command of Captain Hayes, and it was supposed that she foundered off Cape Horn.
The Ariel, 572 tons, was built by John Currier at Newburyport in 1846, for Minot & Hooper, of Boston. This ship became celebrated in the China trade and was bought by N. L. & G. Griswold, and has a record of 90 days from Canton to New York.
In 1846, Howland & Aspinwall, for whom Captain Robert H. Waterman had been making some remarkably fast voyages in the old packet ship Natchez, had a clipper ship built especially for him, entrusting the design and construction to Smith & Dimon, the builders of the Rainbow, though all the details of spars, sails, and rigging were carried out under the supervision of Captain Waterman. This ship was the famous Sea Witch, of 890 tons, length 170 feet, breadth 33 feet 11 inches, and depth 19 feet. She carried a cloud of canvas; three standing skysail yards, royal studding sails, large square lower studding sails with swinging booms, ringtail, and water sails.
When loaded the Sea Witch lay low on the water; her hull was painted black and her masts had a considerable rake; her figurehead was an aggressive-looking dragon, beautifully carved and gilded. She had the reputation at that time of being the handsomest ship sailing out of New York, and her officers and crew were picked men, several of whom had sailed with Captain Waterman on his voyages in the Natchez. She sailed on her first voyage, bound for China, December 23, 1846, went to sea in a strong northwest gale, and made a remarkable fine run southward, arriving off the harbor of Rio
