The clipper "grecian" was built in 1851 at cape elizabeth (now south portland), maine. In april 1855, on a voyage from liverpool to manila, her coal cargo caught fire through self-combustion when approaching lombok island, dutch east indies. She was scuttled to extinguish the fire, then moved to surabaya for discharge of cargo and repair. At end-may she sailed for amsterdam, and was there from mid-september until the end of october. Presumably that is when everhardus koster painted this picture, reportedly based on sketches of the scene made by captain ilsley. The location would appear to be lombok, rather than surabaya. Date: circa 1855.
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