May 25, 1857.] ATLANTIC TELEGRAPPI. 419 



breaks of elevation and depression, for lialf tlie distance eastward 

 from the seaboard of the United States towards the coast of Por- 

 tugal, and for as great a length in a north-easterly direction towards 

 the coasts of England and Ireland. They are succeeded, in a direc- 

 tion due east, by the region of the Azores, where submarine 

 volcanic action is constant, and where, owing to the deep soundings 

 inshore and the absence of suitable bays or coasts in those islands, 

 the secure landing and subsequent maintenance of the telegraphic 

 cable would be very difficult and problematical. 



With regard to the distance, it may be mentioned that a line 

 from the nearest j)oint on the coast of the United States, if taken 

 direct, without touching at the Azores, would consume nearly 4000 

 miles of cable, and absorb considerably more than half a million of 

 capital, and, that when laid, it would, in all probability, be soon 

 abraded and destroyed, owing to the many and deep valleys it 

 would necessarily have to bridge over along its course ; while its 

 great length would increase the difficulties and delay experienced 

 in transmitting a current of electricity through very long circuits. 

 Moreover, if carried by way of the Azores, using one of the islands 

 as a relay station, the physical inequalities of the bed of the ocean 

 would in no way be lessened in the western part of that route, and 

 it would have the disadvantage of passing over a broader sub- 

 marine volcanic region. 



North oi the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, great diffi- 

 culties also (obviously present themselves. Vast masses of floating 

 ice would, at all times, render the operation of laying a cable a 

 most difficult, if not an impossible, undertaking, and even if landed, it 

 would be liable to perpetual abrasion. The long and dreary tract 

 of inhospitable country that would have to be traversed by land- 

 wires, to complete its connection with the civilised portions of the 

 Amencan continent, would alone be sufficient to prevent its adoption. 



Th3se then are the considerations which led to the adoption of 

 the Dute for laying the telegraphic wires across the Atlantic. 



Wd now come to the means by which the electric current is to be 

 traiBmitted. It is quite obvious that the great bulk and enormous 

 we^ht of all previously manufactured submarine cables would pre- 

 c^ide their use for a distance so great as that to which, it is hoped, 

 tie Atlantic Company are about to extend a successful operation. 

 i form of cable had therefore to be devised, which should combine 

 A maximum of strength with a minimum of weight, great flexibility 

 with sufficient rigidity to allow of its l>eing laid in a straight line, 



