The clippers were not exclusively used in the China trade; some the finest vessels traded to Australia. Indeed, the Aberdeen White Star Line, owned by Messrs. George Thomson & Ca., brought Aberdeen to the highest pinnacle of fame in the shipbuilding world. The firm's connexion with Australia began in 1848,. and the pioneer of the White Star clippers was the Phoenician, the first regular trader to Australia. There were no finer clippers afloat than those engaged in the wool trade between Britain and Australia, and it is interesting to note that many of the Aberdeen built: ships navigated the coasts of Australia. when Melbourne and Adelaide were mere villages.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.