Her most serious mishap was on her passage home in 1861, when she collided with an iceberg on 4th March. Her bowsprit was carried away, bow stove in and foremast sprung; in fact, so seriously was she damaged that she was very near being abandoned. Eventually, however, she managed to struggle into Valparaiso after a month of incessant pumping. Here she was repaired and, continuing her voyage, at length arrived at Liverpool on 21st August, 183 days out from Melbourne. Though Messrs. James Baines sold her to another Liverpool firm in the early sixties, she still continued regularly in the Melbourne trade, and as late as 1867 I find another fine passage to her account, which is thus described by Captain Coates in his _Good Old Days of Shipping_:—“Captain Labbet, of Brisbane, once told me that in January, 1867, he took passage home in the steamship _Great Britain_. The _Marco Polo_ left at the same time and was soon lost sight of. A week later the look-out man of the _Great Britain_ reported a sail right ahead, and shortly afterwards expressed his belief that it was the _Marco Polo_, in which ship he had previously sailed. His opinion, however, was scoffed at; on the ship being neared he proved to have been right. She was again distanced and the _Great Britain_ made what was esteemed a good passage. On taking the pilot off Cork, the first question asked was:—“Have you seen the _Marco Polo_?” The reply came:—“Yes, she passed up 8 days ago.” She had made the passage in 76 days. Most Notable Clippers of 1853. The _Marco Polo_ was followed across the Atlantic by numerous other Nova Scotian built ships from the yards of W. & R. Wright and Smith. The most notable of these were the _Ben Nevis_, which arrived during the summer of 1852, and the _Star of the East_, _Miles Barton_, _Guiding Star_ and _Indian Queen_, which arrived at Liverpool in 1853. All these ships were intended to lower the colours of _Marco Polo_, but not one of them succeeded in doing so, though they made some very good passages. “Ben Nevis.” The _Ben Nevis_ was the first ship owned by Pilkington & Wilson. She was, however, too short and deep for her tonnage, her measurements being:— Length over all 181 feet. Beam 38 feet 6 inches. Depth of hold 28 feet. Registered tonnage 1420. Commanded by Captain Heron, she sailed for Melbourne on 27th September, 1852, with 600 passengers, a cabin passage in her costing £25, and she took 96 days going out. The “Star of the East.” A far more worthy ship to compete with the _Marco Polo_ was the _Star of the East_, which arrived in Liverpool on 5th March, 1853, 20 days out from St. John’s against strong N.E. winds. She was built by W. &. R. Wright, her dimensions being:— Length of keel 206 feet. Length over all 237 „ Beam 40 feet 10 in. Depth of hold 22 feet. Registered tonnage 1219 tons.