A hand went aloft and pointed out the _Yosemite_ astern. Shortly after we sailed alongside the _Cerastes_, but the captain took the news of the racer’s proximity very calmly and seemed to be surprised she was so near. We gradually got away from these two ships and saw no more of them. On arrival in the English Channel I sent a report ashore which appeared in the _Shipping Gazette_, and I found considerable interest was being taken in this race. I was interviewed by _Yosemite’s_ agents as to my opinion which ship would win. Two or three days after _Berean_ arrived in London _Cerastes_ reached Queenstown, and was the winner of that race.
In 1893, homeward bound from Tasmania to London, Lat. 19° S., Long. 22° W., _Berean_ fell in with Geo. Thompson’s Aberdeen White Star clipper _Samuel Plimsoll_ from Sydney to London; strong S.E. trade wind, squally. At daylight the two ships were exactly abeam of each other, and throughout the day neither could gain an inch. (The old man of the _Samuel Plimsoll_ stamped up and down his poop all day in a very excited state of mind and kept exclaiming, “A little thing like that hanging on to me like a flea and I cannot shake her off.”) The royals were frequently lowered during the squalls and hoisted again when they had passed. _Samuel Plimsoll_ steering slightly more easterly, the two ships gradually closed, and if the respective courses had been continued must have collided. _Berean_, being the windward ship, was bound to give way, so at sundown she was shaken up in the wind and the _Samuel Plimsoll_ allowed to pass ahead. At daylight next day, the Aberdeen clipper was well out to windward and slightly ahead, and in that bearing the ships parted, seeing no more of each other.
Unfortunately, in the chops of the Channel, _Berean_ was surrounded with a fleet of herring nets, some of which clung to her the rest of the passage impeding her speed. _Samuel Plimsoll_ arrived at Gravesend an hour or two ahead, but being too early in the tide had to anchor. _Berean_, being of lighter draught, passed her and was first in dock. But for the detention through fouling the nets, in all probability these two ships would have reached Gravesend together after a race of 6000 miles.