Captain A. Cook was her first skipper, then Captain Bonner had her in the late eighties.
Argonaut was still afloat in 1914. Under the name of Elvira, she flew the Portuguese flag and used the same home port, Lisbon, as the Cutty Sark and Thomas Stephens—and her round of ports was usually the same as that of Cutty Sark, namely—Rio Janeiro, New Orleans and Lisbon. In 1913, her name was again changed to Argo. The Portuguese, as in the case of the Cutty Sark, retained the yards on the mizen.
Notes on Passages to Australia in 1876.
The only new ship to make a name for herself this year was Aristides, but I do not think she was as fast as Thompson’s earlier ships, and I much doubt if she were capable of the following week’s run, made by Samuel Plimsoll whilst running her easting down this year in 41° S., viz., 348, 330, 301, 342, 320, 264, and 340 = total 2245 miles.
Hardly any of the cracks are missing from the “under 80 day” list. The Tweed, with eight fine stallions on board, ran from the Start to King’s Island in 77 days on her way to Sydney, but was then held up three more days by calms.
“Brilliant” and “Pericles.”
Duthie’s Brilliant and Thompson’s Pericles were built alongside of each other and launched on the same tide; and both ships being in the Sydney trade there was naturally great rivalry between them. The two clippers proved to be very evenly matched and it is difficult to award the palm. Pericles usually took emigrants out, Brilliant being loaded deep with general cargo, and they both loaded wool home. The two captains, Davidson of the Brilliant and Largie of Pericles, usually had a new hat on the result of each passage. Pericles with her light load line generally won the hat going out, but the Brilliant was always very hard to beat on the homeward run, and Captain Davidson, more often than not, got his hat back again.