142 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
ians were advancing against the Austrians to regain Venice; 
that the efficient Prussian army was marching triumphantly 
through the mountains of Bohemia and approaching Vienna; _ 
and that the smaller German cities were capitulating to Bis- 
marck’s iron will. Twice a day the news bulletins were posted 
on deck and flashed to the other ships. Included also were 
accounts of debates in Parliament and quotations from the 
London stock exchange. ‘The rapid transmission of news of 
world events had begun; a new era was opening for the news- 
papers—the era of cables. 
The telegraph fleet steamed slowly but successfully along, 
with little trouble to report. The place in the ocean where 
the cable of 1865 had broken was passed safely, and everything 
was still operating well. Deane wrote under date of Sunday, 
July 22, when nine days out: “Cable going out with unerring 
smoothness, at the rate of six miles an hour. There has been 
great improvement in the insulation. This remarkable im- 
provement is attributable to the greatly decreased tempera- 
ture of, and pressure on, the cable in the sea.” Expectations 
were high; Cyrus Field dreamed of victory. 
On the next day the deepest part of the route was passed 
over without undue strains. Deane recorded: ‘Mr. Cyrus 
Field sent a message to Valentia, requesting Mr. Glass to ob- 
tain the latest news from Egypt, India, and China, and other 
distant countries, so that on our arrival at Heart’s Content 
we shall be able to transmit it to the principal cities of the 
United States. In just eight minutes he had a reply in these 
words, ‘Your message received and is in London by this.’ ”’ 
By Thursday, July 26, signs of land began to appear and 
the water was much shallower. Birds were noticed. Henry 
Field wrote: “They could almost snuff the smell of the land, 
such as once greeted the sharp senses of Columbus.” The ar- 
rival had been timed to coincide with a full moon to facilitate 
night work, but the customary fogs lay over the Grand Banks. 
Henry Field continued: ‘For the last two or three nights, as 
