STRANGERS TO THE SEA 5
Twenty Years on the Australian Run
Marco Polo and Great Britain
MARCO POLO GREAT BRITAIN
Wooden Hull Iron Hull
Sail (Wind) Steam (Coal)
184 feet Long 322 feet Long
36 feet 3 inches Broad 50 feet 6 inches Broad
29 feet 4 inches Deep 32 feet 6 inches Deep
1,625 tons Weight 3,675 tons Weight
1852 LIVERPOOL - MELBOURNE (First Voyage)
888 passengers 654 passengers
76 days passage 83 days passage
1853 LIVERPOOL - MELBOURNE(Second Voyage)
648 passengers 368 passengers
76 days passage 71 days passage
1854 LIVERPOOL - MELBOURNE (Third Voyage)
630 passengers 462 passengers
74 days passage 76 days passage
1855 LIVERPOOL - MELBOURNE (Fourth Voyage)
520 passengers (Crimean War)
83 days (Troop Ship)
TOTAL TRIPS AND RETIREMENT DATES
25 trips over 15 years 32 trips over 25 years
1867 (cargo) 1876 (cargo)
'about 15,000 passengers' 15,885 total passengers
The sailing ship Marco Polo and the steamship Great Britain were two of the most regular and reliable vessels on the Australian run. Together they contributed more than 30,000 emigrants to the Colony of Victoria during the 1850s and 1860s. These were decades of dramatic population growth ― the beginning of a significant shift from an elitist plantation culture in a remote outpost of empire, towards a more representative version of society at 'home'. These ships also provided familiar and relatively enduring signs of the link between the past and the future for most colonists, at a time when such emotional attachments were still hugely significant for everyone here.
Marco Polo : The Ship
" ... a vessel with sharp ends and a full rounded hull amidships ... not pretty to look at ... a ship that would have a huge carrying capacity for lumber or people ..."
'The vessel was initially designed as a cargo ship. The ship had a medium clipper design with an unusually sharp bow, tall masts, and broad amidships. The design was considered stable and able to withstand the punishment of the open sea.'
(Martin J Hollenberg, 2006, Marco Polo : The Story of the Fastest Clipper)
"The Marc Polo ... was regarded as a distinct departure from the common run of ships before her ... 'not a clipper in the true sense of the term' ... Above the water, she was lofty and somewhat box-like ― a great roomy, heavily-timbered vessel designed to pack a huge cargo and yet sail well. The true clipper was too sharp to carry much cargo but in Marco Polo James Smith combined carrying capacity with an under-water body of sharp entrance and clean run ― the true hollow bows of the clipper model being embodied ― but amidships she had a bilge of the cargo carrier."
(Frederick Wallace, 1924, Wooden Ships and Iron Men)
"The Marco Polo was completed in April 1851 after a construction period of about 18 months. She weighed 1625 tons, with a keel of 185 feet long, a beam amidships of 35 feet and a depth of its hold of 29 feet. It had three decks, eight feet apart and three masts square rigged."
'James Smith's ... aim was to build a ship that would be attractive and sell quickly in the Liverpool market.'
(Doug Limbrick, 2021, Death Ships : the story of life and death on six big emigrant ships)
'In 1852, after being purchase by the Black Ball Line, the Marco Polo sailed from Liverpool to Port Phillip, Australia in 76 days, retuned in another 76 days, completing the round trip in 5 months 21 days ― a record at the time.'
