1896.] on Cable Laying on the Amazon Biver. 223 



of two-storied buildings, indicating the prosperous state of the 

 township. 



The first station on the main cable is Breves, the centre of the 

 rubber trade of the islands of the lower Amazon, situate in the 

 centre of " the narrows." Between Para and Breves is only one 

 shallow passage, near the lighthouse of Gujabal, and the pilot 

 managed to run the ship aground there ; luckily it was low tide, and 

 with the rising tide the ship could be turned. At Breves the ship 

 was anchored close to the shore, and its stern secured to a tree by a 

 rope so that the tide could not cause it to swing. Under these 

 circumstances the landing of the shore ends was an easy matter and 

 soon finished. The ship then resumed its way into the narrow furos 

 described above, and night did not put a stop to its progress, as the 

 outlines of the forest were clearly visible against the sky, and the 

 water everywhere more than seven fathoms deep. While the speed of 

 the ship was kept at about six knots, the pilot ordered the quarter- 

 master to put the helm a-starboard, as he wished to increase the 

 distance between ship and shore. The quarter-master was, however, 

 confused, and put the helm hard a-port, with the result that the bows 

 went into the forest until the branches of the trees touched the fore- 

 yard. To appreciate the situation it should be mentioned that the 

 foremast stands 74 feet abaft the bows, and that the foreyard is 69 feet 

 above the water level. Luckily the soft ground, the elasticity of the 

 forest trees, and the steepness of the banks, rendered this accident 

 quite harmless, and on reversing the engines the ship at once came off, 

 so that the laying could be resumed. Not far from this spot the 

 Aturia furo branches off, through which the cable had to be laid, but 

 which was impassable for the ss. " Faraday " on account of a two- 

 fathom bar at the Tajipuru end of the furo. 



As a splice had to be made with some cable on a barge, from which 

 it was to be paid out through the Aturia furo, the " Faraday " had to 

 be anchored, and the right-hand shore was approached so as to leave 

 room for the ship to swing round when the tide turned. At the 

 critical moment, when the anchor was to be lowered, somebody 

 blundered, and turned out the electric light, leaving the anchor winch 

 and its surroundings in darkness. By the time this mistake had been 

 rectified the ship was dangerously near the shore, and even the 

 anchor could not sufficiently check its advance, so that it again ran 

 ashore, stoj)ping within about five feet of a house, much to the alarm of 

 the inhabitants. This manceuvre fixed the ship in a most convenient 

 position, so that it was left there until the splice had been finished, 

 and the tug " Cochrane," with the barge, had started laying the cable 

 in the Aturia furo. Again there was no difficulty in backing the ship 

 off the bank, but it had to proceed for twelve miles stern foremost 

 before the furo was sufficiently wide to allow the ship to turn and go 

 on to Breves, or rather a few miles beyond, to the mouth of the Boiassu, 

 in order to enter the Furo Grande and the Tajipuru in a roundabout 



