xcii MEMOIR 



was next put round the drum and a mile of it picked up ; but 

 then, fearing another tangle, the end was cut and buoyed, and 

 we returned to grapple for the three- wire cable. All this is 

 very tiresome for me. The buoying and dredging are managed 



entirely by W , who has had much experience in this sort of 



thing ; so I have not enough to do and get very homesick. At 

 noon the wind freshened and the sea rose so high that we had 

 to run for land and are once more this evening anchored at 

 Chia. 



' June 24. 



' The whole day spent in dredging without success. This 

 operation consists in allowing the ship to drift "slowly across the 

 line where you expect the cable to be, while at the end of a long 

 rope, fast either to the bow or stern, a grapnel drags along the 

 ground. This grapnel is a small anchor, made like four pot- 

 hooks tied back to back. When the rope gets taut, the ship is 

 stopped and the grapnel hauled up to the surface in the hopes of 

 finding the cable on its prongs. I am much discontented with 

 myself for idly lounging about and reading Westward Ho for 

 the second time, instead of taking to electricity or picking up 

 nautical information. I am uncommonly idle. The sea is not 

 quite so rough but the weather is squally and the rain comes 

 in frequent gusts. 



June 25. 



' To-day about 1 o'clock we hooked the three-wire cable, 

 buoyed the long sea end, and picked up the short [or shore] 

 end. Now it is dark and we must wait for morning before 

 lifting the buoy we lowered to-day and proceeding seawards. 

 The depth of water here is about 600 feet, the height of a re- 

 spectable English hill ; our fishing line was about a quarter of a 

 mile long. It blows pretty fresh and there is a great deal of 

 sea. 



'26th. 



' This morning it came on to blow so heavily that it was im- 

 possible to take up our buoy. The Elba recommenced rolling 

 in true Baltic style and towards noon we ran for land. 



