"Madagascar" - in Dundee Harbour - Ref: WC0859
The "Madagascar" was a steel four masted barque, built by Russell and Co., of Port Glasgow, in 1888 for J Boyd of Helensburgh. She had a gross tonnage of 2145 and measrued 282 feet in length.
The "Madagascar" made two recorded visits to Dundee. On 13th May 1889, she brought 2000 tons of raw jute from Chittagong (in modern-day Bangladesh) after a voyage lasting 132 days. On 13th March 1890, she took only 124 days and brought 2077 tons.
Dundee Harbour was regularly full of sailing ships bringing jute from Chittagong and Calcutta to keep the city's mills and calenders busy. The whaling industry supplied essential oil for the manufacturing procedure and Dundee became very wealthy.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.