Maxton & Co. She was a wooden vessel of 937 tons register; length 191 feet 4 inches, breadth 32 feet 2 inches, depth 20 feet 2 inches, and was commanded by Captain Maxton, who had been in command of the Lord of the Isles. The Falcon was the first of the really handsome tea clippers sailing out of London. Like her, the Fiery Cross, built by Chalour & Co., of Liverpool, in 1860; the Min, by Robert Steele & Son, of Greenock, and the Kelso, by William Pile, of Sunderland, in 1861; the Belted Will, by Feel & Co., of Workington, and the Serica, by Robert Steele & Son, in 1863 were all wooden ships sheathed with red copper. The Fiery Cross, the largest of these, was only 888 tons. They were all beautiful vessels of an entirely original type and with nothing about them to remind one of the American clippers; for they had considerably less sheer, much less freeboard, and lower bulwarks, and their comparatively small breadth gave them a slim, graceful appearance.
These ships and the tea clippers which followed them had very clear decks for working ship. The deck-houses were small, and with the rails, bulwarks, waterways, bitts, hatch-coamings, companions, and skylights were of India teak varnished; the decks, also of India teak, were holystoned; and this, with the polished brasswork and the spare spars lashed amidships, made them very smart and shipshape.
The tea-trade in the early sixties was comparatively small, and did not require many vessels, but speed in the delivery of new teas was of the utmost importance, and it was this demand that brought
