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A Sailor's Memories.

A Taupaki correspondent, who unfortunately forgot to sign his name, sends me a most interesting account of the Tweed. He says:—

"The E.I. Company built her and a sister ship, paddle steamers, with Indian names. Willis bought the pair for £44,000, resold one for £40,000, and the machinery and boilers out of the other for £12,000. Then he had her cut in two and 90ft built into the middle of her, and renamed her the "Tweed." Just then happened along Captain Stuart, who, after an hour's study of her, went straight to Willis and said, 'Let me rig her. I'll take command afterwards.' I do not know what Willis thought of the cheek, but he gave Captain Stuart the job. the Tweed was heavily sparred. Her mainsail was 98ft on the head. Stuart's only trouble afterwards was to get a mate who would drive her.

"It used to be a regular thing, in the mate's watch, for the captain to go below, and five or ten minutes afterwards to pop up and find the mate shortening sail. Then there would be language and to spare, and the sail reset. Of course, the mate would say the wind had freshened; more language, and the poor mate would sulk for days. On six consecutive voyages he had six new mates. Then he shipped a mate who liked to get the best out of a vessel, and, besides, he had heard of the trouble aboard the Tweed. Well, they got away down channel, and in the new mates first watch after losing sight of the Lizard the old play began, but only got as far as the skipper's popping up again, for this time he found them setting the main royal, although under like conditions few vessels would have carried a main topgallant sail. Captain Stuart carried this mate six years, and only parted with him in Singapore on a cable from the 'White Hat' ordering the mate to go to Manila and take command of the Coldstream, a slow old cart, most unlike the Tweed.

"I think the Tweed's greatest sailing was on a passage from Hongkong to Singapore, in about 1874, which she made in five days six hours, beating the then mail boats by six hours. On four of the days she did, I think, over 400 miles, not knots, to the 24 hours. Captain Stuart was very sore because he could not better 68 days Home from Sydney, which was his time with the Tweed on three occasions, on two of which he made quite extraordinary runs to the Horn, and afterwards had light winds in the Atlantic, and on the other the reverse happened.

"Although the Tweed had fine passenger accommodation, 90ft of a poop, she got none to carry in the last few years of Captain Stuart's command, as her name for racing became too well known. On one occasion the Tweed gave the Patriarch, as a smaller ship, 24 hours start from the Downs to Sydney. Captain Stuart stood watch in hand, and to the tick they broke the anchor out and got away in chase. She spoke five ships on the passage, none of which had seen the Patriarch, and they hove-to close in to Port Jackson Heads half-an-hour before dawn one morning. When daylight came, there was the Patriarch, about eight miles off, where she had lain since dusk the previous evening. The Sydney tug took the nearest (and biggest) first, so Captain Stuart won £100 from the skipper of the Patriarch, but it was a bit of a fluke.

"I am sorry I have forgotten the dimensions of the great Tweed. Her registered tonnage was 1760, but she did not carry well, being too fine at the ends. Her figurehead was Dandy Dinmont, with a broad bonnet over 3ft across. She was originally fastened with copper all through, and Willis used to say he made money every time they repaired her, as they took out copper and replaced it with iron."