about a mile in length and from 200ft to 300ft in height, and on the following day and night the bergs were seen all around us. They were of all shapes—of Gothic-like structure—some like a ship in full sail, and Castle Hill at Scarboro', with the old pier running out to sea, with the lighthouse; others like a colossal recumbent figure cut in purest marble, and some in the grey distance like the white cliffs of Dover. The bergs could be seen for a distance of 20 miles, and were a magnificent sight of incomparable beauty. When the ice was first observed we diverged from our course some 70 miles northward. On the 2nd January the Sam Mendel experienced another terrific gale, accompanied by heavy seas breaking on board. The water rushed into the cabins, and the ship was rolling very heavily, at one time the mainsail yardarm actually dipping into the water. Notwithstanding the gales encountered,page 61 the usual westerly winds in the Southern Ocean were generally light, but on one day the 'Sam' made a fine run covering 368 miles in 24 hours. On the 19th January we passed through Cook Straits, and after four days of calm we had a nice light breeze, travelling eight knots. Another ship which had been in sight for four days proved to be the Tythomus, from London to Auckland. She sailed ten days before the Sam Mendel, and arrived two days later. Further light winds, with calms, delayed our progress, and it was not until the 27th we sighted the Three Kings. There we were again becalmed until January 30. On the 1st February a nice light breeze carried us up the coast, and the 'Sam' anchored in the Waitemata on the 2nd."

the Sam Mendel again fell in for stormy weather when leaving London for Auckland in 1885. Captain Pearson reported that severe gales in the Channel detained him for 14 days, the land being cleared on the 16th February. A succession of gales continued until the vessel crossed the equator, and then light winds, the first westerly wind met with being after reaching Cape Leeuwin. The ship arrived at Auckland 127 days from docks.

Here follow the records of passages from London to New Zealand, port to port:—