MECHANICS AND USEFUL AETS. 19 



best seamen in Eno:]and, men who knew the ocean as a hunter 

 knows every trail in the forest. 



" There was Capt. Moriarty, who was in the * Agememnon' in 

 1857-8. He was in the 'Great Eastern' hist year, and saw tlie 

 cable when it broke ; and he and Capt. Anderson at once took 

 their observations so exact that they could go right to the spot. 

 After finding it, they marked the line of the cable by a row of 

 buoys ; for fogs would come down, and Shut out sun and stai's, so 

 tliat no man could take an observation. These buoys were 

 anchored a few miles apart. They were numbered, and each had 

 a flag-staflf on it, so that it could be seen by day ; and a lantern 

 by night. Thus having taken our bearings, we stood off three or 

 four miles, so as to come broadside on, and then casting over the 

 graimel, drifted slowly down upon it, dragging the bottom of the 

 ocean as we went. At first it was a little awkward to fish in such 

 deep water, but our men got used to it, and soon could cast 

 a grapnel almost as straight as an old whaler throws a harpoon. 

 Our fishing-line was of formidable size. It was made of rope, 

 twisted with wires of steel, so as to bear a strain of 30 tons. It 

 took about two hours for the grapnel to reach bottom, but we 

 could tell when it struck. I often went to the bow, and sat on the 

 rope, and could feel by the quiver that the grapnel was drao-gino- 

 on the bottom two miles under us. But it was a very slow busi- 

 ness. We had storms and calms and fogs and squalls. Still we 

 worked on, day after day. Once, on the 17th of August, we got 

 the cable up, and had it in full sight for five minutes, a long, slimy 

 monster, fresh from the ooze of the ocean's bed, but our men 

 began to cheer so wildly that it seemed to be frightened, and sud- 

 denly broke away, and went down into the sea. This accident 

 kept us at work two weeks longer ; but, finall}^ on the last nio-ht 

 of August, we caught it. We had cast the grapnel thirty times. ° It 

 was a little before midnight on Friday night that we hooked the 

 cable, and it was a little after midnight Sunday morning when we 

 got it on board. What was the anxiety of those twenty-six hours ! 

 The strain on every man's life was like the strain on the cable 

 itself. When finally it appeared, it was midnight ; the lights of 

 the ship, and in the boats around our bows, as they flashed in the 

 faces of the men, showed them eagerly watching for the cable to 

 appear on the water. At length it was brought to the surface. 

 All who were allowed to approach crowded^forward to see it. 

 Yet not a word was spoken ; only the voices of the officers in 

 command were heard giving orders. All felt as if life and death 

 hung on the issue. It was only when it was brought over the 

 bow and on to the deck that men dared to breathe. Even then 

 they hardly believed their eyes. Some crept toward it to feel of 

 it, to be sure it was there. Then we carried it along to the elec- 

 tricians' room, to see if our long sought for treasure was alive or 

 dead. A few minutes of suspense, and a flash told of the light- 

 ning current again set free. Then did the feeling long pent up 

 burst forth. Some turned away their heads and wept. Others 

 broke into cheers, and the cry ran from man to man, and was 

 heard down in the engine-rooms, deck below deck, and from the 



