GRAPPLING FOR THE SEA-SERPENT 147 
ish fuel supplies. To insure such a large supply of coal, six 
ships had been sent from Wales, of which one foundered at 
sea. Scarcely had the Great Eastern cast anchor off shore be- 
fore these five coaling-vessels came alongside to transfer their 
cargoes. 
There was also transferred from the Medway to the larger 
ship about six hundred miles of cable for splicing to the lost 
cable. Equipped and ready for the “fishing” expedition, the 
Great Eastern and the Medway set out from Trinity Bay, after 
the Governor of Newfoundland, with an august party, had 
come down from St. John’s to give his sanction to the affair. 
Cyrus Field was on board, ready for cne more contest with 
the elements. 
On Sunday, August 12, the four ships were reunited on 
the high seas. The Terrible and the Albany had located the 
position of the lost cable by astronomical observations; the 
buoys placed to mark the spot in 1865 had long since disap- 
peared, from relentless buffeting by wind and wave. Some 
careful planning was now necessary to fish up from a depth of 
two and a half miles the end of a cable—little more than an 
inch in diameter. It was no easy job, as the failures of the 
year before had taught them. 
A line of buoys, held by special anchors, was established to 
mark the lost cable. Each buoy was numbered and surmount- 
ed by a flag, visible except in a fog or at night. The key buoys 
had also a lantern to mark them. All was now ready for the 
“fishing.” 
The Great Eastern dropped its huge grapnel at the end of 
a rope composed of forty-nine wires, each encased separately 
in hemp. Nearly two hours were required for it to reach bot- 
tom. The grapnel was then dragged through the slimy ooze 
and minute shells that covered the ocean bed, occasionally 
striking what seemed to be rock or boulders. During this 
process, Cyrus Field sometimes sat on the wire rope where 
