78 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



to the north of the Grand Banks and rest on that beauti- 

 ful plateau to which I have alluded, and where the water 

 of the sea appears to be as quiet and as completely at 

 rest as it is at the bottom of a mill-pond. Therefore, so 

 far as the bottom of the deep-sea between Newfoundland 

 or the mouth of the St. Lawrence and Ireland is con- 

 cerned, the practicability of a submarine telegraph 

 across the Atlantic is proved". 



Maury first began in November, 1853 to correspond 

 with Cyrus W. Field, one of the prime movers in the 

 enterprise, and soon thereafter he met him personally. 

 In the following year, Field invited Maury to become 

 financially connected with the submarine telegraph, but 

 this was declined on the grounds that he could not then 

 be a disinterested adviser of the company. Field came 

 to Maury often, sometimes every day for weeks at a time, 

 to consult as to the size and material for the cable, 

 which according to Field's first estimate was large 

 enough, Maury playfully said, for the young whales to 

 amuse themselves romping over it. Maury also devised 

 a plan for making, coiling, and laying down the cable; 

 and when somewhat later Field wrote asking on behalf 

 of the company in regard to the best route and time for 

 laying it, Maury with the help of his assistants con- 

 sulted the results of 260,000 days of observations at sea 

 and replied that the most propitious time for their under- 

 taking would be either the last of July or the first of 

 August, and that the steamer with the western end of 

 the telegraphic cord on board would be less liable than 

 the other to encounter a gale. 



Field greatly appreciated Maury's advice, and invited 

 him and his wife and two daughters to go on an excursion 