"While Bully Forbes was urging his ship on, driving this new clipper through the seas under full sail, between the decks the emigrants and their children were dying at the rate of nearly one per day ... there was no time for heaving to for sea burials. The rough pine coffins used on the Marco Polo were simply slid overboard, where they bobbed up and down in the ship's wake and were soon lost from sight ... The ship was grossly overcrowded, carrying more passengers than it was licenced to carry ..." (p 154)
['In addition to 750 emigrants, there were also approximately 138 cabin- and intermediate-class passengers and a crew of 30 regular seamen and 30 others who were working to earn a passage to the goldfields ... Hence, for the maiden passage to Melbourne, the Marco Polo carried almost 950 passengers and crew.' (p 148)]
"During the 1852 passage, of the 327 children aboard, 52 died in a measles epidemic." (p 155)
"The Marco Polo's arrival in September 1852 was the third North-American-built vessel to arrive in Hobson's Bay and all three had experienced high death rates of emigrants on the passage from Liverpool to Victoria. The Immigration Board had conducted an enquiry into each of the three vessels and made similar comments about overcrowding and the undesirability of using large vessels with two decks [both below Main Deck] to transport emigrants to the Colony of Victoria. However by the beginning of October 1852 three more double-deck vessels were already on their way to the colonies of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia." (p 160)
"Despite the enormous loss of life on the maiden run to Melbourne, the Marco Polo continued to transport emigrants between Liverpool and Melbourne until 1867, making 25 voyages with an in credible consistency in time taken for the round trip ... she continued to average between 80 and 90 days each way, the last passage home ... in only 76 days. It seems all the captains on her Australian run (Forbes, McDonnell, Wild, Clark, Johnstone and Arnold) drove her hard. In its 15 years of service on the Liverpool-Melbourne run for the Black Ball Line, the Marco Polo carried about 15,000 passengers to Australia and most arrived in a healthy condition. The Marco Polo developed a reputation as a fast-sailing vessel and the appalling death toll on the first passage was soon forgotten by most of the people of Melbourne." (pp 161, 163-4)
(Doug Limbrick, 2021, Death Ships : The Story of Life and Death on Six Big Emigrant Ships, Shawline Publishing Group, Sebastopol, Vic)
Diary of Edwin Bird,
1853 Voyage on Marco Polo to Melbourne
"It tells the story of a young Englishman's voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne in 1853 ... The story ... is told in a small, old-fashioned memorandum book that was picked up some years ago on a secondhand bookstall. From an inscription at the end of it the book once belonged to 'Edwin Bird, Wellington, Somerset, England' ... Gold had been found near Melbourne in the autumn of 1851, the gold rush began immediately, and from one of the last entries in the diary ― 'We all go ashore to-morrow in the hopes of getting hold of some dust, as there is good news from Melbourne and the diggings' ― it would seem that in 1853 that was still. the chief reason for the voyage."
(Cairns Post Queensland, Friday 18 January 1935, p 7, paraphrasing article in Manchester Guardian of 11th November, Trove <nla.news-article41538801)
"Ship's Name: Marco Polo
Master's Name: James N Forbes
Tons Register: 1625
Statute Adults: 693½
Whence Bound: Port Phillip, Australia
Ports of Embarkation: LIVERPOOL
Names of Passengers: Edwin Bird, 26 yo, Adult Male, English
Profession, Occupation, Calling: Dealer
'Provisions actually laden onboard ... sufficient for 578½ Passengers ...
Signed James N Forbes 12th March 1853'.
...
'Date of Arrival on Clean Ship May 28th / 53 ...
Signed Chas Broad Assist Emigration Officer'
SUMMARY English Irish Total Statute Adults
Adults 527 31 558 558
Children 38 3 41 20½
Infants 6 1 7 -
TOTAL 561 45 606 578
Number of Passengers: 485 Male Adults, 82 Female Adults, 25 Male Children, 16 Female Children, 7 Infants, Deduct 9 Male Adults, Total 599."
(Marco Polo Unassisted Passenger Lists 1853, Public Records Office Victoria, Record Series Number VPRS:14, pp 266, 268, 274-5 <prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3402227A>)
DEPARTURE AND CHEERING CROWDS
"The Clipper Vessel Marco Polo was Commanded by Captn Forbes Mr McDonald being the Chief Mate Having 800 Souls on Board including 80 Sailors and a number of Stewards ... She Hall'd out of the Salt House Dock on Wednesday the 9th of March 1853 at ½ past 10 OClock in the Morning ... She lay in the River until Sunday Morning when she wayed anchor fired four salutes ... and Whent Beautifully down the River amidst the Cheers of Thousands of Spectators the whole of the Pier Head for more than a mile being crowded as well as the Birkenhead Side ... The Ship was very much Crowded in consequence of so many People going out in the River to Her ― Wishing that friends Farewell and a Pleasant and prosperous Voyage to the Far Distant Shores of Australia ... I slept on Board for the 1st time but not so comfortable as I could wish We were all in confusion this day giving up our tickets and arranging the Births and so on ..."
