POLITICAL EVENTS. 219 



the cable was running out with the present loading, 

 when all at once we saw the cable quite gently come 

 asunder. The brake -wheel stood instantly still, the 

 torn-off end disappeared in the deep, and therewith, 

 for our then circumstances , a considerable sum of 

 money, as we had undertaken the laying at our own 

 risk. But what for the moment aggravated us still 

 more than the money loss was the technical fiasco. 

 The labour of months, all the toils and dangers, which 

 not we alone, but also all our companions had under- 

 gone on account of this cable, were in a moment 

 irrecoverably lost on account of a few rotten strands 

 of hemp. In addition there was the unpleasant feeling 

 of being the object of commiseration of the whole 

 ship's company. It was a severe punishment for our 

 temerity. 



When a few hours after the breaking of the cable 

 we landed in Cartagena, we had been over a month 

 without news from Europe. In Almeria we had also 

 not heard much in our flying visit, except that war 

 had broken out with Denmark on account of the 

 Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. In the hotel at 

 Cartagena we found French and English newspapers, 

 and all the great political news of the last month 

 from the Fatherland poured in upon us. An altogether 

 remarkable revolution had taken place in the news- 

 paper articles on Germany since the declaration of 

 war and the defeat of Denmark, which enjoyed the 

 favour of England. We had hitherto been accustomed 

 to read in English and French newspapers much well- 



