But on the 23rd in 60° S. her progress was severely stopped by large quantities of small ice, which tore all the copper off her bow. On the 26th June, when in 141° W., a large ship was sighted astern which proved to be Money Wigram’s famous Blackwaller _Kent_, which had sailed 5 days ahead of _Marco Polo_. From 27th June to 1st July only small runs could be made, the ship being surrounded by ice, but with strong northerly winds to help her, she cleared the ice on the 1st and at once started to make up time, running 303 miles on 2nd July, 332 on the 3rd, 364 on the 4th and 345 on the 5th. And on 18th July in 49° 30′ S., with strong S.W. wind, she made her last run of over 300. However, in spite of these fine runs to the southward, the passage was a good deal longer than Forbes anticipated, as _Marco Polo_ was 95 days out when, on 13th September she arrived in the Mersey. Nevertheless she had made the round voyage in the very good time of exactly 6 months, and when Captain Forbes appeared “on Change” about 1 o’clock on the 13th “the cheering was long and loud and he received a hearty welcome from all the merchants assembled.” After-Life of “Marco Polo.” At the end of her second voyage Bully Forbes left the _Marco Polo_ to take over the _Lightning_, and was succeeded by his chief mate Charles McDonald. Leaving Liverpool in November, 1853, with 666 passengers, McDonald took her out in 72 days 12 hours or 69 days land to land, and brought her home in 78 days. Then he left her to take over the _James Baines_ and a Captain W. Wild had her. By this time it is probable that she was getting pretty badly strained, being a soft-wood ship, and whether Captain Wild and his successor Captain Clarke were not sail carriers or did not like to press her too much, I do not know, but her fourth and fifth voyages were not specially good, her times being:— 4th voyage, 1854-5, outward 95 days, under Captain Wild. homeward 85 days, under Captain Wild. 5th voyage, 1855, outward 81 days, under Captain Clarke. homeward 86 days, under Captain Clarke. She was still, however, a favourite ship, taking 520 passengers out and bringing home 125,000 ounces of gold under Captain Clarke. On her sixth voyage she for the first time got into trouble as she parted her tow rope when leaving the Mersey and got aground off the Huskisson Dock, after first colliding with a barque at anchor in the river. However she came off on the flood without damage and sailed for Melbourne on 7th December, 1855, arriving out on 26th February, an 83-day passage. In 1856 she went out in 89 days, leaving Liverpool 5th September.