1
"The Liverpool newspapers for early March, 1853, held the following advertisement in bold letters, viz. ―
'BLACKBALL LINE OF AUSTRALIAN PACKETS
For passengers, parcels, and specie, having bullion safes, will be despatched early in February for Melbourne. The celebrated clipper ship Marco Polo, 1625 tons register, 2500 tons burthen, has proved herself the fastest ship in the world, having just made the voyage to Melbourne and back, including detention there, in five months and 21 days, beating every other vessel, steamers included. As a passenger ship she stands unrivalled, and her commander's ability and kindness to his passengers are well-known. As she goes out in ballast, and is expected to make a very rapid passage, she offers a most favourable opportunity to shippers of specie.
Apply to James Baines and Co., Cook-street' ..."
(Cairns Post, Friday 1 February 1935, p11)
2
"... Bird has not much of a pen for the picturesque [but] he has great pride in the Marco Polo and her speed; he often records: 'Went along to-day in a smashing style', or some such tribute, and he obviously believes there is no boat like her, and no mariner to equal in wisdom
and ability her commander, Captain Forbes. The diary closes without any references to what happened when they landed on 29th or 30th May, 1853, but there are several final allusions to vessels that showed themselves much slower or less capably handled than the Marco Polo ... What is obviously the last note of all is written sideways across a page on which the original entry was made at the end of May. It runs―
'And as for the Australia Steam Ship she has not yet arrived, and its now Christmas Day'."
(Cairns Post, Friday 18 January 1935, p 7)
ALLEGIANCE TO STRICT SHIP'S DISCIPLINE
"T[hursday] 17 [March] Going very well all day and particularly so in the the evening as she was going 14 Nots pr Hour ... The Captain came down on the second Deck respecting the lights being Burnt privately after 9 Oclock and as regards to loud singing and cards. He talked to them in the right style I was looking down through the Hatchway and said Hear Hear Without Rules and regulations and sticking to them amongst so many passengers we should never reach our Destination He said it was quite right and that He would do His Duty and caution us to take care of our Luggage as there was 13 of the Swell Mob on Board but I had an eye on them Those abaft the main mast agreed to watch every night and take it in turns 2 of a night 1 from 9 till 1 and the other from 1 till 6 Oclock which wont be more than two watches each for us during the Voyage and twill put them on their Guard ...
F[riday] 18 [March] Going Beautifully all day Steering South West by West we are now clear of the Chanl and on the Bay of Biscay ... there was a man in the lower Deck had the Delerium Tremuns Drinking I went to Mr McDonald and we put him in Irons for the night as He frightened us so the night before we all went to the cabin doors in our night dress Ladies too fancying the ship was on fire ...
M[onday] 21 [March] A Rough Night but going very well ... One of the Sailors got well roped by the Mate for Stealing a Bottle of Rum from a little Boy that was on the Deck I saw Him turn the capstan Down the Ladder and in the Forecastle Cabin where He was deviding the Spoil amongst his Brethren Chips little did he then Calculate of the Rope Yarn he was about to receve ...
T[uesday] 22 [March] There was a tremendous Row on board last night late in the 3rd Cabin through I should imagine from the effects of Whiskey which ended in a Watch and 10 £ being Stold from the same Place The Looser dont Know where he lost it but fancies it was wen or while He was Walking on Deck with a Miss Bloomer ... We Have been steady all Day I should say about 6 Nots pr Hour Steering South W. by West Our Captn has given the Band a good Lecture this afternoon respecting them getting Drunk of an evening and being Dissorderly and if any more came to His ears He would Rig up a Plank and Send them all adrift ...
