The Atlantic Telegraph Part 7

_July 28th._--A night more of joyous progress--all going on most successfully--not a hitch in Cable, machinery, or ship. It was worth while to go aft and look at the Cable as, every inch scanned by watchful eyes, and noted in books, it flew through the whole apparatus of jockeys and drums and dynamometers, and then in a gentle curve skimmed the surface of the ocean more than 200 feet astern ere it went "plump, plunging down amid the a.s.sembly of the whales." Our course was N.W.

W., and the wind at W.N.W., not too strong, was just what we desired.

The Terrible kept on our port beam. The Sphinx was not to be seen. Our position at noon was Lat. 52 45', Long. 23 18' 4'' (another reading gave 23 15' 45''), distance run since yesterday 155 miles, Cable paid out 174 miles. Distance from Valentia 474 miles; distance from Heart's Content 1,1885 miles. The water was supposed to vary from 1,529 to 1950 fathoms in depth. There was something almost monotonous in our success; no ships to be seen, only our severe-looking consort, with her black hull and two funnels and paddle-boxes, on the round blue shield of which the Great Eastern was the boss. Even the sea-birds had begun to leave us, and a whale and a few porpoises which revealed their beauties to a favoured few were regarded as an envied treat. As the departure of the Sphinx had left one flank open, and that the most vulnerable, the Great Eastern signalled to the Terrible to prevent any vessel from the N.W. crossing our course, and soon afterwards the man-of-war steamed and took up her station on our starboard quarter, where she remained throughout the day and night. There was a sense of companionship in seeing her near us.

_Sat.u.r.day, July 29th._--"Everything has gone on most admirably during the night." Such was the report from electricians, and engineers, and officers this morning. The electrical condition of the Cable furnished results most satisfactory to Mr. Varley and to Professor Thomson. The tests showed that in copper-resistance, insulation, and every other particular, the Cable was exhibiting an excellence far beyond the specified standard. Coil after coil whirled off from the tank and pa.s.sed away to sea as easily as the lightning flash itself; and Valentia was joined to us by a lengthening thread, which seemed stronger and more sentient as it lengthened. In the night the Terrible had vanished, but she came in sight in the morning, and drew up closer to us. As the sea was calm, and the Cable ran out so beautifully, the speed of the steamer, and consequent rate of paying-out of the Cable, were increased; and it looked as if there was really no limit to the velocity at which the process could be conducted under favouring circ.u.mstances. Yes; "Heart's Content" on August 5th was certain. What could prevent it? The fault which had occurred was caused by an accident most unlikely to happen again. So we pored over our maps and marked out the soundings in the little bay in Newfoundland, and imagined what sort of place it was, as men will do of spots they have never visited.

At noon our position was, Lat. 52 33' 30'' (another reading, 52 38'

30''), Long. 27 40'. Distance run, 160 miles. Distance from Valentia, 6344 miles. Distance to Heart's Content, 1,028 miles. The Great Eastern had pa.s.sed over the valley in the plateau where the Atlantic deepens to 2,400 fathoms. At 9 a.m. we had shoaled our water to 2000 fathoms, or 2 nautical miles.

Happy is the Cable-laying that has no history. Here might the day's record have well been closed. But it was not so to be. At 110 p.m.

(ship's time), an ill-omened activity about the Testing-Room, which had been visible for some time, reached its climax. The engines were slowed, in five minutes the great ship was motionless. In an instant afterwards every one was on deck, and the evil tidings flew from lip to lip.

Something was wrong with the Cable again. But the worst was not known.

"Another fault," was the word. When I went into the Testing-Room and found all the electricians so grave, I suspected more serious mischief than a diminution of insulation; and so it was. They had found "dead earth"--in other words, a complete destruction of insulation, and an uninterrupted escape of the current into the sea. About 716 miles (nautical) had been payed-out when the ship stopped so suddenly. Up to 240 o'clock, p.m. (Greenwich time), signals had been received from the sh.o.r.e in regular routine. At 3 o'clock the electricians on board began to send the current through to the sh.o.r.e, and in three minutes afterwards the galvanometer indicated "dead earth." So it was pretty clear the injury was close to the ship, and had gone over in the interval between 240 p.m. and 34 p.m. At 3^{h} 3' 30'' (Greenwich time), the electrician on duty saw the index light of Thomson's galvanometer fly out of bounds whilst he was pa.s.sing a current to Valentia. The nature of the injury was so decided as to admit of no doubt.

But in order to make a.s.surance doubly sure two cuts were made in the Cable, whilst the steam was being got up forward to be in readiness for the most retrograde of all backward movements--picking-up. The whole length of Cable in the tanks was first tested, and found to be in admirable condition. Then a test outward gave "dead earth" not far overboard. The next cut at the bottom of the coil in the after tank gave the same result. The third cut was near the top of the coil in the after tank, and confirmed the testimony of the other two tests. The usual preparations were then made to shackle the Cable ere it was cut and cast overboard with its tow rope of iron wire, an operation which always caused the gravest misgivings. It was admitted that there was a certain amount of danger in it, and more in the picking-up; but then, when the question was asked "What would you do?" the answer was not so easy. At first it might appear natural to back the ship, and take up the Cable from the stern; but unfortunately ships in general will not steer stern foremost, and the Great Eastern certainly would not. It was obvious that if Cables could not be secured against "faults," the mode of taking them in would have to be amended.

This was one of the most hara.s.sing days we had yet encountered; but it proved not to be the most trying we were to endure in our short eventful history. All our calculations were falsified. Newfoundland was seen at its true distance, the piano ceased, men discussed various schemes for avoiding the transfer of the Cable from stern to the bow, on every occasion of picking-up. But all our difficulty had been overcome with such certainty, and it was so evident all would go well if no more faults existed in the Cable, that faith, in the ultimate success of the enterprise became, strengthened rather than diminished.

