"Madagascar" in Dundee Harbour - Ref: WC0861
The "Madagascar" was built in 1888 by Russell and Co., of Port Glasgow, for the Helensburgh company, J Boyd. With a gross tonnage of 2145 and measuring 282 feet in length, she was a stell four masted barque.
This photograph was taken by the Dundee jute mill manager Alexander Wilson, one week after the "Madagascar" arrived in the city from Chittagong (in what is nowadays Bangladesh) with a cargo of 2000 tons of raw jute.
Her voyage time in 1889 was 132 days. In 1890, she recorded a transit time of 124 days and brought 2077 tons of jute. The damage to the hull during voyages in such heavy seas is clearly visible.
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.