CHAPTER IX.

[pg 98]CHAPTER IX.Davy Jones’s Locker.—Submarine Cables.The First Channel Cable—Nowadays 50,000 Miles of Submarine Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability Admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze, formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co-operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of theGreat Eastern—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—ALuckyFriday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World Bound Together.In the year 1850 a copper wire, insulated with gutta-percha, was submerged between England and France, and that connecting link between the two greatest countries of Europe was the first considerable success of its kind. To-day Great Britain is connected with the European continent by a dozen cables, and there are over 50,000 miles of submerged wires silently conveying their messages over the face of the globe. Thirty years of practical scientific labour has united the whole world. You can telegraph or“wire”your commands to distant China or Japan; you can ask the market rates of wheat in the farthest west of the New World; you can correspond with your wife in England if you are at the Antipodes. Puck’s idea of putting the“girdle round the earth”has been more than accomplished. The story of the successes won at the very bottom of the ocean would take long to tell; here we can only follow the story of one of the grandest—that of the Atlantic cable.In the month of November, 1819, a noble American, whose career deserves to be put on record, first saw the light. Cyrus W. Field has deservedly earned an honourable and honoured name in two worlds for indomitable perseverance and pluck.31The New Englander has to-day, and has always had, many of the best qualities of the Old Englander. In Field they were conspicuously displayed. In his“bright lexicon”there was—“No such word asfail,”for the worst disappointment only stirred him to fresh exertion.“’Tis not in mortals to command success;But we’ll do more, Sempronius—we’ll deserve it.”Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a rural village nook which lies calmly and peacefully cradled among the green Berkshire hills, a spot which would delight the eyes of a true artist. He was the son of a country pastor, who, in spite of a paltry stipend of a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and thanks to the scholastic advantages offered to every one in the United States, gave nine children a superior education. Several of these children distinguished themselves in after life, but none more than the subject of this sketch.[pg 99]While to this energetic man is due the actual success, it is to Professor Morse, who had said that“telegraphic communication might with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean,”and to an excellent Roman Catholic bishop, that the idea is to be fairly credited. Bishop Mullock, of Newfoundland, while lying becalmed in his yacht off Cape North, the extreme point of the province of Cape Breton, bethought himself how his poor neglected island might reap some advantage from being taken into the track of communication between Europe and America, for he saw that Nature had provided an easy approach to the mainland for a cable. Fired with the idea, he wrote to one of the St. John’s papers, and his letter is to-day a model of lucid explanation. About the same time Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, a practical telegraph operator, promulgated the idea of connecting St. John’s with the mainland, and one evening interested Mr. Cyrus Field, then just retired from business on a competency, in his scheme.“After he left,”writes his brother,“Mr. Field took the globe which was standing in the library, and began to turn it over. It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first occurred to him that the telegraph might be carried further still, and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean.”Maury, the distinguished marine scientist, and Professor Morse, had also come to the same conclusion, and at about the same time as had others in England. The history of the financial difficulties and ultimate triumphs connected with the inauguration of the first cable would not interest the reader; suffice it to say that half-a-dozen New York millionaires subscribed the first capital—a million and a half dollars. The cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was successfully laid in 1856, after one previous failure.And now Field began to clear the way by consulting the highest scientific authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Was it possible to carry a cable across the ocean? If laid, would it be able to convey messages? The first query related to mechanical difficulties only, such as the depth of the ocean, the nature of the ocean bed, the influence of currents and winds. The second referred to pure science and the conditions under which the electric fluid acts—Would the lightning flash from shore to shore across an intervening waste of sea? The answer to the first question was supplied by Maury, who pointed out that between Ireland and Newfoundland the bottom of the sea formed a plateau, or elevated table-land, which, as he said, seemed to have been placed there especially for the purpose of supporting the wires of an electric telegraph, and protecting them from injury. Its slope, he said, was quite regular, gradually increasing from the shores of Newfoundland to the depth of from 1,500 to 2,000 fathoms as you approach the Irish coast. It was neither too deep nor too shallow: deep enough to protect the cable from danger by ships’ anchors, icebergs, and currents; shallow enough to secure that the wires should be readily lodged upon the bottom. From Professor Morse an equally satisfactory answer was obtained. He declared his faith in the undertaking as a practicable one: that it might, could, and would be achieved.The Company undertook to make a series of careful soundings to ascertain the exact nature of the ocean bottom over which the cable connecting Newfoundland with Ireland would have to be laid. Mr. Field applied for this purpose to the American Government, who immediately despatched theArctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, on this useful and most necessary service. She sailed from New York on the 18th of July, 1856; and on the following day Mr. Field left in the steamshipBalticfor England, to organise the Atlantic Telegraph Company. TheArcticproceeded to St. John’s, and thence went[pg 100]on her way across the deep, in three weeks reaching the coast of Ireland, and clearly demonstrating, as the result of her survey, the existence of a great plateau under the ocean, extending all the way from the New World to the Old. To make assurance doubly sure, Mr. Field solicited the British Admiralty“to make what further soundings might be necessary between Ireland and Newfoundland, and to verify those made by Lieutenant Berryman.”In response to this appeal the Admiralty sent out theCyclops, under Lieutenant Dayman, a very capable officer, who executed his task with great zeal and success. He showed that the depth of the water on the so-called telegraphic plateau—the elevated table-land which Providence had raised between the two continents—nowhere exceeded 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet. Such a depth is almost trivial compared with the enormous depths in other parts of the Atlantic, where you might hide from all human eyes the loftiest snow-clad peak of the Himalayas, yet no inconsiderable depth if you reflect that the peak of Teneriffe, were it here“cast into the sea,”would sink out of sight, island, mountain, and all; and even the coloured crest of Mont Blanc would rise but a few hundred feet above the waves. The single exception to this uniform depth occurs about 200 miles off the Irish coast, where within an area of about a dozen miles the depth sinks from 550 to 1,750 fathoms. In 14° 48′ W., says Dayman, we have 550 fathoms rock, and in 150° 6′ W. we have 1,750 fathoms ooze. In little more than ten miles of distance a change of depth takes place amounting to fully 7,200 feet. It was supposed that this tremendous declivity would be the chief point of danger in laying down the cable; and to remove, if possible, the anxiety which existed, Lieutenant Dayman made a further survey. The result showed that the dip was not a sudden one; the precipitous bank or submarine cliff turned out to be a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over this long slope, said a writer in theTimes, the difference between its greatest height and greatest depth is only 8,760 feet, so that the average incline is, in round numbers, about 145 feet per mile. A good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be 1 in 100 feet, or about 53 feet in a mile; so that the incline on this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary railway. It was found upon these surveys that the ocean bed consisted of a soft ooze, as soft as the moss which clings to old damp stone on the river’s brink. And of what does this ooze consist? The microscope revealed the astonishing fact that it is made up of myriads of shells, too minute to be discovered by the naked eye, yet each perfect in itself, unbroken and uninjured. These organisms live near the surface of the water, but in death sink down to the bottom, and there find a calm and peaceful resting-place. Well has it been said that a mighty work of life and death has for ages been going on in the tranquil bosom of ocean. Myriads upon myriads, ever since the morning of creation, have been falling—falling like snow-flakes, till their remains cover with a thick stratum of beautiful organisms the ocean bed.“The bearing of this discovery,”says Dr. Field,“on the problem of a submarine telegraph was obvious. For it, too, was to lie on the ocean bed, beside and among those relics that had so long been drifting down upon the watery plain. And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, surely an iron cord might rest there in safety. There were no swift currents down there; no rushing waves agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved not, and there might rest the great nerve that was to pass from[pg 101]continent to continent. And so far as injury from the surrounding elements was concerned, there it might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive generations of men, till the sea should give up its dead.”Everything showed that the project of an Atlantic cable was feasible. All that remained was to raise the capital necessary for its development. But this could be done only by the formation of a large and influential company, the enterprise having outgrown the resources of Mr. Field and his little band of New York merchants. While engaged in submitting his scheme to the consideration of the capitalists of London, Mr. Field found counsel and encouragement from many men distinguished in the world of science, and among his principal supporters had the good fortune to rank Glass and Elliot, now so well known as manufacturers of sea-cables, and the celebrated engineers whose names are associated with the scientific marvels of the age—Brett, Bidder, Robert Stephenson, and Brunel. The last-named was then building the colossal ship afterwards called theGreat Eastern; and one day taking Mr. Field down to see her gigantic hull as it lay in the yard at Blackwall, he exclaimed—and, as results have proved, prophetically—“There is the ship to lay your Atlantic cable!”SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed; and 2,500 miles of cable were manufactured and stowed on board the English naval vesselAgamemnonand the United States shipNiagara. It was on the evening of August 7th, 1857, that the squadron sailed; and according to arrangement theNiagaraat once began to pay out the cable very slowly; but before five miles had been accomplished the heavy shore end of the cable got entangled with the machinery through the carelessness of one of the men in charge, and parted. TheNiagaraput back, and the cable was“under run”the whole distance. At last the end was raised from the water and“spliced”to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped safely to its resting-place among the“salt sea ooze”the noble ship once more went on her way. Saturday, we are told, was a day of beautiful weather. The squadron made good progress at a rate of from four to five miles an hour, and the cable was paid out at a speed somewhat exceeding that of the ship, to allow for any irregularities of surface on the bottom of the sea. Meantime a constant communication was kept up with the land. Every moment the electric fluid flashed between ship and shore. Not only did the electricians wire back to Valentia the progress they were making, but the officers on board sent messages to their friends in America to go out by the steamer from Liverpool. The very heavens seemed to regard the enterprise with favour. All went merrily as a marriage bell. Without a kink the coil came up from the vessel’s hold, and unwinding easily, passed over the stern into the sea. Once or twice, however, a momentary alarm was caused by the cable being thrown[pg 102]off the wheels, an accident due to the insufficient width and depth of the sheaves and to the fact that they were filled with tar, which hardened in the air. This defect was remedied in later expeditions. Still it worked well, and as long as the terrible brakes withheld their iron grasp might work through to the end. On the following day, Sunday, the course of affairs was not less smooth; and on Monday the expedition was upwards of 200 miles from land. The shallow water of the coast had been safely traversed. The ships had passed over the submarine declivity which has been already described, and had reached the deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to a depth of not less than 2,000 fathoms. Still the iron cord buried itself in the profound silence, and every instant the flash of light in the telegraph room recorded the continuous passage of the mysterious electric current. About four o’clock on Tuesday morning, however, a sudden interruption occurred. It seems from the published narrative that the cable was running cut fully at the rate of six miles an hour, while the ship was making only four. To check this waste, the engineer applied the brakes very firmly, with the effect of stopping the machine. Hence a heavy strain told on the submerged portion of the cable. The stern of the ship was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell the pressure became too great, and the cable parted. Instantly a cry of grief and dismay ran through the ship. She was checked in her onward career, and in five minutes all gathered on deck with feelings which can be better imagined than described. One who was present wrote:—“The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. The interest taken in the enterprise by all—every one, officers and men—exceeded anything I ever saw, and there is no wonder that there should have been so much emotion at our failure.”Captain Hudson says:—“It made all hands of us through the day like a household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise.”The cable broke in 2,000 fathoms water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. This was the first of a series of disappointments, ending, however, in eventual triumph.The same vessels sailed again in June of the next year, and as arranged before starting, reached a point of junction in mid-stream, where the ends of the two cables were spliced, and the ships parted, theAgamemnonsteering for Valentia, and theNiagarafor Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Both vessels arrived at their ports of destination on August 5th, and the fact of the completion of the enterprise was for the first time“cabled”under the wide Atlantic two days later, to the great rejoicing, it may fairly be said, of two worlds. Congratulatory messages were flashed from either end, and success seemed secured. Alas! less than a month later all communication ceased; the electric current would not pass through the great wire-rope; there was a leakage somewhere. But it had been shown conclusively that messagescouldbe transmitted under the given conditions. This was something.Passing over all the financial arrangements connected with a new attempt, which was not made till 1865, we find Brunel’s prediction fulfilled. The largest ship in the world was chartered to lay another cable.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.The work of stowing away the cable on board theGreat Eastern, where it was coiled up[pg 103]in three immense tanks—one aft, one amidships, and one forward—began in January and was not completed until June. It will give the reader an idea of the enormous size and capacity of theGreat Easternwhen he is told that though the cable measured 2,700 miles, a visitor to the mammoth ship was at first unaware of its being on board! Here is the account given by a writer who went to see the ship and its novel cargo. Its details are interesting.“It is time,”he says, after a general survey of the wonders of the huge vessel—“it is time we should look after what we have mainly come to see—the telegraph cable. To our intense astonishment we beheld it—nowhere, although informed that there are nearly 2,000 miles of it already on board, and that the remaining piece, which is long enough to stretch from Land’s End to John o’ Groat’s, is in course of shipment. We walk up and down on the deck of theGreat Easternwithout seeing this chain which is to bind together the Old World and the New, and it is only on having the place pointed out to us that we find out where the cable lies.”The writer then describes the process of taking it on board:—“On the side opposite to where we landed, deep below the deck of our giant, is moored a vessel surmounted by a timber structure resembling a house, and from this vessel the wonderful telegraph cable is drawn silently into the immense womb of theGreat Eastern. The work is done so quietly and noiselessly, by means of a small steam-engine, that we scarcely notice it. Indeed, were it not pointed out to us, we would never think that that little iron cord,about an inch in diameter, which is sliding over a few rollers and through a wooden table, is a thing of world-wide fame—a thing which may influence the life of whole nations, nay, which may affect the march of civilisation. Following the direction in which the iron rope goes, we now come to the most marvellous sight.... We find ourselves in a little wooden cabin, and look down over a railing at the side into an immense cavern below. This cavern is one of the three‘tanks’in which the two-thousand-mile cable is finding a temporary home. The passive agent of electricity comes creeping in here in a beautiful silent manner, and is deposited in coils, layer above layer. It is almost dark at the immense depth below, and we can only dimly discern the human figures through whose hands the coil passes to its bed. Suddenly, however, the men begin singing. They intone a low, plaintive song of the sea, something like Kingsley’s“Three fishers went sailing away to the west,Away to the west, as the sun went down,”the sounds of which rise up from the dark deep cavern with startling effect, and produce an indescribable impression. We move on; but the song of the sailors who are taking charge of the Atlantic telegraph cable is haunting us like a dream. In vain that our guide conducts us all over the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, and promenades; through gorgeous saloons full of mirrors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made‘regardless of expense’; and through buildings crowded with glittering steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the latent power of coal and water creates the force which propels this monster vessel across the seas. In vain our attention is directed to all these sights; we do not admire them; our imagination is used up. The echo of the sailors’ song in the womb of theGreat Easternwill not be banished from our mind. It raises visions of the future of the mystic iron coil under our feet: how it will roll forth again from its narrow berth; how it will sink to the bottom of the Atlantic or hang from mountain to mountain far below[pg 104]the stormy waves; and how two great nations, the offspring of one race and the pioneers of civilisation, will speak through this wonderful coil, annihilating distance and time. Who can help dreaming here on the spot where we stand? For it is truly a marvellous romance of civilisation, thisGreat Easternand this Atlantic telegraph cable. Even should our age produce nothing else, it alone would be the triumph of our age.