W[ednesday] 23rd [March] The Captain whent round last night at 11 Oclock to see things all right He found one of the Stewards very tipsy and saucy with it He took alampfrom a passengers Hand and Floord Him with it He looked quite a member of Heton College [sic] this morning The wind has been contrary all day in the Morning we were Steering East by North at 12 Oclock about Ship Steering W. by 2 points North and Blowing very Hard and Pitching Heavy ...
M[onday] 28th [March] We are now in the trade winds which are very steady as yet are Going about 6 Nots an Hour ... Steering S.W. by W ... There was a tremendous Row last night between the Irish ladies and some of our Passengers They come on Board as Widows of Officers and Gentleman's Daughters. But was surprised at Hearing the noise so late I jumped out of my Bunk and to my surprise one of those Ladies was swearing away and challenged to fight any man on Board the Marco Polo It would puzzle even a Yankee to Pick out 6 such Gals as we Have Here even in the Argyle Rooms [sic] in London I am at a loss to Know what the result will be before our landing at Melbourne they are about all night long and some of the Moonlight meets are queer one to tell I can assure you The Captain Has through the advice of His good lady for such she His [sic] advised him to put up a Notice on the Poop Cabin today that no Ladies are to be on Deck after 10 Oclock without being accompanied by their Husbands which of course no respectable Female would do and Mrs Forbes declared she would not walk the deck if such Lounging about on the Poop was stopd ...
T[uesday] 29 [March] The Captn went below last evening rather late. He found to of the Cabin Passengers with the rest of the Gang Drinking their Wine and Concockting their Skeams for Plunder. I have no doubt He took them by the scruf of the neck and sent them on Deck and after that He began with the Ladies swore if He caught either of them on the Poop Deck again He would throw them over Board and if not quieter than last night He would land them all on the Cape Verd Islands in the morning (which we sighted about 4 Oclock) which would be altogether about 23 of them I gave my Money and Watch and Weighbill Insurance etc in the Captain's Hand as He said it was not safe in my Birth so now Have not so much on my mind One Passenger was lashed to the Rigging this afternoon for not paying his fine ― There has been a fight just now in the 3rd Cabin between some of the Tipperary Boys which are Cases ...
W[ednesday] 6th [April] ... Passenger Mr Gardner Got put in Chains for the Night He threatened to shoot the Captain and insulted Mrs Forbes and several of the passengers we are Mocking about in a Dead Calm ―
Thurs[day] 7th [April] Mr G. got loosend this morning by an open appology to all but He Has not yet shown out a Dead Calm all Day ...
W[ednesday] 20 [April] Going 1st rate all Night and in a right Course ... one of the Jews got nearly put in Chains this afternoon for being saucy to the Mate a fine day but warm we got out of the tropics this morning Music cards and Gambling the order of the day as well as Auctions on Deck people getting short of cash There is no more Beer and Porter to be got and but little Wine I dont think its all gone only stopd for a While to let their pockets recover ...
F[riday] 22 [April] Not going so well today the Breeze slack and much colder we can all sleep in our Births now ... I Hope I can Hear Her canvas Flapping so we are not going much now we are now abreast of the Cape and expect R. Weather ... (Row with the Irish) one got in Chains for threatening the life of Mrs McDonald ...
Sat[urday] 23 [April] Steering S. by East going 12 Nots nearly all day Held a Court Martial on the Irish Man was on the Jury We found Him Guilty was sentenced to 9 days in Irons and kept on Bread and Water a very wet afternoon music and singing in the Cabin and a cold evening we are now South of Cape G. Hope ... "
CONFIDENCE IN THE CAPTAIN'S SKILL
"M. 21. [March] ... The Captain says we are ful 2 Days in advance of his Last Voyage as regards the time we left Liverpool and Speaks very confident of His being safe at anchor in Australia in 8 weeks I Hope His wishes may prove true ...
