"Nile" in Dundee Harbour - Ref: WC0874
With a gross tonnage of 2163 and measuring 283.5 feet in length, the "Nile" was an iron four masted barque, built by Russell and Co., Port Glasgow, for W Douglas of Glasgow.
This photograph by Alexander Wilson shows the "Nile" two weeks after arriving from Calcutta with a cargo of jute for processing in Dundee's mills. According to the Dundee Advertiser, six companies purchased the raw material from this load.
The voyage had taken 154 days, and the weather damage to the hull can clearly be seen. When the "Nile" returned to Dundee in July 1889, the journey had taken 163 days (among the longest recorded in the Dundee Yearbook).
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.