Sinopsis

The Zenobia—A1 at Lloyd’s—was a beautiful little clipper barque of 376 tons , and so exquisitely fine were her lines that her cargo-carrying capacity amounted to but a few tons more than her tonnage; in fact, the naval architect who designed her had been instructed to ignore altogether the question of cargo capacity, and to give his whole attention to the matter of speed, and most faithfully had he carried out his instructions. For the Zenobia had been designed and built to the order of the firm which owned the famous “Queen” line of sailing clippers trading between London and Natal; and the aim of the Company was to drive off all competitors and secure the monopoly of the enger trade between London and the Garden Colony.