Whilst the tests were being made the Cable was running out by its own weight and the drifting of the ship, at a strain varying from 8 cwt. to 20 cwt., giving at every fathom an increase of labour in the subsequent picking up. The sailors regarded the process of cutting the Cable with distrust; but the Cable men, accustomed to it, had no such serious apprehensions. Still the whole system of iron chains, iron rope, stoppers, and bights, is very complicated. The Cable cannot be checked in such cases till an instant before it is cut, and must be let run out for fear of the ship dragging upon it; and to the inexperienced eye it looked as if the Great Eastern were bent on snapping the thin black thread which cut the waves like a knife-blade as she rose and fell on the swell. When the strain increased, the Cable ran with an edge of seething foam frittering before it backwards and forwards in the track of the ship, taut as a bar of steel. It was a relief to see the end cut at last, and splash over, with shackle chain and wire rope, into the water. Then began an orderly tumult of men with stoppers and guy ropes along the bulwarks and in the shrouds, and over the boats, from stern to stem, as length after length of wire rope flew out after the Cable. The men under the command of Mr. Canning were skilful in their work; but as they clamoured and clambered along the sides, and over the boats, and round the paddle-boxes, hauling at hawsers, and slipping bights, and holding on and letting go stoppers, the sense of risk and fear for the Cable could not be got out of one's head. The chief officer, Mr. Halpin, by personal exertion, made himself conspicuous, and rendered effectual a.s.sistance; and Capt. Anderson, on the bridge, watched and directed every movement of the ship with skill and vigilance. But still pitches and foulings would take place for an instant, and it needed all our confidence in Mr. Canning and his staff to tolerate this picking-up system with any temper. Thousands of fathoms down we knew the end of the cable was dragging along the bottom, fiercely tugged at by the Great Eastern through its iron line. If line or Cable parted, down sank the Cable for ever. At last our minds were set at rest by the commencement of the restorative process. The head of the Great Eastern was got round slowly, and pointed eastwards. The iron wire rope was at length coming in over the bows through the picking-up machinery. In due, but in weary time, the end of the Cable appeared above the surface, and was hauled on board and pa.s.sed aft towards the drum. The stern is on these occasions deserted; the clack of wheels, before so active, ceases; and the forward part of the vessel is crowded with those engaged in the work, and with those who have only to look on. The little chimneys of the boilers at the bows vomit forth clouds of smoke, the two eccentric-looking engines working the pick-up drums and wheels make as much noise as possible, brakesmen take their places, indicator and dynamometer play their parts, and all is life and bustle forwards, as with slow unequal straining the Cable is dragged up from its watery bed.

The day had been foggy or rather hazy. Light grey sheets of drizzling cloud flew over the surface of the sea, and set men talking of icebergs and Arctic storms; but towards evening the wind fell, and a cold clammy vapour settled down on ship and sea, bringing with it a leaden calm; so that the waves lost their tumbled crests, and slept at last in almost unmurmuring slumber. But the big ship slept not. The clank and beat of machinery ceased never, and the dull mill-like clatter of Cable apparatus seemed to become more active as the night wore on. The forge fires glared on her decks, and there, out in the midst of the Atlantic, anvils rang and sparks flew; and the spectator thought of some village far away, where the blacksmith worked, unvexed by Cable anxieties and greed of speedy news. As the blaze shot up, ruddy, mellow, and strong, and flung arms of light aloft and along the glistening decks, and then died into a red centre, masts, spars, and ropes were for the instant touched with a golden gleaming, and strange figures and faces were called out from the darkness--vanished--glinted out again--rushed suddenly into foreground of bright pictures, which faded soon away--flickered--went out--as they were called to life by its warm breath, or were buried in the outer darkness! Outside us all was obscurity; but now and then vast shadows, which moved across the arc of lighted fogbank, were projected far away by the flare; and one might well pardon the pa.s.sing mariner whose bark drifted him in the night across the track of the great ship, if, crossing himself and praying with shuddering lips, he fancied he beheld a phantom ship freighted with an evil crew, and ever after told how he had seen the workshops of the Inferno floating on the bosom of the ocean. It was indeed a most wondrous and unearthly sight! The very vanes on the mastheads, the ring-bolts in the bulwarks and decks, the blocks and the cordage, were touched with such brightness that they shone as if on fire; whilst the whole of the fore part of the ship was in darkness; and on looking aft, it appeared as though the stern were on fire, or that blue lights were being burned every moment. For hour after hour, the work of "picking-up"

went on. The term is objectionable; it rather indicates a brisk, lively process--a bird picks up a worm--a lady picks up a pin--a sharper picks up a flat--but the machine working at the bows of the Great Eastern a.s.suredly was not in any one way engaged in brisk or lively work. Most doggedly at times did the Cable yield. As if it knew its home was deep in the bed of the Atlantic, and that its insulation and all the objects of its existence would be gained and bettered by remaining there, it strained against the power which sought to pull it forth; and the dynamometer showed that the resistance of the rigid cord was equivalent to 2 tons. At times, again, it came up merely with coy reluctance, and again became sullen as though it were already troubled by the whims of two worlds and partook of their fancies. No trace was visible of its having touched the bottom for the 2 miles which were hauled in, but the men observed signs of animal life on it, and certain creatures which they called "worms" were detached and fell on deck, a specimen of which I sought for in vain. As the Cable was hauled in, the men who coiled it aft, and guided it through the machinery, felt it carefully with their hands to detect any "fault" or injured part, and the line of large ship's lanterns hung up along the deck showed how carefully they did their work. It was 540 p.m., Greenwich time, or about 340 p.m., ship's time, when the end of the Cable came in board; but it was not till six hours and ten minutes had elapsed (950 p.m., ship's time) that the part of the Cable where the mischief lay was picked up. The defective portion was found at the very part of the Cable which was going over the stern when the ocean galvanometer indicated "dead earth." It was at once cut out, and reserved to be examined by Mr. Canning. The necessary steps were next taken to test the rest of the Cable. The sh.o.r.e end was spliced and jointed to a fresh end of the Cable from the after tank. These operations were finished before midnight; but it was not judged expedient to resume the process of paying-out till the morning. As yet no one knew the nature of the injury to the Cable. No one could account for the hitch; but it certainly did not affect any one's belief in success. Mr. Field, to whom such accidents are never discouraging, remarked pleasantly during the crisis of picking-up, "I have often known Cables to stop working for two hours, no one knew why, and then begin again. Most likely it's some mistake on sh.o.r.e." What can discourage a believer? It was even comfort to him to remember that this very day eight years ago, a splice was made in the first Atlantic Cable, very much in the same place. But to all it had been a most trying day. And when night came, and some retired to the rest they had won so well, there, constant on the paddle-box, stood Captain Anderson, watching the course and conduct of his ship.

