1857.] o« the Submarine Telegraph. 401 



to his owners in England ; to which the master replied by an incre- 

 dulous grunt, remarking, "You haven't got a railway terminus 

 on board." The other vessel gave us a friendly hail, enquiring 

 our object in staying in such unfrequented waters, and the sight of 

 a parasol on board cheered us with signs of cfvilisation. But to re- 

 turn to the cable. The storm continued, and on the third and 

 fourth day the vessel plunged violently, causing great alarm for the 

 safety of the cable ; nevertheless, on the morrow, the fifth day 

 we had hung on in hope, we received a telegraphic message from 

 London vid Paris, announcing the rapid progress of the additional 

 length required, ordered by us through the telegraph four days pre- 

 viously. I was on the point of replying, when a sudden and violent 

 plunge of the vessel caused me to exclaim, " It is gone ;'* and on 

 trying the instrument, it proved there was no communication. We 

 at once commenced hauling in the cable, and after some hours up 

 came the end, broken, apparently by friction on the rocks at the 

 bottom, about 502 fathoms in length from the vessel. 



I must now briefly say a few words upon the Atlantic telegraph, 

 and the great depths of the ocean. This subject would alone occupy 

 an evening. I shall therefore only allude to a few general points 

 in connection with it. 



The great depths of the Atlantic have until within these very few 

 years remained unknown. It has been stated that Sir John Ross 

 sounded in the Pacific with a line of 10,000 fathoms, or about 1 1 

 miles, without touching bottom. Scientific men had also come to a 

 conclusion that the greatest depths of the ocean did not exceed 

 eight or nine miles, and the uncertainty as respects all former 

 attempts at deep sea soundings, appears to have been very great, 

 and in some cases it was supposed to be fathomless, eleven miles of 

 wire having been cast out without touching bottom. At last it 

 was proved that by a common twine thread, for a sounding line, 

 and a cannon ball of 60 lbs. weight, for a sinker, attached, the 

 line being allowed to run from the reel as fast as the ball would 

 take it, (care being had to pay it out from a boat, which could be 

 kept stationary to maintain the line as perpendicular as possible,) 

 correct soundings could be obtained. 



The essential point was to time each hundred fathom as it ran 

 out ; and by always using a line of the same size and a sinker of the 

 same weight and shape, a law of descent was established by the 

 time of descent, as it was found that 2 minutes and 21 seconds 

 became the average descent from 400 to 500 fathoms, and 



3 min. 26 sees. 1000 to 1 100 fathoms 



4 „ 29 „ 1800 to 1900 „ 



By this decreased ratio of descent it oouM be ascertained the 

 moment the line touched the bottom, for when this took place the 

 currents would sweep the line out, at a uniform rate, whereas the 

 Vol. 11. 2f 