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE “GREAT EASTERN.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE“GREAT EASTERN.”TheGreat Easternleft the Thames on July 13th, 1865. After sundry mishaps, she turned her mighty prow towards the sunset, and proceeded on her stately way. All went well until the 29th of July, when a little after noon a new cry of alarm was raised. And well it might be, for the insulation was completely destroyed and the electric current overflowing uselessly into the sea. As the faulty piece had gone overboard, it was necessary once more to reverse the vessel’s course, and haul in the cable until the defective part was recovered. This was a difficult task, for they were in water two miles deep. Difficulties did not, however, daunt the pioneers of this great enterprise, and after working all the afternoon, the injured cable was got on board about ten o’clock at night. It was at once stowed away, and the next morning, Sunday, was welcomed with an eager feeling of relief and delight after the suspense of the preceding four-and-twenty hours. On Monday the miles of cable which had been hauled up and were coiled in huge heaps upon the deck were closely examined to discover the origin of the mischief. This was soon detected. Near the end a piece of wire was thrust through the very core, as if driven into it. The recurrence of such a mishap actually suggested suspicions of treachery. It was observed that the same gang of workmen were in the tank as at the time of the first fault. Mr. Canning sent for the men, and[pg 105]showing them the cable and the wire, asked for an explanation. All replied that it must have been done intentionally, and regretted that there was a traitor among them—the unknown traitor, of course, being one of those who thus expressed their sorrow. It seemed difficult to believe that any person could be base enough to plot in this stealthy way against the success of a beneficent enterprise, but such a thing had been done before in a cable in the North Sea, when the perpetrator of the crime was discovered and punished. In the present case there were not wanting motives to prompt the commission of such an act. The fall in the stock, we are told, on the London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could hardly be less than half a million sterling. It was, however, found impossible to fix the deed on any one, for nothing was proved; and the instigator and the perpetrator both remaining unknown, of course a painful feeling of suspicion was left in the minds of Mr. Field and his colleagues. They saw that they must be on their guard; and it was agreed, therefore, that the gentlemen on board should take turn in keeping watch in the tank. TheGreat Easterncontinued her voyage, and for three days, during which they accomplished 500 miles, no further trouble occurred. A few days later, however, a defect was found in the cable, and it became necessary to haul in a short portion of that last paid out. Unfortunately the machinery proved too weak for the purpose, and a breeze springing up, the cable chafed until it snapped right asunder. With one bound it flew through the stoppers, and plunged into the sea.“The shock of the instant,”Dr. Russell tells us,“was as sharp as the snapping of the cable itself,”so great was the disappointment felt on board.The apparently wild attempt was immediately made torecoverthe cable. It was settled that theGreat Easternshould steam to windward, and eastward of the position she occupied when the cable went down, lower a grapnel, and slowly drift across the track in which the lost treasure was supposed to be lying. So the leviathan ship stood away some thirteen or fourteen miles, and then lay-to in smooth water. The grapnel consisted of two five-armed anchors, of several hundredweight, one of which was shackled and secured to wire rope, of which there were five miles on board, and committed to the deep.“Away slipped the rope, yard after yard, fathom after fathom; ocean, like the horse-leech’s daughter still crying for‘more’and‘more,’still descending into the black waste of waters. One thousand fathoms—still more! One thousand five hundred fathoms—still more! Two thousand fathoms—more, still more! Two thousand five hundred fathoms (15,000 feet)—aye, that will do; the grapnel has reached the bed of the Atlantic; the search has commenced.”Next morning these efforts bore fruit, for the great sea-serpentine cable was caught, and raised seven hundred fathoms (4,200 feet), towards the surface, unhappily to again fall to the bottom. A second attempt resulted in raising it a mile and a half, when a swivel gave way, and it again sank to the bottom. These experiments had used up a considerable quantity of the wire rope, and every expedient had to be adopted to patch up and strengthen the fishing apparatus, which gave full employment to the mechanics on board. Great forge-fires were made on deck, which at night illumined the ocean for a distance round, and helped to make a striking and effective scene. A third and fourth attempt was made to raise the cable; but in spite of the indomitable perseverance of Field and his associates, without success, and the bows of the great ship were sorrowfully directed towards home.In spite of these failures no abatement of public confidence in the eventual success of[pg 106]the enterprise was shown on the return of the expedition to England. Nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling was subscribedprivatelytowards the next attempt, and when the subscription books were thrown open to the public, the whole capital required was furnished in a fortnight. Some minor improvements were introduced in the successful 1866 cable; among other points, it was galvanised.When the day arrived for the final great effort, the undertaking was inaugurated solemnly by special prayer and supplication. Dr. Field says of that moment:—“Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle—since gone to his honoured grave—cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission as‘beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace.’“Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remembered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushed and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to‘go down to the sea in ships,’and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea.“In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time: of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.“On Friday the 13th of July, 1866, the fleet finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic on the same day of the week! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower, not to look, but to listen for the first voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore[pg 107]line, but the weather was thick and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could not see far on the water. For an hour or two the ships went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search of prey. At length theMedwaycaught sight of the buoy tossing on the waves, and firing a signal gun, bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled up from its bed, 100 fathoms deep, and lashed to the stern of theGreat Eastern; and the watchers on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, saw the first flash, and Varley read,‘Got the shore-end all right; going to make the splice.’Then all was still, and they knew that that delicate operation was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the covering from a foot of the shore-end and of the main cable till they came to the core, then swiftly unwinding the copper wires they laid them together as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Then this delicate child of the sea was wrapped in swaddling clothes, covered up with many coatings of gutta-percha and hempen rope and strong iron wires, the whole bound round and round with heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals are now sent through the whole cable on board theGreat Easternand back to the telegraph house at Valentia, and the whole length, 2,440 nautical miles, is reported perfect, and so with light hearts they bear away. It is nearly three o’clock. As they turn to the west, the following is the‘order of battle’: theTerriblegoes ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, theMedwayis on the port, and theAlbanyon the starboard quarter. From that hour the voyage was a steady progress. Indeed, it was almost monotonous from its uninterrupted success. The weather was variable, alternating with sunshine and rain, fogs and squalls; but there was no heavy sea to interrupt their course, and the distance run was about the same from day to day, as the following table will show:—Distance Run.Miles.Cable Paid Out.Miles.Saturday, 14th108116Sunday, 15th128139Monday, 16th115137Tuesday, 17th117138Wednesday, 18th104125Thursday, 19th112129Friday, 20th117127Saturday, 21st121136Sunday, 22nd123133Monday, 23rd121138Tuesday, 24th120135Wednesday, 25th119130Thursday, 26th128134Friday, 27th100104.”This table shows the speed of the ship to have been exactly according to the“running time”fixed before she left England. On the last voyage it was thought that she had once or twice run too fast, and thus exposed the cable to danger. It was therefore decided to go slowly but surely. Holding her back to this moderate pace, her average speed from the time the splice was made until they saw land was a little less than five nautical miles an hour, while the cable was paid out at an average of not quite five and half miles. Thus the total slack was about eleven per cent., showing that the cable was laid almost in a straight line, allowing for the swells and hollows at the bottom of the sea.“Friday, July 27.—Shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday two ships, which were soon made out to be steamers, were seen to the westward; and theTerrible, steaming on ahead, in about an hour signalled to us that H.M.S.Nigerwas one of them, accompanied by theAlbany. TheNiger, Captain Bunce, sent aboard to theTerribleas soon as he came up with her. TheAlbanyshortly afterwards[pg 108]took up her position on our starboard quarter, and signalled that she spoke theNigerat noon, bearing E. by N., and that theLilywas anchored at the station in the entrance of Trinity Bay, as arranged with the Admiral. TheAlbanyalso reported that she had passed an iceberg about sixty feet high. At twenty minutes after 4 p.m. theNigercame on our port side, quite close, and Captain Bunce, sending the crew into the rigging and manning the yards, gave us three cheers, which were heartily returned by theGreat Eastern. She then steamed ahead towards Trinity Bay. TheAlbanywas signalled to go on immediately to Heart’s Content, clear the N.E. side of the harbour of shipping, and place a boat with a red flag for Captain Anderson to steer to for anchorage. Just before dinner we saw on the southern horizon, distant about ten miles, an iceberg, probably the one that theAlbanyhad met with. It was apparently about fifty or sixty feet in height. The fog came on very thickly about 8 p.m., and between that and 10 we were constantly exchanging guns and burning blue lights with theTerrible, which, with theNiger, went in search of theLilystation-ship. TheTerriblebeing signalled to come up and take her position, informed us that they had made theLilyout, and that she bore then about ENE., distant about four miles. Later in the night Captain Commerell said that if Captain Anderson would stop theGreat Easternhe would send the surveyor, Mr. Robinson, R.N., who came up in theNiger, aboard of us; and about 3 the engines were slowed, and theTerribleshortly afterwards came alongside with that officer. Catalina Light, at the entrance of Trinity Bay, had been made out three hours before this, and the loom of the coast had also been seen. Fog still prevailing! According to Mr. Robinson’s account, if they had got one clear day in seven at the entrance of Trinity Bay they considered themselves fortunate. Here we are now (6 a.m.) within ten miles of Heart’s Content, and we can scarcely see more than a ship’s length. TheNiger, however, is ahead, and her repeated guns tell us where we are with accuracy. Good fortune follows us, and scarcely has 8 o’clock arrived, when the massive curtain of fog raises itself gradually from both sides of Trinity Bay, disclosing to us the entrance of Heart’s Content, theAlbanymaking for the harbour, theMargaretta Stevenson, surveying vessel, steaming out to meet us, the pre-arranged pathway all marked with buoys by Mr. T. H. Kerr, R.N., and a whole fleet of fishing boats fishing at the entrance. We could now plainly see that Heart’s Content, so far as its capabilities permitted, was prepared to welcome us. The British and American flags floated from the church and telegraph station and other buildings. We had dressed ship, fired a salute, and given three cheers, and Captain Commerell, of H.M.S.Terrible, was soon on board to congratulate us on our success. At 9 o’clock, ship’s time, just as we had cut the cable and made arrangements for theMedwayto lay the shore end, a message arrived, giving us the concluding words of a leader in this morning’sTimes:‘It is a great work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have achieved it deserve to be honoured amongst the benefactors of their race.’‘Treaty of peace signed between Prussia and Austria!’It was now time for the chief engineer, Mr. Canning, to make preparations for splicing on board theMedway. Accompanied by Mr. Good, M.P., Mr. Clifford, Mr. Willoughby Smith, and Messrs. Temple and Deane, he went on board; theTerribleandNigerhaving sent their paddle-box boats to assist. Shortly afterwards theGreat Easternsteamed into the harbour and anchored on the NE. side, and was quickly surrounded by boats laden with visitors. Mr. Cyrus Field had gone on shore before the[pg 110]Great Easternhad left the offing, with a view of telegraphing to St. John’s to hire a vessel to repair the cable unhappily broken between Cape Ray, in Newfoundland, and Cape North, in Breton Island. Before a couple of hours the shore end will be landed, and it is impossible to conceive a finer day for effecting this our final operation. To-morrow Heart’s Content will awaken to the fact that it is a highly-favoured place in the world’s esteem, the western landing-place of that marvel of electric communication with the eastern hemisphere which is now happily, and we hope finally, established.”The foregoing simple record tells the great story of this memorable voyage. In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day, but on the American side of the ocean all was uncertainty. Some had gone to Heart’s Content hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the year before, for the memory of the last failure was too fresh, and they feared another disappointment. But still a faithful few were there who kept their daily watch. The correspondents of the American papers reported only a long and anxious suspense till that morning when the first ship was seen in the offing. And now the hull of theGreat Easternlooms up all glorious in that morning sky. They are coming! Instantly all was wild excitement on shore. Boats put off to row towards the fleet. TheAlbanywas the first to round the point and enter the bay. TheTerriblecame close behind. TheMedwaystopped an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, while theGreat Eastern, gliding calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, dropped her anchor in front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the Old World to the New. That same afternoon, as soon as the shore end was landed, Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet went in a body to the little church of Heart’s Content to render thanks for the success of the expedition. A sermon was preached on the text,“There shall be no more sea,”and all joined in the sublime prayers and thanksgivings of the Church of England. Thus the voyage ended as it began.THE “GREAT EASTERN” LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.THE“GREAT EASTERN”LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.(From Cassell’s“Illustrated History of England.”)Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday the 27th, yet as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was not received in New York until the 29th. It was early Sunday morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings came. The first announcement was brief—“Heart’s Content, July 27th.—We arrived here at nine o’clock this morning. All well. Thank God the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.—Cyrus W. Field.”Soon followed the despatch to the Associated Press, giving the details of the voyage, and ending with a just tribute to the skill and devotion of all who had contributed to its success. Said Mr. Field:“I cannot find words suitable to convey my admiration for the men who have so ably conducted the nautical, engineering, and electrical departments of this enterprise, amidst difficulties which must be seen to be appreciated; in fact, all on board of the telegraph fleet, and all connected with the enterprise, have done their best to have the cable made and laid in a perfect condition.”Other despatches followed in quick succession, giving the latest events of the war in Europe. All this confirmed the great triumph, and filled the breasts of many with wonder and gratitude that Sabbath day as they went up to the house of God and rendered thanks to Him who is Lord of the earth and sea.