If the paying-out could have been stopped at once, and the Cable taken in over the stern, the delay would have been very trifling; but that was impossible. The picking-up (necessarily slow under the most favourable circ.u.mstances) was rendered unusually tedious by the inefficiency of the boilers. An interval of 19 hours had occurred, and these faults and stoppages had caused so much labour and anxiety that Captain Anderson was obliged to remain on deck for 26 hours, whilst Mr. Halpin, Mr.

Clifford, Mr. Canning, the electricians, and the whole staff, were exposed to an equal strain till the Cable was over the paying-out wheels again.

_July 30th (Sunday)._--The weather was exceedingly thick all night--a fog hung round the ship, and the drizzling rain was so cold as to give an impression there was ice close at hand, but the water showed it was erroneous, as the temperature was 58. It was a dead calm, and the Great Eastern seemed to float on a grey and polished surface of cloud. The preparations for paying-out were completed and tested. There would have been a better result had not an accident occurred this morning as the Cable was being pa.s.sed aft from the bow, in order to transfer it from the picking-up to the paying-out machinery. Owing to a sudden jar it flew off from the drum, and before the machinery could be stopped several fathoms had become entangled amid the wheels, and were so much injured that it was necessary to cut out the pieces, and make two new splices and joints. At 108 a.m. (ship's time being 810 a.m.) the Cable was veered out astern once more, our communications with Valentia being most satisfactory. The Cable electrically was all that could be desired, its condition being represented by 1,500,000,000 British a.s.sociation units. At noon our position was Lat. 52 30', Long. 28 17'; distance from Valentia, 6506 miles; Cable payed-out, 745 miles.

The Cable which was recovered yesterday was strained, and lay twisted in hard curves, presenting a very different appearance from the easy ductile lines in which it lay in the tank. The defective portion of the Cable was not examined to-day, and divine service was postponed till 230, in order to give some time for sleep and rest to the exhausted and hard-worked staff and workers of all kinds on board the ship. The weather continued thick and hazy, a fresh breeze from the N.N.W. not dispersing the cold grey clouds and mist. The Terrible alone was in sight, and it was conjectured that the Sphinx must have pa.s.sed on during the night, and that she would arrive in Heart's Content before us. The sound and sight of the wheels and drums revolving again after so long a rest were very gratifying, and it was fondly hoped that this fault or dead earth would be the last, as it was now evident nothing else was to be feared, and nothing else humanly speaking could prevent the Cable being laid. In the Cable itself lay all the sources of mischief. If there were no faults or dead earth, the paying-out was a matter of the most easy routine and most positive certainty. When the operation had to be reversed, the whole condition of affairs was reversed also. A swerve of the helm, a rolling billow, an unseen weakness, a moment's neglect, the accident of an instant, and down went the thread of thought between two continents, with all which depended on it, to rest and rust in the depths of the sea. My mind could never get rid of the image of the Great Eastern pulling at the Cable as if she were animated by a malevolent desire, when she caught some one off the watch, to use her giant's strength to tear it asunder. Captain Anderson only expressed the feelings of all who watched the struggle whilst Cable and Ship were adjusting their mutual relations, when--admitting the task was more difficult than he had antic.i.p.ated, in consequence of the obstacles to the management of the ship, arising from want of steerage way as soon as the engines were stopped--he said, "One feels so powerless--one can do so little to govern events while the affair of picking-up is going on."

The weather was favourable, the ship perfection, and yet here were these delays arising from causes no one could foresee or prevent or remedy in any but the one way, and that a way fraught with danger. A visit to the stern, where the Cable was rolling away into 2000 fathoms water as easily as the thread flies from the reel in a lady's workbasket, always created a conviction that the enterprise must be carried out; and it was not till the machinery stopped and the words "another fault" recalled us to a sense of the contingencies on which it depended, that we could entertain a doubt of its speedy consummation. For the most indifferent somehow or another became soon interested in the undertaking. There was a wonderful sense of power in the Great Ship and in her work; it was gratifying to human pride to feel that man was mastering s.p.a.ce, and triumphing over the winds and waves; that from his hands down in the eternal night of waters there was trailing a slender channel through which the obedient lightning would flash for ever instinct with the sympathies, pa.s.sions, and interests of two mighty nations, and binding together the very ends of the earth. And then came "a fault"--or "dead earth" spoke to us.

_Monday, July 31st._--We have been pa.s.sing over the valley in the Atlantic which is more than two miles deep. With the morning came the news that all had gone well during the night. Some had got up an hour after midnight to watch the transfer of the coil from the after to the fore tank, which was looked forward to with interest, as it was supposed to be attended with some little difficulty. But they were agreeably disappointed; the operation was effected with the utmost facility. At 330 o'clock a.m. the ship was stopped, to permit the transfer to be made. At 350 a.m. the Cable was running out of the fore hold, pa.s.sing down the trough, and going out over the stern as she steamed ahead again. The Great Eastern was now near a fatal spot--somewhere below us lay the bones of three Atlantic Cables.

But all during the forenoon, engineers and electricians, agreed in the most favourable statements respecting the Cable and its progress. At 9 a.m. (Greenwich time) 868 miles had been run out, and 770 miles made from land. In the forenoon Mr. Canning brought to trial the coils in which the peccant part that had wrought such mischief existed. The Court was held at the door of the Testing-Room. Mr. de Sauty acted as judge.

The jury consisted of cells, wires, and galvanometers. The accused cable, cut in junks, was subjected to a silent examination, and many fathoms were p.r.o.nounced not guilty, flake by flake, till at last the criminal was detected and at once carried off by Mr. Canning. The process of examination was conducted in Mr. Clifford's cabin, to which a few anxious spectators were admitted. The core was laid bare by untwisting the strands of Manilla covered with iron, and before a foot of it was uncovered an exclamation literally of horror escaped our lips!

