tons, and Guiding Star, 2012 tons. In Great Britain also a large number of ships were built for the Australian trade between the years 1851 and 1854. Many of these were constructed of iron, the finest being the Tayleur, 2500 tons, which was built at Liverpool in 1853 and was at that time the largest merchant ship that had been built in England. She was a very handsome iron vessel, with three decks and large accommodation for cabin and steerage passengers. This vessel was wrecked off the coast of Ireland on her first voyage to Melbourne when only two days out from Liverpool, and became a total loss; of her 652 passengers, only 282 were saved. Among the many other vessels built in Great Britain during this period were the Lord of the Isles, already mentioned in Chapter XII; Vimiera, 1037 tons, built at Sunderland; the Contest, 1119 tons, built at Ardrossan on the Firth of Clyde; and the Gauntlet (iron), 784 tons, and Kate Carnie, 547 tons, both built at Greenock. All of these vessels were a decided improvement upon any ships hitherto built in Great Britain, and they made some fine passages, among them that of the Lord of the Isles, from the Clyde to Sydney, N. S. W., in 70 days in 1853, but the 68-day record of the Marco Polo from Liverpool to Melbourne remained unbroken.
The Marco Polo was still a favorite vessel with passengers, which goes to show what a good ship she must have been, in view of the rivalry of newer and larger clippers. She sailed from Liverpool in November, 1853, commanded by Captain Charles McDonnell, who had been her chief officer under