[pg 98]CHAPTER IX.Davy Jones’s Locker.—Submarine Cables.The First Channel Cable—Nowadays 50,000 Miles of Submarine Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability Admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze, formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co-operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of theGreat Eastern—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—ALuckyFriday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World Bound Together.In the year 1850 a copper wire, insulated with gutta-percha, was submerged between England and France, and that connecting link between the two greatest countries of Europe was the first considerable success of its kind. To-day Great Britain is connected with the European continent by a dozen cables, and there are over 50,000 miles of submerged wires silently conveying their messages over the face of the globe. Thirty years of practical scientific labour has united the whole world. You can telegraph or“wire”your commands to distant China or Japan; you can ask the market rates of wheat in the farthest west of the New World; you can correspond with your wife in England if you are at the Antipodes. Puck’s idea of putting the“girdle round the earth”has been more than accomplished. The story of the successes won at the very bottom of the ocean would take long to tell; here we can only follow the story of one of the grandest—that of the Atlantic cable.In the month of November, 1819, a noble American, whose career deserves to be put on record, first saw the light. Cyrus W. Field has deservedly earned an honourable and honoured name in two worlds for indomitable perseverance and pluck.31The New Englander has to-day, and has always had, many of the best qualities of the Old Englander. In Field they were conspicuously displayed. In his“bright lexicon”there was—“No such word asfail,”for the worst disappointment only stirred him to fresh exertion.“’Tis not in mortals to command success;But we’ll do more, Sempronius—we’ll deserve it.”Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a rural village nook which lies calmly and peacefully cradled among the green Berkshire hills, a spot which would delight the eyes of a true artist. He was the son of a country pastor, who, in spite of a paltry stipend of a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and thanks to the scholastic advantages offered to every one in the United States, gave nine children a superior education. Several of these children distinguished themselves in after life, but none more than the subject of this sketch.[pg 99]While to this energetic man is due the actual success, it is to Professor Morse, who had said that“telegraphic communication might with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean,”and to an excellent Roman Catholic bishop, that the idea is to be fairly credited. Bishop Mullock, of Newfoundland, while lying becalmed in his yacht off Cape North, the extreme point of the province of Cape Breton, bethought himself how his poor neglected island might reap some advantage from being taken into the track of communication between Europe and America, for he saw that Nature had provided an easy approach to the mainland for a cable. Fired with the idea, he wrote to one of the St. John’s papers, and his letter is to-day a model of lucid explanation. About the same time Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, a practical telegraph operator, promulgated the idea of connecting St. John’s with the mainland, and one evening interested Mr. Cyrus Field, then just retired from business on a competency, in his scheme.“After he left,”writes his brother,“Mr. Field took the globe which was standing in the library, and began to turn it over. It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first occurred to him that the telegraph might be carried further still, and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean.”Maury, the distinguished marine scientist, and Professor Morse, had also come to the same conclusion, and at about the same time as had others in England. The history of the financial difficulties and ultimate triumphs connected with the inauguration of the first cable would not interest the reader; suffice it to say that half-a-dozen New York millionaires subscribed the first capital—a million and a half dollars. The cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was successfully laid in 1856, after one previous failure.And now Field began to clear the way by consulting the highest scientific authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Was it possible to carry a cable across the ocean? If laid, would it be able to convey messages? The first query related to mechanical difficulties only, such as the depth of the ocean, the nature of the ocean bed, the influence of currents and winds. The second referred to pure science and the conditions under which the electric fluid acts—Would the lightning flash from shore to shore across an intervening waste of sea? The answer to the first question was supplied by Maury, who pointed out that between Ireland and Newfoundland the bottom of the sea formed a plateau, or elevated table-land, which, as he said, seemed to have been placed there especially for the purpose of supporting the wires of an electric telegraph, and protecting them from injury. Its slope, he said, was quite regular, gradually increasing from the shores of Newfoundland to the depth of from 1,500 to 2,000 fathoms as you approach the Irish coast. It was neither too deep nor too shallow: deep enough to protect the cable from danger by ships’ anchors, icebergs, and currents; shallow enough to secure that the wires should be readily lodged upon the bottom. From Professor Morse an equally satisfactory answer was obtained. He declared his faith in the undertaking as a practicable one: that it might, could, and would be achieved.The Company undertook to make a series of careful soundings to ascertain the exact nature of the ocean bottom over which the cable connecting Newfoundland with Ireland would have to be laid. Mr. Field applied for this purpose to the American Government, who immediately despatched theArctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, on this useful and most necessary service. She sailed from New York on the 18th of July, 1856; and on the following day Mr. Field left in the steamshipBalticfor England, to organise the Atlantic Telegraph Company. TheArcticproceeded to St. John’s, and thence went[pg 100]on her way across the deep, in three weeks reaching the coast of Ireland, and clearly demonstrating, as the result of her survey, the existence of a great plateau under the ocean, extending all the way from the New World to the Old. To make assurance doubly sure, Mr. Field solicited the British Admiralty“to make what further soundings might be necessary between Ireland and Newfoundland, and to verify those made by Lieutenant Berryman.”In response to this appeal the Admiralty sent out theCyclops, under Lieutenant Dayman, a very capable officer, who executed his task with great zeal and success. He showed that the depth of the water on the so-called telegraphic plateau—the elevated table-land which Providence had raised between the two continents—nowhere exceeded 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet. Such a depth is almost trivial compared with the enormous depths in other parts of the Atlantic, where you might hide from all human eyes the loftiest snow-clad peak of the Himalayas, yet no inconsiderable depth if you reflect that the peak of Teneriffe, were it here“cast into the sea,”would sink out of sight, island, mountain, and all; and even the coloured crest of Mont Blanc would rise but a few hundred feet above the waves. The single exception to this uniform depth occurs about 200 miles off the Irish coast, where within an area of about a dozen miles the depth sinks from 550 to 1,750 fathoms. In 14° 48′ W., says Dayman, we have 550 fathoms rock, and in 150° 6′ W. we have 1,750 fathoms ooze. In little more than ten miles of distance a change of depth takes place amounting to fully 7,200 feet. It was supposed that this tremendous declivity would be the chief point of danger in laying down the cable; and to remove, if possible, the anxiety which existed, Lieutenant Dayman made a further survey. The result showed that the dip was not a sudden one; the precipitous bank or submarine cliff turned out to be a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over this long slope, said a writer in theTimes, the difference between its greatest height and greatest depth is only 8,760 feet, so that the average incline is, in round numbers, about 145 feet per mile. A good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be 1 in 100 feet, or about 53 feet in a mile; so that the incline on this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary railway. It was found upon these surveys that the ocean bed consisted of a soft ooze, as soft as the moss which clings to old damp stone on the river’s brink. And of what does this ooze consist? The microscope revealed the astonishing fact that it is made up of myriads of shells, too minute to be discovered by the naked eye, yet each perfect in itself, unbroken and uninjured. These organisms live near the surface of the water, but in death sink down to the bottom, and there find a calm and peaceful resting-place. Well has it been said that a mighty work of life and death has for ages been going on in the tranquil bosom of ocean. Myriads upon myriads, ever since the morning of creation, have been falling—falling like snow-flakes, till their remains cover with a thick stratum of beautiful organisms the ocean bed.“The bearing of this discovery,”says Dr. Field,“on the problem of a submarine telegraph was obvious. For it, too, was to lie on the ocean bed, beside and among those relics that had so long been drifting down upon the watery plain. And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, surely an iron cord might rest there in safety. There were no swift currents down there; no rushing waves agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved not, and there might rest the great nerve that was to pass from[pg 101]continent to continent. And so far as injury from the surrounding elements was concerned, there it might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive generations of men, till the sea should give up its dead.”Everything showed that the project of an Atlantic cable was feasible. All that remained was to raise the capital necessary for its development. But this could be done only by the formation of a large and influential company, the enterprise having outgrown the resources of Mr. Field and his little band of New York merchants. While engaged in submitting his scheme to the consideration of the capitalists of London, Mr. Field found counsel and encouragement from many men distinguished in the world of science, and among his principal supporters had the good fortune to rank Glass and Elliot, now so well known as manufacturers of sea-cables, and the celebrated engineers whose names are associated with the scientific marvels of the age—Brett, Bidder, Robert Stephenson, and Brunel. The last-named was then building the colossal ship afterwards called theGreat Eastern; and one day taking Mr. Field down to see her gigantic hull as it lay in the yard at Blackwall, he exclaimed—and, as results have proved, prophetically—“There is the ship to lay your Atlantic cable!”SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed; and 2,500 miles of cable were manufactured and stowed on board the English naval vesselAgamemnonand the United States shipNiagara. It was on the evening of August 7th, 1857, that the squadron sailed; and according to arrangement theNiagaraat once began to pay out the cable very slowly; but before five miles had been accomplished the heavy shore end of the cable got entangled with the machinery through the carelessness of one of the men in charge, and parted. TheNiagaraput back, and the cable was“under run”the whole distance. At last the end was raised from the water and“spliced”to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped safely to its resting-place among the“salt sea ooze”the noble ship once more went on her way. Saturday, we are told, was a day of beautiful weather. The squadron made good progress at a rate of from four to five miles an hour, and the cable was paid out at a speed somewhat exceeding that of the ship, to allow for any irregularities of surface on the bottom of the sea. Meantime a constant communication was kept up with the land. Every moment the electric fluid flashed between ship and shore. Not only did the electricians wire back to Valentia the progress they were making, but the officers on board sent messages to their friends in America to go out by the steamer from Liverpool. The very heavens seemed to regard the enterprise with favour. All went merrily as a marriage bell. Without a kink the coil came up from the vessel’s hold, and unwinding easily, passed over the stern into the sea. Once or twice, however, a momentary alarm was caused by the cable being thrown[pg 102]off the wheels, an accident due to the insufficient width and depth of the sheaves and to the fact that they were filled with tar, which hardened in the air. This defect was remedied in later expeditions. Still it worked well, and as long as the terrible brakes withheld their iron grasp might work through to the end. On the following day, Sunday, the course of affairs was not less smooth; and on Monday the expedition was upwards of 200 miles from land. The shallow water of the coast had been safely traversed. The ships had passed over the submarine declivity which has been already described, and had reached the deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to a depth of not less than 2,000 fathoms. Still the iron cord buried itself in the profound silence, and every instant the flash of light in the telegraph room recorded the continuous passage of the mysterious electric current. About four o’clock on Tuesday morning, however, a sudden interruption occurred. It seems from the published narrative that the cable was running cut fully at the rate of six miles an hour, while the ship was making only four. To check this waste, the engineer applied the brakes very firmly, with the effect of stopping the machine. Hence a heavy strain told on the submerged portion of the cable. The stern of the ship was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell the pressure became too great, and the cable parted. Instantly a cry of grief and dismay ran through the ship. She was checked in her onward career, and in five minutes all gathered on deck with feelings which can be better imagined than described. One who was present wrote:—“The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. The interest taken in the enterprise by all—every one, officers and men—exceeded anything I ever saw, and there is no wonder that there should have been so much emotion at our failure.”Captain Hudson says:—“It made all hands of us through the day like a household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise.”The cable broke in 2,000 fathoms water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. This was the first of a series of disappointments, ending, however, in eventual triumph.The same vessels sailed again in June of the next year, and as arranged before starting, reached a point of junction in mid-stream, where the ends of the two cables were spliced, and the ships parted, theAgamemnonsteering for Valentia, and theNiagarafor Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Both vessels arrived at their ports of destination on August 5th, and the fact of the completion of the enterprise was for the first time“cabled”under the wide Atlantic two days later, to the great rejoicing, it may fairly be said, of two worlds. Congratulatory messages were flashed from either end, and success seemed secured. Alas! less than a month later all communication ceased; the electric current would not pass through the great wire-rope; there was a leakage somewhere. But it had been shown conclusively that messagescouldbe transmitted under the given conditions. This was something.Passing over all the financial arrangements connected with a new attempt, which was not made till 1865, we find Brunel’s prediction fulfilled. The largest ship in the world was chartered to lay another cable.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.The work of stowing away the cable on board theGreat Eastern, where it was coiled up[pg 103]in three immense tanks—one aft, one amidships, and one forward—began in January and was not completed until June. It will give the reader an idea of the enormous size and capacity of theGreat Easternwhen he is told that though the cable measured 2,700 miles, a visitor to the mammoth ship was at first unaware of its being on board! Here is the account given by a writer who went to see the ship and its novel cargo. Its details are interesting.“It is time,”he says, after a general survey of the wonders of the huge vessel—“it is time we should look after what we have mainly come to see—the telegraph cable. To our intense astonishment we beheld it—nowhere, although informed that there are nearly 2,000 miles of it already on board, and that the remaining piece, which is long enough to stretch from Land’s End to John o’ Groat’s, is in course of shipment. We walk up and down on the deck of theGreat Easternwithout seeing this chain which is to bind together the Old World and the New, and it is only on having the place pointed out to us that we find out where the cable lies.”The writer then describes the process of taking it on board:—“On the side opposite to where we landed, deep below the deck of our giant, is moored a vessel surmounted by a timber structure resembling a house, and from this vessel the wonderful telegraph cable is drawn silently into the immense womb of theGreat Eastern. The work is done so quietly and noiselessly, by means of a small steam-engine, that we scarcely notice it. Indeed, were it not pointed out to us, we would never think that that little iron cord,about an inch in diameter, which is sliding over a few rollers and through a wooden table, is a thing of world-wide fame—a thing which may influence the life of whole nations, nay, which may affect the march of civilisation. Following the direction in which the iron rope goes, we now come to the most marvellous sight.... We find ourselves in a little wooden cabin, and look down over a railing at the side into an immense cavern below. This cavern is one of the three‘tanks’in which the two-thousand-mile cable is finding a temporary home. The passive agent of electricity comes creeping in here in a beautiful silent manner, and is deposited in coils, layer above layer. It is almost dark at the immense depth below, and we can only dimly discern the human figures through whose hands the coil passes to its bed. Suddenly, however, the men begin singing. They intone a low, plaintive song of the sea, something like Kingsley’s“Three fishers went sailing away to the west,Away to the west, as the sun went down,”the sounds of which rise up from the dark deep cavern with startling effect, and produce an indescribable impression. We move on; but the song of the sailors who are taking charge of the Atlantic telegraph cable is haunting us like a dream. In vain that our guide conducts us all over the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, and promenades; through gorgeous saloons full of mirrors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made‘regardless of expense’; and through buildings crowded with glittering steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the latent power of coal and water creates the force which propels this monster vessel across the seas. In vain our attention is directed to all these sights; we do not admire them; our imagination is used up. The echo of the sailors’ song in the womb of theGreat Easternwill not be banished from our mind. It raises visions of the future of the mystic iron coil under our feet: how it will roll forth again from its narrow berth; how it will sink to the bottom of the Atlantic or hang from mountain to mountain far below[pg 104]the stormy waves; and how two great nations, the offspring of one race and the pioneers of civilisation, will speak through this wonderful coil, annihilating distance and time. Who can help dreaming here on the spot where we stand? For it is truly a marvellous romance of civilisation, thisGreat Easternand this Atlantic telegraph cable. Even should our age produce nothing else, it alone would be the triumph of our age.