There, driven right through the centre of the coil so as to touch the inner wires, was a piece of iron wire, bright as if cut with nippers at one end and broken off short at the other. It was tried with the gauge, and found to be of the same thickness as the wire used in making the protecting cover of the Cable. On examining the strands a mark of a cut was perceived on the Manilla where the wire had entered, but it did not come through on the other side. In fact, it corresponded in length exactly with the diameter of the Cable, so that the ends did not project beyond the outer surface of the covering. Now here was at once, we thought, demonstration of a villanous design. No man who saw it could doubt that the wire had been driven in by a skilful hand. And as that was so, was it not likely that the former fault had been caused in a similar manner, and that it was not the result of accident? Then, again, it was curious that the former fault occurred when the same gang of men were at work in the tank. It was known there were enemies to the manufacturers of the Cable; whispers went about that one of the cablemen had expressed gratification when the first fault occurred. It was a very solicitous moment, and Mr. Canning felt a great responsibility. He could not tell who was guilty, and in trying to punish them or him he might disgust the good men on whom so much depended. He at once accepted an offer made by the gentlemen on board the ship to take turn about in doing duty in the tank and superintending the men engaged in paying-out the Cable. Then he caused the cablemen to be summoned at the bows, and showed them the coil and the wire. After they had examined it curiously, he asked the men what they thought of the injury, and they one and all, without hesitation, expressed their opinion that it must have been done on purpose by some one in the tanks. Lynch law was talked of, and if the man could have been pounced upon, and left to the mercy of his fellows, he would have fared ill that day. Nor was the feeling of anger and indignation diminished by the knowledge that the punishment awarded by law for offences of such a character was a paltry fine and short imprisonment. The men who were engaged in the tank at the time of the occurrence were transferred to other duties, and the volunteer inspectors established a roster, and began their course of duty--one going on for two hours at a time, and being relieved in order, so that night and day the men engaged in paying-out the Cable were under the eyes of very vigilant watchmen. It was a painful thing to have to do, but the men admitted it was not only justifiable but necessary, and declared they were very glad the measure was adopted. It was fondly hoped that this surveillance would save us from a recurrence of the delay to which the expedition had been subjected, and ulterior steps were postponed till the sh.o.r.e was reached, when it was intended to inst.i.tute a rigid inquiry. At noon our position was, Lat. 52 9' 20'', Long. 31 53'. Length of Cable payed-out since yesterday 134 miles: total length paid out, 903 miles. Distance, from Valentia, 793 miles; from Heart's Content, 8719 miles. We had crossed the centre of the arc of the great circle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

SEARCHING FOR FAULT AFTER RECOVERY OF THE CABLE FROM THE BED OF THE ATLANTIC. JULY 31st.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

IN THE BOWS AUGUST 2nd. THE CABLE BROKEN AND LOST PREPARING TO GRAPPLE.]

_Tuesday, August 1st._--The Great Eastern continued on her way without let or hindrance all night and early morning, increasing her speed to 7 knots an hour, although there was a strong breeze at times. The sea continued to favour us greatly, and the ship's deck scarcely ever varied from a horizontal plane. At noon our position was, Lat. 51 52' 30'', Long. 36 3' 30'': making 155 miles run since yesterday. Cable paid out 108155 miles. Distance from Valentia, 948 miles: distance from Heart's Content, 717 miles. We were without soundings; but it was supposed we were pa.s.sing over the line on the chart where they varied from 1975 to 2250 fathoms. The Terrible was at her usual station, about two miles away; but we gave up all hopes of seeing the Sphinx till we reached Heart's Content. It was calculated that at our present rate we would see land on Friday evening, or first thing on Sat.u.r.day morning. In preparation for our arrival the crew were employed in transferring the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable from the main to the after tank. It would be painful to dwell on the tenour of our conversation. The wisest men forgot the lessons of the past few days. It seemed quite certain that the right step had been taken, and that the man, or men, who had caused the previous mishaps had been effectually checkmated. The praises of the Great Eastern were on every tongue. Had no fault occurred, our task would have been nearly ended by this time. Her mission is undoubtedly the laying of Atlantic Cables, and she did it n.o.bly as far as in her lay on this occasion.

_Wednesday, August 2nd._--In the course of the night the wind, accompanied by a dense fog, rose from the westward. Then it suddenly shifted to N.N.W.; but although the sea was high, there was no rolling or pitching, and none of the sleepers were aroused from slumber, which was favoured by the ceaseless rumble of the machinery. They were, however, awakened but too speedily. Again the great enterprise on which so much depended, and on which so many hearts and eyes were fixed, was rudely checked.

As I have said, the gale did not in the least affect the ship. She went on through the heavy sea steady as an island, running out the Cable at the rate of 7 knots an hour; and when the wind shifted to N.N.W. our course was altered to N.W. by W. W., through a sea which fell as rapidly as it had risen. The crisis was now at hand. I was aroused about 8 o'clock a.m., Greenwich time (ship's time being more than two hours earlier), by the slowing of the engines, and on looking out of my port saw, from the foam of the paddles pa.s.sing ahead, that the ship was moving astern. In a moment afterwards I stood in the Testing-Room, where Mr. de Sauty, the centre of a small group of electricians, among whom was Professor Thomson, was bending over the instruments, surrounded by his anxious staff. The chronometer marked 86 a.m., Greenwich time. In reply to my question as to what was wrong, Professor Thomson whispered, "Another bad fault." This was indeed surprising and distressing.

