THE AFRICAN CABLE 101 



ever fresh enjoyment of the whole web of human 

 experience, nature, adventure, science, toil and rest, 

 society and solitude. It should be borne in mind 

 that the writer of these buoyant pages was, even 

 while he wrote, harassed by responsibility, stinted 

 in sleep and often struggling with the prostration 

 of sea-sickness. To this last enemy, which he 

 never overcame, I have omitted, in my search after 

 condensation, a good many references ; if they 

 were all left, such was the man's temper, they would 

 not represent one hundredth part of what he 

 suffered, for he was never given to complaint. But 

 indeed he had met this ugly trifle, as he met every 

 thwart circumstance of life, with a certain pleasure 

 of pugnacity ; and suffered it not to check him, 

 whether in the exercise of his profession or the 

 pursuit of amusement. 



I 



' BIRKENHEAD, April 18, 1858. 



' Well, you should know, Mr. having a con- 

 tract to lay down a submarine telegraph from 

 Sardinia to Africa failed three times in the attempt. 

 The distance from land to land is about 140 miles. 

 On the first occasion, after proceeding some 70 

 miles, he had to cut the cable the cause I forget ; 

 he tried again, same result ; then picked up about 

 20 miles of the lost cable, spliced on a new piece, 

 and very nearly got across that time, but ran short 



