The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-15 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1853.

1 DEPARTURE OF THE MARCO POLO. I

DURING the latter part of last week the fine ship Marco
Polo lay In the river, and her smart figure and ship-shape
appearance, exciting general admiration, attracted not a

few of the inhabitants riverwards, to obtain a parting
glance of this favourite vessel. On Friday, an absurd
rumour was spread through the town that her crew- hae.
deserted. On inquiry in the proper quarter, the rumour
was soon proved to be a mere emanation from individuals
whose wish was doubtless " father to the thought." The

Marco Polo was on that day the only vessel in the river

with her full complement of hands-65 in numb

worthy of note that these men receive the handsome sum
of £5 per month, the average pay being about £3 103.
On Saturday another rumour became current, to the
effect that two hundred of the passengers had come ashore
—the inference being that they took this step from dis-

satisfaction with the arrangements on board. So far
from this being true, we are able to say, from personal
iobservation, that a happier or more contented body

of passengers we never saw. Though a great amount
of disorder necessarily prevailed on deck, and matters
had not settled down into the comfortable routine which
would follow the organisation of a constabulary force,
on board, those who had spent several nights in the ship
seemed the most contented and comfortable. The only
people who complained, were a couple of Cockneys, who
found fault with the berths, stigmatised the delicious soup
served at dinner in the second cabin, professed that the
waiting was the most inefficient, and who finally endea-
voured to originate and organise an emeute among the
passengers. In this attempt, they were, fortunately, un •
successful. A quiet old gentleman speedily took them
down ,when they were proposing an " indignation meet-
ing," by a little pleasantry, at the expense of their ante-
cedents, which touched the representatives of Cockney-
dom to the quick, and in a moment destroyed all tile
little influence they previously wielded over their fellow-
passengers. It is invariably found, we may here remark,
that the most troublesome and offensive class of passen-
gers are the Londoners, and no agent or captain need try
to remove the grievances of which they complain, while
their fellow-passengers will invariably discover that they
are as selfish as they are discontented. On Saturday night
an incident occurred which put the passengers on the qei
rice. One of our shrewdest detectives, accompanied by
another officer, went on board, and taking a passenger on
one side, said, " Your name is Ephraim Jacobs ?" " I
have the honour of bearing that name." " You car-
ried on business in Fetter-lane, London ?" " I did."
"You were seen, on Wednesday, in company with So
and so, at Manchester." " I dare say I was." " You
came to Liverpool on Thursday?'' " True," responded
the astounded emigrant, evidently perplexed. " There
have been two serious robberies of watches at Man-
chester, and it is suspected that you had some connexion
with them. I must search your box." The man pro-
tested and swore; but the box was opened, and in it
were found a considerable number of watches of every
description. He asserted that they were his own pro-
perty, and that he was taking them out as a specula-
tion ; and the officers, being unable to identify any
of them as part of the stolen property, were obliged
to leave him in undisturbed possession. We have
been assured that this man's stock of watches
and valuable jewellery was of a most varied and extensive
character. Mr. Ephraim Jacobs was attended by his
better half, and no one could have dreamed from their
appearance that they were the owners of a complete
El dorado of watches, stored safely away in their berth.
The Marco Polo, which then lay off the Prince's-pier,
took her departure hence for Melbourne, about ten o'clock,
on the morning of Sunday. She had 648 passengers on
board, and £90,000 specie on freight, of which £73,000
was from London, and the remainder from Liverpool
houses. Soon after daylight the ship was " hove short"
for the purpose of waiting for the mails, which were
brought on board about half•paet seven o'clock. The
morning, which was somewhat dull and hazy, cleared up
beautifully after breakfast ; and at a little after ten o'clock
the anchor was weighed, and the noble ship towed out of
the river by the powerful steam-tug independence. Hun-
dreds of people had assembled on the shore from an early
hour, and as the gallant ship glided down the river--