Tues 29- [March] ... We have been in Sight of the [Cape] Verd Islands all day ... We Have just past St Vincent ... Its a very curious fact that the Marco Polo on Her Previous Voyage made the same point to the Islands the same number of days from Liverpool and about the same Hour as He proved to us today by His Chart He then made the Equator in 29 days. He fancies now He will save some 3 days by Steering S.W. strait for Rio in S. Ameraco We Have a fine trade Wind this evening.
W. 30th [March] ... We have gone very nicely all Day Passed a ship from Boston out and to the same port we are going We Signald and Spoke Her She has been 26 Days out and we Have been only 15 and the Point where we are both Now the Yankee Has the decided advantage ― at 10 Oclock we could just see Her Royal in front of us this evening at 6 Oclock she was the same distance Astern of us We gained about 50 Miles on Her During the Day We are now going at a Spanking rate 14 Nots all sails set while our Opponet is going under Close reef topsail ...
S. 24 [April] ... Going 12 Nots all day St. S by East with a Cloudy atmosphere and enclined to be foggy ... A Ship in sight this afternoon I walked the Deck all morning as their was a Sail Ahoy about 11- We burnt Blue lights to each other a lit Rockets etc We came close up to Her about 2 and Spoke Her The Ship Henry Fielding with passengers on Board for Melbourne She lefft Liverpool 7 days before us and Had fever on Board it was a very pretty sight in the night ―
T. 26 [April] A fine Breeze all day going well St. 2 Points of East A great deal of shooting now goes on at the Birds around the Ship But I have seen none Killed we are now a long way from the Cape ― The Captn is on the Deck almost night and day watching the Sails and Helm and theres no doubt but we shall make a quick passage Most of the people are below as its so cold ...
From the 27th of April; up to the 4th of May on Wednesday nothing of any consequence occur'd there being a fine Breeze all the time sometimes ½ a Gale and a Heavy Sea which made us Roll Awful Breaking Plates Dishes upsetting forms giving Young Ladies Black Eyes by being thrown from their Births Upsetting Soup Breaking legs Heads and so forth passengers tumbling from one end of the Deck to the other ... We are now in the Latt. 44.38 an Long. 16¼ We have had 4 extraordinary Days Sailing in succession averaging nearly 300 Miles per Day ― going 14 Nots now Therm stood 52 on Deck this morning which made a change of 80 Degrees in 16 days ...
From Wednesday the 4th of May up to Wed the 11th ... Friday last we Had a very rough wind ½ a Gale it took away 4 Sheets from us the fore Sail for Top Sail Main Stay sail and jib the wing being to rough to put up Fresh Canvas we were oblidged to lay too which threw us out a Day nicely but since then Have made up for it we Have Had a Strong Breeze all this week and likely to continue we avereged our 300 Miles pr day 342 Mils one day It has been very col;d Snow Rain and Sleet its snowing fast now Satterday with Lat. 44.20 Long 34.30 and today Lat 50- Long 50- ... We are out 8 weeks on Sunday I fancy its only so many Days and the Idea of my be'gn in Melbourne the week after next their is not much going on Deck now its so cold ... we stay in our Births all day and Burn 2 lamps to heat it ...
From May the 11th to Wed. May the 18th ― ... We sighted the Island of Desolation on Saturday about 4 in the afternoon the exact time the Captn said we should which prooves that Hes a good navigator just as we sighted it a tremendous Hail Squall Sprung up which lasted some time Had we not [slowed/turned?] at that time within 10 Minutes we must Have been on the Rocks as we were going at a precious rate its a long and large Island with Mounds of Rocks laying out in the Sea which has the appearance of Iceburghs at a distance We saw 2 Wales last Sunday very near the vessel We were Lat 50 Long 70 Last Satturday / Long 94½ today Wednesday made 314 Miles the last 24 Hours The Thermomator stands 30 on Deck this Morning Deck covered with Snow and Bitter and Cold ...
