On her first voyage she went out to Sydney in 69 days. It was a light weather passage and she never started the sheets of her main topgallant sail the whole way. She is stated to have made 360, 348 and 356 miles in three successive days running down her easting, but I have been unable to verify these runs. Captain Mitchell died on her second voyage just before reaching the Channel homeward bound. She also made some creditable tea passages, but was mostly kept in the Sydney trade. In 1871 she went out in 77 days and in 1872 in 78 days.
The _Aviemore_ was the last of the wooden ships, and at the date of her launch, the first iron ship built for Thompsons, the celebrated _Patriarch_, had already proved herself such a success as to put all idea of building any but iron ships in the future out of the question.
The Fate of the Early White Star Clippers.
The first _Centurion_ ended her days as a total loss in 1866.
The _Walter Hood_ was wrecked near Jervis Bay Lighthouse, New South Wales, on 27th April, 1870, when bound from London to Sydney with general cargo, her captain and 12 men being drowned.
The _Woolloomoolloo_ ended her days under the Spanish flag and was wrecked in 1885.
The _Maid of Judah_ was sold to Cowlislaw Bros., of Sydney, in 1870. In December, 1879, she left Sydney for Shanghai, coal-laden, with Captain Webb in command, and the following June was condemned and broken up at Amoy.
The _Omar Pasha_ was burnt at sea in 1869, when homeward bound from Brisbane, wool-laden.
The celebrated _Star of Peace_, after being run for some years by Burns, Philp & Co., of Sydney, was converted into a hulk at Thursday Island, being only broken up in 1895.
The _Wave of Life_ was sold to Brazil, and sailed as the _Ida_ until 1891, when she was renamed _Henriquita_. Finally she was condemned and broken up in March, 1897.
The _Damascus_ was bought by the Norwegians, who changed her name to _Magnolia_. On 1st September, 1893, she stranded at Bersimis and became a total loss.
The _Transatlantic_ was rebuilt in 1876; in 1878 she was owned by J. L. Ugland, of Arendal; and on 15th October, 1899, when bound to Stettin from Mobile, she foundered in the Atlantic.
The _Moravian_ was sold to J. E. Ives, of Sydney, and ended her days as a hulk, being broken up at Sydney in March, 1895.