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE “GREAT EASTERN.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE“GREAT EASTERN.”TheGreat Easternleft the Thames on July 13th, 1865. After sundry mishaps, she turned her mighty prow towards the sunset, and proceeded on her stately way. All went well until the 29th of July, when a little after noon a new cry of alarm was raised. And well it might be, for the insulation was completely destroyed and the electric current overflowing uselessly into the sea. As the faulty piece had gone overboard, it was necessary once more to reverse the vessel’s course, and haul in the cable until the defective part was recovered. This was a difficult task, for they were in water two miles deep. Difficulties did not, however, daunt the pioneers of this great enterprise, and after working all the afternoon, the injured cable was got on board about ten o’clock at night. It was at once stowed away, and the next morning, Sunday, was welcomed with an eager feeling of relief and delight after the suspense of the preceding four-and-twenty hours. On Monday the miles of cable which had been hauled up and were coiled in huge heaps upon the deck were closely examined to discover the origin of the mischief. This was soon detected. Near the end a piece of wire was thrust through the very core, as if driven into it. The recurrence of such a mishap actually suggested suspicions of treachery. It was observed that the same gang of workmen were in the tank as at the time of the first fault. Mr. Canning sent for the men, and[pg 105]showing them the cable and the wire, asked for an explanation. All replied that it must have been done intentionally, and regretted that there was a traitor among them—the unknown traitor, of course, being one of those who thus expressed their sorrow. It seemed difficult to believe that any person could be base enough to plot in this stealthy way against the success of a beneficent enterprise, but such a thing had been done before in a cable in the North Sea, when the perpetrator of the crime was discovered and punished. In the present case there were not wanting motives to prompt the commission of such an act. The fall in the stock, we are told, on the London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could hardly be less than half a million sterling. It was, however, found impossible to fix the deed on any one, for nothing was proved; and the instigator and the perpetrator both remaining unknown, of course a painful feeling of suspicion was left in the minds of Mr. Field and his colleagues. They saw that they must be on their guard; and it was agreed, therefore, that the gentlemen on board should take turn in keeping watch in the tank. TheGreat Easterncontinued her voyage, and for three days, during which they accomplished 500 miles, no further trouble occurred. A few days later, however, a defect was found in the cable, and it became necessary to haul in a short portion of that last paid out. Unfortunately the machinery proved too weak for the purpose, and a breeze springing up, the cable chafed until it snapped right asunder. With one bound it flew through the stoppers, and plunged into the sea.“The shock of the instant,”Dr. Russell tells us,“was as sharp as the snapping of the cable itself,”so great was the disappointment felt on board.The apparently wild attempt was immediately made torecoverthe cable. It was settled that theGreat Easternshould steam to windward, and eastward of the position she occupied when the cable went down, lower a grapnel, and slowly drift across the track in which the lost treasure was supposed to be lying. So the leviathan ship stood away some thirteen or fourteen miles, and then lay-to in smooth water. The grapnel consisted of two five-armed anchors, of several hundredweight, one of which was shackled and secured to wire rope, of which there were five miles on board, and committed to the deep.“Away slipped the rope, yard after yard, fathom after fathom; ocean, like the horse-leech’s daughter still crying for‘more’and‘more,’still descending into the black waste of waters. One thousand fathoms—still more! One thousand five hundred fathoms—still more! Two thousand fathoms—more, still more! Two thousand five hundred fathoms (15,000 feet)—aye, that will do; the grapnel has reached the bed of the Atlantic; the search has commenced.”Next morning these efforts bore fruit, for the great sea-serpentine cable was caught, and raised seven hundred fathoms (4,200 feet), towards the surface, unhappily to again fall to the bottom. A second attempt resulted in raising it a mile and a half, when a swivel gave way, and it again sank to the bottom. These experiments had used up a considerable quantity of the wire rope, and every expedient had to be adopted to patch up and strengthen the fishing apparatus, which gave full employment to the mechanics on board. Great forge-fires were made on deck, which at night illumined the ocean for a distance round, and helped to make a striking and effective scene. A third and fourth attempt was made to raise the cable; but in spite of the indomitable perseverance of Field and his associates, without success, and the bows of the great ship were sorrowfully directed towards home.In spite of these failures no abatement of public confidence in the eventual success of[pg 106]the enterprise was shown on the return of the expedition to England. Nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling was subscribedprivatelytowards the next attempt, and when the subscription books were thrown open to the public, the whole capital required was furnished in a fortnight. Some minor improvements were introduced in the successful 1866 cable; among other points, it was galvanised.When the day arrived for the final great effort, the undertaking was inaugurated solemnly by special prayer and supplication. Dr. Field says of that moment:—“Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle—since gone to his honoured grave—cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission as‘beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace.’“Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remembered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushed and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to‘go down to the sea in ships,’and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea.“In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time: of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.“On Friday the 13th of July, 1866, the fleet finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic on the same day of the week! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower, not to look, but to listen for the first voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore[pg 107]line, but the weather was thick and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could not see far on the water. For an hour or two the ships went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search of prey. At length theMedwaycaught sight of the buoy tossing on the waves, and firing a signal gun, bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled up from its bed, 100 fathoms deep, and lashed to the stern of theGreat Eastern; and the watchers on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, saw the first flash, and Varley read,‘Got the shore-end all right; going to make the splice.’Then all was still, and they knew that that delicate operation was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the covering from a foot of the shore-end and of the main cable till they came to the core, then swiftly unwinding the copper wires they laid them together as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Then this delicate child of the sea was wrapped in swaddling clothes, covered up with many coatings of gutta-percha and hempen rope and strong iron wires, the whole bound round and round with heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals are now sent through the whole cable on board theGreat Easternand back to the telegraph house at Valentia, and the whole length, 2,440 nautical miles, is reported perfect, and so with light hearts they bear away. It is nearly three o’clock. As they turn to the west, the following is the‘order of battle’: theTerriblegoes ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, theMedwayis on the port, and theAlbanyon the starboard quarter. From that hour the voyage was a steady progress. Indeed, it was almost monotonous from its uninterrupted success. The weather was variable, alternating with sunshine and rain, fogs and squalls; but there was no heavy sea to interrupt their course, and the distance run was about the same from day to day, as the following table will show:—Distance Run.Miles.Cable Paid Out.Miles.Saturday, 14th108116Sunday, 15th128139Monday, 16th115137Tuesday, 17th117138Wednesday, 18th104125Thursday, 19th112129Friday, 20th117127Saturday, 21st121136Sunday, 22nd123133Monday, 23rd121138Tuesday, 24th120135Wednesday, 25th119130Thursday, 26th128134Friday, 27th100104.”This table shows the speed of the ship to have been exactly according to the“running time”fixed before she left England. On the last voyage it was thought that she had once or twice run too fast, and thus exposed the cable to danger. It was therefore decided to go slowly but surely. Holding her back to this moderate pace, her average speed from the time the splice was made until they saw land was a little less than five nautical miles an hour, while the cable was paid out at an average of not quite five and half miles. Thus the total slack was about eleven per cent., showing that the cable was laid almost in a straight line, allowing for the swells and hollows at the bottom of the sea.“Friday, July 27.—Shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday two ships, which were soon made out to be steamers, were seen to the westward; and theTerrible, steaming on ahead, in about an hour signalled to us that H.M.S.Nigerwas one of them, accompanied by theAlbany. TheNiger, Captain Bunce, sent aboard to theTerribleas soon as he came up with her. TheAlbanyshortly afterwards[pg 108]took up her position on our starboard quarter, and signalled that she spoke theNigerat noon, bearing E. by N., and that theLilywas anchored at the station in the entrance of Trinity Bay, as arranged with the Admiral. TheAlbanyalso reported that she had passed an iceberg about sixty feet high. At twenty minutes after 4 p.m. theNigercame on our port side, quite close, and Captain Bunce, sending the crew into the rigging and manning the yards, gave us three cheers, which were heartily returned by theGreat Eastern. She then steamed ahead towards Trinity Bay. TheAlbanywas signalled to go on immediately to Heart’s Content, clear the N.E. side of the harbour of shipping, and place a boat with a red flag for Captain Anderson to steer to for anchorage. Just before dinner we saw on the southern horizon, distant about ten miles, an iceberg, probably the one that theAlbanyhad met with. It was apparently about fifty or sixty feet in height. The fog came on very thickly about 8 p.m., and between that and 10 we were constantly exchanging guns and burning blue lights with theTerrible, which, with theNiger, went in search of theLilystation-ship. TheTerriblebeing signalled to come up and take her position, informed us that they had made theLilyout, and that she bore then about ENE., distant about four miles. Later in the night Captain Commerell said that if Captain Anderson would stop theGreat Easternhe would send the surveyor, Mr. Robinson, R.N., who came up in theNiger, aboard of us; and about 3 the engines were slowed, and theTerribleshortly afterwards came alongside with that officer. Catalina Light, at the entrance of Trinity Bay, had been made out three hours before this, and the loom of the coast had also been seen. Fog still prevailing! According to Mr. Robinson’s account, if they had got one clear day in seven at the entrance of Trinity Bay they considered themselves fortunate. Here we are now (6 a.m.) within ten miles of Heart’s Content, and we can scarcely see more than a ship’s length. TheNiger, however, is ahead, and her repeated guns tell us where we are with accuracy. Good fortune follows us, and scarcely has 8 o’clock arrived, when the massive curtain of fog raises itself gradually from both sides of Trinity Bay, disclosing to us the entrance of Heart’s Content, theAlbanymaking for the harbour, theMargaretta Stevenson, surveying vessel, steaming out to meet us, the pre-arranged pathway all marked with buoys by Mr. T. H. Kerr, R.N., and a whole fleet of fishing boats fishing at the entrance. We could now plainly see that Heart’s Content, so far as its capabilities permitted, was prepared to welcome us. The British and American flags floated from the church and telegraph station and other buildings. We had dressed ship, fired a salute, and given three cheers, and Captain Commerell, of H.M.S.Terrible, was soon on board to congratulate us on our success. At 9 o’clock, ship’s time, just as we had cut the cable and made arrangements for theMedwayto lay the shore end, a message arrived, giving us the concluding words of a leader in this morning’sTimes:‘It is a great work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have achieved it deserve to be honoured amongst the benefactors of their race.’‘Treaty of peace signed between Prussia and Austria!’It was now time for the chief engineer, Mr. Canning, to make preparations for splicing on board theMedway. Accompanied by Mr. Good, M.P., Mr. Clifford, Mr. Willoughby Smith, and Messrs. Temple and Deane, he went on board; theTerribleandNigerhaving sent their paddle-box boats to assist. Shortly afterwards theGreat Easternsteamed into the harbour and anchored on the NE. side, and was quickly surrounded by boats laden with visitors. Mr. Cyrus Field had gone on shore before the[pg 110]Great Easternhad left the offing, with a view of telegraphing to St. John’s to hire a vessel to repair the cable unhappily broken between Cape Ray, in Newfoundland, and Cape North, in Breton Island. Before a couple of hours the shore end will be landed, and it is impossible to conceive a finer day for effecting this our final operation. To-morrow Heart’s Content will awaken to the fact that it is a highly-favoured place in the world’s esteem, the western landing-place of that marvel of electric communication with the eastern hemisphere which is now happily, and we hope finally, established.”The foregoing simple record tells the great story of this memorable voyage. In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day, but on the American side of the ocean all was uncertainty. Some had gone to Heart’s Content hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the year before, for the memory of the last failure was too fresh, and they feared another disappointment. But still a faithful few were there who kept their daily watch. The correspondents of the American papers reported only a long and anxious suspense till that morning when the first ship was seen in the offing. And now the hull of theGreat Easternlooms up all glorious in that morning sky. They are coming! Instantly all was wild excitement on shore. Boats put off to row towards the fleet. TheAlbanywas the first to round the point and enter the bay. TheTerriblecame close behind. TheMedwaystopped an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, while theGreat Eastern, gliding calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, dropped her anchor in front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the Old World to the New. That same afternoon, as soon as the shore end was landed, Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet went in a body to the little church of Heart’s Content to render thanks for the success of the expedition. A sermon was preached on the text,“There shall be no more sea,”and all joined in the sublime prayers and thanksgivings of the Church of England. Thus the voyage ended as it began.THE “GREAT EASTERN” LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.THE“GREAT EASTERN”LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.(From Cassell’s“Illustrated History of England.”)Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday the 27th, yet as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was not received in New York until the 29th. It was early Sunday morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings came. The first announcement was brief—“Heart’s Content, July 27th.—We arrived here at nine o’clock this morning. All well. Thank God the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.—Cyrus W. Field.”Soon followed the despatch to the Associated Press, giving the details of the voyage, and ending with a just tribute to the skill and devotion of all who had contributed to its success. Said Mr. Field:“I cannot find words suitable to convey my admiration for the men who have so ably conducted the nautical, engineering, and electrical departments of this enterprise, amidst difficulties which must be seen to be appreciated; in fact, all on board of the telegraph fleet, and all connected with the enterprise, have done their best to have the cable made and laid in a perfect condition.”Other despatches followed in quick succession, giving the latest events of the war in Europe. All this confirmed the great triumph, and filled the breasts of many with wonder and gratitude that Sabbath day as they went up to the house of God and rendered thanks to Him who is Lord of the earth and sea.

