THE BASIN OF THE ATLANTIC. 253 



agents wliicli make the face of the world what it is, and as we 

 see it, is inter3sting and instructive. Until we get hold of a group 

 of physical facts, we do not know what practical bearings they 

 may have, though right-minded men know that they contain many 

 precious jewels, which science or the expert hand of philosophy 

 will not fail to bring out, polished, and bright, and beautifully 

 adapted to man's purposes. Already we are obtaining practical 

 answers to this question as to the use of deep-sea soundings ; for 

 as soon as they were announced to the public, they forthwith as- 

 sumed a practical bearing in the minds of men with regard to the 

 question of a submarine telegraph across the Atlantic. 



714. There is at the bottom of this sea, between Cape Eace in 

 Newfoundland and Cape Clear in Ireland, a remarkable steppe, 

 wdiich is already known, as the telegraphic plateau. A company 

 is now engaged with the project of a submarine telegraph across 

 the Atlantic. It is proposed to carry the wires along this plateau 

 from the eastern shores of Newfoundland to the western shores 

 of Ireland. The great-circle distance between these tv/o shore- 

 lines is one thousand six hundred and forty miles, and the sea 

 along the route is probably nowhere more than ten or twelve 

 thousand feet deep. This company, it is understood, consists of 

 men of enterprise and wealth, w^ho have satisfied themselves as to 

 the practicability of the scheme. They have made a contract with 

 a party in England, who have agreed to deliver to them by June, 

 1858, a telegraphic cable, stretched from Ireland, upon this plateau, 

 to Newfoundland. It was this company that attempted last sum- 

 mer to stretch a telegraphic cable from Port au Basque, in New- 

 foundland, to Cape Breton, and lost it. It is hoped that no such 

 failure will happen to the great line, for, with proper precaution 

 and management, success is certain. 



715. There appears to be, corresponding to this elevation of the 

 bottom of the sea, a ridge on the land which runs nearly, if not 

 entirely around the earth. Leaving this continent between the 

 parallels of 45° and 50° north, the British islands are within its 

 range. Passing thence to the continent, we recognize it in the 

 great '* divide" which separates the drainage of the Arctic Ocean 

 from the drainage south. In Asia it rises up into a chain of 



