For Melbourne, Australia. On or before Wednesday June 25 [1856], the magnificent first class clipper ship “Sumatra”!

Josiah Dudley, Commander. The ship has been built expressly for the trade, is ventilated in the most thorough manner, and will be despatched as above … For freight or passage, apply to Glidden & Williams, no. 39 Lewis Wharf. Agents at Melbourne, Messrs. McPherson, Francis & Co. Boston, Massachusetts : Watson Pr[inter], 1856. Clipper card, 145 x 88 mm, lithograph-printed recto only in sepia, blue and gold on white enamel card; uneven toning (due to printing process), good condition.

Scarce and attractive gold rush-era clipper card advertising a sailing of the Sumatra from Boston to Melbourne in June 1856. She arrived in Hobson’s Bay, Melbourne on 30 September 1856 (The Age, 1 October 1856):

‘ARRIVED (HOBSON’S BAY). September 30—Sumatra (U.S.), ship, 1040 tons, J. Dudley, from Boston 26th June. Passengers, cabin : Mr and Mrs Bowen, Messrs Bowen (2). M’Pherson, Francis, and Co., agents.‘