[pg 98]CHAPTER IX.Davy Jones’s Locker.—Submarine Cables.The First Channel Cable—Nowadays 50,000 Miles of Submarine Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability Admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze, formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co-operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of theGreat Eastern—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—ALuckyFriday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World Bound Together.In the year 1850 a copper wire, insulated with gutta-percha, was submerged between England and France, and that connecting link between the two greatest countries of Europe was the first considerable success of its kind. To-day Great Britain is connected with the European continent by a dozen cables, and there are over 50,000 miles of submerged wires silently conveying their messages over the face of the globe. Thirty years of practical scientific labour has united the whole world. You can telegraph or“wire”your commands to distant China or Japan; you can ask the market rates of wheat in the farthest west of the New World; you can correspond with your wife in England if you are at the Antipodes. Puck’s idea of putting the“girdle round the earth”has been more than accomplished. The story of the successes won at the very bottom of the ocean would take long to tell; here we can only follow the story of one of the grandest—that of the Atlantic cable.In the month of November, 1819, a noble American, whose career deserves to be put on record, first saw the light. Cyrus W. Field has deservedly earned an honourable and honoured name in two worlds for indomitable perseverance and pluck.31The New Englander has to-day, and has always had, many of the best qualities of the Old Englander. In Field they were conspicuously displayed. In his“bright lexicon”there was—“No such word asfail,”for the worst disappointment only stirred him to fresh exertion.“’Tis not in mortals to command success;But we’ll do more, Sempronius—we’ll deserve it.”Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a rural village nook which lies calmly and peacefully cradled among the green Berkshire hills, a spot which would delight the eyes of a true artist. He was the son of a country pastor, who, in spite of a paltry stipend of a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and thanks to the scholastic advantages offered to every one in the United States, gave nine children a superior education. Several of these children distinguished themselves in after life, but none more than the subject of this sketch.[pg 99]While to this energetic man is due the actual success, it is to Professor Morse, who had said that“telegraphic communication might with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean,”and to an excellent Roman Catholic bishop, that the idea is to be fairly credited. Bishop Mullock, of Newfoundland, while lying becalmed in his yacht off Cape North, the extreme point of the province of Cape Breton, bethought himself how his poor neglected island might reap some advantage from being taken into the track of communication between Europe and America, for he saw that Nature had provided an easy approach to the mainland for a cable. Fired with the idea, he wrote to one of the St. John’s papers, and his letter is to-day a model of lucid explanation. About the same time Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, a practical telegraph operator, promulgated the idea of connecting St. John’s with the mainland, and one evening interested Mr. Cyrus Field, then just retired from business on a competency, in his scheme.“After he left,”writes his brother,“Mr. Field took the globe which was standing in the library, and began to turn it over. It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first occurred to him that the telegraph might be carried further still, and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean.”Maury, the distinguished marine scientist, and Professor Morse, had also come to the same conclusion, and at about the same time as had others in England. The history of the financial difficulties and ultimate triumphs connected with the inauguration of the first cable would not interest the reader; suffice it to say that half-a-dozen New York millionaires subscribed the first capital—a million and a half dollars. The cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was successfully laid in 1856, after one previous failure.And now Field began to clear the way by consulting the highest scientific authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Was it possible to carry a cable across the ocean? If laid, would it be able to convey messages? The first query related to mechanical difficulties only, such as the depth of the ocean, the nature of the ocean bed, the influence of currents and winds. The second referred to pure science and the conditions under which the electric fluid acts—Would the lightning flash from shore to shore across an intervening waste of sea? The answer to the first question was supplied by Maury, who pointed out that between Ireland and Newfoundland the bottom of the sea formed a plateau, or elevated table-land, which, as he said, seemed to have been placed there especially for the purpose of supporting the wires of an electric telegraph, and protecting them from injury. Its slope, he said, was quite regular, gradually increasing from the shores of Newfoundland to the depth of from 1,500 to 2,000 fathoms as you approach the Irish coast. It was neither too deep nor too shallow: deep enough to protect the cable from danger by ships’ anchors, icebergs, and currents; shallow enough to secure that the wires should be readily lodged upon the bottom. From Professor Morse an equally satisfactory answer was obtained. He declared his faith in the undertaking as a practicable one: that it might, could, and would be achieved.The Company undertook to make a series of careful soundings to ascertain the exact nature of the ocean bottom over which the cable connecting Newfoundland with Ireland would have to be laid. Mr. Field applied for this purpose to the American Government, who immediately despatched theArctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, on this useful and most necessary service. She sailed from New York on the 18th of July, 1856; and on the following day Mr. Field left in the steamshipBalticfor England, to organise the Atlantic Telegraph Company. TheArcticproceeded to St. John’s, and thence went[pg 100]on her way across the deep, in three weeks reaching the coast of Ireland, and clearly demonstrating, as the result of her survey, the existence of a great plateau under the ocean, extending all the way from the New World to the Old. To make assurance doubly sure, Mr. Field solicited the British Admiralty“to make what further soundings might be necessary between Ireland and Newfoundland, and to verify those made by Lieutenant Berryman.”In response to this appeal the Admiralty sent out theCyclops, under Lieutenant Dayman, a very capable officer, who executed his task with great zeal and success. He showed that the depth of the water on the so-called telegraphic plateau—the elevated table-land which Providence had raised between the two continents—nowhere exceeded 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet. Such a depth is almost trivial compared with the enormous depths in other parts of the Atlantic, where you might hide from all human eyes the loftiest snow-clad peak of the Himalayas, yet no inconsiderable depth if you reflect that the peak of Teneriffe, were it here“cast into the sea,”would sink out of sight, island, mountain, and all; and even the coloured crest of Mont Blanc would rise but a few hundred feet above the waves. The single exception to this uniform depth occurs about 200 miles off the Irish coast, where within an area of about a dozen miles the depth sinks from 550 to 1,750 fathoms. In 14° 48′ W., says Dayman, we have 550 fathoms rock, and in 150° 6′ W. we have 1,750 fathoms ooze. In little more than ten miles of distance a change of depth takes place amounting to fully 7,200 feet. It was supposed that this tremendous declivity would be the chief point of danger in laying down the cable; and to remove, if possible, the anxiety which existed, Lieutenant Dayman made a further survey. The result showed that the dip was not a sudden one; the precipitous bank or submarine cliff turned out to be a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over this long slope, said a writer in theTimes, the difference between its greatest height and greatest depth is only 8,760 feet, so that the average incline is, in round numbers, about 145 feet per mile. A good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be 1 in 100 feet, or about 53 feet in a mile; so that the incline on this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary railway. It was found upon these surveys that the ocean bed consisted of a soft ooze, as soft as the moss which clings to old damp stone on the river’s brink. And of what does this ooze consist? The microscope revealed the astonishing fact that it is made up of myriads of shells, too minute to be discovered by the naked eye, yet each perfect in itself, unbroken and uninjured. These organisms live near the surface of the water, but in death sink down to the bottom, and there find a calm and peaceful resting-place. Well has it been said that a mighty work of life and death has for ages been going on in the tranquil bosom of ocean. Myriads upon myriads, ever since the morning of creation, have been falling—falling like snow-flakes, till their remains cover with a thick stratum of beautiful organisms the ocean bed.“The bearing of this discovery,”says Dr. Field,“on the problem of a submarine telegraph was obvious. For it, too, was to lie on the ocean bed, beside and among those relics that had so long been drifting down upon the watery plain. And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, surely an iron cord might rest there in safety. There were no swift currents down there; no rushing waves agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved not, and there might rest the great nerve that was to pass from[pg 101]continent to continent. And so far as injury from the surrounding elements was concerned, there it might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive generations of men, till the sea should give up its dead.”Everything showed that the project of an Atlantic cable was feasible. All that remained was to raise the capital necessary for its development. But this could be done only by the formation of a large and influential company, the enterprise having outgrown the resources of Mr. Field and his little band of New York merchants. While engaged in submitting his scheme to the consideration of the capitalists of London, Mr. Field found counsel and encouragement from many men distinguished in the world of science, and among his principal supporters had the good fortune to rank Glass and Elliot, now so well known as manufacturers of sea-cables, and the celebrated engineers whose names are associated with the scientific marvels of the age—Brett, Bidder, Robert Stephenson, and Brunel. The last-named was then building the colossal ship afterwards called theGreat Eastern; and one day taking Mr. Field down to see her gigantic hull as it lay in the yard at Blackwall, he exclaimed—and, as results have proved, prophetically—“There is the ship to lay your Atlantic cable!”SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed; and 2,500 miles of cable were manufactured and stowed on board the English naval vesselAgamemnonand the United States shipNiagara. It was on the evening of August 7th, 1857, that the squadron sailed; and according to arrangement theNiagaraat once began to pay out the cable very slowly; but before five miles had been accomplished the heavy shore end of the cable got entangled with the machinery through the carelessness of one of the men in charge, and parted. TheNiagaraput back, and the cable was“under run”the whole distance. At last the end was raised from the water and“spliced”to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped safely to its resting-place among the“salt sea ooze”the noble ship once more went on her way. Saturday, we are told, was a day of beautiful weather. The squadron made good progress at a rate of from four to five miles an hour, and the cable was paid out at a speed somewhat exceeding that of the ship, to allow for any irregularities of surface on the bottom of the sea. Meantime a constant communication was kept up with the land. Every moment the electric fluid flashed between ship and shore. Not only did the electricians wire back to Valentia the progress they were making, but the officers on board sent messages to their friends in America to go out by the steamer from Liverpool. The very heavens seemed to regard the enterprise with favour. All went merrily as a marriage bell. Without a kink the coil came up from the vessel’s hold, and unwinding easily, passed over the stern into the sea. Once or twice, however, a momentary alarm was caused by the cable being thrown[pg 102]off the wheels, an accident due to the insufficient width and depth of the sheaves and to the fact that they were filled with tar, which hardened in the air. This defect was remedied in later expeditions. Still it worked well, and as long as the terrible brakes withheld their iron grasp might work through to the end. On the following day, Sunday, the course of affairs was not less smooth; and on Monday the expedition was upwards of 200 miles from land. The shallow water of the coast had been safely traversed. The ships had passed over the submarine declivity which has been already described, and had reached the deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to a depth of not less than 2,000 fathoms. Still the iron cord buried itself in the profound silence, and every instant the flash of light in the telegraph room recorded the continuous passage of the mysterious electric current. About four o’clock on Tuesday morning, however, a sudden interruption occurred. It seems from the published narrative that the cable was running cut fully at the rate of six miles an hour, while the ship was making only four. To check this waste, the engineer applied the brakes very firmly, with the effect of stopping the machine. Hence a heavy strain told on the submerged portion of the cable. The stern of the ship was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell the pressure became too great, and the cable parted. Instantly a cry of grief and dismay ran through the ship. She was checked in her onward career, and in five minutes all gathered on deck with feelings which can be better imagined than described. One who was present wrote:—“The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. The interest taken in the enterprise by all—every one, officers and men—exceeded anything I ever saw, and there is no wonder that there should have been so much emotion at our failure.”Captain Hudson says:—“It made all hands of us through the day like a household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise.”The cable broke in 2,000 fathoms water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. This was the first of a series of disappointments, ending, however, in eventual triumph.The same vessels sailed again in June of the next year, and as arranged before starting, reached a point of junction in mid-stream, where the ends of the two cables were spliced, and the ships parted, theAgamemnonsteering for Valentia, and theNiagarafor Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Both vessels arrived at their ports of destination on August 5th, and the fact of the completion of the enterprise was for the first time“cabled”under the wide Atlantic two days later, to the great rejoicing, it may fairly be said, of two worlds. Congratulatory messages were flashed from either end, and success seemed secured. Alas! less than a month later all communication ceased; the electric current would not pass through the great wire-rope; there was a leakage somewhere. But it had been shown conclusively that messagescouldbe transmitted under the given conditions. This was something.Passing over all the financial arrangements connected with a new attempt, which was not made till 1865, we find Brunel’s prediction fulfilled. The largest ship in the world was chartered to lay another cable.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.The work of stowing away the cable on board theGreat Eastern, where it was coiled up[pg 103]in three immense tanks—one aft, one amidships, and one forward—began in January and was not completed until June. It will give the reader an idea of the enormous size and capacity of theGreat Easternwhen he is told that though the cable measured 2,700 miles, a visitor to the mammoth ship was at first unaware of its being on board! Here is the account given by a writer who went to see the ship and its novel cargo. Its details are interesting.“It is time,”he says, after a general survey of the wonders of the huge vessel—“it is time we should look after what we have mainly come to see—the telegraph cable. To our intense astonishment we beheld it—nowhere, although informed that there are nearly 2,000 miles of it already on board, and that the remaining piece, which is long enough to stretch from Land’s End to John o’ Groat’s, is in course of shipment. We walk up and down on the deck of theGreat Easternwithout seeing this chain which is to bind together the Old World and the New, and it is only on having the place pointed out to us that we find out where the cable lies.”The writer then describes the process of taking it on board:—“On the side opposite to where we landed, deep below the deck of our giant, is moored a vessel surmounted by a timber structure resembling a house, and from this vessel the wonderful telegraph cable is drawn silently into the immense womb of theGreat Eastern. The work is done so quietly and noiselessly, by means of a small steam-engine, that we scarcely notice it. Indeed, were it not pointed out to us, we would never think that that little iron cord,about an inch in diameter, which is sliding over a few rollers and through a wooden table, is a thing of world-wide fame—a thing which may influence the life of whole nations, nay, which may affect the march of civilisation. Following the direction in which the iron rope goes, we now come to the most marvellous sight.... We find ourselves in a little wooden cabin, and look down over a railing at the side into an immense cavern below. This cavern is one of the three‘tanks’in which the two-thousand-mile cable is finding a temporary home. The passive agent of electricity comes creeping in here in a beautiful silent manner, and is deposited in coils, layer above layer. It is almost dark at the immense depth below, and we can only dimly discern the human figures through whose hands the coil passes to its bed. Suddenly, however, the men begin singing. They intone a low, plaintive song of the sea, something like Kingsley’s“Three fishers went sailing away to the west,Away to the west, as the sun went down,”the sounds of which rise up from the dark deep cavern with startling effect, and produce an indescribable impression. We move on; but the song of the sailors who are taking charge of the Atlantic telegraph cable is haunting us like a dream. In vain that our guide conducts us all over the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, and promenades; through gorgeous saloons full of mirrors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made‘regardless of expense’; and through buildings crowded with glittering steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the latent power of coal and water creates the force which propels this monster vessel across the seas. In vain our attention is directed to all these sights; we do not admire them; our imagination is used up. The echo of the sailors’ song in the womb of theGreat Easternwill not be banished from our mind. It raises visions of the future of the mystic iron coil under our feet: how it will roll forth again from its narrow berth; how it will sink to the bottom of the Atlantic or hang from mountain to mountain far below[pg 104]the stormy waves; and how two great nations, the offspring of one race and the pioneers of civilisation, will speak through this wonderful coil, annihilating distance and time. Who can help dreaming here on the spot where we stand? For it is truly a marvellous romance of civilisation, thisGreat Easternand this Atlantic telegraph cable. Even should our age produce nothing else, it alone would be the triumph of our age.