May 14, I860.] VIA THE FAROES, ICELAND, AND GREENLAND. 107 



nor even a British- American line. It would traverse Danish territory : at any- 

 time when European politics disturbed the relations of this country, the line 

 itself might be disturbed. With regard to the commercial part of the question, 

 Colonel Shaffner had omitted to state the expense of maintaining the numerous 

 stations at the Faroe Islands, in Iceland and in Greenland. Upon the electrical 

 part of the question he did not presume to touch ; he was not an electrician, 

 and that subject was far too difficult for him to deal with. It had been alluded 

 to by Mr. Gisborne, and all that he would say was this, that it had been proved 

 by experiments that it was possible to communicate by electricity 1900 miles. 

 He held in his hand an American newspaper, containing five and a half columns 

 of actual messages which were sent from this country to America by the 

 Atlantic telegraph. 



But with regard to the geographical question. Colonel Shaffner would be 

 the first to admit that his examination of these seas was exceedingly cursory 

 and imperfect, and unsatisfactory. It was most important that our Government 

 should survey this line, as well as every other line suggested to cross the 

 Atlantic. It was a national object to get the best line, and it was the duty of 

 Government to assist commercial enterprise by first ascertaining that point. 

 He thought Colonel Shaffner rather underrated the distance between Iceland 

 and the point of Greenland which he mentioned ; it was nearer 700 miles than 

 500. Nearly all authorities agreed in discouraging that particular line. It 

 was ne\v to hear that the east coast of Greenland was free from ice. In 

 Norie's chart the whole of that coast was designated as an impenetrable field of 

 ice ; and he held in his hand the log of the vessel in which Colonel Shaffner 

 sailed, and it was there stated that they were beset with ice at one time and 

 lost all control of their vessel, and that at other places they saw thousands of 

 icebergs. Enough had been learned to show that at all seasons of the year there 

 would be considerable danger not only in navigating those seas, but also in 

 laying a cable worth two or three hundred thousand pounds. Beyond that 

 there were the Spitzbergen currents bearing down the east coast of Greenland, 

 bringing with them ice, drift timber, and all sorts of wreck, which in itself 

 would be a discouraging circumstance to anybody laying a cable in those seas. 



Dr. Hodgkin, f.r.g.s., thought that after the failure of the Atlantic cable, 

 which had caused such general regret, we were much indebted to Colonel Shaff- 

 ner for proposing a means of overcoming the difficulty. The objections which 

 had now been urged were based upon supposition only, and ought not to turn 

 aside inquiry. When in Pisa last year he had had the opportunity of con- 

 versing with that distinguished electrician Professor Matteucci, who, as director 

 of the Tuscan Government's telegraphic establishment, had great experience. 

 It was the Professor's opinion that there were electric difficulties in the way of 

 transmission to so great a distance as across the Atlantic, with which we were 

 not at present fully acquainted. These difficulties would be diminished by the 

 Colonel's plan of breaking the distance, which had the additional advantage of 

 reducing the amount of loss in case of the breaking of the cable. The risk 

 from icebergs would only exist during the operation of laying down the cable, 

 for when once laid down in deep water it would be below the reach of the 

 largest icebergs. In shallow water near the shore it might be injured by 

 them ; but from the description given of these coasts it was pretty certain that 

 favourable places might be selected where, from the depth of the sea close to the 

 shore, even this risk would be small. He further observed that the proposed 

 line of cable kept clear of the eastern shore of Greenland, which, like other 

 eastern shores in those regions, had been shown to be the most blocked by ice. 



Sir Edward Belcher, f.r.g.s., said it would be impossible to navigate the 

 Polar Seas in the winter months. Steam was entirely out of the question, and 

 sailing vessels would be entirely at the mercy of drifting ice. With respect to 

 the feasibility of telegraphic communication, he was not disposed to rest upon 

 the ipse dixit of any man who had not been on the ground. His rule was to 



