"Madagascar" in Dundee Harbour - Ref: WC0860
A steel four masted barque, the "Madagascar" was built in 1888 at the Port Glasgow yard of Russell and Co., for J Boyd of Helensburgh. Measuring 282 feet in length, she had a gross tonnage of 2145.
This Alexander Wilson photograph shows the "Madagascar" a week after her first recorded visit to Dundee. She was at sea for 132 days (bringing 2000 tons of raw jute from the Bangladeshi port of Chittagong).
She returned to Dundee on 13th June 1890 with a further 2077 tons of jute. The city's mills processed thousands of tons of jute every year and, as a result, made Dundee extremely 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.