From Wed. 18th up Wed. 25th May this has been a very rough week of Weather We Have Had one Sharp Gale of wind this Week taking away more of our Sails which we are very short off. which detained us again a little We saw a very large Iceburgh on Sunday about 10 times as big as the Marco Polo a grand sight it was Just at day break with the Breakers flying against it in Lat 51 Long104 East all the livestock is used up the last of the Mutton and Pork today with the exception of a Sow and Litter and a few Half Starved fowls Their has been a Large Black swan seen today Supposed to have come from the Swan River in Australia They are all now getting anxious for sighting of Land and Betting Offices open Backing her against the steamers ...
From May 23th to Sunday May 29th ... nothing particular occurd until Saturday Evening when we sighted the light House at Cape Hottoway at 8 Oclock in the evening wind right aft ... Got through the Heads at 8 in the morning when a pilot got on Board and Cast Anchor in Hobson's Bay at 2 Oclock in the Sunday amid the deafening cheers of the Crew and passengers thus ending one of the quickest passage on record beating his last voyage by a few Hours only and from 12 Days on the Line we did no go more than 120 Miles beating the Antelope the Australian Steamer and about 10 other vessels that that were raceing for very Heavy Bets but its no use trying to beat the Marco Polo ..."
(Excerpts transcribed from 'Diary of Edwin Bird 1853 Voyage on Marco Polo of Melbourne',
NLA MS 6064, Trove Online, <https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-885536278>
Great Britain : The Ship
"Until the 1880s most emigrants travelled to Australia as steerage passengers under sail ... Sailing ships ... remained competitive as their performance continued to improve. In 1840 emigrant sailing ships took around 4 months ('an average of 124 days in 1837-1841'), but by 1880 this had been reduced to less than 3 months ('an average of 86 days in 1879-1883').
But there was one outstanding exception ― the Steam Ship Great Britain, which ... made regular voyages with passengers from Liverpool to Melbourne, a quarter of a century before regular emigrant services by steam were established by other shipping companies ... The average time to Melbourne (taken by this steamship actually) decreased, from 81 days in the years 1852-1854 to 62 days in the years 1857-1874 ... From the late 1850s SS Great Britain was consistently faster than the clippers, and a lot faster than the average emigrant sailing ship."
(Timothy J Hatton, 2025, 'Migration to Australia, the transition from sail to steam and the SS Great Britain', Asia-Pacific Economic History Review, 65 (2), 173-191)
"They ... Gibbs, Bright and Company, Liverpool branch ... had decided to convert her for a service to Melbourne. The recent discovery of gold had transformed Australia from a land of exile to a place of opportunity.
The 12,000 mile voyage to Australia was beyond the range of contemporary steam power ... so William Patterson was commissioned to change the vessel from a sail-assisted steamship to a steam-assisted sailing ship ... The number of masts was reduced to four ... the sail area was increased ...with broad rigging ...
Passenger numbers were increased to 730 by adding an upper deck ... For the first time the ship offered 'steerage' accommodation. A passage to Australia cost £16 ― more than half a year's wages for a farmhand ― and Intermediate (Third Class) £18. Passengers brought their own bedding, linen, soap, cutlery and a 3 gallon keg and cup. A dark narrow gangway led down to the cabins, where they were packed 'as close as bees in a hive' next to the engines, with a shared washstand and four undivided berths on each side of a confined and narrow passage."
(Nicholas Fogg, 2002, The Voyages of the GREAT BRITAIN : Life at Sea in the World's First Liner, Chatham Publishing, Rochester, Kent)
"The increasing importance of sail might seem surprising when the number of masts was progressively reduced from six (1843) to four (1851) to three (1853). But of the original six, only the mainmast was square-rigged while the other five were rigged fore and aft (lateen rigged). These were supplementary sails on masts that carried less sail and were hinged so that their angle could be adjusted (i.e. they were anchored at deck-level rather than at the keel). In the 1853 refit, when the number of masts was reduced to three, these were fixed and all square-rigged like the clippers ... this was designed to take advantage of the Westerlies ... (In 1857) still heavier masts were installed and the yards were substantially extended to increase the sail area to double that of 1843 (from 16,000 square feet to 33,000 square feet).