schareing several parting salUtes—loud and hearty
cheers burst from the pierhead, which were gratefully re-
turned by the crowd of emigrants on hoard. Mr. Baines
and Mr. Miller' two of the owners, and a number of their
personal friends, proceeded in the ship several miles
beyond the Northwest Lightship, returning with the
pilot, in the Independence, in the afternoon. The day
was serene and mild, and the ship glided through the
water without any motion being perceptible by those
on board. Everybody seemed in high spirits, and
none more so than certain lonely maidens on the
shady side of forty, who were betaking them-
selves to the land of gold, apparently with the hopeful
trust that " a good time was comiug. ' We observed
several young ladies, who were said to be under the care
of Mrs. James, of London,—a Mrs. Chisholm on a small
scale—and whose operations would appear to be conducted
among a different class of people : one of her prot6.46es, a
lively and vivacious girl, having been pointed out to us as
the daughter of an influential banker. That there were
not more of the fair sex on board, appeared to be a matter
of much regret. One young gentleman, a broken-down
" man about town" apparently, and whose incipient
moustache and budding imperial showed that he was
shaping his course for the diggings, was heard to express
his sorrow that there were not more ladies amongst them,
" they exercised such a humanizing tendency on man-
kind !" He expressed a lively interest in the banker's
daughter, and we are afraid that the domain of the good
Mrs. James will require to be carefully watched by that
respected lady. The emigrants are composed principally
of a highly respectable class, who must prove useful to a
rising colony, and deprive the mother-country of a consi-
derable amount of labour, and some of her best and most
spirited citizens. Among the first-cabin passengers, we
observed a goodly number of Germans. We spoke to
one lady, who sat aside, intently reading the "
Progress," and whose early training, in the " North
Countrie," was exhibited in the reserved Sunday-
like silence and abstraction which she maintained
in the bustle and merriment of the crowd around
her. She and a few more were Scotch ; but the English
passengers preponderated. The sister isle was appro-
priately represented by a young barrister, a first-class
passenger, who has left a good practice in London for the
land of nuggets. He is a fine, jolly fellow, and, we
believe, is a native of Belfast, where his family is one of
the most influential and respectable. Dressed in huge
sea-boots, a blue shirt, and a marine cap, he lent a ready
hand in hoisting the anchor and spreading the sails, and
joined in the boisterous refrains with evident pleasure.
When the vessel had proceeded some distance past the
Rock, the emigrants were ordered on deck for the purpose
of answering to the muster-roll. " Search well below,
doctor," exclaimed the captain, to an ebony cook bearing
the patronymic of Dr. Johnson ; "and if you find any
stow-a-ways put them overboard,slick." " Ugh, ugh !"
chuckled the sable doctor, as he shuffled below. In
the course of a little time be re-appeared from the
lower regions with an unfortunate Irishman, whom he had
found concealed in the berth of a married couple. " Secure
him, and keep watch over the lubber ; and deposit him on
the first iceberg we find in 60 South !" exclaimed the cap-
tain. The poor " stow-a-way" trembled in his shoes, for
the fear of a righteous ducking in the salt brine evidently

suggested if selfto the poor wretch. He was put on board
the tug when she parted company with the ship, and
placed once more on shore, a wandering " ne'er-do-
weel." One feature developed very prominently among
the passengers was the passion for note taking. If only
half the number who were taking fierce notes on board
during the first three hours of the voyage continue to
labour as industriously every day, and put each a portion
of his lucubrations in print, there will be a fearful inun-
dation of naval literature in the land. On the poop, at
the bows, and under the lea of the mainmast, indefinite
articles, note book i❑ hand and spectacles on nose, watched
with open mouth and eyes " tightly skinned" to chronicle
the last cheer from the shore, the last chime of the church
bells, stopping occasionally to jot down the captain's last
joke, or the latest grimace of the ebony Dr. Johnson. To
show that the passengers are not likely to be often troubled
with the gnawings of hunger, we give a few items specify-
ing the amount of provisions on board :-40 tons of fresh
beef, 60 live pigs, 40 sheep, 100 dozen of fowls. 5 dozen
of geese, 5 dozen of turkeys, 400 barrels of flour, 600
barrels of bread, 350 tons of water, &c.
. .

Captain Forbes is taking with him a beautiful picture,
by Mr. Walters, of Liverpool, which represents the
Marco Polo coming round Crosby Lightship, under a
very heavy pressure of canvass. He intends it as a present
to the Town-hall of Melbourne. There is one fact with

reference to the Marco Polo's sailing on a Sannay which

is worth recording. it is Captain F.Orbes's favourite day ;
and for this reason. He left Liverpool for Melbourne, on
his last voyage, on a Sunday; crossed the Line on a
Sunday ; sighted the Cape on a Sunday; arrived at Mel-
bourne on a Sunday ; left Melbourne on a Sunday ;
sighted the Cape on a Sunday ; recrossed the line on a
Sunday; and arrived in the Mersey on a Sunday. Capt.
Forbes is, we understand, a native of Aberdeen, and it
is not a little to the credit of that remote city of the
north that, while her clippers are the smartest afloat, she
has produced a seaman, who has accomplished the quickest
passage to and from Australia on record, and who
seems confident that he will again realise his first triumph.
And when we hear practical men like Mr. J. T. Towson,
the inventor of composite sailing, declaring that that
unprecedented voyage was the result not of mere chance
but of skill, and that Captain Forbes had combatted and
overcome difficulties which had well nigh paralyzed the
genius of a Columbus—we have good reason to believe
that the distinguished seaman will realize his anticipa-
tions, and be once more in the Mersey ere s;rz months
have elapsed. The owners of the Marco Polo have in
their possession the model of a splendid clipper-ship, of
1491 tons burthen, which it is their intention to have
built in Liverpool for the Australian trade. Captain
Forbes will have the command, besides having an interest
in the vessel ; and the command of the Marco Polo will
devolve upon Mr. Macdonald, her first officer. We
understand that Messrs. Jordan and Getty are the builders
selected for the task of constructing this new vessel.
Before concluding this account of the Marco Polo's de-
parture, we may mention that a couple of " detectives"
i
were on board, n company with a respectable lady, ad-
vanced in years, endeavouring to discover the whereabouts
of some persan supposed to be on board, and who had,
before leaving home, embezzled large sums of money. If
the guilty party was on board—and a rumour to that effect
was current—he certainly succeeded in evading the
officers of justice, and the Independence tug brought the
latest strangers on board into the Mersey with no culprit
on board save the miserable stowaway.