230 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



passed overboard at the time of the discovery, it 

 would require twelve hours to bring it to light. 

 When six miles of Cable had been drawn up, it was 

 cut, and tested to see if the defect was on board ; but 

 such not being the case, we resumed the tedious pro- 

 cess of picking up. At 5.30 A.M. on Tuesday the 

 Hawk arrived. By this time ten miles of Cable had 

 been hauled in, and again it was cut and tested, but 

 with the same result as before. Very early it was 

 discovered that the steam-power of the picking-up 

 machinery was defective j and Mr Canning, the chief 

 engineer, attempted to remedy this defect by bringing 

 into service a small locomotive on board. A consul- 

 tation having then taken place between the chief en- 

 gineers and electricians, it was thought advisable to 

 return to the spot where the splice with the shore-end 

 had been made ; but Mr Canning was anxious to see 

 the result of his additional machinery ; so having 

 picked up about two hundred fathoms more of the 

 Cable, to the delight of all the faulty part was 

 brought on board. On examination it was found 

 that a piece of the iron wire, of which the outer 

 covering of the Cable is partly made, had pene- 

 trated the gutta-percha, thus destroying the perfect 

 insulation of the copper wires. Some suspicion 

 arose of foul play, such an instance having occurred 

 some years ago in laying a cable in the North Sea, a 

 crime which was only brought to light two years after 

 by the confession of the culprit, who declared that 