The Great Britain carried up to 1200 tons of coal and so without stopping for coal, it could full-steam for 30 days at most ... On a voyage to Melbourne in 1861, steam power was used for 43% of the time and the ship averaged upwards of 200 miles per day under sail , with a fastest day at 315 miles in the Roaring Forties. On a return voyage in 1860, the ship sailed under canvas alone for 52.8% of the time, used both sail and steam for 31.7%, and steam only for just 15.5%."
(Timothy J Hatton, 2025, as above)
Allan Gilmour
'Jottings From My Life', Great Britain 1852
"... we took steamer to Liverpool where we embarked on 21st August in the SS 'Great Britain' then on her first voyage to Australia and commanded by Capt. Mathews. It was expected that she would make the voyage in 60 days and sailing vessels with coal had been sent out ahead of us for our coaling at Cape of Good Hope.
"... Soon after ['reaching the Equator' and 'crossing the line'] we had a succession of gales and headwinds and when about 500 miles from Cape of Good Hope, Captain Matthew called the passengers together and told them that there was not sufficient coal to carry them to the Cape if the gale continued, and as they were being driven daily nearer to the coast of Africa, advised putting the steamer about and running before the wind to St. Helena, then about 700 miles distant. The passengers agreeing to this, the more readily because of the Captain's assurance of getting sufficient coal from the men of war lying at St. Helena, the ship was put about and on the Sunday following arrived at St. Helena ... Finding the men of war could spare but little coal, all the darkies of the island were set to work to 'cut wood for the Great Britain', a task that necessitated our staying a week, and gave the passengers an opportunity of visiting the points of interest on this historic island, where the great Napoleon was so long confined ...
"Leaving St. Helena on Sunday evening, in less than a week's sail we arrived at Capetown, Cape of Good Hope ... Arriving at Capetown we found bthe vessels with coal, that had preceded us from England, awaiting our arrival. To put this aboard necessitated a stay of a week and the passengers were thus afforded the chance of visiting the town and surrounding country ... when not ashore, it was interesting to watch the coolies (East India laborers) putting the coal aboard, which they did most deliberately, there always being a lot of them to each rope used for hoisting the coal-bags from the lighters. Whilst thus leisurely pulling, the end one or more generally danced some steps, as all hauled together to the words of 'I put my money in the Savings Bank, Ahonda honda hey'[sic].
"Getting the coal aboard, although all not stowed away, we left Capetown for Australia on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately there was a heavy groundswell outside, and our steamer rolled heavily. The sea increasing and our deck load causing us to roll the more, the Captain was compelled to throw many bags of coal overboard ... we arrived at Hobson's Bay on 11th Nov. 1852 making the length of the voyage from Liverpool 82 days, 14 days of which were spent at St Helena and Capetown, leaving 68 days for the sea voyage. A sail up the narrow Yarra Yarra River in a tug brought us to the wharf of Melbourne."
('Jottings from My Life for My Children's Perusal', Allan Gilmour, April 1896, Records of the SS Great Britain, as filmed by AJCP. National Library Australia, Reels M2346 - M2347, <nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2340896593/nla.obj-2340896785/nla.obj-2340896916/nla.obj-2340897042>)
This passenger's unthinking arrogance is breathtaking but then so many of his peers express similar confidence in the innate superiority of Britons. The diary of Edwin Bird on the Marco Polo in 1852, is another fairly cocky account, (as too are the journals of Edward Towle and William Bray, on the Great Britain in 1852 and 1854). These young men may be taking advantage of steerage fares, but they have little doubt about their respective destinies. They seem to believe that Empire, its opportunity and privilege, was especially made for such as themselves, and they intend to claim their birthright in full.
British ships with British captains are obviously the best, and none of these writers question this central premise. They identify very strongly with the reputation of 'their' vessels. They are proud to be associated with these market leaders ― the 'greyhounds' of the Liverpool to Melbourne run.
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