In order to make the history of the day consecutive, I will relate as closely as possible what occurred. Mr. Field went on duty in the tank in the early morning, relieving M. Jules Despescher. Some twenty minutes before the fault was noticed, whilst Mr. Field was watching, a grating noise was heard in the tank as the coil flew out over the flakes. One of the men exclaimed, "There goes a piece of wire." The word was pa.s.sed up through the crinoline shaft to the watcher. But he either did not hear what was said, or neglected to give any intimation, as the warning never reached Mr. Temple, who was on duty at the stern at the time. At 8 a.m., Greenwich time, being the beginning of an hour, and therefore the time when in regular series the electricians on board the Great Eastern began to send currents to the sh.o.r.e, the gentleman engaged in watching the galvanometer, saw the unerring index light quiver for an instant and glide off the scale. The fact was established that instead of meeting with the proper resistance, and traversing the whole length of the Cable to the sh.o.r.e, a large portion of the stream was escaping through a breach in the gutta percha into the sea. If the quant.i.ty of the current escaping had been uniform, the electricians could calculate very nearly the distance of the spot where the injury had taken place. In the present instance, however, the tests varied greatly, and showed a varying fault. When the current is sent through a wire from one pole it produces an electro-chemical action on the wire, and at the place of the injury, which leads to a deposit of a salt of copper in the breach, and impedes the escape of electricity; and when the opposite current is returned, the deposit is reduced, and hydrogen gas formed, a globule of which may rest in the c.h.i.n.k, and, by its non-conducting power, restore the insulation of the Cable for a time. The fault in the present instance was so grave that it was resolved to pick up the Cable once more, till we cut it out, and re-spliced it. How far away it was no one could tell precisely; but from a comparison of time it was imagined that the faulty part was not far astern, and that it was in the portion of Cable which went over at 8 o'clock in the morning, or a little before it; and although the time was not accurately fixed when Mr. Field heard it, the grating noise was supposed to arise from some cause connected with the fault. Had the engineers foreseen what subsequently occurred they might have resolved to go on, and take the chance of working through the fault. Professor Thomson has since given it as his opinion that the fault could have been worked through, and that the Cable could have transmitted messages for a long time at the rate of four words a minute--making an amply remunerative return. Mr. de Sauty also entertained the belief that the Cable could have worked for several months, at all events. But it does not appear that Mr. Canning had any reason to act on the views of these gentlemen, and it was quite sure, when the end was landed in Heart's Content, Mr. Varley could not have given his certificate that the Cable was of the contract standard.

Neither Mr. Varley nor Mr. Professor Thomson had any power to interfere, or even to express their opinions, and electricians and engineers are generally inclined to regard with exclusive attention their own department in the united task, and to look to it solely.

Nothing was left but to pick up the cable. Steam was got up in the boilers for the picking-up machinery, the shackles and wire rope were prepared, and, meantime, as the ship drifted the Cable was let run out, and the brakes were regulated to reduce the strain below 30 cwt. As they were cutting the Cable near the top of the tank in the forenoon to make a test, one of the foremen perceived in the flake underneath that which had pa.s.sed out with the grating noise when the fault was declared, a piece of wire projecting from the Cable, and when he took it in his fingers to prevent it catching in the pa.s.sing coil, the wire broke short off. I saw it a few minutes afterwards. It was a piece of the wire of the Cable itself, not quite three inches long; one end rather sharp, the other with a clean bright fracture, and bent very much in the same way as the piece of wire which caused the first fault. This was a very serious discovery. It gave a new turn to men's thoughts at once. After all, the Cable might carry the source of deadly mischief within itself.

What we had taken for a.s.sa.s.sination might have been suicide. The piece of wire in this case was evidently bad and brittle, and had started through the Manilla in the tank. How many similar pieces might have broken without being detected or causing loss of insulation? The marks of design in the second fault were very striking; but the freaks of machinery in motion are extraordinary, and what looked so like purposed malice might, after all, be the effect of accidental mechanical agency.

There were thenceforth for the day two parties in the ship--those who believed in malice, and those who attributed all our disasters to accident. In the end the latter school included nearly all on board the ship, and it was generally thought that in the Cable, or, rather, in what had been intended as its protection, was the source of its weakness and ruin.

Before the end of the Cable was finally shackled to the wire rope, tests were applied to the portion in tanks. The first cut was made at the old splice, between the main and fore tanks, and the Cable was found perfect. The second cut, at three miles from the end of the Cable, showed the fault to be overboard. Whilst the tests were going on, and the cablemen got the picking-up gear in readiness, the dynamometer showed a strain on the Cable astern varying from 20 to 28 cwt.

The chain and rope were at last secured to the Cable, under the eyes of Mr. Canning. It was then 953 a.m. The indicator stood at 376595, showing that 1,186 miles of Cable had been payed-out. At 958 a.m.

(Greenwich time), the Cable was cut and slipped overboard astern, fastened to its iron guardians. The depth of water was estimated at 2000 fathoms. As it went over and down in its fatal dive, one of the men said, "Away goes our talk with Valentia." Mr. de Sauty did not inform the operator at Valentia of the nature of the abrupt stoppage. We had now become so hardened to the dangers of the slip overboard, and the sight of the Cable straining for its life in contest with the Big Ship, that the cutting and slipping excited no apprehension; but nothing could reconcile men to the picking-up machinery, and its monotonous retrogression. The wind was on our starboard beam, and the Cable was slipped over at the port quarter, and carried round on the port side towards the ship's bows, in order that the vessel might go over it, and then come up more readily to the Cable, head to wind, when the picking-up began. The drift of the ship was considerable, and it was not easy--indeed, possible--to control her movements; but, notwithstanding all this, the wire buoy-rope was got up to the machinery in reasonable time. Still the ship's head--do what Capt. Anderson would, and he did as much as any man could--did not come round easily. Even a punt will not turn if she has no way on her, and it takes a good deal of way--more than she could get with safety to the Cable--to give steerage to the Great Eastern. As she slowly drifted and came round by degrees quite imperceptible to those who did not keep a close watch on the compa.s.s, the wire rope was payed-out; and at last, as the ship's bows turned, it was taken in over the machinery, and was pa.s.sed aft through the drums, and the picking-up apparatus coiled it in very slowly away till the end of the Cable was hauled up out of the sea.

It was 1030 a.m., Greenwich time, when the Cable came in over the bow.

