KINKS 131 



and Cleopatra, read the second half of Troilus and 

 got some way in Coriolanus, I felt it was childish 

 to regret the accident had happened in my watch, 

 and moreover I felt myself not much to blame in 

 the tubing matter — ^it had been torn down, it had 

 not fallen down ; so I went to bed, and slept with- 

 out fretting, and woke this morning in the same 

 good mood — ^for which thank you and our friend 

 Shakespeare. I am happy to say Mr. Liddell said 

 the loss of the cable did not much matter ; though 

 this would have been no consolation had I felt 

 myself to blame. — ^This morning we have grappled 

 for and found another length of small cable which 



Mr. dropped in 100 fathoms of water. If 



this also gets full of kinks, we shall probably have 

 to cut it after 10 miles or so, or more probably still 

 it will part of its own free will or weight. 



' 10 P.M. — This second length of three-wire cable 

 soon got into the same condition as its fellow — i,e, 

 came up twenty kinks an hour — and after seven 

 miles were in, parted on the pulley over the bows 

 at one of the said kinks ; during my watch again, 

 but this time no earthly power could have saved 

 it. I had taken all manner of precautions to prevent 

 the end doing any damage when the smash came, 

 for come I knew it must. We now return to the 

 six-wire cable. As I sat watching the cable to- 

 night, large phosphorescent globes kept rolling 

 from it and fading in the black water. 



