256 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AXD SPORT. 



perfection can only be safely reached by the sure 

 paths of experience. Messrs Canning and Clifford 

 had hitherto found the apparatus in use perfectly 

 satisfactory, and during this voyage it had picked 

 up the Cable from a depth of two miles ; nor, with 

 the exception of the breaking of a bad valve - rod 

 which really caused no delay, did it fall to pieces 

 until after gra'ppling had commenced. Now Mr 

 Canning's observation when the Cable broke " ALL 

 is OVER ! " proves that grappling at two miles was 

 never contemplated, and was resorted to rather as an 

 experiment than with any hope of success ; but now 

 that it has been proved that the Cable can be grap- 

 pled at so great a depth, no doubt the skill and in- 

 genuity of those practical engineers will make the 

 machine fit for hauling in the grapnel, and proof 

 against any strain to which it may be subjected. 

 To require human foresight to provide for evils ut- 

 terly unknown, is simply demanding an impossibility. 

 I have the best authority for stating that had the 

 picking-up machine been used solely for the purpose 

 for which it was made (with the trifling exception 

 alluded to), we should have returned to Sheerness 

 Avith all its gear as perfect as it was when we started. 

 We had a very fine passage home, never shifting 

 our sails till after we passed Cape Clear, and at a 

 speed of nine knots per hour, which, under all cir- 

 cumstances, was more than we expected. I could 

 have wished to have obtained some details as re- 