We were now in very deep water, but had we been a few miles more to the west we should have been over the very deepest part of the Atlantic Plateau. It was believed the fault was only six miles away, and ere dead nightfall we might hope to have the fault on board, make a new splice, and proceed on our way to Heart's Content, geographically about 600 miles away. The picking-up was, as usual, exceedingly tedious, and one hour and forty-six minutes elapsed before one mile of Cable was got on board; then one of the engines' eccentric gear got out of order, and a man had to stand by with a handspike, aided by a wedge of wood and an elastic band, to aid the machinery. Next the supply of steam failed; and as soon then as the steam was got up, there was not water enough in the boiler, and so the picking-up ceased altogether. But at last all these impediments were remedied or overcome, and the operation was proceeded with before noon. Let the reader turn his face towards a window and imagine that he is standing on the bows of the Great Eastern, and then on his right will be the starboard, on his left the port side of the ship. The motion of the vessel was from right to left, and as she drifted, she tugged at the Cable from the right hand side, where he seemed to be anch.o.r.ed in the sea. There was not much rolling or pitching, but the set of the waves ran on her port-bow. There are in the bows of the Great Eastern two large hawse-pipes, the iron rims of which project beyond the line of the stem; against one of these the Cable caught on the left-hand side whilst the ship was drifting to the left, and soon began to chafe and strain against the bow. The Great Eastern could not go astern, lest the Cable should be snapped, and without motion there was no power of steerage. At this critical moment, too, the wind shifted, so as to render it more difficult to keep the head of the ship up to the Cable. As the Cable chafed so much that there was danger of its parting, a shackle, chain, and rope belonging to one of the Cable-buoys were pa.s.sed over the bows, and secured in a bight below the hawse-pipe to the Cable. These were then hauled so as to bring the Cable to the right-hand side of the bow, the ship still drifting to the left, and the oblique strain on the wires became considerable, but it was impossible to diminish it by veering out, as the length of Cable after it was cut at the stern for the operation of picking-up left little to spare. In the bow there is a large iron wheel with a deep groove in the circ.u.mference (technically called a V wheel), by the side of which is a similar but smaller wheel on the same axis. The Cable and the rope together were brought in over the bows in the groove in the larger wheel, the Cable being wound upon a drum behind by the picking-up machinery, which was once more in motion, and the rope being taken in round the capstan. But the rope and Cable did not come up in a right line in the V in the wheel, but were drawn up obliquely. Still, up they came. The strain shown on the dynamometer was high, but was not near the breaking point. The part of the Cable which had suffered from chafing was coming in, and the first portion of it was inboard; suddenly a jar was given to the dynamometer by a jerk, caused either by a heave of the vessel or by the shackle of wire-rope secured to the Cable, and the index jumped far above 60 cwt., the highest point marked on it. The chain shackle and wire-rope clambered up out of the groove of the V wheel, got on the rim, and rushed down with a crash on the smaller wheel, giving a severe shock to the Cable. Almost at the same moment, as the Cable and the rope travelled slowly along through the machinery, just ere they reached the dynamometer the Cable parted, flew through the stoppers, and with one bound leaped over intervening s.p.a.ce and flashed into the sea. The shock of the instant was as sharp as the snapping of the Cable itself. No words could describe the bitterness of the disappointment. The Cable gone! gone for ever down in that fearful depth! It was enough to move one to tears; and when a man came with the piece of the end lashed still to the chain, and showed the tortured strands--the torn wires--the lacerated core--it is no exaggeration to say that a feeling of pity, as if it were some sentient creature which had been thus mutilated and dragged asunder by brutal force, moved the spectators. Captain Moriarty was just coming to the foot of the companion to put up his daily statement of the ship's position, having had excellent observations, when the news came. "I fear," he said, "we will not feel much interested now in knowing how far we are from Heart's Content." However, it was something to know, though it was little comfort, that we had at noon run precisely 1164 miles since yesterday; that we were 1,0624 miles from Valentia, 6066 miles from Heart's Content; that we were in Lat. 51 25', Long. 39 6', our course being 76 S. and 25 W. But instant strenuous action was demanded! Alas!

action! There around us lay the placid Atlantic smiling in the sun, and not a dimple to show where lay so many hopes buried. The Terrible was signalled to, "the Cable has parted," and soon bore down to us, and came-to off our port beam. After brief consideration, Mr. Canning resolved to make an attempt to recover the Cable. Never, we thought, had alchemist less chance of finding a gold b.u.t.ton in the dross from which he was seeking aurum potabile, or philosopher's stone. But, then, what would they say in England, if not even an attempt, however desperate, were made? There were men on board who had picked up Cables from the Mediterranean 700 fathoms down. The weather was beautiful, but we had no soundings, and the depth was matter of conjecture; still it was settled that the Great Eastern should steam to windward and eastward of the position in which she was when the Cable went down, lower a grapnel, and drift down across the course of the track in which the Cable was supposed to be lying. Although all utterance of hope was suppressed, and no word of confidence escaped the lips, the mocking shadows of both were treasured in some quiet nook of the fancy. The doctrine of chances could not touch such a contingency as we had to speculate upon. The ship stood away some 13 or 14 miles from the spot where the accident occurred, and there lay-to in smooth water, with the Terrible in company. The grapnel, two five-armed anchors, with flukes sharply curved and tapering to an oblique tooth-like end--the hooks with which the giant Despair was going to fish from the Great Eastern for a take worth, with all its belongings, more than a million, were brought up to the bows. One of these, weighing 3 cwt., shackled and secured to wire buoy rope, of which there were five miles on board, with a breaking strain calculated at 10 tons, was thrown over at 320, ship's time, and "whistled thro'" the sea, a prey to fortune. At first the iron sank slowly, but soon the momentum of descent increased, so as to lay great stress on the picking-up machinery, which was rendered available to lowering the novel messenger with warrant of search for the fugitive hidden in mysterious caverns beneath. Length flew after length over cog-wheel and drum till the iron, warming with work, heated so as to convert the water thrown upon the machinery into clouds of steam. The time pa.s.sed heavily. The electricians' room was closed; all their subtle apparatus stood functionless, and cell, zinc, and copper threw off superfluous currents in the darkened chamber. The jockeys had run their race, and reposed in their iron saddles. The drums beat no more, their long reveillee ended in the m.u.f.fled roll of death; that which had been broken could give no trouble to break, and man shunned the region where all these mute witnesses were testifying to the vanity of human wishes. All life died out in the vessel, and no noise was heard except the dull grating of the wire-rope over the wheels at the bows. The most apathetic would have thought the rumble of the Cable the most grateful music in the world.

