“JOHN DUTHIE,” at Circular Quay, Sydney.
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The Darra also went out to Adelaide in under 70 days, on which occasion her captain wrote home that she “dived off the Cape and came up to blow off the Leeuwin.”
“Yatala.”
Probably the fastest of the six was the fine passenger clipper Yatala, which the redoubtable Captain Legoe left the Murray to command. The record from London to Adelaide, pilot to pilot, 65 days, was shared by the Yatala and Devitt & Moore’s clipper City of Adelaide until the famous Torrens beat it.
Unfortunately, Yatala came to an early end, and the following are the times of her outward passages during her short existence:—
| Date. | Left Plymouth | Arrived Adelaide. | Days Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1865 | Aug. 4 | Oct. 27 | 84 |
| 1866 | „ 2 | „ 14 | 73 |
| 1867 | „ 10 | „ 15 | 66 |
| 1868 | July 9 | Sept. 24 | 77 |
| 1869 | Aug. 7 | Oct. 23 | 77 |
| 1870 | „ 11 | „ 26 | 76 |
| 1871 | July 6 | „ 2 | 88 |
On 18th December, 1871, Yatala left Adelaide in company with the Elder Line clipper, Beltana, which she led to the Horn by a day. The Beltana arrived safely after a tedious light weather run from the line, but the Yatala got ashore near Cape Gris-Nez on 27th March, 1872, when almost in sight of home. Her wool cargo was nearly all saved, but the ship herself became a total loss.
Of the other Orient composites, the Goolwa disappeared from the Register in 1880, but Borealis and Argonaut lasted some years longer.
The “Beltana,” and Captain Richard Angel.
The Beltana, which raced the Yatala in 1871-2, was a composite clipper, belonging to A. L. Elder & Co., a well-known firm in the Adelaide trade and the agents for the celebrated Torrens. Built by Laing, of Sunderland, in 1869, the Beltana measured:—
| Registered tonnage | 734 | tons. |
| Length | 172.5 | feet. |
| Beam | 33.6 | „ |
| Depth | 19.2 | „ |
She was a beautiful little ship, a fine sea boat with a good turn of speed. In 1872, when running her easting down, she did a day’s work of 335 miles under foresail, three lower topsails and fore topmast staysail. She made her reputation as a heeler under Captain Richard Angel, a sail carrier of the most determined character, as the following anecdote will prove.
The Beltana was rounding the Horn, homeward bound and reeling along before a heavy westerly gale under topgallant sails, when a vessel was sighted ahead, head-reaching under three close-reefed topsails, though bound the same way as the Beltana. Angel, to show his contempt of such caution, immediately bore down on the stranger, and passing ahead of him, put his helm down and brought his yards on the backstays. As the Beltana came up to the wind, she lay right down until the amazed crew of the stranger could almost see her keel, and momentarily expected to see her capsize or her masts go overboard. But the little ship bore this harsh treatment in the bravest manner, and, though her rail was fathoms deep in the scud to leeward, never stranded a ropeyarn. Having crossed the stranger’s bows, Angel rounded to close under her stern, then squared his yards and raced ahead again. This manœuvre of “sailing round a vessel” was not one that most men would care to attempt in Cape Horn weather.