348 DIRECT ATLANTIC CABLE. 



left however till reaching shallow water off Newfound- 

 land, in order to seek and remove it when the weather 

 was more favourable. The picking up proved how- 

 ever to be very difficult, as the sea-bottom was rocky 

 and the weather persistently bad. Much cable was 

 thereby lost, and the Faraday was obliged to return 

 to England without finishing her task, to ship fresh 

 cable and coals. Yet even the following expedition 

 led only to the more accurate localization, but not to 

 the removal of the fault, and a third attempt was 

 necessary, in order to render the cable communication 

 perfectly faultless. 



This first transatlantic cable-laying of ours was 

 not only exceedingly instructive for us, but in point 

 of fact led for the first time to the complete clear 

 apprehension and mastery of cable - layings in deep 

 water. We had shown, that even in unfavourable 

 weather and at a bad time of year cables can be laid 

 and repaired, and that too in very deep seas and with 

 a single, but well -constructed and sufficiently large 

 ship. The loss of cable, which we had had in the 

 repairings, was attributed by brother Charles to the 

 unsuitableness of the construction of the cable, which 

 was identical with that adopted for the first successful 

 transatlantic cable. For diminishing the specific gravity 

 of the cable steel wires had been used for the cover- 

 ing and protection of the conductor, surrounded with 

 hemp or jute. On a strong pull these twisted the 

 cable and produced kinks in the cable on the bottom 

 of the ocean, which very much impeded or altogether 



