The American steamers were swifter than their British rivals, and for a few years were the favourites with the travelling public. According to a return published in the “New York Herald” on the 1st January, 1853, the number of passengers carried during the eleven months January to November (inclusive), 1852, were:— By Collins Line, New York to Liverpool 2,420 ” Cunard Line do. do. 1,783 ” Collins Line, Liverpool to New York 1,886 ” Cunard Line do. do. 1,186 It will be noticed that the majority of passengers carried were from New York to Liverpool, the explanation of this unusual circumstance being that it was at the time of the great rush to the Australian goldfields, when it was no uncommon thing for a Melbourne packet to sail from the Mersey with from five to six hundred passengers. Nor were the receipts from passage money the only source of revenue available for the Collins steamers. They were loyally supported by American shippers and importers, and the receipts from freight were large, although the rate on fine goods had been lowered from £7 10s. to £4 per ton. Notwithstanding the large income derived from these sources, the service was only maintained for a period of about ten years. The heavy disbursements and the numerous casualties which befell the steamers, especially the loss of the ARCTIC (as narrated in the following chapter) and of the PACIFIC, with all on board, led to the collapse of the company. [Illustration: R.M.S. “Umbria” in Mid-Atlantic] FOOTNOTES: [19] “Illustrated London News,” 18th May, 1850. CHAPTER XVI. The Loss of the Collins Liner ARCTIC. On Wednesday, 27th September, 1854, about noon—Cape Race bearing S.W. by W., 65 miles distant—the steamship ARCTIC, on her passage from Liverpool to New York, while running through a very thick fog, was struck on the starboard bow about 60 feet abaft the cutwater by an iron steamer. The force of the impact made three large holes in the ARCTIC—two below the watermark, one of which was about 5½ feet in length and about 1½ feet broad. The fog was so dense that neither vessel saw the other a minute before they collided.