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Race to London.

After discharging at Wellington at the end of 1876 the Ocean Mail loaded up with wool, tallow, and the other usual colonial produce. She was ready for sea again the following March, and as the Avalanche was also a full ship, and the Crusader, which was loading at Lyttelton, was practically in the same state, the three masters made up a race back to London town. All unbeknown to her two competitors, the Ocean Mail dropped out of this exciting event very early, but communication between New Zealand and its off-lying islands was very spasmodic in those days. The first news was brought by a passing whaler, and subsequently the survivors of the wreck were taken to Wellington by a trading schooner.

The Avalance and Ocean Mail left Wellington on March 16, and the following day they were still in company, and there being no wind Captain Watson, of the "Mail," went on board the Avalanche, and remained aboard the best part of the day. That night the vessels parted company, and four days later the Ocean Mail was a hopeless wreck. The people on the Avalanche never knew anything of the disaster to the Ocean Mail until they got Home. In giving an account of the race in an earlier article dealing with the Avalanche and the Crusader, I spoke of the Ocean Mail being commanded by Captain Roberts. That, however, is a mistake, as the master's name was John Watson.