434 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



But if the fault is between the land end and 

 the fresh-cut seaward end on board ship, 

 proper simultaneous electric tests on board 

 ship and on shore (not hitherto practised, but 

 easy and sure if properly planned) must be used 

 to discover whether the fault lies so near the ship 

 that the right thing is to haul back the cable 

 until it is got on board. If it is so, then steam 

 power must be applied to reverse the paying- 

 out machine, and, by careful watching of the 

 dynamometer, and controlling the power accord- 

 ingly (hauling in slowly, stopping, or veering out a 

 little, but never letting the dynamometer go above 

 60 or 65 cwt.), the cable (which can bear 7 tons) 

 will not break, and the fault will be got on board 

 more surely, and possibly sooner, than a " sulky " 

 salmon of 30 Ibs. can be landed by an expert 

 angler with a line and rod that could .not bear 

 10 Ibs. The speaker remarked that he was entitled 

 to make such assertions with confidence now 

 because the experience of the late expedition had 

 not only verified the estimates of the scientific 

 committee and of the contractors as to the strength 