Away slipped the wire strands, shackle after shackle: ocean was indeed insatiable; "more" and "more," cried the daughter of horse-leech from the black night of waters, and still the rope descended. One thousand fathoms--fifteen hundred fathoms--two thousand fathoms--hundreds again mounting up--till at last, at 56 p.m., the strain was diminished, and at 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet, the grapnel reached the bed of the Atlantic, and set to its task of finding and holding the Cable. Where _that_ lay was of course beyond human knowledge; but as the ship drifted down across its course, there was just a sort of head-shaking surmise that the grapnel might catch it, that the ship might feel it, that the iron-rope might be brought up again--and that the Cable across it might--here was the most hazardous. .h.i.tch of all--might come up without breaking. But 2,500 fathoms! Alas!--and so in the darkness of the night--not more gloomy than her errand--the Great Eastern, having cleared away one of the great buoys and got it over her bows, was left as a sport to the wind, and drifted, at the rate of 70 feet a minute, down upon the imaginary line where the Cable had sunk to useless rest.

_August 3rd._--All through the night's darkness the Great Eastern groped along the bottom with the grapnel as the wind drifted her, but cunning hands had placed the ship so that her course lay right athwart the line for which she was fishing. There were many on board who believed the grapnel would not catch anything but a rock, and that if it caught a rock or anything else it would break itself or the line without anyone on board being the wiser for it. Others contended the Cable would be torn asunder by the grapnel. Others calculated the force required to draw up two miles and a-half of the Cable to the surface, and to drag along the bottom the length of line needed to give a bight to the Cable caught in the grapnel, so as to permit it to mount two and a-half miles to the deck of the Great Eastern. After the grapnel touched the bottom, which was at 745 o'clock, p.m., last night, when 2,500 fathoms of rope were payed-out, the strain for an hour and a-half did not exceed 55 cwt.; but at 10 p.m. it rose to 80 cwt. for a short time, and the head of the ship yielded a little from its course and came up to the wind. It then fell off as the strain was reduced to 55 cwt. which apparently was the normal force put on the ship by the weight of the rope and grapnel.

This morning the same strain was shown by the dynamometer, and it varied very slightly from midnight till 6 o'clock a.m. Then the bow of the ship and the index of the dynamometer coincided in their testimony, and whilst the Great Eastern swayed gradually and turned her head towards the wind, the index of the machine recorded an increasing pressure. It began to be seen that there was some agency working to alter the course of the ship, and the dynamometer showed a strain of 70 cwt. The news soon spread; men rushed from compa.s.s to dynamometer. "We have caught it!

we have caught it!" was heard from every lip.

There was in this little world of ours as much ever-varying excitement, as much elation and depression, as if it were a focus into which converged the joys and sorrows of humanity. When the Great Eastern first became sensible of the stress brought upon her by the grappling iron and rope she shook her head, and kept on her course, disappointing the hopes of those who were watching the dynamometer, and who saw with delight the rising strain. This happened several times. It was for a long time doubtful whether the grapnel held to anything more tenacious than the ooze, which for a moment arrested its progress and then gave way with a jerk as the ship drifted; but in the early morning, the long steady pull made it evident the curved p.r.o.ngs had laid their grip on a solid body, which yielded slowly to the pressure of the vessel as she went to leeward, but at the same time resisted so forcibly as to slew round her bow. The scientific men calculated the force exercised by grapnel and rope alone to be far less than that now shown on the dynamometer. And if the Great Eastern had indeed got hold of a substance in the bottom of the Atlantic at once so tenacious and so yielding, what could it be but the lost Cable?

[Ill.u.s.tration: E. Walker, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

GETTING OUT ONE OF THE LARGE BUOYS FOR LAUNCHING AUGUST 2ND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: from a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

GENERAL VIEW OF PORT MAGEE &c. FROM THE HEIGHTS BELOW CORA BEG. THE CAROLINE LAYING THE Sh.o.r.e END OF THE CABLE JULY 22ND.]

At 640 a.m., Greenwich time, the bow of the ship was brought up to the grapnel line. The machinery was set to work to pull up the 2,500 fathoms of rope. The index of the dynamometer, immediately on the first revolutions of the wheels and drums, rose to 85 cwt. The operation was of course exceedingly tedious, and its difficulty was increased by the nature of the rope, which was not made in a continuous piece, but in lengths of 100 fathoms each, secured by shackles and swivels of large size, and presumably of proportionate strength. It was watched with intense interest. The bows were crowded, in spite of the danger to which the spectators were exposed by the snapping of the wire-rope, which might have caused them serious and fatal injuries. At 715 o'clock, a.m., the first 100 fathoms of rope were in, and the great iron shackle and swivel at the end of the length were regarded with some feelings of triumph. At 755 a.m. the second length of 100 fathoms was on board, the strain varying from 65 to 75 cwt. At 810 a.m., when 400 fathoms had been purchased in and coiled away, the driving spur-wheel of the machinery broke, and the rope snapped, the strain being 90 cwt. at the time. The whole of the two miles of wire rope, grapnel and all, would have been lost, but that the stoppers caught the shackle at the end, and saved the experiment from a fatal termination. The operation was suspended for a short time, in order to permit the damage to be made good, and the rope was transferred to the capstan. The hazardous nature of the work, owing to the straining and jerking of the wire rope, was painfully evinced by the occurrence of accidents to two of the best men on Mr. Canning's staff--one of whom was cut on the face, and the other had his jaw laid open. At noon nearly half a mile of rope was gathered in. With every length of Cable drawn up from the sea, the spirits of all on board became lighter, and whilst we all talked of the uncertainty of such an accomplishment, there was a sentiment stronger than any one would care to avow, inspiring the secret confidence that, having caught the Cable in this extraordinary manner, we should get it up at last, and end our strange eventful history by a triumphant entry to Heart's Content. Already there were divers theories started as to the best way of getting the Cable on board, for if Mr. Canning ever saw the bight, the obvious question arose, "What will he do with it?" The whole of our speculations were abruptly terminated at 250 o'clock, p.m. As the shackle and swivel of the eleventh length of rope, which would have made a mile on board, were pa.s.sing the machinery, the head of the swivel pin was wrung off by the strain, and the 1,400 fathoms of line, with grapnel attached, rushed down again to the bottom of the Atlantic, carrying with it the bight of Cable. The shock was bitter and sharp. The nature of the mishap was quite unforeseen. The engineers had calculated that the wire rope might part, or that the Cable itself might break at the bight, but no one had thought of the stout iron shackles and swivels yielding. To add to the gloominess of the situation, the fog, which had so long been hanging round the ship, settled down densely, and obliged the Great Eastern to proceed with extreme caution. But although the event damped, it did not extinguish, the hopes of the engineers. Mr. Canning and Mr.

