THE LAST EXPEDITION. 105 



showing them the cable and the wire, asked for an explanation. All replied that it must have 

 been done intentionally, and regretted that there was a traitor among them the unknown 

 traitor, of course, being one of those who thus expressed their sorrow. It seemed difficult 

 .~to believe that any person could be base enough to plot in this stealthy way against the 

 success of a beneficent enterprise, but such a thing had been done before in a cable in the North 

 "Sea, when the perpetrator of the crime was discovered and punished. In the present case there 

 were not wanting motives to prompt the commission of such an act. The fall in the stock, we 

 are told, on the London Exchange, caused by a loss of the cable, could hardly be less than half a 

 million sterling. It was, however, found impossible to fix the deed on any one, for nothing 

 was proved ; and the instigator and the perpetrator both remaining unknown, of course a painful 

 feeling of suspicion was left in the minds of Mr. Field and his colleagues. They saw that they 

 must be on their guard; and it was agreed, therefore, that the gentlemen on board should 

 take turn in keeping watch in the tank. The Great Eastern continued her voyage, and for 

 three days, during which they accomplished 500 miles, no further trouble occurred. A 

 few days later, however, a defect was found in the cable, and it became necessary to haul in 

 a short portion of that last paid out. Unfortunately the machinery proved too weak for 

 the purpose, and a breeze springing up, the cable chafed until it snapped right asunder. With 

 one bound it flew through the stoppers, and plunged into the sea. " The shock of the 

 instant," Dr. Russell tells us, " was as sharp as the snapping of the cable itself," so great was 

 the disappointment felt on board. 



The apparently wild attempt was immediately made to recover the cable. It was settled 

 that the Great Eastern should steam to windward, and eastward of the position she occupied 

 when the cable went down, lower a grapnel, and slowly drift across the track in which the 

 lo-st treasure was supposed to be lying. So the leviathan ship stood away some thirteen or 

 fourteen miles, and then lay-to in smooth water. The grapnel consisted of two five-armed 

 anchors, of several hundredweight, one of which was shackled and secured to wire rope, of 

 which there were five miles on board, and committed to the deep. " Away slipped the rope, 

 yard after yard, fathom after fathom ; ocean, like the horse-leech's daughter still crying for 

 ' more ' and ' more/ still descending into the black waste of waters. One thousand fathoms 

 still more ! One thousand five hundred fathoms still more ! Two thousand fathoms 

 more, still more ! Two thousand five hundred fathoms (15,000 feet) aye, that will do; the 

 grapnel has reached the bed of the Atlantic; the search has commenced." Next morning 

 these efforts bore fruit, for the great sea-serpentine cable was caught, and raised seven hundred 

 fathoms (4,200 feet), towards the surface, unhappily to again fall to the bottom. A second 

 attempt resulted in raising it a mile and a half, when a swivel gave way, and it again sank 

 to the bottom. These experiments had used up a considerable quantity of the wire rope, and 

 every expedient had to be adopted to patch up and strengthen the fishing apparatus, which 

 gave full employment to the mechanics on board. Great forge-fires were made on deck, 

 which at night illumined the ocean for a distance round, and helped to make a striking and 

 effective scene. A third and fourth attempt was made to raise the cable ; but in spite of 

 the indomitable perseverance of Field and his associates, without success, and the bows of 

 the great ship were sorrowfully directed towards home. 



In spite of these failures no abatement of public confidence in the eventual success of 

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