THE CABLE SHIP ON REPAIRS. 233 



While picking up cable, especially if it has been somewhat 

 buried, and not touched for a number of years, it comes up 

 covered in many places with beautiful deep-sea growths, the 

 roots having got a very firm all-round grip of the cable. The 

 appearance of these as the cable emerges from the water is 

 that of ferns of delicate tracery spread out like fans, and shining 

 with colour, either green, brown, or red. As the cable passes 

 over the bow sheaves most of these are crushed out of shapei 

 but some pass unhurt. The author collected some specimens of 

 these growths while engaged on the repair of the cable between 

 Singapore and Saigon some years ago, and has endeavoured to 

 give some idea of their formation by the sketches in Fig. 136. 

 Two of these (Gorgonidcc Menacella Sp.a.nd Plexaura Flabelluin) 

 measure 19in. x 1 Sin. , and are fan-shaped ; the other (Gorgonidce 

 Engorgia Nolilis) is a smaller specimen, of a deep-red colour. 

 In some instances these are covered over by Polyzoa. The cable 

 in question had not been touched for several years, and was 

 deeply imbedded in mud at the time of picking up. 



The original standard of breaking strain of course becomes 

 less as the cable gets old ; and in picking up, when the strain 

 exceeds the actual weight of cable, in proportion as the latter 

 has become imbedded in mud or grown over by coral, it may 

 reach dangerously near to the breaking strain, or actually cause 

 the cable to part. The only thing for a ship to do if the cable 

 parts is to try again in another position further on. If in 

 shallow water a distance of a hundred fathoms or so would 

 suffice. In any case the new position should not be so far away 

 as to sacrifice the advantage of infinite slack afi'orded by th 

 short end at the break — say, at the outside, a distance from the 

 break equal to the depth of water. If, however, the ship was 

 working in deep water and on a rocky or coral bottom and the 

 cable was very rotten, breaking repeatedly at the same place, it 

 would be best to go a mile or more further on, in the hope of 

 finding a better piece of cable, good and bad cable occurring in 

 patches very often. 



The splice list and chart showing the course of the cable are 

 spread out on the chart-room table at the time of repairs, so that 

 every information is at hand. The paying-out log at the time 

 the cable was first laid or during repairs is also at hand, giving 

 an abstract of each position, or change of course, with calculated 



