136 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
joviality of the peasantry last year. . . . The old crones in 
tattered garments who cowered, dudheen in mouth, their 
gaudy colored shawls tightly drawn over head and under 
the chin—the barefooted boys and girls, who by long prac- 
tice walked over sharp and jagged rocks, which cut up boots 
and shoes, with perfect impunity—the men at work winding 
up and down the hazardous path—the patches of bright color 
furnished by the red petticoats and cloaks—the ragged gar- 
ments, only kept from falling to pieces by bits of string and 
tape—the good old parish priest, who exercises mild and 
gentle spiritual sway over the loving subjects of whom the 
ever-popular Knight of Kerry is the temporal head, looking 
on benignly from his car—the bright eyes, supple figures, and 
innocent faces of the peasant lasses, and the earnestly hopeful 
expression of all—made up a picture impossible to describe 
with justice. Add to this, the startling abruptness with which 
the tremendous cliffs stand flush out of the water, the alter- 
nations of bright wild flowers and patches of verdure with 
the most desolate barrenness, the mountain sheep indifferent- 
ly cropping the short, sweet grass, and the undercurrent of 
consciousness of the mighty interests at stake, and few scenes 
will seem more important and interesting.” 
This description of the Irish terminus of the cable, with its 
typical peasants and wild scenery, reveals some of the roman- 
tic features of Cyrus Field’s career. For a boy brought up in 
a staid Massachusetts village, he had a faculty of projecting 
himself into lively and stirring scenes. The Newfoundland 
terminus was picturesque also, but in a still more primitive 
way. Its coast had been settled by people very much like those 
described in the London News article, but their descendants 
had been living for a number of generations in a remote and 
inhospitable region. 
The telegraph fleet of 1866 was somewhat changed from 
the year before. To accompany the Great Eastern, the British 
Government was able to spare only one ship—the Terrible, 
