132 MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN 



* To-day we returned to the buoy we had left at 

 the end of the six- wire cable, and after much trouble 

 from a series of tangles, got a fair start at noon. 

 You will easily believe a tangle of iron rope, inch 

 and a half diameter, is not easy to unravel, especially 

 with a ton or so hanging to the ends. It is now 

 eight o'clock and we have about six and a half 

 miles safe : it becomes very exciting however, for 

 the kinks are coming fast and furious. 



'July 2. 



* Twenty-eight miles safe in the hold. The ship 

 is now so deep, that the men are to be turned out 

 of their aft hold, and the remainder coiled there ; 

 so the good Elba's nose need not burrow too far into 

 the waves. There can only be about 10 or 12 miles 

 more, but these weigh 80 or 100 tons. 



'JulyS. 



* Our first mate was much hurt in securing a 

 buoy on the evening of the 2nd. As interpreter 

 [with the Italians] I am useful in all these cases ; 

 but for no fortune would I be a doctor to witness 

 these scenes continually. Pain is a terrible thing. 

 Our work is done : the whole of the six- wire cable 

 has been recovered ; only a small part of the three- 

 wire, but that wire was bad and, owing to its 

 twisted state, the value small. We may therefore 

 be said to have been very successful.' 



