116 MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN 



In good sooth, it is one of the strangest sights I 

 know to see that black fellow rising up so steadily 

 in the midst of the blue sea. We are more than 

 half way to the place where we expect the fault ; 

 and already the one wire, supposed previously to 

 be quite bad near the African coast, can be spoken 

 through. I am very glad I am here, for my 

 machines are my own children, and I look on their 

 little failings with a parent's eye, and lead them 

 into the path of duty with gentleness and firmness. 

 I am naturally in good spirits, but keep very quiet, 

 for misfortunes may arise at any instant ; moreover, 

 to-morrow my paying-out apparatus will be wanted 

 should all go well, and that will be another nervous 

 operation. Fifteen miles are safely in ; but no 

 one knows better than I do that nothing is done 

 till all is done. 



'June 11. 



4 9 A.M. We have reached the splice supposed 

 to be faulty, and no fault has been found. The two 



men learned in electricity, L and W , 



squabble where the fault is. 



' Evening. A weary day in a hot broiling sun ; 



no air. After the experiments, L said the 



fault might be ten miles ahead ; by that time, 

 we should be according to a chart in about a thou- 

 sand fathoms of water rather more than a mile. 

 It was most difficult to decide whether to go on or 

 not. I made preparations for a heavy pull, set 