Clifford at once set their staff to bend 2,500 fathoms of spare wire rope to another grapnel, and to prepare a buoy to mark the spot as nearly as could be guessed where the rope had parted, and gone down with the bight of the Cable. The Great Eastern was to steam away to windward of the course of the Cable, and then drift down upon it about three miles west of the place where the accident occurred. Fog whistles were blown to warn the Terrible of our change of position, and at 130, ship's time, the Great Eastern, as she steamed slowly away, fired a gun, to which a real or fancied response was heard soon afterwards. As she went ahead, guns were fired every 20 minutes, and the steam-whistles were kept going, but no reply was made, and she proceeded on her course alone. It was impossible to obtain a noon-day observation, and the only course to be pursued was to steam to windward for 14 or 15 miles, then to lay-to and drift, in the hope of procuring a favourable position for letting go the second grapnel, and catching the Cable once more.

_August 4th._--The morning found the Great Eastern drifting in a dense fog. In order to gauge the nature of the task before them, the engineers fitted up a sounding tackle of all the spare line they could get, and hove it overboard with a heavy lead attached. The sinker, it is believed, touched bottom at 2,300 fathoms, but it never came up to tell the tale. The line broke when the men were pulling it in, and 2000 fathoms of cord were added to the maze of Cable and wire rope with which the bed of the Atlantic must be vexed hereabouts. The fog cleared away in the morning, and the Terrible was visible astern. Presently one of her boats put off, with a two-mile pull before her, for the Great Eastern. Lieutenant Prowse was sent to know what we had been doing, and what we intended to do. He returned to his ship with the information that Mr. Canning, full of determination, if not of hope, would renew his attempt to grapple the Cable, and haul it up once more. At noon, Captain Anderson and Staff-Commander Moriarty, who had been very much perplexed at the obstinate refusal of the sun to shine, and might be seen any time between 8 a.m. and noon parading the bridge s.e.xtant in hand, taking sights at s.p.a.ce, succeeded in obtaining an observation, which gave our position Lat. 51 34' 30'', Long. 37 54'. The Great Eastern had drifted 34 miles from the place where the Cable parted, and as she had steamed 12 miles, her position was 46 miles to the east of the end of the Cable.

Meantime the engineers' staff were busy making a solid strong raft of timber balks, 8 feet square, to serve as a base to a buoy to be anch.o.r.ed in 2,500 fathoms, as near as possible to the course of the Cable, and some miles to the westward of the place where the grapnel-rope parted. A portion of Cable, which had been a good deal strained, was used as tackle, for the purpose of securing the raft and buoy to a mushroom anchor. The buoy, which we shall call No. 1, was painted red, and was surmounted by a black ball, above which rose a staff, bearing a red flag. It was securely lashed on the raft. At 10 p.m., Greenwich time, the buoy No. 1 was hove overboard, and sailed away over the grey leaden water till it was brought up by the anchor in Lat. 51 28', Long. 38 42' 30''. The Great Eastern, having thus marked a spot on the ocean, proceeded on her cruise, to take up a position which might enable her to cross the Cable with the new grapnel, and try fortune once more. Some researches made among the coils of telegraph Cable confirmed the opinion, that the iron wires in the outer protective coating were the sources of all our calamities, and fortified the position of those who maintained that the faults were the result of accident. In some instances the wires were started; in others they were broken in the strands. By twisting the wire, great variations in quality became apparent. Some portions were very tough, others snapped like steel. It is to be regretted that the scientific council who recommended the Cable did not test some parts of it in the paying-out apparatus with a severe strain, as they might have detected the inherent faults in the fabric.

It is quite possible hundreds of broken ends exist in the Cable already laid, though they have done no harm to the insulation.

_Sat.u.r.day, August 5th._--There was no change in the weather. A grey mist enveloped the Great Eastern from stem to stern, blanket-like as sleep itself. The haze--for so it was rather than a fog--got lighter soon after 12 o'clock, but it was quite out of the question to attempt an observation of a longitudinal character. The steam-whistles pierced the fog-banks miles away. Shoals of grampuses, black fish, porpoises, came out of the obscure to investigate the source of such dread clamour, and blew, spouted, and rolled on the tops of the smooth unctuous-looking folds of water that undulated in broad sweeping billows on our beam. Our great object was to get sight of the buoy, and by that means make a guess at our position. At 1230 p.m. the Terrible was sighted on the port beam, and our fog music was hushed. At 230 o'clock, p.m., the Terrible signalled that the buoy was three miles distant from her. This was quite an agreeable incident. Every eye was strained in search of the missing buoy, and at last the small red flag at the top of the staff was made out on the horizon. At 345 o'clock, p.m., the Great Eastern was abreast of the buoy, which was hailed with much satisfaction. It bore itself bravely, though rather more depressed than we had antic.i.p.ated, and it was like meeting an old friend, to see it bobbing at us up and down in the ocean. It was resolved to steer N.W. by N. for 5 or 6 miles, so as to pa.s.s some miles beyond the Cable, and then, if the wind answered, to drift down and grapple. The Great Eastern signalled to the Terrible, "Please watch the buoy;" and, under her trusty watch and ward, we left the sole mark of the expedition fixed on the surface of the sea, and stood towards the northward. The wind, however, did not answer, and the grapnel was not thrown overboard.