182 Jfag S*rm0ns, (Essajjs, aito l^imfos. [ix. 



which the cable was to be laid, but the exact nature of 

 the bottom, so as to guard against chances of cutting or 

 fraying the strands of that costly rope. The Admiralty 

 consequently ordered Captain Dayman, an old friend and 

 shipmate of mine, to ascertain the depth over the whole 

 line of the cable, and to bring back specimens of the 

 bottom. In former days, such a command as this might 

 have sounded very much like one of the impossible things 

 which the young prince in the Fairy Tales is ordered to 

 do before he can obtain the hand of the Princess. How- 

 ever, in the months of June and July 1857, my friend 

 performed the task assigned to him with great expedition 

 and precision, without, so far as I know, having met with 

 any reward of that kind. The specimens of Atlantic 

 mud which he procured were sent to me to be examined 

 and reported upon. 1 



The result of all these operations is, that we know the 

 contours and the nature of the surface-soil covered by 

 the North Atlantic, for a distance of 1,700 miles from 

 east to west, as well as we know that of any part of 

 the dry land. 



It is a prodigious plain one of the widest and most 

 even plains in the world. If the sea were drained off, 

 you might drive a wagon all the way from Valentia, on 

 the west coast of Ireland, to Trinity Bay, in Newfound- 

 land. And, except upon one sharp incline about 200 

 miles from Valentia, I am not quite sure that it would 

 even be necessary to put the skid on, so gentle are the 

 ascents and descents upon that long route. From Valentia 



1 See Appendix to Captain Dayman's " Deep-sea Soundings in the North 

 Atlantic Ocean, between Ireland and Newfoundland, made in H.M.S. 

 Cyclops. Published by order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 

 1858." They have since formed the subject of an elaborate Memoir by 

 Messrs. Parker and Jones, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 

 1865. 