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE “GREAT EASTERN.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE“GREAT EASTERN.”TheGreat Easternleft the Thames on July 13th, 1865. After sundry mishaps, she turned her mighty prow towards the sunset, and proceeded on her stately way. All went well until the 29th of July, when a little after noon a new cry of alarm was raised. And well it might be, for the insulation was completely destroyed and the electric current overflowing uselessly into the sea. As the faulty piece had gone overboard, it was necessary once more to reverse the vessel’s course, and haul in the cable until the defective part was recovered. This was a difficult task, for they were in water two miles deep. Difficulties did not, however, daunt the pioneers of this great enterprise, and after working all the afternoon, the injured cable was got on board about ten o’clock at night. It was at once stowed away, and the next morning, Sunday, was welcomed with an eager feeling of relief and delight after the suspense of the preceding four-and-twenty hours. On Monday the miles of cable which had been hauled up and were coiled in huge heaps upon the deck were closely examined to discover the origin of the mischief. This was soon detected. Near the end a piece of wire was thrust through the very core, as if driven into it. The recurrence of such a mishap actually suggested suspicions of treachery. It was observed that the same gang of workmen were in the tank as at the time of the first fault. Mr. Canning sent for the men, and[pg 105]showing them the cable and the wire, asked for an explanation. All replied that it must have been done intentionally, and regretted that there was a traitor among them—the unknown traitor, of course, being one of those who thus expressed their sorrow. It seemed difficult to believe that any person could be base enough to plot in this stealthy way against the success of a beneficent enterprise, but such a thing had been done before in a cable in the North Sea, when the perpetrator of the crime was discovered and punished. In the present case there were not wanting motives to prompt the commission of such an act. The fall in the stock, we are told, on the London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could hardly be less than half a million sterling. It was, however, found impossible to fix the deed on any one, for nothing was proved; and the instigator and the perpetrator both remaining unknown, of course a painful feeling of suspicion was left in the minds of Mr. Field and his colleagues. They saw that they must be on their guard; and it was agreed, therefore, that the gentlemen on board should take turn in keeping watch in the tank. TheGreat Easterncontinued her voyage, and for three days, during which they accomplished 500 miles, no further trouble occurred. A few days later, however, a defect was found in the cable, and it became necessary to haul in a short portion of that last paid out. Unfortunately the machinery proved too weak for the purpose, and a breeze springing up, the cable chafed until it snapped right asunder. With one bound it flew through the stoppers, and plunged into the sea.“The shock of the instant,”Dr. Russell tells us,“was as sharp as the snapping of the cable itself,”so great was the disappointment felt on board.The apparently wild attempt was immediately made torecoverthe cable. It was settled that theGreat Easternshould steam to windward, and eastward of the position she occupied when the cable went down, lower a grapnel, and slowly drift across the track in which the lost treasure was supposed to be lying. So the leviathan ship stood away some thirteen or fourteen miles, and then lay-to in smooth water. The grapnel consisted of two five-armed anchors, of several hundredweight, one of which was shackled and secured to wire rope, of which there were five miles on board, and committed to the deep.“Away slipped the rope, yard after yard, fathom after fathom; ocean, like the horse-leech’s daughter still crying for‘more’and‘more,’still descending into the black waste of waters. One thousand fathoms—still more! One thousand five hundred fathoms—still more! Two thousand fathoms—more, still more! Two thousand five hundred fathoms (15,000 feet)—aye, that will do; the grapnel has reached the bed of the Atlantic; the search has commenced.”Next morning these efforts bore fruit, for the great sea-serpentine cable was caught, and raised seven hundred fathoms (4,200 feet), towards the surface, unhappily to again fall to the bottom. A second attempt resulted in raising it a mile and a half, when a swivel gave way, and it again sank to the bottom. These experiments had used up a considerable quantity of the wire rope, and every expedient had to be adopted to patch up and strengthen the fishing apparatus, which gave full employment to the mechanics on board. Great forge-fires were made on deck, which at night illumined the ocean for a distance round, and helped to make a striking and effective scene. A third and fourth attempt was made to raise the cable; but in spite of the indomitable perseverance of Field and his associates, without success, and the bows of the great ship were sorrowfully directed towards home.In spite of these failures no abatement of public confidence in the eventual success of[pg 106]the enterprise was shown on the return of the expedition to England. Nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling was subscribedprivatelytowards the next attempt, and when the subscription books were thrown open to the public, the whole capital required was furnished in a fortnight. Some minor improvements were introduced in the successful 1866 cable; among other points, it was galvanised.When the day arrived for the final great effort, the undertaking was inaugurated solemnly by special prayer and supplication. Dr. Field says of that moment:—“Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle—since gone to his honoured grave—cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission as‘beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace.’“Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remembered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushed and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to‘go down to the sea in ships,’and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea.“In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time: of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.“On Friday the 13th of July, 1866, the fleet finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic on the same day of the week! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower, not to look, but to listen for the first voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore[pg 107]line, but the weather was thick and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could not see far on the water. For an hour or two the ships went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search of prey. At length theMedwaycaught sight of the buoy tossing on the waves, and firing a signal gun, bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled up from its bed, 100 fathoms deep, and lashed to the stern of theGreat Eastern; and the watchers on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, saw the first flash, and Varley read,‘Got the shore-end all right; going to make the splice.’Then all was still, and they knew that that delicate operation was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the covering from a foot of the shore-end and of the main cable till they came to the core, then swiftly unwinding the copper wires they laid them together as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Then this delicate child of the sea was wrapped in swaddling clothes, covered up with many coatings of gutta-percha and hempen rope and strong iron wires, the whole bound round and round with heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals are now sent through the whole cable on board theGreat Easternand back to the telegraph house at Valentia, and the whole length, 2,440 nautical miles, is reported perfect, and so with light hearts they bear away. It is nearly three o’clock. As they turn to the west, the following is the‘order of battle’: theTerriblegoes ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, theMedwayis on the port, and theAlbanyon the starboard quarter. From that hour the voyage was a steady progress. Indeed, it was almost monotonous from its uninterrupted success. The weather was variable, alternating with sunshine and rain, fogs and squalls; but there was no heavy sea to interrupt their course, and the distance run was about the same from day to day, as the following table will show:—Distance Run.Miles.Cable Paid Out.Miles.Saturday, 14th108116Sunday, 15th128139Monday, 16th115137Tuesday, 17th117138Wednesday, 18th104125Thursday, 19th112129Friday, 20th117127Saturday, 21st121136Sunday, 22nd123133Monday, 23rd121138Tuesday, 24th120135Wednesday, 25th119130Thursday, 26th128134Friday, 27th100104.”This table shows the speed of the ship to have been exactly according to the“running time”fixed before she left England. On the last voyage it was thought that she had once or twice run too fast, and thus exposed the cable to danger. It was therefore decided to go slowly but surely. Holding her back to this moderate pace, her average speed from the time the splice was made until they saw land was a little less than five nautical miles an hour, while the cable was paid out at an average of not quite five and half miles. Thus the total slack was about eleven per cent., showing that the cable was laid almost in a straight line, allowing for the swells and hollows at the bottom of the sea.“Friday, July 27.—Shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday two ships, which were soon made out to be steamers, were seen to the westward; and theTerrible, steaming on ahead, in about an hour signalled to us that H.M.S.Nigerwas one of them, accompanied by theAlbany. TheNiger, Captain Bunce, sent aboard to theTerribleas soon as he came up with her. TheAlbanyshortly afterwards[pg 108]took up her position on our starboard quarter, and signalled that she spoke theNigerat noon, bearing E. by N., and that theLilywas anchored at the station in the entrance of Trinity Bay, as arranged with the Admiral. TheAlbanyalso reported that she had passed an iceberg about sixty feet high. At twenty minutes after 4 p.m. theNigercame on our port side, quite close, and Captain Bunce, sending the crew into the rigging and manning the yards, gave us three cheers, which were heartily returned by theGreat Eastern. She then steamed ahead towards Trinity Bay. TheAlbanywas signalled to go on immediately to Heart’s Content, clear the N.E. side of the harbour of shipping, and place a boat with a red flag for Captain Anderson to steer to for anchorage. Just before dinner we saw on the southern horizon, distant about ten miles, an iceberg, probably the one that theAlbanyhad met with. It was apparently about fifty or sixty feet in height. The fog came on very thickly about 8 p.m., and between that and 10 we were constantly exchanging guns and burning blue lights with theTerrible, which, with theNiger, went in search of theLilystation-ship. TheTerriblebeing signalled to come up and take her position, informed us that they had made theLilyout, and that she bore then about ENE., distant about four miles. Later in the night Captain Commerell said that if Captain Anderson would stop theGreat Easternhe would send the surveyor, Mr. Robinson, R.N., who came up in theNiger, aboard of us; and about 3 the engines were slowed, and theTerribleshortly afterwards came alongside with that officer. Catalina Light, at the entrance of Trinity Bay, had been made out three hours before this, and the loom of the coast had also been seen. Fog still prevailing! According to Mr. Robinson’s account, if they had got one clear day in seven at the entrance of Trinity Bay they considered themselves fortunate. Here we are now (6 a.m.) within ten miles of Heart’s Content, and we can scarcely see more than a ship’s length. TheNiger, however, is ahead, and her repeated guns tell us where we are with accuracy. Good fortune follows us, and scarcely has 8 o’clock arrived, when the massive curtain of fog raises itself gradually from both sides of Trinity Bay, disclosing to us the entrance of Heart’s Content, theAlbanymaking for the harbour, theMargaretta Stevenson, surveying vessel, steaming out to meet us, the pre-arranged pathway all marked with buoys by Mr. T. H. Kerr, R.N., and a whole fleet of fishing boats fishing at the entrance. We could now plainly see that Heart’s Content, so far as its capabilities permitted, was prepared to welcome us. The British and American flags floated from the church and telegraph station and other buildings. We had dressed ship, fired a salute, and given three cheers, and Captain Commerell, of H.M.S.Terrible, was soon on board to congratulate us on our success. At 9 o’clock, ship’s time, just as we had cut the cable and made arrangements for theMedwayto lay the shore end, a message arrived, giving us the concluding words of a leader in this morning’sTimes:‘It is a great work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have achieved it deserve to be honoured amongst the benefactors of their race.’‘Treaty of peace signed between Prussia and Austria!’It was now time for the chief engineer, Mr. Canning, to make preparations for splicing on board theMedway. Accompanied by Mr. Good, M.P., Mr. Clifford, Mr. Willoughby Smith, and Messrs. Temple and Deane, he went on board; theTerribleandNigerhaving sent their paddle-box boats to assist. Shortly afterwards theGreat Easternsteamed into the harbour and anchored on the NE. side, and was quickly surrounded by boats laden with visitors. Mr. Cyrus Field had gone on shore before the[pg 110]Great Easternhad left the offing, with a view of telegraphing to St. John’s to hire a vessel to repair the cable unhappily broken between Cape Ray, in Newfoundland, and Cape North, in Breton Island. Before a couple of hours the shore end will be landed, and it is impossible to conceive a finer day for effecting this our final operation. To-morrow Heart’s Content will awaken to the fact that it is a highly-favoured place in the world’s esteem, the western landing-place of that marvel of electric communication with the eastern hemisphere which is now happily, and we hope finally, established.”The foregoing simple record tells the great story of this memorable voyage. In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day, but on the American side of the ocean all was uncertainty. Some had gone to Heart’s Content hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the year before, for the memory of the last failure was too fresh, and they feared another disappointment. But still a faithful few were there who kept their daily watch. The correspondents of the American papers reported only a long and anxious suspense till that morning when the first ship was seen in the offing. And now the hull of theGreat Easternlooms up all glorious in that morning sky. They are coming! Instantly all was wild excitement on shore. Boats put off to row towards the fleet. TheAlbanywas the first to round the point and enter the bay. TheTerriblecame close behind. TheMedwaystopped an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, while theGreat Eastern, gliding calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, dropped her anchor in front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the Old World to the New. That same afternoon, as soon as the shore end was landed, Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet went in a body to the little church of Heart’s Content to render thanks for the success of the expedition. A sermon was preached on the text,“There shall be no more sea,”and all joined in the sublime prayers and thanksgivings of the Church of England. Thus the voyage ended as it began.THE “GREAT EASTERN” LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.THE“GREAT EASTERN”LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.(From Cassell’s“Illustrated History of England.”)Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday the 27th, yet as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was not received in New York until the 29th. It was early Sunday morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings came. The first announcement was brief—“Heart’s Content, July 27th.—We arrived here at nine o’clock this morning. All well. Thank God the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.—Cyrus W. Field.”Soon followed the despatch to the Associated Press, giving the details of the voyage, and ending with a just tribute to the skill and devotion of all who had contributed to its success. Said Mr. Field:“I cannot find words suitable to convey my admiration for the men who have so ably conducted the nautical, engineering, and electrical departments of this enterprise, amidst difficulties which must be seen to be appreciated; in fact, all on board of the telegraph fleet, and all connected with the enterprise, have done their best to have the cable made and laid in a perfect condition.”Other despatches followed in quick succession, giving the latest events of the war in Europe. All this confirmed the great triumph, and filled the breasts of many with wonder and gratitude that Sabbath day as they went up to the house of God and rendered thanks to Him who is Lord of the earth and sea.

