first American clipper to call at the Port of Liverpool. In his Notes on Ships of the Past, Captain R.B. Forbes describes the following voyages in the Memnon: "She crossed from San Francisco to Hong Kong in 1850 in 36 days, in charge of Captain Gordon. Captain L. M. Goldsborough was passenger in her, and spoke very highly of her performances. This China passage was a record, according to Cutler; however, the New York Herald of January 24, 1853 stated that it ended in Whampoa rather than Hong Kong. "On the 30th July, 1848, she left New York, under command of Oliver Eldridge, for Liverpool, and made the passage to Cape Lynas in 21 days; the winds were generally light, and the captain seems to have been disappointed in the sailing qualities of the ship; but on the 14th day out, in longitude 32°, the log says: — "At 1 P.M., made a sail ahead; at 5 passed her; at 7.30 she is hull down astern; she was the Woodside, an American ship;" and on the 19th she made 241, with a moderate south-west wind, and the log says: — "I am now convinced the ship can sail." The distance sailed was 3,413 ; the first 6 days she averaged only 77. Leaving Liverpool on the 6th of September, for New York, she went out by the north channel, and had much bad weather, and much reefing; was 23 days and 17 hours on the way, and logged 3,868." First Clipper Race Around the Horn, 1850 "The keen rivalry between clippers led to races over thousands of miles of seas; and upon the result thousands of dollars were often wagered." "The first contest of clippers around Cape Horn took place in 1850, between the Hoqua, the Sea Witch, Samuel Russell, and Memnon, old rivals on China voyages, and the new clippers Celestial, Mandarin, and Race Horse ... Large sums of money were wagered on the result, the four older vessels having established high reputations for speed. The Samuel Russell was commanded by Charles Low, previously of the Hoqua, while the Hoqua was now commanded by Captain McKenzie; Captain Gordon was again in the Memnon, and Captain George Fraser, who had sailed with Captain Waterman as chief mate.” The Samuel Russell knocked eleven days off the record, arriving in San Francisco after 109 days from New York. Hoqua arrived next, in