The First Channel Cable—Nowadays 50,000 Miles of Submarine Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability Admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze, formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co-operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of theGreat Eastern—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—ALuckyFriday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World Bound Together.

The First Channel Cable—Nowadays 50,000 Miles of Submarine Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability Admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze, formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co-operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of theGreat Eastern—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—ALuckyFriday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World Bound Together.

In the year 1850 a copper wire, insulated with gutta-percha, was submerged between England and France, and that connecting link between the two greatest countries of Europe was the first considerable success of its kind. To-day Great Britain is connected with the European continent by a dozen cables, and there are over 50,000 miles of submerged wires silently conveying their messages over the face of the globe. Thirty years of practical scientific labour has united the whole world. You can telegraph or“wire”your commands to distant China or Japan; you can ask the market rates of wheat in the farthest west of the New World; you can correspond with your wife in England if you are at the Antipodes. Puck’s idea of putting the“girdle round the earth”has been more than accomplished. The story of the successes won at the very bottom of the ocean would take long to tell; here we can only follow the story of one of the grandest—that of the Atlantic cable.

In the month of November, 1819, a noble American, whose career deserves to be put on record, first saw the light. Cyrus W. Field has deservedly earned an honourable and honoured name in two worlds for indomitable perseverance and pluck.31

The New Englander has to-day, and has always had, many of the best qualities of the Old Englander. In Field they were conspicuously displayed. In his“bright lexicon”there was—

“No such word asfail,”

“No such word asfail,”

for the worst disappointment only stirred him to fresh exertion.

“’Tis not in mortals to command success;But we’ll do more, Sempronius—we’ll deserve it.”

“’Tis not in mortals to command success;

But we’ll do more, Sempronius—we’ll deserve it.”

Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a rural village nook which lies calmly and peacefully cradled among the green Berkshire hills, a spot which would delight the eyes of a true artist. He was the son of a country pastor, who, in spite of a paltry stipend of a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and thanks to the scholastic advantages offered to every one in the United States, gave nine children a superior education. Several of these children distinguished themselves in after life, but none more than the subject of this sketch.

While to this energetic man is due the actual success, it is to Professor Morse, who had said that“telegraphic communication might with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean,”and to an excellent Roman Catholic bishop, that the idea is to be fairly credited. Bishop Mullock, of Newfoundland, while lying becalmed in his yacht off Cape North, the extreme point of the province of Cape Breton, bethought himself how his poor neglected island might reap some advantage from being taken into the track of communication between Europe and America, for he saw that Nature had provided an easy approach to the mainland for a cable. Fired with the idea, he wrote to one of the St. John’s papers, and his letter is to-day a model of lucid explanation. About the same time Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, a practical telegraph operator, promulgated the idea of connecting St. John’s with the mainland, and one evening interested Mr. Cyrus Field, then just retired from business on a competency, in his scheme.“After he left,”writes his brother,“Mr. Field took the globe which was standing in the library, and began to turn it over. It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first occurred to him that the telegraph might be carried further still, and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean.”Maury, the distinguished marine scientist, and Professor Morse, had also come to the same conclusion, and at about the same time as had others in England. The history of the financial difficulties and ultimate triumphs connected with the inauguration of the first cable would not interest the reader; suffice it to say that half-a-dozen New York millionaires subscribed the first capital—a million and a half dollars. The cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was successfully laid in 1856, after one previous failure.

And now Field began to clear the way by consulting the highest scientific authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Was it possible to carry a cable across the ocean? If laid, would it be able to convey messages? The first query related to mechanical difficulties only, such as the depth of the ocean, the nature of the ocean bed, the influence of currents and winds. The second referred to pure science and the conditions under which the electric fluid acts—Would the lightning flash from shore to shore across an intervening waste of sea? The answer to the first question was supplied by Maury, who pointed out that between Ireland and Newfoundland the bottom of the sea formed a plateau, or elevated table-land, which, as he said, seemed to have been placed there especially for the purpose of supporting the wires of an electric telegraph, and protecting them from injury. Its slope, he said, was quite regular, gradually increasing from the shores of Newfoundland to the depth of from 1,500 to 2,000 fathoms as you approach the Irish coast. It was neither too deep nor too shallow: deep enough to protect the cable from danger by ships’ anchors, icebergs, and currents; shallow enough to secure that the wires should be readily lodged upon the bottom. From Professor Morse an equally satisfactory answer was obtained. He declared his faith in the undertaking as a practicable one: that it might, could, and would be achieved.

The Company undertook to make a series of careful soundings to ascertain the exact nature of the ocean bottom over which the cable connecting Newfoundland with Ireland would have to be laid. Mr. Field applied for this purpose to the American Government, who immediately despatched theArctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, on this useful and most necessary service. She sailed from New York on the 18th of July, 1856; and on the following day Mr. Field left in the steamshipBalticfor England, to organise the Atlantic Telegraph Company. TheArcticproceeded to St. John’s, and thence went[pg 100]on her way across the deep, in three weeks reaching the coast of Ireland, and clearly demonstrating, as the result of her survey, the existence of a great plateau under the ocean, extending all the way from the New World to the Old. To make assurance doubly sure, Mr. Field solicited the British Admiralty“to make what further soundings might be necessary between Ireland and Newfoundland, and to verify those made by Lieutenant Berryman.”In response to this appeal the Admiralty sent out theCyclops, under Lieutenant Dayman, a very capable officer, who executed his task with great zeal and success. He showed that the depth of the water on the so-called telegraphic plateau—the elevated table-land which Providence had raised between the two continents—nowhere exceeded 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet. Such a depth is almost trivial compared with the enormous depths in other parts of the Atlantic, where you might hide from all human eyes the loftiest snow-clad peak of the Himalayas, yet no inconsiderable depth if you reflect that the peak of Teneriffe, were it here“cast into the sea,”would sink out of sight, island, mountain, and all; and even the coloured crest of Mont Blanc would rise but a few hundred feet above the waves. The single exception to this uniform depth occurs about 200 miles off the Irish coast, where within an area of about a dozen miles the depth sinks from 550 to 1,750 fathoms. In 14° 48′ W., says Dayman, we have 550 fathoms rock, and in 150° 6′ W. we have 1,750 fathoms ooze. In little more than ten miles of distance a change of depth takes place amounting to fully 7,200 feet. It was supposed that this tremendous declivity would be the chief point of danger in laying down the cable; and to remove, if possible, the anxiety which existed, Lieutenant Dayman made a further survey. The result showed that the dip was not a sudden one; the precipitous bank or submarine cliff turned out to be a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over this long slope, said a writer in theTimes, the difference between its greatest height and greatest depth is only 8,760 feet, so that the average incline is, in round numbers, about 145 feet per mile. A good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be 1 in 100 feet, or about 53 feet in a mile; so that the incline on this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary railway. It was found upon these surveys that the ocean bed consisted of a soft ooze, as soft as the moss which clings to old damp stone on the river’s brink. And of what does this ooze consist? The microscope revealed the astonishing fact that it is made up of myriads of shells, too minute to be discovered by the naked eye, yet each perfect in itself, unbroken and uninjured. These organisms live near the surface of the water, but in death sink down to the bottom, and there find a calm and peaceful resting-place. Well has it been said that a mighty work of life and death has for ages been going on in the tranquil bosom of ocean. Myriads upon myriads, ever since the morning of creation, have been falling—falling like snow-flakes, till their remains cover with a thick stratum of beautiful organisms the ocean bed.“The bearing of this discovery,”says Dr. Field,“on the problem of a submarine telegraph was obvious. For it, too, was to lie on the ocean bed, beside and among those relics that had so long been drifting down upon the watery plain. And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, surely an iron cord might rest there in safety. There were no swift currents down there; no rushing waves agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved not, and there might rest the great nerve that was to pass from[pg 101]continent to continent. And so far as injury from the surrounding elements was concerned, there it might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive generations of men, till the sea should give up its dead.”Everything showed that the project of an Atlantic cable was feasible. All that remained was to raise the capital necessary for its development. But this could be done only by the formation of a large and influential company, the enterprise having outgrown the resources of Mr. Field and his little band of New York merchants. While engaged in submitting his scheme to the consideration of the capitalists of London, Mr. Field found counsel and encouragement from many men distinguished in the world of science, and among his principal supporters had the good fortune to rank Glass and Elliot, now so well known as manufacturers of sea-cables, and the celebrated engineers whose names are associated with the scientific marvels of the age—Brett, Bidder, Robert Stephenson, and Brunel. The last-named was then building the colossal ship afterwards called theGreat Eastern; and one day taking Mr. Field down to see her gigantic hull as it lay in the yard at Blackwall, he exclaimed—and, as results have proved, prophetically—“There is the ship to lay your Atlantic cable!”

SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.

SECTION OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE.

The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed; and 2,500 miles of cable were manufactured and stowed on board the English naval vesselAgamemnonand the United States shipNiagara. It was on the evening of August 7th, 1857, that the squadron sailed; and according to arrangement theNiagaraat once began to pay out the cable very slowly; but before five miles had been accomplished the heavy shore end of the cable got entangled with the machinery through the carelessness of one of the men in charge, and parted. TheNiagaraput back, and the cable was“under run”the whole distance. At last the end was raised from the water and“spliced”to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped safely to its resting-place among the“salt sea ooze”the noble ship once more went on her way. Saturday, we are told, was a day of beautiful weather. The squadron made good progress at a rate of from four to five miles an hour, and the cable was paid out at a speed somewhat exceeding that of the ship, to allow for any irregularities of surface on the bottom of the sea. Meantime a constant communication was kept up with the land. Every moment the electric fluid flashed between ship and shore. Not only did the electricians wire back to Valentia the progress they were making, but the officers on board sent messages to their friends in America to go out by the steamer from Liverpool. The very heavens seemed to regard the enterprise with favour. All went merrily as a marriage bell. Without a kink the coil came up from the vessel’s hold, and unwinding easily, passed over the stern into the sea. Once or twice, however, a momentary alarm was caused by the cable being thrown[pg 102]off the wheels, an accident due to the insufficient width and depth of the sheaves and to the fact that they were filled with tar, which hardened in the air. This defect was remedied in later expeditions. Still it worked well, and as long as the terrible brakes withheld their iron grasp might work through to the end. On the following day, Sunday, the course of affairs was not less smooth; and on Monday the expedition was upwards of 200 miles from land. The shallow water of the coast had been safely traversed. The ships had passed over the submarine declivity which has been already described, and had reached the deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to a depth of not less than 2,000 fathoms. Still the iron cord buried itself in the profound silence, and every instant the flash of light in the telegraph room recorded the continuous passage of the mysterious electric current. About four o’clock on Tuesday morning, however, a sudden interruption occurred. It seems from the published narrative that the cable was running cut fully at the rate of six miles an hour, while the ship was making only four. To check this waste, the engineer applied the brakes very firmly, with the effect of stopping the machine. Hence a heavy strain told on the submerged portion of the cable. The stern of the ship was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell the pressure became too great, and the cable parted. Instantly a cry of grief and dismay ran through the ship. She was checked in her onward career, and in five minutes all gathered on deck with feelings which can be better imagined than described. One who was present wrote:—“The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. The interest taken in the enterprise by all—every one, officers and men—exceeded anything I ever saw, and there is no wonder that there should have been so much emotion at our failure.”Captain Hudson says:—“It made all hands of us through the day like a household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise.”The cable broke in 2,000 fathoms water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. This was the first of a series of disappointments, ending, however, in eventual triumph.

The same vessels sailed again in June of the next year, and as arranged before starting, reached a point of junction in mid-stream, where the ends of the two cables were spliced, and the ships parted, theAgamemnonsteering for Valentia, and theNiagarafor Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Both vessels arrived at their ports of destination on August 5th, and the fact of the completion of the enterprise was for the first time“cabled”under the wide Atlantic two days later, to the great rejoicing, it may fairly be said, of two worlds. Congratulatory messages were flashed from either end, and success seemed secured. Alas! less than a month later all communication ceased; the electric current would not pass through the great wire-rope; there was a leakage somewhere. But it had been shown conclusively that messagescouldbe transmitted under the given conditions. This was something.

Passing over all the financial arrangements connected with a new attempt, which was not made till 1865, we find Brunel’s prediction fulfilled. The largest ship in the world was chartered to lay another cable.

EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.

EXTERIOR AND SECTION OF THE 1865 ATLANTIC CABLE.

The work of stowing away the cable on board theGreat Eastern, where it was coiled up[pg 103]in three immense tanks—one aft, one amidships, and one forward—began in January and was not completed until June. It will give the reader an idea of the enormous size and capacity of theGreat Easternwhen he is told that though the cable measured 2,700 miles, a visitor to the mammoth ship was at first unaware of its being on board! Here is the account given by a writer who went to see the ship and its novel cargo. Its details are interesting.“It is time,”he says, after a general survey of the wonders of the huge vessel—“it is time we should look after what we have mainly come to see—the telegraph cable. To our intense astonishment we beheld it—nowhere, although informed that there are nearly 2,000 miles of it already on board, and that the remaining piece, which is long enough to stretch from Land’s End to John o’ Groat’s, is in course of shipment. We walk up and down on the deck of theGreat Easternwithout seeing this chain which is to bind together the Old World and the New, and it is only on having the place pointed out to us that we find out where the cable lies.”The writer then describes the process of taking it on board:—“On the side opposite to where we landed, deep below the deck of our giant, is moored a vessel surmounted by a timber structure resembling a house, and from this vessel the wonderful telegraph cable is drawn silently into the immense womb of theGreat Eastern. The work is done so quietly and noiselessly, by means of a small steam-engine, that we scarcely notice it. Indeed, were it not pointed out to us, we would never think that that little iron cord,about an inch in diameter, which is sliding over a few rollers and through a wooden table, is a thing of world-wide fame—a thing which may influence the life of whole nations, nay, which may affect the march of civilisation. Following the direction in which the iron rope goes, we now come to the most marvellous sight.... We find ourselves in a little wooden cabin, and look down over a railing at the side into an immense cavern below. This cavern is one of the three‘tanks’in which the two-thousand-mile cable is finding a temporary home. The passive agent of electricity comes creeping in here in a beautiful silent manner, and is deposited in coils, layer above layer. It is almost dark at the immense depth below, and we can only dimly discern the human figures through whose hands the coil passes to its bed. Suddenly, however, the men begin singing. They intone a low, plaintive song of the sea, something like Kingsley’s

“Three fishers went sailing away to the west,Away to the west, as the sun went down,”

“Three fishers went sailing away to the west,

Away to the west, as the sun went down,”

the sounds of which rise up from the dark deep cavern with startling effect, and produce an indescribable impression. We move on; but the song of the sailors who are taking charge of the Atlantic telegraph cable is haunting us like a dream. In vain that our guide conducts us all over the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, and promenades; through gorgeous saloons full of mirrors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made‘regardless of expense’; and through buildings crowded with glittering steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the latent power of coal and water creates the force which propels this monster vessel across the seas. In vain our attention is directed to all these sights; we do not admire them; our imagination is used up. The echo of the sailors’ song in the womb of theGreat Easternwill not be banished from our mind. It raises visions of the future of the mystic iron coil under our feet: how it will roll forth again from its narrow berth; how it will sink to the bottom of the Atlantic or hang from mountain to mountain far below[pg 104]the stormy waves; and how two great nations, the offspring of one race and the pioneers of civilisation, will speak through this wonderful coil, annihilating distance and time. Who can help dreaming here on the spot where we stand? For it is truly a marvellous romance of civilisation, thisGreat Easternand this Atlantic telegraph cable. Even should our age produce nothing else, it alone would be the triumph of our age.”

THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE “GREAT EASTERN.”THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE“GREAT EASTERN.”

THE PAYING-OUT MACHINERY ON BOARD THE“GREAT EASTERN.”

TheGreat Easternleft the Thames on July 13th, 1865. After sundry mishaps, she turned her mighty prow towards the sunset, and proceeded on her stately way. All went well until the 29th of July, when a little after noon a new cry of alarm was raised. And well it might be, for the insulation was completely destroyed and the electric current overflowing uselessly into the sea. As the faulty piece had gone overboard, it was necessary once more to reverse the vessel’s course, and haul in the cable until the defective part was recovered. This was a difficult task, for they were in water two miles deep. Difficulties did not, however, daunt the pioneers of this great enterprise, and after working all the afternoon, the injured cable was got on board about ten o’clock at night. It was at once stowed away, and the next morning, Sunday, was welcomed with an eager feeling of relief and delight after the suspense of the preceding four-and-twenty hours. On Monday the miles of cable which had been hauled up and were coiled in huge heaps upon the deck were closely examined to discover the origin of the mischief. This was soon detected. Near the end a piece of wire was thrust through the very core, as if driven into it. The recurrence of such a mishap actually suggested suspicions of treachery. It was observed that the same gang of workmen were in the tank as at the time of the first fault. Mr. Canning sent for the men, and[pg 105]showing them the cable and the wire, asked for an explanation. All replied that it must have been done intentionally, and regretted that there was a traitor among them—the unknown traitor, of course, being one of those who thus expressed their sorrow. It seemed difficult to believe that any person could be base enough to plot in this stealthy way against the success of a beneficent enterprise, but such a thing had been done before in a cable in the North Sea, when the perpetrator of the crime was discovered and punished. In the present case there were not wanting motives to prompt the commission of such an act. The fall in the stock, we are told, on the London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could hardly be less than half a million sterling. It was, however, found impossible to fix the deed on any one, for nothing was proved; and the instigator and the perpetrator both remaining unknown, of course a painful feeling of suspicion was left in the minds of Mr. Field and his colleagues. They saw that they must be on their guard; and it was agreed, therefore, that the gentlemen on board should take turn in keeping watch in the tank. TheGreat Easterncontinued her voyage, and for three days, during which they accomplished 500 miles, no further trouble occurred. A few days later, however, a defect was found in the cable, and it became necessary to haul in a short portion of that last paid out. Unfortunately the machinery proved too weak for the purpose, and a breeze springing up, the cable chafed until it snapped right asunder. With one bound it flew through the stoppers, and plunged into the sea.“The shock of the instant,”Dr. Russell tells us,“was as sharp as the snapping of the cable itself,”so great was the disappointment felt on board.

The apparently wild attempt was immediately made torecoverthe cable. It was settled that theGreat Easternshould steam to windward, and eastward of the position she occupied when the cable went down, lower a grapnel, and slowly drift across the track in which the lost treasure was supposed to be lying. So the leviathan ship stood away some thirteen or fourteen miles, and then lay-to in smooth water. The grapnel consisted of two five-armed anchors, of several hundredweight, one of which was shackled and secured to wire rope, of which there were five miles on board, and committed to the deep.“Away slipped the rope, yard after yard, fathom after fathom; ocean, like the horse-leech’s daughter still crying for‘more’and‘more,’still descending into the black waste of waters. One thousand fathoms—still more! One thousand five hundred fathoms—still more! Two thousand fathoms—more, still more! Two thousand five hundred fathoms (15,000 feet)—aye, that will do; the grapnel has reached the bed of the Atlantic; the search has commenced.”Next morning these efforts bore fruit, for the great sea-serpentine cable was caught, and raised seven hundred fathoms (4,200 feet), towards the surface, unhappily to again fall to the bottom. A second attempt resulted in raising it a mile and a half, when a swivel gave way, and it again sank to the bottom. These experiments had used up a considerable quantity of the wire rope, and every expedient had to be adopted to patch up and strengthen the fishing apparatus, which gave full employment to the mechanics on board. Great forge-fires were made on deck, which at night illumined the ocean for a distance round, and helped to make a striking and effective scene. A third and fourth attempt was made to raise the cable; but in spite of the indomitable perseverance of Field and his associates, without success, and the bows of the great ship were sorrowfully directed towards home.

In spite of these failures no abatement of public confidence in the eventual success of[pg 106]the enterprise was shown on the return of the expedition to England. Nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling was subscribedprivatelytowards the next attempt, and when the subscription books were thrown open to the public, the whole capital required was furnished in a fortnight. Some minor improvements were introduced in the successful 1866 cable; among other points, it was galvanised.

When the day arrived for the final great effort, the undertaking was inaugurated solemnly by special prayer and supplication. Dr. Field says of that moment:—

“Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle—since gone to his honoured grave—cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission as‘beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace.’

“Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remembered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushed and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to‘go down to the sea in ships,’and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea.

“In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time: of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.

“On Friday the 13th of July, 1866, the fleet finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic on the same day of the week! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower, not to look, but to listen for the first voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore[pg 107]line, but the weather was thick and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could not see far on the water. For an hour or two the ships went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search of prey. At length theMedwaycaught sight of the buoy tossing on the waves, and firing a signal gun, bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled up from its bed, 100 fathoms deep, and lashed to the stern of theGreat Eastern; and the watchers on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, saw the first flash, and Varley read,‘Got the shore-end all right; going to make the splice.’Then all was still, and they knew that that delicate operation was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the covering from a foot of the shore-end and of the main cable till they came to the core, then swiftly unwinding the copper wires they laid them together as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Then this delicate child of the sea was wrapped in swaddling clothes, covered up with many coatings of gutta-percha and hempen rope and strong iron wires, the whole bound round and round with heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals are now sent through the whole cable on board theGreat Easternand back to the telegraph house at Valentia, and the whole length, 2,440 nautical miles, is reported perfect, and so with light hearts they bear away. It is nearly three o’clock. As they turn to the west, the following is the‘order of battle’: theTerriblegoes ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, theMedwayis on the port, and theAlbanyon the starboard quarter. From that hour the voyage was a steady progress. Indeed, it was almost monotonous from its uninterrupted success. The weather was variable, alternating with sunshine and rain, fogs and squalls; but there was no heavy sea to interrupt their course, and the distance run was about the same from day to day, as the following table will show:—

This table shows the speed of the ship to have been exactly according to the“running time”fixed before she left England. On the last voyage it was thought that she had once or twice run too fast, and thus exposed the cable to danger. It was therefore decided to go slowly but surely. Holding her back to this moderate pace, her average speed from the time the splice was made until they saw land was a little less than five nautical miles an hour, while the cable was paid out at an average of not quite five and half miles. Thus the total slack was about eleven per cent., showing that the cable was laid almost in a straight line, allowing for the swells and hollows at the bottom of the sea.“Friday, July 27.—Shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday two ships, which were soon made out to be steamers, were seen to the westward; and theTerrible, steaming on ahead, in about an hour signalled to us that H.M.S.Nigerwas one of them, accompanied by theAlbany. TheNiger, Captain Bunce, sent aboard to theTerribleas soon as he came up with her. TheAlbanyshortly afterwards[pg 108]took up her position on our starboard quarter, and signalled that she spoke theNigerat noon, bearing E. by N., and that theLilywas anchored at the station in the entrance of Trinity Bay, as arranged with the Admiral. TheAlbanyalso reported that she had passed an iceberg about sixty feet high. At twenty minutes after 4 p.m. theNigercame on our port side, quite close, and Captain Bunce, sending the crew into the rigging and manning the yards, gave us three cheers, which were heartily returned by theGreat Eastern. She then steamed ahead towards Trinity Bay. TheAlbanywas signalled to go on immediately to Heart’s Content, clear the N.E. side of the harbour of shipping, and place a boat with a red flag for Captain Anderson to steer to for anchorage. Just before dinner we saw on the southern horizon, distant about ten miles, an iceberg, probably the one that theAlbanyhad met with. It was apparently about fifty or sixty feet in height. The fog came on very thickly about 8 p.m., and between that and 10 we were constantly exchanging guns and burning blue lights with theTerrible, which, with theNiger, went in search of theLilystation-ship. TheTerriblebeing signalled to come up and take her position, informed us that they had made theLilyout, and that she bore then about ENE., distant about four miles. Later in the night Captain Commerell said that if Captain Anderson would stop theGreat Easternhe would send the surveyor, Mr. Robinson, R.N., who came up in theNiger, aboard of us; and about 3 the engines were slowed, and theTerribleshortly afterwards came alongside with that officer. Catalina Light, at the entrance of Trinity Bay, had been made out three hours before this, and the loom of the coast had also been seen. Fog still prevailing! According to Mr. Robinson’s account, if they had got one clear day in seven at the entrance of Trinity Bay they considered themselves fortunate. Here we are now (6 a.m.) within ten miles of Heart’s Content, and we can scarcely see more than a ship’s length. TheNiger, however, is ahead, and her repeated guns tell us where we are with accuracy. Good fortune follows us, and scarcely has 8 o’clock arrived, when the massive curtain of fog raises itself gradually from both sides of Trinity Bay, disclosing to us the entrance of Heart’s Content, theAlbanymaking for the harbour, theMargaretta Stevenson, surveying vessel, steaming out to meet us, the pre-arranged pathway all marked with buoys by Mr. T. H. Kerr, R.N., and a whole fleet of fishing boats fishing at the entrance. We could now plainly see that Heart’s Content, so far as its capabilities permitted, was prepared to welcome us. The British and American flags floated from the church and telegraph station and other buildings. We had dressed ship, fired a salute, and given three cheers, and Captain Commerell, of H.M.S.Terrible, was soon on board to congratulate us on our success. At 9 o’clock, ship’s time, just as we had cut the cable and made arrangements for theMedwayto lay the shore end, a message arrived, giving us the concluding words of a leader in this morning’sTimes:‘It is a great work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have achieved it deserve to be honoured amongst the benefactors of their race.’‘Treaty of peace signed between Prussia and Austria!’It was now time for the chief engineer, Mr. Canning, to make preparations for splicing on board theMedway. Accompanied by Mr. Good, M.P., Mr. Clifford, Mr. Willoughby Smith, and Messrs. Temple and Deane, he went on board; theTerribleandNigerhaving sent their paddle-box boats to assist. Shortly afterwards theGreat Easternsteamed into the harbour and anchored on the NE. side, and was quickly surrounded by boats laden with visitors. Mr. Cyrus Field had gone on shore before the[pg 110]Great Easternhad left the offing, with a view of telegraphing to St. John’s to hire a vessel to repair the cable unhappily broken between Cape Ray, in Newfoundland, and Cape North, in Breton Island. Before a couple of hours the shore end will be landed, and it is impossible to conceive a finer day for effecting this our final operation. To-morrow Heart’s Content will awaken to the fact that it is a highly-favoured place in the world’s esteem, the western landing-place of that marvel of electric communication with the eastern hemisphere which is now happily, and we hope finally, established.”The foregoing simple record tells the great story of this memorable voyage. In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day, but on the American side of the ocean all was uncertainty. Some had gone to Heart’s Content hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the year before, for the memory of the last failure was too fresh, and they feared another disappointment. But still a faithful few were there who kept their daily watch. The correspondents of the American papers reported only a long and anxious suspense till that morning when the first ship was seen in the offing. And now the hull of theGreat Easternlooms up all glorious in that morning sky. They are coming! Instantly all was wild excitement on shore. Boats put off to row towards the fleet. TheAlbanywas the first to round the point and enter the bay. TheTerriblecame close behind. TheMedwaystopped an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, while theGreat Eastern, gliding calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, dropped her anchor in front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the Old World to the New. That same afternoon, as soon as the shore end was landed, Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet went in a body to the little church of Heart’s Content to render thanks for the success of the expedition. A sermon was preached on the text,“There shall be no more sea,”and all joined in the sublime prayers and thanksgivings of the Church of England. Thus the voyage ended as it began.

THE “GREAT EASTERN” LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.THE“GREAT EASTERN”LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.(From Cassell’s“Illustrated History of England.”)

THE“GREAT EASTERN”LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE.(From Cassell’s“Illustrated History of England.”)

Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday the 27th, yet as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was not received in New York until the 29th. It was early Sunday morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings came. The first announcement was brief—“Heart’s Content, July 27th.—We arrived here at nine o’clock this morning. All well. Thank God the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.—Cyrus W. Field.”Soon followed the despatch to the Associated Press, giving the details of the voyage, and ending with a just tribute to the skill and devotion of all who had contributed to its success. Said Mr. Field:“I cannot find words suitable to convey my admiration for the men who have so ably conducted the nautical, engineering, and electrical departments of this enterprise, amidst difficulties which must be seen to be appreciated; in fact, all on board of the telegraph fleet, and all connected with the enterprise, have done their best to have the cable made and laid in a perfect condition.”Other despatches followed in quick succession, giving the latest events of the war in Europe. All this confirmed the great triumph, and filled the breasts of many with wonder and gratitude that Sabbath day as they went up to the house of God and rendered thanks to Him who is Lord of the earth and sea.

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